[Race Report] Salida 3-day (not Stage) Race

First off, I should preface by saying, I was totally in this to be a fitness race. I wasn't going for stellar results. I had done a hard race-pace ride on Tuesday and jumped in a crit with the men's 4-5 field on Wednesday so I was going pretty hard for this race. I was hoping to do well in the crit, maybe.

Friday, Day 1: Time Trial
I drove up with my teammate Leslie that morning to start our race around 2 PM. As usual, I was feeling sluggish. I feel sluggish before 90% of our races. On the start line, I couldn't seem to get my balance to the let the holder hold me clipped in. It sucked - but with 15 seconds to go, I told him not to worry about it and I'd push off. I tried to get my head in the game. One thing I did fairly well in this time trial was staying in my aero position, even when it was a little turny. Coming up to the turn around though, was a long hill and that was slightly soul crushing. I was so tired from giving all I had up that hill, I unclipped in the turn around like a total newbie. I was not proud of it but I felt skiddish and unstable.
We turned around and I bombed back down the hill, which made me feel a lot better. My teammate, Erin, who is a talented time trialer, passed me (she started 1 min back) and I knew she was killing it. We ended up a fairly steep, short hill that actually wasn't too bad for me. I finished up in 6th place/12 racers which was solid. My teammates placed 1, 2, and 3 so that was pretty cool and I was proud of them.

Saturday, Day 2: Criterium
I had laid out a plan for this race with my teammates Leslie and Erin. I knew this race meant a lot to Erin and I just wanted to finish well. Unfortunately that whole plan went out the window when some masters racers sprinted off the line at the very beginning. Leslie and I ended up working with a few masters for the rest of the race. It was disappointing to have the whole thing blow up like that but there isn't a lot to be done once it's blown up other than keep working hard and see what happens.
The race was tricky. The corners were all pretty tight and chewed up.
I was disappointed but just reminded myself this was what I expected from this weekend and at least I had a teammate to work with.

Sunday, Day 3: Road Race
Road races are never my bag. Try as I might, I just can't climb very well. I enjoy it but I can't hold. It's probably partially a practice thing and partially just because I'm heavy from year and years of being overweight and some genetics that make me not a small person. It's an uphill battle - all puns intended in every way. But, I know if I don't do it, I'm not going to get any better, so I just keep on keeping on. This was a 5.5-mile loop we were going to do 4 times, each with 500 ft of climbing (for you non-cyclists/runners out there, that's a fairly decent amount of climbing).
I managed to stay with the group basically to the top of the big climb on the first lap, but I was completely toasted doing so. As they turned to start their first descent and then go into another little climb, there was a good attack and I had nothing. Coming through the first lap, I didn't think I had it in me to do the 5.5-mile loop three more times, but I didn't want to get a DNF (did not finish) and I knew I wasn't in last place, so I forced myself through it. Each lap I just kept counting down and made it through.

By the end of these three days - I was done. I'd spent, essentially, 5/7 days that week working at race pace. I didn't want to sit on my bike anymore. It took two days for me to get back on the bike and a third day to do any kind of real riding. I think that's what you call burn out for sure - but it definitely was a challenge!

[Race Report] Winfield Criterium

I had planned for a while to race the Winfield Criterium during our trip to IL for a friend’s wedding this summer. I hadn’t race in IL since just after college, but it was here I’d seen my first crit and became even remotely interested in maybe participating in this road racing nonsense.

I had planned it out – I knew exactly how far it was from the hotel and pre-registered. I’d texted my friends the location with a pin to the park where the start line was. So prepared.

Then I plugged in the wrong park to the GPS and we drove 20 min in the opposite direction. I realized this, of course, pulling up to the wrong park. Great.

Now we plug in the correct park and it’s 25 min in the opposite direction and the race starts in 70 min and now I’m panicking. So we haul through toll roads (which we wouldn’t have had to pay if I hadn’t been a dummy and plugged in the wrong park in the first place – stupidity toll) and get to the race 35 min before it’s supposed to start. I jump out of the car and run to registration to pick up my number, while Eric unloads my gear.

