From Michele...

Another great weekend of racing! Both DBC men and women put many in thetop 10 in their respective races. I had a blast, but I am definitelylooking forward to no more racing until Wente! Time to rest, heal up,and get my voice back. Michele Land Park CritSaturday I got spat out the back after 4 laps or so. Leslie was there with me so I got in front of her and tried to pull us back in. No such luck on theS/F stretch with the head wind. Made up some real estate on the back stretch with the tail wind and we could carry our speed through theS-curve with just the 2 of us. Thought we might make it after one more lap but no such luck. Some "great moments" of the crit came in the last2 laps as Leslie and I passed up one lady who got spat out the back, and then later, three more women. Also it's easy to see Mark and make sureyou've got good positioning for a great photo when you're not in thepack! Bariani RR Sunday I knew there was a reason why I decided to wear my shatter proof safetysunglasses from work on this race... First LapAs soon as we turned on the frontage road along I-505, the field startedto split into two groups. I could see this because I was in the rear ofthe pack. (Doh!) It looked like there were a couple of riders attacking right away, and the front half of the pack wanted to chase and the back half of the pack decided to let them go. I didn't want to be left behind in the back half so I moved out to the side and bridged up to thefirst half. After the turn onto CR 14 I was off the back (again) andcaught up to Carolyn. The two of us were fighting to get back onto thepack but never made it. We pick up Dawn along CR 92B. We had arotating paceline of three for a while. We passed two VG, but theydidn't hop on the DBC paceline (I wonder if they couldn't keep up or ifthey though they weren't welcome with us??). Smile for Mark at the KOM!After the KOM, there were more riders who had been spat out that were insight. I asked Carolyn if she wanted to chase and she said, "Well this is a race, let's chase them down." I said, "Hang on my wheel and let'sgo get 'em." Second LapWe passed one lady just before turning onto the frontage road. When we made that turn, I could see what was ahead of us... hmm, maybe I should have left the leg warmers and arms warmers on... Okay, three more VG upahead... time to get 'em. I look back and still have Carolyn, but thatother lady didn't want to hang. Carolyn and I close in on the three VGsand is starts to rain... but that rain hurts... dang does that rainhurt... no, wait it's HAIL.. and BIG HAIL! I get pissed. I pulled up along side the VGs and I yell, "Okay ladies, let's get out of this $HIT!"I pull in front of them (expecting them to get on my wheel) and startgoing hard into the pelting hail. The VGs didn't stay on so Carolyn and I kept going. It just kept getting harder and harder. The hail wasbouncing off my helmet, off my sunglasses, off my bike (that was pissing me off the most), off me! I huddled into the smallest ball on my bike and kept pushing hard. It finally got to the point where I just started yelling F@#*! over and over because it was either that or cry, and Iwasn't about to start crying. I was looking for blood, because I was sosure the hail was cutting me. It finally let up when we turned onto CR14. I liked this part of the course. The pavement was so smooth andwith the slight downhill and tail wind I was able to fly along thatstretch at 29mph. (Gotta get my glory somewhere right!) Over the KOM and the thought of only one more lap to go... Third LapCarolyn and I could see another black cloud with a curtain of streaming uncertainty pouring from it. After turning onto the frontage road, I looked back and could see those three VGs were picking up their paceline and they were hot on our tail. "Just one more lap," I tellCarolyn, "We've got three VGs out to get us and we're not going to letthem pass us." They made a lot of ground on us on the frontage road. Ipicked up the pace but was losing Carolyn. I sat up on the first roller of CR 14 to pick up Carolyn and then tried to pull us away from the VGs.When I looked back Carolyn was behind the three VGs and they were coming up on me fast. I could see the look of the VGs faces and Carolyn lookedlike she wanted me to just go. So I decided to lay it all out on the road and not let the VGs suck my wheel the rest of the way in. I love that stretch of road and I knew I could fly solo on it really fats so Ilit the astroburners and gunned it. I looked back just before the turn onto CR 92B and I had put quite a bit of distance between me and the three VGs (at that point in the race it didn't take much to give an egoboost). Along CR 92B, I passed a Z-team lady and she sucked my wheel until the KOM where I dropped her (Wow, imagine that, Michele dropped someone on the KOM! And she was a skinny little thing!). Okay, getting deliriously happy now to see the barn and the tent and the crowd at the finish line. Marianne had started riding back on the course and she wascheering me on as I was going through the little rollers to the finish.I remember smiling when I crossed the line, not because I was glad itwas over, but because there were so many people there. The welts on my arms and legs have smoothed out back to flat, but I looklike I've been tagged by a Metromint rider. I am covered in red, blueand purple dots all over my body. The thought of claiming chicken pox or something like that to get the week off work was very tempting this morning... Lessons Learned:I know I am a strong rider. I know if I was more comfy in the pack and could learn how to race smart, that I will not be dropped time and time again.