Well I made it through my first NRC stage race . . . kind of . . . Redlands was definitely a learning experience despite not quite going the way I wanted it to. The prologue went OK, it was tough but looking back on it i think i enjoyed it. The first stage was crazy windy, it kind of reminded me of riding in Boulder with the crazy cross winds. The field started fast and stuck with it until about six miles in, at that point I had let myself drift a little to far back in the field and I found myself stuck behind a crash. I didn't go down but I lost contact with the field and ended up chasing by myself on a windy and slightly down hill stretch of road. Most of the time running junior gearing (45/12) in an NRC race is a pain, but does not make or break the race but in this case i was spinning as fast I could and still barely able to hold the wheels that I found. eventually after chasing with Amber Rais who went down in the crash I got into a group and settled in. We worked hard but unfortunately were the first group to get time cut. I learned a lot and definitely won't let myself lose position in a big field again.
I spent the rest of the race supporting my amazing teammates Kacey, Carla, and Hillary and overall it really was a great experience. The field was sooo strong and it was pretty cool to race with them and watch (though I'd rather be racing!)
I've spent the last week training in the LA area, enjoying the amazing weather and some beautiful scenery. I also got to ride at the ADT velodrome which was unreal, the difference between a 250 m track and a a 142 m track may not sound like a lot but its a totally different experience. I'm going to race a local Crit in long beach on Saturday and then head back to Boulder on Monday. Hopefully the last of the snow is gone and it will officially be spring.
well, I'm off to ride my bike!
