After the morning time trial, the first day’s evening crit in Downtown St. Paul was a tough start to racing with fast riding by powerhouse teams and lots of crashes. They had changed the course so a new tight turn caused a lot of girls to slide out and take others with them. About halfway through I was taken out by a rider on the bricks section near the finish, but not much damage so I went to the pit and jumped back into the race. With the speed and further crashes, the group broke up and I finished just behind the main group. I’ve never seen so many crashes in a race before, of 28 laps there were at least 20 crashes.

Day 2 on the TT course

The 3^rd Stage in Cannon Falls was a 95 mile road race and just as long as it sounds. Fast from the start with a gravel section to string everyone out and moves by all the big teams broke up the race immediately. I rode through the caravan and back onto the 2^nd group and we maintained a 3 minute gap. With the wind, speed and distance of the race, I surprised myself since training has been less then great since April. It was fun and challenged my endurance for sure.

The 4^th Stage, Uptown Crit was going smooth and fast and I was moving up in the group until one girl took a turn too fast and went into the guard rail, then bounced off and into other riders to her right. I was in the unfortunate position of being behind her, so when she bounced across the road I tried to go right and around, but had nowhere to go. So I went right over them and landed face/shoulder first on the road. I got up quickly and was most relieved my bike was all right, but seeing the pile up still getting untangled wasn’t so pretty. We all rolled over to the pit and after they stopped the race and got everyone assessed restarted with 9 laps to go. It wasn’t hard getting back in the rhythm of the fast sweeping turns, but with 3 to go the leaders started stringing it out and I finished just with the pack in 33^rd position.

Couple cuts and scrapes after day 5 Uptown Crit

The 5^th Stage, Menomonie was 85 miles of rain and quick steep climbs that my legs and back just aren’t ready for. After taking the first part pretty slow the group ramped it up on the first climbs to the QOMs and shattered the field. I settled into a group and worked with them through the hills and winding roads of Wisconsin. Luckly, it wasn’t too cold, but I fear having some unknown disease from having cow poop water sprayed up into my face all day from the roads off the back of bike tires.

The 6^th and Final Stage, Stillwater was the crit I dreaded since deciding to do this race. The quick but steep climb puts such a strain on my back that I just wanted to get through the “mandatory” 4 laps and call it a day. I’m not a quitter or give up, but looking out for my body and understanding now that sometimes forcing my body into submission for a 40^th place finish isn’t necessarily the best decision for my cycling career. So I raced my race and worked hard up every lap I did. The group I was with got pulled at about 8 laps, and just enough to make me sore and feeling the ache. It’s all a process and an experience that I’m learning.

Travis McCabe taking the win in the men’s race

I gained a lot from this race and my legs surprised me with how good they felt in terms of not having cramps or pain beyond the usual stage race fatigue.

Now, we have a couple days of down time before starting up with Tour of America’s Dairyland and 10 days of racing. I am looking forward to the crit racing and fun events in Wisconsin.

Coffee Shop on the way to Wisconsin