Over the past month or so I
have been transitioning into cyclocross season… this means a much needed break
then the gruesome training starts again.
My first race was the Criss Cross cyclocross race put on by team Evoke
in Edmond, Oklahoma. Going into this race I didn’t have very high expectations
for myself, I am still at category 4 in cross and I was racing the women’s
open. Team Evoke did an outstanding job, the course was a long, challenging,
bumpy course. As we lined up I looked
around at my competition and realized there was a very good chance that I was
going to be eating dust this whole race.
When the whistle blew and we took off I was 6th going into
the hole shot, so I sat in and got into a good rhythm and slowing started to
move up. As I passed 5th, 4th,
and 3rd, I remembered just how dang hard cross is on your body. Once I reached 2nd place I
remembered this sport likes to mess with your mind also. My legs were screaming at me while I
struggled to hang on the wheel of 2nd place. I had never raced with this mystery lady
before and as I kept trudging along I heard screaming from my dad to remind
myself that I am limitless (my dad is the best). Once we hit the long flat section I put my
head down for one second to dig a little deeper, when I looked up the mystery
lady had disappeared…. And no I had not passed her. I spent the rest of the race holding 3rd
place and trying my best to chase down the 2 amazingly strong women in front of
me. After I crossed the line in 3rd
place I went over by the women who finished in front of me to find out that the
mystery woman is an ex-national champion and a cat 1 cyclocross race. After this race I decided it was time to upgrade
to a category 3 in CX! I was super proud
of myself for not giving up in this race and pushing myself harder every
lap. Here in Oklahoma we are super lucky
to have such strong ladies that are also always willing to help out a junior,
or cat 4 racer. I feel truly blessed
with the amazing bonds I have made with some of the marvelous ladies here!!
Oklahoma CX is not just racing… it is a family.
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| Over the barrier |
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| My AMAZING teammate Nikki :) |
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| pain, pain and more pain |
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| Podium! Kim in 1st, Magen in 2nd and me in 3rd |
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