A little late I know....

Better than never?  :)

Finally a couple minutes to sit down and write a recap of this past weekend's racing!  Last week, SKINourishment p/b Paceline Projects traveled to Glencoe, IL to participate in the Glencoe Grand Prix.  Having never participated in this race before, I'm SO glad to announce this race will now be one on our schedule from now on as this has quickly become one of my all time favorite races!

Glencoe Grand Prix does a phenomenal job putting on a spectacular event, thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of all the folks who organize and take part in the event.  Glencoe is a very unique community and they really embrace the race and especially the women racers.  It's rare to participate in such a community supported event and I feel very lucky to have been invited to be a part of it.

Here are some highlights:

• Thursday morning school visit at the Central School with the 5th and 7th graders.  What an awesome group with very insightful questions!  Thank you for inviting me to share a bit about cycling and my experiences!  

• Guest-rider Vanessa Drigo arrived from NC Thursday afternoon!  We were scheduled to take part in the Fun Ride Thursday evening to raise money for the Education Fund, but storms got in the way and the ride was cancelled.  Bummer.  Instead we took a day off and enjoyed great company and a delicious dinner with the wonderful Chiang Family. 
• Friday AM- more school visits!   Vanessa and I volunteered to do additional school visits and went to West School to hang out with the younger kids and talk about bike safety, all the different reason people ride bikes, and of course did some riding demos.  

• Great ride with Michael- beautiful weather and nice view of the water!  

• Vanessa and I attended the Community Dinner Friday night.  What a great way to connect with folks in Glencoe.  Getting creative, the Glencoe Grand Prix raffles off pro riders to specific families who bought tickets to the dinner.  Proceeds go to the Educational Fund and if the rider gets on the podium at the race, the family gets on the podium with them for pictures and wins a prize too! Did I mention, trading cards???  How cool.  I have extras if anyone is interested in collecting their own Kat Carr trading card. :) 

• Race day!  Saturday morning I met up with Judy Loughlin to catch up before the race.  We enjoyed some delicious local coffee on the corner of the course.  Thank you Judy for driving all that way to meet up with me!  Looking forward to visiting more with the Loughlin Family later this summer for some more IL racing!  
• *Special thanks to Jose Alcala and SRAM for time and again coming to my aid and fixing my bike! What an awesome guy.*
• Front line special call-up as a thank you!  Many very kind words.  
• Race was crazy.  After pre-riding the course with Michael the day before, we knew the course was going to make the race challenging.  Tons of corners.  Narrow roads.  Very important to stay towards the front.  I did just that for the beginning of the race and so did Vanessa.  Then things got pretty nuts.  Torrential rains.  Literally, we couldn't see the pace car.  Power cut out and one of the downhill corners flooded like I've never seen in a race.  Crashing, gaps opening up everywhere, and riders popping off the field.  I had some strange cramping issues making it impossible to sit down and pedal at the same time.  Out of the saddle riding became pretty difficult in those conditions and I became disconnected along with 30 or so other people.  Erica Allar, Sam Schnieder, and Laura Van Gilder were in the break and then the field was shattered in several small groups for a while.  Towards the end of the race, after a brief neutralization, Vanessa worked her way back into the group chasing the break.  She won a prime, one of several the race so generously gave to the women's field.  Recognizing that the pro women's field was equal in numbers to the pro men's field but racing for much less money, they made an awesome gesture to the women's field offering multiple cash primes! She did a great job and it was a pleasure to have her join me for this race!

• Up and coming riders!  Future pro women Annie and Leila about to start their race!  
• Community Block Party post-race!  What an awesome time.  Amazing Director John who has done a phenomenal job and his efforts to promote women's cycling have not gone unnoticed by us, called the pros on stage.  I had a panic type moment when asked to speak into the microphone. Eek!  First time for everything.  Enjoyed a great performance by 16 Candles 80s band and had a blast dancing with new friends.  Sometimes you have to be silly.  

• HUGE thank you to Michael, Regina, Amelia, Elise for hosting us, Jose for his help, Vanessa Drigo for some awesome racing, Nikki Cyp for all her generosity and help, the Glencoe schools, and all the folks who make the Glencoe Grand Prix so special!