Elkhorn Classic

Ted and I traveled to eastern Oregon last weekend for one of my favorite races, the Elkhorn Classic: www.elkhornclassic.com

We shared a room with Ben Rhodes and Chad Conley, which made for crowded space, with 8 bikes, 4 trainers, 2 coolers, and 20+ wheels. Thankfully, our room was relatively large.

I have had both great and awful days on stage one in past years; I'd say this year fell somewhere in the middle. It was hot - 90 degrees or so, and I made sure to drink lots of concentrated sports drink. I drank 4 bottles during the race, which normally would have been sufficient, but I found myself getting the chills and goosebumps with 10 miles to go. I was determined to hang with the other two girls I was with until the finish (two others were ahead up the road), which I managed to do. I was not feeling well at all after the finish - chilled, light-headed, and queasy. I heard others later say that they had experienced the chills too, including Ted, so it was a rough day for many.

I was concerned about how I would handle the heat for the coming stages, as the forecast called for rising temps throughout the weekend. Surprisingly, I had a fantastic time trial - definitely my best of the season. I stayed focused throughout the course, which has been a problem for me this year, and finished knowing I had done a good one. Ted felt the same way, so we were both in pretty high spirits.

We were all pretty wiped out from the heat, so we took a nap in the air conditioning before the third stage crit Saturday evening. I don't know what came over me, but I had a great crit, riding near the front the whole time and sprinting for numerous primes. I finished and Ted told me I had won $100 prime, but I didn't think I had. Sure enough, I did win $100, and also another prime - a gift certificate for a local store. I never win primes, so I was pretty happy. Alice Pennington told Ted after the crit that I have a "wicked sprint." Hmmm... never thought of myself as a sprinter.

Our final 100 mile stage progressed as it always does, which means it pretty much stayed together until the final 10 mile climb. Three of us dropped the rest, and then I was dropped from them with 1 km to go. I finished 3rd on the day and moved into 2nd overall, which I was happy with. I finally feel like my fitness is coming around for the first time this season; it has been an extremely frustrating season until now. All in all, I walked away with $300+ bucks. Ted had some stomach problems, but still seemed to have fun.