racing bikes

Tulsa Tough

2010-06-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Many things have changed in the past three weeks (graduation, moving, sad goodbyes) but I am finally on the racing track again down in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After Nationals I took some time off to rest up for the long season of (mostly) track but also road. Because of this time off, Tulsa is hard. Very hard. There are some specific things I could have done to prepare more for this race:

1. Take less time off.
2. Celebrate less.
3. Intervals in the sauna.

But, so what, the race is hard? It's time that I get myself into gear. My legs missed this burning, exhausted feeling...alot. And I sort of forgot how much I love racing, it's nice to be reminded again.

Tulsa Tough is made up of three crit races. The first two are fairly flat and technical and the last is a steep power climb with a screaming downhill into a tight corner. These are fabulous races. The race promoters do a great job promoting the race, giving out tons of prize money, even displaying the races on JUMBOTRON TVs around the course. The Tulsans get really into it and many people see it as a reason to hang out on the street and drink beer. In fact, yesterday before the race we had an inspirational exchange with some passerbys in a car. Went like this:

Man: Y'all inspire me so much, you have no idea. You inspire me SOO much. You're great.
Girlfriend of Man: YEAH AND HE'S A SOLDIER!!!!
Man: Y'all are an inspiration to us!! And you look so great in those outfits.

Other than the race being hard, yesterday (Friday) was smokin' hot (upwards of 95 degrees). I felt okay for the first part of the race until I felt my back tire start to rub, so I reached back and undid my breaks. But then it was rubbing even worse and every time I stood up I could feel my back wheel moving around. Loose. Skewer. This has happened to me before, but luckily that time it was a small race, I was off the front, and I argued with the officials until they let me have a free lap. But this time, I knew I wouldn't be as lucky. I tried to ride with it loose as long as I could, but the second something like that gets into your head, you start to suck. The last chance of surviving the race I had was to go to the pit and beg for a free lap. The official sort of laughed at me, asked me what happened, at which point I claimed someone ran into me and undid my skewer. But, he wasn't having it. He told me I would have to chase back on, no free lap. I tried harder for the free lap. Eventually, he told me he would let me get back in with the pack, but I would be 1 lap down. Whatever, I need to finish the race for confidence at the very least. So I finished, didn't want to sprint. I probably actually got somewhere around the 30s but because of my 1 lap deficit I am DFL in the results...AWESOME.

Today is a new day (an even hotter one) and a new race, hopefully we can have fun out there and win some money!

Photos coming soon.

Nationals Road Race Report

2010-05-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

The stats: 26 starters. 6 Whitman women. Whitman women make up 23% of the field.

The story: Bizzos were literally peeing their pants when they saw us line up together. With our snazzy new clear rain jackets (totally PRO) and our mouths foaming with the alkaseltzer tablets we ate moments before, at least 4 women dropped out at our very sight. I'm totally kidding about 2/3 of that last statement, you decide which two.

After the totally sensible (ahem), screaming 50mph neutral start the race was off. Most of the race was spent in anticipation of the 3 major climbs per lap, no one wanting to waste themselves too early. Each time up the climb, the group was narrowed down to 6 or 7 riders including 3 worthless MIT riders (who go to bed at 8:30 and sleep with the thermostat at 20 degrees while wearing their jerseys...seriously), Ari Filliberti from Dartmouth (Roxy's old cronie from private school days), another Dartmouth girl, and Lindsy from Montana. Based on our school choices, we were probably the smartest breakaway all day. But, we weren't really breaking away. After the climbs on each lap, most of the field was able to catch back on just in time for the next set of climbs. The course was HARD, nothing like we usually find in the Northwest. The hills were short and steep, with the exception of the last, long and steep climb. Thanks to my Midwest upbringing, I felt right at home. The road surface was deceivingly nasty. Almost all of us, at some point or another, got a flat during the race. Fortunately, the Shimano guys change flats for a living, so I was able to catch back on almost immediately. But the most heroic act of the day goes to Eloise, who gave her wheel to Emily after Emily flatted, knowing she would be stranding herself on the course indefinitely, cold and wet.

The rain finally stopped and my face finally stopped feeling like it was receiving acupuncture. The finish was a series of two climbs, the final climb on the regular lap and an additional 1/2 mile steep climb up to the state park and into the fog. The finishing 200 meters was on a single lane trail/road, apparently they weren't anticipating a field sprint. When we arrived on the final climb, the pack shattered and Ari and MIT girl separated together. I was shocked to be sitting 3rd, other Dartmouth girl not far behind. I made up some ground on the two leaders, but unfortunately I could not close the initial gap. The cheer squad on the final climb really got me to the top. It was even borderline too much cheering (is that even possible?) and John Klein ran with me for a good 200 meters (yes, it was that slow). 3rd place, hell yeah! Emily got 13th and Chelsea 16th, both with very respectable rides.

A few photos:
Second to last climb.

Everyone looked about as happy as I did.

I'm probably smiling.

2010-02-18T20:28:00.001-08:00

As the days get longer I find my spirits being lifted. Why? It's almost race season! And if that's not reason enough for a lifted soul, here are some others.

1. This season I'm racing for Team Kenda Tire. Many people ask me why my shorts have my name on them...my name is not Kenda. The team is NRC-focused and centered in the Midwest, though I have never met any of my teammates. I'm really excited and looking forward to racing with the team.

2. Each passing day gets me a little closer to the arrival of my new bike. She is green and beautiful, what will I name her? As a consequence of my impatience, I have been avoiding cleaning my Giant or replacing the chain or bar tape, because the second I do, I'm SURE my bike will be here (so maybe I should try?). It is almost at the point of embarrassment...I said almost.

