This was the first Velo Girls team race of the season. The entire road race team came out for it, with all of us riding except for Tina who was there to support us as well as her husband Arley. Snelling is evidently always a popular race -- so popular that they run not one, but two W4 fields -- both of which sold out this year. Amazing! All of the Velo Girls had signed up to be in the W4A field but due to a clerical error, Kat ended up having to ride with the B field. At least we had representation in both fields....
The course is an approximately 12 mile loop, which W4 women ride three times. It's not exactly hilly, but not exactly flat -- there are some rolling hills that aren't very long or steep, but definitely reveal a lot about individual riders and their comfort with climbing. If you're at the back on the hills, you have to scramble a bit to stay with the group. Most of the roads are in OK condition, except for one stretch near the end of the lap that is bumpy enough to vibrate the fillings right out of your teeth.
The W4A field was dominated by several teams -- Velo Girls, Roaring Mouse, and Davis Bike Club being the largest. This was definitely the first race for a significant number of the entrants.
Velo Girls were at the front of the pack as we rolled out of town and along a 2-3 mile promenade. When the motorcycle pulled off, the pace instantly picked up. Probably 10 to 15 riders were dropped within the first half of the first lap. Near the end of the first lap, Vanessa was involved in a crash that caused another 8 riders or so to drop off. It happened in front of me and I'm still not sure how I avoided going down in the crash, but somehow I managed to get around it. The lead pack was sobered for a bit after that; lateral movement within the group calmed down noticeably, although it's possible that it was because the worst offenders had dropped off.
At the beginning of lap two, I still felt pretty good; however, by the end of lap two, I wasn't feeling like I was strong enough to stay in the game. Ann told me that she and Emily and a couple of others were planning a breakaway, and asked if I could help "block" -- but at that point I was barely hanging on to the back of the group, and didn't see how I could even get up to the front at all. After the hills at the beginning of lap three, the pace picked up even more, and about five of us were dropped.
A Golden Chain cyclist encouraged us all to work together, which was a great idea except it was unclear that everyone knew what that meant. No one seemed to have an idea of paceline rotation, so it was kind of a free-for-all. Someone behind me yelled at me for not pulling, which I said I was happy to do if someone would give me access to the front of the line! So the first two women fell back, and I actually felt really strong and pulled for awhile, noticeably closing the gap between us and the main pack. However, I couldn't sustain it long enough to get us all the way up. We did an odd rotation through most of the third lap. I was tired and fell off our little pack right at the end, finishing by myself.
A big part of my problem during the race was undoubtedly my inability to eat much. I had bought myself a flask for my GU but hadn't ever practiced using it; so between the fast pace/bumpy roads and my inexperience, I was unable to get more than a few small mouthfuls. Also, my achilles tendons were starting to hurt again -- during the race I think the adrenalin was masking the pain, but after I finished and turned in my timing chip, they started screaming at me. I rode back to town very slowly and in my smallest gear.
Generally speaking, though, it was a good race. Definitely suited to my strengths overall, I think. Assuming that 1) I'm in decent condition; 2) I can figure out how to improve my nutritional intake during the race; and 3) I can get this achilles thing under control, I should be able to do well. Note: it is EXTREMELY important to be up front during the promenade in order to get a good position once the race starts.
Emily took third in a sprint finish. I'm not sure how the rest of us did....
Sunday, February 22, 2009
2009-02-15 Pine Flat RR report
This was the day after Cantua Creek, out at Pine Flat Lake east of Merced. The terrain was neither flat nor pine-covered, so the name is still a bit of a mystery. Anyway, there were only six entries in the W4 field, four of us Velo Girls (Yari sat it out due to some knee pain). Five of us, including Christine of Reno Wheelmen, had raced at Cantua Creek the day before. At the starting line, we all talked about how this would be essentially a training ride, as none of us was feeling fresh -- we even joked about blowing the whole thing off and riding down to the Blossom Cafe for waffles. The sixth woman, also named Christine, was unattached to a team; it was her first race.
