Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Back at it!!!
It was pretty close to six years since I have been in a bike race and my first race back was spring series #1. What a way to start, lots of crashes. Ah, the joys of bike racing!! Spring series #2 and #3 brought another weekend of good weather but no crashes this time around. I was pretty nervous on the way to the race on Saturday. I didn’t even realize that I drove over a bridge to get to the house I was spending the weekend at, in fact I didn’t even notice it the 2nd time over to the race either!! And my rear wheel kept going flat but thanks to the amazing support of fellow racers and our race director I had a wheel to race on. Saturday was short and flat, with the pack staying mostly as a bunch. The pace was medium for the first 2 or 3 laps and I finally got to the front. Still need to work on better positioning but felt less sketchy than last week. Managed to get the pace going with a few other guys, though no breaks stuck. Lap 9 I was in good position, hoping to lead Lisa out but still lacking aggression to keep up at the front. But all in all I think the Giant Whistler Elite Cycling team had a presence in the race and how it all panned out. The girls in the C race had some great results too! Sunday was an entirely different story, 11 repeats of Armstrong hill!! I think we were all in for some hurting and I was nervous again. The pack stayed together for the first 4 laps. The pace was hard, but didn’t drop many people. On the 5th climb it did get strung out and a gap formed. I managed to bridge the gap to the main pack, and in the process get away from the majority of the women in the race, save one, a pro mountain biker who stuck out the hills with the fast men. I got dropped on the 6th climb again after bridging the gap, caught back to the pack with a small group of guys but unfortunately we caught them at the base of the climb so that was the last time I saw the lead group. I basically went into tt mode for the last few laps and managed to stay ahead of a hard charging pack of women and a few guys. Luckily for me someone made a break from that pack and mentioned I might want to pick it up for the last 300m because there were three women hot in pursuit. All in all it was a good race. Need to work on acceleration but its good to be back racing my bike! Cheers Jessica
EV Spring Series 2 & 3 --- The C's.
#2 Zero Ave Circuit
Another large turnout for the C group this week. Cloudy skies, cool temperatures and semi-dry roads, no rain.
C group is lined up to do 7 laps of 55 km rolling course. Claire, Jenelle, Shani and I are set to make it hard from the start.
We roll out and make our way to the front, around the first two corners and up the first roller, a Coastal rider attacked. I jumped with him. We established the first break of the day and stay away for almost 3 laps with a 30 sec gap. Four riders started to chase, reeled us back in and bridge what was left of the main field to us.
Laps 3, 4, 5 are riddled with some attacks that don't stick and smack talk about who will contend the sprint. I am feeling good. I am in great position, our group is still together, we round the last corner up the slight uphill to the finish..I jump and sprint, sprint, SPRINT! I start wonder why I don't hear anyone else around me breathing hard??? Wow-- I must be killing them, but then I heard it....DING! DING! DING!! The last lap bell. Doh! Silly me. I think I need to go back to our Learn to Race Clinic and study "The Basics". At least I made it hard for some who thought I was attacking....Ya, that's what I was doing...ATTACKING. Ha!
It's going to be a group sprint. I pull myself together from my unnecessary effort and find my teammates to set up a lead out. We start jostling to get into position as the intensity elevates. Jenelle and Shani are near the front in the last corner and patiently wait till the right second. Shani followed the right wheel and packed in a good sprint to nail a another 3rd place finish for the Giant/Team Whistler girls. Jenelle also in great position duked it out through the field and finished right behind in the top 10. I roll in at back of sprint and I take a lesson learned in Lap Counting 101.
#3 Armstrong Hill
Spring Series training races, more lessons learned.
The numbers are smaller today and there are many people on the line that didn't race yesterday with fresh legs for the dreaded Armstrong Hill Course. Temperatures are cooler with an early start due to the time change. Still, no rain- unbelievable!
Today the C group is 53km and 7 laps for an uphill sprint finish.
Only Shani and I are on the start line today.
On the start line we get a formal apology from a rider who had potty mouth the previous race. Followed by pre-race pow-wow from Austin, re: the usual....yellow line rule, sprinting for 50th place, having our numbers visible etc. Note: Always listen to your race director Austin. We roll out.
We go hard off the start and manage to split the C group up before the hill climb. About 15 of us in this group, we hit Armstrong Hill super hard for 3 laps. On lap 3 all hell breaks loose. I start going backwards but catch back on to find out 5 guys have broke away. I try to get a chase going to catch the dangerous break, hoping we can reel them in and get Shani in there. But efforts are unsuccessful and I crack.
Shani riding super strong, keeps it together and stays with the chasing pack, and finishes the race of attrition in 11th place, which ends up being 10th place. After we find out the rider who earlier had given us the speech, won, but unfortunately had his number hidden under his vest. and is disqualified.
