Stage two: 117km in the green, rolling hills around Altoona, PA.
The race started out in hot and muggy weather, and by mid race it started to rain. The rain made the descents a little scary, but the peloton rode well and there weren't any major mishaps. My eyes stung from the road grime like they did when I was a toddler and my mom washed my hair a little too carelessly for my taste, letting soap get in them.
I was blowing chunky snot rockets through the whole race. There are probably about 3lbs of my mucus spread over the roads surrounding Altoona. My monster cold I got last week is being rather tenacious, and I haven't been able to kick it yet.
The race ended up an 8km twisty climb up to Blue Knob Resort. I rode it at my pace and managed a 7th place finish, just behind Tara Whitten (Tibco) and in front of Sue Palmer (PK Express). Véro Fortin (PK Express) won the stage, and took over the Yellow Leader's Jersey from Whitten. Denise Ramsden (Juvéderm-Specialized-Mazda) wasn't too far behind me, and Véro Labonté (Juvéderm-Specialized-Mazda) finished up the top three riders for our team.
After the race, there was birthday cake waiting at the summit of the climb. Now, I like eating my magic oatmeal, french toast, green apples, smoked herring, tuna sandwiches, and arugula salads. They're my staple foods that I love and that I eat quite often. But birthday cake is one of those foods that I really, really love, but I hardly ever eat it, even on my birthday. What a treat that was. What. A. Treat.
Good job girls.
A special thanks to Claudia and Gabby, our host housing family members, for helping us out in the feedzone, and getting the Juvéderm-Specialized-Mazda girls our bottles of eload that fueled us through the race! They handled the feedzone like pros!
Check out the results, care of RoadCycling New Zealand : http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/Results/2011-tour-de-toona-womens-results.html
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