2011 Cascade Classic race report from guest rider Lauren Liscninski

This past week I was lucky enough to race the Cascade Cycling Classic as a guest rider for SC Velo. The week was full of pain, suffering, and a lot of learning. This report is pretty lengthy, so read when you have time :) I think it's worth it....

The prologue was a 2-mile, technical, fast course. I wanted to not completely wreck myself knowing that I had five more big days coming and I wasn't looking for a GC placing, but it's hard to hold back when there's hundreds of people screaming at you. I made some mistakes on the technical turns and rolled in at 100th place. The cough I inherited that day would stay with me the rest of the week. 

Stage 1, the Mackenzie Pass RR seemed really ominous from the race bible. After 30 miles of descending/rolling hills there would be a 20 mile climb w a KOM, followed by a rolling section w a Sprint point followed by another 10 mile climb. This is where I coined my mental talk for the week, "Live w/in your means, dont get complacent, follow wheels." I faught to stay in the front of the washing machine and made sure not to burn matches chasing attacks. It paid off. Once we hit the climbs I was with a good sized group coming into the finish. I felt strong this day and it was definitely my favorite stage.
-Disappointment of the day, I lost an arm warmer on the course, so if anyone has an extra right arm-warmer size S or XS they want to donate, let me know. 

The next day was the time trial and it was clear very early on that I would be at a huge equipment disadvantage. I had a skin suit and clip on bars vs. full TT bikes, discs, aero helmets etc. I did my best during the TT, but my clip-ons slipped early in the race and I couldn't really put any weight on them. I finished most of the TT in the drops thankful to make the time cut and fight another day. 

The Mt Bachelor Road Race was another brutal day of suffering. The profile showed a start around 4000' a low point around 2000' with the final ascent toping out around 6500'. Not being a climber and living at 100' definitely had me apprehensive for the day. Did I mention it started on a 2-mile climb? I almost got popped the first 20 minutes but was able to force myself to make it back in. I've never been so convinced that my legs wouldn't pedal anymore but I focused on position during the descent and told myself it would get better. Thankfully it did, and my positioning paid off as I didn't notice many of the rollers we climbed towards Mt Bachelor. Once we hit the final climb the peleton completely shattered as we were all struggling to get up the mountain. I was on a solo mission for the time cut and managed to catch five girls along the way. It was amazing scenery as we finished atop a snow capped mountain with clear lakes and forests all around-I felt like I was in the TdF. We finished the 71 miles and all that climbing in just over 3 hours..no wonder I was so wrecked after. 
-Disappointment of the day: PC had a golden weiner from Weinerschnitzel attached to her bike to make us laugh the whole week and it passed on to weiner heaven somewhere on the road to Mt Bachelor. 

I had figured going into the race that the Criterium would be the easiest stage for me to make it through, and boy was I wrong. The race was fast from the gun and even once a break rolled off the front no one seemed really happy to let it stick. I hung out as best as I could in the draft just to make it through. The average speed was about 27 mph on the short, four-corner course. 

The final day would be the Awbrey Butte Circuit Race with the dreaded KOM up Archie Briggs Rd. We lined up to start our four laps and it was clear that everyone was as little tired. The climb into the feed zone was hard and I sagged the whole thing barely making it back on before the KOM. I was dreading the KOM and the steep pitch through the neighborhood. The climb to the KOM pitched up to 18% followed by a 6% section with the last 500 m to the KOM around 10%. I wanted to die, and I did. Thankfully some other girls died too and we worked together to catch back on through the rollers-there is really no respite on that circuit. Unfortunately the same thing happened on lap two, but we weren't so lucky this time. I rode the last 2 laps with a group of girls constantly in flux as we would catch, drop, or merge with other stragglers on the road. This was by far one of the worst days I've ever experienced on my bike, but I was determined to finish since this was my first NRC finish. I finished up the six-days 56th in GC out of an original 105 girls that started the prologue. All in all I am very happy with my performance. In the future I hope we can send our own team to this race to test our limits!

