Joe Martin...one stage wonder

Our goals for Joe Martin were to use it as a training race to get ready for the other things we have on our calendar this year. We still did not expect to get Time Cut on the first day. It was a 2.5 uphill time trial so if you blink you miss the cut. We went into the stage with our eyes open and the officials have stated that next year they'll be eliminating the tc from day 1, but we are still pretty disappointed. The officials have decided to allow the tc women to race in the men's cat 3 stage race that starts tomorrow. We'll get to do the same tt again in the morning and then a 69 mile RR in the afternoon, and a crit on Sunday. While not what we'd hoped for our Joe Martin experience, we will be able to get some good training in which is after all why we are here.

-Kristen

Ups and Downs

This weekend was full of ups and downs.  I was invited to fill in for the national team at another UCI race that was not part of my original schedule (yay for more racing).  So Friday I went to race in Luxembourg at the Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs.  I was excited to have another opportunity at a big UCI level race since the last one ended prematurely in a crash.  Then Sunday I headed close to Paris for another French Cup race -- the Trophee des Grimpeurs.  Both courses contained a lot of climbing!  Friday's course went Up Up up - DOWN - up Up Up UP - doooowwwwwn and around (10 times!).  Sunday's course went up Up UP WALL! and then twisted its way downhill -- (for the midwest racers, the Wall kind of reminded me of Snake Alley steep or Stillwater steep and loooonger).  

Friday's race went well.  I was able to get to the front right away and tried to follow some early attacks up the first climb. A strong contingent went off at the top of the second climb and I was running low on gas by then, but a teammate of mine bridged to it. I was then able to stay near the front and tried to cover for a while. I worked pretty hard the first couple laps and it was fun being able to do work to try and help a teammate up the road.  The break was looking strong and when I started to fade on the next lap my other teammates in the pack moved up to the front. We all took turns guarding the front and we had a more experienced teammate in the pack to give us direction and make sure we were on the same page which was nice.  The race was one of attrition and as we worked, the pack dwindled in size from 110 to 50ish by the end while the break stayed off the front. I was able to hang on in the race and make it to the end with the field.  The sprint was wild and I was stuck in the middle of the pack trying to avoid getting my wheel chopped as people went every which way.  I was barely able to get in a sprint effort with all the commotion and finished midpack for 31st -- my first UCI finish!! (hopefully there will be lots more!)

Afterwards I refueled with strawberry waffles (if you can't have frozen custard or ice cream, this is a mmm mmm good alternative :)...

Sunday's race looked like a fun one with lots of climbing and a super steep hill. The crowds were out in force because our race was followed by a men's UCI race with big name teams. Despite my excitement for the race, it didn't go so well from the start... we had a "neutral start" to the course and once we got to racing I knew I needed to move my way up in the pack a little more before the "wall", but despite my efforts, i couldn't seem to pass anyone -- i felt like i was riding backwards.  By the time we were to the hill I was pretty far back in the pack and after the "wall" I was off the main pack. I decided to make the most of it and keep riding... it would at least be good training to climb the wall a few times.  And how often do you get to train with people cheering you along the whole way.  The crowd was fantastic and sometimes I even forgot I was off the back. I even got a "USA --- I love you!" cheer (lots of French actually seem to like the Americans -- at least in the cycling world).  So the race was a bummer, but I had just come off a good tough race and bad days happen.  I also discovered that my rear wheel was a disaster at the end of the race and rubbing the brakes... this does not help the tired legs :)

Racing can be tough because there will always be a down day... but the up days are so good and the bike is so fun that you have to keep loving the sport!  1 more race coming up - I can't wait!  

Baraboo RR and LaCrosse Criterium

(Baraboo Circus Musuem--Quality local attraction for the kids while they waited for our road race to end.)

(Start of the Women's Open RR--nice field!!)

