Swamp Classic - Gainesville Crit

After the races last weekend I was stoked to get out and race again. All of the women categories were together. I have done this race several times. There is a downhill right before the finishing up hill and a small brick section after the first and second turn. There were a couple little bumps around the course but for the most part it's a nice course.

This race brought out all the big names, Tina Elliot, Rebecca Larson, Jackie Kurth and Jackie Crowell. It promised to be a good race.

The first lap was boring. We came around to the finish and an attack went. It was quickly chased down. Attacks were going and getting caught. It was fast. The hill wasn't really bad but about 10 laps into it I started cramping. It was a "side stitch". I was suffering. After 2 laps though, it was gone. YES!!!! I was back in my game.

There was a small group of 2 off the front. Tina Elliot and another lady. They had about a 7-9 second gap on the field. No one was working together. I glued myself to Rebecca Larsons wheel. She went..I went. Several times I found myself off the front with 5-6 other ladies but no one was willing to work.

We finally caught the break. We slowed down to 12 mi. Team Type 1 had two riders in the field. They were attacking and countering. Nothing else was sticking.

3 laps to go: I was on Rebecca's wheel. It was getting faster. Coming around to start 2 laps to go a rider attacked. Once we caught her it slowed down again. 1 to go! Rebecca attacked. I followed and ended up 3rd wheel. The group swelled. I blew up with about 1/2 lap to go. I ended up a couple second off the back and finished 11th.

It was a good race for me. It was fast and hard but I am in pretty good shape so far. I still need to work on my finishes but I still have alot of racing ahead of me.

Next weekend is Dade City. The road race is hilly and the crit course is very technical.

Ciao

Spring Fling of Cycling - First race of 09

After a long off season it’s great to finally start the race season. I had kicked off the year with a couple training crits but now it was time for the real thing.

The Jan 31-Feb 01 weekend was the "Spring Fling of Cycling" with a circuit on Saturday and a long road race on Sunday.

On Saturday all the women raced with the masters 55+. The course was flat with 3 hard corners. The women pro,1,2,3 only had 2 riders, including myself. The majority of our field was masters.
From the gun a masters rider punched it. I followed but the group quickly settled in behind us. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful. There were a couple attacks and a prime. I tried to stay at the front for the entire race, and for the most part I did manage to stay up there.

The last 2 laps were fast. I was 3rd wheel at the beginning of the second to last lap. We were surged by the field. I ended up blowing myself up and finished behind the field.

The second day was a 56 mi road race. The women1,2,3 raced with the 35+ men. We had a much better showing than the day before. We ended up with about 10 women at the start of the race. I was feeling pretty good. My plan of attack, race smart and hang in.

The first lap I tried to stay near the front and memorize the course. After the first right turn about 2 mi from the start there was a barely paved, bumpy road. It was about a mile long. The rest of the course was nice though. It had a couple little rollers and a nice descent. About 1.5 mi from the finish there was a nice little hill. It wasn't really bad though. Just enough to make your legs hurt.

Lap 2. I was feeling good. I was about mid pack. When we came around that first right turn someone slid out and took about 3 or 4 other riders down. I skidded but didn’t slide out. I sprinted and got back into the field. The crash had taken down one of the stronger women. I looked around there was only 5 or so women in the field. "Keep Going"

I didn't know how many laps we had in our race. Around half way through the 3rd lap I asked a guy I knew...he said "oh about 2 more"
"that’s not so bad...I can make that, easy" so I thought. As we came around the finish "4 laps remaining" HA! I still felt pretty good. I tossed my empty bottle. Half way there.

The fourth lap was not spectacular. A couple attacks and I got a feed, but nothing of major note.

On the fifth lap there was an attack. It turned out to be the winning break...the next two laps were hard. I was getting tired. I had eaten all my cliff shots and felt low on energy. There was a crash half way through the lap. A guy blew his tire and took out 3 other guys.

Half Lap to go: I could feel it at the top of my calves. It was my muscles quivering. I pushed it aside. It was down to me and one other girl in the main field and one girl off the front. My calves seemed to tremble every time I got out of the saddle.

