2009 Racing Season Summary & Looking Ahead

The 2009 racing season is over. This is a good time to evaluate my performance over the past nine months and set my goals for 2010.

A look back at 2009 racing season: In sum, a year I will always remember – not for the best reasons. Some setbacks, starting with elective surgery with general anesthesia in mid-February. I was off the bike for a week and had to keep my heart rate below 130 for another couple weeks in order to prevent any bleeding. I was back to racing on March 7 with the Berkeley Hills team time trial. The season going well with my first stage race (Madera), first 4-person TTT (Altamont), Wente and Berkeley Hills road races, a 3-day Kenny Williams track clinic, and lots of track racing.

Then comes May 17 at the Hellyer Summer Race Series. I was racing in the women’s scratch race at the front near the stayer’s line. That is all I remember. My first memory is the trauma ICU two days later. Skull fracture, subarachnoid hemorrhage, broken clavicle, plus misc. skin and muscle damage. Lost a lot of blood (yea, EPO!) and contracted a deep chest cold in the hospital that lasted for a month. I was back on the rollers 5 days after getting out of the hospital and back on my bike on the road in 27 days. Very slow recovery, but each time out showed progress – so ready to participate in the Masters State Track Championship at Hellyer July 11-12 in the 500 meter and 2K pursuit. Last year, the highlight was winning the Masters Track National Championship in the 2k individual pursuit with a time of 2:59. I knew that my time was off this year, but I just wanted to do it. Thrilled to win the Masters State Track gold medal (only by 0.2 seconds) even with a slower time of 3:06. It was also nice to be named “Rider of the Month” in July by my Alto Velo WebCor Racing Team for my fast recovery victory.

The highlight of my season actually occurred post-season on Oct. 10 at the Old La Honda (OLH) Low Key Hill Climb with a personal best of 22:12. OLH is the benchmark on the Peninsula for climbers. I have been working so hard to recover and now I know I am better than ever.

My biggest disappointment was missing the Northern California Nevada State Time Trial Championships (Sattley) and the Masters Track National Championship (Colorado Springs) due to my head injury. A review of the statistics with some short commentary:# crashes & cycling injuries: 1 (super nasty head injury at track)# falls: 1 (can’t believe I make a sharp turn at the turnaround at Altamont TTT; scraped knee, lost a few seconds)# friends made through cycling: Many!# new cool bike stuff: upgraded my Orbea Orca with SRAm red gruppo, Quarq CinQo pwer meter with SRAM 900 compact double and Quarq CinQo power meter on Orbea Ordu TT bike
# Race Events this year: 19
2 hill climbs (I unsanctioned)6 time trials (1 tandem TTT; 1 4-person TTT; 4 ITT (3 unsanctioned)1 stage race (crit, TT, road race – not included in other totals)
2 road races 8 track events
Details: Hill Climbs:
San Bruno Hill Climb – 6/22 (improved time from last year by 2:31)
Old La Honda Low-Key Hill Climb – 3/16 (PR of 22:14)
Madera Stage Race: GC: 7/43 (should have been 6th but got penalty in TT)
Time Trials:
Berkley Hills TTT (tandem) – 3/8
Altamont TTT – 2/4
Esparto TT – 2/12
Canada Beat Beat the Clock TTs:
· Time 27:00 – placed 3/22
· Time 27:27 – 3/10
· Time 26:23 – 2/10 - a Personal Best

Road Races:
Wente Road Race (19/47)
Berkeley Hills Road Race (15/49) - in the lead peloton until the last climb
Track:
Match Sprint Tournament (April 5): won 1/3 sprints
Ed Stefani Memorial Grand Prix (April 11): 3/11 Australian Pursuit and Omnium Top Woman
Friday Night Track Racing (May 8): Points Race – 0
Match Sprint Tournament (May 16) – won 3/4 sprints
Summer Race Series (May 17) – the “Crash”
Beat the Clock Day at the Track: 5/10 in 2K pursuit
· Track Masters State Championship: 1/2 in the 2K pursuit; 2/2 in the 500 meterGoals for 2010:
I age up to 60+ in 2010 so this is a significant year for me with exciting and ambitious achievable goals.

Climbing: 20’ OLH time

TT:
First place at State Masters TT championship (& break USA W60+ record of 30:41)
First place at Nats Masters TT
Dunlop TT: get my time down to 48:00
First place at Esparto TT

Track:
Goal: 2:45 2K pursuit time at the track
First place at State Masters Track Championship – 2k pursuit
First place at Nats Masters Track Championship – 2k pursuit
First place at Worlds Masters Track Championship – 2k pursuit