San Ardo Road Race

We were on the fence with this one, deciding at the last minute to drive the three hours to make the race. It was a typical Anne and Vanessa show- lots of chaos but somehow it all works out! Anne forgot her kit. Luckily I had two pairs of shorts (who brings two pairs?!) and she had a long sleeve jersey and vest so we could make something work. We had mechanic/manager/coach Fritz on board. Turns out this was very handy as Anne was all set to race in her vest, but evidently you are not allowed to race without sleeves. Did anyone beside Fritz know this?! So Anne made a last minute change to her long sleeve jersey (even though it was in the 80's at the start). There were nine tri-flow girls in the race, making up a third of the field. Somehow though it was me, Anne, awesome Denise from Norcal and a few others who were on the front the majority of the time. There was a bad crash caused by an inexperienced rider who unfortunately took out some great girls including Kelly from Dolce and Melissa from EMC. Very lame as they were riding well and definitely would have been in the mix for the finish. Anne was amazing the entire race (so strong!) and we had a great time despite obstacles like trucks, sketchy riding and charging pit bulls. We broke the field down to about 15 from 30 about halfway through the second lap. Then came the finish- an uphill with a left hand turn at the crest and a short straight runway to the end. Anne stomped it, rocketing up the climb in her big ring. I was trying to hold on but almost died on the hill (ouch!). At the turn, instead of giving up, I got mad. This helped to get my legs back under me for a sprint and I managed to pass several girls just in time to witness Anne duking it out for first with a tri-flow girl. It was so awesome to see her cross the line! I was squealing. It was totally Anne's race. She is riding super strong and it is a joy to see her in action. The tri-flow girl won by a hair but I think Anne is the true winner. Our placings: Anne 2nd, me 4th. Check out the video!