UCI Tour de Leelanau Recap

Sunset over Grand Traverse Bay, Saturday around 9:30pm. Yeah, believe it or not I do notice stuff like that.

The Leelanau Peninsula area of Michigan is the world's largest producer of cherries - it was amazing to see grove after grove of trees in full blossom. Equally amazing was the amount of dandelions, mosquitos and other annoying bugs that call the area home. I was totally clueless about how much irritating 'stuff' was floating around in the air up there! I am an asthmatic/allergic person and had no idea going in what I was going to have to deal with. Our hosts, Vic and Jean Peterson, made us all feel welcome for the weekend in their Sutton's Bay home.

We'd assembled a team of 4 for the UCI sanctioned Tour de Leelanau on Sunday. Anne, Yukie, Lori and I were representing in a super strong field of approximately 50 women. The course was close to 70mi long with at least 80 turns, 4 KOMs and 4 intermediate sprints on rolling to hilly terrain. Pavement was all pretty decent - we were able to preview some of the course on Friday and were pleased with what we saw. We rolled Saturday morning for a short pre-race ride during which I'd experienced some serious shortness of breath/difficulty breathing. Since I was satisfied with the power numbers I was seeing, I shrugged it off and figured I was just tired or that I needed to just HTFU.

We shoved off to a slippery start in some rain that saw a few near wrecks before we even got through the first mile. Temps were warm and there was some wind but the sky eventually cleared which made for really good conditions. I knew we were in for a long, hard day - the pace was fast and there was a lot of action at the front very early into the race. I saw incredibly strong riders get off their bikes, sit on the street and wait for their team cars to retrieve them.

I put my head down, stayed focused and the miles rolled by before I noticed that I was wheezing a bit and (of all things) yawning!! I progressively started to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chest and before long was having an extremely difficult time breathing - I'd not taken any medication before the race and the cherry blossoms and other assorted irritants were really getting to me. I don't have a therapeutic use exemption form on file for UCI racing - if I'd taken my meds and gotten selected for doping control I would have tested positive for a banned substance and received a 2 year suspension - not good. Eventually I crawled into the team car and watched things play out to the bitter end.

I'm sort of bummed about how things went but really, in the end, there's not a whole lot I could have done about it. Anne and Lori had strong finishes and Yukie suffered from the same asthma/allergic problems that I'd experienced. Not a super team showing but given the circumstances, it could have been worse. It was great just to be able to chill with my teammates in Northern Michigan for part of Memorial Day weekend. I even managed to read an entire book and half of a second one.

I received a bit of bad news when I arrived home late Sunday night - one of my most favorite racing studs was injured rather badly in a crash over the weekend. He was having an incredible season thus far so it was quite an unfortunate thing. The good thing is that he's tough as nails and will surely work hard to recover and be strong again. Hang in there and be patient, dude.

Up next, a visit with my old teammate Trudy who's in town visiting from Australia - I can't wait to see her!! After that, a time trial in Wisconsin next weekend and some other local/regional stuff. As always, thank you for reading and for your comments!

Tour of Arkansas - Part 3

This pig is the property of...Roger Waters

I can't believe it takes three separate posts to actually recap the entire Arkansas excursion to my satisfaction. I left out a lot of small yet very funny things that made the trip a blast - for instance doing donuts around the backyard bonfire on the John Deere....so many stories, so little time...

* Don't play drinking games with Kristin Wentworth. You will not prevail.
* Next time I get a wild hair up my ass I'll do something easier than climb Mt. Nebo.
* At Starbucks in St. Louis you can sweet talk the 18 year old who takes your order and score a DOUBLE double espresso - that's right, 4 shots. It'll carry you all the way home and through the next day without a crash.
* Standing on the podium, while really cool, can be an intimidating experience.
* Don't do a 100K road race that includes a mountain pass on a chamois you've never worn.
* I can climb well enough to survive but not well enough to be called a climber.
*Don't go out too hard in the beginning of a time trial. You WILL pay later.
* In a pinch, a shed will do just fine for a church in Arkansas.
* Don't leave your post-race PBJ unattended (right next to yourself) with a hound dog in the vicinity. It will disappear in one gulp.
* Keep your mouth closed while descending unless you want to swallow a natural treasure along the way.

