Sturdy Girl Cycling

Rapha Gentlemen's Race Video

2011-07-21T13:24:00.003-04:00

So Sally sent us an email a few days ago with a link to a video of the Rapha Men's Race!

Check it out HERE

And I have to say, as I(SaraB) am a Lehigh Valley native . . . Sally, I TOTALLY agree with you when you say "The Lehigh Valley is so beautiful!"

Senior Olympics!!!!

2011-07-21T13:20:00.003-04:00

Jody Twer is a rockstar. This year she went to the Senior Olympic Games in Texas, and podiumed in quite a few events including the 20K RR, the 5K TT, and she got 4th place in the 40K RR and 5th in the 10K TT!! Here are a few words from her. We love you Jody! AWESOME job on your Podiums!!!

"Hello from sunny, windy(30 mph!!), HOT. . . Texas! First of all, I had a great time racing the 15+ women in my age group. Met some fabulous athletes and made some new friends.

The road races were SO hot and SO windy and only a handful of us were willing to work...so they were very frustrating. the woman who won gold @ the 40K, did NOTHING! Not one pull..even when we got off with a break of 5 of us, she wouldn't work and the field caught us. The 20K should have been mine but I had a senior moment, forgot where I meant to start my sprint and gave the gold and silver medalists a perfect lead to the finish...now to recreate that for my team!!

The 10K TT was a cluster as the time keepers screwed up our start times( there was a 15 minute delay because the 90yr old man fell and one the the 80 yr olds ran over him!).The timers neglected to hold us back for a girl that was missing, gave a time to a girl who DNS...3 hours later, they sort of figured it out thanks to Scott who had a picture of my start time! So, I sat in the sun and drank beer(which I don't really like!) waiting for a 5th place ribbon....at least the time was a personal best @ 22.4, according to my computer.

Glad to be back!

See you all soon,

Jody"

Emrick Boulevard Crit

2011-06-30T10:28:00.000-04:00

Course: One mile loop that consisted of 4 left turns (two of which were 90 degrees)

Weather: Perfect! It was not too sunny or humid.

Sturdies: Barb Statton, Jen Rhodes, Dana Hanchin, Beth Fayant, Lara Marek and me.

There were 22 women on the starting line and I was extremely anxious about this race since I had surgery the week before and had been in bed on my back for 5 days straight. As soon as the race started though all my anxiety went away and I was pumped up and ready to go. Everyone’s positions were switching throughout the race, but I noticed that Dana Hanchin was consistently in the front of the pack and every time someone attacked she was on them. There was a slight incline after one of the turns and every lap somebody would attack on it, but then we would slow down a lot at the top of the hill and then gun it down the hill. In the 2nd to last lap I was trying to stay on the outside so that I would be able to sprint one the last lap. Then on the last lap one of the women came up by the side where I was and I heard Barb tell me to follow her wheel. So I grabbed onto it and followed her through to the finish line. Even though I thought it was going to be a horrible race it turned out to be awesome and I ended up winning my first race! Thank you to all my team mates that were out there helping and encouraging me throughout the race!!

Claire

New Bethlehem Crit

2011-06-20T09:50:00.001-04:00

Date: June 18, 2011

Location: Bethlehem, PA

Number of Sturdies in Women's Open: 4 - Dana, Lara, Beth, me (Sara)

Weather: BEAUTIFUL! A little humid, but blue skies, and LOTS of sun.

Considering my last time in Bethlehem (when I crashed), I was a wee-bit nervous going into this crit. Especially since the ever-wickedly fast Wasabi Warrior Kacey Wander was pre-registered, along with Jessica Chong (Morgan-Stanley), Dana Walton (Alliance), Ruth Dickinson, Cheri Fager, and Michelle Mighdol (Pallas/Athena). Not to mention, our own Dana Hanchin, who has been ROCKING out this season!!

The Bethlehem Crit is a great 4-corner crit, with a downhill on the first stretch into the second turn, and a power-uphill on the second stretch into the third corner and up into the third stretch. The start-finish is mostly flat with a VERY slight downhill.

This race started out FAST for the first few laps. I was trying desperately just to hang on, and with Jessica Chong throwing attacks out all over the place, I was struggling a little bit. However, ten laps in, I was still sitting in, and I figured that since I was still in the field, it was time to move up and maybe even get on the front. I kept trying to find a position I could stick in, but the field was a little sketchy, and because of the bumpy roads, girls were a little freaked out on the corners. I kept looking for Dana and Lara who were in the front half of the peloton through the whole race, and also keeping my eye out for Ruth, Cheri, and Kelley Bethoney (also Pallas/Athena). Kelley and I were close together for much of the race (THANK YOU KELLEY for communicating with me during that whole race), and finally, with about 4 or 5 to go, I saw her move up on the right hand side. That was it. I saw my opening, and I moved up with her. I got up to about 5th position, and then moved up to 2nd. On the last lap, I was in 2nd position until the last time up the climb. My legs were on FIRE, and I tried to pick up speed as much as I could, but about 5 girls got in front of me, including Lara (who looked like a ROCKET going into the sprint)!!!

Lara wound up with 3rd in the CAT 4's, and I wound up with 4th!!! This was the most fun I have had in a crit to date. I felt awesome, and powering through those first few laps truly paid off. The fact that it was an open field with some REALLY fast CAT 2's made it even better. Congrats to Lara on her 3rd place! You rock!!!

George and Giorgia

2011-06-20T09:48:00.001-04:00

Who dat wit George?

Oh, its just the World Champion and winner of the TD Bank International Championship Philly Liberty Classic ... Giorgia Bronzini.

Tina ... do you think it was the fresh Chestnut Hill air she was breathing for the week before the race?

Go Colavita/Forna D'asolo Pro Women's Cycling Team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Rapha Gentlemen's Race

2011-06-20T09:44:00.002-04:00

The Rapha Gentlemen's race is an invitational, unsanctioned, un-marshalled race over 133 miles, that boasts 12k feet of climbing. The course was made up of lots of road, and what had to be an equal amount of gravel and dirt road climbs. Teams of 6 riders take off at 6 minute intervals and attack the course. The teams must start and finish together with all 6 riders. 25 teams took the start this year.

I was invited to stoker (rear seat on a tandem) for with Pat Engleman (captain, front of a tandem) for Team Bilenky. Pat and I were happily aboard a heavenly-hand built tandem that recently won top prizes at the North American Hand Built Bike Show in Austin, Tx. Check out the rest of the team at Bilenky’s Blog:
http://bilenkycycles.blogspot.com/

The Race:
I own now, my 2nd tandem, and have only captained so be in the stoker seat was going to be a huge change for me. But, after training for 20 minutes with Bob from Bilenky I was all set!
Our team set off Saturday AM, and things went fairly well. Pat and I suffered a few mechanicals:
1. Loose saddle bolt (Pat), seat height adjustment (me)
2. Tire blow out from over heating our rim on a super slick, technical descent that claimed an IF rider
3. Bent Derailleur
4. Oh, and we got fairly lost and off track for a while

Unfortunately, we did not make the time cut-off so at the last check point, so we were sent back on a short cut and only did 100 miles. We were able to finish at the T-town Velodrome and ride 2 laps on the track Paris Roubaix style!!
The route was beautiful, the climbs made me want to burst into tears, and descents were thrilling and scary at the same time. I feel like I also have 5 new friends! It was a great day on the bike.

Photos to come!
SP

The Route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/33003878

Kelly Bike Jam - May , 2011

2011-06-20T09:40:00.002-04:00

This is the first time I have competed in this race. This course has lots of technical turns with some sketchy road surfaces and a incline to the finish.

I was a bit nervous because I had heard a lot regarding prior races here. My plan was to hang in with the main group and race smart and stay upright. I needed to keep track of where the 4's were in the field, and stay with any that were at the front. George talked to us about tactics, he told us "Dana is going to work for you guys, so be aware" And work she did, she set out with a blistering pace that broke the field up pretty quickly, she kept the pace high for most of the race winning two premes in the process. I held my position, until I felt the sickening feeling of my back rim against the road surface, Dag Nabbit! I thought my day was done because, I did not have wheels in the pit. As I was walking off sadly with my bike, Sarah Ieps, yells "get over there and get a wheel, it's a neutral pit, move it"! I got my wheel changed and got back in! Hurray! another chance! (Thanks S1!) I was able to get back in and stay with the main pack, we had 4 of us Dana, Jen, Sally and me.

I stayed with the pack, riding close to either Dana, Jen or Sally, while still keeping my eye on the rider G had marked. Coming into the final sprint Sally pulled ahead of me and says, "I'll do what I can for you" I stuck her wheel and she lead me to the finish. I finished 3rd! for the cat 4's, Jen Rhodes finished 4th for the cat 3's. A good day for the Sturdies thanks to a lot of unselfish riding by my team mates!

Barb

Jersey TT report from Jody!!!

2011-06-13T12:42:00.002-04:00

Well, after yesterday's 42 mile lung fest(10 miles of which I TT'd after dropping my chain on the hill and taking poor Barb with me! - I then, finally caught up with Beth and Patty-from Salamander) - I came in 7th out of 9 in my field(okay, so 2 didn't show up...!) - I was happy, cruising along @ 21 MPH...and then Carol(age 63!) passed me...then Betty, (who can't even get aero because of her torn up shoulder from last years debacle at Phillipsburg)...anyway, the head was willing but my legs thought it was all just a joke...I did get to see Bonnie and say "Hi" from all or us!

Turkey Hill Road Race

2011-06-01T19:24:00.003-04:00

Race: Turkey Hill Road Race in Lancaster, PA.

Sturdy Girls in Attendance: Dana, Lara, Barb, Sara B(me), Lisa, Lindsey, Jen Rhodes

Turkey Hill is an absolutely beautiful course on mostly rolling hills, but with a few kickers in it. 3 laps around this course, an uphill start, and a flat finish after a downhill (in a headwind)!! The day was beautiful. Warm and sunny. After a nice long warm-up on the road, we lined up at the start with many other Philly based cyclists. (41 women started total!!) I felt like crap. I had been battling a horrible cold, and it was finally catching up to me. I honestly didn't even think I'd start, but I did!!

I worked HARD to stay in the race, but one lap in, I lost it. I battled through the whole race, and managed to finish, but it was tough going!! They pulled but still placed me on the last lap, so I was able to watch the finish. Dana came in 4th in a bunch sprint with Julia Lonchar (Human Zoom), Victoria Hanks (Human Zoom) and Sue McQuiston (ABRT). Lindsey Knast also rocked it out with a 10th place finish!!!

All told, the Sturdies had a great race! It was fun to race, and fun to watch! Besides, we got ice cream after!!!!

Tek Park - Mother's Day

2011-06-01T19:21:00.001-04:00

Mother's Day report from Jody Twer:

Reason for entering, what I already knew, was a race for climbers:
#1 wanted to race on Mothers Day
#2 great safe challenging course

Slept in until 7am!
Ate a great, healthy breakfast
Planted my garden all morning
Packed the car up and headed for the Tek Park

Warmed up on trainer for 1/2hour then tooled around with the girls for 1/2
hour...
The field was 9 strong ladies when I registered...it had now grown to 18!

I hung in for the first 3 laps and was very proud of myself because the hill
was already taking it's toll on me
4th lap, I made the mistake of staying in my 54 instead of shifting down to
my small ring...I was having some chain issues on Saturday and afraid I'd
drop it...the field took off and I was done. NO way to catch that group of
girls.

I heard a voice behind me asking if I wanted to work together...and of
course I said YES! Kelly Bethony saved my life( I think we saved each
other!) She thought I was Doreen...a natural mistake since we look so much
alike!

We both wanted to quit several times but kept cursing at each other to
finish the damn thing...got lapped twice...geez!

Found out later, that the other 2 ladies that were dropped and kept waiting
for the field to come around and hang on the back, were allowed to do just
that! We thought that was not allowed. Lesson learned, wait for the race
officials to tell you what is or isn't legal.

Happy I finished!
Had too much good food and wine afterwards with my daughter and family!

A great Mothers Day!
Jody

Sturdy Girl Camp - Massanutten, VA

2011-05-17T09:01:00.002-04:00

For the past few years, the Sturdy Girl Race Team has traveled to Massanutten, VA (near Harrisonburg) for a training camp. We ride the beautiful roads down there for 5 days, eat AWESOME food cooked by our amazing Dana Hanchin, sleep . . . a lot, and drink a little wine. This year, the weather wasn't quite as nice as it has been in the past. However, the one day it did rain, the team managed to get in a great ride! All of us love this trip, and look forward to it every year! It's great training and an excellent way for all of us to truly bond.

Special thanks: To George for doing all the SAG driving this year. You have no idea how much we appreciate everything you do for us!!!

To Dana for rocking out in the kitchen the way she always does.

Pics coming soon!!

Fifty Bucks He Eats It

2011-05-02T14:04:00.005-04:00

Notes from the ever-hilarious Anne Rock - Dirty Girl extraordinaire:

The Sturdy Girls and Fatmarc were responsible for setting up a section of the course and I thought it wise to purloin Kuhn's idea to post inspirational quotes. While Kuhn went lowbrow and channeled Charlie Sheen, I went deep into the vault and called upon the sages ofCaddyshack. The boy suggested "Fifty bucks he eats it."

I opted for the more familiar:

Today was Diane's birthday. Happy B'day Diane! My mother used to declare every May first, "Hooray, Hooray the first of May! Outdoor screwing starts today!" And people wonder how I got this way. Anyway, thanks for sacrificing your birthday for the good of Granogue. What a fabulous day.

Some Philly folks represented in fine style, each arriving on the podium in their respective classes. Congrats, kids! You looked great out there.

This guy didn't make the podium, but he did get a coffee mug. Oh, and taught me a few tricks about taunting opponents. Clam sandwich and mayo indeed. I'll see you in hell, Hoover. Or McDonald's. Same difference.

And this Philly lady made it on the elite podium. I forgive you for hurling your water bottle at me. Indeed, I'm honored.

BABY BABY BABY! Who's your Daddy? Please. Slap a 'stache on this kid and you've got mini-Les Leach. So adorable.

Decorating the course, Sturdy Girl style. I thought for sure someone would tear through the tinsel with disastrous results. Thanks for keeping it safe, kids.

Velo Amis, the folks responsible for this great event. It's incredible how much work goes into this race. Hug your promoter! Even Tom.

With more prizes than winners, our fearless promoters offered an array of events to distribute the booty:

So another Granogue is in the books. If you mountain bike and have never done this race you should give it a go. The challenging single track, ludicrous climbs, and gorgeous setting (thanks, DuPonts!) make for a great ride. Even better: the people who organize the race and make it happen. You are mighty fine, Velo Amis. Mighty fine.

Lower Providence

2011-04-26T08:49:00.002-04:00

Race: Lower Providence CAT 4

Course: 4 corner square one mile crit 15 laps

Weather: Cold with gusty wind, this course is typically windy, but this was beyond the norm.

Number of sturdies: 5, Beth, Judi, Julie, Lindsey, & myself.

Number of riders on the line 24

This is my 3rd time doing this race so, I had some ideas on what I wanted to do and when. My goal was to finish better than I had, previously. However, the wind pretty much put my ideas on how to handle this race to rest.

George laid out our tactics during our frigid warm-up and off we went. One rider went right from the whistle, folks were kinda sitting in and waiting to see if she would slow, I decided that was not a good idea and went after her. We brought her back in. On the next lap, Beth comes around and says "get my wheel." This is not a statement to be taken lightly, so I stuck to her wheel like bubble gum. Beth and I worked together for the rest of the race. We tried to get away a couple of times, but that was not to be, so we adjusted. Beth pulled me through the headwinds, told me where to hide in the crosswinds, and worked with me echeloning. She protected me the entire race. Beth had decided that this would be my day, and put her total effort into getting me the best finish, sacrificing her own, and it worked! We won a prime, and I finished 5th, my best finish ever!!

Thank you so much Beth, it's always a bonus when you are out there with me!

Barb

Naval Yard Criterium

2011-04-25T13:36:00.003-04:00

The Philadelphia Naval Yard Crit is a great course in the Philadelphia Naval Yard. The Naval Yard has so much history, and it's really cool to ride in a race where the buildings are a century old, and there are huge ships that you can see as you drive into the Yard.

The morning of the race was a little chilly. The course is a 1.5 mile loop that goes counterclockwise and consists of 6 turns. It's a very technical course, and we were relieved that the Cat 4's were able to get a preview lap before the ride - extremely helpful since one of the turns was 180 degrees. There were 13 riders total in the race and five of them were from the Sturdy Girls Team. Barbara Statton, Lara Marek, Judi Rivera,Hannah Vanderlan and I participated. I did not do as well as I had hoped to do in the race and part of that was because I was struggling with a cold at the time. I also struggled with the amount of turns there were in the course.

Next year I hope I will do better then I did this year!!

A Note from the "Thunder from Down Under"

2011-04-25T10:13:00.007-04:00

Hi to all Sturdies

It has been a year since I left Phila/NJ for Perth, Western Australia, to be reunited with friends and family. While it was a hard decision to make, once made it felt right and I have not looked back. I spent 13 fantastic years in the USA but it was time to come home.

In Perth, I was delighted to see so many bike paths that went for miles with no intersections, just the odd dugite snake, tiger snake to make the commute to work a little more interesting! My bikes arrived 10 weeks after I did, via ship. During that 10 weeks I thought about them and my life in Phila, racing and riding with SGC. I started to think that it had been fun but maybe this was the end of the bike chapter in my life.

Well that did not sit too well with me when the bikes arrived. As I unpacked each bike which had been lovingly packed by the famous Stanley of D&Q bike shop Cherry Hill, each retold the story of my beginning with road riding in NJ through, the friends I made, the fun times we hand and some of the success I started to have with racing Time Trials.

From there I decided to take G's advice and head for a national race, “no reason not to”! I started training again in July 2010 and by September I went to my first National TT in my age group and placed 2nd! This was a shock especially as I was only 29 secs behind the reigning world champion in my age group who also lives in Perth.

I have trained and raced all through our winter here (mild Mediterranean climate whoopee no snow!) with the dream of entering the World Masters Federation World TT championship in Austria August 2011.

A few months ago, we found out that UCI was really starting to honour Masters racers by announcing the World Masters Cycling Tour for amateurs. I could not believe it when sunny Perth succeeded in getting a qualifying race to be held on Rottnest Island, a 30 minute ferry ride from our mainland. No cars, just quokkas, snakes and lots of pedestrians and people on bikes. A quokka is a small marsupial the size of a cat, that is friendly to humans and is unique to Rottnest (Rotto as locals call it).

The morning of the race: Lugging a trainer, spare wheels and the bike onto a ferry was a challenge but we all were pleased to have a day off work so we didn’t mind so much!

The course: 18km or about 11 miles of undulating and some short hills, technical with turns and a deceiving S bend and fantastic coastal views.

The race: field of 5 women in my age group, some national stars and one recreational rider who has overcome cancer and is an inspiration to all. It was fast, furious and tough because of the shorts hills under speed. I internally chanted "stay calm, focus and ride like hell" through the race. I rode with a Zipp power tap wheel and just kept that wattage way above what I thought was comfortable the whole time! I attacked every hill like my life depended on it as I felt I had to put it on the line that day if I was to win and get to go to Belgium. No quokkas in my way but a sighting of a big ? goanna up ahead!

The outcome: I was first by 5 secs with all of us coming in within a 9 second range! Phew! Lucky girl on the day! Only the top 10% qualify to go to Belgium for the big final.

For those of you in the race team, know that when George talks about it taking 3-5 years to get to where you can realize the results from consistent training, believe it and keep at it!

The other thing I would say, is that if you have never had an expert bike fit, find the best person even if you must travel, and go and do it! It has made a huge difference to my performance in the last 4 weeks.

All the best!

Jenny

Cherry Blossom Crit - April 9, 2011

2011-04-11T17:18:00.001-04:00

Sturdy Girl: Judi Rivera

I drove to Newark, NJ bright & early Saturday morning (actually dark & early... verrrry early).

I raced the Cherry Blossom Challenge last year, & my goal today was to finish better than my 9th place last year. --- I won!!! My very first FIRST!!!

This race in run in Branchbrook Park on a 1.5 mile counterclockwise loop with one corner. The road surface was a little better than last year, but still had some rough pavement in spots. There were 16 racers pre-registered, but the field was actually only 12 women. There were several strong riders, and there were a 3 or 4 attacks. I was able to bridge every attack successfully and didn't let anything get away from me. One of those times we had a good gap. I tried to get the group organized so we could make a bigger gap, but we didn't organize fast enough & got caught. In the last half of the final lap, there was an attack at the turn, as we approached the finish I saw my opportunity and jumped and never looked back. As I approached the line, I kept waiting for someone to come around me..then next thing I knew... I was across the line. It was awesome!!!

Judi

Tour of the Battenkill - April 10, 2011

2011-04-11T16:08:00.002-04:00

Sturdy Girls - SaraB and Beth Fayant

Weather: Beautiful and in the low-mid 60's for most of the race. Towards the end it got a little chilly and the clouds rolled in.

Terrain: 63 miles of AWESOMENESS!!! Five Cat. 5 climbs. 12 sections of dirt road. Some really awesome descents.

Beth raced in the 35+ Cat 4 race. I raced in the U35 Cat 4. It's funny, cause if you ask me to give a play-by-play today, I definitely can't. I can tell you, however, that I am extremely glad I did the Monkey Knife Fight ride last weekend in Emmaus. The course at B-kill is much nicer (when it comes to the roads, anyway), and it definitely prepared me for this weekend.

I drove up with Mary LaSota of West Chester Cycles on Friday. Saturday we drove the course and rode a little bit of the course just to get a lay of the land. While I did race Battenkill last year, the course this year was a little different and I definitely did not remember the race the way I thought I did!

Whatever training I've been doing this winter definitely paid off. My time was better, and the hills I thought were REALLY difficult last year did not seem so bad this year! I got dropped from the main group on the first big climb, but managed to catch up to a couple girls, suggesting we all work together to get the group in front of us. I wound up riding with one of these girls the whole race. And we worked really well together! She could get me on the hills, but on the flats and the descents, I was pulling her around!! The two of us actually kept advancing past a few girls who couldn't keep pace with us, caught up with a couple other girls, and rode with them a bit. They took off on the last hill though and we lost them. We had a blast, and finished together despite my difficulty on the last climb.

