This past Wednesday I flew out to Phoenix, AZ with my parents to compete in the valley of the sun stage race. This is a 3 day long race consisting of a time trial, road race, and a criterium. This is one of my favorite races of the year because it gets me out of the Michigan snow and allows me to test my fitness against some of the best riders in the country. This is also a very important race to me because many national team coaches were here and look closely at the results.
The time trial on Friday went well for me. I had a good warm up and felt confident. I started off at a good pace and I was able to hold it for the rest of the 14 mile distance. I finished up in seventh place for the day with an average speed of 27 mph. The goal was to be top 5, but I know that I gave it my best and I will accept my placing. Also, fellow Michigan junior Rudy Peterson had a great time trial finishing in 8th place!
Yesterday was the 62 mile road race that consisted of 4 laps around the desert. 7 miles in I flatted after hitting a pothole and I had to wait a while for the wheel car. I tried to stay calm and when I got a new wheel, I hopped back onto my bike and began chasing. I made it up to another rider who I worked with to make it back to the lead group. This effort took a lot out of me and the rest of the race was just trying to hang on through the brutal crosswinds. At mile 56 my body completely blew up on me and could not take any more. My body started shaking, cramping, and felt very nauseous.I found a ride back to the finish where I was taken into an ambulance that gave me a lot to drink and monitored me for a while.
It disappoints me greatly that I was not able to finish the road race, and therefore was not able to start in today's crit. Cycling is like life, we all have our share of good and bad days. It is how we deal with the bad days that really makes us who we are. I am not going to allow yesterday's bad race to drag me down, I am going to let it motivate me to have an amazing next race.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who made this weekend possible for me including: Daniel Sterling for being an awesome boss and letting me borrow his bike box and wheels, Brian Adams for being the best physical therapist in the world, Lucas Wall for being an amazing mentor and coach, IS Corp Cycling for providing me with the best team ever to ride for, and all of my friends and family that are always cheering me on! I am leaving back to Michigan tomorrow with confidence knowing that I am in great shape and that I have many more races left to compete in. Thank you for reading!
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