Burlingame Criterium race report - June 28, 2009

Burlingame Criterium - June 28, 2009
Originally uploaded by emastiff_family

Today was the Burlingame Criterium. The Cat 4 women were scheduled to start at 7:50 a.m. I slept at some friends' house in Redwood City so I wouldn't have to drive so far, and ended up oversleeping. Whoops. Fortunately it was only about 15 minutes from their house, so I wasn't horribly late. Also fortunate was that it was warm out -- and getting hotter by the minute -- so our trainer warmup didn't need to be quite so long (which turned out to be fortunate for another reason, which was that my trainer pretty much fell apart after about 20 minutes).

We decided in advance that Katie would be our sprinter. We were going to try a new team tactic, building on what had worked for us at Dash for Cash.

The course was on the streets of downtown Burlingame. Two right turns, a left-then-right chicane, followed by a big sweeper to the finishing straightaway. After a neutral first lap, the race started. The field was about 30 riders. Overall it wasn't a very fast race, and the whole pack stayed together most of the time. We strung out a bit during the prime laps but quickly regrouped each time. I spent most of the race somewhere between the middle and the front 1/4 of the pack, mostly on the right side (inside on most turns). I didn't spend any time out front, but did get caught out in the wind on the side a couple of times. Fortunately we weren't going that fast (see above), and there wasn't that much wind. (Unfortunately I forgot to turn my Garmin on until after the first few laps, so I don't have complete data -- darn.) Most of the surging occurred after the right turn out of the chicane.

I was at the head of the leadout for Katie. At three laps to go, I thought I heard Emily say "go!" So I went. Very soon I was at the front. Turns out it was too early, and we should have waited. Too ambitious for a leadout of two! I led for about a lap and a quarter, and then pulled off. I watched the pack pull away, praying that Emily could hold on longer than I had! Of course she did, and Katie got fourth, which was great. They recorded me as coming in last. *sigh* The life of a domestique.

There was a crash, at turn two on the second-to-last lap. I guess someone got her wheel stuck in one of the ruts on the road and couldn't recover (did I mention the pavement wasn't great?). Fortunately everyone else was able to ride around her, although there was collateral damage when someone rubbernecking the accident crashed out Holly the race mentor. Whoops. It was just after I'd pulled off after my leadout so I saw it, but was far enough back to avoid getting caught in it. But I think all three walked away and were fine, so that's good.

At the post-race debrief, Holly said that we were mostly good (except for rubbernecking the crash). She said that for some reason people were reluctant to be in the middle, which resulted in a sort of V-shaped pack for most of the race. She also reiterated what she had told us during the pre-race talk, which was that a faster race is a safer race, and the people up front have the responsibility to drive the pace.

Overall, very proud of the team today!

2009 IC3 Dash for Cash race report

2009 IC3 Dash for Cash
Originally uploaded by Trefethen

Again, I've waited to long to blog about this, so some of the details are hazy. Nine Team Velo Girls members entered this race -- nearly the entire team! Angela didn't race but did come provide support. This was our first race where we had a real, honest-to-god team strategy. We decided that we were going to set up Ann to win, with the rest of us either leading out or sweeping up behind. The exceptions were Dana and Kat, for whom this would be their first criterium, and Yari and Bobbi Jo, who were designated as prime hunters.

The race started unbelievably slowly. I had my Garmin in my pocket where I couldn't see it, but someone said later that the first lap or two were only about 16 mph. At one point, one of the mentors told us that the race would be a lot safer if we went faster. The pace picked up slightly, but it wasn't until the first prime, at lap five, that it picked up significantly. Bobbi Jo didn't win the first prime, but she did win one of the later ones -- $30.

At five laps to go, we started getting into position. Before the race, it seemed like that would be way too early, but it turned out that it really did take a couple of laps to find everyone and maneuver into a line to protect Ann. Vanessa started by getting on Ann's wheel. I was assigned to be the first leadout, and ramp up the speed starting with two laps to go. I kind of got myself into a place and then hoped for the best -- I couldn't look behind me to see if everyone was there so just had to trust. Fortunately, Bobbi Jo and Emily did slot in behind me and in front of Ann. With about three laps to go I found myself near the head of the pack, basically a whole lap earlier than I'd planned to, when all of a sudden Katie pulled up next to me. She had originally been designated to be in the leadout train behind me, but for some reason couldn't get in. I asked (well, told) her to get in front of me, so I got to rest for another half lap or so. Then I started my pull in earnest. It was just me at the front for quite awhile, pulling the whole pack around the course. I might have been able to go a bit further, but I had an opportunity to pull off safely so did so just after the finish line with one lap to go, and everyone swarmed by me. I limped around the rest of the course, finishing second to last.