3. After 4 long and arduous months without a computer, I can finally call another my own. Hello, chatroulette.

4. The FUSH (my twice-robbed, dilapidated house) gets a security system. No, not a hole in the porch (though we do still have that) or Harry under the house with a shot gun. A real, legit, 100% authentic security system. It's got this cool function where if a robber has a gun to your head and he's like "Turn off the alarm, bizzo" I can just put in a few digits and a) the alarm stops going off but (more importantly) b) it silently alerts the police that I'm with the robber. That's technology.

Plus it's getting warmer!

It's almost time...

2009-09-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

FOR TRACK NATIONALS!

Leaving for Los Angeles on Monday, racing starts Thursday with Team Pursuit!! Sooo psyched.

Stay tuned.

My Trip to the Olympic Training Center

2009-08-11T11:19:00.001-07:00

But first, a very short Nationals report. I got 4th, I suppose that's podium, but I was very frustrated and unhappy about the race. But, that's bike racing, right? And I'm super happy for Sam Schneider, who won. She's incredibly strong and most of the time doesn't get to race for herself. I have always admired the way she races.

Bend was an amazing place, we stayed in the most baller house. Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture of it. But it was Dana and Pam's guest house of their huge log cabin-like house, with AC (particularly important during this time), a huge television (with a million channels, said Colin) and a loft with 5 bunk beds. Perfect for ghost stories, but Ian and Steve said they would pee the bed if I told any. We had a lot of free time during which we swam in the river (the DANGEROUS river), watched little boys with nicer bikes than me race their bikes, went for a few short but great rides, and were entertained by our resident magician Ian Crane. It was a great vacation. A few photos:

Moving on, a few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to spend a week at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista for a Women's Talent Identification Camp. So of course I took it. I arrived there with 4 other girls, none of which I had met before. I roomed with a girl named Elspeth from Trexlertown, which worked out perfectly since we both just wanted to talk about track racing. The camp was put on my Clay Worthington ("National Talent ID Coach"), Corey Hart (Sport Physiologist), and Kristen Dieffenbach (Sport Psychologist), all of whom are incredible people. The days went somewhat like this:

First breakfast. The food there was great, always all kinds of fruit and vegetables, and tons of choices. It was great for 5 days, but the resident athletes might get sick of it after awhile. After breakfast we would ride until lunch. Two of the days we were field testing during this time. There were 2 tests. The first test day was 2 kilometers. The way the test was formulated (by Corey) required this 2k to be on a 5-8% incline. It was HARD. The second test was supposed to be around 20 minutes, same formula, but ended up being around 30. It was HARDER. These tests measure two things: watts/kilo, and absolute power. Not surprisingly, I have a high absolute power output and a moderate watts/kilo. Meaning, I probably will not be doing any mountain stage races in the near future, but gives me something to work toward. Unfortunately, we did not do the lab tests that I had hoped for. The lab tests involve shorter efforts and measure more sprint-like power. So none of our short power output or "race winning power" was measured. But hopefully this data will eventually help me to find a team, but either way it's nice to have some sense of comparison.

After testing/riding, we would eat lunch and usually have a meeting or a talk. Wendy Peterson, a sport nutritionist, came to talk to us one day. She had a lot of interesting things to say, mostly now I know I should never ask a nutritionist if ranch dressing is really THAT bad for you (it IS, just if you were wondering). Corey, Clay, and Kristen also gave us talks in their respective fields. These topics included USADA, the value of field testing, why we should race track, why we should race in Europe, and some psychology stuff. VERY interesting. I feel like I learned so much that I could never remember it all. Then the last day, Mari Holden, 7 time National Champion, World Champion, and Olympic silver medalist, came to talk to us about her career. It was so cool to hear her talk about her path to the top and mostly great to hear her tell stories. I think meeting people like Mari really remind you that great athletes like her are also people, not too different from me or you. She was cool, and now she's even making her own clothing line. Check it out soon at .

Then dinner. After dinner we either had free time, game night, or went to the movies. I had a great time there and would love to someday go back. I feel really fortunate to have that opportunity and I know it's gonna be extremely helpful in the future.

For now, I'm going to relax a little, take advantage of the short time I have left to ride the track before Collegiate and Elite Nats, and get ready to go back to school. My friend Taco is coming to visit for the week and I could not be more excited. Here are a few pictures from the OTC.

The AVCs+FSA

2009-07-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest things about track racing on the West Coast is the series of multiple-day track races held throughout the summer. It starts with the American Velodrome Championship in San Jose, California, heads to Portland for the Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge, and then up to Seattle for the FSA Grand Prix. If you go to one, you'll probably go to all of them. The racing is hard, the fields are stacked, and the people are amazing. Most of all, everyone wants to have a good time, so the atmosphere is almost entirely positive and stress-free. Last year I went to the Portland and Seattle races, but this year I hit all three, and I couldn't be happier about it.

1. San Jose: I'm in the Bay, Trick.

Jen, Tela, and I headed south in what would soon turn out to be an epic journey. We drove Maggie, the VW bus. Maggie is big, Maggie is beautiful, but Maggie has no air conditioning and only agrees to go 35 mph up hills. For this reason, we split the drive up into two days, pulling over on the side of a road near Grants Pass to pop up the camper and sleep. Unfortunately, we had parked about 15 feet away from a railroad track. That night my dreams were filled with locomotives and hobos jumping from abandoned trains. We arrived the next day, picked up Christine, and drove straight to the track.

