SURF CITY FINAL - WIN!

I found myself surprisingly nervous for what I had decided would be my last 'cross race of the 2006 season, Surf City Finals in Watsonville. After last weekend mechanicals, and snapping the rear derailleur cable on my race bike a couple of days before, I knew destiny was telling me to bring a spare bike to the race on Saturday. Sam and I made the wet drive down to Santa Cruz where he was to get a quick introduction into pitting for a muddy 'cross race. I rode one lap to pre-ride the course, and that was it for me. The course was so muddy, I didn't want to trash my bike more than necessary. Much to my dismay, the long hard run up was included and to me it looked like a course built for Shelly (there were two other run ups, and a loop around a flat muddy corral that was quicker to run.) So after a mediocre warm up on the roads surrounding the fairgrounds, we finally got lined up and started. Stella had opted to race on her single speed (so as to save her geared bike from getting ruined) so I got the hole shot from the gun and around the first u-turn. We then rode through a barn and onto the grass, somehow there was still actually grass on the course here and it was possible to ride up the little hill. We then dropped into the muddy slop fest of the rest of the course. A couple of turns, some little hills, around some barns where you could actually hug the barn and stay out of the pig pen like soup. Some more turns and up the first run up/mud slide. Back onto the bike for a delightfully hard packed fire road descent only to make a left turn onto the now peanut butter like course that wove through some more barns and towards the corral. So on the first lap, I still hadn't figured out that it was faster to run the whole corral. I rode half of it and saw over my shoulder that I was loosing some of the gap that I had put into Sarah during the first lap, so I jumped off the bike and ran the rest of it. Then rode towards the dreaded "watsonville run up" the beast of a run up that shamed me the last time we raced here. I somehow kept my gap against Sarah and held it to take the $100 hot lap. I proceeded to extend my gap each lap to take the win by around two minutes. (With the help of my wonderful pit boy who had to run back and forth to the hoses to get my bike washed each lap and who had never before pitted for a 'cross race.) With this win I sealed my victory of the Surf City series and had a great finish to a successful 'cross season. Thanks for the support! -Rachel

DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIPS - WIN!

Saturday for my pre-race ride I decided to forfeit my usual cx ride routine and ride with Niki, Kristina (who had driven up from SLO for the team meeting that evening)Emily (who ditched us to ride with the boy's and her sexy Italian PRO) and Kelly B.for a mellow road ride (resevoir/Pt. Reyes.) I figured that I had ridden on the dirtenough the previous holiday week. Niki showed me that I have a ways to go if I ever want to become a sprinter (I always include a couple of sprints near the end of my rideto open up the legs the day before a race.) So as we were rolling back into town to have coffees and egg nog lattes at the Java Hut Niki casually said to me "Rachel, is your spare bike still running?" I replied that of course it was, I had just gotten it running a couple of days before heading up to Seattle and Portland, (where I made her spend the whole of both races stuck in the pits as my mechanic and then didn't even take a bike once!)She then gently suggested that I should bring the spare to the next day's race,That she "just had a feeling about it." I of course acquiesced immediately, ifthere is ever any kind of premonition in bike racing, you just "cover all your bases" especially since I now have a spare to bring! (I hadn't had a spare all season.) Later at the team meeting, I found out that Niki had been hiding from me the fact that this racewas also to be the District Championships. I figured that way why she wanted me to bring the spare, but then I also realized that now I HAD to win the race. I woke up thenext morning feeling surprisingly kind of nervous. Worked on my bikes that morning, snapped at my sweet boyfriend who was just trying to help (a sure sign that Iwas not only nervous, but also taking this racing a bit too seriously.) Niki came byto pick me up and we made our way to Coyote Point. As soon as I got on the course I realized that my legs actually felt pretty good! I liked the course (it was a very similar course to one that I had raced on, and won on, a couple of years ago.) We started fast and furious with Stella leading us up the hill, closing the door on me when I tried so squeeze past on a couple of turns. I made my move at the top on the pavement before the downhill and quickly opened up a 7 second gap on the downhill only to break my chain when I dropped onto the sandy stretch that turned into a beach run. I actually just thought that I dropped my chain, but it was stuck UNDERthe "third eye" device designed to prevent the chain from being dropped. After trying toget the chain un-stuck for enough time for Shelley and Stella to pass me, I decided to just run it into the pit where I HAD A SPARE BIKE!! I came running into the pitbellowing "I need a bike, bike, I need a bike" to a very frightened and shocked Niki, we had our first and only bike exchange, and I chased hard to pass Stella and catch Shelley. I caught Shelley pretty quickly and then passed her in the slow chicaney section to pullher on the flats, through the finish and into the up hill. I knew that I could putsome time into her on the downhill, so I was just waiting. I had a small gap at the bottom going into the sandy run which Shelly quickly took back and she took the lead. I decided to sit on her wheel for a bit and recover. I didn't have to wait long, because Shelley bobbled a little tricky section and then somehow wiped out. I rode past her as She was on the ground and put it down. I put a small gap on Shelley and then slowly extended it up the hill. I noticed on the downhill that she crashed on another turn and this let me put yet more time into her. I ran the sand as fast as I could and held my gap on the flats. Coming into the finish with a lap to go I heard that I had 25 seconds on Shelley. I knew that I could hold this gap, especially since there were manytimes where I was completely out of her sight. I cruised the last lap to come into the finish solo for the win! My first District Championship win! The few Districts that I had actually raced had been plagued by bad luck, broken Sycip frame when I finishedon Cameron Falconers bike (the kid is 6 foot 2) and on and on. Had Niki not insisted that I bring my spare, I would have had yet another sad story to add to the list. Thank youNicki for being such a great team manager AND pit girl!! - Rachel

US GRAN PRIX #6 STUMPTOWN CUP - PORTLAND OR

US GRAN PRIX #5 RAD CUP - LAKEWOOD WA

Rachel and twin sister, Monica post race

BAY AREA SUPER PRESTIGE SERIES

It was a hazy but warm (for November) day in Golden Gate Park, and Helene and I showed up to represent PROMAN/Paradigm for the 4th round of the Bay Area Super Prestige Series. My goal was to maintain my position in the overall series (6th) and hopefully get enough points to move up. Helene missed some races so she needed points just to get back into contention, although she had a cold and was wondering how she would feel. With the race overlapping with the UCI races in Portland and Washington, only a few girls were absent, most notably Rachel. This would mean Rachel would probably lose her overall lead in the series to Shelley or Stella of Rocklobster. The chatter around the venue was that it was going to be a Stella/Shelley show and they were negotiating among themselves who should get the win. The course itself was fast with lots of sections of open pavement and fireroad which, in my opinion, offered lots of sections to pass slower riders, contrary to several complaints heard in the men’s field. Of course, the women’s field is half the size of the men, but they don’t have to weave their way through B and C riders who started behind them. Like I said, the course was fast and hard packed, with one deep sandy section and some twisty turns in the trees that were a little slippery. The race also featured the run-up rooty section used in the UCI race last year, although this time I was able to ride it most of the time.

I had a great start and got behind Stella and Shelley. The fast course suited my, but I slipped on that rooty run up section and had to run it while they rode it. They got away and I never saw them again. I was redlined from starting so fast so I had to ease back a bit to stop the hurting. Therein lies my weakness. In doing so I got passed by a few girls, including Katherine Curi from Webcor. Darn it! I dropped my chain at one point and had to fumble around to get it back on for what seemed like an eternity, and that was when Helene passed me on lap 3. From then on I was on survival mode to maintain my position, although I was able to snag a few bucks from the beer can hecklers. Shelley took the win and Stella 2nd, and Helene took 6th and I got 7th. Next up is the final race in the series at Coyote Point, which is also the District Championships. See you there! - Kristin

TEAM SWIFT JUNIORS RIDE

After a late Saturday night in our Halloween costumes, I woke up Sunday wondering how good of mentors Niki and I were going to be to the Team Swift Juniors. Not to fear - these kids turned out to be awesome, and I have to say the ride, while not too much of a workout, was epic. Niki and I were to lead the faster group of older kids around Paradise loop. Niki set the pace while I floated around making sure everyone was still attached to our train - some of the "faster" kids were self-determined and as young as 9 years old! Our group quickly split, so I hung back with about 5 of the slower kids. The smallest of these, Andrew, was determined to catch the lead group. I didn't have the heart to tell him that there was no way on god's green earth he would, so I just rode behind him, listening to his frantic breathing and hoping he wouldn't go into cardiac arrest with his effort!
At one point I reminded the kids to drink, and I realized that Andrew wasn't able to ride and drink (despite trying his best). I told the others to go on, and told Andrew to pull over with me. i thought he would protest, but I think he was exhausted and did so willingly. He guzzled almost all his water! We spent the rest of the loop together, talking about racing (he just joined the team) and our 20 year age difference (well, I talked about that) :)
When we got to Camino Alto, the big climb of the day, I switched with Niki and drilled it up the hill with about 4-5 of the big Swift guns. They were breathing hard, and one said something about dying, but I swear, I could not shake these guys! They were strong, and more importantly, determined!
All the kids had great attitudes, respect for their elders (yes, that's us ladies) and infectious enthusiasm for cycling. Can't wait for the next ride!!! - EMILY

