ATOMIC BC CUP

Hey Giant Giant Fans,

It's fallen on my shoulders to report the ins and outs of the Atomic BC Cup Road Race (June 10). This is normally one of my very favorite courses, and I've podiumed on it twice (but never that illusive win rrgh). Sadly, though, the legs were a little rusty after some time off the bike for exam period, which finished June 6th.

Nonetheless, the entire Giant team had high hopes going into another road race tailor made for our resident climber, Leah Guloien. The course is mostly rolling, with one more significant climb right before the start finish, but is consistently difficult, and rewards the fittest riders.

Before the race, it looked as though we would be racing in a downpour - it was coming down HARD. But, somehow, the Cycling Gods smiled on us, and the skies cleared just in time to start our 60km race through the country roads of Abbotsford.

It started out so well - on the second lap Leah was in the break, the rest of us were in the pack, and working to get another Giant rider up to the break (or reshuffle the deck, whichever came first). Then as we rounded a corner on the back side of the course, who did we see? Leah, on the side of the road, with a flat. Claire selflessly gave her a wheel, and waited for the most incompetent wheel car ever to figure out whether she needed a front or rear wheel (you kind of have to expect this in local races). Needless to say, we no longer had a girl in the break, and there were only three of us left in the pack.

By the last two laps, the breakaway had lost its third rider, Sarah Stewart (Wedgewood), and we drilled it to catch her, but, as she later told me, when you're riding with the fear of being caught you can go faster than you expected. It also didn't help us that she's a triathelete, and well suited to time-trialing.

We managed to salvage a pretty disappointing day with our new addition, Laura Brown, taking the bunch sprint for fourth. I, on the other hand, was just lucky to finish with the bunch (not usually my attitude). I was in a world of hurt... but after this weekend's training camp, things are coming around - Watch out!

Results:

1	218	Marni	Hambleton	Symmetrics
2	210	Leah	Goldstein	Symmetrics
3	230	Sarah	Stewart	Wedgewood
4	211	Laura	Brown	Team Giant
5	220	Danielle	Kenny	H&R Block

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!!!

Giant CRASH

We had an excellent weekend of training but then on the way home.....my bike flew off the top of the car while driving on hwy #1 and landed across 4 lanes of traffic!!! The damage i have found so far is two dented and beat up shifters, a messed up saddle, a cracked rear wheel and well...take a look at the pictures

