I felt really good as soon as the gun went off. My legs felt like nothing was going on, which is quite fun actually. I found myself making a pretty sweet pass on Fullana in the first descent, and then I was in the lead. I have never been leading a world cup race before and it felt pretty amazing! I was smoother than I ever was in practice on that first lap, and had almost a 20 second lead by the time I came around through the start/finish. My lap time was the fastest of the day which was worth celebrating later!
The chasers caught back up to me on the climb, but I managed to keep them within :15 seconds. At the end of the second lap I was riding in 4th feeling good, when I hit my rear rim hard and got a flat tire. I lost a good minute getting into and out of, the tech zone. Mary passed me and got a decent gap. I left the tech zone in 5th and chased WAY too hard. I blew myself up by the top of the climb. The rest of the race I was just hoping to stay in 5th, but on the last lap I slipped to 7th. Congrats to Lene who took her fist win in style!
Now I am in NC, packing some boxes to ship to Durango. I signed a year lease which is a huge deal for non-committal me. Tomorrow I fly up to Vermont for the US cup. The next weekend is a US cup in NY, then 10 days in Durango before flying to Australia. I am feeling better and better every day, so I am looking forward to all the exciting things coming up!
Leading lap 1
Sweet shot from the Nationals by Devon Balet
View from the top by Devon Balet
