Sequoia TT by Wheels

Time trials, ugh, my favorite event (ha ha!). Jenn X and I drove up from the valley this morning leaving at 7:30am. We hit some snow going through the Grapevine at Gorman which was crazy. Then there was heavy rain and then it was over. The rest of the ride was uneventful with the typical pee stop along the way.

We made good time and had time to pre-drive the time trial course. The countryside was so beautiful. I took a lot of photos and below are just a few of them. By driving the course we knew it was going to be a hard day and the climbs were pretty intense.

The climb!

Back to the start finish line to get ready. I was the first pro women to go which is not the best place. However I find it kind of ironic since time trailing is not my event although I am trying to have a better outlook about them. I got nice and warm on the trainer and headed out to the start line deciding on no leg or arm warmers since the weather was in the 70s and we would be doing some climbing. I left my teammates Morgan and Jenn X back at the van still on their trainers as they started 16mins and 24mins after me. While waiting to start I wondered if the no leg and arm warmers choice was a good idea as I was getting cold. But soon enough I was getting my countdown and off I went.

Since we were going 40km (26miles) I started off moderately but fast enough to get the engine going again as the big climb started after about 1 ½ miles. Within the 1^st mile Sandra Kolb (Bicycle John’s Serious Cycling) passed me and being a local girl we cheered each other on. I knew that Sandra would pass me as she started 30 seconds after me and is quite an accomplished time trialist. I continued riding my pace which is just at my lactic threshold pushing as hard as I could but reminding myself that there was still a long way to go and that there would be a headwind on the return. On the way out about 3 other riders passed me. At times I was burning up climbing and at others I was a little cold which was not good for my legs and I even had warming gel on them.

On course!

There were several photographers on the course and they snapped pictures as I went by. As usual my nose was running badly and it seems that I always have snotty time trial pictures. I kept forging on as best I could but realized that today was not my day. As I hit the turn around I was excited to start heading back as there was a lot of down hill. As I was on the return I saw Kristen Armstrong flying going the other direction and knew that she was going to do a great time. The head wind was pretty strong and my shifting started to really act up (I had changed gearing for the TT just the day before and realized I should have ridden it hard to kind of break it in). I kept my pace up but didn’t completely blow myself because tomorrow is a criterium race which is much more my style.

Several more riders passed me on the way back and I just kept my pace pushing against the wind. I have to admit that it is very demoralizing to have so many people pass you. I missed my teammate Morgan but did see Jenn X on her way out. Back I went up the climb and I was just praying that it would be over. My legs were tired. The decent was a blast even on the TT bike and finally I saw the finish trailer and line and was glad to be back. I finished in a 1:18:31, a horrible time and second to last on the day. Jenn X rode a great TT and finished 30^th getting some money and Morgan finished 33^rd. Awesome job by my teammates!!!! They rock!!! Especially since the field was pretty packed today with a lot of great time trialists.

X in a typical "X" outfit. Making fashion!

I cannot wait for tomorrow. Right now we are heading out with our host family for dinner. They are just great!

Check back for updates on the crit!

Murrieta

My neighbor buddy Karen (racing for SDBC) and I headed down to Murrieta on Sunday morning.  It was a beautiful sunrise.  I like traveling to all the outskirts that cycling takes us. 

Since I was racing solo, I had a much different approach to the race.  I knew that I wanted to test myself but also be strategic about the efforts. 

Helen's, Bike John's , Rock, SDBC and all the other regulars made the peleton of around 50 riders.  The 3.5 mile circuit course starts off with a curvy flat, into a headwind, a section of rollers and then some quick turns through a neighborhood.  It's a good course for a breakaway but I knew that Helen's would be on all efforts.  I was able to escape for over a lap around mid-race with some strong riders but the peleton reeled us back.  A few other attempts went off the front but nothing stuck.  Just as I was thinking that we were heading toward a fieldsprint finish a break of 6 got off the front at the end of the rollers section.  When we hit the neighborhood, I knew it would be the best opportunity to bridge.  Another rider and I were able to get away from the field and bridge to the break.  The SDBC rider who was 2nd overall in the omninum was in the break so I knew she'd work it but there were other riders from the big teams who were riding conservatively.  I wanted the break to stick so I worked with the 3 riders that would and we stayed away.  Going through the neighborhood section I got into TT mode since I didn't want to back off for the sprinters.  I was first into the last turn but was nipped (if you can call it a nip when it's 4 riders...) at the end by 4 riders.  So, I got fifth.  I'd play the finish differently if I could do it again but it was a fun race.  Rode hard and played the game...

