WOW! I guess my life isn't exciting enough to just blog about the amazing adventures between Bend USGP & Chicago CX New Years Resolution. Not that they were anything to brag about, because it was the usual bike riding and training, but with 2 awesome weekends at the cabin surrounded by friends. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Ours was quite and hectic all at the same time. And then it was off to start the new year with a BANG!
I headed off to Chicago without Tim, landing in Milwaukee and heading to my gracious host family, Wayne & Heidi Simon, producers of Enzo's Cycling Products, both Buttonhole Chamois Cream & Enzos Embro Stick. Both come highly recommended. And in Chicago, both were needed. Especially the embro.
Arriving at the scene on Saturday, the course was fairly muddy, but the sun was still out and I thought it would be fairly decent weather. But as soon as that sun went behind the clouds and the wind picked up, it was a really cold affair. I was prepared and dressed ready to rumble. But my body wanted a few more minutes to prepare. Although totally warmed up on the trainer, my engine got off to a slow start and then the crash fest started. I found myself caught behind the pileup on the first slick corner. Oh well. No panic. Just start riding and picking people off. My pre-ride conditions were a lot different than during the race as I found out in a corner before the pits, when I slid out and superman'd the corner, letting everyone I had worked on passing pass me again. OK, back on the gas working my way up. I finally got myself back to 3rd, but needed one more lap. It was a great way to shake out the legs and get them race ready.
Day 2 was a whole different story. Colder temperatures, more wind and goopy, peanut butter mud. I actually called my coach (Kendra Wenzel) to get permission not to race. It wasn't that I didn't want to race, but I was worried about my bikes and thought that if it became a running race, was it really going to improve my fitness or help? Stories from earlier races made me cringe. Broken derailleurs, running huge stretches of the course, etc, etc. But I had a good pit crew and I just couldn't not race. I love to race my bike and I do like epic conditions. Except when they force you off the bike for long stretches. Luckily, it wasn't that bad. I was smart and actually did run more than I wanted to, just because it was faster. I had a great start, because it was a mean head wind and no one was as stupid as I was to go in the front, but I didn't want to get caught behind people and I wanted to set the pace and ease into the day. But again, after my fast start, my body just needed a bit to warm up. I settled in to my pace and just rode my race. In my head I had decided if I was out racing, I wanted to win. I rode smooth and just plugged away and my body started going faster. I finally caught the leader with one to go and in one lap put 51 seconds on her. I hate to admit that it was fun, but also, without the help of Wayne Simon and company in the pit, I would not have won. I rode smart, pitted every lap and just stayed consisten and it paid off. It was a great way to shake the cobwebs out of the legs and get ready for nationals. And ready I am. Although all the spots for the worlds team are already taken with automatic selections, I am still ready to rumble and have a great race! And the cold weather practice was a great way to start the new year!
PICTURES TO FOLLOW. Not sure how to upload on my ipad?!?!
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