Last weekend, Aaron and I took our first big vacation together (since our wedding over 4 years ago!) to visit our friends in MA and to compete in our favorite event, the Tour of the Battenkill. The week away from work was a great retreat for the two of us. I mean, we both work together, so spending some time away from that environment was quite relaxing to say the least.

We were happy to have moved to Sunny Arizona, however we did miss our wonderful friends back in “Our fair City” Boston. Upon arrival, our good friend (he’s more like family) Bob Mortensen, picked us up from the Boston Logan airport. He had parked atop the parking garage, watched our plane land, and greeted us at the baggage claim. Bob took us down to his Cape house on Wings Neck for a few days before we would head up to the Battenkill in Cambridge, NY.

After a few days of riding on the Cape, we drove up to Cambridge NY and stayed at the Eddington House B&B in Bennington VT. We had stayed there the previous year and were overly impressed with the location (close to Battenkill) and Patti’s wonderful cooking and hospitality.

The temperatures were cold, wet (it had been raining and snowing through the week), and windy. The first day of Battenkill, Aaron and Bob were both racing. I was happy to be their feeder (although I did end up just missing Aaron for his feed - sorry!) as the course provided many challenges with the mud.

My race was the following day. I was a little nervous and debating on what to wear. Finally, I went with my Castelli wind breaker under my jersey and leg warmers. At first I thought I may have overdressed, but after I got through much of the race, I was satisfied with my clothing selection.

Our field was compromised of lots of talent!! Although many of the women were from the New England area and hadn’t done a lot of riding this season due to the harsh winter, there were many strong teams along with a few notable individuals such as Ally Stacher from Specialized-LuLuLeMon and Veronique Fortin from the Italian Pasta Zara Team. With them in the field, I knew it would be a tough race!

We started off as a bunch as usual and rolled down the highway , turning onto the first dirt section and climbs. The field stayed together and I

tucked in. As we came to the hills, Veronique pushed the pace. I moved forward. However when we came to Juniper Swamp, my aero S5 was of no help as my 23cc tires could not gain much traction. I fell back as the group became strung out and the field became divided into 3 groups. I chased back to the 2nd group and we worked together to bring the lead girls back. It was tough. I stayed patient as I was one of the few riding solo.

After about 1.5 hours, I decided it was about time for me to become active and move to the front. We came to one of the longer paved hills that is compromised of 4 humps. Suddenly I was in a pocket where I was able to slingshot myself around the pack as we were at the very base of the climb. I flew around them and sprinted over the first hump. As I stood over my pedals, I decided to look back and see if I had a gap. Nope. Ally and Veronique were right on my wheel and the field was strung out. Shoot. “Now they will be amped up to counter attack!” I thought to myself.

Suddenly I just didn’t have the confidence or mentality to suffer through the rest of the climb. Later after the race was through and I was congratulating Ally on her 2nd place, she said, “Great attack! Wow, you flew by us! You should have went with us after that!” I just wasn’t having my ‘A’ day and ended up falling back. After we crested the climb, so many gaps opened and I was no longer with the front group. I could see them but the high winds made it hard to make gains to catch them. I was getting upset with myself (like most cyclists do about every race that doesn’t go as planned) and decided that I had to keep trying. I did but was never able to catch the group. I decided that I had missed my opportunity and I needed to just finish the ride with a good attitude and enjoy it as much as possible. I rode with a few other girls that I knew from racing in New England and we worked together to make up time.

Before coming to the final climb, I had been caught by a larger group of women. I was again frustrated that I had spent so much time riding alone or w/one other person that if these women finished ahead of me, it just wouldn’t sit well with me. So on the last climb, I kept it steady and rode away. It was probably the best I have ever felt on that last climb in all the years I have raced Battenkill. I was able to make some gains and catch a group of 3 other women up the road before the finish. I finished in 29th. Afterwards, we celebrated with of course some food but fresh cider donuts and maple candy!

After Battenkill, we spent a few more days on the Cape and unfortunately, our last day we were in Cohasset (in the midst of a really great massage) when the bombings happened. Our phones were buzzing off the hook as family tried to contact us to make sure we were not watching the marathon. We went to a pub and everywhere, people were shook up – there was an eerie feeling in the air. We had tried to get a cab to take us to the morning flight in Providence however with the Logan airport being shut down, we were unable to get a cab. Bob was kind enough to get up in the wee hours of the morning and drive us back. Everything went smooth and we were happy to get back to the sunshine!