Hey everyone!
Well, here we are in Athens, Georgia….and man it is HOT! It was in the late 80’s today and while we didn’t race till 7.45pm, it was still roasting at that time and we are still sweating as we get ready for bed!! The South is turning on the heat for the week and preparing us for the season ahead - perfect!
Anyway, going back a step - Kate V, Anna K, Jenette and I all congregated here late last night, at the absolutely stunning home of our fantastic hosts Pam and Bruce Barker. Host families are such an enjoyable and integral part of our racing season – these amazing people volunteer to have us crazy cyclists stay for a day or two while we are racing and generously provide us with a bed, use of their house and their fine company. Meeting these fantastic people is one of my favourite parts of bike racing – for me, it is a taste of the ‘real America’ - hearing their stories and life experiences is priceless, and of course spreading the New Zealand story is fun too! (I really should be working for the NZ Tourism Board!).
Pam and Bruce live a little out of the beautiful town of Athens, and their amazing home is surrounded by forest and a lake and is so incredibly peaceful – we had a great day chilling out before the race!
The race itself was fast and furious. The field of 70 was full of rockstars and the atmosphere was electric. It was all go from the time the gun went off and didn’t let up till the finish line was crossed an hour later.
Anna came down in a crash in the early laps, took some time out in the ‘pit’ to get her bike straightened out, then, being the tough little Muscle McLoon that she is, got straight back into the race again – elbow and knee bleeding. She ended up 11th in the race in a top notch field and had a fantastically strong race – we were so proud!!!
Kate raced so strongly and positively – then had the terrible luck of coming down in the final straight on the last lap while heading for a top 20 finish. She is has a lot of ‘road rash’ and is sore and stiff, but is already looking ahead to the rest of the week. She is super fit and has such a great attitude, so I think she will bounce back no problems!
Jenette and I – victims of Athens crashes in previous years, are telling the girls they have been ‘Athenised’ now – almost every cyclist can tell a tale of crashing in this crit at some stage over the years!
Jenette and I, in our first race of the season, stayed in as long as the high intensity would let us – our bodies screaming at the shock of racing again. But now the first race is under our belts we are set for the rest of the season and hungry for more!
We are all having great fun and lots of laughs – another reason to love bike racing!!
Well that is all for now – we are well and truly ready for bed, and what’s more, have a breakfast date with our superhosts in the morning – Pam and Bruce are cooking us blueberry pancakes! Mmmmmmm
We head to Roswell, Georgia for the 2nd race of the series tomorrow. Stay tuned!!
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