Race Weekend!

So this was my second weekend racing, and I think that it went a lot better than last race weekend, even if it still wasn't anywhere near perfect.

Don drove Mark, Charlie and I to Grant's Tomb for the Columbia Crit, so the ride there was a lot of fun, plus we didn't leave until 8am so I actually got sleep!

Got to the crit and warmed up on the trainer for a while, watched other racers, screamed my head off cheering, and then raced. The course was interesting- there were a few short sharp turns in the beginning, a little hill, then a really swoopy turn and then going up a hill to the end. I was doing pretty well, taking turns a little slow but making it up on the two hills. I was excited that I was actually around Corinna for a good portion of the race. Then, on the last swoop, my leg cramped a little, so I did kinda crappy on the ending and came in exactly mid-pack. So in all, I was really happy with it, except for the ending.

We drove back and went to a diner, which was fantastic- it feels really good to go out and really be part of the team.

Then, onto Stevens the next day!

Looked at the course and all I could think was, "oh God, this is not my course." Very technical- long downhill with an S curve at the top and sharp right at the bottom. Then a straightaway, sharp turn, then serious 15% grade uphill to the finish. I loved the uphill, but I knew there was no way I would do good on the downhill since I knew I couldn't go down without braking and relax at all.

I was right- spent the entire time going slow down the hill and then making it up on the uphill. Had an awesome ending though- sprinted past 5 other girls! It was pretty great, with all the guys on the team and my dad screaming at me to go go go, so I went and actually improved my place by so much in that last few seconds.

The race went about as well as it could have- I really really need to practice handling if I'm going to get any better at crits.

The best part of the day was when DK was talking to Charlie, who wasn't racing because of a crash that hurt his knee and ripped up his leg on Saturday:

"You're not racing today?" -DK
"No, my knee hurts from the crash." -Charlie
"Oh come on, look how many times Molly's crashed, and she's still racing!" -DK

Fantastic. I don't know if I was offended or complimented. I've only had 2 crashes, and only 1 of them was during a race! I am hella uncoordianted though- I have a tendency to just fall over pretty much on a daily basis, whether it's because someone stopped and I didn't clip out in time or I'm just being klutzy. Biking may be a very dangerous sport for me.

Also, I love this picture of me:

Tom took it on Sunday, and I look so unintentionally badass. Really, I was just feeling awkward that he was taking a picture of me.

And yes, that's a "pride surfboards" underarmour shirt I have on.

I'm going to the pool in a little bit to swim with Don. I already ran 6 miles today, and I forgot my knee brace, so by the end, my knee definitely was panging. I'm really nervous about Sunday and the marathon, but I'm trying to just think of it as a long workout and a fun roadtrip.