TRACK NATIONALS

Track Nationals: 50 lap qualifier, 80 lap Points Race Final Wow, what an experience... As an amateur cyclist in all disciplines, I was pretty intimidated and nervous about the level of competition I had agreed to enter into. The first feat was getting onto the track itself. It is nothing like anything I have ever seen or rode on. I think it is 47 degrees steep in the corners and much shorter distance than Hellyer. Even in the pole lane (the part closest to the bottom), you are riding almost horizontally and you feel like you have to ride fast to keep from sliding down. I was so impressed when I saw the legend herself, Sarah Hammer, in action. She deserves every title she has and it will be a long time before anyone threatens to dethrone her. She is truly amazing. Just read a little about her on cycling news and you'll see what I mean. O.k. so back to my races. There was no qualifying heats budgeted into the schedule when I first arrived at the track, but the turnout was about 30 women and the limit for these races is 24 so they forced 2 qualifying heats into the schedule on the morning of the points race final. Each heat had 14 girls and only 10 would qualify, so basically all you had to do was score and you were in. I was in a heat with Katy Compton (cyclo-cross national champion), Theresa Clif-Ryan (Crit Nationals Champion), and Sarah Uhl (Previous National Points Race Champion) to name a few. 50 laps meant 5 sprints and I didn't want to kill myself before the final, so my plan was to score points early and then just chill. First sprint I thought I was positioned well enough to score but the bell lap was so fast that I wasn't able to move up at all for the sprint. Now, I'm a bit nervous and worried that I won't be able to outsprint these girls. Next sprint with 2 to go, Theresa Clif-Ryan attacks and I go with her. We've got a small gap on the field going into the bell lap and she just turned the motor on and gave me a free ride to the line in second. So, now I've got 3 points and I'm probably safe to qualify, but Rob yells to me from the sideline "you need points." Now we're at 13 to go and there's 2 more sprints so I attack and get to the front. Everyone is on my wheel but the field is strung out behind me. So, I just ramped it up a little more for the bell lap and the only girl who tried to contest me in the sprint was Katy Compton and I was able to hold her off for 1st. Now I have 8 points which puts me in first place going into the last sprint. I was pretty much cooked after the last effort so I just hooked myself on the back of the field and tried to recover during the last 10 laps. Theresa Clif-Ryan and Katy Compton went 1,2 in the final sprint which put them into 1st and 2nd place overall and me in 3rd for the qualifying race. I was pumped and it gave me some good confidence going into the final. Points Race Final: 20 riders, 80 laps Now I get a chance to ride with Sarah Hammer, Becky Quinn, and all the other studs that weren't in my heat that morning. After the first sprint, Sarah Hammer takes off like a lightning bolt and laps the field in 3 laps. It was unbelievable. She is just so strong. Not only that, she won 4 of the 8 sprints giving her a total of 40 points in the end. I scored 3 points in the 3rd sprint of the race and got nipped at the line for another sprint and got 5th. With 17 laps to go, I took a chance and attacked out of turn 2. To my surprise, no one chased at first and I was able to get a half a lap on the field. Unfortunately though, with 13 laps to go, a Lipton rider attacked out of the field and they decided to chase her down. I was just praying that I would make it to the line before they caught me and at least get the points for the sprint, but the chase was on and I was swept up on the bell lap only to fall to the back of the pack again and try like hell not to get dropped. My legs were screaming, but I knew there were only 10 laps to go and I had earned enough points to put me in the top ten if I could just hold on. If I had lapped the field I would have come in 2nd place overall!! If I had scored points on that lap, I would have been in the top 5. It was worth a shot either way and I was complimented by Floyd Landis after the race. Yes, he made a guest appearance at the track and a few announcements at the start of our race. Even better than Floyd Landis though was the support I got from local fans and teammates who screamed like hell for me when I was out in front. Thank you all for being there and supporting me in my race. I will be back next year and I will be better prepared and hungry for that top 5. - Shelley

NCNCA TRACK DISTRICTS - team pursuit

TRACK DISTRICTS - PODIUMS GALORE!

Track District Championships were action packed fun! I think I saw both Niki and Shelley at their worst and best! One minute Shelley and I are dancing around like Terrell Owens with the game-winning touchdown. A short time later, Shelley was on the ground, on her back, gasping for air after her nail biting close 3K pursuit against Tait Saito.

I was impressed that Niki even made it down there after caring for her ill friend all last week, looking after his wife & children and getting almost no sleep. But there she was Saturday morning, focused and ready to face the competition. We had some exciting and stressful moments Saturday, and after a very long day and a deep gash in her hand Niki headed home. I thought for sure she would not be back Sunday. BUT, there she was again! Thank you Niki for persevering and being there for your teammates!!!

So for me, it was very special just to have teammates there with me. I’ll always enjoy the individual TT events, but the team stuff is awesome! I have been dying to compete in the Team Sprint (aka Olympic Sprint) since I started track racing four years ago. And the Team Pursuit when done correctly feels like magic!

First up: 500M TT
Since Niki was using my disk wheel for her 500M, we asked the officials to space us far enough apart so that “team mechanic” Kelly would have enough time to switch out our wheels, including a cog change. It turned out we had about 2 seconds to spare. They were calling my name and waiting for me on the backstretch. I finally ran over (w/o my bike) and stood on the start line to avoid a DNS. Kelly calmly finished his job, then ran over with my bike… 30 second countdown... now GO! The key factor in this race was that Niki and I had agreed that whoever had the best time between us would have the honor of doing the Elite Team Sprint with Shelley. Game face ON! Got a good start and pushed for 1.5 laps, then waited for results. Kelly had me clocked at my fasted 500M ever, but the official time was slightly slower than last year. I’ll take it.

Next up: Team Pursuit
Niki, Shelley, Kelly Bartholomew and me had exchanged emails all week about our strategy. I thought we had a pretty good plan, but also figured a back-up plan was prudent as things tend to fall apart in this event. To my amazement, we executed the original plan to perfection. I guess it would have been more perfect if we won, but I honestly didn’t mind taking 2nd because we had great form and with a little more practice (and aero bars for everyone) I’m confident we can win it next year. Kelly B agrees!

We sat around all afternoon only to find out that Team Sprints would be postponed until Sunday. I didn’t really mind because I thought the rest would be good for us.

First Race Sunday: Elite Team Sprint
We got a really nice warm up in the morning and I was joking with Shelley that I felt so fast I was gonna drop her on the first lap… AS-IF! We got a really good start and I put everything I had into that first lap and Speedy-Shelly drilled it on the 2nd lap. That girl is
Amazing!! We waited and watched our strongest competition (Mary Maroon and Cece Altamirano). Yikes… they looked super fast too! Kelly walked over later; looking disappointed and told us their time. But then he smiled and said our winning time. That’s when the Terrell Owens dance broke out!!! “Sick!” as Shelley says.

Second race Sunday: Masters Team Sprint
This was basically a duplicate of the race above, with Niki drilling the 2nd lap. I heard later that I could have jumped the start a bit sooner, but it was enough to get Niki the gold, which made me very happy!

Final race on Sunday: Masters 2K Pursuit
They usually pair riders up with others in their age group, but for some reason they put Niki and me against each other in this race. Cool… since we’re in different age groups it didn’t matter who won the heat. That’s good because I wasn’t sure how much I had left in my legs. My realistic goal for how I felt was under 3 minutes, which I missed by 100s of a second. Slower than past years, but good enough for one more gold. I’ll work on endurance for next year J

Proman women ROCK! I’m so proud and happy to be a part of this team!

Thanks for reading.
LoJ

CARRERA de SAN RAFAEL - WIN!

Of course I procrastinated working on my bike till the morning of the race and was changing tires and dialing in my shifting (by hanging my bike off of the clothesline in my backyard at 10:45 the morning of the race.) I then raced into San Rafael, registered and found Niki... in the back of an ambulance getting her arms shot full of benadryl for the bee sting she sustained on her TONGUE while warming up. What a bummer, I was looking forward to racing with her and an almost complete team (this was only possible, because I didn't end up racing much this summer, in fact my last crit was Cat's Hill crit, back in...May? This fact didn't boost my confidence in my ability to race well, but I suppose nobody will believe me when I say that anymore. I found myself surprisingly nervous before the start, and tried to ease the apprehension by reminding myself that I would be racing for the team and that It didn't matter how I did, nor was I expected to win.
Our team plan was to race aggressively, attack repeatedly and force McGuire to chase down everything. This turned out to be (apparently) their strategy as well. Helene attacked from the line and for the first 15 minutes it was basically attack after attack out of the (small) field countering every break that was brought back. Around 15 minutes in, a break of Helene, a Laura Charameda, and a third girl, Lisa Hunt got up the road and we blocked and sat up a bit. The gap was growing and the field seemed content to let it grow. At this time the announcers called out a field prime ($40) and me and Shelley were set up to go for it, she said "do you want to go for it?" I said sure and attacked into the two right hand slightly descending turns before the finishing straight. I instantly gapped the field (with Shelley blocking for me) and had a good little gap at the line to win the prime. I then just decided to bridge to the break, since I felt it would be silly to sit up and let the field catch me, it seemed like I was halfway between the field and the break anyways. I also thought maybe with two PROMAN in the break we might be able to stay away. But I soon realized the field wasn't having any of that. Well it took me three laps to bridge up and when I looked down at my clock and saw that we were only 20 minutes into the race, I realized I might have made a mistake. That was quite an effort to get up there and we ended up getting caught a couple of laps later anyways. So I sat in for a few laps, and then Kristin was up the road in a break of three who we let stay up the road for a while. It seemed like we slowed quite a bit, but it allowed me to recover, so I didn't mind. By now we were maybe 40 minutes in and I was hoping to see lap cards soon. Kristin's break got caught and Lori and Shelley started going on the attack, then with around 10 laps to go I got back into the action and it seemed like I was covering everything, more than once me and Shelley were chasing a McGuire girl and then she would sit up (block) and yell "go Rachel" so I would go and then get caught only to have someone counter and find myself chasing that one as well. Now I realize that it is not wise to chase from the front, even though I am not a seasoned roadie, I have had these tactics used against me in cyclocross races (a few years back Carmen D'alusio and Gina Hall would incessantly tag team me.) But I was racing for the team and I figured that Shelley or Helene would take the win in this race, so when Holly Borowski, McGuire/US Army attacked, I found I was the only PROMAN up there to respond and so I chased her. What I didn't know was that Shelley and Helene (the awesome and smart teammates that they are) effectively blocked the field so that we got a gap and I sat on McGuire's wheel for a lap till she motioned me to pull through (with 2 laps to go) I said to myself : "sure I'll pull through... right.... here.... through these two turns that I will.... rip through.... and... oh! what's that? ..... have I gapped you through the turns? ...... oh! ..... I guess I'll just...... drill it and now through the finish with bell lap... and up the last little hill legs burning.... ouch..... and windy back stretch... oh my golly gee!.... what's this...... no it can't be..... this is just too funny...... but it really looks like..... it's happening..... I am winning this crit! Oh, yeah put the arms in the air for the victory salute."
And that's pretty much how it happened! At least from my perspective, I had no intention of winning the race, I felt like I had rode way too hard to be able to have it for the finish. But with the awesome work of my teammates, it happened! My first criterium win! Shelley won the field sprint followed by Laura Charameda with Helene Drumm a close 4th, Kristin took 7th and Lori 15th. Any one of the PROMAN gals could have won the race that day and it just happened that I was at the right spot when the move went and my teammates knew what to do! Thanks everyone for being out there cheering and supporting us! Thanks to the PROMAN/Paradigm team for being such a great group of girls to ride with. And thanks to Niki, our team manager, for doing all the work of putting the team together and securing such supportive sponsors... and allowing me to occasionally race with you guys!
thanks for reading. -Rachel

