Chuck Pontius - Santa Clarita - 4/29/2012 by Holly Breck

This was my first year racing Chuck Pontius. It’s a fast four corner course with a slight riser before the finish. It was a nice, hot, toasty day out, so prior to the race I made sure to hydrate with some wonderful orange pineapple Gu mix and water and had a pre made up one in my icebox for after.  So for the race it was Amber, PC, Bea and myself (Holly). Our plan was to take it easy the first twenty minutes or so and just see what would happen. Then if nothing happened, start firing riders off.  That’s exactly what we did. We watched to see if anyone was going to make moves and if someone did we would counter or cover. A few went but nothing really stuck. At about the 20 minute mark Amber launched an attack taking two La Grange, two Helen’s, one NOW and PC.  Bea and I missed the spilt and were in the chase group.  For about two or three laps we could still see them in sight. No one was doing any work to chase the chase group and I wanted to help my other teammates out in the break so I attacked my field, took a quick peak to see if anyone went with me cause I didn’t want to drag the whole field up (thanks for the reminder  PC and Bea) and saw no one with me.  I put my head down and caught the breakaway.  Once I caught the breakaway I had just enough time to recover for more attacks that they were throwing out. After a few laps they all kind of settled down a little and nothing was happening so I attacked with 7 laps to go. Not really sure what I was thinking at this point. Not a chance in the world I was going to stick it but I thought I’d try. Once again I was by myself and Amber and PC did an amazing job slowing down or covering the group behind me. I was out for 3 laps and I could here Dennis on the back side of the course “ good job, keep going”, but unfortunately every corner I’d peak and see them getting a little closer and a little closer. As soon as I got caught Amber launched an attack like I have never seen before. So aggressive that I barely caught back on and it just about popped me off the back. Everyone chased and stayed on so she and a few others kept the pace high. Now with one lap to go. PC and Amber were in really good position. They kept the pace high as it was needed and coming into the final corner they were sitting 1^st and 2^nd.  Sprinting there butts off I could only watch in awe as they did a prefect lead-out for each other taking 1-2 and Suzanne from Helen’s taking 3^rd and me rolling in 4^th. I believe that felt like one of the hardest sprints I’ve done for a while. That was one heck of a sprint ladies and hats off to PC and Amber for such an awesome job. I’m really looking forward to then next few races coming up. 

From the Field at Vlees Huis Road - 4/21/2012 - Amber Gaffney

Race Report from the field!!

The Vlees Huis Road Race is in Bakersfield, CA. It is a two-lap course, finishing at 60 miles. When we arrived at the start of the race, two things surprised me: 1) the race played good music; 2) it was green and pretty out there! Ruth, Lisa, Bea, Holly, and I were out to represent the team and armed with a specific plan of action. The race started with a descent- to our left rolled freight trains and to the right rolling hills. The pace started excruciatingly slow and the field rotated, always with two riders on the front. We saw a roadrunner, which was the highlight for me during this portion of the race. Shortly after the first set of climbs, I rotated back past Lisa and Ruth, who shared a knowing look. As I took my place in the field, they launched a double attack and were quickly away. Holly, Bea, and I moved to the front to block.

            As we completed the second out-and-back portion, I waved Ruth and Lisa on and we started the climb. I sat in, refusing to work as Ruth and Lisa worked incredibly hard off the front in their break (I must admit that Bea kept me in line here, making sure that I was spinning). As we approached to the first out and back point for the second time, we could see Ruth and Lisa’s lead, which motivated women from the two other major teams represented (La Grange and Colavita) to move to the front and pick up the pace. We eventually came back to the start/finish to start our second lap and Bea, Holly, and I kept the pace very slow for a while. I would like to add here, that I had a successful feed from Jake and Denis (thanks!), which I DID NOT drop! Occasionally, one of the solo riders would get on the front and drive the pace and three riders made an attempt to bridge the gap (with two one of those riders being successful as the other rider was quickly dropped from the break). The peloton slowly closed Ruth and Lisa’s gap. As we did so, I made sure to on the third wheel. We approached Ruth and Lisa on a climb and I attacked hard. I knew that I had to get away and I had to do it fast and hard to ensure that Ruth and Lisa’s hard work was worthwhile. As I attacked on the steep climb, I looked back and saw a La Grange rider coming with me and I was grateful for the company and the presence of a strong, hard working rider.

            My two-woman break moved quickly up the climb, me on the front. I knew that La Grange could not pull through just yet because she had worked hard to catch Lisa and Ruth. I kept the pace hard up the climb and she pulled through on the descent. We created a huge gap between the rest of the field and us very quickly. I pulled us hard up every climb, determined to have a huge gap that could not be caught. After the last out-and back point, I saw my teammates who looked pleased to see how large of a gap we had created. I think that Bea yelled at me to not work too hard!

