Okay, I'm back in action with my TGIF posts ... I kinda flaked out last week with a little too much going on all at one time. This is going to be a bit of a rant, I believe, so hold on tight.
First, can I just say that the sheer amount of negative energy out there is astounding? Everyone has something to b*tch about, and the anonymity of the internet/email gives people an outlet without consequence. I don't mean this just b/c of the anonymous replies to my last post - I welcome CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, commentary, jokes (even at my expense) and suggestions. I do not welcome people who want to take shots and belittle someone else's opinion or perspective. Come on, people: you wouldn't say these things in this way if you had to do it to someone's face. You know why ? Because you know it's not how you should treat others. It's mean and nothing good comes of it. The only reason you feel comfy doing it is because you think there is no consequence.
This is kinda like the guy who flips you off in traffic, or throws something at you as you're riding your bike on the shoulder. Kind of like the idiot in front of you that brake-tests you. They can do it from the safety of their vehicles and will likely never see you again. That doesn't mean it's right, it just means that they are showing their true nature - absent all controls, this is the person they would be. The thought that this is the nature of so many people is scary.
So DC Velo announced the DC Crit yesterday. My inbox is full, I have stopped checking emails right now. Some are supportive of the event and asking how they can be a part of it. THANK YOU for positive karma !! Some are asking genuinely honest questions - I am doing my best to answer them as well as I can. Some are just plain crappy. Accusing me (and sometimes my squad) of not supporting womens racing. Um ... excuse me ... have we met ? I am no Evelyn, but I have done plenty to support racing in general and, specifically, womens racing - number 1, I actually SHOW UP TO RACE when promoters have womens fields. Heck, I even sometimes show up to race when they dont ! Most of those that are chastising me and my team are those that I haven't seen at races more than a handful of times all year. Seriously ? How can you preach that everyone should hold a field for you when you don't show up ? Is it just in case you decide to show up ?
I am excited about the DC Crit. This is going to be a race on a grand scale - the first in downtown DC and on the level with CSC, which, unfortunately, is not going to happen again (so I'm told). Bike racing is going to be on the national stage. The sheer amount of goodwill, positive publicity and exposure that this event will garner is GOOD for anyone who rides a bike ! Look at the big-picture - if this does positive things for the sport in general, aren't we all winners ? The promoters and sponsors want to grow this into a marquee event - that means a big-girl race is in the future !! Isn't it worth getting something off the ground, however imperfect, in order to give us a bigger, better venue in the future ? Is it so bad to have a little patience that you'd rather torpedo the whole event - and all that it can do for the greater good - just because it can't happen immediately ?
My vote is to be a part of the solution. So I can either race with the boys or help with the race in general. You'll see me and my team helping out with the race - we'll be there to make sure they know that women's racing is alive and well, and we support the clubs that put time, energy, effort and money to try to expand bicycle racing in the region. Given the paltry schedule of 2008, perhaps instead of trying to tank one of the new and exciting events, maybe we should concentrate on some of those clubs that haven't bothered to support the sport by throwing a race of their own - much less one on this scale.
I just can't deal with so much negativity. I realize we all have our opinions and we all have a right to them - thank goodness we live in such a place where we can express them openly. But please, for crying out loud, can't we try to be positive ? Can't we have intelligent and educated discourse instead of devolving into childish name-calling ? We have so much good stuff to offer - each of us - if we just try to be a part of the solution.
That's all I've got for today - let the anonymous comments and criticisms ensue. See you at the races.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tour de Millersburg
For those of you that have never been there, Millersburg is a little town in PA just outside of Harrisburg - it's small-town-America where the townsfolk come over to chat during dinner and invite you to their homes to see the beautiful landscaping they have done. I'm not making that up, that happened.
This was the 2nd year that Millersburg pulled out all the stops for a 2-day, 3-event stage race. The courses were thoughtful, safe and challenging, but not so much that the racers couldn't impact the race. Everything was located in/around the center of town so parking, registration and getting to the courses was a breeze. They added a ton of nice touches - neutral water, cookies and wraps after the road race, two opportunities to schmooze with Bob Roll ... very cool. The best part was the obvious support from the community. People came out to see the racers they met last year. They would see us riding on the roads to warm up or cool down and they'd wave or cheer for us. They gave us recommendations for food, tried to hook everyone up with host families (see the C3 blog here) and generally encouraged us to have a good time. We were treated like they WANTED us there. It was novel and much appreciated.
