USAC Cycling Regionals Race Weekend

Collegiate Cycling Regionals was held at Purdue University in West Lafeyette, Indiana this year. I road tripped down with teammates Pat and Alex.  I made a huge batch of pasta for the trip, which of course they were more than happy to dig into!

The course was short 7 mile loops for a total of 50 miles.  It was very pretty and there were two moderate climbs and a bunch of rollers.  The road race was fairly uneventful.  I sat in the field, content to let stronger riders from other schools brave the fierce headwinds.  Four girls got off the front on one of the climbs, and most other riders finished in the field with a bunch sprint for 5-20th place.  My role was the sacrificial lamb/workhorse for my teammates.  I successfully chased down a few attacks towards the end of the race until a Marion College rider attacked about a mile from the finish.  I was still recovering from reeling in another attack and tried to go after her but she managed to escape off the front.  Without easing up it was also time for me to start a leadout for the other girls, something I did as best as I could but I was admittedly exhausted.  Our sprinter, Holly got boxed in and wasn’t able to finish as strongly as we had hoped but it was still a great race for the four of us.  I’m confident with a little more practice we can definitely make things happen at Nationals!  Even though my finish wasn’t very high, I was happy to work for my team and finish ahead of several girls who have way more time to train than I do!

Outside of racing this was a very fun weekend.  Pat, one of the guys on the team came along and made pancakes and french-press coffee for everyone in the parking lot on a camp stove.  We were definitely the envy of all the other teams!

We also got a chance to check out the Purdue Campus and hit up a local pup, the Black Sparrow for dinner.

I ran into an old friend, Anna working there which was a great surprise and one that of course needed to be celebrated with a shot of whiskey!

Sunday it was thunder storming so I elected not to do the criterium and risk crashing/damaging my bike.  We stopped in Chicago for a visit with Pat’s sister and some brunch instead.