            La Grange and I climbed quickly and worked together on the descents and through the flats. The field was nowhere in sight as we rotated through the last flat section, the trains now to our right. As we neared the last climb, La Grange moved to my wheel and let me know that she was saving everything that she had left. I stayed on the front and pushed the first part of the last climb. At this point, I saw Jake cheering me on and at one kilometer to go, I pushed hard and attacked from the front, getting a small gap. My gap increased as I climbed harder and I was up the hill, alone. I sprinted through the line getting the win that was the result of a well-executed team plan. A rider from Colavita had attacked out of the field and finished a hard-earned third. Ruth and Lisa took 7^th and 8^th in the field sprint, respectively and Holly and Bea took 12^th and 13^th respectively.

From the Break at De Vlees Huis Ronde - 4/21/2012 - Lisa Campbell

Race report from the break!

I still don’t know exactly what the title of this race literally means. They call it “A race for the strong”…but what race isn’t? This year they could have called it “A race for those that love the heat, the bees, the snakes and the lizards”. Because all of that and more was out on the course with us. You know you are in trouble when the officials tell you on the starting line “Watch out for the bees and keep your mouth closed when you come back to the start for the turnaround and the finish”.

SC Velo/Empower Coaching Systems was represented today by Ruth, Amber, Holly, Bea and I. We had our usual pre-race pow-wow and Ruth (smartly) decided we should not do our usual style of attacking, but take people by surprise. We planned to go early, well before the first long climb and get out in front, make the other teams chase and give Amber a chance to rest and then if and when our break was caught she could do her thing. It was hot and toasty on this race day topping out at almost 100 degrees when the day was over…warm for April. Luckily we started at 8:30 so we didn’t have the searing heat until the second lap of our race. However, we did have great support from Dennis, Jacob and Holly’s brother Denny…thankfully, they were handing us out Gu bottles just as fast as we needed them.

The field was pretty small, under 20 riders, with Colavita, and LaGrange represented, as well as a sprinkling of other teams. It was all nice and chatty (and downhill) in the beginning. I knew I was in trouble when Amber started singing me Bob Dylan songs and told me her heart rate was under 100. (Not telling you what mine was…and just kidding Amber, you have a lovely singing voice). Just about the end of Amber’s second verse, I looked back to see what was happening, and Ruth nodded at me. I was kind of near the front…so slipped back towards Ruth and she took off, with me on her wheel. We just went; we didn’t look back...not for a long time. In fact, we didn’t speak for a long time. Our break came at about mile 3 or 4…and we finally took a look back around mile 10...I would say that our gap varied between 30 seconds…and a minute, at different points of the race. It seemed like a long time we were just out there, taking turns on each other’s wheel. As we started up the climb Ruth reminded me to not kill ourselves and just keep the gap that we had, to just make them work, and hopefully our team was just sitting in...getting ready to counter attack if we were caught.

Not gonna lie…I was SUPER EXCITED to be on a break with my own teammate. And such an experienced teammate who knew just how hard to push and when to back off. We had several rattlesnake sightings and many lizards darting out around us. Ruth noticed the snakes, I think I was too busy trying not to blow up, shoving Gu Chomps and gels in my mouth and sneaking peeks back behind us when I could. This course is great a because there are switch backs where you can see exactly where the peloton is, and then climbs where you can get out of sight. At the first turn around we were able to see that Amber was NOT on the front (good job Amber), and Bea and Holly were tucked in to the pack, doing their job.

As we made our way back to the start finish we practiced our TTT work…and surprisingly (at least to me), the pack did not make any time on us. We headed to the start for our turn around and there was a massive swarm of bees ahead of us. We had to zip up, put our heads down and just ride through them. Once around and through the bees we checked in to make sure no one was stung and then just time trialed it again to the first climb of the second lap. Half way up the climb we could see that the pack was pushing their pace now, and they stayed under 30 seconds behind us. A few minutes more and Ruth said “here comes someone”. It was 2 girls who had bridged up to us. They caught us and were pretty excited, they said “we got it, let’s go”. I was like, “you go, have at it”. They would push the pace, and then drop back, while Ruth and I just stayed steady. Finally Ruth said, “okay, let’s get a pace line going”. So we did, but the two girls would slow it down, or speed up. It was not very organized and my legs were in no mood for cat and mouse, especially since Amber was behind us and we knew the pack was gaining. I wanted to wait to do anything til we knew where our team was. One of the girls said “what are we waiting for, let’s go”. I said, “You go ahead, I’m serious, race your race, if you want to go, go”. So she went…but didn’t last very long. She attacked a few more times, each time we rolled back up to her. One last surge at the top of the hill, and Ruth jumped on her wheel. I felt my legs saying “that’s it, you are done”. I was a bit panicked at the 190 HR I saw…and thought “Oh great, I’m done and we have 15 miles left”..but somehow I looked at Ruth’s wheel, bridged up to it, and thankfully we had a downhill to the turn around. Once we hit the turnaround the pack was within seconds of us and as we climbed back up Ruth said “here they come”. We were probably at mile 42 or 43. They caught us just as the road got a little steeper and Amber did exactly what we hoped she would, as Ruth yelled “Go Amber go”…she went…and Julie chased her. Another Colavita went after them but she was too far off the initial attack and hers was a solo attempt that would land her third. I made the mistake of chasing after Colavita because I knew we could get her and reel her in. However, I heard Ruth yelling for me to stop and reminding me that I was just pulling everyone along and we needed to eat and drink and recover in case something happened and Amber needed us.

