We laugh until we think we'll die,barefoot on a summer night Nothin' new is sweeter than with you

And in the streets we're running free like it's only you and mee Geez, you're somethin' to see.

Ahh, Home Let me come Home Home is wherever I'm with you.

La la la la, take me HomeBaby, I'm coming Home

-Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros "Home"

As I wait for my flight to Oklahoma for the National Crit series: Tulsa Tough, I think back to my hectic and life changing week. Last weekend was one of my favorite races, the International Pro Cycling challenge, the Liberty Classic in Philly. The day before I drove down to Philly, Aaron had finally gotten a job offer at FASTER in Scottsdale, AZ. We had been waiting and hoping for this moment to come for months, so when it happened, it took us both by surprise. We had two weeks to pack up and move. But most importantly, just a short time to say good bye to some great friends we've made in New England. Aside the sorry of leaving friends, Aaron and I look forward to the adventures ahead of us. Heck, we will finally take our first cross-country road trip together! We like to dream and as it felt like our life was in 'limbo' over the past 6 months, it's refreshing to finally move forward and start planning for the road ahead.

So, after finding out about our big move, Philly was a blast. I drove down with my teammate Laura (who helped with feeding). We arrived to a slight road block as one of our teammates had flown in and had been admitted to the hospital for a serious saddle sore that had turned into a bad infection! As I had my MRSA episode on my leg a few years back, I completely sympathized with her and understood the severity of the situation. She had returned from the hospital when I had arrived and as the day went on, she became sicker and sicker, so I drove her and our acting team manager, Stacey, back to the hospital. We were close....but she came out ok!

Sunday was the race. There were four of us at the line: Amity, Colleen, Jennifer, and me. 160 riders were registered but around 140 were starting. The field included world champion Giorgia Bronzinni, Ina Teautenberg, and many other olympians and notable riders. My nerves were surprisingly calm and if anything I was very excited about the race.

We started off 10 minutes after the men, so the streets were packed to the brim with screaming spectators. Our field sped around and headed for our first lap up the Manayunk wall. For the most part, we stayed together. I was able to move around and get into a great position as we came into the wall, moved up and around some riders, and hugged the wheel in front of me. Everywhere, people were cheering, hoses were spraying water on us as we went by, and it was as if it was all surreal. As I crested the first climb, we were all strung out, but still connected to each other's wheel.

Lap two was the same as lap one but by lap three, my legs were starting to feel fatigued. Maybe it was that I needed to drink more water, or maybe it was from the intensity of climbing the wall. They tingled and started to cramp. I took a gel and drank more water. As we came down the stretch and turned onto Main Street (before the climb), there was a crash in the corner and I almost went right into the pile. My wheels skidded as I avoided the wreck. I hurried around and chased to catch the group. My legs were screaming at me as it felt like they wanted to seize up on me. I finally caught the pack right as we hit the climb. I was spent, but I sucked it up and pushed myself up the hill. We were strung out. A small gap had formed and I knew we were so close but when the girl up 50 feet turned the corner, her gap went to 100m in an instant. A group of us chased for about 5 miles and finally caught the pack as we headed on Lemon Hill.

The we accelerated with just one lap to go.

I tucked into the pack and found Georgia Bronzinni's wheel. "This is a good wheel!" I told myself. She was plotting with a teammate and soon they moved forward. I followed pursuit. I stayed tucked in, but as we came into the final turn onto the hill, I felt like my legs were running low on matches. The climb up was fast! I held on, but soon found myself near the back of the pack as we crested the top. Again, a gap opened up and it was the same group of us who were chasing to catch back on. We were so close, but yet as it was the final lap, we just couldn't make any gain on the field.

We ended up finishing just 2 minutes back from the winning time. I came across in 61st.

Here's a fun video I made of the race (Laura recorded most of it):