31 May 2008  |  Race Reports

You ask for it, you get it. (World Cup #4: Race Report)

‘Cross weather, that is. The skies opened up this morning, and it rained a good bit until about halfway through our race. I had a disappointing day finishing in 17th, but as my mom points out, I should be happy that I am feeling better and back to normal after the race in Santa Ynez. So here it is, the blow-by-blow of my crappy race!

I had a terrible start and was back in the high 20s when I went into the singletrack. It was frustrating being stuck behind, but I picked people off where I could and tried to stay pretty steady. I was riding well on the climbs, but I was riding like a total ninny on the downhills- it was pretty slippery and I was on my brakes way too much. On the second lap (I think….they all kind of blend together) I crashed into some orange netted fencing on the side of the trail. I was totally tangled up and a bunch of women that I had just passed passed me back. Arrggh! Settled down and untangled my feet and my bike from the fencing, then back on the bike and back to picking people off.

Once I pulled my head out of my ass, I started riding much better! Speed is your friend! So I ended up back in 17th. Kind of a bummer, but I’m not going to dwell on it. I’m looking forward to racing in Fort William next weekend- I need to redeem myself from last year! I like the course, and hopefully I will be feeling even better by next weekend. We head out tomorrow morning- Waldek and Chris are dropping us in Toulouse, France and then heading up to catch a ferry to Scotland. Katerina, Catharine and I are hanging out in Toulouse until Tuesday when we fly to Scotland.

Andorra has been so beautiful, I look forward to coming back to visit when I have a little more time (and maybe some skiing gear…).