The Pre-TT Playlist (strange mix but it did the job, I'd say):
Terminal Frost - Pink Floyd
I'm Gonna Crawl - Led Zeppelin
Radioactive - The Firm
Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix
When You Were Young - The Killers
You Really Got Me - Van Halen
Stop - Jane's Addiction
Tall Cool One - Robert Plant
I Will Follow (Live) - U2
Holiday - Green Day
I Feel Love - BMG
Machinehead - Bush
Save You - PJ
This is a Call - Foo Fighters
Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
Everywhere I Go - The Call
The Mercy Beat - The The

That's all for now - thanks for reading....

Tour of Arkansas - Part 2

Ah yes, the long strange trip continued on Sunday with a 60min criterium in downtown Van Buren, about 15min from Ft. Smith. We arrived early (after a 20min buzz through the slowest Starbucks on the planet) and the temps were already in the upper 70s with the requisite Arkansas humidity. At last we were able to review the results from yesterday's TT which enabled us to formulate a plan to keep our top GC riders protected and wear down Metro VW. Marion, Carolyn, Samantha and Sally made the trip down from Fayetteville to cheer for us.

The course was .6mi long, entirely flat with 6 turns, a chicane on the back stretch and a few gnarly pavement spots - a course that suits me perfectly. I was feeling good during warm up and was ready to go hard from the start. I'd shaken my brain with a killer warm-up playlist and was totally focused. I'll post the playlist later.

Things started off pedestrian enough with Kat in a small early break that was brought back in. At about 15min in I sprinted for a prime and stayed away for a while until getting brought back in by Metro VW (apparently they felt I was a threat). It was at that point that a strong attack went away with Metro VW and Kristin that we were content to let go. I pretty much sat on for the remainder of the race and scored another easy prime while allowing the break to rejoin the field. Andrea was still in the group too, so I was prepared to do whatever I could to provide a strong leadout for she and Kristin.

Coming through the final turn, Kristin was on my wheel. I was ready to take her up the left side to the line when a Metro VW rider took a wide line through the turn that caused us to hesitate in order to avoid a wreck. That instantaneous hesitation was enough to get Metro VW across the line first ahead of Kristin.

I'm not one to ever examine results all that closely so I'm sorry to admit that I don't know where everyone eventually finished. Suffice to say that we had a strong team showing that allowed us to take 3 of 5 podium positions for the overall. Kristen in 2nd, Andrea in 3rd and me in 4th. I had no idea that I'd actually made the podium and was in a t-shirt and shorts when the ceremony started. I had to run back over to the car, get into kit and sprint back over to the podium - I just made it! I know there were a bunch of pictures being snapped so if I come across one, I'll be sure to post.

After collecting our primes and prize money we headed back to the Smith's in Fayetteville to eat, shower and drop Anne at the airport before starting the drive home. It was at some point before we left that I found out about the stellar performances by Josh, Ted and Mike at the Double Bong 40K TT. For them, it was a double double bong. For some reason one 40K in a day is just not enough so they do two. Well done, guys - makes my legs ache just thinking about it.

Up next: Tour de Leelanau in Traverse City, MI - a UCI race - on Sunday the 25th. For the first time in too many years I will not be heading to the Quad Cities area to race - a very WELCOME departure from the usual tiresome routine of Snake Alley, Melon City and Rock Island. I might race locally on Memorial Day, maybe not. Depends on how the legs feel.

I'm thinking that eventually there will be a Part 3 post that will include the warm-up playlist and some general observations about the trip and the ride home. I did actually manage to read two books but didn't have time to do much else with all the racing and travel. Here's a teaser story from the trip home:

Kristin and I are somewhere in BFE Missouri and come up on a car that probably hasn't been washed.....ever. In the car are two 'interesting' looking large fellows with lots of facial hair (ick) and tattoos. Written in soap on the back window? "I wish my wife was this dirty." Nice.

