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