I’ve had enough 4th places already, sheesh! The first weekend in Providence I was pretty stoked to have finished 4th both days. For my first weekend out they weren’t bad results. But still?! Come on. You read that Louisville was a mixed bag, and now I’m here to tell ya that at Blue Sky Velo and Boulder Cup here in CO last weekend I finished 4th BOTH DAYS! Frick!

Blue Sky Velo Cup held at the Xilinx Campus in Longmont was a freakin’ blast – hard as hell in the mud but I loved it – blue sky, sun shining, and mud…what’s not to love?! I’ve said before that while I might not be the greatest “mudder”, I enjoy riding in it. This past week while out mtn biking, my front wheel wanted to ride through every muddy section but my head said not to so that I didn’t ruin the trails. Damn. Anyway, Katie Compton showed up in Longmont to school us for the the first time that weekend. Had I not seen her on the start line I wouldn’t have known she was even there since she rode off the front of the race so bloody fast and left the rest of us choking on her dust (er, mud). That left Georgia chasing Katie, Alison D chasing Georgia, me chasing Alison, and Kellie chasing me to round out the top 5. I had started to close in on Alison but with only 1 lap to go she pulled away again while I was fighting behind her to keep Kellie at bay. As you can see from the photos, it was a muddy mess out there. There was this one turn in particular that I couldn’t quite conquer and as you can see it got the best of me several times. Imagine the turn of a velodrome, cover it in mud so it’s more slippery than the banking of velodrome, shrink it down in size, and that’s what this turn was like. One lap in particular it about ate me whole – my wheels slipped out from underneath me and I fell off, of course grabbing a handful of mud as I went down. Kinda sucks when you gotta grab the handlebars and shifters again with a hands that are caked in mud. Luckily Brian Dallas was in the pits for me to give me a bike change the next time through. On the last lap I played it safe by running through that section. Yeah, so I’ve got some work to do technically but I think I’m learning something new each weekend.

Sunday once again brought out the sun and warmth, although there was one crucial part missing – mud. Instead we got sand. Yuk. Because of the wet conditions at Harlow Platts Park, the venue for Sunday’s race had to be changed to the Boulder Reservoir. Not ideal but understandable so that promoters can continue to hold events at the park in the future. It’s become a very mental thing but sand just kicks my butt. I have to admit I’m getting better at riding in the stuff but there are times when my bikes seems to just sink right beneath me. I’d love to follow Katie through the sand to see how it’s done right, but like the day before she was running away from the rest of the field by the end of the first lap.

Anyway, I was riding like a yo-yo out there (literally and figuratively) – that is, I was riding anywhere from 10th to 3rd to 5th to 4th. I’d move up a few spots, do something stupid like ride through the tape when my head was down and cut the corner too sharp, and then fall back a spot or 2 again. Luckily it was a long, hard race and I kept the pressure on the pedals until I rode up to Alison in the race for 3rd. Unfortunately, going into a crucial sand section, she got the fastest line ahead of me and came out with a small gap that I wasn’t able to close on the last lap. First, I should have been more aggressive going into the sand to get that line in front of her. Second, when I didn’t get the fast line I should have run it. Live and learn.

Now I’ve got four 4th places in 6 races to add to my palmares – greaaaat. The next USGP is coming up in Jersey this weekend and I am desperately hoping that I’ll do something right to get myself up on the podium for the first time. If I want to make the Worlds team, I must be on it, I mean really ON IT, for the Sunday races in Jersey and Portland. None of this 2nd day shenanigans that seems to be my trademark.

I also want to throw out some props to the people out there who helped me keep my head on straight – Justin and Jason (aka Sugar) from Specialized who helped me take care of my bikes, Brian Dallas who rocked the pits for me, and Stu Thorne from Cyclocrossworld.com who is always there to help in any situation. What would I do without his trusty air compressor to make sure my tires are at exactly 28.4 psi?!

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