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!

           

Mothballs Criterium -Goleta, CA By Holly Breck

Mothballs is a short, flat, fast, "D" shaped course. Windy on the front straight and fast on the back side. Its exactly a 1k course and most the time if not careful breaks can stick and lap the feild. There where quite a few strong, fast women in our feild. Lisa, Amber, Pc and myself all had a plan, which was to watch and counter any attacks that had went, which we did beautifully.Lisa, Pc and Amber did a great job attacking and countering anyone who would try to go and Amber got out in a break soloing with some prem pick ups for a while. I was just trying to slow down anyone from trying to catch any of my teammates up the road. I guess my legs where a little dead after the RR the day prior so I did the best I could to help out. On the last lap is when it got a we bit hairy. Everyone gets all excited to sprint for the line. So around the first corner la Grange was on the front with Amber on the inside of  her,Pc to the left of Amber and myself on the other side of Pc. La Grange jumped Amber grabbed her wheel and I jumped on Ambers wheel.  Just before the last corner Amber attacks on La Grange, La Grange fights back and pinches me off of Ambers wheel, pushing me wide on the last corner sqeeking in a surf city girl in the mix as well. Now theres four of us barreling into the final straight,Amber doing all she can to lead me out so i swing out and sprint as hard as I can with Sruf city taking first La Grange taking second and myself taking third, Amber ended up fifth and lisa and pc pack finishs but with excellent attacks and counters throught the race. WOW!! Was I worked after that sprint. Though we didnt get the top spot on the podium we sure had alot of fun, worked well together and came away with some pretty awesome stuff. Thank you so much everyone for your help and the support. Until next time, keep the rubber side down

Race Report: Poor College Kids Road Race - January 28, 2012 By Amber Gaffney

Saturday was a beautiful day for a race- the weather was warm, but not hot, and the location of Poor College Kids gorgeous. We had four members of our team represented at this race: PC, Lisa, Holly, and myself. PC led our pre-race meeting and instructed us on our strategy: try to get two teammates in a move and stay near the front on the narrow road to ensure that we could manipulate the field (broadly).

            The race started on a downhill with a strict centerline rule enforced. I, of course, started near the back and watched as my teammates easily maneuvered up to the front, while I felt trapped and claustrophobic. I eventually made my way up to the front as well. The first 10 miles were pretty uneventful, except Lisa provided me with amazing advice (save your legs, don’t work too hard, and much more that proved to be very helpful later in the race!) Eventually, attacks started, many of which PC and Lisa instigated, and Holly countered. I did my best to join a move without chasing a teammate and pulling the field to her. A few failed breaks got swallowed up uneventfully.

The field was broken up when PC attacked, Lisa countered and then a few other women and I countered that. A group of five of us broke away (I had no idea we were in a break until we started taking turns pulling through). Our group of five was filled with strong riders and we started off taking easy and fast pulls, steadily increasing our gap. When we got to the rollers, I think that we increased our gap even more, which we confirmed with the motorcycle race official. It is really a different experience to be in a break knowing that your teammates are behind you. The knowledge that PC, Holly, and Lisa were working in the field and protecting the break gave me a huge amount of confidence that I hitherto had not felt in a race.

Our break made it to the turn around where our wonderful team support, Jacob and James, cheered me on and offered water. When we passed the field on the way back out to the course, I heard cheers from the rest of the team and I remembered to SPIN (seriously, I spun nearly the whole race), because I wanted to make PC proud. We lost one rider, and our break became four, with most of us pulling through and taking equal turns. When we hit the final set of rollers, there were a few attempts at attacks, which I held onto. Nearing the final turn, I knew that were down to a sprint (luckily, an uphill sprint). As we took off, I had no idea where the start finish was located, but I knew that I was in the lead… Except, I was caught and passed by half a wheel! Moral of my sprint: start earlier and go harder, because I felt that I had more to give. Second place did feel nice though.

I waited at the start finish for the field sprint. PC finished very strong in the sprint, with Holly not too far behind. PC is an animal- she finished looking very strong, but her legs were cramping (apparently since mile six). A sprint finish like that is amazing, but with the cramping, it was unbelievable that she looked so strong.

