View of the Outdoor World RV Park in Boulevard
Our drive on Highway 8
There were pretty heavy winds and the rain was off and on. I yearned for the sun but it was not going to happen. It was actually much warmer than Boulevard hitting 59 degrees which made me very happy. Because of the weather I warmed up in the motor home. This was fantastic because I got nice and warm which was great for my legs considering how cold I was the day before. All was going well until I changed my rear wheel to my race wheel and was clicking through my gears to check them when my gear cable snapped at the shifter. I basically had about 12minutes until the start of the race. Grant suggested I run over to the Rock Racing truck to see if they could help me. Tony their mechanic helped me out which was so sweet. I owe him big time. He changed out my cable and off I went to the race start. What an angel he is. I found out his favorite beers and will have them with me the next time I see him or Rock Racing. After you read the rest of the report you can see why I dedicate my finish to him.
Considering the weather, the women’s field was actually pretty big at around 30. In fact, we outnumbered the men’s fields. It was wet but not raining when we started. From the get go Liz Hatch (Vanderkitten) was aggressive and testing the field by going to the front. I knew she would be a rider to watch based on her performance yesterday and knowing that she is a good rider. The pack stayed together for about the first 10 minutes of the 45 minute race. Then a prime was given away to the winner of the next lap and Lea Guloien (CA Pools) and Liz Hatch were antsy to go for it. I knew I had to stay up with them and held tight to their wheels. Liz won the prime and we kind of sat up. I looked back as we rounded turn one and realized we had a gap on the field. I mentioned this to them and we put our heads down and worked together. We were flying around the course and just trying to drill the pace. There was a heavy head wind on the finishing straight but we kept powering through it. It seemed the more time we gained the more it started to rain, ugh! Thank goodness for my trip to
Grant was just past the 4th corner giving us time checks which were hard to hear with the wind. We had about 1:20 minutes on the field and then all of the sudden we could see the back of the field. Lea wanted to catch the field and I have to admit that I was hesitant not wanting to risk a field sprint with all of the riders in the rain. Things can get sketchy at the end of a race and with the rain pouring down and it being so early in the season I did not want to risk anything. Lea was determined and she pushed to the pack. We sat on the back of them for a couple of seconds and then went past them around the side. We kept up the vicious pace and Lea was really intent on just racing hard. With 5 laps to go some of the girls from the pack had latched on to us when we passed them. They took a couple of pulls and we sat in and then Lea just picked the pace up and off we went again and it was back to the 3 of us. With 2 laps to go Liz and I were trying to play it safe for the sprint. Lea lead out the last bit of the last lap up the hill to the finish line. I was sitting on Liz just trying to time my sprint knowing that the head wind was very strong. After the short climb after turn 4 I ramped it up and went left (into the wind) to try and pass Lea. I nearly had her at the line but she held strong and won and I came in 2nd. Props to Liz and Lea for an awesome job in the break. What great riders to ride with. I still do not feel 100% after yesterday’s crazy asthma attacks and my lungs felt a little raw but overall I felt pretty strong. Check out the video below that Grant took of the finish.
Again, it was great to see riders that I had not seen since last season. I love that we can all be friendly and yet race each other. It makes it so much more enjoyable. Cheers!!!
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