So that’s how our next 15 miles went. Colavita, La Grange and our team were represented in the break and the peloton, so none of us were doing any work. The other women would push the pace, do a few little attacks, but for the most part we just stuck together. I made a fledgling attempt at an attack with 2 to 3 miles to go but it didn’t go anywhere. There is a long climb to the finish and going up it we heard Dennis say “Amber got it”…I know that made both Ruth and I very happy…I think it made us so happy that we forgot to shift into our big ring as the climb leveled out…and as the other girls stood up and sprinted we stood up and…well…you get the picture. I am blaming it all on my bike being in the little ring. Otherwise I would have nailed that field sprint for 4^th!!! That’s my story and I am sticking to it. It was a great day of teamwork by everyone, on a very tough, very hot day. Next time we see this course will be the state championships in June. 

LA Circuit Race 4/22/2012 - By Priscilla Calderon

So there we were... Amber, Ruth, Lisa, Holly, Bea and myself ... Discussing the game plan we agreed it would be best to try to win from a break away... Although a few moves did go up the road w us in it countless times, the field was relentless and didn't let anything go... With half lap to go, We had one last go and shooting Amber off the front, but to no success. Now it was time to set up our sprinters .. This has to be the worlds longest sprint .. W Bea and Holly sitting pretty in the last few meters .. Holly delivered a solid third with Bea following closely for fourth .

Race Report: Copperopolis Road Race - 4/7/2012 - Amber Gaffney

I made my way up to Northern CA, deep in farm country in the central valley without the

team (but with Jake as support) to race the 32nd annual Copperopolis Road Race. The course

description detailed a good amount of climbing and a technical descent on a VERY rough road.

Given my desire to improve my descending skills, I figured that I would need the practice.

The morning started off very cold (cold enough for me to leave my Champion System

arm warmers on!) and there was a decent sized field of many strong women and teams. I staged

myself directly at the front of the field and held second and third wheel throughout the first

climb of the first lap. I nearly missed the first turn of the race, which I suppose is an official trait

of mine at this point. On the first climb (a long, steep, twisty climb on a narrow rough road),

there were a few attacks from Steven’s and one promising looking attack from an Optum

woman. My third wheel position allowed me to easily cover Optum’s attack and when the course

evened out, I was pace-lining in a break of seven. Somehow, the Optum woman who initiated

the attack that led to the break was not in the break. Our group at this point, consisted of three

Steven’s women, three NOW women and the woman in blue. I did my share of the work and

mentally prepared for the technical and nasty descent ahead.

On the descent, I did not get dropped (yes!), but sadly I flatted at the base of the descent.

I waved down support and started to chase with a very heavy back wheel. My goals were two-

fold at this point: 1) not get caught by the pack or any chasers (there were some strong riders

back there); 2) catch the break-away group before the feed zone on the second lap. Mission

accomplished with a somewhat tired pair of legs!

The main climb on the second lap saw a few attacks, for which I was too tired to cover. A

woman from NOW and the woman in blue broke away. I held on to the main break group and

worked to catch the two up the road. I knew that our pulls were not strong enough, given the

NOW woman’s strength, and I was pretty sure that the woman in blue was strong by her

performance thus far. The NOW woman had a mechanical issue just before the descent on the

second lap which allowed us to pass her. I hoped that this meant her two teammates in the break

would start working so that we could catch the woman ahead (hitherto, the bulk share of the

work in the break had been from the two Steven’s women and me). This didn’t exactly pan out

to my hopes, but Steven’s and I did our parts and the NOW women jumped in occasionally. As

we completed the second lap, I reached down and realized that I had lost a bottle, and sadly this

bottle contained my GU Brew with electrolytes. This proved to not be an issue because, as

always, I had my chomps!

Somewhere on the final big climb, we lost one of the Steven’s women behind us and the

two NOW women started to pull through more reliably than in the second lap. We stayed

together on the climb (although, in retrospect, I should have attacked here), our break-away/

chase group down to four. On the rollers before the descent, I sat on the front, working hard. I

was hoping to catch the woman in blue and slower pulls from the rest of the break would not

allow that. Once again, I should have attacked to make them work, but I thought that I could use

the company on the descent to a) work on descending around people; b) to draft. This plan was

flawed.

NOW attacked hard and Steven’s and I worked hard to catch her. We both knew that this

attack would be followed by a counter from her teammate. We caught her before the descent and

I moved to the back of our group (I felt particularly unsafe because my back break was wide

open and I wasn’t coordinated enough to close it) and slowly I allowed a gap on the descent. I

had to work hard at the base of the descent and the second to last kicker (which should have been

my launching point to attack before the finish) to catch back on. NOW attacked again and I

attacked at the base of the final kicker before the finish. I managed to sprint third out of our

break-away/chase group, giving me a fourth place finish for the day. Copperopolis was a fun,

albeit ROUGH and hand-numbing course (that was no match for my SuperSix), a great group of

women riders, and a great learning experience. I was pleased with the experience, particularly

given my flat tire and hard work!