Superweek - Day 7

Superweek – Day 7
Saturday, July 25th
Cat 3/4 Women: Humboldt Park Crit (Milwaukee, WI)
Approx 16 miles, 20.6 mph average

Today we raced in Humboldt park near downtown Milwaukee. This venue brought out a very small crowd today. However, it was a great place to race and to watch a race as you could find many great vantage points that allowed you to see nearly half of the course. The course had a downhill finish into a near 180 degree turn which leads into a steady climb. Overall, it was a very nice course except for the rough pavement on the hill. On the 2nd lap, an ISCorp girl attacks hard on the hill. She quickly gets a very large gap on the field. She had not raced all week and so she had very fresh legs. Still, I was impressed that she kept gaining on us (and stayed away the entire race!). The race leaders were more interested in holding their overall position than chasing her down to finish better. About 5 laps later, a Wild Card girl attacks on the hill to try and bridge to her. Im boxed in at the time and then when I could go, with another woman who jumps with her, I hesitate a second too long and loose my good chance. I should have gone, but you can always “could have, should have, would have…” I decided to focus on the field sprint instead. I didn’t think it was going to stick. I somehow miss that there was another girl that went too and so there are 4 up the road and they were all working well together and stay away from the group. We were all about to sprint for 5th. No one wanted to work long enough to pull them back. On the final lap, someone jumps in the middle of the hill – much too early. I stand and stay with the surge with Teresa’s help. We go into corner 3 and 4 HOT. Someone else jumps, but there is a pretty strong headwind into the finish and even going downhill is an effort. I jump on one wheel and then another and then jump out into the wind and drive my sprint as hard as I can. I cant catch the two leaders in front of me, but I see someone edging up on my right side and I push a little harder so she doesn’t nip me at the line. I look over at the line and realize that it’s Teresa! I get her by a few inches and she looks over and says “That was really fun!” I smile and agree. We snag 7th and 8th (3rd and 4th in the field sprint). We move up to 5th and 7th overall. While I should have, could have, would have, gone with the break, I really enjoy sprinting and overall it was a very fun race!
Because of my work schedule Ive decided not to race tomorrow. I had an awesome time at Superweek though, and it was fun to see how much my fitness and race experience has improved over last year.

Superweek - Day 6

Superweek – Day 6
Friday, July 24th
Cat 3/4 Women: Chase Food Folks & Spokes Crit (Kenosha, WI)
Approx 20 miles, 22 mph average

I had done this same course last year. This was a very fast and flat 4 corner course. This course is a lot of fun because there is a carnival/festival in the middle of the course with lots of spectators and good energy. There were some, but not nearly as many attacks today. I was in the top 10 wheels toward the beginning of the race and less than 5 laps in, a girl in front of me takes herself out (slides out) on the outside of corner 2 and I narrowly avoid running over her head by an inch or two! I had to work hard to lower my heart rate after that! And, it really shook me up for a while. After that I had a really hard time positioning myself up closer to the front. I just felt like I was not mentally in the game. After fighting my way up toward the front, I would easily give up my position and end up back in the mid/back of the pack again. On the last two laps I tried even harder, but to no avail. On the final lap the Manitoba girl started moving up on the back side of the course and I jump on her wheel. She won the first day and had not raced every day, so I figured she would be pretty fresh. She moved us up from nearly the back of the pack to the top 15 wheels/mid pack. I wasn’t as far up as I had hoped going into the final turn, but I figured she would be a great lead out for the final sprint. After the final turn, she stands up and starts sprinting; however, about ½ way to the line, she dies and sits down/slows down. I have to react and go around her and all I can do is add gears and sprint as hard as I can. I make up a lot of spots and my legs feel better than anticipated, but I still only end up with 14th. I should have put myself up at the front long before that. I guess that narrowly escaping the crash just shook me up a little? I don’t know what happened today. I hope I can find my mojo before leaving the house tomorrow. I could really use it now!

