Mud, Sweat, and well, Blood

Actually got some blood today (ROADIE ALERT!)
Just 40 minutes from my front door you can see this from the saddle of your mountain bike (I look like a giant bobble-head with this self portrait!!)

"F" trail looms ahead. Gorgeous, but technical for my crappy skills....

The past couple of weeks I've managed to put a day or two a week on the mountain bike. Yeah, I know - weird! It's been a really long time since I spent any amount of regular time on the knobby-tired machine, and I actually have missed it a bit. It's amazing to see how limited I am by my handling skills. Fitness doesn't seem to be the issue - it's figuring out how to maneuver the bike over, around, and through obstacles. My uncanny knack for managing to have my foot in the worst position was getting me down - literally. I kept hitting my foot on rocks, which in one case actually stopped the forward movement of my pedal and then proceeded to throw my momentum forward and up, raising my butt off the saddle in a surprise lurch forward.

But, it was totally worth it... riding out in the middle of the woods with no one else, with nothing but trees, trail, and the smell of the summer surrounding me. Again, I am blessed.

Gate City Grind

Weekend after weekend it seems we're off doing something. The weekend of the 28th and 29th we headed down to Pocatello for the Gate City Grind, a small little stage race that we primarily decided to hit because it's a race in the LAJORS series for the junior team. So, Mike being the great guy that he is, volunteered to take a bunch of kids on our juniors team down for the race. I had originally not intended to go, but figured I'd rather be on the road with him than at home by myself with the kids. Seems that a weekend together as a family is better than one split, even if it involves a lot of travel.

We arrived in Pocatello late Friday nite, or rather early Saturday morning (around 1:30 am). Dave, one of the guys on the VE cat 2 team, along with his wife Courtney, were generous in offering us their place to stay while they were road-tripping it to CDA (ironic). We had to roll out early Saturday morning to get registered for the road race.

My field was small - only 8 of us 1/2/3 women. Two teammates from Bob's made it - Kimberly Turner and Sarah Brown, so it was nice to have some familiar faces. There was one lady from Salt Lake that was supposedly the biggest threat for the weekend. I didn't know anyone else. The road course was suited to me - rolling, with small power climbs. We did 3 loops of the course for a total race distance of 54 miles. We stuck together for the most part, until heading up the starting hill of the 2nd lap. It was then that the Salt Lake girl and one other and myself found a break forming. I worked hard to get a good gap going, and we managed to stay away. At the same place going into the 3rd lap, the SLC girl and I rode away from the other lady, so then it was just the two of us. I was feeling really good, so I did the lion's share of the work for the rest of the lap. I realized that she would probably sprint me for the finish, and I didn't want to do ALL the work for her, so going into the last 3 or 4 miles we rode side by side, knowing it would come down to a sprint finish. With 200 meters to go, she went for it, and I came around her at the line to get the win. Truthfully, I could've ridden away from her at some point before that, but I was nervous about spending all my energy in the road race with the time trial scheduled for that afternoon. I felt like I was definitely the stronger rider, and was hopeful that I could take her in the sprint. It was a risk that I'm glad worked out.

The time trial that afternoon went great. I posted a time 34 seconds or so faster than 2nd place (SLC girl again), which landed me solidly in first place GC for the day.

The crit the next afternoon was awesome. Mike felt like my best bet would be to go from the gun and see if I could lap the field. I took off, and of course SLC came with me, along with Kimberly from Bob's. I looked over my shoulder to see who was with me, and was glad to see Kim - she was sitting in 7th place GC, and I hoped to give her some time advantage by towing her along with me. I drove the pace on the front, which eventually dropped Kim, unfortunately. SLC girl yelled to me that I'd lost a teammate, and I think she wanted me to slow down, because she didn't want me to lap the field and have it come to a 2-up race. But Mike yelled at me to keep going. I put my head down and kept drilling the pace, and eventually dropped SLC girl in another lap or so, then lapped the field. I took a lap or two to get my bearings, then worked my way to the front of the pack again to drill the pace and try to get Sarah a break - she was off from 3rd place by a mere 4 seconds. My plan was to get her on my wheel, take her with me on an attack, and tow her around to get the 4 seconds (and then some) on the 3rd place girl. Unfortunately, the SLC girl knew this, and being a teammate of 3rd place, she and one other teammate managed to do some serious blocking whenever I tried to go. Sarah had difficulties maintaining her position on my wheel. I spent almost the entire race either on the front drilling the pace or off the front attacking. Going into the last lap I drove hard, and sent Sarah off as third wheel in perfect position for the finish sprint - but she crashed on the hot pavement in the final turn up the little hill. She got a nasty case of road rash, but otherwise was okay. Even though the field was small, it was SO much fun to be riding so strong and feel so in control. It was great practice to just sit on the front and push - eager for the Twilight crit coming up in a couple of weeks!

