Tuesday:
Final adjustments to bikes, a recon ride on the TT course with the girls team to bring up the pace and make it more fun! Everyone seemed happy, though some weren't as yet completely certain on their gear choices. I went off to the manager's meeting in a torrential downpour and found some dudes I raced with a little over 20 years ago! Cycling does keep us young....even Jeff, the race announcer, was announcing back in the day when I rode my last US nationals in Albany, NY, so all of this is a bit like a class reunion.  I headed back to give the boys their start times, discuss warm ups, weather possibilities, etc...

Wednesday:
Race day! Pouring effin rain when we woke up! Lucky for us we have a competitive barista on our team so there is good coffee (the french dont believe there is good coffee in America!). I launched the first brew and set to making some oatmeal for the boys...I may be taken off that duty as I followed the directions and added too much salt. Anyway, off we were at 7h30 in the rain and arrived at 8h30 in the rain. The weather let up a tad as the men approached the starting ramp at 10....Here are my boys in their starting order - you can click on the photos below:
1-Scott Grady-from Bend Oregon and our in-house barista!
2-Stephan-'Ill be back' Rothe-originally from Germany Stephan now lives in Texas with his wife and child and runs a coaching business
3-Scott Simmons-our in house cowboy from Texas with the accent and all
4-Stephen Mull-former runner turned fly fisherman turned cyclist-Stephen leapt from cat 5 to cat 1 this season so the motor works! keep tabs on this one
5-Brandon (baby face) Feehery-our youngster-19- from Illinois-this evening's crit will be his cup of tea
6-Alec Donahue-our 'team dad' at 37 he's still mixing it up in the front and happy to do so. from the northwest and a crossaholic
7-Tim mustache Rugg-Tim is from the DC area and when not twirling his mustache he could be twirling a guitar...

The winning pros rode in just over 13 minutes while my boys rode in anywhere between 14' and 15'.  We'll see how they fit into the 'grand' scheme of all of that later but first we have a crit to ride this evening!!!

Thanks for reading and more to come from the Nature Valley Grand Prix!
Marion