Northfield Crit - 4th of July

There's nothing like a Monday to recover from your 3 day weekend....

As you could guess, we lined up our entire 4th of July weekend with back to back races. We kicked off the 4th of July festivities with the Northfield Criterium. The temps were hot and the races were fast! Unfortunately, I made some tactical errors in my race that caused me some position loss, but it was a great learning tool and an awesome start to the weekend. Amy gave me a sweet lead-out for the finish, and Jacki rocked a killer 3rd place finish! Way to go ladies! Jay rode amazing in his crit, even flyin off the front for a lap or two in the afternoon heat. When he wasn't racing, Jay was rockin' the mic as MC Hwood.

The real fun is always afterwards, hanging out with friends and watching the pros fly around the course.

Not to mention some tasty grub and good laughs afterwards at the Contented Cow.

Jay and I were too exhausted to go out for fireworks that night, so we crawled up to the roof and watched all the firework shows for miles. It was a fabulously mellow end to an exciting and tiring day.

Best Birthday Ever!

Last week I celebrated my birthday the way I always do....I take the day off of work and only do things that make me happy! Jay took the day off too, slept in til 10:30 with me, then made me my favorite breakfast & coffee. Ahhhh.

After that, my super-duper, absolutely amazing fiancee surprised me with a bridal headband for my birthday. Why so special? Because he looked in the photos I took when I was trying on wedding gowns to find the picture I took of my dream headband, took a photo of it, rode his bike an hour and a half from Bloomington to Rosedale, and proceeded to go through their entire collection of headbands until he matched the photo bead-for-bead to the exact one I wanted. Once it was found, he got it and pedaled the hour and a half back home. I'm still completely in awe of all he did for my gift....I definitely am the luckiest woman in the world.

Later that morning, we kitted up and went on a 27-28 mile ride from Bloomington to Savage, into Prior Lake, and back. It was a beautiful morning with a bright sun and gentle breeze. The ride was absolutely perfect, sans a short 1/2 hour of agony after I broke Jay's camera. :O( I still feel absolutely horrible, but he's just so gracious and gentle with me, you'd think it was a disposable one. Luckily, we got some cute shots in before I broke it. Later that day, we went back to a part of the trail with my camera to take some photos for our wedding invite that turned out perfect. Unfortunately, I'm not previewing them here or it'll ruin the fun of our invites.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out together and with friends, closing the even down with the boys at Lyle's. Timmer, Stick, Perry, Dana, Smokin' Joe, Dylan, Hwood and I partied it up with tater tots and 2-for-1's to close out yet another fabulous birthday.

To continue the celebration, Jay and I had a BBQ at the house Saturday night with a big bunch of friends. Cyclists and non-cyclists alike grilled, gabbed, and monkey'd around like kids. It was awesome!

Maya came out for the fun with my Matron of Honor, Erin......
while her Papa, Adam, got a wicked game of hack going

Nuttin' says party like a Buzzard Bag o' Beer......And you know what that leads too??
Crazy lil bros gettin their fingers stuck in bottles! NOOB!

It was an awesome time, and I'm so happy that all my friends could make it out! Thanks guys and dolls! And thanks to my always awesome fiancee, Jay, who made this birthday the best ever! Thanks babe - I love you!!!

Happiest gal in the world,
Kristy Kreme

Rapid Fire Race Update

So, since the last time I threw out a race summary there has been a ton of racing going on! After the State TT, I blew myself away at Black Dog with yet another PR!!! I only took 3 seconds off, but it felt amazing! Can't wait until tomorrow.

Last week was the start of the Summit/Hollywood Crit series at the Dakota Tech College. This is BY FAR my favorite criterium, held on the college's Semi-Truck Driving training course....fabulous sweeping turns, a sweet series of tight flowing turns, no major climbs, and nothing but smooth pavement! During warm up I felt like absolute crap, but for some reason my body was bluffing as I finished in 4th with some great action in between.

Then, Saturday was the Birchwood Road Race - kindly filled with rolling hills and a killer 1 mile climb we had to do 3 times. It was hard and I was tired, but I finished in the top 10 just as I'd hoped (10th). But, the best part was pulling the field at speeds from 27-30MPH to bring back a rider that was 20 seconds off the front!!!! That was SO AWESOME!

This past Sunday was the GrandStay Crit in St. Cloud. Although I rode well physically, I disappointed myself technically, sitting in poor position in the field, slowing on the corners....but it was a great learning experience - it reminded me of what I need to do to perform better in crits. On the lighter side, my teammate Jacki kicked some major tail feathers - beating Patti K. to the finish to take first!!! Man, that girl can ride - great job, Hellian!!!!Hollywood's Hellians

Tonight, I'm skippin' the crit for some R&R to prep for the next 5 races in the next 7 days....2 TT's, 2 Crit's, and 1 Road race....and I can't wait!!!! There's a lot riding on them, so I am just hoping to ride smart and safe at each, and have fun at every one!

Until the next update, Party on!
Kristy Kreme