MT TAM HILLCLIMB - RUNNING RACE

I have only been running 2 days per week this year, and as a result I don't feel quite like the runner I was last year at this time (preparing for the Quad Dipsea, well I guess I was only running 3 days a week, but it makes a difference.) So I had not been planning on running this race, until I met Sam. I met him at the finish of the Headlands 50K race (Aug. 26) I was there along with Niky, and a group of friends supporting Niky's husband Chris in his first 50K running race. Sam and I hit it off immediately and soon had a running date planned for the following Monday. We would pre-run the Mt. Tam Hill Climb course so that Sam would know the short cuts. We met up and ran/hiked the course and during that run Sam cajoled and heckled me into agreeing to run the race. He also decided that we would have our own personal "handicap" competition. I would have to beat him by 3 minutes for me to win, if he was only 2:30 behind me, he would have beat me. (inspired by the traditional "Dipsea" handicaps.) There was also a small wager behind the results, but we won't go into that here!
Last year I placed 11th, about 10 seconds behind the first place woman (who was 10th overall) Just doing the race for fun, I accidentally had ridden 5hrs the day before, and probably wasn't the most rested. So this year my new friend Sam wanted to get me off my bike so I would be rested for the race. We decided to go backpacking in Point Reyes for the 2 days prior, it's off the bike, yes, but it is time on the feet.... resting? Anyways, to the race: we rode from Sausalito to Mill Valley for the start (I am used to riding to my runs in Fairfax, and I figured I should keep it as similar as possible) registered, locked the bikes up, and stretched a bit. No warm up. On the start line at the Clock in the Square in Mill Valley George (the organizer) informed us that Rangers would be up on Temelpa and had taped off some of the short cuts to prevent runners from taking them, the fact that this race is completely un-sanctioned, and in fact totally "illegal" made it.... ironic, that they were allowing it to happen at all! None the less, this information was a bummer to me, since the steeper and harder the trail the better it is for me, and the worse it is for the true "runners." This race is pretty much the only running race where a cyclist has an advantage over a runner (in my opinion.) Once on the mountain, the course is basically a steep rocky rutty mad scramble, not a flat road where the runners can really open it up. I call it "charging" not running, and how I do it, not hiking. The course goes from down town Mill Valley straight up to the stairs that dump you out onto Summit road. You then run up Summit for a long and gradual uphill to the first cut that takes you to Temelpa trail. This road section is the hardest for me, I am being passed the whole way up by thin and svelte runners with beautiful seemingly effortless strides. Once we hit the dirt, however, the animal inside me comes alive. There is no beauty in the way I haul my body up the gash of a trail on the South East side of Tam called Temelpa (a trail I used to use for downhill training.) Anything goes, hands on the tops of the knees, hands on the ground clawing your way up, this second half of the race is more scrambling than running. I came off the pavement 4th woman, and within a few minutes on the dirt I caught up to the 3 women ahead of me. They were all together. I stayed behind them for a few minutes to recover, and when Judy Rabinowitz (last years winner) made her move to pass the second place girl I went with her, and then a couple hundred feet later surged past her and the first two girls. I don't think surge is the right word, more like thrash through the manzanita in a slightly wider section of the trail/rut. I look at my watch and see somewhere around 20 minutes in (I think) and I know that this is about halfway. I keep the intensity up and get around a couple of guys to get some distance between me and Judy and then try to recover. This is basically impossible, but I noticed that the girls weren't going that fast, and after last year where I just tried too hard, I know that easing off a bit and keeping within my limits is smarter than keeping the throttle on. Up at the Sitting Bull rock the first ranger is, with the wondrous short cut blocked off. I am heartbroken, as the trail is smoother and more gradual of a grade than the cut, and again, this is were the runners excel. I look back and can't see Judy and just focus on keeping the legs moving. The next cut is also blocked and more running is in order. Finally I see the rocky angle of a short cut that isn't blocked, and I notice the guy in front of me continue on the trail, I scramble up this section and nip him when I emerge onto the trail again, I now catch my first glimpse of Sam (he was pretty quick on the pavement) and I catch and pass him at a short cut that he missed. We go over the boulder and into the gully that is the steepest and hardest finishing stretch (still a ways to go though) and my legs are screaming for oxygen. There is no longer any pretense of "running" it is pure scrambling hands down on the rocks on every step. Sections of the trail are all one big rock. Successions of cuts with loose rocks trying not to slide down and don't push it TOO hard. I sneak glimpses back and see Judy, but she is not making any time on me. I know that she will not catch me now, and I back off a tiny bit to keep it safe. We pop out on Verna Dunshee and I put some time on Sam. Now for the last scramble up the gully to the big rocks on the top of the mountain and then onto the path to the finish line, slap the door to the lookout and stop the clock at 41:07 and take my finish line stick that says 7! Oh my gosh! I finished 7th, that's top 10 with the guys! And I was the first female! Sam finished only 20 seconds behind me, so with our (or his little side competition,) he technically placed ahead of me, and I owe him... Roy Rivers won the race, Chris Greene finished 4th, I was 7th, Sam was 8th, and we all ran down together with that great group of runners who call themselves the Temelpa Runners. Back to Rogers house for food and the awarding of the T-shirts. I get to wear #1 this year, and now they are all trying to get me to race the single Dipsea. It was a great weekend! Thanks for reading -Rachel

GIRO DI SAN FRANCISCO - WIN!

The Giro di San Francisco is definitely one of my favorite races. As the final race in the Cal Cup, it attracts all the best riders and it's location right downtown in the beautiful city of San Francisco brings an enthusiastic crowd. In fact, the best part of this race was the spectators. I was racing to defend my lead in the Premiere Series, so I had intentions of finishing in the top 5 at least and the support of several teammates. From the beginning of the race until the end, there were attacks from all the strong teams. Webcor-Platinum's Christine Thornburn initiated several attacks and managed to get into a break with representation from all of the strong teams. With about 9 laps to go, I realized the field was not trying to bring the break back and so I decided to bridge up to the break. Once across the gap I was now a part of a 6 person break and the field was not far behind and gaining on us, Palo Alto's Stacy Marple refused to be caught and so she attacked hard and the rest of us followed. Now we had opened up the gap again but no one else was willing to pull through, so I jumped and powered up the hill to keep the group motivated to stay away. I looked back and I had opened up a small gap from the rest of the break and I yelled to them to catch on. Through the start finish I still had a small gap and it wasn't until the bottom of the hill that I looked back again and saw the rest of the group behind me disorganized and looking at each other. That's when I knew I could win the race. I turned back around, powered up the hill, and immediately put my head down to time-trial the last 3 laps to the finish. I heard the announcer on the loud speaker saying that the field would not be able to catch the break and I knew I had at least 12 seconds on the break. The crowds inspired me on every corner to keep going. When I came through the start finish with 1 lap to go, the crowd cheered louder than ever and I knew I had won. It was truly an amazing feeling to win the Giro di San Francisco and to be looking forward to the teams last criterium of the season knowing we had won the NCNCA Premiere Series. - Shelley

CHALLENGE ROAD RACE

Challenge RR 66 hilly miles; 6000 ft of climbing; 10 starters; Cat 1,2; PROMAN rider Kristina Seley

I agree that this is the one of the best Velo Promo races ever. It was a disappointment to start with only 10 women. Although, I understand the long drive would detour lots of folks.

The course starts and ends at an elementary school tucked in the woody foothill town of Challenge (I had never heard of it before either). 

The course starts on cobbled pavement similar to Copperopolis. There is a steep one mile climb and then a three-mile, bumpy decent. It is safe and fast, but it made my hands and feet hurt from all the shaking over the potholes. We were required to remain neutral for those first four miles to check out the course and keep ourselves safe. This is followed by a long, steep climb on a smooth surface. After the climb, there is a smooth, fast descent with a sharp and very bumpy hairpin at the bottom. After about 10 miles, the race turns onto Marysville road, which is smooth and mostly downhill, again very fast. The group was still together at this point. Then the course turns rolling and steep. This is the hilliest part and where the feed zone was. Just after the feed zone, the group split up. I wasn’t able to hang with the climber girls and ended up chasing onto Lisa Hunt, (Olympic Club), Flavia’s (Palo Alto), and Holly (McGwire) wheels. Within a few miles we were back at the start of our second loop. We had a fun group ride the rest of the race, lost Holly to a tire change, and just kept moving to get the dam thing over. I wasn’t able to hang with the girls a few miles from the feed zone on the second lap near the very steep section. I had run out of water and was cussing Velo Bob for not having a feed zone closer to the middle of the race. Sorry Bob. Ended up 7th. I can’t wait to do the course next year; come on ladies!

Kristina

SAN ARDO ROAD RACE

San Ardo Road Race: Field size: 30, Teammates: Shelley and Kristina

64 mile road race, 3 laps, flat with a couple of rollers.

