Greenville Training Series Weekend Two

My training schedule for the weekend read like this:

Sat: Race...win...Possible 3's race
Sun: Race...think about starting P 1/2 for the hell of it...

My coach, Joey D’Antoni, has been training me hard with big blocks of intensity to get me ready for Redlands at the end of the month. I’ve been dutifully going along with every plan, riding every workout to the minute, every interval to the second, hoping that this is all some magic formula that will turn me into a real bike racer rather than the pack fodder of last year. I’ve ridden through the cold, the rain, the wind, bad legs and good, in the pack and off the back all winter long, suffering like a dog but watching the numbers on my power meter go up and up every week. Until this week, of course. I was really unsure of myself on Saturday because my LT intervals showed no improvement on Friday. I thought I must be getting tired, and didn’t know how much I’d have to give in the race. I took my training plan seriously, but thought the “win”
part was kind of a joke. Luckily I had my teammates with me in the race, and I knew that if I couldn’t perform, I could at least work for one of them.

Did I mention I have teammates this year? I feel very lucky to have such a fantastic group of women to race with – they’re all incredibly hard-working, talented, intelligent, motivated, selfless and fun individuals, and this makes showing up to races much more enjoyable than when I raced alone. On Saturday, Cara McCauley, Patty Shoaf, Mandy Lozano and I prepared for the race, trying to dress in the soggy rain and avoid stepping in the mud. Joey and my husband Emory played soigneur and mechanic since their races didn’t start for several hours, and I was grateful to not have to worry about pumping up tires or adjusting shifting before the start. Joey slathered some warm-up oil on my legs and told me to go out and kick butt.

At the start, I looked around and was surprised to see more than thirty women. In the past, rain would have scared most racers away, and we’d have less than ten. The competition in the southeast is really getting much stronger, and I was happy to see that Genesis Scuba had both Maggie Shirley and Candice Blickem racing, and that Fuji had a big group of women. The course had a big climb and the finish was at the top, but in order to really make the race selective, there needed to be some strong women to attack and push the pace on the flats. The first lap started rather tentatively, with the wet roads and a fast descent that was unfamiliar, the group took the first couple miles easy. Then Genesis Scuba women took turns attacking, as did several others, and at one point I thought I wouldn’t even make it to the finish. I was having a bit of a bad patch when Maggie put in a strong move a few miles before the climb, and I called out begging Patty to cover it. Patty made it across, and I stayed near the front to cover any chase, but when we hit the climb, I saw that Maggie had
left Patty behind. I had no choice but to bring it back, and I put in a hard, steady effort, trying to reel Maggie in but at the same time let Patty get back on and recover.

Little did I know that Candice was behind me, and as soon as I got close to Maggie, she came by me and rocketed up the climb. I really had to fight to make it up to her, and just latched on before the top, but yet again, the pack came back together on the descent. On the back side of the course, Cara came flying out of the pack and several women went after her. I thrilled to see her go up the road with some strong riders, but again, there were too many motors still running for the breaks to stick. After one more trip up at a steady tempo, it was time to suffer. The last two laps were full of attacks, and I really can’t recall the exact sequence of events because my mind was in a lactic acid haze much of the time. I recall Candice attacking on the hill and having to kill myself to get up to her, and wondering why a break with her, me, and Kathleen Billington (Fuji) didn’t work. I remember not being able to see crap because my glasses were covered in filth. I remember the wind picking up and me following Candice on a break, and perfectly willing to work, trying to pull through only to get as far as her bottom bracket and then going backwards in the fierce headwind.

Then, on the last lap, it was as if I entered a vacuum. Betsy Patrick (TEAM Fuji) rolled off the front of the pack, and Candice was right next to me. She wasn’t going anywhere, which confused me, so I jumped across with another Fuji rider. Pretty soon we were joined by a couple more women and then Maggie Shirley came across, and is her style, began driving the break like a jockey – cracking the whip and yelling at people to pull through. I looked back and saw we had a big gap, so I pulled through, confident that my teammates were shutting down the chase. After a couple rotations, I saw Candice had made it across solo. No surprise there, and no more pulling through for me now.

We were about to hit the final turn and start the climb when Candice rolled to the front and started leading out hard into the hill. I glued myself to her wheel, but when we hit the steep part of the climb, there was still a full kilometer to go at an 8% grade. I pulled up next to her, watching, waiting… steady. I heard some gears being ground and out went Betsy. Just before the steepest part of the climb, a Fuji rider pulled alongside with her teammate Kathleen on her wheel. Kathleen is a really fast sprinter, and then there was Maggie just to her right, and Candice slipped back right behind me. Patience,
I said to myself, patience. Every lap I had looked for visual cues to help me at the finish… Halfway is the 20mph sign, accelerate at the “<” signs, wait to shift into the big ring at the patch of gravel… I saw the signs, and accelerated in the saddle until the road levelled slightly and then jumped out of the saddle. Patch of gravel, now, SHIFT and JUMP! I put my head down and sprinted as hard as I could from the front of the group, shifted down one more gear, jumped hard again, and as I neared the line I looked around and was shocked to see nobody coming past! I got one hand up to salute and let out a whoop of mostly surprise at my first win of the season!

After the race, I think the only person who wasn’t surprised at my win was Joey. He had faith in me the entire time, and I was happy I could complete my training plan for the day. It felt great to roll back down the hill and tell my teammates that I had won, after all their hard work I didn’t want to let them down. I definitely owe them one, and I owe many thanks to Emory for wrenching my bike, because I could never have won if my front derailleur hadn’t shifted so flawlessly at the finish. And I owe a thank you to Rich Hincapie for picking such a cool course. Next time I won’t doubt people when they tell me the course suits me!

Sunday’s race, in contrast, was a course the absolutely did not suit me. A short circuit with one slight rise and a downhill finish would normally not be too bad, but with a 20mph headwind on the slow, rough road surface on a long false flat, and with legs that were well and truly fried, I knew it was going to be a long day. Cara had gone back home for a long training day, and so Mandy, Patty and I were up against a reinforced Genesis Scuba squad. When I saw Iona Wynter at the start line, it was plainly obvious what would happen. Candice was at the front of the group instead of her usual position at the back, so I knew the attack would come early. I lined up next to her, but as we rolled off the line, she filtered back through the pack. Her move came on the windiest part of the course halfway through the first lap, and I was in the wrong place to go with her, so Patty jumped across with Kathleen Billington. On the next lap the break came back, but immediately Candice attacked again and Iona went right after. None of us were in a position to go with them, and the two rode away as the steam went out of the pack. “Where are all those women who chased every single move yesterday?” I wondered. Nobody wanted to do anything. I couldn’t do a thing. I tried to chase for a little while, but without help, it was futile, so we went to plan B which was to go with the next move. A few attempts at chasing or attacking were made before Lauren Trull jumped clear about halfway through the race. I doubted Lauren would be able to stay away solo, so I waited to see who would respond. A few seconds later I saw Mandy rocket past followed by Kim Flynn (DeFeet)! Awesome! I was perfectly happy to block, Genesis wasn’t going to chase, and now we had help from DeFeet. The only team who had missed both moves was Fuji. Kathleen made a solo attempt to bridge, and I really did not want her to get up there with Mandy. I sent Patty up to sit on her, and that sparked Genesis to chase and soon Kathleen was back and it was time to shut it down again. All the money places were up the road, so I kept my fingers crossed for Mandy, and lead the entire last lap to keep myself out of trouble. Mandy took 4th from the break as Candice, Iona and then Lauren swept the podium for Genesis Scuba.

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