Tour of Arkansas - Part 1

Driving home from Arkansas all night is easy to do when you are a chronic insomniac. I had the pleasure of being completely awake from 4am Sunday to 4am Monday (and beyond) which provided me with plenty of time to think about what I'd include in this post. Now that I have had a chance to sit and actually write there's no way I can possibly include every last race detail or story that was part of the long, strange trip to Arkansas. So this will be part 1 and part 2 will follow, when I have the time to pound it out. I might even add a part 3 that details some of my observations and humorous musings - we'll see.

The Tour of Arkansas is a points omnium/stage race of 3 events (road race, time trial and criterium) held over 2 days. The first day is a morning 100K road race that concludes with a 10ish mile climb at 8% up Mt. Magazine (the highest point in the state of Arkansas) and that afternoon is an approximately 40K time trial - a long, hard day indeed. The field was small (something in the 17-20 range) but it was quality with representation by Advil-Chapstick and Metro VW. Because of the small numbers we did the RR with the Masters men. Now I like racing with the Masters guys here but I can't say the same about the guys down there. At one point in the race I turned around and intimated to a guy sucking wheel that maybe he should take a pull for once. His response? Roll by me and rip a nasty loud fart. I mean, I can appreciate body humor and all but COME ON. Zero class. I passed him on the Mt. Magazine climb and said nothing - to do so would have dignified it.

I was feeling decent but still very anxious about the climb then I promptly punctured. I had to wait for support to fix it so I ended up rolling in later on and scoring no points for the stage. Kristin, Anne, Kat, Lee and Andrea all had strong finishes in the RR. We had a very small amount of downtime then had to pack the cars and roll to the TT start in Paris, AR. Yeah, Paris is in Arkansas. Betcha didn't realize that, did ya?

I figured out that I still had good legs while warming up for the TT. The course was mostly flat to rolling with what seemed to be a ubiquitous cross/head wind. I was totally wired and ready to smoke that TT - and I did just that. In retrospect I went out way too hard and really suffered the last few miles but in the end my time was good enough to win - by a minute. That gave me 10 points and moved me into 6th place in the GC. I came to find out later that the Metro VW rider who finished 2nd is a multiple-time US National U23 TT Champion. She must've worked really hard in the RR and been really tired, right?

After the TT we headed to Ft. Smith where we stopped for some decent Mexican food and then on to our hotel. We had no idea what the GC standings were so we went to bed that night not exactly sure what our game plan would be for the criterium the next day in Van Buren. I didn't sleep but maybe 4 hours that night and my legs were a little sore so I had no idea what I was going to be able to do in the crit.

I found out at some point during the day that the MetLife boys back home had pretty killer results at the Monsters of the Midway crit - always great to hear stuff like that. Gentlemen, as always - way to represent!

Arkansas - The Natural State?

Checking in from the thriving metropolis of Dardanelle, AR, home of Sam Walton's original store and one of Tyson's chicken rendering plants - things around here are well, different. Really different... My teammates and I have broken into pairs and are spread out across four host homes in the shadow of Mt. Nebo, which isn't actually a mountain at all - it's like 400ft too short to be formally be called a mountain. I guess that makes it a hill. Whatever. Either way it's bigger than any 'hill' I have back home so the thought of climbing it gives me the shakes.

We got in a great ride yesterday that took us through Petit Jean, Arkansas' first and flagship state park. According to the website "Petit Jean mountain is named for a girl who disguised herself as a boy and secretly accompanied her sweetheart, an early explorer, to the New World and to this mountain." That's enough history, I'm exhausted. Thanks to the absence of a leash law in this area we were chased by at least a dozen dogs and had the occasion to experience armadillo road kill in various states of decay. With the exception of one stretch, road surfaces here are exceptional, the riding is great and the scenery is quite good.

Today we previewed the Mt. Magazine climb that we have to do at the end of Saturday morning's road race (with the masters men, since there are only like 12 women signed up for the race). Mt. Magazine is the highest peak in Arkansas and the climb we'll be doing is about 10mi long at about 8%, sustained. It felt steep in the car so I'm just really not looking forward to it at all. Honestly, I'd really like to just skip the road race.

