ALBANY CRITERIUM - PODIUM

I last did this race in 2001 - where does the time fly? Anyway, it was just myself and Hanan on an overcast, slightly chilly summer afternoon. I have not raced a local crit since April and I feel like I entered a time warp – I barely recognize the faces of the racers around me, although it is nice to see a new crop of women moving up through the ranks. However, with the abundance of skills and racing clinics available, how come these women are so sketchy? The course was a typical four corner crit and not very technical. Yet there were several crashes, including one involving several girls as they locked handlebars as the start gun went off. What gives??? I think every woman rider should be required to take a skills clinic before upgrading to a cat 3, otherwise the racing becomes unnecessarily unsafe.

Of the faces I did recognize, I picked Flavia Oliviera (racing for Jocelyn’s) and Olivia Dillon to watch and keep an eye on the Easton sprinters. After a few ill fated attacks that I tried to cover and a couple break away attempts, Flavia took off after a Code 3 Racing rider, who was chasing Olivia out on a solo effort (I think she is the Irish national TT champ). Their gap looked like it would hold, so I took off after them and tried to bridge, bringing a Metromint (Amanda) with me. The field didn’t react, so our break of 5 riders stayed away for the remainder of the race. With the exception of the Code 3 rider, we all worked together nicely. I was third wheel coming through the final corner, behind Olivia and Amanda. This should have been an ideal spot, but my sprint lacks jump since this is my first race back since Nature Valley after taking a nice break from the bike. Olivia had just dragged us around for two laps, so she was easy to overtake, but Flavia (who was on my wheel) easily came around me and I couldn’t pass Amanda, who held on for the win. Flavia took 2^nd, me in 3^rd. Hanan got caught in one of the crashes and smartly surfed the pack for the remainder of the race.

~ Kristin

A 6-day in Italy

A 6-day in Italy.
U.S. National Team: Shelley Olds & Christen King

Italy was everything I imagined it would be. Beautiful. I set off on a Saturday morning and arrived in Italy Sunday mid-afternoon. After we built our bikes up and settled into our apartments in Lucca, we headed out for a spin to wake up the legs. I met a couple of the ladies from the road team who reside in Lucca for much of the year and they welcomed us and led us on a perfect ride through the country to the infamous, Leaning Tower of Pisa. The scenery was unbelievable. Little villas in the hills with vineyards and fields of sunflowers all around. Everything was so flush and green. It was picturesque. I just rode and tried to take it all in and realize how lucky I was to be there.

The road team departed the next day for a race in the Czech Republic and Christen and I had the whole place to ourselves. We figured out rides to do by looking at a map of the area. But, not knowing that there would be a roundabout at every intersection, it proved difficult to leave town and find our route. Eventually, we met a nice man on a bike who spoke English and we were able to find the road to the coast. The riding was perfect. There was an even mix between flats and hills and we explored all of our options during the 4 days we spent in Lucca.

We left Lucca on the 9th and drove up to Fiorenzula, where we would be racing track for the next 3 days. The event was a big deal for the men. It was a 6-day with 2 Madisons and a total of 6 races a night for each team of men. There was some good competition and the organizers did a great job of putting on a show. Our races started Thursday night and ended Saturday night with a Points Race Finale to determine the overall omnium winner.

The track was a 400m outdoor with steep corners and very shallow straightaways. The entire track, turns and straights, was much longer than anything I had ever raced on before. I knew it would take some getting used to. The first race of the night was a 20-lap scratch race. The field contained Ukraine, Spain, Czech Republic, and Italian riders, with several of the women who will represent their countries in the Points Race and Pursuit in Beijing.


I was a little disappointed after the first race because I expected it to be faster with more attacks, but the field was content to ride passively around the track. I thought maybe everyone was just feeling each other out and the later races would be different. I was wrong. The next races were the Elimination races, otherwise known as the Miss n Out. After riding this race several times recently at my local track with big groups of men, I was sort of dreading the race because I know how fast and tricky it can be. It turned out that forcing myself through those previous races actually paid off and I had learned a few things about the race. I managed to hang on and ride smart down to 3 riders left, but just didn't have the legs in the final elimination. I also made a tactical error against a very smart rider from the Czech and realized quickly that I would have to outsmart and outride these girls if I wanted to win.

And so the racing went on. Christen and I raced hard and aggressively, trying to ensure that the races would be exciting and active. We learned a ton from each other and raced well together. After every race we would cool down together and reflect back on the race, pointing out mistakes and things we did well. We also became close friends with the Spanish rider who we called, "Lady." In fact, all of the riders in our field were extremely friendly. It was a much different atmosphere than the intensity of the World Cups.

