Waterloo Classic

Thanks Mo for the pictures!!

Stage 2 of the America's Dairyland Series brought us to the hometown of Trek in Waterloo, WI. A 1.6 mile circuit race that included a winding hill through a nearby park and a long 400 meter flat sprint finish. A hot, humid day but luckily the rain and storms cleared out for our race. We were hoping to watch the other teams and be involved in moves but our legs were feeling Thursday's road race. Monique came along to cheer us on, take photos, and be in our ear on the radios - thanks Mo - you're the greatest! :)

30 women started the race and by lap 2 some attacks were being laid down by Lip Smackers and Team BH. After Krystal chased down a flyer I was involved in a counter move and I soon found myself in a group of 4 - Jessie from Verducci, Toni from Lipsmackers, and Rachel from ISCorp. We got a small gap and we began working together - I really didn't expect this break to last as we were lacking a Team BH rider and I wasn't sure Lipsmackers wanted a break to go off without series leader Amanda in it. A prime was called next lap and I decided to go for it. I took it without really any competition and sort of felt bad that I attacked the break. I waited up for the girls and we began rotating through. The pace was high and we held a 20 second gap for several laps. Suddenly the gap went up to 40 seconds for a few laps and then halfway through the race we were at a minute. This looked like this was going to be the race as long as we continued to work together. Huge thanks to Krystal and Jackie for blocking and disrupting the chase back in the field!


We watched the minutes tick by and our gap grow to just under 2 minutes. With 5 laps to go we were still taking equal pulls. Early on in the break Rachel sat on for a few laps and told us she wouldn't outsprint us at the end and I knew she'd stick to her word. With two laps to go Toni attacked but we were quickly back together. Rachel did most of the work on the last lap and I was thinking of attacking on the hill but Toni again laid down an attack. I soon got back to her and sat on as we rounded the last corner. She slowed up and now it was time for the games to begin. I didn't come around her and waited for Jessi to make her move. With about 200 meters to go Jessi made a monster move on the far right side and I sprinted to try to get on her wheel. She was about 2 bike lengths ahead of me and I couldn't catch her wheel. She took the win and I came across for 2nd, Toni 3rd, and Rachel 4th.

I was happy with how things played out and Jessi got a well deserved win - she was doing a lot of work in the break and is a really strong rider. Jackie was able to finish in the money for 11th. This was a really fun race and thanks to everyone for working hard and putting it on. This series has been really well organized and the events have been great thus far - I'm looking forward to the upcoming races!

Thanks so much to Monique for helping us out and cheering! She was so great on the radios and her direction and time splits were perfect!

On Thursday they had taken awhile to do the podium ceremony and I assumed they'd do the same for Friday. So I unfortunately took too much time changing out of my kit and by the time I got to the podium they had just finished the ceremony!! Darnit! Only gives me extra motivation to get back on there sometime this week ;)

Today's race is in Grafton and it's an awesome event. We've got a few more teammates today with Christy and Ashley joining in for the fun. Should be a great race!