Montreal World Cup... Mara Abbott, you’RE my hero!

just quickly, since i am about to go to bed... it was a fun race today. i had to drop out about half way through, since i had leg cramps and we have a flat stage race coming up next week--- so the good thing is that i got to watch the race.

just a side note- it really sucks to drop out of a race. you really don’t feel good about yourself for doing it. but sometimes, it is the smart thing to do. today, i know that it was the smart thing to do, but you do sometimes throw a bit of a pity party when you are bummed that you could not have done better. but that pity party ends when you get to cheer on your teammates and your friends.

today marked the first uci race for team tibco. they did GREAT! marisa had done this course before, so she knew the drill. but katie lambden, stacy and vic were all racing internationally for the first time. liza got food poisoning and had to sit out. we really missed her out there!

i was VERY impressed with how well the team raced. marisa and stacy in particular were in great position all day and were racing smart. they were not intimidated by the star-studded field and were holding their position and racing their bikes with the best of them. i have not seen the final results, but marisa finished in the main pack and stacy just behind it after a great day for both of them. i can see how well they are going to do with each race too! victoria and lambden also rode really great races, hanging with the top riders well past the initial selections before finally losing contact. it was an honor to race with MY team against this field!

but i also have friends in the peloton. if my team is not going to win it- i have certain riders who i really do want to see win. one of my favorite riders in the peloton is mara abbott. mara and i go way back in terms of our cycling careers... way back, as in 2005 when we both really started cycling! she and i both went to the talent id camp in 2005 and that is what started us taking cycling seriously. for mara, she was a swimmer and had only started riding a bike a few months earlier. for me, i was just playing around with bikes and not taking it seriously. i adore that girl! she is great and it has been fun watching her explode into the us cycling scene. i feel like i was on the inside, since i knew about her well before everyone else got the pleasure of knowing just how good she is...

well- today, mara shocked the hell out of a lot of people! not me! instead, i was thrilled to see one of my friends race her first world cup race and finish second! with a little bit more experience, she would have won. she led out the sprint for her break-mate, fabiana luperini... the two of them got off with 4 laps to go and decimated the rest of the field. the big guns, vos, cooke, ardnt- they did not know what mara could do and she capitalized on it! i was yelling so hard for her that i got a headache! it was great to see her standing on the podium after a great race. she will only get better from here! great job mara!