mo diesel

Saturday, July 15, 2006

early season racing in cali


California: umbrellas, sun screen & snow tires required

Driving into Northern Ca on March 2nd it appeared to be a beautiful sunny day; a snow covered Mt Shasta loomed with wisps of lacy white cloud caught about her peaks. Occasional flakes of snow whipped past, carried by a ferocious wind. Although these initially amounted to nothing, closer to the mountain awaited a full-fledged winter wonderland with real snowdrifts piled high along the roadside and huge flakes pouring from the sky. I wondered briefly whether I had been foolish to take my tire chains out of the car before leaving home! However, as the elevation decreased the flakes turned to rain beating down on the rich red soil of Redding. I always welcome this part of the drive as with the first smells eucalyptus I know I’m truly in California!

Proof that the weather dictates that arm warmers are in order – good thing we have such stylin’ apparel! Heading out on my pre-race ride...


Saturday March 4th – McLane Criterium, Race day #1: Pre-race expectations can be a funny, that’s funny-peculiar, thing. As much as one, as an athlete, does their best to check their expectations at the door well before the start of any race, seeking instead in the moment, process focused thoughts; it’s difficult to keep the burnt-in past impressions of a race, of an experience, from passing through one’s mind. And it’s challenging to compete on a course for a second or third time without some shard of expectation stemming from those past experiences.

Let’s go back a few years, and open a chapter in the book of Moriah’s most embarrassing moments as a cyclist. Now, for those cyclist types, you can relate to the pre-race (criterium in this case) routine: sign-in, number pinning, warm up, numerous porta-potty breaks (hoping that the nervous cyclist ahead of you hasn’t emptied to TP roll), sunscreen application, jitter-jitter, get on the course the moment its open to scope out the pavement and turns, get to the line early so you can start at the front of the peleton…. Well, my first year racing McLane Pacific, one of the early season National Race Calendar (NRC) Classics in Merced CA started off just perfectly… my timing was text-book, I was completely ready to go and on the course the moment it opened. Looking back, I actually think that this was my first ever NRC race and I certainly was in over my head. Well, I was pounding around the course with the rest of the 90-some other women racers, warming up, everything seemingly A-OK. But then things started to get really, I mean REALLY fast, I thought, ‘man, these pro girls really warm up hard!’ They were all stretched out single file and they were really flying – I figured maybe I should speed things up some too if they were warming up this hard. Well, it turned out that the race HAD ALREADY STARTED!! Somehow I had missed the start while out on the back section of the course. Fortunately none of the officials seemed to have noticed, but it didn’t much matter as I ended up pulled along with other stragglers somewhere around half way through the race.

So, today I re-visited Merced for the first time since that lovely experience, here to race the crit, my first race of the 2006 season. With over 90 starters and all the big teams well represented it looked to be a big-girls’ race for certain. Following my NRC experiences of last season I was pleasantly surprised to feel much more at home, despite being here in the absence of team-mates or support staff.

Mclane Criterium line up; a sunny but cool day, perfect racing weather. Where is Waldo, err, Moriah?

The start line was the usual pushing match, toggling for position, the line creeping forward like a giant amoeba despite the officials best attempts at keeping us back until the call up was complete. My start position was fair, not ideal, but certainly not in the back line.

As luck would have it the girl directly in front of me missed her clip-in and drove herself headfirst over her bars into to pavement – ouch! Getting around her I ended up going into corner-one pretty much at the very back of the peleton which wasn’t ideal considering the race started off with primes on the first 4 laps! That means things really start off quick! While I was far from the action making my way thought the back portion of the peleton, Laura Charameda of McGuire established her dominance in the sprint early on taking 2 of the 4 initial primes. I was able to get myself into the middle of the peleton within a couple laps of the 0.8 mile course; the process of moving forward generally gets more difficult as one gets closer to the front. Kudos to Lisa Sweeney (a girl from home that I’ve been racing with for the past several years; she’s now on a US team doing the NRC circuit) for getting herself to the front a couple times, driving the pace and grabbing the attention of the announcer.

