Joe Martin Stage Race
Fayetteville, Arkansas
25- 28 April 2013

Overall Joe Martin was a good experience.  I was faced with a quad cramp, two days of rain, a head cold, and a criterium race that was faster and harder then any ive ever been in.

I got to Arkansas on Mondayand got to spend a couple days with my good friends that live just outside of Fayetteville.  Then Wednesday I headed upto our teams host house.

Day 1, thursday:  2.5 mile uphill TT
I had just gotten on a trainer to start warming up and as I spin I feel my left quad tightening up A LOT. It was cramping and no matter how easy I spun, I stretched it, drank some electrolytes,it wouldnt loosen up.  Finally I just road around on the road to take off the tension that the trainer puts.  So I just gritted my teeth and worked as hard as I could for that 2.5miles.  Not finishing with a very good time, but I DID finish considering my awful congestion and cramp.

Day 2, friday:  69mile road race
It was raining all morning and my sinus cold had not let up.  I knew I just had to tough it out for the team and get through it.  After we road for about 15miles came the long 10mile uphill.  But it ws more rolling then I thought and knowing this would have helped.  On the climb not even halfway up, my lungs started closing up and my legs fatigueing. I fell off the group and it was unfortunate because with a gap there was no way of getting back with the rollers.  So I road the next 40miles ALONE in the cold rain.  Then a group behind me that included Lauren (my teammate), caught up to me and soI finished the ride with them.

Day 3, saturday: 70miles road race
Another rainy day and I was still feeling my sinuses blocked.  But as we rolled through the Arkansinian roads I stuck with the group and managed to stay out of 2 crashes.  I stayed relaxed but worked the rolling hills and then even about 2/3 through the race I even went upfront with the Tibco team to help pull a bit to bring back a breakaway that was over a minute ahead.  It felt good to feel pretty good.  I finished the day with the group and definitely more positive then the previous 2 days.

Day 4, sunday: 50 min criterium
I was excited for a good crit and to challenge myself in this last stage.  Unfortunately the race had other ideas, and it was all about your position on the start line.  The field didnt even allow for 1 lap to pass before laying on the speed.  Through the first couple turns the group was alreadystrung out and on the downhill gaps were forming.  I had started in the 3rd row, so was behind from the first pedal stroke.  When the group gapped I couldnt get up there and was destined to ride with a couple other girls trying to just keep moving and not be pulled.  After about 30min, with 7 laps to go (about 17 total),  the official sticks out his padel for our group to stop.  The main field was about to lap us and so our race had finished a bit premature.  It was a brutal race, with a hill that wasnt super long, but it was steep.  And going 100% for so long in a crit is hard with ahill like that thrown in.  The final group to finish only had about 15 riders of the 40ish that started.  But at least since our group finished half the race we still got placed.  So my teamate Amity and myself were placed in the overall classification for the race.

PLACED 25th after many riders dropped out or were not placed because of final crit.

Thursday began the first of the four day stage race of The Sea Otter Classic. 

   At early 8am we started the 50min. criterium, my legs were a bit flat starting out, but once we got past 30min I loosened up a bit and felt better.  i stuck with the group and avoided and falls.  The course was on the race track with about 3 hairpin turns that caused some girls to go down.  It wasnt the normal flat crit either, this course included two ups and relatively steep downhills.  With a lap and a half to go I put in a kick to mix things up a bit.  The chased me down pretty quickly, but I got a pretty sweet picture on cyclingnews.com.  I didn’t go for the final sprint so eneded up finishing 20th.

  On Friday the road race started at 12, still on the race track. But we left the track right away and headed out to the park roads to do 5 laps of an 8 mile loop.  There was a pretty steep half mile hill and a smaller hill where the feed zone was.  I stuck with the group and was feeling decent until my mind and thirst got the best of me in the last feed zone of the last lap.  There was only about 8 miles left in the race, but I made a last minute decision to go get a bottle.  In the midst of fumbling with putting it on my bike and drink and get up the kicker hill all at the same time, I strung out from the group and a small gap formed.  Going for the water was stupid.  Once the group topped the hill they started making moves and going harder so I wasnt able to get back on.  I fought up the final couple mile hill to the finish and came in about 2 minutes behind the winner.  I came in 24th, putting me at 21st in GC.   I am mad at myself for how I executed that race, but at least I learned from it.