A Solo Trip Down South

While the team was busy contending the SFU Kremese last weekend, I took a trip down south starting in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday and ending in Somerville, New Jersey on Monday. The plan was to contest 3 NRC (National Racing Calendar - USA) criteriums, in four days, situated approximately 800km from first venue to last. I was guest riding with Vitesse, a US team, the sole other rider being Nicky Wangsgard, an accomplished sprinter from down south. I wasn't sure what to expect going into the races as it was my first big US race of the year, but I was pleasantly surprised. On Friday night, I soon became comfortable in the pack and took a go at an attack - the big teams weren't all that interested and let me go - unfortunately no one was interested and I hung out in front by myself for a couple of laps and then was reeled in. While it didn't really seem like much, being able to be aggressive let me get my feet underneath me and really set the tone for a successful weekend of racing. As the race wound down I was feeling the heat (36 degrees + every day - which is REALLY hot when the race I did the weekend before finished in 11 degrees and pissing rain!) and when they called a "gambler's prime" with one to go, I decided to go for it. Unfortunately I was taken at the line by Catherine Powers (Aaron's Furniture Professional Cycling Team), but it positioned me well (albeit at a heart rate of 203) for the final lap where I just held on for dear life and finished in 12th position - but Nicky got 3rd!
Immediately after the race we jumped in the van for a 6 hour excusion up to Baltimore ending at 3am- lovely city by the way...wouldn't recommend walking around after dark.... Our race on Saturday was a large loop through a city park that didn't really boast corners so much as two chicanes and a 100m short incline to the finish line. Cheerwine was firing on all cylinders after a 1,2 placing the day before by Laura Van Guilder and Kelly Benjamin, but there were numerous other big teams in contention as 90 girls took to the line. The race was again aggressive without anything threatening getting away - mostly as the course did not lend itself to that type of racing. About halfway through a prime was called and as we rounded the final turn I could feel that the enthusiasm was a little lacklustre. I drew even with the front of the pack and realized that no one was watching me, so I decided to go for it. Again, it was Catherine Powers of Aarons that challenged me for the prime, but this time I took the better of her - at the time I wasn't sure what the prime was for - but I am now the owner of Aveda hair products...so that was fun! After the prime, four of us distanced ourselves from the pack being myself, Catherine, Sarah Uhl (Cheerwine) and a Targettraining rider - the numbers were decent and I thought we might have a chance. Unfortunately I was also cooked from the sprint and we were gobbled up pretty quick. Coming through with one lap to go, I was in great position - about 5th wheel in a strung out pack. As we rounded the bend to the bottom of the course you could hear the mass confusion of the leadout trains desperately trying to get organized. Nothing seemed to work and the pack swarmed with about 800m to go. I tried to keep my cool and followed wheels through the chicane (although one cantankerous lady decided to push me into the gravel - on purpose - with abou 400m to go). My experience from the lap earlier told me that the right hand side of the sprint would open up so I followed wheels and in fact the road did open up and I sprinted home to 8th place. Van Guilder took the win ahead of Kate Bates (current World Points Race Champion - T-Mobile) and Theresa Cliff-Ryan (current US crit Champ - Verducci Breakaway).
Going into the final day - the Tour of Somerville - I was pretty happy with how things had been going. I was excited for another day of fun racing and it didn't disappoint. In the early stages, I found myself out front in a small group contesting primes. I wasn't there necessarily on purpose, but I followed wheels and ended up out front. On the first one I was outgunned, but I ended up taking a mid-point prime (I found out later it was a points prime...) which allowed me to become acquainted with the LONG (800m) finishing straight. Things continued to be aggressive with another 90 girls showing up to race on the US holiday Monday and with 3 laps to go, I decided to sit in and rest up the legs. On the final lap, the field started to get antsy. I knew that it was going to be a finish of patience, but I was happy to be in front of a small crash that occured about 900m out from the finish about 3/4 of the way back in the pack. As we came onto the final straight I was trying to fight for a wheel, but apparently not being all the successful as my friend Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) very kindly suggested to me that I might want to find a wheel. I followed her up to the front and quickly moved behind the front girl in the Colavita train as to stay on the outside of the pack. With about 300m to go I heard "Go Jenny" from behind assuming that it was Nicky wanting me to lead her out. I jumped and got on top of the gear. I looked over to my left and could see Kate Bates out of the corner of my eye just before Cliff-Ryan shot by. I stood up to punch it again in a bigger gear and sadly enough was waiting for people to come by. To my left I could see that Bates wasn't really taking any ground out of me and when I passed the crosswalk about 10m from the finish, I couldn't believe that I was still out in the wind. I crossed the line in pure amazement - I had just podiumed at an NRC! After spinning around for about half a lap with wide eyes muttering things to myself, things started to register - unfortunately I needed to be at the airport ASAP! I politely asked the podium people to get it done as fast as possible and went to pack up my bicycle. The podium was super cool and I'm still waiting to get pictures...
The whole experience was great - as you might be able to tell by my lack of ability to make this concise. It was really great to see what we are doing is preparing for the next level. I really do feel that I was able to better read the race due to the way that we have been racing and without a doubt the fitness that I've gained has been invaluable as well. The only thing missing on Monday was my team! I wish that you all could have been down there to celebrate with me - this team ROCKS! Thanks for all your support girls - I mean it when I say I couldn't have done it without you!

The Final Fix

The last of the Quebec based Canada Cup races came and went last Saturday. For this race, I’ll start at the beginning of the week because it was by far the favourite location and race for most.

