Tough weekend for the women's team in St. Louis. We had 3 crits, only Saturday's was NRC, but most of the people stuck around for Friday and Sunday as well. Sarah starred in her own version of planes trains and automobiles. She hoped to save time by flying to St. Louis but got stranded in Chicago all day on Friday missing the Friday night race. Elena and I drove down on Friday and Stacy was going to drive down on Saturday and meet us at the race. Friday was successful racing for Elena and I. It was cool, but dry. Elena got second in her race and I had my first field finish of the year!
For the rest of the weekend it alternated between drizzling and pouring, was pretty cold, and in general unpleasant. Saturday Elena slid out on a corner and thought she rolled her tubular but didn't so she did not get a free lap--ending her race just like that. In the 1/2 race, a fairly technical crit that looked sort of fun had it been dry, Stacy, Sarah, and I felt alright. Immediately from the start Sarah's brake was rubbing, so that ended her race. I flatted early and the pit wheel I got was inflated to what felt like 200psi. I immediately crashed out on the first corner. I cried like a baby but turned out to be just fine. I got back in and finished avoiding both the carnage on the final corner and the money to end up 22nd. Stacy rode like a rock star--it was exciting to see her off the front for a bit while I was in the pit getting my wheel changed-- and she got the last money spot for 20th.
Sunday racing in yet another technical crit with downhill corners was appealing to none of us but we sucked it up, found some motivation and went to the line. Poor Elena crashed out of the winning 3 person break in the slick rainy downhill corner and dnf'd. She is fine, though road rashed. Stacy, Sarah, and I stayed upright. Stacy finished with the field in 20th, Sarah and I finished otb in 40th and 23rd. To quote Sarah, "it was kind of like fun, but different." After the race we dropped Sarah off at the airport and Stacy gave me a ride back to Chicago. Elena had gotten done several hours before us so she had already headed home. Turns out Sarah's flight was delayed in St. Louis so she missed her connection in Chicago once again stranding her at O'Hare. Last I heard she'd gotten a ride from some strangers and hopefully made her way back home to Michigan.
Even in all that nastiness we still managed to have a lot of fun. If we can stay positive under these conditions, I think we can handle just about anything that comes our way. We had a great time staying with my dear old friends Tim and Danielle and their two adorable boys. We even enjoyed a fun game of "Chipmunk comes alive in the house after being brought in 'dead' by the cat".
Here's some pics:
Saturday http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-grove-ne-1/nrc-women-pro-1-2/photos/173778
Sunday at the line: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gopate/5725289184/in/set-72157626730964734
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gopate/5725289392/in/set-72157626730964734
And while these do not feature ABD, it does pretty much sum up the conditions of the weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gopate/5725301826/in/set-72157626730964734
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gopate/5724742989/in/set-72157626730964734
-Kristen
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