MANHATTAN BEACH GP NRC - PODIUM & Collectors Barbie

Field size: 60 Teammates: Emily, Kristina. Niki, Shelley

This was a cool race. Lots of spectators and right on the beach. It was a beautiful day, not too hot. We arrived early and I set up my trainer on the inside of the oval shaped course right on the finishing stretch. They were running behind schedule so I was able to see the finish of 4 different races before our race began. This was critical. In every race, the top three finishers were the first three riders around the final hairpin corner going into the finishing straight. I knew that this would be the case in our race too, so my focus then was positioning. I was hoping the race would stay together and end in a field sprint because I wasn't aware of any bigname sprinters in the field. The 60 minute race started and the prime bell rang after the second lap. I wanted to go for a couple primes to get a feel for the sprint and crack the legs open a bit. Most of them were 2 place primes, but not money. I got the first prime by just leading the pack through the corner and starting my sprint really early. The second prime I went for I was 3rd wheel and was only able to come around the second girl just before the line. That attempt separated me from the pack with 3 other girls and we were off the front for about a lap. I wasn't doing any work because I really just wanted to be chillin in the group, so we got caught pretty quick. In perfect team tactic fashion, Emily jumped and followed the counter attack immediately. She was now in a break away with two teammates and one other girl from a strong team. Kristina immediately moved to the front along with the other girls' teammates to block and the break away was quickly gaining ground on the field. They had 10 seconds, then 15, then out of nowhere comes a ridiculous surge from Sarah Hammer, (world pursuit champion) and 2 of her teammates. I was out of the saddle and sprinting as fast as I could to follow their train. That's all it took to reunite with the group. I'm not sure if Sara was trying to bridge up or just pick up the pace of the field, but whatever her intentions, it worked. I thought about countering off Emily's break, but opted to just sit on and take my chances in the field sprint. Five laps to go, Kristina gets to the front and starts drilling it to make sure no more attacks try to sneak away. She kept that up for 3 more laps and forced everyone else to just sit on. So now it's bell lap and all together. I am at the front behind Taitt, Emily and Kristina are somewhere in the middle of the pack. Up the climb there's a nasty crash and race over for Emily and Kristina, who got stuck behind it, but fortunately managed to stay upright. I had been boxed in so many times earlier in the race, that I was content with just riding on the front for the whole last lap. Into the headwind I drilled ! it, making sure no one would come around me, and just before the final corner a single rider jumped and gapped my going into the turn. I jumped too just to make sure no one else was able to squeeze in there and was second going through the corner. I hesitated to get out of the saddle and looked behind me before really starting my sprint. That's where I lost the race. I have never had some many people call me out for that, but it's great criticism that I need to hear in order to learn. I was never able to close the gap between me and the winner and I was still more worried about the race behind me. This was a big mistake that I will not make again. Luckily, I was able to hold off Taitt who came in just behind me in third. Oh well, you live and learn... It was a great team effort and incredilbly fun. - Shelley

This will be my shortest race report ever:

1. I love this race
2. I love spending the weekend in LA – even if it is a 48 hour whirlwind
3. I felt great in the first ½ of race
4. I got in a break with a Bicycle John’s and a Helen’s
5. Bicycle John’s and Helen’s have a seriously annoying rivalry
6. Our break got 15 seconds and I was trying to drive it!
7. B.J.’s and Helen’s started bickering nonstop and enabled our break to get caught
8. I should have just attacked the two of them
9. Great to have Rob, Pat, and Niki cheering me on
10. Geoff is an awesome soigneur!
11. On the last lap, heading up the hill, I got caught behind a huge crash
12. Did a track stand to avoid running over Martina’s cheek
13. Had to start again, from a stop, in the big ring, up a hill
14. Needless to say, placed 33rd
15. I still love this race. - Emily

SISQUOC ROAD RACE - PODIUM

Sisquoc Road Race
Field: 25 Cat 1-4
Course: 45 mile hilly road race
Proman Ladies: Just me

Sisquoc is a fun, little road race. The course is an 11-mile loop with one power climb at mile 2 and a longer half-mile climb at mile 9. I warmed up a lot worried because I had been off the bike a few days for a near-death bee sting the Wednesday prior (excuse #1). As I cruised to the start, I got a flat, this time stung by a piece of glass (excuse #2).
As we rolled out I sized up the competition and narrowed it down to two so cal girls, one on Bicycle John's and one on Helen's Trek. The race started slow and I just stayed near the front leary about the Cat 4 gals bouncing off one another. At one point, I asked one to be careful after watching her rub the rear wheel of the girl infront of her.
As the race went on, the course dwindled down the Peleton. I got ganged up on (excuse #3). The two riders I was watching were watching me, and now trying to attack and tire me out. I was able to stay with them for the entire race; it wasn't easy. The gal who was half-wheeling her teammate took herself out. With one lap to go, the two gals I was watching took off on the smaller climb and I chased with one other girl and caught back on. We worked together until the finish to stay away from a small group of five or so. The race came down to a sprint with the four of us. The fourth unknown gal jumped early and we followed her, caught her, went around, and sprinted to the finish for so long, maybe a minute. It feels like a life time, forever, when you aren't really gaining on anyone, but not really loosing either. So, I ended up third, again. Seems to be the lucky number these days. I had excuses, so next time no excuses and first place. - KRISTINA

DISTRICT ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Field size: 30 Teams with numbers: Webcor, Palo Alto, Touchstone. Course: 10.5 mile out and back (turn around at a cone), rolling hills, finish on a climb. The first lap was really mellow. Second lap attacks began, but nothing stuck. I was covering what I thought was dangerous as I was riding without teammates. Half way into the 3rd lap, Brooke Miller and Amber Rais attacked and I went with them. We tried to work together and got ourselves a bit of a gap, maybe 15 seconds. But, at the top of the climb we were caught and that's when the big guns fired. The counter came from Betina Hold (webcor), and she was joined by Jane Despas, Beverly Harper, and Maria Monica. If that's not the perfect road race break away, I don't know what is. So, left to chase was Palo Alto who had only Brooke and Brianne Burgess left, (two other teammates were dropped after the previous attacks), Los Gatos' Yuki, one lone Vela Bella girl, and myself. Karen Brems and Amber were doing a great job blocking and messing up the chase. Brooke was ! trying to convince everyone in the field to work to help chase. It wasn't working. There were only four of us out of about 12 girls now that were willing to work. Tagged onto the back were two Touchstone riders, India and Kelly. They too did a good job of not doing any work. After the 4th lap, it was a lost cause. the group had gained 2.5 minutes on us and it was increasing. We rode the rest of the race at a very mild pace. I realize now that I should have been more active at this point, but I was kind of cooked and I knew that I would just be marked by Webcor's Karen Brems and Amber Rais. We all waited for the sprint. The pace was so slow, that a group of 3 chasers were able to catch back on. One of which was a Metromint girl who raced right to the front of the group on the downhill and locked up her brakes in the gravel left hand corner going into the finishing climb. She caused a little havoc, which ! Karen took advantage of and attacked at the bottom of the hill. The only girls to follow were myself, India and Kelly, and Brooke. So, it was the 5 of us going into the final sprint. After the climb it leveled out at the top for about 1/4 mile up to the line. Karen attacked early, Brooke jumped on her wheel and I went with them, but they had opened up a tiny gap on me, which I was never able to close. I think Brooke got Karen on the line and I rolled in just behind them for 7th. I'm sorry I couldn't have done better for the team. I was hoping to get into the break, but it happened at the one time I couldn't cover it. I missed my teammates more than ever in this race. Had we had one more girl, we could have countered with the winning break. Oh well, next year.. Shelley

TIMPANI CRITERIUM - PODIUM

I honestly was not expecting much from the race, other than trying to enjoy it, stay safe, and place top 10 to help with the BAT points race. I am coming from 2 weeks of minimal riding, and a weekend wedding enjoyed perhaps a bit too much! ;) It was so great to see all the girls (our team and others) and I instantly remembered all the reasons I race as soon as I pulled up! I felt relaxed, social, and just happy to be there. It was a perfect temperature, although a bit windy. I rode around with Shelley and Rob for a warmup, and came to the line nice and loose…and full of rocket fuel! The biggest threats were Mcguire, with Martina, Taitt, Holly, and the redhead whose name I always forget! Also there were several Los Gatos, Tracy and Alexis of P.A.B.W., Mary Maroon, and the super sprinter from Velo Girls. I told Lori that the V.G. would win, so stick on that wheel. I wasn’t even factoring myself in for the final sprint!
Anyway, Mcguire led the first lap, and then I went slowly up to the front to try to burn off some of the sugar. I kept it easy on the two headwind sections, keeping an eye out for anyone wanting to pass me. When we hit turn 3 and entered into the tailwind stretch, I hit the gas a bit and pulled hard through the start/finish. After turn 1, Taitt countered, with Emily from Los Gatos on her wheel. I jumped with them and we were 1-2-3 through the second turn. I looked back, saw that we had a gap and yelled “go, go go!” and we went, went, went! I knew this break was perfect – we are three riders who love to work, and we all had the numbers back in the field. The one drawback was that I was with 2 sprinters, but oh, well, no time to think about that now! At any rate, we went hard for the rest of the race and it actually felt pretty good. We kept yelling for times, but it was so windy that we couldn’t hear! The one time we did hear, we were at 20 sec., which we weren’t quite comfortable with, so we drilled it and by the end it was 1:20. Pat Briggs and Jamiel both said after that they couldn’t believe the distance we had achieved!
Apparently, there was a lot of action back in the field, with a lot of riders trying to bridge up. Shelley, Lori and the Mcguire girls covered everything, blocked, and helped our break stay away to the end. I couldn’t have done it without them! Needless to say, I was outsprinted in the end. I should have attacked earlier, as I was guaranteed 3rd anyway, but oh, well…20/20 hindsight messes with the head everytime! All in all, staying away from lap 2 and a podium finish was a good way to re-enter the season. Huge thanks to Shelley (who won the field sprint for 4th!) and Lori (another awesome leadout!) - Emily

INFINEON CRITERIUM - WIN!

Did I ever say I love surprises? Well we got a doozie when the race officials informed us that not only was our scheduled race start changed to begin an hour later, but that we were going to race with the pro men. Since only about 9 women showed up for the crit, I was in my own world thinking that the race was going to be a snoozing snailfest, so I didn’t take much heart in warming up. Thinking that we were going to start a few minutes after the men, I lined up in the back. Mistake! Turns out they decided at the last minute to have us actually race WITH the men! Cool!!!!! Men race so very differently than women: they are constantly accelerating, and there is always some bozo off the front taking a flier, which keeps the race fast. Since the race began in the late afternoon, the winds had picked up and provided some fierce headwinds, which made sticking to wheels very important, not to mention difficult. Nevertheless, it was a very fun challenge and very much like an NRC race. The race started off fast, and my abbreviated pre-race warm-up caught up to me and I struggled to not let myself drift too far back and let a women slip off with a group of men. With Brenda Lyons present, plus a strong Stacy Marple (PAB) and of course Shelley, Nicola, and Jana in the house, the race was very active. Shelley showed her strong sprinting skills and took the win from Brenda, with Stacy getting 3rd and me 4th. A webcor club rider ended up 5th, and Niki and Jana finished strongly with several of the guys. - Kristin

DOWNIEVILLE - WIN!

