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!

Tulsa Tough 2009

Got to Tulsa, OK late on Friday night with my teammate Teresa. We headed straight to the Blue Dome crit in hopes of seeing the final laps of the pro women's race - no dice. The air was electric through the "Blue Dome district". People lined the figure 8 course cheering and having a great time; sounds of cowbells were plentyful. There were many bars and restaurants along the course and a double decker party bus that was statigically parked at the start/finish. We quickly found Chris and Carrie right after and got the low down. Sounded like a tough race and they both did great! Had some food, met some other pro women and watched the end of the pro mens race. Wow! Talk about fast! St. Louis native, Brad Huff took the win! What an amazing sprint he has!


Saturday 5/30/09: Main & Brady Crit
Woke up after tossing and turning all night. Nerves were plentyful. I knew there were going to be at least 35 racers in the womens 3/4. This was the biggest womens field that I have raced in since Superweek last year. The money was good, so I knew the competition would be high. I had NO idea how well I would hang with this group. New racers and I didnt know the good wheels from the bad ones. This would be a learning process.
The course was an L shape with 6 corners and had a long false flat on the back side. It was also about 30 degrees warmer than just the day before. At the start I was a ball of nerves as I realized there were actually 44 racers in the pack! Wow! Once the whistle was blown, I was quickly focused on the task at hand and forgot about being nervous. There were some squirley bike handlers in the pack and so I tried to stay as close to the front as possible. Still, I almost got taken out in a corner at least 3 times. Our front group lapped three different groups on the course some were lapped 3 times! We averaged 23 mph - not too shabby! There were some great primes offered, but I opted to save my legs for the final sprint. Then, someone got off of the front (Kelli Mente - Punk Rock Cycling). She was strong and not enough people would work to bring her back, so it stuck and she finished a good 15 seconds in front of the pack. The final three laps were brutal with the pace driving higher and higher. I started to fade back into rear of the pack. This is NOT where I wanted and needed to be. I made up a lot of spots on the final gradual downhill before the last corner. I took the inside corner hoping to jump on a wheel, but couldn't find one to save my life. I stood up and sprinted from the final corner. It was about 300 meters, but it felt like 3 times that. All I could do was try to stay ahead of anyone else behind me. I managed 13th place out of 44 riders. Im happy with that, but that sprint set up really needs some work! I tell myself this will be my goal tomorrow.
http://www.tulsatough.com/site/tulsatough/download/144?disposition=inline

Sunday 5/31/09: 13th and Riverside Crit
Our race was early and so I woke at 7am after a great night of sleep (thank goodness). The nerves were there much more subdude today. Everyone kept saying that this was the course that deems Tulsa Tough well, Tough. I quickly learn why. There only 4 corners, but you assend a steep hill into the first corner that is a block long (at least 10-12% grade), the top of the course is rolling, and then you basically descend the same sized hill on the other side into a sharp 90 degree turn to a flat straight away start/finish.

I did not get a chance to ride the course first, so the first time up the hill I was trying to figure out my gearing. Everyone seemed to be setting up for the small ring, so I follow suit. With the right amount of momentum and the right gearing, it wasn't a bad hill. Get on the wrong wheel, and you could be killing your legs each lap. My legs surprisingly felt really good! Ok, I can do this. Down the steep hill you have to break if you want to make it around the hair pin turn on two wheels, the first girl into the corner slides out and into the curb and someone uses the distraction as a great time to attack. She is quickly caught. I stay in the top 5-7 riders and often times Im the first one up the hill. Im feeling great! I look at the lap counter and much to my demise, we still have 9 more times up that hill. I hate it when I look too soon. Ok, put it out of you mind. Some really good primes come, but Im feeling so good, I feel like I could win this thing and the pay out is $325! Im saving my legs. 3 to go - Im perfectly positioned 5th wheel. 2 to go - Im 3rd wheel but as we go through the 90 degree turn into the start/finish, I give up 3 spots. Darn it. I pull myself out of the draft and make up my spots on the straight away. This must have burned up my legs just a little too much b/c that last time up the hill someone attacked hard and I DIED! NOOOOOOO, this is MY race. I put my head down and try to catch them on the back of the course but my heart rate is maxed out and I cant get enough air. Im starting to get tunnel vision. I tell myself, breathe. Ill make up some spots on the final downhill. Nope. They were hammering. I end up in the back of the group into the final corner and my legs are totally burned up for the sprint. I look back to make sure there is no one else there to pass me, nope, Im it. I sit down and cross the line in 12th out of 37. Im not happy about my placement and my final lap, but I feel really good about my fitness. This was a great learning experience and a lot of fun. I cant wait until Superweek!
http://www.tulsatough.com/site/tulsatough/download/130?disposition=inline

Tour of STL and Slyvan Springs Crit

(Velo Force: Alane Carder, Jamie V, Teresa Sedlacek)

The Tour of STL was a lot of fun at the TT above). We had windy but warm weather and great courses! We only had 8 in the womens open group - I always wish there were more. It was a weekend of learning. Working on team dynamics and trying to remember how to sprint again!

