Dunnigan Hills

Dunnigan Hills Road Race

Womens 123

Team: Emily Foxman, Mary Maroon

Feild: 21

Placing: 4th

I caught up to Em around the warm up area. There were only 2 of us and 7 RED Racing. We needed a plan. Em and I decided to make it fast. Emily attacked right after the moto pulled off. When she came back together with the pack, I attacked. This was enough to set the stage for how the race was going to be. Josie Morgan went and I went again. This time I was off for quite some time. About 30 minutes. RED organized at the front and began to work to bring Webcor back. I was collected right at the base of the first climb. Em immediately attacked up the hill. 1 RED racing went with her. There were 3 RED at the front. I bridged to Em and began a rotation with her. We were away for 10 minutes before I got a flat. Em and RED kept going but got caught a few minutes later. I waited for the follow vehicle. Lucia (LGBRC)  had also flatted and was pacing the follow car back. I jumped in with her with a borrowed wheel. Right as we were catching back on the pack took a nature break. We rode that finishing straight at a comfortable pace. During the second lap, RED Racing sent some girls off the front but everything came back. 

Before the final climbs, I told Em that what I needed most was a little wind protection. She offered me her spot I told her to find a safe spot for herself and allow me a little room to follow. We had both worked ourselves over and were struggling the second lap. This last effort from Em made a huge difference in my ability to recover. At the final climbs, Em was done. She fell off the back and just couldn't get back on again. She rode as hard as she could during the race and even though she wasn't connected to the pack she continued to chase. At a time when most people would soft pedal in having decided that they had done enough work for the team, Em kept going. She finished alone and on the back and Webcor should be really proud of what she did for us today. 

The finish was moved from last year and was tricky. The sprint finish was not well marked and very small. Velo Promo was experimenting with a different finish location. I'm confident that they will find a good way to work it out eventually. Anyway, as a result of the road closure and finish line, Webcor got a very honorable 4th place. No, it is not 1st but we did not hand over the race to chance or race reactively. We raced hard. We raced like a team. 

-Mary

CCCX Road Race

Race: CCCX Circuit

6 laps, 75 minutes

Teammates: Mary

Field: 15

Place: 3

Keith DeFibre loves racing so much and it really shows at his circuit

races. He marked off 5 miles of road between Sea Otter and some

Military housing with some climbs. It's a really good course that

doesn't necessarily favor a pure climber. Our field was a little on

the little side because they raced the Masters Women and the Cat 4s a

minute behind us and there was another race in Danville.

Last year I battled the race out with Laurie Fenech (MadCat). She was

here this year too. Neither one of us had official teammates but we

both had a back up plan. Laurie was talking with Jane (Yahoo) before

the race but I drove down with the Mexican National Road Champion

soooo...

The tactic that Laurie and Jane devised was pretty good considering

the field. Laurie would attack. I would jump and bridge. Jane would

try to chase me down. The rest of the field would follow. This

happened twice. On one occasion I countered Laurie and the same thing

sequence of events unfolded. It was pretty clear what was going to

happen all day. There was not going to be a break with me in it.

If you can't instigate a break and you can bridge to a break, you can

always thwart a break. Keeping a close eye on the girls who want to

attack and just going with them will keep the field together. This

plan is great and almost completely executable. The only variable is

there are other women.

I'm not going to try and control the race. It's not realistic and

philosophically speaking a little unethical to think you can make

other people do your bidding. I'm not going to just sit back and be

reactive. Letting other people determine how you race is just plain

stupid. Racing is like boiling a pot of water. All the molecules are

moving around together.

So anyway, I loose track of Laurie for 3 seconds and she pops off the

front again. For about a mile she was only a few feet in front of us.

No one chases. Then Jane, instead of putting herself at the front of

the race and sitting up, separated herself and rode on the opposite

side of the road. Most of the field followed her out of habit. Then

all of the field followed the rest of the feild. The next thing you

know, Yahoo has very passively managed to get the entire field behind

her and at sub 15mph. And Laurie rolls up the road.

Dulce, our heroine of the story and our Maxican National Champ,

doesn't know the racers and their shenanigans, doesn't know the course

but for the 2.5 laps we've been on it, and quite frankly doesn't know

she can trust me. In English, I tell her she might want to go after

the girl up the road. I'm not sure she understands what I said so I

give some hand gestures and indicate that I will block. She jumps and

starts a little TT after Laurie.

Right at that moment I overcome with contentment because I know Dulce

will make contact and win the race. I know that she has a little ways

to go before she gets there and that she'll have to work for it but I

know it will happen. It felt really good to "tell" Yahoo and MadCat

that it was fine that they wanted to play tactics with me but I was

going to counter them with something they couldn't expect. Right at

that moment Yahoo was physically trying to chase and mentally

realizing that Webcor and Touchstone were not going to let it happen.

It took Dulce 1.5 laps to catch MadCat. Dulce won the sprint by at

least 3 bike lenghts. The rest of the women's field was so proud of

her and the promoter was super stoked to have her at his race. As for

my race, I rode at the front with Yahoo on my wheel. I sat up for 2

seconds and let her lead out the sprint for 3rd.

On a day like Saturday you realize that racing is not always going to

be getting taken to the curb by Vanderkitten. Sometimes it's you and

10 of your best friends trying like hell to crush each other and being

really proud of whoever makes it to the top that day. I can't write a

race report for Dulce, my Spanish isn't that good. I know she worked

super hard to bridge and she earned a well deserved first US win. I

can tell you that I will be racing with these same world class, world

champion, tough as nails women for a long long time to come and we

will love every minute of it.

-Mary

Tour de Nez

I think Webcor is now 9th in the NRC standings, and Bec and Mary should be in the top 100 individually. :-)  A 5th and a 6th at an NRC race, pretty sweet!   ~ Andi

Race: Tour de Nez

60 minutes

Teammates: Mary, Bec, Em

Field: 35ish

Place: 5th (Bec 6th)

I didn't take a survey with every single rider in the peloton, suffice

to say I didn't talk to anybody who didn't feel a little bit sluggish

in the heat and altitude. Martina Patella (RED Racing) actually passed

out during the race and hit a hay bale. It was that hot. Amber Pierce,

who is from Reno and won the race attacked after a field separation

and TT'd for 20 minutes for a win of 45 seconds over the field. It was

pretty incredible.

In case you don't remember, Amber Pierce used to crush the Valley ride

when she lived in the South Bay. She's on the National Team now and

changed her name from Rais via a husband. She was on Webcor, dark

brown pony tail, really professional and really classy...Now you

remember.

The current Webcor/AV Women's team had some big Diadora's to fill on

Sunday. We rose to the challenge and did our best. Our best put Webcor

in 9th place for top NRC teams.

The course was great. It was a little narrow and the corners were

tight. There was an uphill chicane and a downhill chicane. It was

great for going really fast.

The pack was together when the first Prime Bell was rung. I went for

it to feel out the finish. I actually ended up getting it and creating

some separation from the field with 3 other riders. I pulled off the

front to begin the rotation. When taking inventory of the potential of

the break I saw 1 girl who was not break riders and 2 who could be but

didn't know how or wouldn't.

The pack was only a few feet back so I sat up. This actually created

more separation. There was no one in the top 5 who were represented in

the break yet there was no one chasing. Perhaps it was clear that this

break would not stick. A few girls bridged, including Bec. Then a few

more. I had no reason to chase a break with Bec in it so I sat up and

kept an eye on anything that would encourage a regrouping or be a

threat to Bec.

Eventually the field came back together. The wind was picking up and

would definitely affect the finish. It would just be a matter of

positioning going into and coming out of the uphill chicane on the

last lap. I had been following Bec for the last 4 laps and she was

taking the corner at the top of the course perfectly. I thought that

if she could just do it one more time we would take the field sprint.

I passed her before that perfect spot on the last lap. It was a slight

miscalculation but I don't know if she knew I had been on her wheel or

that she was so perfect on that corner. We got on the back of 4 riders

before the crest. Primal were 2 of them. 1 Primal sat up and opened a

huge gap between her teammate and the rest of us. I passed her, Bec

passed her and we just tried to see how close we could get to the

three in front of us.

Our best team placing this year: 5th in an NRC race. Thanks for reading.

-Mary

Cascade Crit

Heya Everyone,

The day started out great. Teammates Bec, Lauren Robertson, and I went on an

easy spin in the morning to check out tomorrow's circuit race course,

got our necessary dose of caffeine and spent some time checking out

downtown Bend and did a somewhat reconnaissance walk of the crit

course for later in the day.

We didn't race until 5:45pm so the rest of the day was pretty chill.

Then we road over to the course, signed in, and I went on a hunt for

free swag, but wasn't able to find too much.

Our race started out pretty well, I felt pretty good and was moving

up, but then all hell broke loose, I'm not 100% sure what happened,

but I crashed in turn 4 pretty early on in the race. I remember

something causing my rear wheel or derailleur to lock up and then I

gloriously somersaulted over my bike and was soon run over by a

cycling BC rider. I popped back up pretty quickly and ran (well ran as

well as I could in cleats with blood streaming down my leg) over to

the neutral support. Once I arrived I was put on our spare bike, the

team's somewhat TT setup Orbea, with a massively dropped stem, adamo

saddle, and reverse brakes that were not completely even. So that

definitely made it an interesting rest of the race. I was shaking from

either adrenaline or blood loss when I was being put back on the bike,

but our awesome DS, KCM, reminded me to breathe and got me to calm down

before I was put back into the race. I was a little nervous and became

aware of the issue with the brakes on our spare bike coming into turn

two when I almost slid out again, but luckily I was able to recover.

