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February 2003
02/09/03 - Cherry Pie Criterium
By Tracie Nelson
Well, I could not have asked for a better day to race my bike. Sunny, clear, and minimal wind. Whats that? Shorts and a jersey in FEBRUARY??? Good thing I shaved my legs last night.
Having a slight complex about getting to races early, I arrived a good two hours before the womens race was scheduled to begin only to learn that the schedule was already pushed back about 45 minutes. Ah, no hurry. I took the opportunity to scout out fellow Bella Jeni Udall (apparently Im not the only one who likes to get there early) to chat about the course and our race plans.
PLANS???
Well, not really. Mine, personally, was to stick with the fast 1,2,3 gals for as long as possible and use this as nothing more than a good day of training.
After mulling about aimlessly for about an hour with nothing productive to do, I dragged my trainer up to the start/finish area to get in a good warm-up. Note to self: In the future, avoid setting up trainer downwind from the port-a-potties. Ewwww&
I must say the most amusing part of the entire day was watching a man on a scooter complete 1 lap of the course in the recumbent category. Props to anyone who is insane enough to hurl himself down a pothole-infested hill on a contraption with no brakes.
Finally it was time to line up. I wedged myself into the front line next
to Lori from Mako/Galaxy Granola. I tell ya, being able to gab with someone at the line is the difference between sanity and doom. The secret is in being unprepared!
Barry did his bit, and we were off! Already I conquered my worst fear: not being able to get my foot in the pedal. (Yes, I rule!) The pack started out at a moderate pace and I found that by staying
out of the wind (what a concept) it was actually kind of easy. Until we got to the hill, that is. That sucker is a beast! Around the hairpin and down the backside I saw Jeni just ahead of me, looking strong!
So all went well for me until lap 4 when I was gapped a bit on the downhill and couldnt quite get back on. Although the pack was just in front of me&well& it stayed like that. There were plenty of women behind me, so I slowed and waited for the next one to work with. I could see Jeni up in the field still looking PRO as I slipped behind another straggling cat 4. After one lap of making no advance on the pack, I reminded myself that results at Cherry Pie were about as important to me as the latest episode of Days of Our Lives and
made the executive decision to screw the fruitless and lonely time trial practice and wait for the pack. At least this way I could gain experience in pack skills and maybe help Jeni out if she needed it. So I sat up slowed my pace to about negative five mph and jumped back in the lead group. Good thing I didnt get pulled, but I think a lot of spectators didnt understand what I was doing and just thought I was pooped. Whatever.
When I got back in the group there was a lot of pushing and shoving for positions. Note to self: be weary of excessively aggressive PenVelo chick. It was a prime lap, so going up the hill was especially fast. I was surprised to learn that already it was just 5 laps to go. (How time flies when youre&? No.Nevermind.) I did not see Jen in the pack and hoped she hasnt had a crash or anything. Speaking of crash& there was one with 3 laps to go at the top of the hill. Luckily only 2 women went down and as far as I know and they were not badly injured.
So I stuck it out for the rest of the race, probably coming in dead last, but hey I accomplished what I went out there to do, and Im that much stronger for it. Thanks Jeni for letting me borrow your jersey you ROCK! I look forward to having a kick-ass season with the Bellas!
02/01/03 - Early Bird Crit #5
By Monica Neilson
Weather - sunny, mild 60 degrees, cold wind as the race progressed
Fifteen starters (including 8 girls from Palo Alto Bicycles)
The race started at a fairly fast pace. There were a few jumps in the first few laps and I did some chasing to stay with the group. I went out a couple of times myself to test my strength and to tire others. The Palo Alto girls were working some strong team tactics. One of the girls would go out and we'd chase, there would be a regroup and another Palo Alto girl would counter.
