Last in training, First in racing!

I haven't known what day it's been for awhile, but after this past weekend I am no longer in the offseason. Last Friday night I couldn't get anybody to go with me to a show on campus, even if I paid their $3 cover. Oh well, we had to wake up and do the "Shootout" at 7:30am Sat and it was Mike's last day/ride in Tucson. We are all really dedicated to riding and training which is a good thing for the team. I could barely wake up in the morning, having not even gone out. We all made it through the 5hr ride and I decided to go out more and make it a 7hr ride. Perfect pre-race day ride, right? It's January so I don't even know what I'm doing racing anyway.
Sunday, Josh and I set out for Phoenix to do our first race in both of our new colors. The orange kits really clashed with both of our old team bikes, but we dealt with it since our Specialized bikes are not here yet. We were lucky enough to get clothes rushed out to us for the first race of the Arizona season. I was in a small skinsuit and it was tight! As we were warming up I told Josh, "The last race I did was Superweek, How bad could this be?" Two laps into a completely flat, three turn crit and I was put right back into Superweek! Basically we did 29.1 miles in a 60 minute crit. It was fast, not just because I was in it, but because a lot of well known Pro teams were represented (like...Navigators, Jittery Joe's, Tiaa-Cref, Discovery, Colavita). I went with a lot of attacks despite the 30mph speeds but it stayed together for a field sprint, which Josh won by three bike lengths. I wish I could say I led Josh out for the "V," but instead I placed 17th in the field of over 50. It was awesome to be a part of our first team victory for the season. Josh was not at his best this past week and still outpowered everyone in the end. We definitely did not expect to walk away with a victory, but it is exciting to start our first "training races" this way. I'm waiting for my first climber's race, and one with a lot of podium girls. Then everyone watch out!


**Race Schedule: Feb 5th Usery Pass Road Race, Pheonix; Feb 11th McDowell Circuit Race, Pheonix; Feb 17-19th Valley of the Sun Stage Race, Pheonix; Feb 28th-March 5th Vuelta Sonora, Mexico; March 12th Sylvan Springs Criterium, Saint Louis.