After that I just focused on staying in the race until the end and

making the time cut and with each progressive lap the raw road rash on

my left leg where there had been skin 40 minutes before was burning

more and more so I began counting down the laps until I could get it

cleaned up. Bec also had a bit of a mishap; her tire blew out after

turn 3 later on in the race, but she was able to get in and finish

with the pack. Though we had a few issues things still worked out. I

was able to finish the race with the bunch and we all made time cut,

and I'm still stoked to keep racing tomorrow

cheers

-Em

Cascade - Stage 1

Day 2 in beautiful Bend, and after the blink and you miss it prologue yesterday, the real racing of the Cascade Classic was set to kick off today. Em and I were joined by our two super guest riders - Lauren from Texas, and Katheryn from the Bay Area, who apparently has done a bit of racing in the past.

Lining up with the 115 or so other girls, we were at a tactical advantage, being the only team with a super DS, who rides, directs and domestiques, while our mechanic Jason waited behind with his local knowledge and bottle juggling while driving skills. The 120km McKenzie Pass road race that awaited us was a whopper, cresting McKenzie Pass and The Sisters.

It started with 7 miles of neutral descending, and as with most neutral starts I've experienced, it was probably faster and more hectic than a normal race start would have been. Making it safely to the start of the race proper is an accomplishment in iteslf! We all met that first goal of the day, and while cruising downhill at around 60k/h after the commisaire car sped away, we all thankfully avoided a pretty nasty crash that ended at least 1 girl's day.

As the road rose upwards, so did the race tempo, with NOW Novaris, Tibco and Peanut Butter throwing in plenty of attacks to keep the field on its toes. Nothing could get established, so the majority of the field approached the first major climb of the day intact, but that wouldn't last long. The stick thin cycling species sensed their chance, and danced away from the rest of the field. All the major teams were represented, and to be honest, a lot of the time when attacks go on a cimb, its more about who can go, than who the field lets go. So they went at their pace, and the peleton kept it fairly steady, lead for a large part by Katheryn 'I Swear I'm Retired' Mattis. You can take the cyclist from the race, but you can't take the race out of the cyclist. And in this case she rode like she'd never left, sharing little gems of advice and encouragement along the way, to be the most useful DS you could ask for.

Cresting the first climb, there wasn't much time to relax as we strung out single file down the pedalling descent. It was just long enough to cool the legs off a bit before bringing them slamming back to reality as we hit the next climb. Nearing the top, we were met by the gnarly looking larva fields, contrasted by the beautiful snow-capped mountains in the backgrond. I had about 2 seconds to admire the scenery before it was back to business as we passed over the KOM and through the hectic feed zone, before dropping down the final long descent of the day.

As it flattened out, we tapped along at a decent rate of knots, not really aware of what the gap was to the leaders, until finally the moto informed us that they were about 2 minutes up the road. Seeing the 20km to go sign a couple riders put in a few jumps. Maybe they were practicing their sprint for the crit, or maybe they just wanted to confuse the peleton. They succeeded at the latter, as the road was long and straight, and if they had intedned to chase down the break, they were probably an hour or so late.

We bombed through the final feed zone on one of the fastest sections of the course, and I think more bottles were lost than were gained. It strung out winding through the town before the base of the final climb of the day. As we approached the final 10k and the road started to head skyward again, Katheryn was chatting away in the bunch as she had been doing a lot of the day, as if on a cruisy group ride with friends, and I hear her exclaim 'this is where I pull the pin'. Fair enough, I thought, and I started to go tempo up the climb, only to see her a minute later come streaming past, moving to the front of my little group and towing us back to the bunch in front. All this on a diet of swimming and a couple rides a week, while those of us who actually had been training for this were left chewing stem and hanging on by the skin of our teeth. So maybe there is something to be said for cross-training and recovery... or maybe there's just something to be said for being an absolute animal on the bike!

Katheryn 'monster' Mattis then promtly moved to the front and set a good tempo up the final 5k climb to the finish. Some riders were gradually tailed off, and I was praying I wouldn't get dropped by the team DS. Lauren was proving that sometimes climbing is in your blood, and you can train in Texas all year and still look comfy as on mountains in Oregon. We crossed the line about 4 minutes down on the winner, Kristin McGrath from Peanut Butter 2012, and Em rolled in with a nice sized chase group not too far back.

The plan for the week is to treat it as 6 one day races. So we can tick this one off the list and now turn our attention to the TT. The race of truth awaits!

Bec

Cascade - Prologue

The Webcor/Alto Velo Bridge Team, presented by SportVelo made the trip up to Bend, OR for the Cascade Cycling Classic. Bec Warner and Emily Foxman were to be joined by Texas rider Lauren Robertson. Katheryn would have the pleasure of directing the girls at this race and found Jason Quade, a local, to be our mechanic.

Fortunately we arrive safely in Bend Sunday evening and were greeted by our hosts for the week, Dave and Audrey Adams who have hosted the Webcor women's team for the last two years. They fed us a wonderful dinner and we collapsed into our beds after the long day of travel.

Arriving a day early before the race allowed us to preview the TT and prologue courses and despite the looming clouds, we managed to get a good sense of them. Lauren joined us Monday night and we had a great first team meal.

Tuesday morning I (Katheryn) went to registration only to discover the only way to have a car in the caravan would be if we had 4 riders. As we only had 3, this left us in a bit of a bind… hmm… what to do. As Mary Maroon made the last minute decision not to do the race, we had the start spot; I decided, "what the heck, I'll do the prologue and then not start the road race on Wednesday". Not necessary what I was planning for but if this would help out the team so that we had a car in the caravan, I'll do it.

- fast forward -

The prologue was a short 2 mile out and back in the Old Mill District of Bend (same area as where the last 2 years of cyclocross nationals were). With the distance being so short, the effort would be full throttle from the start. The most technical part was the turn-around, which was this funky "rectangle" through a parking lot.

I was the first off as I wanted to get back to switch my helmet for my DS hat. To be honest, I have not gone that hard in a long time and as many of those who know me, short efforts like that were (and still are) not my forte. 

Bec, Em and Lauren all did a great job of giving their best and Bec was our top finisher. Tara Whitten smoked the field and won over Clara Hughes and Kristin Armstrong.

Due to a suggestion by Jason, our mechanic, I decided to start the next day race as he offered to drive the follow vehicle so I could DS from the bike. Yeah… so much for retirement; let's just hope my 2-3 day a week "training" will be enough!

KCM (ret)

Wheel Kids Presentation (http://www.wheelkids.com/)

Last Friday, in response to a request from Webcor, members of the women's team volunteered to present to the Wheel Kids about bike racing and riding. Here's Haley's report, and it sounds as if the racers had almost as much fun as the kids! Thanks, Webcor, for the opportunity!

_______________________

This last weekend Holly, Bec and I all went up to San Francisco to do a presentation to Wheel Kids (http://www.wheelkids.com/). The organization is a summer bicycle camp for kids who are in grade 1-6.

Early Friday morning we all loaded into the Webcor car with bikes, kit and even a full PowerBar bag. It felt like we were going to race but in actuality we were going to spend a couple hours with the kids at summer camp. I wish when I was in grade school there would have been something like Wheel Kids around.

When we arrived at the marina, we found the leader Tim and decided our best course of action based on the number of campers and overall skill level. We were to talk about bike racing and hopefully inspire the campers to someday give bike racing a go.

As the weather was cold and slightly rainy, we started off indoors with talking about how we got into the sport and what you need for racing. Eventually we did a 'spot the differences' quiz with Bec and myself each in varying stages of race readiness. Helmet, kit, gloves, bike, shoes, race number. Those who could tell us what we were missing were awarded with a PowerBar, which went over well.

After the indoor portion, we all went outside and practiced drills. We all would demonstrate and the campers would follow. The drills were: coming to a correct stop, cornering, side by side cornering, and feed hand offs. We used the remaining PowerBars as feed hand offs to those campers who didn't receive one before.

Everyone did a great job and we were all impressed by the campers' skills. It was fun to spend the morning with eager, well behaved campers who obviously love their bikes as much as we do.

--Haley

Davis Crit 2011

Testarossa Velodrome Challenge 2011

Burlingame Crit 2011

Here's Holly's race report from Burlingame; she's turning into a crit monster!

Race Report The Parnassus Investments Burlingame Criterium, W P1/2/3
9th of 42
No teammates -- at Dairyland and Nationals
6/26/11

The Bridge Team spanned the US this weekend with Bec, Emily, Haley, Jane, and Dan in the Midwest, Mary in the South, and me holding down our fort in CA.

There was a great racing atmosphere with summer weather, a fast and fun course, and local residents out to watch. The crit circled downtown Burlingame in 0.7 miles with 5 right turns and 1 left to keep us from getting too dizzy. This marked my 4th ever crit, but intimidation and a bit of fear are being gradually replaced by love! High intensity, fast corners, and surprise primes make for an exciting game.