Looking forward to a weekend of racing with Jen and JennX!

-Morgan  

Kona Base Camp

A lot of people ask me how I transition from track cycling to road cycling. Doing two cycling sports year 'round at age 38 has become a bit tricky and we still have not figured out how to rest me while peaking almost monthly between October and March and then again May through August. We almost had it figured out when a few random mishaps/crashes and my pursuiter's hack put a wrench into the program. I finally decided to drop the pursuit for a while to ease up on the hack which was a solution to one of the problems. The 2nd problem was recovery of my back and hamstring that had been severely strained in a dumb spill the week of LA World Cup. I was given the edict that I needed to recover my back so Dicky and I decided I should go back to an old regiment I used when I trained for Ironman and had little niggles come up. This regiment mostly includes a prescription of patience. So with patience I am starting my road to recovery.

This time my regiment starts with Kona Base Camp. I am lucky because Kona is my 2nd home and I can work and train there when needed. Dicky sent me off solo to KBC last week. Without too much boring detail, Kona Base Camp highlights look something like this:

• 500 miles on the bike- most of it at snail slow speed
• 26 miles running up volcanos
• 5 miles of ocean swimming
• 20,000' of elevation- did you know Kona Ironman has over 5,000' of elevation?
• Weight loss of 5 pounds- hopefully not water weight
• 1100 ounces of water- ok, definitely not water weight
• 32 packs of PowerGel
• 8 PowerBars
• 16 bananas- I hate bananas but Teedy the Ozzie says stick to bananas
• 30 apples- had to alleviate with ginger tea
• 10 pounds of seaweed salad- things have turned VERY green
• 5 pounds of raw ahi
• 2 chickens
• 20 oz almonds
• 1 pound of Kona Coffee
• 80 hours of sleep
• 2 full Tyra's next "top model" marathons
• 22 life changing revelations
• 1 condo re-painted
• 1 bike cleaned thoroughly for the first time in 2 years

Kona base camp is pretty mind and body blowing. The general training conditions are wind and steady heat. The rule is I do all my training solo. The scenery is lava and blue water. The road is the Queen K- straight out and back, same route everyday. Temperatures have been in the mid 80's and the winds steady but not intolerable. Everyday I ride into stiff headwinds, the tailwinds almost non-existent because the winds turn. When I get a tailwind it is a great motor pace session- the other day I averaged 32 MPH in a 53/12 for 18 miles. The worst is when the headwinds reduce me to a 7 mph push for miles but the winds have been nice to me this trip.



I am really proud of what I have accomplished in such a short time this trip. My endurance base was shot and a two hour ride hurt a lot a week ago. I came in at a very heavy personal weight. I rarely diet nor worry about my weight but this time my weight was affecting my back; thus impeding my performance on many levels. I have had to cut my calories significantly without compromising my training trying to get back to regular weight. My diet has been the trickiest but I have been spot on- definitely on the edge, but I know enough not to put myself in a hole.

Today I used Ironman pacing for 35 miles out and then struck a blistering pace home for 25 miles ending with an all out final 20k. I paced .5 MPH faster than my last Kona when I was in tip top endurance shape. My pacing and nutrition were brilliant (I can't believe how much I learned as an Ironman athlete and I still remember the stuff too!). My back held out well for the most part. I could feel my strength the entire ride. This ride tells me I am on target on every level. Only Kona can put me back into the right place mentally and physically in a week; it is a pretty amazing place.

