30 March 2008  |  Race Reports

Fontana Short Track Race Report

The short track went well today, and I was able to pull off another win. This has been a great way to start the season, and I am really thrilled! I suppose now would be the time to thank Ben for making me hurt so bad on all our training rides. It really makes a difference when you have a training partner that can really push you.

So here it is, the play-by-play of the race: My legs were a bit sluggish in the warm-up, but they felt great once we started racing. Wendy had a great start and opened up a little gap on the first lap- I was stuck behind a few riders and had to bide my time before I could go around and bridge up to her. It was hard to be patient- short track is so short and intense I always feel pretty antsy, but I tried to wait and be smart instead of riding like a maniac. We were riding steady, but not blowing it up too bad, and Katerina was able to catch back on. Katerina put in an attack, but Wendy went with her and then counter-attacked. I went with Wendy and rode with her for a little bit before launching my own attack. Wendy dropped back and rode with Katerina for a few laps and Katerina ended up dropping her with about 3 laps to go. I rode the rest of the rest out front on my own, but Katerina was charging at the end and I had to dig deep to stay away from her. It’s great to see that our team is riding so strong- I am really looking forward to the World Cups- hopefully we can take the team competition this year (last year we tied for points, but lost in the tie-breaker).

We are spending one more night in Fontana, and tomorrow we drive to Phoenix. Racing starts on Friday with a Super-D (part of the stage race this year). The short track is Saturday, and the XC is Sunday. I’m hoping it’s not going to be as hot as it was last year, but I’m not holding my breath…