Random things learned during the week:

-During a 6-day stage-race I average 10.5 hrs sleep/night
-While with the SC Velo girls, do not leave your computer or phone ANYWHERE, they will hack your facebook
-A slab of meat can substitute as a fork when said fork is forgotten. 
-Foreigners do not appreciate mooning as much as Americans(contact me off group for this story)

2011 Cascade Classic race report from Katie Donovan

I'll fill in some blanks from Lisa's and Pam's reports.

Tara Whitten won the prolouge for the second year in a row.  They added a parking lot section to the course which made me super dizzy and sad, but I think some of the girls loved it.

The first stage got going on the first long climb. I was in a group that chased a break that had gone off earlier.  We gained minutes on the climb , but nobody really worked together in the valley. Andrea Dvorak attacked for the KOM on the first climb and attacked again on the second climb. By the time we caught her our group had dwindled down to four girls. Kristin McGrath and Andrea went for the sprint. I tried , but couldn't jump that hard. Kristin Lasasso was the fourth girl and after that girls came trickling in.
It seemed like the race for GC didn't play out until after the time trial. Clara Hughes won by 20 seconds to Kristin Armstrong.

Stage 3 was another road race. A break got away but I think everyone thought we'd catch the break on the final climb. We caught half the break. There were tons of attacks in the final 5k and a select group of about 15 rolled through behind the winners. Kristin and Clara were in that group.

I can't tell you what happened in the crit. I tail-gunned the whole thing. At one point I think I heard Thurlow yell at me to start riding my bike.

By the last stage my health was fading and I barley hung on.  My legs still felt strong but my head and lungs were suffering. Meredith Miller attacked on the second lap. I bridged and brought about 6 girls with me. I drove it hard until the break was established. Not all the girls were strong enough to work so the stronger girls kept attacking. I was not on that day and kept finding myself missing the jumps and having to chase. Janel attacked on the third lap. Robin and Anne went with her but I didn't have the legs. Tibco wasn't working and kept looking back so I figured they had girls bridging. They did, but the pack was right behind those girls and soon caught us all. The pack was a lot smaller by this time. I couldn't hang on the final climb and finished slightly behind the group.  I'm not sure who won , but Janel ended up winning the  GC. Overall , I would say that Colavita raced really well. Watching their team tactics play out in a race is a real eye-opener.

Bea, Dennis, Thurlow and James were amazing throughout the entire race. Dennis took care of our host really well too.

I enjoyed getting to race with Lauren. She fit in really well and was a great teammate. NOW should be proud to have her representing them so well.

2011 Cascade Cycling Classic Stage Race - Lisa Campbell

This  year’s CCC stage race definitely had its ups and downs for the SC Velo/Empower Coaching System’s team. Before we even left our team of 8 became a team of 7 as our teammate Ruth had to drop out to be by her mother’s side. Last year we had Dotsie managing us for this race, and we got spoiled…and whipped into shape a few times too. This year we had Dennis (of Dennis and Bea), the world famous Thurlow Rogers, and my husband James helping us out. Thurlow was designated acting team manager at the race meeting and he was a HUGE help to us, as was little Stevie…Pam’s son.

We started out with 7 riders, Pam, PC, Bea, Katie, me, and two guest riders, Lauren Liscinski from NOW and Kimberly Turner. By Stage 5 there were just 4 of us…and this is that story:

Prologue

For some reason the promoters  at this race see fit to torture us all with a short 2 mile prologue at 6pm the night before our first big stage race. It’s basically an out and back sprint with a little hill. We all had our “prologue cough” for the rest of the week since you feel like your lungs are on fire and bleeding after the 4 minute effort. Unless you are one of the women who finished it in under 4 minutes. (No, none of us did that.) But we all gave it our best and headed off to get some rest for stage 1 the following morning.

Stage 1 – McKenzie Pass Road Race

This stage is a remote start about an hour and 15 minutes outside of Bend. 73.5 miles with almost 7000 feet of climbing.  The start of this race has a very long downhill, which tests  everyone’s already jittery nerves. One hundred and four of us shoulder to shoulder going downhill at speeds approaching 50 miles an hour (my Garmin said 48.5 mph and PC’s said 49.5). There was an early crash but we all avoided it and the girls that went down were okay. The first climb was at a moderate pace thanks to a break that went off early (with SC Velo’s Katie Donovan in it). At the top of the climb there was some separation and we all got a bit strung out. The last climb up to the finish is a leg buster and when I came in I got the great news that Katie had taken 3^rd. An AMAZING job in what I think is the hardest stage. Everyone finished intact, tired…and in pain….lots of pain. Did I mention the pain?