Things I learned: I definitely did NOT eat enough during this race. The last seven miles were really difficult because of this. So next year, I plan on EATING MORE!!! I need to work on sustaining a good pace on hills. My climbing skills are definitely better than last year, I just don't have the speed I'd like to have. And when working with other girls, don't stay on the front for as long as I did.

I'm certainly looking forward to this race again next year. I may have to make this an annual thing!!!

Fairhill Spring Race - April 10, 2011

2011-04-11T15:59:00.000-04:00

Sturdy Girls: M and Anne Rock

"M and I went to Fairhill for the spring race. It was grand. Cold and grand. Trails were in great condition--better condition than me. We did two 7-mile laps which featured varied terrain and one really nasty climb. My teeth hurt.

M made a great move on a short punchy climb 1/4 of the way into the race. A bunch of girls dismounted at the top having underestimated the need for momentum to get them up this climb. I got stuck behind them and had to dismount. M came from behind and shot past everyone. Go M!

I spent most of the race with Caitlin Thompson and two Wooden Wheels riders. It was a lot of dirty fun.
There were 29 sport women; 14 over 40. M came in 3rd in the 40+ race and I came in 5th after rolling over and playing dead in a sprint for 4th.

Overall, we were 11 and 14th. "

Ronde van Mullica - April 3, 2011

2011-04-11T15:58:00.001-04:00

Mullica race report…

Fast and Flat!

Introducing new racers: Claire Swarts and Lindsey Knast.

Cat 4s there: Barb Statton, Hannah Vanderlan, Lindsey Knast, Claire Swarts, Lara Marek, and Lisa Bowerman (me)

Congrats to Claire for the 4^th place finish in her first race.

Results for Cat 4: Lisa 3^rd, Claire 4^th, Lara 6^th and Hannah 7^th

For most of us, this was the largest and fastest mass start race. The course consisted of 3 ten miles loops with easy turns and smooth roads. It was a women’s open with the 4’s scored separately.

Weather: mehh….not too hot and not too cold

First Loop: Fast and easy with averages in the 27 mph range. It felt like cake it was so easy. (Men have it made with the large packs).

Second Loop: A crash and a flat. Almost simultaneously there was a seven women pile up and a flat on the other side of the pack. The pile up took down Lindsey along with some other strong and experienced racers. Barb, slightly ahead of the crash, smartly pulled away from the pack when she got her flat. This resulted in a separation of the large pack.

Reaction: Form a rotating pace line to catch up to the main group. The pace line consisted of SGC racers: Lara, Claire, Jody, and me along with maybe 6 other women from different teams. Unfortunately, we did not get the pace line together fast enough to catch up with the main group.

The pace line did maintain its integrity until the last part of the 3^rd loop. A human zoom girl misread Claire and mine’s moves and thought that we were attacking for the finish and thus sprinted off. Claire and I then sprinted to follow. As I got ahead, Claire noticed that I was showing signs of tiredness and helped out by giving me her wheel. I then used that wheel as a lead out to finish the race ahead of the separated pack with Claire right behind me.

Thanks Claire for your most excellently timed assistance!

Rutgers University Race - March 5, 2011

2011-04-11T15:56:00.002-04:00

Sturdy Girl: Lindsey Knast

This was my first race ever and opener of the season at Rutgers University.

I rode in the Intro category against about 30 other girls. The crit was on a very rough road and the corners were not the greatest. There were many crashes in the races before mine so I was a bit worried. We were supposed to race for 20 minutes but somehow that got cut down to 3 laps. I made sure to line up in the front for better position. I had a delay clipping in when the whistle went off(rookie mistake) so I had about 10 girls in front of me on the first turn. They all were keeping a pretty relaxed pace and since it was going to be such a short race I figured someone had to make a move so that someone was me.

Around the second turn I just took off and only 2 girls caught my wheel. Between the 2nd and 4th turn there were headwinds of 20+mph so I took my fair share of crap for that time. I was ahead for the first 1.5 laps when one of the girls made her move and the other followed suit. I was never able to get back in front but still was happy with my finish of 3rd place.

Beth Fayant: PCA Elite Women's Rider of the Year!

2011-01-18T12:28:00.001-05:00

PCA Awards report.

The Pennsylvania Cycling Association holds an awards ceremony every year recognizing the top five PA bar finishers for every cat. This year top PA BAR contenders were asked to volunteer a name for the rider of the year award. The rider of the year is not necessarily the fastest person, nor the one with the most wins. Rather it is a person who displays the characteristics, attitude, commitment, and selflessness that makes the racing experience better. This year they proudly recognized our very own Beth Fayant as the Elite Women’s Rider of the Year.

Congratulations Beth for all of your hard work in making racing an awesome experience.

Bonni Races Cross!

2010-10-05T16:19:00.002-04:00

Race Report:

Who else would buy a cross bike, sign up for a race, and have absolutely no clue how to mount/dismount the bike?? You got it...I always wanted to try this, and my back has been good these days...Why not...so I did it...no clinics, no prep work except listening to people talk about it. Ignorance is bliss. I totally loved this sport!! I have been mtn biking again since TT season ended...so I have SOME skill in the woods...

30 women to start in the 3,4, B race. Gun went off, and so did everyone...flying at the start...ok..someone had to be last...guess who..I am really not good off the gun, so I just did what I do at mtn bike races...do my own thing...it takes me a while to warm up and get in a groove..Once I felt ok, I started moving along at a better clip. There were two obstacles where you had to dismount. The first one was a barrier followed by "mount doom"..a large steep dirt pile that you had to run up with you bike. The second obstacle was a double barrier. Both of these were my downfall. I lost LOTS of time trying to get on and off my bike. The course itself had two muddy sections, and few tight turns, and a few straightaways. I felt great in the woods. No issues . On the second lap, I was moving up and got behind a group of 4 girls..I knew pretty quickly I could pass them, but chose to hang out and catch a break for a little while. I ended up passing all of them by the 3rd lap. The race was 4 laps for me...the really fast girls did 5. I ended up coming in 23rd out of 30. I was really happy with this, all things considered. Next time I want to learn how to actually ride this bike!! It was exhausting, and humbling...lots of bruises, mud and fun.

Tour de Fair Haven Race Report

2010-10-04T13:52:00.000-04:00

On September 19, I signed up for the Tour De Fair Haven (misleading name, it was really a circuit). The race takes place on the Main street of Fair Haven, NJ. The officials described it as a dog-bone. Basically, you ride up and down main street and turn around by going around a block at each end. So, on one end there was a wide sweeping left, by 2 more lefts then a tight right back onto Main. On the other end of town there was a wide right, followed by 3 lefts. There were several potholes you had to watch out for.

There as a gradual hill on main street, so you were going up the and down the hill on each lap. It was similar to the rise at the Liberty Crit.

The W-4 was 4 laps (12 miles). We were on the course with the W1,2,3, but we were given a head start by half the course length, so there was no issues with lapping, merging fields, etc.

I loved this race. It was well run and the course was great. I placed 13th.

About the half way point, the lead group got away (first 8 riders). I was in the chase group. I worked with them and even took the lead a few times. My guess is we had about 20 on the start line.

My mistake in being 9th or 10th (1 or 2 in the chase group) was I started my final push/sprint too soon before the finish line. I should have held my sheltered position (like Sarah I) and sprinted when someone else attacked first or I felt that I could go the distance. I really felt like I raced well and gave it all I had.
I would definitely do this race again next year.

-DeeAnne

Former SGC Rider is NJ State Crit Champion!

2010-08-30T15:20:00.002-04:00

Congrats to our friend and former teammage Sarah Iepson (CAWS Racing) for taking the NJ State Crit Championship in fine form. A solo breakaway, way to go Sarah!

Bowerman Podiums Again!

2010-08-24T14:15:00.001-04:00

Chester County Crit Race Report
Course: .75 mile 4 corner crit. Sketchy roads, and false flats with one side downhill and an uphill finish (it was like doing hill repeats as fast as you can)

Weather: Rained lightly on and off for most of the race, and ended with heavy rain

Sturdies present: Becky, Jen R., Sara B. and Lisa

The race started out fast. Betty the bear was grinning like a kid who just stole the cookie jar as she attacked multiple times in true ninja style uphill, far off to the side. It was the last attack that brought out Kacy and the chase began. Kacy and I got into a break early on due to Becky's awesome defense. The break itself can be summed up in one word: PAINFUL. (My legs are still in pain). Basically, it was me breathing heavy for several laps with Kacy making sure I was on her wheel. I helped as much as I could, until I could not keep up any more. (Yes, she helped me secure 2nd place).

Chase Group to Becky: C'mon! If "we" work we can catch them!
Becky: Dude, I have a teammate up the road... **soft pedal soft pedal**
Josh was on the sidelines giving us fantastic time splits.
The field was split again and again.

Note from Brams: I was dropped fairly early on during the first "Betty the Bear" attack. I worked super hard and managed to bridge up to a group of three women (including Jen R). We worked together for the last few laps, getting away from the other two ladies and finished the race strong!Placements: Lisa 2nd, Becky 4th, Sara B. 7th, and Jen R. 8th Best quote: "Don't you know its not polite to leave your elders behind?" Betty the Bear

-Lisa

Tour De Millersburg Reports

2010-08-16T15:57:00.004-04:00

Cat 4's: Tour de Millersburg

cat 4 sturdies: Gail, Sara Brams Miller, Judi, Lara, Julie, and Jocelyn irst of all, thanks to our host family the Smuckers! They kept us well fed with good food and warm company throughout the entire weekend.

I have to say, this was by far my favorite race of the year. The courses were all gorgeous and fun with their rolling terrain and clean streets.
Saturday: weather - perfect- not too hot, not too cold
TT course: 10 miles of rollers with a head wind on the way back and an uphill finish at least 50% of the women had some TT gear I placed 12th in true Eddy Merckx style with Jocelyn and Judi within seconds of me.
Crit course: 1 mile loop with a variety of hills and corners ranging from soft to hard Every field got split for this part of the race. There was a pack of 6 that broke off and worked together and then there was the rest scrapping off into small packs. I did make several failed attempts to bridge up to the front pack. In the end I placed 8th.

Sunday: weather: started out raining prior to our race. During the race there was some drizzle, but it quickly cleared up. Road Race: beautiful gently rolling, easy going, 18 mile loops The cat
4 women pretty much stuck together for the duration of the race. My personal favorite moment was in the second half of the first lap when Brams said to me, "gear down" and I heard, "go now". So off I sprinted expecting a chase. I was in a solo break for a good few of minutes thinking, 'why did I do that? no one is chasing me and I have no intention of attempting an 18+ mile TT'. Luckily, the pack caught up. On a side note, I did gear down. The main problem I had with that
race was getting off the front without getting boxed in. I was on the front for about half of the race and boxed in on both sides for the other half. In the end it was the last corner that dealt me 7th place.
Overall, I placed 9th. Lessons learned:
1. get a hearing aide and
2. practice cornering
Every single Sturdy there put in her hardest effort and with good/improved results from prior races.
-Lisa B

W's 1-2-3
30 women in the field; nicely stacked competition including two pro-women from down under, which significantly shaped the races.
(1) TT: it was flat and fast going out and a false flat with a head wind coming back. a small blip of a hill to the finish.
(2) Crit: Half the course was up (one hill) and half the course was down hill. Pack was shattered by lap 3. 45 minutes @ >22 mph average.
(3) Road Race: our race rode like a whip; gradual climbs, with some nice freebies, but the pace of the group kept things very intense; pack shattered in final lap. the hills did not feel gentle. 54 miles @ an average of 23 mph.

I don't want to speak for the cat3 ladies (jody, becky and me), but for each and every race, I think we gave it our best, we definitely stayed upright and on occasion amidst the pain and suffering had fun.

-Dana

Feeney is Back and On the Podium

2010-08-16T11:57:00.011-04:00

Hi everyone,I'm happy to report that I was back in the saddle again in Maryland on Saturday for the Highway to Heaven Hill Climb/ MABRA hill climb championships.

(It should be noted that the man to the right (in the background) was standing there playing the ukulele. Forget the cow bells and the vuvuzelas, bring on the ukuleles! )

1) It definitely felt more like a highway headed in "the other direction" (minus the cozy hand basket).
2) Conveniently located at the finish is a church by the name of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

3) After having previewed the course Friday evening, I decided to submit my name to The Lady's list for some help on Saturday.

4) The course: .8 miles, 18% gradient. The start was on the 18% gradient, and was Tour de France style (minus the expedience of a ramp) with a beeping countdown and a fistful of counting-down fingers in the face.

5) It seems Our Lady took my name into consideration (although my request for help was more along the lines of, "please don't let my head pop off")...

I finished in 2nd place out of 10 in my category, 4th woman overall out of 27 racers.
Liz

Podium at Liberty Crit for Jocelyn Ruiz!

2010-07-27T12:41:00.001-04:00

The past few races I have done (which isn't many....) I have mostly stayed in the middle to the back of the pack. I am a little intimidated, and have been trying to learn "how races go". George kindly told me I wasn't allowed to take that route for this race:) My directions were to stay at the front, at all costs. So, I set my mind to this, and figured it would be a new learning experience if nothing else.

This course set me at ease, as there are no corners, no crappy spots in the road-really nothing. I do like hills and little rises-adds variety-so I was completely fine with the terrain in that aspect. The weather, UG! There was lots of pink out there, though, which was great. It is a wonderful thing to not be alone in a race.

I am not good at remembering races lap for lap...I looked at the lap count two times (oops)-I figured since my goal was to stay at the front-always-laps weren't going to be a helpful detail to keep track of. There were a few primes, and I have previously purposely stayed away from these, trusting that I would catch up afterwards. For 2 of the 3 in this race, I decided to at least practice chasing people down....wish I would have jumped sooner and caught the lead rider on the first one, she wasn't THAT far out:) I hear she made money, too! I kept my sights on 2 of the strong riders that George pointed out to us, and figured if I followed them I would stay in a great spot. When I slacked off on this, an encouraging yet firm voice from the field would tell me to "MOVE IT! GET UP THERE! GO! GO! GO!". Barb was my in-the-race-coach and did a fantastic job of keeping me going, letting me know when I needed to make a move, etc. Thank you, Barb!

With her help, I managed to succeed in my goal of staying at the front, closed down a few gaps, pushed for some primes, and had a great position coming around the last "bend" (surely not a "corner) and went for it...I have a lot to learn about sprinting-I have never done it before. I'm honestly freaked out by it. I had lots of room on this sprint, however, so that was nice-and getting 3rd was awesome!

Saratoga 12 Hour Race

2010-07-12T11:22:00.001-04:00

The object of this race is to ride as many miles as possible in 12 hours, no drafting allowed.

My 12 hour race was only one of the multiple ultra long distance races offered this weekend. Other riders competed in 24 hour race, 12 hour night races as well as a 100 mile race

Course:
· Rolling 32-mile course along the Hudson River in northeastern Saratoga County, New York
· Featured 2km climb average of 8% max 12% to be completed each lap
· Great roads, through farm land and along a beautiful river

Goal:
1. Break 200 miles in 12 hour (personal best)
2. Attempt to break women’s course record of 205 miles

This race has been the main focus of my season this year, and as I drove to New York Friday morning I was feeling good, I had a great support team in my partner Linda, I had trained hard, and I was eager to race! Saturday we woke to pouring rain. The thought of spending the next 12 hours in the rain was daunting, but at the start the rain had slowed considerably and I had remembered my trusty clip on fenders!
We raced the first 3hrs in steady rain. Uggh. My fenders were great, and kept my bottles and drive train clean(er). Unfortunately, wet roads did keep speeds down. When the rain ended the humidity rose and the sun came out to make it a fairly hot day. With Linda doing amazingly organized support, I was able to get a musette of 2 COLD bottles and food ever 15-20 miles and I was able completely change clothes at the ½ way mark and plunge my feet into ice, that was huge!

Result:
202 miles in 12 hours! A personal best for me.
Missed the women’s course record by 3 miles.

Lessons Learned:
This was a really fun and challenging adventure. On New Year’s Eve I had dinner with friends and we were supposed to come up with our motto for 2010. I chose:

“You must do the things you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt

So, my lesson: prepare, work hard, stay focused and you CAN do things you think you cannot do.

Ride On!
Sally

Rivera Podiums at Zeppelin Crit!

2010-07-12T10:00:00.003-04:00

Zeppelin Criterium
Lakehurst, NJ
Saturday, July 10

Our race was early (8:30am); the weather was overcast, slightly humid & in the high 70s.
15 miles (19 Laps)
5 Sturdies: Lisa, Doreen, Beth, Barb, & Judi

The course is a 0.8 mile loop with 5 turns comprised of VERY nice road surfaces, except for.... (1) just one 6 inch circular hole toward the right & near the bend on Church street and (2) as Lake crosses Union there is a "seam" on each side of Union that creates a jarring "dip" on each side. (I don't know what else to call it). It's like hitting a reverse speed bump on each side of the intersection.

Also of note is the turn 2 to 3 combo... Turn 2 is a Left 90 degree turn followed (in about 100 feet) by an approximately 130 degree Right turn. -- Since Church St is somewhat narrow, the 130 degree turn has to be taken very wide (like turn 2 at LP) otherwise you could end up sprawled across the left curb.

There were 16 racers in the cat 4 race. Barb & Beth set the pace at the beginning of the race. We all worked together to control the field. The pace was high enough that there were not a lot of break attempts, but we successfully covered those that tried.

Barb won the first prime lap. YEA Barb! -- After the second prime bell (Lap 17, I think) the whole field was pretty tired, and it wasn't until after turn 5 that the 2nd prime race really started. I was too far back to think about a prime, but I jumped to close the gap to the the girls that had been racing for the prime. On the final lap, I found myself at the front of the field on the back straight; Beth jumped to the front and with a Herculean effort created a gap while I rested on her wheel. She carried me through turn 4 & all the way up to turn 5. Another racer had bridged the gap & jumped on my wheel; she popped out from behind me just before turn 5. I jumped on her wheel & we created a gap of approximately 4-5 bike lengths. That gap was bridged just before the finish.

I finished 3rd; my very first podium. I owe a HUGE THANK YOU to both Barb & Beth. There is no way I would have been able to finish as well as I did without them.

Rodale Fitness Park Crit: W's Cat 4.

2010-06-28T15:34:00.002-04:00

Cat 4 race report from Rodale Fitness Park

Conditions were the same since we started at least 45 seconds behind cat 3 racers.
SGC Riders: Barb, Judi, Lara, Dee Ann, Doreen, Sarah Mac, Beth, Jocelyn, and Lisa

Goal: Have worker bees cover the attacks and control the pace so the others could save their energy for sprinting from proper positions at the end.
As with the 3s, there were lots of attacks. Barb and Judi did a beautiful job tag teaming the front and trying to maintain a pace that was fast enough to prevent more attacks.

Personal role: stay off the front and work as little as possible. I almost completely stayed off the lead, but somehow got tricked into it. There was some mild confusion as we were told by the officials to freeze as the 3s passed us.
It all came down to the sprint at the end. A rider came out of no where to win the sprint, I was within half a wheel of her at the finish line to take 2nd.
Lessons learned:
1. That racer behind calling your name and telling you that there is a gap, may not be a teammate and therefore might be working against you.
2. Know your teammates riding style and signals.
3. Work on personal sprint strength and length- IE: knowing when to start and how fast I can go.

Overall, I thought it was a great race with lots of nice team work. Including myself, we had 4 top ten finishes in a race with 18 starters.

Lisa B.

Rodale Fitness Park Crit: W's Cat 3

2010-06-28T10:55:00.001-04:00

Women's Cat 3 Rodale Fitness Park Crit
SGC Riders: Sally & Jody
Course: Fitness park loop with big ring climb and super fast road conditions.

The Fitnes Park is a super fun place to race, no cars, great road, no curb, and FAST! The women's Cat 3 field went off with a bang Sunday with attacks coming early and often. The race was punctuated by a 10 min downpour that oddly only saturated about 1/3 of the course..weird.
The field stayed together and chased down every move, this kept the tempo steady and fast. It's really hard for anything to get away on this course. This was going to be a bunch sprint and I was really feeling good and ready for it.

My personal goals were:
keep my good positioning through the last 3 laps
surf wheels and don't get bogged down
make a go at the sprint

I achieved my goals and was set up nicely by a rider who jumped at what I thought was too early, but her jump was a great lead out for me! Got a good line, sprinted and ended up 5th. Thinking back on it later, I think I had another gear there, but didn't punch it up at the right time.(lesson learned)

Overall a fun, active, fast race. It was great to have Jody there who provided a much needed break at about the halfway point of the race!

Sally

Bethlehem & Cargas Crits

2010-06-24T09:31:00.001-04:00

The New Bethlehem Criterium
Cat 4 race, 20 laps (I think?)
Number of Riders: 9
Number of Sturdies: 4-myself, Doreen, Jocelyn, Judi (Jody was there, representin' in the 3 race)
Weather: It was hot
Course: Closed 4 corner crit around a school, 1 lap=.85 miles. One off camber turn, some nasty pavement on the back stretch, one short big ring climb.

I knew at least one woman was going to jump at the whistle to catch them. And jump she did! Wow. Judi managed to catch a ride, but she had to dig deep. Jocelyn, Doreen and I didn't quite make the bridge. The three of us organized a paceline and gave a good hard chase, but it wasn't to be. We did eventually get lapped, which allowed us to jump back in the field and sharpen out pack skills for next time. Unfortunately, the new USAC rule doesn't allow lapped riders to work in the field...sorry Jody! You looked really good up there though!

Cargas Criterium
Cat 4 race, 15 laps
Number of riders: 12
Number of Sturdies: 4-myself, Barb, Lisa and Sarah Mc
Weather: Hotter than the day before
Course: Closed (sort of) two corner crit in a business park. Left turn after the start, then a sweeping slightly down hill arc into the other corner, then a big ring, sorta long climb to the finish

I was excited to see that so many day-of riders decided to show. I was a little worried we might not have a race! There were a couple of early surges. Some attempts at attacks on the hill. With 10 laps to go, there was an attack on the hill and I went to chase it...then she sat up. Huh? Oh well...I'll just keep going. I managed to stay away solo for two laps...the third time up the hill I heard derailers and knew they were closing in. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted! A couple of laps later, the same woman jumped. This time she meant business and Lisa was right there. Two others got away with them and it was clear that that was the break. Barb and I went right into action and got on the front. We drove a hard false tempo, making sure no one would try to bridge the gap while Sarah kept watch on the back making sure there were no sneak attacks. It was a fantastic day...teamwork at it's finest! And we got a Sturdy on the Podium...mission accomplished!

