Down to the lobby for breakfast before hitting the road for the days races
We pretty much take over the entire area for about 45 minutes before departure
We took two rigs like this with us...many times we travel in a bigger bus but a lot of kids were driving themselves and then taking off for spring break...
We occupied quite a strech of road at the road race sunday with our two buses and trailers, along with a few other individual vehicles
The bikes have been unloaded and are ready for the day...
More bikes and wheels, etc...
In the bus on the way home!
So, if you haven't noticed we are treated pretty darn well. Better than the average Pro team for sure! All our nutrition needs are taken care of as far as gu's, bars, recovery drink, and everyday food fuel. We stay at nice hotels where most kids main concern is whether or not we have free wireless internet and we have enough extra equipment that most everyday problems can be fixed in time for a race!
On to the races...
Saturday:
Morning - Individual Time Trial - I did alright, had some skipping on my rear cassette but for the most part it felt ok. I didn't feel real smooth and had a hard time deciding on a pace but that will come with time and experience. I just rode my regular road bike for the event, which was fine becuse it was a bit of a hilly TT course. However I did just get a frame that I plan on building into a TT bike so that should be a good time soon! O, I got 2nd.
Afternoon - Road Race - We did 6 laps of what we had already done for the TT in the morning, it was about a 46 mile road race on a beautiful warm day! The team was doing pretty well together, just getting used to riding together. There were a few things we should have done differently but we will learn with time. In the end I really messed things up by sprinting one hill early. I though the finish was at the top of on one hill but it was actually at the top of the next. So I used a lot of energy going for the wrong finish and then I got impatient and fustrated and pretty much stopped using my head. I ended up mashing up the last hill in way to big of a gear and just drilling myself into the ground. Luckily my teammate Kristi had been wiser than I and ended up taking 2nd, as I came in 4th and we had the rest of the girl not too far behind. Overall I just made a bad error and learned from it, no good excuse, just wan't focused enough I guess.
Sunday:
Morning - Road Race - This road race was on a longer loop so we only had to do 4 laps for a total of 44 miles. Being girls, a lot of riders had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the race, including myself on this particular day. So someone kinda headed up a pee break and we all stopped...all but one Georgia girl who decided to keep going. Thankfully as I was running into the woods two of my teammates realized what was going on and went with her. This caused a real hustle to get back on the bikes and chase them down. I got in the front of the pack and one of my other teammates was with me. Clara stayed back and pulled our other girls on...I should have dropped back sooner than I did to help but I got a bit anxious. In any case we brough the pack back together and there were the three girls off the front. My team should have attemped an attack for a few of us to bridge the gap but I was unsure and never initiated anything. With only a few miles left to go we caught the break and played it out till the finish. I got myself in a good position and drilled it from about 300meters out to take the win...I had some additional insentive after Saturday. Mo came in 3rd and we had good finishes behind that as well!
I should also mention that our B women racers also did very well this weekend. They swept the TT and then placed 1st and 3rd on saturday and 1st and 2nd on Sunday! The Boys also did well but I'm not positive on any numbers so please forgive me...I can only keep track of so much!
It was a good weekend and i'm happy to be back in Banner Elk for another hard week of training...the intervals increase this week and I still have to go back to Georgia and race again next weekend. It should make for some good pain in many different forms.
Hope all is well with everyone and i'll try to keep you tuned and up to date!
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