SOO...this weekend I was up in Downieville racing the DH and the XC for the "All Mountain Pro" category. Well my main goal was to win the DH and break Marla's record (of 46: something minutes) I was not so concerned with the XC since I have not really been "training" for racing, just riding (and not riding a lot... climbing, backpacking etc. you know.) I had gone up to Downieville last weekend to get some training on the course and to learn the course. Since it is 15 miles long and 45-50 minutes there is a lot of course to memorize. I had done 4 runs last weekend, and was not too confident in my abliity to break the record. To make a long story short: I drove back up Thursday night, (after readjusting my fork, and this turned out to be KEY in my performance. I had had WAY too much air pressure in my fork the last weekend and it made the suspension very stiff on a very rough course, so my arms were just getting trashed, and this made it dangerous... tired arms = sloppy riding = crashing and crashing on this course (wearing no dh protection, because on the duration of the course) with speeds around 40mph for a lot of the course is NOT A GOOD IDEA) did one run Friday which turned out to be an Awsome run! I soft pedaled all the climbing sections and rode the dh sections fast. I was now completely psyched and confident. TO the point that the next morning at the top of the mountain I was telling a few people that I would get 45 minute run. Well I got a time of 44:52 breaking Marla's record by almost 2 minutes! I finished 4 minutes ahead of the second place girl. Marla ended up flatting 4 times, which was a bummer, because I wanted her to have a good run, so it would be a fair win for me. Marla has, you know, a beautiful 2 and a half month old baby girl, so her fitness is still not at her best. We had a great time hanging out for the weekend, joking with each other about the races. She put rocks in my shoes before the DH start and her hubby Mark was trying to mess with me saying stuff about what might be wrong with my bike (but I knew he was joking the whole time.) The weather was beautiful, the North Yuba river (or the Downie river) was, as always, clear cold and refreshing. So the next day (Sunday) for the xc I woke up feeling fine but not great, my legs were a little tired from the dh. But I raced and ended up getting 3rd! This xc race is totally "old school" starting out with a huge climb (8 miles I think) took me 1hr 20 maybe? A long climb. I just stayed within my limits and didn't worry about what anyone else was doing. Once on the dh portion of the course I started picking people off, which was hard because of the dust and all the dudes, but I made my steadily by and once onto the DH course that I knew well from all my 6 runs, I really started making time. I ended up passing 3 pro girls that were ahead of me and almost catching 2nd place on the line (Jamie Whitmore a pro X Terra tri girl.)I finished the xc with a time of 2h 21 minutes for the 28 mile course. Much to my surprise I finished very close to Katerina H. from the Luna team, and my main competition in the "All Mountain Pro" category, Abbigale Hipply,was nowhere to be seen. so I ended up convincingly winning that as well! I won $300 for the DH, $100 for 3rd in the xc, and $250 for the All Mtn. Not bad for a weekend of riding my bike in the beautiful Sierra foothills!
-Rachel

TANDEM STAGE RACE - WIN!

We won!! Our category at least. We came within 20 seconds of beating the male-male team that has won the race for the passed couple of years. We won 3 out of 5 stages, the prologue and the 2 stage races. We came in 4th in the crit. It was really sketchy. Rob didn't feel comfortable on the front wheel we were running. It was the FSA wheel and it wasn't good for tight cornering on the tandem. If it weren't for the 30 minute time trial, we would have easily won. The male team got 48 second on us in the TT. We outsprinted all the teams in the first road race that ended in a field sprint, earning us a 15 second time bonus. In the last road race stage yesterday, there were 2 small hills before the big hill. We attacked before the first small climb and got a gap of about 30 seconds. We held them off for the whole rest of the 62 mile race (which was another 30 miles). Our gap was up to about 45 seconds at one point with 3 teams chasing. The course was sooo hard and it was so hot. You would be on a stretch of road that went on for miles (that you could see in front of you). It was all rolling hills and we could see them chasing us the whole race. In the end, they closed the gap to within 8 seconds at the finish line. We needed 30 seconds to beat the male male team. It was some of the best training I have ever done. The time trial was incredibly painful. But we came home with $175 cash and a Rolf Tandem Wheel set. It was so much fun. I'm tired today. Thank God I have the day off of work. Shelley

WATSONVILLE CRITERIUM

Course: L-shaped with a pleasant hill at the finish line. Lots of fun cornering with potholes and bot dots. 34 laps on a 3/4 mile course.
Weather: abnormally hot-85 degrees.
Field: 20 to 25 many I had never seen before. 3 PABWs, Tait of McGuire, Corolla of Alto Velo, Giant Strawberry gals, etc.

I felt strong warming up on the trainer. I attributed it to last week's Cascade Classic. It was either that, the delicious breakfast I made: perfect dippable eggs-over-easy, TJs chicken sausage, and wheat toast, or Floyd's victory in the Tour's most impressive stage EVER. Whatever it was, my goal was to attack and get in a break, if not a solo victory. Maybe it was the epic Landis stage.
At the start, I positioned myself to jump from the line and power the hill. I stayed in the top 5 the first few laps. PABW attacked for the first prime; I stayed with the group and we chased her back. We meandered though the course a few more laps at a decent pace, dodging holes and uneven pavement, and powering up the little hill. Still, I was feeling good and kept my position. At about lap 5, I turned and there were only eight of us left in the front. By half-way we had six, three PABW girls, Tait, Corolla and myself. I was surprised.
PABW rode a perfect race from then on. Tait and I chatted about helping each other out, but PABW had the numbers and were racing smart. Their three riders attacked for primes and made us chase over and over again. I put in a few attacks myself to get ahead with just one PABW rider so I would have a better chance at the end if it came to a sprint. But the wind was strong and so were Corolla and Tait. We could not shake each other and ended up noodling around slowly counting down the laps. I found myself whistling at one point for amusement. With two-to-go, PABW put in an attack. We caught the rider who jumped and it was hard to the finish. Jenny (fellow Cal Poly alum) of PABW took the sprint, Tait second, and I was fourth. Boy, I needed a teammate at this one! Nicely executed PABW. Kristina

ALBANY CRITERIUM

Top 10 reasons to ride near the back of a criterium

1. You will miss the break
2. You will miss the break
3. You will miss the break
4. You will miss the break
5. You will miss the break
6. You will miss the break
7. You will miss the break
8. You will miss the break
9. You will miss the break
10. You will miss the break!

Fast race, missed the break (obviously!) Lori and I were patrolling the front for the first few laps going with attemps at early breaks, had a momentary slip to mid/back of pack and thats when it all happened! Slow inexperienced cornering by a couple of gals created a gap in the pack that Lori and i were behind. Made MANY attempts to bridge, got blocked and tackled by PABW and others. Not one person wanted to work to chase the break. Great TT work out though. 2 Mcguires in break, Taitt led out Courtney who won (her mum was in town from east coast) PABW rode well. I need a holiday! Tuesday spain.
Nicola

LAFAYETTE CRITERIUM - PODIUM

Team members: Lori, Jana, Niki, Emily, Shelley It was ridiculous how hot it was. I had my trainer in a full shade spot and I was still sweating profusely. I couldn't stand it, so I warmed up for about 15 minutes then got off the trainer and rode around the course until the race started. Met up with the rest of the team just before the start to go over the plan. I was hoping to get some points towards the premier series competition, so I asked the team to help me keep the race together and possibly give me a lead out at the end. The finishing straight was about 1/4 mile long, slightly uphill, and immediately after a 180 degree left hand uphill turn. It was a very difficult crit. The heat and the course made for a very challenging race. As the race was put on by the Touchstone climbing team and part of a 2-day omnium that included the riders from the Mt. Diablo hillclimb the day before, Touchstone was out for the win today. &nb! sp;Beverly Harper was leading the omnium after the hillclimb. About 3 laps into the race, India and Beverly (two teammates), got away in a break. Why? I can't explain, but they did. Shortly after, India had a mechanical and dropped back into the field. Jenny Eyerman and Kate Maher from Morgan Stanley were extremely active in the race, going for primes and covering the front, but they too had let the winning break get away. So, after going for a prime, Kate Maher was dangling way off the front of the group. I knew she was strong and wanted to get up to Beverly, so I jumped off the pack and bridged up to Kate, asking her to help me get us up to Beverly. She tucked in behind me and let me pull for more than a lap before I looked back at her for help. She said, "just give me a minute." I was pretty dissappointed she wouldn't work and never did, becuase we had made our way to within 10 seconds of the leader. O! nce I realized she wasn't there to help, I sat up and went back to the group. Immediately, Emily attacked and 3 or 4 girls went with her. They managed to get within 8 seconds of the leader, but no one else was working besides Emily from what I could tell and so they fell back to the group as well. Emily picked up the$75 spontaneously donated prime while she was out there, which made her efforts worth her while. So, accepting that the win was already in the bag for Beverly, we all sat in for the final sprint. All the while I was thinking Lori, Jana, and Niki were sitting in somewhere in the group and they would suddenly appear next to me on the last lap, but this was not the case. Going through the start/finish on the last lap, I saw Niki and Lori on the sidelines. Guess I'm not getting a lead-out today. No worries. It was a very hard crit and lots of riders dropped out before the day was done. So, I just did what I could to stay near the front, but not to lead out the sprint. Go! ing into the last left hand 180 degree corner, the girl in front of me clipped a pedal and got a little squirly, but most of us managed to get around it. The winner of the field sprint jumped just as she realized there was chaos and got a little head start on the rest of us. I followed wheels as far as I could and then saw jenny Eyerman jump on my far right. She was the girl I had to beat today as she is just behind me in points for the series. So, I jumped to the far left and battled it out with her to the line to finish in 3rd overall in the race. It was a very well-organized crit, expensive, but the crowd was very enthusiastic and it was right in the downtown area. I would recommend this race to all for next year. Shelley

