2008 Blogs
Nature Valley throws all sorts of curve balls. I'm all about getting on a schedule with racing and training. Ya know, waking up at a good time, getting food and coffee, taking a nap, racing, eating, blogging, sleeping. The races were all at different times, making it difficult to get an efficient program going. So, to my dismay, no blogging happened really. Here's my race report from the final stage in Stillwater:
With a coffee, a 2x caffeinated PowerGel, and a half a coke before the start, my nerves were singing. I was shocked as a fellow racer belted out the National Anthem 45-seconds prior to the start - with my shakiness I would have sounded like a starved raccoon.
I found myself on the fourth row for start position, but instead of glancing back to a sea of riders, I realized that the passed four days had whittled the field from 150 riders to 80. The gun went off and immediately we were steam-rolling up Stillwater's Chilkoot Hill for 12 laps in the pain cave. With a sprint point on the first lap, the field stayed together as everyone jockeyed for position. As we crested the 22% grade of the bugger, gaps began to form and groups were established. Kristin Armstrong's group of five had a gap on a group of eight which had a gap on Rebecca's and my group. Kristin eventually floated off of her group and soloed in for the win.
Us riders and staff all finished the Nature Valley Stage Race smiling, holding our chins up, and hungry for what lies down the road when our team in numbers will be stronger.
~Nature Valley Grand Prix stage 6 - Stillwater Criterium~
With a coffee, a 2x caffeinated PowerGel, and a half a coke before the start, my nerves were singing. I was shocked as a fellow racer belted out the National Anthem 45-seconds prior to the start - with my shakiness I would have sounded like a starved raccoon.
I found myself on the fourth row for start position, but instead of glancing back to a sea of riders, I realized that the passed four days had whittled the field from 150 riders to 80. The gun went off and immediately we were steam-rolling up Stillwater's Chilkoot Hill for 12 laps in the pain cave. With a sprint point on the first lap, the field stayed together as everyone jockeyed for position. As we crested the 22% grade of the bugger, gaps began to form and groups were established. Kristin Armstrong's group of five had a gap on a group of eight which had a gap on Rebecca's and my group. Kristin eventually floated off of her group and soloed in for the win.
About 4 laps in to the race we heard Laura on the radio encouraging Katheryn to bridge up to the group that Bec and I were in. After her valiant 77km flier yesterday, our aggressive rider sauntered on up and rode right through. She maniac-ed the hill and immediately had a 200m gap. However, within that lap the gap was swallowed by Team Cheerwine. Through the back-numbing pain of Chilkoot, I was happy to have Rebecca riding by my side as we both encouraged each other passed the agonizing galactic acid from six stages.
Us riders and staff all finished the Nature Valley Stage Race smiling, holding our chins up, and hungry for what lies down the road when our team in numbers will be stronger.