The pro 1,2 field was about to catch us with 3 miles to go. I hoped it might slow it down a bit. Nope. We hit the final hill. I couldn't pedal anymore. I paced myself. The field was right there. Just not close enough... I ended up getting 3rd and finishing a minute or two behind the field. It was a hard and fast race. It was a confidence boost to know I could hang with the 35+. I just got to get those finishes down.

My next race is the Gainesville crit. All the women race together and this race always bring out the big guns. It should be a good one.

ciao

Ocala Road Races - Last Race Weekend Of the Year

Well the road racing season has come to an end. We kicked off the end of the year with fun races and memories to keep the competitive juices flowing until next season.

We woke up at 4:30 and arrived at the race while it was still dark. While groggily walking through the field where we parked I couldn't help but wonder if I was stepping in grass or cow pies. Luckily it was grass.

After a good warm up I was really excited to race. My legs felt great and I couldn't wait to start.

The women 1,2,3 raced with the 55+ men, and the women cat 4. We did 2 laps on the 12 mi course. The course was rolling with no major hills.

And we're off: The first lap was not so eventful. There were a couple attacks but nothing got away. Tina Elliot and Katie DeGoursey ( the two power houses of the weekend ) controlled the field. I made one attack while trying to bridge a gap. I got chased by Tina and was shuffled back into the field.

While we came around to complete the first lap Katie attacked at the base of the final hill. A masters rider in front of me started to react and I followed him. He did a hard pull then rotated. I accelerated and pulled hard over the top of the hill. I flicked my elbow and looked around but no one was there. I put my head down and hammered down the hill. I had closed the gap to about 50 meters but then she looked back and picked up the pace. I matched her for a little bit but I couldn't close the gap. I let up and was soon caught by the field.

We caught Katie about 2 mi later. For the next 7 mi attacks went but nothing stuck. I felt pretty good but I wasn't sure how I would do on the down hill finish.

We came up to around 2 mi to go. Elizabeth Morse Hill and Tina had moved up to the front and I tried to follow. As we came up to the final hill I was 4th wheel behind Elizabeth. All the riders behind us were starting to get antsy and trying to move up. I had good positioning for the sprint but couldn't match the speed. I ended up getting swarmed and finished towards the back of the pack.

I had really good legs and was stoked for the next race. While driving home I decided to do the juniors race in addition to the womens race.

Bright and early at 4:30 again. This time I was a little more sleepy. Which showed in the fact that I managed to forget the already filled water bottle in the fridge. I had to bum a bottle off a friend at the race (Thanks Will!!!!).

We had a 12 mi flat course today. A couple of the corners were sketchy but for the most part the roads were pretty decent. It was in the shape of a lollipop so we only passed the start line at the start and the finish. The juniors race had 1 lap and the womens/masters 55+ race had 2 laps.

Junior Race: After some trash talking at the line from some guys I usually train with I was pumped up for the race. The group was smaller than normal. The big team from Miami had decided to skip the race so the group had abut 10 riders missing. This included some of the fastest juniors.

Right from the gun team Colivita set the pace. With 3 riders they were the only "team" in our race. Everyone followed and the group stayed together. A couple of the 17-18 riders went to the front and picked up the pace. I stayed at the back and marked the wheel I wanted, Steven Ruznak. He wins just about all the junior races and is wicked strong.

About 6 mi into the race, one of the 17-18 riders attacked and got a good sized gap. Right about then a 15-16 Colivita rider got a flat.

The field started to rotate and was trying to pull back the lone leader who had about a 20 sec gap. I got shuffled to the front and did a hard pull. I pulled off after 30 sec and about 1 min later it as "groupo compacto".

For the next 3 mi we kept a steady tempo but we were all looking around to see who would make the next move. It came from a 17-18 rider. No one really responded and soon he had a good sized gap. A chase started to organize but it wasn't very effective. Soon people started to counter to try bridge the gap. Soon the 4 17-18 riders were off the front and it was down to myself and 4 other 15-16's.