All stateside BH teammates were present for the scenic, "must do", Circuit of Sauk RR in Baraboo, WI on Saturday and the LaCrosse Criterium on Sunday. The RR was only 30 miles but it had a nice sized hill, some rollers, and strong cross winds. The race lived up to it's reputation; beautiful scenery, lovely roads, and a fine day, just gorgeous. It was good to see some of our Chicago friends. The Cuttin Crew, Pegasus and XXX (congrats to Luke on his win!!) were "representin'". About 30 women lined up which is a nice sized field for us. We hit the hill for the first time about 5 minutes into the race. At the top of the hill there were 8 of us left including one of the best road racers in the midwest, Kristin Wentworth, from Kenda. At the top of the hill Wentworth kicked it up a notch for the rollers taking her teammate and 2 others making a break of 4. Both Madeleine and I as well as a few others were popped off the back of this group. I chased with fellow Chicagoan Heidi Sarna (XXX). I was holding out hope that someone would get popped from the break and we could race for 3rd or 4th, but it was not to be. Madeleine and another rider caught Heidi and I and we traded pulls until the fourth rider pulled off at the s/f with a mechanical. Our group of 3 finished uneventfully, well ahead of any other chasers. Madeleine took the sprint in our group and I followed giving us finishing places of 5th and 6th. My husband and kids had watched the start of our race and then spent a couple hours at the Baraboo circus museum. After the race they picked me up we headed out as a family to the Dells for a waterpark!!! Found a super deal on a cheap (only slightly scary) motel that gave us passes to one of the big waterparks. I’ve never “Done the Dells" before and I was a little suprprised at how Vegas-in-Wisconsin it was. But we had a super great time. Our kids are at just the right age and Jason and I really got a kick out of watching them. We were a tired family that night!

The next morning after an all-you-can-eat Encampment Family Style Breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s Lumberjack Shanty the family and I headed up to Anne’s hometown of LaCrosse. The team was really excited to race in front of our sponsor, the Washa Chiropractic Clinic, as well as all of Anne's hometown admirers. Not to mention LaCrosse is a wonderful place. I really could live there. We had over 25 riders lined up including several strong WI and MN riders. The Flanders rider who had ridden away from Anne and I at the RR a couple of weeks ago was there, and sure enough at the gun she strung it out seeming not to care who was on her wheel. After a couple of laps she went for a prime and only Kaitie from IS Corp and I were there and just like that we had a break of 3. The gap went up to 30 seconds indside of 3 laps. Flanders was driving it and I had nothing to lose by riding along, but I was hoping for more of my teammates to bridge up so I wasn't totally committed to the break sticking and didn't work too hard. Later I found out both Anne and Madeleine did not want to risk dragging any other riders up so they stayed in the field taking primes and getting some "sponsor love" every time they went by the s/f. At two to go Flanders cranked it up and I was feeling great and was ready for the finish line. Unfortunately she overcooked corner two and wiped out with me on her wheel. It was a tense moment but I managed to do a bike messenger skid and avoid running over her neck. Somehow IS Corp avoided crashing into me and the two of us rode fairly easy until a half a lap to go. Our Flanders break-mate was back on her bike and gaining. IS Corp attacked going into the final two corners. It was a perfect lead out for me and I was able to come around Katie for our first domestic win of the year!! Anne and Madeleine finished 5th and 7th overall after cleaning up on the primes. We also did some hot laps in the men's races later in the day as it is good training for the NRC racing we plan on doing this year. It was a great weekend of midwestern racing at it's finest.

(final sprint at the LaCrosse Criterium)

Podium in Agen

**

This weekend we headed to a "local" race in the town of Agen, two hours from were I live in Limoux.  The race was a criterium which consisted of a long straightaway, a right turn onto a narrow 300m "big ring" climb, another right turn onto a slight downhill, with a final right onto a winding downhill ramp, where a 180 waited at the bottom to take us back onto the long start/finish straightaway... a very fun course!  Since the race was not a French Cup or UCI race, it was a bit smaller than the 100's of riders we are now accustomed to, but we still had a large crowd of racers.

The organizers were welcoming of our American contingent: they gave us a callup to the front at the start line, proceeded to wish us luck (I think they were wishing us luck...my french is not so good...), and then we were off.  Our goal in this race was to be aggressive and initiate lots of attacks.  I went hard the first time up the hill to try to string things out early and then my teammates took turns launching attacks for the next couple laps.  Alison took a strong pull for one lap and when she let up the pace briefly, I jumped to start the next round of attacks.  I got a bit of a gap and one girl (in green) bridged to me bringing a fellow American, Megan, with her... 

We quickly started trading pulls and tried to open up the gap we started. Meanwhile, my teammates were controlling the peloton and preventing any attacks from catching us.  Being only 4 laps into a 40 lap race, we had a long long way to go!  After about 10 laps it was clear that the girl in green was not going to help us pull very much so Megan and I went hard up the hill and dropped her.  Then we were down to two of us... with lots and lots of laps to go... and many many climbs ahead!  Luckily, my teammates were doing a great job at controlling the attacking peloton and we continued to open up a gap on the field.  In the middle of the race, the winds picked up and the rain started coming down (even France gets bad weather every once in a while)... we still had 20 laps to go and I was convinced that the lap counter was taking a nap because the laps didn't seem to be going down very fast.  Megan and I were beginning to question why we started our break only 4 laps into the race.  But the break seemed to be strong so we just kept plugging along.

