From Aparna

Aaah Snelling…It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.Or something like that. Here’s my attempt at a race report. I’ll have the first word, but not the last I hope. It all started that morning with the endless line of racers in front of the test “microchip” tent. There were some chuckles. There was a lot more swearing. The short of it is that people didn’t get to warm up as much as they would have liked because they spent half an hour in line. Good think Jamie and I were on "Joaquin time" and showed up 1/2 hour earlier than we planned.Other than the microchip debacle, the event was amazingly organized. Multiple fields of 50 to 100+ riders departing 5 minutes apart for half a day is no simple task. As I was trembling at the startling line with Cary, Michelle, Ann, Leslie, and Carolyn, all I remember is that everyone else was as frightened as I was. Some women were rambling on and on about completely irrelevant stuff (like one lady who decided to tell me about the Indian wedding she had been to). Others (like me) were just fidgeting and moving further up in the line just to stay in front. We got a nice lecture from the race official lady, who informed us that this was the first year that there were two full fields of CAT 4 women (go ladies!). And then we were off on a “2 mile” neutral warmup that felt like 10 miles of pedaling and breaking, with women constantly yelling “SLOWING!” Finally, we started the race. I tried to stay towards the front as much as possible, rotating on and off with Ann and Trudi. But the most demoralizing event happened in the first lap, when someone caused an accident that took out what looked to be a third of the field, including fellow teammates Michele, Cary, and Leslie. Michele finished the race. We found out later that Cary suffered a shoulder injury. More news, Cary? How are you? I don’t know what happened to Leslie. Leslie, are you ok? I just remember hearing a big crash after a sharp right turn and looked back to see our DBC colors fall. I told Trudi “it was one of us!” and kept pedaling after someone yelled “be cool ladies! Don’t look back!”For the rest of the race, Ann, Trudi, and I were trying to stay together in the front. And we did, for the most part. I felt great on the hills, and the group kept me well-protected on the flats. I was constantly yelled at, something I’m not used to, like “Hey Davis, keep your line!” I just ignored them and kept going. There was no love lost out there. No niceties. No small talk. No singing (apparently the men’s CAT 5 DBCers were singing “99 bottles of beer on the wall??). At the beginning of the last lap, we all turned the heat on. I stayed in front until about half way through, when I started losing some steam. Now I realize it was due to my lack of caloric intake. I only had 2 bottles of water, and ate 2 individual blocks of “shock blox.” No other electrolytes. No food. And I only had drunk about half of one bottle of water. So there I was, trying to stick to Ann’s wheel, when these women in yellow kept trying to push me off her wheel. I’m sure it was “Team Roaring Mouse.” Then I heard “block DBC!” and then one yellow jersey after another pushed me out of the way and I very kindly complied. And then I heard one yellow jersey tell the other “good job!” and a mass of yellow jerseys zipped off into the sunset. It was then that I finally realized . . . the “threat” (ha ha) that was Aparna had successfully been neutralized! I had gotten dropped.A few other women got dropped, and I heard one say “let’s work together to bridge the gap.” But apparently, the “together” did not include me. I tried to work with them, but I was clearly unwanted (they were all from the same team). So I didn’t stick to them either.So I time trialed for half a lap, all the while thinking “what the @#)(*$# happened there?” and at the same time hoping and praying my husband wouldn’t lap me on his fourth lap with men’s CAT 5. It would suck to get lapped on an 11 mile lap! The highlight of my solo trip was when a farmer on an old beat-up mountain bike who was moseying through his orchards looked at me with his big toothless grin and yelled “how fast ya’ goin’?” I responded “not fast enough!” and ducked down to continue my solo voyage home. I finished. Not sure how far behind the lead pack. Maybe a few minutes? Maybe more? On the one hand, I am stoked I hung with the pack for as long as I did. On the other hand, I am PISSED OFF I didn’t strategize wisely and stay with my teammates. I think DBC did very well generally. Trudi got 8th in Womens 4A. David Huang, Joaquin, Jamie, and another DBCer also did well (David placed third in his category). Anna – our new teammate who arrived from the UK a week ago – placed 4th in Womens 4B! We’re lucky to have her on our team! This was also Ann K's first race ever and she rocked it! She stayed with the pack until near the end, and we think she made it in 14th. Results are yet to come. Go Ann! And I think Niki and Ruth did well too! So what good would a race report be without lessons learned? Here ya go.(1) It pays to have numbers out there. By lap 2 there were only three DBCers but several Roaring Mouse and Velo Girls. (2) Watch out for the ladies in pink! They are scary! I think one of them caused the accident.(3) Don’t look intimidating, even if you don’t intend to look intimidating (according to Kevin, who saw me pass the finish line on all the laps, I was “checking out the field” in a way that would have looked intimidating to my competitors and that’s why they decided to “neutralize” me. Ha ha. Very flattering, if true.)(4) STICK TO A WHEEL AND DON’T LET GO! NOT EVEN IF SOMEONE TRIES TO PUSH YOU OFF! I should have held the line, and I didn’t.(5) Don’t just take water and a few shock blox. You’ll bonk. Take Hammer Gel. Take Shock Blox. Take goo. Take clif bars. Take speed. Take something!(6) Make nice nice with the ladies out there so that they will work with you if you get dropped. I think I must have given off the “bitch from hell” vibe, unintentionally. Little did the other ladies know it was the “scared shitless” vibe.(7) Relax and stick to a wheel!!!! Yes, I’m saying this for the second time, but I now realize I was so busy strategizing the entire time that for the most part, I was attacking and slowing and attacking and slowing and tiring myself out silly, while the rest of the pack was just chilling on wheels. (8) Don't do Snelling if you have a baby at home. It is an f-in LONG drive! Hope this helps. Many thanks to my fellow DBC women and to the lovely DBC fans who cheered us on at the finish line! Fellow racers, fill us in!