MFG #1 Finn Hill Park

Sunday was the first series race of the year. The sun was out and boy was it hot.

The course was excellent, it had a little bit of everything and I really liked it.

This was the first time we had all the Category women racing at the same time, and I personally loved it!!
We had a lot of women out on the course and only women during our time slot. I feel that this gives the women the lime light that we deserve so we are not all mixed in and lost in the men. And I believe this will also help all the women improve because they can see the upper categories pace and that will encourage growth in all categories. So I feel it is a win win for everyone.

I lined up on the 2nd row, we had 22 Elite women, the largest local elite field I have ever been in, in either of our 2 series here in Wa! That is so awesome that our fields are growing so rapidly each year, I remember when I first started and to be honest up till just a couple years ago we would only have 5-8 elite women on the line. So I was super excited to see the growth!!

I got a great start, and found my pedal pretty fast. I was in approx 6th place till about 3/4 of a lap when we hit the road hill climb section. And I felt like I was standing still! Girls were flying by me. That is my weakness right now since I have not been able to ride hills very long with my knee. So I just gave it all I could and I fell back into the 2nd group of ladies and hung on. On the flats and technical sections I am very strong but anything that goes up right now just hurts.

So I made it to the barriers and again girls flew by me. Since I have to walk the barriers I was passed every lap there by one or two ladies. But there is nothing I can do about that right now, I am trying really hard to follow the doctors instructions and no running or barriers till Nov. So when you all see me walking that is why. It is funny cause people that don't know my story always yell at me to run not walk, I just get a giggle out of it. I am just so happy to be back out there!!

So each lap I fell back a place or two, but I kept pushing and coming into the finish there were 2 ladies right in front me. So I gunned it on the road finish and out sprinted one and almost got the other. So I ended up 18th, not my best results by far, but I have a long road of recovery ahead of me. So each race I hope to get a little stronger and improve my results every race.

Again a great showing for the women's cats this weekend!! I so proud to say I am a WA women cross racer. We have such a great group of ladies out there and I really enjoy racing with all of you!!

Saturday is Stracrossed and I am racing the master 30+. I will give it my all and see what I can do.