Finally, with 4 laps to go, the peloton was in sight ahead of us, but we decided to stay back and avoid mixing in with the crowd given the wet and slippery conditions. It was clear that our break was a success, but now the race was getting close to the end and soon working together would have to stop... After working for an hour and a half with a breakaway buddy it is hard to transition to racing against each other, but we both knew that one of us had to cross the line first for the win. We decided to keep up the teamwork until the final straightaway... we made sure that we both rounded the final slick 180 turn safely and then we raced to the finish line. Luck was on my side and I ended up with my first French victory!  The rest of the USA squad swept the top spots -- Alison broke away with 1 lap to go to finish solo for the final podium spot.  Sinead broke out her mad sprinting skills to win the field sprint and Lindsay (who claims to not be a sprinter) finished closely behind.  A great day for team USA.

The podium presentation was a lot of fun... we were all given trophies and flowers and showered with kisses (that is the French way... no handshakes).  I was also presented with a cool framed poster of the event.  Unfortunately, there is nothing corresponding to podium girls for the women's races... we had older men handing out the congratulations... it doesn't seem fair! But these were the men that helped make the race possible and gave us a very warm welcome to the venue -- I very much appreciated the great race that they put on!

~devon

**notice in the podium pic that we were not actually on the podium... my head went into the rafters when i stood on top... it was not made for tall people :)

Old Capitol Criterium, Iowa City, IA

Being on a team is a new experience for me and it’s hard to explain how happy I am with how we rode this weekend since we did not get the best results. But I am! Saturday’s road race was good aggressive racing and we battled it out as a team and we are proud of our efforts. We weren’t sure what was going to happen in Sunday’s crit since we were outnumbered again. This historic crit is not your typical boring four corner deal. It’s got a screaming descent into a sharp corner, a short but hurtful hill, and then a tricky twisty section that is hard to advance in. This is a course that requires some mad skillz! The sharp corner at the bottom of a treacherous descent proved to be the deciding factor for us. Madeleine and I both had a hard time with that corner and while Anne was fine (she has won this race several times in years past!) we really needed all of our team to be aggressive and “on”. Every lap I found myself at the back after the descent and making a huge chase effort to catch back on and then re-positioning myself on the hill. When 2 Kenda riders attacked early in the race taking another rider with them I was not in good position to go, and while Anne was up there to lead the chase she could not do it alone. When I finally got positioned, I was able to try to bridge with another rider for a couple laps, but we were unsuccessful and were reabsorbed. It’s hard to be fast when you are riding your brakes like a maniac. After we were caught we slowed things down and the break of 3 was able to lap us, and at 1 ½ laps to go a Kenda rider attacked at the top of the hill, taking Kristin Wentworth (one of the Kenda riders from the break) with her. Again I was not positioned because of the cursed descent. On the last lap I had time to get repositioned on the hill and after a quick check with Anne was able to attack in the tricky twisty section before the finish. I got a good gap on the field which secured fifth place, but I was hoping to catch the two Kenda riders for fourth place (Kristin W was from the break so she had the win locked up) but they held me off. Anne got third in the field sprint, but one rider ahead of her was Catherine from the break, so Anne took seventh. Not much to say except that this year we have lots of hilly racing planned so I am confident our descending will improve with practice.

-Kristen

Just about there..Road Racing in IA

This weekend, Team BH was excited to get together again (at least with all state-side members in attendance. We miss you Devon!) in Iowa for a fun weekend of racing.

The weather looked quite dreary and with a tough road race ahead we were a bit nervous about the severe thunderstorms and 30mph winds that were predicted. But SO very lucky for us, that never materialized! While the skies were grey and the wind was present, we were only lightly sprinkled on and the winds were about half what we expected.

At the line, pinned and pumped, we sized up the competition. It was alot of strong regional riders though the only teams with more then a rider or two were Kenda, ISCorp, and ourselves. From the gun Kenda proved to be wildly aggressive throwing out attack after well-planned attack in quick succession. Being outnumbered 2:1 we valiantly went with or chased down everything we weren't in. A couple strong riders chipped in, but we found ourselves having to cover most moves. Not wanting to be on the defensive only, we all took turns throwing some hard attacks of our own. By lap number 3 of 4, we (along with Kenda) just wanted a break to stick but it just wasn't meant to be. But not from lack of trying all the way until 4miles to go...

A short neutralization (as the Pro Men passed us for their finish) was personally frustrating to me as I had just attacked up the hill and hoped the pace would stay high and commence the start of the "race to the finish" strategies. Re-organizing quickly, Kristen and I moved to the front to try to keep things going; Kenda continued to be aggressive but we held our ground. The last hill and the finish loomed and we set our faces and got up to go and found not a match left in the box.

