San Bruno Hill Climb - Jan. 1, 2012

Happy New Year to all! I don't make New Year's resolutions - only set goals. It is time to revisit my blog and keep it up to date! Let's start with the New Year's Day San Bruno Hill Climb! San Bruno Hill Climb has become a New Year’s Day tradition for me – this marked my 5th in a row. Rich and I were in SoCal during the holiday week and drove back on New Years’ Eve – certainly an unfavorable race workout - c'est la vie. We had a great week on cycling including two track sessions at Home Depot Center LA Velodrome and some hill climbing on the road. It was a beautiful dry sunny morning and it felt really good to warm up on the road instead of the trainer. The temps were perfect at 10 AM for a hill climb!

I raced with the W 3/4s (no age categories for the women!) with a field of 31 riders. Some fast women – the #1 and #2 finishers were Cat 4 women who had faster times (18:56 and 18:57) than the #1 woman in the Pro/1/2 category! I learned from past experience at this hill climb to race my own race, i.e., don’t go out super hard during the first few minutes simply to stay with the leaders who are killing it. There was a pretty fierce head wind on Radio Road which made it painful. I passed Cybil S. from Early Bird Dev. with about 500 meters to go but then she hammered it and finished 7 seconds ahead of me. Overall, I am pleased with my results – set a PR with my time and a PR 20 minute power number. Placed 5/31 with an official time of 21:19 (Garmin 21:09). Rich raced with the young M Cat 4/5 45+ group since the 55+ was full - solid performance of 23:35 (30/35).

It was a great way to start the New Year – and to test our Cervello R5 Christmas presents.

Beat the Clock Time Trial, March 20, 2010

Start time at 7:59 but I woke up too early well before 5 AM. Had a decent warm up but the air temperature was chilly and my body and hands were cold at the start. I set a goal of a time between 26:00 – 26:30 – but realistically this was not the day for a personal best. I had no rabbit to chase – the guy before me went off 2 minutes earlier. Fast Liz Beneshin was one minute behind me so it would be a victory if she didn't pass me. Wishful thinking - she passed me on the climb before Edgewood and the rest is history. I felt OK but overall just couldn't deliver the power this morning, although I had a pretty good finish. Glad that this is still early in the season. Finished in 27:16 – good but not great. I view this as good practice for the TT at Topsport Stage Race MArch 27-28, 2010. Thank you Patt and the BTC volunteers!

Topsport Stage Race, March 28, 2010

I was not excited about a 3 lap/69 mile road race after the energy spent yesterday at the TT and circuit race. Yesterday, the promoter asked our group to vote on whether we wanted to race 69 miles or cut it to 2 laps/46 miles. The vote had to be unanimous – five women voted to do the 3 laps – boo! The amusing part was that the promoter then refused to even give the Cat 5 men or the Women 35+ groups the option to cut a lap because the Cat 4 women were doing 3 laps. My group went out last around noon; it was nice to have the morning to get organized, pack and more recovery time. Did a 30 minute warm up just to spin my legs out and we had a neutral roll out a few miles. The course was comprised of challenging segments of very rough roads, gravel, numerous cattle grates and two turnarounds per lap– just a few short hills/rollers. I was feeling pretty good and had no problem responding to any surges or attacks. A few people got dropped on the first lap and I figured I could make it through the 69 miles. Then the peloton got decimated at the narrow 180 turnaround by the lake – the group slowed down so much around the cone that we had to uncleat; the first 6 women around killed it into the wind. I hammered it and thought I could bridge up but to no avail, and we didn't have enough organization to work together to chase them down. Lesson learned – the breakaway was rather predictable and I should have been at the front. I bailed out towards the end of lap 2 and then cooled down because I knew that my third place GC position was gone – DNF. It was still a great weekend of training and, especially, a great time with good friends!

