Grand Prix Cycliste de Gatineau

photos from Ottawa Sun

After Saturday's time trial and a rest day of carb consumption in Ottawa's Little Italy district, we lined up for Monday's 83-mile/13-lap road race.  With the finish being just under 3:30, women's racing is definitely getting faster.  But it's also getting suspiciously cutesy.  Don't be fooled by all the adorable gear though; these riders will rip your legs off. 

Team Specialized-Lululemon set a comfortable pace, which allowed the group to stay really tight.  My teammates Suzie and Laura were moving around the pack like ninjas, but I was terrified as usual.  Sometimes when I get really scared, I try to think about something else, so my mind started to wander: 

When did everyone get these cute sportswear sponsors, and does it make me a lesser athlete if my post-race lounge pants aren't as adorable and butt-flattering as theirs?  (OK, there are more significant factors making me a lesser athlete, but at that point I was terrified and couldn't focus.)  Is the smiling cartoon kitten on that lady's kit supposed to fool me into thinking she won't crush me in a sprint?

The pack was super tight on the flat sections

So there I was getting all distracted, when team director Chris screamed at me to take a bottle.  Oh.  I was running out of drinks but hoping to finish the race without braving the feed zone again.  Suddenly I was freezing cold, even though it was like a zillion degrees Celsius.  Bizarre.  Then my leg locked up all weird for a second.  It went away and I caught back on.  This kept happening and I kept ignoring it til the last lap on a technical descent.  Scared of being paralyzed on a screaming downhill, I let the pack go.  Damn.  I rolled in 3 minutes after Ina Teutenberg's awesome sprint win, bagging 64th place and a bottle of water from Chris.  I chugged it and felt fine again.  Damn.

Lessons Learned:
1. Don't get distracted by Team Precious Moments-Bubble Yum's matching carbon fiber hair scrunchies.  Focus on yourself and how you're feeling.
2. The feed zone may be scary, but the things that happen when you skip it could be even scarier.
3. I do not like poutine.  But I gave it a fair try.  Or two.  Or five.
4. Even though I was scared out of my gourd, racing with world-class athletes was a really cool experience.
5. If anyone would like to ditch the whole cutesy thing and start Team Carhartt-Slim Jim, I'd be your biggest fan.

Team PK Express-Biemme at the pre-race presentation