USGP Bend day one

Well day one of the USGP in over. Not the best day for me but it will do. It was so cold and windy all day.

We had 41 women on the start line in the Elite womens field. And of course I was number 39 on the call up order. So last row start :(

My goal was to see how many girls I could catch and pass. I got a good start and moved up into around 20th by the half way mark. I settled in with a group of gals. We were back and forth and a couple girls got around me and got away.

I felt good, just was affected by the altitude a lot. Lap 3 I started to panic a bit and was really having a hard time breathing. I calmed down and got control of the breathing and held on to finish 27th.

The corse was fun though. First time I have ridden in Bend for cross in the dry sandy conditions.

Mel got crashed out on the first lap and faught back to finish 27th.

Sean rode awesome and got 3rd in the 45+ men cat!

Chad wasn't feeling it today and finished in 50th in the 35+ men.

And Evan at the age of 18 raced his first National level elite race and finished strong, getting pulled with a couple laps to go.

Another day of racing tomorrow. My goal is to break into the top 20 tomorrow.

WA State Championships

What a beautiful day Sunday turned out to be at the WA State Championships in Arlington WA. It was cold but dry which made for some fast racing conditions.

My husband Chad got this awesome venue and created this awesome course. At first we were nervous that the course would be to fast and to boring, but after 4 hours of Chad tilling up the sand the course came to life.

With my rough season of injury, illness and mechanicals going into this race I wanted some redemption. And boy did I get it!

The womens elite field was stacked as usually with a ton of talent. I knew on this course with not to much technical elements I was going to have work really hard to be in the top 3.

The gun went off and I clipped into my pedal so fast. Best and fastest time so far this season. So I took off, and got the whole shot going into the first tree section. I heard a crash but I was off the front so I tried to make some ground. I had gotten about a 5 sec gap.

I was so surprised, I was off the front and feeling awesome. So I kept on the gas. I kept the lead for about 1 lap then Kari Studley caught me and passed me. I stuck to her wheel and we entered the sand. A guy fell in front of me and I ran right into him. I had to get back going again and that is when Kari got a small gap on me. I tried to bring it back but she was just a bit faster then me on the straight aways.

My team mate Mel Lewis was in 3rd with Jessica Cutler behind her in 4th. Mel played some awesome team tactics and didn't pull Jessica back up to me and with one lap to go Mel punched it to put a gap on Jessica and Mel came in 3rd place.

I held on and got 2nd just 10 sec behind Kari. What a great race. I felt like myself again. It just felt good to be able to push hard the whole race and not fade or have any mechanicals. Best race for me this whole season!

Sean, Evan and Chad all had great races. Sean took 2nd in the Master 45+ cat, Chad had a back injury and after being in 2nd for a few laps he fell back to 12th in the Master 35+. And Evan had another great race finishing in 13th in the Elite men.

Now we are off to race in Bend, OR this weekend. The season is almost over, I can't beleive how fast the season goes.