Been a Long Time

Wow, not even really sure where to start catching you all back up with what's been going on over the last couple of weeks. I've been wanting to tell you how my race in Baker City, Oregon went. It was the weekend after Methow, the 20-22 of June. A three-day, four-stage race: a road race on Friday, a time trial and crit on Saturday, and another long road race on Sunday. Because I'm lazy, I'm going to cut and paste the race report that teammate Sarah Barber posted on our team website. For those of you that get bored with race details, don't bother. But, the sum of it all is that I felt great, did great by my standards (8th place GC in a race I wouldn't have even considered attending last year), and had a lot of fun:

If there was ever a doubt in the minds of cycling enthusiasts regarding the identity of the best women's bicycle racing team in the Northwest, it has been erased. The women of Team Bobs-Bicycles.com spent last weekend dominating the prestigious Elkhorn Classic Stage Race in eastern Oregon. The ladies secured three of the top ten GC spots, including the win, as well as multiple top three stage finishes. For details on the high mileage event, read on.....
The Elkhorn Classic Stage Race began Friday afternoon with the 75-mile Oregon Trail Road Race. Conditions were hot and dry as the women's field, which had doubled in size since the previous year, rolled out on the course. The most significant climb of the day occurred at just over halfway through the race, and it was at that point that Team Bobs-Bicycles.com racers Jenn Halladay and Sarah Barber moved to the front of the peloton to drive the pace. The pack blew apart instantly, as a rival racer threw down a vicious attack that saw most of the field falling off the pace. The crucial breakaway formed in short order, and it included THREE from Team Bobs-Bicycles.com, and on only one rival team member. Young talent Ally Stacher joined Hallady and Barber to increase the breakaway's lead to over two minutes by the end of the stage! Props also to Alice Pennington from Veloforma who contributed a lot to the success of the breakaway. With 1K remaining, Halladay left the small group and handily took the win. Stacher outsprinted the rival team member for 2nd place, and Barber rolled comfortably into 4th place. Shortly behind them, Team Bobs-Bicycles.com had Jenni Gaertner near the front of the field sprint, securing 7th place in the stage. Cat 3 teammates Kim Turner and Sarah Brown also put in strong finishes in their races, taking 4th and 5th places respectively.
The next morning, the racers faced a 10.5 mile flat-to-rolling time trial, and the competition was stiff. As usual, the women from Team Bob's Bicycles.com rose to the challenge. Allison Beall strutted her stuff by rolling into 2nd place with a blistering fast time. Teammate Barber was an entire minute behind Beall, but it was good enough for 3rd place and.....the race leader's jersey!! Gaertner and Halladay also finished in the top eleven for the TT stage. Sarah Brown stole 3rd place in the Cat 3 field and put enough time into her competition to move into 3rd in GC standings.
Saturday evening, disaster struck. Despite a confident start with Team Bobs-Bicycles.com all over the front in the Gold Rush Criterium in downtown Baker City, a pavement-soaking rain shower arrived shortly into the race. One thing led to another, and nearly 1/3 of the women's field hit the deck hard on a slick corner. While Gaertner, Barber, and Beall were quick to jump to their feet (and Brown, Turner, and Stacher had avoided the incident entirely), Halladay took a short ambulance ride to the ED where radiology revealed a fractured pelvis. The race was canceled due to adverse conditions, and a tearful Halladay headed home.
The ladies of Team Bobs-Bicycles.com came together Saturday evening, knowing that they had a job to do and all kinds of causes to support. Above all, the goal was to preserve Barber's first place GC and do their best to maintain Stacher's and Gaertner's positions inside the top ten, as well. But the women also wanted to honor their fallen teammate, represent their wonderful sponsors (Vern and Nancy Ward of Bob's Bicycles), and prove that they could thrive under the pressure now upon them. No surprise--the mission was accomplished with ease. Beall took an early solo flier to make the race more interesting and force some chasing by the opposition. Gaertner power-chased the threatening attacks, and Stacher clung to Barber's side on every climb, prepared to do whatever it took to keep the pedals turning. Ultimately, the stage came down to the final climb up Dooley Mountain. Beall set tempo at the front until the closest GC competitor began to attack. Stacher and Barber followed the wheels, opting to let two non-contenders in GC escape a few seconds up the road. With under 1K to go, Barber attacked the small remaining grupetto, and soloed to 3rd place. Stacher outsprinted another rival for 4th. With these results, Barber was the solid GC winner, and Stacher secured 4th place. Jenni Gaertner hung tough to also finish inside the top ten, with 8th place in GC. Kudos to Sarah Brown, who had the "climb of her life" (her words) to hang on to 3rd place in the Cat 3 GC.
All in all, this regional stage race saw the women of Team Bobs-Bicycles.com come together and operate like a well-oiled machine, each part doing its job to contribute to the success of the whole. An extra special thanks goes out to Bev Calder, owner of Bella, one of the most wonderful specialty stores you'll ever find, conveniently located in downtown Baker City, Oregon. Calder set the team up with fabulous host housing, fabulous meals, and prize money equal to that of the men's race. Anyone traveling through Baker City should make the effort to stop in and check out Bella's fine wines, gourmet foods, kitchen gadgets, and more. Plus, Bell is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week....EVEN ON SUNDAYS!!!! ;-)