Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Florida State Road Race Championship Weekend
Well, the long awaited update about the Florida State Road Races! I most likely went into this weekend a little under the weather due to the fact I have felt sick since the Monday right after the race, which means the past two weeks. First up was the age group races on Saturday. All the women started together which meant all the strongest women in Florida were represented. Even the current Master's 30-34 Overall, Road Race, and Criterium Champion was present in this race. After several breakaway attempts the race came down to a field sprint. It can be a little tricky having a few different Master's Categories in one race so it is a good idea to just race for the overall win. With this in mind nobody wanted to see anything get up the road. It paid off to have patience in this sprint. The first move in the down hill headwind sprint came a bit too early. I had to have patience sitting two wheels back on the girl attempting to close the gap. I knew if I went to early the wind may make me fade. I timed the sprint just right and won the whole race! This means two things; one, I won the race and two, I won the 30-39 state champion jersey!
At the awards ceremony Saturday night I was awarded with several trophies. Considering I missed several races due to racing out of state with Hub Racing the list isn't too shabby. Below I will list out the bling I brought home:
* Spring Points Series- 3rd place
* State Criterium Champion- 2nd place
* Fall Points Series- 5th place
* Overall Points Series- 3rd place
* Florida Cup Series- 2nd place
* State Road Race Master's 30-39- 1st place
* Champion of Champions- 3rd place
Sunday, the cat. 1,2,3/ cat. 4 road race didn't go as well as Saturday. This is largely due to the fact that the girl who was off the front of the race was getting motor paced by a motor official. I will try to keep this recap condensed. With a little over one lap to go we were neutralized so another field could pass us. After being restarted I closed the gap to the girl off the front of the race on the feed hill were she seemed to continually slow every lap. I knew with one lap to go this is where I had to close the gap or it would become more difficult to do so. After closing the gap over half way we rounded the bend to see an official motor pacing the girl off the front. Her gap multiplied by 10 after she was motor paced on the top of the hill, down the hill, across the flat section, and up the next hill. I cannot spell it out exactly how upset this made me feel! (To keep this "G-Rated") I can tell you that I didn't have the best sprint finish after this happened. I finished 6th place overall in the race, making me 6th place on the day for the cat. 1,2,3. Even after protesting, the result still stood. Unfortunately sometimes these things can happen in the bike races and they can change the entire outcome. It makes me happy to know that 3 officials agree with me and the other girls about it being wrong to get motor paced.
Now a little down time before the Cycle-Cross Season gets underway in Florida.
Elizabeth Morse Hill
Pictures to follow...
