Nationals this year was also Olympic Trials. The winner of the time trial and the road race were automatic nominations to the Olympic team. Dede Demet-Barry had already secured the other spot due to her UCI points. T-Mobile is the “national team” as well as a trade team. They have nine women on the team. Seven of those women had goals of making the Olympic team. Everyone who attended trials had the dream of winning to take the spot on the Olympic team.
The Olympics have been a big goal of mine for many years. I competed in Olympic Trials in 1996, which was my 3rd year racing. I had a great finish in the trials placing 2nd in the Nationals road race and 12th overall. In 2000 I attended trials. I was still recovering from chronic fatigue, so I didn’t have a great race. My teammate at the time, Nicole Freedman, won the race and a spot on the Olympic team. I put a lot of emphasis on the trials this year. I trained hard all winter to be in top shape for trails. The first races of the season showed that I was on track. The crash on March 28th put a kink into my plans. I thought I would still have time to get back into shape. However, my breakdown immediately after the crash indicated that my dreams might be gone. I recovered quickly from surgery. I was able to get back on my bike immediately and lost little time resuming training. Five weeks after surgery, my power on rides started to plummet. I tried to rest for a while with no improvement. Then I began seeing doctors. I was finally diagnosed with a sinus infection. I went through two courses of antibiotics, but neither of them seemed to help. I was very frustrated. I had not been able to train in six weeks, and the rest didn’t seem to be helping my illness. The week before trials I got even sicker. I was so sick that the day before we were scheduled to leave, I told Uhl that maybe we shouldn’t waste our time going to trials. Uhl emphatically stated that we were going to trials.
Because this race was a big goal for me, Uhl took off work and made the trip to CA with me. We decided to drive, which meant a 15-hour trip each way. We left on June 10th. We drove 10 hours the first day and stayed in St. George, UT with my parents. On the drive, we saw trucks hauling a big boat, submarine, and small airplane.