Monday Hill Climb – Finally the Rain Stops

The Stradalli women’s team has finally arrived in Europe. They have joined the Men’s team in St Johann Tirol in Austria. Due to the immense rain the last few days, the Stradalli team was hesitant to sign up for Monday’s 12k hill climb. As of Sunday evening there were only 30 people signed up in total. The team woke up around 8 and hit a mad dash for sign ups since the weather looked so much better. It was a bit hectic, especially with the added stress of sorting out the new Stradalli Kits (uniforms). With the event starting at 10am, there wasn’t much time to get things in place. When they got to registration, the tables were swamped. Looks like they weren’t the only ones with the last minute idea.

The event started late. By the time they forced registration to close down, there were a  staggering 200+ riders, far more than the 30 pre-registered number. More than 30 women signed up for the event, so the officials decided to start all the women together separate from the men. Because all the age groups had the same color jersey numbers, it was very confusing for the women to know who was who and who should be chased down. Kristin and Brenda were getting a little antsy not knowing who was who, and a little frustrated since it was hard to communicate with the non English speaking racers.

The girls decided to just go for it. Chase every break, attack every competitor! Brenda worked for Kristin like an animal. Helped get all the leaders back and put the Stradalli team in a position for victory. Kristin powered her way up the climbs like a monster and stayed on top of every attack.

In the end, Kristin Sanders finished in FIRST PLACE, with an impressive 3^rd place overall for all categories. Brenda Lyons finished 5th place, even after working for Kristin throughout, putting both Stradalli girls on the scoreboard. Congratulations ladies!

After the race, Tom and Grant rode with the girls through the rest of the course that Grant had raced Sunday. This gave them a great opportunity to prep for the road race to come later the next day. More photos to come later. Trophies tonight!