Stage 1 – The Time Trial
The Tour de Murrieta starts out with a 4.1 mile TT, with the last mile taking place on well groomed but unpaved road. Which, for Holly, one of our new fearless youngsters who is a motocross/cyclocross aficionado, was a piece of cake. I think she said, and I may be quoting…”the dirt was fun! The TT was an excellent start for the SC Velo/Empower Coaching Systems team. Besides looking pretty darn good in our super cool skin suits from Champion Systems, we also placed very well. We had Ruth in 3rd, Amber in 4th (in only her second TT…), me in 3rd, and Holly picking up Omnium points as well in 12th, Jenny also did great…(despite her handlebars slipping down) and PC also had a strong ride…(even with her TT bars moving and slipping). I must say that I love the TT because there is no one taking my line…bumping me in the corners…or crashing on the cobblestones…that’s the story for the next Stage…
Stage 2 – The Grand Prix
Going into the Grand Prix we had our work cut out for us. Let me just say that I am glad Ruth and Bonnie must have done a lot of Gu shots before the race…because they did all the math, figured out all the numbers of the people we needed to watch…and had our strategy all planned out at the pre-race meeting.
An omnium is based on points, not time, and the TT is not weighed as strongly as the Grand Prix and the Circuit Race (when I rule the world the TT will count for double!). So we needed to watch several women and make sure that we placed in front of them. The plan was to try to keep Me, Ruth and Amber protected so we could finish strong. When Bonnie said that we had to “not be workhorses” I looked at Amber like “seriously?. If we aren’t work horses does that mean we have to sprint??? Holly, PC, Jenny and Bonnie were going to do their best to cover moves and pull back anything that looked dangerous.
This course is pretty technical, and almost a mile long. There are 7 tight corners, two with cobblestones that have caused some crashes in the past…and today was no exception. Just a little over 2 laps into the race (6 minutes) we were brought to a stop because a woman crashed on the cobblestones in the second to last corner. Since I was in the back I heard her go down…and looked back (you aren’t supposed to do that, FYI…but I wanted to make sure none of my team was caught up in it). The woman was out…not moving. We were neutralized immediately as we came around the crash. They red flagged the race and sent us back to the start. We waited for 15 minutes for the ambulance to get on the course and get the injured racer off to the hospital.
**(The injured woman is Kim Tom from Team Dude Girl and I am happy to report that is she is going to be okay. She has a minor fracture of her right eye socket, some staples in her head, black eyes…and stayed overnight in the hospital just for observation).**
Even though you try to not think about a crash when it happens, and just focus on the race, it does do a job on your head, at least for me. The first 6 minutes were smoking fast, and I can’t remember the last
time I have been stuck in the back of a field and unable to work my way up…it was pretty strung out the whole time. Right before the crash I remember yelling to Amber…”go, go, go, let’s move up”…problem is, Amber “went, went, went”…and I was like..oh crap I better get up there too. But then the crash happened and we were brought back to the start.
So, back at the starting line. My mom took a lot of pictures. The ones before the race began, and the ones before we were re-started. I can tell you, the looks on our faces are quite different. I’d say they went from enthusiastic anticipation, to something like reluctant yet forced enthusiasm mixed with thoughts of “oh my God, my Gu is wearing off now what do I do”. Luckily…I had some chomps stashed in my speed suit. However, I am not sure if all the Gu in the world could have prepared me for this 23 minute crit. Yes, that’s right. I think we had done 2 laps when I heard “8 laps to go”…”WHAT!!!!! I just kept looking for orange and blue…where was Amber…where was Holly…there they were, up front…Bonnie worked her magic, as she always does, pulling hard off the front…I tried a silly hail mary attempt to go off the front during the last lap, because, frankly, it was the only place I felt safe. (I only lasted 3 corners before getting swallowed up). There was a lot of “sketch” as PC put it. Amber and Holly did a great job of getting up there and placing in, or close to the top ten, as did Jenny. Bonnie worked hard and PC, Ruth and I fought our way through to arrive upright…which, in my humble opinion, was a pretty good outcome in this race. Just goes to show you that bike racing is something new and different every day. You can strategize and plan all you want before the race, but sometimes the stars just align in ways that don’t always match your plan. The key is to adapt and to do the best you can, and I think we did that. After the results were posted we had Amber in 2nd place GC, which was awesome!
