Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Dogwood Crit-Knoxville, TN

Sunday was the Dogwood Crit in Knoxville. It was a fun day. I love that course so even though I am STILL fighting a lingering illness I picked up in California, I decided to head up there and see just how close to recovered I am. Star and Lisa, newly upgraded to Cat 3's, were also going so no matter what happened it would have been a fun day with my teammates.

After getting to Knoxville and seeing the start list, it was going to be a tough day. There were two or three really strong girls there, including Deb and Cara from BMW-Bianchi. I spent all winter chasing them around while racing 'Cross so I knew we were in for a good race. Once the race started, it became obvious that no one was going to let anything get away. We were going to come down to a drag race at the finish. I have raced Dogwood enough times to know (through my own trial and error) that with the downhill finish the sprint needs to go EARLY. I am sure I not only caught a bunch of people off guard but made at least one or two swear at my "going too soon". The gamble paid off and I was spun out ahead of the field at the finish. I think my legs and lungs are finally coming back to me and I had a great time.

Star and Lisa did great, both also finishing in the money at 8th (Lisa) and 9th (Star).

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