Our pace soon slowed to about 15 mph. I was getting bored and decided it would be fun to do a couple attacks to open my legs. I would get a gap but they pulled me back. With about 3 mi to go I decided to go back to marking Steven's wheel. I managed to take it from 2 other riders who were starting to bump for it. I sat on Steven's wheel until we came to the final corner and I sat up.

It was a fun race and a good warm up. It's always fun to go out and beat up on the boys a little. ;-P

The womens race started soon after my first race ended. We had sat at the line for about 10 minutes and my legs had tightened up a little bit. About 5 min into the race my legs had loosened up again. For the first lap I marked Katie and Tina's wheels. I managed to get off the front with Katie once but Tina had soon chased us down.

The rest of the first lap was fairly uneventful. A couple attacks but nothing stuck.

About 2 mi into the first lap Katie attacked and Tina followed. No one reacted and I had gotten myself boxed in. By the time the field reacted they were a little ways up the road. The women wouldn't get together and start a chase and the two leaders were getting further and further away.

In the next mile there were many attacks by masters riders. I followed most of them in hopes catching the leaders, but no luck. Everything got pulled back.

After that about 5-7 masters riders went to the front and set the pace. They kept it at around 25 mph.

As we came up to the turn that would take us back to the start line a spectator yelled that the leaders had 1'30" on the field. I started to set up for the sprint. A few women had gone to the front and picked up the pace. I found my way to Elizabeth's wheel and was glued to it.

In the last 1 1/2 mi I started to cramp. I took a gel in a frantic attempt to get fuel to my legs. We came up to the final corner but there was a car in the inside. Most of the field hit the brakes and I ended up making an awkward turn and tried to sprint but my legs tightened up. I sat down and tried to hammer to the line. I ended up getting around 6th.

Over all it was a great weekend of racing. I'm already looking forward to next years season and look forward to hopefully racing some cyclocross during the off season.

Thanks for reading!

Ciao

Pinellas Park Circuit and St. Joseph Road Race

Well after a long period of hard training after nationals, Florida racing has finally started up again. We kicked the fall season off with a circuit race and a road race.

Saturday's circuit race was late in the afternoon. I was really excited to finally get out and race again. The women pro,1,2,3 raced with the women cat 4 and the masters 55+. It was a 40 minute race and it was promising to be fast. The course was flat with only 3 sharp corners and mostly wide bends. After the first corner was a long straight-away with a tailwind.

After a good warm up I was ready to race. My legs felt good and I was just excited to be there.

I got a good start. I excelled to the front. I didn't want to be on the front so I started to slide back into the field. oops, to far. I found myself near the back. We had a solid yellow line rule the entire course and with our field I found it difficult to move up.

The race was basically the same for the entire race. It was fast but the group stayed together.

On the last lap a masters rider broke away and held it to the line. The field got antsy and very sketch. Riders were bumping and swerving everywhere. I think we had like 5 near crashes in the last mile. I had bad positioning and got boxed in during the sprint. I felt bad about how I had finished but during the race I had great legs and I was looking forward to the road race the next day.

After a good nights sleep and a nap in the car, I was ready for the race.

The course was kind of in the middle of no-where. It was a rolling course and the only "big" hill was 200 meters before the start/finish. We did 2 laps on the 16.5 mi course.

I warmed up with Jackie Kurth (a close friend of mine and a really strong rider). We rode the finishing hill a couple times and did some hard efforts.

They staged us right behind the stage and when they said go half of the field stopped at the line when they were not supposed to. I made it around and up to the lead riders but soon the field was all together.

For most of the first lap we just kept a steady tempo. There were a couple of attacks but nothing stuck. As we came around to go up the finishing hill the first time I moved to the front. My legs had felt good so far but I wasn't sure how I would do on the hill.

I was setting the pace up the hill with 2 other riders so we blocked the entire right lane. Jackie Crowell slid through a little gap and attacked (she is u23 rider and Jackie Kurths Teammate). I slid over blocking the only route up to the front. After we crested the hill I was very happy. My legs had felt great and I was still at the front of the field.

For the next 3 mi Jackie stayed off the front. She was eventually pulled back by a couple masters riders.