  Now I am on my way to Arkansas for the Joe Martin Stage Race.  Ill spend a couple days with my great friends Nancy and Harrison at their farm before going up to Fayetteville for the race on Wednesday.  It will be 4 days, with TT, Road Race, Road Race, Criterium.

Current Race: 
Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, California.
Today- Criterium, finished 20th

  Im currently in Monterey, California, for the Sea Otter Classic.  It’s crazy to have left early Tuesday morning from New York and arrive in sunny California for more cycling fun.  I raced the criterium this morning and placed 20th, not feeling great I stuck with the pack and finished the sprint with no exceptional showing or kick.

Last race: 
I wrote this a couple days ago while still in New York, but wasnt able to post it with all the traveling and planning over the past few days.

Tour of Battenkill
Cambridge, NY
14 April 2013
64.9 miles

Results: 9th

   Looking back on the race I am not happy with the result as I always seem to expect more of myself.  But I am satisfied with the work I did and effort I put considering the cold conditions and the injury in my quad. It was a good experience to race the east coast and on a mix of dirt and paved roads.  Plus, I was riding with 6 other Kenda girls that made a lot of the preperation, enduring the cold, and other difficulties of racing much more pleasant.. and just having company was great.

   On the plane I looked down at the pin cushion of a city, seeming reduced to a not so overwhelming height as it is when your at the base of these giant skyscrapers.  I am used to flying into New York with a feeling of returning home.  Getting back from summer or winter vacation with the excitement of another semester at Columbia.  But this time, my arrival was different.  Seeing the city, I feel detached and like visiting a family member you haven’t seen for a LONG time.  It was weird getting here but I was also excited to see my friends, campus and the excitement of the city.
   Tuesday was a BEAUTIFUL warm evening.  I’m staying with my awesome friend that I ran with and graduated from Columbia with, Christina (Tex).  The bus dropped us off in Harlem, right next to the Apollo theater and the madness of 6pm in NYC.  Dragging my huge bike box and suit case down the road I was warmly welcomed back to the city by two lovely harlem natives 😉 as they passed us walking and saying “these girls and their big a*& bags taking up the whole sidewalk”.  Oh New York, how I’ve missed you.

Butler Library from the steps of Columbia

   I rode in Central Park on Wednesday.  For 4 years I RAN in Central Park, watching and being passed by cyclists as they zipped down the main roads, but this is the first time I actually am one of them.  It was fun to get around the 6 mile loop so fast, passing the horse carriages as they trudged along, the boathouse, the Res, the Met and Guggenheim.  What a beautiful way to see the park, I miss this special green part of the city.

Financial District, Freedom Tower

   Thursday was a longer and more adventurous day.  For my 3 hour ride I didn’t want to just loop around Central like 10 times, so after one lap I journeyed across to the west side river bike path.  I rode down along the Financial District to Battery Park and around up to the east side where I went under the Brooklyn Bridge and all the way up the right side of Manhatten.  It was a beautiful ride (despite the cloudy cold weather), and amazing how far and so much I can see just riding around.  The only downside was all the random construction or dead ends that sent me over to the street for a bit.  It was also hard to get into a cycling rhythm.  Biking in NYC is great for cruising, people watching, and being a tourist, but not so much for serious training.  Training for running was better then most think in the city.  With Central and all the dirt paths, Riverside, and Van Cortland there are some amazing places to run.  But so far, unless I leave Manhattan it seems to be pretty limited for cycling.

Brooklyn Bridge

   These past few days have been really great seeing my friends, campus, and a limited part of the city.  Since I have to focus on the race this weekend, I couldn’t be a tourist and walk around the city every day.  Instead I spent it hanging out with Christina, Patricia and Kristen (roommates), or on the Columbia campus sitting on the steps.  But that’s alright, because for now my focus needs to be on racing, training and this weekend.

