This past weekend was the Marian/Purdue Collegiate set of races. This included a long crit on Saturday and a TTT and road race on Sunday. I was coming off a terrible weekend and really needed to redeem myself. Monday I rode and still felt tired and slow. After a rest on Tuesday, I put down some serious power on some hill sprints followed by some huge 20 minutes intervals on Thursday. With an easier ride on Friday to open up the legs I was feeling solid for the weekend.
The crit was a long 1.5 mile course with some insane corners to finish up the lap. As an avid mountain biker and cross racer, I was excited but as a newbie on the road I was nervous. The pace was fast and people were falling off the back like flies. My teammate put in a serious amount effort to chase down breaks for me, allowing me to sit in a little. With only a few laps to go, it was time to party. I broke away only to later get caught with 1 to go. As the group came together again a Marian rider broke away. I let the two OSU guys chase him down and before we caught him I attacked and gave him chase myself. Through the corners I was able to make contact and made a bid for the sprint in the 100 foot dash to the finish. I beat him by about an inch. I need to get the photo from the finish, I was so close.
The TTT on Sunday was also amazing. The B’s groups worked like a well-oiled machine as all of us were putting in equal strong pulls. We passed the Lindenwood TT group and never even looked up. We won the race by 45 seconds to Marian in second.
The road race was also incredible. Huge 40mph gust made it a day for the sprint. Many breaks attempted to get away, but the pace was kept fairly easy as the wind was killer. There was a lot of acceleration. There was a monster head wind section and a huge hill for the finish on the other side of the 4 mile loop. I put in a few attacks because I was feeling good. I figured if a strong group could get away, it would make things easier to manage. There was a few time I almost got away, but there was always a lack of cooperation in the group due to the huge toll of the wind. It came down to a sprint on the hill, and I love climbing. I was able to put a 20ft gap on the second place Marian rider, the same Marian rider who placed second the day before. This win needs to go to all the people cheering for me at the finish. The cheering was so loud that even when my legs said stop, I knew I had to keep going. I was truly lifted to the top by my teammates. For that I thank all the UW-Cycling people cheering.
The drama however was not over. After the finish my teammate Lindsey gives me a high five and says you are awesome, but I have some bad news. I had taken a hand up on the left side, a huge no-no. The official was going to DQ me striping me of the win and charging me a $35 fine. I had a chat and was able to talk him out of the fine, but he said that he needed to talk to the head official about the DQ. Later the officials come and talk to me and notify me that they would not be DQing me, giving me the win and the upgrade points I needed to race A’s. The relief I felt was incredible. I am trying to stay humble about the wins as they were in the B’s. But I suppose what I am really excited about is that I set a goal, and I accomplished it. I wanted to win so I did. My big goal for this road season is to race nationals. At this point it’s all but there for me. Picture from the race will follow soon.
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