I only found out later what had happened -- there had been some confusion/near collision in the final turn, so a lot of stuff got screwed up. Ann got caught in the confusion, and Emily ended up having to sprint after her leadout, finishing sixth. Despite the disappointment of Ann not being able to win, we were all very happy that our strategy worked well, and that we were all able to participate -- even Kat, who hadn't originally had a "job" other than to experience her first race, ended up taking over for Vanessa in protecting Ann's wheel near the end. We had changed some things on the fly -- like Katie taking the first leadout spot instead of me -- but because we all knew the plan in advance, we were able to be flexible about it. It was great. People said it looked awesome. I wish I could have seen it, but unfortunately you don't get to see much at the front. :-)

Lessons/thoughts -- try picking an inside line for the leadout (rather than the outside line); sitting in near the front of the pack (as I did for most of the race) worked well in terms of conserving energy and not being subject to the surge-y-ness I suffered from at Memorial Day crit.

Race Report - Memorial Day Crit 2009

may 25 memorial day criterium 095
Originally uploaded by SWoo

This was my second criterium, and my first race "back" after being off since the Menlo Park crit in March. Unfortunately I've waited too long to write this race report, so I'm already fuzzy on some of the details. However, here's what I can remember:

* My goal for the race was to stay with the pack.
* The W4 field was big -- nearly 50 women.
* I got to the start line late, and didn't get a spot up front. I regretted this immediately after the race started, when it seemed like everyone swarmed around me and left me hanging off the back.
* The first few laps were very fast, and quite challenging. I almost fell off the back entirely on only the second or third lap. I worked my way back up and was able to hang in for the rest of the race. It seemed to get easier after the first few laps -- I'm not sure if it's because the group slowed down, or because I had warmed back up (I tend to cool down very fast, so the time between getting off the trainer and starting the race tends to put me more or less back at square one).
* A couple of times, a few women would attack off the front, but the attacks never "stuck," and the pack mostly all stayed together for the entire race. A couple of women fell off at some point, and they were later reintegrated into the pack by the officials.
* I spent most of the race somewhere in the back third of the group, over on the right (inside). I mostly followed the wheels of a couple of women also in the same area as me -- including the woman I had worked with at Menlo Park when we had both fallen off the back.
* The leaders seemed to accelerate out of just about every corner, which caused the rest of us to have to scramble after each corner in order to catch up. It would have been even worse if I'd been on the outside. It probably wouldn't have seemed so bad if I'd been closer to the front of the pack.
* The advantage of my position was that I never had to "pull" at the front of the pack. I actually stayed fairly protected from the wind for most of the race.
* Most of the time, the pack took corners wide enough that I could make my inside position work, although a couple of times I got squeezed a bit uncomfortably, which caused me to brake and fall back.
* The mentors encouraged everyone to communicate, so there was a lot of talking/yelling at corners where we all told each other to hold our lines, set up properly, etc.
* The official had told us that they would start the lap countdown at 10 laps to go. I was starting to despair because I never saw the 10 lap card. Then, miraculously, the announcer said there were only five laps to go. My outlook brightened considerably!
* Interestingly, the pace didn't pick up as much as I expected after the five lap announcement. It actually seemed to stay more or less the same until the very last corner before the line, when the sprint began.
* I did not do well in the sprint. I wasn't very well positioned, and sprinting is not my strong suit anyway. Yari zipped past me just before the line. I finished 29th (in the video, I'm crossing the line just as the video ends).
* The mentors led a post-race debrief. They said we had been fast and safe. They said that this was the first time in years (ever?) that there hadn't been a crash in the Women's 4 field at this race.
* I recorded an average speed of 21.5 mph, max 29 mph. I had a relatively fast cadence (for me) -- average 85 rpm.

Lessons: don't give up just because the first couple of laps are hard; get more proactive about positioning during the last couple of laps. I think that with some work (particularly on sprints), I could actually do well in crits, especially totally flat crits like this one. I am just not meant to race on hills!