I have two days left of base camp and will make the most of it. Today I treat myself to ocean swimming and Hyashi's sushi, maybe I'll see the turtles on my swim! Aloha, Neva

UCI World Rankings Track Cycling

The 2008 World rankings are in for track cycling. The top 24 ranked athletes qualify a spot for their federation for the World Championships. (A rule that changes in 2009- then the athlete qualifies her spot and if she rides for her trade team, her trade team decides who can ride the WC spot. Right now the power is in the hands of the federation).

Becky Quinn is ranked 3rd in the world in the Pts Race and 4th in the Scratch race. Becky Quinn will be riding the World Championships in Manchester England in two weeks.

Neva qualified a spot for the individual pursuit ranking 20th in the world but is unable to ride it because she did not qualify her spot for the talent pool in 2008. In 2007 Neva was the only US rider who broke the world time standard qualifying her for the World's Championship team. In 2008 Christen King was the only US rider to break the world time standard but the US decided not to take a Team Pursuit Team or another Individual Pursuit rider. (In the writer's opinion it would take away an opportunity for another country and give the US an opportunity by riding the qualified spots but the writer understands financial constraints the federation has).

World Rankings

Individual Pursuit:

Neva Day 20th

Christen King 39th

Points Race

Becky Quinn 3rd

Christen King 96th

Neva Day 104th

Scratch Race

Becky Quinn 4th

Christen King 30th

Neva Day 95th

Rankings may be viewed at: http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/default.asp?page=RANKINGS&discipline=PIS&continent=MON&riderid=&ridercategory=WE&year=2008&l=ENG&npage=

Before the Picnic

This past weekend, before the SBW annual picnic, Wheels (Jen Wilson) and I (JennX) headed out to Piru to get a quick TT in before hanging out with all you fine folk for the afternoon. Not a whole lot to report since both Jen and I were using this TT as training, her for Sequoia and I for Powertap/Threshold testing, hence the use of the road bike with aero bars and not the TT bike. We did place 3rd and 4th respectively, myself 3rd with a 35 flat and Wheels right behing me at a 35:17. Sandra Kolb (Bicycle Johns) is in good form this early season posting a winnning time of 34.02 and Kara Vidaca (SDBC) 2nd with a 34:52.
As usual it was chilly and windy. Both Jen and I received microdermabrasions from the sand that blasted into our face for the 6 mile return. The ride out freakin ROCKED. I got the the turn around in 12 minutes. Now I know how Fabian Cancellara (CSC) feels like to TT.
After the TT, I warmed down headed out across the 126, riding around looking at property and enjoying spinning out the legs. Jen W starts a ramping up her training to peak for Redlands, while I enjoy a light week before hitting the Santa Monicas this weekend.

Merced

Merced was a great weekend of racing.  The races were well organized and had big fields.  (For swagbags, you got to pick out fresh FRUIT!  That was the first sign it'd be a good weekend.)  The crit on Saturday had over 60 riders.  There were mostly NorCal teams; Tibco, Proman, Vanderkitten and Rock from socal and then High Road.  For the first half of the race, the field stayed together and brought back anything that took off but then the perfect mix go in a break.   High Road and Proman had riders who got away.  They were in sight but there weren't any successful bridges until Mara Abbott got away and up to them.  The break stayed away so the field sprint was for 6th place.  I knew I wanted to take the inside line after the last turn to avoid the headwind.  I was able to stay inside, worked around some traffic down the straight away and finished 13th overall.  

I stuck around and watched the pro men's field.  Chris Horner and another rider lapped the field.  Ha!  That was cool.

Sunday morning was cold so I layered up but of course as we got going, I was warm.  Vanderkitten, Tibco, Proman and High Road all seemed to have more riders!  The first lap was pretty smooth and snappy up the little climbs.  There was a crosswind that seemed to be a bit of a headwind in the first stretch so after we made the first left turn the pace picked up.  Going into lap 2 the field was still together.  Proman was riding the front and High Road was staying active.  In the second lap High Road riders attacked and attacked.  It was awesome and classic execution.  Finally, Mara Abbott was able to stay away from the field.  Proman worked the front and she was eventually brought back.  The hills on the course kept it exciting.  The final 1.5k was a windy climb into the finish.  I was about mid-pack on the climb and decided not to wait it out so I went along the outside and had a clear path.  Once I got going, I just kept it up to get through the finish.  I finished 9th.

