Spring Hill Road Race

Race Report: Spring Hill Road Race
Category: W1,2
Teammates: Ange McClure, Maura Kinsella
Placings: Lauren 2/9, Ange 5/9, Maura DNF
Conditions: less than ideal aka pouring rain, wind and low temperatures
Course: 22 mile loop with three short climbs and rolling terrain in between. Potholes galore. 600m climb to the finish.

From the moment we woke up it was POURING down rain. Not the kind of rain that lightly falls over everything and freshens up the air but the kind that soaks you to the bone in a matter of seconds. We piled into the car and charged forth to the start, watching the temperature gauge slowly lower as we drove out of town. Our fabulous manager, Andi, called to tell us she was at the race course with towels, rain jackets, and, most importantly, PB&Js.

All three of us managed to change inside my CRV and only touched the rain to prepare bikes and head to the start. Needless to say, there was no warm-up. We descended down to the start line and realized we were a few minutes early so we trudged through ankle-deep mud to the registration tents for cover. Only problem was that we were standing in water and the wind was blowing water that had collected on top of the tent down over the sides and into our faces. So much for shelter.

We rolled to the start to find only six other brave souls. Already shivering we started our shortened race (from three laps of 66 miles to two laps of only 44). Despite the conditions and small field size the pace wasn’t too slow. No one wanted to face the conditions alone so the attacks were limited and mostly intended to tire others out. The first lap was uneventful; it was a “get-it-done” kind of pace. The second lap was also relatively uneventful except for the guest appearance of a medium-sized, unidentified black animal that decided to run out into the front of our peloton. One rider attacked the field two or three times and managed to break it up and cause some chasing.

With three km to go no one wanted to touch the front. Ange said that she was feeling better and would go for the finish so I decided to cover the front. Sure enough a Colavita rider attacked from the back of the field. I jumped to go with her, although rather slowly and numbly. I saw the moto roar up to her and give her the “throat-cut” sign. I assumed she had crossed the centerline and kept my momentum up and squeezed right between them as they discussed the offense. I was caught by the group as my legs gave out. Another Colavita rider attacked and I jumped to go with her only to see the third and final Colavita girl come flying up on the left. I saw her cross the center line and new she would be disqualified as well so I kept going. The winner of the race took off somewhere during that mayhem and I missed the move. As we hit the final climb I found myself with the last remaining Colavita rider and a Touchstone rider. I knew that both were climbers so my only job was to stay with them until the sprint when I thought I could jump them. We played a little cat and mouse and I managed to stay on until the line when I jumped for a short 10 meter sprint for second. Ange rolled across the line just behind my little group for fifth. It was a cold day but we all felt tougher for having faced the weather challenges.

Apple Pie Crit

Apple Pie Crit race report from Ange McClure on the Bridge Team
Teammates: Maura Kinsella, Lauren Hecht
4/10/2010

Apple Pie Crit was on Saturday at Santa Rosa. The race begun slowly with the girls just getting warmed up in the first few laps, shaking out the stiff legs from the car ride and the cold freeze in the air. With primes on the line, the race soon heated with Maura attacking and taking the first two primes. Maura stayed out in front for four laps, once caught the counter attacks came and the race was in fully swing. Colavita sent a rider off the front at 10minutes to go, shortly after I went off in chase. For three laps the Colivatia rider and myself were off the front, until the next two laps saw us both swooped up by the peleton. The race resulted in a bunch sprint with Lauren taking 3rd. An exciting day with Webcor/Alto Velo certainly being one of the dominant teams, a exciting indicator for what is yet to come this year!

Till next time,

Ange

Copperopolis

From Ange McClure on the Bridge team, a race report describing the Copperopolis experience with a broken wrist:

Copperopolis – 100k road race 3 loops Women's 1/2

Saturday 3rd of April

There is a fine line between pushing injuries to get better while still trying to get every mile you can before you push it too far. Unfortunately despite the frustration of just wanting to race Copperopolis on the weekend I had to pull the pin on the first lap. When coach Dan said “it’s rough” I took it in my breeze and thought to myself “I’ll be right!” For those of you that don’t know I broke my wrist 1 week before coming to the US and it has not fully healed yet.

Copperopolis is a tough road race not just because of the two decent hills, and the rapid descent but because of the race surface, the best way I can describe it is like plated concrete with lap gaps in-between, for 80% of the loop, hence I had to take the option to save my wrist the risk of further damage and headed to the car after lap one, to rug up and head out in search for some smoother roads!

The race I hear from my Aussie friend Jazzy unfolded with it lighting up in the later stages, the result being Mary Maroon in 2nd, a former team mate of mine who guest rode with the Bridge Team at San Dimas.

Till next time

Ange

April May Schedule

10-Apr Apple Pie Crit
11-Apr Spring Hill RR
April Sea Otter
24-Apr Wente RR
1-May Cat's Hill
9-May Berkeley Hills RR
May Joe Martin Stage Race, AR
May Women's Amgen Tour of Ca, Sac?
22-May Volunteer Bike Outfitter Lady's Day
30-May Mt Hamilton
31-May Memorial Day cirit

Redlands (Ange)

Right after the San Dimas Stage Race, Ange McClure, the Aussie on the Bridge Team, jumped straight into Redlands, and finished with a fantastic 23rd place overall! Nicely done for her 2nd US race ever! Here's her race report:

Redlands Road Race

Sunset Road Race: 18th

GC: 23rd

25/3/2010 - 28/3/2010

My arrival in Redlands from my the Webcor/Alto Velo team in San Dimas which was my first taste of the American racing scene left me eager and excited to race the Redlands Stage Race.

