cascade st. 6

the last stage of cascade was suuper brutal...i would definitley say the hardest all week.  it was 5 laps of a 17mi course.  no super long climbs, butu plenty of climbing, hardest stretch was second half of the loop, almost no rest, you go up a pretty hard 1k climb up to the feedzone where it just false flats for a while, then after a bit you hit the kom climb which is maybe 1mi total, stairstep witha  wall at the bottom and a wall at the top.  The main thing is that the race just never slows down, so real hard to recover.  Legs were definitely a bit cracked starting the race, but once we got rolling i didnt feel to bad, first lap went by fairly smooth, except for a big crash which ithankfully avoided, we went up the hills hard but it wasn't too bad.  The second lap was a lot harder, over the top of the climb up the feedzone we were really strung out on the false flat...we hit the kom climb and i think there were some attacks going and stuff...i felt alright but i was a little too far back, a few guys up a gap opened and i couldn't really close it...i chased hard for awhile, but once i was out of the cars i just took it ez and finished the day in a little group.  it ended up being pretty brutal for the rest of the field as well, like 45 or so people dropped out, i guess just cu it was the last day...but yea i ended up being the very last finisher...i dont think thats happened since my first year racing.  but with all teh people dropping out i moved up to 92nd gc, yes!!!! just kidding, it was nice to finish that race...super hard but definitely an experience.  I want to be a lot more competitive at races like that next year so i am very motivated for this winter and to keep improving.  now on to the junior nationals...my rr is first that is on thursday, the course is the same one we used for this stageo f cascade...so yes it willb e brutal.  friday is my TT and sunday my crit.  My hope is to podium (top 5 at natz) in at least one of the events, if luck goes well for me and i am riding well.  so should be good i will keep this updated.  now im giong to head out for a ride