Mesa State College Race Weekend

This past weekend we headed to Grand Junction/Fruita, CO for some more collegiate racing. It's about a 5 hour drive from Fort Collins. Lots of people from the team came out to race. It was awesome to have such a great showing. Something like 30 people showed up from CSU to race. The weather was nice both days. Temperatures were chilly to start out with, but quickly warmed up to almost 70 degrees both days.
Julia, Alex, Chris, and I went for a spin around Grand Junction when we got there Friday afternoon.

Saturday was probably one of the hardest road races I've done so far. It was almost 60miles long. The first 8miles or so was the out-and-back part of the race. Most of it was uphill. Then we went out onto an 11-mile loop. There was a long, false flat for a good portion of the loop. There was also a pretty sweet downhill section for a decent amount. The feed zone was a short, but steep climb that hurt extremely bad. Kristin McGrath from FLC and I rode at the front at the start of the race going up the first climb. Kristin pushed the pace a little bit, just to get in a warm-up. We arrived at the top of the climb to see no one behind us. We sat up and talked for awhile, waiting for some others to catch back on. 4 others caught back on and we started rotating. Things never really broke up until 1 lap to go. Kristin pushed the pace up the short climb and we got a gap on the other riders. We got organized and put quite a bit of time on the others. Kristin is an amazing climber. I still can't believe how much power she has. It's amazing to watch her. It doesn't seem like she's even working, but then again I can't see what her face is like when I'm trying to hang on to her wheel. I almost popped off her wheel coming through the false flat section. We hit the feed zone hill and I knew I had to give it all I had to stay on her wheel. I had nothing left and she got a gap. After the hill, Kristin dangled about 10seconds in front of me, but I couldn't close the gap. I rode the next 10miles or so by myself. Of course it was all in a headwind, but most of it was downhill. I finished 2nd.

A few hours later, we all suited back up for the team time trial. It took place on the loop of the road race course. 3/4 of the course was uphill and 1/4 of it was downhill. Everyone's legs were fried, so we just took it easy, especially on the climbing part. The downhill section was fast and we flew. Ended up winning, but not by as much as we should have. Oh well, it was a brutal day for sure.

Sunday was a criterium in Fruita, CO. The course was flat with lots of corners. The team put in a ton of attacks during the race. With 4 laps to go, Tirrel from CSU attacked. An FLC girl tried to go with her, so I grabbed her wheel. The FLC closed the gap. I looked back and saw we had a gap on the field. Away we went. Tirrel and I did almost all the work, which was understandable. FLC played a smart race. Coming into the last corner on the last lap, I attacked and got a gap. I sprinted for the finish for a win. Tirrel came across 3rd. CSU had an awesome showing this weekend. It's great to see how the team is coming together.
The drive back. I think this is Copper Mountain.

Next up is Colorado School of Mines races which includes a hill climb up Lookout Mountain (something like 1700 feet of climbing in 4.5miles) and a circuit race in Golden. Should be a hard, fun weekend. Thanks for reading!
-A

P.S. I finally got around to posting pictures from the UNC/CU weekend. Check them out below!