It was such a fun weekend of racing! And what added to it were all the compliments from the other racers and spectators. I can't count how many times I heard how strong we are, what good racers we are. One of the women that came up to Cargas said she did so because she saw Sturdies on the pre reg list and knew it would be a fun race! Another said she truely admires our program and how much we've done for women's racing. I've always known what a special team this is...but it was neat to hear it from others too!

Beth

NJ State Road Race Championships: Cat 4

2010-06-22T12:52:00.000-04:00

Race: Cat 4 road race Bridgeton NJ 35 miles
Weather: HOT 85 -90 degrees
Number of Sturdies at the start 6 Course was flat with some rolling short climbs.

This was a NJ championship race, so out of state riders could win prizes but not metals. For this reason, I was the "queen bee" for the day since I am a Jersey Girl. George laid out our race tactics during warm up. We were all excited to get started and make things work.Sometimes our bikes and legs have other ideas though........through the first turn...... Clink.....Brams has a Mechanical..... then another ........she is out :-( Lisa was there, then she was gone............her legs just would not cooperate with her plan for the day..... she is out :-( . With 2 riders out I was a bit unsure at this point how our tactics would play out. I was able to stay in the front 3rd usually in the "sweet spot". When I found myself up front, either Lara or Gail would come right up and get in front of me, it was awesome! Lara & Gail were fantastic, they completely filled the blanks left when Brams and Lisa went out. They were either in front of me or behind me protecting my wheel. We totally had a team race, we watched out for each other, checking on each other making sure no one was doing more than they could, we rode smart. Coming up on the finishing back stretch I was struggling to find a good position on the left side of the field, mean while, Gail shoots off an attack to the right of me ..... after that all I could see was a Pink blur......it was Lara zooming along the far right side with nothing in front of her but the finish line she was like a rocket! She finished 3rd! :-) Lesson learned in the end.........know where your teammates are........they can get you to the line safely..........so Positioning Positioning Positioning! Though I was disappointed with my finish, I was not disappointed with my race or my teammates, we rode well together and rode smart & one of us got to the podium!! It does not get any better than that!! :-)

Oh, and I was able to take my first ever feed zone bottle cleanly! :-)!Barbara

NJ State TT: Bonni On the Podium!

2010-06-11T21:57:00.002-04:00

Race Report:

New Jersey State TT. I raced in the 45+age group. There were 8 of us at the line for our group..I felt really good going in..have done lots of training this year...was hoping for the best. The course is a true TT test. 40k (25 miles). It was in Chatsworth NJ. Rollers..and false flats. It was 93, hot, humid, and getting windy as the morning went on...I raced well...paced myself..and ended up with a podium. Came in 3rd in my category. I beat my previous best time by over 2 minutes. I was sooo happy. The winner was Elizabeth Grundy. She is an awesome triathlete who also won the Sandy Hook TT earlier this year. 2nd Place went to Barbara Schweky from Somerset. She is a Cat 3...the big girls were out in force. This was my 4th TT this season...doing well and looking forward to more. Who wants to join me??? I could use some Sturdy Girl company.

ps. Next year it would be nice if the porta-potty company showed up!! NONE at the start...remember to pack toilet paper, wipes and baggies for any/all races. Lesson learned!!

Sturdy Girl Cycling Nabs Master's Championship!

2010-05-24T05:33:00.002-04:00

Way to go Dana!

Lower Providence Cat 4

2010-04-19T11:39:00.000-04:00

Race report for LP cat 4 women
Presented by: Lisa B.
Field: 29+Sturdies: Beth, Barb, Judi, Julie, Joslin, Doreen and Lisa
Weather: chilly with a slight breeze

First of all, there were NO crashes! Barb and Beth did a killer job protecting the front from unwanted non-sturdy breaks. Barb assisted Beth in winning a prime. Judi maintained her streak of personal bests. And Julie, Joslin and Doreen helped shield me from un-steady wheels and wind as I worked my way into a fifth place finish on my first race. Overall, the field of women stuck together throughout the race. It was a fabulous start to the season race.

Lower Providence W's 1-2-3

2010-04-19T08:17:00.001-04:00

A great couple of weekends racing!
Becky scored our first road podium of 2010!! 3rd place in the Women's 1-2-3 @ LP!

SGC in the Field: Sally, Becky, Jen Rhodes, Jody
Field Size: 30+

The field stayed together with a few attacks that we were able to chase down. I can't remember at what lap, but a dangerous attack took off with 4 riders in it. I chased and encouraged Becky to come too, and come she did! We made separation from the field, Becky leap-frogged past me an into the break. They dropped a rider and became a group of 4, working well together.
Jody, Jen, and I worked to sit on the field and disrupt any chase groups. Two chasers were able to bridge up to Becky's group but Becky was able to sprint for 3rd!!
Great team effort with great results!

:)
Sally

SoYoCo Race Report - Cat 4 Race

2010-04-19T08:16:00.000-04:00

SoYoCo Race Report - Cat 4 Race

Number of Sturdies: 2 - Sarah B, Liz

(Note: Dana was there too. I'll let her tell you her story of Vanessa's tragic demise)

Number of women who started: 12

Results, out of 12 starters: Liz 5th, Sarah 8th(?)

I scored a prime on the second lap. $15 ==> woo-hoo! (an uphill sprint before the finish) That $15 prime cost me though, because I burned some matches for it and wasn't recovered yet when a 4-woman break went afterward. Ah well, I enjoyed spending the $15 at Starbucks on the way home. :-) Personal victory of the day ==> I had fun in a road race. :-)

I don't want to put words in Sarah's mouth, but she reported having a good race and being pleased with her result. :-)

-Liz

Fairhill Mtn. Bike Race

2010-04-19T08:15:00.000-04:00

21 women lined up for the sport 35+ category. It was a really fast start and the group broke up quickly. The conditions were perfect, and the organizers did a fabulous job preparing another great event. In the end, Naomi was 4th, I was 9th and M was 10th. M would have place better, but she suffered yet another flat which makes me think the bike gods are out to get her. I completely forgot how to race until the last 1/4 of the second lap when I cut a nasty swath through the Clydesdales. It wasn't pretty.

Bonni came in 7 out of 17 in her group and I can report first hand that she looked totally pro coming through the final single track section before the finish. Awesome job, Bonni!

It's great to see the numbers of women increase, especially in the 35+ group. Holy cow, there were more old ladies than younguns.

Anne Rock

DirtyGirlCycling.com

Tour of Battenkill

2010-04-12T09:38:00.001-04:00

Now for word from the Battenkill!!!

Number of Sturdies: 2 (Julie Wright and moi, Sara B))Number of miles: 62Number of miles on dirt/gravel roads: 13Don't even ask how many feet of climbing. I lost count after thethird Massanutten graded hill.
The first ten miles of this race was amazing. Julie and I were bothwell within the pack. The first dirt section was awesome. A downhillthat had a few potholes, but for the most part was just a ton of fun!! Then we hit the first real hill. And bam...I got dropped. I caughtback on about a mile up the road, but the second hill saw me getdropped again. Julie stuck with though!!!
I wound up catching up to a girl about 5 miles later, and we wound upworking together the rest of the race! We almost caught up to Julie,but she's like a little billy goat up those hills!! About 8 milesfrom the finish, my bottle cage lost the top bolt (thank you dirtroads) and I had to stop to take it off and stuff it and my bottle inmy pockets. But my goal today was just to finish this race, and Idid!!!!
Despite getting dropped, I had a blast!!! It was an achievement toeven finish this race! I don't think my legs have ever hurt so badlyafter a race before... Battenkill, I WILL conquer you next year!!!!!

Cherry Blossom Challenge

2010-04-10T22:03:00.001-04:00

Posted by: Judi Rivera

Tales from somewhere in the middle of the peloton... yes, you heard right!! The MIDDLE!!!

I did the Cherry Blossom Challenge in Newark, NJ today. The day started off challenging enough getting up at 4am to drive to Newark for the 7:55am race start. Cat 4s had a nice chilly start at approximately 40 degrees. I got there early, so I could pre-ride the course. I rode about 1/2 the course & flatted my rear tire. I managed to get back to my car, and thankfully, with some assistance from a kind cyclist who was parked across the street from me, I was able to get my flat fixed & get ready for the race with about 3 minutes to spare before the start. Unbelievable. Not exactly an auspicious start, still my goal for the day was to finish with the peloton.

It was a typical start, everyone feeling each other out to see who brought what to the table. By the middle of the 2nd lap one girl took off. She looked strong, so I took off right behind her (yes, ME) & turned around to the group & said "come on, let's get her." We brought her back with no problem. YEA!

It was a 7 lap 15 mile crit loop with one corner. There were several surges throughout the race, but I kept up with all of them & helped to bridge several gaps. One breakaway of 5-6 girls finally stuck in the last lap, & we just couldn't bring them back. As it turned out, not catching them was actually rather fortuitous for the rest of us since that group had a crash at the finish. One of the girls (Julia) from Chester County Velo was caught up in the crash & had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. My thoughts are with her & her team; hopefully she's OK.

So,... about my goal... I finished 9th out of 25!!!!!! YEAAAAA!!!! My very first group finish! I'm really proud of my finish today, here's hoping I can keep it up.

YAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Judi

:))

Sandy Hook ITT

2010-04-05T09:44:00.000-04:00

Sandy Hook TT..near Asbury Park NJ. 42 degrees at start (much colder at beach yesterday). Foggy, and winds at 30mph..luckily only on the turnaround and the whole way back. Cat 4 women..19 to start. I was second in my cat to go off. Took off on the 7 mile course in a wonderful tailwind...then realty struck when I turned around. 3.5 miles of utter pain into a strong headwind. Was able to stay focused. No-one passed me yet..ok, this might be a good day...saw a rider ahead and aimed to see if I could catch her. I did and kept on going. 1/2 mile to go...no-one passed me yet. ok. maybe I really did do ok.

Final results: I was 5th out of 19. Avg. at the end of 20.775. Not bad considering the first place riders finished one min. ahead.

I was thrilled with my placement, esp. for how early in the season it is, and that I was flying solo without the Aussie rocketship by my side.

Next race...in the woods.
Bonni

Escape from Cabin 8: Mtn, Bike Relay Race

2010-04-05T09:42:00.001-04:00

I have a write up at DirtyGirlcycling.com It wasn't really a traditional race. Rather, it was a relay of intergalactic and epic proportions the likes of which may never be seen again.

Here's the short version.
Sunday, M, Naomi and I got up at the ass crack of dawn to head to the relay. M stayed up until 2am altering our costumes which arrived a tad on the small side. Thanks, M! Naomi selected some tasty Belgian Brews which came in handy and secured our victory. As usual, the win had nothing to do with cycling prowess, but rather shameless pandering.From race director Mike Kuhn:"And Escape from Cabin 8 not only got into the swing with some sweet prison uniforms (except for that lame Zach Adams kid) but brought me an awesome bribe consisting of a selection of delicious belgian beverages that makes them MY MOST FAVORIST TEAM AND THE BEST TEAM OF THE RACE!! What'd they get for that bribe you ask? How about FREE ENTRY into next year's race baby!!! (Jamie you get a nice second in the competition with Eastern Mountain Sports coming through with some flavorful stuff too.)"Zack saved us a spot with the Delaware contingent so we had an excellent viewing of the nasty left hand turn off a fun downhill. We were the second tent from the left:We didn't get Zack a costume because he wouldn't wear the one we wanted him to, churlish cur that he is. Who wouldn't want to be seen in this outfit? Our spot, located about 2/3 of the way through the course, offered excellent spectating and served as a good indication of when the next person in the relay should prepare to go. Sometimes this strategy failed the inattentive:who totally missed the relay "hand off." Funniest moment of race. For me, anyway. The course was dry, fast, and fun. Lots of logs, twisty single track, and 2 punchy climbs. Someone pointed out on the 2nd lap that it was easier to ride the nasty climb than walk it, so on the 3rd lap I gave it a whirl, and sure enough, it was easier to ride. Doh.I enjoyed the single track along the creek, especially on lap #2 when Jay DeJesus rode behind me and offered words of encouragement. I managed to clear the whole section, including the little "bridge" with the off-camber ramp. Take that, stupid log! I entered the clearing and Yozell flew by like he had rockets on his bike. Jeeze, he's fast. Maybe because he wasn't in costume like these fellas:The race begins with a LeMans style start.The first riders run 1/4 mile to their bike and then complete a lap of the course before tapping the #2 riders and sending them on their way. Zack replaced our #4 rider, sidelined due to a baseball obligation, and we figured why make Naomi run when we've got Zack? (Last year I had Jimmy go first because I thought the run would be 100 yards, not 1,000). Our team screwed up the timing by having Zack and Naomi switch plates so he could run and she could be our anchor. When Zack came through after the first lap, the timing system displayed his name as "Naomi Takahashi" and suspicions were aroused. There's a reason we were incarcerated--we're not very talented cheaters.

Overall, it was a perfect day. The weather, the people, the course. Events like this stoke my love of mountain biking. Thanks to Mike Kuhn and the Osterling family for organizing this event and permitting all this goofballs to ride amok on their property! You better believe we'll be there next year.
Anne Rock
DirtyGirlCycling.com

2010 Race Season Has Begun!

2010-03-29T09:17:00.001-04:00

Union Grove

By: Barb Statton
Race: Union GroveNumber of riders on the line 33! Sturdies: 3 Barb, Dana, Jenn R
Course: rolling in spots 4.6 mile circuit with two really decent climbs, one of them was to the finish. 5 laps 37 km or 23.5 miles.
Temp at the start line, 28 bright and sunny.

This is the second time I have done this race, it is a very challenging course for this Jersey flat lander. My plan was to manage this race more efficiently than last year. My ultimate goal (fantasy) was to finish with the pack, a huge goal considering who was in the field.I held onto the pack for the first lap.......unfortunately, I got gaped and lost the group. At this point, I just had to give it the best I could. I worked with several other riders including Jen R for a couple of laps until this group split. Jen had a terrible time with her Asthma, but all the while she kept encouraging me "Push it" I could hear her saying. This group split, it was me and another rider, then I found myself out on my own for a bit. This course really makes me work, but I love it! I did not finish where I wanted, but overall, I felt I did much better than last year. Lesson learned, DO NOT LOOSE FOCUS, that's when you loose the pack!

2009 Sturdy Girl Race Team Report & Stats

2009-12-13T11:11:00.005-05:00

The team’s 2009 pre-season training started in earnest on a brisk and windy day in Mid-January at the Greentree Criterium course in New Jersey and wrapped-up three months later in warmer climes with a spring training camp in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. But the miles the 23-team members rode in training were just a pre-cursor to those they were about to log in racing. The Sturdies raced more than 4,000 miles and racked up 643 points in the PA BAR. The season started in early March on a cold, wet day in Lancaster County at the Millport road race and ended in equally frigid weather at the Capital Cross cyclo-cross race in Reston, Virginia. From March through December, the team compiled 211 entries in 83 races, while competing in 8 states on the Eastern Seaboard. Team members stepped onto the podium 27 times throughout the 2009 season. Team rosters are dynamic in nature and it is a routine part of the sport to see riders come and go. But Sarah Iepson’s acceptance of a spot on the DC- based Team CycleLife warrants special notice. Sarah has been a valued member of SGC racing and is sure to make a mark with her new team … best of luck Sarah! Sturdies love to ride together and to race for each other, and the team extends its appreciation to all of the family members and friends whose encouragement is the wind at our back. We want to also thank each of the team’s generous sponsors for their support throughout the 2009 season, including … Keswick Cycle, Specialized Bicycle Components, Perfect Circles Training Systems, Rhodes Chiropractic, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (the restaurant that loves you every night), Wake Up Yoga, Soloman Edwards LLC, Ted’s Pools, McMenamin’s Tavern, Mt. Airy Family Practice, Body Basics Personal Training, Ben Crowle Services, Go Cycing, The Bee Hive Hair Salon, Still Waters Body Work, Philadelphia Forgings, Philadelphia Women’s Center, and Biking for Betty. Finally, a special thanks to two team members – Dana Hanchin and Sally Poliwoda, co-founders of Sturdy Girl Cycling, who’s on going generosity and steadfast support make Sturdy Girl racing possible.

George Sexton Sturdy Girl Cycling Race Team Manager

2009 Season By The Numbers

23 Team members

300 Miles from Philadelphia to spring training camp in VA

82 Races entered

210 Race entries

$4,300 Raised for the American Cancer Society

1 Coach / Manager

643 PA BAR Points

27 Podium Placements

$5,880 b Race entry fees paid by team members

4,004 Miles raced by team members

7 States and 2 countries where Sturdies competed

$500 Prize money won by team members in races

5 & 1 Five mothers and one grandmother on the SGC roster 3

12 Miles rode by team at spring training camp in VA

28 crits, 13 road races, 14 ITT, 11 MTB, & 16 Xcross

Computed at $28 per race entry

In Other SGC News!

2009-11-17T08:23:00.002-05:00

Bonni and Robert go mtn biking/camping in Moab Utah...

4 nights/5 days.

7 other people on the trip, with 2 guides..predicted weather...40's at night, 60's during the day. WRONG!!

First two days...perfect...day 3...starts wtih a little hail..starts to flurry...(mind you..we are on a 28 mile mtn bike day..about 4-5 hours)...get to camp..set up our tent for the next few days...park ranger comes up and tells us to "honker down"..snow is predicted. OY!!! Bundle up for the night..sleeping in wool hats, wool socks, etc...you get the picture. Wake up the next am to about 3 inches of snow. I chose to read in my sleeping bag all day. Robert went and rode for about 2 hours in snow over slickrock...I'm too chicken for that. Last night at camp temp goes down to 23. Time to ride again. Last day is 35 mile ride to the tip of Lake Powell. It was really beautiful, once we stopped shivering.

Rode 3 days : 25, 28, and 35 miles on mtn bike fire trails. Not very technical, but lots of climbing at about 7000 feet elevation. One day was hiking/boldering in the beautiful maze.

Glad to be back to heat, showers, and toilets. It truly was a "sturdy" trip. Anyone want to go with us next year????

Three Peaks Video

2009-11-06T11:52:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

I'm finally finished - sorry it took so long!

A few notes:

1) You'll unfortunately only be able to see this on a high speed Internet connection.

2) It's about 20 mins long.

3) Make sure your speakers are turned on. :^)

http://www.lizfeeney.com/filetransfer/3peaks_2009/3peaks_2009.html

See you soon,

Liz

Three Peaks Cross

2009-11-06T11:50:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone,

Back from the UK and an absolutely EPIC experience. I venture to say the Three Peaks is not a bike race at all... I swear over about six hours of racing I was on my bike for one!

Words DO NOT do this experience justice, so I'm putting together a collection of photos and videos that we took to show you (rather than try to tell you) about it.

For now, a brief recap:====================

1) Amazing camaraderie! Everyone was super friendly. I found some guys to chum around with over the course of the race and we helped each other out. Other competitors cheered each other on. Very cool!

2) The race involved a lot of death-march like schlepping up insanely steep mountain sides in howling winds (...actually pretty awesome), followed directly by bone-breaking, "you-CAN-NOT-be-f'ing-serious" downhills that would be a challenge on an MTB with full suspension and disc brakes (...yeah, NOT so awesome).

3) I learned after I got there that riders crash and break bones regularly in this race. Early on I decided I would not be one of those people, and ended up running down three mountain sides with my bike ("Estelle") on my shoulder, knees screaming all the way, my competitors flying by me. ...And that's why I got my ass kicked to the MOON!

4) You won't be surprised to hear that walking and going up and down stairs was more than unpleasant until yesterday.

5) Official support for the race was classically British: A cup of water at the bottom of the second mountain. That was it!

6) I fell in love with the Yorkshire Dales! The place is just stunningly beautiful.

I'll have photos, video and more detail to come sometime next week.

Humbly submitted (and with my ass still on the moon),
Liz

Charm City Cross

2009-11-06T11:49:00.000-05:00

Charm City Cross:
SG's Racing: Myself, Anne and Gail, who made her cross debut!
Course: Fast and dry! Power climbs with a lot of Sand.

Charm City is becoming a HUGE event, and gets bigger every year. The 3/4 Women had over 46 pre-reg'd and 45+ had 15!

They started the 3/4's in front of us 45+ girls. I was kind of tentative at the start and took the hole shot, sitting 4th wheel. uggh. The leader in our field was OFF, and I never saw her again. (literally)

I passed the 2 women in my field on the first climb but they were right on me. Fortunately, I was able to catch up to Gail who started with the 3/4's as we were about to hit a sharp turn onto a paved road climb and straight away. I sat on Gail's wheel and told her to go when we hit the pavement. And GO she did! I was barely able to hold her wheel, as she towed me up the hill and onto the road, but we were able to gap my two passengers. THANKS GAIL! This set me up for the rest of the race to take 2nd in the 45+! Anne and Gail finished strong in the field.

Lesson's Learned:

Smooth = Fast. I heard my Cross Guru Kelly Klein's voice in my head, "be smooth, no brakes, fast out of the turns" It was super fun to actually feel like I was going faster every lap!

It was great to have teammates to work with in the field!

Yeah Cross Season!

:)
Sally

Course de Marlton-Evesham-Marlton Race

2009-08-28T08:32:00.002-04:00

Today was my "home course" race. The race was held at the Greentree course at which I spend the majority of my Thursday nights. It runs backwards from what we normally ride, but it's the same course, none-the-less. It was not a huge field, unfortunately, but it was a field full of tough cookies!

Race: 21 laps of the 1.1 mile course. (I think we did 22 though. I think we did 2 laps to go twice!)

Field: 10 - including Lisa Jellet and Tricia Carnila from Verducci, Betty and Jackie Paull.

# 0f Sturdies: 3 - Me, Rhodes, and Barb

Course:

Awesome course with two left turns and a curving back side. One hill leads up to the start/finish line. The course is generally fast and fun...I love this one.

Race:

I had a dream a few nights ago that I pulled a "Swope" at this race. Meaning, go from the line, break from the field and stay away to win. Now...I wasn't particularly sure if I was alone in my dream, but I definitely went from the line and I definitely won. I kept mulling this idea over in my head and for some reason, it just felt right. So...

The ref blew the whistle, and I gunned it. I didn't look back until the 2nd left turn and realized that the field was chasing, but I had a good sized gap. Coming around for the 2nd lap through the same turn I looked back and thought, "Oh, crap...they got me." But I was wrong. What I was seeing was Tricia and Betty bridging up to me and leaving the field behind! YES! So...we hammered. Before long, the field was out of sight and we were on our way to the podium!