Just over half way through there was a pretty good crash in the chicane (the course was a 6 corner circuit with a single lane chicane with a giant inflated Red Bull arch way over it). Unfortunately I was caught up (not hurt though), but back in after a jog to the wheel pit on the opposite side of the course with 15 or so others; thank goodness for the free lap rule. I really felt quite good as the race progressed on and the peleton dwindled; I was able to smell the grease laden mystery meat hot-dog stands, the kettle-corn and hear the cheering spectators lining the course. I managed to avoid further mishap and elbowed myself into the top 10 with 4 laps to go; the band in the chicane was playing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ - I was exactly where I needed to be going into the final 3 laps. This is where one learns to save the self-praise for after the race – while I was busy being happy and setting process aside, I got rubbed out by one of the tiniest riders in the peleton. By the time I got myself re-focused I was again just pack fill and came across the line in 34th position.

Kudos to fellow Canadian Laura Yoisten (Victory Brewing) for her second place finish behind Laura Charameda (McGuire). Rounding out the podium was Christina Becker of Germany (T-Mobile). Other Canadian riders: Audrey Lemieux (Colivita/ Cooking Light) in 17th, Betina Hold (Webcor) in 28th, Leigh Hobson (Victory Brewing) in 41st, Felicia Gomez (Webcor) in 43rd, Errine Willock (Webcor) in 44th and Sue Palmar-Komar (Colivita/ Cooking Light) in 49th. There were 58 finishers and according to my speedo we averaged just under 40km/hr.

The hotel: Now, to think that only a few days ago I had been worried about what a Motel 6 would be like…. Well, I hadn’t made reservations and the Merced Motel 6 was at capacity, full of fellow smelly-spandex-wearing cyclists. So, I went in search of something in a comparable price range. I found something all right, and lets just say I wore my flip-flops in the shower, slept in my own sleeping bag (on-top of the sheets, not on the dreaded comforter!), drew the blinds tight and kept the deadbolt and door chain in position! After an hour or so locked away in my room I had a headache and had become completely stuffed up from the smoke fumes seeping out of the carpet and blinds, but honestly, there was no way I was stepping foot outside that room in the dark. This was the kind of place where people live: the young girl who checked me in through a slot in a plexi-glass window (hint #1) told me that they only had one room left as “it’s the beginning of the month and everybody still has money” (hint #2); there was a big sign on the side of the office that in big red letters read “in case of emergency call 911” (hello, I should’ve been running by now!); and the guy next door had house plants in his window. Over the course of the evening there were multiple knocks at my door, I made it policy not to answer. Between that, the distinct sounds of Snoop Dog throbbing out of the passing low-rider cars and one of my neighbours, or possibly a visitor, belting out free-form “rap” in the middle of the parking lot with enough enthusiasm to stop your breath, I did somehow manage to get some sleep. **Note to self: make reservations, or pay the extra 20-bucks to stay somewhere reputable next time!

Sunday March 5th – McLane Road Race, Race day #2: I have to say, I was pretty thankful to wake up and find that my car was actually still there and un-vandalized! In fact, I ended up being one of the first to the race start area I was so glad to be outta my motel room!

Our road race was scheduled to start at 9:15am and would be 3 laps of a fairly flat 24-mile course. Strong winds and severely broken pavement giving portions of the course a roubaix-feel would prove to be factors. The field was full at the max limit of 100 for pro, 1, 2 women with a few sets of fresh legs. With the low temperature and wind I was cold to start despite wearing arm and knee warmers!

The first lap was fairly slow taking us just over an hour; Webcor, Lipton, Victory Brewing and McGuire initiated a few attacks none of which stuck. It wasn’t until the beginning of second lap that things started to heat up with small breaks going off, getting absorbed, and one decent crash. I was comfortable sitting in the top 20 and staying out of the wind and keeping track of what was going on. I considered, and resisted, going with the attack that would prove to create the sticking break; hindsight is always 20-20 and I admit, I just read the race wrong. I didn’t think it was going to stick, but with all the major teams represented in the break and their remaining team-mates working to shut down attacks from the peleton, the top 11 had been decided. As the race continued to play out, often stretched into single or double file, fighting for position on the sheltered side of a wheel, mere inches from the leeward side of the road, positioning was critical. The peleton continued to shrink, as girls got popped off the back into the wind. With about 15 miles to go we got within 700 metres or so of the break; the teammates of the girls in the break became frantic about slowing the peleton down. My gut was to attack and try to bridge across, but I refrained. Again, in hindsight I would’ve approached that situation less conservatively.

