Hey Guys,
The last few months have been pretty hectically busy. Last time I wrote on here I was training in Boise for the week before heading to BC Superweek.
The Australasian VK gang, Lizzie, Miranda and I
Lizzi and I training in Boise
BC was a blast - Vancouver is such a cool city and really reminds me of home which was nice.
BC started with Tour de Delta, 3 days of racing with 2 crits and a UCI road race. I really enjoyed these races, but was just missing the old podium each time, with a 4th in the 2nd Crit and a 5th in the UCI Tour de Delta road race. Whilst I was pleased with these results, I know I could of done better and left me craving the top step.
After tour de delta we had a rest day of racing and then we were back into it with 2 more crits - one of them being the Gastown Critarium in down town Vancouver. This race in so awesome and draws some pretty mega crowds… and with $14000 in prize money up for grabs for each of the pro women and pro men races there was some fast and furious racing which is just the kind I like :)
Unfortunately though things just didn't really go our way in the race. I took my self out on a tight apex corner, not the way I intended on throwing things down ;)
I was just too much in the zone and was bridging to a break and thought I didn't need to break for the corner that was on a slight uphill…. fair to say my bike thought otherwise and I ended up kissing the pavement and leaving some skin in downtown Gastown. Thankfully I was ok, and jumped back in the race, but I was a little hesitant for the remainder of the race, and wasn't my usual self. Coming into the last lap, Elle was starting our lead out for our super sprinter Gillian, but unfortunately our lead out got taken into the barriers and Elle got taken out, which disrupted things a bit, and Gillian rolled in for 4th.
I was just too much in the zone and was bridging to a break and thought I didn't need to break for the corner that was on a slight uphill…. fair to say my bike thought otherwise and I ended up kissing the pavement and leaving some skin in downtown Gastown. Thankfully I was ok, and jumped back in the race, but I was a little hesitant for the remainder of the race, and wasn't my usual self. Coming into the last lap, Elle was starting our lead out for our super sprinter Gillian, but unfortunately our lead out got taken into the barriers and Elle got taken out, which disrupted things a bit, and Gillian rolled in for 4th.
The BC crew (missing Gillian)
After Gastown we headed straight back for Boise twilight. This race was super fun and in the desert heat made for a tough race. We were super active with everyone being up the road at some point, with Elle ending up in the winning break that stuck. She came in 2nd and Tiff and I sprinted in both in the top 10.
After Boise Twilight we were Bend, Oregon bound for the Cascade Cycling Classic. I love Bend, it has such a nice chilled vibe about it. Cascade went really well, our super climber Miranda flew up the climbs and secured a 6th place over all. Rhae saw killed the prolog and the TT for a 3rd and a 4th place. I was happy with my road races and crit races, although definitely have a lot of TT work to do, hopefully one day things will click for me, but at the moment time trials are my definite weakness.
Cascade TT
Post race with Caroline and Miranda... aka Maniacs ;)
After Cascade I had a pretty sweet, but also extremely busy week road Tripping with dad and Jord up the coast from Oregon to NorCal. So much fun hanging with these two, defiantly have a pretty crazy cool family.
Crazy fun sand dune buggy's with the fam
After the road trip we hit the San Rafael Crit in Nor Cal where we all had an awesome race, with some pretty sweet team work and some mega aggressive racing, and Elle got the WIN! Witch was pretty cool!!
San Rafael - Pic by Eric Cho
After San Rafael I had 2 nights at my USA home with the Lovely Merrit’s in Sunnyvale, then it was back on the road to race the Ceder city GP and the Tour of Utah Women’s Edition.
These races were so cool, and it was great to have a Women’s race at the Tour of Utah!
The first race, Ceder City GP was going really well for me, I was feeling great and had perfect position coming into the last lap, when unfortunately my wheel and another riders wheel came in contact and both of us got all our spokes ripped out….and my wheel would no longer spin which unfortunately ment race over and I had to walk. I was so gutted as I knew I was feeling really good, and the sprint suited me as it was slightly uphill, but hey thats bike racing right and shit happens. Plus we still had the Tour of Utah Women’s edition race on wednesday that I was now even more determined for.
Tour of Utah - Pic by Cathy Kim
Training in Utah with the lovely DNA ladies
Utah training
The ToUWE race was so cool. We raced on the Larry Millar race car track witch made for some super fast racing. I was feeling really good again, and as we only had 4 rider in the race (compared to most teams had 8) Tiffany and I decided to use other lead out trains for the finale. We were in a pretty good posi coming round the second to last sweeping corner where unfortunately the pace dropped just slightly and we got swarmed. The sprint was so incredibly fast with a huge tail wind the positions did not change much at all coming out of the last corner, so I had to settle for 10th, which disappointed with as I know I could of done better.
ToUWE race - Pic by Cathy Kim
I have spent the last 4 weeks at altitude, with 2 weeks in Utah staying with the Lovely Kim’s, a week in Boulder, Colorado with some great friends and then a week in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with my teammate Amy and her Husband Matt. I seriously love Colorado - my fav state in the USA.
Trying to get home before the storm in Boulder with Court Lowe - we made it... just :)
I am now on my way back to Cali for 10 days of sea level training before heading to Italy to race the Giro Della Toscana - Can’t wait :)
Talk soon,
Kate xxx
Pic by Cathy Kim
