and that happened to be at Froze Toes! (one race under the belt for this kid!)

Wow! That was some fun stuff.   I may not have told you that at, say, mile 25…but after crossing the finish line that magic, exhilarating feeling after a hard, leave-everything-out-there ride/workout/race (as I can now use in relation to cycling) was there!

I’ll spare you the plethora of excuses and reasonings, but needless to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect on this first big day on the bike.

Thank goodness for awesome teammates and super supportive Team Rev ladies throughout the day. Whether it be teaching me the art of pinning numbers & other pre-race knowledge (thanks, Steph!), to hey, you probably have a few too many layers on (yep, glad I’d shed a few; thanks Chris!) to small talk and fist pounds before the race that spared me from getting all “mental” about things. And that’s just before the race.

Suzanne J was there the whole time telling me to watch that “squirrely” wheel in front of us, to making sure I got on her wheel or kept on someone’s in front of us. As well as Kate’s powerful, motivating surges and reminders to relax and take slow, deep breathes all helped along the way.

As the leaders somehow (and seemingly mysteriously) got away from us around mile 10 or so, five of us joined together and, thankfully, taught this newbie how to correctly work a paceline!  Not only was that way easier than playing chase by yourself out in the windy, middle-of-nowhere, but it also took my mind off the fact that “OMG I’m doing what pace right now?! (and I want to try to sustain this for how much longer?!)”…it was almost, well, mindless…just keep up with this group, you will not give up and get left behind, just keep pushing!

Before I knew it, Kate, Suzanne, and I were on the home stretch.  The ol’ track racer in me wanted to pick-up the pace and finish strong, while the you’ve-basically-been-in-hibernation-for-past-few-months part of me was screaming “what are you doing?!” and desperately wanted to slow down. Again, my motivational saviors and source of peer pressure were right there with me the whole way–there was no stopping now.  Suzanne and I would like to think we set Kate up for her super stellar sprint at the end (just kidding, pretty sure she would have blown me away either way); regardless they both had awesome finishes. I on the other hand, was just glad to have made it across the line in the same vicinity of time as them (the stand to sprint was met by legs not unlike jello. As much of a bummer as that was, I was happy with the fact that meant it was all left on the road!)

All in all, it was a great day! And with race #1 down there’s surely lots more to go!  Which of course will be accompanied by countless hours spent training, and endless amounts of question asked… I’m so thankful to know and be part of such an inviting, encouraging, motivated, and ultimately hard-core group of ladies.  I look forward to learning more from each of you as I continue with this new-found, fast-paced passion!

Thanks Team Revers for a great start,

The Kid