Whitman Cycling: Molly's WWU Race

Once again, way too many things to write about so I'll bullet them all out:

SUN! Unfortunately my races were too early in the day for me to wear only shorts so my leg tan line did not develop at all.
We played four-square in the extra hour we had after the TTT was pushed back. Good thing we own a Tinker Bell ball and chalk...
Riding the rollers in the trailer at an uphill slant. I'm not sure why riding in the trailer was so much fun... but it was.
Making a lot of new friends with Lizzy when we alerted other teams about the delayed TTT start. So many happy faces!
Riding two of the best/most tactical races I've had.
Hearing that Kristin broke off the front of her crit pack
Listening to first year racers ask questions about tactics and communication in races
Riding around the RR course with Debi (our AWESOME chaperone) and Mackinzie after we finished the RR
Remembering every single weekend what a supportive and friendly community collegiate cycling fosters. A big part of the reason I love going to races every weekend is to see everyone from the other teams.
Our wonderful homestay family baking fish for us
The drive back to Walla Walla from Bellingham - Debi was even joining in all of the chaos and yelling
Eli's invention of 'Corola Crunch' & 'Kia Kiss' to the normal Slug Bug game. Luckily we finally figured out what a Corola actually was.

The RR and Crit were definitely two of the most fun and tactical races I have ever ridden, so I wanted to write a short blurb about each one. If you don't want to read about race stuff you should skip down to the pictures :)

RR: Part of the goal of this weekend was to get Mackinzie the rest of the points she needed for an upgrade to the women's A category since I finished earning my points the weekend before. For the road race I was hoping Mackinzie would be able to get off the front of the pack. On the start of the 3rd/last lap, our lead group had dwindled down to 4 riders. Mackinzie picked up the pace and the PSU girl dropped off the back and a gap started forming between the CWU rider I was sitting behind and Mackinzie. As soon as Mackinzie was off the front, I realized that she would easily be able to make 1st. All I had to do was sit on CWU's wheel (thanks, Alexa :D) since I definitely wasn't going to chase my teammate down. Since Alexa pulled most of the lap I was feeling pretty good by the time we hit the final big hill about 2-3K from the finish. Berto and Arika were on the side of the hill and as I passed by with Alexa, Berto yelled something to the effect of, "Mackinzie has 3 minutes on you! ATTACK! ATTACK!" I tend to trust Berto on most things, so I jumped, ended up gapping Alexa, and came in 2nd to Mackinzie. Perfect :)

Crit: Once again, we wanted to get Mackinzie maximum points. Lizzy, Mackinzie, and I were all together in the lead group which included 2 PSU riders, Alexa, Andi (UI), a UW rider, and perhaps some other people that I can't seem to recall right now. It was awesome to have the 'Whitman Train' in full force. I got the 'crit holeshot' again - I've decided that in order for me to be able to take corners well in a crit it helps to lead part or all of the first lap so that I can take the corners like I want. Lizzy took multiple pulls on the front and I am so happy that she is back and looking strong! Mackinzie and I pulled next to each other at one point in the race to talk strategy and a few laps later broke off the front - not quite as we had originally intended, but it ended up working out because we were able to stay off the front for the last 4ish laps of the race and Mackinzie crossed the line in first again. We secured her the rest of her upgrade points! I LOVE racing with teammates so much. It's weekends like these that remind me how much of a team sport cycling really is and how great it is to work for and rely on your teammates.