Because I have the best boyfriend in the world, I come back from registration to a perfectly prepped machine: tires pumped, flat kit removed, everything in place. He was patient and ready to pin on my number then sent me off to warm up laps. I realized he had set up everything to a T whilst pedaling over to the course and just thought “ugh, rock on, Eric!”

He met me after my first warm up lap with his own bike to preview the course. It was technical with 8 corners – the first half of the course uphill, the second half down, including a nice tight chicane. Now of course my Garmin didn’t decide to turn on for the majority of my warm ups so that was annoying and I thought “man, this just isn’t falling into place, huh?”

I finished my warm ups excited to see Brad and Paula from Northwestern Triathlon came to watch me race. It was cool having old friends there cheering me on. I lined up with master’s men, women, and women’s cat 4 and 5. It was my first formal coed start. I looked around and realized by our race number bibs that our field was pretty small and thought “welp, the podium is obtainable.” Then they announced some basic instructions informing us they “didn’t know of any primes but in case one showed up, they’d ring the bell to let us know.” I started laughing thinking “seriously? You’ll just…let us know? Mid-race?”

Our race was quite delayed while they tried to make sure the course was “safe and clear” and I think it was the most time I’d ever spent nervously sitting at the line. A young girl started talking to me nervously saying it was her first criterium. I told her not to worry, stay relaxed, follow the wheel in front of her, and gave her a few basic tips, all while thinking, “please don’t crash me out.” After what seemed like forever but was probably 10-15 min, they sent us off and two masters women were off the line like rockets. A few masters men immediately chased behind and I attempted to go with them.

I was on their group until a less-experienced masters guy pulled around me and couldn’t hold the pace, gapping me from their group. I started to feel alone but realized no other women in my category had managed to catch that group at all. Soon, a small group caught up to me, with one woman in my category, one masters guy, and two masters women. We worked together for the rest of the race, trading off pulls. However, one of the masters women was super strong but a terrible bike handler. She was all over the road and had no idea how to corner. I tried to calmly tell her how to take the corners, but after a few laps, I was not so calm. Coming through the downhill portion I aimed to have the masters guy, the other woman in my cat, or myself pull through to take the corners because she was seriously unsafe in the fast, downhill turns. I thanked the other cat 4 woman for lining up her corners correctly and she just sort of laughed.

We continued to have a dynamic until with two to go, we were lapped by the main group.  That was a disaster – and I caught myself yelling “move out of their way” to the woman who was cornering terribly. Then I heard brakes screeching. Terrifying. The front group came through and were told “one to go” but they said “and this group has two to go referring to us.” We came through that lap, unsure if it was our final lap or not and I sort of half sprinted, but we kept racing. 

At this point it was three of us and we all looked at each other like “are we done?” but decided since we didn’t know, we’d keep going as they had said we had an additional lap and never given us a bell or a “one to go” or anything.

We hauled through the course a final time and here I started my sprint from the final corner and narrowly edged out the other woman in my category (whose name I later learned was Kelsey). However, if the other lap was our final lap, she definitely was in front of me and had it. I talked with her, unsure of our placement. But she agreed we kept racing through the last lap and she thought I had taken the win.

After about a 15 minute period of sitting around and watching a guy sit there scribbling our numbers on a piece of paper and highlighting things I realized this wasn’t exactly the most…well-organized race, which surprised me since it was supposed to be the local organization’s national championship.

I talked to the scribbling man and the announcer, and they told me that the second to last lap was in fact our finish. I was frustrated. I hadn’t sprinted. They hadn’t given us a bell or a one to go. I figured since it was a bunch of categories scored separately they might say SOMETHING. The announcer told me they didn’t have to give us any notification of last lap…but in fact they had kept telling us that we had one more lap than the first group! The announcer and the scribbling man said “well you two can decide what your final lap was.”