Superweek - Day 5

Superweek – Day 5
Thursday, July 23rd
Cat 3/4 Women: Racine, WI Crit
Approx 18 miles, 22 mph average

I had raced Racine last year and besides the terrible pavement, it was a fun race. I realize on race day that they have changed the course and added a different section giving us better pavement on all but one section and more corners. More corners is actually an understatement - it now had 8 corners (instead of 4) in a 0.7 mile course! Geesh. Fortunately my cornering felt a lot better this year than it had last year. That was something I had struggled with last year. I used to gap on corners and then have to stand up and sprint out of them to get back on. This year, I felt better motoring though corners and holding my line, etc. The attacks started early and often on this mostly flat course with a strong cross wind to the finish. My legs weren’t feeling super fresh, on this 5th day of racing. They actually felt pretty dead and I tried my best to stay out of the wind and just stay on a wheel towards the front in order to avoid all of the yo-yoing in the mid/back of the field. I head a pretty good position most of the race. Though, I had to put up with a lot of bumping and got pushed so close to the barriers once that my shoulder brushed against it. We were also taking the corners so fast that once, I was pedaling though one and clipped my pedal on the pavement…a little scary! No attacks stuck until the end but we had chase after chase going though most of the race. I had held a pretty good position the whole race but then found myself on the front at 5 to go and had to slow way down to pull off and then of course someone attacked and strung it out for most of the rest of the race. I found myself way too far back on the final lap. It was still strung out and really hard to move up and I was not where I needed to be. I worked my way up a little bit, but still only ended up in 15th place for the day but still holding on to 4th overall. Sigh. I think I raced a good race, especially considering how bad my legs felt, I just need to work on those final few laps!

Superweek - Day 4

Superweek – Day 4
Wednesday, July 22nd
Cat 3/4 Women: AltoLab Lakefront Road Race
Approx 21 miles, ? mph average


Today was a road race format again. It was a 4.2 mile dumbbell shaped circuit with two climbs and one windy descent and an out and back flat stretch along Lake Michigan on Lincoln Memorial Dr. (which was rather windy). It was dry at the lake front until the start and then just as the whistle was blown, the rain started coming down. I immediately wished I had put less air in my tires. On the first lap, coming down the first curving descent, two girls on the front take themselves out. One goes into the guard rail and the other is smack in the middle of the road. I ride between them and take it very easy the rest of the way down the hill. It rained for the first two laps and there were a couple more crashes that I could hear behind me. I tried to stay in the top 5 and avoid getting mixed up in anything crazy. Unfortunately that meant that I did a lot of work. Only about 5 or 6 women were willing to do any work out of the 25 women in the peloton. As the rain stopped, the descent dried out and a few riders began descending faster and faster and would create a gap on the field every lap. I couldn’t quite stay on their wheel (too worried about keeping it on 2 wheels) and ended up having to chase each of the last 3 laps. At three to go I actually tried to attack (off the front - generally not a great idea) on the first hill and my bike started ghost shifting up the hill and so I had to sit down and forget about that. Right before 2 to go, we were neutralized so that the mens field could pass and so the gap our front group had created on the rest of the field allowed them to catch back up to us. After starting again, I think some of the front of the field were angered by this and went back out the flat stretch very hard. The field was pretty strung out for about a mile. I managed to move back up though and tried to stay close to the right wheels. On the last lap I had expected someone to attack on the first hill, but they didn’t. Right before the 2nd hill, one of the Dolce Vita girls attacked and strung out the field again. I think I would have climbed that hill better in my small ring, but I had such a hard time shifting back into my big ring the first time, that I ended up doing all climbs in my big ring to avoid dropping a chain. Anyway, I do my best to hold on, but end up at the back of the group going up the hill. Fortunately, I end up at the back of the field with the overall leader! And, I hear she is a very good time trialist (Jeannie Collins – Atlantic Shores Velo/Golds Gym)! I promptly jump on her wheel at the top of the hill and she works very hard to pull us back to the middle of the group on the straightaway. I tell myself that this is the wheel I need to be on and I hold it for a long time and then I feel like Im out in the wind too much and tuck back on the back right side of the group to do so. This means I loose her wheel and as we approach the final sprint, Im on a terrible wheel AND Ive boxed myself in. Arrrrrrgh! All I can do is do my best to get around and jump out in the wind. I finish 14th and curse myself b/c I knew what I was supposed to do and I didn’t follow through. Needless to say, I’m not so happy with my finish today, but because of the low turnout today, Im still in 4th overall and only 1 point behind 3rd. I hope I can pull out some magic over the next 4 days! Fingers crossed.

