Well, the race started out on a high note when I won the TT here in Fitchburg MA. I had an awesome warm-up and a great race plan which I was able to execute the whole time! The rolling/mostly uphill course definitely suited me and I was able to come in with the lead by 5 secs. My first NRC win!!!! We knew we had our work cut out for us starting stage 2 today. As the laps ticked by my teammates did an awesome job of keeping the attacks in check. On the fifth lap a break of seven of us got away and just as we were gaining momentum the officials neutralized us to let the mens race roll through. Unfortunately for us, the entire field was able to catch up as we had to unclip and fully stop twice…..a total bummer……As we raced the final lap, a small break got away with the third place GC rider in it. My team was once again awesome and had nearly closed the gap when we had a bit of a miscommunication and let the gap open up again. As we entered the first of a few climbs, I noticed the ‘third on GC’ had attacked the break and gotten an even bigger gap, with my teammates tired from all their awesome work, it was up to me to close the gap. I was again joined by my awesome team in finishing the job of closing the gap, unfortunately, the damage had been done to my energy reserves. As we started the climb up to the ski area I was feeling good and off the front of the pack with Cheatley (in second by 5 secs). As the climb progressed I realized I was in trouble, my legs were starting to protest. I was relieved to see the 1K to go and started to dig deeper. My legs were screaming at me and the 1 K did not go by quick enough, Cheatley opened up a small gap and proceeded to go on to win. I held on for second, but I had losty m jersey……I was soooo bummed, my team had ridden so well, I just didn’t have enough left at the end. The good news is, the team continued to race well and shook up the overall standings so that Cheerwine no longer has places 2-5. I am now in second by 19 seconds, so tomorrow we will work to get the jersey back! I knew Cheatley was a great rider but I didn’t realize until tonight that she is an Olympic hopeful for New Zealand and has a bronze world championship medal, so the loss doesn’t sting as bad as it did earlier tonight. Hats off to her for a great race….I’m off to bed now…time to recover!
kmac