This was the first time I had raced on the track all summer. I was happy to be riding for Broadmark and to have the best teammates out there (despite yellow not really being my color). For the first time we had ever ridden together, we worked very well as a team, got some wine primes, and celebrated pretty much the whole time (regardless to whether or not there was anything to celebrate). Thanks to Rick Adams, the promoter of Hellyer Velodrome, we stayed in comfort and luxury in Palo Alto.

The ride home, was....hot. In the central valley we endured temperatures of around 111 degrees for 5 hours straight. We stuck it out though, taking a quick dip in Lake Shasta to try and cool off. When we finally made it to the mountains, we could not have been happier. For a while, I thought I could never be cold again. But since then, I admit, I have been cold at least 10 times.

2. Portland: Let me see your hips swing.

This time, apologizing profusely to Maggie before leaving her in Seattle, we packed up our new travel companion Suzie. Suzie is big and beautiful, too, but she has air conditioning and keeps a constant speed on an incline. Sadly Suzie has no loyalty to us, so it took us about 10 minutes to start her every time we took the key out.

Alpenrose is a terrifying track. Its banking is at 46 degrees and it's 266 meters; small and steep. The most terrifying part is the warm-up. But after that, the racing is FUN. The track forces the races to be fast the whole time. This time I decided to just do the endurance events (plus keirin) and was much happier. Some highlighted results of the weekend include Tela and Jen 2nd in team sprint, Tela third in Sprints, sixth in the keirin, Jen third in the points, Christine 4th, and I actually won the points race! Beating Erica Allar by 1 point. I also got 4th in the scratch. Overall, a very successful weekend all around. Big thanks to Daryl Hemenway, our host, who lives about a mile from the track, made for convenient and quick trips back and forth.

3. Seattle: She's a whooty.

Home track. Home track? Yeah, I guess I can say that now. This was the first and only qualifier that I would be able to attend, so I was pretty stressed about it. But, turns out, the stress was unnecessary. First event: 3k pursuit. I got third, 2 seconds behind Shelley Olds and Jen. Pleased. Now that qualifying was out of the way, I was able to relax, the way I LIKE to race. I ended up qualifying in the scratch and the points, too, 4th in both (but 3rd discounting Laura, who is an Aussie). Jen got 3rd in the points, Tela got 5th in the sprints, and then Christine and Jen got 2nd in the madison! Beating Proman! It was so cool! I did the madison for the first time, too, with Heather VanValkenburg from Portland. I had never done an exchange before, but Heather was super experienced and it's actually pretty natural. I REALLY liked it. Word on the street is that this year they're having a women's madison at Nationals! So I'm trying to convince Tela the Crane to do it with me. But she's turned me down before, so I won't hold my breath.

Really great weekend! And what better way to follow it up than a taco truck visit and then a ride down to Matthews Beach. Perfect.

So what's next?? I'm headed down to Bend this weekend for the U23 Nationals Criterium. I opted out of the road race and the time trial, I am not suited so well for those courses. Then the 5th I'm headed down to Chula Vista, CA to spend a few days at the Olympic Training Center. I'm really really really (times 20) excited for that, but also really really really (times 30) nervous. After that, it's track all the way to October. Though, I am starting to get worried about not being on a track for a month before Nationals. We will see!

Here are some assorted photos:

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2009-07-16T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today Tela and I went for an easy ride to Golden Gardens. It's always the easy days that get you. We were transitioning from the path to the road path, and Tela said "Follow that guy." But that guy just happened to LOSE HIS PEDAL at that very moment. My initial reaction was to laugh at how someone could be as idiotic as to lose a pedal mid-ride. My second thought was how I was riding parallel to the railroad tracks that were conveniently placed ON THE TRAIL. And I really had no third thought as I collided with the ground. I got up, brushed that dirt off my shoulder, and kept riding. Not even a half mile later the very same thing happened to an older gentleman. Except he had the misfortune of colliding his face with the road.

So, city of Seattle, two cyclists in a half mile radius...perhaps railroad tracks running parallel ON the bike path is not such a genius idea, afterall.

A Few F'burg Photos

2009-07-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

The Fitchburg Adventure

2009-07-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday: 4 am wake up call. Finish packing bike, bike box weights approximately 900 pounds. Hopefully they don't weight it. Tela Crane nearly gives me a heart attack as she falls asleep after her alarm. No worries though, she arrives. Things go smoothly into the ATL, but then I am hit (not by an ATL gangster) but with a 2 hour delay, which potentially puts me into Boston at 9 pm. I call Duncan. We take off, everything seems fine. We land. Some guy says, "This is not Boston." My seatmates and I exchange worried glances, halfway smiling at this man's ridiculousness. He repeats, "This is NOT Boston. There are no trees around the runway in Boston. Where ARE WE??" Our exchanged glances become more worry-filled. Because no one is telling us anything, I GPS our location...Westchester...NEW YORK. I report the news to the man and my seatmates. Soon the whole airplane is informed, and a near riot ensues. We are told that we overshot Boston by 200 miles and we ran out of fuel and had to land in this place, never ONCE mentioning the actual location. When the plane finally lands in Boston, the brainless flight attendant says, "Thank you for flying Airtran, we hope you will fly again with us in the future." Not even exaggerating, 12 people respond "YEAH RIGHT!"

This entire situation results in the plane not arriving into Boston until 1 am. At this time, I have no friends to pick me up and nowhere to go, so I sleep on the floor. No, actually I sleep on the pad from my bike box. At least 5 airport workers ask me the next morning, laughing, if I had a good sleep on the floor. I laugh, but on the inside I wonder why they think this is remotely funny. I HAVE A RACE TODAY. That's what I want to say, but instead say yes I enjoyed it very much.

