PAL race weekend

The last race of the spring season passed by a few weeks ago. I was pretty excited to race but I knew the fields would be small. It was one of the hottest weekends ever after 3 straight weekends of races.

The womens 3/4 and womens 1,2,3 field managed a combined total of 10 riders. A lot of the big names were gone. I was feeling good. In the warm up my legs weren’t even tired. I was stoked to race and felt confident that I could pull out a win.

Saturday’s course was near a mile long. The finish was at the top of a little hill with a sharp corner at the bottom. From there we climbed up to the final sharp corner about 500 meters out from the finish. At 300 meters there was a small bend, a little incline, and a straight shot to the finish line.

For the first several laps 1 rider was constantly attacking. She attacked on the downhill after the line and took a bad line through the sharp right turn. She rolled hard off the road but luckily the field avoided crashing. She didn’t rejoin the race.

With her gone the race lost its excitement. No one was strong enough to solo off the front so we kept a steady tempo.

1 lap to go: I was ready. I fought for 3rd wheel around the final sharp corner. As we straightened out the field panned out to 4 abreast. We were all looking at each other. As we made it to the bend i jumped hard. I got the gap and held it to the line. My first win as a pro,1,2,3.

Sunday’s course was harder. It was a 35 mile road race with a few of Florida’s harder climbs. I was excited and nervous.

For the first lap I sat in the field. I was watching everyone seeing who was strongest. On lap two I launched an attack on the big climb. I got another girl with me but we didn’t work together and the field shut it down.

The race was pretty much the same every lap. I raced attentive and towards the front and got in some moves that had a chance at working but got shut down. With 1 lap to go I started to conserve for the finish.

At the start of the final lap I could feel my legs tighten up when i would stand. I knew the sprint would be super hard. From the final corner I was first wheel. It was a little too far and I got passed by 1 rider. I still managed a second place but was slightly bummed that I didn’t pull out a win.

It was nice to kind of end on a high. I have a couple months off of racing and then the fall season. The only big race left is the State Road Race. Maybe I can snag a jersey this year! =)


Ciao