Grandview Grand Prix

I love this race. I mean it...I absolutely LOVE this race. I did it for the first time last year and managed to get 3rd from a break that lapped the field. Ever since then, I have been looking forward to racing this one again. It is just such a GREAT course, and such a great field, that it's a high point of the race season for me. Today was no different.

The field today was stacked - Cassie King, Collen Gulick, Dana Walton, Christine Fennessy, Cheri Fager, us...just to name a few.

Though the road surface at Grandview needs some serious tending...the course is awesome. As is our tendency, Alaina and I spent a lot of time at the front...throwing attacks, chasing EVERYTHING that went, and pushing the pace. I ALMOST got away with two to go. There was a prime with 3 to go, which Cass won. Once we got her back, I launched off the front and pulled away from the field. After coming up through the final turn, I realized that I had a rider on my wheel. We had a decent gap with two to go and probably could have held it, but she refused to work. When I finally got her to pull through, she really slowed up. By the time I got back in front of her and pushed the pace, the field was on us and our chance was gone. I was pretty bummed, but decided to just sit back in and grit my teeth for the sprint.

I had a bad turn through the final corner, but still managed to pull a good sprint out of my butt and move up a few spots to finish 6th. Robin was 12th, Alaina was 8th and Mitch was 2nd!!! YAY! All in all, a REALLY good day for CAWES.

We also met some AMAZING people at the race. For the first time this year, they had a hand-cycling category. There were 26 riders pre-registered for this race and it was really awesome to see them out there. They were truly inspirational individuals who had overcome a variety of disabilities, injuries, illnesses, etc. and have embraced their lives and their sport. We had the opportunity to talk to Chris Kaag and his wife Gretchen, who founded the IM ABLE Foundation. They have dedicated themselves to working with disabled individuals to get them set up with hand bikes or other equipment to move (literally!) past their handicaps. We cheered for Chris during his race - it was pretty cool to see them JAMMING it out there - and hope to work with him and Gretchen when we do our Special Olympics Juniors Day out in September.