Berkeley Hills: Race Report

Berkeley Hills RR W3, Masters 1/2/3/4
6th of 26 (or over 40 incl. Masters)
Course: 51 miles, 3 laps, climbs: Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Baby Bear and the junk in between
Teammates: Andi Smith, Linda Elgart (in Masters category)

I have to agree with Linda Elghart: I really enjoy the W3 and Masters combined field.  Masters riders are always a joy to ride with, and I knew a handful of them.

I had a tense first lap as one of the strong W3 riders clearly wanted to get away.  I knew I had to mark her every move, but one of them, unknowing to me, came before a climb (I forget which one).  I had successfully bridged to her, bringing along many others, just at the base of the climb.  I quickly fell back on the climb.  I struggled for the next few climbs as I was chasing in between.  Finally, on Papa Bear, I was exhausted and fell off the pack and had thoughts of throwing in the towel (my feed support looked so lonely….).  Luckily, a large chase group had formed and we were able to catch back on with the back on the descent.  No breakways had formed.  Good!  Crisis averted.

Second lap, I found my legs and felt GREAT.  I was always near the front watching for attacks and even set the pace up Mama Bear.  Still feeling good, I killed it up Papa Bear, getting a sizeable gap between me and the rest of the field (which was shattering).  At the very top of the climb, several Masters women gunned it as there was a QOM prize for them.  I was happy to have someone to work with the final lap.

There were only about 10 riders left the final lap.  We worked well together, gaining on the chase group enough that we no longer worried about them catching.  I was still feeling great and at the front of each climb.  Unfortunately, about 15 seconds into Papa Bear, the bottom fell out.  I was COOKED.  Looking at my power output, I was going much slower than any other climb and I watched many racers ride away.  What a horrible sight. I salvaged 6th place spot.

This race taught me that having a bad lap isn’t indicative of your total performance at a race.  I could have sworn the first time up Papa Bear that I was out of the race, when quite the opposite was true.  I also learned about dosing out effort and that I needed to leave much more in the tank for the last brutal 1+K climb to the finish.

Ronde Van Brisbeen Circuit Race: Race Report

W3, 3/29/09
2nd of 24
Teammates: None
Course: 1.7 mile circuit- 1k downhill with a couple tight turns, followed by a gradual uphill to a “hilltop” finish

This race was somewhat of an after thought- it was added to my racing calender last week as a good opportunity to grab some upgrade points.  The course suited me well- a decent climb with a hilltop finish.  Gotta love those

I warmed up for the race and felt the fatigue of the previous day’s BtC TT and 1.5 hr ride.  Luckily the race started out at a very manageable pace, so I had time to continue warming up and scope out the course and riders.  I had been warned that timing the sprint at this race would be difficult because I would need to start sprinting before I could see the finish line.  I found a spot that was roughly 200m away from the finish to keep in mind for the final lap.

There were two large teams represented in the field, so I decided to not waste too much of my energy on the front.  I found that I lost my position on the downhill, but always found a good wheel to save energy for the uphill, where I had no trouble moving up.  Besides one solo effort, the pelaton stayed together for the entirety of the race which set me up for my favorite kind of the sprint: the uphill kind.  I had expected riders to jump early, but found just the opposite to be true.  I stayed second row during the climb, but found that all the girls on the front were riding abreast and blocking any attempt to start a sprint.  Finally, the field shattered and I managed to pick my way through to the line (just about in the gutter) in a close second.

All in all, a good race- complete with Thin Mints and $$$ 

Snelling: Race Report

Women Cat4
1st of 50
2/21/2009
Teammates: Ashleigh Jackson

I’ve been excited about this race for a while for a couple of reasons: it’s a road race (enough crits!), and there was a full field of 50 (not to mention another full B field).  Snelling, however, is a “C” race for me, so I had not tapered and was honestly a bit fatigued going in due to a nasty combination of hiking and strength training on the Thursday before.  I headed out to the race early to get in a solid warm up and be as primed as possible for the 35 miles ahead.

Within the first 5 minutes of arriving, I was approached by a team in my field who first notified me that I was marked and asked if I would like to take part in a breakaway with them.  I was a bit taken aback (albeit flattered), but listened to what they had to say and decided that if it worked out, sure I’d go in a breakaway with them.  My experience with pre-planned breakaways is that they rarely work and that you really have to think on your toes.

The first two of three laps of the race were fairly uneventful, save for a rather large crash that took out several riders behind me.  I kept my eyes open for strong riders, and found a woman who I new was strong.  Half way through the last lap, she and I attacked after a sharp turn.  We took turns pulling, but were eventually caught by more riders.  We had a breakaway going, but no one would pull their weight.  I attempted to get a double pace line going, but didn’t work (I made no friends here ).  The effort wasn’t completely in vain, the field was whittled away to a mere 12.

I sat in for the remainder of the lap, concentrating on staying towards the front.  I had been warned that some anxious riders would start the sprint before the last turn into the finishing straight away, and the prediction proved true.  I let them go and headed into the last turn around 5th.  I decided to wait a bit before sprinting, but when a lot of girls started passing me, I decided to gas it.  I executed a very McEwen inpsired final sprint and maneuvered my way through the field to victory!