At some point, Lisa attempted to bridge the gap. So, Tricia stopped working (I totally thought that was a great team move). Unfortunately for Lisa, she couldn't quite get across the gap and we maintained our position out front. At some point, we lapped and picked up Jackie Paull (still not sure how that happened - all of the sudden...there she was!) and a while later we picked up the field.

Getting back into the field was better this time around than last. Although I still had my misgivings about it. But, I decided that this time would be different. Barb and Jen were AWESOME at this point. Barb comes up to the front (see photo of her below) and says, as she is passing me, "I don't know how long I can sit up here, but here goes!" and she pulled at the front for at least a lap - keeping the pace high and preventing attacks. It was awesome. I was really excited to race with Barb again this weekend. She is one STRONG woman. Stronger than she thinks she is...and she is so excited about LEARNING how to race. It makes her a great competitor and a phenomenal teammate. And Jen is so smart. She has been doing this for long enough to really understand the way things work on the road. Her knowledge is always so great to have!!! Thanks, ladies...you were great!

Since I knew it was going to be a bunch sprint and I really didn't want to lose a good position to the line, I remained at the front of the field...keeping the pace high so that no one could get a ton of rest. I really just wanted to make sure that I didn't get caught behind anyone trying to get up the hill to the line. As we came around for the final turn and sprint, Lisa came up alongside me with Tricia on her wheel. Lisa gunned it...I gunned it...Tricia gunned it!! I ended up finishing just behind Lisa and just ahead of Tricia! Since we had lapped Lisa, I took the win! YEE-HAW!!! My first win as a Cat 2!

Links to some pictures:

Thanks to Sports Plus Photography for the photos of the race....very nice!

Start line

Barb

Jen

Finish!

-S1

Mt. Washington

2009-08-19T10:09:00.001-04:00

As always, Mt Washington was a challenging and eventful race!

Race Stats:
* 7.6 miles long
* Elevation: 6,288 ft.
* Weather (always a factor on Mt WA): Great!

Race Result:
* 14th woman overall
* 5th in my age cat.
* 174th/600 in the overall field.
* Time: 1 hr 27 mins 17 secs

Fun Race Fact:
* The top two women finishers were in my age category (45-49). Yeah!

===================================================
Each mile has its own flavor of pain and/or carnage:
===================================================

Miles 1-3
=========
* These are the hardest of the 7.6 mile race. First, the race goes
vertical within 200 yards of the cannon going off. Right away I'm in the
red zone, and I already need my lowest gear (24x24). My inner dialog
sounds something like, "F***."

* There are a lot of short, 18% rises here and the road surface is full of
black top mogul-like bumps that make the 18% hurt even more.

* I can't help but wish for a mechanical so the pain will stop.

* This is where some people say, "Screw this," and just stop riding.

Miles 4 and 5
=============
* For some reason, the desire to have a mechanical goes away by mile 4.

* Mile 5 is where the pavement ends and the road becomes pressed dirt and
gravel for 1-2 miles. At this point I can see where I'm going for the
first time, because I'm above the tree line. This is not a good thing,
however. I'm really suffering and I can see that the road continues up and
around the mountain at a very steep angle, with no relief in sight. I
quickly look away and try to go to my inner happy place.

* People throw up at mile 5. Each time I've done this race, this has
happened. They're usually fast-looking guys, too. Like clockwork, they
reach mile 5, pull over to the side of the road and just start barfing.
Inner dialog (-not enough oxygen for an outer dialog): "That sucks, buddy.
All the best."

* Mile 5.5, more people just stop riding. They get off their bikes and walk.

Mile 6 to 7.6.
==============
* Cheering spectators and photographers begin showing up here, and provide
a boost. Most years you can't see them through the fog (-you can always
hear them though.) This year it was clear, so you could see them. :^)

* The wind comes head-on and makes it difficult to stand up and climb
without getting blown backward.

* Inner dialog: (...actually, there is no inner dialog, or any brain
activity for that matter...)

* Legs totally spent, I come around the final hairpin turn and I can see
the visitor's center. One last right-hand turn, and I'm face-to-face with
the 22% grade finish (ow!).

=============
Race Details:
=============

There were two times when I wasn't sure I was going to finish. At mile 6 I
had a cramp in my left leg that was almost a show-stopper! I was climbing,
seated and then the cramp came, out of nowhere. It happened when I was
pulling up on the pedal. I couldn't straighten my leg out. Thankfully I
was able to stay on the bike, slow down a little (I was already doing 4.9
mph!) and do some massage (on like, a 15% grade). =8^0

Once I had the left leg under control, the right leg cramped in the same
place, at about mile 6.5! Same thing, slowed up a bit, massage, and kept
going. My legs continued to threaten to cramp, so I had to stand much of
the rest of the way and use the momentum from my weight to push and pull
the pedals. Oy vay.

I've never had a cramp in a race before! Or even on a ride. I think the
heat had something to do with it. Miles 1-3 were very hot.

My knee had been giving me some trouble the week leading up to the race,
and in fact on race day it was pretty swollen and painful. Not sure why,
but I'm working on it. I just kept popping Advil and icing and visualizing
and fortunately was able to start and finish the race.

Overall I feel pretty good about my result, considering the "issues" I had
going on this year. I definitely feel thankful that I was able to ride
that mountain again. I know I can do better though, so I'm psyched to do
it again next year!

Respectfully submitted,

Liz

PS - I'll have some pics to share in a day or two.

Tour de Millersburg

2009-08-19T09:59:00.004-04:00

Tour de Millersburg Stage Race

Cat 1,2,3

9.5 mile TT

20 mile Crit

57 mile Road Race

# of racers: 25

# 0f Sturdies: 2 (me and Sands - Jody and Sara in the Cat 4)

TT:

Great course. A tad bit rolling with a nice LOOOONG false flat section on both legs.

I brought out the Frankenbike for this race...hoping that it would be a good idea. It was not a good idea, it was a GREAT idea. I felt awesome on that bike this time around. Perhaps it was because I have been training on it on Saturday mornings. Perhaps it was because the course really suited a power rider like me (I could really grind up the false flats and keep up my speed). Perhaps it was because I was determined to do a great TT. It's too bad I didn't have an alien helmet or a disc wheel because I ended up 6th (the money went 5 deep) by 3 seconds. THREE SECONDS!!! UGH! I was really bummed. But, I rode an excellent TT. I was able to average about 24.3 mph (which is a personal best) and I finished the course in 23:21. The winning time was quite a bit faster than that, but I was REALLY happy with my result.

Crit:

Holy HARD. The crit was different than last year, apparently. Rather than going up on the long, false flat around the high school, we came up a BIG climb from Union road up to the right turn into the school. With a section that followed that included a technical set of turns - right, left, left, right, left, left - back up the hill.

We started the race at about 4:30 and it was HOT. REALLY, really hot and humid. I was pretty concerned about the heat (rightfully so!). A few laps in on the hill, the field started to break apart. Soon, there was a group of 9 off the front and everyone else splintering behind. I was fortunate enough to have gotten into the break of 9 with Rachel. The break was a choice group including, Lozza, Leslie Jennings, Ann Marie Miller, Amanda Watson, Rebecca Blatt, Patty Buerkle, and Grey Patton. It was pretty tough. I knew that my legs were such that when someone made the attack on the hill, I was going to have a tough time hanging on. Thankfully, they waited to do that until the last lap. Rachel made an attack and might have won, but was chased down by a few girls and brought back in. But, that attack spurred people on and they pounded it up the hill. I was totally spent and couldn't go with them, as were a few other girls. I ended up finishing the last half of a lap on my own to take 8th on the day. I was pretty happy that I was able to stay with them through the majority of the race, and felt pretty good with my performance. I nearly croaked afterwards, however. I was totally overheated and my asthma kicked in a bit. I ended up dumping about three bottles of water on my head and body, but still had the shakes and the chills for the rest of the evening. Not good.

Road Race:

Considering my body's reaction to the heat after the Crit, I was pretty concerned coming into the Road Race that my body might not hold up. I drank a LOT of water and ate a few gus before the start of the race and was actually feeling surprisingly good when we started. The race went out and made a right hand turn at our host house, so I was hoping to feel good enough to put on a bit of a show out there.

The race was rather unselective this time. A few people (me, Rachel, Peta, Grey, and Amanda) tried to attack a few times, but all attacks were countered REALLY quickly. By the end of the second lap, I knew that I just had to sit in and try to wait for the sprint (not my favorite thing!). I really wanted to hold my position in the GC and take home a check with some semblance of dollar signs for the donut fund!

The course was great...strong rollers throughout the 17.7 mile course. A few rollers were capable of putting the burn on your legs, particularly the section of road just past the turn at our house onto Kessler. There was one scary part during the second lap when I got gapped off the back. I was really afraid that that was the end of my race, but the leaders sat up and we all got back together. I have no idea what happened up there, but I was glad for it!!! :)

The race stayed together the entire time and came down to a sprint finish. I lost a decent position coming into the final turn and got pushed out on the corner by a few riders in front that made some wide turns. Still...I had a strong sprint and managed to catch a few folks and keep a few others at bay. I finished 10th overall on the day and 7th in the GC - just keeping myself in the MONEY!!!! :)

The other girls also raced fantastically this weekend. Sara took 9th in the Cat 4 road race in an awesome showing of monstrous POWER!!! Jody was 10th in the GC for the Cat 4s!

-S1

KINGWOOD TIME TRIAL RACE REPORT

2009-08-08T20:15:00.002-04:00

Category: Women Cat 4

Distance: 16K (10 miles)

Number participating: 19

Number of Sturdies: 1 (moi !)

Weather Forecast

Gorgeous, and not humid! No rain!

Course description

“The only flat point to point time trial in New Jersey” as per promoters. On Route 29 past Stockton and nearly into Frenchtown, heading south along the river. It is flat, but in actual fact some rises and false flats to make you work harder than you think you will, but all in all, a fast and fun course. The start was 9 miles from the registration/parking so it was a different way to prepare for the race. Thank goodness no flats with those tubular tires on the way to the start line.

Pre- Race

Should I use the disk? Probably, but I do so like my Edge Elites. I feel faster! Erin is sporting a rather spiffin’ Zipp Sub Compact 9 disc wheel (ooh-la-la), but I can’t resist my EE’s! My second hand Corima disc wheel stays in the car yet again!

Quick potty stop at the Portapotti near the start and the usual wrestle to pull up my skin suit without losing the contents of that rather challenging back pocket. What was that sound I heard - clink? Mmmmm – nothing I can think of from my back pocket. Let’s see gel, Cliff bloks….A quick peer in – nothing to see but !!!!!!!!!!!!!! See Susie outside and say hi. 3 minutes to start time – better get yourself together dear!

Nice start for a change with that fun, electronic timing device. Decided to ride just heart rate today and had the 850mm deep dish wheels. As usual, totally disorganized otherwise…..no speed, power while I now have the capability with Ibike upgrade software.

I know this course really well, and yet it always deceives me! Felt pretty good considering some of the issues outside of cycling over the last week, but hard to know how I did without speed in front of me, which seems to be the best feedback for me on this course. I try to stay at 24 – 25 and above and it makes me work harder.

Never powered up the rises out of the saddle, just stayed in the saddle. I am enjoying this, but I know in my heart, the killer instinct to go-go-go is not with me today. I am here because I wanted to get out see some cycling buddies and go for a ride. That’s healthy too.

Best parts of the race

1. The weather – it was gorgeous

2. Using other riders to work harder – about 6 to 7 of them – always makes one work harder

3. The fun, supportive women at the race (read below)

Lessons learned

1. Do anything with one’s car key BUT put it in your pocket then visit the Porta Potti! Seems to me that the clink I heard was my car key hitting the bottom of the PP!

2. There are some good people out there ready to help in times of need - thanks to all who provided the rubber gloves, long trash bag (hand to armpit length J) as I set off for another 18 mile trip back to the start and then back to the car! Thanks to Sharon the unattached new TT’ist who offered the moral support as I got to know way to much about the physical characteristics of the bottom of the PP! (She offered to hold the door open and I replied, no thanks, I don’t want anyone to watch what I am about to do! Bingo! Got it! Thanks again to Stacey and my good mate Susan who came to find me on my way back and gave me water and encouragement to get back to my car! Total miles for the day = 50!

3. I really do have to make sure everything is working even if it is just HR and speed. I say that all the time don’t I!

4. Off to the bike shop – that silly right TT bar came loose again and I want to try to get into a more aggressive position in prep for next week.

Results

Another podium TT finish for SGC– 3rd place! Erin 1^st, Stacey 2^nd and my good mate Susan 4^th. 4 out of 4 podium finishes for the 4 NJ State TT cup races I have done this year. How lucky I am that I can participate in this fine series of TT races in NJ.

While I have had better days, it was nice to know that there are cycling buddies out there who won’t let me disappear into the abyss of a Porta Potti never to be seen again!

PS They are not as deep as you might think!

- Jenny Sammons

Pink POWER at the Liberty Crit

2009-07-31T07:13:00.002-04:00

Really tough fields marked the local race scene this weekend. The big guns were coming out to play and that meant we were going to have lots of fun out there racing.

The 1st Annual Liberty Crit (boy, I hope there is a 2nd annual!!)
18 laps of a 1 mile course
Open Field
# of racers: 25 women on the line
# of Sturdies: 7!! (Beth, Jody, Sands, Rhodes, Sally, Barb, and Sarah I)

Course: This course could not be easier...it is a big oval. There are no corners at all! It has one decent sized climb that put the hurt on people, but really didn't affect the field, and a small rise up to the finish line.

Race: We had a lot of tactics set up for today. However, my impatience and the oddly SLOW pace of the race forced me to go against tactics on a few instances! There were moments when we were putzing along at 16 mph and I just couldn't handle it. So, I would attack...HARD. I attacked a LOT. I tried to get off the front again like yesterday...knowing that it probably was not going to happen again. More importantly, the big guns in the race were not interesting in coming along...nor were they prepared to let me go. I got pulled back in pretty quickly each time, but at least I worked hard to try to make something happen.

The team was INCREDIBLE! It was so awesome to race with the Sturdies again, and especially great to see them all racing to FANTASTICALLY! Everytime I found myself up on the front, I would suddenly get swarmed...by pink jerseys that would sit in front of me, pulling the field at a nice tempo to keep attacks from happening. Sally was definitely our captain on the road. She really added her knowledge and expertise to this race, encouraging the girls to come to the front, follow attacks, and ride smart. She gave me plenty of opportunities to try to get off the front, and I took every one she put in front of me. She was AWESOME.

The team got a lot of praise from people after the race. At least 6 women and other spectators said to me, "Wow...your team was incredible out there." I just kept grinning and saying, "Yep...I know!" I was so happy to be in pink this weekend. It was pretty awesome.

Oh, yeah...results. After attacking a LOT, I was worried that I would have no sprint to speak of. I had a pretty icky position heading into the finishing sprint, but I managed to dig deep and pass a few riders coming up to the finishing hill. I ended up 8th on the day. Sally was 14th, Sands-15th, Rhodes-18th, Barb-19th (she was really fantastic during the race...WOW), Jody-23rd, and Beth-25th.

Ahhh...the beauty of a pink train! :)
Check out more photos from the race at Anthony's site HERE.

-S1

Grandview Grand Prix

2009-07-31T07:08:00.004-04:00

Today was the Grandview Grand Prix. To be honest, I was really nervous about this race. There were some "big guns" in the field (including Cassie King, Kacey Manderfield from LipSmacker, a few Kiwi Track girls, Nonnie Howard, etc.). However, I was feeling good today, so I hoped that things would go well.

Race: Grandview Grand Prix
Cat 1/2/3
20 laps of a 1 mile circuit with 6 corners
# of starters: around 20 (only 12 pre-regged, but there were a few more on the line)
# of Sturdies: 1 - ME! Although a bunch of the ladies did the 3/4 race earlier in the day!

Race: The course is AWESOME. A little crunchy with a few nasty holes in the corners, but the course itself was awesome. You can see the route in the link above...what you can't see is that there is a slight rise on the part of the course with the turns...the sweeping section is slightly downhill.

So...I gave a good kick off the line at the start. I was a bit worried about the first and last corners and so I wanted to make sure I had a good line the first couple of laps. I was up near the front taking turns pulling with one of the Kiwis and Nonnie Howard. About 4 laps in, Nonnie was in front of me and gave me the elbow wave to pull through. So, I did...quickly. I hopped up and pulled through, through the corner, and kept going. When I looked back, I realized that I had created a gap. Hmmmm....so I lept again. Gap got bigger. I kept pushing the pace and after a lap plus out on my own, I realized two things...#1 - that was THE move...I had created a gap big enough to hold, #2 - there were two riders coming across the gap (Yippeee!) and the three of us together were going to be the podium for the day!!

The two riders who came across were Cassie and Kacey...two people that I had planned to mark as strong riders in the field. The three of us worked HARD together to not only maintain the gap, but to build it. And build it we did. 4 laps from the finish, we CAUGHT the field and lapped them. On one hand, this messed up my plans pretty badly. I knew that sprinting against the two of them was going to be HARD...I had planned to try to launch an early attack on the last lap so that I didn't have to sprint against them. Once we were back in the field, that plan went out the window. We all continued to work at the front and I led the two of them around the final corner for the sprint. Kacey just pipped Cassie at the line...but what a GREAT day!

So, 3rd place and an awesome break. That is the kind of racing I like! Thanks to Kacey and Cassie for being great to work with...can't wait to race again tomorrow!

Thanks to Joe Mallis for the AWESOME shots of the race!!! He took some great pics of the Sturdies in the 3/4, so check out his website here!

-S1

PA State Masters Crit Championships

2009-07-22T12:29:00.000-04:00

Race: PA State Masters Crit Championships
Location: Rodale Fitness Park, Trexlertown
Course: closed, smooth course with one big ring hump
SG's: Barb, Jen Rhodes, Jen Sands, Jody, Sally

Saturday started great! Clear skies, sun, no worries. Also, this is a course where I have had some good results: a win! and podiums in the past. I was psyched to race.

As I set up my bike to warm up on the trainer, touched my rear shifter and heard a sickening SNAP! Yep, my cable had snapped 45 minutes to the start. Thanks to some quick thinking at the registration table, I was able to adjust my limit screws and give myself 2 gears (39 X 15 and 52 x15). Ok, I'm back in the race, I only have 2 gears but I'm in.

Our race plan was to use me with my limited gear selection to chase breaks and protect the "Jens". We also wanted to form a lead out train on the final lap for the rider who felt good and wanted to go for the sprint. The race was super fun and we were able to chase down all the attacks. Barb closed an important gap late in the race to keep our riders in good position.

On the bell lap Jody appeared out of nowhere, and started our train. I was on her wheel, followed by Barb then Rhodes. Jody put in a really strong pull, that gave us great position going into the last 600 meters. Unfortunately, Barb got gapped and Jen had a hard time coming around. Sands sprinted for a top ten position!! With no big gear, I couldn't really mount much of a sprint.

It was exciting to work as a team, and put some tactics into play. With more practice, we'll be able to pull this off!

Lessons Learned:

Make lemonade, it's always better tasting than disappointment.

:)

Sally

RAAM

2009-06-16T12:36:00.003-04:00

Some of you may recall that our very own Beth worked last year as a SAG for Doug Levy in the Race Across America. This year, Candace is going to be going out to help the riders navigate their way safely across the nation!

Best of luck to the ladies of RAAM, who head out today to Annapolis!

Please keep up with the racers and our Colorado Sturdy Girl as they make their way!

Race Across America

Oxford Road Race

2009-06-16T09:14:00.003-04:00

Oxford Road Race was a fun, hilly event.

5-SG's: Barb, Sara B, the Duchess a.k.a. (Sarah Mac--back on her first mass start since her crash way to go!) The Thunder from Down Under (Jenny S), and myself.

Course: Lancaster Co. 9.6 mile loop with 3 notable climbs/per lap (ouch!), Hot and Humid weather.

Unfortunately, the group let 2 riders get away on the 2nd climb and we were unable to pull them back. I encouraged the field to pace line to get them, but the efforts were not consistent and the they stayed away. By lap 2 we were racing for 3rd place. Jenny and I talked about her launching an attack on the 3rd climb and TT'ing to the finish. This seemed like a great idea based on Jenny's great climbing on laps one and two. Unfortunately, her legs did not agree with our scheme and she suffered some severe cramps on the 3rd lap climbs.

I felt pretty good, and decided to try an attack myself. I was caught on the decent into the finish and I was pulling the field to the line--a typical "Sally Move" that I didn't want to repeat. The finish was uphill and I had been able to gap them on the climbs up till now. With 200meters to go, I started my sprint, but unfortunately could not hold off a rider who nipped me at the line. I got 4th.

Jenny finished with my group and the rest of the team finished strong in the bunch.

Lessons Learned:
Patience. I know this one, but putting it into practice is still the tricky part. If I had waited, I could have gotten a wheel and made a better sprint for the finish.

-Sally

A huge shout out to Michael Kirk whose awesome presence at so many races allows us to see photos like these:

Barb

Sarah, a.k.a. Duchess

Jenny, the ever-present Thunder from Down Under

Sally, One of our Two Fearless Leaders

Sara

TD BANK AMATEUR TIME TRIALS June 6th, 2009

2009-06-11T08:48:00.002-04:00

This race was sponsored by TD Bank and put on by Tri-State Velo. It was run on the West River Drive, the site of the ongoing Saturday morning TT’s, but the course was changed to account for the change of the starting line from in front of the museum.

Category: Women (Open)
Distance: 8.6 miles
Number in the Field: 30 registered
Number of Sturdies: 6 SG’s !!

Weather Forecast

It had rained cats and dogs the night before, but forecast was for fine weather and that it was. Nice.

Course description

The course was run on the left side of the road which suited this Aussie really well. It deviated with a left turn into Black Rd, up a hill, and a fast return to turn left into West River and proceed to the usual turnaround point of Falls Bridge.

Race Preparation

I ended up previewing the course at 5.30am, registering at 6.10 am and finishing the warm up on my trainer in my kitchen, 3 minutes ride from the start. It worked for me. Others were at the back of the museum.

The Race

An electronic start/finish line! The Sturdy Girls lined up, some on TT bikes, some on road bikes with bars and Jody with her road bike and aero helmet. It was really good to see a bunch of us at the start line. The wind seemed stronger on the way out and better on the way back. The lane divisions were clearly marked and well marshaled and there were no problems. Black Rd was an interesting diversion! The crowd was great and there were cheers from Sarah I and company. Thanks!