2009 Wildflower Triathlon

Team Autobots! Transform!
Originally uploaded by queenjill

Because we had so much fun at the San Francisco Triathlon last November, Emily, Lisa and I signed up for the Wildflower Triathlon down in the King City area. Wildflower is apparently nicknamed the "Woodstock of Triathlons", probably because it's a huge draw and it's in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately Emily had been sick for weeks, and wasn't feeling up to going. So Lisa and I went down hoping to find someone else who could run. We shared a campsite with Dana and her friends, including Eric who volunteered to be our runner for the Olympic relay on Sunday. He didn't even seem daunted by our team name, "Autobots! Transform!"

The relay group was the last to start -- two hours after the first group started at 9 a.m. The lake was very low because of the lack of rain we've had over the past few years. This meant that Lisa's run out of the water and up into the transition area was even longer than usual. She still had a great time, and was up in the transition area within 25 minutes.

The bike course was approximately 25 miles, out and back. I had been nervous about the bike leg -- not only because I'm only recently back on the bike after about two months of achilles injury, but also because there was no room in the transition area for a trainer for warmup. Immediately out of the transition area, cyclists faced an uphill climb of about a mile. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. I actually passed a lot of people on the climb, not because I'm such a fantastic climber so much as because a lot of them were Team-in-Training types who had just done the swim themselves (rather than taking a handoff from a swimmer).

Triathlon cycling is very different from bike racing. I played leapfrog for miles with several women whom I'd pass with ease on the uphills, and then be passed by on the flat. By mile 6 I was starting to despair, feeling like there was no way I could do another 18 miles. Fortunately I eventually warmed up and started feeling better. Hitting the turnaround helped, too -- at least I knew I was more than halfway done.

At last, after a long steady climb back into the park, I hit the final hill -- a fast descent back into the transition area (the same hill I'd climbed on the way out). I passed a lot of people on this hill -- a lot of runners, but some cyclists as well. Once back in the transition area, I had to run (on foot! barbaric!) to our rack number, where Eric grabbed the timing chip off my ankle, put it on his own, and started his run.

We all had good time splits -- I probably could have taken another minute or two off my time but for the most part I'm happy with it. Unfortunately, because Eric is a guy, it put us into the "mixed" category rather than all-women. I think we might have taken a podium spot in the all-women category, but alas -- we were something like 24th out of 50+ mixed teams. Oh well -- it was fun anyway.

Boring post -- apologies....

2009-03-08 MPGP race report

Menlo Park Grand Prix-3
Originally uploaded by kwc

This was my first criterium, and I was nervous about it. I'm not usually nervous about crashing, but I was a bit worried about this race, probably because I didn't know what to expect. I also haven't been on my bike much lately due to tendonitis in my heel, so I knew I wasn't going to do very well. *And* this was going to be my first race with spectators -- even my parents were coming. Eep.

The race started oddly. We were at the line, and then all of a sudden we were doing a promenade lap, which turned into two, and then four, and then.... We were being allowed to roll around to keep warm while paramedics were clearing the course after a crash in the previous race. Finally we got back to the starting line, more than 30 minutes after our originally-intended start time. They told us that they were going to shorten our race in order to stay on schedule (originally the race was to be about 45 minutes long). We waited at the line for probably another 10 minutes.

Finally the bell rang and we were off. I got off to a fast start, and found myself behind four other women in a single paceline, with the whole rest of the field behind us. Wild. After the chicane on the first lap, the field swarmed around us, and I found myself near the back. Turns were a bit sketchy but overall I didn't find them too scary.

Just after the chicane on the second lap, I discovered that I was getting dumped off the back -- too late to do anything about it at that point. I caught the wheel of a woman in a plain jersey, and drafted off of her for maybe half to three-quarters of a lap. I pulled ahead and she jumped on my wheel. As we passed the start/finish line, I heard the announcer say something like, "and off the back, it's Jill Eyres and ______, time trialing." Depressing! Plain jersey girl and I worked fairly well together, taking turns every half lap or so, but we weren't making any significant progress. In fact, the headwinds on the straightaway before the start/finish were brutal and we fell further behind on every lap.