COYOTE CREEK CRITERIUM - PODIUM

star leadout Lori Cox

I had made a deal with Niki that I would win this race, and after feeling good at Davis, I actually thought that this was entirely possible. The course is more of a circuit, and I had done well there the previous year. Well, I woke up Saturday morning with my wonderful pre-race “feeling” markedly absent. You know, that weird calm I got before Sausalito and then again before Davis, when I just know inexplicably that I am going to have a good race. Well, I tried to get it, but the thing with the “feeling” is that it comes and goes unannounced on it’s own, totally randomly. As I pulled away from my house I went down the checklist. Shoes, check. Helmet, check. Ruthless competitive edge,….ummm, did we get that? Relentless drive,….I think we left that at the house. Motivation….. definately, forgot that one.
Well, there is only one thing to do in the absence of the “feeling”: down a large water bottle of Revenge Pro during warm up and let the sugar work its freakish magic. The race was fairly speedy, as there were a lot of cat 3’s and individuals that didn’t want to let anything get away. Plan A was for Shelley and I to escape and stay away with our brute strength. Plan B was for Lori to shepard me through the race and deliver me to the line, while Shelley and Niki faked everyone out with another leadout on the opposite side of the field. We accurately guessed that everyone would be marking the new district champ., allowing Lori and I to sneak up the outside. Well, after two attempts by Shelley and I to get away, we stopped trying (not without a prime however!) Heading into the last 2 turns I was fifth wheel behind Lori, with Shelley and Niki in front as well. After the final turn, it all bunched up, with Lori taking me to the right, and Shelley and Niki staying left. Just as we thought, everyone (almost) drifted left to stay with Shelley. Lori began her leadout early, and she was going like a freight train! Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shelley start to accelerate as well. This is when it got confusing…Shelley started to pass Lori in her “fake” attack, but she had a sprinter on her wheel, with Niki following that sprinter. Niki yelled for Shelley to ease up, just as Lori pulled off and I heard screams of “GO EMILY!” Shelley sat up, confusing the hell out of the group that was counting on riding her wheel, and I jumped. It was just a bit early for such a long, uphill finish, but I had to just dig in and go for it. Dear God, my legs were burning. I had a Velo Girl sitting on me, but I had no choice but to keep going. I thought I could hold her off, but she hadn’t done anything during the race, as opposed to my attempts at a break. She came around me at the line, and took it by a bike length. Brianna came in 3rd, after a substantial gap behind me in 2nd. Thanks to Lori, Niki, and Shelley for giving me this race and supporting me throughout. How awesome that our plan was so specific and actually was executed to the letter! I wish I could have won for them, but I’ll just have to do that next time. - Emily

HELLYER TRACK WOMENS OMNIUM - WIN!

Was it all worth it? Well, after over a 2 hour drive (had to pick up lorraine in Financial district normally would take 1 ¼) down to Hellyer I was beginning to think not. To add to it I went to get changed and realized I had forgotten my shorts. I have my weekend racing prep down to a science but racing on Wednesday nights when I would normally be meandering through Fairfax Farmer’s Market threw me off track. Lorraine wasted no time and proceeded to the P.A system where she humorously announced that I was in need of shorts. What a weird thing to need to borrow! I saw some skinny mini juniors with extra shorts but knew they wouldn’t fit my sprinter legs. Douglas Northcott came to the rescue, a fellow rather portly ex patriot. Oh well, better than nothing I had already considered cutting the legs off my Capri pants. The big man shorts were indeed big but they worked, I had to roll the legs up 5 times and Lorraine wanted to tie knots in the shoulders of the bib part. I decided quickly against this as the knots were as big as oranges on my shoulders. Just suited up and the official called the women to the line. Yuk! No warm up. The first race was A Point A Lap. I had not been to the track since last year so I was eager to do well and also with the way I looked I thought I’d better be fast! A gal went for the first 2 sprints, I panicked and immediately made my way to the front and gobbled up the rest of the points. Lorraine sitting on my wheel, just getting a feel for the first race back since her accident. I basically redlined the last 6 laps, not knowing what the hec I was doing and still buzzing from my no shorts drama. My lungs were burning. The next race was a Madison and then the next a Points Race, which I won also in a more calm manner, I went for the first sprint and got a gap, I wanted to wait but no one reacted so I rode tempo for the rest of the race. Lorraine rode very well but conservatively as this was her 2006 race debut. The competition is slim at the track on Wednesday nights but none the less it is great training and a lot of fun and there were enough gals for upgrade points. After 2 more Wednesday sessions racing with the gals I will race with the men. I’d like to get some upgrade points first. Thanks for reading - Nicola and yes, it was worth the horrible drive down!

DAVIS 4TH JULY CRITERIUM - WIN!

Tuesday, Davis Downtown Crit. Team Members: Kristin, Niki, Emily, Shelley

The plan was to help Kristin defend her title as the winner of last years race. Emily would attack early to force other teams to work. The field was much smaller than usual, maybe 30 girls. In attendance, 3 McGuire, Palo Alto, Brenda Lyons (Victory Brewing), and others. There were 7-8 primes but no money, just merchandise. Emily stuck to the plan and attacked early with a couple girls following. The field was excitable and the primes kept the pace high enough that no breaks were staying away. It was a pretty consistent race 35 laps total, with lots of primes that I was hoping would just tire everyone else out. At one point Brenda Lyons went for a prime and shocked the announcer so much that he predicted her to be the winner of the race. This opened my eyes and gave me a focus for the end of the race. Watch Brenda Lyons. Again, in the perfect tactical manner, Emi! ly charged to the front with 3 laps to go, keeping the pace just high enough that no one would come around her. On the bell lap I was on her wheel hoping she had one lap left in her, but she was done. She and I were side to side as Kristin attacked hard from the left side. Perfect!! Emily and I managed to block just long enough for Kristin to get a big enough gap to take it to the finish line. But Martina and a couple of other riders weren't having it and they jumped to chase Kristin. I got on Martina's wheel and followed the chase. Just before the final two left hand corners, it was clear that Kristin was going to get caught as she had moved to the far inside of the final straight away. Before the last corner, I jumped and got in front of Martina. I sprinted the entire straight away with Taitt on my wheel, thinking she would jump or Brenda Lyons would launch her sprint and blow right passed me. But it never happened. I made it to the line clear of the other riders and PROMAN c ame up with a $500 win!!! Back to back wins for PROMAN was our reward for incredible team work. What an awesome team to ride for. I can not stress that enough. Thank you everyone, we deserve it. ~ Shelley

VACAVILLE DISTRICT CRIT CHAMPIONSHIPS - WIN!

Sunday, Vacaville District Championships. Team members: Helene, Kristin, Jana, Emily, Kristina, Shelley It was a 16 lap race with a hill longer than Santa Cruz but not steeper and there were 3 primes totalling $100. 30 riders in the field including 3-4 Palo Alto, 3 McGuire, Amber Rais from Webcor, Cynthia Mommsen, Jenny Eyerman, etc. After about 3 laps there was a prime and Kristin attacked just before the bell. She stayed away to win the prime and as soon as she rejoined the group, Helene attacked. She managed to stay out in the wind for about 6 laps with Palo Alto, McGuire, and Los Gatos chasing. I followed a chase group of 3 and sat on as they failed to catch Helene and we got caught by the group again. Helene scooped up the 2nd prime while she was out there too. With about 7 laps to go we were gaining on Helene at the top of the hill. I countered and jumped before the downhill corner and as soon as I went through the start finish they rang the final prime bell for $60. I really was ! just trying to force the other teams to react by countering and not let them rest at all, so getting the last prime was a bonus. It was very hot and I wasn't feeling great, so I sat up on the hill and rejoined the pack to rest. With 3 to go, Kristina made the most critical move of the day. She came from nowhere and moved right to the front of the pack and controlled the entire field for 2 laps. This allowed me to sit comfortably in the pack and wait for the move from the other teams. On the final lap, the field was spread across the road at the top of the hill. Two Palo Alto girls jumped, Jenni Tafoya and Stacey Marple and I slid in behind Stacey for the perfect lead out. Jenny drilled it through the two final corners at a pace no one else would challenge, so I was sitting in the perfect position. Then she started her sprint from the front and Stacey was just following her wheel. So, just before the final chicane, I jumped and took it wide and then cut the corner and sprinted to the finish. I couldn't believe no one was with me. What an amazing feeling it was to win a race that we had controlled the entire time and that everyone played a role in. I was so proud to ride for such a strong, aggressive team.. We could be unbeatable if we continue to ride so well together. It's awesome!!! ~ Shelley

PESCADERO ROAD RACE

Pescadero RR 75 hilly miles Field: about 30Kristina Seley and Emily ZellEmily and I had a short warm up in the fog, we knew we didn't need much as the race was a nasty 75 miles--mostly up or down. Pescadero is possibly my most favorite NorCal race (Ward's Ferry is up there too) as it is long, hilly, and very challenging. Emily and I joked about strategy before the race as if we would do anything but hold onto wheels up the hills. There were lots of strong nor cal ladies in attendance.The race started slow, a lot slower than expected. We approached a sprint point and Webcor took it with no one to contest. Emily and I saved our legs for the climbs. A few attacks went out, but nothing stuck. We rolled over and descended a few climbs, and got to the long straight section; I just hung in the pack. Emily notched it for a bit and I heard many girls breathing heavy. She was looking strong at the front. Finally, we got to the main climb, which is also the finishing climb and the pack strung out. Emily and I were hanging on, but I lost the wheel ahead of me and a dozen girls got away. I was then in a chase group with Emily and about 8 other ladies, (two McGuire riders, Lisa Hunt, two Vello Bellas, etc). We chased hard for awhile, but were never able to catch onto the pack. McGuire refused to work, as they had a few girls in the break, and Corolla of Alto Vela dropped out awkwardly. We chased and chased, but not hard enough to catch on. Long story short, we gave up chasing and a chase group behind us caught us on the third of three laps! We were all pretty disappointed, but it made the race a little more exciting. Up the finishing climb, I ended up fourth for a 15th place result with Emily right behind me. I loved the race, it was hard and technical. I was quite frustrated we did not organize well enough to catch the lead group. Well, I guess next time we will make it over with the lead group. Thanks to Emily; she was able to finish well in an infamously difficult road race coming back from an injured hand. - kristina