Thursday: After a relaxing night of uninterrupted sleep (ahem...) I awake feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Oh wait, I'm still in the airport. But now, there is a steady stream of people walking past me, staring. Apparently none of them have ever had to sleep in the baggage claim. I pull myself together, build my bike, and wait for Duncan's friend Dylan to come pick me up. I try to visualize myself time trialing in 4 hours. Menzel tells me a Clint Eastwood quote to try and help, "You must endeavor to persevere." The early hour plus the lack of sleep results in my inability to understand this quote, so it actually does not help.

Dylan comes. We drive to Worcester (pronounced Wooster) and I transfer to Duncan's car. We go to Fburg. After getting my registration packet at the race hotel and getting to the course I have about 2 hours to get my shit together. Luckily, seeing Pam and Louise seriously cheers me up. I know practically nothing about this course, and the fine weather makes for about 50 feet of visibility at all times. But I have ENDEAVORED and now I must PERSEVERE. I do the time trial. I LOVE THE COURSE. It's not too hilly, and the fog adds a kind of intensity to it. Of course, my time is not super fast, but it's not terrible, especially without a time trial bike and my last night taken into account. I finish about dead center of 120 people. Cheryl Thonney (from Walla Walla) finishes 23rd! And Tricia Bailey 26th! Those are incredible finishes.

NOTE: One of the greatest parts of this trip was that we got to stay in the host hotel for FREE. We were supposed to stay in host housing that Jessi (one of the managers, essentially) of the Lipsmacker team had gotten for us. And the Lipsmacker team was supposed to stay in the hotel. But something didn't work out, and they wanted our host housing, so they paid for our hotel!

Friday: Circuit race-36 miles. The course was 3 miles around, mostly downhill with a killer hill up to the finish. The hill was short but very steep. I admit, I was scared of this course...until we began. The backside and the downhill was SO FAST and so fun. Despite a crash on the 2nd lap, the pack was pretty safe and not too sketchy. We started with around 120 people and ended up finishing with around 50. Because of the nature of the course, unlike Nature Valley, they do not pull people, they simply let them keep riding around in misery, hoping they don't get time cut. Everytime up the hill was hard, but honestly I was expecting it to be harder. I ended the day in 31st, very satisfied with the way I rode. Again, Tricia rode very well in 28th.

Saturday: It's the 4th of July! What better way to celebrate the holiday than with a 67 mile road race?! NOT. This was the hardest race I've ever done, and that's funny, because mostly it was by myself. I got dropped on the first lap...ahem. It was weird, I was all good, thinking the course wasn't going to be THAT hard, until we hit the hill. Oh god. It was horrible and I got dropped so hard, harder than ever before. I thought that I had bonked, but I had eaten a HUGE breakfast. Hmm, whatever. I did not get time cut, and this day certainly made me mentally stronger. I wanted to drop out so much, but my want to race the crit the next day was higher than my want to quit, I suppose. I finished.

After the race, after I rode back to the car (about 4 miles away) slower than a 4 year old would have ridden, Tricia, Cheryl and I decided to go swimming in a water hole. (This is not code for going to a bar) In Mass, apparently, places to swim are called watering holes. And it was free! It felt amazing and was just what we all needed. But the swimming does not end here. I get back to the hotel, sit down for about 5 minutes, until Pam comes in, ready to go swim in the pool. Okay, I'll go. As we are sitting in the hot tub, we start chatting with a little girl. She says that the water park attached to the hotel is FREE and that we can go to it anytime we want. WHATTTT?!? Soo, me, Pam, Brett, and Mike practically run out the door toward the indoor water park. We walk in, no one says anything to us. We go down all the water slides, even a TERRIFYING pitch black one. We go down the lazy river. That's when the security officer came over and told us we needed wrist bands...hmmmm...and kicked us out. We left, telling him we would go get them. Yeaah right. Turns out we had walked in the back entrance and the whole thing is supposed to cost $25! Haha, suckers. That's the last time we trust a little girl.

Sunday: Crit day! The crit is described as "pancake flat" but I guess in New England their pancakes have long hills and long descents in them. Warming up my legs felt like absolute trash. I was unmotivated...UNTIL I saw Duncan straight SLAYING in the 2s race. He was in a break with another guy, and the announcer actually said he looked "just like a Linebacker!" Haha, Duncan? He ended up 2nd, but was SOOO close to winning. His mom was proud.

The race was hard. Not a surprise. Somehow I find myself top 10 in the last lap, and the field splits...I am the last to make the split. Ooooh shit. Me and some Value Act girl get gapped on the backstretch and I wonder if I am going to get passed by the entire field. But then, something miraculous happens, and only TWO people pass me in the finish. I got 12th! And the 2 people that passed me were Ali Powers and Jeannie Longo. I'll take it! I am a very happy camper. Today was a redeeming day after yesterday, and I am happy I made this trip worth coming.

Pictures soon.

Stages 5 and 6

2009-06-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Stage 5: Mankato Road Race, 92 miles, The Queen Stage

This week, as part of the Ryan experience, I did two radio interviews for Mankato. In both interviews, when asked about the hill in the finishing circuit, someone responded with "I don't even want to WALK up that hill!" The race is 80 miles of flat Minnesota farmland followed by 4 brutal finishing circuits in downtown Mankato. Each time around the circuit has about a mile long climb that averages 14%...ouch.

