JULY 22, 2010
Bend, OR - Stage 2 of the Cascade Classic is a 16 mile TT. The course is the same as the one for US nationals without the extra "lollipop" loop at the end. It is similar to the TT at Tour of the Gila - gradual uphill all the way out and fast downhill on the way back. Erinne had a breakthrough TT at Gila, placing 2nd there, so she and the team were hoping for another good ride here and she did not disappoint us! We knew Alison Powers would fly down the descent, so Erinne's race was basically to the top of the climb at the turnaround to gain as much as possible there and then just hang on to the finish. Erinne went pretty fast herself down the hill - we were following in the car and saw her hitting about 48 mph and spinning her 55x11 gear! She won the stage and moved into 3rd overall, 46 sec. behind Cath Cheatley and 1:59 behind Mara.
Erinne in action (that is a plastic bag of ice in the back of her jersey for those who are curious)
Erinne’s TT Race Report:
Today was the Skyliner Time Trial of the Cascade Classic. Third day of racing and a beautifully hot and dry day at that. For those of you that know me I have never said "I'm a timetrialist". I usually answer "sometimes I can pull a good one off", but today was my first TT win ever! I could feel the support of the team routing for me this morning and everybody wishing me good luck and telling me to go fast at some point or another before I took off. It felt really good to have the belief of all my teammates and staff behind me.
The race today was 16 miles. The first 8 miles were a gradual climb and then we turned around and the last 8 miles were almost all down. I knew my race and where I would gain time was going to be on the climb, so I went as fast as I possibly could all the way up. I could tell pretty quickly that I was putting time into my minute rabbit who happened to be Alison Powers and of course that was just perfect for me as I put all my focus into catching her. You see without a good rabbit, I have been known to daydream or get depressed or bored out there... Also, I had Karen and Dave in the car behind me and I know that whenever I started to drop the speed I'd hear a little tap tap on the horn just to remind me I needed to go fast again...
I ended passing Alison about 3/4 of the way up the climb and got a little boost of excitement. I even held her off until almost 3km to go until she passed me again on the way to the finish.
Anyhow, when I got back to the team cars, one of the first thing Karen and Dave said to me went something like this "Well you sure went fast but you sure didn't look pretty doing it". So I asked them what did Amber and Christine look like when they time trialed? I guess it was prettier than me. So my conclusion is, I still have some work to do. I must look prettier and I gotta start being consistent at these. But, I'm very happy with my ride, I'm building more confidence at time trialing everyday, and I can feel that my form is coming on really strong. I'm excited for the next couple days of racing and I know the team will give it their all to help me out with GC and hopefully we can also get some more stage wins.
Thanks!
Photos: Provided by Webcor
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