Tour of Battenkill on Sunday (14th) is going to be a tough 65 mile race.  With 10 dirt sections and a strong field, I am excited for the challenge.  It will be good to have a full team to work with and race to get a good placing.

Tour of Battenkill Website

Little Update

   Road rash healing, bruises and swelling gone down, muscles feeling perky again… I think I am finally
recovered from the big San Dimas race and fall.  Last week and the weekend are build periods before I head out to The Big Apple to race Battenkill in a little more than a week.  I’m happy to get some settled time at home to rest, swim, and lay down some training miles for the next set of races.
   The weather is starting to warm up here in Tucson … if it wasn’t already warm before.  But now the days hit the high 80’s and this week we’ll be looking at the 90’s.  Toasty!  But I don’t mind training in warm or hot weather… After spending 4 winters in New York and dreading every moment I had to go outside with the snow and blasting wind I will never complain about the heat again.

   Now that I’ve given that brief update on my Tucson training life I thought I’d write about something that is so important to athletics and been on my mind a bit recently. … Nutrition!!

   As an athlete what, when and how much we eat is so important to our performance that it can sometimes even be dangerous when given too much attention.  I’ve seem the results that changes in diet can do, both positive and negative. 
   Over the past couple months of training in Arizona I’ve tried to keep on track by eating healthy and looking at what I put into my body just as much as I look at how hard I go on my rides.  Sometimes eating smart is easier said than done, so keeping the perfect diet isn’t always so perfect.

Quality is key
   Fresh, Local, Wild, Organic (when I can afford it) … These are the 4 main ways I try to buy my food.
Every day we make decisions when it comes to quality.  The brand of shampoo we buy, the kind of gas to put in our car, the shoes we wear or train in.  When it comes to a lot of these decisions we try to choose the things that will benefit us most in the long and short run.  Why shouldn’t food be the same?  Since nutrition doesn’t often give the instant gratification of simple choices like wild vs. farm raised it is harder to notice the benefits.  But this is where it is most important to keep the long term in perspective for the sake of our bodies.  We wouldn’t run in cheap converse for a 10 mile run, so why eat salmon or chicken that has been crammed in a cage or tank eating who knows what?
   Living on a tight budget doesn’t make these decisions easy.  But when considering the importance of our bodies and how much we invest in training it’s the least we can do.

   When it comes to protein it’s pretty well known that meat packs the punch that nothing else can stack up to.  But the quality of that meat can say a lot also.  Studies show that vitamins, minerals, and other important components of meat differ greatly between feedlot/commercial and freerange/grass fed/organic animal protein.  Rather then getting cheap farm raised or hormone pumped meat I do my best to get wild, freerange, or grass fed meat.
   I also try to get the quality cuts of meat and the animals that will give me the most for what I eat.  For red meat, high in iron, I get either top cuts or try to get game meat when I can.  Like at Sprouts they sell frozen ground antelope, venison, elk, and even ostrich.  I stick to venison to get the leanest and highest quality red meat.  I try to get free range chicken and turkey, but still need to do more research on labeling to really understand the sneakiness between labeling meat “natural”, “freerange” and “grassfed”.  The same with eggs, when available I buy local eggs or get “freerange”.  Fish is in that same category, I always buy wild and mostly stick to salmon as it has the best omega-3 and vitamin content for the price.  Fish is great for inflammation and muscle soreness.  I’ve read that the oils in fish help repair muscle breakdown and so I try having it after hard workouts or races.
I think I would probably be vegetarian, if I weren’t an athlete.  But I also believe in sustainable eating and that can be supported through buying locally grown and raised food.

Quality over quantity
   Getting the most out of your training can come down to how you prepare just hours before or even the day before your workout or race.  As my focus has grown and become more fine tuned to understand my body in training, I have learned what works better at different times around my workouts.  Rather then thinking about how hard you will worked or did work in training and just putting down any food that looks good, think about how this specific meal or snack will benefit your preparation or recovery.  A good salad with nuts or meat can benefit your body so much more then chips, pasta or rice.  Vitamins, minerals and protein are the building blocks of recovering and working muscles.