In the end, I finished 4th in the GC and Christen was 6th. We are definitely better riders because of the experience and for sure make a great team. I was lucky to have been paired with such a professional and self-sufficient rider who has a ton of integrity and class and has as much passion for the sport as I do. This experience has given us a huge gain of confidence in our riding abilities and allowed us to understand the sport of track cycling much better. It is unfortunate, but you just can not find the same level of competition in the women's fields in the U.S. and there just isn't enough racing. This opportunity to race internationally before the start of the World Cup season is going to benefit us as riders so much. I only hope that we can continue to provide this stimulus of racing for ourselves and other U.S. track riders, because I believe it is so important.

I would like to thank USA Cycling, especially Jim Miller and Clay Worthington, for making this happen for us and I hope that they will call on us again in the near future for more international racing opportunities. It was an absolute honor to represent the U.S. in Italy. I would love nothing more than to race again with Christen King, but this time in a Madison as part of another 6-day event. I think we could have a lot of success in the event. It is incredibly fun and we compliment each other very well as riders. What better way to showcase such a cool American event than to have two competitive U.S. women recognized internationally?

LAFAYETTE CRITERIUM - PODIUM

Lafayette Criterium – a lesson in what would we do without technology?

Nicola's desperate plea for race reports, a lazy Sunday afternoon, and a tactically exceptional race for the team inspired me to write up a race report….here ya go:

Virginia and I rolled from Cole Coffee in Oakland just in time to see an unusual finish to the men's Pro1/2 race in downtown Lafayette. A break had gone off and nearly lapped the field, but without a camera's decisive eye the officials decided to neutralize the break in an effort to prevent a confusing finish. Well someone forgot to tell the break that they could start racing again, and the main field caught them by surprise as they were chatting along…. Not sure how it all worked out, but I heard the break split the winning $$ to save some heartache.

Proman was 4 strong in the womens field with Virginia, Hanan, Kate, and myself. Despite the fact that many of us have not raced together I feel we all did a great job and made the race fast and fun. Virginia out did herself in attacks, chases and leading the pack in the first several laps. About 20 minutes into the race Mary Ellen Ash (LGBRC/Easton) went for a prime and I countered and was surprised to see a gap forming. I was alone for a while until I found an Easton rider on my wheel. I tried to get Kim to help, but realized she wasn't feeling the legs to take a pull I let her sit on and continued to do so through 2 primes until it was 5 laps to go and the field got antsy. Once caught, I was relieved to have Kate get in front of me and take the wind for a lap. A few more attacks came through but with one to go we were all together and I was hoping Hanan, who had done an excellent job of sitting in, would be able to pull off her snappy, track inspired sprint for the finish. Virginia came through the final flat stretch with Hanan on her wheel. The uphill drag seemed to go forever, but women kept falling off. Hanan pulled off a 2^nd place only to be ousted at the line by Mary Ellen. I counted four ladies in front of me as I crossed the line and was content with 5^th. The officials called off the top 10 and my name was not on it. I rolled up and mentioned that I was pretty sure I was 5^th and they said hold on…. Oh, that's right, we have you in 8^th… Confused and somewhat disappointed in the lack of officiating, I opted not to protest. Seems they had a hard enough day as it is.

Thanks for reading,

Mel

PROMAN INTERNATIONAL STYLE OMNIUM - PODIUM!

I was really excited about racing the first ever International Style Omnium in the US! In this one-day event, riders do a combination of 3 time trials and 2 mass start races for a total of 5 races. The winner of each event gets 1 point, 2^nd place gets 2 points and so on. The racer with the lowest points at the end of the day wins. Our elite women’s field was about 15, although some quit after a few events so only 10 women finished all 5 events. I dug myself a bit of a hole in the first race of the day, the 200m. I was hoping for a PR (under 13.6), but ended up with a 13.7 for 4^th place. Beth was in 1^st place with a wicked fast time of 13.08, Shelby was 2^nd and Annabell at 13.6 was 3^rd. Niki was 5^th.