For Sarah B:

Saturday I did the MLK Time Trial. It's the "amateur race" the weekend of the Liberty Classic, and I've been sort of jazzed about it for a while now. The course was changed this year, so instead of just an out and back on West River Drive, it turned up Black Rd, up the hill where we did a 180 and came back down onto West River again. As much as it hurt, I sort of enjoyed it! Some who have been reading this know that I've been doing time trials on my own, but this was a totally new ballgame for me. I felt strong at the beginning, pushing through the pain in my legs from cooling down too much right before my start. I could hear Christina Briseno coming from behind me even before the turn onto Black Rd. She went ahead and gained some ground on me, although I kept the distance between us even as we went up the hill. Then she took off like a bullet.

Best parts of the race

Jenny:

Black Rd was a blast. It paid off to preview it and slap a 26 on the back of the bike in preparation and power up in the BCR.
The last mile or so – I think I actually got things right and finished strong, gasping for air after finishing and threatening to throw up (sorry Sarah, I would have made sure it wasn’t in your general direction!)
Seeing so many Pinkies out there

Things Sara B is excited about:

DOING MY FIRST OFFICIAL TT!!!!

Passing a guy who was in front of me. That felt pretty great.
Not giving up. I pushed myself harder and harder, even though my mind really wanted to stop. (Thank you, rowing, for helping me with that.)
Passing the other Sturdies on my way back to the start/finish. Being able to cheer them on, and being able to see them all finish! (Plus to being the first woman to start)

Lessons Learned

Things Sara B. learned:

I need to push a little harder for the whole race and not save up for a sprint. I would have done better had I kept a solid speed and not had any sprint than sprinting and just hoping for the best.
I had more in me for the hill. I could have either caught Christina or at least gotten closer to her again.

I need to work on my turnarounds. The marshalls weren't really clear enough at the Falls Bridge end. I couldn't tell if we were supposed to go around the cones, or the big water containers. And they didn't say anything until I asked. Besides which there were no signs. That was annoying. So anyway, need to work on being faster on those.

Last, if I'm going to sprint, I need to start earlier. Like at the turnaround. I could have held that speed for longer. So that's frustrating.

Lessons Learned for Jenny

A harder warm up seemed to do the trick for getting ready this time for JS
G’s article on how to ride a TT was invaluable – it is all about energy management
It is all about experience and really getting to know your TT self.

Results

7 SAMMONS Jennifer
11 TWER Jody
17 MCALLISTER Sarah
19 SANDS Jennifer
21 BRAMS-MILLER Sara
23 RIVERA Judi
25 SCHERVONE Bonni

Jenny had a good day and enjoyed NOT getting a flat tire! Jody did a great job and got a really good time on her road bike – did I hear you threaten to sell the TT bike??? Well done Sarah, Jen, Sara B and Judy who were happy with their personal efforts.

It was another great day for SGC time trialing contingency!

Oakmont Crit Report

2009-06-09T08:26:00.007-04:00

I had to go home this past weekend to attend my little brother's high school graduation. Since I wasn't on the bike much last week due to MORE rain and I was going to miss the track on Saturday due to the graduation, I decided to race the Oakmont Crit while in Pittsburgh.

It was a fantastic course and a open women's field! It started in the middle of a brick road, with a left turn over train tracks, a slight down hill with another left turn, another left turn, a straight away up hill, a right turn into a sharp left turn over over the train tracks and then another left turn back onto the brick road. A .75 mile course, 20 laps for a 15 mile race. There were 2 prime laps for 20 bucks, 200$ of prizes for the top 5, and then a ton of other prizes for the top 3 including an 100 dollar gift certificate to a local boutique, an 150 dollar helmet donated by pittsburgh pro bikes, and a restaurant gift certificate. Yeah, sweet deal, right?!

Race day morning, was one of the most stressful race day mornings I have ever experienced. We got lost going to the race, only to get back on track and to the place where I thought the race was,just to find out we were in the wrong place. We had about 45 minutes to get 28 miles to where the race actually was in order for me to be registered 15 minutes prior to the race start. There went any kind of warm up. Then I got really nervous I wouldn't make it in time, so I called the race promoter and asked him if he would register me over the phone. Thankfully he did. I made it just in time to go to the bathroom, put my front wheel on, and get my number pinned on. Then I realized I forgot my water bottle. Aye yae yae. Luckily, I ran into a friend, Lee-Ann Beatty that I met during last year's dirty dozen and she lent me a water bottle.

Ok, so the race begins. I'm not sure how big the field was, but it was a decent size. It was weird because the bell rang, and everyone formed a pace line. A pace line, What? In a crit? So different then philly. The race started pretty slow which was nice since I didn't have a warm up. I was the second wheel behind Lee Ann, a great place to be considering she's a cat 2. On the third or fourth lap, the bell rang for the prime. Lee Ann and the other cat two Gray, took off and splintered the field. This race made me feel great about cornering, but reminded me how other people are sometimes not so great at cornering. Going over the second train track, a girl was fighting for my position and took the corner really shakey, I let her in front of me and lost my spot. At this point the race was broken up with Lee Ann and Gray ahead, a pace line of 4, and then me a bit behind them riding the race by myself. A few laps later, I passed two girls, and then got lapped by Lee ann and Gray, but taking their wheel. I then followed them when they lapped the few girls left in front. I followed them until the bell rang, they took off, and I hammered it, passing two more girls on my last lap, and finishing in 6th place.

Considering I didn't have any warm up or water on such a hot day, I felt great about my race. My cornering skills are great, Thank You, George!, and I feel really good about keeping a fast steady pace, and this was proved when other people started slowing down and I was able to pass 5 girls without sprinting.

So yeah, great course. The first crit I ever enjoyed. Oh, and there were no crashes!

-Jenna

Philadelphia's Liberty Classic

2009-06-09T08:19:00.007-04:00

What: Philadelphia’s Liberty Classic
4 times through a 14.4 mile circuit for a total of 57.6 miles
4 times up the famed Manayunk Wall with a 17% average grade
4 times up Strawberry Mansion Hill and Lemon Hill

When: Sunday, June 7th at 9:10am # of Riders: 123 starters # of Teammates: 4 – racing for Salamander on Sunday, I was on the start line with Laura McCaughey, Amity Elliot and Rachel Warner.

Course: An amazing course, we start on the Ben Franklin Parkway and head towards Logan Circle. Around Logan Circle and back towards the Art Museum, we then head out along Kelly Drive. From Kelly Drive we head into downtown Manayunk along Main Street. A right turn followed by a quick right-left combination takes you to the foot of the Manayunk Wall. 1K later, you reach the summit of the climb and begin the “Fall from the Wall.” Taking a few turns at high speeds, you begin the descent back down Ridge Avenue. Over the overpass back to Kelly Drive, you head towards Strawberry Mansion Hill. Up through the “Diamond,” you descend back down to Kelly Drive only to make a left turn and ascend Lemon Hill. There, the crowd SCREAMS their heads off for anyone coming through on a bike! A FUN descent from Lemon Hill takes you back to Kelly Drive and to the Ben Franklin Parkway, where you start the whole thing over again!

Race: Well, what can I say? My dream as a cyclist was to start this event. I mean, that alone was an achievement that I never thought I would see, certainly not in less than three years of racing! I had a few simple goals…#1 – to start the race. #2 – to stay upright. #3 – to finish the race.

#1 was easy. I just had to be there at 9:10 and start the wheels spinning.
#2 was not so bad either – I just rode very aware and very smart.
#3 – well, not so simple!

I actually started out feeling really good. Even at high speeds, I was very comfortable in the pack and was able to move up towards the front end a few times. Of course, I lost some positions on the road into Manayunk – it basically goes from a 4-lane road down to one lane before a sharp left hand turn onto Ridge/Main Street. I tried to follow Kelly Benjamin’s wheel back up to the front as we came down Main Street and managed to position myself towards the middle of the field as we hit the Wall. Unfortunately, if I was going to survive the attack up the Wall, I would have had to be ON THE FRONT! I started at the bottom on the wheel of Tina Pic of all people. Basically, I was holding the rear wheel of my cycling icon. Amazing. I managed to keep her just in front of me for half of the climb. Then, we hit the steep part. She busted up the Wall, and I got a bit caught behind a slower rider. Still, I reached the summit in a nice group. Unfortunately, that nice group was gapped off of the main field. By the time we made it down the Fall, we were chasing. We nearly caught the field before the ride up Strawberry Mansion, but a stopped line of caravan cars caused us to lose momentum and lose ground on the field. By the time we topped the hill, they were essentially gone.

I found myself in a group of 6…working VERY hard to stay within the time limit and finish the race. We pacelined our BUTTS off - keeping a high cadence and a high speed at all times. But with Highroad pushing the pace of the peloton, we really didn’t have a snowball’s chance in Hades of keeping our losses to a minimum. Still, we managed to complete 3+ laps of the course before we were pulled as we crossed the finish line on lap 3.

So, in tears, I made my way back to two other teammates whose bodies wouldn’t let them continue on with the race either. We had one girl left in the field – Rachel – and she was powering her way to an attempt at a Top 3 finish in the Under 23 Category. She ended up finishing 4th in that competition, but made a great showing with a fantastic breakaway from the field that lasted 4 miles! She was eventually caught going up the wall – but what an incredible attack she made!

Though I was clearly upset at getting pulled from the race (which was the ONLY way I was not going to finish – even if I had to walk my bike up the daggon Wall!) – I had an incredible experience. My group was the last group to get pulled from the race – a few groups behind us got pulled at the end of two laps. I was pretty excited to have lasted that long and to have made such a great effort to race with the group that I had around me. I was lucky to have Sonja Evers with me, and she and I really worked hard to keep the paceline moving at a good pace.

I am so grateful to Pat and Jame for asking me to be a part of this team and letting me gain this experience. I hope that they, or someone else, will take a chance on me again next year.

And, most importantly, I am SO THANKFUL to my husband, my Sturdy Girl teammates, and my friends and family for their support this weekend. EVERYWHERE I went on that race course, I heard my name being yelled out. And, I do mean everywhere. It was such an amazing outpouring of love and support, it was probably part of what brought tears to my eyes at the end of my race. And to hear people tell me how proud they were…I honestly can’t tell you how amazing that felt. That’s such a powerful word.

So…there you have it. The biggest race of my life. I stood on the start line next to Ina Teutenberg, Mara Abbot, Tina Pic, Judith Arndt, and so many other women that I have admired. I managed to ride WITH them for a while and follow them for a while longer. Next year, if I get the chance, I’m going to pummel that Wall and cross that finish line at the end of lap 4.

And to all of the other local gals that raced this – Lenore, Swopey, Pam, Lorraine, Nonnie, Bianca, Andrea, Kristine, Diane, Christine, Sonja, Amanda, Peanut, and Erica…WAY TO GO!!!! It was AWESOME being on the start line with you ladies. I’m very proud of all of you.

-S1

Jenna Rides in Circles - Again!

2009-06-02T09:21:00.002-04:00

It has been a really, REALLY rainy week. For the past month or more, I have been able to get in between 100 and 120 miles before that week's race. That has been an awesome feeling both mentally and physically. Last week I was able to hold 34mph for 3 miles on my trainer, and this week I was able to hold 39.7 for 1 mile, so I am really seeing results which is great. The rain really limited me this week, and I didn't get any miles in except for the 20 I did on my trainer last night preparing for today's racing. (That's right, I still can't ride rollers. )

Anyway, so on top of my legs not being in the greatest shape today, we were also running super late! Between traffic, and directional errors, Mike and I did not arrive to the race until 12 noon when it starts! I pretty pleased the officiants to let me race and thankfully they let me!

So the first race was a 9 lap win and out.Which means on the 7th and 5th lap, the first person who crosses the line gets 1st and 2nd, then the final lap 1,2 and 3 across win 3rd, 4th and 5th places. I got a lttle confused and sprinted on the 8th lap and then got eaten up, but that was OK considering I did not get to warm up, at ALL. So I decided to use that as my warm up race and came finished bottom half of the pack. Good warm up, I am never going to be late to a race again. I think there were 13 of us racing today.

Second race was just a straight 9 laps. This was my best race. I never was further than 4 back, we worked together in rotating pace lines, and then 6 of us broke away on the 6th or 7th lap staying together the whole way to the end, where there was a sprint to the finish and I just missed a 5th place finish, but I was soooo thrilled. For my second race day at the track, and 5th track race EVER, I felt really confident about my ability physically and strategically.

Third race. This was a fun one, I am bummed that I did not have the legs for racing today or I probably could have raced this one much better. It was an unknown distance race, but the first and second person across the finish line at each lap received 2 and 1 points. I knew I didn;t have the legs, so my options were: sprinting every third lap (if there were that many!!) to try and get the points and risk being eaten by the pack, or not going for the points and hoping everyone would wear their legs out and I could take a top 5 finish. Well, none of that happened, and I was pretty glad when it was over.

Another thing working against us today was really thin air filled with pollen. Our lungs were burning and major congestion was happening, it was painful.

All in all, a successful day at the track!

-Jenna

NJ Time Trial Championships

2009-06-02T09:13:00.002-04:00

NJ State Time Trial Championships

Where: Chatsworth, NJ (Pine Barrens Country)
What: 40 K on a beautiful stretch of 563. Rolling terrain.
Category: multiple categories, I did the 30+
# of starters: In total, there were 32 in state riders, and 10 women competing from out of state. (2 people in my age group category - me and Teresa DiSessa from Riptide)
# of Sturdies: 4 - Jenny Sammons in the Out of State Category, Bonni Schervone in the 45+, and Judi Rivera in the Out of State 20K

Race: In typical fashion, as we got ready on the line, it began to drizzle. The drizzle turned into a veritable downpour on the road. It was CRAZY! Fortunately, the rain was NOT accompanied by wind, so it was wet and chilly but not windy.

I had a bunch of problems to start with, but all of them were part of my learning curve on this race. Everyone kept warning me not to blow up, not to go out too hard, etc. I took that advice a bit too literally and ended up doing the whole race too conservatively. On top of that, my new computer was NOT working, apparently. When I hit the turn around, it said that I had gone 14 miles. So, I was cautious - I thought the race was only 25, looks like it's going to be 28. On the way back in, I kept an eye on the odometer, thinking that with 2 miles to go, I would start ramping it up. Then I saw the 1K to go sign. WTF??????? Stupid computer! :(

Still - considering the rain and everything else, I really enjoyed my first "real" TT. I really liked the meditative aspect of it. Just me, the road, my legs, cadence, etc. Anyway...in the end, I was pretty excited to find that I had won my category - but not by much! Teresa is a fantastic TT-ist and I only got her by about 15 seconds!

Overall in the state, I was 3rd behind Betty Tyrell and Beth Bonilla. Those out of state girls were amazing, and on the day, I was 8th overall. With a time of 1:02:50 and an average speed of 23.87 mph in my first race, I know what I have to do to go a lot faster next time. Maybe (just maybe), I'll catch the woman who finished first overall - I mean, she only did it in 58:21!!! HOLY poop! That's Olympic. Literally.

Bonni finished 3rd in her category, Judi finished 2nd. Unfortunately, Thunder flatted out a few miles into the race and was unable to finish. All in all, a nice day for pink!

-S1

New Bethlehem Crit

2009-06-02T09:11:00.001-04:00

Saturday, May 30th
What: The New Bethlehem Crit
Where: Bethlehem, PA
18 laps of a .89 mile course to complete "15 miles" - it actually ends up being quite a bit less than that, but whatever!
Category: Age groups! 30+ and 45+ with a separate Cat 4.
# of Starters: 24 on the line (not including Cat 4s who started 30 seconds behind us)
# of Sturdies: 6, including Sara B in the Cat 4 race - Jody, Sands, Jen Rhodes, Judi and Me

Course: Really fun course with 4 corners and one small rise. Turn 2 is always a bit dangerous due to rough road surface and off-camber downhill leading into it.

Race: Having held on for dear life in the NRC races, I was excited to have the chance to work on some tactics! I had a goal of finishing well and trying to put some damage on the field in the process. The second part worked - first part, not so much! ;)

I spent a lot of time working in this race. I attacked, I chased like a bandit, I pushed the pace at the front, and I generally just worked to make the race as interesting as possible. At one point, I got away with Nonnie with about 5 seconds over the field - but they simply would NOT let me go.

At one point, Diane Grim took off. Unlike the determination to keep my butt planted in the field, she was let go. I knew that was a big mistake as Diane is a STRONG rider and completely capable of TT-ing her way to the finish. I went to the front and pulled her back to within an arm's reach before my legs began to putter out. When I pulled off to let the next person chase, she didn't. Boom - Diane pulled away again. Man, that sucked. A few laps later, Nonnie jumped and bridged up to Diane. I was in a bad position at that time, trying to conserve and couldn't get up to go along.

I continued to try to save up for the finish, but a sketchy corner by someone in front of me on the 3rd turn of the last lap forced me to hit the brakes, slip back from the front, and lose my legs. I finished in 8th in my category - not too bad, but not where I wanted to be at the line. Still, I worked my BUTT off, practiced my jump, and felt like I raced really well even if I didn't finish exactly where I had hoped!

My teammates, on the other hand, ROCKED it OUT! Jody pulled in a strong 7th place finish in the 45+, with Sands just behind in 8th. Jen Rhodes did some good work at the front and she finished 10th behind me with Judi finishing 12th.

-S1

A Track Racer is Born!

2009-05-27T08:53:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I raced at Trexlertown!, and it was AMAZING! The girlz on the Track clinic must have been great because we had a field of 17 ladies and 1 junior boy for the day of racing! The officials said it was the largest womens field they had ever seen there. Despite the fact that it was most of our first time on the track, the field was SOLID and fast. Not to mention a pretty varied age range, and super helpful with any questions I had. There was only one crash, but it was because a lady accidentally unclipped and fell down, but luckily she just slid and went down alone and she is OK.

I didn't ride aggressively because I felt I really needed to get a feel for the races and track (considering it was my first real time racing), but I ended up still getting a 7th place finish in my last race! We had a 6 lap scratch, a 12 lap points race and an unknown distance race (which was sooo exciting!).

I am planning on pursuing my cat upgrade and racing at ttown as many Saturdays in the 12 race series as possible. It was awesome being able to show my SG colors on the track and I also got to meet one of S1's Salamander teammates (Laura McCaughey). Also, if anyone is intersted in trying the track as well, the races start at 12 every saturday and were over by 4. Reg starts at 10:30 and you can warm up on the track.

OK, that's all. Happy Weekend!
Jenna

JERSEY SHORE TIME TRIAL RACE REPORT

2009-05-18T21:42:00.002-04:00

This race was sponsored by Brielle Cyclery and Guardian Caching and attracted both road racers and triathletes. This is not part of the NJ State TT cup so not all the usuals there this time. It was a flat out and back course in Island Beach Park with a 1.5 mile lead in along local roads with a couple of turns.

Category: Women Cat 4
Distance: 19.4 miles (30km) or thereabouts
Number in the Field: 16 registered
Number of Sturdies: 2 (at last a mate for Jenny - Bonni Schervone)

Weather Forecast:
Rain and winds. A combination of Sandy Hook and Readington. Oh great!

Course description:
Out and back almost 20 mile run in a super flat state park. There was a 1.5 mile lead in to the park. The road was rough in parts but there was smooth road to be found at some place and the roads were closed to traffic. Great police presence and marshalls warning of the slippery turn. A well run race.

Race Preparation:
We got there early (try 3.30 wake up in Philly for Jenny- uggh), got a great parking space and set up quickly. All was going well and then it started to rain. Luckily for us, our friends from CCS (Jan and hubby; Teresa) invited us to shield from the rain under their canopy tent. Bonni now insists the Jenny buys one – like don’t you have one girl???

The Race:
Nice hold and good take off. Ooh la la - very nice tail wind to help keep your mind off the rain going out, but did you notice the riders coming back who did not seem to be moving very fast at all. Better conserve energy for the onslaught of wind on the way back. Sure enough, we made the turn and then it got really nasty. There was a serious “snot” factor, like where did the body secretion end and the rain start for Bonni in particular. It was a case of oh well, you are in it now! The last mile or so of the course was insane. The wind had kicked up to 25-30 mph so not only did we have a headwind but a cross wind blast from the bay intermittently. Bonni did a great job of staying on her bars most of the race, but at this point she sat up as her bike got blown all over the place! Jenny hung on to those bull bars probably too much of the race but better than Sandy Hook. We both had aero wheels on which made it harder. It would have been really easy to get off the bike and say, “sorry, not today”. I think that it was probably the worst conditions either of us have ever had the misfortune of being in the saddle.

Best parts of the race:

Going out was a whole lotta fun.
Nice bunch of people, some on tri bikes some not.
The fact that we did it, survived it and both did well relative to where we are at in our training

Lessons Learned:

Probably could have gone out harder after the initial first 5 minutes or so
Bring a towel
Get a tent :)
Get a car with heated seats – it saved us while waiting for results!

Results:

Bonni – 7th. Awesome considering how little she has been able to train and race this season.
Jenny – 1st. 1 min 56 secs in front of Jan and Cyndi in third spot. My other TT mates were having the day off.

It was another great day for SGC time trialing contingency. :)

NRC Weekend

2009-05-17T20:55:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was my first official weekend of NRC racing as a guest rider for Salamander. This weekend consisted of the Wilmington Grand Prix and Kelly Bike Jam. Here's how it went...with a few photos from Anthony!

NRC #1

What: Wilmington Grand Prix

Where: Wilmington, DE

Course: 4-corner Crit with a false flat to the finish.

Pro 1/2 Race, 25 miles in length, course was about 3/4 miles around.

84 went in....30 came out the other side.

The race today was brutal. That's the only way that I can describe it. It started out "hella fast" and never seemed to slow down (at least, not in the 7 miles I raced!). Unfortunately, my first NRC race ended with my first EVER DNF. I refuse to count my flat-out at LP my first year - I wasn't included on the results list, therefore I wasn't there ;)!

I'm disappointed, of course. However, I got pulled with about 40 other women, so I can't feel completely terrible. I was in a race, it just wasn't THE race! hehe! Pretty sure these pics sum everything up...the first one is at the start of the race, the second one is later on before getting pulled...ouch.

The course itself was fast and really fun! It had a great 3rd turn that led into this narrow uphill section - very sweet.

I was not convinced about racing Kelly Bike Jam this morning. After today's pathetic 7 lap torture, I'm definitely hitting the start line tomorrow! See you ladies in Baltimore.

