The racing at Joe Martin was exciting! It is a beautiful place to visit.
Attacks and more attacks, like 68 of them to be exact. Stage 1 was twisty in the beginning. We had a false flat, literally, as Kristin got pummelled by the railroad tracks. Then we went up hill for 9 miles. Charm sprang off the front to not just join, but pass, the breakaway duo. It got ugly then. A group of four bridged up and dropped Charm and gained a lot of time. Lots of people went out the back. Including me. But, I dragged my carcass back up to the group just over the top of the climb to latch back on to the group of 25 girls.
It was apparent then that the Cheerwine team missed out, so it was up to us to bring it back. on the ups, and flats, the 4 of us rotated at the front to bring the gap down. Kate bates also helped, especially on the descents. As we neared the final 5K, we were all together. The crazy finish with many turns and ups and downs was a little surprising. I managed to squeeze out a 10th place on my new Reynolds Stratus DVs, which was promising. Tina Pic of Colavita won. So I was sitting Top Ten in GC! Amazing! We saw an armadillo on the way home. But it was dead.
Stage 2 was not a good for me as I ended up flatting in the final 15 miles. The day had been going very well, I felt great and our group managed to avoid a rabid dog running out in front of us. But just as things got hot in the small rollers, I flatted. The best part was my teammate, Kelly, charged into the downhill finish for a 4th place on the day, and that was real good. Tina Pic barely beat Laura Van Giggle in a close sprint.
Then we rested for like 20 minutes and went back out to do Stage 3, the evening time trial. This is where everyone saw Charm's affinity for the color red. Kristin posted a 12th place time and none of us crashed or flatted. And we saw another armadillo! (dead) Erinne "Freebird" Willock of Webcor won.
We had some family dinner time with our hosts, thank you! Then went off to sleep for the next day's crit. It was more like a crip, cuz it made you feel crippled after. The course was crazy, the field was tired but determined, and the pace was high. Okay, I cannot describe in enough detail how hard the race was. Who actually had all that energy after just racing 3 stages in the previous 36 hours? Kristin took 7th place as Kori Seehafer of Lipton won. I rode in with my old college soccer teammate, Kendra Keeley, who I have not seen in over a dozen years. Weird how life repeats itself.
We had a nice post race visit with some distant family relatives who brought homemade cookies and then prompty took off for Kansas City. Too bad I couldn't hang with Hejduk more. He won the overall for his field and lives in KC.
Jammin Jeff, Kickin like Chicken Kelly, Bumpin Bill, Christian Kristin, Man Eatin Mandy, Jock-ular Jen. Post Flying Burrito ingestion.
Good thing these two freaks aren't responsible for anything serious.
This is Mandy Lozano. Do not be fooled by her smiley face. She is a Grrrrr...animal!
It is the Devil herself. After her time trial, Charm got out her pitchfork and went to the top of the hill to cheer on the rest of the racers. But the state troopers hauled her off due to her indecent exposure, or was it her threatening quads?
Kelly tries to hold the Lentils in.
Jen samples mooonshine at the gas station.
So this was written on the bathroom wall at the border of Missouri and Arkansas. Thems is fightin wurds.
Ruby Tuesday's was the only restaurant we were allowed in. from left: Clara, Allie, me, Kelly, Mandy, Gina. Bill was also in the house.
Here we are at the local grade school teaching them about bike racing and safety- and the wonders of Cherry soda.
Which made the next exit seem very surreal.