Things heated up again with 10 km to go – the engines were roaring and the hammer-fest was on! I can’t really describe it as anything but full-on fun! Keeping position in the front 10 to 15 of the peleton was challenging; anticipating, keeping on top of the gear and staying as sheltered as possible. The final kilometer was an all out drag race over the crest of a roller and down to the finish line. Getting a clean line over the crest, through traffic, proved challenging; I did my best to get around a couple over geared girls and let ‘er rip over the top. Not a money finish (I didn’t stick around for results and they’re still not posted), but getting closer and definitely a weekend to build on!

Congrats to Canadian’s Errine Willock (Webcor), Lisa Sweeney (CPT) and Laura Yoisten (Victory Brewing) for making the break and finishing in the top 10. Top step of the podium was earned by Dotsie Bausch (Colavita Cooking Light), followed by Laura Van Guilder (Lipton) and Kim Anderson (T-Mobile).

Central Valley Classic, NRC Race Weekend #2

March 10th – The Tollhouse Time Trial (TT) that never was:
Today was to start early; 5am to allow time to get to the TT location in the foothills east of Freso, a 4ish hour drive. The race website had been warning us to check back frequently for course updates as the weather was scheduled to be uncharacteristically cold and there was a chance that the TT would be relocated! Yeah right, I thought; “like it’s going to be so miserable and cold that they’ll have to change the course”. Well, at 8am the morning of they moved to course to a location some 30 miles southwest as the roads near Tollhouse were “impassable”! Apparently the uphill TT course was covered in ice and snow – how crazy is that!? Impressive job on the race organizers part for successfully coming up with an alternate course in short order! Despite the fact that they weren’t certain of the exact distance until after we’d raced the course they really managed to pull the whole thing off quite well.

Although I had been looking forward to what was advertised as a brutal 6.5 mile suffer-fest with grades up to 22%, I didn’t complain about the switch to an essentially flat 17.1 mile course. Now that’s a Moriah style TT! With weather including rain, sun, hail and wind warming up on rollers was a blast (hint of sarcasm)!

First off were the cat 2 men, then the pro 1 / 2 women at 1 minute intervals; I was the 4th woman off. Excited to be testing out the 2006 engine on my first real TT of the year I immediately realized that my TT position was all wrong – not such a good plan to slap a pair of new bars onto a new bike the morning of. Oops! Things I know better than… But, at that point there was no changing it so with motivation from Clara Hughes’ post Gold performance quote: “What I think is most satisfying is to have overcome that pain. That pain that’s so intense that you feel like you’re going to die. That’s what it was, that’s what I wanted, and that’s what I got.” I went to work. I caught my 1 minute girl in 13 minutes. The girl 2 minutes ahead of me had missed her start so the next gap was another 2 minutes. Things didn’t feel particularly fast, but the heart rate and pain markers were pretty good. The course began to twist a little and undulate; I was pretty stoked to come around a corner and see my 3-minute girl ahead. There’s nothing quite like that to bring you into the next level of pain. I made short work of passing her and pressed on for what proved to be a wickedly painful uphill finish. I didn’t have much left at the end, but then sometimes its hard to really feel just what’s going on in the legs when they’re so cold. I checked my time and was off what I’d targeted for what had been advertised to be a 16 km TT.

Back at the start area I did my cool down and awaited the results. There’s a special kind of anticipation that comes with awaiting one’s TT results. Although you know your own time and make your assessments of the race based on that, the competitive part of you wants to know how you size up.

First out were the Cat 2 men’s results; out of curiosity and for lack of something better to do I checked to see where I would’ve placed in their field. OK, I realize that they’re not my competition, but still.… My time set me at 32nd place for the men cat 2… And translated into 18th place of 60 some starters for the Women Pro 1 / 2 field. No complaints here. My first top 20 NRC finish for 06 and lots of days ahead. Christine Thorburn (Webcor) posted the fastest time, 39:55, followed by Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) at 40:47, and Errine Willock (Webcor) at 41:20. Places 5th through 9th were in the 42’s and 10th through 18th in the 43’s; I was 43:47. And, just for kicks, in comparison to the Pro men’s field – that would set me at 100th position out of a field of 122.

Saturday March 11th – Kearney Circuit Race, Damn Cali is Cold! An afternoon start to a 154 km circuit race through Kearney Park and the surrounding orchards proved to be my coldest California experience yet! Consensus seemed to be that staying in the car with the heater on rather than out in the rain was the best warm up for this race. Grossly unprepared for the weather I ended up getting a pair of plastic gloves from the medical tent to wear as an extra layer under a pair of borrowed long-fingered gloves (I had only packed short fingered gloves!). Thanks to the McGuire Team for lending me an extra pair of long-fingers!

