Bonelli Park was another great race for me. Since I'd raced there last year and knew what to expect, my nerves were much easier to reason with. The course was super dry, to the point of being quite dusty (last year it was a bit slick). During my pre-ride I discovered that the cables had stretched (which is to be expected of a brand-new bike) and my chain was shifting off in the front. I begged the BMC mechanic to take a look, and luckily, she got it back into working condition. (Yes, I rely on the kindness of strangers frequently!).

Race day was exciting, there were plenty of faces I didn't recognize and the regular front row wasn't there. {Since it's an Olympic year, everyone is attending all of the World Cup races, so the front row happened to be in South Africa.}

ESI Grips are not only one of my awesome sponsors but they also sponsor the US Cup race series. Gary & Maria (the owners) were at the race showing off their grips. I got to catch up with them and Gary did my bottle hand up. I was thankful to have a cheering & support section for me!

I felt good on the first lap, but realized how scorching hot it was and how I didn't have any water to pour on my back. Mid-way through the second lap the heated started to get to me and I wondered if I could finish this short race. Luckily, my friends that had raced Cat 1 that morning were watching the race and I ~~yelled at them~~ politely asked if they could pour water on me the next time around. They found some ice water and ran to the feed zones to pour it on my back (true friends indeed!). With my temperature dropping back down I was able to gain some ground on the last few laps. I ended up in 6th place, a little sad to have missed the podium, but happy to place so high in a national race.

Start Line

Erica & Kimberly (a smokin' fast Cat 1 racer!)