I had spent a couple minutes after the race chatting with Kelsey and her teammate Crystal. I found out Kelsey was planning to visit Colorado soon and we were talking about riding together and I suggested she try to come race and we had had a generally good conversation, so I walked over to her and said “So, they want us to decide what our final lap was.” It sucked. But we both knew we raced through to the second lap and they hadn’t given us a final lap notification and they kept telling us we had one more lap we had to do on the front group. We came to a consensus that that was the end of our race and she basically conceded the race to me.

It was a bittersweet moment. I was excited to take the top step and mentally, given how everything played out, it seemed fair. Had I sprinted the lap before, I think I could have taken it too, but none of us thought that previous lap was our finish.  It was an honorable move on her part but she totally could have made the argument for the previous lap since the front group had that as their last lap.  It was all very disorganized, poorly communicated and aggravating.  Ultimately, I don’t think the race organization cared much about our race since we were both racing on day licenses for their organization so neither of us could claim their grass-roots “National Championship” jersey so they just let us call our race what we wanted. The prize purse was pretty sweet though! If we had prize purses like that in Colorado, I think our races would be pretty insane.

This podium felt pretty anti-climactic given the whole situation and the size of the field, but it felt good to race well back in IL. Mostly, I hope I did make a friend from racing out there and I totally owe her some good rides and a brewery trip when she visits. 

The race was a good experience but the small group made for a lot more work for me. My heart rate was through the roof the whole time and there was little recovery no matter how hard I tried. I will say that the general mayhem of not knowing if there were primes, starting 10 min late, no bell lap/notification of final lap, being told we had to do our extra lap and then told we didn’t, etc. made me really appreciate the organization we have for our bike races. There is no confusion over when we are at 1 lap to go, especially if you are leading your race, even if there is a mixed category field. Everything is communicated and timely. The courses are well-marked and the fields are way more fun to race with. Definitely put Colorado racing into perspective for how awesome it truly is (even if it is extremely hard and kicks my butt). 

Out of the saddle and up we go

Podium pic smiles

[Race Report] Wheels of Thunder criterium

Life has been a whirlwind lately, and I owe a number of race reports. First, the Wheels of Thunder criterium at Flatrock training center:

Wheels of Thunder was my first criterium ever three years ago. It was on a completely different course, long (for a crit) and hilly but not with super hard corners. It eventually was changed to a circuit race due to the length of the route, which, if I remember correctly, was about 1.6 miles.

This year, I guess some issues came about with the course and they changed to a police training center track. We often train on a police training course in Golden on top of a mountain and my experience with such is that the roads are smooth, the corners are not much to speak of, and the race is consequently very very fast. 

As we set out to the course that morning, it was sprinkling rain and about 60 degrees. I threw on my long sleeve jersey thinking I was very surprised I needed it, but glad I had it. We arrived and started setting up trainers under Sue’s tent, which was nice to keep us dry while warming up! Eventually, the rain subsided which was nice but the roads were still wet, so we let about 20 psi out of our tires to increase our grip on the road.

Soon enough, we were taking warm up laps of the course after the juniors’ race was over. One side was a smooth and sweeping corner and the other was two surprisingly sharp left hand turns up a punchy bit of a hill. I thought to myself  “ooph, this is not going to be a great race for me if I have to keep dragging myself up this hill.”

We were in a group of varying levels – some seasoned riders and some first timers.  I think people we a little worried about the wet roads. In general, people struggled to hold on to the wheels in front of them (they were very easy to snag) and a little squirrely at times. We spent two laps going very slowly until people got bored and the speed drastically picked up.

Coming in to the first sharp left up the hill, I immediately understood that these two corners were not going to be fun. With varying strengths and technical abilities, some people surged through these. Some people fell back. Some people had terrible lines. Some had good ones. Brakes were over used, but we made it threw it every time.

We had two primes in this race (intermediate sprint laps)which was a lot for our fields. Sue took the first one with a fast, impressive attack around the first of the sharp lefts. I lined up to try to take the second one from a similar place, but another rider attacked with a half lap to the line. It was a seriously impressive effort. I jumped as she came up on our left, I chased her down with another teammate, but there was no hope of catching her as I was reacting to a strong attack she had already executed very well.

