Heather VanValkenburg wins stars and bars for 2006!
Pictured L to R, Heather, Brian and Donna
Story by Steven Beardsley
National Championships in Colorado Springs with some extra hardware and a
jersey in her luggage. She won the 500m TT and placed second
in the 30-34 age group. Here are some bits from her blog:
"Going in, I hoped my gear wasn't going to be too small. The start was good-
almost too good. I was worried that I might spin out. The first half lap, I
kept telling my self "this isn't good enough- go harder." Once I settled in
and got as aero as possible, I realized it was a perfect gear. I was able to
keep spinning in the last quarter lap, which according to the folks watching
was the difference between 1st and 2nd, My 38.38 time was a huge P.R.
The silver in the match sprints isn't quite as nice as gold, but such is
racing sometimes. It took me a while to settle on that. Considering I knew
little about what to expect when I came to this race, one gold and one
silver aren't too bad."
One trip to Nationals might have been enough for most racers, but not
Heather. She will be questing for more hardware as she joins the rest of the
Rubicon track squad as they go south to L.A. in the first week of October
for the Elite National Championships.
