Hot, but not all day, because we climbed and climbed to cooler land. 86
starters. 78 miles. Oh my body was sore from the tip-over, bike pile-up
yesterday. I was grateful for the medical tent at the finish though yesterday,
because one of the guys gave me a big bear hug, and my back went pop, pop,
poppity pop, and I felt much better.
O.k. more about today. It was SUPER DUPER fast for the first 30 miles or so with
a few rollers that split things up a bit, until a couple of breaks got away with
Webcor, Tibco, and Aaron's represented, then it was chase, attack, chase, attack
for a little while, then the pace simmered down until we got past the first feed
zone at about 40 miles, then there was all of this crazy wind, and it was fast,
and close to the edge of the road for awhile, where there were rocks flying, and
people tapping their brakes, blech.
I must say there were some times in the first 60 miles that I fought harder than
I think I have fought in a long time to get good position, and not get
caught in the wind, and hang INSIDE the pack, not just on the back
.....although I was there too...
I was a bit behind on the the first QOM, but there were several of us, including
my teammate Kelli, who is GREAT to work with! So we chased back on to the main
field. Then we plowed through a little town called Sisters, which meant the
final climb was in reach.
The guys at the bike shop told me that if I can make it to the base of the climb
with the field, I'll be good to go, and will not get time cut. So, when I got
to the base of the climb with the main field, I wanted to climb more than ever.
It was my kind of climb...about 10 miles of gradual 3-6% grade. I would pull
some people in, then they would get ahead, then it got a little steeper toward
the end, and a few really pulled away from me...(like Emily Zell, and a few
others..she might have been having bad day, but whatever.).
Overall, I felt great about the work I did today. I placed 73rd out of 84
finishers. I am sitting 71st of 84 in the GC going into the TT tomorrow. My
teammate Morgan got 26th today, and is sitting in 23rd overall! My teammate
Jenn cramped really severely today, and it was a slow go up the climb, but I am
sure she will be back in the game tomorrow. She's very strong. Kelli and I
worked together some on the final climb. Great team!
It was great for me to feel like myself in a road race.
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