Topsport Stage Race, March 27, 2010

Rich and I are happy that we made it through Stages 1 & 2 at Topsport - I finished 3rd in the TT & RFA placed 10th, & both solidly in pack for the circuit race. We enjoyed a great dinner with Linda & John Elgart and Larry & Trish Wolff at Crusco's - tomorrow another day with a 70 mile road race

Berkeley Hills Team Time Trial, Feb. 20, 2010

Berkeley Hills TTT with Rich on the tandem. This was our 4th Berkeley Hills TTT on the tandem and is memorable as it was the first sanctioned race ever for us in 2007. We arrived almost 2 hrs. ahead of time but, for some reason, registration took 30 minutes. All in all, we got a pretty lousy warm-up. Air was heavy and some wind. There were 5 teams in the tandem category, 4 coed and 1 two-man team. We started second, 30 seconds behind a Team Clover team – never caught them and they finished strong, tied for 1st place with the Silverberg/Jarvis team- a little over 4 minutes ahead of us! The Silverberg/Jarvis team passed us on Alhambra Rd. (no surprise). The two-man team passed us after the right turn on Bear Creek before Mama Bear. Feel that is where we lost some time. We did well on the climbing. Along the way we passed 5 coed teams. Actual time 50:15 (official time 50:24 in error but no effect on placement). Our goal was 48 min., so disappointed in results. Placed 4/5; some fast tandem teams; even w/ time of 48 min we would have placed the same. Still enjoyed the event and good to see friends.

Madera Stage Race, March 12-13, 2010 - MEA Report

Cat: W4, Overall GC: 4, Field: 43

I did this stage race last year and was really looking forward to the race, knowing that it would be a fun weekend. Rich and I drove down Friday night in heavy rain hopeful that the weather forecast of showers tapering off for the crit Sat. morning would hold true. I was ecstatic to wake up to sunny skies, albeit windy.

Stage 2, Criterium, Sat. 9:50 AM – finished 26th with the pack.

This was my second crit (first was Madera last year)– my goal was simply to finish with the pack and move on to the next stage – mission accomplished! After the first couple laps, I anticipated when the group would surge and was prepared to respond and was better positioned.

Stage 3, Sharon ITT, Sat. 2:22 PM start tim. Time: 28:22 Place: 3/43

I was the first W Cat 4 out – I am used to it with the last name beginning with "A". There was a lag of 3 minutes between my group and the preceding Cat 5 men. Unlikely that I would catch anyone, but I did pass one guy shortly before the finish line– and no one passed me. I had an ambitious goal of 26:30 but that was not to be realized for several reasons. First, the wind was absolutely fierce which led to slower times generally for all. Second, I think that I was so relieved that the crit was over that lacked some of my TT inner drive. Third, on the second leg with a cross wind, I got stung by a bee on my right temple. I thought "HTFU" and picked it out of my hair/helmet – the bee definitely got the worst of it (although the side of my forehead today is swollen and red). But it did cost me a bit of time. I pushed through the strong cross/headwind & headwind on the last two legs of the course but it was brutal. Throughout the race I felt quite stable on the bike even with the wind and riding at 45 degrees at times. I decided to race with the rear disk but used Rich's Bontrager Race XXX Lite instead of my tri-spoke on the front. I love to TT and look forward to BTC TT this Saturday for great training. After the TT, I was third in the GC.

Stage 4, Daulton RR, Sun. 11:55 AM. Place: 13/43, 51 miles (3 laps).

I was happy to start in the second wave and have more time for recovery (especially with daylight savings time change). The first wave started ½ hour late, so that affected all of the second wave start times. The temps were perfect for a road race. Pretty uneventful the first two laps – I love the series of short roller coasters and found that after the first lap that I could easily take the lead on the rollers. We dropped part of the peloton on the first lap and more on the second lap. However, on the first leg of the 3rd lap we were neutralized single file for quite a while until a men's peloton passed up, which gave some women who were TTT'ing the course to rejoin the lead group. I wanted to be well positioned for the last climb on the rollers on the last lap for the finish and was moving up on the left just when someone at the front flatted and slowed the pace. I seized this opportunity and suddenly found myself in a solo breakaway with a sweet lead on the first roller. It was heaven and I felt strong – and then encountered a mechanical problem when I tried to shift. I made the mistake of trying to adjust the gears instead of just gutting it out. I lost my lead and finished 23 seconds behind the lead group (13th). Frustrating and disappointing, but live and learn, and at least I know I had the power – just didn't execute. Looking forward to Topsport Stage Race in 2 weeks!