Next up was a 10 lap Scratch race. Our strategy was for Niki to jump two laps into it and try for a break. We dropped a few, but the women to watch were still with us. So we sat in and covered other attacks. I tried to keep Beth boxed in, but she eased up enough to get behind me - and around me in the final lap… sneaky. Between Beth and Niki helping me into the final sprint, I took 3^rd, but still 4^th in overall points. Next up was the 2k individual pursuit. No aerobars allowed, so about 2 laps into it I positioned my hands on the top center part of my bars and tried to get as aero as possible. The times for this race between me, Shelby and Beth were apparently super close and I ended up in 3^rd, but also 3^rd overall as Annabell’s pursuit time moved her to 4^th. Next was the dreaded 30 lap points race. However, due to time constraints, it was changed to 20 laps (4 sprints). Niki once again helped me out in the sprints. I couldn’t come around as many times as I need to, so I ended up 4^th and Niki was 2^nd. I was spent after the points race, but really looking forward to the 500m… back in my comfort zone of “shorter” races. While Kelly B. and Warren were figuring out the points we got 20–25 minutes to rest before the 500m. Good thing, because that gave me enough time to snag the last Stella beer from Donna’s cooler and hide it for later! I needed to win the 500m to move up from 3^rd place overall to 2^nd.

I told Niki I would “do my best” and she came back with a quick… “I want better than your best!!!” Ok, OK! So here we go…. my start was not great, I prefer a count down instead of the whistle out of nowhere, but that’s how they did it. I felt pretty good and hoped my time of 41.1 was good enough. Certainly not my best time for the 500m, but again no aerobars and it was the end of a long day. I’m not sure of the official results in the 500m, other that Beth go 1^st place, and I think my time was 2^nd. Thank you Niki for the lead-outs, Kelly B for your cheering and support, and a big thanks to Donna - aka VC (Very Classy) for bringing all the food, and that much needed cold Stella at the end of a super fun day! Lo-J

SKYLINE MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE - WIN!

On Sunday I raced in the Skyline Mtb. race put on by the Eagle cycling club. It was up at Skyline park in Napa where the '97, '98, and '99 World Cup races took place. Much of the course was the same as the World cup courses, but then there were these treacherous hike a bike sections that were definitely not on the World cup courses. This race also had the distinction of being a preview of the 2008 Single Speed World Championship course, AND at this race there were going to be 6 "golden tickets" up for grabs for the 08SSWC. My plan was to find a single speed to race on and earn one of those golden tickets. But somewhere in the circuitry of the cell phone world, the message that Julia had left me with the instructions on where to find the bike and how to get it, was lost. So I raced my sweet custom Santa Cruz hardtail and won the Pro women's race.

We did three laps on a very demanding course. Steep climbs, technical descents, hike a bike sections, this course has it all. We started out with a 10 minute fire road climb that ended in a very steep rocky climb to split up the competition, and then jumped (uphill still) into the single track. The singletrack looped up to the high point of the course and crossed over just above where we jumped in (so that you could see your competition that was just 5 minutes behind you.) After a little bit more climbing the course finally hit the first fast section of rolling descending down to a creek crossing. Then we climbed and traversed along a little pond and up to the white rock slab hike a bike section. Once we (the racers) re-mounted we encountered some fast fun twisty singletrack with a few surprise really rocky sections. The next part of the course I distinctly remember, was exactly the same as it was in '99 (the last time I raced here.) The "white stair step climbs." Steep white sandy dirt switch back climbing up to rocky ledge descending. All ride able, but you had to focus! After all the climbing was done we were treated to a series of sharp dusty switch backs and then fast trails (all big ring) to the last power climbs to the finish line. Only to be sent back out on the course for two more laps.

Jason Moeschler won the Pro Men's race with a time of 2:02, Cameron Falconer won the Single Speed race with a time of 2:08, I won the Pro Women's race with a time of 2:21, Kathleen Hannon was the first female single speeder, this 15 year old junior, Riley Howard (that I just finished ahead of at the Tamarancho race) beat me by 5 minutes, I think. The "golden ticket's" were awarded to the first and second male single speeders, and the first female single speeder. Then for the remaining three tickets, they had a ro-sham-bo contest. All the single speeders who raced and finished, faced off to a single elimination ro-sham-bo. It all happened quickly, but my man Sam won himself a golden ticket! I was so proud, all that ro-sham-bo practice that we have been doing finally paid off. Basically whenever we have to decide something, we don't flip a coin, NO, we ro-sham-bo! And I tell you, it is not luck. It is skill! Out smarting your competitor, that's how you win a ro-sham-bo game!

Anyways it was a great race up in Napa, the smoke had dissipated, the course was awesome, and the players were all good sports! What's next? The Downieville Classic, July 11-13

See you there!

-Rachel