This is only the biggest and fastest criterium in the Southeast. I have gotten
about every place there is except the big win. For all of you newbie racers
my first time riding this race I couldn't get clipped in at the start. To add
to my frustration, they called a prime on lap one and bam! I was off the back
(OTB). Last year was a crazy finish with me bumping handlebars with Gina Grain
and backing down. Tonight was going to be my night.
For it to be my night it wasn't starting out to well. My brakes were loose
and while trying to get ready I realized that I had left my shoes at home.
It was too late to go back to Atlanta and fetch the shoes, I started to panic.
Jeremy as usual was just awesome! He told me to calm down and he would take
care of it. So, I kept getting ready and tried to relax. I called Julie hoping
that she had her shoes here and I could borrow them. Jeremy returned with a
pair of shoes that he snagged from Forum gal Chamblee. The cleats were the
wrong ones, so friend Creed Sewell started changing out cleats for me. Then
the Sunshine Bikes guy came by and told me to come down to the shop and he
would tighten my brakes. WOW! What nice people!!!!!! Thank you Jeremy!!!!
So, I finally started warming up. Teamie Tracy and I went to roll out on the
road and it was just to dark. Our usual place is pretty shaded so I knew that
it was going to be even darker there. She had rollers at the car and I hoped
that I could find some to borrow.
I called friend Russ and asked him if he had his trainer at the course. No
luck, they were in his hotel room. Again the forum girls came through! Yeah!
Thank you guys for the rollers!
I was nervous about the rollers. It has been years since I have ridden them.
Honestly, they take to much attention and with my ADD I would just rather have
a trainer, so I called Julie again. Yeah! She and Chad ran to get their trainer.
I started spinning away and did my usual warm-up via the rollers then the trainer.
I then went to the car with about 15 minutes to spare to fetch the massage
oil and Jeremy told me that teamie Tracy wasn't going to race.
Well, for those of you who don't know Little T or T as I call her, she is a
feisty little blonde who has been riding with me for the past 4 years. She
crashed really hard a couple of weeks ago at a training crit and has been pretty
sketched out since. I couldn't blame her for the no start decision.
Well, the cleats on my borrowed shoes weren't exactly in the correct place
and Tracy and I wear the same size shoe. Yeah!! Saved again! Little T let me
borrow them!! Oh my! Jeremy kept telling me to relax and calm down.
I went to the trainer for a last minute spin and then it started raining just before we were to roll on to the course. Many racers
have a hard time racing in the rain. When it rains they don't ride or they
turn around and go home. I have had many a training camp and sprint night and
NRC races in the rain. At one time I had come to the conclusion that if you
have to race in it then you can train in it. But this year, I have let the
rain get the better of me. If I wake up in the morn and I hear rain, whehewee!
An off day!!
Well, when it started raining I knew that I had an automatic advantage. "Hey",
I told myself, "You like the rain and I do well in rainy conditions".
I rolled to the start.
My place at the line was horrible. I really needed to be on the line today.
Especially in the rain. The announcers kept saying that they were going to
call 10 women to the line. Please, PLEASE, let me be one! They called several
girls, a couple that I had no idea who they were, and then "SHANNON HUTCHISON,
she is dangerous in the sprint!" Thank goodness! I went up front and waved
to my parents and brother and his fiancé'.
Several more announcements and finally we started. I went hard and Quark quickly
moved to the front. These first few laps were basically a blur. I found myself
with spray from everyone's tires covering me with water and dirt. Funny, I
was never cold. My hands started to hurt from gripping the handle bars so hard.
I heard people yelling my name, "GO SHANNON!" I slipped in turn 4
and my tire caught again just in time. I looked back and saw that we were single
file. Quark attacked and Victory Brewing covered it. The prime bell kept ringing
and girls sprinted for the money and prizes, I lay in wait. Be patient I kept
telling myself. Not to hard in the turns, leave some space. At one point I
kept seeing the same 4 girls and I wondered if there were only Quark, Victory
and me. I pulled through thinking it was a break, but when I looked back I
saw that we had the field strung out still. Again, I heard "GO SHANNON!" The
rain started to come down even harder. I felt like I was opening my eyes under
water in a pool. Swimming and riding a bike at the same time. More primes and
then fireworks started to explode which added to the craziness. My hands were
definitely hurting and I kept wiggling them so they weren't quite so stiff.
I wondered how long we had been out here. I kept waiting for lap cards, every
lap I looked. Are we done yet? Can I make it? Again I heard, "GO SHANNON!" Quark
attacked more, Victory covered it, I covered it, and a few other girls covered
it.
We came up on a small group of girls. They stayed right and we went around
them. The rain finally stopped and Quark let up a little. Ahh, things were
getting better. Girls started to come to the front that I hadn't seen in a
while. I wondered who was left. "GO SHANNON!"
We came up on the field. This was scary. I was afraid that they would try to
jump in with us and the crashes would begin. I waited for someone to attack
from our group. Quark went to the front and started to pull again.
I looked to the officials stand, are we almost done I pleaded? Then I saw it................11
Laps to go!!! I felt like heaven had heard me, I could make it! Watch for every
attack! QUARK came by and I jumped on. "GO SHANNON!!!"
10,9,8...3,2, 1 lap to go!
I was to far back and moved up and into turn 1, 2 and up the hill. I was on
the inside and I looked around, waiting for the attack. I saw 2 Quark girls
zooming up the outside. I accelerated and as they got to the front I got on
their wheels. Into turn 3 and 4 they stayed steady and careful not to go to
hard and crash in the slippery turn. As we came out of turn 4 I made a split
second decision to go up the inside. I accelerated, shifted, went as hard as
I could, mouth open, praying that no one was going to come around. Everything
was silent, I had tunnel vision for the finish line ahead, please no one come
around, go harder, harder, faster, in my head I heard myself say just go Shannon!.......
OHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hit the line and through my arms up in the
air! I DID IT!!! I WON!! The crowd went crazy! I put my hands on my helmet
in disbelief! I had beaten Quark, Colavita and many others! The crowd was
going crazy! I did my cool down lap and threw my arms up and all around the
course people cheered. As I rolled up to the start line Jeremy was there
waiting for me, tears of joy in his eyes. He gave me the biggest hug and
we laughed and smiled. This is definitely the biggest and best win of my
career! Jeremy was there helping me every step of the way. My parents have
been to many races. They have seen me work for others and come in last, they
have seen me crash out, it was awesome that they finally got to see me at
this fantastic moment! My brother and his fiancé' saw me get edged
out at the line at Clarendon Cup so to see me come back and win was so exciting!!
All my friends were there shaking my hand and congratulating me. IT WAS AWESOME!!
Thank you to everyone that helped me on this night! You are all fantastic!
Without your help I would have been sitting on the sidelines cheering. You
helped make my cycling career complete. I have always wanted to win an NRC
race. I am always at the edge. I finally made it.