With 4 laps to go, and no more primes, our team began to drive the pace.  We tried to send flyers off for my friend Erin who is really gunning for podiums for the rest of the season. With two laps to go, I caught Erin’s eye – holding about the same position 1 wheel back from either side of the pack and we came around the group at a fast pace, opening up a small gap – just a few bike lengths. We couldn’t hold it, but definitely it amped up the energy of the race.

We came through the line with one lap to go with good positioning. We swung through the final turn to the back half of the course and Sue took off dragging a train up to the first left hand turn, leading out Erin for her goal. Seeing them coming, I immediately hit the gas hard to grab on. I figured I’d either hop on and be able to sprint, or lose it but create a gap for everyone else making it harder for them to catch Erin because they’d have to put in an additional sprint to close the gap. Plus, I’d come out of no where, with the train sliding up the field on the left, and me coming from the right, gapping and cutting out in front of the group. Heading up to the turn I looked ahead – two category 4s (my category), two master’s women. I snuck a peak behind me through my left arm, hanging on to the wheel in front of me – and there was a gap! I was in a 5-woman train, with only two people in my category. I was on the podium.

As we swung into the first left, I knew the only way I would gain any advantage here was having a clear line in front of me with no braking. The group was starting to catch but I powered through. As we came through the last left I shifted, and was up and out of the saddle, powering through the end of the hill, preparing for the downhill sprint. My breathing was labored, as I was gasping for air and determined to hold the very small gap I had managed to maintain.

I’d held it! I held the gap and secured my spot on the podium. It was a surreal moment and I couldn’t believe it. 4^th in the pack sprint (as Sue had swung out to let Erin and me sprint) and 3^rd in my field!

I’ve thought long and hard about what was different – and while I know I’ve gotten stronger and been working hard, I think I also have allowed myself to be a more aggressive rider, less afraid of “what is going to happen” and just letting it happen.  

[Race Report(s)] Parker Mainstreet Criterium & CSP training series

Parker mainstreet criterium -  June 19
This race was slated to be a hot hot day and even though my start was 8:25, we were starting to feel it.
The course was fast and fun. Some fun zippy corners with a moderate hill.
It started out challenging - finding myself behind some people getting gapped in corners and despite repercussions, I knew I had to get around them. By the third lap, I was safely around and sitting in our small pack, playing to the race.
I took a few pulls at the front, making sure to stay smart. I tried to get my teammates to run some flyers with me, but it was challenging to get positioning for them. Race mode is interesting for me because I'm so yes/no; black/white. Either things happen or they don't. For instance, Sue, a more experience racer and coach on my team who I respect intensely said "Andrea, go" and I just went for my pull. No questions. Hard as hell effort, picking up the pace.
In the end, my teammate Erin came through with Sue on a hard hard pull. I couldn't hold and got gapped on the last lap. I came in last, out of 7, which is not terrible since I hung in the whole race. I learned a lot this race about stealing wheels from people and team dynamics.

CSP training series race 2 - June 23
I did these last year, but there is a race training series in Golden called P2P or CSP (peak to peak is a training company, CSP stands for Colorado State Police because it is there training track). It's a fun atmosphere in which you are simultaneously learning and racing. Very fun.
I did this week with my friend/teammate Trisha who has been with me through so many race through thick and thin. I've pushed her up mountains. She has pulled me through corners. It's a give and take.
This race was interesting because it involved the category just above us. It started with a bang, immediate sprint off the line which we ended up chasing down by a category three woman (the category above us). We ebbed and flowed, but generally the race was fast and high intensity. Two "sprint laps" left us all feeling pretty toasted by the finish.
I came through in 6th which wasn't too shabby. I tried fighting for the finish sprint but didn't have it. Maybe another day.

[Race Report] Ridge @ 38 Criterium

Learning to not be afraid of the front! | Photo cred: Brent Murphy

I had a really phenomenal race this weekend. I made huge strides and learned so much.