After that we rode the time trial course - 22ish miles that we will be doing on Saturday afternoon, after the killer road race. The TT course is great - mostly flat to rolling with a few little up sections and a couple of turns. Good pavement surface, wind might be a factor - it definitely suits me.

While the racing isn't going to be the greatest, it's been a good week for training and spending time with my teammates. We all live so far apart we don't really get to see each other unless we're racing, so getting to know each other better and riding together has been a good thing.

Not sure when I will have the opportunity to post again as we'll be moving on after tomorrow so I wanted to take a sec to wish the guys back home good luck this weekend. You are all amazingly fit and strong - I am confident that you will own the weekend and continue to dominate the Midwest masters racing scene. I miss you all!

JMSR Stage 4 - Fayetteville Criterium

The last stage at Joe Martin is a criterium in downtown Fayetteville. The course has 8 turns with a significant downhill section and climb into the finish that strings the field out and pops riders off the back on the first lap. The weather was brisk and the wind pretty strong but the sun was out which made for relatively comfortable racing conditions. Team Kenda Tire was sitting in 3rd for the team GC less than 20sec ahead of Advil-Chapstick so it was important for us to keep at least 3 of our riders in the main group if we were to successfully defend our position.

Racing got underway and as expected, the field pretty much blew apart within the first few laps with a main group forming and a lot of smaller splinter bunches strung out along the course. There were a few small attacks during the 60min race but everything was reeled back in and the main group was together for the final sprint which was won by Colavita-Sutter Home. Kristin, Anne and Kat were with the front group so we were looking great. In the end, we were able to secure our 3rd place finish in the team overall and actually grew the time advantage we had over Advil-Chapstick.

I know, everyone's asking, "so how did you do?" Well......I actually relinquished my number to the officials before we started. I'll have to keep this as nondescript as possible so as not to gross out the squeamish people. Unfortunately the combination of three days of hard racing and having to wear a new chamois (we just got our uniform shorts) that my body was not used to left me physically unable to sit on my saddle on Sunday morning. I felt great and was ready to go but (without being overly graphic) my saddle area was in sorry shape. So I sat on the corner at turn 5 with a radio to keep my teammates informed as things developed in the race and offered encouragement as the race progressed.

I was painfully torn and upset at the prospect of having to sit out the last day when I was feeling great and after such a strong finish on Saturday. I wanted so badly to support my team and help secure our position in the team GC. After a conversation with a physician, some hard thought and a even few tears I rationalized it this way: we have another weekend of hard racing ahead that I want to be 100% for - I owe it to the team and to myself to be completely healthy and ready to do my job. I'm comfortable with the choice I made and my teammates supported me completely.

So we'll be bike gyspsies for a few days between here and Russellville where we'll be doing the Tour of Arkansas. I'm looking forward to some more excellent race performances but also the fun and adventures we'll have along the way. I'll try to post when I can - not sure what the wireless access situation is going to be like as we move around.

Thanks so much for reading and for your comments - I appreciate it!

JMSR Stage 3 - Hogeye Circuit

I'm not kidding - HOGEYE is the name of the town...gotta love it. After a restless night that saw me sleep very little we rolled out to the start area early for today's stage - a 69mi jaunt on a course that heads out of Fayetteville for about 9-10ish miles to a rolling to hilly 23mi loop that Pro Women did twice before heading back on the out stretch to the finish.

The course contains a short, steep and very significant climb at 11.1mi in that everyone refers to as "the wall." No further description needed - it's just killer-steep and gives the gravity-challenged (like me) fits of anxiety. Right after that climb is a longish but more gradual up-stretch that has a bit of a kicker just before the end - the first time up wasn't so bad. It hurt like hell but I made it. A Cheerwine rider attacked just before the end of that section and got away - for the entire race. I got shelled off the back there on the second lap and fought desperately for 10min or so to get back in contact with the group. I suffered so horribly - it was everything I could do to work back through the caravan and to the back of the main group but once I made it everything was good.