Another large turnout for the C group this week. Cloudy skies, cool temperatures and semi-dry roads, no rain.
C group is lined up to do 7 laps of 55 km rolling course. Claire, Jenelle, Shani and I are set to make it hard from the start.
We roll out and make our way to the front, around the first two corners and up the first roller, a Coastal rider attacked. I jumped with him. We established the first break of the day and stay away for almost 3 laps with a 30 sec gap. Four riders started to chase, reeled us back in and bridge what was left of the main field to us.
Laps 3, 4, 5 are riddled with some attacks that don't stick and smack talk about who will contend the sprint. I am feeling good. I am in great position, our group is still together, we round the last corner up the slight uphill to the finish..I jump and sprint, sprint, SPRINT! I start wonder why I don't hear anyone else around me breathing hard??? Wow-- I must be killing them, but then I heard it....DING! DING! DING!! The last lap bell. Doh! Silly me. I think I need to go back to our Learn to Race Clinic and study "The Basics". At least I made it hard for some who thought I was attacking....Ya, that's what I was doing...ATTACKING. Ha!
It's going to be a group sprint. I pull myself together from my unnecessary effort and find my teammates to set up a lead out. We start jostling to get into position as the intensity elevates. Jenelle and Shani are near the front in the last corner and patiently wait till the right second. Shani followed the right wheel and packed in a good sprint to nail a another 3rd place finish for the Giant/Team Whistler girls. Jenelle also in great position duked it out through the field and finished right behind in the top 10. I roll in at back of sprint and I take a lesson learned in Lap Counting 101.
#3 Armstrong Hill
Spring Series training races, more lessons learned.
The numbers are smaller today and there are many people on the line that didn't race yesterday with fresh legs for the dreaded Armstrong Hill Course. Temperatures are cooler with an early start due to the time change. Still, no rain- unbelievable!
Today the C group is 53km and 7 laps for an uphill sprint finish.
Only Shani and I are on the start line today.
On the start line we get a formal apology from a rider who had potty mouth the previous race. Followed by pre-race pow-wow from Austin, re: the usual....yellow line rule, sprinting for 50th place, having our numbers visible etc. Note: Always listen to your race director Austin. We roll out.
We go hard off the start and manage to split the C group up before the hill climb. About 15 of us in this group, we hit Armstrong Hill super hard for 3 laps. On lap 3 all hell breaks loose. I start going backwards but catch back on to find out 5 guys have broke away. I try to get a chase going to catch the dangerous break, hoping we can reel them in and get Shani in there. But efforts are unsuccessful and I crack.
Shani riding super strong, keeps it together and stays with the chasing pack, and finishes the race of attrition in 11th place, which ends up being 10th place. After we find out the rider who earlier had given us the speech, won, but unfortunately had his number hidden under his vest. and is disqualified.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Spring Series 1, river road (imagine a rectangle) B’s
Circuit 6.2km/Laps 13/Total distance 80.6km
13 laps to go
Start of the race, not to slow, not to fast. The main objective for this part of the race was to get to the front.
12 Laps to go
Still a good pace, not to much happening
Laps 11-8 to go
Pace is faster. Attacks were happening everywhere, which were always followed by a chase and then a counter attack. No one could get away, and the speed was fast.
Laps 7-3 to go
More attacks, and the giant whistlers had great positioning.
Jess makes and attack solo and gets a gap. The gap grows with other giant whistlers trying to slow down the pace.
A major chase was formed of mainly the junior men. They were not going to let jess getaway.
Other B’s joined in and amongst the chasers a major crash happened, which resulted in an ambulance being on the course.
2 laps to go
the group is bunched up, but we are moving at a sweet clip. And somehow we get shuffled to mid pack. Which is to far back.
1 to go
1st Major crash, Downtown Laura Brown goes down.
I get on Lisa’s wheel. Her amazing pack moving skills are shuffling us to the front, up the middle. But we are not moving fast enough in the midst of the massive sketchiness and last lap confusion.
Corner 3, super speedy Heather moves up the inside to take the lead from Lisa through the corner and into the second last straight. Sketchiness continues and I’m still on Lisa’s wheel with the one corner to go. My leg was quivering turning the last corner, but we were near the front, and ready for the sprint.
Then there was carnage. Bike and people in the ditch and all over the road. Brake levers pulled and the sprint happened, up the road.
First race over, on to the next.
13 laps to go
Start of the race, not to slow, not to fast. The main objective for this part of the race was to get to the front.
