Kelly Cup, Baltimore, Maryland

Well today was a shock to the system because it was cold and we have become accustomed to beautiful warm weather in the last few weeks!

Staci, Jenette and I all stayed at Kristy’s awesome big apartment in Baltimore last night (full of antiques and her hilarious cats Monkey and Turkey and dog Brooklyn), so we had the luxury of a sleep in this morning before heading to the race course, which was in Patterson Park in downtown Baltimore. We rode to the race the scenic route and I was really impressed with the beautiful old buildings and the awesome area down at the wharf……however, there was little time for looking round as we needed to catch up with Anna McLoon, Anna Kelso, Michele and Kate and suss out the plan for the race!

Anna Kelso had already raced that morning in the Women’s 3 / 4 race but was chomping at the bit to get out and help us out in the 1 / 2 race and we were happy for the extra pair of legs!

Anna McLoon, stitches in her chin and all, lined up for the race…..gutsy I tell you! She's my hero.

The race course around Paterson Park is a little technical, with a climb up to the finish line. The attacks began from the start and Jenette, still nursing her very bad back injury, was an animal mixing it up at the front and in the early breakaways. Michele was also up there launching off the front (and continued to race like a rockstar for the rest of the race!)and the rest of us were finding our legs a bit further back!

There was a horrible crash through the start finish area about a third of the way into the race which Jenette came down in very hard. She now has a bad shoulder to go with her back injury. So frustrating!

The whole race was stopped and restarted due to the crash, and with a sole Australian girl solo off the front and the big teams unable to make a dent into her lead, she rode away with the race win. The bunch sprint was a crazy affair, with Anna McLoon coming in 15th and the rest of us further back. The race was only 20 miles so felt like it was over before we started!

After the race debriefs and getting our recovery foods into us so our bodies are ready to train again next week (usually a recovery drink with protein in it an some carbs to go with it, such as a banana and/or muesli bar) and the swapping of race stories, we said our farewells and headed in our different directions home until next weekend, when we do it all over again in D.C and New Jersey!

Till then
D.T