I should note here, that we had Bea and Dennis staying with James and I (and my two crazy terriers) for the trip. Since my parents couldn’t go we had an extra bedroom and since the host housing was cozy it worked out perfectly to have Bea and Dennis with us. My husband James got to experience Dennis’s command of carnivorous cooking…something he doesn’t get at home since I’m a vegetarian. 

Bea and I took advantage of the Turkish soaking pool across from our rental house at the local McMennamins (it’s kind of a huge Epsom salt bath). On our way back from our soak Bea got the news that she didn’t make the time cut for stage one. A real bummer and just bad luck because Bea is one of the strongest racers both mentally and physically.  Remember that 6pm prologue…well Bea had a great finishing time. Our awesome sponsor Gu provided us with tons of nutrition and Bea took advantage of that by shooting a few caffeinated Gu’s. Good for the legs, bad for trying to sleep. This is how we learn so much stage racing. 

Stage 2 – Skyliners TT

Stage 2 is a 14 mile out and back time trial with about 1000 feet of climbing. As we were all warming up Bea, who had all the right in the world to feel bummed and sorry for herself,  was instead wrenching on all our bikes. She cleaned Katie’s bike, changing out her wheels to an awesome disc wheel in back and a deep dish in the front (courtesy of Thurlow). She had her stand out and was getting her hands greasy, making sure everyone was set up. She was the definition of teammate. Katie had Thurlow following her in the team car and I had Bea and James following me. James wanted to honk to let me know when to turn left into the finish, but thankfully Bea told him that probably wouldn’t be a good idea…see…great teammate. She saved James from my wrath because if he had honked at me while I was at heart rate of 185 into that last finishing stretch I would NOT have been happy.

Everyone was appropriately tired and in more pain after the 14 mile effort.  We all were a little bit worried about time cuts because the winners time was amazing. That’s the problem when you have two Olympic Gold Medalists time trialing out there. Luckily they extended the time cuts a bit and we all made it through safely except for our guest ride Kimberly. 

And then there were 5…

Stage 3 – Cascade Lakes Road Race 

Stage 3 is yet another road race with lots of climbing, but this one has more flats. Last year they took off like firecrackers at the beginning of this race. Maybe that doesn’t sound so bad, but the first 2 miles is uphill. This year they hit it hard again and we all managed to push through our pain to stay in the peloton. This stage was great for us as a team. We all stayed together and up front for the most part. Speaking for myself. I can say that I was just so star struck to actually be riding next to Clara Hughes, and Kristen Armstrong. I was feeling mighty  grateful (but still in pain) to this great team for giving me the opportunity to be doing this amazing race. A small  break got away and the peloton attacked just before the final  climb, but couldn’t quite pull them in. We all finished strong and I think the mood was lighter at the end of this stage. We had little Stevie handing out water bottles to his mom Pam, and he did a stellar job. We also have video of little Stevie having a conversation before the race with the yellow jersey (Clara Hughes) about  Earth years versus Venus years. Did I mention that he was wearing a Gu box on top of his head during this? 

Stage 4 – Bend Downtown Criterium

To be fair, I have to preface this part of the report by saying everyone knows that criteriums are not my favorite type of race. That being said, this team has helped me get a gazillion times more comfortable and confident in them. As expected this race was fast. Almost 27mph average on my Garmin. A break did get away and hold off the field, but the part where they were chasing the break down was wearing me down. My teammates always tell me to stay in front, so that’s what I tried to do. I didn’t find out until after the race that our very own “not so” PC had gone down hard early in the race and took a nasty blow to her head. She was in the medic tent, more worried about the scrape on her new tattoo, than the state of her head…so I knew she was going to be okay. She did, however, have a concussion and was definitely having trouble remembering things for a little while. Understandably, everyone was a little down after this stage. Crashes are never good, and when it’s someone you care about, it’s even worse. But after some Advil and a huge plate of pasta cooked by Dennis, she was feeling better. I think the Reese’s peanut butter cups helped too.