The race began down at a marina, with a steep promenade up to the course from the starting line (see photo). There was a lot of grumbling on the way up. Up on the road, I got to the front of the group, because the Velo Girls had agreed that Emily should not pull at all during the race if possible, to help make up for her pulling the day before at Cantua Creek. We were keeping a very recreational pace at first, on an out-and-back section of about 20 miles. Unattached Christine launched a few small attacks off the front; we all picked up the pace a little but for the most part we were happy to let her go off on her own if she wanted, not believing that she could last for long on her own on a 62 mile course. However, after the turnaround on the out-and-back section, Reno Christine decided to follow Unattached Christine on an attack, and Emily chased along.
Vanessa, Dana, and I half-heartedly worked together but none of us really believed that we were going to catch the other three. My achilles tendons were starting to ache, and I decided that trying to ride another 42 miles on them would probably be a mistake, so as we passed by the marina I peeled off and called it a day. Dana was determined to finish, and I talked Vanessa into going with her. So I was alone down at the cars for awhile.
According to Lorri and Yari, who were following Emily and the Christines in a car, it was an epic battle to the finish. The three of them worked together for awhile, until Reno Christine dropped off, and Unattached Christine went ahead. Emily finally got UC back in sight somewhere on the final climb (which went on for miles and was reportedly very steep). Emily would close the gap, but UC would launch ahead again, until finally UC had nothing left -- Emily passed her with less than 100 meters to go until the finish line. I wish I could have seen it! Lorri said that she and Yari were holding hands in the car and screaming.
Vanessa apparently called it quits around the beginning of the final climb. Dana finished by herself, but she finished, and was rewarded with a t-shirt. I wish I could have finished but even if I could have muscled through the achilles pain, it probably would have put me out of commission for the rest of the season. It also doesn't sound like the kind of course best suited for my abilities -- too much climbing. I think I have a better shot at flatter courses like Cantua Creek.
The race began down at a marina, with a steep promenade up to the course from the starting line (see photo). There was a lot of grumbling on the way up. Up on the road, I got to the front of the group, because the Velo Girls had agreed that Emily should not pull at all during the race if possible, to help make up for her pulling the day before at Cantua Creek. We were keeping a very recreational pace at first, on an out-and-back section of about 20 miles. Unattached Christine launched a few small attacks off the front; we all picked up the pace a little but for the most part we were happy to let her go off on her own if she wanted, not believing that she could last for long on her own on a 62 mile course. However, after the turnaround on the out-and-back section, Reno Christine decided to follow Unattached Christine on an attack, and Emily chased along.
Vanessa, Dana, and I half-heartedly worked together but none of us really believed that we were going to catch the other three. My achilles tendons were starting to ache, and I decided that trying to ride another 42 miles on them would probably be a mistake, so as we passed by the marina I peeled off and called it a day. Dana was determined to finish, and I talked Vanessa into going with her. So I was alone down at the cars for awhile.
According to Lorri and Yari, who were following Emily and the Christines in a car, it was an epic battle to the finish. The three of them worked together for awhile, until Reno Christine dropped off, and Unattached Christine went ahead. Emily finally got UC back in sight somewhere on the final climb (which went on for miles and was reportedly very steep). Emily would close the gap, but UC would launch ahead again, until finally UC had nothing left -- Emily passed her with less than 100 meters to go until the finish line. I wish I could have seen it! Lorri said that she and Yari were holding hands in the car and screaming.
Vanessa apparently called it quits around the beginning of the final climb. Dana finished by herself, but she finished, and was rewarded with a t-shirt. I wish I could have finished but even if I could have muscled through the achilles pain, it probably would have put me out of commission for the rest of the season. It also doesn't sound like the kind of course best suited for my abilities -- too much climbing. I think I have a better shot at flatter courses like Cantua Creek.
2009-02-14 Cantua Creek RR report
I'm writing this more than a week later, so some of the details are already fuzzy. This was the first road race of 2009 that the Velo Girls road team attended in any significant number.
Dana, Emily, Lorri, Vanessa, Yari, and I drove out the night before. We pre-drove the course but didn't have a chance to pre-ride it. It was an out-and-back course of approximately 12 miles each way, mostly flat except for some rolling hills at the very north end (start/finish). W4 were to do two out-and-back laps for a total of about 48 miles.
