It was still raining as we drove to the track, and it was still raining at the track. I went inside and they told me the race would start at noon. They still had to finish the men’s scratch race and the women’s points race, so I wouldn’t go until at least 2 pm. We drove back to the hotel. We relaxed in the room for a while. I entered Mom, Dad, and I into the Kentucky Derby sweepstakes. If you guessed the exact finish of all 18 horses, then you won $2 million. We didn’t win. We left for the track at 12:30 pm. I warmed up on the trainer. As I was warming up on the trainer, the crash memories flooded back. Two men were doing the match sprint. One of them tried to dive down track; he hit the back wheel of the guy in front of him and crashed. The sound of that crash brought back all the memories of my crash in Houston. It was so vivid, that it made me nauseous. My mom had the same response. Luckily the guy got up and walked away from the crash.

In the pursuit qualifier, I rode against Annette Hanson in the second to last heat. It was cold and really windy. I was really psyched to ride the pursuit. Anton Quist (who won the Kilo time trial) yelled loudly in the stands for me. He started yelling “Go Ohio!!!” I figured he would remember it was Idaho sooner or later. The announcer then introduced Annette and me (from Eagle, ID). There was a pause, then Anton started yelling, “Go IDAHO!!!” Before I started the event, Dr. Mark Bing appeared in the bleachers to cheer me on. He was the doctor who treated me at the velodrome in Houston, TX after my crash. He was so wonderful. He and his brother, Paul, sent me flowers after my surgery to repair my thumb and pin my clavicle. I rode a 52 x 15 (93.5 gear). I started out too hard and soon blew. It is really hard to keep turning over a huge gear in the wind after you blow. Annette won the round in 4:14 min and I finished in 4:18 min. I was devastated. I had high expectations for the ride, and I blew it. I went straight to my trainer and started to cool down. I called Uhl and started crying. He was scared and thought I had crashed again. He told me to relax and get ready for the evening session. Sarah Uhl won her heat in 3:59 with Becky Conzelman 2nd in 4:06 min. Anton called me after I left the track to make sure I was ok. I told him I was doing better. He told me to get psyched for the evening session. I went home and rested for a bit.

Then we drove back to the track. I warmed up for the evening pursuit. It was cold and windy again tonight. My parents had to wait in the car until it was time for my event. Anton Quist was there to cheer me on. I reported to the back straight for the start of the pursuit. It was cold and windy, so I wanted to start before my legs froze up. Annette wasn’t appearing on the front straight. I asked the official if Annette knew it was time for the pursuit. The head official came over to explain what was happening. Annette’s skinsuit zipper broke and split open. The zipper itself was stuck up by her neck, but the entire zipper was split wide open. She was frantically trying to fix the problem because she couldn’t get the skinsuit off. She pinned the zipper in several places and then put duct tape over it. She had to cut the skinsuit off after the event. I wish she had told me about the problem, so I could have stayed on my trainer. I paced myself much better in the evening session and won it for 3rd place in 4:12 min and Annette was 4th in 4:18 min. Sarah won her heat for 1st place in 4:00 min and Becky was 2nd in 4:05 min. I was in better spirits after that ride. The announcer kept commenting on how good it was to see me, especially after the crash a month ago in Houston. The athletes were all really supportive of me.