The last three races of SpeedWeek were a blur. The 'comedy central' trio took another trip up to South Carolina for a twilight crit, and then a 'hotter than hell' circuit that was around what looked to be the fairground field. While driving to Friday's race in Spartanburg, we were delayed in unexpected traffic so coming into town, our adrenalin was high. As we were only 3 miles from the race, we nearly totaled the car as two vehicles in front of us decided to slam on his brakes and without having any brake lights, the car in front of us nearly collided into the car. We were approaching at around 40mph (as this was a highway) saw the obstacle, and Colleen with her swift crit racing skills, managed to swing our vehicle safely onto a side road that just happened to be there. All three of us were cursing at the top of our lungs and our hearts were beating fast. My phone rang.

"Hey Mark," it was my brother, "I was just literally almost in a very bad accident. We are running late for a race, but I think with our adrenaline that's on cloud nine, we will probably be attacking like mad in our race today!"

And that was the story of our race. We had less than 45 minutes when we arrived until 'go-time'. The streets were packed with people as there was a fair going on. Team Kenda was a sight to be seen that night as Christy made a 3-person break for several laps. When their break was caught, another went off the front and Kat was able to bridge up to the break. Colleen, Shannon, Liz, and I went to the front and slowed the pack down as much as possible to give her time to catch the break. Shannon was playing defense like no-one's business, I went after a few attacks to bring them back, and Colleen with just a few laps to go, attacked and took a $100 prime! We were so proud of our work that night. After the race, we were putting the bikes back into the car and I hear a 'thump'. Colleen had managed to konk her forehead on the vehicle, leaving her a little drop of blood. She was pissed that it wasn't a 'war-mark' from the race.

"I hope I get a black-eye," she exclaimed. "That way I'll look meaner in the race!" We just laughed.

The following day was hot! Apparently the race promoters were unable to obtain a permit to hold the event in the downtown area, so the back-up race course was on a smoothly paved road around an open field. No fans or cheering people this day, so it had the atmosphere of a training race. As the weather was in the mid 90's and with the pavement radiating so much heat, even hotter, I made myself a little baggie of ice and stuffed it in the front of my bra to keep my core temperature down. I called this my 'water boob'.

"Look," I told Colleen and Kat, "I've got boobs and they bounce!!"

They just shook their heads and laughed. When the race started, I kept my spirits high, singing tunes out-loud to the field. But once the first couple of laps went by, the field became strung out, and I knew the race was going to be tough. It was very hot and I had to be mentally on my game to not let the heat affect me. After a few laps, I attacked and tried bridging up to a lady up the road who had a 30 second gap on the field. The effort drained me. I knew I had to conserve more this race to stay in as the 'heat demons' were pushing to just drop out. Several riders dropped out that day with signs of heat exhaustion. Even after my 'water boob' had melted, the temperature was still cool enough to keep my core down. I finished strong that day and was happy to sit in the shade, drink some water and sleep in the car on the way home.

The final day in Sandy Springs was a sight to be seen. Colleen and I arrived very early as we had twisted her boyfriend Kirk's arm to do his first race ever. Actually, we both thought it was pretty gutsy of him to jump in and do the race on such a short notice! The weather was much cooler than the day before, but still very hot. I didn't feel the need to have a 'water boob' for the race, but in hind-sight, it might have increased my performance. With it being the final day, I was feeling the fatigue of a weeks worth of crit racing. Though not as draining as a long stage-race, the intensity of crit racing was starting to wear on my 'match box'. I didn't have many matches left to burn and the ones I had, when I used them, they would ignite and then soon burn out. Earlier in the week, my matches had some serious fire power! Our race stayed together for the most part. A few women went off the front and Kat was still very aggressive. She attacked from the back and was so close to getting a prime. It was all I had to push to the front to play defense. I attacked at one point to chase after a break, but then needed extra time to recover. With about 10 laps to go, I started to feel really great. The field had thinned out by almost a third and I was able to ride aggressively at the front. With two to go, I was in a top position, but soon found myself pushed to the back. The zig zagging course made it hard to move up. We finished. Team Kenda was 3rd overall for SpeedWeek!

Here's our re-cap video of the race:

SpeedWeek was such a trip! It's always a treat to go places and take a road trip with other women who have the same interests as you. In the 'real world', as a cyclist and a female cyclist, you kind of get looked at like a freak and no one understands your passion, your lifestyle, or what it takes to race at an elite level. You're bombarded with "Don't you think you ride too much?!" or "Don't you think you'll stop racing soon and settle down?" To me, a cyclist is a person who is very much still a kid inside. Someone who never let their childhood dreams die. I will never give that up. Laura van Guilder is a great testament to this as at 47, she was a contender to win SpeedWeek. I walked over to her before our last race,

"Laura, good luck today. You're my hero."

"Wow!" she said, "Thank you!"