It’s all Mental
   I have learned recently that just making one good or bad decision nutritionally can set up you up mentally for a whole string of other decisions.  Eating and appetite is all a matter of being in tune with your body, like a rhythm that can be smooth when you are surrounded by good options, or bumpy and rough when temptations of junk can blur your vision.  It’s not easy and maybe something unique to me, but when I decide not to have chocolate or sweets just once, I am able to go weeks without even feeling the need for it.  But it’s always important to listen to your body and don’t go through binge and purge cycles that won’t benefit in the long run.  Be consistent and don’t be afraid to indulge every once in a while.

When to Eat or Not Eat
   I’ve learned to appreciate hunger.  I eat meals and snack, but also try to not revolve everything around food.  I try to appreciate food not as a luxury but as a necessity and fuel.  I am by no means perfect or so strict that I eat only healthy 100% of the time, … Ice cream and chocolate are HUGE indulgences of mine.  But I try to eat when necessary and not just to fill time, which I can admit is easy to do when bored, studying, or just wanting to take your mind off something else.  I try to give my body time to assimilate the fuel I put down and whether it’s pre or post workout give some time to feel what you need most.

Timing is everything
There are 2 main periods of eating, long term and short term.
   Short term, I consider right before and right after working out.  The most crucial time that can make it a good or bad workout.  Just yesterday I experienced the downfall of eating too much too close to a workout.  I got home from swimming and was so hungry but I also had to consider that I was going straight into a ride after changing.  However, my hunger overwhelmed my training focus and I snacked on too many granola bars and fruit as I got ready.  As a result, I felt weighed down in the warm up and the knot of food in my stomach prevented water from going down during intervals.  So if it wasn’t enough having intervals up mt. Lemmon, I had food sitting undigested cramping up my gut.
   Better to go into a workout feeling a bit lighter and taking something with you to eat or drink while riding.  But there is also a crucial balance to not get hungry or feel weak, everyone is unique.
   Immediately after a workout there is that 15 minute window where your body needs the most important nutrients to recover.  Protein, carbs and electrolytes will help prevent muscle breakdown.  So if you don’t have fancy recovery powder, bars or drink, go for chocolate milk!  Protein, carbs (sugar), and fat.  That was a team favorite at Columbia.

   Long Term to me is more then 3 hours before or 3 hours after a workout.  This is when most of us break down mentally and food isn’t on the top of our thought list.  But to stay on top of things I try to keep lots of fruits and vegetables near by to snack on.  This is when the body stores carbs, so depending on your workout or race focus you may want to direct your diet towards proteins or carbs.   Keep in mind that a good source of carbs with high vitamins can simply come from fruits and veggies while maintaining a low glycemic index… blood sugar spike (not good during rest time).
To make good long term decisions I try to plan ahead and when tempted with junk I just go for some fruit or something healthy but tasty to see if that either satiates or at least detracts my hunger.

Paleo … Caveman Diet
   Everyone is different and you will learn what works and what doesn’t, but I have recently been reading the “Paleo Diet of Athletes” developed by Joe Friel and have become really interested in his way of food training (as I call it).  This is is basically the cave man diet.  Eliminating all things unavailable to the cavemen (or during the paleolithic period if you want to get technical).  So no wheat, grains, corn, dairy, legumes, etc.  It revolves around meat, fruits and veggies, and nuts.  It’s a bit strict and limiting, but is also adapted to athletes for best results.
   I am very interested in the timing aspect of it and how the way this diet is directed at athletes to train the body to work on fats, protein and carbs.  By eating protein and fruits and vegetables in the long term segments of our day the body stores and works on fat and protein.  While it says to eat carbs only at key moments in the short term or during a workout where your body will use it as a “bomb” of energy.  In this way, its a method of “food training” to increase your bodies ability to burn fat, and use carbs only when you tell it to and also get the most out of those carbs you put in.

