Soggy Soggy

Today is the Gastown crit up in BC. I took the day off from work to travel up there & compete. Last weekend, was the Tour De White Rock which Michele & I went up and raced. It was a bugger of a race with a super steep hill climb, crit (with a hill), & hilly RR (not rolling hills like I thought they would be - meters can be deceiving in a profile). The road race was a 10K circuit with two super steep 2K climbs. The TDW is part of the BC Superweek, so there were a lot of Canadian pro's there & all of the races were fast. With the steep hilly stuff, I was not really in contention. I thought I might do well in the crit, but my legs & stomach had a different thought. I had a great start though & was doing well railing it in the corners, but I had the wrong strategy with trying to just spin up the hill rather than going all out & dangled off the back & was finally dropped. During the RR on the last lap, a girl riding next to me in a group of 6 riders tapped the wheel in front of her & then lost control of her bike & crashed into me. With the steamroller maneuver, I kept my bike upright by keeping the legs turning over while she slammed into my elbow & hip. I have a pretty nasty bruise on my elbow where her helmet met the bone, but I can't complain too much since I did not go down. After that, I broke away from my little group on the last climb & TT'd it into the finish.

I have to mention Michele's hill climb bike that her husband built up for her to ride when we thought the average grade of the hill climb was going to be 16% (it was 16% towards the top, but the overall average was closer to 9%). The hill climb machine was a single speed with a 24 chain ring & 25 cog in the rear built on Michele's old TT frame with bull horn bars. It was sweet! But M did not ride it since it was a little too small of a gear.

So it has been warm & sunny for many days in a row, but for the past couple of days there have been rain showers at night & yesterday there were some sprinkles in the morning. Today, there is definite rain coming down. I have never done the Gastown crit, but I hear it has cobbles, a 165 degree corner, a fast downhill section & a hill to the finish. Not exactly the type of race you want to do in the rain. I am going to try & find some good rain race tires before heading up to BC & hopefully I'll be able to hang in the race.

This weekend is the Boise Wells Fargo Twilight crit & I am so excited for it! That is one of my most favorite races. Wide open, 4 corners with thousands of crazy fans screaming all the way around the course. It is like racing in a stadium with all of the downtown buildings around & the people going nuts. Last year, Kristen Armstrong rode away from the field. I'm not sure if she'll be there again this year, but no matter what it should be a great race. It is guaranteed to be dry there.

Elkhorn Classic Stage Race 2007

I left town Thursday evening after a full day at work for a 6 hour drive to Baker City, OR from Seattle, WA. I managed to get into town at 10:30 pm. The plan was to share a room with my teammate & her boyfriend for the weekend (boyfriend of a couple years - room for the weekend). They had scored a great deal on the room, less than $50 for each of us for 3 nights, in what we were expecting to be a non-smoking room. When I got there, Ted & Allison were just getting back from a run to Safeway for some room fragrances & odor concealers to squelch the heavy, thick stench of smoke rot from the room. The smell was overpowering to the senses. Ted went buck wild with some febreeze spray, but it was no match to the wreakiness of the room. The motel manager said it was indeed a non-smoking room, but that she herself would not be able to personally smell the room as her sense of smell had been desensitized from smoking a pack of marlboro's every day for the past 45 years. Anyway, they did what they could as the motel was full & changed out all of the bedding. This seemed to help a little, but they made no effort to shampoo the carpets or strip the paint or drywall from the walls, so it remained stinky. However, if you stayed in the room long enough, you just passed out from the fumes, so it didn't really matter what it smelled like at that point.

So just about everything was pretty inexpensive in Baker City. I spent $3.50 on breakfast, including tip, $3.90 on dinner, $7 on a she-she breakfast, & $4.50 on 3 very large americanos. This was sweet! I did end up dropping $50 at Safeway though - but most of that stuff came home with me too. I ATE 2 LOAVES OF RAISIN BREAD IN 3 DAYS & like 14 bananas.

