my 2010 racing season: by the numbers

(Stats taken from the OBRA results pages.)

2010 racing season - results

place	Race	Category	Date
15	USGP of Cyclocross	Masters Women	12/05/2010
15	OBRA CCX Championship	Singlespeed Women	11/20/2010
28	Cross Crusade: Washington County Fair Complex	Masters Women 45+	11/07/2010
32	Cross Crusade: Portland International Raceway	Masters Women 45+	10/24/2010
28	Cross Crusade: Alpenrose Dairy	Masters Women 45+	10/03/2010
3	OBRA STXC	SS Women	08/14/2010
5	Portland MTB Short Track Series Overall	Singlespeed Wmn	06/21 - 08/02/2010
7	Portland MTB Short Track Series	Singlespeed Women	08/02/2010
7	Portland MTB Short Track Series	Singlespeed Wmn	07/19/2010
9	Portland MTB Short Track Series	Singlespeed Wmn	07/12/2010
DNF	Portland MTB Short Track Series	Singlespeed Women	07/05/2010
6	Portland MTB Short Track Series	Singlespeed Women	06/28/2010
2	Portland MTB Short Track Series	Singlespeed Women	06/21/2010

As you can see, my season this year began in June and ended in early December. For someone who doesn't yet know how to train, cannot afford a coach and works full time, this is a fair amount of activity for a second season of racing. You can also see that regular participation changes the math. By racing six of the seven weeks of short-track and finishing five of those races successfully, I managed to land in fifth place in the overall series standings, even though I finished last or near-last every time. (My second place showing at the first short-track race happened because there were only three of us in the new Womens' singlespeed category, and the third woman DNF'd on a mechanical.) All those top-ten finishes reflect the smaller fields of a brand-new category; but they also means a lot of points and those points add up.

What do I take from this? That Womens' singlespeed is growing and that more women will sign up for the category next year -- so I had better learn how to train if I hope to stay in the top ten at short-track.

There is talk of adding Womens' singlespeed to the Cross Crusade (be still, my heart). If that happens I will definitely enter at least four of the Crusade races and possibly more if the transportation and scheduling work out. It's one thing to race in my masters' age group on my singlespeed bike, but quite another to race against other women who are all on singlespeed bikes. Even though I will likely be the oldest woman out there in the latter case, that latter case is what I want. Call me crazy. Call me hopeful.