At the line, while going over logistics, the official said we had three primes (special laps where you can sprint and win something extra, pronounced "preem"). Then they said we actually only had one and we felt a sigh of relief. Primes are very very fast and break up the field and burn out the sprinters. It's basically a simulated finish. I struggle on primes because often the pace picks up so much, this is where I get dropped. One prime lap sounded much more doable than three.
The gun went off though and we had no more time to think about it. First, I struggled to clip in off the line but got my foot in and caught up to the pack quickly. Since the announcer was talking when the official corrected himself, there was some chatter in the field about only having one prime. The race was pretty calm at this point, a strong moderate pace, no one chomping at the bit.
The prime lap was announced with only 12 minutes down (of a 40 min race - we agreed it seemed early). My teammate, Erin, who kind of wanted a prime or a podium spot, attacked up the side. The pace immediately quickened and per my Strava file, this was our fastest lap of the race. I powered up the hill to stay on and held as close as I could. The field strung out, dropping 3 women off the back. After the prime, which unfortunately Erin didn't get, I was a little off the group with another woman, but powered around her and we both caught back on the group! I knew I could do this - I had been dropped before and they were close. The hill was suited to me as it was small and easy to power up. The pace of the group immediately backed off as we crested the hill.
Now a group of nine strong, solid wheels, we had an incredibly fun race. I worked on moving around in the pack - specifically moving up. The group felt safe and smart - teammates worked together. Women made calculated decisions. There were attacks but we communicated to hold them. We had another prime we did not expect and the whole group collectively sighed. We picked the pace up a little, but didn't really go for it. At this point, we just weren't really interested - we were confused if we had one or three and just stuck together. There was a little bit of a sprint for it among a few women right at the line, but we all quickly came back together.
With sprinters tired, I hadn't pushed too hard for it and came to the front of the race! I hemmed and hawed but told myself "you have been sitting towards the front, you can pull." I came through and pulled for most of a lap. This was my first time doing this in a real race. I pulled off the front as we started to come up the hill again. I immediately noticed a change in the race dynamic - particularly with how the other women reacted to me. Suddenly, I didn't have to fight for wheels as much and I had a really easy time maintaining a spot in the top 5 wheels. It's as if spending a few minutes on the front established me as someone who wasn't afraid to do work, someone who was strong enough, someone who was a contender and people immediately made room for me. I couldn't believe it (but it was awesome)! I stayed in this position until the very end, when the bell lap (final lap) pushed the pace and I held on to finish 3-4 seconds off the winner.

Sprinting for it, because why not? | Photo Cred: Damon Brandt

It was a great learning race and probably one of my best finishes. I now know I can work on my 3-minute power to really make that bell lap possible for me. I had tons of fun feeling like I got to play a role in the race and riding with some really solid racers.

One more shot! | Photo Cred - Damon Brandt

[Race Report] Deer Trail Road Race

Deer Trail I signed up for with the intention of just working as hard as I could and helping myself be in race shape. A friend referred to a low priority race as an "F-race" (we usually classify races as A, B, and C - like school grades) and this was so low on my list. I did it because I knew it was good for me.
We came through the first few miles in a small group. Not going very hard, but the hills were definitely difficult for me. I tried my best to hang on but one girl started pushing the pace up a steeper gradient and completely blew the pack apart. Half of us were off the back fewer than 10 miles in. With a group of only 11 to start with, this seemed like a silly decision to me but...whatever. A woman who fell off before me caught up to me after the turn around and we spent a few miles working together and chasing her teammate who was dropped ahead of us. We came into the turn and she powered up a hill and dropped me. I told her she was dropping me. She chose to ride the remaining 26 miles alone. Again, not what I would do but...whatever.
And so began my 26-mile, tired, exhausted, aching time trial. However, nearing the second turn around, I saw the group had gotten blown apart even more. All but a pack of 4 women who pulled off the front had been strung off the back. 7 of us were in TT mode for at least 20 miles of the race. Lame.
After about 30 miles, I popped and was just completed exhausted. We crossed the finish line (which we had to turn around and come back to to actually finish) at 36 miles. My feet were numb because I need to adjust by cleats on my shoes. It was coming up to my calves and into my hamstrings. I thought about pulling out. I knew I was last. I saw another woman on another team had turned around and DNF'd. I considered it more seriously. But I told myself it was stupid to give up with 8 miles left. I did this race intentionally to kick my butt and push my fitness. I had to finish. I'm glad I did because seeing my teammate win the SW3 race and cheer my remaining teammates in was really awesome. I know those 8 miles will be what I call on when the going gets tough.
Crossing that finish line felt really good. It was easily one of the most exhausted moments in my life. I had 5 miles back to the car and the start finish. After a mile of that cool down, I pulled my feet, numb and tingling, out of my shoes and rode on top of them, true to my triathlon roots. (haha)
I know this race was a beast to many of my teammates. I can't say I think I'll ever go back but at least for now I pushed beyond my limits.