The pack of 42 held tight through the early laps, but just 2 in I rode over something nasty, punctured, and was sidelined to the neutral pit. I am so grateful for the speedy mechanics and the sweet wheel that I used for the rest of the race. I rejoined on lap 3 with a focus of keeping toward the front and going with attacks. I am learning to be less conservative and found myself in position to contest a prime, lead for a bit, and stay in the mix for the finishing sprint. The 40-minute race was over in a flash, and I crossed the line in 9th place.

It was another weekend with a lot of Webcor green going really fast. Good job, & I hope to see you this weekend too! Thanks for reading!

Holly

Follow the Bridge Team:
http://www.facebook.com/AVBridge
http://avbridge.blogspot.com/

Dairyland race report: Madison Crit

Dairyland race report from Bec:

Madison Race Report
Teammates: Haley and Jane
Winnings: Primes!

The final day of the Tour of Dairyland was fittingly raced in the state's capital, Madison. We went in circles around the impressive Capitol Building, which kind of seems ironic, as I'm sure the politicians inside were doing the same thing, just in a different sense. It was a great place to finish the week of racing, with much appreciated clear skies and probably the best conditions of the week.

Once again it was on from the gun. Vanderkitten had returned from taking 2nd place in the Glencoe GP in Chicago the day before, and were obviosuly high on confidence and motivation, as they pushed the pace from the start. The course was a short 0.6 of a mile, heading downhill after turn one until kicking up into a long drag to the line out of the third corner, which definitely sapped the legs, and the prospect of clambering up it 50 times was slightly daunting.

Attemps at breaks were made, but they mostly just strung out the field. Everything was covered pretty quickly, and it looked like the field was keen for a bunch sprint, after the breakaway succceeding the day before at Downer. Webcor floated around the bunch, and Haley was right on her game continuing to cover moves, before getting a blow out heading into the fast 3rd turn, and expertly holding it up and playing it cool before rejoining a lap later.

I was riding soft as a marshmellow and didn't have the legs to outsprint my grandma, so decided my best chance at making something of the race was to have a crack at a prime. A $100 sprint was called, and I went hard early, hoping to psyche anyone out of coming as well. It thankfully worked and I was able to take the climb to the line all on my own. I kind of went a little hard and found myself with a much bigger gap than planned, which forced me to try and make somthing of it, so I hung of the front for the next lap or two before being swallowed up and almost spat out, just clinging to the back to recover.

The next prime was called for $20. After all the big money being thrown around during the week, expectations were high, and people had become a bit lackadaisical about a mere $20. But 20 bucks is 20 bucks right, and that kind of money can buy you a heap of cheese, or ice cream, or milk (or maybe even fireworks) in this wonderful part of the country! Haley sensed her chance, and with images of swimming in pools of Dairyland's finest custard in her head, jumped ahead and claimed the prize. I'll leave it up to your imagination to decide what we spent it on!

Coming into the final laps, the big hitters were moving to the front and really pushing the pace on the off camber corners. Webcor struggled to move up, and on the final sprint up the hill got caught behind people who suddenly sat up. Forget at least rolling to the line, just slam on the brakes right in the middle of the hill. No worries mate! Really that was our own fault though, as making a run at the line from 20th place belongs in the "What NOT To Do In A Bike Race" book. You live and learn.

All up it was a great experience. Awesome fast racing, heaps of choccy milk, good company, and fireworks. What more could you ask for?!

Thanks to all the girls, and especially to Coach Dan for putting up with us during the week.

Take it easy

Bec

Tour Of Dairyland - Fond du Lac

Tour of Dairyland - Fond du Lac

Day 4 in Dairyland started with a bang - literally. We got the most pressing matters out of the way early, and stopped to stock up on fireworks on the way to the crit. Judging by the amount of explosive material heading out of that shop, these Midwesterners really know how to have a good time! With the important business dealt with, we piled back into the monster truck and trundled off to downtown Fond du Lac, where a flat and fast 4 corner, 1km circuit awaited us.

The whistle blew for the start and the field bolted like a startled rabbit towards the first turn. On a course like this, position is everything, and consequently everyone wanted THAT good position. The ends were maybe 40 metres long, with the straights being nice and long and wide, so if you were willing to stick your nose in the wind, there was plenty of room to work your way up on the straights before melding in nicely before rounding the bend and consolidating or doing it all again.

Thankfully the rain held off, but there was some blustery wind to contend with. The back straight, aided by a tailwind was super fast (think 50k/h), and plenty of attacks were made, but none got much ground. Webcor put in a few jumps, and Haley patrolled the front like an over zealous security guard high on caffeine, letting nothing escape out of arms reach. There were plenty of primes called to keep things strung out, with Team Type 1 and Mellow Mushroom sweeping the majority and laughing all the way to the bank.

With 5 to go they called a $300 prime, and Laura Van Gilder, in the leader's jersey and having dominated the week, danced across the line as if her name had already been written on the cheque, before holding position as the pace got hectic over the next couple laps and duly taking out the sprint as well, in front of no less than Cari Higgins. All at an age where she's old enough to be mother to half the field. Respect!

Haley continues to rep the green, and rode strong and aggressive the whole race, finishing the best out of the team in a credible 26th. We finished the night on a nice note with a free dinner put on by the Dairyland organisers. They're looking after the women really well and it's much appreciated. We're off to Milwaukee tomorrow for the Downer Classic, so keep your ears pricked for news of what will hopefully live up to its name and be an absolute classic.

Bec

Tour of America's Dairyland. Sheboygan Criterium.

Race: Tour of America's Dairyland. Sheboygan Criterium.
Date: 6/23/11
Teammates: Jane, Bec, Emily
Placing: 17th, one spot out of the money

This race in Sheboygan was super fun. Highlights included meeting Emily's extended family, a rainy course, a woman pushing a cart getting onto the course, and beating Dan at how many times we could say "Sheboygan". Low points were an early crash that took out some girls and a result one spot out of the money.

Sheboygan is a cute little Wisconsin town that was selected by a Reader's Digest Survey as the Number One Place in the Nation to Raise a Family. The town has miles of Lake Michigan coastline. When Jane and I were warming up and talking politics along the lake, we saw a burnt out hull on display of the Steamer Phoenix that burned there in 1847. This set and eerie tone to my start of the race.

The crit was a good 4 corner course of less than a mile. The rain ceased for a bit to actually dry the pavement but girls were rightfully cautious for the first couple laps though there was an early crash. The race was fast and position was key. Attempts were made to break but nothing got away. At one point in the race along the back stretch, a woman pushing a cart decided to walk across the street in front of the oncoming pack. Luckily she picked up the pace to a quicker walk and we just barely missed her.

I finished 17th but had a good time racing.
Haley

Ripon Time Trial (Tour of the Dairyland stage 7)

Race: Ripon Time Trial (Tour of the Dairyland stage 7)
Teammates: Haley, Bec, Jane
places: 11th, 15th, 27th

Today we had a much earlier start for our race than yesterday, though I was not nearly as caffeinated as my previous race report.

At promptly 8am we left our hotel to drive off to Ripon from Waukesha, and I promptly fell back to sleep in the car...

After we arrives, signed in and pinned out numbers, the Bridge team (and Dan) went to ride the course as a warm-up, I was a little nervous about time and it seemed like we were kinda pushing it as I saw the first few people in our field started before I rounded the last corner of our backwards course lap, but luckily we made it back to the start with a few minutes to spare (disaster averted!)

The Bridge team started one after another and Haley and I decided that as motivation I would try to catch her and she would try to stay away from me. I was able to keep her in my sights for a good amount of time and we both passed 3 people.

The course was fun, rolling hills and lots of wind, but luckily not too much rain (I tend to like to see when I time trial), but gotta love the courses that bring on the suffering and don't know when to stop, but this did make it difficult to get into a good rhythm because the combination of hills and wind kept changing.

The bridge team finished reasonably well, with two of us in the money. Haley was 11th with a time of 38:21 and I was 15th with a time of 38:36 (I was a little disappointed with my race today, but you can't always have your best performance and I'll use it as motivation to do better next time). Jane finished 27th with a time of 39:22 and Bec was 30-something.

-Em

Follow the Bridge Team:
http://www.facebook.com/AVBridge
http://avbridge.blogspot.com/

Tour of Americas Dairyland, Schlitz Park Criterium

Date 6/21
Race: Tour of Americas Dairyland, Schlitz Park Criterium
Category: Women's 1/2/3
Location: Ridon, Wisconsin
Teammates: Jane, Bec, Emily
Place: 16th, in the money!

Today was the Team's first race at the Tour of Americas Dairyland. The race was 4 days in out of 10 and we fresh off of racing Pescadero except for Holly, who is studying, and Mary, who is at Nationals.

The venue for the course was at the Schlitz brewing company. Historically it was once the largest producer of beer in the world. "The beer that made Milwaukee famous."

The criterium course consisted of a short flat leading to a hill of 200m with 100m of it being pretty steep. Then to a nice flat and a winding downhill. The downhill was slightly sketchy and there was only really one line to ride otherwise you would end up in a pothole, which at speed would send your rear wheel hopping sidewise.

20 minutes in, the race was halted since a huge thunderstorm was in the works. We waited under a parking structure by the van for maybe 30 minutes before we were re-started and had another 40 minutes to race. Coach Dan Smith wisely said before the re-start "Think of this as a whole new race." which helped with perspective on the next 40 minutes.