The W4 field was medium-sized -- maybe 20 or so women. With five of us entering, I think the Velo Girls were the largest team presence in the field. The first lap was reminiscent of Henleyville last year -- very slow. There were a couple of half-hearted attacks, but basically everyone was killing time until the second lap and the final sprint. Only a few women actually pulled at the front, and their pulls would be fairly long, because no matter how much they slowed, everyone else would slow down too. Poor Emily got caught up there for quite awhile during the second lap, which was when the winds picked up too. She worked hard.
My goal for the race had been to stay with the front pack, which wasn't too difficult given the overall slow pace. The north end of the course was gentle hills, which seemed steeper on the way up than on the way down, but I still felt strong at the end of the first lap so wasn't too worried about what it would be like at the end of the second lap.
However, I was very surprised to discover that, at the 1km sign (about where the final climb began), my energy was totally gone. The front group took off (or seemed to), and I had nothing left to give in order to keep up with them. I did manage to pass one or two women who seemed to be having the same problem that I was having. The only thing that kept me going was the desire to not get passed on the way up. After what seemed an eternity, I got to the finish line, using the last bit of oxygen left in my lungs to shout profanity as I crossed it. (Lorri later told me that fines and/or disqualification can be imposed at the officials' discretion -- whoops.)
Emily finished 5th, despite having worked so hard to pull the field around for so many miles. I ended up finishing 8th. Dana was strong and would have definitely beaten me across the line, except that she kissed wheels with Emily just before the 1km sign and fell -- she got up, though, and finished -- even with a seriously out-of-true rear wheel that was rubbing on her brake all the way up. Vanessa finished 11th -- would have been top 10 if the officials had actually disqualified a woman in our field who had hopped onto the Women's 35+ field as they passed us during the first lap. I'm not sure where Yari finished in the overall field, but considering that it was her first race, she'd done really well -- learned a lot about pack dynamics and seemed very comfortable moving around in it. (She had launched an attack near the end of the first lap that she couldn't sustain -- later we joked that she suffered from "premature attack-ulation.")
Anyway, all of the Velo Girls met or at least made significant progress on our goals that we had set for ourselves the night before, and we all had a good time, which certainly counts for something too!
Lessons for me: work on steadiness while eating/drinking (I accidentally overlapped wheels with another woman and hit her rear derailleur while putting my bottle back, bending one of my spokes and putting my wheel slightly out of true); work on endurance and intervals/intensity training.
Dana, Emily, Lorri, Vanessa, Yari, and I drove out the night before. We pre-drove the course but didn't have a chance to pre-ride it. It was an out-and-back course of approximately 12 miles each way, mostly flat except for some rolling hills at the very north end (start/finish). W4 were to do two out-and-back laps for a total of about 48 miles.
The W4 field was medium-sized -- maybe 20 or so women. With five of us entering, I think the Velo Girls were the largest team presence in the field. The first lap was reminiscent of Henleyville last year -- very slow. There were a couple of half-hearted attacks, but basically everyone was killing time until the second lap and the final sprint. Only a few women actually pulled at the front, and their pulls would be fairly long, because no matter how much they slowed, everyone else would slow down too. Poor Emily got caught up there for quite awhile during the second lap, which was when the winds picked up too. She worked hard.
My goal for the race had been to stay with the front pack, which wasn't too difficult given the overall slow pace. The north end of the course was gentle hills, which seemed steeper on the way up than on the way down, but I still felt strong at the end of the first lap so wasn't too worried about what it would be like at the end of the second lap.
However, I was very surprised to discover that, at the 1km sign (about where the final climb began), my energy was totally gone. The front group took off (or seemed to), and I had nothing left to give in order to keep up with them. I did manage to pass one or two women who seemed to be having the same problem that I was having. The only thing that kept me going was the desire to not get passed on the way up. After what seemed an eternity, I got to the finish line, using the last bit of oxygen left in my lungs to shout profanity as I crossed it. (Lorri later told me that fines and/or disqualification can be imposed at the officials' discretion -- whoops.)
