Hilary is flying back from Redlands tonight (Sunday), after a painful but rewarding six-day trip. Here's the brief story. Her prologue time Thursday put her in 43rd. Friday was a brutal circuit race (exactly what she excels at) and she cracked the Top 20, finishing 17th on the day in a small group that had lost the top, top girls about 10km before the finish - she finished with Suz Weldon that day. That moved her into 20th overall. Saturday she kept it upright and out of trouble in the criterium. She averaged 30 miles per hour for 60 minutes. She finished 38th, I think, and that kept her in 20th overall. Her recovery after the crit Saturday afternoon got a little out of whack due to team commitments, so she wasn't feeling 110% for Sunday's suffer-fest. Unfortunately, Sunday she came off the leaders before she wanted to and the time gaps started blowing out. She finished a very respectable 30th on the stage, and ended up finishing 30th overall (in the money!). For her first time at an NRC stage race outside of Oregon, she's pretty pleased. She's pissed, of course, that she didn't have a better day on Sunay, but is encouraged by knowing she's right there with the big girls and with more experience and tactical savvy she's only going to get better.
I've only seen one photo of her on line, on the Redlands web site from the crit. The picture doesn't do her beautiful Veloforma bike justice - in fact, what sticks out are her white arms and legs. . . all that beautiful winter riding in Oregon.
She's looking forward to hearing all about Willamette . . . . and to having a good time at Kings Valley Sunday.
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