Superweek Day 3

Superweek – Day 3
Tuesday, July 21st
Cat 3/4 Women: Whitnall Park Crit
Approx 20 miles, 22 mph average

Today we were back in Whitnall park for a shorter crit course. Part of the course went backwards on the previous days course making for a very different but fun course. It started with a sharp, greater than 90 degree turn into a small 5%ish grade hill. The back side had a false flat to a small downhill into a longer false flat with a small headwind. After that, it was an easy sweeping downhill to the flat and fast finish. The first few laps were pretty mellow, it kind of seemed like everyone was warming up and seeing how their legs felt on day 3 of racing. There were a few attacks but they did not stick for long. It was a very hard course to find a good place to attack and stay away. We didn’t have any primes to mix up the race, so that also seemed to keep the attacks down. Because of the width of the road, it provided lots of opportunities to move up on the outsides. When the pace slowed down, that meant positioning would have to be fought for. Everyone seemed to be vying for position from lap 1 and some folks were more aggressive than others. One woman tapped my hip to let me know she was on my side (where I couldn’t see her) because we were all so squeezed together in the front of the field. Later, that same woman would do the same to another rider who apparently didn’t want to be tapped b/c she yells “don’t touch me!”. Then, the verbal altercation ensued! Back and forth they went, and I knew there was one way to stop them from yapping at each other – ATTACK! I was just contemplating attacking when the SRAM girl attacked from the back left of the pack. YES! I had worked hard the last two days to bring many of the attacks back, and I decided today I would let others do the larger share of the work. If someone went, I jumped on their wheel, but I didn’t initiate the chase. The last couple of laps, I found a good wheel 3-5 back and worked hard to stay on it. Then, on the last lap we were all together and I was holding my position and then an unexpected attack from a rider came from the back of the field on the left side and the field went crazy! I try not to panic b/c for one second I think there is no way I can ever make up all the spots I just lost. I look for a wheel. I find one and hang on, the pack sort of yo-yos a bit as we crest the false flat and go down the small decline and I just keep pedaling and adding gears. I find an opening on the outside left and sit a second or two behind a group of 5+ riders. I jump around them in the final 200 meters and just give it all I have. Im out of gears so I spin as fast as I can. I cant believe I have made up this many positions. I somehow manage a 4th place finish! Wow! Where did that sprint come from?! Very happy today! :)

Superweek Day 2

Superweek – Day 2
Monday, July 20th
Cat 3/4 Women: Whitnall Park Road Race
Approx 20.5 miles, 22 mph average

