Top Spot at O-Cup #1.....................

And.....................the O-Cup Series has officially started!! 1 down 6 to go.

Jay, Paiten and myself headed to Mansfield, ON, for the season O-Cup opener. We rented a cabin this year!! 2 warm and good nights of sleep (nothing like last year), NICE!!  We went up on Friday and arrived around 4:00 p.m. Enough time to settle in and do a couple of pre-ride laps. The course was fast, with many gradual climbs, some pitchy climbs and fun technical descents including the famous Devil's Drop. The trails were sooooo dry with some sandy spots spread throughout. They could have used a bit of rain, however the weather held up, contrary to what the weather man had been forecasting. In fact there was no rain all weekend.

Just after supper, Kim and Pak rolled in. The night was pretty low key. We had a late supper and I called it a night around 10:30 p.m.

We woke up Sat. morning to cool temps. The parking lot filled with many racers coming in to pre-ride. I decided to sit the day out, relax, eat, chat and I even managed to get in a nap!!

Race day (Sunday) came and so did a headache, earaches and nerves!! I decided to take an early morning snooze to get rid of the 'aches' and got up just in time to see Kim and Pak get off for their 11:30 races.

I began my preparations and warm up around 12:30 and then to the line it was. Great to see familiar faces lineup next to me as well as a couple of racers from Quebec and the British National Cyclo-Cross Champion Helen Wyman (Kona Bikes - Pro MTB Team USA).  ARGH, breath, just say 'go' already!! We were off. The race began with a long gradual sandy climb and I sat mid to front of the pack. The pace was comfortable. By the time we reached the top, Mandy Dryer had opened up a significant gap on the rest of us, however by the first section of single track I was on her wheel. I rode behind her for a while and then made a pass putting me out front. We were holding a steady pace and the group began to string out. Going into lap #2 there were only a couple of women with me.  Soon it was myself and Heather Gray (Cycle Solutions/Angry Johnny's) about 10 sec. behind. We sort of played cat and mouse through the lap and then come lap 3 and 4 I put more distance on her. So down the final 'Devil's Drop', through the chicane and across the finish line I pulled off the win!!

Top 3:
1. Sue Stephens (Bell's/Quiring)
2. Heather Gray (Cycle Solutions/Angry Johnny's)
3. Sue Haviland (Norco Evolution)

(Full Results)

Thanks to Paiten for her flawless feeds, Jay for everything he does (awe.....), Kim and Pak for always making things fun (they both had great races), and to the London cheering squad!!  As always, Chico Racing put on a great race!! 

My bike ran smoothly, so much fun to ride.  I am so pumped with the way it handles and how balanced I feel on it at all times. Budda-ba-ba-ba......I'm lovin' it!!

Cheers,

Sue