Stage 3 – The Circuit Race
The Murrieta Circuit is a mostly flat 3.5 mile per lap circuit. Now, I have to preface this report by saying that I am prejudiced against anything that says “mostly flat”…and only “3.5 miles per lap”…to me..that just sounds like this is going to be a REALLY long drawn our crit…yes…I know, it’s not…but that’s what it feels like to me, and I’m writing the race report, okay! All right, enough whining.
So, we had Amber tied for second and our strategy was to keep her protected, and try to get her in a break and avoid a field sprint finish. The last corner in this course is tight, and it’s a long way to the finish and we had some strong sprinters in this group including Loren Rowney from Specialized-lululemon, (who ended up winning the race), Kendall Ryan from Tibco, and Jade Wilcoxson from Team Optum…and of course our great local women from Helen’s and Team Revolution who were well represented and did great in the criterium.
In our pre-race meeting I wish I had a camera to take a picture of Amber’s face when we said “So Amber, you have to stay protected in the pack, no attacking, save yourself for the breaks that matter”…That is kind of like telling a small child that they are going to Disneyland for the whole day, but they can only go on one ride…But, in a flat 43 mile criterium…I mean…circuit race, that is how you have to play the game…
Everyone on SC Velo/Empower Coaching did a great job today. Jenny Rios, one of our newest (and youngest) members, and Mexico’s National Champion, had some great attacks and rode like the true champion that she is. Bea Rodriguez was very missed by our team on Friday and Saturday…and we were so lucky to have her today. She rode at the front, protected Amber and provided great race strategy before, and during the race, as well as having a great finish at the end of the race. Our beloved “not-so” PC rode with her heart and soul, as she always does. She also protected Amber and chased down Julie Cutts from LaGrange late in the race (who was a strong threat to Amber), got caught, and still recovered to finish strong as always. Ruth and Bonnie were our rocks and our leaders for the weekend and just having them there, knowing they had our backs was comforting and empowering. Ruth is our master’s national and world champion and the level of racing is always a bit higher when she shows up. Bonnie, our amazing “granny” (her word, not mine, especially since I think I am older than her) was a rock. She is coming off a nasty injury in the last Ontario Criterium, where she suffered a punctured lung and fractured rib but still gave 100% today and provided lead outs both during the crit and the circuit race. Holly, another new and young addition to our team continued to prove what a strong, smart and smooth bike handler she is, as she continues to finish close to, or better than top ten in every race. Holly also did a great job of finding Amber and bringing her to the front and helping position her for the finish. I did my best to ride at the front and keep Amber out of the wind (although my strategy did not always work), while Amber acted like that little kid at Disneyland who couldn’t ride just one roller coaster. True to her competitive nature and strong form, Amber attempted some breaks…some off the front…but the field was just too big and no one was really putting themselves at risk. We had a lot of sprinters here today and some very experienced women who were happy to have this race come down to a field sprint…which basically it did. Bea and Holly did a great job of being up there for all the bumping and mashing that I am still afraid to get near. Amber also had good position going into the 3rd turn and then the swarm took over. Bea provided a wheel for Amber as did Holly but there was a lot of jostling going on (as told to me…because I was back about 12 seconds cheering my team on in my head) and Amber ended up a very respectable 11th, with Bea 12th, Jenny 17th and Holly 20th.
We won the overall team trophy and Amber took 4th in GC with Holly 12th in GC. And I am so proud to also say that Amber and Holly both qualified to be in the Nature Valley Pro Chase. It’s still very early in the season and this team has already raced over 16 races on their amazing Cannondale bikes and put in some time on the podium. We dearly miss Tammy Wildgoose (who we got to see this weekend and gave her some big hugs and slobbery kisses), Pam Schuster (who we hope is on her way to getting back on the bike soon) and Dotsie Bausch (as she continues to work the road to Olympic Gold…and still manages to find time to sneak out and win Ontario for us!).
Next up is San Dimas Stage Race. Everyone do a little dance to the rain gods and ask them to stay away til we are done racing!
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