The race start was delayed, oh joy, and they shortened it by a lap from 6 to 5. 130 kms would be just fine for a day like today. Our first lap was extremely slow taking over 50 minutes; I actually started to worry about how long this race was going to take! The next laps set my mind at ease though as we got things down to a lap pace of 30-some minutes. Webcor made most of the moves with Lipton also putting in some efforts to bust things up. With little to break up the field other that a few narrow sections with pave-style fractured pavement and a few pile-ups, things were slated to stay together; a day for the sprinters. I spent my time in the front 1/4 watching the moves, rolling with it when I had an easy line in. Without team-mates in team sport it isn’t possible to cover every move. One has to watch, wait and see whether a break looks like it could stick. Continually assessing who’s in the move, how the big teams are represented? If it looks like it may stick, who near you is likely to go next? And before the split grows too big, you bridge. And if you’re lucky you have another rider to bridge with you and share the work. Well, this was the strategy I was playing by today anyway.

Over half way through there was a pretty good pile-up towards the front of the pack on the pave-style single lane road section that I’d been pretending was Belgium. I busted out some quick cyclocross moves and scooted around things through a sandy ditch. I was one of the last riders to make the split. At last things were thinning out! I soon came to realize that several of the teams sprinters had been caught up, meaning that the job of the team-mates in the split was to keep everything together and slow enough to get the sprinters back on. Argh!

Over the course of the day few rain jackets were removed as it rained and hailed through half of the course, and was sunny on the other half. Go figure!? The Shimano boys were busy (neutral wheel support that patiently follow us around and around in circles waiting to replace flatted wheels and in some cases will replace a riders whole bike) as there were numerous flats.

Finally the last lap was underway; with 8 kms to go I came way too close to rolling my front wheel. I had a flat and an incrediblely inopportune time! I considered trying to ride it in as it was a slow leaker, but with a super technical finish – 5 corners in the last 500 metres with enough standing water to grow rice – I decided not to risk it. Left hand up, keep pedaling, get to the back of the pack, right hand side of the road and keep moving until the Shimano truck is right there. The change went super smooth although my hands were so numb from the cold that there was no way I was loosening that skewer with any kind of speed; the Shimano guy was prepared for it though and had me on my way in moments. I immediately stepped back into yesterday’s TT mode! TT like a bandit! Get it over with as fast as possible and just get back on a wheel – I was back onto the peleton before long, moved up and tried to get into position for the final sprint.
Now this is where things really get going; the race would be decided before we got into the final 500m as there wouldn’t be much opportunity for position changing after that. The final stretch was fenced, narrow and there would be risks taken for certain. Going into the last 3 kms I could see that Victory Brewing was well organized and ready to take over with their lead out train. I was on the left side of the peleton - 2 girls basically got ejected out into the ditch just ahead of me and I could hear the same happening over on the right side. We were down to 50 some riders from over 70 starters. The final 500 metres was upon us and the final sprint was quick, but not actually all out due to the conditions. Although rolling through in 37th place really constitutes pack fill, I can say that today was a good learning experience. I am satisfied to have been able to TT back onto the peleton within the last minutes of the race and was out there ‘taking notes’ today.

Laura Yoisten (Victory Brewing) earned top spot on the podium and Lisa Sweeney (CPT) got her first NRC podium finishing 3rd.

Other Canadian’s: 15th Felicia Gomez (Webcor); 16th Audrey Lemieux (Colavita/Cooking Light); 29th Betina Hold (Webcor); 37th Moriah MacGregor (Dizzy Chicks); 39th Kirsten Robbins (Victory Brewing); & 47th Sue Palmer-Komar (Colavita/Cooking Light).


March 12th – Tower District Criterium: Now who thought up the great idea of putting a 180 degree turn into a crit course?! Fortunately I wasn’t as worried about it as I would have been a year ago as I had to opportunity to try out my first 180 degree turn on a crit course at the Bermuda Grand Prix last September. The crit today was a long course, 1.45 kms, and flat as a pancake. I wriggled my way into the second line at the start, directly behind the call up (the top riders get called up to the line and the announcer does a little spiel on each of them, you know, Olympians and the sort). I had a slow clip-in and lost a couple spots before the 180 which was the first corner – basically the race starts as a drag race as the first riders through the corner will be able to take the best lines and reduce their chances of being caught up with someone who doesn’t hold or take a good line. Also, as one gets further to the back of the peleton the yo-yo effect increases making the riders at the back have to work much, much harder to stay with the peleton. And this is where I found myself for much too much of the race, not dead at the back, but in the back half. Way too much work for way too little reward back there I tell ya!

