Huffmaster Mini Race Report from Danielle S (2022)
Huffmaster Mini, Sunday, February 27th - My very first bike race, and while I am no Glen Augustine, this is my race report…
55 miles, 3,009 feet of elevation, ~25 miles of gravel.
Beautiful, crisp morning but not as cold as I had anticipated. Lots of sun! I didn’t get to the front of the pack at the start line, which wasn’t a good idea seeing that the first 7-9 miles were really flat and slightly windy. I was able to latch on to some bigger guys’ wheels through that, then climbed pretty well, passing some people. I did have my chain skip off while I was switching gears climbing. Not cool. Luckily I got my feet out before I toppled over to the ground! While I quickly put my chain back on, a child passed me climbing the hill. A child. Which was both awesome to see, and a little demoralizing.
Found my rhythm again and passed a guy right at the top who became a help for me through miles 20-33, which again were flat but on mostly thick gravel. High cadence through that stuff! Quick stop to refill bottles and ate a banana at the hydration stop. Was gone in a few minutes and off to the short, final climb at mile 33. Caught up to two other women in my age group on the final descent. They passed me again a couple miles ahead and I managed to stay on their wheels until we hit the road, catching three other women who joined us too. I spun my skinny ass legs as fast and hard as I could to not lose them in those final 7 miles. We hit thick, flat gravel for the last ~5 miles and it was crazy! Super rocky, semi fish tailing, just trying to hold on. We made the last turn with a .5 mile drag to the finish line. Those ladies turned it up and were gone! I finished just 20 seconds or so behind two of them but they was fast!
I remember when I first started cycling in 2006, I didn’t have any solid direction or training structure. I rode multiple century fundraising rides those first years and would always finish when every tent, table, and banner was already stripped down. Not on this day! I basked in the sun among other riders, listening to the band, sipping my beer, and feeling rather elated. Had my BBC pink on and met four other members after too - CJ, Jesse, Seth, and Leslie. Success!
Race Report from Danielle S.