After a couple of laps, as we passed through the start/finish, we got pulled. I'm not sure whether I was upset or relieved -- possibly a combination of the two. I watched the rest of the Cat 4 women's race with (see photo, seated left to right) Bess, Amy, Vanessa, me, and my mom.

Emily and Ann finished but didn't do as well as they liked, due to getting caught behind a crash at the very last turn before the final straightaway. They didn't go down but the pack got away from them.

All in all, though, it was fun, and I'm thrilled that my teammates stayed safe.

Lessons: I need to pay closer attention to staying close to the pack, and noticing earlier if I'm falling off (or stuck behind someone who is falling off). I also need to heal this darned Achilles tendon so I can get back on the bike and get some fitness back!

2009-02-21 Snelling RR report

Snelling Road Race 2009
Originally uploaded by Arley L.

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....

2009-02-15 Pine Flat RR report

Cat 4 women
Originally uploaded by queenjill

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.

2009-02-14 Cantua Creek RR report

feb 14 010 1K to go sign
Originally uploaded by SWoo

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.

2009 TBF MTB Challenge race report

Me!
Originally uploaded by queenjill

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!

Camp Velogirls 2009

Ann in the lead
Originally uploaded by queenjill

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....

San Bruno Hill Climb 2009

codepink
Originally uploaded by norcalcyclingnews

Ann and I did the New Year's Day climb up San Bruno Mountain. The weather (at least at the bottom of the hill) was cool but not uncomfortable. I had neglected to bring my trainer so I took my warmup out on the streets of Brisbane, which wasn't altogether unpleasant (at least compared to the trainer).

There were two mass starts. The Women 4 were in the second start. It was a fast start and people hit the hill hard. It felt like everyone in the world was passing me, but I decided that I'd rather finish than keep up (and blow up). Ann rode with me for about 30 seconds and then went on ahead.

I still felt OK at park entrance but knew that the hardest part was still ahead of me. There was an older guy (clearly Masters 55+) who passed me right at the start of the climb from the parking lot. I caught up to him and almost passed him but then decided against it. I stayed on his wheel for five minutes or so but then let him go.

The fog got thicker with each vertical foot -- visibility was so low that I lost track of where I was, despite having done this climb about a bajillion times before. I was starting to think that it would never end, but then (finally) I got to the hairpin turn and knew that it was almost over. Around this point was when I passed a woman in a red jacket.

I didn't see the finish line until I was nearly over it. Ann was waiting with our bags of clothes (Roaring Mouse had provided bags at the bottom near registration for clothes that were then driven to the top). A quick photo op and then we headed down the hill. Of course that's the best part of the climb -- the descent! After leaving the park, I was finally able to get some decent speed....

I knew that I wasn't last because I'd passed that one woman. Turns out that I finished 15th out of 22 in Cat 4 women (total time 27:43.30). Ann finished 10th (25:02.06). Yay! The #1 Cat 4 woman finished in just over 20 minutes.

Lessons for next year -- be in better climbing shape by January 1!

Here's a photo of Ann: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24838791@N07/3158097121/in/set-72157611983201103/

SF Triathlon, Treasure Island race report

Runner, biker, swimmer
Originally uploaded by queenjill

This is very belated race post! On November 8, 2008, I did the Olympic distance SF Triathlon on Treasure Island in the relay division with Emily and Lisa. Lisa did the swim leg, I did the bike leg, and Emily did the run. Lisa named our team "Team What Willis Was Talking About" which provided for nearly endless comedy throughout the day as various announcers struggled to make sense of it.

It wasn't exactly a warm day. Lisa did great on the swim -- she was the second woman out of the water, and fourth overall, I think. It was way cold. She could barely run after she got out of the water.

My bike portion was so-so. It was about 24 miles, six laps of a mostly flat course with lots of turns. There was one short climb near the end of each lap. My first two laps were spent basically passing just about everyone I could, in order to get out of their way. Good bike handling skills were not the norm among the people on the bike course, at least while I was out there. I was able to pass a lot of people simply because I could ride around/over/through things without braking while others couldn't (or wouldn't). After my second lap, I found a gap and mostly rode alone, without passing or being passed by many other people.

I tried to keep my speed at at least 19 miles per hour, which was mostly manageable -- I think my average speed (based on Garmin data) was about 18.4 mph. In retrospect I should have pushed it more on the last lap -- I still had something left as I pulled into the transition area.