NRC Race #2

What: Kelly Bike Jam

Where: Baltimore, MD

Category: Pro 1/2/3

Course: 20 miles of a 1.1 mile loop...It's pretty straightforward. Starting just below the round island in the "middle" of the photo below...you make a right hand turn around the island and another right onto the course. You follow the road around to the roundabout at the bottom right. There, you turn left around the island and then another VERY sharp left to get back on the road and head back to the start finish. It's a slight rise up to the start/finish line.

The course is hated by many and loved by few. Me? I actually didn't like it when I raced it as a Cat 3 last year. This year? I LOVED it! :) I had a BLAST out there!

Race: As will be the usual when I report about these races, it was FAST. All said and done, we averaged 24 mph for the 20 miles. It was not the same kind of fast as Wilmington, although we were easily hitting 30+ mph on the long stretch toward the 2nd roundabout.

I felt good, sitting in the bottom 3rd of the field. There was one, big, unfortunate crash about 9 laps in. A touch of wheels sent riders sprawling across the entire road just in front of me. I managed to stay upright and get around the crash, but it was bad enough that it caused a neutralization of the field and one rider to be sent to the nearest hospital. Worse yet, the rider sent off was Jen Rasmusson - one of my Philly teammates. We haven't gotten an update yet, but word post-race was a broken collarbone.

I stayed with the field for the entire race today...even when it was blisteringly fast just after the crash. I eeked out a respectable 35th place finish out of 45 who did finish and 78 that started. Not too shabby!

-S1

Habitat for Humanity Circuit Race

2009-05-13T08:30:00.002-04:00

No...we didn't go out building houses.

It was a race!

What a day to be out on the bike! It was a gorgeous day out on the road and we had an excellent group of women to race with!

Race: Habitat for Humanity Circuit Race
Category: 1/2/3
Distance: 25 miles - 11 laps of the 2.25 mile circuit
Number of Riders: 26 pre-regged, 27 on the line
Number of Sturdies: 3 - Sally, Sands, and me (Jenna was the sole Sturdy in the Cat 4 race!)

Course: This is a great course with a few technical parts. Neutral start leads to an off-camber left turn (typically taken at high speeds), the next left turn is easy and fast and leads into the first big technical part - a left turn onto a NARROW bridge that fits about 2 bikes. From there, the "hilly" portion of the race begins. One false flat leads to a climb with a sharp left turn at the top leading to a false flat to the finish.

Thanks to Carlos for the great shot of Kristy and me coming around the final turn to the finish!

Race: The field was very tough, which made the race very tough. I was feeling a tad under the weather (and spent the remainder of the day after the race asleep on the couch with a 100+ degree fever!), but managed to pull myself together for the race.

Lots of attacks from Zaveta, The Swope-ster, and a few others kept the rest of the field on their toes and chasing. I did a bit more work than I would have liked keeping things under control, but the aggressive nature of the race made it well worth it.

The field broke up a bit during the race, and we ended up with about 19 women staying together to the finish. I was pretty happy with an 8th place finish at the end of the day against a strong field, Sally was 20th, and Sands, unfortunately, pulled herself due to asthma issues.

-S1

SOMERSET CIRCUIT TIME TRIAL RACE REPORT

2009-05-13T08:27:00.003-04:00

This is a wonderful, technical TT that is put on by Somerset Wheelmen who really know how to put on a good race that runs smoothly. It is part of the awesome NJ Time Trial Cup series.

Category: Women Cat 4
Distance: 10 miles
Number in the Field: 16 registered
Number of Sturdies: 1

Weather Forecast

Possible rain forecast but on the morning, the roads were moist and by the time we raced they were dry and safe!

Course description

This is an amazing 10 mile technical TT course It is all about technical prowess in terms of negotiating 12 (or thereabouts) turns including one very sharp turn on a downhill from a bridge! Was never flat but mostly rolling and some short hills in the mix. It is an incredibly fast course and would have been nasty in the wet!

Race Preparation

I was really grateful to Madeleine (a returned vet racer) and her male friend (? name) who allowed me to tag along for a preview of the course. I asked LOTS of questions about strategies for corners in terms of coming up off the bars etc. With 12 turns whoever cornered well and sprinted out of corners could gain 1-2 secs per corner! I was careful to use my clincher Cosmic wheels to preview and not my tubular which if I got a flat, it would be all over Red Rover!

Alas! Before hopping on the trainer, I discovered that my beloved disc wheel tire had a sizeable piece of glass embedded in it! I was glad to have spotted the potential culprit prior to the race as it would have blown during the race. I had brought spare wheels that were reasonable but unfortunately not those naughty 85mm dish Edge Elites that always make me feel like a low flying airplane were not happening this time.

The Race

Nice start because it was downhill for 2 miles - fast and furious then a couple of quick turns and the first little push up an incline. I was able to catch the 2 x Cat 4 riders who went in front of me within 2 -3 miles. Always helpful to see someone up ahead to keep focused. I was feeling joyful about being out there. The main problem was the gears were playing a tune called “Skip to my Lou my darling” throughout the race and I actually let this song go through my mind at the end of the race! Because they had done it on the preview, it was the devil I did know so I just embraced it, but probably rode in a higher gear than was wise on some of the short hills which slowed me down. The entire race was done in the big chain ring. I worked on fast cornering by screaming up to the corner as close as I dared and then getting off the bars onto the brakes, taking the corner and then standing up and powering out of the corner. I felt like I was learning new tricks as the race went on.

Not sure whether I over did it a little in the first half of the race but I tried to remember to open up to full throttle for the last 5 minutes and there seemed to be something left. At the end of the day, I am not sure that I “made it hurt” consistently throughout the race because of the changing terrain. Always hard to say!

Best parts of the race

The thrill of it all – it was such a fun, variable course and the 25 minutes or so went by very quickly in the pretty terrain
Learning to make the best of a less than perfect wheel and gear situation and saying, oh well, give it your best shot
The camaraderie continues…I missed the uncontrollable laughter at the start line behind me when Stacey realized that she had very little air in her tires. Susie’s husband quickly came to her aid – “Is that a CO2 dispenser/cartridge in your pocket or am I just really happy to see you? Stacey graciously donated her 3rd place prize to Glenn because without him her race would not have been possible!

Lessons learned

Good that I checked that tire but next time check it all days before the race!
Bring ALL the wheels – a girl can never have too many wheels J and it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her wheel mind at any time she desires…
Mmmmm- maybe I still need that power readout to make we work more consistently.
I need to get some really cool podium shoes…like Betty (see below)

Results

Again, the most fun part is hanging out with the girls after the race. Betty started a new trend for outrageous podium shoes (point toed, multicolored tapestry style shoes). She is very supportive and we all had a good laugh.

Whoopee! Another podium TT finish for SGC– 2nd place! 25 secs between 1st and 2nd (congrats again to the amazing Erin) and then another 23 secs to third place (congrats again to Stacey). The gaps are a result of the turns and short hills versus thrashing it out on the flat e.g. Sandy Hook.

This time we got to stand on a real podium – well what else can you do with plastic crates! Only thing missing was the scantily clad men with flowers for us…….quote from a fellow male cyclist after the race.

We are all excited about the talent in Cat 4 Women, especially of the newcomers.

Next stop: NJ State Time Trial race in Chatsworth at the end of the month.

-Thunder

Photos!

2009-04-28T07:54:00.005-04:00

Please take a look at our new photo site.

You can click the link here or visit the link in the menu at the right.

Enjoy!!

Pictures of the Pinkees!

Lower Providence Crit

2009-04-20T21:50:00.006-04:00

Race: Lower Providence Crit
Distance: 20 miles, 20 laps for Category Pro1/2/3 Women
15 miles, 15 laps for Category 4 Women
Number in the Field: about 40 on the start line for both races
Number of Sturdies: Cat 4 field had a bunch - Bonnie, SaraB, Sarah Mc, Akida, Barbara, Beth, Doreen, Judy, Thunder, Jody and Julie, Cat 1/2/3 had 2 - S1 and Jen Sands

Course: Four right hand turns in an industrial park. A little rise on one or two of the sides of the square and a headwind into the finish line. Essentially, it is flat and fast.

Cat 4 Race: As told by SaraB - I felt awesome this morning. Getting on my trainer an hour before my race, my legs still felt a little exhausted, but I just kept moving them in an easy gear, and made sure I was nice and warmed up before I went into the staging area.

I started out pretty well. Got myself in an okay position, and just made sure I stayed with, and worked with my teammates. My ladies in pink. :) George told me to chase after a woman on the Cadence team and not let her get away, even if it meant I blew up my legs. About three laps in, she went for it, coming up on the inside, right next to me. I jumped on her wheel and chased her, not letting any of her teammates get in right behind her. Unfortunately, my legs did blow up about half-way up the next straight away, but I recovered quickly, barely falling off the back for a moment before jumping right back on, and fighting my way back up to the front.

I got into a groove during the following two laps and just felt comfortable. I was in a great position, staying with four of my teammates, and felt awesome. The first 1/4 mile of lap 7, a girl ahead of us slid out and took out one of my teammates, causing about 6 other women to crash on top of and over them (including me). I saw them all go down and just realized that I was going down as well. I just let myself fall, which I think worked well for me, because I had very minor bruises and scrapes, while the other girls had pretty bad roadburn.

Two of my teammates were hurt pretty badly. One of them was helicoptered out due to a head injury. (She's okay now. Was released from the hospital with a fractured cheekbone, as well as a cut on her eyebrow and ear, a pretty good shiner, and some major bruising on her knee and shoulder.) The other one just seemed banged up, but then realized there was a fairly large hematoma on her back. She went to the hospital, and they're keeping her overnight. I'm worried, but sure she'll be okay. (Official update - Jody was kept overnight, but is now home and doing ok!) It sucks cause she crashed two weeks ago at the Philly 2-Day, and we had both talked about wanting to do well today.

Despite this, Barbara still finished 10th in her first big race, Thunder in 12th, Doreen, Beth, Bonni and Julie in 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th respectively.

Pro 1/2/3 Race: As told by S1 - With several strong squads (Zaveta, Cadence, Human Zoom, and Verducci), the race was destined to end up exactly the way it did. The Human Zoom girls really made it a race, shooting one after another off the front.

With the rest of the pack rarely letting them go for long, it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Laura van Gilder launched her attack. Directly on her wheel, Colleen Hayduk. Everyone else looked up and went, hmmm...that's nice. Whether their legs had turned to mush (like mine) or whether they didn't think they could go with them, everyone let them off the front. Thus, effectively ending a race for the win and turning our pack into a field racing for 3rd.

I struggled, as usual, to keep my position in the field...heading up to the front only to be swallowed back up and sent to the back. Like I said, still learning and honing my crit skills. Eventually, we made it around to the penultimate lap - as we came through, I jumped onto Lorraine Lipfert's wheel with Michelle Bote. Unfortunately, the group behind us was not willing to let us get away and we were gobbled up just after turn 1 of the final lap. Needless to say, I was tired at that point. I got pushed off my line on turn 3, which really screwed me up, and despite a valiant struggle to the finish line, I ended up WAY down in the ranks. So far down that I didn't even stick around for results!

Anyway...it was a good training day. We averaged 24 mph for the race, and I learned that I still have so much to learn and so much training to do.

Readington Time Trial Race Report

2009-04-12T19:09:00.004-04:00

Category: Women Cat 4
Distance: 6 miles
Number in the Field: 19 registered
Number of Sturdies: 1 (as per Sarah – AKA Thunder from Downunder)

Weather Forecast:
Last week’s TT, WIND! This race, RAIN! Am I being tested here?

Course description:
Out and back in Flemington area of New Jersey. Flat, but not really flat and uphill to the finish line. Fast, despite the rain! Open to traffic ; more traffic than a TT’ist would like going out. Nothing much coming back.

The Race:
Well, it started off in the small chain ring up an incline. The man holding my bike got another 60 secs of having contact with my butt because of some missing contenders and sure as hell I wasn’t standing in the saddle any longer than I had to. I complimented him on having a rather fun job! The good news is that he was not of Italian descent (giving me the Leaning Tower of Pisa act) like the bloke last week! Good start and wound out the small gear and then forgot the plot and finally got into the big chain ring. Snapped by Cycling Captured looking silly and somewhat incompetent…situation normal! It was now downhill and FAST. I decided to go for it and rode the whole race gasping for air over 15 minutes.

My head varied – at one point I said to myself, “I am not in the mood for this today” and then told myself to get over it and do the work like the 2 VO2 Max intervals down during the week! I knew I had to make the most of the downhill because later it was undulating and more of a challenge. The rain continued but was not a problem. I picked up a girl on the turn and made sure I flew up to the turn and made the most of it. Coming back it was hard, especially with an uphill finish. I kept saying my usual mantra “this is only 14-15 minutes of your life and this, too, will soon be over!

Best parts of the race:

Position on the bike – wow! Elbows talking to knees almost. Thank you Brian, from Keswick, “oh great one” for fitting TT’ists!
Getting better at turning around on a narrow road without losing too much time.
Speed – oooh I do like to go fast and had my 85mm dish wheels on!
Blake from Skylands Cycling offering me tent cover for my warm up! Such great girls

Lessons learned:

Delhi Belli – yeah, I know I should not have had that great Indian meal last night, not to mention the Pinot….
I can ride safely in the rain in a straight line and don’t mind at all!
I really want to have reliable power data when I ride a TT race now. The combo of power and better equipment could help get a better time.
Time to up the equipment and put on a disc wheel like the big girls do!
Warm up – I need to stop “mucking around” and do a proper warm up!

Results:

Whoopee! Another podium TT finish for SGC– 2nd place!

I did manage to go up the ladder and be ahead of #1 and #2 from Sandy Hook last week (Stacey and Susie) but now we have young Erin from Wachtung Wheelmen who has just started and came out kicked our butts! It is indeed going to be a fun TT season with great camaraderie and closely matched women going for the podium!

Mount Joy Race Report

2009-04-11T15:40:00.004-04:00

So...the weather guys are always SOOOO wrong, eh? They said that we would have some rain this morning, that would be passing through our area and heading out before noon. Um, yeah...it's 3:30 and still raining out. So, what does this mean? It means that we raced Mount Joy this morning in a frigid downpour! brrrrrr....I'm still trying to fully warm my bones! How did it go, you ask? Read on, my friends...read on.

Race: Mount Joy Road Race
Field: Cat 3/4 field with 30 pre-regged and 22 on the line to start
Number of Sturdies: 2 - Sarah and Dana lined up in the rain to kick some BEEE-hind

Course: As per my memory from two years ago...it's a great course. A few rolling hills make it challenging and one big, steep climb tends to rip one's legs off. :) I actually found that while the hill was pretty much true to my memory, it FELT much different this year! THANKFULLY!

Race: I had it in my head that I needed to podium today. The whole issue with upgrade points simply HAD to be put to rest today, and while I didn't want that to take over my race, I knew that my goal meant two things: I had to ride safe and I had to ride selfish. I needed to make sure that I worked hard (but not too hard), that I was in the right place at the right time, and that I could hold my own on the hill and not get bogged down.

There were a few teams in the field, and those teams had AT LEAST one strong individual rider...CycleLife with Christina (Chicken) Briseno, Cadence with Alaina Gurski, and Zaveta with Lenore Pipes and Emily MacKay. Essentially, this meant that I needed to make sure to go with ANYTHING these ladies threw at me. And it didn't take long to happen! Enter 1st time up the big climb.

Lenore was the first one over the top and with amazing bike handling skills, she took the turn just after the top of the climb in beautiful form. Uh-Oh - she was off the front. I took the turn and charged after her, bringing a few girls over the gap with me. Turns out, there were 4 of us (Lenore, Me, Christina, and her teammate Jennifer May). We were soon joined by Emily MacKay and Rachel Hunter of Cadence. Good. Nice strong group of 6. We stayed out for the remainder of the race. We worked well together - keeping the pace high most of the time, and making sure to keep the gap between us and the chase group.

The middle two laps were essentially uneventful. Lap 2 we worked on keeping our break and lap three was your basic lap three! Lap four started out with a few little game tactics...no one really wanting to be on the front. I quietly snuck to the back of the pack and tried to see what was going to happen...at least I knew WHERE it was going to happen. Top of the climb - that sweet turn. Sure enough - I was 3rd up to the top of the climb behind Lenore and Jennifer and when we hit the turn Lenore launched again at that point. Again, I went with her, this time with only Jennifer on my wheel. We had left everyone else coming up the climb.

We weaved our way through the pretty part of the course and headed toward the finish. I was in the lead (which I knew was tricky), but I was feeling REALLY good. With Lenore on my wheel though, I was anything but overconfident! We came to the final bend, which lead to a rise over a highway overpass and a sprint down the other side to the finish. I actually downshifted going up the overpass and then just put my head down and pushed it. I saw Lenore's wheel come up along my left side, I downshifted and pushed harder and it disappeared. I didn't look back, I just stared at that finish line and ended up crossing in 1st! HOORAY!!!!!

It was such a great race. It was amazing to have raced with some really talented women today, and I am really thankful that they are around. They make everything so much fun!

Dana finished a short ways behind me in 8th and the Sturdies enjoyed an AWESOME celebration at the little General Store down the road. Dried Mangoes for $2 and a giant bag of cinnamon sticks for $1.45! WOO HOO! I love Lancaster county!

- Sarah (S1)

Sandy Hook Time Trial

2009-04-06T17:19:00.002-04:00

Category: Women Cat 4
Distance: 7 miles
Number in the Field: 15
Number of Sturdies: 1 - Jenny "Thunder" Sammons

Weather Forecast:
Nasty in terms of a TT’ist ultimate challenge – THE WIND! At the end of the day it was similar to 2 years ago just stronger winds (25mph) and big gusts that shoved you sideways!

Course description:
Flat out and back in a national park that is essential a sand bar with a road on it or two. Some treelined area for a reprieve from the wind. Road was open to traffic but light. Unfortunately, I forgot at one stage and got honked!

Best parts of the race:

Seeing women who are becoming buddies e.g. Dawn, Susie - hugs all around
After the turn around with a tail wind and an occasional crosswind that could shove you feet to one side!
Noticing that my Zipp bar was up to its old tricks and was loose yet again and coming out of the bracket and knowing that I could still shift gears!
Managing my energy so that I could really push in the last leg, but unfortunately got snapped by Cycling Captured at the finish line with my mouth open!
Waiting for the results – I usually leave – it was fun to hang out with the gang

Lessons learned:

It was probably smart to downgrade the size of my wheel rims from my new naughty 85mm dish wheels back to much thinner with that cross wind – better to be safe than sorry
I love to TT – it is indeed my passion – my new faster bike, my training and new position Brian is working on with me are all paying off!

Results:

Whoopee! A podium TT finish to kick off the season for SGC TT. 3rd place and a really nice bronze medallion but sorry no donut fund money!

- Jenny

Philly 2-Day

2009-04-06T17:16:00.003-04:00

Race: Philly 2-Day, Diamond Circuit
Field: 52 pre-regged, George counted at least 55 on the line, including Nonnie Howard and Laura Van Gilder
Number of Sturdies: 5 of us lined up at the start: Dana, Sarah, Jody, and 1st-timers Jenna and Sara

Course: Flat and fast, the course ran around our “home field” of the Diamond. See map. The weather was CRAZY! Intense winds with 50 mph gusts that came across the course just past the start/finish line and into turn #1. It seriously was about to blow people off their bikes at a few points!

Race: It started out at a high tempo…with a few ladies pushing the pace at the front of the pack. There were a few teams there in decent numbers (Cadence, Human Zoom, and Zaveta) who were determined to flush some folks out the back. For a few minutes, I was afraid that was going to include me! I was not feeling too great during the first few laps. I felt stiff, cold, and sore. Fortunately, I got my mind back into the game after hanging on to the back end for a few laps and pulled myself up into the middle of the field. I managed to hold on pretty well to my position for the majority of the race after I got my brain in the game. There were constant attacks off the front, but none of them had any staying power. I bridged up to one break and we held off the field for a bit…unfortunately, it was just too hard to stay away, so we got swallowed back up into the field. What started out as a group of nearly 55 on the line, ended with a number somewhere around 20. It was a strong field, heading into the final sprint. I held my own pretty well, although it was not my best sprint…and ended up 11th. Dana also stayed with the pack the whole time and came in 18th. I’m not sure about results for the Cat 4 ladies, but I will post ‘em when I know ‘em!

Unfortunately, the pack was a little green around the edges and there were some unfortunate events, including Jenna being run off the road and onto the grassy shoulder at one point (as later happened to Kelley Bethoney and Victoria English from Cadence) and Jody was sent to the tarmac in a crash in the 7th lap or so. All are fine and all will ride to kick butt another day, but it certainly was no fun to see pink on the ground behind me! :(

See photos of the race here: http://tinyurl.com/c2td8h

What was learned on the day:

We are going to have a great season in pink. The veterans are already whetting their palettes against some big names like Van Gilder and Howard, and the “new” girls are really getting into the grind and showing their guts on the course.
Comfort in the pack is something that is 75% skill and 25% brains. Keep your brain in the game. Stay alert and be strong. Hold your position and conserve when you can.
Jody’s word for the day…”Bone Density” and a quick thank you for her having a very high bone density!
And a HUGE thanks to Cyclismo (aka Cadence) for putting on a great race!!

- Sarah (S1)

First Race Report...First Podium!

2009-03-29T08:02:00.001-04:00

Under a rainy sky, I left my house yesterday morning for the first of many yearly treks to Lancaster County. I was headed out for my first race of the season, a road race in Millport. The big goal for the day: try to finish high enough on the podium to get the 2 points I figure I needed for my upgrade.

The race: 34K (21 miles for those of you unfamiliar with the metric system)
The course was described as rolling. It was really nice, with a lot of turns and a few big-ring climbs. A small incline up to the first turn, a sweeping second turn into a headwind. Then, there was a long false flat with a rise (similar to Union Grove) that was actually a pretty tough stretch. A turn after that led to the only really major climb on the course (still a big-ring climb). A fast descent into a sharp right turn made the next corner tricky, but then it was smooth sailing to the finish line. The finish was actually pretty tricky. A chicane led to the straight to the finish which was actually very short. Once you got around the last bend and were headed for home, there was not a lot of time to bump up the momentum. I found this out the hard way by NOT being the first one through the chicane, but hoping to use a lead-out on one of the riders ahead of me. It didn't work and they both stayed in front, putting me 3rd on the day!

The field: Cat 3/4 - 18 riders at the start (only 1 Sturdy!)

