Colorado Springs Front Range Cycling Classic

19th April- 12 Mile TT - 1st Place

Me and Kate headed South very early on Saturday morning to start a weekend of racing in Colorado Springs.   Today we had a 12 miles ITT then in the afternoon a criterium.  I had an unfortunate crash yesterday which I won't go into now as it is very embarrassing! anyway I landed heavily it seems on my right now and it has been giving me a bit of grief as I think I have bruised my bone right on the knee cap!  It hurts on and off but more so when I am spinning easily so I had to go hard to it would not give me grief!  I got it checked by the ambulance guy at the race and as it is not inflamed he said it should be okay to race just as long as I keep R.I.C.E it.  Anyway I tried to shut it out but I must admit it niggled me the whole weekend as it is in a awkward place! 

Anyway back to the TT! Kate was off at 9.31 and I was off at 9.27am.  The TT course had a few climbs in but it was not too bad apart from the first climb which didn't feel so nice so early on!  My legs felt really heavy and as it was my first time on this TT bike I had it set a bit too high which felt a bit uncomfortable but at least I know now.  I felt pretty heavy legged the whole time which I put down to crashing yesterday but I just pushed on through it as much as possible which must of paid off as I finished in 1st place by almost 3 minutes or so to 2nd place.  Kate had a solid ride finishing in 3rd place today.

Criterium - 1st Place

We headed to our host housing after the TT to eat and get some shut eye before the criterium in the afternoon.   The prize money looked good for the Women's crit  today, which tempted me to try and get another win!  The weather was perfect at around 75-80 degrees and the course was full of spectators which was nice to see.  The course was about 2k long, quite technical with a short sharp hill at about 200 metres to the finish.  They put up a lot of Primes which was cool so I was even more motivated to win today.   

My plan was to wait for the first Prime lap then counter attack which is exactly what I did whilst taking the Prime.  A few  riders  came with me but I managed to drop them so I continued alone for the remainder of the race.  I was obviously enjoying myself as I lapped the whole field!   I was really chuffed with my Win today.  Kate had another solid ride today finishing in 7th place.

We headed back to our lovely Host house which was  stunning, it even had a lift in it, which is just what you need after racing!  

20th April - Women's Open Road Race - 1st place

Our alarm clock rang  at 4.30am this morning as our race was set to start at 7.15am!  it was not a pretty sight I can tell you but after an espresso we were on our way.  The course was the same course as the 1986 World's RR course.  It was nice course with a main climb of around 750ft.   I though that some of the other teams like Chipotley would control the race but it looked like they were waiting for the climb to start before doing anything at all!  I planned to sit in on the first lap as my legs felt a bit heavy from my efforts yesterday and also  to see if my knee would be okay climbing!  Each lap was around 13 miles and we had K.O.M on the second lap.  I knew that the teams were waiting for the KOM so I sat in on the first lap and planned to go at the top of the climb .   One of the girls from Chipotle thought that the KOM was on the first lap so she attacked over the top of the climb but little did she know it was the next lap for the KOM, so I took advantage of the situation and let her go then counter attacked thinking she would come with me but she was unable to keep the pace so I decided to keep going as I could see 3 other girls trying to bridge so I committed to going alone for the next 2 laps.

 I felt  okay and managed to get a good enough gap by the end of the second lap to not kill myself up the climb the 3rd time up it,  which was just as well as the wind was really bad!  I almost got blown of my bike! what made it worse was that the head wind was up the first part of the climb for around a mile which was horrible! Anyway I took the K.O.M and finished with a gap of around 4 minutes to the next group on the road.     I was pleased with my result today and it was very inspiring to be riding on one of the Worlds Road Race courses!

Overall it was a good weekend in terms of results and in terms of training goals.  All I need to do now is rest my bruised knee up before Gila which is in 10 days time. 

We are racing next weekend in a road race called the Deer Trail RR which looks like a good course! Then we start Gila stage race in New Mexico which is 5 days long and then Mt.Hood stage race on the 13th May.

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