I have just made it home from the first ever race for women in the Middle East. Can you say a long way to travel for a 3 day stage race? Especially when it is the first race of the year.

When the race was first mentioned about a year ago I knew I wanted to be on the trip. The US National Team got the invite and it was not a question or hesitation when I was asked. As my winter training progressed and I became more confident in my fitness, I started thinking more about the race and less about the experience. I knew before I left I wanted to get the most out of it.

The men were competing in a 6-day stage race just before the women's race was to start. So I was watching results and reading reports on the wind conditions and the courses. As you can imagine Qatar does not have very many roads so our courses mimicked a lot of the men's. The first few days for the men brought a lot of wind and shattered groups. This is one way to jump start the legs for the season. I knew position was going to be key for surviving and I was mentally preparing.

Upon arriving in Doha we were greeted by the race organization and shuttled to the Sharq Village Inn and Spa, where we would be spending the night before moving to the Ritz-Carlton on the north side of Doha. Let's just say that neither location was shabby!! It was dark when we landed so I did not have much opportunity to see the country from the sky, but after spending a few days riding I really don't think there was much to see from above. As you can imagine it was the desert, the only difference is Qatar has humidity and warm temps. I was looking forward to the sun.

The country of Qatar is making a big push for women in sports, so we were welcomed and pampered in everything we did. I felt like a celebrity, we certainly weren't complaining.

After two days of acclimatizing we were ready to start racing. The racing started off hard and aggressive from the gun the first day, and for the most part was the trend throughout the race. For Team USA the results were not what we were hoping for, but it is only February. For me I was happy. I raced my bike, found myself in the positions I needed to be when serious splits occured, and I came about 100 meters short from winning the last stage after a solo attempt with 5.5kms to go. That is called bike racing.

After the race we did have one sightseeing opportunity as some gracious folks from the organization offered to take us to the Souq, a market, which we were told was an absolute must see when visiting Doha. Upon arrival our senses were immediatly overwhelmed with the sights of smells. Walking through the market that sold fresh spices, scarves, household appliances, etc we also encountered some of the Western chains from home like TCBY and The Coffee Beanery. It seemed out of place but they were popular among the locals.

For me the highlight of the trip was the start of stage 3. We started at a Camel race track. Everywhere you turned there were camels. The Qatari's created little robot jockies to take the place of the Pakistani boys that use to race. These contraptions were amazing, with the flick of a remote it's fake arm starts swirling in a circle and whips the camel to go faster. It was very interesting.