Wrapped up another weekend of racing at the Enumclaw stage race in Washington this weekend. I was very nervous and excited for this race because the winner gets a trip to the Nature Valley Grand Prix on a composite team directed by Michael Engelman. It’s an awesome opportunity, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. The TT went well and gave me 5 seconds over 2nd GC. I wanted more time, but was happy with the results given that the 2nd place girl was Laura Brown, a track star from Canada.
The crit was wet, slippery and dangerous with a lot of paint and metal covers of some sort on the road. I tried to stay safe on the front as I could tell on the first corner that girls were nervous to ride in the rain. Turns out I was the one that crashed, my front wheel slid out on a corner. I think I hit one of the metal grates. Several went down, but thankfully no one was hurt. We took our free lap and I was able to take the win in the final sprint. It was tough to take those corners fast again after crashing, and probably not the smartest move given I was in the yellow, but I couldn’t resist, especially because I thought I had the legs to win
The road race today was hard for me. I did a lot of work on the front, out of necessity. My plan was to sit in, try a couple of attacks on the climb and if nothing else, go for the sprint win. A girl ended up off the front fairly early, was able to increase her lead by over 2 minutes and I had a hard time convincing people that this was too much time and we should reel her back in. So, a couple other girls and I worked hard to get her back. Once we got her back, we had a break of 6 that worked hard for the last 5 miles. In the end, I lost the sprint by a few inches and ended up second. Good enough.
So, that’s the race recap. I’m stoked to be on the Nature Valley team and excited to work with Michael Engleman.
Later.
Great job Jade!!!