Tour of Elk Grove

Saturday, August 1st

Turn, turn and more turns. Always cornering. This course was by far more technical. It was very fun and good practice. I got there early to ride the course for about 30mins which calmed my nerves. About 30 women lined up. Good size field. The regulars where there. Race started. I stayed mid field to see who was strong out front. There was a strong head wind as you approached the finish line. The race, I thought, was somewhat conservative due to the wind that picked up. No one really wanted to put in too much effort. Of course, some made attacks. I thought the pace was a bit slow. I should have made some attacks out front. Instead, I decided to use this race to practice cornering and positioning. I wanted to see if I could stay in the field and move around more. Toward the middle of the race, someone hit one of the rubber cones in front of me. The cone flew past me and hit the wheel of other rider which caused a crash in back. At about 3 laps to go, I had seen Kristen Meshberg out there. I remembered what she told me to try and attack at maybe 3 laps to go. As I turned the corner into the head wind, I thought just maybe I could. Instead, I decided to make my way to the front of the field and stay 5th or 6th position. At one lap to go, it was Pascale from P5 and I towards the front of the field. I had to find someones wheel to jump on. Lucky me, as I made the last turn, the head wind hit. I was at the 200 meter mark with Pascale. I saw her jump on it and sprint. I couldn't believe it at first. I thought, what the heck, take her wheel. I jumped on it for about 10 sec. The wind picked up. I should have stayed more on the outside of her wheel. I was in 2nd position and lost it. I had no one in front of me. The wind hit hard. The field caught up. So I got up and sprinted as hard as I could.... I came in 12th place. Oh well ... lesson learned. This was a fun race and very good practice for Grayslake and Glencoe coming up. Also, Congratulations to Pascale for taking 1st place. She did an awsome job out there. Thanks to everyone who watched me race. It is great to have such good support from firends.

Pictures of the Women's cat3/4 race.
http://velosnaps.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=5928647&IID=222522000&Page=4