I was worried about this race. I don't get nervous much, and I couldn't tell if it was nerves or the constant over-caffienated state I've kept myself in for a week, but I could barely keep my hands straight. This unhealthy state existed until the glorious final ten seconds, after the national anthem (which almost makes me pee my pants every time it's played on the start line) when they played the JOCK JAMS REMIX. You know, the one that has every high school pump up song on it. That's my jam. Fortunately, this seriously fired me up and I lost all inhibitions about my ability or desire to race for 91 miles. Unfortunately, I heard this song about a trillion and one times in my head for the following 4 hours.

The race was easy, much easier than Cannon Falls. And somehow, in two days time, people learned how to handle their bikes much better. I felt comfortable and able to move anywhere, which is a great feeling in a race like this. After some hydration mishaps, I was surprised when my odometer read 70 miles. Only 20 more. And only 10 til the circuit! There was a break of three off the front, and most teams were represented, so everyone sat around and waited for K Armstrong to do something. She drilled it for a while, but she's one person, and one person can only do so much on a flat and windy road.

Last year upon realized I was going to enter the circuit with the pack I had a religious experience. I'm pretty sure I cried a little, maybe I was a little underhydrated and hungry, but I was so happy I had come this far with the pack. This year, I was happy, but I knew what I had left to do. Four back breaking circuits. I thought they were never going to end. I had to restrain myself from taking a beer feed from a righteous party on the backside of the circuit, but I finished. Only lost 6 minutes or something. Alright. One more day.

Stage 6: Stillwater Criterium, 13 laps

This race makes Nature Valley famous. The course is a little over a mile long, run with criterium rules. It begins at the bottom of Chilkoot Hill and ends at the top. Chilkoot Hill: the hill of all hills. It's short, but at most points it's around 20%. People literally FALL OFF their bicycles. It's sweet though, because fans line both sides of the climb, kind of like in the TDF and if you need help they'll give you a push. Most people have no idea who you are but yell for you as loud as they possibly can. You really feel famous. Even if, like me and many others, you only make it through 5 laps of the race. To officially "finish" Nature Valley, you must complete 3 laps of this course without being pulled. This in itself is a challenge and doing 5 makes me really proud. Maybe some people can't understand smiling at the end of a race you didn't even finish, but I'm incredibly thankful for this experience. Especially since today was officially K Armstrong's last race in the US. I was there, I heard the goodbye speech, I heard K Armstrong cry. But more importantly, I saw her kick everyone ASS today on that hill (you know, because I was watching by that time!).

Some photos from the week:

Yeah girl yeah! Last hill K Armstrong will ever race up in the United States.

What most of our mornings/afternoons consisted of: the computer and Marco.

Our team car/John's new car.

Check out those shiny new white Hudz.

Rita and Marco.

At the baseball game.

Gabe: our resident hipster.

The happiest grim reaper you'll ever meet.

The team.

I am happy Nature Valley is over. I was fortunate enough to have great teammates and a great time, and can't wait to have more experiences like this one. But first, I gotta get back to Seattle. Yeah!

Stages 3 and 4

2009-06-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

But first. Check this out, score! The caption read "Kendi Thomas (Ryan Collegiate All-Stars) passes her one-minute man.

Stage 3: Cannon Falls Road Race, 66 miles
We started with the neutral rollout...at 25 mph. In the first 5 minutes there were almost 20 crashes, I slammed on my brakes at least 20 times, and everyone made a conscious choice to abandon all previous notions of good bicycle handling. The race was hard, but it let up somewhere around the middle and we tooled around in the Minnesota countryside for a while. It would have been pleasant, but it seemed every time I looked at my stem notes or the person next to me someone new would be threatening to take out my front wheel. The hardest part of the race was staying upright. Which we all did. About 7 miles before we hit the gravel the pace quickened and people lost control of themselves. There was a huge crash about 4 miles before the gravel, which Sinead and I narrowly avoided, putting a foot down, and fortunately about 20 people missed the turn (there was no corner marshall on the most important part of the course) for the gravel and I ended up about 15th wheel going into the circuits. Thanks to all that gravel riding in Walla Walla, this was the part of the race I enjoyed most. Oh, there's even a photo from cyclingnews.

You can see Sinead in the right of the frame, too.

So we go through the gravel, hit the sketchiest downhill I've ever raced on, and then finally poor out into the circuits. WHOA: the circuits. I had absolutely NO IDEA it was going to be so fast. It was completely strung out, I was holding on to the wheel in front of me for dear life. I glanced back, no one was behind me. Oh shit, I made it to the front group! No big deal, only 5 laps of this circuit. It's sorta flat. Well, I made it through about 1.5 until I realized it was too hard and got blown out the back. I think Tina Pic was mad at me because I kept opening gaps. Oh well. Turns out I should have stuck it out because they sat up about 30 seconds later, but by that time I was too blown to do anything. But on the positive side, my teammates Sinead, Emma, and Erica all came up to me and we finished together. Erica Allar, a Ryan Collegiate alum, won the race!

Stage 4: Uptown Minneapolis Criterium, 25 laps
This was the first year for this venue, and it was a SICK course. It was L shaped and somewhat short, so you were turning pretty much the whole time. This race was so different from Wednesday's race, I had a hard time remembering it was the same pack. Not as fast-only about a 27 mph average, and people were controlling their front wheels (imagine that!). I had a lot of fun, probably should have finished better, but ended up with 46th. I didn't think about dropping out once, and my legs weren't completely destroyed at the end. That's a victory, in my eyes. When we finished there were close to a million fans lining the course and some of them even wanted our autographs! At least half of this million were fixie-doting, rolled cigarette-smoking hipsters, and at least half of that half million were friends of our mechanic Gabe.

