Saturday, May 26, 2012

Gatineau and Exergy races

After a short break for 10 days, it was back on the road and back to racing, this time in Canada.  I think that was my first ever trip to Canada actually.  The team flew to Ottawa(google it) and we raced the UCI race - Gatineau.  It was a mostly flat course, composed of 13 laps that took us over an overpass, through a U-turn on the highway and back to a round-a-bout with 300meters before the finish.  Yeah, it was an interesting race.

Tara Whitten, my teammate and all around badass(google her or just click on her name), took off from the first or second lap, I can't remember and was gone, solo, for the first half of the race.  Once she was caught it was constant attacks with people trying to get up the road.  We were successful in getting myself and Megan into a great break on the last lap but it didn't stick for whatever reason.  With less than 2k to go, as we are coming back down from the over pass, a crash happened right in front of me.  TIBCO made it through safely but that was enough of a stall to see the winners racing up the road.

We did the best we could to make it to the finish we a respectable sprint but it wasn't the result we were after.  And the round-a-bout claimed lots of riders, seemed like a crash every lap towards the end.

Back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for more flying! From Ottawa to Vancouver to Portland to Boise - made for a long day.  Once here in Boise, the race organization has been over the top.

Greeting us at the airport, carrying our luggage, great hotel, great race food, awesome organization and the community support has been over the top! I could get used to this;) There was an incident of our bikes being stolen but all were recovered and life is good again.

Today was the TT, it's been cold and rainy the last 2 days but I'm ok with that, you have to learn how to race your bike in ALL conditions and know what it feels like.  The next 2 days are climbing days, so I'm pretty sure it's about to be REALLY hard, again, that's what I expect:) It's what I love.

Follow the race here: http://exergytour.thetourtracker.com/

 The view in Gatineau Park - BEAUTIFUL!!
 Hey, that's me in the corner! :) Boise airport....
 Easy ride in Boise, beautiful!!!!
My new recovery drink!!! Thanks Vero!




Reading: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan(may or may not be fiction)
Watching: Tweets from the Giro when I can
Eating: milk and honey
Listening: Pandora - Today's Hits station
Feeling: happy about racing with my teammates

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