Well I made it to the fourth and final day. Unfortunately our team was down to only 3 riders for a variety of reasons. But what was great is that they all hung around to help us out and cheer us on. That is exactly what I love about a team. It is not only about winning but most importantly it is about camaraderie. So to all of you Vanderkitten girls, you rock!
Even though I had the hugest piece of lasagna for dinner thanks to Dave V. for taking the team out to dinner, I woke up at 4:50am starving. I tried to drink some sport drink to subside the hunger pains but that only lasted until 5:40am. I heard footsteps and when I went downstairs to the kitchen, I ran into Flavia. Stage racing does strange things to you and you burn so many calories. After a quick snack and a little chatting it was back to bed. Our race started at 10am so we did not need to leave the house until 8:20am. Ah, sleep!
I awoke again to a cloudy day with a high hitting the mid sixties. Where are the sunny 70 degree
The “neutral” for Sunset Loop is never neutral. We basically cruise uphill at 22miles an hour. I am suffering before the race even starts! Knowing that once we make the turn for the start it is hard to move up, I felt the best thing I could do is help Flavia, our highest GC rider, in the neutral. I could see that she was stuck and not able to move up so I pulled up to her side and pulled her to the front. I was already maxed at this point but hoped that what I did would help her. Bummer for her that the 2 racers left on the team were sprinters.
Off we went. I was actually able to slightly reintegrate with the pack as we got to the climb. With a 
The lead group of the race as they pass through the finish line.
On I pushed by myself and I finally got into a good rhythm. Scott mentioned over the radio that it looked like I was making up time. This will always help boost your morale. Yeah! I was with a Dolce Vita rider, Karla, for a while and did a lot of work. By the time we hit the climb again I was toast and she rode away. Back to being alone again. I kept pushing the pace, trying to stay in as long as possible for the team since there were only the 3 of us left and I knew out of the team I was 2nd on the road. Up the climb I went for the 6th time. When I was about ½ the way up, I heard a rider behind me and it was Hannah Banks from ValueAct. My OTB buddy! She was in the group of riders I was in on Friday’s road race. We worked together very well and kept encouraging each other. We decided not to completely blow up on the climb and just ride a nice high threshold pace and then we would fly on the descents and flats. On our last lap Karla from Dolce Vita caught us. I had passed her on one of my laps and she was to the side of the road with a Rock Racing rider. The three of us forged on and near the end of lap 7 an official told us that the leaders were coming and the race was over for us. One day, I hope to not see the fire station and to actually see the finish banner downtown. In we pulled to the fire station where they quickly remove one of your numbers to prorate your time. How demoralizing!
Flavia finished 43rd on the day and ended up 38th in GC. Excellent job for her first time in
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