Snelling Road Race - 2/25/2012 By Amber Gaffney

Snelling Road Race is the unofficial start of the Northern California racing season. The Northern CA teams were well represented; in particular, Stevens, Metromint, TibcoII, Red Racing, and Touchstone all had great turnouts. There were also women from a few other teams, including Vanderkitten, who came out to usher in the start of the Northern CA season.

            This is what I’ll deem a Nor Cal “flat” course, which consists of mostly rollers and no large climbs or descents. The race consisted of five approximately 12-mile laps. I started the race having to fight for position and got pushed around quite a bit. I eventually made my way up to the front and fought to keep second or third wheel, jumping on the front when appropriate. Because I am not familiar with the riders in this area, I treated every rider as if she was a breakaway rider and did not let anything go up the road without me on a wheel. This was a tiring strategy, but it kept me in a comfortable position and certainly provided me with a great workout.  If you read my UCLA Road Race Report, you will recall that I was a little “bummed” that I didn’t have a headwind on the flat section of the course. What in the world was I thinking? There were headwinds and crosswinds on most of the Snelling course- the one portion with a tailwind, although beautiful because we were surrounded by blooming fruit trees, was rough, as the road was not well paved and was filled with potholes. The headwinds hit us on a few of the rollers, and we had to grind gears to get up the short climbs. The crosswinds nearly knocked me over.

            Stevens set the pace for the race, always having at least one rider on the front. A few breaks made attempts to go up the road, but I covered all of them. On lap four, I was in a break with women from Vanderkitten and Metromint. A few other riders joined us and I worked hard to increase our gap on the field. Unfortunately, I pulled a very “Amber-like” move and missed a turn (I was seriously spacing out). I veered off of the road into the grass and nearly went down. I had to work very hard to stay up and even harder to catch back up to my group. When I finally caught on, I was unsure if I would have it in my legs to take off with two miles to the finish as I had planned. I hesitated for too long, and a woman from Exergy went hard. My legs were tired and I knew that I had missed my opportunity. Her gap increased and it was clear to me that she had won the race at this point. With approximately one kilometer to go (I should have made my move earlier), I broke away from the group and went hard. A few women went with me and I sprinted (yes, I sprinted and yes I was in the drops!) on the uphill finish, taking fifth. Apparently many of the riders had dropped off on the second and third laps, so fewer women finished than started. This was a competitive field with many strong and hardworking women and the course was not an easy, but it was a great workout and a fun race.

Pine Flat Road Race - 2/19/2012 - Holly Breck

The following day from cantua creek road race my brother and I went up to Fresno, spent the night and raced Pine Flat road race the next day. So totally unlike cantua, pine flat is not flat at all. Its one sixty-three mile loop of up or down rolling roads with steep hills thrown in the middle and end. Ending with a mile steep hill top finish. Once again the field of women was pretty little but better then the previous day. On the line I noticed some of the same girls were there from yesterday’s race including the kenda gear grinder girl who had won. The first little bit of the race is neutral because you start on a 15% grade for like ¼ mile out of the parking lot until you reach the main road which goes to about 4-6%. Once reaching the main road the pace was a lot better then the  day before. Good tempo pace all day, people talking, taking  pulls and having a good time. Since this race has all the climbing about 15 miles from the finish no one really tries anything till then. So the first 45- 50 miles of the race was good tempo, conversation pace. We started with 12 women and by the time we hit the climbs we were loosing women, including myself at one point, left and right. At the first major climb metro mint launched an attack and  got a gap on the rest of the field. She started the shattering of the field including popping myself off the back but I was able to catch back on at the top just before decent where we caught her as well. At this point we were down to five women. In between the two major climbs there is a decent of about 2 miles long. So the five of us mashed down the hill, hit a few rollers tiring out two other women. By the time we hit the last and final climb we were down to three of us, kenda gear grinder, myself and one other.  Hitting the last mile long steep climb felt like hitting a wall. My legs where very tired and I didn’t know exactly how much the more I could give. As we climbed up the hill we hit the final 200 meter sign, this time kenda gear grinder held the same steady pace popping the other girl off her wheel, leaving me to try to close the gap. I gave everything I had once again got around the third place girl and came in second behind kenda gear grinder. Breathing as if I  was being held under water for a long time I congratulated first place and pedaled 7 miles back to my car. Great weekend of racing and I cant wait till the next one. 

