Growing up on the plains of Wyoming, my imagination as you can imagine, always ran wild. My perception was of New York being just like movies Crocodile Dundee and of course You've Got Mail. The city was very intimidating and now living outside of Boston, I would always avoid driving through New York to get to the mid-Atlantic for some of my races. However, this past weekend, I had my first taste of that juicy big apple. Our race was in Wilmington, DE. As my teammate Stacey Jensen was just in Brooklyn, I made arrangements to drive there, stay the night at her place and then carpool to Wilmington. I had no idea that my short excursion would be such an adventure!

Stacey had a house in Brooklyn. She was origionally from LA, but moved to NY to work as an environmental engineer for the army core of engineers. She lived the life of a city cyclist with wicked early morning training rides in Central Park and battling the NY crowds by bike every day as she commuted over the Brooklyn Bridge. When I arrived she took me around her neighborhood and explained the lifestyle of eating out (since food is so cheap!) and having a little community in the bustling streets. The following morning, we were meeting up with another lady, Raquel Miller in Manhattan and carpooling with her to the race. As we were using her car, Stacey and I rode down through the streets of Brooklyn, over the Brooklyn Bridge and through the city. I was struck in awe as I rode along. The drivers took me by surprise as they were much nicer and predictable compared to Boston drivers. "I thought NY drivers were supposed to be mean!?" "No, that's a stigma they get, but so many people have to live together and they don't want to have so many accidents." I understood.

Once we got through the city and met up with Raquel, we continued on our journey to Wilmington. I had gotten a Brooklyn bagel with Stacey that morning and finally had a chance to enjoy it.

When we arrived in Wilmington, we found a parking place in front of a tiny dry cleaning shop. A kind Asian woman came outside her shop and greeted us as she saw our bikes and explosion of equipment on the sidewalk. Her english was a bit rough on the edges, but she was so kind enough to offer us to use her bathroom, way back in her tiny apartment. She was like our little good luck charm before the race.

The streets were crowded with locals who had come to enjoy the parade and the race. Wilmington has a lot of poverty, so you could tell that many of the fans included homeless individuals. The parade was dedicated to the food bank. We grabbed our numbers, warmed up on the course, and made our plan of attack. As Stacey was our main sprinter, we decided to support her, play defense and make sure she could rest in the pack.

We started off fast. With 8 corners on the .8 mile course (including 2 punchy hills), a strong field, and lots of speed, Wilmington was one of my favorite crits. I stayed mid-pack for the first 10 laps. Soon however, a series of attacks followed, so I moved forward and ready for defense, chasing down selected attacks. It was very windy and hot but with my Speedweek excursion two weeks prior, I not only was acclimated to heat, but had my 'system' figured out on how keep myself from becoming affected.

The speed picked up as girls were attacking. As the field started to fatigue, I attacked to keep the pace going. We moved through the turns and I could see that they were on my wheel. With 8 to go, two girls went off the front and stayed away for a few laps. We were flying and gaps started forming. I sprinted around and moved further up. With 5 to go, we caught the two girls that were in the break. Three laps to go and Lindsay Bayer made her winning move and broke away. As she had no teammates, no one bothered to chase. The sprint was going to come down to 2nd and 3rd place.

With two to go I was in a top 10 position but the pace was getting crazy. One to go and I surged forward. I had a feeling of fear in my gut as we came flying in to the final corners. I knew I had to push through it and grab the wheel! I held on and as we came around the final turn, I sprinted my heart out, passing a few people but getting passed by a lady right at the line. I was 8th!

It was a long drive back home, but with such an adventure in NY and a great race, it was well worth it!!