The remainder involved riders slowly coming off the main group on the hill or through the winding downhill until there was a group of 18 of us. With 3 to go on a prime lap, Kristen Lasasso, riding for Mellow Mushroom, went off the front and no one caught her. I tried to stay in position for the last lap, passing 2 on the downhill and sprint for 16th place.

The Merckx style TT is next.
"When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer!"
Haley

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Dunlap TT

Date 6/8
From Emily, the Dunlap TT report on weekend of dodging raindrops
Race: Dunlap Time Trial
Category: Women's Pro/1/2
Location: Davis (think lots and lots of farmland)
place: 4th

on the morning of June 5th I awoke, bright and early... well early anyway it wasn't particularly bright outside, in actuality it was pouring and I was hoping that the rain would let up for the race, I still can't really get a grasp of the whole rain the June concept, damb global climate change (angrily shakes fist at the sky) after having the mandatory dose of caffeine to get myself up and running I set out for the  race and to my delight the rain had let up, though it was a little iffy as to whether it would hold through the race (but man I was glad I'm not a junior racer, getting up at the crack of dawn to be drenched is not really my cup of tea, i have this thing where I kinda like to be able to see when I'm riding, silly isn't it?)

soon after arriving I checked in and and pinned my number and in no time it was time to get warmed up. I prefer to get long warm-ups in prior to time trials, so I gave myself plenty of time to get going. To prep for the race I did my new favorite warm-up, a moderate-to-high intensity interval followed by some high cadence spints (I liked this warm-up, suggested by Karen at Redlands, so much that it has become my standard mode of getting ready to race) of course i do throw in my own flavor a bit to get me pumped to ride hard, fantasy metal! (I have kinda eclectic taste in music and today was definitely a dragonforce type of day) I arrived to line up for my start a bit early (being slightly OCD I to err on the side of early), and had a nice chat with Linda prior to my start, because let's just face it Linda is awesome :)

this year there was a start ramp for Dunlap which was something new for this race, I felt as if I was getting tilted a little too much prior to my start, but I was able to correct and there were no issues (thank goodness, it would have been totally embarrassing to face plant off the start ramp :P) I felt pretty good and I ramped up the pace and shifted into hard gears and soon was able to slip into a nice rhythm of 26-27mph, I passed my 30 second and 1 minute riders relatively early on, my 1minute 30 second person was Olivia Dillon so I didn't think I'd be able to come close to her, but I decided to make trying to see the green dot of her Irish national champion skinsuit far off in the distance a goal, I didn't but I like to give myself tough goals to work for so that I can push myself to my limits. When I hit the headwind section my speed dropped, but I didn't let it phase me and just tried to keep my speed as high as I could sustainably.

The rest of the race pretty much continued along those lines, with only the sound of my breathing in my heart and the occasional thought of checking speed and some motivational internal self talk. After turning the final corner and seeing the finishing tent in sight I put my head down and gave it all I had to try to save precious seconds and was able to increase my pace all the way to the line. After catching my breath and cooling down, I faced another challenge... waiting for results (which normally isn't so bad, but I was fighting theclock once again to try to get to a physiology study group on time because passing my classes and getting my master's degree is kinda important too, though as it should be second to bike racing :P).

After results were posted I saw that I was 4th with a time of 45minutes and 15 seconds, not bad overall, and I still made it to my study group on time though that was not nearly as fun of a race...

cheers

-Emily

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Memorial Day Crit (Win!)

Mt. Hamilton

So Winter held off for a day, and gave us beautiful clear, Spring-like skies for the Mt Hamilton Classic. Oh wait... that would be because it actually is Spring! Oops, who would have known?! Either way it was a beautiul day, and with the 30km, 4,600 ft climb up Mt Hamilton looming over the 30 something women standing at the start line of the 100k race, it was set to live up to its name, and be an absolute classic.

The moto towed us through the neutral section to the base of the mountain, and then the race was on - and it was on like donkey kong!! Jane Despas from Yahoo put in the first attack, and within the first 3km the field had completely shattered. There were big bucks on offer for the first over the top of the mountain, but had someone forgotten to inform half the field that the climb was actually 30km, not 3?!

Flavia Oliviera floated up the road as if we were standing still, sandwiched by two Peanut Butter girls, Tayler and Alison. Others tried in vain to go with, but soon dropped off the pace. So now it was a matter of settling into a good rythym and hoping that we could keep the gap to a minimum by the top.

Tapping away with my group of four or so, suddenly out of thin air popped Flavia! I heard later that she apparently had a mechanical, but on the down low I swear I saw the remnants of some tea and scones in those bushes. So after fixing her 'mechanical' and waiting for the rest of us to catch up, she jumped back into the race, and jumped right away again, adding insult to injury and dropping us for a second time, and going on to claim the QOM bounty.
More than an hour later, which included an uphill crash and some pointless attacks from my small chase group, we crested Hamilton, and zipped up the windvests and pulled on the armwarmers to face the descent and remaining 70km journey to Livermore.

In true Norcal racing tradition, the race wouldn't be complete without some interesting course features, which today happened to be cattle grids on the fast and windy descent. Having only heard tales of this fabled descent, I approached with caution, but soon decided to let that go with the headwind that would later face us, and pushed ahead eager to make up some of the time lost on the climb. Catching 2 of Flavia's other victims, the race was now on to close the gap to the 3 leaders.

Coming off the descent, and moving on to the rollers that followed, my new chase group, consisting of Susannah from Freemont Bank and Christina from Specialized/Missing Link, got some nice turns rolling and we had them in our sights. Olivia from Peanut Butter had also joined us, but with her teammates sandwiching Flavia up the road, she could catch a free ride on our train. Once they were in our sites, Olivia decided we'd delivered her nicely to her station, and turned the after burners on and took off, now resorting to her own big TT engine. Big kudos to Susannah and Christina who played it cool and kept our little train chugging away at a nice steady pace that would eventually get us all back on. We were awesome team mates... at least for those 15 or so kilometres.

Now there was a lead group of 7 girls - almost half of which were Peanut Butter's super strong time triallers, so understandably after clearing the worst of the rollers, which were peppered by a few little attacks just to get a feel for how everyone was going, the real attacks started. By this stage the group of 7 had now become 9, with Beth from Fremont Bank and Molly from Metromint latching back on. But really apart from the two Freemont girls, it was Peanut Butter up against a heap of lonely riders, which obviously played into their hands.
One after the other the Peanut Butter girls launched off the front - so predictable, but effective all the same. When you have strength, why bother with stealth?! The first half dozen or so times, some sort of a chase was formed and they were reeled back in, but eventually it became too much, with too few people willing to risk their legs for the benefit of the group, and Olivia escaped out of sight, never to be seen again.

Molly from Metromint showed her time trialling prowess and moved to the front to tow us all to the line at a steady rate of knots, into an equally steady headwind. She kept the pace that high that no-one really attempted to get off the front in the race for 2nd place, and so we crossed the bridge with about 1.5km to go, chase group in tact.

Strung out tip to tail, it was going to be a fast finish. Sensing the need to move up, Flavia moved out of the pace line, getting out of the saddle to kick ahead, and unfortunately was bucked by her bike and came down hard. A very unfortunate end to the day for someone who had made the race up Hamilton her own.

With a bit under a k to go Starnes launched an early dash for the line, dangling off the front until the pack charged, lead by her teammate Tayler who held off Beth Newell to make it a well deserved Peanut Butter 1-2. They may have had the numbers, but you still have to pull it together and execute, and they did just that, riding a tactically impressive and powerful race.

Webcor came in 4th. We may not have quite made the podium, but to just finish that race, and say that you conquered Mt Hamilton is pretty good I reckon. Nice work to all the girls on toughing it out.
happy riding
Bec

Cats Hill

Cat's Hill
Women's P12
Holly, Bec, Jane, Emily, Mary, Haley

There is no way to follow an act like Karen Brems. I remember being a newly upgraded Cat3 at Catt's Hill. I did the 3/4 race, got dropped about half way through and chased until the official pulled me. Then I did the P123 an hour later with pretty similar results only I got dropped WAY sooner and pulled within a few laps. The following year I was in the wrongest gear imaginable on the first lap, got dropped, chased, then pulled. So at least I am consistent. I remember watching Karen anihilate the feild. I remember being at the bottom of corner 3 and seeing her 10 feet from the top. I remember overhearing her talking about shifting into the climb. She made me try harder. Not because I thought I'd ever beat her but because she was better.

We met for the team meeting at the top of the hill. Karen was our DS. I can only imagine how fun it would have been to race for her. She gave us the same shifting directions. She gave us all very specific jobs. Bec and I were to focus on the later part of the race. Em, Jane and Haley were to focus on the beginning. Holly was going to absorb as much as possible. Incidentally, I think Holly was a tinsy bit intimidated because she's a new upgrade but she rode really well in the pack. I think she has the ability to win Cat's Hill next year.
The very first lap I accidentally shifted onto my 34/11. I dragged up the hill. Was I going to relive my past? Was this course the Twilight Zone of racing? Hadn't I broken the spell of repeating races at Wente two weeks ago? I was pretty sure I was going to complete the entire race but a little panic did reverbrate through the team. I think Karen was shaking her head. Andi was trying to calculate how I was going to recover from the per-dicament. Dan, with the enthusiam of a grade schooler at an amusement park, was begging me to climb better. It took a few laps regain position. I found a comfortable gear. Bec was trying to make up position on the climb. I was doing the exact opposite.

