Two-A-Days

Nothing wraps up a week of traveling quite like racing two crits in the span of 3 hours! Welcome to two-a-days.

First up: Sandy Springs. This was the crit series finale. With several sweeping turns, I really loved this course. We had a smaller field than in previous days, some girls chose between the two of the days races. However, with only a few points separating Colavita and Cheerwine for the top spot, it was going to be a fight to the finish for everyone. As was the norm in this series, primes were called almost from the gun. Early on, Rebecca Larson (Aaron's) went after one solo and I jumped from the field before the last turn to see if I could grab it, but she had me by half a wheel at the line. Vanderkittens (Jenny Trew, Jen Wilson, Mel, and Kele) continued to key off moves that went off the front. Then with eight laps to go, someone either clipped their pedal or a barrier on the inside of the final turn and took a whole group of us out. Wilson went down hard - broke her helmet, cut the side of her face, and skinned her back. Kele and I stayed upright and got her bike out of the course while Wilson was taken to medical. No more free laps, so the race was pretty much over for us, which left Jenny and Mel to contend with the remainder of the field. Jenny ran 6th and Mel 14th, which helped us in the individual standings. Vanderkitten finished 4th overall in the team standings. Not a bad effort!

Next up: Roswell. Wilson hit the deck pretty hard in Sandy Springs, and since she couldn't remember where she was once regaining consciousness, it was probably not such a good idea for her to race Roswell! Trew had been sick the night before, and also decided to call it a day. Good call. Instead, they would be our "logistical coordinators", making no less than four trips from Roswell to Sandy Springs to collect payout from the series. We quickly packed up the bikes, and made our way to Roswell. Having just come from Sandy Springs legs tired and in a pre-stinky kit, I was a little nervous about this race because Roswell is not usually not my best showing (historically speaking, of course). There were a few teams like Advil and VAC and a lot of individual riders who showed up to race Roswell who hadn't done the previous race, but when we finally got going (about 10 minutes after we arrived) I felt surprisingly good. Apparently everyone else did too because I didn't even crack the top 15! Amazing how history repeats itself. I got to the front with three to go, but got fully swarmed in the last lap and couldn't escape. It wasn't the way I wanted to end the week's racing, but it bumps up the list of things I need to work on for next time.

The much-anticipated Southeast Crit series was over, and to be honest, I'm a little sad! I had so much fun with my teammates, as this was really the first solid block of races that we've had together so far. It was great to learn everyone's racing styles, strengths, weaknesses, etc. and I'm really looking forward to Tulsa Tough, where hopefully I'll have my racing legs going full speed and we can tear it up again as a team. Shout-outs to everyone for giving it 100% out there. And pour out a little liquor for Kele and Wilson, who are nursing their injuries from the week's carnage!

I actually poured out a little liquor for them yesterday (well, I tripped while walking with my mojito, so it was kind of an accident). It happened to be Cinco de Mayo AND a recovery day...cha cha cha!!! Chef Jeff made burritos and fresh guacamole, one of my all-time favorite things. We had a few peeps over, including our good homie Cody "I'm Not Willo" Stevenson who did NOT polish off a cup full of chocolate donut holes before we even left the grocery store parking lot!

This weekend we hit the track for the first Festival of Speed of '08 at the Dick Lane Velodrome here in Atlanta. Sprint tourney on Friday, which the legs could really use. Then the main races and a bike swap meet on Saturday, lots of vintage (i.e., crap) parts, I can't wait!

Duct tape CAN fix anything.