12 Laps to go
Still a good pace, not to much happening
Laps 11-8 to go
Pace is faster. Attacks were happening everywhere, which were always followed by a chase and then a counter attack. No one could get away, and the speed was fast.
Laps 7-3 to go
More attacks, and the giant whistlers had great positioning.
Jess makes and attack solo and gets a gap. The gap grows with other giant whistlers trying to slow down the pace.
A major chase was formed of mainly the junior men. They were not going to let jess getaway.
Other B’s joined in and amongst the chasers a major crash happened, which resulted in an ambulance being on the course.
2 laps to go
the group is bunched up, but we are moving at a sweet clip. And somehow we get shuffled to mid pack. Which is to far back.
1 to go
1st Major crash, Downtown Laura Brown goes down.
I get on Lisa’s wheel. Her amazing pack moving skills are shuffling us to the front, up the middle. But we are not moving fast enough in the midst of the massive sketchiness and last lap confusion.
Corner 3, super speedy Heather moves up the inside to take the lead from Lisa through the corner and into the second last straight. Sketchiness continues and I’m still on Lisa’s wheel with the one corner to go. My leg was quivering turning the last corner, but we were near the front, and ready for the sprint.
Then there was carnage. Bike and people in the ditch and all over the road. Brake levers pulled and the sprint happened, up the road.
First race over, on to the next.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Claire's C race extravaganza
Our first race of 2008 and we have our first podium and 2 in the top 5! It was great day to start our season off as we had some dry weather and great support team support. There was good communication between the girls in the race and we always had a couple of riders at the front ready to cover any breaks. Jen, Shani, Jenelle and I took turns covering some dangerous attacks and as the laps were counted down the pack was still all together. For the last two laps I continued to patrolled the front to try and ensure that no last minute breaks got away and Shani, Jenelle and Jen all maintained good positions up front ready for a great lead out. With half a lap to go Jenelle, Jen and Shani were setting it up but there was some trouble in the final 700m and a few of the lead riders including Shani were taken out in a crash. Jen and Jenelle managed to avoid the crash and finish 5th and 3rd respectively! A podium in the first race of the year. We are off and running.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Learn to Race Clinic
Road racing is hard; there is no doubt about it. The outcome is not just a measure of who is strongest (though it plays a huge factor) but a mixture of tactics, strategy, team work, preparation and pack handling skills. For a newcomer to the racing scene this can be overwhelming, and initiation into the sport can be intimidating. The Learn to Race clinic, held on Saturday March 1st, one day prior to the 1st event on the BC road racing calender was designed to transition recreational riders into racing.
The clinic was held at the Fort Wine Co., which is located right on the 1st race of the Spring Series. The morning consisted of the Giant/ Team Whistler women presenting on racing basics - How to register, preparation, nutrition and hydration, equipment and apparel, racing, and tactics. Then we moved outside and hit the race course, working on double pace lines, echelons and ended the day with a mock 1 lap race!
The participants seemed to go away happy with the clinic and Jennelle, the clinic organizer recieved an email after the race on Sunday which we thought was postworthy:
"I wanted to say thank you to you and the rest of the girls for your help on Saturday. We enjoyed the race on Sunday and felt very well prepared for what could be a scary situation. In conversation we all agreed that you helped us to take the first step into racing, something I have been wanting to do and at the same time avoiding for a few years now... You all took a chunk of your Saturday to help us and thats special in my books"!
Thanks,
Gordon Reddy
A big thanks to Jennelle for all her hard work organizing this clinic, and to the Fort Wine Co. (www.thefortwineco.com) for hosting. Jenelle and I enjoyed an amazing bottle of blueberry wine tonight after our first race and man was it good!!
The clinic was held at the Fort Wine Co., which is located right on the 1st race of the Spring Series. The morning consisted of the Giant/ Team Whistler women presenting on racing basics - How to register, preparation, nutrition and hydration, equipment and apparel, racing, and tactics. Then we moved outside and hit the race course, working on double pace lines, echelons and ended the day with a mock 1 lap race!
The participants seemed to go away happy with the clinic and Jennelle, the clinic organizer recieved an email after the race on Sunday which we thought was postworthy:
"I wanted to say thank you to you and the rest of the girls for your help on Saturday. We enjoyed the race on Sunday and felt very well prepared for what could be a scary situation. In conversation we all agreed that you helped us to take the first step into racing, something I have been wanting to do and at the same time avoiding for a few years now... You all took a chunk of your Saturday to help us and thats special in my books"!
Thanks,
Gordon Reddy
A big thanks to Jennelle for all her hard work organizing this clinic, and to the Fort Wine Co. (www.thefortwineco.com) for hosting. Jenelle and I enjoyed an amazing bottle of blueberry wine tonight after our first race and man was it good!!
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