Oh yes - and then there was the race -

Day 1 - Oregon Trails RR - 5 mile neutral roll out - yep, 5 miles in scorching heat. We had a police escort out of town & a warning that if we crossed the center line at any point during the race we would fall into a pit of scalding hot lava that would burn the flesh from our skin. On this neutral roll out, one woman had a mechanical (second thoughts) & had to get some mechanical support (emotional guidance). Our lead vehicle had us stop & wait for her - & you know what that means..PEE BREAK! Yes indeed, right in front of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Discovery Multi-Cultural Center Museum Display Area. After the pee-break (we were hydrated women for hot RR), the woman with the mechanical came rolling up to rejoin the pack (meet her destiny) & it was game on into a headwind, going downhill at 14 mph. It was a long ride out to the turn around in Richland, OR. I felt super crappy on the way (it was the she-she breakfast) & knew it was going to be a tough day. I got my ass handed to me on the feed hill out of town & dropped from the lead & chase groups. I managed to regain some strength after sucking down 6 or so bottles of water & begging some more from my teammate, Michele. Once recharged, I started making my way through some stragglers in front of me. There was no relief from the wind & I think it was actually worse on the way back in. The last 5K had insanely strong cross winds & I thought I was going to get blown across the centerline - gasp! I managed 10th in the 1-2's, but around 14th on the road since they were scoring 1-2's & 3-4's separate.

Day 2 - TT
I liked the Time Trial & felt much better after non-she she breakfast. There was a slight headwind on the way out to turn around at 5.5 miles, but it was downhill & you could still keep your speed up. The wind was not as bad as the day prior. On the way back, the little tail wind was nice & I jammed. I wonder if I could have gone harder on the way out or even harder on the way back, but I ended up 8th (still almost 2 min down from TT winner- but an improvement). Allison was TT winner & Michele was 2nd! Nice.

Crit
Fun crit! Really wide open & the corners are a nice distance from each other, plus there is a long stretch for the sprint - plenty of time for me to get the long legs moving. There were a ton of primes for cash & prizes for our race. A prime almost every lap! I went for a $50 cash prime about 15 min from the finish & won it. Woo- hoo. At 2 laps to go, I was in good position towards the front, but got boxed in when an attack went & ended up trying to move back up on the last lap. I finished 9th. There was a girl from Australian National Team there who just dusted the field. The GC leader was left to do all the work in the field to try to limit losses. She didn't have a teammate who could really help her out. She was obviously frustrated that no one from the field was going to help her chase the other person back.

Final Day RR
Long race day - 101 miles, 3 PEE BREAKS!, 27 neutralizations & 1-8 mile climb after93 miles of racing. Our average speed was 18.1 MPH - the race took me 5 hours & 25 minutes. Long day. The main group pretty much stayed together. We had some great support in the 2nd feed zone, so I was juiced & ready for the final climb. I lasted about 1/2 way up the climb & managed 4th in 1-2's for the day & I think 6th on the road. Allison was 2nd in 1-2's & 1st overall GC Champion. Very cool! Fun racing this day & I am stoked with my placing. I managed 6th in GC - nice. I am not sure where our other ladies ended up overall or on the stage since results haven't been put up yet, but it was great to have so many of us there.

Long drive home & windy! My little car was having a tough time of it with the bike on top, so had to bring both bikes inside to motor home. Made it back to see Sky & Josh! Yah - great weekend of racing, but nice to come home, too.

Ballard

So I raced Ballard last weekend. There was never any question about it, but some did not show due to nasty rainy weather. The streets of old Ballard are a bit chewed up & there is on cobble section. We only had 17 ladies start our race & there were 2 wrecks. I think every race of the day had some carnage.

This was my first race back from Hood & I felt great - which was a good thing since I had been feeling pretty wrecked the first few days after Hood, then things started to turn around, but I still had to be conservative & keep the recovery going.

The race started out pretty fast & I did not have a great start. Seems to be something I need to work on - crit starts. I was finally able to get into a rythem & I knew I wasn't going to go down in a corner, so I had a few attacks & chased some things down. Jen T had to pull out of the race due to her Hammy acting up & Rachel, well, it was a fast race for her & she was dropped & lapped, but hung on after that. Karen was riding really well & able to help Annette chase things down & then she got off in a break. The break stuck & there were a few attempts by various people, including Annette & I to bridge, but nothing went. It was hard to carry speed through the corners for me b/c I kept feeling my rear slip - I had to think about how to take them. On the last 2 laps, I lead the field at a good clip with Annette on my wheel. I knew she could win the field sprint - she wanted the overall, but would have to settle. I was passed by a Byrne leadout for Deb Preller, then in corner 3 on the cobbles, Deb & Annette collided & Deb ended up going down hard. I was behind the crash & sat up. Annette still won the field sprint for 4th & I was 10th - not a great result for the effort, but I'll take it. It was a photo finish for Karen & she got 2nd.

