I had a good start to the race and was on track with my pace and Infinit nutrition leading into the night. The temps were still pretty good but I was cautious stopping a few times to put on some more layers.
 |
| Photo by Sportograf |
 |
| Photo by Sportograf |
Early Sunday morning I started to get after it a bit on the final climb and some how ended up falling into a bunch of cactus ;-). Thankfully a guy stopped to help me as I was pinned up against the cactus with my bike on top. I was close to the pit so carried on to sort out the mess there. Luckily the bike was still in good shape. I just had a bunch of cactus needles to tend to. The best option was to take everything off and pull whatever cactus out with the comb that was in the race kit bag. That came in handy!
I was back on my way and feeling not too bad for the next lap. The pace started to go downhill after that with a lot of pain and discomfort in my back. I did what I could to keep the pedals turning but it wasn't pretty ;-).
I rolled into the timing tent for my last lap and they announced I would be going out for lap 15. I was disappointed, really hoping for 16 or more this year. I got the last lap done, it was great to hear the cheering and getting high fives along the way. People still like to ask me for id when I pass the Whiskey Tree ;-). Being self supported I was not sure how I placed. I ended up 5th with 240 miles under my belt. It was a really deep field for women, which is great to see!
A huge thanks to Al Lewis for setting us up again this year with a pit! Thanks to my sponsors, coach, family & friends for their support.
 |
| Solo Women Podium - Photo by Russ Baker |
 |
| Al, Andrew & I post race. |
I look forward to the rest of the season. The good news is it's early season and there is lots of time to strengthen my back and get on my "A" game.