Then the games started. Some masters started attacking but they were pulled back. I tried to stay near the front. About 7 mi from the finish I did a little attack. I brought along a masters rider but we weren't working together and went back to the field (go figure he went on to win the entire race).

I settle back into the field and prepped for the sprint. I was sitting on Jackie Kurths wheel and felt good. A 55+ rider started to move up through the field and I used him as a free ride to the front.

1 1/2 mi from the line. The men were controlling the front and I was about 5th wheel. As we made the final descent I was swarmed as the guy in front of me sat up. I got gapped and came in a little behind the main field in 9th place.

I felt really good about my racing. I had great legs and fairly solid racing. I need a little tune up in my race skills but all in all I had a great weekend of racing.

This upcoming weekend I have a crit and road race and the weekend after is the final race weekend of the year. I'm totally stoked and cant wait for the last races.

ciao

Nationals

Last week we had Junior Nationals in Orange County, California. We Flew in on Monday and went out for an easy ride. The rest of the team got in later that night.

On Tuesday the entire team went out on a pre race ride on the TT course and we also had packet pickup over by Disney.

Day 1 of nationals racing was the time trail. Team swift had riders racing all day.
Starting with me at 11:30 and ending with Stanley at 3. I woke up early and was pumped up and ready to get out and race. After breakfast Coach Laura and I rode over to the course to find my dad (he had run out to the local Wal-Mart to buy a tent because it was scorching hot and no shade).

This is my first year in 15-16 so it’s also my first year of doing 20 k. The course was actually just short of 20 at 18k. The first 3 miles was uphill. We started on a bike trail and merged onto the road. The only sketchy part of the course was on the trail. There was a sharp left turn with a bump where the trail narrowed from about 1 1/2 lanes to 1/2 a lane.

The big hill was a real grinder. It was the make or break of the race but after you crested the hill it was basically all downhill to the turn around and an easier hill to the finish.

I started at 11:33. I was mid way in the 15-16 girls and the last of the 15 year old to start. I was happy with my position and was ready to get out on the road. A few deep breaths at the start and then I was off. After about 30seconds I could just see my 30sec girl up the road. I was closing in and that got me going a little faster. I caught her just before the tunnel that leads to the sharp left.

Once I had merged onto the road I started the hardest part of the course, the long grind up to the top of the hill. I was caught by a girl half way up the hill. I paced off her for a little but she was flying. Finally I crested the hill. I could see another girl in front of me. After a little descent I flew by the finish. Only about 6 miles left.

Right before the turn around I was caught by Coryn Rivera and then I caught another girl. I caught my last rider right after the turn around. There were a couple girls that caught me so I was able to use them to pace off of for a little while.
After powering up the final hill I could see the 500 meters to go. After that the race went by quickly. I ran a 36:59 and got 7th overall.

Team Swift had two riders on the podium in the TT. Ryan Eastman placed 5th in the 15-16men and Stanley Goto got 4th in the 10-12men.

Thursday was the Crit. It was in the Angels Stadium parking lot. The course was dead flat. It was made up of mostly bends and not really sharp corners. There as a 180 about 500 meters from the finish. That was where all the crashes happened.

We had 20 girls in our race. As we waited at the line the announcers told us all the top riders from the TT. I knew them all and had raced against them before.

Right from the gun there was an attack. I had a bad start and a bit of a scare but once I got clipped in I was back into the front of the field. Throughout the race there were many attacks. Coryn Rivera and Katie Antonneau had placed 1-2 in the TT and we all looked to them to cover the moves. By the time that we had reached 4 laps to go Katie and Coryn looked tired. Kendall Ryan (4th in the TT) attacked. She got a gap and no one responded. As we came around with 2 laps to go her gap was still around 30 sec. We weren't closing. Jessica Prinner (3rd in the TT) attacked as we came around for the bell lap. She got a gap but people started chasing when she went.

As we came around to the final corner and went through the 180 Coryn hit the barricade and flatter her wheel. Then an attack went. We still had two riders off the front so we were sprinting for 3rd. As we rounded the final bend I was in fifth. Everyone was holding their position but a girl snuck in on the outside and nudged me out of 5th into 6th.

