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!!!! ;-)