The Good, The Bad, and The Absolutely Adorable

The Good:

The last few weeks since Fitchburg have been pretty amazing, despite some physical setbacks and a few more trips to see Paul at Specialized Physical Therapy than I would like.  I mean, I LOVE seeing you, man... but... can't we just go out for beers or something?!?!  ;)

I took another win at Greentree.  It was a small field, but it was a fun race and, as always.. I just love racing on my home course.

The Giro went pretty well.  I ended up taking the win in the TT and going almost 2 minutes faster than last year.  Man... I just LOVE my TT bike!! I got to wear the leader's jersey at the start of the crit, which was pretty amazing.   The crit and road race were difficult for me in terms of positioning.  The field seemed very sketchy and with the Fitchburg crash still fresh in my mind, I just couldn't get myself to push out my elbows and noodle my way in there.  I was 8th in the crit and 7th in the road race.  I managed to hold on to 4th in the GC and Deborah was 5th by the end of the weekend, and we won the Team GC also!  Wow.

I snagged another TT win at the Honoring Sandrino's Sacrifice TT.  A bit faster than last year, where I was 3rd in the Women's Open... I got to stand on the podium with a teammate this year.  That's just such a good feeling.

Deborah and Gabby and I took to the line at the Grandview Grand Prix (which was also the PA State Crit Championships).  Our plan was simple, get Deborah to the line 1st for the win.  I was super confident in her ability to outsprint the field, but still wanted to be there to give her the best leadout I could.  That didn't really go to plan.  I launched an attack - with the intention of getting the other sprinters to chase - with about 12 to go.  After one lap up the road, they called a prime.  So, I decided to just stay out for that.  By the time I came through that lap, I had a huge gap and was out of sight.  My inner monologue began... "I should sit up and go back.  No... Deborah would want you to stay out for the win.  No, no, no... your job is back there... go back.  No, no... the WIN!"  It was one of the few times I wished we had race radios and I could have gotten the ok from her.

In the end, I stayed away to take the win.  And, much to my joy and happiness, Deborah crushed the sprint for 2nd place on the day AND the Championship.  PHEW!!  In the end, though our tactics changed... the result was wonderful!

The Bad:

There's really not too much bad to discuss, actually!  I mean, I could... but, why bother?  I'm in a place now where I simply don't have the time or the desire to expend energy on negative people or bad stuff.  So, I shall simply move on from this to the last one.

The Absolutely Adorable:

Well... there's this.

And this...

And, this...

So proud of my teammate Danielle... who saw a move happening and got in on it, which took her to a 3rd place finish at the Freedom Tour yesterday.  It was so fantastic to get to see the Cat 4 women race and cheer them on... our races are often timed in such a way that we can't cheer for one another very easily, but this race was a perfect opportunity.  And, I'm so glad we were there to watch her have such an amazing race.  BRAVO, Danielle!!!  :)