"Battenkizzle" and other spring classics terminology

Me, Audrey, Beth, and Kate after the race

The women's pro/1/2 race at Tour of the Battenkill was all about new vocabulary.  "Breakaway," and "attrition" are terms that, for better or for worse, don't always come into play in women's races.  "Dirt" is also rare for us roadies, so rare in fact that I started counting down the days til I get a mountain bike...

Anyway, back to the attrition-fest,  I mean race: after Jeff Cup's epic chain-dropping fail, I was careful to adjust my shifting when putting on the race wheels.  The first 10 miles were super-smooth: the pavement, the peloton, even my shifting.  It was pandemonium in my head though; the tightness of the pack and the occasional elbow were enough to keep me cowering at the back.  There was an attack on the first climb, and I panicked and stomped on the pedals while shifting.  Crap.  The chain came all the way off, but this time the race support moto came to help.  They fixed it and gave me a push as I started up the climb alone.  I picked up some dropped riders along the way, and 6 miles later we caught the main pack.  I sat in for a few miles and tried to catch my breath.

Photo by Barry Koblenz/BaseTwelvePhoto

 I was still recovering when another move was made, and I quickly found myself in the chase group.  With some talented sprinters in the chase, and some of my own teammates up the road, my job was now to keep our chase group from catching the pack.  Some people yelled at me to pull, but I clung to the back like a dingleberry.  In spite of my non-cooperation, we caught the pack around mile 50, this time with a few strong riders out of sight.  We settled in for the field sprint, and I got spooked as usual by the tight pack.  Farm Team took 16, 17, 18, 24, 39, and 47.  The amazing climber Veronique Fortin won in a breakaway of 5 riders.  On the way home, Thea counted down the days til the next dirt-free, sprinterly crit (I better brush up on pack handling ASAP).   

Important Battenkizzle take-away:

• I'm excited to be on this team, and finally excited about racing too.
• I need to get my bike fixed.
• Apparently, I like dirt.  A lot.
• When can we do this again?!

I later washed my face in a gas station bathroom...