Sadly, the couple days prior to the race were rough ones. Whitney had an amazing showing at Speedweek and raced her GNAR socks off. Especially after such a difficult season last year, I was very happy for her and proud of my teammate who had worked so hard to come back from her crash at Speedweek 2012. She raced so well that other pro teams took notice of her accomplishments too. When she told me another team approached her, I wasn't surprised! I would be shocked if folks didn't take an interest in her after that. However, I was surprised when she told me that she was signing on to another team and wouldn't be racing with me in a couple days. I was one sad puffy eyed Kat last week. Happy I had such a great partner, teammate, and friend in all of this for 2 years, but sad nevertheless to lose Whitney when things were off to such a great start for us.
But what can you do? Wish her all the best as she pursues her dreams and works to develop as a rider AND continue to have fun and race the heck out of my sweet Veloforma on this small and mighty team of one. :)
So I did just that. Tour de Grove race weekend kicked off Friday night with the Midtown Grand Prix. I love night crits and get super giddy whenever I get to switch out my Smith lenses as I prepare to race in the dark. Made some friends with the locals before the start and they proceeded to cheer like crazy for me the entire race which made me smile. While it's impossible (I'm pretty sure) to cry and pedal hard at the same time, it's very possible to pedal hard and smile. As I've been working on the race fitness, I was encouraged to feel things starting to click and fall into place Friday night. The race grove was momentarily disrupted when a big crash about 20 minutes in neutralized us. I had to go to the pit, my saddle broke, and then we all waited for a while to re-stage. We re-started and the racing continued. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. An attack with 4 laps to go got me and our team some sweet announcer coverage but it didn't pan out on the road. Heading into the finish, I got caught up in the middle and unable to move where I wanted. Fearless Femme did a monster leadout and the race was over. I finished 21st for the night.
Saturday, was Tour de Grove. The crit was part of the NCC and USA Crits schedule so many new faces lined up at the start for this race that hadn't raced the previous night. Perhaps it was the wind and how painful it was to be exposed to it on the backside of the course...or maybe some of the bigger teams were tired coming from Gila or Speedweek...regardless of the reason... there was an uncharacteristic lack of aggressiveness as none of the bigger teams attempted to take control of the race and make the race "I might puke on my top tube if this doesn't let up soon" hard. Not that the race was a breeze but strange nevertheless as this race was a big one with a lot of money up for grabs. I did well moving around, getting to the front, following moves, etc...another piece of the racing puzzle falling into place. The last turn before the finish is a total U turn and heading towards it I couldn't go the the right (the sheltered side of the road) and was forced to take the brunt of the wind on the left. It was literally like hitting a wall. Even though I was up out of my saddle sprinting into the turn, it felt like I was going backwards. I wondered afterwards if I had just stayed on the right even though there was no hole to get through and cruised it in would I have actually finished higher up...I'll never know. Came in 27th, cooled down, and started to prepare for the street sprints that were originally scheduled for several hours to follow, but then found out they were cancelled! Major bummer! Instead spent an awesome evening at la casa de Carrie and Chris with their super cool kids and Vanessa Drigo. We chilled to Life of Pi.
The Dutchtown Classic on Sunday finished off the race weekend. This course is a fun one with an uphill finish that I really like. We had perfect sunny weather and I was thankful for my new favorite sunscreen from our title sponsor. I'm very particular when it comes to sunscreen so imagine my joy using an EFFECTIVE and SAFE mineral sunscreen that's actually super easy to put on, doesn't clog up my skin, and to my freakishly sensitive nose has a subtle comforting and sweet fragrance. Natural anti-inflammatory properties too!!! With my sunscreen appropriately applied 20 minutes before hand, I got out on course to scope out the conditions. Windy again...but the legs were feeling good. With a Honey Stinger gel on the start, I was ready to race. I was aggressive with positioning and when I heard the bell for the first of only two primes in the race, I decided to go for it. On the downhill before the last two turns into the very long and straight uphill drag to the finished, I moved up to 4th wheel or so. Primal was on the front, but as we came out of the last corner I attacked through the small gap on the left. As I neared the line, I looked back to see how big my gap was and even though I could see everyone going for it I knew I had it comfortably. I eased up a bit before I crossed the line to start to recover in case someone countered. I won the prime and sure enough, Optum flew by with a counter-attack. I managed to get on somewhere towards the back of the single file pack and desperately hoped the pace would ease up enough for me to recover in the next lap or two. That didn't happen. I clearly went way too hard to win the prime and when riders started popping off/opening up gaps, my legs weren't recovered enough to continually close them. I got disconnected, but stayed out there to get more riding in the legs and back in the field work on that surging race pace. I finished in the 30s, a little bummed in myself at my miscalculation and a lack of sweet results, but pleased with general tone of my racing and the improvements made all weekend.
Of course it wouldn't be a race weekend if I wasn't speeding off to the airport for a rushed exit. Somehow I always manage to convince myself and others there is time to stop for treats. :)
At St. Louis hot-spot... Ted Drewes photo booth style...post-race with Carrie Cash and Vanessa Drigo:
A huge thank you to all the amazing sponsors who support this team. It's truly an honor to race for you. A huge thank you to Chris, Carrie, and Vanessa who made the race weekend a fun one, not to mention opened their home to me and carted my butt to and from the airport and around St. Louis, to Billie and Leif who managed to sneak away from all their packing in the middle of their move to come cheer me on at the race (I was so happy to see you both!!!), and to my super rad mom on Mother's Day for being the coolest women I know!
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