Leah at Nature Valley

Well I am back from my first NRC (North American Racing Circuit???) race and my legs are feeling it. The race was called the Nature Valley Grand Prix and it consisted of 3 criteriums, if you can call the last race a crit, one time trial and two road races. I attended Nature Valley as part of a composite team that was called Team Group Health. It consisted of a great group of girls which made my first NRC experience all that much better. The first race was a criterium and there were 116 riders that started the race. I was fortunate enough to get a call-up allowing me to have a pretty good starting position. I learned a lot of different things at this race, but the thing that is permanently embedded in my head is that starting position is VITAL!!! Two of my teammates didn't make the time cut and were blown off the back in the first race, and they were not the only ones. The group split up very quickly and I was able to hang on for a very fast ride and finished in the main pack. I was glad I survived the race and wasn't taken out on one of the many fast and sketchy corners. Actually, there weren't that many sketchy riders, but there were a lot of very aggressive riders that were constantly wanting to move up in the pack (something I need to work on). The next day was the road race and it was quite flat until the finishing circuit of 5 laps. Until the finishing circuit, the majority of the group stayed together and as soon as we entered the circuit the pace picked up significantly. Kristin Armstrong from Team Lipton set a fast pace along with some of the other top riders and I tried to just concentrate on moving forward and staying there. On the last lap, everyone starting to get more aggressive and it was very fast going up the last little hill to the finish. In the end, I came in 27th and I knew I had to keep focussing on my positioning and finding some good wheels to stay on for the upcoming races. It was good to start learning who some of the top riders were and put a face to a name. The next day was the time trial in the morning and the criterium in the evening. The time trial was only 8km, but it was 8km of pain and my time showed that. Note to self, need to work on my time trialing. The criterium was once again very fast and there were tons of spectators out cheering us on. I stayed in the main pack and held my position. My teammate Nicki Wangsgard had a great race and ended up coming in second place! It was pretty great and our team was very excited. I had to take some credit for her second place finish though because I gave a homeless man ten dollars before the race and said this will bring us good luck, and it did. Gotta love karma! The next day was the 86 mile road race and I was looking forward to some climbing. Once again there were finishing circuits and it wasn't until entering these circuits did the group begin to split up. The first time up the climb Kristin Armstrong, Alex Wrubleski and some other solid climbers set a very fast pace and I was stuck behind some riders that were unable to respond to these girls and their fast legs. I came around as many people as I could and I started to put the hammer down bringing some people with me. I quickly realized that about 4 out of the 5 girls I was with had a teammate in the lead group and they had no intentions of working with me to close the gap. Luckily there was one girl, Katie Mactier from Team ValueAct, that wanted to work and close the gap as badly as I did. Unfortunately, the girls ahead of us were too strong and soon enoug another group behind us caught on and we formed a much bigger group of women including my teammate Nicki Wangsgard. I had a very frustrating blonde moment towards the end of this race and thought we were on the last lap when we had one more lap to go. In other words, I was pulling hard at the front, thinking I was helping lead my teammate out to the finish line, but really I was just pulling girls around and helping to close the gap to the leaders. When it came down to the ACTUAL last lap, I was feeling pretty cooked and ended up coming in 35th in the pack and was 1minute and 28 seconds behind the leaders. Not my smartest race, but definately a good learning experience. Finally, the last criterium and the last race of the Nature Valley Grand Prix was here! I must admit I was pretty nervous going into this race. People kept telling me horror stories about this steep hill that shredded the field apart on the first lap. My nervousness was further amplified when we showed up a little later than expected and my teammates and I were unable to preride the course. I was freaking out internally, but then I chugged back my redbull, warmed up on the trainer, and told myself that this hill was nothing! And in the end, the hill hurt really bad, but it was nothing compared to some of the climbs we have in our very own BC Cup races. I was really happy with my last stage and I ended up coming in 16th place which bumped me up to 17th in the General Classification which was 4 minutes and 17 seconds off of the leader, Kristin Armstrong. So that was the racing part of my trip to Minnesota. On my down time, I got the opportunity to get to know some really great girls and eat a lot of food and drink a lot of GU2O!!!! I mean A LOT of GU2O!!! Oh ya and I am pretty sure that the guy I had been talking to in the elevator almost every day was the mens GC winner, Ivan Stevic. How cool is that! Nature Valley was a great race and a great experience and hopefully I can bring the things I learned to the women's Giant Team and we can continue to represent on the BC Cup series. Next on the schedule- Yaletown Crit!!!