UCLA Road Race - 2/18/2012 - Amber Gaffney

The UCLA Road Race comprises nearly the same course as Devil’s Punchbowl, excluding the final turn and climb. The course is hilly, has a decent amount of climbing, and has the potential for a nice headwind, given its location in the desert. With this course description in mind, I am shocked that only seven women raced the Women’s 1-3 race.

            Halfway into the first lap (after the first climb), it became obvious that we had perfect weather for a race. The other racers were friendly and the first lap was on the slow side, with only a few accelerations that dropped two riders. We lost one other woman on the descent, but her teammate worked hard to slow us down so that she could catch up with the group. We formed a nice pace line and worked together on the flattest section of the course, which actually had a few mellow rollers and false flats. The second lap started slowly as well. There were a few attempts to speed up the group, but the second lap finished with the main “pack” all together.

            I attacked at the beginning of the first climb of the third lap. This was quickly caught, but I countered my attack on the next steep section and broke away with another woman. We worked hard up the last part of the climb, me on the front, but I gave her an elbow to pull through on the descent. We pushed the descent, each of us taking hard pulls. When we got to the “flat” section, we each took a few pulls, but I wanted to make sure that our gap was comfortable, so I took a hard pull, trying to keep the other racer with me. She soon fell off of my wheel, and I was alone. I crossed the start/finish line and started the final lap on my own.

            As I started the first climb of the last lap, I pushed myself, knowing that this is where I could best broaden my gap on the other women. I climbed hard and sat down to spin when I felt my legs start to fatigue. I hit the backside of the course and noticed the same white (grey) horse that I remembered from Devil’s Punchbowl last April. I was then descending. I pushed the descent, knowing that at least three of the other women could be very quick in this section. I did my best to ignore the crosswind and used riders from other races as my carrots.

            On the final “flat” section I had a tailwind (I was hoping for a headwind here). I pedaled hard through this section, but made sure to keep spinning. Because I refused to look back, I had no idea where the other women were at this point, but rounding the final turn into the final climb, I knew that I had locked the win. I pushed up the last climb, not maxing out my effort and I finished alone. Finishing on a climb is so fun!

Cantua Creek Road Race - 2-18-12 - By Holly Breck

Cantua Creek road race is flat with overpasses and a mile in half up hill finish course. Its definitely a sprinters course cause the hill finish is only about 4 - 5% and not really long enough to pop anyone off the back but definitely enough to hurt. In the women’s 1-3 race, we had to do two laps which was fifty-six miles and the weather started out pretty good, sunny with a little bit of cloud cover but by lap two the head wind was really annoying and it got a bit chilly. Unfortunately it was a small field of 12 of us so not much hiding room at all. On lap one on the way out it was dinosaur slow. I think we were going like 13mph. I was going crazy!!!! My warm-up before this was faster. So Kenda gear grinder and I threw a couple attacks and people responded to some but wouldn’t help pull or do any work. We hit the turn around and did the same thing on the way back but still again no one wanted to do anything except get pulled around on either mine or kenda gear grinders wheel. So I finally just sat forward’s the back of the pack, but still was watching incase something happened, clear until the end of lap two. About a mile away from the finish we caught one of the men’s fields that had started before us. With a mile to go I moved myself up from mid pack to about third. We hit the one k sign and then that’s when people started to get excited. Just before the two-hundred meter mark the men’s field just ahead of us had a crash on the hill so there was about four men scattered all on the hill for our finish. Still no one had made a move so I attacked. Thinking I could hold about a two-hundred and fifty meter sprint I was weaving in and out of people up the hill. Kenda gear grinder jumped as well but was able to hold it a tiny bit longer pulling first with my out of breathe body coming through for second. That was really the only hard part of the whole race but it was a fun flat course to race on for sure.

Red Trolley Criterium, 2/5/2011 - San Diego, CA

SC VELO/ Empower Coaching

The Red Trolley course is a fast, technical four-corner course. The third corner (or bend, rather) is a fast descent the leads you to the uphill finish stretch which in this case puts you right into the wind.

