redlands!

-So where are you headin'?
-Aspen.
-Hmmm, California! Beautiful!

While floyd was't right about much (the parakeet scene hit home hard), california is beautiful.

It's so pretty out here. And, to make leaving less appealing, Boone is getting snow. Yes. Snow.

But anyways, Redlands stage race. 4 days, 4 stages, first race of the year for me & lots of nerves. We had 113 women starting, which was awesome. Thanks to GearGrinder for hooking us up with these super sweet track jackets and t-shirts so at least we look good!

The race kicked off with a 3.1 mile uphill Prologue. Woah. It was hard. As the dry california heat climbed into the 80s, the mountain of a tt course would be even more tough. The course began with a short kicker then up a false flat for maybe a mile before the road tilts backwards and you're faced with an impossibly pitched climb- the summit hanging daunting above your head, seperated by scorching black pavement and a ticking clock.

It was such a hard TT.Did what I could and finished 33rd

Stage 1 brought a 72 mi RR- rolling with a climb up to the QOM and a descent into the finish. Again, the race was hot. Not much to say, but I was happy to finish in the front group & 26th

Almost as happy as to find my new look:

Saturday's crit felt fast. I was just hanging on! Finished in the field with everyone more or less getting the same time.

Going into Saturday's RR I was 26th GC. I know that's not great, but it's the best Ive done in an NRC stage race and I was pretty stoked about it. The course would be hard- 9 laps of a 6 mile loop with a 3 mile climb on each lap. Despite getting dropped in most math classes, even I know that's 27 miles of climbing. Ouch. The race started out hard. The rolling "neutral" was fast and up the first climb a break of ten (ish) went. I found myself in the second group of about 20. We rode around for a bit, some more caught back onto our group, and then I crashed.

And here the whining starts. You might want to skip this part. Seriously.

So I crashed. Not sure what happened, but the mess up body & bike to coolness of crash ratio sucked. Meaning, it was a horribly dumb crash (im sure) for the reprecussions (mainly just switching out shifters, but I'm lazy. And a cat 5 "mechanic"). But after this, my bike was unrideable and I had to accept a DNF on the stage...and the whole race.

And, apart from the actual racing, it's not like Redlands was going well from the start. Five days before my flight out here we noticed my frame was cracked. Blue was awesome, got it warrentied, and we built up a new frame just in time. Two nights before my flight, Clayton noticed the carbon braking surface on my wheel was cracked. The wheel is five years old, so this is nothing out of the ordinary, but it definitely present another glitch in the plan. Clayton and Reid, another kid at App, came to my (and my baby 303's!) rescue when they developed a plan to use a syringe to inject carbon repair gel into the wheel. It totally sounds less crazy when they say it. My wheel went to surgery the night I left as I paced around the house like an anxious mother in a waiting room.

The good news: It worked! The bad: With dry time it wouldn't be ready to race on in CA.

With no other wheel to ride expect a ghetto antique wheel with an unworking powertap hub (that I wasn't particularly excited about dragging up the hills out here), Clayton came to my rescue yet again and let me borrow his 404 for the trip. Of course, the tire had to come unglued during the flight. (Yeah. wtf.) The local bike shop glued up my tire the day before the TT and seemingly, after losing a frame and a wheel within 5 days of leaving, I had a working bike to race.

Then a crash to top off the week. I really would've liked to get a decent result at this race, or least finish, but whatevs.

I know "it happens," but it sure sucks when it does

But we had alot of fun. Good times. And on the bright side, I got tan. And got to ride in a cop car. The officer didn't buckle up for safety, even after I reminded him.

Redlands, it's been real.