Anne had been off on a solo break for a bit and then Andrea and Kristin spent some time off the front as well. It was encouraging to see that our moves were respected - other teams worked to bring our team back in after attacks. I was battling the course more than anything else but I was ready to do whatever it took to keep my teammates safe, even if it meant the end of my day. Things rolled along at a steady clip and as we got closer to the finish we were informed by race officials that we were being neutralized and stopped to let the pro men's field go by. This was a good thing because while we stood there and waited, Mary and Lee caught back up to us and then rolled with us when we re-started.

At about 5K to go the pace had picked up significantly when Advil-Chapstick attacked and strung things out a bit. We had a strong tailwind heading into a downhill finish. At about 1K out a Cheerwine rider bit the pavement right in front of Kristin and I and I believe also Andrea. I was able to dive hard right to avoid the pile-up but I have no idea how Kristin survived it. I punched it hard and saw the finish line ahead - spun out in the biggest gear on my bike. I worked my way past a few slower wheels and found myself thinking "holy shit - you are about to have the best NRC finish you have ever had." I crossed the line 4th in the field sprint on the wheel of one of the best sprinters in the country, finishing 5th on the day. Click here for a picture - I'm in green and black behind Laura VanGilder. Kristin, Anne, Lee and Mary all came across at the same time. Kat and Amy rolled in a little later - our entire team surviving another hard fought day.

Right now I am just totally 'over the moon' about today's race. I didn't win and I didn't win the field sprint but it was by far the most rewarding result I have ever gotten. I suffered like a dog when I thought I'd rather be dead. I was able to pull off something beyond what I ever thought I could do. So damn cool. I probably won't sleep again tonight.

Thanks to Carolyn and Marion for all their help and cheers today, you are the best. Also huge thanks to Paul and Mike in the team car for keeping us all informed on our radios. I cannot stand Justin Timberlake but the radio broadcast the second time up the wall proved helpful. Now just get some Hendrix or Led Zeppelin and we'll really be in business.

Congrats to my favorite guys back home who kicked some serious ass in the P1/2 and Masters 2-man TT in Garden Prairie - well done, gentlemen. It is because you hurt me so terribly in training that I could do what I did today - thank you, it makes me stronger.

The Joe Martin Stage Race concludes tomorrow with a criterium in downtown Fayetteville. The course is technical and has a significant climb. Hopefully we will all have good legs and successfully defend or even improve our Team GC position.

As always, thanks for reading. I'll try to update things as I am able. Also, check out Kristin's and Anne's blogs (links on the right) - they've got some great photos and insight into the goings-on down here.

JMSR Stage 2 - Cedarville to Fayetteville RR

Friday's stage was 64mi of rolling to hilly terrain with a tasty 9mi climb up Mt. Gaylor at about the 24mi point. Elevation at the base of the climb is 700ft, at the top it's 2050ft and the grade is pretty steady - nothing too killer. My job for the day was to cover attacks/be in any break within the first 20mi or so. Anne, Kristin and Lee were our top GC riders and so it was the duty of the team to protect them, ensure that they stayed out of trouble and that they were part of any group that got a gap that stuck.

We chased down a few early attacks and did a good job covering things off the front so we were all pretty much together at the base of Mt. Gaylor. Near the top right by the feed zone things got twitchy and a sizable gap formed. I looked around and saw that Andrea and Anne were both in the front group and pretty much felt that things would come back together on the descent but unfortunately that never happened. There was a relatively stiff cross/head wind all the way back to Fayetteville and with 2 of our riders in the lead group we were content to just pull through in the chase group and not work too hard. Kristin, Lee and I were part of that second group that finished a few minutes down on the day. I had some problems with cramping as the temp was in the 80s but managed to keep things together to the end. Kat was having a really hard time with dehydration but she, Mary and Amy all survived the day so we were looking good sitting 3rd in team GC behind Cheerwine and Revolution, just ahead of Advil-Chapstick.

I was ECSTATIC to have made it to the top of Mt. Gaylor nearly in contact with the front group - I think if I'd really punched it hard through the feed zone I could have made it across the gap but hindsight is always clearer. Lee and Kristin were with me and I wanted to make sure they got to town in good shape - which they both did.