LEESEVILLE ROAD RACE

Leesville:Williams, CA. Leesville Gap Road Race. 5th place. 60 mile RR. Kristina Seley solo rider. Leesville Gap Road Race (Williams, CA) had its ups and its downs. Restrooms: Usually, all the riders share a couple of porto potties. This race had nice restrooms in the local high school. Drawback: somehow the men were confused and kept "destroying it" in our little dark stalls. It was quite amusing to watch them come out and realize they were mistaken. Racers: A few strong climbers were in attendance, but only 10 women lined up at the start for the Cat 1/2/3 race. Race Course: Fun for the first half because of the hills, nasty pavement, gravel sections, and windy road. Miserably boring for the last half. It was flat and straight forever; I have never caught myself staring at my odometer in either a training ride or a race more often than I did yesterday. Weather: Ups: Hot, but not unbearable. Down: No shade and neutral support at mile 45! Boy, I was glad I brought three water bottles.Race: Again, the first half was fun. Molly of Metromint put in a few attacks, one stuck and the group, except for her teammate and a Touchstone rider, rotated to bring her back. We caught her at the base of the main bumpy dirt section, Paris Roubuix style really. I kept pretending I was out there with the big boys, hammering over the cobble stones. Then we started climbing and one of the Palo Alto riders drifted ahead of the group. Touchstone made a little attack and bridged up to her. Soon, the two of them had a nice gap on what was left of the group (maybe four of us). The other Palo Alto climber put in a nice attack and bridged up, then we were three. I kept my steady pace, knowing if I tried to bridge, I would probably blow up. I followed Cindy up the hill, but she had at least 10 seconds on my after the 20 minute climb. I chased on the bumpy, gravely decent with Cindy right up the road for miles. I had one guy tell me he was really impressed with my bike skills in the gravel, I kinda giggled, and he lost my wheel. At least I could beat a Master's Cat 4/5 guy. Well, the road smoothed out and I never saw Cindy or another lady again. I went hard, TT-style the entire way back. This is the "down" part of the race. Fourty miles of chasing with no one in sight and pancake flat boring roads for miles. I was motivated to go hard because I didn't want any of the ladies behind me to catch me, and I was hoping to catch someone up the road. Fifth place in the end and a nasty heat stroke style headache. Kristina

BURLINGAME FIDELITY CRITERIUM

Lets begin with the end: With Kristina tired from Pescadero, Jana recovering from a cold, and Shelley suffering from the effects of asthma, the simple plan was to have Kristina, Lori and Jana watch the front for the 1st half of the race so me and Nicki could sit in. On the final lap both Webcor and McGuire began to put their leadout trains together. I saw Laura Charameda pop in behind a Webcor rider, so I tried to get on Laura's wheel since she was arguably one of the best sprinters when she was racing full time as a pro. Katherine was leading it out for Karen and Amber for Webcor. When the sprint started to take shape around the final bend, I saw that it was going to be a drag race between Karen and Laura, and I have to say I momentarily got so caught up in watching these two semi-retired, decorated riders duke it out in the sprint that I took my eyes off the finish line to watch them. Snapping back to attention, I sprinted for the finish and threw my bike at the line, but I got squeaked by a burly girl from PAB and ended up 5th. Niki came in behind me at 6th for a podium placing, while Karen nipped Laura at the line for the win. Amber ended up 4th, and burly girl was 3rd.Even though we were outnumbered by lots of McGuires, Los Gatos, Webcor, and PAB riders, I noticed that I always saw a Proman rider at the front mixing it up. You guys are so much stronger both tactically and physically compared to the beginning of the season (remember cherry pie?). We were represented in almost every move during the race. I am glad to be on a team with such aggressive riders! - Kristin

NEVADA CITY CLASSIC - WIN!

Nevada City has been among my top favorite races ever since I did it back in the early 90's. The crowds are good, the weather is hot, and the course is awesome! Funny thing though, the climb seems to be a little easier now...:) I was scheduled to work on race day but I was fortunate enough to find a 'trade' for the day. That way I could cruise up to do the race and continue on to Tahoe where Sandor and Daisy were waiting for me to begin our first vacation of the summer - fun! I got off work at 7am that morning, plenty of time to pack and get to the race. As I drove up I-80 past Sacramento the bright yellow and blue glow of the IKEA sign drew me in like a moth to a lone porch light. I could not resist the tempting "SUMMER SALE!" banner. You should check it out! I got some really cool outdoor cushions, planter boxes, fake plants (no watering!), lingonberries, and cinnamon buns (for Sandor) -all for under a hundred! I spent a little too much time wandering around (actually I got lost a few times, have you ever been in there? you need GPS to navigate) and had to drive 80+mph to arrive in Nevada City just in the nick of time. Fortunately Niki was right there upon my arrival and immediately began set up my trainer, pin my number, and prep bottles. I didn't need too big of a warm up due to the pleasant warmth of the surrounding the area. On the first lap I could tell I was feeling well - so I kept the pace fast in an attempt to thin out the field right away to make mobility a bit easier. My goal was to always be first or second through the fast downhill turn and to be sure it was someone I trusted to follow, as I did not want to begin my vacation with road rash. I was able to respond and/or counter any attack that was attempted, as my second goal was to stay with anyone that took off. At one point a McGuire girl took off ferociously up the last portion of the climb, with me glued to her wheel. When she reached the crest she gave up and began to coast so I maintained my momentum to ensure my desired first position down the descent. As I passed the start/finish line I heard them announce "TWO LAPS TO GO!". Wow! I'm alone with only two to go? I figured I would give it a try and kept cruising at a good strong pace, just enough to keep my distance but not to blow myself up. The noise of the spectators on the climb was enough juice to propel me up the hill the first time alone. My disbelief and utter excitement that I was about to win a classic race got me around the last time to the finish. What a fun race! Thanks to everyone, especially Niki for the cool beverages before/during/after the race. Now I am in Tahoe, chasing chipmunks with Daisy. We are headed out for a mountain bike ride and will top it off with a sunset kayak tour on the lake. Thanks for reading! - HELENE

VANDENBERG ROAD RACE - So Cal Districts

The course was long: two 38-mile loops on the air force base at Vandenberg. I work out there on occasion, overseeing the cleanup of groundwater pollutants left over from decades of rocket and missile launching and more pollutants left as a legacy from the Army and Navy. But, it keeps my employed. Well the point is, I knew the course, and assumed most girls did not, so this was a slight advantage I had. Everything helps. This race is the SoCal District Road Race Championship. Living in San Luis Obispo, I am technically in the SoCal circuit but usually race up North, so I don't know many of the ladies. Helen's/Trek and Bicycle John's were well represented, the rest of the ladies were like me, racing for a win on my own, without the help of my teammates. The race started slow, then attacks were made. I made a few and countered a few, I was feeling strong. There was a break of 3 at about 15 miles, a local SLO Nexus rider, and a Trek and Bicycle John's girl. We caught two of them maybe 20 miles later, then the third much later on. With 15 miles to go, Jane Despas (an awesome TT girl) rode away from the field on one of the climbs, a Helen's/Trek girl jumped and it got all strung out. I was behind a Bicycle John's girl and we tried to get up there, but we couldn't. Then, we all sat up. NO ONE would work. I was frustrated. John's had like 3 or 4 girls, some not feeling so well, I am sure, but they would not organize to do any work. A few more attacks, but there was no way we were catching Jane, I knew it. I asked some girls if they would work, and only a few were interested (there must have been 15+ of us by this time in the race). We ended up catching the Trek girl who couldn't hold Jane's wheel with 2 miles to go. Her teammates countered and other girls were attacking. I just held a good wheel and waited for the end. Many of the girls popped off the back b/c all the attacks. Came into the sprint 3rd wheel, but we were sprinting from just under 1K. By the time we got to the line, I was not accelerating and 2 girls nipped me! Ahh! Well, I still got 6th and was content; it was a long, hard race. During the sprint all I thought about was my 1-minute sprint interval practice. The sprint was long and painful, just like the ones in practice. It was fun. I ran home after to start up the BBQ for my 26-th birthday celebration. As Geoff would say "Happy Birthday to me!" (Reference: Geoff on his 26th, drunk downtown yelling to himself.) I drank lots of wine and tried to forget about the pain in my neck and back. And, I think I am losing my toenails. Does anyone else have this problem? - Kristina

SIERRA NEVADA/SPECIALIZED CRITERIUM - PODIUM

Lori and I made the trek to Folsom to race in 96 degrees; heat tolerance does not come as part of my Latvian/English genetic pkg. The course was wide and very smooth with fast turns. The field size was about 25 including Jenni Tafoya and Tracey Ford. Lori, in typical style got to turn 1 in first position followed by Jenni T and myself. We rotated through for 2 laps just to set a good pace. The pace was generally slow with a few attacks which were brought back mostly by Newman’s Own – Ginger Buller. The heat was harsh and I definitely was not feeling very peppy. Lori went for a prime, just to get pipped at the post by Jenni T. Two laps to go the pace picked up I was sitting in about 6th position, not great. Jenni T and Tracey moved up on the outside, Lori jumped on Jenni’s wheel and someone jumped on hers and it wasn’t me! I made an effort to get her wheel back but by that time Jenni had accelerated with Tracey on her wheel they were on there way to a great lead out.
Lori put in a solid effort to get me up there. I found myself in about 6th position coming around the final turn – not good! I passed a few gals in the sprint but couldn’t catch a Webcor gal who deservingly got 2nd place. I was 3rd. Not bad for my first race back after Tulsa. I had not been feeling great since then but it was great to be racing again. Always fun racing with Lori & Jenni and Tracey. - Nicola

