Danielles Report

Sunday, June 10th I headed to Winters for the Davis Dunlap Time Trial. I was a bit hesitant about racing as the weekend approached -- the previous week I was ill and additionally, I was riding a new bike and I hadnt had a chance to get a proper fit. But after convincing my friend Angela to make this her first bike race, I knew there was no backing out.

Angela and I left San Francisco and headed for the good old Central Valley for a day in the sun. We rolled into windy Winters at about 8:45 and headed straight for the lovely porta-potties and then to the new local caf� for a dose of caffeine. We sat on our trainers for a good hour complaining about the wind�windy on a June morning?? What the $%#!! Thankfully, the temperatures were cooperating and it was actually quite mild.

My start time was not until 11:18 so we cruised around on our bikes a bit and then headed over to the start line. The time trial course could not have been better, a 35K loop weaving through the Davis tomato fields - a course that any Aggie cyclist has ridden one too many times. It took a few minutes to find my rhythm but I finally seemed to settle in after some time. About 10K into the time trial, I realized a few things: #1: don�t assume all aerobars are the same. I borrowed my boyfriend�s aerobars at the last minute (literally, the morning of the race). During the race I discovered that they were actually quite a bit shorter than my bars and I could not stretch out. Consequently, I learned lesson #2: Get a bike fit. My back started aching about 15K into the race. I actually had to sit up a few times and stand once to alleviate the pain. #3: Take full water bottles. Im a camel on the bike and assumed because it was not particularly hot, I would be okay with 1.5 bottles- nope! I really could have used some fluids the last 5k � I was so thirsty!

I did not feel great throughout the entire time trail but after convincing myself that I would be miserable sitting by the car if I did not finish, I completed the race. I was quite surprised (and happy) that I was only 2 minutes slower than last year as I have had a whirlwind of a year and have not been able to train nearly as much as I did in 2003. And the best news of all, Angela loved it and I think we may have a new woman joining us on the road soon!

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