First up on Thursday was an uphill 5k TT. It was a chance to shake out the legs after San Dimas and to get rid of some "big race" nerves. The course was tough and I finished middle of the field of 112 girls. The winner if the stage Amber Neben from the team Dare to Be- BMW Bianchi.

Friday brought about a 68 mile road race. The morning was brisk and the atmosphere was dull at the start of the stage. This quickly changed when the whistle blew and girls scrambled to the front. I went for the first KOM points however fell short, and did not succeed this was on lap 1 which was an extended loop of the 3 lap race, the last 2 loops being smaller then the first. 2nd lap I tried desperately to be in a break but nothing was sticking, mainly due to the wind managing to hold everyone together, an individual or group of riders not being string enough to break of the front. The 3rd lap left me gripping at my bars due to my efforts on lap 2, and I finished with the group, the result of the stage coming down to a bunch sprint won by Ina- Yoko Teutenburg of HTC Columbia.

Saturday's Crit saw the legs go through another tough knock out around the street of Redlands for 50 minutes. The heat was turned on after 30minutes which left the field strung out and fighting to hold wheels and positions. The action packed race resulted in a small break off the front that left team Colavita with a stage win by Theresa Cliff-Ryan.

The last day of Redlands is the penultimate stage on the Sun Set course around Redlands totalling 68miles, 9 laps of a very hilly and technical course. I did not know what I was entering myself into when I started today's main stage. I rolled off the start line with my legs suffering from the last three days I begin the jostling for position and it was only the neutral zone! As we approached the our first lap which contained a KOM first lap, the pace was on and the tone was set for a hard race, as soon as the flag went down to start racing I told myself " bring it on!" The first time up the climb was fast and positioning everything. This was the case for the next 3 laps where the selection was made and a group of 20 or so was a head of the pack, I was one of them. The race stayed heated and huge efforts were needed on the hill, and concentration was needed on the fast and technical downhill sections. On lap 7 the crunch came for me and I was dropped, before I rejoined the leaders on the bottom of lap 8 to be dropped again on the climb and to confirm I had nothing left in the legs! With the main group now splinted in two, ten up front and ten chasing, the aim for the second group was to push through the with depilated legs and body and limit the time gap. Four of us were working hard on the front for the last two laps to ensure time loss was minimal. The final outcome for the group I was in: 3minutes down behind the lead group of 10 with the winner being Evelyn Stevens, another win to HTC-Columbia.

As I sat down after the race guzzling down a coke and pouring water over my head, I knew I just got through one tough race and it will be one of many more to come. I still have a lot to learn, a lot of improving to do, for my first NRC I'm happy and looking forward to the racing ahead!



--Ange

Bridge Team Spring Schedule

This is always changing but here are some of our target races for this spring.

March 19,20,21 San Dimas Stage Race
March 25-28 Redlands Stage Race
March 27,28 Top Sport SR
3-Apr Copperopolis
April 10,11 Spring Hill TTT and RR
April 17 & 18 Chico Stage Race
24-Apr Wente RR
1-May Cat's Hill
2-May,8:30-9AM Volunteer for MA's school bike ride
9-May Berkeley Hills RR
May 7,8,9 Collegiate Nationals
May 6-9 Joe Martin Stage Race, AR
May 15-16 Women's Amgen Tour of Ca, Sac?
22-May Volunteer Bike Outfitter Lady's Day
30-May Mt Hamilton
31-May Memorial Day cirit
June 4,5,6 Tulsa Tough
6-Jun Liberty Classic
June 11 & 12 AVC (Velodrome, local)
13-Jun Sattley District 40K ITT
June 16-20 Nature Valley
June 22-27 Nationals

Madera Stage Race Crit

Madera Stage Race: Criterium (Stage 1)
W 1,2
Teammates: Maura Kinsella
Place: Lauren – 1/34, Maura – 16/34

This is your basic, four-corner crit, true American style... about five lanes wide. There is nowhere to hide on this course. The winds have you completely at their mercy and, of course, they were gaining speed for the two hours leading up to hour crit. Somehow our warm up time flew by and I only got about 15 minutes of turning the legs over. We lined up in the pit to watch the 4s and 35+ women finish up. By this point we know that there is a pretty strong cross (slightly head) wind on the finish straight, tailwind on the second stretch, massive cross-head wind on the third side and a straight on head wind on the final bit over the railroad tracks.

Finally we are allowed to line up and are given our pre-race instructions. There would be two primes worth 5 seconds each and 20-10-5 bonus seconds for first through third places at the finish. The plan was for me to take both primes and the win with Maura’s lead-outs and hope that I could stay close enough in the time trial to make those worthwhile for a podium spot overall. Off we went.

As usual, people were pretty conservative before the time trial. There were a few attacks but nothing committed. I stayed at the front and tried to keep Maura in close distance. The bell rang for the first prime and right off the line a Touchstone rider attacked. I followed in the chase, staying out of the wind. When we hit the headwind side everyone slowed down and I ended up on the front through the last corner. Not ideal but I sprinted and took the 5 seconds.

We rolled around for the rest of the race, with a couple of attacks. At one point we got overtaken by a group of threes who had broken away from their peloton, which had started behind us. That caused all sorts of chaos and ended up causing a crash on the head wind side, which both Maura and I narrowly avoided.

We came around and saw 5 to go and still hadn’t heard the last prime bell. With three to go the announcement came over. Perfect. No one wants to sprint three laps before the real sprint. I took this one seated, trying to put out as little energy as possible. The one lap to go bell rang and some teams tried to start a lead out. There wasn’t much organization so it got a little messy on the third and fourth lengths. I came out of the last corner on the inside and farther back than I wanted. I began sprinting out the ride side of the group maybe 10 meters after the turn and held it to the line. This was kind of like a fun points race at the track. I enjoyed myself. ~Lauren