The Race:
There was a large squad from Team BBC at the race (8 of the 18). So, I decided early on that I wanted to shed as many from the 18 person field as I could. Luckily for me, there were a bunch of other riders who felt the same. We ended up chatting before the race and 6 of us agreed to work together to pull the field down to just us. It was awesome to race with a tremendous bunch of women who were excited by my chance at an upgrade and voiced the fact that they were willing to help me get there. Very cool bunch of ladies on the road yesterday!

I started out at the front and immediately bumped the pace up to 19 or 20 mph. By the time we hit the rise of the false flat, we had broken up and strung out the field. By the mid-point of the second lap, Jen looks around and says, "Hey! It's just us!" Our goal was met early. The best part was, we continued to really race the race. We never dropped the pace and sat in, we never took the break in the field for granted, and by the time we hit the finish, it was a REAL sprint that REALLY hurt! I finished 3rd, just behind Ruth from Cadence and Cheri from Spinners, with Dana Cuomo finishing 4th behind me.

All in All:

It was a great race. I worked hard and was at the front a LOT, which certainly hurt me in the sprint (as did my misjudge of WHERE I wanted to be on that sprint), but I am REALLY happy with how the race worked out.
I felt great, considering it's not even April. My fitness for this time of the year was good, I was feeling strong and confident on the bike.
I got a great workout and had a lot of fun with a great group of women, and I got my 2 upgrade points.
Assuming that I have not made any "errors" on my upgrade form, I should be a Cat 2 very soon! Still...considering last time, I am not counting my chickens just yet! ;)

-Sarah "the First", aka S1, aka "The Original", aka Eeps!

2009 Season Opener

2009-03-25T10:16:00.002-04:00

Bring on the 2009 Race Season!

This weekend starts the clock for Sturdy Girl Racing! We head out to the streets of our hometown this weekend to race in the Philly Phlyer event hosted by Drexel and Penn racing teams. The race, which includes a Circuit race, Crit, and Team Time Trial has traditionally been a collegiate race. This year, they have opened up a USAC category and the Sturdies have decided to join in the fun. Keep an eye out for a pink train or two in the Team Time Trial!

This year, the team has expanded to include 26 team members. The new faces joining the veterans on the road are:

Barbara Statton
Julie Wright
Jenna LaTour
Lara Marek
Jennifer Rhodes
Sara Brams-Miller
Jocelyn Ruiz
Sarah McCallister
Judi Rivera
Stacia Fader

Returning Race Team members from 2008 include:

Sally Poliwoda (co-founder of SGC)
Dana Hanchin (co-founder of SGC)
Candace Koska
Sarah Iepson
Dee Anne Kotzur
Akida Stevens
Liz Feeney
Naomi Takahashi
Jody Twer
Beth Fayant
Bonni Schervone
Anne Rock
Doreen Crowle
Jennifer Sands
Jenny Sammons
Marianna Cutler

As always, we are led by our fantastic team manager and coach:

George Sexton

We are looking forward to a fun and fast 2009 season. A big thanks to our sponsors and our supporters, who make this all possible.

Year End Report

2009-01-07T09:35:00.000-05:00

Sturdy Girl Racing
2008-Year End Report

The team’s 2008 pre-season training started in earnest on a cold day in Mid-January in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park and wrapped up three months later in warmer climes with a spring training camp in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. But the miles the team rode in training were just a pre-cursor to those they were about to log in racing.

The Sturdies raced more than 4, 200 miles and racked up nearly 3,800 points in the PA BAR, more than any other women's team in the state-wide competition. From the relative warmth of Sally's Austin Texas road race in February through Anne's competition in the frigid temperatures at the Capital Cross race near DC in December, the team compiled 213 entries in 85 races, including 47 entries in the inaugural season of the Pennsylvania Women’s Series.

Team members stepped onto the podium 36 times, including Naomi's team-first, same-season podium placements on both asphalt and dirt, Sarah's nifty hat trick at the Giro di Cielo stage race, and Candace and Aussie Jenny's turbo efforts in time trials. Sturdies raced in regional and national events, and Jody has the medals to prove the latter from her podium placements at the USCF National Masters weekend.

All 20 riders on the team's 2008 roster competed this year ... and many really went at it ... Lenore 34x, Anne 29x, Sarah 21x, Jody 16x, Naomi & Sally 15x, and Jenny 13x. And when they weren’t busy racing, riders raised $4,300 for the American Cancer Society through the Sturdy Girl Cycling’s Biking For Betty initiative. But numbers alone don't begin to capture the team’s full story in 2008.

Dana invested a great deal of sweat equity and perseverance to nurture the development of the state's first women's point’s series. Krysia overcame a severely fractured collarbone to race in 2008 and Sands persisted through hours of physical therapy after the pile up at the Memorial Hall race to snag her upgrade to Cat 3. M somehow figured out a way to race a bike without being able to take a deep breath; while Beth also dusted herself off from the Memorial Hall pavement and went on to score her first podium later in the season. Even the “bad-back twins” (Bonni and Doreen) found ways to bend their torsos over the top tube and race. It was a tough year for a few ... Akida, Dee, and Liz struggled with chronic knee injuries throughout the season but still managed to race when they were healthy.

In October the team welcomed ten new riders onto the 2009 roster … Barbara, Jenna, Jen, Jocelyn, Judi, Julie, Lara, Sara, Sarah, and Stacia joined the team’s base rides during the fall and will be wearing pink when pre-season training commences again in January of 2009.

Sturdies love to ride together and to race for each other, and the team extends its appreciation to all of the family members and friends whose encourage is the wind at our back. We want to also thank each of the team’s generous sponsors for their support throughout the 2008 season, including … Keswick Cycle, Specialized Bicycle Components, Infinitink, Perfect Circles Training Systems, Spectrum Bicycles, Rhodes Chiropractic, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (the restaurant that loves you every night), Wake Up Yoga, Soloman Edwards LLC, Ted’s Pools, McMenamin’s Tavern, Mt. Airy Family Practice, Body Basics Personal Training, Ben Crowle Services, The Bee Hive Hair Salon, Still Waters Body Work, Philadelphia Forgings, Philadelphia Women’s Center, Biking for Betty, and the Pennsylvania Women’s Race Series.

Finally, I feel comfortable speaking on behalf of the entire team when I extend a special thanks to two team members – Dana Hanchin and Sally Poliwoda, co-founders of Sturdy Girl Cycling, whose on going generosity and steadfast support make Sturdy Girl racing possible.

George Sexton
Sturdy Girl Cycling Race Team Manager

Wissahickon Cross Race Report

2008-10-20T13:05:00.000-04:00

Race: Wissahickon Cyclocross Race (MAC Series #4)
Field: Women's B; 40 starters
Number of Sturdies: 3, me, Anne Rock, and Sally Poliwoda

Course: 4 laps, sand pit, spiral of doom, uphill barrier run-up

Race: I borrowed a crossbike. My crossbike is more than less than ideal to race. It is 23 pounds, and it has road gearing because I train with it on the road. I've raced on it three times prior, and wasn't really getting the results that I knew I could get. I really appreciate that Cadence let me borrow one of their BMC demo bikes. I was determined to ride the whole course because I am not good at dismounting/re-mounting, and it takes a lot out of me. I also don't know how to shoulder a bike yet. I pre-rode the course without getting off (except for the barriers), so I was confident that I'd be able to save a lot of time if I just stayed upright. The gun goes off, and I don't get the hole shot (Anne Rock does). I started 3 rows back but I was able to get in the top 6 or so onto the course. I was keeping track of all the women because we started a minute back from the C-men. I got to the sandpit for the first time, and this is where I gained a lot of ground because almost everyone else got off. After running through the sand at Charm City, I knew that getting off meant it would take a lot of energy out of me. So, I rode it and passed a bunch of people. After the sand pit, I caught sight of the leader. I bridged up to her, recovered for about 5 seconds, and then attacked her. I waited for the counter-attack, but it never came, so I just kept on going. I passed the start/finish area in the lead on the first lap, and I was afraid I might've gone out too hard (because I tend to do that). But I was determined not to fade, and to extend my lead over the woman behind me. After that, it was pretty much a timetrial to the finish for the next 3 laps. I passed a bunch of C-men (which was kind of annoying because I couldn't pick my own line) but it was fun to yell out "leader" every time I did. I was pretty psyched to win on the home course and have it be my 4th cross race ever.

Finish: 1st Place.

Lessons Learned:
*If you don't have to suck a wheel in cross, don't do it. Just attack.
*If you can ride everything, RIDE EVERYTHING.
*Cross is just like a really technical timetrial.
*It really helps to have a bike with appropriate gearing.
*I like cross and it is fun!! It's also like a really technical crit. And I love crits!!
*Knowing how to mountain bike can help you ride the off-camber stuff.

-Lenore

Charm City Cross Report!

2008-09-23T13:45:00.002-04:00

The next time you see me on a cold and blustery day, I'll be sportingmy super-cool-Under Armour jacket I WON at the cross race yesterday! What a great prize. Oh, yeah a race report:

Charm City Cross: Baltimore, MD
UCI & MAC Event.
Sturdy Girls: Sally, Anne, and Lenore
Field: Over 40 Women--very nice!

This was a really nice course in a beautiful park. It was my kind of course, not too technical, fast and dry as a bone!

I had an uneventful start, nothing to brag about but I hit the first turn in about 10th position. I felt unusually relaxed going into the race, so I was able to avoid some early race pile-ups and move ahead. My first lap felt good, maybe a bit too fast but I was able to settle into a nice rhythm as the race progressed. The sand pit was DEEP and totally un-rideable, just as well I HATE sand in my drive train.

I passed a bunch of people and had a Guys racer just a few seconds ahead that I had my sights on. Unfortunately for me, she was just getting warmed up, her last lap was blistering and she pulled out of reach.

Results: Sally 5th Overall (1st in 45+, thus swanky jacket)
Lenore - 6th
Anne - 17th

Lessons Learned:
-staying relaxed is a good thing
-start at a pace that I can ramp up not poop out-work on dismounts, and explosive running!
-keep having fun!!

-Sally

Cheyney Road Race Report!

2008-09-07T14:41:00.001-04:00

Race: 1st Annual Cheyney Road Race
Where: Cheyney (duh!), PA
Distance: 60K (for those of you unfamiliar with the metric system - that's about 38 miles) - 6 times around a 10 K loop.
Women's Open Race: 13 starters, 1 Sturdy (that would be me!)

Course:
This was one tough course when it came down to doing it 6 times! Mainly tough because there were two rather large back to back climbs. The first half of the course was a beautiful lightly rolling stretch through the woods. Coming out of that section led you to the 1st large climb (and the Queen Of the Mountain competition). It was not particularly steep, but it was lengthy and you couldn't see the top during the climb because it bent to the right and continued up to the QOM line. It was DEFINITELY a small ring climb. After you reached the top, there was a descent followed by ANOTHER small ring climb! Again, this one was long and even, with no seriously steep sections. Then, you make your way down a long winding descent to the finish line.

Race:
The first lap was pretty uneventful. I spent a lot of time at the front because I wanted to make sure to push the pace and shed people if possible. The first lap up the two hills was also relatively uneventful, with most folks sitting in and checking out everyone's legs. Of course, the Queen of the Mountains competition was destined to mix things up a bit on lap 2! It did. It wasn't that the two who took off made a huge attack, it was just that most of us could not really respond. Amity (from JuicePlus) and Betty were 1 and 2 over the line with a slight gap. I was 3rd with Jill Wagget on my wheel. It turns out that the 4 of us had shed the field on that climb. Amity and Betty were within reach, but with the second climb just beyond the first, I lost contact. It ended up with Amity and Betty racing for 1-2 and Jill and I chasing for 3rd. I was DETERMINED to get 3rd and realized pretty quickly what I had to do.

Jill and I made our way through the next couple of laps without incident. We really weren't concerned about the pack. We were WAY out of sight, and that was probably enough to keep us safe. Nonetheless, I pushed the pace when I could, keeping my pulls up around 23 or 24 mph. I continued to crest the first hill before Jill on each lap and ended up with 3rd in the QOM competition! As soon as we had made a clean break from the field, I began planning for my attack. I admit to being particularly inspired by Lucas Euser's performance in the Univest race yesterday, when he simply rode away from his companion on the 2nd to last lap, winning the race. So, I started to channel Lucas!

My plan was...on the 5th lap, on the 2nd hill, when it starts to level out, gear down and ATTACK! And I did. And it WORKED! I pulled away from Jill and set my sights on time trialing to the finish line. The last time up the hills was pure power - I kept telling myself that it was just like the 5 hills ride..just one more to go! I crossed the finish line in 3rd, a few minutes behind Amity and Betty, and a few in front of Jill. I'm really happy with my race today. It puts me a few points closer to my upgrade, and garnered another podium finish for the Sturdies.

- Sarah

Lehigh Valley Winery Crit Cat 1/2/3 Report

2008-08-31T09:43:00.003-04:00

When: Saturday, August 30th
What: Cat 1/2/3 and PA State Championships
# of Racers: 15
# of Sturdies: 2 - Sally and me

Course: This has to be one of the toughest crit courses in our area. It's not technical, there are NO corners, it is just a round loop. BUT, there are two major hills on the course. And, I mean, MAJOR hills. It is common to see everyone in the field shifting down into the little ring on both climbs, and it is the ONLY crit I know in which you can hit 44 mph on one section and 10 or 11 mph on another. And the loop is only just over a mile!

Race: The field was stacked - Kate Veronneau, Jackie Paull, Nonnie Howard, Lorraine Lipfert and Jill Wagget were the top names. Also on tap were last years PA Bar Champ Colleen Hayduk and Colleen Gulick. It was destined to be a tough race.

There were attacks from the beginning, with Colleen Hayduk shooting off the line. Kate launched a few attacks, as did I and Sally. Eventually, on a prime lap, Kate took off and Betty followed. Uh-oh! I chased.

Unfortunately, when I asked the person behind me to chase, she essentially refused and wanted to let them go. I was not content racing for third, so I went off on my own. I realized after a few laps that I was not getting any closer to Kate and Betty and not getting any further away from the pack. Keeping the Marlton race in mind, I let myself get swallowed back up by the group. I knew that if I sat in, I could potentially pull my legs back under me and do well in the sprint.

It worked...thank goodness. I pushed it up the final hill (I should have worked it a bit harder, but oh well!) and sprinted to the line. Colleen Gulick got me at the line, so I ended up 4th on the day...3rd in my Category. Sally was 10th after working really hard to slow the pack and cathing up to me and trying to make a chasing break stick.

It was a good day for us. We worked well together (as usual) and had a lot of fun!

What I learned:
- some riders simply WILL NOT race. The best thing you can do is try to get yourself with those who will.
- don't wait for others to do your work for you. When Betty jumped, I was expecting other riders to chase her. They didn't and it cost - big time.
- be patient and trust your instincts!

-Sarah

Allentown Tour de Brew

2008-08-26T22:01:00.000-04:00

Race: 2008 Tour de Brew
# of Women: 8 pre-regged, about 13 on race day
# of Sturdies: 1
Course: Flat, 20-mile crit, 18 laps.

Race: Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine) attacked on the first lap, and I was pretty far back but I was able to hop from rider to rider that were trying to chase her until I bridged up to her. We worked together to get a gap. After about a lap, we were joined by Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine) who had solo-bridged up to us. The 3 of us worked together until 4 laps to go.

At that point, we were about to lap the field. I've never been in a situation like this, so I turned to them, and I said, I don't know what to do, I'm just a 3. As soon as I said that, Laura attacked. I think I might've been able to bridge up to her but I thought that as soon as I did that, Kelly would attack me. And there was no way I would be able to outsprint either of them. So, I just sat in the field, and won the prime. And got 3rd.

Lessons Learned:
*Pros aren't superhuman, but it's really hard to win, if you're up against two of them, who are on the same team, in a break.
*Laura has a really fast jump. She knows how to attack very well.
*Lapping the field confuses a lot of things.

-Lenore

Coach's Report!

2008-08-21T12:58:00.000-04:00

Alaric Gayfer Crtiterium

The Rodale Fitness Park is a great race venue and one where Sturdies have competed frequently over the past four years. In that time I’ve never seen a break stick in a women’s race on this course, irrespective of how the fields have been categorized. This fact, along with a few other variables, including the size of the W Cat 4 field, the number of Sturdies in that field, and the presence of three recruits for our ’09 roster led me to belief that this would be a good opportunity to practice tactics and roles in a real race.

During the pre-race warm-up we talked about an overall strategy (controlling the front), a set of offensive and defensive tactics to support the strategy (maintaining a constant presence on the front and immediately responding to any attacks with designated counter-attackers), and rider roles and responsibilities in relation to the strategy. We also had a goal in mind … to bring a protected rider into the final lap in a position where she could contend the finish. Every rider on the team took to the task at hand, and we went into the race as a team.

When the day was done, we had raced the race as a team. Nobody gave up, nobody. Everybody finished, everybody. In the end we put a rider on the podium (plus two more in the W Open event) … we made some donuts … and there were a lot of smiling faces. That’s a good day!

George

Pictures from the Cat 4 Race!

2008-08-19T12:40:00.003-04:00

The pink armada - leading the charge!
out of the woods and into the wind!
through the woods!

The finish! Beth charging in for 2nd with Sands close behind for 4th!

Alaric Gayfer Cat 4 Report

2008-08-19T12:38:00.002-04:00

Course: Bob Rodel fitness park
Field: Women’s cat 4
Number of Women: 15

Number of Sturdies: 8…Anne, Beth, Bonnie, Doreen, Jenny, Sands, Jody and Krysia;
plus 3 soon to be Sturdies…Jenna, Melanie and Stacia

Weather: 82 degrees, clear “Montana Skies”…as some guy said to Anne and I during our warm-up

Race: If I had to sum up today’s race in one word, I’d use “teamwork”. Everyone had a role to play, with one common goal of putting Sands on the podium. We may have fallen short of the goal, but I think everyone would agree that it wasn’t for lack of trying. We worked well together and it was FUN!

For me it the race played out like this…I was more relaxed going into this race than I’ve ever been. I had a gazillion teammates around me, I knew the course, and I had taken the time to research some of the competition, so I had some idea of what I was up against. I set my goals for the day: finish with the pack, and place higher than Pam S. (JVR). As I lined up for the start, I overheard Megan F. (JVR) tell her teammates that she was going to go at the gun, so I prepared for a fast start. However, that never happened since Jenna did a good job making sure she was covered. Jody and Jenny did a great job keeping the pace controlled at the front, with everyone offering up some help taking pulls. My job was to keep things smooth at the back, so that’s what I did. Sitting on Bonni’s wheel was as comfortable as sitting in an armchair! Mid-way through the race, Karen T. (Guys) attacked and blew a few of us off the pack, but we were able to work together and catch back onto the field when it slowed. Other than that, we really stayed together. I guess the downside to a field comprised of a sea of pink is that as a team, we also did the majority of the work. So as the pack rounded the back part of the last lap, two of the three JVR girls went. As Sands chased, I suddenly realized two things…I had legs, and Pam was one of the two that went. At that point I had a clear shot and good legs…so I went after her. What happed next is kind of a blur. However, I really thought both Sands and Karen had crossed the line before me, so I was shocked when I heard I was second!

Overall, it was a blast! I love being part of this team!

Lessons Learned:
Ø A good long warm-up goes a long way
Ø Training pays off…especially with a good training partner that pushes me to the limitsI can dig a little deeper and go a little longer and I won’t die (maybe throw-up a little in my mouth…but Cytomax isn’t so bad the second time around)

-Beth

Pictures from the Alaric Gayfer 1/2/3 Race

2008-08-18T13:20:00.003-04:00

warming up - and watching the Cat 4 ladies RIP IT UP on course!
a glimpse into the race
Kristy Swope on the front, with Sally and Sarah keeping a close eye
Sally powering through another lap
The finish
A complete set of pictures from both the Cat 1/2/3 and Cat 4 races can be found HERE.

Alaric Gayfer Women's 1/2/3 Race

2008-08-18T13:18:00.001-04:00

Alaric Gayfer
Cat 1,2,3
2 SGC Racers: Sarah and Sally
Course: T-town Fitness Park Crit Course

The field was small for this event, but some hitters came out to race.
Kristy Swope and Betty Tyrell rounded out the field along with two other
riders.

The race started off fairly relaxed with Kristy making some early jumps
that we were able to easily cover. Sarah and I stayed either on the
front or 3rd wheel to set tempo. This is a difficult course to get away
on. We attempted a couple of attacks that were covered. With two laps
to go, the field got caught behind a rider who did not want to be on the
front so I launched an attack. I was happy to see some separation, and
realized that I had to commit and try to make this move stick. (The
phrase, "Ride Like you Stole It" ran through my head.) I was caught
with a half lap to go, and had to chase back on. Fortunately, I caught
the chase group (Betty, Sarah, and Kristy) the final sprint. My mistake
was not jumping on Sarah's wheel. It was there for a fraction of a
second, then gone. I grabbed Betty's instead. Sarah was flying!!
I was able to get by Betty for 3rd, Sarah 1st with a nice acceleration
to the line.

Thanks to Kristy Swope for the video of the finish - watch the volume, it can be a little loud! :)

Lessons Learned:
- I can put the hurt on too!
- small races can be fun, and exciting

:)
Sally

Tour of Millersburg Stage Race

2008-08-18T13:16:00.000-04:00

Timetrial (12 miles, flat):

Going into the race, my goal was actually to break 30 minutes (which would've been an average speed of 24 mph) but I knew this would be very difficult for me to obtain. I reached the turnaround cone at something like 14 min. 20 seconds, so I knew I was in pretty good shape of beating my goal, but I could not keep it up. I tried my hardest to keep my speed above 23 mph, but it was pretty painful coming back. But, in the end, my time was 31 min. 3 sec. or average speed of 23 mph (a minute off of my goal, and about a minute away from the GC leaders), which actually isn't so bad without any TT gear. Even though I took a 17th place finish in the TT, I am pretty satisfied with my effort because if it is true that you go 1 mph faster in the TT position, I would've been a top GC contender.

Criterium (20 miles, one hill):

I knew from racing with Laura McCaughey (Juice Plus) at Christiana that if she attacks, I should try to go with her. So sure enough she attacked on the 2nd lap on the hill, and I tried to get her to go with me but it didn't happen. But instead I found myself pretty far off the front and just kept going. I was hoping that someone (with a team) would try to join me. But I was really careful not to go so hard that I wouldn't be able to respond if I was caught. After about 2 laps, I was joined by Lorena (who was a top GC contender and had a team) but we could not keep up the break. Nothing got away after that, so I sat-in until the last lap when Sonja Evers (C3-Sollay.com) attacked on the hill, and split the field. Luckily, I was near the front and able to catch on, and it was a field sprint to the finish. I ended up 6th.

