SanPete Classic

Whew! It was great to be back out racing. I am sad that the season is coming to a close. Just the Harvest Moon Crit and we'll be racing cyclocross.

We had a good field starting out with 14 racers. Early on Margaret started with the attacks. With her in the field there is no chance of sitting on and having a group ride- if the pace lets up at all she's gone. Fortunately, she's on my team so I can let the other girls work and pull me up to her. 17 miles in Bev decided it was her turn to attack. Since she is an awesome time trialist we decided we couldn't let her sit out there too long so I chased, pulling most of the pack to her. As soon as we caught Margaret and Kara went off for a counter attack. Crap! I was not recovered and got completely blown off the back.

I don't need much recovery though so I caught my breath and attempted to chase back on. I jumped on wheel after wheel letting them pull me back. By the time I'd caught 4 or 5 women the main field was split in two. I caught back up to the chase pack and there were only 4 left off front. I hung on up the hill despite really wanting to throw up. Kara ran out of water an popped then we managed to drop the RADD girl. Now it was down to Melanie, Jo and me. I knew I could outsprint Jo but Melanie has some serious power. I hopped on her wheel and was ready when she took off at the top of the climb. She pulled me down to the 200 meter mark where I came around her. I hoped she was worn out from pulling me the last 6k but I sprinted too soon. I was out of full power and Mel got me at the line. I finished 6th. I was really happy with my race. I managed to average 172 hr topping out at 190. It was a good, hard, fun day on the bike.