This was a great day. I think that we communicated well and both Lisa and PC showed amazing leadership both on the course and pre and post race. A great first road race of the season!

Race Report: Dominguez Hills, 22 June, 2012 - By Amber Gaffney

This is my first attempt at a race report and I am doing my best to follow Lisa’s lead. While I’m guessing that she has much smaller feet than I, her shoes for race reports are not easy to fill!

 Today at Dominguez Hills, I first raced the 3/4 race in search of my final Cat. 2 upgrade points and the much-needed experience of crit racing. Although I was without teammates in this race, I had PC’s voice ringing in my head, “SPIN!” I created a break and I worked with a few women and even did a little coaching of my own, telling another woman to spin to save her legs (I’m passing on the knowledge!). I had a big enough gap in this race that I was comfortable enough to work on my pedal stroke and I achieved my goals for this race, grabbing the win, the points, and the experience.

Now, for the fun race (the 1-3 where I got to race with the team)! Jenny and I had a very brief pre-race meeting and Bea and PC showed up just in time to line up and start the race. Jenny did a wonderful job of getting in an early break with Kristin Armstrong- this break was really all Kristin needed to be off on her path to eventually lapping the field. After Jenny rejoined the pack, she jumped on the front many times and helped to give my legs a break as we tried to bridge Kristin’s gap. PC had some amazing attacks, which helped to speed up the group. I did my best to listen to Bea’s words of wisdom during the race, which I find not only help me to learn to race crits, but also help to calm me down. In general, although the four of us raced well in this race, we could have benefitted from better communication, because as hard as each of us worked our moves were somewhat disparate and had we worked in unison and harnessed our abilities, I believe that our team would have placed higher than we did today.

I certainly learned a great deal in this second race and I was pleased with the fact that I actually initiated some attacks and I was less “squirrely” than I was at Ontario the previous weekend. Until I have a little more experience, I think that I could benefit from a thorough pre-race meeting to plan out a specific plan of action. I need this type of structure at this point, to ensure that I am making moves that benefit the team. In general, the experience of this race is invaluable, and racing with Bea, PC, and Jenny was a great experience. In addition, there is nothing that compares to witnessing the strength of a rider of Kristin Armstrong’s caliber. An exciting day!

Here’s to next weekend- Poor College Kids and Mothballs (for some of us at least)!

2012 Seasons starts strong!!!! - Race Report by Lisa Campbell

RACE REPORT ONTARIO SERIES #1   1/15/12

Well, it is my honor to write the first race report of the season for the SC Velo/Empower Coaching System’s women’s team. What a great day we had. There were 8 of us present, and that included our newest members…Amber Gaffney, Holly Breck and Jenny Rios. Also racing was our team manager Lea Adams, Bonnie Breeze, Not so PC Calderon,  Bea Rodriquez and myself. We had, as we always do, a pre race meeting to discuss our strategy. We were the biggest team out there in the field of 18 and wanted to control the race with attacks and at the same team get a feel for how the newest members liked to race and help them learn some great crit skills.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous on the starting line because it felt darn early for my legs to be following directions to “sprint”(it’s hard for my legs to follow those directions in July, let alone January).

