SNELLING ROAD RACE - PODIUM!

Team mates: Emily, katy, Abby, Tracey, Jens Voight?

Conditions: Cloudy, windy

During our team conference call for snelling, Giana asked us each what our performance goals were for the race. these are not to be confused with result goals! my result goal was to win, but given the amount of factors out of our control at any given race, it is much more productive to focus on a performance goal, which will then hopefully lead to that result goal. so when it came to my turn i stated that i wanted to get in a break and have it succeed to the end. i could practically hear the collective sigh from the phone lines. no break had ever succeeded at this flat, wide open road race. i think the closest thing in the past was a couple solo efforts achieved when a girl snuck away from the field. needless to say, i knew it was a long shot, but i had a firmly entrenched drive to change the dynamics of this race. (and of course to avoid a field sprint with a bunch of sprinters!) giana laid out a plan for the four of us to attempt this goal, with the knowledge that it was risky and a definate plan B in place.
taking a chance and being brave became, over the next 24 hours, just as important to me as the win. well, on race day i was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, because i attacked solo on the first lap! tracey had executed her role perfectly - stringing out the field along the rough road leading into the finish. she floated back to me, about 10th wheel, and asked if i was going to go. this had been part of the plan, but i couldn't see my right hand, katy. shit, could i go without her? should i go wothout her? turns out she was behind me, but the field was starting to bunch up making maneuvering through the gravel and potholes tricky. i silently mouthed a string of profanities and nodded to tracey to let me out on the right side. i jumped, redlined, and looked back. huge gap. apparently, everyone thought i was a little more stupid than brave, and i have to say i was wondering if they were right. jane "never let anything get away" despas was on the front of the field, my legs were already burning, and we were 11 miles in. i put my head down. i was going to make them fight for this catch.
after going through the finish, courtney (valueAct) and katie (tibco) bridged up, and i was thankful for the company. we did a lap together, with the field always close behind keeping us in check. by this point i was in my jens mode - just pulling as hard as was reasonable given the distance left and trying to keep a gap. basically, just this side of sanity! the other two started to slow as the field came scary-close on the back stretch. goddamn it i yelled, no, no, no, come on, dig! i looked back and saw a lone touchstone bridging. please let it be jill "the freight train" i prayed...i told the other 2 to dig deep, we had another set of legs coming to help. sure enough, it was jill, who immediately started taking monster pulls in our little group. courtney seemed reinspired and started to ride so strongly! our gap grew again and soon the field was out of sight. jill and i never really let up, however, knowing that we would be spit out the back upon contact with the field. we heard 55 seconds, then 2-3 minutes, then "waaaaay back" from the passing men's field. only because of this did we ease up into the final stretch. i knew my only chance was to go early - risk 4th in an attempt for 1st. well, i risked it and was picked off at the line by jill. i must say, she had worked hard and was inspirational in the break, so i was happy for her. courtney got 4th after having nowhere to go when the 3 of us drag raced to the line, so i was glad that i had gone early and not been boxed in!
this was an awesome race and it was great to see our team plan pay off. abby finished an impressive 12th, after working hard to shut down the field while we were away. both tracey and katy had flats due to the friendly locals putting tacks across the road, but before that they both were awesome! i certainly couldn't have done it without them!!! and it was also great to race with courtney and jill. they were both so strong and motivated! and of course a HUGE, HUGE thank you to giana's tactical prowess and support!!!
here's to taking risks, being brave, and turning yourself inside-out. Emily

VALLEY OF THE SUN - TT

Emily, Nicola and I headed down to Arizona for the Valley of the Sun Stage Race. Three days of racing in sunny 70 degree weather which included a TT, road race and finished with a crit. As this was my first race of the year, and I just recently starting adding intensity to my training, my goals were to increase my fitness and help my team-mates as much as possible. I'm sure I accomplished goal one, but learned that I need to spend some more time racing with my new team-mates to accomplish goal two.
The TT was a relatively flat 22k out and back course. While we definitely got our sunny weather, we also got a gusty wind with it. I swear I felt a headwind in both directions. While TTs aren't my favorite type of race (read: least favorite), I actually enjoyed this one. The out section seemed to last forever, but we had a very slight downhill on way back and as I got closer to the finish line I seemed to feel stronger and was able to dig deeper. While I didn't come close to the winning time, I was pleased with my middle of the results finish - Tracey

VALLEY OF THE SUN - CRITERIUM

Phoenix, AZ. Downtown criterium
Niki, Emily, Tracey
65 riders, Combined field of cat 1 / 2 and cat 3 women
Course was a figure eight clockwise course, flat, wide streets a little rough pavement.
Warm but a long, windy finishing straight.