Emily did great on the run, despite not feeling 100% going into it, and missing out on Gatorade because the guy in front of her grabbed two. In the days after the race, the results showed Team What Willis Was Talking About having finished in sixth place overall, out of all teams (men's, women's, and mixed) in the relay division. However, the results were later revised to show that we actually finished in eight place. Whatever -- still a pretty good showing out of about 27 teams.

Lessons for me for the next triathlon relay: (1) meet the swimmer closer to where she comes out of the water; (2) bring a towel to the swimmer at the transition; (3) push it harder on the last leg/few miles of the bike leg!!

2008 Henleyville Road Race report

Henleyville Road Race 2008 052
Originally uploaded by rodneycox68

The five "Dunnigan" Tri-Flow girls finally did our first race all together this past Saturday (given that it's season end, it's probably also our *last* race together, at least 'til 2009).

The course was an 18 mile mostly-flat loop in Henleyville, California, just west of Corning. The Cat 4 women's race was three laps, for a total of 54 miles. Due to low registration, the Cat 3 and Cat 4 groups were combined (although placed separately at the end). There were only four Cat 3 women, and about 14 Cat 4 women. Tri-Flow had the biggest team representation, by far; most others were there solo.

We started at 8:30 a.m., quickly organizing into two long lines. The first lap kept a very conversational, even recreational pace, scarcely exceeding 18 miles an hour for most of it. On the second lap, the attacks began. The first was in the feed zone, of all places -- fortunately the weather wasn't hot enough that any of us yet needed to get any more water. From there on out, there were occasional attacks off the front, but none of them lasted very long, and the pack quickly regrouped each time.

At the beginning of the third lap, the Cat 3 woman from Reno Wheelmen attempted to get us all to work together in one big paceline. Some of us participated in good faith, but others didn't seem either to know how or to want to do a paceline, and the attacks soon resumed.

Thus, with one or two exceptions, the pack stayed together for the entire three laps. Just before the end, the Reno Wheelmen woman encouraged us all to sprint safely -- watching our lines, etc. At the 1km sign, the pack took off. I held on as long as I could but fell off before the 100m sign, crossing the line in 11th place out of 14. Ann got third place, and Emily finished somewhere before me (they didn't correctly place her at first).

Overall I'm really happy with how it went. The pack was mostly civilized and comparatively experienced, with a few exceptions although none nearly as bad as at San Ardo. My goal had been to hang onto the pack for at least one lap, if not two -- so the fact that I stayed on until the final sprint was just a bonus. I do still have work to do if I ever want to win, or at least be able to help Ann and Emily in any meaningful way.

I'm looking forward to next year!

Dunnigan Hills 2008 race report

Dunnigan Hills
Originally uploaded by 38°

Vanessa and I were the only Velo Girls to do this race this year. It's a single-loop course of about 45 miles or so, starting and finishing in Yolo, California. We pre-rode the course a few weeks ago and it seemed pretty straightforward -- a few rolling hills but nothing overly steep or prolonged. During our pre-ride the worst part seemed to be the "homestretch," which was more than 10 miles of looong straight road without any particularly interesting scenery to speak of.

The race started late. The Cat 4 women field was probably 25 or so riders. It was a much better pack than at San Ardo -- people were better about holding their lines, looking before moving, etc. Part of it might have been that it seemed to be a more experienced group. But part of it also might have been the BRUTAL wind coming from north/northwest -- riders were trying so hard to move forward that there wasn't much jockeying for position within the group.

Not too far into the race*, Vanessa and I were both exposed to the wind at the back of the pack, causing us to fall off around mile 9 or 10. I was just settling into the mindset of "whatever" when, as we started across the 505 overpass, Vanessa said, "weren't we supposed to turn here?" Indeed, at that point, the pack (which had already crossed the overpass) started to look confused.** Vanessa and I quickly turned, and just like that, we were in the lead! It would have been cooler if we hadn't just turned straight into the wind. Even doing very short pulls (10 seconds or less), we couldn't get up past about 14 miles an hour. It was brutal. The pack overtook us again after not too long. We got back on and stayed with them for another 6 or 7 miles until we fell off again.

