Exergy Twilight Crit & Idaho Crit Championship

Last Saturday I packed up the car, Veloforma secure on the rear courtesy of RockyMounts, and began the 5 hour journey north to Boise, ID for the Exergy Twilight Crit Saturday evening.  Matt and I had a pretty smooth drive.  Mostly due to Matt driving the entire 5 hours, enjoying some pre-race gourmet sandwhiches on my homemade sourdough oat bread, with fresh mozzarella, tomato, and our own fresh basil I picked on the way out the door (it's a frequent occurrence I'm running late on account of food-what can I say...it's generally worth it), and listening to an entertaining book on tape from the library.  Love your local library.  Even with the periodic rain, the drive went quickly and we found ourselves in a sunny and hot Boise in no time.  I warmed up while cheering for Matt who was having an exciting race-  top 10 yeah.  As soon as his race finished, I rolled up to the start line and downed some Honey Stinger Chews, love 'em, in time for the opening ceremony and pre-race instructions. Of course the clouds rolled in and a few warning drops fell on us before we were off.  A series of ppschhhts (sound of deflating tire) went off as most riders started lowering their tire pressure at the last minute.  Not this woman.  My Michelin Pro3s are phenomenal and I have the utmost confidence in them.  I wouldn't want to be on any other tire in the rain, so I abstained from messing with my tire pressure on the line.  With pretty full teams, notably Exergy, Tibco, and NOW, the race was pretty active.   I spent a good deal of the race 20-30 riders back as it seemed like we were almost always single file. 

Strung out on start/finish straight, and yep, I'm the last one...

Then the rain started coming down in a serious fashion, and the crashes began.  Luckily, the rain stopped as we neared the end of the race and the roads were beginning to dry for the finish.  The break that had been away was caught in the final laps and then it was really on.  Similar to what seems like every other race this year, my positioning was all wrong and I was caught behind a ridiculously big gap on the final lap.  I gave a big effort to get up there and pick off as many riders as I could before the finish line which landed me a 18th for the day.  Didn't hit the pavement (thanks Michelin) and had fun racing.  Not a bad day.  Cleaned up (I certainly needed it) and went out on the town.  Enjoyed a nice dinner with Matt at the Fork.  Cool place, love that my plate was a cutting board.  

Lookin' crazy but havin' a good time post Exergy Crit

Good times in Boise, ID

Raced the Veloforma, took a shower, and about to enjoy a delicious meal with Matt

Sunday, I rode out to a local crit for Idaho State Crit Championships in Hidden Springs, ID.  Nice climb to the race and then enjoyed a 8 corner course racing with the master men and Pro 123 women, going for all the primes, and winning the race. *Short clip from the race...I go by on the right side of the screen... 

I'm in there....I'm positive.  By the tree maybe?  Sure, that looks like me.  

Look forward to racing in Boise next year and a huge thank you to the Exergy Twilight Crit for a great event, great crowds, and showing your commitment to women's racing by offering equal prize money for both pro women and men.