I was full of feelings of anticipation and hesitation as I boarded my flight to Minneapolis, MN for the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Last year I suffered big time at this race and then crashed out. This year I was determined to have a better showing, and I was pleasantly surprised with the end result.
The crit the first night was first on my list of improvements to make. Last year I showed up to the line late, started last, then time-trialed for 30 minutes just off the back, and barely made the time cut. This year I started on the second line, clipped in on the first try and then held on to 5th wheel as the crash fest in the downpour of rain began. As Amy D put it, ‘creative bike handling skills’ by all were in full force. I finished the race and was slightly disappointed that they weren’t going to count the race as I had raced so hard, but there was hardly any time to ponder this as I stripped my soaking spandex and tried to get my shivers under control before the next day.
Day two…take two of stage one. I stayed up front, out of trouble and finished with the pack, I lost a few spots as I celebrated Tina winning the stage and taking the yellow! My excitement was increased as I found myself the owner of the ‘Best Amateur’ green jersey! Sweet, my first jersey. The race was already ten times better than last years addition.
Day three….I was a little sluggish in the time trial but still managed a top twenty (cheers to the power climb at the end) Again, waaay better than my 50 something finish last year.
I got a call up at the Minneapolis downtown crit and was determined to once again capitalize on my start position. I stayed in the top 1/4 of the race all night and stayed out of trouble….actually I think everyone stayed out of trouble as there were no crashes anywhere, hoorah! Tina pulled out a second place with no lead-out train!! What a badass! I got to stand on the podium twice in front of the crowd to take the best young rider and another best amateur jersey! I stood nervously behind the podium watching the veterans do the whole ‘jersey ceremony’, taking notes on what to do and willing myself not to trip on the podium on my way up.
Day four…..The day I crashed last year. I was a little tense at the beginning and stayed way up front to avoid any possible crashes. As we passed the site of my crash I began to breathe a little easier! As the miles ticked on I started to realize that I would not be doing an 80 mile time trial, but that I was going to get to contest the race to the end! Armstrong killed the finishing circuits and I was bummed not to even stay with her for a lap, but I turned in a top 10! I was starting to believe that the race didn’t hate me after all!
Day five…the bread and butter stage, I couldn’t wait to test myself on the 22% grade…I wasn’t going up hill as fast as I wanted, but the good news was Andrea was up the road making her breakaway companions suffer. I kept my race together and was comforted knowing that my other jersey contenders were behind me! After it was all said and done, I still managed a top ten finish on the day and overall and I kept my jerseys! Now I’m home until Fitchburg! Good luck to the girls in Austin!!!
