Snake Alley Criterium

yep, it bit me.
Fellow CSU rider, Julia Manley, made the trip with a few others to conquer the Snake.


I finished 3rd place today, behind my teammate Samantha Schneider (1st) and Kristin Wentworth (2nd).

Need to learn better shifting techniques, as it cost me the race. I took off with lots of adrenalin at the start and had a pretty decent gap from the beginning. I flew up the snake the first time and felt awesome. Apparently I had a 2.5 block gap. That was closed quite a bit when I dropped my chain for the first time on lap 5 (??). I dropped it at the top of the little riser before the Snake. Recollected and hammered up the hill after I got the chain put back on. I still had a manageable gap so I kept going. The next lap I dropped the chain again. @%$&! This time I got caught, and passed by the chase group of 4 riders. I managed to gain contact with them and just sat in the rest of the time. I threw down an attack on the climb as Kristin got stuck behind a lapped rider. They pulled me in and thing stuck together until 2 laps to go. Kristin pushed the pace up the hill and got a small gap. Sam went with her. I was stuck behind two riders so I just sat in. Once we got to the top, Sam and Kristin had a gap. They maintained it for the rest of the race. I was with Sydney Brown and Devon Haskell (future teammate at NVGP). We sprinted for 3rd, me winning the sprint. As much as I wish I could have won, I know these sort of things happen. Unfortunately it happened at a home town race where all my friends and family were out cheering me on, but hey it happens right? Tomorrow's a new day. I'm super excited about racing for Mesa. We all seemed to work really well together today, so it's going to be a fun season. More updates as the weekend progresses. Cross your fingers for no rain!
-A