Team Swift got 1 podium (Ryan Eastman 3rd in the 15-16) and two top 10 (Stanley Goto 9th in the 10-12 and myself 6th). Also Lindsay Meyers (Team Dewar's and former Swiftie) got 5th in the Women U23.

The next day was the RR and my last chance for podium this year. I felt good at the start and was ready to go. The course was hilly but it was a lot easier than the years past. It was a little over 4mi. The women 15-16 had 7 laps (56km). From the start it was downhill, there was a steep, little uphill as we entered into a school on the back side of the course. It leveled out but then kicked back up again as we exited the school. We passed the start/finish and then went down a roughly 1mi long descent, after 180 at the bottom and it was back up to the start.

On the first lap we all stayed together. Everyone was looking around to see who would launch the first attack. Half way through the second lap Coryn attacked. Everyone followed but she had a gap. It split the field up. I was in the first chase group on the road with 3 other riders. We started a pace line trying to reel Coryn back. We were caught by a few other riders. Our group now had 7 or 8 riders and we were all trying to get it organized to catch the leader.

We chased for a couple laps. At the 180 she was 30 meters away. I sprinted out of the corner and was able to bridge up without dragging other riders up. We didn't work together and were quickly caught. Coryn attacked again. Katie reacted first and I followed. We gapped the field and pulled away. I was struggling to hang on her wheel up the hill. Once we crested the hill I tried to put in solid pulls. Katie ended up being the work force that brought us back up. I was tired.

We bridge up to Rivera just as we entered the school. I put in a few pulls but dropped on the first hill. It was the beginning of a long time trial. What was left of the peloton was chasing me. It started out as 5 riders and as the race went on slimmed down to 2.

The 2 riders caught me with 2 laps to go at the top of the finishing hill. Almost at once they started attacking. I was tired and just tried to follow. We stayed together through the school but when we reached the next hill they attacked again and I dropped.

I could see them pull away as I made the descent. After the turn around I could see that I still had a good sized gap on 6th place. I put my head down and grinded up the hill.

1 lap to go! I was pressing on. I found a little bit more energy in my legs. I made it through the school and over the hill one last time. Just 1 more hill. I didn't know how much of a gap that I had on 6th. I was praying that she wouldn't catch me. Once I made it to the 180 and had gone a little ways I still didn't see her come around and I could now relax a little. I had made it on the podium. The final grind to the finish hurt. I was very tired and very happy at the finish. I was excited for my first podium of the 2008 nationals.

Team Swift had another top 10 finish from Stanley Goto and a 15th from Joey in the 13-14 men. Ryan crashed out in the first lap and broke his collar bone. Lindsay Meyers went on to get 2nd in her race on Saturday and Tyler got 11th in his race on Sunday. Awesome racing from Team Swift (and Dewar's)!!!

A special thanks to Mr. Goto and Mr. Scott. They got me some cold water on my first feed in the road race. Also to Coach Laura, her advice is awesome!!! And of course to dad! He got me to nationals, drove me around, and took care of me at the races.

This year I'm going to do more races in the Fall Season. Maybe even a little cyclocross. I don't know when my next race is but I’m look forward to the rest of the season. I'll have pictured from nationals up soon.

Thanks for reading,

Ciao

Writing from SoCal

I'm sitting in a hotel room watching the xgames just anticipating tomorrow. Tomorrow is day 1 of junior nationals. We are kicking it off with a 18k time trial. I started this morning with a pre ride on the TT course with the team (Ethan, Ryan, Tyler, Lynsey, Joey, Stanley, Coach Laura, and all the parents). The course is awesome. It isn't crazy hilly but its got a couple good grinders in it. I'm totally stoked to get out and race.

Thusday is the Crit and Friday is the Road race. I'll have updates posted after the races!

Thanks for reading

ciao

pitures from Gwinnett

The womens1,2,3 field cresting the first hill at Stage 1



flying through the corners



Glued to Rebecca's Wheel



Sprint finish Stage 2 (criterium)



Sneaking in for 3rd



Criterium Podium



Road Race Stage 3



Off the front during the road race



Women 1-4 start for the circuit (final stage)



off the front during the circuit