The feild didn't do a whole lot of attacking. They basically used the hill and prime laps to sort things out. Bec took a prime mid race. Flavia went on a chrsuing spree and dragged the pack around for a long time. Tibco didn't really make their presence obvious. It was pretty clear they were in for the win. Susanna Breen made a really gutsy move at 4 to go. She attacked on the back side of the course and stayed away for almost two laps. Tactically speaking, this was a pretty good move for Freemont Bank. If you went with 2 or 3 to go you would just accelerate the entire race. If you went with 5 to go, you'd be out too long.
Somehow I missed the 2 to go lap count. I was just excited to still be inthe race. I was trying to invent a new mental image about the race. I was so used to getting dropped. I knew I had the ability to win the race. I wasn't stuck on an old visualization in as much as I was struggling to create a new one. I certainly saw the 1 to go card. I was mid pack at best and felt a little irritated at myself. I moved up a few spots on the flats, gained one spot on the climb, and pushed through the downhill moving myself to 4th position going into the last corner but the race was already over. An all out sprint for the line was gaining me ground on top 3 .

I can only beat myself up so much for not making the podium. I was spending mental energy figuring out how to ride the race 30lbs lighter than previous years and with WAY better equipment instead of looking at lap cards and planning tactics. I know Karen wants a win for the team but I hope that in some way she was just a tinsy bit happy with the improvement she instigated years ago.

-Mary

PG&E (Win!) and Pitt Crit

Thank goodness for the well constructed Voler clothing. I can honestly say that this is the first year that I have been very impressed with the fit and comfort. To Voler's credit it might have something to do with the fact that I am 2o lbs lighter than I was when I first tried their spandex. No amount of time in the saddle is more comfortable that it is if you weigh less than last year. Anyway I think I found some common ground with my uber endurance teamies. I spent 10 hours in the same chamois.

PG&E Tri Valley Velo Livermore Crit
Tri Valley Velo held a race in Livermore on Saturday morning. The Bridge Team was slated for Pitt Critt but I snuck out there because I am a gluten for double crit days. The feild was sub 20 deep and there was almost everybody had a teammate. Webcor didn't. It was windy but there wasn't a lot of tree stuff flying around. The course was basically a four corner crit with the exception of turn 4 which was smooshed in making the head wind sprint to the line a lot more interesting. Basically it was head wind on the start/finish. A really bad headwind for 1 block. A nice tail wind for 3 blocks and then the curve into a head wind sprint. The only reason I mention that corner is because if it had been at 90 degrees the pack would have turned directly into the wind and come to a dead stop.

Suffice to day, Webcor used the curved corner to take 2 primes and first place finish. Other Tri Valley Velo highlights include jumping in the Bounce House with Kim Fong, having a contest to see who can eat more tangellos (gawd! girls are so competitive), being awarded the biggest little check this side of the Sierras which I will most certainly "attempt" to cash and write about it later, meeting some guys who worked with my dad at PG&E before he retired, shooting the sh*USH* with with course marshalls on my favorite corner and watching Brian Bucholtz get tactically challenged and still put out an absolutely incredible sprint finish.

Pitt Crit
6:30
Haley, Bec, Jane, Myself, Ted Burns, Dan Smith
Super Windy
40 girls
3 PB
3 Touchstone
1 Specialized
4 Webcor
2 Metromint
2 Fremont
60 Vanderkittten
PB (Olivia) took the first lap hot. Webcor (Mary followed up with a speedy start to the second lap. At the first prime Webcor (Bec) made a risky early move. Mary snuck up front to manage the pack to ensure a prime win. PB (Olivia) attacked with a huge tt effort and no one wanted to chase. Webcor (Mary) pulled, Touchstone (Emily) pulled A LOT, Specialized pulled. The gap grew to 20 seconds, came back down to 13 for a long time and then slowly came down to caught. Webcor (Bec) followed with a sharp little counter into chiquane 1 . We were at about 7 laps to go.

Things settled in a bit and the head wind after turn one was really strong. With 3 to go PB went to the front and maintained position. At one to go Specialized went to the front and pulled the field through chiquane 2. PB (Olivia) was second wheel. Webcor (Mary) was 4th wheel out of the corner. Third wheel was allowing gaps to open in the final two corners. The finishing stretch was open because Specialized kept the speed up. Webcor (Mary) came around from 3rd position and was closing in on PB (Olivia) when PB (Coryn) snuck up the side with a snappy sprint. Webcor (Bec) rode the top of the field in and earned 4th.

-Mary

Berkley Hills RR (Win!)

Sunday was the third and final stage of the 'Webcor Bridge Team Stage Race - Proudly Presented by Sportvelo'. After being taken to the Beth Newell Track School on Friday night at Hellyer, then lighting it up at the Pittsburg Twilight Crit on Saturday, we arrived at Berkley Hills Road Race with the legs well and truly warm (or almost cooked in some cases) and ready to race. Today Haley, Holly and Bec took to the start line with the 30 or so other racers, ready to tackle 115km and the fabled 'Three Bears', and defend our lead on GC.*

*It's hard to say if anyone else was actually aware of this, or the fact that there was a stage race on at all, but whos fault is that right?!

Now Berkley Hills doesn't have windmills, but I'm currently in the process of writing to the Department of Energy, COS IT SHOULD!! The wind obviously didn't bother everyone though, as after leaving the pituresque lake and rolling through the neutral section to the main road to get the official race start, Jane Despas from Yahoo jumped away, never to be seen for the next 70km! Now that's some serious TT training! Respect.

This, combined with the fact that noone else really liked having the wind in their face, meant that we were strung out tip to tail fairly early on in the race, with Fremont Bank, Metromint and Webcor the main forces in keeping the pace rolling over. Annie from Metromint and Suannah from Fremont moved to the front on the climbs and kept the pace high, stringing out the bunch, but the majority of the field was still hanging on heading into the second lap.

So I'm not 100% which climb is which 'bear', but it didn't really matter. From what I hear, bears aren't all that friendy, and these were no exception. And just like in the fairytales, to get past the bears you had to venture into their cave, which in this case was a very deep pain cave. So at the end of the first lap, the prospect of passing them another 3 times made me feel more scared than Goldilocks when the bears arrived home to find her in their beds.

The second lap was much the same, as we kept the pace rolling over in pursuit of Despas. Luckily we were being given fairly regular time gaps by the moto, otherwise I think she could have easily been forgotten altogether. Coming into the third lap, the time gap was closing and we eventually reeled Jane in. I'm thinking that if the Department for Energy don't like the idea of windmills at Berkley they should definitely entertain the idea of employing Jane and Beth as the first Human Power Stations, cos those girls can put out some power! Both are always keen to keep the pace high and willing to drive on the front.

Berkley bacame a race of attrition, with no great surges in pace but a consistent and unrelenting tempo, riders were gradually gobbled up by a hungry bear, or spat out in the wind. So we entered the final lap with a lead group of around 10, including 3 Metromint, 2 Fremont Bank and an assortment of other individual riders. Everyone was being very cautious and waiting for the team with numbers to make a move, but nothing came.

After a few unconvincing attempts at getting away were made, Beth laid it on the line and made the decisive jump on the back rolling section about 15km from the finish. Two Metromint's suddenly found their legs and made the surge to latch onto her wheel, and were eventually joined by Webcor and Missing Link who scrambled to claw onto the back of the Newell train, cos once that train gets chugging you know its not stopping till the final station.

With Metromint holding the upper hand with 2 out of 5 riders, they were eventually forced to make a move, and chose to lead us to the finish at quite the comfortable pace. Cheers. On the final downhill Webcor took the lead and was left there to lead it up Papa Bear to the long awaited finish line. Trying to stay calm and not take on Papa too early, we tapped away until rounding the corner where the finish line stood, lit up in all its glory and beauty seen through the eyes of cyclists delirious from picking a fight with a bear, not once, but 12 times! Webcor got a bit excited by this sight, and went for it, jumping away. The others were quick to react and the legs and lungs were quick to realise that it was to early, sitting down and trying to keep some kind of pace while waiting for the the dreaded counter attack. It didn't come, and at this stage with all brain cells and any rational thinking having been puffed out on the side of the road, along with half a lung, Webcor went again, this time wobbling accross the line and holding on for the win and the coveted stage race GC. Anna Barensfeld from Missing Link came in for 2nd, with Beth from Fremont finishing off the podium. Holly came in a very respectble 12th in her first cat 1/2 race.

Congrats to the whole team on a great weekend of racing.

Bec

Menlo Crit & Easter Classic Crit

Menlo Crit
Women 1/2/3
Place: mid-pack out of 47
Teammates: none, they were at Copperopolis

I did this race twice last year (W3 and W123) and liked it well enough, but
this year was so much better. Mostly it wasn't 45 degrees and raining, that
helped a lot. There also weren't any crashes this time around, and the race
felt very safe to me. I felt like this was a very good race for me, not
because I finished well, but because I learned some lessons and felt much
more solid cornering in a pack. Cornering has always been my weak spot in
races, but I've been working on it and I think I'm getting better and more
comfortable. Anyway, lesson #1 was don't work to bring back the break when
you don't have any teammates, especially when there are a couple of teams in
the pack that aren't represented in the break. Lesson #2 was don't bridge to
the break when the gap gets down to 6 seconds - I bridged across, but the
leaders were tired and the pack was hungry, so we got reeled in quite
quickly. Lesson #3 was move up in the pack early for the finish and stay
there - I lost position when the pack slowed with 1.5 laps to go and then
the speed picked up so I couldn't move up. Anyway, not a great result but a
good learning experience for me.