Emily finished 5th, despite having worked so hard to pull the field around for so many miles. I ended up finishing 8th. Dana was strong and would have definitely beaten me across the line, except that she kissed wheels with Emily just before the 1km sign and fell -- she got up, though, and finished -- even with a seriously out-of-true rear wheel that was rubbing on her brake all the way up. Vanessa finished 11th -- would have been top 10 if the officials had actually disqualified a woman in our field who had hopped onto the Women's 35+ field as they passed us during the first lap. I'm not sure where Yari finished in the overall field, but considering that it was her first race, she'd done really well -- learned a lot about pack dynamics and seemed very comfortable moving around in it. (She had launched an attack near the end of the first lap that she couldn't sustain -- later we joked that she suffered from "premature attack-ulation.")
Anyway, all of the Velo Girls met or at least made significant progress on our goals that we had set for ourselves the night before, and we all had a good time, which certainly counts for something too!
Lessons for me: work on steadiness while eating/drinking (I accidentally overlapped wheels with another woman and hit her rear derailleur while putting my bottle back, bending one of my spokes and putting my wheel slightly out of true); work on endurance and intervals/intensity training.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
2009 TBF MTB Challenge race report
I went with Thea to her first mountain bike race this morning, up at the state park in Granite Bay. I agreed to go along because no one should have to do her first race alone! Originally we were both going to do the "first-timers" category but I talked her into racing Novice, because she's young and fast and I knew she'd do well and I didn't want to race against her. :-) First-timers did one lap of a seven-mile course -- no extended climbs, lots of swoopy singletrack, and a couple of technical challenges (read: BIG ROCKS). We got up there yesterday afternoon early enough to pre-ride the course once. Despite the rain the day before, the trails weren't overly muddy - a bit slick in spots but not enough to tempt us to put fenders on.
This morning it was cold. Thea and the Novice group (combined start with Juniors) started about two minutes before my group. I don't know how many people were in the first-timers group -- 20, maybe? Mixed men/women, although the placings would be separated at the end. A mixture of ages -- some boys, at least one girl younger than me, and the rest probably older. I think the younger girl was probably in her teens, and she was wearing pink, I think.
I started off fast -- more or less sprinting away from the starting line in order to get a good position. Unfortunately I hadn't had much of a warm-up, so the sprint hurt more than I'd hoped -- I was breathing really hard and it was only a few minutes into the race. I started getting passed by men and boys which was sort of depressing, but at least no women passed me. It took me at least the first mile to warm up -- maybe the first two -- and then I started to feel better. I also felt better once I started to pass some of the Juniors and women in the Novice group (who, to be fair, were going to have to do the lap twice -- I might have conserved more energy at that point if I were only on my first of two laps).
Pre-riding the course the day before was INCREDIBLY valuable. I had tried to grind through it yesterday afternoon in my medium gear, and it just sucked everything out of me. Today I was in my smallest ring in the front for about 80% of the race, and I tried to gear down in back before I absolutely needed to. There were a couple of spots that I knew how to avoid, including one downhill where if you chose the path to the left, you quickly got blocked by a tree growing over it at an angle -- so I was able to avoid that during the race. There was another spot right at the top of a climb with a huge granite boulder and some rocks that were just too tough for me to get over. I had decided in advance that I'd just dismount and run over it, which was fine because during the race, the woman in front of me decided to do that too.
Some of the technical stuff got me during the race. I choked on a rocky downhill section and nearly went over on my face -- unfortunately it was where the pro photographer was standing. Not looking forward to seeing that one. Another time I hit something wrong, and nearly caused a big problem for the Expert cyclist coming up behind -- but he rode past me (and down the rocky ickiness) like it was nothing. Impressive.
I don't remember exactly when the younger girl in pink passed me the first time. I passed her for the first time by riding on a couple of boards across a little ditch rather than going around like she did. The second time she passed me was when I got stuck behind a preteen boy who inexplicably crashed for no apparent reason -- the girl was behind us but had enough time to reroute around us. Damn! I hauled ass after her. At about mile 4.5, when we got to a section where we were briefly on a road, I kicked it into a high gear and passed her. I managed to stay in front of her for the rest of the race. The trail widened at the end, and I sprinted for the finish line not knowing how far behind me she was. She came in maybe 10 seconds behind me. I was dead tired! But I was reasonably sure that I was the first woman in the first timers group, as I didn't think any of the others had ever passed me.
