Merco

(Shelley, Alisha, Olivia, Kat, Kristin A., Coryn, Kristin M.)

(Alisha drives it up the final climb)

(Kristin running the pre-race meeting)

Alisha says: This weekend I traveled to Merced, California for my first race with my new team Peanut Butter & Co. / TWENTY12. When I arrived at the airport in San Francisco, Kristin Armstrong was there to meet me. Ya, it's going to be amazing to have an Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champ directing the team. She knows so much that it's incredible.

We drove to Merced and met up with the team for dinner. It was my first opportunity to meet most of the girls in real life and they are super cool. Stage 1 was a crit on a course short enough that we did 40 laps. With HTC-Columbia there to rile things up, it was a fast race from start to finish. With three laps to go there was a crash that stopped the race for 20 minutes. We then re-started with five laps to go. It was full gas from then on. The team was able to set Shelley up well and she sprinted for second.

The next day was the road race. It is cool being on a team because you have a plan to execute and teammates to work with. It was a fast race right from the start and everyone on the team worked really well together. I drove it up the last climb and then pulled into the group. However, there was a crash right in front of me that I just escaped near the end. Fortunately, the team led Shelley out well for the final sprint. In the end, it turned out to be a great weekend for the team and I'm very excited for what's ahead this season.