Gaslight Crits

I wrapped up my road cycling season last weekend at the Delta Subaru Gaslight Crit in Grand Rapids, MI. It is put on by one of my favorite teams, Real Women Tri, in one of my favorite cities. I knew I would get to see lots of familiar faces and meet up with some old friends. I had a lot going on in the previous week leading to this, so I did not have any big expectations, but still hoped that I might end it with a bang. After racing in Elk Grove, one of the women there recommended that I start racing with the men to get more experience riding harder than hell as well as riding in a big group. So, before I could put too much thought into it, I registered for the women's 1,2,3 race as well as the Master's Men 35 and up. Susan Donnelly also traveled from Traverse City with me and raced the women's cat 4 race.

We arrived early Saturday after staying with friends in GR and got Sue ready for her race. While she raced, I warmed up for mine. The field was decent, with 17 women, and at a time of year

And we are off!

where everyone is pretty much in shape and pretty fast. My first race started at 10:40, and as I learned, position is everything and lined up front and center and ready to race. We took off pretty fast and right off the bat there is a 90 degree left turn. This was my first race on my new 404 Zipp wheels, and wow, it felt much different cornering on them. It took me about half the race to acclimate to the new wheels. For some reason, this first corner was the hardest for me, mainly due to the higher speed that we went into it compared to the other corners. There was another 90 degree turn, a straight away that had a full head wind, then a very sharp left turn, up a hill, followed by one more left turn. It was a fun course.

I don't know why I am smiling, I hated that turn

I made sure to stay near the front of the pack, followed a few attacks, ignored a few attacks, and

I wish this was a picture of the finish. I am in a much
better position than where I actually finished.

even attacked myself twice. I felt that I stayed active in the race and felt great physically. On the last lap, I unfortunately got stuck behind a wheel on the straightaway and watched the race move around me like a river around a stone and after I broke free I desperately tried to make up my position. At this point the girls were moving pretty fast and I couldn't get back to the front. I caught a few girls and passed them, but ended up 11th out of 17. I was disappointed that I didn't race smarter on that last lap and felt I really could have done better this time.

I rested up in the afternoon and got ready for the Master's race, which was at 3:00 pm. It was a field of 45 men, and I lined up wondering just how this was going to go. I daydreamed about me hanging in there for the whole race, and just how awesome that would be. I lined up and got in position in the second row of guys, and worried a little about that first corner. At the start, the guys took off full throttle and I jumped as well. If I thought we were fast into that corner in the women's race, it was nothing compared to the guys. I could not help tapping my brakes, due to my nervousness, but didn't do too bad the first lap. I hung in the middle, and on the straightaway I focused on the wheel in front of me and told myself not to let it go. The guys were starting to crowd in on both sides and I kept telling myself to not give it up. The very sharp left turn up the hill came up, and I took that too slow, but still stood up and pedaled and kept my position in the middle. Coming into that first left turn again, even faster this time, I touched my brakes again and got another gap. I stood up and sprinted to close it. I was moving farther and farther back, and on the third lap around on the straightaway I lost contact with the last wheel and got dropped. It was insane how fast they were going. I knew I was just going to be motorpacing, but with the turns it made it so much more difficult.

One of these things is not like the other...

I had all kinds of people rooting for me and telling me not to give up, so kept riding hard and kept my heart rate up. After awhile, the main field lapped me and I jumped in to just race and see how long I could hold on again. On one lap I was pushed over into the curb on that first left turn and I touched my brakes again, harder this time, and a man in an orange jersey rode past me and muttered the word "bitch" as he went by. This really ticked me off and I wish I would have gotten his race number. This just really showed what a pig he is.  "Watch it, move it, watch your line." Any of those would have been appropriate comments, maybe. Anyway, I think I lasted another two to three laps. Exhausted, I fell off of the back again on the straightaway. On this lap I got pulled from the race.

Racing with the guys did feel a whole lot like Tour of Elk Grove, and although I may have not had the best wheel or lines in that race, I am sure that it wasn't the worst and the more I race, the better I will get. It may be awhile before I can finish with the guys, but I think it could be possible. I have come a long way this season, and I am really looking forward to racing next season with what I have learned. I am looking forward to doing some social riding in the next month and not having to follow a training schedule for the first time in 8 months. Vacation!

Tour of Elk Grove, Prologue TT

I have had a great summer of racing. So much racing that I have let the yard go, the dog has been ignored, and I am losing my gourmet cooking skills. But it's only summer for about two weeks in Michigan so I need to race and ride while I can! I recently made the plunge and requested an upgrade so I am now a Category 2 racer. This enabled me to race Tour of Elk Grove, which my friend Sarah encouraged me to try as well as my coach Chris Fisher. Nothing like just jumping right in! It is a very prestigious race where the top women's teams and pro's come to duke it out and it has a huge payout for the winners. I was just hoping at best to hang with a very large group of the best girls in the country that are racing now.

