Redlands recap and upcoming races

The past couple of months have been challenging, exciting and very busy. I just got home from Redlands, CA where the Redlands Bicycle Classic is held every year. It wasn't my first race of the year but it certainly was the hardest so far. Up until last weekend, I have been racing regionally which means that the competition is nowhere near the level that Redlands presented. Sure locally there are some strong riders but there hasn't been any team presence. At Redlands you had all the big teams flexing their muscles. T-Mobile, Lipton, Cheerwine, Tibco and Colavita to name a few. The riders from these teams have already been racing quite a bit, so i figured it was a good way to test the legs and get some good training in for the weekend. Not too mention some fantastic weather...Here is a pic of me in the prologue which was a 5k uphill TT. It was not pleasant. Definitely my hardest effort of the year and I even puked twice once i crossed to the finish line to prove it, although my results didn't seem to say that.

The next day offered up a 80 mile race that ended with 3 climbs in the last 30 miles that would shatter the field. I maintained my position in the front group until the last 6 miles of the race where we hit the Oak Glen climb. This was a tough 6 mile grunt to the summit. I found myself in a small group of 7. I wasn't too depressed when i looked over and saw Ina Tutenberg of T-Mobile next to me. I thought if I can just keep up with her till the top then i will be ok. Here is a small pic of us just dying to get up the hill.







The 3rd and 4th stages were pretty uneventful. In the crit i finished in the pack, 39th I think. Should have tried to mix it up more but wanted to play it safe for the day so i would have some legs for the circuit race on the last day. The sunset loop is crazy hard. At the beginning of the race, the pack was neutralized but we were blazing up to the circuit. As soon as we hit, the pack busted open. There were a couple of crashes. The circuit was tight and twisty. Many corners that were sharp. When the pack hit the climb we split up. I found myself in a group of 8 for most of the race. We completed 8 laps and then pulled us from the circuit which was a little upsetting since we were so close to finishing.

Finally i returned back home from redlands late on Tuesday. Now it's time to get ready for Richmond. This race shows no signs of being any easier. From now on out it's on. All races will be hard the best riders will be showing up every weekend. Stay tuned for more race reports.

Target Training Women's Pro Team will be fully represented at Richmond. At redlands we had a full composite team. I was the only rider from TT. We picked up 2 riders from NC, Christina DeKray and Kat Clark. They were lots of fun and we appreciate them coming all the way from NC to race in sunny CA for the weekend.

I promise to keep the blog updated on a regular basis or I will be forced to pull the plug on this. Also our new bikes should be arriving any day now. Stay tuned for the first glimpse of what we will be riding all season long!