On to the race. The 1-2-3 field was small but had some depth - again the Juice Plus star, Laura, showed up. HPC sent 4 strong riders, C3 had a squad of 5. Team CycleLife sent a team of 3 1/2 .. I say 1/2 because I was but a shell of myself. Three or four consecutive days of little or no sleep, stress from work and family combined with being on my feet Friday night finally caught up with me. I had lost most of my personality and felt terrible before we even got there.
The TT course was perfect for me - I should have rolled it pretty well, but I didn't. I couldn't get focused, I couldn't get my pacing right and when I finally got into the groove I nearly missed the turn around b/c I wasn't paying attention. I lost a good 10sec there, I'm certain. Sara got 9th, Robin, 10th, Mel , 14th and I came in 12th -even with all that drama, I was only a couple seconds off the top 5, so I guess I should have been pleased with that. I wasn't and so the day went on.
This was the 2nd year that Millersburg pulled out all the stops for a 2-day, 3-event stage race. The courses were thoughtful, safe and challenging, but not so much that the racers couldn't impact the race. Everything was located in/around the center of town so parking, registration and getting to the courses was a breeze. They added a ton of nice touches - neutral water, cookies and wraps after the road race, two opportunities to schmooze with Bob Roll ... very cool. The best part was the obvious support from the community. People came out to see the racers they met last year. They would see us riding on the roads to warm up or cool down and they'd wave or cheer for us. They gave us recommendations for food, tried to hook everyone up with host families (see the C3 blog here) and generally encouraged us to have a good time. We were treated like they WANTED us there. It was novel and much appreciated.
On to the race. The 1-2-3 field was small but had some depth - again the Juice Plus star, Laura, showed up. HPC sent 4 strong riders, C3 had a squad of 5. Team CycleLife sent a team of 3 1/2 .. I say 1/2 because I was but a shell of myself. Three or four consecutive days of little or no sleep, stress from work and family combined with being on my feet Friday night finally caught up with me. I had lost most of my personality and felt terrible before we even got there.
The TT course was perfect for me - I should have rolled it pretty well, but I didn't. I couldn't get focused, I couldn't get my pacing right and when I finally got into the groove I nearly missed the turn around b/c I wasn't paying attention. I lost a good 10sec there, I'm certain. Sara got 9th, Robin, 10th, Mel , 14th and I came in 12th -even with all that drama, I was only a couple seconds off the top 5, so I guess I should have been pleased with that. I wasn't and so the day went on.
The girls went to check out the crit course and I was grateful for a little bit of solace while I tried to regain my personality and recover for the crit. Given our TT finishes, we were protecting Sara as our GC contender. I raced fairly conservatively most of the race, chasing a few things and bringing back a couple of dangerous moves ... I was in good position and tried to stay relaxed the whole time. On the whole, I felt much better about this race. Until we got the bell lap. Someone attacked and (unnamed rider) decided she wanted to chase as we were leaning over into the first left turn - she didnt even look before she abruptly swerved left. I saw it happening and yelled at her not to do it ... she did it anyway and I had to slam on my brakes or T-bone her. Seriously ??? I know we all make questionable moves sometimes but this was blatant. I slammed on the brakes. And then had to get restarted in the middle of a hill. In my 53-13 (at least it felt that way). Fabulous. That was the split in the pack and while I chased my little heart out, I couldn't catch. I wound up about 12th while Sara made the split and wound up in the top 10. Melanie finished right behind me and Robin stuck it out to finish at the back of the pack.
My lack of filters kicked in here b/c I tore off in search of (unnamed rider). I was pretty heated - I absolutely HATE when people take my safety into their hands... If I hadn't seen it happening, she would have taken half the field out in that turn, going about 22mph up a hill. For my fellow competitors, you're welcome - I made it crystal clear that this was unacceptable.
That night we stayed in a cabin - a straight-up cabin, bunk beds and a bathroom, that was IT. It was mildly entertaining but I was so tired I don't think it would have made a difference. We slept until we woke up, which was good.
Our race was at 1:15 so we had plenty of time to relax and get our things ready. 54 miles was a long race for us but by this time I had something to prove. We were again protecting Sara since she was highest in GC. Race was fairly animated with the big guns launching attacks and the field responding. 3-laps,18 miles. By lap 2 I knew it was going to end in a field sprint. There was a fabulous downhill into town with a hard right turn and a chicane leading into the sprint so this was going to be interesting. I went back and grabbed Sara several times to bring her to the wheels she needed to be on (near the front). I chased a few things and helped bring back a few things we weren't in.