It was a super fun weekend but the girls on the team were missed by this lone ranger...

-Morgan  

Santa Rosa GP - 2008

Off to the race! We could not believe that they actually made real signs for the women’s parking!

While perusing the course we road past Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwin which was rockin’. I caught up with Scott a friend of mine and we got a photo op together with my teammate Morgan. Then it was back to the car to warm up.

There was an amazing crowd lining the streets for the women’s race which was really cool. It was great to see riders who I had not seen since the end of last year. After the nation anthem was sung, off we went! The pace was fast from the start and I had to hustle to get to the front in the first lap. Negotiating the bot dots continued to be an issue on the back side of the course. Since cycling does not help your bones I think the jarring of the bot dots definitely helped with that. For the first NRC race of the season I felt great. My legs were tired from my training the week before but they appeared to be opening up just fine. As the race went on I started to feel more confident and feel the rhythm of the race. It was also great to see Morgan up in the mix and riding really aggressive. At some point I saw a rider go wide on turn 2 and slam right into the hay bails. Horrible! The next time around X was coming out of the pits so she must have been involved but appeared to be okay which is always good news.

I thought I should test my legs out just a little so I attacked one time on the front straight. The crowd was going wild and was really into the race which really inspired me. However, no one was going to let anything go and we were caught on the backside. Legs were still good though.

Knowing that the payout was high and there were many primes I decided that if I was in the right place and the opportunity arouse I would go for one. Well, the opportunity came and I took it. There was an opening on the left side and I shot up it going long and had it. Then Dave Towle said prime on the next lap and I thought “ugh, what an idiot was it not a prime on the lap I just took?” I often get race brain and think that I am not hearing things straight. However, as I reconnected with the pack both Morgan and X said good job so I guess I must have gotten the prime.

The race continued to be fast and there were many attacks off the front but you could tell that the sprinter’s teams wanted a field sprint as they were very diligent on the front. I looked up at the finish line and noticed it was 7 laps to go. Where did the time go? I immediately started to think of positioning for the final lap. I continued to move up through the field and was in pretty good position for the final lap. We made it to the back side and I was holding my position when all of a sudden someone slammed into me from the right hand side. This caused me to go into the bot dots and my left foot unclip from my pedal. My left foot went into the bike of the rider next to me and all I could think was that I was not going to crash again. With all my might I pulled my left leg back and got straight on my bike again as I had everything going in all directions. It seemed like everyone and their uncle had past me. It took a couple of pedal strokes to get clipped in again and I sprinted with all my might on the left side of the peloton to try and regain position. By turn 3 I must have been sitting in 25^th place and was already fighting off oxygen deficit. After the turn I hustled some more to place myself higher and was looking for openings and good wheels. Then we were sprinting and my head was throbbing. The finish line seemed so far away but I just kept telling my legs to keep turning over with all the strength I had left. Finally we hit the line and I was glad it was over. What a great race! The crowd was on fire. Everyone road a really good race, what a blast!

I was not sure of my placing right after the race but knew I was in the top ten!!!! Upon hearing the results I found that I had finished 6^th place! I was very excited. Also, for the prime I had won a gift certificate to the Russian River Brew Pub, how fun! After we watched the men finish which was so exciting, Morgan, her mom and I headed to the brew pub for some well deserved beer and a pizza. Overall, what a great day.

Our trip home was uneventful and fun but tiring. We kept trying to take time off of Jill’s estimated time of arrival but are stops to refuel not only the car but ourselves as well as get coffee to stay awake kept Jill in the lead. I finally pulled into the driveway of my home at around 2:15am and made it to bed by 3am. Tuesday was a rough day at my Pilates studio but by today Saturday I have finally recovered from lack of sleep. Yes, I am so sorry to be posting this so late after the race but the week was super busy. I hope this post finds you all well and stay posted for future updates as the race season unfolds.

Wheels
www.jennwilson.net