2011 Hillsboro

Friday: I arrived at the "Sanda" household to load up the RV. Molly, Micheal, and the Sanda family and I rolled out about 12:00 and arrived in Hillsboro, IL around 5. We quickly got in our trainers to do our opener workouts. It is a beautiful camp ground. We had stayed there last yr as well. I was getting hungry and the site of a good meal was sure to come quickly, While I worked in the trainer I directed Scott Sanda to quickly grill up those chicken breasts and veggies. Thanks SCOTT!!



Saturday: The Lord could not have given us a better day. Sunny and 60's. Womens' 123 race started at 11:50 a.m. Did a 20 min warm up, then I really took some time to reflect about what my goals where and to prepare mentally. I knew I really needed to work on this. I visualized myself in this race. Kind of like mediation. I got to the start line, said my prayers and off we went. 1st lap, of course, Jessie from ABD and a few others went off. I stayed with the top field. I knew the field would break down after the 1st lap. People would get tired and sure enough they did. Riders where falling back and my endurance training was paying OFF!!! I felt strong. I was told to play it smart out there because it is a long race with cross winds and flats sections. I kept my cadence strong and consistent and used my gears instead wearing out my legs and mashing on the pedals.

Towards the end, it was maybe 12-15 of us, I think. I was so focused on how to take the cobblestone that I wasn't paying attention to what was going on up front. A few riders up front went off. The field broke up just before the climb. I quickly move up as I saw the last climb and got stuck behind 2 riders. The road was narrow. I eventually got through and past them. I got to the top of the hill and into my big gear and hit it as hard as I could down hill. As I approached the cobblestone, 3-4 other riders caught up next to me. I tried really hard to power over the bricks and stay seated. Legs burning. As soon as I got off the bricks I remember someone saying "its long way to the finish". I took one girls wheel with 3 others next to me. Then I shifted into gear and hit it. I sprinted as hard as I could and out-sprinted all 4 girls. I came in 14th out of 45 women. I was very please with my efforts and met all my goals for this training race. Coming in top 10 would have been a bonus, let alone a win. What a fun day of racing.



A BIG Thanks to Leah Sanda and family for letting me tag along with them in there RV. Congrats to all the women who raced. It is really awesome to see so many women come out and race and have fun!