Chewing…then spewing

2008 Bend Memorial Clinic CASCADE CYCLING CLASSIC, July 9-13, Bend Oregon

Stage 3 25km TT, course profile (half seriously uphill, then return).
no race data as I lost my polar just before the turn around...but for the first 10.4kms my avHR was 171bpm with a max of 179bpm.

I woke up early this morning to covert my road bike (with ksyriums) into the best time trial machine that I could, all the while really wishing that I had my TT bike here. I had packed some TT bars that I was loaning from Andrew, I had managed to borrow a spare TT HED front clincher from Molly and a rear Zipp 404 from Anny. I bought a TT helmet (everything in the US is cheaper and they gave me a good discount), so I would fit in with the gang. I am starting to like TTs, and despite the serious incline on the way out, it meant a romping downhill return. I have been climbing quite well this week, so I wouldn’t lose that much time on the uphill and do well on the downhill. All the girls had really nice TT bikes, discs or deep dish singles at least, the gear here is very impressive, I could spend all day just looking.

Rob (Metromint support and radio adviser extraordinaire) was going to follow Jane as she was now highest on GC, about 1 minute ahead of me after her awesome effort in yesterday’s break away. I was the 60th rider to start, with 30 second intervals and the guy holding me nearly dropped me on the line. I was going really well up the hill, I could see the girl in front and I was catching her, she was also catching the girl in front of her. All was good until about 11kms when I went over a big bump (the roads were not the best) and knocked my polar from my bars, it was about to fall off. I decided to pull it off and stuff it down my shirt, but as I did this I went over another bump and it flew off onto the road.

I didn’t know what to do, all I could think about was how much it costs and how Luke would be upset if I had to buy a new one and that I would be racing for primes at the crit tonight instead of a high placing to be able to pay for it. I couldn’t decide whether to stop and look for it or forget about it and keep going. Of course, I lost heaps of time as I was yelling at (anyone who would listen) that I had lost it and could they try and find it. I got to the turn-around point and then went past the spot I'd lost it, thinking again should I stop? It is hard to determine just how much time I wasted, but maybe 30-40 secs. Anyway, during this time I managed to pass all the girls that I had been chasing, they were very fatigued at the top of the hill and I passed a few together.

Then I got passed by a lady in red State Champion kit, (I now know to be Ruth Clemence, Bicycle Johns) and I was then like a bull to a red flag (or whatever the saying is). I was determined not to let anyone pass me, US state champion or not. I tried to re-focus on the race and forget about my polar. Ruth and I stuck within sight for the rest of the race, she would again pass me on the small sections of uphill and I would go past her on the downhill. She was clearly an awesome time trialist. I was unsure of where the finish line was and (incorrectly) assumed that it was the end of the cones, I got out of the saddle to start my sprint finish and crossed the line at the same time. I had no idea how I had gone, and all I was worried about was finding my polar.

Rob helped me speak to the Commasaires and one of the moto guys looked for ages and found it, a little scratched but as good as new, I was so happy. Most of my rest time between the TT and the crit had been taken up by looking for the polar, I was exhausted by the time we started the crit. We had not been advised of the results from the TT and were unsure if some of our girls had made the time cut. Some really fast times were put out in the TT, we had done the maths and it was going to be close depending on how generous they were going to be. Molly ended up being 12th and I was 15th, Jane 22nd with Full TT results. I was now 20th on GC, with Jane 16secs in front of me. Our team was 3rd for the TT team results. I assumed that we would ride for Jane in the Crit.

Stage 4- Downtown criterium, 60 minutes

I was starting to get nervous for the Criterium, which is out of character for me since being in the US. As there was no expectations for me at any of these races, I have just gone with the flow, done my best and that was that. I had expectations for this race and when people asked, I was marketing myself as a road sprinter. I would be happy with top 10. Jessica and Barry (my FAB host housing parents) were on the sideline waving an Australian flag, and I think the entire town of Bend was also there. The weather was still very warm despite the 5:45pm start time. The course was an L shape (refer to the course maps above) with 5 right turns and 1 left. There were cobbles, a median strip and drains on the course, just to make it interesting.

About 6 girls had been time-cut, then a protest and all the girls were allowed to start. Yuki was one of them and started the criterium without a warm-up. I chatted to Jane before the race, she had no expectations for the crit and was happy to do whatever she could to help me out. The pace was on from the word go, it seems Kristin Armstrong (going to the Olympics in a few weeks) wanted to stay out of trouble from wrecks so just put on the pace and strung us all out…and out…and out. I could hear through the radio that Molly was off the back early on and was making her way back when she got caught behind the first and only crash. I heard the girls going down behind me and shuttered at the thought it could be me next.

I was mostly well positioned and it was great to have Jen (dislocated shoulder from Stage 1) on the sidelines with a radio giving out guidance. But it all came to a stop as my radio was not working from about 15mins in (I got the one that Jen had crashed in and my sweat had gotten into where it had cracked and was not working). That was the last I heard or saw of a team mate for the rest of the race. Basically, it was one of the fastest races I had been in and with so many corners and your wheels slipping on the cobbles…but I had a choice to make, did I want to be there and hurt and be happy at the end, or pull out after the time cut and get an adjusted time. No one would have cared either way, but me. These girls are so skillful, so well trained and I wanted so much to beat all of them.
I was so badly in the hurt box but I guess so was everyone. I was looking for a good wheel and found one, Brooke Miller with one lap to go, then lost it. Found a Value-Act lead out train and thought this was as close to the front as I physically could make it. I then discovered what a “sweeper’s” job in a lead out is. I have never heard of this term or such a role, but basically as Russ (Metromint support that rivals my husband’s dedication) put it: where you tail the sprinter and deliberately drop the wheel of the sprinter to make it more difficult for the rider behind to get a ride, it is not done dangerously, but just enough to make it terribly difficult for someone to sprint over the sprinter. I finished 11th and 17th on GC out of 86 racers, Criterium full results. Happy to have survived another day, disappointed to not be in the top 10, but close. I have to get some perspective, as Murray Hall would say “you have only been in the sport 10 minutes”. I managed a quick hello to Peter Dawson (Rock Racing) as he was starting the men’s race. The night was topped off with a spew, as I was walking back to my team cars, past the BJs girls warming down I threw up all over my handlebars. So to Holly and her last comment on my blog about seeing suffering…suffered I did, straight home to sleep I went. Did I mention anywhere that my legs hurt?