[Race Report] City Park Criterium

What a weekend!
City Park criterium is hosted by Thump Cycling which means I was up early on Saturday to help put on the race. I walked around the course with friends putting cones in key spots, then doing odds and ends until we were ready for the juniors to start. I spent most of my day drinking water, under a tree, watching the other categories race and telling people not to cross the road. I had a number of non-bike racing friends stop by which was also really cool.
My race was at 2:45 and I definitely was feeling pretty drained by then. While sitting on a trainer warming up, it randomly lost a grip on my bike and I fell over, scratching some paint off my rear triangle. I was quite nervous, hoping that the carbon hadn't been cracked. I unhooked my bike from the trainer and scrambled to get race ready. I had some trusted, experienced cyclists look at my bike and assure me it was just cosmetic which helped me calm down.
Off the start line, I couldn't get my foot clipped which was really frustrating. I got it fast enough and caught up to the pack. My mouth immediately felt dry - I knew it meant dehydration. For such a short race, I'd only brought 2/3 bottle of water but I immediately reached for it to try to combat the feeling and potential exhaustion.
I thought back to an article one of my teammates posted about being a better crit racer "if you're not moving up, you're moving back" so I kept trying to safely and smartly better my position. Inevitably, out of the third turn, the front of the pack would start hammering and really string us out. We'd then turn again and continue laying down the power up the hill to the finishing straight. Every time I pushed myself to hang on, and every time they would slow coming to the first corner. It was excellent practice of the fast/slow/fast/slow jumping.
My mouth continued to dry and I needed to spit but was so dehydrated, I couldn't. I started heaving which was...not very pleasant, but tried my best to ignore it, drink water, clear out my mouth and keep going. While this was a disgusting experience, I learned a lot about how my body reacts to dehydration and what that feels like (and how to push through it).
I remember looking down at 10 min of race time feeling disbelief that we still had 2/3 of the race left, but the pace did being to calm after a few laps. I just kept on keeping on. Trying to move up. Trying to hold on. Finding wheels, staying on them. With four laps to go they announced a prime lap (which means the first person to cross the line on this lap gets a special prize). These laps always blow apart the field. Even if you don't want the prime, you have to sprint to stay on the race. We came through and I wasn't that far off but we had strung out. I spent the next three laps just barely off the group, working with my teammate to get back on. I could see she was tired. She held my wheel and as we came through the last lap, she pulled ahead and said "let's go" but I had nothing left - I could not hold her and the heaving became worse. I knew I wasn't going to win. I didn't feel like stopping and throwing up.
I backed off the pace coming through the second to last turn, and I saw my teammate and two others on the side of the road - there was a crash. I slowed to look but everyone seemed to be getting up. I sprinted to the finish just to practice laying down something more at the very end. Plus, there was no one around so I wasn't going to be dangerously impacting someone else's race. I came around a cool down lap and then looked for the women in the crash. I saw them up and moving, which is always a good sign.
I ended up 8th, but I was proud of how hard I fought in this one and the lessons I learned.

Sticking it out @ City Park