I'm very happy with winning. Unfortunately I can never race first timers again, so now I have to race against Thea, who took first in her age category in Novice women.
Lessons: find some way to warm up, use a low gear, pre-ride the course!
This morning it was cold. Thea and the Novice group (combined start with Juniors) started about two minutes before my group. I don't know how many people were in the first-timers group -- 20, maybe? Mixed men/women, although the placings would be separated at the end. A mixture of ages -- some boys, at least one girl younger than me, and the rest probably older. I think the younger girl was probably in her teens, and she was wearing pink, I think.
I started off fast -- more or less sprinting away from the starting line in order to get a good position. Unfortunately I hadn't had much of a warm-up, so the sprint hurt more than I'd hoped -- I was breathing really hard and it was only a few minutes into the race. I started getting passed by men and boys which was sort of depressing, but at least no women passed me. It took me at least the first mile to warm up -- maybe the first two -- and then I started to feel better. I also felt better once I started to pass some of the Juniors and women in the Novice group (who, to be fair, were going to have to do the lap twice -- I might have conserved more energy at that point if I were only on my first of two laps).
Pre-riding the course the day before was INCREDIBLY valuable. I had tried to grind through it yesterday afternoon in my medium gear, and it just sucked everything out of me. Today I was in my smallest ring in the front for about 80% of the race, and I tried to gear down in back before I absolutely needed to. There were a couple of spots that I knew how to avoid, including one downhill where if you chose the path to the left, you quickly got blocked by a tree growing over it at an angle -- so I was able to avoid that during the race. There was another spot right at the top of a climb with a huge granite boulder and some rocks that were just too tough for me to get over. I had decided in advance that I'd just dismount and run over it, which was fine because during the race, the woman in front of me decided to do that too.
Some of the technical stuff got me during the race. I choked on a rocky downhill section and nearly went over on my face -- unfortunately it was where the pro photographer was standing. Not looking forward to seeing that one. Another time I hit something wrong, and nearly caused a big problem for the Expert cyclist coming up behind -- but he rode past me (and down the rocky ickiness) like it was nothing. Impressive.
I don't remember exactly when the younger girl in pink passed me the first time. I passed her for the first time by riding on a couple of boards across a little ditch rather than going around like she did. The second time she passed me was when I got stuck behind a preteen boy who inexplicably crashed for no apparent reason -- the girl was behind us but had enough time to reroute around us. Damn! I hauled ass after her. At about mile 4.5, when we got to a section where we were briefly on a road, I kicked it into a high gear and passed her. I managed to stay in front of her for the rest of the race. The trail widened at the end, and I sprinted for the finish line not knowing how far behind me she was. She came in maybe 10 seconds behind me. I was dead tired! But I was reasonably sure that I was the first woman in the first timers group, as I didn't think any of the others had ever passed me.
I'm very happy with winning. Unfortunately I can never race first timers again, so now I have to race against Thea, who took first in her age category in Novice women.
Lessons: find some way to warm up, use a low gear, pre-ride the course!
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Camp Velogirls 2009
Team Velogirls kicked off 2009, the year of the Ox, and a new year of riding with a fabulous weekend retreat at lovely Costanoa.
The team's endurance riders, racers, and dirty girls met on Saturday morning for a round of team photos, followed by a discussion of nutrition. Heather D'Eliso Gordon of Kaiser Permanente and Wenzel Coaching talked with us about mindful eating and the choices we make about food. While some of us disagreed with Heather's opinion that a pint of Ben & Jerry's contains at least four servings, overall it was a really informative discussion that gave us lots to think about in terms of eating for optimum performance both on and off the bike.
Following Heather's lecture, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Costanoa restaurant, each of us at least theoretically making mindful, healthy choices from the menu. We then changed into our kits and split up into groups: the endurance team headed out with Lorri; Jenny and Thea grabbed their mountain bikes and headed down to Wilder Ranch; and the rest of us raced (almost literally) down Highway 1, trying to keep up with Linda Jackson of Team TIBCO. Linda led us on a fast-paced ride that ultimately led to the top of Bonny Doon Road. I know I had my doubts about whether I could make it to the top, but we all made it, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor -- a killer descent back down Bonny Doon to Highway 1. Our exhilarated smiles soon turned to gritted teeth, however, as we battled a killer headwind back to Costanoa -- a welcome sight after our 47.5 mile ride.
