Cross is on a Roll

Oh my goodness, do I have a couple of races to tell you about!  Now that we are a quarter of the way through the season, it's more then time to do some recaps.  Starting the season off in style with the classic Marymoor velodrome venue for Starcrossed.  Probably one of my favourite events; great venue, beer gardens and rad fans.  After loosing touch with leaders Gabby Day and Courtney McFadden in the third lap, I found myself in a head to head battle with Sue Butler and fast track racer Jessica Butler.  Half way through the final lap Sue and I managed to put a gap on Jessica, and coming through the last couple corners I out manouvered, then out sprinted Sue (closing in fast on Coutrney) to pick up third place and my first podium of the season :)

Back to work for two days, then down to Vegas...ugggh, I definitely have a love hate relationship with this event.  Love the event, don't like anything else involved with Vegas.  I could get two days off work, so I flew down Wednesday morning, napped all morning and afternoon, then headed to the venue for our 8 pm race.  Best way to break in a bike is race it hard haha.  Being a full on fitness course I new I was going to suffer but I always seem to forget just how much this course hurts.  I found myself moving backwards and forwards through out the race, and finished with a very forgettable 19th place.

They have managed to knock about a pound off off the Ridley X-Fire this year, while keeping it just as stiff and nimble......Love this bike!  Pair with the new SRAM hydraulic disk brakes, Kenda's ever faithful Komandos and Stan's lightweight Iron Cross wheels, this is an uber fast race bike this year.....rider needs some work to be worthy of this bike!

Home for a couple of weekends, first double header of the season, in the worst weather and conditions I have raced in in a while.  New Brighton Park on Saturday in Vancouver was raining so hard....it was beyond words!!!  Well not quite but it really put my bike and my Kenda Kwickers to the test, and they never disappoint in the mud, taking my first win.  Sunday in Cumberland for the typically hot dry race, was again cold and wet.  The rain let up a bit and the deep mud slowly turned into peanut butter....slow grind.  I decided to race with the men, get my hour of intensity in, and I suffered!  Third lap I decided to take the short route and go over the jump, saves about 5 seconds....if you land it smoothly.  I landed it no problem, but hit a little too hard and flatted....that was a loooong run to the pits.  Finished DFL...but still finished :)

Work unfortunately has been a big deciding factor for my race schedule this season and I've had to pass up a lot of events that I would really like to do.  I just finished almost 2 weeks of drilling on a barge in Kitimat, BC.....that's always really good for the training program....NO IT'S NOT!  But I do have to admit it's a cool experience.

This past weekend was the second Cross on the Rock race for 2013, right here in Victoria, and we had to largest turnout to a cyclocross race in Canada I believe, 278 people, plus 32 kids!!!!  And this is on a small island, cross has gone bonkers on the island!   After bonking 20 mins into my ride the previous day, feeling really jet lagged from a couple of 13 + hour days of work and really not sure how everything would react.....and the prize money put forth for the event, I decided to race in the women's category.  The legend Wendy Simms and super fast Dawn Anderson are always really good competition, and it's always a good battle between the three of us.  I was surprised how good I felt and I really enjoyed the course.  Thank you Pro City and Binab Reality for hosting such a great event!

The season is just flying by!

Huge thank you to all my sponsors, Stan's No Tubes, Ridley Bikes, Laser Helmets, Oakley Glasses, Kenda Tires, SRAM, GU Energy, Rumble and Pro City for all of the continued support!  St. Louis Gateway cup in 2 weeks, here I come!