Our 45 minute crit went by before I knew it – we were down to 5 laps to go and there would be no more free laps (for a mishap/mechanical). Being a little too far from the action at the front I didn’t get to see the Victory Brewing train line up, but that’s what was happening. The pace was blistering and girls were snapping off the back like peas!

I hung in a rolled across in a big ol’ 38th position. I seem to be in a bit of a 30-something rut here! Victory Brewing took the top 3 spots on the podium; Lauren Franges, Laura Yoisten, and Laura Bowles respectively! Some strong team work demonstrated by the Victory Brewing gals this weekend for certain!Laura Yoisten gathered enough points during the criterium to win the overall omnium, just one point ahead of Christine Thornburn (Webcor). Lauren Franges also gained enough points to move her into third place for the overall omnium.

Good luck to Errine Willock and Sue Palmar-Komar, Canadian National Team Members, who will be representing Canada at the Commonwealth Games at the end of the month; they’re departing Monday this week!

Thanks for reading!
San Dimas Stage Race: California Race Weekend # 3
Mid-week I made the trek from northern CA to southern CA where I was hoping for warmer weather and less rain. Thursday teased with the first day of “shorts weather” of the month but that would prove to be short-lived. I was looking forward to my first actual stage race of the season, where the cumulative time over a number of days determines placing. The courses for the next two weekends are far hillier than the previous weekends, changing race dynamics. For this weekend several of the top NRC teams would be elsewhere or have reduced squads competing at San Dimas. However, T-Mobile, the only true professional women’s team (i.e. these women get the same support as the men’s T-mobile Team that competes in the Tour de France, albeit lesser salaries!), would bolster their team, competing with 4-riders, in preparation for Redlands Classic, the last weekend of March. Team Lipton would also present with a strong 7-rider squad for San Dimas.
Friday March 17th– Glendora Chevrolet Mtn Time Trial, stage 1: Now who invented the up hill time trial I’m not sure, but they were definitely a wee bit twisted! Generally with cycling the shorter the race the more intense the effort; starting a stage race with a 3.8 mile/ 7.1 km time trial up a mountain is a sure leg and lung buster. Our course would be just that, point-to-point switchbacking up a sage covered post-card California slope with an overall elevation gain of over a thousand feet. As the weather gods would have it the skies began to belch out cold rain about half an hour before my start time. Just like home! With a vivid image of the course fresh in my mind from my pre-race ride the day prior, I set to work. My start was good and I could see within the first of the straighter stretches that I was gaining on one of the CPT girls, my 30-second girl (today’s starts were at 30-second intervals). With the course being quite twisty she would fall in and out of sight. I was unfortunately unable to use the gear that I would have normally selected as it was skipping, forcing me to spin at a higher cadence than normal. Coming out of a switchback there were suddenly 2 girls in sight, the CPT rider and a Polish National Team girl; I overtook her at 7:24 and the CPT girl at 7:28. Feeling good, I continued up the mountain semi-aware of the brightly coloured yellow Mavic tents marking each kilometer. Each tent has neutral wheels and bikes in case of mishap and is staffed with a mechanic, patiently waiting for some work. The last kilometer was quite possibly the longest kilometer of my life! But I did have enough to get out of the saddle for the last 50 feet (oops, a sign I could have gone harder) and cross the line in 18minutes 23seconds. Content with my performance, I grabbed some water and made my way back down the mountain. By the time I reached the bottom I was an ice-cube and spent over an hour with the car’s heat cranked to bring my temperature back to normal. In a field of 65 starters, US Olympian Kristin Armstrong (no relation to Lance!) set down the fastest pace for the day at 15:24.21 riding for Lipton. She was followed by Kimberly Baldwin (T-Mobile) at 15:37.50 and Alisha Lion (Velo Bella-Kona) at 15:53.20. Anne Samponius (Team Bioval) was the top Canadian at 16:36.75 for 7th place and I was the second Canadian, hanging onto 22nd spot. Other Canadians: Lisa Sweeney (CPT) at 19:19.70 and Jenny Trew (Team Kenda Tire) at 20:11.06.
A great way to spend St. Patty’s Day!!