From what I hear, the endurance team had a nice ride focused on skills and strategies for leading group rides, while the dirty girls had an awesome time jumping pipes and swooping along singletrack... followed, of course, by beer.
After dinner at the Costanoa restaurant, we retreated back upstairs (with protesting quads) for a ride debrief with Linda. She had some very helpful suggestions for the racers on how to improve our riding so that maybe someday we can all have our own Wikipedia pages too. She also had some great tips that gave the racers lots to think about as we plan for our upcoming races. Being (mostly) good girls, we all then went our separate ways, forgoing the original campfire/wine/s'mores plan in order to get a good night's sleep. (I say "mostly" good because I went home and rather unmindfully stuffed myself with cookies.)
Late Sunday morning we all met back at Costanoa for a group ride. Race, endurance, and dirt team members alike hit the road together. We rode about 45 miles, heading up north for a loop through Pescadero and San Gregorio, up 84 to Haskins Hill, and back to Costanoa through Pescadero and along Cloverdale/Gazos Creek Roads. According to my Garmin data, our overall pace for our Sunday ride was respectable but -- although significantly flatter -- only slightly faster than the racers' Saturday ride with Linda Jackson. D'zam.
Alas, our camp weekend came to an end. But the memories will live on, along with a bazillion photos on Facebook and Flickr....
The team's endurance riders, racers, and dirty girls met on Saturday morning for a round of team photos, followed by a discussion of nutrition. Heather D'Eliso Gordon of Kaiser Permanente and Wenzel Coaching talked with us about mindful eating and the choices we make about food. While some of us disagreed with Heather's opinion that a pint of Ben & Jerry's contains at least four servings, overall it was a really informative discussion that gave us lots to think about in terms of eating for optimum performance both on and off the bike.
Following Heather's lecture, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Costanoa restaurant, each of us at least theoretically making mindful, healthy choices from the menu. We then changed into our kits and split up into groups: the endurance team headed out with Lorri; Jenny and Thea grabbed their mountain bikes and headed down to Wilder Ranch; and the rest of us raced (almost literally) down Highway 1, trying to keep up with Linda Jackson of Team TIBCO. Linda led us on a fast-paced ride that ultimately led to the top of Bonny Doon Road. I know I had my doubts about whether I could make it to the top, but we all made it, and enjoyed the fruits of our labor -- a killer descent back down Bonny Doon to Highway 1. Our exhilarated smiles soon turned to gritted teeth, however, as we battled a killer headwind back to Costanoa -- a welcome sight after our 47.5 mile ride.
From what I hear, the endurance team had a nice ride focused on skills and strategies for leading group rides, while the dirty girls had an awesome time jumping pipes and swooping along singletrack... followed, of course, by beer.
After dinner at the Costanoa restaurant, we retreated back upstairs (with protesting quads) for a ride debrief with Linda. She had some very helpful suggestions for the racers on how to improve our riding so that maybe someday we can all have our own Wikipedia pages too. She also had some great tips that gave the racers lots to think about as we plan for our upcoming races. Being (mostly) good girls, we all then went our separate ways, forgoing the original campfire/wine/s'mores plan in order to get a good night's sleep. (I say "mostly" good because I went home and rather unmindfully stuffed myself with cookies.)
Late Sunday morning we all met back at Costanoa for a group ride. Race, endurance, and dirt team members alike hit the road together. We rode about 45 miles, heading up north for a loop through Pescadero and San Gregorio, up 84 to Haskins Hill, and back to Costanoa through Pescadero and along Cloverdale/Gazos Creek Roads. According to my Garmin data, our overall pace for our Sunday ride was respectable but -- although significantly flatter -- only slightly faster than the racers' Saturday ride with Linda Jackson. D'zam.
Alas, our camp weekend came to an end. But the memories will live on, along with a bazillion photos on Facebook and Flickr....
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