Cascade Classic Stages 4-5

Stage 4 was in downtown Bend. It was a 1k loop that had a slight uphill that we were to go around for about 40 minutes. Like any crit, it started out with a big bang. There were a couple riders that attempted to get off the front, but they were chased down. As the GC rider for the team, my job was to sit in and rest, especially because I am not a crit rider nor a sprinter. Jen J. was my mother hen during the crit by yelling at me whenever I was out in the wind uncessesarily. Kele said that our plan of attack would be just for us all to sit in because we're more of a road team than a crit team. Next thing I knew, Kele was off the front (again) with 3 other riders. Because there was a Lipton, Victory Brewing, Velo Bella, Webcore, and a McGuire rider up front, the peleton slowed down to help our teammates get a bigger gap. All I could hear was the announcer yelling Kele's name about every other lap because she was winning all of the primes. Kele sprinted into 2nd place. Yeah!!! We all made fun of her because she was telling us all how tired she was and she was going to use the crit as a rest.

The last and final stage was on Sunday. It was about a 65 mile circuit race that had a QOM and a spring line for time in it. I have to say the hardest lap was the 2nd lap. A little more than halfway through it, a group of about 5 got about a 15 second gap and I went off the side to bridge up to it. Then, there was a counter attack that included my teammate Lieselot. That was really great to see her ready for the second attack. This is when we started climbing towards the feed zone. Then, a group of us sat behind two Touchstone riders that brought us up to the front group. Then, it seemed like there was attack after attack all the way up the QOM and even past it. My eyeballs were coming out of their sockets to stay up with the front group. Leiselot and I were in the front group with only 1 lap left to go. Amber from Webcore did one more attack and no one went after her. I heard on the radio that Kele and Hiroko were behind us, and I was hoping that they would catch back up with us. The more teammates, the better. Little did I know that even before the QOM, Kele was telling Hiroko that their job was over because the two climbers were up front already. They both had worked super hard earlier in the week for both of us to be in the front groups. The next thing I knew, I see Kele once again, attacking from the very back. Sheesh! How many times this week did I hear her say that she was just going to sit in, or she was needing to rest herself. Kele caught up to Amber and Martina from McGuire went with Kele. The peleton just let them go because the three of the front weren't going to affect GC outcome. When the short climb before the feed came, the peleton began to go faster and it began to break apart. Lieselot, Hiroko and I stayed with the group and it became a sprint finish at the end. Kele didn't get caught by the group and finished 3rd. Yeah!!!
Overall, it was a great week of racing and our team really worked well together!