Madera -- Jenny Frayer

Mad…era. Yep, that’s what it was for me. Either I had heat exhaustion or was suffering from a 3 day hot flash, still not quite sure which of the two it was. I had fun in the crit, but it went down hill from there- my body just didn’t like all that heat this weekend and wouldn’t let me ride to my potential. Next year…..there will be redemption. But, I had a great time anyway. As Paul Gossi said at dinner Saturday night, our goal as Team RW members this year was to make a presence as a Reno Wheelmen Team at some of the Nor Cal races. We did that and more and I am so proud of all of you who showed up and raced your hearts out. And the icing on the cake was the awesome placings we had in so many of the events!!! Congratulations to you all!!!!

We did have 4 RW women out there racing. Besides myself in the 35+ group, we had Christine Andersen and Danielle Griffo in the women’s 4’s and Marian Jamison in the Women’s 3’s. Christine and Danielle were doing quite well in the 4’s but I don’t know how it all ended up after the RR. Marian hung with the pack in the crit (the 1, 2 and 3’s all raced together) and was having the TT of her life when she flatted 2 miles from the finish. Marian rode in on her flat and still posted a faster time than a lot of the other women including myself. She was looking good when I passed her in the rr on the way out as she and the 4’s had the 11:00 start. Marian and Christine we’d love to hear how it went for you.

What I learned.

1. Do not park in the center divider at the Mad-era crit course. There were more goat heads there than in the entire State of Nevada.

2. Do not wear a TT helmet when riding in a TT when the temp is over 95 degrees and you are already suffering from the heat exhaustion. It is really hard to pour water over your head with a TT helmet on.

3. In a stage race when it is really hot, try to get your core body temp down in between stages. I should have checked into the hotel between the crit and the TT and sat in the pool so as to get myself cooled off.

4. When all else fails in a rr, stop at the feed zone and help the neutral support feed – it is way gratifying when you can lend a bit of support to anyone still out there suffering.

j