After a last lap move by Lorena (HPC) was brought back, Juice Plus jumped. We had about 2k to go and it was ON ... we were like a freight train, no moving up and back, you were on the wheel or you weren't. We came into town and had it up over 40mph for the final sprint. I was in decent position - We made the final turn and I jumped with the sprint. I saw a white line and thought that was the finish - I hesitated for half a second before realizing the finish was another white line 5meters ahead. I lost a good 3 or 4 positions to that Cat4 move. But, still finished 10th and I'll take it. Melanie managed to sprint for the correct line for an awesome 5th place, while Robin and Sara survived the pack finish.
Once all the racing was over, things relaxed. We sat down for some pizza at the "Wooden Nickel". A local couple correctly pinned us as cyclists (what gave us away? Do we have it stamped on our foreheads or is it the panda-tan?) and chatted us up, asking about the race and our input on improvements.
We saved room for ice cream, because everything is better with ice cream. Truly. We sat in the town gazebo and read a little about the town's history on the plaques in the town square. The same couple from dinner came over and offered a tour of their beautiful yard- in DC or Baltimore, this would be odd and borderline frightening, but we're in small-town-America.
They lived about a block away in this gorgeous old home. Kathy had attended school in DC (horticulture) and was dying to show these DC dwellers what she does in her spare time. Their yard was absolutely covered with beautiful annuals and perinnials; trees, shrubs and flowers of all types. It looked and smelled wonderful. A winding stairway, lined with flowers, led us up to their wrap around porch where you could see the river and the sun setting.
Now thats the way to cap off a weekend of stress, sweat and tears ... If you can make it next year, put Millersburg on your list of things to do. You won't regret it. More Millersburg stuff on the Team blog.
My lack of filters kicked in here b/c I tore off in search of (unnamed rider). I was pretty heated - I absolutely HATE when people take my safety into their hands... If I hadn't seen it happening, she would have taken half the field out in that turn, going about 22mph up a hill. For my fellow competitors, you're welcome - I made it crystal clear that this was unacceptable.
That night we stayed in a cabin - a straight-up cabin, bunk beds and a bathroom, that was IT. It was mildly entertaining but I was so tired I don't think it would have made a difference. We slept until we woke up, which was good.
Our race was at 1:15 so we had plenty of time to relax and get our things ready. 54 miles was a long race for us but by this time I had something to prove. We were again protecting Sara since she was highest in GC. Race was fairly animated with the big guns launching attacks and the field responding. 3-laps,18 miles. By lap 2 I knew it was going to end in a field sprint. There was a fabulous downhill into town with a hard right turn and a chicane leading into the sprint so this was going to be interesting. I went back and grabbed Sara several times to bring her to the wheels she needed to be on (near the front). I chased a few things and helped bring back a few things we weren't in.
After a last lap move by Lorena (HPC) was brought back, Juice Plus jumped. We had about 2k to go and it was ON ... we were like a freight train, no moving up and back, you were on the wheel or you weren't. We came into town and had it up over 40mph for the final sprint. I was in decent position - We made the final turn and I jumped with the sprint. I saw a white line and thought that was the finish - I hesitated for half a second before realizing the finish was another white line 5meters ahead. I lost a good 3 or 4 positions to that Cat4 move. But, still finished 10th and I'll take it. Melanie managed to sprint for the correct line for an awesome 5th place, while Robin and Sara survived the pack finish.
Once all the racing was over, things relaxed. We sat down for some pizza at the "Wooden Nickel". A local couple correctly pinned us as cyclists (what gave us away? Do we have it stamped on our foreheads or is it the panda-tan?) and chatted us up, asking about the race and our input on improvements.
We saved room for ice cream, because everything is better with ice cream. Truly. We sat in the town gazebo and read a little about the town's history on the plaques in the town square. The same couple from dinner came over and offered a tour of their beautiful yard- in DC or Baltimore, this would be odd and borderline frightening, but we're in small-town-America.
They lived about a block away in this gorgeous old home. Kathy had attended school in DC (horticulture) and was dying to show these DC dwellers what she does in her spare time. Their yard was absolutely covered with beautiful annuals and perinnials; trees, shrubs and flowers of all types. It looked and smelled wonderful. A winding stairway, lined with flowers, led us up to their wrap around porch where you could see the river and the sun setting.
Now thats the way to cap off a weekend of stress, sweat and tears ... If you can make it next year, put Millersburg on your list of things to do. You won't regret it. More Millersburg stuff on the Team blog.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Going Fast Enough
This weekend was a doozy. It went from being the third "off" weekend (from racing) in a row to being a busy, two day, 6 hrs of driving 250miles to race a blazing 45 miles - weekend. It felt great to be back in action - two weekends of no races was more than enough for me.