The Saturday morning crit went really well. We had a couple of new racers to mix it up and Vanessa McKenize (Peoria Bicycle Club) really laid it out there and went off the front very early in the race. It took is a while to pull her back, she is a strong racer. Our group wasn't organizing well and no one wanted to work. This is my least favorite thing about the open races. On most of the the Cat4 races I did last year there were a larger group of people willing to do some work on the front. But, we got her back. Right after we caught her, I attacked but it did not stick. Even Vanessa was right there! Wow. Kudos to her! My positioning on the final lap was poor to say the least. I had a terrible sprint setup and sort of fell off around the last corner and barely got 6th. Ok, better work on that sprint!

The Saturday afternoon TT was SO windy. We were getting 20-25 mph wind gusts! Out of the gate it felt like I was shot out of a canon! There was a massive tail wind and I was easily hitting over 30 mph. The sad and spirit breaking part was when I turned into the cross and then head wind. It was really hard to stay arero and focused. Had to do a lot of gear shifting and a TT bike sure would have helped out. But, I finished. I was a little disenheartened by my time and place, but when I looked at how I would have placed as a Cat 4, I was a little more happy. I was still placing better in the 4's than I did last year, so an improvement I should be excited about!

The Sunday circuit race was fun as well. My legs strangely enough felt great eventhough they felt like total crap on Saturday. I attacked 3-4 times as I really wanted to work on this. It was fun, though nothing stuck - it would have been hard in the wind. A few other women attacked at various times and overall it was a good race. The final jump came a lot earlier than I expected and I had a hard time staying with it as I was AGAIN not on the right wheel. Darn it. But, I managed 6th....again...still lots to work on...

Slyvan Springs Crit was a really fun course. Flat stretch to the start/finish, long gradual downhill, sharp 90 degree left, down some more, small climb to a false flat, and then another short gradual climb. Would have been more fun if I had fresh legs. I decided to go on a really long training ride on Sat and my legs were cooked. I counter attacked once, but knew that it wouldn't last. Just wanted to tire some folks out! In the end, I had a really hard time staying with the front group. I knew I woulnt have anything left for the final sprint, but if I hung on I would have 4th (pay out to 5) so I was happy with that. Forget sprinting on that one! Good race though!

I was kickin' it in the tall socks - they are damn cool!

Tour of Hermann - Stage Race

Welcome to race season, and what a great (ahem, rainy) weekend to get it going! I just finished the Tour of Hermann which included a time trial Sat morning, a crit Sat afternoon and then a road race on Sun at noon. All races only offered me a Women's Open category, which meant I had to race w/ the 'big girls'. I wasn't sure how my leg would do as this was the first race after the injections. Actually it felt really good on Sat but my hip was pretty upset with all that hill climbing on Sunday, however, I survived and actually did better than survive, I managed to place in the GC! How did that happen?? I guess I just embraced the pain!

TT: 10 miles
Well, not much to say here. It was half raining/sprinkling for part of the race. Not bad really. At least it was 55-60F all weeekend and not a cold rain! There was a headwind going out, which meant a nice tailwind on the way back. I used this as a good opportunity to test my lactate threshold as I have not done that in a while. (It really didnt change much.) The small hill up to the bridge on the way back to the finish was a total buzz kill. Manged a 21.8 mph average and finished in 27:31 which was approx 30 sec faster than last year. Though, I think there was more wind last year, but Ill take it. Finished as I always do in TTs, middle of the pack.

Crit: 7 laps (only approx 8 miles)
This course was fun/challenging. was flat out of the start/finish until you rounded to a 12% bumppy downhill, which gradually leveled out before a few quick 90 degree turns. Short flat/false flat for 2 blocks and then 2 more 90's to a 7% grade hill which was probably 400-500 meters long (to the start/finish). Add rain to the mix and you have a strung out field! The downhill could make or break your race. If you got freaked out going 40 mph down a bumpy wet hill, forget it! I just decided that no amount of breaking on that surface was going to do any good and might actually cause me more problems, so I just held on, tucked and flew down that hill. It was actually quite fun! The uphill was more troublsome to me! Ouch! Im not the best hill climber. Not bad, but not great either. If I lost a wheel on the hill, I was able to make it up on the flat or downhill. But I knew It would hurt my finish. I manage to get in a group of about 4-5 women. We were the 2nd group behind the leaders. I managed to stay until the last lap when a couple of them attacked hard on the hill. I was smoked, but still managed to hang on to 8th place! I can live with that! Here is a great pic of me finishing the final hill. I obviouslly cant really breathe!