91 mile road race in Mankato today. This is the only race that people want to talk to you about. It's long, hard, and the finishing circuit has a mile long hill that averages 14%, but is 22% at times. I do not want to get lapped by K Armstrong.

Stages 1 and 2

2009-06-11T07:28:00.000-07:00

Stage 1: St. Paul Riverfront Time Trial, 6 miles
I was excited (and nervous) about the time trial this year. It's 2.5 miles dead flat out and 2.5 miles dead flat back, with a sensible (ahem) finish of a GIANT climb. I ask, why ruin a perfectly good time trial with a little rise in the road? Our team director John said the hill might "bother" us.

So I showed up to the start line on time, I freaked a little because I had gotten my bike approved about an hour before-hand, but then they made me get measured for my arms. I think I cheated, but I also think the lady was just nice. She said, in her cute little Minnesota accent, as I sat on the bike, "Ohhh I can just see the power!" Thanks, lady. I was set to go off 30 seconds in front of LVG (Laura Van Gilder for those that are acronym challenged). Perfect, I'm going to get passed a mile into the TT. It began. I found my rhythm. I felt good, got to the turn around, and almost peed my pants when I realized LVG was maybe more than 30 seconds behind me. Maybe then I relaxed a little too much. I passed my minute person. I went up the "bothersome" hill. LVG blew by me about 1/4 through the climb, as did Jo Kiesanowski. It's okay, I tell myself, they're reallly fast. After that I didn't lose too much time and finished good enough for 77th, of 119 starters. I'm happy enough with that, 14 seconds faster than my last year's time.

Stage 2: Downtown St. Paul Criterium
The Ryan team got to warm up in the "Athlete Village" which means a lot of things, but mostly that you can't change into your chamois while standing around and looking at the crowd. The idea here is to give out signed trading cards and motivate little girls to ride bicycles. We warmed up and got to the start line a good 35 minutes before the start. This part of these races in highly unfair. The fast people get call-ups, meaning they automatically get to start at the front of the race, and those who don't get call-ups end up fighting for their position. These crits are less about fitness and more about positioning, so your place on the start line determines alot about your race. So all the fast people get to warm up right up until 10 minutes until the race starts. And the other people stand around for 35 minutes, legs getting stiff, worrying about the start. Perhaps this is why it is so hard for everyone except for those fast people.

Anyway, enough about call-ups. The race: fucking fast. 28.8 mph average. Kristin Armstrong was on the front probably 1/4 of the race, just HAMMERING it. As my team director says, "This race will never be that fast again." Apparently, this is Kristin's last year before retirement. Those Armstrongs, always threatening to retire.

I had a great starting position, but fucked that up the second I started feeling like I was dying. I lost a lot of places, settled in, kept wanting to drop out, but finally got over that feeling. For this particular race, you have to finish 33% of it to move on to the next stage, so that meant 14 laps or so. In fast races I like to set small goals for myself. First goal: make it to the time cut. Despite my thoughts of dropping out at this point, I decided to set a new goal. Second goal: Make it to halfway. Upon reaching this goal, I realize if I haven't gotten dropped yet, I'm probably not going to get dropped. This type of mentality enables me to think more positively about the race and realize I should be doing better. Third goal: Do better. So at about 10 to go I made a huge jump up the hill and gained about 10 places, trying to make it up to the top 50. I succeeded and ended up with 46th place! That's my best finish yet at this race, so I'm pretty stoked about it. I'm sitting 10th for the Best Young Rider (which is everyone under 26) and something like 60th overall. You have to look hard, but this photo is from Velonews and you can sort of see me! I'm wearing green shorts with my Whitman jersey (a winning color combination, I know).

Tonight is the first road race, 66 miles starting at Cannon Falls. This race is pretty flat the whole time and includes a 2 miles dirt/gravel section leading into the 5 finishing circuits. The race truly begins about 2 miles from this section, as people want to be the first into the dirt and the first into the following steep descent on shitty, wet road. I'm excited. Stay tuned for more updates. I'll leave you with a photo of Sinead doing a television interview yesterday morning at 5:35 in the morning!

NVGP

2009-06-07T07:55:00.001-07:00

Leaving in the morning for Minneapolis for the biggest race of the year; Nature Valley Grand Prix. Nature Valley is the highest pro-ranked stage race for Women in North America, and I'm riding for the Ryan Collegiate All-Stars Team. The Ryan team is a composite team made up of 7 collegiate riders, based on the Omnium results at Collegiate Nationals. You can read the press release here. It's all very exciting! I'm even doing a television interview with Division I Criterium Champ Sinead Miller on Wednesday.

The best part? I get a trading card! A real live trading card that could potentially be traded for Reggie Miller or Shaq. Let me know if you're interested and perhaps I could get my hands on some autographed copies.

Keep an eye out for race reports. I'll probably be twittering too. You can also check out the official site here.

It's not called Tough for nothin'

2009-06-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

My second debut at Tulsa did not go as I had hoped. But, as much as this disappoints me, it also fires me up to train harder, work harder, and be much more motivated for races like this. It was HARD. It was HOT. Northwest collegiate races aren't exactly great preparation for NRC crits of 90+ riders and 27mph average speeds. Most of the highlights of this weekend have absolutely nothing to do with bike racing, and that's okay.

1. NIKE OUTLET IS OPEN. For years every road trip we've taken West from Indy has ended in disappointment to find out that the mexican Nike outlet store was closed. THIS TIME was different. Not only were they open, they sold me the most beautiful pair of hightops I have ever seen. Feast your eyes on these.