Easter Classic Crit
Women 1/2/3
Place: 10th of 14
Teammates: none today

This was a bit of an odd race, with two hairpin turns. The field was pretty
small, probably since it's a new race and a lot of people spend Easter
Sunday with family, etc. I rode over to the course for a nice 10 mile
warm-up and got there plenty early, which gave me time to watch the Masters
35+ 1/2/3 race and see just how brutal the wind was in combination with the
hairpins. I think their small pack split in two only a lap or two in, then
further splintered as the race went on, so I knew going into my race that
positioning was going to be key and no matter what, this race was going to
hurt.

Well, I may have known that positioning would be important, but
implementing that was a bit harder, and after about 15 minutes I got dropped
on a hairpin after a couple too many times around at the back of the pack
with tired legs. After not too long, Josie Morgan caught up to me, since
she'd been dropped too, and we settled into a nice long chase. For most of
the race, it looked like this: Liza Rachetto and Elis Bradshaw were off the
front widening their gap, there were 8 women in the pack, and then me and
Josie holding steady behind the pack. We went pretty hard the whole time,
not letting the pack get too far away from us, but we didn't really have a
chance of catching back on. So, we practiced our corning on the hairpins,
went hard out of every turn, and got some good training in. On the last lap
we passed another girl that had been dropped, and I beat Josie to get 10th.
At least we managed to not get lapped by the leaders, who were probably
about half a lap ahead of the pack and a quarter lap behind us by the end.

Copperopolis (Win!)

So it was a hell of a day in the Hell of the North. With Easter being a little later this year, the weather kept it's end of the bargain - bringing the Spring - leaving it up to the riders to make it a Classic.

Having driven the course the week before, we left Webcor's Sportvelo team headquarters at a bright and early 5am, as prepared as one can be for a course that can be best described as sections of pothole, with a small strip of road thrown in. Bike bolts had been tightened and re-torqued. Extra wide tyres had been acquired, and the cushiest chamois selected.

The pro 1/2 field were joined by the 3s, much to our delight, as it meant Holly would be joining Haley and myself for the bone-jarring 100ks that lay ahead. Things set off at a good pace, and it was obvious that the girls had come to race, and not just leave it up to the course to pick a winner. Metromint had the numbers, and after riding tempo up the first climbing section, they used that card to their advantage and threw in some attacks and counters over the rollers. It was early in the race though, and nothing looked too dangerous at this stage. All the same, Webcor brought the green machine to the font just to keep the pace high and the break in sight, not wanting the old adage of out of sight, out of mind to come into play, and things were brought back together pretty quickly.

We crested the second climb at quite a high tempo, with everyone wanting the best view as we hit the 'cobbles' (note: they're not actually cobbles, but it sounds so much more Euro and romantic than 'crap road with giant potholes'!). Things got a bit strung out on the descent, and there was a slight split in the field, forcing the second group to multi-task, and chase at the same time as focusing on not swallowing now dislodged fillings, and regaining feeling in arms that had been tenderised more than your Easter lamb roast. It came back together comfortably as we got our first view of the rollers coming up to the finish line and passed through town to start our second lap of three.

We picked up the pace a bit over the climb this time, and by the top there was a select group of 5, with Yahoo, Fremont, Metromint and Webcor all represented. No-one was up for really pushing the pace and getting turns rolling at this stage, and with half the group taking a wrong turn into the farmhouse, the chase caught back on not too long after, and the second lap finished much the same as the first.

The Fremont girls, who had been looking strong all day, flatted on the rollers before the second climb, and after latching back on, launched a girl solo off the front heading into the deciding lap. The laps are long, and it would be hard to stay away, but this was definitely more than a half hearted teaser, and the field would have to react.

As we entered the main climb for the last time, Fremont had the advantage of getting out of sight on the many bumps and bends that peppered this section. Webcor moved to the front to push the chase, as Metromint seemed content to sit on in the hope that the climb alone would bring her back. Not wanting to take that gamble, I zeroed in on her with the intensity of a Woodside cop, and as we reached the final kicker, we'd brought her back and it was now a case of two Fremont and one Webcor - definitely not ideal, but better to be off the front and outnumbered than not there at all.

Beth launched as we entered the flat section by the lake, and it looked like I was going to be burning matches just to make it to the finish. Grabbing her wheel, I tried on a bit of Aussie charm and we agreed to pull turns to try and stay away to the finsh. As I pointed out earlier, I may not be a gambler, but I know that 1 in 3 odds are better than a bunch sprint, and thankfully the Fremont girls agreed!

We got things rolling nicely, and Beth was obviously feeling the earlier effort and dropped on a little kicker at the turn around. To my surprise (and delight!) Susannah kept rolling through, and not knowing what gap we had on the fild we kept pushing hard. Some have labelled it a bad lapse in communication on Fremont's part, but I'd like to think she chose the 1 in 2 odds and rotating at a fast pace over the risk of being caught. Chugging along in our two carriage train over the back end rollers, we we're informed by the moto that we had a handy 1:20 lead on the chase, with about 12km to ride. There was a noticeable headwind though, and still the final climb to come, so there was defintely not time to relax.

Riding the final climb at the front, my plan was to keep the pace high enough to thwart any thoughts of attacking on Susannah's part, and thankfully she didn't. Riding the pothole rollercoaster was that much easier and faster with a clear view and the knowledge that this was the last time my brain would be rattling in my skull - for today at least.

Carrying our momentum into the final climbs to the line, I followed the wheel, waiting for the cat and mouse to start, but it didn't come. It was a long drag to the line, and praying that I had the legs, and that going early would put just enough doubt in her mind to not want to come, I pulled the trigger and gave it all I had to get my hands on that t-shirt!
Holly made it a Webcor double, taking out the 3s in strong style, appearing completely in her element on a road course made for mountain bikers.

Well done to Fremont on a strong race, and all the other girls for making sure we held our end of the bargain and put the classic in Spring Classic.

Bec

Spring Schedule

• Santa Cruz Crit on Sunday (pre-reg closes tomorrow)
• Presentation to the Alto Velo club
• Copperopolis on Saturday, April 23
• Wente on Saturday, April 30
• Berkeley Hills, Sunday, May 8
• Cat's Hill, Saturday, May14
• Scott's Valley, Sunday, May 15

Remember: our eyes are on the NCNCA Premier Series: http://ncnca.org/ncncaseries/ncnca-premier-series. Don't forget that Mt Hood Stage Race is sneaking up on us June 2.

Redlands Stages - Bec Updates:)

After 'warming up' the legs yesterday, and a feast for dinner, featuring Cid's meatloaf and other homemade delights, we were ready and raring for today's stage. SoCal once again put on the good weather for us - blue skies, a nice 98 degrees (36C) and a cooling breeze.

A whopping 113 girls lined up for the stage, which comprised of 3 laps totalling 72.3 miles (about 116km). A fast and mostly flat course, with one decent section of climbing. HTC entered the stage with both aces up their sleeve, sitting pretty with 1 and 2 on GC. This therefore left it up to any other team with GC aspirations to make something out of the race. Either everyone missed the memo, or the torture TT from the day before had had a greater impact than expected, and crushed peoples will to attack along with their legs. For Webcor I think it was the latter. We had the will (aptly displayed by Haley's solo 2.5 lap TT after a mechanical) but the legs didn't quite match.

There were a few attepmted breaks, but no real threats, and HTC easily defended, driving on the front and stretching out the field whenever they felt it was necessary. Apart from this, a couple little spills, a busy feed zone and the in race game of bidon dodgeball, not much else happened, and the climb became the race deciding factor. The main field approached the climb hard on the last lap, and a lead group of about 20 was formed. The run into the finish after the climb was fast though, and the first chase group caught back on, bringing it down to a bunch sprint, which was lead out quite late, with the final little uphill drag taken out by Theresa Cliff-Ryan of Colavita.

All the Webcor girls rode well. Karen and John were kept on their toes in the support car, doing a great job, especially without a working radio, and left to rely on carrier pidgeon... or maybe it was just the race official. Haley toughed it out solo on a long, hard day in the saddle, only to be dealt the rough news of being time cut. She leaves with the dignity of no DNF though. HUGE respect coming from this direction, and I'm sure she'll be an amazing swanny!!

For now the rest of us are resting up, ready for tomorrows 60 minute crit. Keep your ears pricked for that report, should be an interesting race.



Redlands Stage 3 - Sunset Road Race
I headed into today's stage full of apprehension. Being my first time at Redlands, I had no idea what to expect, and was relying completely on the stories and legends told by riders past. This was not a good thing. Many are to scarred to talk about it. The mere mention of the name 'Sunset' in conversation with cyclists and at pre race meetings drew gasps and screams, and looks of utter dread and horror. Position would be vital. The race would be rough and fast. People would be dropped, and gaps would form right at the beginning...and this was just in the neutral start!

