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For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, I have
some fun news to share. After several years of hard work, I finally
got to cross the finish line with my arms in the air! On Sunday, I won
Boulder’s famed Spring classic - The Koppenberg circuit race.

The course consisted of 5 laps on a 5.5 mile loop, including 2 miles
of dirt and a very short but very steep 17% climb. The race was
postponed a week because of snow, rain and too much mud. Sunday’s
weather was mild with some wicked wind.

At the gun, we charged into the wind on the dirt. A rider attacked
the first time up the climb and dangled off the front for a lap. I
lead into the second climb with the same old voice resounding in my
head the whole time - get off the front, you do this every time and
wind up working way too hard. I was a single rider and there were
teams present, so I should have just sat back. But, I felt too good.
Up the climb the second time, I found myself near the front, so
charged ahead steadily to catch the rider off the front. When I
reached her, I rested, pulled again and finally looked back to assess
the field. Damage! There were only 4 of us left. Yes! “Drafting
off of Chellie when she made that bridge was like being towed by a
motorbike,” was one of the comments that made its way back to me a day
later.

We worked steadily, hammering away the rest of the race. 2 women from
the same team -Vitamin Cottage, a Tokyo Joe’s rider, and myself. It
was comfortable work. When we were on the 5th lap, the first thought
popped into my head - I could win this thing! I got excited for 2
seconds and then reigned the thoughts in. I needed to make it up the
climb for the last time, first. The climb was a bear and I came out
of it in 3rd with a VC rider and Tokyo Joes’s rider 50 feet ahead of
me. That voice started talking to me again. This time it was
screaming - Bridge! This doesn’t hurt! Don’t lose the race here,
Turbo! Push!! Head down and GGGGOoOOOoo! I was mesmerized by the
dirt and ruts of the road as I pushed with eyes down until the world
started getting fuzzy around me. I knew they were going all out - why
would they want me around at the end!? I made it and looked back to
see if the other VC rider had been on my wheel. No - down to just 3.
Yes!

I was 3rd wheel coming into the 1/4 mile uphill finish. I was patient
- it was a long way to the finish line to try to sprint early. One
after the other, the 2 riders tried to make a go of it and tired. I
picked my moment and went. It was a long way and the legs were
rubber, but I ticked out the meters and made it happen. I looked back
2 times for fear that someone had grabbed my wheel to have another go,
but the others had no response. Crazy.

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Later, I asked Tim what the announcer, Dave Towle, said after I
crossed the line. (Dave has a huge heart and has been involved in the
national circuit for a long time.) “Clearly Chellie Terry has been
making deposits at the Pain Bank this winter!” His one-liners are
comical and very well known.

I am excited. I am ready to partake in the suffering this year. The
season is here. As Dave would say - it’s on like Donkey Kong!

Thanks for all of the support and good wishes.

Chellie