Even Harry inquired about the difference between Air Force Ones and regular hightops. We still have not found an answer.

2. Host housing is AMAZING. I knew this before, but now I'm a seriously spoiled little racer. They provided almost all of our food, we all had our own bedrooms, but the best part, is that they had a gorgeous pool/deck combo with a gazebo. It felt more like vacation than bike racing (well, let's get serious, it WAS a vacation) and when 2 hours until our race rolled around, we were sad to have to leave our oasis. Thanks Ann and Steve!

3. I got Floyd Landis's autograph! While I do have mixed feelings about this (he's a doper!) I also am pretty proud. Steve, our host dad, is tha BOSS-he actually thought up the whole idea for Tulsa Tough! So naturally, Ann and Steve were VIPs. After Friday's race they presented us with two cowbells personally autographed to us by Floyd Landis. She said she told him that I just won Nationals and he said he was "proud of me".

Overall, a poor show of bike racing, but a really fun time. Photos coming soon.

The GC Update

2009-05-26T18:59:00.001-07:00

I'm back home in Indiana. Just got back from the first workout of the year on the track. I'm so fired up! I forgot how hard it is though, I'm real tired. Bri, Katie, and I initially thought it would be a good idea to do a points race where we sprinted for points every 3 laps but got talked up to 5. It was sooo hard, I forgot how fast Bri Kovac is without a broken hip.

Tulsa Tough this weekend. Excited? Yes. Scared? Duh. Have you SEEN the start list???

The Wenatchee "This seemed like a good idea at the time" Omnium

2009-05-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

As if leaving for a week to go race in Colorado wasn't enough, I decided to sign up for the Wenatchee Omnium up north in Washington. So after Nationals I worked my ass off for 4 days, writing papers, taking tests, and improving my spider solitaire winning record to 31 (that's a 16% winning average, thank you very much).

After these dreadful 4 days, only 4 of us were left still thinking Wenatchee was a good idea (plus the fact we had all already registered). Me, Andy, Ben and Duncan. We packed up the car, surprised everything fit, and headed up north. We made it to the Red Lion in time for packet pickup, only to find a few dozen people roaming around aimlessly in what looked like complete chaos, holding license in one hand and a beer glass/t shirt combo in another. It took some time, and our Whitman College wit, but we navigated ourselves through, one beer glass and t shirt richer.

The generous Valaas family let us into their home, and even broke into the house of their neighbor to find us a place to stay. They are so great.

Saturday morning was the TT. The race directors, again ahead of the game, had delayed the starts by a mere hour. I mean, who DOESN'T want to sit in a huge factory parking lot for an extra hour? This delay combined with our lack of coffee contributed to the crankiness of the team. We even had to call the Waaambulance for a Mr. Duncan McGovern. At least it was pretty outside.

Then we drove the road race course. Fuuuck.

Same night was the crit. This was the best part about the weekend, aside from the discovery of the Yakima Valley Party Station and the baller beer glass. It was a short, four corner course, with a fast downhill corner (like the conference crit) and a steep kicker of a climb right before the sprint. I accidentally found myself off the front for the first 5 laps, and spent the rest of the 30 minute crit (30 MINUTES??!?!? That's a crime!) trying to recover. It was fun to race with some the Hagens ladies, and one of them, Karen, gave me a super fast leadout...a lap early. It was still great. I ended up 9th, I couldn't really sprint I was so tired. Oh well.

Road race...ahem. 10 mile climb. 90 degrees. I am not cut out for races like these. I don't WANT to be cut out for races like these. After the first 9 miles (the time trial course, even complete WITH a turn around) we began our journey up the hill. I was riding okay, I could still see the lead pack, I looked to my right-Christine Chang. Cool, I'll just ride with her. Shit she's passing me. I looked to my left-a few other girls. Cool, I'll just ride with them. Shit they're passing me. I could keep going but chances are you'd stop reading after the 20th time I realized shit, someone is passing me. After a while, I gave up even pretending I was racing, and tried to check out some of the killer nature views. But, even the pretty flowers on the side of the road could not convince me that turning around (and returning to the feed zone where Andy sat with tons of cold water and all things good, at least I imagined) wouldn't be a bad idea.

Earlier in the day, when Duncan and Ben and I had driven up the climb to cheer on Andy we had heard a variety of cries from passing riders. For example:

Duncan: There's cold beer in the feed zone, just a half a mile!
Dropped guy: I need a cigarette!

or

All of us: Where the FUCK is Andy?
Andy: I stole your move, Duncan! I attacked right out of the start!
(As Andy rides a circle in the middle of the climb.)

or

Really dropped guy: Two nuns walk into a bar... that's all I got.

I envy these people. During the race I could not think of one single cohesive thought, especially not one that I would say outloud to strangers. My thoughts ranged from "What the fuck was I thinking" to "I'm a track racer" to "This will only make me stronger". Okay, you're right, I wasn't thinking that last one. But I WAS thinking "Why did you just spray me as hard as you could in the face with that hose?" I'm willing to bet some other people had that same thought.

Anyway, I finished. Some bitch sprinted me at the end, which I found both annoying and amusing at the same time. Go ahead and "sprint" me for 40th place, I'll let that happen. Duncan flatted, much to his dismay, and did not have to go up the climb a second time. Ben crashed, but still finished. Andy finished, with his 13 miles of glory.

A myriad of thoughts/outcomes:
1. Duncan got invited to join the Wines of Washington team.
2. Nobody parties like Yakima Valley.
3. Grad week is going to be well-appreciated by all.
4. GRAVEL RIDE
5. Wenatchee Omnium=never again.

