Gwinnett Final Stage

Yesterday was the last race in the Gwinnett stage race. It was a circuit race on a rolling course. There were no big hills but a couple of rollers that got painful after a while.

The women 1,2,3 raced with the women3-4. We had 6 laps on the 2 mile course which equaled about 50 minutes. At the start of the race the officials called all of the 3-4 to the front of the field because their race was faster than ours in Saturdays RR.

At the start of the race nothing major was happening. A couple small attacks but everything was being pulled back. On the second lap Rebecca Larson attacked. I followed on her wheel and we were able to bridge up to a rider that had about a 20 sec. lead on the field. I was in the break for a little bit, but then wasn't able to hold with the pace.

Once the field came around I dropped back in. They were chasing hard but no one was willing to get organized and work. There was a pace line going with me and two other girls as we tried to bring the break back. An attack went that managed to make it up to the break.

About 5 minutes later another attack went from team Kenda. I followed. We took 1 other rider along and caught up with 1 other girl who was trying to bridge up to the leading group of 3 that was now about 25-30 seconds up the road.

Our little group was just off the front of the field. The Kenda girl and I were rotating but the two other girls were to tired to pull. I was kind of tired but maybe it was just the excitement of being off the front that gave my legs a little bit more energy to push on.

1 lap to go! It took all of us by surprise. We hadn't heard them count down laps and the field was charging up behind us. The two other riders made a couple pulls but we started to get unorganized. Halfway through the last lap the field caught us. I looked around for the right wheel to follow into the sprint. I found my way to the girl that had finished second in the crit. I knew she was the strongest sprinter in the field.

As we rounded the final corner Kenda was leading. I was fourth wheel. I don't think that many of the girls actually knew that it was the final lap, but the girl in front of me finally jumped with about 50 meters to go. Looking back I should have tried to jump her, because she ended up beating me in the sprint. I finished second in the field sprint and 4th over all.

This weekend was really good for me. I got a 3rd,4th,7th, and 8th and finished 5th in the GC. It was great to get out and race one last time before nationals.

We leave for Cali next Monday and I race Wednesday-Friday. I'm very excited for nationals. Also there is a TT this Tuesday at the OIA. I'll have updates as the races come around.

Thanks for reading

Ciao