Methow recap

We're back from our weekend of racing in the Methow Valley of north central Washington. It's a beautiful area, known for its cross-country skiing in the winter, and its hiking and camping in the summer. Ted and I drove over with our friend Ben from Pullman, and met up to share a room with my teammate, Carrie. Our hotel was a cute "mom and pop" place that had one of the best breakfast spreads I've seen, and they went out of their way to have breakfast out early enough for all the racers staying there.

Ted had his best time trial effort of the year, finishing 8th and putting him as the top rider on his team, so that was a good start to the weekend for him. I had an okay time trial too, but it was definitely not my best effort. While Ted put out his highest wattage for the season, I was way off from where I have been recently... and where I should be. A little disappointing, but at least my leg wasn't bothering me, which I had been worried about.

There wasn't much time to relax before we had to head to the crit. There were some ominous-looking clouds and some thunder, but thankfully the rain held off for all of the races. My crit was tough, as I got in a break off the front with four other women. Two of the women were teammates and were working hard against me. For a while, I held my own pretty well, but eventually they got the better of me and one of them got off the front on her own. Since this race is based on points, rather than the accumulated time, it didn't really matter how far off the front she got; it was more critical for me to finish highly and get the most points I could still get, so I stopped chasing. I ended up 3rd, so that was okay.

Ted's crit made me nervous, as I heard the horrible sound of a crash and then didn't see Ted when his pack came around the next time. Thankfully, he had not actually gone down, though he had gotten stuck behind the crash. His teammate wasn't so lucky and hit the ground pretty hard. We all came home with all our skin, and that's what really matters!

We woke up to lots of wind for yesterday's final stage - the 71 mile road race. The course was sort of an out-and-back course, with a little loop thrown in the middle. We had a stiff headwind for most of the way out, and it was a super fast return trip. The women's race was pretty slow and inactive, especially for the way out, but the activity picked up for the last 15 miles or so. There were several hard attacks, which saw the field shattering.

My teammate, Carrie, ended up off the front with two teammates (the same two who were beating up on me in the criterium). I didn't think I would be able to bridge the gap up to them, so I told Carrie to go for it, but they slowed a little and I was able to join them. Carrie and I were on the defensive, as the other team launched a steady stream of attacks for the last 5 miles. It became pretty obvious that they weren't going to go anywhere, but they still kept attacking, which was fine with me since I was hoping it would wear them down a bit. Carrie and I worked well together, chasing down alternating attacks. We saw the sign for the final kilometer and then suddenly saw the 200 meter sign (the final kilometer was definitely short!). Carrie and I sprinted, with Carrie taking the win and me taking second. It was fantastic for us to finish 1 & 2, and I think it showed that we raced smart. Carrie was riding super well, so that was great to see.

Carrie was concerned that she had kept me from taking the overall win for the weekend because she got the top points for the weekend, but it would not have mattered. Even if I had won, the woman ahead of me would have had to have placed several places back for me to pass her. Carrie, on the other hand, was able to move up in the final results, so that was wonderful. Overall, it was a good weekend of racing, and our team is starting to show our strength.