Cascade Wrap-Up and On

Well, Cascade finished up spectacularly! The Saturday evening criterium was fast and furious, with the expected teams making attacks and attempting breaks. Nothing stuck, though, and KR was active throughout, staying in the mix, and helping to bring back moves. The highlight of the night was Leah's fantastic move, sticking on the TIBCO leadout train through the finishing straight, and coming out the other side with 3rd place. Way to go, Leah and KR! That meant the 2nd podium finish for the team.

Sunday's road race was hot and heavy. With no cloud cover and no shade on the course, temps rose into the high 90's, and the hills took their toll on the field. Partway through the 2nd lap, a small break formed, which contained Tara. As the break began to lose steam, Tara took a gamble, and attacked from it. She managed to stay off solo until the finish, taking 1st place for KR, and moving up into 6th in the GC! Everyone on the team also moved up in GC, and the team finished 5th in Team GC, leaping ahead of Webcor on the final stage.

Three podium finishes, 2 of the top 5 young riders, 5th in Team GC, top 10 in individual GC... It'd say KR had one fantastic race, and boy did I have fun playing my part. I got to hang out with Tina Pic in the feed zone, drive in the caravan, and get to know all the KR composite girls. Plus, I learned that I totally love the job. I love planning logistics, making sure everything is ready, navigating to the race, taking care of the girls... I loved it all so much that I'm going to the Tour of Utah with the HB team to soigneur for them!

Yup, that's right, straight off the visit to my parents' in Massachusetts, I'm headed to Utah for a little under a week. I have never really spent time in Utah, and I'm very much looking forward the whole trip. Can't wait!

But first, one more week of work, then volunteering at the track nationals qualifier at Marymoor.

Cascade Lakes Road Race Surprises Me With Gorgeous Lakeside Views

Just a few things since it's already past midnight.

1. The stage is named "Cascade Lakes Road Race" because there are actually some beautiful, crystal clear, blue lakes along the course. I wanted to get out of the car and go swimming.
2. I am starting to form opinions of the different race teams in the caravan. Good and bad and neutral.
3. All my racers were fantastic again today. It was a true team effort, with KR working together with PB&co to bring back the break that gained time through a crash, and then climbing with the best of them. We held both our top individual GC and team GC positions.

Tomorrow is the criterium - the weather is supposed to be HOT, and the racing is supposed to be FAST. Expect excitement.

Cascade Day 3 - TT and More

Today was the time trial! You might think that a 16-mile race would be simple with regards to logistics. You would be wrong. Let's see some numbers:

• 6 racers
• 8 bikes (6 TT bikes + 2 road bikes for warmup)
• 5 disc wheels
• 3+ mechanical issues
• 1 set of rollers
• 2 trainers
• 2 coolers
• 3 chairs (yes, I know, not enough for everyone at once) thus -
• 1 blanket
• 3 large beach towels
• 6 start times
• 1 follow car
• 1 doping control call-up

And those are only the things I can remember now...at midnight...

Luckily I was still home in time to float the river with the team and some of the HB kiddos. For consistency's sake:

• 7 girls
• 6 boys
• 1 minivan
• 1 HB team van
• 3 air mattresses
• 3 donut floaties
• 2 marshmallow man chairs
• 1 really cold sit-in-the-water floatie
• 1 spillway
• 1 sunburned back

Good times were definitely had by all. Especially when cramming all 13 of us into the HB van.

Finally, we went to dinner at Bend Brewing Co. The food and beer were so-so, but the company was wonderful, temperatures were perfect for patio dining, and we even went for ice cream afterwards.

I'm finally done with my soigneur duties for the evening, and planning on an early morning. We're aiming for a 9am departure for our 74-mile road race with a nice climb up Mt. Bachelor at the end. And I'm looking forward to another day in the caravan!

Cascade, Day 2 - What a Ride!

This post will be short because it is already late and I have plenty to do in the morning before the girls start their TT's. Today can be summed up in one word: EXCITING. Let me give you a few highlights:

• Tara's bike getting run over by another team's car backing up into it 7 minutes prior to rollout, her saddle being the only damaged part, the Metromint director lending us a saddle, and the Colavita mechanic and neutral support making every effort to get her bike back in working order in less than 5 minutes. Talk about an adrenaline rush! (*If anyone knows where to find Fizik saddles in Bend, please let me know.)
• Realizing, while driving in the caravan, that I now have 3 (read it: THREE) riders in the breakaway, and that I have to pass the field to feed them, and decide when to come back to the field afterwards. How do I make these decisions?!
• Zooming through narrow, well-paved roads in national forest terrain, chasing Comm 1, honking as I pass dropped riders, listening to Radio Tour for updates, and trying to write down all the garbled numbers that I hear before the next ones are relayed to me, before he gives the time gaps, before I --AAA! hit the brakes! don't crash into the Vera Bradley team car!
• Giving Amy a successful first car feed.
• Realizing that Keller Rohrback is 5th in Team GC (out of 14 teams), only 7 seconds out of 3rd, and knowing that we've got some stellar time trialists on our team, with the TT stage tomorrow.

More to come...

Cascade Cycling Classic Begins!

I'm here in Bend for the Cascade Cycling Classic, acting as super-soigneur (as I like to call it). Really that means I get to handle lots of logistics for the racers so that they don't have to. Things like driving in the caravan, providing (minimal) mechanical support, feeding them bottles from the car, and making sure we get where we need to be when we need to be there. The planner in me LOVES this kind of stuff. The part of me that wants everyone to be happy, and everything to go right, gets pretty dang stressed out. But it's good practice for...life.

The team is racing under Keller Rohrback, but the only true KR girls are the terrific Tricia and the amazing Amy. The remaining 4 racers making up this composite team are Jasmin Glaesser (Canadian/German junior extraordinaire), Jess Hannah (a true climber, and strong all around), Leah Kirchmann (current Canadian criterium national champion) and Tara Whitten (current world champion on the track in both the Omnium and the Points race). Can you say AWESOME??

Today was the first day, and it brought us a 2-mile prologue. The girls did great, with Leah taking 2nd in the Best Young Rider competition, and Tara taking 2nd in the overall. I think everyone is excited for what tomorrow will bring, and we have a fantastic team to defend our positions. The 74-mile hilly road race is sure to sort things out a bit. Bring it on!

Altitude is Not Friendly

On the 4th of July I raced a crit in Hailey, Idaho, about 15 miles from the beautiful resort town of Sun Valley. The fields were small, and they raced the W1/2/3 field with the Masters men. Two of us gals hung with the pack the whole time - with the other girl even outsprinting the men for a prime. At about 6,000 ft altitude, my lungs were wondering where all the air was for most of the race, but I managed to hold position pretty well throughout. I went in with a training mindset, and that's definitely what I got! The course was friendly - flat, four corners - but with a stiff headwind on the finishing straight. It was a fantastic feeling, being able to take the corners hard, follow the right wheels and be assertive in the pack when I had to. I'm relatively certain I earned the guys' respect. It felt good.

This photo is taken coming out of turn 4.

(Photo credit: Bob Law)

Oh, and I got $100 for 2nd place. Twice as much as the cost to check my bike on the plane home. Rock on!

I'm headed back to Boise next Thursday for some Twilight Crit action. It's gonna be a doozy.

nightraining

the sharp lunar crescent

cradles my bike

in this crisp, clear night.

the cool air silently surrounds me

until my shoes meet their pedals

with a reassuring click,

the gears barely making a sound

as the wheels swiftly spin me homeward.