I was so excited to win this race. I credit it to my friend Michelle who told me on friday that she prayed that I would win. After last year, I needed a little divine intervention this year. I was shooting for top three because I knew there was really good competition. My goal was to go as hard as I could and not worry about anyone else. I had started to get a cold on friday (the day before the race), but wasn't too worried because during our ride on friday my head seemed to clear. I woke on saturday feeling fine, just a little plugged up.

The start of the race was a little sketchy. A guy a little in front of me almost crashed 3x going down Hwy 77. Once we got to Rosie's field the race opened up. I knew I was in good position when I could still see the lead group heading into the woods as I was going down the big hill with the gully at the bottom in Rosie's. I worked my way through groups of riders and settled in for the long race. I felt fine the whole race. I lost my group once on an open road, but slowly caught back up on Firetower hill. I didn't know where I was in the race standings until Scott mentioned I was leading with "a big gap" at Firetower. Scott was everywhere on the course. It was awesome to see him. It helped to get hand-ups and it forced me to drink. Flying down the road on the backside of firetower hill I felt a bug smack my leg. It wasn't until after I finished that I realized I had a nice swollen bee sting on my right hip. It's still pretty sore. The rolling birke hills didn't seem as bad this year in years past and I was really glad when I hit the last bit of rolling trail in the woods before the downhill finish. I started cramping a little with 4 miles to go and just knew to be careful enough not to flat or have any other mechanical and just get to the finish line - fast. It was awesome to cross the line and know I had the win. I think I hugged everyone in the vicinity. Chris and Jason (regional team manager and assist team manager)were at the finish as well and it was great to share this victory with them. It was nice to meet Heather and Catheryn (2nd and 3rd place women).

My teammate, Doug Swanson, was in the lead with 3 miles to go when he got a flat. He still finished second, although I think it would have been fantastic for him to win. It's fun to see him race well. Tristan Schouten, my other teammate, made the top 10; so all around it was a great day!

On sunday all of us raced the crit as well. The women's race was two loops with two challenging climbs per lap. I led after the first downhill, then Kyia passed me on the second uphill. She led until the last downhill of the second loop when I passed her on the final climb. She is really tough!

Doug took first as well, and Tristan 3rd overall in the sunday crit. A really good weekend for the Trek Midwest Regional Team!

I slept horribly (not at all?) last night between blowing my nose, coughing, and having the cat wake me up to get fed (he doesn't eat when we are away from home - he's a really anxious cat). I feel pretty bad today, but made it through work, somehow. No monday night ski hut ride for either Scott or I. It was really cool to go to work today and our Adminstrative Assistant put up the podium photos from this weekend's race. It's fun to share this win with so many people.