After swearing off time trials (for all of a month - essentially the period of time where there weren't any local ones anyway), I was a bit anxious about Saturday's Church Creek TT. At the advice of a teammate, I made a last minute appointment to get a bike fit - last minute as in we were finishing up around 6pm on Friday for my noon-Saturday start time. Hey, I like to keep things interesting. Long story short, I had my best TT ride to date on Saturday. I came in 2seconds off the winner- Rockstar Sonja Evers. And, better yet, I was not in excruciating pain - sure some muscles were sore because I never rode my TT bike except in a race, and sure my legs felt the effort - but I wasn't hobbling around because of knee pain. I wasn't having hamstring or glute issues. More importantly, (to quote a teammate), my girly-bits were all in tact. I was comfortable on my TT bike - I even (gasp) enjoyed the TT. Good gosh - did I just say that ?
Shameless plug: Josh Frick, Performance Director at CycleLife, helped me with my bike fit before the TT ... CycleLife is not yet open to the public, but our squad is filling the role of guinea pigs as they get up and running ... CycleLife has all the gucci equipment, Josh has tons of experience, success and hands on knowledge - a perfect combination. Bike fits are just one of the myriad of services that CycleLife will offer once they open their doors in September. I'm a believer - I went from asking Rick Norton to push my TT bike out of the car into oncoming traffic to 2seconds from winning the district jersey. As Josh told me after the TT - I was the one who had to pedal the bike, he just unleashed the beast.
Okay, after all of that, teammate Robin and I headed up to Christiana, PA to take part in the remaining event from the crowd favorite Tour de Christiana. Again, a shame the event didn't go off as the classic stage race, but I was glad to take part in my favorite of the three events - the criterium. For those that don't know the course, its a pretty technical 1.25 mile course with 9 ... count them ... 9 turns. That's not the best part - the last turn is into a fabulous hill to the finish line. Sweet. Field was fairly small - maybe 25 starters - but had some heavy hitters ... an Aaron's pro girl, the Juice Plus woman that won Wilmington Grand Prix ... a couple non-pro but super strong gals (ie Betty Tyrell, National Champion TT'er) and then some locals. I had no idea what my legs had left in them after the TT but I was bound and determined to make a run at it.
The race started well enough - a slow start up the hill, some minor attacks, a break of 2 got away but was subsequently reeled in. I chased a few things, followed a few wheels... halfway through, it started to rain- a light rain at first, just enough to make things slick. I saw Betty go off with Juice Plus and thought that looked dangerous. Two riders jumped through the turns to chase on and I jumped to chase onto them. I knew THIS was the race - I also knew I could make up time in the corners because I am pretty comfy cornering at high speeds. I was about 10 meters away from them going into the last turn before the hill and calculated in my head that I could catch them at the top of the hill, just in time to recover before the next set of turns. I set up for the turn and immediately knew I was coming in too fast for the newly paved and now slick with rain pavement.
Instead of flying through the turn, I slid through it, knocking over the barrier and generally causing the crowd to stir. I hopped up, checked to see how my bike was, ran to the pit and tried to breathe. I checked to see how much of my arse I left on the ground (not much - slid mostly on the wet pavement) and whined about how bad a spot for a pit this was -at the bottom of the hill !
While I was waiting for the field to come back around, Juice Plus had gone off the front only to slide out in the same corner I just came from. She, however, is a bad-ass and didnt even take a free lap. She kept on going, got caught by the rest of the "break" and later broke off again to win solo.
With Juice Plus going down, the officials were a little distracted so they pushed me out a little later than they should have so I chased up the hill to make contact. I made contact just as we were going through the turns. It was really raining now and I found myself behind Betty in the turns. Betty doesn't like cornering with other people and she's strong enough to sprint out of the corners and gap off going into them - that about wore me out but when I tried to get around her, I blew myself up and got gapped off the split. Damn !
I chased. And chased. I was in proverbial no-mans-land ... no one in sight ahead or behind me. It was pouring by now and I had 5 laps to go. By myself. I was bound and determined that I wasn't going to be caught by the field so I settled into a modified time trial position. It was raining so hard that I was laughing by the end - I was timid in the corners since I already played that game so I was coming to a near stop for each corner. The crowd was super supportive - after seeing me take a dive on the pavement I think I had their sympathy vote. Long story longer - I managed to finish pretty much solo, 7th overall. Tired, cold, wet and a little bloody ... but happy with the finish. I'm down a saddle, a skin suit and some skin ... well worth the sacrifice.
Quote of the day: (Mario Andretti) If everything seems in control, you're just not going fast enough.
Today I went fast enough.