For the next 12-15 miles, Vanessa and I worked together, keeping a reasonable pace considering the wind but not killing ourselves either. Somewhere after mile 30, two women caught up to us and passed us, so we hopped on their draft. Soon we also caught up to Carla of Code 3, who had struggled mightily but ultimately in vain to catch up to the group after falling off around the same time that Vanessa and I had. She hopped on our paceline as well. After a couple of miles we finally turned onto the homestretch, where the wind was finally at our backs. The two women set a fast pace and took turns leading. Carla tried to rotate in at the lead and wanted us all to do the same, which I would have been happy to do except that I just didn't have enough energy left -- it was hard enough just to stay on.

By 3 km before the finish, I just didn't have anything left. Carla stayed back with me while Vanessa stuck to the other two women as they pulled ahead to the finish line. Carla ended up finishing a few seconds ahead of me. Annoyingly, the race officials listed her as finishing in 18th place but me as "DNP," or "did not place." I would have been last, I'm sure, but still! I finished.

I was exhausted by the time we got back to the cars. I need to figure out a better nutritional strategy. I think I may need to up my protein intake before/during the race and not just rely on fast-burning carbs like GU and shot blox. Maybe just eat some PB right before the next race....

* Interesting "scenery" around mile six or seven -- a truck passed us hauling an open trailer with a dead cow in the back -- in full rigor mortis, with legs (and udder!) pointing straight in the air.

** Our group was not the only group to miss the turn. It wasn't well marked at all, and no one was stationed there to point us in the right direction.

San Ardo 2008 race report

san ardo - non racing action mostly 004
Originally uploaded by SWoo

Ann, Emily, Vanessa, and I raced in Cat 4 women at San Ardo last weekend (can you spot Emily and me in this photo?). It was two laps of a 24-ish mile loop starting and ending in San Ardo, California. The results haven't been posted online yet as far as I can tell, but I'm pretty sure I came in last.

I stayed with the pack for the first lap, but then fell off at the beginning of lap two. I tried too hard to get back on, which compounded my two big(gest) mistakes during lap one, which were: (1) not drinking enough, and (2) pulling for too long on the backstretch coming back in to San Ardo.

Vanessa also fell off the pack about the same time I did, so she and another woman and I all worked together to get back to the finish. Actually they both worked harder than I did, because I didn't have anything left (see above) and was a pathetic whiny mess. By the time we got near the finish line, we all told each other we probably weren't going to have anything left to sprint with. But then we all tried anyway. I could have out-sprinted the other woman, but I let her cross the line before me because she really did much more work than I did on the second loop. I guess that's not very competitive of me, but whatever. Does it really matter whether I come in dead last, or just second to dead last?

Ann and Emily fared much better -- Ann made top 10 for sure, and might have been #8 or #6, she thought. Emily stayed with the pack the whole ride so probably didn't do too badly either. Vanessa was much cheerier than at Winters, and actually seemed to be enjoying herself.

Weather was warm but not nearly as hot as Winters the weekend before. Everyone but me agreed that they liked San Ardo much better than Winters. If I hadn't felt so awful, I might have agreed with them as well. Maybe if I'm still racing next year, I'll give it another shot then.

Winters road race report

My very first road bike race was this past Saturday, in Winters, California. I had spent the prior six weeks training for it through the Tri-Flow development program run by Lorri Lee Lown of VeloGirls. On race day I was there with fellow Tri-Flow program members Emily, Kat, and Vanessa, as well as Lorri and race team member Lala. Tri-Flow member Ann was out of town, but I'm sure she would rather have been at the race with us....

The course was a 24 mile loop, starting and finishing in Winters, that we rode two times (some of the higher categories rode the loop three or four times). It started out mostly flat, but at about mile 11 it started becoming hilly, with a steep grade at about mile 13 followed by a steep, narrow descent with a very tricky switchback. After that it was almost entirely flat again on the "backstretch" and leading up to the finish line.

The Cat 4 women started sometime after 9 a.m., by which time the weather was already quite warm. I know our start time was delayed but I wasn't wearing a watch so I don't know for how long. Lorri led us out and set the pace. At the start, the pack stayed together. It was very interesting to ride in a group with everyone so close together. I was amazed by the reorganizations that happened early on -- I would be in the front, and then all of a sudden I'd be in the back... and then just as quickly I'd be back in the front again.