With a build up like that, I jumped at the gun like a startled rabbit, but my nerves settled a bit when I realised it was only half as bad as all the legends made it sound. There were only 1 or 2 crashes in the neutral section, and the main race at the start was to see who could edge the furthest in front of the neutral car without being pulled back.\par
Unfortunately Mary and Amy were caught behind the second crash, putting them on the back foot heading onto the loop for the first time, which the field hit at a ferocious pace. There was a time bonus up for grabs at the first QOM, so the climbers and GC girls gave the rest of us a lesson in climbing, and danced away up the hill, instantly shattering the pack and gaining a lead of 1:30 in what seemed like no time. All the big players had someone in the break, so that first climb pretty much set the field for the rest of the race.

If you can stop focusing on simply holding onto the wheel in front for one second, you realise that although it may be hard, Sunset is a really cool loop. It initially winds it's way to the start of the climb through the suburbs, keeping you on your toes as the road is never straight for more than 50 metres. Then the climb starts quite steep, before plateauing and kicking up again into a longer drag, where at the top the QOM points would be decided before a flase flat gives you no time to relax and clear the lactate. It then bumps along through the feed zone until flowing back over the top of the TT finish and quickly winding its way back down to start the loop all over again. Nine times!

The first three laps were pretty straight forward. Mara Abbott glued herself to the front and set the pace, and everyone else followed along, fluctuating from about 30 seconds to a minute and a half behind the leaders. When a course is like that and the break goes early with the best climbers up the road, there's not a heap you can do. Everyone climbs as fast as they can, and as long as the lead group doesn't stop pushing inbetween, they stay away.

At some point the pack behind the main chase caught back on, and on about lap 6 or 7 we caught the front group momentarily. It only took them till the next time up the climb to decide that they didn't like sharing their playground with all the other kids, and they burned us on the hill, once again shattering what was left of the race. We then rode the last lap in our splintered groups, until we finally reached the finishing circuit. It was a nice downhill and then flat detour back to the start line. With the leaders completely out of sight, and 9 laps of the legendary Sunset in the legs, everyone was fairly content to roll the last bit home without too much stress.

Put on paper, it sounds so much easier than it was. Of course there were the usual screeching of brakes and crunching of carbon on bitchumen that you dare not look back for. I'm sure there would have been a lot more happening in the front group... but I wasn't there to know. Plus I know much more happened in my part of the race that I've failed to mention or skimmed over, but to be perfectly honest, I couldn't really tell you. I didn't quite have the armchair view today, and when you're chewing stem and well inside the box, the thought process can be very limited, and concentrating on what's happening so that you can write an awesome race report doesn't even come into consideration. So think of some of the crazy and exciting things that make a good bike race and insert them in here, cos I'm sure they would have happened!

For the record, Colavita won the stage, and HTC held onto the leader's jersey and 3rd place, sandwiching a Tibco rider in between.

Well done to all the Webcor girls, it was a ripper of a weekend.

Take it easy

Bec

Redlands Prologue

March 31, 2011
Place: 68th out of 113 starters
Bec 28th

This first day of the Redlands Stage Race was the Prologue which is a 3.1 mile uphill climb according to the race bible. We had Bec, Mary, Devon, and myself just off of the San Dimas Stage race last weekend. Emily met us in LA and Amy came out from Boulder.

The Uphill TT was a gradual uphill with a power hill then a nice grade past some orange trees. Then you take a right hand turn to a big hill to the top. Emily and I talked about it and divided the hill up in our minds into thirds. A steep climb that you had to redline a bit, a quieter left turn to a final 200 meters to the top. How it actually played out was a bit different.

Before the race, we found our spot right in the middle of the parking lot and set up camp with the Webcor car and SportVelo tent. John, our mechanic, had everything in order which is super awesome as we could focus on just warming up and staying hydrated.

I was third of our team to go and once I rolled off the starting platform I tried to keep an eye on the girl who started 30 seconds in front of me. The hard part here was to hold a fast pace but not go over and flood the legs for the climb. I think I gained a couple seconds when we turned onto the actually hill section. Then my focus turned to keeping my breathing steady and trying not to blow up.

Our host house mom, Cid, was at the top of the steepest part and her encouragement kept me pushing as hard as I could. The last little bit to the top I got close to my 30-second target but was caught like I was standing still by a Colavita racer. She would end up 4th so I don’t feel too bad about that.

I met up with Bec at the top and we rode down to the team base to cool down then ride home. Overall I think it was a good start and almost like a warm up for tomorrow’s 72 mile Road Race.

--Haley

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– http://avbridge.blogspot.com/

San Dimas SR

Stage 1 of the San Dimas Stage Race: A 3.8 mile uphill TT that wound its way up Glendora Mountain Road; An amazingly picturesque setting which would have been breathtaking... if you had a single gasping breath to spare. TTs are all about pain, pain and more pain. Throw a hill into that equation, and things can get messy!

The womens' field was 100 strong, with a host of top teams and riders to make for some tough competition and great racing experience. With a dose of Coach Dan's HTFU formula for breakfast, we attacked the first stage with vigour. As long as you keep the pedals turning over, and cross that line with your legs and lungs still functioning, you've won the battle. We all won the battle and posted respectable times, having a good hit out and testing out the engines ready for the next stage.

Stage 2 was the San Dimas Community Hospital Road Race. Eight laps, totaling 56 miles (approx 90km). Any race with 100 riders is bound to be interesting. Throw in some narrow but fast sections of road, a decent climb followed by a fast decent, and a touch of wind, and the race pretty much makes itself. The race of attrition, is won by position! Sounds good and is spot on to an extent, but there's always more to it as well.

I failed miserably in the position part, so had a backrow view of the race most of the way (which is good for writing a race report, right?!). The first lap is for settling in and getting a feel for the course. With the wind blowing the way it was, it was going to be fast, so any breaks were going to be hard to start, let alone maintain. We set off at a reasonable pace, but everyone was playing it fairly cautious, and it was the hill taking its victims that split up the race on the first few laps. Early on it was definitely a race of survival. If you got gobbled up by the hill, or spat out the back, the wind was picking up and it would end up being a lonely day chasing in the hurt box.

About half way through there were a few small attacks of the front, countering the field after a prime sprint. This strung things out and we were tip to tail playing gutterball for a while. No-one likes gutterball all that much though, so we soon resumed to standard bunch racing.
The hill was hungry, and gobbling up riders left, right and centre, so the main field had almost been halved by this stage. Apparently at some point 2 riders snuck off the front. I say apparently, because even with my armchair view, they'd pulled off a Houdini and disappeared in a flash.
If the CIA is looking at recruiting any time soon, these girls should be top of the list!

With 2 laps to go a Colavita girl was still off the front. The HTC train formed at the front in an effort to pull back some time, but they obviously were confident of their hold on GC, as they never got rolling at full steam. The last time up the climb it was a matter of holding on and trying to return home with the bunch. The sprint was left quite late, but Colavita were on their game this race, and organised the lead out train to go one-two for the stage.

For the Webcor girls, we all learned a lot and showed we can mix it with the big girls.

Mary showed off her awesome bike handling skills (former BMX bandit perhaps??), by holding it up when a stray drink bottle tried to end her race prematurely. She also made the wise move of no making acquaintance with the bitumen, when a small group of girls in front of her foolishly thought they'd do just that.

Haley learned never to make fun of Coach Dan's scout boy attitude of packing the kitchen sink, and that being sponsored by Powerbar is only awesome if you actually remember to take their super energy products with you during the race! Bonking is not fun. Just ask her.

Holly floated through the bunch like a seasoned pro, and floated up the hill on the first few laps with just as much apparent ease. She definitely showed she'll be a force to be reckoned with once those upgrade points come through.

Jane got to experience the dynamics of a chase group, who the name 'chase' group sometimes doesn't actually apply. All good training for next year though, when she wont have to worry about chase group dynamics. The main field is calling.

I learned that 100 riders is a BIG field, and that although riding near the back may be good for writing a race report, it's not so great for conserving energy and smart racing.

Sunday we were off to downtown San Dimas for the final stage - a 55 minute crit on a fast L shaped circuit. The newly introduced Webcor warm-up included a good 10 minute game of marks up (note from Andi: Bec is teaching us how to play Aussie football), and then we were set to go, joining the 67 strong field at the start line. It was pretty much on from the start, and that's how it stayed. Not much to report here. I played ticket collector for the whole race and I think I rewrote the book on how NOT to ride a crit. If you ever wanna know, just ask! Thankfully I took those ticket collecting duties seriously and wasn't going to drop off and let someone else take my place, so I clung to the back by the skin of my teeth and finished with bunch time. The sprint was won by Chloe Hoskings from HTC leading it out of the last corner and holding off any challengers to the line.

So that's San Dimas done and dusted, and now we rest up for a few days before heading off to Redlands.

As much as I complain about the pain, if the following quote is true, I'll happily hurt for many more races to come...
"It never gets easier, you just go faster" - Greg LeMond

Take it easy


Bec

Madera Stage Race

After last weekends adventure, we didn't want the girls who didn't race Merco to miss the whole central valley experience. So once again we piled into the car nice and early and headed east, this time for the Madera Stage Race. Jane had beaten her bug into submission, so was welcomed back to race pro 1/2 along with Hayley and Bec. Holly gave up valuable study time to race cat 3 in her quest for upgrade points, and Dan and Andi showed us how the experienced folk do it in the masters.