After all our hard work, we didn't get the finishing results we wanted. But at the same time we were quite pleased. As a brand-new team with only 3 team races under our belt, we have shown we can race well together and quite aggressively. We have learned lessons and learned each others strengths and styles of racing. And we are hungry to turn these into the finishes we know we are capable of!

Thanks SO much to Robin (as well as her husband Kyle and their awesome pup, Mattie) of Mercy Specialized who put us up for the weekend, recommended delicious eats (like Atlas!) and also presented great competition in the races!

A Weekend in Wisconsin

This past weekend Kristen and I (and our Chicago friend Molly) did a few races in my neck of the woods, a real treat for me, since I do not normally get company, or a chance to race close to home! While western Wisconsin is not exactly France, it can serve for some good racing, and we drove to a remote area near Durand for a road race on Saturday.

I carpooled with a racing friend, which ended up adding some additional interest to the morning. My friend became distracted enough while driving that we got pulled over for speeding. Kristen, not knowing the directions to the race, pulled over with us. Luck was on our side, and we only got warnings. Thank goodness!

The course was a 13 mile loop that we would do twice. While there were no huge hills on the course, there were plenty of them, and a few were rather demanding. Our race was a Women's Open event, so we had quite a few riders starting. One of the good things about racing in new places is that you get to ride with/against people with whom you are not necessarily familiar. It teaches you to ride smart and pay attention, since you don't know quite what to expect from other people in the race. I think Kristen and I were reminded of that lesson in this race. One of the girls from Flanders started out pretty aggressively, and after a few times of chasing her down and dragging the whole field with her, Kristen felt it was time for someone else to do the chasing. It proved to be a decision we would regret, as no one took up the chase (I was boxed in, honest!) and the girl was strong enough to get a good gap and hold it. We tried to rally a chase but our group had dwindled to a handful, including two teammates of the Flanders girl up the road. We contemplated trying to do a two-person time trial and take matters into our own hands, but it seemed like we would not be able to get away by ourselves. We settled in for a rather boring second lap. I don't want to say much about my finish, because it was not pretty. I jumped early but inexplicably faded very quickly, despite feeling adequate during the race. Kristen pulled off the field sprint win, though, even more impressive since she did more work than anyone else in the race, in my humble opinion.

But wait, the excitement did not end there. We wanted to ride a few extra laps for milage, which was fine. It did, however, make us one of the last cars to leave (I had arranged with my friend that I would ride back with Kristen since we would be staying longer). Turns out we had left the back hatch of Kristen's car up for the entire time we were out on the course, and her battery was now dead from the dome light having been on......here we are in the middle of seemingly nowhere, with a dead car. Again, luck was on our side, as the good folks of Brone's Bike Shop were still there with their RV. They were able to get the car going again, and we were off to mingle with the millions of motorcycles that were on the roads for a rally nearby. We got some funny looks as we drove by with three bikes on the car, right in the middle of a string of nearly 100 motorcycles.

Sunday I joined Kristen in Madison for a criterium in a technology park on the west side. Kristen had to be home by 4pm and I had to get up early Monday, so we opted out of the 5pm women's event and chose a master's men's race. The weather was threatening but the rain held off, mostly, and despite the cold and wind we got some good speed work in. I was surprised at how good I felt after putting in quite a few miles in on Saturday and not getting a very good warm up on Sunday due to my delaying getting out of the car until the rain stopped (wimp, I know).

I think I rambled enough. Since every blog post deserves at least one photo, here is how the dogs felt after a long day at the races...

(Grace and Winne)

Forgive any weird errors on this blog. It's my very first entry!
--Anne

Couldn't resist adding a couple of highlights from my weekend:
Traveling with Molly. We like coffee and the same sandwich at subway. She also likes to drive and doesn’t mind learning stickshift on the highway on the way to a race.
Getting out of speeding ticket. That officer was lucky he let us off with a warning and I did not have to employ my “bat shit crazy” technique of getting out of a ticket (it doesn’t actually have a success rate).
LaCrosse, WI. I am ready to move there. It is a gorgeous place. I have family in MN so I have traveled right by there so many times, but have never gotten off the highway to see how wonderful it is. So excited to be heading back on May 3 for a crit.
Staying with Anne & Peter: What a lovely and comfortable place. Molly and I both felt like we were away at a bed and breakfast. Peter made us a several course breakfast both days including some of the most wonderful pancakes I have ever had and packing us travel mugs with additional fresh coffee. Thanks so much!
-Kristen