Just 4 more weeks of hard training, just 4 more weeks until World’s. It’s still kind of unreal to me that I am training for World’s (my first one ever), but that is what is keeping me going on 4 hour rides right now. The thought of representing the US in Mendrisio, Switzerland, on Sept 26 is something special and the biggest thing to happen to me in my career so you can bet when I am dreading hours 3 and 4 on my rides my motivation changes when I remind myself I am doing this because I am going to World’s, baby.
You might remember that I stayed the week in Asheville, NC, a couple weeks ago (I’m still scarred from watching Mike kill a baby possum with a BB gun). The last night in town we had a really nice dinner with the family that was hosting Pinner, Brooke, Kat, and Steve. Nice mansion they have with spectacular views of the mtns. And the kids, Callie and Andy, were cute as hell. The next morning Brooke, Kat and I had to drive back to Charlotte to catch our flight to Chicago. Me being the kind of obsessive type about being on time, I was kind of nervous (ok, more than kind of) when Brooke and Kat showed up about 15 minutes late to pick me up. It’s one thing when the airport is just 20 minutes away but when it’s 2 hours away you never know what might happen to cause a delay, right? Luckily the rental car drop-off and check-in went smoothly and we were at our gate with 10 minutes to spare. Alright, so they were right that everything would work out just fine. We landed at O’Hare right on time (unusual) which allowed us a couple of hours to relax at our host house before our bike shop visit (at Turin Bicycle) that evening. Kathy, our host who runs her own catering business out of her house, cooked up the most delicious meal for us and friends upon our return home that night. Absolutely fantastic! And then she topped it off with a gourmet breakfast the next morning, just after she had rolled in from her own 60 mile ride! Amazing.
As it has for the last 100 years or something, the racing in Downers Grove got started with a “warm-up” crit on Saturday evening. Taking Corbett’s advice to heart about staying safe, Kat laughed at the rest of us as she rode away solo (making sure she was the only one who could get in her way) to steal the show for the day. The rest of us rolled safely across the finish line somewhere in the back of the pack. Sunday’s race, the US Criterium Nationals, was a different story completely. It wasn’t just about being safe and opening up the legs, this race was winner take all. This race was about defending the stars and stripes that Brooke had won the previous year. We threw everything we had into making the race go our way, but in the end we didn’t get the result we wanted. That’s what happens with a field sprint – you just never know what might happen. But, hey, Tina Pic won the race and the win was a crowning moment to cap off an incredible career. If my own teammate wasn’t going to win the race, then I was happy and proud to see Tina pull on the stars and stripes one last time. What an amazing woman, inspiration, and ambassador for women’s cycling. Best of luck to Tina in the future!
Peace out
Meredith
MM,
Going to the Worlds, make it count. Lots of people train semi-seriously 4-6 hours on the bike who are not pros, used to be myself included. I knew one girl who did 200 miles on rollerskates without stopping, and she did it on the weekend apart from her UPS truck delivery job. However most of the chicks I see doing this job can kick butt, tough gals! Good luck on the worlds, kudos on the S&S!