   So this was my little food rant.  I am always fascinated by how our bodies work like a super complex engine to breakdown the fuel we give it and produce the energy to live our lives.
I don’t know if it’s the Italian in me, but I love food, I love cooking, I love eating and everything that goes along with it.  So being an athlete, this has its upsides and downsides.  I get to eat more since I have to fuel more, but I also have to make sure what I put in is what is also best for getting the most out of my training and racing.

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22 March 2013 – Time Trial – 4.25 miles (6.84km) uphill
Start time- 12:08
Results: 20:07 , 42nd (of 77)

Yesterday evening I rode the course which I am glad, to know what to expect, but not sure if it put some unneccessary fatigue in my quads for today.  I started off feeling tight and it never let up.  And 4.25 miles all out  uphill feeling tight is not so comfortable.  It didnt help that I gotpassed in the first mile by a small rider that made the uphill seem like it was only up for ME.  I did find out after at least that she was the Time Trial winner.  Still didnt help my confidence as I had to continue pushing up this mountain after just being left in the dust, and what are the chances that I am put in the spot RIGHT infront of the uphill TT champ of the universe.
Anyway, I gritted my teeth and gave it my all even not feeling 100%.  but with only 1min between 40th and 20th place thats not much of a time gap.
Tomorrow is a new day and the Road Race.  It should be challenging and fun.

The girls I traveled with and went through this experience with

23 March 2013 – Road Race – 56 miles (8 laps)
Start Time- 10:10am
Results: 53rd, not good but still in the race with no major injury

One word- Crash
   Today I went into the race positive, feeling good, and wanting to work hard.  But that just wasn’t in the cards.  On the first lap we were all in a big group going through the shady park side of the course just before the reservoir.  The road was pretty wide, but on the right side near the dirt there were bumps in the road and cracks from tree roots.

   All of a sudden I hear a girl scream not too far in front of me, see her swerve right, then left and into the rider next to her.  Then I hear like a DEATH SCREAM…. Before I know it there are two bikes overlapped right in front of me and no where to go.  I couldn’t go around because the rider in front of me was going right and going down also.  So I braced myself and as my bike hit theirs I felt myself falling right and onto the pavement hard.
   Hitting the road is never a good feeling.  It Italian they say you “measured the road” when you fall, a way to put a lighter spin on the brutal fact of cycling risks.
  But with the adrenaline rushing and nothing else going through my head but racing, I jumped up as fast as I could without a second thought.  I put the chain back on my bike, jumped on and went after the couple of riders also with a drive to stay in it.
  Unfortunately, I think with some whiplash and feeling a bit dazed I couldn’t get on as quickly as I would have liked and a gap formed.  After getting things together and moving up to some other riders I ended up with a small pack that had also been victim of the crash.  We worked together the rest of the race to stay within distance of the group, but non of the other girls had effort enough to close the few minute gap that had opened as a result of the fall.  We finished well behind, but also happy that there were no serious injuries and in good enough condition to race again tomorrow.
   Taking count of my injuries after finishing I left the day with some road rash about 2in. across on my hip, a scraped up elbow with some swelling to go with it, and a neck that refuses to let my head turn to the right.  Not bad 😉

24 March 2013 – Criterium – 55 min.
Start Time- 2:00 pm
Results: 29th

   The race started out tough.  Not necessarily because it was fast, but because of all the aches and pains I had in my hips, back, neck and elbow.  Warming up the body to race and put in the bursting efforts of a criterium is not ideal for a post crash day ride.  But reluctantly my legs did start to turn faster and harder and I was able to keep myself in the main part of the pack.
   We rounded the downtown streets of San Dimas for 51 minutes as they sloped up on one side and down on the other to provide just enough challenge and grade change to make it more difficult.  There was a breakaway pack just about 10 minutes in, but with just about 2 laps to go the group managed to bring them back in.
   I worked hard with a lap to go as I found my Kenda teammate just in front of me and I locked onto her wheel.  Feeling good I knew if we moved up I could either give her the help for a sprint finish or go for it myself if the situation worked out.  Unfortunately things weren’t supposed to go AT ALL as desired this weekend.  Just before the 3rd to last turn a girl from another team was dropping back hard and causes us to swerve and me to break.  This caused a gap between myself and my teammate and a chance for other riders to jump in.  I was mad about this pretty good opportunity lost, but as we rounded the last turn and onto the final straight away I gave it my strongest effort and crossed the line probably mid pack.  No spectacular race, or finish… but after a crash and not feeling 100% I couldn’t expect THAT much out of my body today.