Holly Breck, Bonnie Breeze, Jenny Rios, Amber Gaffney and I had our work cut out for us with strong women from Team Revolution, Helen's and LaGrange, as well as a Canadian rider who had contended for the win the day before at the Boulevard Road Race.

Holly Came in 4th, myself 6th, Amber 8th, Jenny 17th, and Bonnie rolling in after an awesome effort to set up the team. The team had a strong showing, attacking as well as covering attacks. Every lap there seemed to be an individual or group up the road. Amber was a machine attacking more time than I could keep track of. The rest of the team also made awesome attempts to make a break, but nothing stuck. The hill made it hard to recover quickly and this kept riders from risking the energy necessary to stay away. The pace picked up going into the final laps and Holly was able to get to the line, just one spot shy of the podium. For one of the first really hard crits of the season the SC VELO/Empower Coaching Ladies had a great showing.

-Beatriz Rodriguez

Race Report: Boulevard Road Race - February 5, 2012 - By Amber Gaffney

When we arrived to the start location for Boulevard Road Race, I almost refused to step out of the car- it was COLD! I reminded myself of the stories that I had heard of this race in previous years (e.g., snow) and tried to consider myself lucky. “Warming” up on my bike, however, I did not feel lucky- just cold.

            Bonnie led Jenny, Holly, and me in our pre-race meeting. She told us that we needed to ride smart in this race and that it would be a race of attrition. When the race started, I found myself pushed ever-closer to the mid-back of the field and I watched with envy as Jenny very skillfully worked her way up to what I knew was a perfect position. Bonnie appeared out of nowhere and led me up to the perfect position in the field. When I reached this position, I sat in comfortably and occasionally took a few pulls, feelings of coldness long forgotten.

            The first part of the first lap included a great deal of descending. When we reached the rollers, a woman with green booties attacked and was gone! None of the riders I had been watching closely made any move to chase her, and I assumed that an attack on the first lap of this race would soon be brought back. We soon learned, however, that she had gained a two-minute gap on the field. This knowledge was enough to motivate around eight of us to start taking pulls and speeding up. At this point, I lost track of both Bonnie and Jenny, but Holly and I took our pulls and the field eventually caught the woman in green.

            There were a few sketchy moments in the second and third laps- a fire truck and ambulance at the bottom of a descent and a big rig truck across the road certainly woke me up and produced several shouts from unpleased women in the field.

            Nearing the last third of the second lap, a woman attacked and slowly moved off into the distance. Once again, no one appeared nervous and I rested in confidence that she wouldn’t be off for long. However, when we reached the feed zone, Jacob (a member of our wonderful support team that also included Fernando and Benny) informed me that she had over a one and a half minute gap. Once again, the field kicked it up, starting the last lap, with about six or seven of us taking fast pulls to reel the woman off the front back to us. One of the strong women in the field from La Grange had a mechanical (a broken spoke) and pulled off to change out her back wheel.

Mean while, we hit the descents and Holly showed pure strength, leading us down the descent and I stayed directly on her wheel. I knew that if we wanted a win, our best chance was for me to attack the rollers and the upcoming climbs and to get a break and catch the woman off of the front. The first roller we encountered, I attacked (to no avail), but I countered my own attack and broke off briefly with another woman, but the field quickly caught us. The next hill we hit, I attacked again, and another woman and I successfully broke away. I pulled up the long moderate grade, and the woman behind me let me know that she didn’t think she had it. I was sad to see her go, but I wanted to catch the woman off the front and I was soon chasing alone and being chased by the field, with about 12 miles to go. On increasingly steep sections, I went harder, and I eventually saw the woman that I wanted to catch. I pulled ahead of her and hoped that we could work together. She happily took my wheel and eventually took a few pulls on the downhill sections. I realized that our speed was not quick enough, and I put in longer pulls and then I was alone. I knew that Holly was back in the field working for me, but a few miles alone in the headwind was scary. Each time I felt tired, I reminded myself that everyone was hurting and I went harder. The steeper the hill, the harder I went. The greater the headwind, the harder I tried to ride. Crossing the line felt really nice! I waited at the line for the other riders to roll in now scattered, as the field had clearly broken apart on the last set of climbs. Holly finished at 10^th place and I felt so grateful for her hard pulls on the downhill (she did more than “hang in there” as she claimed was her only goal for the race!) Another great day and another race with multiple top 10 spots from our team!