The Race: Speed Week Electric City Circuit Race
The Course: 40 laps, 2 corners, very open course with a “D” shape
The Field: Pro 1/2/3 women
The Finish: 8th + a $100 prime

It is starting to feel like the end of Speed Week. While I’m growing tired of moving in and out of hotels and trying to piece together balanced meals on the road, I’m also sad knowing the end is coming. I’m in the final hotel now and, after the last race tomorrow, I’ll be heading towards home.

With the end of this experience on my mind, today went by so quickly. Left Spartanburg, drove to Anderson, raced Electric City, drove to Sandy Springs, settled in for the night. The race felt like little more than a (hot, tiring) blip on the radar.

It went fine. I was satisfied with my riding – it wasn’t perfect and I’d like to have been a few places higher in the results, but I stayed towards the front for much of the race, rode the corners well despite being concerned about the first fast, off-camber corner, and worked hard at the end to stay in a good position. A Tibco rider went off the front early and, with the help of her teammates patrolling the front of the field, stayed away and went on to lap the field. The rest of us were left to shut down other attacks and wait it out for the field sprint. I attacked once and got a small gap immediately (picking up a $100 prime in the process), but sat up quickly when I realized my legs+the wind=no match against the field today. When it came time for the sprint, I mistakenly chose to go around the outside of a Tibco leadout rider in the corner and lost some ground, but that’s part of learning how to do this better.


So I picked up 8th place, held onto my 4th overall, and am now preparing for the last race of Speed Week. I’m tired and ready for a few rest days, so it’s probably best that tomorrow is the last time I’ll be asking my legs to put out for a while. That being said, I’m going to miss playing professional cyclist. From what I’ve experienced over the last ten days, it’s nice work if you can get it.

2 thoughts on “Speed Week: Electric City Circuit”

  1. i really enjoy your writing. you tell your stories well, even the one about my teammate nima and his copious perspiration. as for your riding, well that is equally impressive – a win at speedweek and always in the mix – WOW – dont let the xo boys lead you out in too many mens races – the rest of us are not earning as many nice results as you.

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