Three Peat and One Series Title

I ended the last race of the year on a high note. And I must say, I'm pretty stoked about it! I took three State Championship races and the OVCX elite women overall title. I love when hard work pays off.

Going into the Storm the greens race I was sitting in second behind Nikki D and the series title was basically coming down to this one race. With the double points for this race- all I had to do was win the race no matter what to take the series overall. No problem and no pressure right? Actually I was happy to find myself in the series hunt, and I wasn't gonna go down without a fight. I knew Don (DRT) had me riding strong and all I had to do was keep the confidence and run a smooth race.

Race day was a busy one just to get to L'ville from my Northern location, and I had my anesthesia Christmas party the night before, complicating my travels even more. I did get in my share of dancing all night with my groupies, but I had to stay pretty low key at the "best work party ever" in order to save my legs and stay hydrated. After going to bed Saturaday at about 2 am, I have to get back up at 530am to make sure I got in a good warmup. Upon arrival to the venue, I could see it was gonna get muddier with every hour since the sun was out do its job to make cross how it should be. Good day for Rhinos!

My plan for the race was to put the pressure on the front gals and let them pull me and pressure them to make the mistakes, however that plan changed in the first 100 yards. I took off at a good pace and found I already had a good lead and that's pretty much how it stayed. It really wasn't that hard of a effort the whole race and I just tried to ride a smart race picking my way through the elite masters guys and keeping the Rhino side down. Half the battle of a muddy race is being smart and knowing not to get caught behind people making mistakes to slow you down. I had a sizable lead after briefly being challenged by Kenda's Ashly James and 2 laps into the race I noticed Nikki on the sideline with a mechanical. That's too bad because I love to battle it out, but regardless, I was pretty strong and I knew I wasn't going to be beat on this day. After lap 2 I just cruised around and took my time to not slide out on the slick corners. Ashely gained a little time on me and kudos to her for fighting so hard and never giving me chance to get too comfortable.

I rolled across the line in First place and for the last time at this venue. It will be missed as it holds some personal sentaments for me. Plus, I loved the venue as it really matches my riding styles.

As far as the title series win, it was so sweet to accomplish and I am proud of what it took me to win it. As cyclist that compete at the elite level and hold a full time jobs, it takes a lot of sacrifice to be there at that level. As for the 3 peat: that's 3 State Championships won for me in Ohio, Kentucky and my State Champ title in Indiana. I loved every minute of it and can't wait to step up a notch even further next year. I miss cross already!

Vrooom, Vrooom!