Planet Bike Cup (USGP 1&2)

(Pictures from Cyclingnews.com - Thanks, Dave!)

En route to a new personal record of number of UCI races in 8 days...

My lungs were not happy post-Vegas and I don't get how anyone can chose to smoke with the consequence of coughing like that all the time. (although I bet cross is just as crazy a concept for them!)

Unfortunately it wasn't really a true race weekend for me as I just felt off - dizzy and lightheaded while racing Saturday and short of breath on Sunday. So this is more of a Kari's-health-report-while-riding-her-bike post.

Planet Bike Cup 1 - Saturday

I felt dizzy all morning and had doubts on whether racing was really all that great an idea. As it went away when I was on the bike, I figured I needed to at least try and race since I was all the way in Wisconsin to do so! The start was weird and kind of blobby - not the fast, hold on for dear life crazy fast starts I'm used to with the big girls - Compton, Gould, Nash, etc. My body was on a different wave length of communication and didn't want to play race despite my encouragement. I held on for what I thought was 10th... to find out it was 11th place when I crossed the finish line. Oh well, at least I finished.

Planet Bike Cup 2 - Sunday

After a good night's sleep, I felt MUCH better and was looking forward to actually racing today. I was hoping for rain as it would favor me, but strong winds would have to do (one of the few times it pays to be a tank in the women's field - you don't get tossed around as much). Another weird blob start (which I in the future will go try and do something about!) and I was sitting in 9th with hopes of moving up. 4th lap in, my chain popped off (for no good reason), and not being able to shift it back on, I had to get off and physically put it on, losing 4 places! I chased back and regained a couple places and was making gains on the next in line when I started having trouble breathing and got dizzy again. Passing out is not something I strive for when riding, so I backed off a bit and finished the race what I thought was 12th, to later learn 13th on the results.

Needless to say I need to learn how to count and have been working with doctors to figure out what's going on... But still, in the big scheme, placing top 13 both days when not feeling stellar - pretty cool. I just can't wait for everything to fall into place and get the results I know I'm capable of.