I was extremely happy with how this past weekend of racing went for me in Baltimore. This course was really fun with a good mix of turns, punchy climbs and a huge flyover. On Saturday I had a front row call up and had an unusually good start for me. I was with the lead group on the start loop. Unfortunately, I had a few unexpected mechanicals and had to pit a couple of times. Luckily, I did not lose too much time and was happy to still squeak into the top 10 finishing 9th overall.
On Sunday, much of the course was run in reverse. Equally as fun, but a good bit dustier. A cloud of dust hung over the venue. I had a pretty bad start and was worried it was just going to be a bad race. However, I moved up quickly. About halfway through the race I had moved up from around 20th place to 5th place. I caught another girl in 4th and she pulled me around. I thought about passing her but she was so strong on the straightaways, I felt like I was barely hanging on. I had a plan to pass her on the last lap on a long climb before a technical off camber section really close to the finish. I figured she would probably out sprint me as strong as she had been riding so that was really the last place to pass. However, when we got to that climb I couldn’t pass since she was going equally as hard and I had nothing left. She took a middle line on the off camber and I took the high line. I tried to keep up speed and was shocked that I passed her there. I went as hard as I could to the finish and got 4th place. I was so happy to have made the pass on that technical section because I had crashed on it earlier in the race and was thrilled to conquer it.
This weekend there are two races in Washington, DC. Last weekend and this weekend are part of a 4 race series based on time. I am currently sitting in 6th overall but aiming for top five!