From the gun PC was off, then it was, well, maybe me, to be honest I don’t really remember. I just know that everyone had a turn either attacking, or countering someone else’s attack. No one from the field got away except for our team. We had Lea out there for several laps, picking up some bonus points for the series and Bonnie got away for a bit too. If I forgot anyone I am sorry but after 2 or 3 attacks of my own I was in severe oxygen debt and I’m not sure what was on fire more, my lungs or my legs. Jenny, Holly and Amber did excellent. They listened to directions from the veterans on the team and executed beautifully during the race. After a few laps of all of us together, and me sitting at the back (because of the various burning body parts and all…) I got a little nervous. I don’t like being in the back and I also knew that I did not want to have to go to the line without one or some of us in a break. So with no idea what lap it was I launched what felt like a slow motion move…but it was into a headwind so luckily everyone else was moving in slow motion too. I didn’t dare look back til I was almost a lap out there alone and to my delight I did not see the field. Now I knew I had to work hard because there were 7 women behind me doing an amazing job of slowing down the race. I put my head down and ignored the very scary numbers on my heart rate monitor and flew past the start/finish. I was not so delirious that I didn’t notice that lap card said 3 to go. With a mix of intense fear (I had to do this 3 more times) mixed with overwhelming excitement (there was a chance that I might win a crit for my team??) I just kept going as hard as I could. No sense in saving anything. If they caught me my teammates would take over. On the last lap I stole another look back and I could see them…Crapola! I managed to reach a new heart rate max as I pushed just a little harder. Coming around the last and final turn, even though they were closing in I knew I had it thanks to all that orange,  white and  blue I saw in front of that pack….

It felt great to win, don’t get me wrong…but it feels just as good when it’s one of my teammates coming across the line first, because a win by one of us is a win by all of us and that is why I love this team. We had Holly, Amber, PC and Bea bringing in the rest of the top spots.

We missed the other four teammates and send  speedy, healing thoughts to our champion Pam who is recovering from wrist and elbow surgery, to our little speedster Tammy who is also on the mend, and Dotsie who is on the road to Olympic Gold, and Ruth our machine who will be out there with us soon putting the hurt on.

This is still the best group of women on wheels in southern California.

Brentwood Grad Prix and SCNCA Elite State Criterium Championships 8/6/2011 - Bea Rodriguez

After a long road season, with many hours and miles in the books, it was time for the Brentwood Grand Prix. Brentwood has historically been a challenging course. Key players in the field included Coryn Rivera ( Peanut Butter 2012), Kendall Ryan (WPT TIBCO to The Top), Jennifer Weinbrecht (Vanderkitten), Team Helens/Cannondale, Team NOW-MS Society, Team ACQUA AL 2/SDBC, and Team Herbalife LaGrange.

The race began to test riders from the gun. Having started at the back, I knew I had to make it to the front of the field, pronto! So I used the opportunity to open up my legs and move up into 5th position before we hit the 4th turn on a technical 6-turn course.  Soon after, there was an early aggressive attack by teammate Lisa Campbell. The field responded right away. Everyone seemed ready to cover every move. There was a big chance for a break to get away on this course. There were strong attacks from every team. Numerous combinations saw potential to get away, but with so many strong individuals nothing stuck.  At one point, Coryn Rivera, Kendall Ryan, Pam Schuster, Suzanne Sonye, and I had a good separation, but like with all the moves that day, it was pulled back. Helens' Suzanne Sonye, PB/2012's Coryn Rivera, LaGrange's Melinda Weiner and our own Lisa Campbell, Pam Schuster, Bonnie Breeze, and Katie Donovan all showed great toughness and had strong attacks. We also picked up some great primes along the way.

With 5 laps to go, and everyone's energy nearly drained, it seemed like it would come down to a sprint. But in SC Velo/Empower Coaching style, the next couple laps saw Katherine Donovan put in a monster attack that forced the other teams to chase. Unfortunately, Katie was caught with 1 laps to go. The final lap, like the whole race, was nothing short of fast and exciting. I went into the last lap in good position, with Pam ahead of me, and Lisa also up towards the front. Knowing I had to be around 3rd out of the last corner, I was extremely aggressive in the corners and secured a position behind Coryn Rivera, who I knew was the one to beat in the sprint. 200 meters from the line Coryn jumped and I put my head down, trying to get into her draft. Coryn was too strong and ultimately came away with the victory, with me in second and Pam Shuster in third. Katie Donovan, Lisa Campbell, Tammy Wildgoose, and Bonnie Breeze, finished 15th, 17th, 20th, and 27th respectively.

This was a great team race. I am so proud to be on this team, when even our road racers that hate crits are mixing it up in the final laps. It was great to have the support of our recovering teammates Priscilla Calderon and Lea Adams on the sidelines. Our thoughts are also with teammate Ruth Clemence who could not join us.

Woot! Woot!

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)