This week, I rode with coach Ryan & some cat 1,2's for a 'Tuesday ride' around Mercer Island & had my butt handed to me - which was good - forces me to think about how to ride more efficiently & not just throttle for no reason all the time.

Just finished up getting the rig all packed up to head to Methow Valley Tour in Winthrop this weekend. I am looking forward to rocking! Allison & Michele will be there, too. Good times.

I'll miss Sky this weekend. :)

Mt. Hood Times

Below is a post from June 1st - I had not internet connection at the time, so just getting to posting today...I made it through the last stages, too. Stage 5 (88.5 miles, 9200 ft of climbing) was great the first 50 miles or so - I was was climbing better, then it was 40 miles of climbing - no joke - I finished pretty far back on the day. For the final stage, stage 6 - a crit, I thought I felt good, but I started in the back row (oh geeze, no one is lining up yet - I'll just take one more lap before the start) and had to close a bunch of gaps on the uphill section, plus the back section had a wicked tail wind, so it was hard just to keep contact at the back there. It was a short crit for me, but at least I got credit for finishing the race. :) Now rest time to recover & come back flying.

—June 1^st, 2007—

It is a long winding, windy, hilly, hot, smooth, fast road. Stage 4 of Mt Hood Cycling Classic is in the books for the upper categories. My goal for the day was to enjoy the scenery & the fun parts of the course. I warmed up for a total of 7.5 minutes on the trainer, then threw my aero wheels on & rode up to the start. A few of us ladies of the bottom of GC realm were chatting it up a bit with each other & the officials before the start of the race. Good times. I was the 2^nd to go off, because I was 2^nd from last after the 3^rd stage! Uggh – hard not to be disappointed & frustrated with that – especially since 2 years ago, I was at least in the top ½ of the field here. I don’t want to focus on the negative too much, but it is quite a disappointment. I know it always ebbs & flows, but holy frigging cow – 2^nd from last?!?

Anyway, today was actually fun & the hills were not too bad - especially at the pace I was going - the descents & flat sections were a good place to test my aero equipment & see how fast I could get going & practice corners in the aero bars.

Yesterday was 66 miles of fun – 56 of which were off the back for me. Yessss. I almost made it over the climb the 1^st of 4 times with the leaders, but not quite. I fell off at 1 K to go. Liz came screaming by me on the descent & signaled for me to hop on. I tried & for a ways we were together & then I got sketched out when a girl behind me came around & I did not feel as comfortable on her wheel & dropped back – then Liz was gone. She is so rocking on the descents! I passed a few people on the climb – but not many & then never saw them again. This was kind of the whole race. It was freaking hot & the last time through the feed zone, RT from Recycled Cycles handed me a nice, cold Coke – just what I needed to climb that sucker of a climb the 4^th & final time. A group of OTB cat 1,2 men came rolling by me – I sat near their group to get a little tow up part of the climb. This helped break up the intense boredom I was beginning to feel. I was totally questioning why I was even out there – just feeling beat down.

However, today in the shuttle ride back to the parking lot after the finish of the TT, there were some girls talking about having the same exact feelings – “I hate my bike, I hate riding & I hate all of you!” So great to know someone else feels the same way.

After the end of yesterday’s stage, Liz came up the road to pick me up, so I would not have to ride all the way back to the parking lot. She had had to pull out of the race due to her hamstring really acting up – she knew if she was having trouble then that the rest of the week would be counter productive & may lead to more injury. Allison is doing great! She was 10^th after stage 2 & 12^th going into today. I hope she can get back into the top 10 – she is a great time trialist, so I think she has a shot.

The stage the day before was stupid for me. That is when I really, really knew this week would be a brain burner. I was popped from the peleton every time up the “climb.” It was supposed to be a sprinters course – I couldn’t even make it up the sprinters hill. I just have to think of this as training & swallow my pride.

I am afraid of tomorrow’s stage. 89 miles & 9200 feet of climbing. The last 40 miles are all uphill. 40 miles! Are there even 40 mile climbs in the Tour? A few of the ladies at the TT start near the bottom of GC with me were talking about how we should just ride together – we’re all in survival mode anyway. That would make it at least a little better – misery with company.

At least this week, I have gotten what I have been asking for – consistently hot weather. J It’s been around 90 or higher every day. Awesome. Nice Tan Lines.