Giro de San Francisco

by Katie Kelly

September 4th, San Francisco, CA.

Race: Giro de San Francisco

Where: Around the Levi Strauss Plaza.

Course description: Mildly bumpy with one turn oversome railroad tracks, and even one left hand turn,just to keep us on our toes.

When: Yesterday morning.

Teammates: Laurie Fenech (Team Taylor)

Result: 19th out of 20 but wait.

As this was my first race as a Cat 3, I knew I would need the help of a teammate, if only to motivate me to even show up to the line. My friend Laurie and I also had discussed some team tactics weeks prior tothis race. Having a a tactic is a great way to distract your mind from the reality that you may be in over your head.

Because we'd be in two different team kits, we thought this might be to our advantage as no one would knowthat we would be employing a "team strategy".

Our strategy was to attack and to counter-attack MetroMint's attacks for which they've grown famous.

Then what happened was the race started. My typical habit of yelling, "Hey, wait up," wasn't going to work here. These are Cat 3s, hardened byyears of racing experience.

The brisk pace soon became uncomfortable. I spent the first four or thirteen laps dangling off the back, inspired by friends on every corner of the race, all yelling something to the tune of, "Hang inthere, Katie!"

This isn't what champions want to hear. Champions want to hear something alluding to the pain they are inflicting. But we count on our friends for their honesty. This is why they are our friends. I probablywould not have finished without them cheering for me.

During the race, I reminded myself of all of the latest research that says that lactate is actually used by your muscles as fuel.

Off of the front, I could see MetroMint and other racers staging attack after attack. Somewhere in there, there was Laurie. That I was somehow still withthe group, barely, even by lap 18, was nothing shortof a miracle to me.

With one and a half laps to go, I remembered our team strategy, the one about all the attacks.

And then, another thought: how many times in my life have I let golden opportunities go by, only to wonder, what if. Katie, think of the stories you can tell your grandchildren one day. That you don't even havechildren is not of consequence at this moment. It's just the idea, the principle, that one day, you will have a good story to tell.

I jumped off the front.

"Who is that, is she in our race?" I heard someone say.

Now I was spinning furiously through the start-finish line, too afraid to look behind me while pretending to look collected in front of the cameras and screaming fans.

"There's Katie Kelly, stringing out the pack," said the announcer.

By the time I reached the railroad tracks, I could only breathe via coughing as my throat was blocked by phlegm which I told myself was really fuel.

Could I hold them off during the ascent?

No. They swarmed around me so close, in hindsight, I should have grabbed onto someone's pocket.

"Hang in there, Katie!" I heard, again, as I was spit out the back.

For some reason, I passed MetroMint's Sarah Lightfoot, who was obviously doing work for teammates.

"That was awesome," she said. That felt good.

We coasted in 19th and 20th. She let me win.

After the race, I caught up with Laurie, who managed a pack finish.

"Well, I had to change my strategy," she said. We had a good laugh.