Today would be a different day. This was a course I had done last year. It was a 2.3 mile course I was glad to see that they had patched some of the really bad parts of the road, but the pavement still left a lot to be desired in some spots. Fortunately it’s a very nice park and a fun place to watch a race. The trickiest part of the course is a slightly greater than 90 degree turn into a big two tiered hill to the finish. Good positioning into the turn and good gearing on the hill could make or break your race. Today the Dolce Vita team turned up with 5 racers and they were strong! The race was fairly uneventful until the last 4-5 laps. Dolce Vita set up some attacks. They sent a girl off up the hill with a strong attack. Our group doesn’t organize well at first. Then someone yells, “pull through, we will all work together, this is bike racing!” it was kinda cute, but it worked, and the pace lifted dramatically. Me and the front of the field worked very hard to pull her back. Then, we catch her right before the hill again and they send another off the front. Now we only have two to go. Some others attempt to bridge and I go with them. Three of us (I think three) are gaped off the field and working hard to pull her back. We finally catch her and the XXX girl in our group, Greta, (who is totally kick ass for racing with one arm!) goes off the front on the back side of the course. A Dolce Vita girl looks back at me as her and I lead into the hill and she says “wanna get her” and I say “sure, lets go”. We quickly close the gap on her 1/2 way up the hill. One to go and I need to tuck in a bit after that. I find a good position and the Dolce girls start lining up their lead out train. They have all 5 of them lined up on the front and drilling. I think to myself, self, this looks just like what Team Columbia does in the Tour de France. The only way to stop this is to disrupt the train! So, I put myself out in the wind and push my way into 3rd wheel to break up the train. It sort of worked. Im third wheel leading into the hill but the girl behind me goes to my left (outside) instead of my inside where Im expecting. I end up on another Dolce Vita girl’s wheel, who I also expect to be a good wheel, but then I see a buzz of people on my left just flying up the hill. Im TOTALLY taking the wrong side of the course for this! Ahhh! All I can do is find a hole, grab the best wheel I can find and finish. I end up in 10th. Still in the money, but not where I had hoped since the road races award higher points. Oh well, hopefully Ill know better next time!

Superweek Day 1

The new Team Rev mascot! Bea-Ver! :)
(a pix of the new mascot!)

Superweek – Day 1
Sunday, July 19th
Cat3/4 Women: Evanston Crit
18 miles, 23.5 mph average

Crit course in downtown Evanston, IL was fairly technical - Lots of manhole covers to dodge and 6 corners, but completely flat. It was cool weather for July, in the upper 60’s and breezy. The crowd was abundant and downtown Evanston was bustling. Very cute area with many cool shops and restaurants.
Lined up with 27 Cat 3/4 women at the line. I was a little nervous but surprisingly not as much as last year. I was excited this year to be a Cat 3 in a 3/4 field and not a 3 in a 1/2/3 field! Big difference! The whistle sounds and we fly out of the gate right away someone starts pushing the pace though the 1st corner and the pace is high for the whole first lap. Things settle down a bit, for a second, and then the attacks start. Im holding a good position in the top 5 of the front of the field. Maybe a little too close to the action though because I had to help cover many of the attacks. I wanted to be there for a break, but did not necessarily want to burn myself up on a bunch of attacks that were not going to stick. There were a lot of attacks on the finishing stretch, which did not make a lot of sense at all. There was a tail wind to the finish, and it was a long 3-4 block stretch with the start/finish pretty much right smack in the middle. A very long stretch to the finish after the last corner! There was a crash to my left at corner 4 midway through the race. Im well clear of it but see a couple girls flying into the padded barriers. Someone attacks while everyone is distracted (tacky if you ask me) and I have to chase back on the strung out field. I try to find a good position for the last 2 laps and I do and I tell myself I have to hold it. Im doing a good job and just as we are starting our final lap we start lapping dropped riders. With all of the corners, its getting very hairy. Its hard b/c the main field needs to get through and they are also trying to race their own race and place as best they can in the final lap. It gets even more dangerous on the 5th and 6th corners. I loose my wheel in the name of safety and have to work VERY hard to make up some spots on the final stretch (at least 600 meters). I find a wheel and move up with her and then pull out from behind her and give it all I have. I hit the giant manhole cover right in the middle of the finishing stretch and my back wheel jumps all over the place. I loose a pedal stroke, which doesn’t help. I regain control of my bike quickly and drill again all the way to the line. I pull out a 5th place finish even with all the craziness of the last lap. Ill take it!