Topsport Stage Race

Stage 1 Road Race
Knights Ferry Road Race course
50 miles
Cat 3/4
Number of riders 33, mainly cat 3’s

The day started off with strong winds and heavy rain showers, by the time my race started at 1.35 it was torrential rain. I was already soaked waiting to start, we were given the option of riding the full distance, one lap short or canceling the stage, we chose to ride the full distance.
The pace started fast and within a mile several riders dropped off the back, eventually the pace settled down and we rode in a tight group. One rider was a bit sketchy she kept changing her position and would just drift from one wheel to another, especially on the small climbs.

There were several attacks but nothing came of them, the group stayed together until the start of the second lap then the pace picked up and we lost some more riders. The rain was so heavy that on the return leg parts of the course was flooded, ( memories of Snelling), I also couldn’t see very well with the amount of water. As we passed the start area one rider went off the front, no-one chased, the pace dropped so I went on the outside of the pack and decided to chase, another girl joined me and we worked together. Eventually a group of six caught us and passed but as they descended they coasted so me and my breakaway partner passed them at about 40 mph and dropped them. They had to chase hard to catch us and as the group came back together we were neutralized due to the accident in the W1/2 race. After about 10 minutes we restarted, the rider off the front was given a head start so we had to chase, the group by now had shrunk to about 12 riders. I thought we had caught the leader as the pace dropped but she was still out in front, it was hard to tell who was who because most riders had rain jackets so the girl we had caught was from the 1/2 race.
As we came up to the finish, by this point I couldn’t feel my left hand it was so cold, I didn’t have much left but I got sixth place. In my category I was 3rd.