Madera Stage Race, March 13-14, 2010 - RFA Report

Cat: M Cat 5, Overall GC: 18, Field: 46

This was my second year for this stage race and I was looking forward to it. Stage races are a blast. I know we have some very talented Cat 5 men racers and I encourage all of you to put Madera on your race card for next year. In two weeks, there is another Stage Race that is similar to Madera called TopSport and it is new this year. It has a circuit race, time trial and a road race. I am doing it and it would be great to have teammates. I would love to see one of our elite racers uncork a fast TT and put us in the GC lead! When I talk with racers about stage races some will say, " I do not have a TT bike and / or I have no TT experience". Well, as shown this weekend, all you need to post an excellent TT time is great legs, lungs and heart – the fasted TT time was posted by a racer on his road bike. And we have a Beat the Clock TT this weekend that provides a chance to practice. I hope to see some of you at TopSport and Beat the Clock!

Stage 1, CriteriumSat. 8:50 AM, Placed 10th.

Last year I got blown off the back in lap 3 and time trialed by myself. This year I rode with the pack, surfed wheels and tried different lines. Since we had a strong wind from the west, it put the home stretch in a cross wind. My goal was to finish with the pack and conserve energy. In turns 2 and 3, I used an outside line to end up shielded by the peloton from the wind and on turn 4, I used an inside line. The two primes were fast but no problem. On the finishing lap, I was near the middle of the pack but took the inside line. I got an alley and sprinted past a number of riders for 10th. I got the same time as the pack toward the GC classification.On turn 4 on an early lap, there was a crash right in front of me. This section of the road was into the wind and the front of the peloton bunched up. When the crash happened, I braked slightly, looked left and went around with no problem. I believe all the riders were back in the race that crashed – nothing serious.

Stage 2, Sharon ITT, Sat. 1:55 PM start time, Time: 28:28, Place: 20

I felt the crit in my legs and the wind was approximately 18 mph with gusts to 25 mph. It felt hard to pedal my TT bike against the wind in the easiest gear warming up, so I knew this was going to be a tough TT. My plan was to ride 80% on sections 1 and 2 and put in the hard effort when I was into the wind on sections 3 and 4. Normally, I race with a disc / trispoke combination but Coach Dan said not to use the trispoke so I substituted my Williams System 30 front wheel. Handling of the bike in the wind was not a problem. The ride into the wind was brutal and I was glad when it was over. An elite racer from Team Taleo posted a 23:XX time and took the lead in the GC. And he did it on his road bike. Team Taleo had 5 racers in Cat 5

Stage 3, Daulton RR, Sun. 11:35 AM, Place: 21, 51 miles (3 laps).

When we lined up, I was talking with the Taleo racers and they planned to control the race from the front and chase down any breaks. The wind was less than Saturday but would be a factor. As with the crit, I hid in the peloton and conserved energy. When we got to the Paris Roubaix section of rough road, I moved to the front behind Taleo. According to Coach Dan, breaks usually occur near the end of the rough road on the slight downhill section. There was a break and the front accelerated. I was in position behind the GC race leader. We killed it chasing the break and screamed up the rollers. I was fourth up the rollers and we caught the break at the neutral feed zone. Lap 2 was a repeat of lap one. Once again there was a break and this time, one guy got away. Once we were through the feed zone, the pace picked up and we went after the solo break. The pace through the rough road was fast. I was near the front for the uphill finish in the rollers but did not have enough left in the tank. I finished 37 seconds back. The leaders caught the single break and he finished 10th.It was a great race and a lot of fun. The cat 5 men were perfect gentlemen, great racers and a lot of fun to ride with.