I finally feel like I am "in my season." After months of training, the collegiate racing season has started, and I am racing ever weekend somewhere in the Northwest. The first weekend, which was during part of my spring break, was in Eugene (the road race and team time trial) and Corvallis (for the criterium). Going into it, I honestly had no idea what to expect. As a freshman, this was my first collegiate race, and I was racing in the A category (the equivalent of a cat 1/2/3). I didn't know the strength or ability of the other girls from around the northwest, and so there was a part of me that thought, "hm... maybe i can win!" but an even larger part of me part of me that was afraid I might get blown off the back of the group by the first lap. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I fit in well with the group. Depsite being the youngest in the group, I finished both races with top ten finishes. There's a lot of really strong women riders in the A group, and I'm so excited to see how I will able to grow in my own strength and ability over the course of the collegiate season, ultimately culminating in Collegiate Nationals in Fort Collins, CO, in May.

This past weekend was rather disappointing, due to the fact that we drove up to Bellingham for our races, only to have them canceled by horrid weather--six inches of fresh snow and a high of 29 degrees. :-( The next day's race, however, in Seattle, turned out much better. It was a beautiful, and for the most part, dry day, and we were able to race the criterium hosted by the University of Washington. Again, a top ten finish.

I'm looking forward to this weekend's Omnium in Portland, and will definitely post a blog on how that goes. In the midst of racing, I'm trying to maintain the balance as a college student between training, racing, classes, homework, work (I nanny part time), friends, personal time, etc etc. It's a never-ending quest for balance. But so far, so good. :-)