I was the lone female Bob's representative at last weekend's Independence Valley Road Race in Rochester, Washington. The 1-2 women were grouped with the A-B Masters men, giving us a pack of about 40 riders. I was a little nervous about how my legs would feel in my first road race of 2008; the first few road races each season always seem to be really painful.

The course was a 19.5 mile loop with 2 short, but decently steep, climbs. I felt good at the beginning of the race and worked on positioning myself near the front of the field. Unfortunately, on lap two (of three), my legs could not respond on one of the climbs and I got popped. I ended up in a small group and we rotated through, chasing the pack. I actually thought we would catch them at one point, but the gap grew gradually larger and larger. At that point, the goal was to finish the race to get some miles and effort on the bike.

While I'm somewhat disappointed in my result, I am not altogether surprised that my legs weren't up to the challenge. I'm confident that as I get more and more races in my legs, I will be able to respond better. This weekend has two road races in store for me:  The Tour de Dung in Sequim, Washington and the Piece of Cake RR in Woodland, Washington. No matter what, I plan to race hard.