LUNA CHIX PRO TEAM

USGP Series Finale Portland, OR Dec 5-6, 2010

I’ll admit that I haven’t been looking forward to the last race of the USGP series in Portland, OR.  After looking at pictures and hearing stories from last year’s mud fest, I was not psyched to spend two days slogging around in the mud with temperatures only supposed to be in the 30’s.  Imagine my joy when I looked at the forecast and saw it was supposed to be sunny and dry.  Yippee!  I might luck out and get a dry course and some fast racing for the first time all season.

It rained a bit over night before the temperatures dropped below freezing.  In the morning the earlier categories were treated to a thin layer of mud on top of frozen ruts.  As things warmed up and more categories raced, the course dried out and became quite fast.  Still a few mud sections and some challenging ruts, but overall the course was dry. 

I got lucky and was called up to fill the last spot on the front row.  Whew!  I got a good start and was third going into the first grass section.  I was able to stay in the top five the entire lap, avoiding most of the chaos behind.  Katerina rode away like she always does with Amy Dombrowski close behind.  I rode in third for part of the first lap and was quickly joined by Alison Sydor and Meredith Miller.  We stayed together the rest of the race.  I felt strong and confident going into the last lap.  Unfortunately I hit a root hard with my front wheel and flatted early in the last lap.  Damn!  First flat in a cross race all year.  I was able to ride hard on the flats, but had to slow down in the turns.  Half a lap later I got a quick bike change and ended up finishing in 5th.  I would have loved to have gotten on the podium, but I was super psyched to have finally felt good.  I haven’t had good legs for a cross race in almost six weeks.  Things are finally starting to come together, and just in time with Nationals only a week away.

On Sunday I wasn’t as lucky with the call-ups and had to line up in the second row.  I guess there was a rider that had more UCI points than me, but failed to show up for Saturday’s race.  I lined up behind Katerina Nash, my teammate, figuring she’d be leading the charge.  The start was fast, but luckily the pavement was half a kilometer long so I was able to move up and jump into the grass section in second.  The legs felt great and I was able to stay up front the entire first lap.  Eventually Katerina rode away from me and I was joined by Meredith Miller.  I stayed with her for half a lap, but couldn’t hang with her impressive bursts of power on the flats.  Then Amy Dombrowski caught me.  We rode together for another lap.  I had a fluke crash on a left hand turn that took me out of contention for the podium, again.  Unfortunately I went down at the bottom of two climbs so I had to run my bike up, down, and around before I could jump back on.  Lost a lot of time, and some confidence.  I rallied and finished in 5th.  I wasn’t disappointed because I had another day of great legs.  It was fun aggressive competitive racing, which I love!  And I was at the front making things happen, which was my goal at the beginning of the cross season.

I’m hanging out in Portland with friends and then driving over to Bend on Friday for the US National Championships.  Katerina won’t be there, but Katie Compton will.  I’ve got to have great legs and a flawless race to get on the podium.  Can’t wait!!
Until then….

Alison