And then there were 4…

Stage 5 – Awbrey Butte Circuit Race

Did I mention that we are all tired and feeling some pain at this point? But it is the last stage and with that comes some much needed motivation. We were seeing the light at the end of the stage race tunnel. Our weather up to this point had been perfect. Low 80’s, not too hot or too cold. Today was the first hot stage. It’s a 4 lap almost 17 mile circuit with some steep stair stepper power climbs and lots of room for high speed breaks and powerful surges. Unfortunately, I can’t provide a lot of info on this stage because I was off the back from mile 8 until mile 71. But this is a 68 mile race.  Well, I made it 71 miles when, after having to dismount twice and get neutral support’s help for a chain that wanted to keep dropping, I put my head down and missed a turn. When I got DOWN to Hwy 20 I had that sinking feeling (worse than the sinking feeling I had when I watched the peloton ride away) of knowing I was never going to be able to catch back on. So I climbed back UP (yes, my detour involved a climb), found the turn, yelled at the volunteers for not keeping me on course and time trialed for about 30 miles before it really sunk in that I  was out of this race. By the way, when they say “know the course” in the race bible…they really mean it.  The first time I passed the feed zone I was so far off the back no one was out to hand me a bottle (can’t really blame them, no one knew I was gapped) so I did lap 2 without any water. I tried drinking my tears, but that didn’t work. (Just kidding, I wasn’t crying…yet). On lap 2 I got caught and lapped by the men’s pro peloton and couldn’t get over to my team, luckily I grabbed a bottle from neutral. On lap 3 I had the pleasure of being mooned by PC, which kept me going for lap 4. Which I finished, way, way, way off the back. Like 40 minutes off. I am happy to say that I did get that last place finish, and not time cut. Also I am happy to say that my team sat in the parking lot and waited for me to come in. What  I remember most from this stage is hearing Pam ride by me saying “Oh no”..as my chain dropped and dangled off my crank…Hopefully others can fill you in on the activity of this stage.  I’m sure it was exciting, but for me it was humbling. As I rode through the small crowds along the course…all alone…I heard one person whisper…”she’s last”. It was so quiet, I could hear a fan whispering those two words. There were no cowbells ringing, no whoosh of tires going by…just me, all by myself. You know what I thought about for those 62 solo miles. I thought about how lucky I was to be able to be out here riding my bike, racing with all these amazing women, even if they were in front of me. I couldn’t think of a better thing to be chasing. Oh, and with about  1 mile to go I heard this noise behind me. I turned around and James was behind me, hazard lights flashing giving me a thumbs up. That helped me limp my way home.

The 2011 Cascade Experience - By Pam Schuster

Cascade Classic through the eyes of the elderly brought back many memories of traveling, eating, resting and racing harder than one can imagine.  The scene was the same, however, all the names except for 2 had changed for me.  Clara Hughes and Anne Sampolonius were still out there and hadn't skipped a beat finishing on the podium in the end.  Each day was filled with excitement highs and lows.  The first day was a 2 mile prologue which paved the way for the future pain to come.  Day 2: the plan was to stay up in the front of the peloton and see where we were after that.  Katie had great ride and finish 3rd in the stage! Looking forward to her report for the details.  Day 3 was the 14 mile time trail, and you guessed it more pain and challenge.  Day 4 was another challenging road race where we all moved up in standings.  Day 5 was the downtown criterium with a zillion fans cheering for us followed by the final day when once again our limits were tested and finishing was the prize for the day.  The whole team learned and bonded with our hearts never giving in to the pain of the day.  Now that I have mentioned pain 60 times did I will mention that we all are coming home more fit and experienced than one week ago!  I must also mention that the support we recieved from our volunteer staff was amazing.  They even taught my 8 year old son Stevie how to hand me up feeds.  I guess the table has turned, time for him to start feeding me after all these years of feeding him.  He provided the staff and team with constant entertainment!  I feel very grateful to still be able to race with these young women professionals who many are less than half my age and let me know it each day!  None of it would be possible without our great sponsor support which we are very thankful for!