The points won in the race now qualify me to upgrade to Cat3, which is really the icing on the cake.  I’ve had a great time racing with Cat4s and have met a lot of amazing women.  I look forward to taking the next step in racing as a Cat3

Baba Zula Performing on the Bospherus

San Jose Cycling Classic: Race Report

• San Jose Cycling Classic Criterium, Women Cat4
• 2nd of 5
• 2/14/2009
• Teammates: None

I arrived in SJ as the only women cat4 signed up, but found out while registering that 2 more had registered day-of. Race director Jeff Wu told us that the race would go ahead same time, although it would be turned into a points race.

Great. I’d assumed we’d merge with the cat3s and had no time to warm up. On the start line, 2 more women showed up, so we scraped the points race idea and went ahead with the crit (we literally took a vote). One of the late sign ups was a women from Left Coast I raced with last season who consistently won, and actually told me she had enough points to upgrade but hasn’t. Between going from a crit, to points race, back to crit, and now with very strong sprinter in my group, I had to come up with some tactics fast.

The race start of SLOW. I was happy with this, because I hadn’t had the chance to warm up. We dropped 2 riders early and with 3 left and about 20 min to go, I took some long pulls on the front to quicken the pace and start putting some hurt in their legs. I knew at this point I had really good fitness, but not a strong sprint. Unfortunately, my attacks were consistantly answered by the same racer, who pulled the strong Left Coast sprinter back every time. Left Coast sprinted past me the last straight away- I came in a close second- and a pound of coffee richer from a prime win

After speaking with my race mates, they admitted to me that they struggled keeping my pace when I pulled. I wish I had been more aggressive earlier on and set a more consistantly fast pace longer. Live and learn…. and figure out how to be competitive in crits as a non-sprinter :-/

Tour of Qatar: Women’s Race

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/feb09/qatarladies09/qatarladies093/gbQatarW30026

Photo ©: Gregor Brown/Cyclingnews.com

Cherry Pie Criterium: Race Report

Women’s Cat4

Team Webcor/Alto Velo

2nd of 36
2/8/2009
Teammates: None

Course: 1 mile loop, one hairpin, 3 90 degree, and 1 wide turn, moderate hill (power climb) approaching the hairpin, good pavement

I went into this crit with confidence, as my fitness has improved lately and the course suited me well (technical with a short hill).  I was happy to be doubled up with the Women’s 35+ 1,2,3 because these women really know how to ride their bikes.

The race started off fast, and I was concerned that I would have trouble because I hadn’t fully recovered from training camp the weekend before.  I remained calm, and stayed in the top 5 (or sometimes 10 ) of the pack to make sure I was positioned well going into the hairpin.  The pace eventually settled- was fast, albeit manageable.  The field was really whittled down, as many of the Cat4 couldn’t maintain the pace.  I was in 7th heaven riding with really good bike handlers- at one point I rubbed shoulders with a rider in the hairpin, everyone remained calm and there was no problem.

I put in a good effort in the last lap to make sure I was well positioned going into the last hill into the finish line.  I tried to stay on a wheel half way up, but pulled out to the right in time to move up the 4th crossing the line (2nd in my category).

All in all a great race.  I was thoroughly impressed by everyone’s bike handling skills- it was a joy to ride with such a great group of women.  Oh, and the cherry pie wasn’t bad either

I have to mention that the girl who took 1st is 15.  Very impressive.

Zuberance

Last November, I met Warrick Taylor on the Alto Velo B-ride.  He was excited that the start up he was working for (as VP and Business Operations) called Zuberance had just received funding.  No small feat, given the hard economic times.

Zuberance is in the market of social media- which has close ties to my senior economics thesis: the economics of the internet.  Zuberance, under the leadership of CEO Rob Fuggetta, has created a platform that takes existing customers and turns them into a volunteer advertising force.  This allows marketing departments, who have almost across the board have had their budget cut, to engage in low-cost, high ROI advertising.

Zuberance was (and is) growing rapidly, and is well positioned in this economy.  I was excited about this company’s approach to social media and what has been dubbed the “groundswell”: a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.  I was brought onboard and have enjoyed the fast-paced, highly energized atmosphere.

Sportvelo Winter Camp

Dan Smith of Sportvelo recently hosted the 9th annual Sportvelo Winter Camp. It was 4 days of hard miles with massages, speakers, and lots of food mixed in. I was only able to attend for the two weekend days due to work, but in those days I rode upwards of 150 miles over 8 hours with 12,000 feet of climbing.

The camp serves as a springboard for riders to get ready for the racing season, which starts for many at Snelling RR on 2/21 (or for me- Cherry Pie on 2/8). If nothing else, it’s just exciting to live cycling for four days with fellow cycling enthusiasts.

The Sportvelo Winter Camp Pelaton

We were fortunate enough to have cycling photographer Kenneth Conley with us on Saturday. Camp served as practice for the upcoming Tour of California, which he will be photographing. His photos can be viewed here.

I Dolomiti

My dad and I spent a good part of the month of September cycling with Erickson Cycle Tours in the Italian Alps, affectionately called the Dolomites.  In my three year career of cycling, I have been fortunate enough to go on several cycling tours, but I have to say, there is something unique and magical about the Dolomites.  This was my favorite tour yet.  I recorded a total of 550 miles and 62,000 feet of climbing.

In the picture above, I finished climbing the famous Passo Pordoi.  It was a few degrees above freezing.  A Liquigas racer was staying at our hotel at the pass- staying at altitude was part of his training.