Saturday March 18th – San Dimas Hospital Road Race, stage 2: A dry morning start was welcome by all! Today’s 7.8 mile course would circle the Puddingstone Reservoir 8 times, including 2 climbs per lap and finishing on a nice wide open flat section in an industrial park. The first of the climbs was primarily gradual while the second was more of a power-climb gaining 170 feet in half a mile with QOM (queen of the mountain) points up for grabs at the top. Today’s race would be fairly active with sprinter points on odd laps at the start/finish line and QOM points on even laps. Everything stuck together the first lap, the second being the start of the action. The first attack quickly brought back in, the second being initiated by Anne Samponius (Team Bioval). I went with Anne and 2 others on the second move, but our efforts were short lived. The second time up the QOM climb was a world of hurt, but I kept with the front girls and settled into the draft to recover. The third time up was actually when the break went – 7 riders including 3 Lipton riders, 2 T-Mobile, a Velo Bella and a Ford rider. With their teams working to keep the peleton slowed the break quickly put over 2 minutes on us. Without representation in the break, the 5 CPT girls attempted to get a work train together to bring them back, but it was too little too late. With all the QOM and sprint points to be taken by riders in the break the peleton was pretty tame – deciding to test things out I launched an attack going into the first climb on lap 6. I was off for about a kilometer before being pulled back in. Plan B – sit in for the bunch sprint. The peleton continued to shrink, girls getting popped off the back on the second climb; we would finish with a group of 20, over 4-minutes behind the break of 7. I managed to get across the line for a 16th place finish after losing contact with the group on the last climb, TT’ing back on just in time for the sprint. Lisa Sweeney was the top Canadian on the day finishing in 12th, Jenny Trew finishing in 19th and Anne Samponius finishing 25th. In the break Team Lipton took the top two spots in the sprint: Gracy Fleury followed by Kristin Armstrong. Kimberly Anderson and Kimberly Baldwin both of T-Mobile followed the up for 3rd and 4th. With my 16th place finish on the day I was bumped up to 15th in GC to start stage 3.
Happy Birthday Dylan!
March 19th – Cannondale Old Town San Dimas Classic Criterium, stage 3: Today’s backwards L-shaped criterium course looked pretty simple, however the false flat portion would prove to be a leg-burner after the past 2 days of racing. The race would be 50 minutes long with hot spot sprints 10 minutes and 30 minutes in. With temperatures in the mid 50’s and patchy sun during warm-up I don’t think anyone was really anticipating rain. However, 10 minutes in, just in time for the first hot spot sprint, the skies opened up and let loose with rain, and then of all things, hail. Hello, this is southern California!! Following the first hotspot sprint a break went which I regrettably missed. Notably containing neither of the two top GC contenders, and unfortunately for me containing riders behind me in GC, it would upset my placing at the end of the day. Working well together and with the weather conditions as they were it was a good move as the break was able to get through the corners faster than the larger peleton and therefore carry better speed through the course. The big surprise of the day was that T-mobile wasn’t represented in the break – at one point they launched a hurt-train which I was happy to sit behind, positioning myself close to the front and out of the yo-yo action at the back of the peleton. Surprisingly the pink pain train was short lived and the peleton stayed together for the duration. I rolled across in 32nd place gaining me the same time as the peleton. The break gained 59 seconds on us pushing me into 18th place in GC, 3rd Canadian. Anne Samponius (Team Bioval) and Lisa Sweeney (CPT) both made the break and finished as the top 2 Canadians in 8th and 16th GC spots, respectively. Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) hung onto top GC spot followed by Kimberly Baldwin (T-Mobile) and Alisha Lion (Velo Bella-Kona), Grace Flury (Team Lipton) and Kimberly Anderson (T-Mobile). Gracy Flury earned to QOM Jersey and Rebecca Larson (Cycle Science) the sprint jersey based on her performance in today’s criterium.
With temperatures now dipping into the low 40’s, I was once again an ice-cube, covered in grit and sand to finish off the day! Hey, some people pay the big bucks for spa exfoliation; I get mine through bike racing! Now for some good rest in preparation for the finally of my Tour de California, Redlands Classic, where I will be racing with Vitamin Cottage Women’s Team out of Colarado.
Sorry about the absence of pictures this week.
Thanks for reading!