Louisville Takes on The WORLDS!!

I swear...

We've had just about a little of everything thrown as us this week... minus the swarm of locust... with that said, we're packing our bags and heading out tomorrow before that happens!!  But... before we head out... let me catch you up!!!

The Elite aka Pro World Championship races were supposed to take place this weekend, with the Juniors and U23 men racing on Saturday, and the Elite Women and Elite Men racing on Sunday.

But have you every heard the saying... "God willing and the creek don't rise????"   Well... "the creek"... namely the Ohio River... was rising at an alarming rate, due to all the FREAKING rain we got earlier this week.  And guess what????

Ahhhh Yup!!!!   The River was due to crest it's banks at 1:00am Sunday morning and flood the entire race course.... HOLY SHIT!!!!   No amount of sand bagging, trenching... or bull dozing by the Army Corp of Engineers was going to stop tons and tons of water from not only flowing onto the course... but totally submerging it under water...

Ummm.... is drowing covered in the rider's waiver???  Let's pencil it in!!!

 

 

 

So, with the river rising at an alarming rate... a quick decision was made to cram, 2 days of racing into one day... Saturday.

 

Now as you can imagine, everyone schedule to race on Sunday.... namely the Elite men and women, had their underwear in a huge bunch... because everything was moved up 24 hours.  But looking at the bright side... It's better than racing with water wings and a snorkel.

 

I have to hand it to the race organizers... what a first class event.  Despite all the issues they were facing.

 

The riders had a challenging course to race on

 

 

  

 

 

 

The crowd entertained each other in between races...

 

 

 

 

 

They drew in excess of 10,000 spectators... from all over the World

 

  

 

 

And at the end of the day... 2 men and 2 women went home as World Champions... and we got to see it all LIVE... in the USA.

 

Not a bad way to end the day.

 

We wrapped up our week in Louisville as spectators, watching both the best cross racers in the world, as well as the next generation of cross racers.  They were all an inspiration to watch... they make it all look so easy, when we know how brutally hard it is. 

 

We are heading home in the morning... it's bitter sweet. I am glad the season it over, we are all tired of racing but on the other hand, sorry to see it end.

 

I am so proud of my teammates!  Flea... I am proud of you!  You did awesome!!!!  

  

Til Later,

 

Peanut Out... 

 

 

THE IMPACT OF THE SIDELINE

Tom Stevens (My Coach) and I, have a number of discussions about race tactics and strategies, and awhile ago we discussed the fact that races are often won or lost...  by what Tom would qualify as "a race of inches", which, simply put... is a combination of tiny mistakes, or tactical errors ... or on the other end of the spectrum, great lines, efficient use of energy, surging at exactly the right moments that can either win or lose the race for you.

Today for the first time in my cycling career... my race  was such a crazy roller coaster ride of bad luck, a tough crash, getting caught and passed in the bell lap and then with the crowds help... with their encouragement and cheering...  I was able to win the Rainbow Jersey.  Today, the sidelines were the one inch I needed to win the race,  it was enough to bring me to my knees...

I will never forget today's race for as long as I live.

For everything that was going wrong at the beginning of the bell lap... everyone on the course continued to believe in me. 

Despite the fact the gap was growing, and it appeared that the wheels may be coming off my plane.

The shouts of support from the sidelines and the pit are what helped lift me back up, and helped me close that gap.  Your shouts of encouragement are what caused me to not only bridge the gap but go by and keep on going.

If you think your cheers don't matter... I'm telling you they MATTER!  Your cheers helped me win a World title today.  I owe every person standing out there today, a big thank you.. whether you were cheering for me or not.  It doesn't matter.  Because it mattered to someone.  

It makes a huge difference. 

If not for all of you...  I would not be going home with a World Title today.   You guys rock!!!

Thanks so much. 

http://www.cxmagazine.com/sarvary-takes-womens-55-world-championship-title


Kathy Sarvary