Tulsa Tough Day 2

Just a quick update as we're about to head out for our final race this afternoon. Yesterday's race was pretty ridiculous. It was in the low 90s so the heat was definitely going to be a factor. The course was a wide open L shape and was less techincal than Friday night. Roads were mostly flat with one small riser on the backside and a slight downhill before the last corner.

We start the race and things are going smoothly - the pace is high but manageable. Ten minutes in as we come through the start/finish stretch I'm in the front third of the field near the right side barriers. All of a sudden I hear that horrible sound of bikes crashing in front of me to my left. Carrie from Team Rev is right in front of me and is nearly able to miss it but goes down and I have nowhere to go but into her (sorry Carrie!!) The pile up is huge and girls are everywhere. I immediately jump up and try to find my bike - it's nowhere in sight. Finally I find it about 10 feet up the road from where I landed. All the girls are scrambling to get up and get to the pit which is just in front of where we crashed. The officials are yelling that the race as has been neutralized so we all try to calm down and assess the damage.

My finger is bleeding from getting caught on a chainring - it's really not that bad - and my left forearm is pretty scratched up. All in all I'm incredibly lucky and everything is okay. It's sort of chaotic and the pit is full of girls trying to get their bikes working. Luckily all of my teammates are fine so we go get some cold water and find some shade to stand in. Ten minutes later we're back on the line to restart our now shortened race.

I admit to being a bit nervous after that and my position was not the greatest for the rest of the race. There were a few moves off the front but you could tell this race was going to end in a bunch sprint. With two laps to go I tried to move further up but couldn't crack the top 20. Catherine rode great all race and finished an awesome 12th. Ally was also riding well and ended up just out of the money for 22nd. I came across 35th and Jill (in her first NRC 1/2 race ever) rode like a rock star and finished 36th. Kat was also riding strong and was 46th. I am so glad that none of us were seriously injured. Carrie unfortunately didn't get back in and had some pretty serious rash on her hands, elbow and shoulder.

Today we've got a technical course down on the river with a power climb in it. I'm always a sucker for those power climbs so I'm hoping to crack the top 20 today! We race in the heat of the day and with temps in the 90s again it's going to be pretty steamy! I'll hit the road after the race today so next update will be from home in Wisconsin!