Methow Valley Tour Report

TT: Cramped 3/4 of way through the race after the turn around - had been on track for what I thought would be a good time, but ended up 12th due siezing up of right leg. Could be position issue, but have not cramped before on TT bike or dehydration.

CRIT: Had good start to crit in top position & was comfortable taking corners w/o braking after a couple laps, but had to force myself to relax. Riding well until 1/2 way through when I was further back in the field & there was an attack after a prime & the pack split. Lesson here: move up for primes - even if not going for them - duh - or just don't ride that far back. Finished 8th - 3rd of 4 in little chase group. Allison got worked over in the lead group, but still got 3rd.


RR:

Start - into a headwind & things were going slow. It felt really boring & hard just to sit in, but I knew it was going to be a long race & wanted to be fresh for when it really counted. Lea was attacking pretty early in the race & I remember thinking she was going to wear herself out. She did not have any teammates out there.

Jitka did great hanging in there, rotating throug on the way out to the turnaround & was riding well.

There were some attacks heading out to the lolli pop loop of the TT course, but nothing too threatening. When we hit the tail wind section of the TT course, we were flying. Over all the rollers, attacks were going. Allison & I were chasing stuff down & it was great to have the 2 of us to take turns chasing. it also helped that Byrne rider was frisky & wasn't going to let Wines go up the road.

I thought the feed hill would be full of attacks & tough with the false flat after, but the strong headwind neutralized anyone's desires to attack there.

Wines started sending girls up the road on attacks at about 15 miles to go. At about 10 miles to go in a tail/crosswind section WOW rider2 got up the road & I was on her wheel. We had a good gap & she wanted me to pull through & help, but I didn't want to risk her getting the win & leaving Allison teammate-less in a group sprint, especially if there was a chance that Lise could then take 2nd in the overall, so I sat on her wheel.

The group following caught us & WOW rider 1 launched an attack, but with Allison right on her wheel. After going through Winthrop on the way back to Twisp, WOW rider 1 got a gap at one point - this seemed pretty dangerous & Allison was at the front. I jammed up to get ahead of her to tow her up, but then I heard her say "go get her, Carrie." So I went & again just sat on her wheel. I'm a little hazy at exactly what happened then, but I think WOW rider 2 caught us & I sat on them until Allison rejoined us & then it was just down to the 4 of us with the rest of the field behind.

WOW rider 1 & WOW rider 2 were taking turns attacking us. At one point, WOW rider2 was worried the field was closing in on us. I took the bait & went to the front to charge ahead & then WOW rider 1 unleashed an attack; I thought there was no way I would be able to hang on. Allison was with her & I managed to keep up & I swore I was not going to the front the rest of the way to the finish, but I think I was up there a couple more times & each time there was a Wines attack. Allison & I did not have much of a chance to be aggressors & attack becuase we were either chasing or recovering from the last attack.

I recognized the change in pavement surface from old to new & back again from driving the road out to the parking lot from Winthrop that morning & knew we were close & sat on Lise's wheel in 2nd position. we rode by the 1K sign then rounded a bend & all of the sudden the 200m sign was there. I saw red & jammed on the pedals praying that Allison was on my wheel - I hadn't had time to check b/w the 1K sign & 200 m sign (I think the distance was a little miscalculated by whoever set up the signs). I was closing in on the finish line & noticed I did not see Allison coming around & i did not know where she was. I thought I should back off, but did not want to risk the Wines girls coming around so jammed all the way across the line, then looked left & there was Allison. We took 1-2 ahead of Wines!

In the end, Allison maintained her #2 in GC (She would have had to have won & WOW rider 1 finish 5th to take the overall) & I moved up a spot in overall points, Plus we had the pleasure of putting the smackdown on Wines. :)