Carolyn was kind enough to shuttle us around all day and then she and Marion were both there to greet us at the finish. After a long day they made us the most killer smoked chicken enchiladas - they are amazing hosts!! I cannot thank them enough for taking care of us - it makes recovering and preparation so much easier.

JMSR - Devil's Den Uphill TT

GO HOGS!!! WOOOOOOO PIG SOOIE!!

So far things in Arr-kan-saw have been decent, all things considered. After a long drive down with Kristin in some serious rain we were welcomed by our hosts Marion and Carolyn Smith and their two very sweet Dachshunds, Sally and Samantha. They were kind enough to make us dinner then we headed over to the host hotel to retrieve race numbers and stuff. I was very tired and had a killer headache so I was pretty much asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night.

The first stage (on Thursday) was the Devil's Den Uphill TT, about 2.5mi long with an average grade of somewhere between 6 and 7%. I'm really not a good climber but I was hoping to have a respectable performance. I'd had an okay warm up and basically trashed myself early by going out too hard then suffered the rest of the way to a somewhat disappointing finish. After looking at the file from my ride it's clear that I really couldn't have done much more except pace myself better which would have probably led to a better outcome. Am I happy with things? Hell no, but it's too late to do anything about it now. I will assume the role of 'domestique' at this point and basically work my ass off to protect my teammates who finished better on the TT.

Our hosts invited the entire team over for dinner after the TT and we spent the better part of the evening laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. At one point I actually ended up with Gatorade finding it's way out my nose and onto the floor after Kat recounted a work encounter that involved a senile nursing home patient who refused to wash her hands after 'doing her business.' Guess you had to be there... I again hit the pillow with a splitting headache.

I'm optimistic that we can make some things happen for our team and get some well-deserved respect in today's road race. I'll attempt to post after we're done. In case I don't get to do that until tomorrow, I want to send a message to the guys back home who will be doing the 2-person TT on Saturday - ride like hell and take no prisoners!!

As always, thanks for reading...and to confirm my earlier suspicions, yes - everything in Arkansas is indeed about HOGS...check it out here.

Arkansas Road Trip!!

Before I jump into the pre-trip diatribe I want to send some good, positive energy in the general direction of my teammate Kris Keim who sustained a broken pelvis at Tour of the Gila last week - feel better soon, K2!!

This two stage race voyage should prove to be quite an adventure - Kristin and I are rolling out Wednesday morning headed toward Fayetteville, AR and the Joe Martin Stage Race May 8-11 (4 stages). Fayetteville - where everything is all about hogs (or is it hawgs?). I've done this race in the past without good result - there's a lot of climbing and we've firmly established that I am gravity challenged, so this should be interesting. That said, I am riding decently right now so I am cautiously optimistic about my chances for some good finishes. After Joe Martin we'll head over to Russellville for Tour of Arkansas and some more quality climbing opportunities May 17-18 (3 stages). We've assembled a strong team for both events so we're hoping for some top finishes and a little respect.

I'll attempt to blog a bit from the road - no idea what kind of internet access I'm going to have in Arkansas. Call me a pessimist but the prospect of having regular, easy access to high-speed wi-fi in Arkansas isn't looking promising. I imagine, though, that we'll have plenty of opportunities to eat some killer barbecue (ugh...my supremely delicate gut is spasming at the mere thought) and visit Wal-Mart. I'll get a fair amount of reading done, a little work, and hopefully lots of sleep. Wish me luck in avoiding my teammates relentless attempts to feed me cookies.

I'll miss everyone back home - some more than others, and you know who you are :) - but I hope to have some good stories to share upon my return. I'll be around for a few days and then off to Traverse City, MI for Tour de Leelanau (a UCI race!!) over Memorial Day weekend. Beyond that it's looking like a little break from travel before heading to Minnesota for another stage race and then to Louisville for Masters Road Nationals in June.

Thanks for reading - and yes, the Chicago Police Department is still very much ON NOTICE for it's numerous bike related ordinance transgressions...more on that when I get home.