I signed in, picked up my leaders jersey :o), saw Kim and Pak off at their start, then headed to the van to stay warm. Went through my pre-race routine, warmed up and off to the staging area for 1:25 p.m.. Can you believe it, the temps actually seemed a tad warmer, the sun was shining and clear blue skies for the start of the race. Perfect timing.
The elite women's field was strong with a couple of racers just back from World Cups, including Emily Batty (Trek World Racing).
From the start, Emily Batty and Mikaela Kofman (3 Rox Racing) went out front in 1, 2 fashion and put a bit of a gap on the rest of the group. For the first 3 laps, it was Sue Haviland (Norco Evolution) and myself battling for 3rd. On the 4th lap and final lap, Sue passed me just after the"Green Monster" (long steep'ish', grass climb) and I had nothing left to counter her move. Sue H. was alot smoother in the single track and would immediately close any small gap that I would gain on the climbs.With only a few kilometers to go I tried to close the gap but came up short of the podium and ended up 4th. Overall I felt really good and I'm happy with my race.
Top Five:
1. Emily Batty (Trek World Racing)
2. Mikaela Kofman (3 Rox Racing)
3. Sue Haviland (Norco Evolution)
4. Sue Stephens (Bell's/Quiring)
5. Mandy Dreyer
(full results)
Awesome job to Chico Racing for putting together a great course, even when the weather didn't want to co-operate.
Once again Paiten took care of my feeds and my 3 boys cheered me on. It was nice to have the whole family at the race for Mother's day.
Cheers,
Sue
No, I was not trying to make a fashion statement! My left knee warmer fell down within the first 5 minutes of the race! :o)
Awesome job (again!) Sue. I know that grassy hill well. I raced a 24 hour solo at Albion hills a few years ago. It was a really fun venue, but I got pretty sick of that hill :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Danielle. 24 hours of the "Green Monster" is about 22 hours too many!! lol
ReplyDeleteSue :o)