Mont Tremblant Quebec is located approximately 2 hours outside of Montreal...no idea what direction! It’s kinda like a Whistler of the East. My crew arrived Sunday afternoon after watching the downhill at Bromont. After a delicious dinner of beef fajitias we fell asleep, happy and contented to be in Tremblant.

I woke up early the next morning as I slept on the pull out couch and it was PRETTTYYY uncomfortable! So my ride started at around 7:20AM. It was such a cool ride, I just kept riding this old road out to a little village outside of Tremblant, climbing up different ski hill “braps” on my way. The next day I rode to the top of the Tremblant ski mountain which was AMAZING. It was such a good climb. STEEP and lasted for about an hour. I followed the service road u and all along the road there were millions of trails BUT they were banned to cyclists as the residence there didn't want the mountain to accommodate cyclists!?! The top of the mountain was amazing, so high and sunny. The hills seemed to roll out in front of me like throw rugs. I took a billion pictures!

Wednesday the course finally opened for the one time a year cyclists were allowed to ride Tremblant trails and I took full advantage. I trained really hard on the trails to try and get a good feel for the course. It was sooooo cool. It started on a climb, logging road climb, and then ducked into a technical single track up hill. I had done tons of training runs on the course with the Manitoba girls and I felt confidant going into the race...not to mention the triple brew coffee I was fed before the race. Literally I was shaking. It was INSANE. I’m making it a race ritual! So anyways, Me and crazy frenchie (Adrienne Pichette) got the whole shot at the start of the race despite my shitty starting position (due to the Bromont disaster) and I followed her wheel off the start until the single track where she started to fumble. I passed her for a little while, but basically Adrienne lead the entire race. Second lap came around and I was right with Adrienne still, I got so excited! Given’er up the climb she seemed to be fading, but we remained tight. When the downhill came along I wanted to just soar. But, to my surprise I didn't have any front brakes. The entire brake pad system had FALLEN OUT! I was screwed. I did what I could with a back brake only, but basically lost a lot of time and confidence going down. I got passed by another crazy french girl on the third lap downhill and finished third. I was so ridiculously stoked! It was soooo much fun! Definitely one of the best races of my life.

After the race my boyfriend, Eric, and his parents took me out for an amazing, fancy dinner at the Fairmont hotel. It was WICKED. Sipping on New Zealand white wine, feasting on lobster and an amazing asian buffet we left full and with a successful glow.

BC Cup #3 SFU

Another BC Cup race under our belts! This was a great course, spectator friendly, a couple of good climbs and a nice descent that was just long enough to allow the stragglers to catch back on. Unfortunately Team Giant didn't have there best race due to some sickness and unexpected asthma attacks, however, we still managed to give it our all and took third spot on the podium. The race started with a neutral descent which kept the group all together before the climbing began. I (Leah) set a steady pace the first lap trying to test out the field and see who had their climbing legs. Most of the pack stayed together. It wasn't until the next lap that the group was shattered. Claire attacked on the second lap up the climb and Leah Goldstein and Allison Testroete chased her down forming a gap from the main group. Unfortunately, I wasn't positioned very well and got boxed in as I watched the two girls get away. Claire came back into the chase pack and I started to chase the two girls down. Unfortunately, everyone else seemed to be happy to sit on my wheel and let me do all the work. Finally, two girls decided to start to take a pull, but it was too late. Leah Goldstein was out of sight, however, Allison fell back into the chase pack that included me and Claire. I made a couple of attempts to initiate a break, however, the descent kept bringing people back together. On the last lap, the group was somewhat diminished and my main competitors, Allison and Marnie, were at my side as we were closely approaching the finish line. Thanks to Jeremy, I was given directions up the last short climb towards the finish line. I was out front and feeling confident that second was in the bag, however, Allison came shooting past me at the line and left me to take third. It was a learning experience at its best, next time I will remember to shift to the BIG RING!!! Overall, it was a good race and a good learning experience. I am very excited for next weekend- Provincials!!! The Giant girls will be out in good form and ready to do what they do best- RACE!