At the hilly section, I started to fall back, and then just after the feed zone I dropped my chain, and wasn't very efficient about getting it back on. In retrospect it was a good thing, because then I knew I had no chance of staying with the leaders, so I didn't kill myself trying. I did push myself up the hill, passing a few women, and down the other side. But I wasn't feeling very strong at the back. Vanessa caught up with me there so we worked together around the backstretch and then the beginning of the second loop. She hadn't been feeling very good -- she said she was having chills -- and it seemed to be getting worse as we continued into the second loop. She apologized for slowing me down and said I should go on, but I didn't want to work by myself for the whole second loop, and it's not like I was in a big hurry since we had no chance of catching the lead group at that point anyway.

Near the start of the hilly section a woman came past us and invited us to "get on her wheel" -- she'd had to stop and change a flat and was racing faster to get back to the pack. We tried to stay with her but soon stopped. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to go another 20 miles at that pace! So I was by the side of the road, slowing down to wait for Vanessa to catch up to me again. I turned around to look for her, and that's when I veered off the road into a gravel ditch. Very stupid. Fortunately the only damage to my bike seems to be that the left brake lever is scraped up and looks ugly; maybe a new scratch or two on the fork but otherwise everything seems OK. Vanessa came up and helped me up, suggesting that we hurry because a peloton of men was coming! I brushed myself off quickly and got back on. I'm quite sure that none of the men even noticed us as they whizzed by. It was funny.

When we got to the hill section again, just before the feed zone Vanessa told me to go on and she'd catch me on the back side again. I didn't think I was going to make it up the steep grade the second time. I spent the whole time fantasizing about stopping to rest but I managed not to. I'm not sure I've ever breathed so hard in my life! Fortunately the steepest grade is nearly at the top, so even the remaining 30 seconds or so of incline afterward seems like a rest. Vanessa never did catch up to me, so I ended up riding the rest of the second loop by myself. On the backstretch the second time I felt much stronger and was able to keep my pace at 20 to 25 mph most of the time. I crossed the finish line feeling pretty good -- I was happy to stop, of course, but could probably have gone a bit further if I'd had to, and my pace was still up. Of course once I stopped riding, my road rash started to hurt -- I had been mostly able to ignore it up until then.

Overall I felt really good about it, despite getting left behind early as well as the stupid crash. This was not the farthest I've ever ridden in a day, but it was the longest I've ever ridden without intentionally stopping (if you don't count the dropped chain or the crash), and certainly overall I rode it faster than I normally would have. *And* it was hot out there.

I'm glad I did the race, and am particularly grateful that I did the Tri-Flow program. I can't even imagine how lost I would have been without all of the training, both learning about how races work as well as just the fitness aspects of it. I certainly have more work to do before I can stay with the pack, but it doesn't seem unachievable, provided that I keep working at it. It has been really fun working with Lorri and the other "girls" for the past six weeks. I'm going to miss it when it's over!

Red and her teenager

Red and her teenager
Originally uploaded by queenjill

This is my horse and her teenager, Kate. It's way too cute for words.

Jill and Nancy crush the Tierra Bella 100K, 2008

Jill and Nancy at Uvas Reservoir rest stop
Originally uploaded by queenjill

We made much better time than last year, which is surprising given that we're in much worse shape than we were a year ago, but not surprising when you account for the fact that last year the skies were dumping buckets of rain on us.

Looking forward to next year. We're talking about doing the imperial century, which would add another 35 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing. That might really suck most of the fun out of it, so I bet we stick with the metric century.

Dexter

Dexter
Originally uploaded by Savvyminx

I'm obsessed with this show. I just finished the third DVD of the first season and it's KILLING me that I have to wait two days until Netflix can send me the fourth one. KILLING ME.

Fasting

Three-tiered Tea-for-Two
Originally uploaded by Maulleigh

Molly sent me an article yesterday about all of the benefits of fasting. It suggested fasting once a week in order to extend life, reduce cravings for sugar, increase popularity, solve crime, etc.

This morning, I tried to put on my size 8s. It was embarrassing.

So now, I'm trying to fast. I had a PB&J sandwich for lunch around 1:30 p.m. today. Now it's 7:45 p.m., and all I've had since the sandwich were my evening "vitamins," if you know what I mean (some of them actually are vitamins).

I think I can probably make it through the night, but the morning will be interesting. I wonder if I can make it 'til lunch tomorrow?