My summer has been amazing. I have traveled all over the world racing for Team USA. I am very lucky that I have been able to do these travels with the coolest people. Since my last entry I have been to Australia, back to Baie-Comeau, Quebec, down south to Augusta, Georgia, across to LA, and now New York.
In Australia I competed in a World Cup for cycling. I won the TT and the Road Race. I got to stay at the Olympic Park in Sydney, where all the major stadiums and venues still are that were used for the 2000 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. I stayed at the Pullman, a really nice hotel and really nice people there. I also got to hangout with Brad Washburn, my ski teammate and friend that I grew up skiing with, and his wife Cynthia. I took a little vacation while I was down there and crashed a teammates college buddies couch for a week. The couch is located right next to Bondi Beach. To get to Bondi I took a train to the end of the line and then thought I could take a bus. Well… I had my bike and a bag of gear but the buses don’t allow bikes. So I improvised. Got on my bike and started riding what I thought was east. Eventually I found the beach and made my way. For a little while there I had no idea where I was going or what I was going to do. Luckily I was up for a little bit adventure.
My next trip was to Augusta, Georgia for road nationals. I decided to make it a true adventure and drive there instead of flying. Great idea on paper. Long time driving there though. To help out a teammate I let him come along. That was an adventure within its self. The drive was boring until Tennessee. That region of the country is beautiful. Mountain biker’s dream. Nationals was fun with a TT, Crit, and Road Race. I had a horrible time in the TT but there was nothing terrible about the ride. I was the only girl in the Crit, Greta was out with a broken collar bone, and the road race a blast. I rode with all the guys for the first 4 rolling hills and then rode the rest of the first lap with a new girl. Cheered a teammate up another hill and then rode the last lap with a twitchy army guy. It was a lot of fun. The drive home was complete illuminated by lightening. Made the national news with how big the storm was.
A week after returning from Georgia I was off to Baie Comeau, Quebec. Bikes in tow and ready to go, back to where I won my first World Championships last year. I was excited to be going back. B-C is hard to get to but the locals are absolutely awesome. The training day was packed with folks along the course and the race day was standing room only. I won both the TT and the road race. At the start of the road race the announced that because of the heat we were allowed to take water each lap. Normally you can’t on the last lap. This announcement made my coach and I chuckle cause it was 70F and gorgeous. The announcer noticed and proceeded to add that I might not feel hot for those from southern California. Colorado or California I’m sure that 70F would still be comfortable for anyone. The rest of the team did really well. Oz, Monica, Muffy, Dave and Clark, and I all won the World Cup Overall. Not bad at for a small American team.