I was determined to get a good start and stay close to the front for the entire race. I got a good fast start and was in 3rd position for the first turn. Lap 1 was a hot lap so things got aggressive right away. I was in a great position to sprint for the prime but knowing I wanted a good finish, I decided not to burn all my matches as I wasn’t certain what my legs had left in them after the previous days road race. There were many primes which made it difficult to settle into a rhythm. 15 minutes into the race, there was a crash near the front which resulted in me getting side swiped and crashing into a rider, which then resulted in the rider behind me, landing on top of me. I managed to get up pretty fast to realize my lovely carbon Zipp wheel was tacoed! I ran to the pit and got a wheel change and free lap, I wasn’t the only one. At the point of the crash, Emily made her way to the front to control the pace,as right after the crash, girls were viciously attacking, Emily kept the pace reasonable so we could comfortably reenter the race. I had hurt my arm and calf and hip but the adrenaline kept me fired up. I enjoyed the rest of the race, Emily sat comfortably out of trouble to protect her 9th place GC (she needed more than the time bonuses offered to move up, so we just wanted a safe finish for her) there were plenty of attacks which were all manageable. Tracey raced safely in the back for most of the race and with 5 to go she appeared, I was glad for the company, I sat on her wheel for a couple of laps but soon the Expresscopy and Lipton gals were advancing and I didn’t want to loose my position. I moved past Tracey hoping she would get on my wheel, but the pace had increased with Expresscopy, Lipton and Southbay Wheelman driving the pace she was unable to move up. Track racer Anna lang jumped before the final turn, I sensed that was the lead out I needed, but hesitated for a split second. I came around the final turn in about 7th far from ideal. Sprinted into the vicious headwind, for 6th place. I was happy I got back on the horse and finished the race and had a decent finish, the race reminded me of how not to race the final lap of a crit, I needed to be in at least 3rd place, not 7th or 8th through the final turn. Tracey came in a strong 9th. The weekend was a confidence builder, I am pleased with my level of fitness and can’t wait for the next race.

My performance goals for the weekend:
Finish about midway in the GC - achieved
Be active in the road race and assist Emily and finish well - achieved
Be active in the criterium stay in the top 10 throughout the race and finish well - achieved
Get a least 1 upgrade point - achieved

thanks for reading! - Niki

Got to love ZIPP for their crash warranty, new rim on the way

VALLEY OF THE SUN - ROAD RACE

Combined field of cat 1/2 and cat 3 approx 65 women

Conditions: hot, dry windy desert

This day turned out to be quite an adventure, to say the least. Niki and I abandoned our usual “let’s arrive 2-3 hours early” anal-retentiveness and arranged our time to get to the start about an hour early. Our legs were nice and warmed up from the TT, and all the details were taken care of at home (numbers pinned, bottles mixed, etc.) well, wouldn’t you know the one day we decide to take it relatively easy, we hit stopped traffic for 10 miles on the freeway. AAHHHGGG!!!! We started changing in the car, much to the pleasure of the truckers surrounding my little civic, and pulled into the race about 10 minutes before our start time!!! I was literally coming out of the port-a-potty to face the already assembled field of women on the start line, then running through them back to the car to grab my bike, which Tracey was graciously hooking my number on! One calming factor was the handful of other women pulling in late as well. Needless to say, there was no warm-up to be had. No problem, right? It’s a flat course and a large field. Plenty of sit-in time to be had. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. This was to be a bloodbath. A battlefield. A race of attrition. For the first half of the race we were hit with the most brutal, dry, hot crosswind. And I mean brutal as in no where to hide, no chance to take your hands off the bars, pedaling as hard as you could and maybe hitting 12 mph! After that stretch, which we had to ride 4 times, the course turned and now we had a blissful tailwind. However, this was not enjoyed for long, as it led right into the climb, which wasn’t brutal, but given a tailwind, all the pure climbers floored it to the QOM, which was on lap 2, approaching the QOM, i had been gapped off along the windy stretch. a colavita rider and i leap-frogged our way back to the front group, which niki was in. (niki was determined to stay in the front group for the QOM as she knew it would be a fast ascent) she saw me coming and powerfully dragged me up to a top 10 position, which i could not have done on my own - i was fried from the wind!Then, after hanging on to the front pack to the top, we hit the long, mellow decent. Giana and I had planned a counter attack here, after the KOM, but with the tailwind and long, straight rode, it was almost impossible to get away solo or even in a small group. About 20 of us made that first selection, and then that group in turn split with the GC contenders flooring it up the road. I ended up with 6 women, and we worked well together for about a lap, when we split again, with 3 of us drilling it up the hill and shedding the weaker three. We stayed together for the last lap, picking up one more Expresscopy rider who had crashed and was braving the windy stretch alone.
Oh! Did I mention the miscommunication about neutral feed. Yeah, there was supposed to be some, but there wasn’t. It was so dry I went through my 3 bottles and actually ran out with ½ lap to go. If any of you are riding with Amanda Shaw from Expresscopy and she is thirsty, give her a drink for me…she saved me! Anyway, the four of us came into the finish together, with Amanda taking the “sprint” and me second. It was only then that she turned to me and said that her coach had let her know we were still in the top 10 due to several girls succumbing to the elements. Well, I’ll be! Hadn’t figured on that at all! Awesome news to hear after such a torture-fest!
As Shelley likes to constantly remind me, I am a big girl. Well, given the way the smaller girls were getting blown around like paper dolls, seems my size was a great advantage at this race, and hopefully others in the future. How ya like me now pee-wee?!? ;) * BTW there was a neutral feed at the end of the feed zone – good idea to re-check to see if available. - Emily

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