Road Race (54 miles, flat):

I wanted to conserve as much as I could because I've never done a race this long before. I was 10th in the GC coming into the race, and I wanted to improve my standing by three places, which meant that I probably needed to be in the top 4. I made sure that if there was a break with the GC leaders that I would try to be in it. But it didn't happen. The teams casually brought things back. We were pretty much together the whole race, and with about 3K to go there was an attack on a hill, and the top GC leaders were going so I had to move. Jennifer Rasmussen (HPC List, won the TT) and I were fighting for Laura's wheel, and I got fed up with it so I attacked with about 2K to go. It was another mass sprint to the finish after 2.5 hours. I ended up 6th again.

Overall: I ended 9th in the GC.

Lessons Learned:
-If I could get faster at TTing, I could potentially do well as a stage racer.
-It's nice to have a feed in a long race. I found this out the hard way.
-Shotblocks melt if you put them in your pocket because you sweat a lot.

-Lenore

Tour de Christiana Crit Report!

2008-08-17T17:19:00.002-04:00

What: The 17th Annual Tour de Christiana Criterium
Course: 20 miles, uphill finish, no primes, technical (lots of downhill corners)
Field: Women's Open
Number of Women: ~15
Number of Sturdies: 1

Weather: Dry before we started but rained during the race

Race: I overheard Erica Allar (Aaron's Pro Women's Team) saying that she was going to go from the gun in the parking lot, so I made sure I was warmed up and I made sure I got to try out the course a few times. It was technical so I made sure I could go through the corners at full speed. We didn't start out as fast as I had planned to start out. I didn't like how slow we were going through the corners so I decided to attack before the downhill corners to see how the field would respond. Although I was riding a little too aggressively (I scraped my inside pedal on the ground while it was at 12 o'clock but did not fall), this move broke up the field. There was a crash behind me going through the off camber chicane leading up to the start/finish. I kept going, and from what I remember I was joined by Laura McCaughey (Juice Plus Pro), Betty Tyrell (Team Somerset), Jackie Paull (Wachung Wheelmen), Annie Malouin (TSV), and Erica.

Betty attacked and Laura went with her. They dangled off the front for about a lap and a half, and Laura crashed in the off camber chicane before the start/finish. She got back up and we caught up to her. With two laps to go, Laura attacked, which would be the winning move. I was torn between bridging with all these women on my wheel, and waiting to see if someone else would work. This decision probably cost me the race but it was raining pretty hard and I had lost my only water bottle a few laps earlier because it was slippery but excuses are excuses. By the last lap, it was pouring, and I was really concerned about sliding out on the corners right before the finish, so I played it conservative, and hung out on the back of the chase group, which couldn't go more than single file in the corners because it was too dangerous. I ended up with 4th in the end.

There are some great pictures from the race on the Shutterwerks website!

Lessons Learned:
*If a pro goes, go with her.
*Sometimes it's better to ride conservatively rather than risk crashing
*If you can go through corners fast, you can get away.

-Lenore

Doylestown Circuit Race

2008-08-05T22:49:00.002-04:00

While there is a full race report to follow...we'll whet your pallet with a few photos and this lovely little blurb from the local paper!

Hammercreek Race Report

2008-08-02T20:19:00.004-04:00

Hammercreek Road Race
Lancaster County, PA
Field: Started with 21 - 2 Sturdies - me and Lenore Distance: 25 mile road race

Course: Beautiful roads - really lovely surface, although they were very narrow. A few notable big-ring climbs and one nasty, tight turn from a descent that led instantly into a small climb.

Weather: Great at the start. Cool temps for August, hovering right around 82. At lap 4 a massive rainstorm came through, pelting us with ginormous rain drops. It was over quickly with just wet roads to greet us for the finishing sprint!

Race: As was expected with a field that included 7 or 8 C3-Sollay riders (including the soon-to-be-Vanderkittened Sonja Evers), Davina Summers, Kristy Swope, Jackie Paull, and a field of others, it was a series of attacks from start to finish. The C3 gals launched one rider after another after another. Eventually, they were successful in getting one lovely chica off the front for good. I don't know where I was at the time, but I was absolutely clueless that she had gone off the front and that we were the chasers. By the time I wizened up, it was a little too late for us to do much. Not to mention that with the remaining C3 team in the chase, we had a really hard time getting anything going.

Eventually, and unfortunately, we all finally settled in to race for 2nd. Coming around the final lap, I was feeling great and just knew that I had to be in the right position for the finish. I put myself up front, took a leadout from my great teammate Lenore (who ROCKED today, by the way), and eventually jumped past her to try to beat Jackie to the line. I ended up 4th on the day, 1st in the Cat 3 and 4 points closer to my upgrade. All in all, it was a splendid day...plus, my big brother was there to share the joy! :)

Lenore was awesome today. A bunch of us teased her about this being her first "big-girl race" - a race with a heck of a lot of Cat 2 and Cat 1 racers! Until today, she had done mostly Cat 4 or Cat 3/4 races. In her first gig as a Cat 3, she showed that her time in this category will be short. She is strong, aggressive, powerful, and very competent in her bike handling - even a trip to the gravel couldn't keep her out of the show! She ended up a solid 7th place on the day and, if I am not mistaken, 2nd in the Cat 3s?

Here are some pics of the race thanks to Sturdy spectator (and Sarah's big bro) Aaron!!

-Sarah

Lenore's WEekend of Races Report!

2008-07-28T14:52:00.001-04:00

Grandview Grand Prix (Lancaster, PA)

Field: Women's Category 4 (we were given yellow bands and instructed to put these on our helmets though some had them on their arms and in their hair)
Number in Field: 20
Number of Sturdies: 5
Course: What was advertised as 20 was really only 18 laps; Flat, few turns, not great road surface; slight downhill finish

Race: The officials started the cat 4 field 30 seconds behind the 1-2-3 field even though the registration website says this, "Womens race is an OPEN event with lower entry fees for Cat 4 women and their own, separate prizes!" At the beginning of our race, the official said, "If the category 1-2-3 riders overtake you, you must neutralize". The race started out no problem, and the two fields that were on the course weren't mixing. There were a few attacks but nothing that really stuck. On the 5th lap or so, I attacked and tried to break up the field. There was a chase group that was trying to get me, and when they caught me, we were told to neutralize because a 1-2-3 group was coming around. I attacked again thinking that my field was going to catch up to me, and started riding past the 1-2-3 group because I didn't want to get disqualified for drafting. The 1-2-3 group jumped onto my wheel, and my chasers got in the 1-2-3 group, and by the end of the race I didn't know who was in my race and who wasn't.

Outcome: I finished 3rd. But at one point I got relegated to 18th place because someone protested that me (and two others) were drafting in the 1-2-3 field. I think the two others never got their placing back.

Lessons Learned:
*I don't enjoy criterium or circuit races when two fields are on the same course at the same time. *Sometimes races are not anything like they are advertised to be
*Don't leave until the results are official, you may have to vouch for your placing

Tour de Toona Criterium

Field: Women's 3/4
Number in Field: 15 (1 national TT champion)
Number of Sturdies: 1
Course: Technical Crit; slight uphill finish; lots of turns

Race: The race began pretty fast. I got stuck behind a girl that couldn't clip in so that was kind of annoying. I stayed near the front (but never on the front) most of the race. Some people tried to attack but no one was strong enough to get away. I liked the course a lot because it was so technical.

Outcome: I finished 3rd and won the yellow jersey for the cat4 field. I got interviewed by the local TV. Results said we averaged 25 mph (1 mph faster than the pro-1-2 field), if the results are right, that's my fastest race.

Lessons Learned:
*Attackers quickly get tired after about 10 seconds
*It's not a UCI rule that a lapped rider can help a teammate out
*I love cornering at high speeds (unless the person in front of me is sketchy)
*I like technical courses
*I like speed and going fast

Comeback Criterium Report!

2008-07-21T07:04:00.002-04:00

Race: The Comeback Crit
Distance: 17 miles (23 laps of a .7 mile course)
Weather: Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

Number in Field: 18 registered, 17 on the start line
Number of Sturdies: 4 (Sarah, Jody, Jen Sands, Doreen)

Course: Great course for us. Beautifully smooth road surface, nice wide turns, and a little tiny bump up to the finish. We knew at the start that it was going to be a fast and furious race.

The Race: The field was STACKED for this race. Nonnie Howard, Kristy Swope, Betty Tyrell, Lorainne Lipfert, Jackie Paull, and a mysterious Aussie Track/Road racer named Davina Summers rounded out the big contenders. As expected Nonnie and Davina took turns launching small attacks for the majority of the race. None of these were really intended to go off the front, just to shred up our legs a little. Thankfully, my legs were feeling good and I simply went along with these attacks and the responses.

My main goal today was to stay in a good position within the field and to try to get a podium spot. The field position became easier as the field shrunk under the pressure from Nonnie and Davina. The podium spot and category win looked to be in trouble when Betty launched an attack halfway into the race. The group let her go off the front...not a good idea. She stayed out for two laps or so until our Aussie jumped and bridged up to her. I began urging the other girls to chase (not at all content to race for 3rd place). Nonnie says to me, "Can you take a pull?" I said, "Absolutely." She says, "Well, do it." I pull up to the front of the group and start to charge. Within a half of a lap, I have caught up to Davina and Betty. I look behind me and the field is gone! Kristy joined us a few seconds later and it was the four of us off the front to the finish. Lining up for the sprint, the Aussie took off like she had rockets on her butt. Kristy and I followed, but I was unable to get around her at the finish! I did beat Betty...taking 1st in the Cat 3, and 3rd overall!

Jody finished 1st in the Cat 4 field, with Sands and Doreen close behind in 3rd and 4th.

It was a great day for Sturdy Girl! The pink really rocked it!

-Sarah

Michaux Endurance Race #2: The Curse of Dark Hollow

2008-07-21T07:02:00.001-04:00

Course: 50 miles of rocky, steep singletrack (only 4 miles of fireroad)
Category: Women's Open
Number in Field: 5
Number of Sturdies: 1
Weather: Hot and Dry

Goals going into race:
*To survive
*To test out my new Specialized Stumpjumper 29er Hardtail (Thanks Keswick!)
*To have fun all day at one of the hardest mtb races on the east coast

Race:
I tried to stay with the leaders for the first 10 minutes of the race but things got hectic on the downhill and all the singlespeeders were trying to pass me. I went out pretty hard in the first half of the race. I hit the climbs really hard, and I know I paid for that later in the race. There were a few brutal hike-a-bike sections that I could barely walk up even if I didn't have my bike. I ran out of water about mile 20, and became pretty dehydrated until the next aid station which was 5 miles away. At this point, I felt sick to my stomach and didn't feel like eating anything. I saw a guy throwing up on the side of the course, which told me that other people weren't feeling so great either. Right after I reached the last aid station, which was 7 miles from the finish, I started bonking and I could barely ride my bike. It didn't help that they put the most technical downhill sections in those last few miles. It probably took me like 2 hours to finish those 7 miles. I think the race was harder than the first endurance race because everybody's time today was about 1/2 hour behind, and the first race was longer.

Outcome: 3rd place, 7+ Hours

Lessons Learned:
*Don't do a 7-hour race only drinking cytomax
*When you're bonking, you should probably stop and eat something
*Climbing on a mountain bike is a lot harder than climbing on a road bike
*I like my new bike!!

- Lenore

DeSales Circuit Race Report!

2008-07-14T07:55:00.002-04:00

Race: Ed Peters Memorial Masters Weekend
Tour DeSales Circuit Race
Lehigh Wheelmen Association and Cycledrome Bicycling Team
Where: Center Valley, PA – about 1.25 hrs up the road
Date: Sunday July 6th, 2008
Distance: Timed 45 min race – ended up to be 6 laps x 2.4 miles = 14.4 miles
Field: 10 ; 4 x 45+; 6 x 30+
SGC: Luly and Jenny Sammons (both 45+) – one of us was going to be in the money honey!

Race: Rolling with a very nasty granny hill and small hill afterwards. Very fast downhill after the hill, turn the corner and sprint for line up a slight incline.

Luly looked great going up that hill and Jenny kept falling off the back! After a few times or more? up the hill, it took its toll (naughty Cat 3’s setting the pace) and Luly decided to “block from behind” (as she put it!) and help me get 3rd ( J ) The field broke up into 2 groups. JS tried to get something going to get the group back on but it failed and thinking she was amongst 30+ with just one 45+ in front group just resigned to staying in the second group. Wrong! - one rider had changed from 45+ to 30+ on the morning of the race., so 2 in front group!

Result: 3rd place ( 45+ ) and $35 for the donut fund! Needless to say there was a certain Aussie jumping up and down yelling “I am in the money honey” like she just placed in the Tour when told she got 3rd place and $35!

Lessons learned: More hill training needed and better endurance. Jenny found using strategy of getting at the front and going up the hill so she fell back to the back of the pack and not off the back useful when she tried it and will do more of that!

Be careful not to rate yourself against who is in the field; just go for it and don’t let others hold you back once you have no team-mates around you!

-Jenny

SMELL IT! SMELL IT!

2008-07-13T22:08:00.001-04:00

Fairhill Race report

Here is the report I submitted to Sturdy Girl Racing:

Naomi, M and Anne raced today at Fairhill.

We were surrounded by dirty rotten mountain bikers, many of whom I suspect had recently been released from prison. Scum of the earth. Why do I hang out with these people? We arrived in plenty of time to register and I replaced the permanent race plate that my husband tossed out during a basement purge one day last week when he decided we weren’t slobs. Thanks, honey!

As usual, the promoters responded to our promptness with a tardy start, and instead of departing for our 22 mile off-road adventure at 10:45, we stood around in the shade until 11:30. Two years ago we had to wait in an open field with only a blade of grass to shade us from the sun. Four hours and a case of heat exhaustion later, I finished. (WHEN AM I GOING TO STOP TELLING THIS STORY? NEVER!)

When we were finally off, Pam from Guys (Cat 2 on the road) took off with Amy Somers, who rides like she’s being chased. Which she was. By the rest of us. Naomi, Leslie Conrad and I hung together for awhile until somehow we dropped Naomi.

The conditions were awesome! Dry, twisty, winding single track with the occasional fire road. You could really get into a groove. While I was counting on some Dead Kennedys or Surf Punk music to propel me, instead I had Johnny Cash’s cover of Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man playing in my head. This is either suicide music or make out music depending on your taste, but certainly not racing music, and by mile 16 I was ready for sleep, a cigarette, and to open a vein. Just kidding. I wasn’t tired.

At mile 15, Naomi resurfaced at about the same time as Fat Marc and Rotten’s water stop appeared. It was an oasis of bad taste, and I almost abandoned the race to join them in their mayhem. I may have been hallucinating, but I think there was a guy in a leopard skin demanding that “chicks get in the pool!” Indeed, they had a baby pool in front of the water station. I lay down in the pool and posed for a photo.

At this point Naomi passed me and secured her lead up the fire road climb. Bye Naomi! You know you wish you’d taken a dip in the pool! Oh, wait—my shorts are soggy and my shoes are wet. You don’t wish you were me. Me is stoopid. Fortunately, I dried out in about 20 minutes and my shorts retreated from around my ankles.

At mile 20, I had a 2nd wind and decided to start racing again. Oh, watch me work! Past the guy with the blown out sidewall! Pass the guy on the Huffy! And the finish. What a blast.

Nikki T (who won the under 35 race) lent me $2 for a water ice which brought me back from the brink of race drain. Her remark, “I smell as bad as this money” left me in stiches. Location joke? Perhaps. But the awards room was ripe and so were we. I can only imagine what one would smell like after riding around in a dirty, rotten mountain biker’s jersey for 2 hours. The lemon water ice smelled and tasted quite lovely. Thanks, Nikki, and congrats on another victory.

Overall: I think there were about 12 women lined up for the 35+ group. Naomi came in 4th, yours truly 5th, and M captured 10th. We all improved on last year’s time, and I was pleased to have successfully captured my goal of riding over an average of 9mph. Stop laughing, roadies. Let’s see you out there!

What we learned:
- How to pee in the woods without removing your bibs
- Why, though tempting, it is ill-advised to rest in a baby pool at mile 15
- Ants Pants has better coffee than Wawa
- If you don’t pay attention and squeeze your hands once in a while, your hands will go numb
- I totally rocked my new Fisher Ferrous 29er and have ZERO regrets about move to giant wheels

Giro Del Cielo - Cat 4 Report

2008-07-13T21:57:00.003-04:00

Category 4 Race
Sussex County, NJ
Number in Field: 25 at maximum (some women did some stages and did not do other stages)Number of Sturdies: 1

Stage 1: The Timetrial
Course: 4.6 mile, Uphill rolling, max 9% grade

Race: I'm not a fan of timetrials. And every timetrial I have done always turns out to be an uphill one for some reason. But Coach G tells me I need to work on my weaknesses. I mean not much happened in the timetrial except that I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.Outcome: I got 5th.

Stage 2: The Crit
Course: flat, 17 or so laps to add up to 15 miles

Race: I kept my eye on the race leader (who had 4 teammates), and knew I had to sprint for the points lap. The points prime lap was early but I ended up taking 3rd in the points. There were many primes so people kept sprinting, and I just stayed behind who was sprinting... well, sometimes... I did win some much needed chain lube. I'm not sure when the break happened. I think it was with 5 laps to go or something. But, I was in it with 3 other girls. We were about half a lap ahead of the peloton. One girl was not working at all because I didn't know she was in the break until the race was over.

Outcome: I got 3rd. This was my first time in a breakaway and it was really fun.

Stage 3: The Road Race
Course: Rolling, 5.5 mi/lap, 5 laps

Race: I was sitting at 4th in the GC at the beginning of the day. The first lap was a prime points lap, and I knew I needed them. I won the points lap (had I lost, it would've placed me 4th or 5th in the GC). The race was quiet, and no one was attacking. I tried to attack on the hills a couple times but couldn't get away, and no one really wanted to work with me.

Outcome: We ended up pretty much in a bunch sprint, and I got 3rd.

In the end, I got 3rd in GC. Kind of unexpected from my TT time.

What I learned: It's hard to get away but it's awesome when it works. Sprinting for primes can make it or break it sometimes.

-Lenore

Fitchburg Stage Race

2008-07-09T16:01:00.000-04:00

Race Name: Fitchburg Stage Race
Category: Women's 3/4
Number in the Field: 78 pre-regged in the beginning, only about 60 or so finishers up to stage 4
Number of Sturdies: 1

Stage 1: The Timetrial
Distance: 10K Mostly Uphill
Weather: Hot

Race: This was my first timetrial. I think I was the only person with a roadbike without aerobars. Many people had all the TT gear (aero helmets, disc wheels, etc.) and it was intimidating but I had a skinsuit so I was okay.

My goals going in: I'm not a fan of timetrials and I don't think I'd do one if it wasn't part of a stage race. But my goals were simple. I didn't want to start too hard to risk blowing up. But I didn't think I started hard enough. I just wanted to cruise up to my heart rate and stick it there.

Outcome: I spent too much of the time worrying about my HR so I don't recommend looking at it during a TT. I didn't do so well in the race. I was 41st or so. THREE minutes behind the race leader whose time would have placed her in the top 20 of the pro 1/2 field.

Stage 2: RoadRace
Distance: 35 miles with mountaintop finish
Weather: Pouring Rain

Course: Long and Fast Downhill followed by long climb. We did 3 laps and then climbed Wachusett Mountain.Race: I was tired and stressed, which is not a good combination. I didn't warm-up because I got to the race too late. I was stressed because we were going 50 mph on the descent and it was pouring rain so I could barely see or use my brakes. I was at the back of the pack at the start and I was afraid to advance to risk crashing. The second climb broke up the group a little bit. But I got dropped on the second to last lap on the climb. I spent the entire last lap soloing back up to the pack. I caught the pack right before the climb and got dropped again. And then I had to climb Mt. Wachusett which was not that fun. I was going 5mph while my heartrate was >190 bpm.

Outcome: I got 53rd place, which put me in 54th in the GC. I was really fatigued and frustrated at this point, and was thinking about not doing the circuit race the next day. But my friends convinced me that I should at least start the circuit.

Stage 3: The Circuit Race
Distance: 7 laps (~22 miles)
Weather: Nice about 80-90 deg. No rain.

Course: There is a hill on every lap. Like a mini-manayunk wall. The finish is at the top of the hill. It was sort of technical; at least one chicane.

Race: My goal was just to sit-in and see how I feel. Even if I didn't get a good result, this would be good training. If I felt like it was unmanageable, I would pull out. I tried my hardest not to loose contact with the peloton. At the 50 meter mark from the finish, I was still at the back of the peloton, but somehow I was able to climb past people in the end.

Outcome: I got 8th place, which was a big surprise because I didn't even think about getting a good position on the last lap. I thought I would just keep finishing at 50th place or whatever.

Stage 4: The Criterium
Distance: ~1 mile loop, ~15 miles
Weather: Nice. No rain.

Course: Flat, slight incline at finish.

Race: I thought the day before was a fluke so my goal was just not to get dropped again. But this time I kept finding myself at the front, and went with the attacks, and was able to win some New England sprint points. I would've tried harder for the $100 sprint lap but I got caught up in the race and didn't realize that much money was on the line. Coming out of the last turn, I wasn't thinking that much about positioning (since my goal was just not to get dropped) so I didn't pick a wheel. I also didn't have my hands in the drops because I wasn't that concerned about winning the race or anything. But let's just say I accelerated from 400 meters to the finish.

Outcome: I got 8th place again, which was a big surprise again because I didn't even set myself up for a sprint.

What I learned:
-You can't get a top GC spot unless you have a good timetrial. I'm not a fan of timetrials (especially uphill timetrials) so this is probably something I need to work on.
-It's really hard to climb up a mountain after you've been racing already for 33 miles.
-Don't give up. One race doesn't dictate how you're going to do in the next race.
-Listen to the announcer and if they are going to give you $100 cash on the next lap, you should try to get it.
-Strategize about your finish before it's too late.
-It's really hard to get away from the peloton because everyone will work to chase you down in a big enough field.
-Don't be so concerned about your HR. It's a great training tool but I don't like racing with it.
-I like going fast. And cornering fast. It's fun.
-I like sprinting for points. It's fun.

-Lenore