About five laps into the race one of the PA (Palo Alto) girls went out and no one made a move. I had been doing a lot of work so I decided to see who else was willing. She was getting a decent gap so I decided to go for it. I jumped, caught her, and then we stayed out on a break for fifteen minutes... probably five laps. We had a pretty good gap and she was working with me, trading pulls, but I knew this was only going to last so long. Her teammates back in the group would be working to catch us. We had a 200 meter gap at one point but I saw it dwindling. I told her we would need to pick it up a bit if we wanted to stay away but I sensed she wasn't gonna do it with me. She began putting less effort into her pulls and before long we were back with the group.
The group at this point was 9 or 10 women, as a few had dropped while I was in the break. Once again there was some jumping, some chasing, some regrouping. The PA girls were doing some fine team tactics. They would whistle or whoop and someone would go and they would block. It was at some point in here that two of the PA girls got out, and I'm sorry to say I'm not exactly sure how this happened. I didn't even know until afterwards, when David and I were talking about what went on. All I can think of is that it happened when I was getting jimmied over to the curb on the right. I had to kinda yell at the girl who was doing it, but she was right in pinching me off, blocking while her girls got off the front.
Not much action for a couple of laps, just people trading pulls. I got stuck in the front a little longer than I wanted, as they were using me. I swerved to the right, they followed, I went left, so did they. I sat up and slowed the pace. Someone went around me....ah.... yea. Now that I know they had two girls off the front, it makes perfect sense.
With two laps to go the pace slowed, with everyone together in a paceline gearing up for the sprint. The last lap, I was quite pleased to still be in a position for the sprint. I was wondering how far out the sprint would start, and who would go first. I was trying to be very aware of what was going on around me, looking over my right shoulder, then my left, trying to keep track of everyone. I was sitting in third position (I thought) as we rounded the last corner. The girl in front actually jumped, and I was thinkin' "not now, this is way too far out". I was a little slow out of the saddle but the chase was on. It was a helluva long sprint and my legs were pooped! The girls out front crossed the line hand-in-hand, probably twenty seconds or so ahead of us. The rest of us duked it out in a bunch sprint, and I came in sixth overall.
I was impressed with the team work the PA girls put together. Of course, it was 8 versus 1 and 1 and 1 and 1...but it really made me see how at this level the need for a good team plan, especially in these short total power events, is critical. I'm really excited for us Bellas this year, we're gonna rock!
Early Bird Crit #5 02/01/03
By Julie Starling
I raced. It was hard. I finished. At least I had that going for me...
Im still having a good time, even though Im not producing any astonishing results. Im clinging to some hope that I will eventually get better.
My mistake this time was in turn 3. The pace was fine. I had no problem drafting and feeling good enough to stay in the pack during the first ¼ of the race. In turn 3, instead of staying on Courtneys (MVV) wheel, I chose a line through the corner that had a gap with plenty of space around me to move into it. Why? I dont know; maybe to move up. There was an attack right after that corner and I had no wheel in front of me.
A mentor screamed that they were dropping me and to hurry up. Oh, really? I didnt even notice. Is that why Im in the biggest gear I can handle, Im out of the saddle, my legs are in complete agony and I cant breath? Gee&thanks for the heads-up! I think this may be when my heart rate hit 198. I barely caught them on corner 1 and just couldnt hang on. Oh, the agony of defeat as I watched the riders get smaller in the distance. Hindsight is 20/20. If youre going to move up, move up to a wheel!
I looked around and soft-peddled until I found someone to work with and decided at least this will be a damn good workout. Although I joked about the mentor above, all of them were really awesome. One mentor did tell us that our little dropped group was the best he ever mentored because we were working in a smooth pace line and were communicating to each other. After the pack splintered early in the race, our little pack grew by 60%, which meant we were working well together. Thats a plus.
On the last lap, our dropped group sprinted against each other. As usual, I practiced sprinting to the finish and passed one woman. I was certain we were the last two riders and I just didn't want that DFL title. But I guess we werent.
Another plus for this race: there were no crashes.
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