The day started with a 45 minute crit on a nice and simple four corner circuit. Conditions were perfect, and a field of 35, with no team flooding it with numbers, made for a nice hard race. The pace was good from the start, and the attacks came instantly. Coach Dan's instructions were heeded, and there was always a flash of green in any break of 2 or more. We animated the race well and put in two of the longer solo attacks of the day, giving the massive Madera crowd their moneys worth. A sneaky preme bonus win, a solid 2nd overall and all our skin in tact with zero crashes in the whole race (after the 6 or 7 last week) made for some positive vibes heading into the TT.
*note: positive vibes at the beginning of a TT are invaluable, as by the end, as you cross the line sweating spinal fluid and getting a second helping of your breakfast, it's hard to conjure any kind of vibe, let alone a positive one!

Hayley smashed it in the TT, so I'll leave it to her to spill the secrets on the race of truth.

Stage 3 was a 68 mile (thats about 108km for all those 21st century participants out there!) road race in the beautiful surrounds of Hensley Lake. It was another course stolen from the classics, with a teeth chattering back section, and a nice goup of power climbs to keep things interesting.
We rolled off on our neutral 2 mile start, but apparently neutral starts here here aren't just a chance to get the field together, but more a bunch 'getting to know you' sesh, as half the field prepared for the bumpy road ahead with a communal squat on the side of the road. No worries! If only Mary had had such a group of willing particpants to hold her hand last week! Once everyone felt suitably relieved and better aquainted, we continued on to get down to the real business.

In a short stage race like this, the TT had pretty much set the GC standings, so something big had to be done to shake things up at all. As this was the case, things on the first lap played out as one would expect. The top few on GC watched each other like hawks, while the remainder of the field peppered the race with attacks, testing out the legs, and the reaction of the field.
We approached the 'Belgian Backblocks' with some hesitation. With reports of craters, and core breaking cracks, I could be forgiven for momentarily entertaining the thought that I may have just bought a free ticket down a big black hole heading back down under. I don't want to go home just yet, so with a test of the bike skills, strength of carbon and quality of those tooth fillings we made it through the first time, to discover that it wasn't quite as life threatening as first thought, but definitely an interesting added element to the race. We continued over the rollers and got a good view of the finishing section and stretched the field out a little. After passing through the feed zone, Hayley's chain mistakenly decided it could relax after holding on through all those bumps, and dropped, dropping her chances of what was looking like a solid ride in the process.

Not far into the seond lap, a 2 rider break got away. Containing a Metromint and Missing Link girl who were both a fair way back on GC, and being so early in the race, noone was too concerned. Another Missing Link girl bridged across and they let her go. 'They' in this case are Metromint (with a rider 2nd on GC) and the leader on GC, who had the much trickier job of riding as a lone ranger. I missed this move, and as Coach Dan had pointed out the night before, the break you want to be in is the last one. This ended up being the last one! Wise words.

The rest of the race was extremely frustrating to say the least. It broke up on the rollers over the next couple laps until there was a main bunch of about 20 left. Noone wanted to let a chase group go, yet neither did they want to ride the bunch at a reasonable pace. We then got our just desserts when we were neutralised to let a mens field pass, all the while letting the break extend their time gap even further.
Everyone was obviously happy to watch GC go to the break. Going from the 2nd lap is a gutsy effort and well deserving of a win, but the field did everything short of polishing their cutlery as they handed it to them on a plate.
So now the rest of us were racing for 4th place. A Red Racing girl made a solo break and held on as she just held her gap to the line. Webcor accidently rolled off the front on the second to last climb and pushed on home for 5th just in front of the main field.

Then it was on to stage 4. The promoters had mistaknely left this penultimate stage off the program, so as the rest of the competition packed up, Webcor packed the car ready for the final race of truth. Dan and Andy may be veterans, but they raced with the speed and cunning of youth. Holly had her race face on and pulled out all the tactics in the book, and was always threatning and close on their tail in the hired Nissan (pronounced knee-saarn in your best Asian accent please). Jane and Hayley were at an unfair weight advantage and along with Ethan had possibly also missed the memo about stage 4. There's no real need to name the winners... but lets just say they were cutting all the corners, and at a definte advantage with aero helmets. That's a DQ in a road race, right??

I saw this on a t-shirt at the race today and am going to try and remind myself of this next time I'm boxing it in a time trial -

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional

Till next time, take it easy

Bec

Merco Road Race Stage 1

This week we welcome Bec Werner to the States from Australia, and to the Bridge Team. She had a crazy flight on Wednesday, and then immediately started the 4-day Merco stage race and wound up in a break with Ina-Yoko Teutenberg. Here's her race report:

Stage 1 Merco - MID Road Race - 91km

At 4.30 Thursday morning, bleary eyed but excited all the same, we headed off on the 3 hour drive to our first stage race of the year (and my first race in America); Merco, and the first stage MID road race. Andi, Jane and myself drove together, meeting Mary and Emily there. Arriving at the sign on area nice and early, we did a few quick intros and then had plenty of time to warm up and get ready. The car park was a hype of activity, with a decent sized field and some pro teams well represented, including HTC, Tibco and Peanut Butter Co. With Andi scoring the number 2 spot in the caravan (move over HTC! haha) and stocking us up with supplies and some advce, we were ready and raring to go.

Under clear blue skies, hardly a hint of wind, and pretty much the best racing conditions we could have hoped for, the women's race started, heading off at a nice cruisy pace as everyone settled in and got the legs rolling over. As a team we weren't sure what to expect, as none of us knew the course. So the aim was to stay near the front, and be ready for anything that came our way. Good thing we were, as not far in we hit a climb the organisers had pulled straight out a Euro classic! It started with a narrow turn across loose gravel and continued for about the next 2k at quite a decent gradient, dodging pot holes, cow pats and rough edges. Thankfully the pace was still nice and cruisy as everyone did their best to navigate the smoothest path up. This continued over the top onto the rolling back section, and obviously Ina-Yoko Teutenberg was getting bored, as she attacked on one of the smaller inclines. This woke everyone up a bit and the pace lifted, but no real attempt at chasing her down was made. Within 10 minutes it was being reported back that she'd put almost 2 minutes into us!

Things continued much the same for the next lap, with the pace lifting slightly over the climb, as there were QOM points up for grabs. Unforunately for our team, Emily got to really appreciate the value of the granny gears, as her lever carked it and she got to do the rest of the climb (and the race) in her 11. Nothing like some impromptu SEs!! With an awesome stubborn streak, she finished the race well inside the time cut, with a small chase group. What a trooper! Also, it was at this point that Jane could no longer deceive her body into thinking it was better. Smashing it in zone 5 kind of made it obvious that "I'm totally better, I've just got a tiny bit of congestion" was a bit of a lie. So unfortunately she had to pull out, and got to watch the rest of the race, and cheer us on from the sidelines. So it was just Mary and myself left to fight it out, with Mary being an absolute champ and offering to be super-domestique for me.

Starting the third lap, the bunch was still cruising, so on the final uphill before the climb I moved to the front to try and lift the pace, and make sure I at least started the climb at the front. To my surprise no-one came with me and when I looked back I had a bit of a gap, and decided I might aswell keep going and have a crack at picking up some points. To my delight once I started the climb free of the hustle and bustle of the pack, I saw that Teutenberg was not too far in front, so I tried to just keep a steady pace, and gradually bridged across to her, taking out the QOM points at the top. Cheers Ina!

We were out of sight of the main bunch at this point so kept the power to pedal to try and maintain the gap. It was all a bit surreal for me. Never thought I'd be so excited to have my legs torn off by someone... she is such a machine! Although I don't think I helped her cause to much, she said she was happy for the company, and we swapped turns (by which I mean she tore my legs off and I made some pitiful attempts at helping out!) for the next 20k or so till the final time over the climb where we were caught by the bunch. The girls were definitely pushing harder this time over the climb, and it broke things up a bit, but it came back together over the back section, as no-one was keen to really put the hammer down just yet.

Heading into the final 10k there was a last ditch attempt at a breakaway, by what I think was a HTC rider. Peanut Butter Co. moved to the front and got orgnanised fairly quickly to shut that down. I sat in comfortably as Mary 'super-domestique' Maroon guided me through the pack protecting me from the wind. The remainder of the field was then ultimately broken apart by the course, as the climbers turned the screws that bit more heading into the 3km, predominantly uphill finish, breaking up the field and leaving a group of no more than 10 to fight it out for the win. Unforunately Ina had already eaten my legs for breakfast, and I couldn't go with. Mary had smashed herself for me, and we both joined a smattering of girls strung out, pushing to the finish to try and limit the time gap as much as possible. Amanda Miller from HTC took out the win in a well desreved result, as HTC had really made the race the whole day.

Now it's on to the time trial for the three of us, with Jane heading home for some much needed rest. Emily has a new lever, and we have a new DS, with Andi 'I told you jetlag is good for you' Smith heading home and Katheryn taking over the reins. So tomorrow is a new day, and I can't wait to pull on the Webcor jersey again.

To quote a friend -

Ride happy... and for those of you that are racing... ride like you stole it!

Bec

Follow the Webcor/Alto Velo Bridge Team:
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– http://avbridge.blogspot.com/