After swearing off time trials (for all of a month - essentially the period of time where there weren't any local ones anyway), I was a bit anxious about Saturday's Church Creek TT. At the advice of a teammate, I made a last minute appointment to get a bike fit - last minute as in we were finishing up around 6pm on Friday for my noon-Saturday start time. Hey, I like to keep things interesting. Long story short, I had my best TT ride to date on Saturday. I came in 2seconds off the winner- Rockstar Sonja Evers. And, better yet, I was not in excruciating pain - sure some muscles were sore because I never rode my TT bike except in a race, and sure my legs felt the effort - but I wasn't hobbling around because of knee pain. I wasn't having hamstring or glute issues. More importantly, (to quote a teammate), my girly-bits were all in tact. I was comfortable on my TT bike - I even (gasp) enjoyed the TT. Good gosh - did I just say that ?
Shameless plug: Josh Frick, Performance Director at CycleLife, helped me with my bike fit before the TT ... CycleLife is not yet open to the public, but our squad is filling the role of guinea pigs as they get up and running ... CycleLife has all the gucci equipment, Josh has tons of experience, success and hands on knowledge - a perfect combination. Bike fits are just one of the myriad of services that CycleLife will offer once they open their doors in September. I'm a believer - I went from asking Rick Norton to push my TT bike out of the car into oncoming traffic to 2seconds from winning the district jersey. As Josh told me after the TT - I was the one who had to pedal the bike, he just unleashed the beast.
Okay, after all of that, teammate Robin and I headed up to Christiana, PA to take part in the remaining event from the crowd favorite Tour de Christiana. Again, a shame the event didn't go off as the classic stage race, but I was glad to take part in my favorite of the three events - the criterium. For those that don't know the course, its a pretty technical 1.25 mile course with 9 ... count them ... 9 turns. That's not the best part - the last turn is into a fabulous hill to the finish line. Sweet. Field was fairly small - maybe 25 starters - but had some heavy hitters ... an Aaron's pro girl, the Juice Plus woman that won Wilmington Grand Prix ... a couple non-pro but super strong gals (ie Betty Tyrell, National Champion TT'er) and then some locals. I had no idea what my legs had left in them after the TT but I was bound and determined to make a run at it.
The race started well enough - a slow start up the hill, some minor attacks, a break of 2 got away but was subsequently reeled in. I chased a few things, followed a few wheels... halfway through, it started to rain- a light rain at first, just enough to make things slick. I saw Betty go off with Juice Plus and thought that looked dangerous. Two riders jumped through the turns to chase on and I jumped to chase onto them. I knew THIS was the race - I also knew I could make up time in the corners because I am pretty comfy cornering at high speeds. I was about 10 meters away from them going into the last turn before the hill and calculated in my head that I could catch them at the top of the hill, just in time to recover before the next set of turns. I set up for the turn and immediately knew I was coming in too fast for the newly paved and now slick with rain pavement.
Instead of flying through the turn, I slid through it, knocking over the barrier and generally causing the crowd to stir. I hopped up, checked to see how my bike was, ran to the pit and tried to breathe. I checked to see how much of my arse I left on the ground (not much - slid mostly on the wet pavement) and whined about how bad a spot for a pit this was -at the bottom of the hill !
While I was waiting for the field to come back around, Juice Plus had gone off the front only to slide out in the same corner I just came from. She, however, is a bad-ass and didnt even take a free lap. She kept on going, got caught by the rest of the "break" and later broke off again to win solo.
With Juice Plus going down, the officials were a little distracted so they pushed me out a little later than they should have so I chased up the hill to make contact. I made contact just as we were going through the turns. It was really raining now and I found myself behind Betty in the turns. Betty doesn't like cornering with other people and she's strong enough to sprint out of the corners and gap off going into them - that about wore me out but when I tried to get around her, I blew myself up and got gapped off the split. Damn !
I chased. And chased. I was in proverbial no-mans-land ... no one in sight ahead or behind me. It was pouring by now and I had 5 laps to go. By myself. I was bound and determined that I wasn't going to be caught by the field so I settled into a modified time trial position. It was raining so hard that I was laughing by the end - I was timid in the corners since I already played that game so I was coming to a near stop for each corner. The crowd was super supportive - after seeing me take a dive on the pavement I think I had their sympathy vote. Long story longer - I managed to finish pretty much solo, 7th overall. Tired, cold, wet and a little bloody ... but happy with the finish. I'm down a saddle, a skin suit and some skin ... well worth the sacrifice.
Quote of the day: (Mario Andretti) If everything seems in control, you're just not going fast enough.
Today I went fast enough.
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