BLUE DOME TWILIGHT CRIT - TULSA

Props to my two teammates for being so strong in this race after waking up at 3:00 a.m., flying from California to Colorado to Oklahoma, and then racing at 8:00 p.m in the dusk/dark. It was a new experience in many ways for all of us, I think. Our race started at 8:00 p.m. just as the sun was going down. None of us could decide whether or not to where our glasses, so we all did. bad idea. Visibility was terrible with or without glasses. The race was extremely fast from the whistle. Field of 35 girls with some local teams and traveling superstars. The course had 8 turns in it and with a lot of money on the line for the both primes and placings, people were just taking ridiculous risks. Either you had to sprint to get to the corner first or you could guarantee you'd be on your brakes and up against the curb on every one of them. There were also two gradual (big ring) hills in ! every lap, which made it easy to move up in the field. Primes were $40 -$60 dollars, so they were well worth going for. The finishing stretch was 3 blocks long and very wide. With about 30 minutes left to race and one girl dangling off the front, the prime bell rang and just as we came around the last turn I could see that she was close enough to take, so I went for it. I jumped off the pack and sprinted to try and take the girl on the line. I just missed her on the line, but the crowd loved the effort (the crowds were awesome)! I looked back and found that I had established a pretty big gap on the field. Maybe the promoters wanted to make the race interesting, or they felt bad for me that I had tried so hard and failed, but they rang the bell again just as I went through the start/finish. So, I stayed away for the rest of the lap and claimed my $40. Now there was about 20 minutes left to race, so I sat in and tried to r! ecover. The last five laps things got really sketchy and really fast. I moved myself up into the top 10 and waited for the last lap to come. On the downhill just before the last 2 left hand corners, a rider jumped on my left. I jumped with her and we moved up to about 5 and 6th positions. That's about how it stayed into the last corner when everyone jumped on the outside and I found myself in about 10th place. I knew the straight away was long and the money was big, so I shifted and shifted until I had moved myself back up into 6th place. Niki was just behind me in 10th and Emily behind her in 18th. We were all totally amped after the race, at least I was. I couldn't believe how fast and how strong and aggressive the girls of the midwest were. We were all in the money as the places went 20 deep, so we took our money, grabbed a beer, and watched our RH Villa buddies race at 9:00 at night in a field of 130 guys that was strung out the entire race. - SHELLEY

SANTA ROSA DOWNTOWN CRIT

A race report for the team, sorry it is late, as I have been at work fightin' fire & savin' lives...Sorry to have missed Tulsa, it sounded fun. I would have loved to sit next to Miss Rodeo on the plane, stayed in the SAME hotel as Oprah! Alas, I spent three days up in Tahoe mt. biking in the snow, road riding, hiking, and sitting on the lakeshore soaking up the rays. I made an early departure to partake in the Santa Rosa crit because, well, because I haven't raced in over a month, or is that two, as Kristin made sure to point out. Anyways, I had an errand to run up in Petaluma, so I figured that I could knock two things off in one day, ahhhh, efficiency.

The team players left in the county were Jana, Kristin, and myself. Jana eagerly asked for our race strategy. "Uhhhhhhhh...." was all that I could think of. So anyways, a few laps or so into the race the first prime bell rings and Jenny Eyerman (Morgan Stanley/24hr) goes for it. I jump on her wheel in the long stretch to the finish and saw how fast she was cruising so I decide to just chill behind her, let her take it (being on my former team and all), and come around her after she's done to initiate some velocity in the field. Well, she sticks with me and two others, Cindy Carroll (McGuire), and a PAB-pink-bike girl join up with us to form a little break. Well I'm thinking this is too soon, we have over 50 minutes left in this event, but let's give it a go. To make a long story sort of short : We eventually caught the field and joined up with them, but I noticed my sister wasn't there. Hmmmmm, did she flat? I see Jana in the mix still and she is going to the front and keeping the pace up while I get to take a little breather behind her. With one lap to go she yells something to me (was it in Czech?!?!? I don't know!?!?!?) and slaps her rump. Oh! I know what that means! I immediately jump on her wheel as she proceeds like a banshee (what is a banshee? sounds fast) through the first turn of the last lap. Well, she's really cranking, so I'm staying behind her. She's stringing the pack out....cool! We go through turn two, turn three, turn four, down the headwind backside and I can hear some good heavy breathing and I swear smoke should've been coming out of her helmet....She got me all the way to the final turn, where I came around her and used all of my saved energy to sprint with all my might the long distance to the finish with Jenny E on my wheel. Wow! I got it it! That was sooooo cooool! It is THE best win to get when your teammates get you there, THANKS JANA!!!!!! That was the biggest effort ever! Oh, and I found out that Kristin had also gone off the front of the field solo and was within eyesight of us, so she placed fifth, right behind the break of four. It was fun. Let's do it again soon.

PS I did the race powered on a 7-11 stop of 1 package powdered mini donuts and a Big Gulp, no time to shop for food...so throw in 1 bag of Clif blocks during warm up to balance it out...kids, I don't reccommend this as an everyday diet.....just the bloks next time :)
HELENE

BRADY DISTRICT CRITERIUM - TULSA

This evening we would be racing at 6pm. L shaped course with 2 smaller hills, and a fun descent. Pavement was in fair to excellent condition including a freshly paved road leading to the sprint. PROMAN were off to a flying start, I got in a very early break of 4 women including the eventual winner, we were only away for about a lap as no one was interested in working. A couple of laps later there was a prime which a Vitamin cottage gal took off early for. Emily jumped and got her wheel and sat there until she popped around for the prime, they worked together for about 5 laps, Shelley and I blocking as much as we could. Emily was stronger than the Vit cottage gal so they began to slow. The pack was back together and Shelley got a another prime, She went for the next prime with me on her wheel I hesitated to come around as I had 2 good sprinters on my wheel, Jen MCrae & Vit cottage, so I backed off to slow them and Shelley got the prime. There were several attacks but none stayed away as there were plenty of gals eager to chase. Eventually, Shannon Koch; junior national Champ, got away. A second gal got away, unfortunately we did not see her go. The girls were aggressive and fast, the last 2 laps the pace picked up. Shelley took a tight inside line around the 2nd to last turn, I was on her wheel but got pinched in the turn and lost it, she kept a good position all the way to the final turn and sprinted in behind Jo K – Univega and Jen Mcrae – Conex. Bad wheel choice in the final turn had me braking coming onto the sprint, passed a few gals in the sprint and finished 9th. Emily followed.
We were still holding on to 1st place in the team omnium and we had Shelley 5th place in the Individual Omnium. - Nicola

SAN LUIS OBISPO DOWNTOWN CRIT - PODIUM

The SLO crit was anything but slow today. I figured there would be about six local riders because of competing races in both NorCal and SoCal. But, as I cruised around the start area to ease the nerves, I was surprised to see some competition at my little hometown race. Bicycle John’s had three girls in attendance, an unknown McGuire women had shown up, and the big competition: Webcor’s Felicia Gomez, who just competed in the Montreal World Cup.

The race started at a good pace and I settled in at the front. John’s put in a few attacks from the start, but all the ladies had fresh legs and were able to stay with them. Now, I should step back and set the stage. Basically, the course was a large, half-mile long rectangle with the nastiest wind along the backstretch. The kind of wind where the tumbleweeds dance down the road and hats are lost to the wind. My plan was to hang in and go for some primes and wait for the sprint. Although I am not a sprinter, I just assumed no breaks would stick and that was my only chance. So, there we are, 10 minutes in and more attacks from John’s. I jumped to follow a two-woman attack from John’s and turned to see only Webcor on my wheel. She pulled through and said “you want to work?” I immediately replied YES, of course. This is my kind of race. It was risky to go so early in the race, I could blow up and on this windy course; with a strong field, it might not be worth it. But, this was the ideal little break, probably the strongest rider and two John’s girls. For 35 minutes we worked together off the front. Not sure what was going on, but we lost one John’s girl who couldn’t hang on. The three of us just drilled it listening as the spectators yelled our split times. We got a 40 second gap and I knew we had it. Towards the last 10 minutes, we realized we were going to lap the field. We could see them in the distance, and Felicia and I decided not to work as hard so the John’s girl was not pulled up to her teammates, who would have led her out in the sprint. It was a long race off the front, and I tried so hard at the end to muster up a sprint. But, I had poor positioning coming into the end and the ladies jumped a little harder than I did and got by me. A photo finish for them, and third for me. I ended up with a nice all-cash prize.

And other fun news: I only heard great things about the PROMAN/paradigm racing last weekend. So many cyclists came up to me and told me how strong and organized we looked last weekend at all the NorCal crits, and the girl with the braids is on fire! Good job ladies, you are making a great impression. At the SLO Fast crit, I had lots of fun riding with the kids in the 2 to 10 year old races. I think a few of them took me at the line, but again, I just wasn’t ready for the jump! The best part of the day was when it was all over, I was able to hop and my bike and pedal two miles home instead of the typical three to four-hour drive. SLO Nexus will try to bring back the crit at its old downtown location next year. PROMAN/paradigm ladies, you will have to join me.

~Kristina

ICCC DASH FOR $$$$

The ICCC put on this weekends Wheels of Thunder (Dash for Cash) race. In a moment of clarity I realized that this was a christian cycling club. I really didn't put 2 and 2 together until I noticed that all of the songs they were playing over the PA system while I was warming up kept referencing Jesus this and Jesus that. I hoped I didn't offend anyone above when I stubbed my toe on the trainer and cussed!Lori and I represented while the other gals were kicking up a storm in Tulsa. My strategy was to go for as many primes and see if I had any gas leftover for the finish, but with $10 available each lap to the first person across the line my primary objective was to win as many laps = $ as my slow twitch legs could withstand. With many ladies racing Mt. Hood, SoCal, and back East, the 1/2 field had about 10 riders, and the remainder ~25-ish were Cat 3's, and we were all racing together. I'm not the best sprinter so I was a little nervous about how I would stack up against some of these girls, but I easily took the first lap prime and felt more confident thereafter. I have to say I like the "dash for cash" concept because it keeps the race animated lap after lap, and girls who sit in don't get rewarded. This race provided a good measuring stick and lesson on how well one can recover from hard efforts. There were a few times that I took a sprint, recovered, and then took the next one. But most of the time I had to sit in for a few laps and recover. A couple of times Jill McLaughlin (Morgan Stanley) or Mary Maroon would attack after I had sprinted, and I could not chase. Between myself, Jill and Mary, we ended up taking all of the primes with the exception of one or two. I ended up winning some good cash, plus I got 3rd in the final field sprint (although I thought I had 2nd) and got some cool goodies to boot. This race gives me an incentive to work on my sprint intervals, plus it was a fun workout and I recommend it to all of you. Jill ended up winning with Mary in 2nd, and Lori finished in the field. - Kristin