Two days of straight sun - it's been a while. And my pasty white body was ready to soak up the rays - deepening my embarrassing biker tan lines. Rough life, eh?
I think I have a weekend hangover. It's Monday - and I'm exhausted. I would think most people have a normal, relaxing weekend of chilling out, recovering from the long work week and preparing for Monday. But mine is usually the exact opposite. Thankfully my job is perfect for the bike racer/ weekend warrior lifestyle. It rocks. Today will be filled with catching up on what happened this weekend in the world wide web. I know, I suck.
Anyways - here's the weekend in review. Friday we packed up the mounds of gear I take for a stage race, including a fridge for the cabin, making Makiah's trip over the pass a little squished.
It was raining and cold in Seattle when we left and as soon as we hit Darrington the skies brightened revealing a shade of blue I haven't seen in a while. The views along the route are absolutely breathtaking.
Liberty Bell poked her head out and greeted us too. Ryan was stoked to ride the pass on Saturday morning.
Our friends Josh and Camille showed up and built a fire while I jumped on the rollers to spin the legs out for the weekend. Check out our little home away from home. It's very rustic but suites its purpose.
The next morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies and warmer temps. It hit the spot. The TT was a challenging course - somewhat hilly and mentally challenging. Robin rocked the house with a fantastic ride though - followed by Allison and Trish for third. Nice work ladies! Personally I hurt really bad after that effort - thinking it was good for something since I went so hard. Nope - 7th. But I'll take it!
The crit was held in Twisp, about a 45 minute drive down valley from our cabin. The roads are pretty torn up from the cold icy winters - and there were lots of bumpy potholes throughout the entire course. Wines had the biggest team presence, followed by Group Health, Byrne, Bob's and First Rate. Then there were a lot of us lone riders who allowed the teams to do their work. It was a fast race - lots of attacks and counters. Staying in the front played to my advantage - and I was able to position myself well for the final sprint. Suz lead it out and I think I was sitting in about 4th wheel. We rounded corner 4 and I hit the gas sailing through the finish line first! Good thing too - my mom, her boyfriend, Ryan, Melanie, Mark, Josh, Camille and Makiah made the venture out to watch the race. It was great having a cheering squad! Robin and Trish rounded out the podium.
It must have been that HUGE plate of spaghetti I had for lunch.... Thanks Mom for coming out and cheering me on! I love have the LOUDEST person there cheering for me. :)
Thanks to Trisha and Carol for letting me poach a shower at their bungalow - it hit the spot! That night we had more peeps show up at the cabin and had another roaring bonfire. Ryan ate 4 smores and I laid low, chilling for the final stage, a 54 mile road race based out of Winthrop. Unfortunately I didn't sleep well that night - waking up in the middle of the night hungry again and worried my alarm wouldn't go off. Then at 4am I started to hear my battery run low in my phone and then it shut it self off. I woke up around 6 frantic, thinking I missed the start of the road race because it was so sunny out. After a nice breakfast of pancakes and eggs, I was charged and ready to go!
The race course was my dream course. No really challenging hills - nothing technical. Beautiful terrain and nice roads. Absolutely perfect. And we were all playing nicely together too - until the final 1k. Suz made a move off the front of the pack, securing 1st and 3rd in the omnium and Jenni jumped with her. The rest of us fought for scraps for 3rd and with 1k to go, no one would come around me. Then Lisa from Wines jumped with 400m to go and I reacted a little too much but at that point, it was all or nothing. And I ended up 8th, 5th in the GC. Not shabby without teammates - but I sure did miss having some red in the peloton!
A HUGE thank you to Trish for the sammy and the river lounging - that was just what the doctor ordered. I feel so lucky to be part of such a nice group of people all out racing their bikes in the sun.
Meanwhile, Mr T and friends climbed rocks at the Fire Wall. It is so pretty there! Here's a shot of Ben mustering up something us mere mortals would never attempt...
What a great weekend of hanging with friends, racing bikes, rock climbing and living our passions!
2 comments:
Jen,
Awesome sprint at the crit! Got to get more peeps out to Methow next year... this race is so beautiful and deserves more paricipation accross the board.
Little 100, Seward and Fathers Day took away some steam, hopefully next year it can get a weekend all to itself.
Hope to catch up with you out there soon.
Thanks Michele! That was a lot of fun this weekend - the Methow will always hold a special place in my heart. I look forward to one day putting down our 20 Skyline Drive address as a permanent mailing address in the future, that's for sure! I heard that Seward only had 3 ladies show up and was canceled. What a great field we had - and the course was amazing!
Hope you had a great weekend too - when are you headed back over?
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