Stillwater Criterium

Anne, Kacey, Toni and I left the host house early for a warm-up. We rode to the course from there. I was starting to get a bit worried, because the ride was longer than I thought it was going to be. It was beautiful out though. A slight breeze, but warm temperatures and clear skies.

Stillwater is one of my favorite races. The hill is awesome. Part of the reason it is so cool is because of the spectators. It makes going up the hill 14 times a lot easier when you have so much encouragement.

I got to start the day in the white jersey for best young rider. Alexis Rhodes was the actual leader though, by 1:32. She was also leading the queen of the mountain competition, which takes precedence over the white jersey. Anyway, being a jersey wearer, I got to start on the front line! Sweet! Starting position is really key for this race. They start you at the bottom of Chillkoot Hill. It's a mess the first lap and you end up having to navigate your way through riders and spectators.

Anyway, I made it up the hill in the first 5 and held that for the first lap. The 2nd lap, Kristin Armstrong drilled it and created a gap. Two riders went with her - Shelly Olds (PROMAN) and Andrea Dvorak (Colavita). I was in the chase group along with my teammate Anne. Our group whittled down to 8 riders by the time the race was over. On the last lap, Anne told me to move up into position. I came into the last two sweeping corners 4th wheel. I made sure not to open up a gap because I knew things would light up at the bottom of the hill. I rode tempo behind a few girls at the bottom. Once it got closer to the top, I gave it my all. Kat Cheetley of Colavita was next to me. I could see her out of the corner of my eye and I just kept going. I came across the line 4th place, 14 seconds behind Kristin Armstrong. This was by far the best race I've ever had.

After the race, I learned I had moved into the lead for the white jersey. I won by 5 seconds. It was a close race. The young rider jersey wasn't a goal for the team when we started the race. Anne was our G.C. rider and ended up moving into 5th place overall, just 1minute and 11 seconds behind Kristin Armstrong. I moved into 9th place overall, 1minute 57seconds down from the lead. Our guest rider Edwige Pitel finished 14th, 4minutes and 43seconds down from Kristin. LipSmacker had 3 riders in the top 15. It was a great result for us. We finished 2nd in the team G.C.!

Now I'm in Wisconsin for the Tour of America's Dairyland. I won't be doing all of the races. Tomorrow is the start. It's the Blue Mounds road race. The course is the purposed 2016 Olympic course. Should be a good time. That's all for now!
-A