And they’re off
Racing has begun with the Mellow Johnny’s classic; first stop
on the US cup circuit. After 3 months
off racing Luna reunited in Austin for the first trip of 2014. Cyclists are pretty like-minded, within hours
of arriving that evening we ended up at the same grocery store as Team Scott
and Kona and got caught up on months off the circuit over a Whole foods dinner.
The course in Texas was a ton of fun. Rocky descents and lots of little rock step
ups between twisting fast wooded areas. The average grade is 0%, but only because
every little grunt we go up is balanced by a loose fast descent. Keeping air in the tires, being well
positioned into the woods and heat management were going to be the critical
race factors.
Race day was clear, sunny and 30 degrees. I raced conservatively lap one but with a
timed hard effort on the biggest climb I was able to grab the lead and take
only teammate Katerina with me. At mid
lap there was a non-flagged off corner that I missed but Katerina caught. This was the corner that would later catch
Emily and Rachel, but I was able to do a quick 360 and sprint back up to
Katerina. We raced the rest of the day
together which was fun and hardJ
Knowing that she was the stronger sprinter it was up to me to try to get away
before then. Unfortunately for me,
Katerina could match me on every climb and descent, but I liked being pushed
and was happy with 2nd and the way my body felt in its first real
test.
Looking forward to the next two stops in the US Cup series
in California at the end of the month, But first some fun with my new teammate
Maghalie. We spent another two days in
Texas hoping to enjoy some hot weather but instead got rain, wind, freezing
rain and some sub zero temperatures… what happened to that 30 degrees of the
day before?
Now we’re headed to California for 2 weeks of “hopefully”
sunshine, great riding and adventures
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