Hi All,

OK, I was tired last night after the TT and did not get this out to everyone, and for that I apologize.  I have been getting emails asking how I did, so I guess I had better get this out!

Mary Dangelo and I drove to Louisville on Saturday, and while the trip was safe we traveled through some spectacular thunder storms.  At one point it was pouring so hard that we had to pull over to the side of I-71, along with a host of other travelers.  As we were hanging out on the shoulder the winds were so strong that it felt like Mary's van was going to blow right over.  We were hoping not to have to race in any weather like that!  But the storms faded away and it was hot and sunny by the time we reached Louisville.

Sunday was a much nicer day, and after trying to catch up on sleep we set out to ride the time trial course in order to get our bikes and our brains dialed in for Monday's racing.  For this race we would ride 12 miles to the south, turn around at a marked place in the road, and then ride back to the finish line, just north of the start. The course is actually across the Ohio River in Indiana, and the road that we raced on gently rolls along, never too far from the river.  If you pick your head up to look around -- we did that only in practice -- you see the smoke stacks (and smoke) from the coal burning power plants along the Indiana side of the river.  The wind was always blowing the smoke away from us and over toward Kentucky, which I guess was lucky for us.  I've race this course before, and it is as fair a course for a championship time trial as I have seen. 

Mary and I were both nervous come race day, because we knew that in order to be on the podium (top 5) we would have to really suffer.  And that is exactly what we did.  And we were lucky with the weather.  A cold front had come through and dropped the temperatures down into the 60's overnight, and when we arrived at the time trial site it was even sprinkling a bit.  By women's race time, though, the sun was out and there was a huge wind out of the north.  That wind would make the trip back from the turnaround feel like torture, but the temperatures were only in the low seventies.  Perfect for me.

For those of you not familiar with racing, a time trial is a race against the clock.  Each racer starts individually -- in this case every 30 seconds -- and goes as hard as he/she can until arriving at the finish line.  It sounds simple, but is fiendishly hard because you often have no idea how fast your biggest competitors are riding.  So you can only assume that they are riding as fast or faster than  you are, and you MUST push harder to not get beaten.  You are not allowed to draft anyone, and any time you pass a rider who started ahead of you you must make a clean pass to get by.  No one is allowed in anyone else's slipstream.

I knew that I was doing fairly well, because I was able to pass several women who started ahead of me.  I was the second to last person in my age group to start (mine was the largest age group of women,) and I vowed to keep away from the woman behind me.  At the turnaround I could tell that she had not closed the 30 second gap, but I had not put one on her either, so I knew that it was time to really dig hard.  Yes, the wind was atrocious coming back, and those 12 miles seemed like 120.  But eventually the finish line was in sight, and after almost getting blown off my bike a couple of times by some crazy cross winds I crossed the finish line knowing that I had given the race everything that I could possibly have given.  Put gently, my stomach was not feeling so well...

Soon the top five women were announced, and I heard women with times slower than mine in the 5, 4 and 3 spots.  Then I heard that I was second, beaten only by speed queen Ann Marie Miller -- a stellar Category 2 racer from New York City.  I was so ecstatic that I was practically in tears.  A silver medal at Nationals!  On my single bike I have done that only once before, in 2004, when I entered the age group.  Now, as I was leaving, it was very good to have done that again.  Thank you Coach Mark!

The award ceremony was great!  In addition to my podium ceremony, Mary took the medal for fifth :) for the 35-39.  Buffalo's Laura Igo won the 35-39 and had the fastest woman's time of the day.

So now it is time to chill out and get ready for the road race and criterium.  The RR is actually a circuit race in a park, designed by the gentleman who designed New York's Central Park.  The roads roll up and down and around, and it is very fun to ride.  My group races tomorrow (all starting at once this time), doing 6 laps.   The laps are 5 miles in length.  The course is a blast to ride, but I know that it will be super tough to stay in medal contention.  There are some excellent climbers who will be putting the hurt on everyone on every climb.  My job will be to hang on to their wheels, and I will give it my all to do so.  In today's racing, Mary finished 9th, and Laura won again with an impressive breakaway.

Oh, and the criterium!  I forgot to mention that it will be held in the infield of Churchill Downs.  Wow!  That is a .6 mile loop with four corners and a chicane, which should prove to be quite interesting with a large group of riders.

So that is it for now.  I hope you are all well and enjoying your summer.  I'll see you all soon!