LUNA CHIX PRO TEAM

End of season local Colorado cross races
I am finally getting a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, or the end of the cyclocross season that is a short two weeks away.  Yippee!  I’m having a blast but ready to be done.  I miss my mountain bike and I miss all the fun weekend rides with friends.  All I’ve done the past six months is train and race, train and race.  No complaints, but I’m ready to do something different.

This past weekend I raced in my last local cross race.  I didn’t want to travel so I stayed home and did two hard races up in Denver.  I took last weekend off so the legs were a bit flat.  Amy Dombrowski kept things exciting on Saturday, and then on Sunday I spent most of my race trying to catch all the masters men that started in front of the women.

Saturday’s race was across the street from Dove Valley, the Denver Broncos training facility.  It was on a beautiful grassy sports complex with great views of the mountains.  The entire course was on grass, except for two sections on a sidewalk and two short sand traps.  This was the perfect UCI course, smooth and fast.  Unusual for Colorado races which are typically run on trails, fields, open meadows , or dirt parking lots.  I loved it!

Amy Dombrowski raced on Saturday.  She’s been tearing it up on the east coast so I knew she’d be hard to beat.  I had lousy legs again and she put the hurt on me all day.  I had just enough to chase down her attacks and sit on her wheel, but not enough to do any of my own attacks.  She worked hard to drop me, and wasn’t successful until the very end of the last lap.  I messed up my line through the sand pit and wasn’t able to close the gap before the short steep climb to the finish line.  Not the finish I was hoping for, but at least it was a hard race.
 

Sunday’s course was in Golden; much more technical and exciting to race, and watch.  Amy didn’t show up so it was me against the local girls.  Not very fair to them, but I feel it is important to support the women’s races.  I felt much better than yesterday and dropped everyone within the first minute of the race.  I rode alone off the front, seeing how many of the Masters men I could catch.  They started a minute ahead of us, so I was able to pass about 2/3 of the field.  I had some friends and family cheering me on, which kept me motivated.  Plus I won a pound of coffee for riding both sand pits!

I fly to Portland, OR this Friday for the USGP series final.  I’m staying with some friends during the week and then travelling to Bend, OR for the National Championships on the 13th.  I hope the legs keep improving because they will need to go super fast.  Wish me luck!

Cheers
Alison