Day 3 & 4 of Steamboat Racing

Sunday's road race was a super fun, hard, hilly and challenging course. The first mile was a neutral roll out on a dirt road and of all things, I lost a bottle and didn't even realize it until it was way back. We were only supposed to have cups of water at the feed zone but luckily there were a few bottles and I was able to snag one. If not, I would have been toast! At any rate, there was an early break of 2 that stayed away for 80% of the race and had over 5 minutes on us at half way. We finally got organized and chased them down but it wasn't easy. The monsoon rains and hail storm midway through the race didn't make it any easier either, but hey, it was interesting. I was able to stick with the group until the final climb to the finish (which I didn't even know was coming bc I missed the 1K sign), but only finished a minute down and 9th which wasn't bad considering I didn't push myself to the finish. Marilyn, again, rocked the house and took the big win and put herself 1st overall.
Later that evening, we went to the Moots factory for a BBQ and took a peek around. What a cool little place.

They also raffled off a brand new Moots frame and the little guy above was the lucky winner. How cool?!?Day 4 came fast and I could definitely feel the prior days work in my body. After a couple of breakfasts and a good bike cleaning, we headed out to the Crit course to watch some of the other races. Although my girl Flora should never have raced in CAT4, she took the overall hands down and made herself some good money!

The course was super fun with a gradual incline leading into a steep little kicker at the top which made for lots of excitement. It was fast and furious with NO crashing :) I worked a bit then sat in most the race as I just wanted to keep my GC spot and not go down. I did just that and because my left hammy cramped during the last 2 laps, I didn't even get up to sprint, but finished with the bunch and won a bit of money for my overall place.

Marilyn, on the other hand, finished strong and took the overall win for the ladies field. I learned a lot from her this weekend and I look forward to another stage race next season with her by my side!

A big thanks to Corey Piscopo for putting on such a stellar race that was beyond well organized! Let him know you feel the same way so we can get this back on the schedule for next year :)