Collegiate Nationals

2009-05-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

We set out (half of us in a plane, the other half in a car) on Tuesday night for Boise. Through the generosity of Ethan's dad, we had a whole office building to ourselves. Unfortunately, the only business we attended to was sleeping. And we tried that, but Colin kept stealing our blankets, crying "But I'm coooooollllldddd!" We awoke Wednesday morning, consumed at least a small child's weight in egg and scone at Big City Coffee in Boise, rode in Xtreme Wind Wyoming, and I single-handedly won the Stateline Sprint Omnium. We finally arrived in Fort Collins around dinner time.

Thursday was logistics day. We got up early to drive the road race course and preride the Masonville loops. Everyone felt good about their openers, though we could all feel the altitude. It's so dry in Colorado! The rest of the day was spent lounging around, picking up race packets, and getting massages by our very own masseuse, Dave "Magic Fingers" Tupper.

The DII Womens race started at 8am (ouch!) so we got up painfully early. The first thing we heard about the weather was courtesy of my coach Kent Menzel, "See my eyes? I'm not crying! It's just REALLY windy outside!" Greeeaaat. Yesterday there was absolutely no wind! When we got to the course, we quickly realized there was no stopping these hurricane-like winds. Someone mentioned something about 40mph gusts. Things were blowing everywhere, papers, numbers, small animals. I tried not to get gusted on the rollers. My bike was practically riding away from me.
The race was hard. This year they ran the course the opposite direction, starting with a real live neutral (opposed to a GIANT climb in the first 5 minutes last year). I think everyone expected the race to break up, but because of the wind things stayed together pretty much the whole time. All four of us were there almost the whole time, which is always great. Tons of climbing/tons of fun (ahem). We descended into the finish with a huge head/crosswind and I got 6th, Mia 15th, Emily 13th (who managed to crash 1 and a half times AND finish top 15!!) and Roxy 21st. I was a little upset about how the finish played out, but happy that we all finished so well. And my friend Rita (from Depauw) got 2nd!

The whole team after the road race.

Saturday: Another early morning. (Come on, crits at 8am??? I'm pretty sure that's illegal in at least 3 states.) We were all excited, especially after our sweet showing at the conference crit. Now that the road race was over, there was a definite change in energy, everyone was super fired up instead of super stressed. That is a stressful road race. Especially when you're on a flat road going 5 mph as hard as you can, trying to hold your bike straight. (Apparently many others weren't as concerned as I about riding in a straight line.) Anyway, we had completely forgotten about the previous day's stressors and totally focused on what was to come. We decided early on we wanted to have fun, try and control the race, get the leadout, and the win. Though these were our goals, I don't think any of us expected to accomplish them all so brilliantly. We were active the whole race, all four of us. I had planned to be conservative, but 10 minutes in found myself off the front, winning a prime. Okay, there was no turning back. All of us attacked at least once and I got 3 primes (I think?) and Mia got 1! I really thought (maybe more like hoped) that Rita (the brains of Depauw Cycling) and I would have stayed off. But the course wasn't nearly technical enough. When it came around to 2 laps to go, it was no problem getting people to let us have the leadout. Mia went to the front, set a good pace, then a faster pace, then a blistering fast pace (I can't say for sure, but I'd say there were three, at least four girls crying on the side of the road after being dropped by this maniacal leadout) delivering me into the final corner first wheel. I knew from the primes that I had sat in for, it would be way too hard to come around someone sprinting for the finish. So, I lead it out, HARD, and prayed (and I don't pray) that I wouldn't get second this time around. I soon realized no one was passing me. I was...winning? I was going to win?! I WON!!! Finally. I was so happy that I threw up my left hand to celebrate, which I NEVER take off the handlebars. Maybe I was having a body spasm, it's hard to tell from the photos. Afterward, all I could think about was how WELL we rode the race together. I could never thank Mia more for what she sacrificed for me. Mia is a badass sprinter herself! She could have done really well in the sprint, but instead she gave it all to me, which is the ultimate compliment. And Roxy got 6th, too! Unfortunately, in an incredible streak of bad luck, Emily got crashed out on the second to last corner. As a team, we could not have ridden a better race. In the wise words of Dave Towle, "Whitman College has a high cycling IQ." We could all sleep well tonight (maybe except for Emily, who had a nice raspberry on her hip).

Later that night at the banquet.

TEAM TIME TRIAL. 38 degrees and raining: ideal team time trialing weather. Today we were not the first to ride, so we lounged around for a while. It's hard to say lounge when it's freezing and you realize you forgot gloves, leg warmers, and your number. But, I'd say we accomplished it alright. Warm-up. Time to start. 1 minute....30 seconds...check my tires (good time to check tires)...man that tire feels soft....Mia, feel this tire....Mia: Oh my god....Colin: Nothing you can do about it now. GO!!! Best time trial we've ridden together all year. Good thing too, because turns out, it was the first one we WON all year!!! By a minute!!! We couldn't have been happier. It will probably be impossible to ever simulate this amount of happiness. Picture the happiest thing you've ever seen, and quadrupletriplemilliondouble it.

And that's a good place to end. HAPPY. That's what this weekend could be summed up with. That is what collegiate cycling is all about, and no better way to end it than on such a successful note. But, even if we hadn't won, even if I hadn't won, even if those things hadn't happened, I still would have loved every minute of it.

(Special thanks to Tracey Neill who kindly offered us (very last minute!) a place to stay in Boise on the way back!)