Full Swing!

Well,  its been almost a month since my last post, even though it seems like a ton has happened since then. Things have been super busy for me with the racing, camping, and personal life. I have been having a great time so far this summer, and look forward to the next 6 weeks that have a race in every one of those. So here is the run down of where and what I have been getting into to. 

1. Had a super fun trip to North Caroline for the Kenda East Cup Cowbell Challenge. Mom made the trip with me and we had a great time. This was my biggest level race so far this year and the competition was tough along with the technical, hilly coarse. Not to mention it was extremely hot! Being smart on hydration and nutrition proved to be key in this race and I stayed on top of the fluids for about a week before the race. Thanks to Gu for keeping me going during the race.

Photo above:

Coming into the finish in 2nd place! I managed to post lap times the same as some of the pros.

I had a good race and I was really pleased with how my technical skills held up on the east coast roots and red clay. It was also nice to have a team member in Emily Benson there also so far from home. Em pulled off a 3nd in her age expert and DRT had two podiums on the day!

Photo above:  Podium from the Kenda Cup.

2. The next weekend was a nice weekend off from racing and gave me a chance to do "normal" summer activities at home. I managed to find some extreme things to do by hanging out at a work picnic. I had a rope swinging good time, pond jumping, but managed to find myself with a few stitches, a head injury and neck trauma. Its all under the bridge now, but it was a little rough for about a week.

3. A few days after that I was off to Master's National Crit Championships in L'ville. I thought I would go play roadie for the day since it fell into the schedule. Plus, it was at Church Hill downs. How cool is that? I love the places that cycling can take a person.  

I ran a fair race here for being an impatient mountain biker. I won't lie and say I'm a smart rider on the road and I get a little bored doing the road tactics at times. But, it is great training and a sprint finish is always rush!

Photo above: Leading a chase group at the home of the KY Derby! Master's Nationals 30-34.

So I settled in a chase group of women and we found ourselves off the 2 leaders about 40 minutes into the race. I didn't want to do all the work and since it was a long crit (over 60 minutes) and I ended up in a sprint group for 3,4, and 5th and got beat at the line out of the 3rd place position. I still was proud of my 4th place podium for a National Championship race! 

Photo: My drive during the race landed me a TV interview after the race!

After that Dad and I hit the Louisville slugger factory and then watched a night race at the Down's. We then headed back to into Indiana to camp the next couple days unit the next race.

4. While camping I started a massive poison ivy outbreak and I pulled and "cut" out my stitches from the previous days. Its a little hard to remove stitches when you are used to having the right tools for the job. Anyway, by the end of the weekend I would be in a full rash from the ivy and would spend the next few days with my eye swollen shut. What luck!

5. The next race on the weekend was the DINO AMBC challenge and first up Saturday was the short track event. I had an okay race and gave it my all, but was beat out by AnnaJean yet again. She's super strong and it will take a big effort on my part to overcome her, but I still have the faith I can do that.

6. Next was the XC race on Sunday, it rained for like 12 hours straight before the race, and I was not looking forward to running this venue in the mud. It is so slick and scary at North Vernon on the mud that I defeated myself before I even got started. To do well at a mud race, you have to have your head in the game and I simply didn't. My recent head injury caught me playing it safe to avoid another black out moment. I coasted to a 5th place finish and gladly headed home to recover and rethink my plan of attack.

Photo above: North Vernon Dino AMBC. Starting a muddy, long, ride to 5th place.

7. Next up was another road crit close to home in Fort Wayne. The guys at Men of Steel racing put on a first year race and ran it like it had been going on for years! What a great venue at the new Parkview stadium in downtown. This was a great coarse and I will be sure and run it again if it fits next year.  The women's race was an open field, which means we all pretend to be cat1's since we are held to the same standards as the other racers, even though I'm a cat 3 on the road. This was also my friends first race back since she broke her wrist and I was happy to have her back on the road with me. She toughed it out and had a great time racing again. This is a relief since her crash was pretty scary and my have turned her into a ball of nerves, but she was rock solid. 

I hung in there pretty good and stayed up with the group for a while before a couple of P.R.O's went off the front. I held out with my sole team member Diana S. for a bit until she turned up the gas and went out on her own (she ended the day in 5th). I fought hard in a high attacking group the rest of the race and held my own despite being in a group of Alderfer team members that worked together the whole time. Its almost impossible in road racing to attack when you are solo against numbers. However, I proved to be a bit too strong for some of the Alderfer riders and dropped a few of the girls that were cat 2's and won a sprint finish against Erin Hetlzel despite her having a teammate lead her out. That was fun!

8. Lastly, the day after the crit was the DRT Winona XC. The trails were in great shape thanks to the KCV members and the day was perfect for riding. Despite sore legs from the day before I had something to prove to myself that I could still ride a mountain bike. My plan was to attack the coarse and not look back. That's what I did and ended up with 3 good laps that lead me to a WIN on the day. The most important thing was that I felt I rode good and felt strong and I hope I can carry that into the next several weeks to finish out the mtb season. DRT put on another great event!

I'll keep you posted, because as always, I have big plans and high expectations! Plus, 'cross is on the way and its gonna be "go" time soon. HUP! HUP!