Today I had my first collegiate bike race of the season in Corvallis, OR. After two weeks off, I was completely unprepared. At 9:40 we started the road race- 3.5 laps for a total of 56 miles and four times up the long hill. My first time up the hill I managed to stay in the front but my legs received a rude awakening to the brutal reality of bike racing. At the top of the hill the second time, the top six racers had split into three groups of two, I was in the third group. (Why I love collegiate cycling: earlier in the race we self-neutralized our race for a pee break on the side of the road. I wonder what our follow car officials were thinking.) We worked together to bridge the gaps and soon all six of us were pacelining together. Fast. At the bottom of the hill the third time, I started to bonk. All I had for the race was water and one power bar, clearly not enough calories for 56 miles. I was quickly dropped and rode most of the third lap by mself. A group of three women caught me and I rode with them for about 10 miles, but I was dead and dropped again. The finish was on top of the hill; our fourth time up. I struggled up, slowly, so slowly. I was dreaming of chocolate cake. Before leaving for the race this morning Noah's mom was making chocolate cake to celebrate Noah's birthday tonight (we're staying at the Bronstein's house) and that's what I was earning for as my body started shutting down and my fingers could barely manage to shift. It was all I could do to keep my feet spinning. Pure willpower. Finally I neared the finish. 400m to go, at only a slight grade. And the last Cat.A woman breezed by me. "No," I thought, I almost made it through four years of college withought joining the DFL Club (loosely translated as the Dead Last Club). Determined to not get passed at the finish, I shifted into a bigger gear and stood up to sprint. Then I sat down because I had overestimated my strength and couldn't actually turn a gear that big. So I shifted into an easier gear and stood up to sprint. I sprinted past that girl and then immediately sat down and spun across the finish. It was a comical sprint. She tried to stand up and sprint also and then gave up. I would estimate our speed at about 10 mph. Um, did I mention it was cold and rainy?

So after finishing the race, and knowing that the best cure for a bonk is calories, I ate. Chocolate milk, teddy grahams, bananas, PB&J, cookies, energy bars. I ate so much that during our team time trial that afternoon I had to pull down the waistband of my shorts to let my pot-belly hang over comfortably.

The TTT was much more fun, although still painful. Rebecca Jensen (RJ), Jaime Hinderliter, & I raced together and tackled the hilly, windy course with class and a good attitude. RJ's parents took us out for a Thai food dinner. And now, well, now I'm going to eat that chocolate cake!