Road Race: 30 miles, 7 hills of Hermann
Well, from a short 1 mile neutral start, we end up at the bottom of a giant hill and the Mercy team attacks hard. I knew it was coming, but as my HR spiked, all I could do was try to breathe and hold a wheel as best I could. The first hill kind of leveled off a bit and then continued up again, maybe 2-3 times. I think on the 3 time I managed to hold the wheel of a Punk Rock Racing girl and there was a Big Shark girl w/ us too and we stuck and manged to catch another Big Shark racer. The 4 of us had a strong break from the rest of the pack and held them off the whole race. Every hill hurt and it was a struggle for me to hold their wheels all 3 of them were great climbers. After the first hour, I started to get pretty fatigued. I wanted to work more for them, but my pulls got slower and slower. I knew that if I pulled too much, I would eventually not be able to hold on for the last big hill. I somehow managed. The Punk Rock Racer girl attacked very early as we approached the first turn going into the finish. There was still 3 corners and a long sprint, but she stayed out there. I had little to nothing left and had hoped to hold off one Big Shark racer, but she got me close to the line. Oh well. I was very happy to finish with this group and hold off the field. Wow, that was a kicker! We averaged 18.4 mph (in the hills) for 30 miles! I manged to get 9th place!

General Classification (GC):
With my crappy TT finish, I wasn't sure Id get anything for GC. But, not everyone raced all 3 races. So, I manged to get 8th overall! I was very excited and happy about that!

My Velo Force teammates also performed awesome this weekend. Teresa ended up with 10th in the GC and Suzanne kicked butt in the TT and crit, if only she had done the RR too! Great rainy weekend!

PRP Therapy

Yep, Im doing it. Had major pain last November in my right knee while running and found out that its tendonosis - not a good thing. Tried rest - didnt work, physical therapy, yoga, stretching, massage - nope, not those either. Then I found out about platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) injections from a friend of mine. Went to see his Dr., Dr. Crane (Crane Clinic in Chesterfield, MO) and had my first injections don on May 2nd. Ouch for a few days! Then it felt like it did when I first injured it. Doing the yo-yo thing right now (good day/bad day) but waiting and hoping to see good results! Still training as long as it doesnt hurt any more than it did normally. 2nd set of injections yet to come - June 2nd. See interesting article published in the NY Times!
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A new medical procedure might be the cure for stubborn cycling injuries such as knee and Achilles tendinitis. Called platelet-rich plasma therapy, it's already being used successfully for pro athletes. The New York Times reports, "The method, which is strikingly straightforward and easy to perform, centers on injecting portions of a patient's blood directly into the injured area, which catalyzes the body's instincts to repair muscle, bone and other tissue. Most enticing, many doctors said, is that the technique appears to help regenerate ligament and tendon fibers, which could shorten rehabilitation time and possibly obviate surgery." The procedure costs around $2,000, or about 8 times less than surgery, with virtually no risk of infection. The NYT article concludes that "its largest effects would be on the amateur, weekend-warrior athletes for whom sports is recreation and healthy lifestyle." Read the details at http://tinyurl.com/c2zw57

Married in Costa Rica! Feb 17th

Yep, I tied the knot! My biking friends are amazed that Jason proposed in August (7th), in the middle of racing season! He IS a very amazing and understanding guy! He actually had a hard time finding an opportunity to propose with my crazy schedule.

We decided to run off to Costa Rica with just one other couple and get married on the beach. It was perfect in every way! No stress, just pure bliss and very special! The pictures prove just how amazing it was. The entire trip as also amazing. We spent the first week with our friends and then the 2nd week was just us. We did lots of scuba diving, some hiking, a day of mountain biking, took surfing lessons, and even went white water rafting the morning of our wedding day! It is so awesome that Jason and I enjoying being active together, I feel very lucky. :)
Well, enough gushing, but had to share this very major event in my life. We just had a party back home for the family and friends and it was a blast! That was the way to do it! Loads of fun having all of our favorite people in one place!

Jefferson City State Championship Crit

Shame shame shame on me for not posting about this crit! I just read my last entry again and realized where I left off. The Jeff City crit had a very small turnout, but was a lot of fun. I raced with all of my Team Rev girls and a couple others whom Ive raced with many times before.

The pack held a strong and steady pace the whole race and then with 2 laps to go, I attacked on the small hill leading out of the final corner. (see photo) I made a solo break and stayed away for the last lap and won the race! It was a hard final lap, but Im so glad I really eared the title! check out the cool pics from www.ficksphotos.com!