I was terrified as well as completely excited to go and try this out. A new, huge challenge. There are three races in this stage race, the Prologue TT, and two circuit races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. I also signed up for the women's amateur open crit on Saturday morning. Why the heck not, right? Get as many races in a weekend that I can.

I left in the early hours and headed down for the TT at 4:30 Chicago time. Which I forgot is 5:30 our time. I got there pretty early, somehow missed that this being a big deal and a big race that there is a meeting that everyone is supposed to attend and pick up their numbers. I panicked as I was not on the start list, but was able to get it worked out in time, and started at 4:29. I would be the first to go off. I realized I have a lot to learn but Sarah was there to help.

The time trial is only 4.5 miles, since it is a prologue, which is about 10 minutes of riding as hard as you are physically able. I brought my bike in to check it in and make sure it met USA cycling rules, and the seat was too far forward and tilted up too high. Made some adjustments and I was good to go. I sat in the staging area, hoping my legs would feel ok. I had been battling a nasty cold that still was lingering and I had not been on my bike as much as I would have liked going into this. I was the most hopeful about this race of any though, as I have been doing well this year at time trials.

It was something to see the women from Pro-Optum and Tibco walking around, with their team cars and support team. Must be awesome to have that support! Myself, I parked on a side street, got dressed in my van, and warmed up with Sarah by my side on our trainers. It was nice to have company at least!

Anyway, I got on the ramp, they counted down and I was off. It was a nice, flat course and I just gave it all I had. Maybe a little too much at the beginning, because my legs were screaming when I was about 3 minutes in and when I could have been going over 30 mph on a slight downhill with a tailwind I could barely muster high 20s. I took a right turn, and my legs were adapting and I was able to tell myself to push my legs harder and they responded. 180 degree turn, into a headwind, and I buckled down and started feeling better. I had two more turns, and came into the finish, mouth completely dried out, swung off the course, and lost my lunch. A father and son walked by and looked a little disturbed, but hey, these things are normal if you are racing. It ain't always pretty.

Sarah finished up, and we headed off to get some rest. Later I saw the results and I was 50th out of 64 women, with a time of 10:50, 1:31 behind Alison Powers who won, average speed 24.5 mph. I was pleased with that, but as always....thinking I could have done just a bit better. Here are the results. And here is my Strava of the ride.

I don't have many pictures as I was here with Sarah, who was also racing and my phone battery died on Friday. But here is a great picture of me with Meredith Miller, who was racing her retirement race, it was a great honor to be with her this weekend! I will have more posts about the later, more exciting races that happened this weekend. It was an awesome experience that I will remember forever.

Iceman Cometh. Let's get this over with.

Evidence that I finished...2011

After lots of chilly out and backs to Kalkaska testing the Iceman course, races in cold, wet, and windy weather, and a long season of bike racing, I am ready to call it a season. It's not so much that I am tired of riding my bike, but rather the 30 minutes of deciding what I should wear on each ride to stay warm, or warm but not too warm. It is rare that I get the combination just right. I love the days that I can just put on my jersey and shorts and head out the door. Those days are long gone now, and unless I can find a way to get away this winter, it will be a long time until they are back. I am not a cross country skier, so I am not looking forward to snow in any way this winter.

Iceman is but a few days away, and although the start is always too cold for my blood, once we get going it is a fun race. This will be my third year racing and I am hoping for my best race yet. Last year I had a great race...right up until I crashed and landed on my head. I will try to recall the events the best I can...

I was feeling great, probably the best I had felt in any race all year and was making awesome time, and had but a few miles left to go. I was passing a line of people in a narrow section, and my mistake was not calling out along the way that I was passing. A rider moved out to pass and I saw his handlebars hit mine. The thought "Crap, I'm going down" crossed my mind and that is about all I remember from that point on. I was knocked out cold, and Shane Vandekerkoff stopped to help. I came to, and didn't know where I was. I guess I sat there for about 5 minutes with Shane, then got up and took off on my bike.

There are a few images of events that I remember from this point, and one was that at the time I couldn't remember anything about the race previous to that moment. I have to say I was happy when I got on my bike that I saw I was almost done! Nothing like "waking up" at the end of a race. Another moment was passing someone that I had already passed. That freaked me out and clued me in that something not quite right going on. I remember then crossing the finish line and someone asking me if I was ok. I think I answered that I didn't really know what just happened. I didn't really know how bad it was until Gary Chastain came to me after the race and told me Shane had talked to him and said I had a bad crash. I asked Gary if Shane had seen it. Gary looked at me like I was crazy and told me Shane had stopped to help me. Russ then promptly took me to the hospital, and we found that I had a concussion, (no surprise) but was otherwise ok.

Needless to say, I am hoping for a great, crash free race this year. Iceman is one of the biggest races of the year for me, and it is just awesome that so many Pro's come out to race it.  It's a goal for me to race the pro category next year. This year I'll be starting in wave 10, my best wave yet. Updates on my race will be posted automatically to my facebook page, or you can get them texted to you. Hopefully this Iceman is one that is so boring that I don't know what to write about. Good luck to all racing the Iceman this weekend!