The 4th

After a month spent between Tulsa, D.C., Reno, and Bend, it was nice to have a weekend at home. I was able to get out on the Santa Cruz Harbor Ride on Saturday which I've been wanting to check out for quite some time. I don't know the full history on the ride, but I know it has been around for a long time, since before I was even born I believe. It starts out at the harbor in Santa Cruz and then winds along the coast making its way towards Aptos. The ride begins with a small group of riders and along the way more and more people join the crew until it swells to nearly 100 riders (on a big day). The pace is pretty mellow until leaving Aptos and then the ride picks up here and there with sprint points, rollers, and a climb up Hazel Dell -- it gets fun when the pace gets fast! In between the hot spots, the ride mellows out, regroups, and allows for a bit of socializing along the way. It was a nice chance to meet a few people from the local cycling community. While I've lived in Santa Cruz for months now, I still feel new to the area and haven't met a lot of locals since I'm often gone to all sorts of far away places.

On Sunday, Aspen and I ventured out to Davis for the 4th of July Criterium. I didn't have teammates to race with, but I had a super duper support crew composed of Aspen and the Tibco II team. The course was a flat L-shaped loop through a downtown bustling with 4th of July festivities. The pace was high and there were quite a few attacks, but nothing stuck for long. It was a hot one and I believe everyone was melting by the end... I sure was. I made the mistake of looking at my heart rate during a lull in the race only to find that it was exceeding my usual max! With 2 laps to go, I was ready to pull out and find water, but I had a good position and an awesome cheering squad so I pedaled on. The race came down to a field sprint and I decided my best bet was to go early. Unfortunately somebody beat me to it and sprinted into the second to last corner. I went after it and got to her wheel after the next turn into the finishing straight. Then I put my head down and gave my best shot at a sprint. I was coming around into the lead right as the finish line approached. Was it too late? I was exhausted, cross-eyed, and unsure of the outcome. It was only during my cool down lap that a friend informed me I won! It was a happy 4th of July.