Hundreds upon Hundreds of windmills in California on our was back to Arizona

After 7 hours of driving to get home to Tucson, I am happy to back on familiar streets and on the road to recovery from these injuries.  Now its time to get back on the bike and get ready for Battenkill in just under 3 weeks.  Training time!!

Post Tucson Bicycle Classic
   I never thought I would be so happy to get to “sleep in” till 7:30.  After 2 days of waking up at 4am to race at just before 7am I couldn’t wait to just lay in bed and wake up with the sun shining through my window.  These past couple days of doing my warm up on the trainer in the dark and getting to the start line as the sun is just cresting the mountains is an experience all in itself.

    Since the weekend I have been in a bit of a daze of post race recovery and season planning.  Now that I am Cat. 2 I want to race all the national races I can.  Get my big girl panties on and go show these cycling chicks what I’m made of.
   Putting together a rough race plan for the summer was exciting and made me a bit nervous looking at what great races lie ahead.  These past 3 months of winter preparation have laid a strong foundation for the rest of the season.  Between hours of cycling, pool time swimming, and strength and flexibility work through yoga I feel myself in the best shape I’ve ever been.

Looking Ahead
NEWS!!!
   I am super excited about the my upcoming travel/race planning.  I booked my flights yesterday to go to New York and California in mid April.  I was just talking to a friend the other day about how much I wanted to get back to NYC but couldn’t because of racing and training…. well, it seems the cycling gods heard me and made it work out.  Now I get to go to NYC AND race = perfect!!
   It’s going to be a crazy 2 weeks of travel.  First to NYC on the 9th, I’ll race the 14th, then fly out the 16th to California, race in Monterey for 4 days, then finally I’ll fly home to Tucson the 23rd.

This Weekend
But one step at a time.  Tomorrow I leave for San Dimas, California for the San Dimas Stage Race.  A 3 day stage race which I am so excited about.  

Upcoming races:

San Dimas Stage Race, San Dimas, California  – March 22-24th

Tour of Battenkill, Cambridge, New York – April 14th

Sea Otter Classic, Monterey, California – April 18-21st

Tucson Bicycle Classic
15-17 March 2013
Tucson, AZ

15 March – Time Trial, 3.2 miles, start time -12:34:30
Result: 9:12, 12th place, 24 riders.

  Out on the other side of Tucson, past Gate’s Pass, cyclists convened for the first day of the TBC.  The course was short, with the first half downhill and the next half uphill with a small break in the middle.  I think experience of having done this course before would give a huge advantage.  It was not an out and back, but just an out.  Or a course from start to finish and then an easy ride back.  Going into it I knew to relax at first and save the power for the hills, but the duration and intensity of the hills was pretty unexpected.  I worked up them and gave it all I had.  Enough to finish with an awful sore throat from the dryness and heat, but not enough to feel like I had a secure placing position.
  As for the results, which I just saw a few minutes ago, I am right in the middle of the mix, so this will mean some hard work tomorrow on the road race.  I am up for the challenge and excited to see how it plays out.

 16 March – Road Race, 60 miles, start time – 6:55 am
 Result: 10th, finish with 2nd group
GC: 10th

Early morning leaving before the sun even showed sign of rising.  It was a fun 20 mile loop that we completed 3 times, with a sprint bonus on the first lap.  The group didn’t move much besides small kicks that didn’t stick, the last lap is where the action happened.  After a couple attempted breaks and hard pulling through the rollers on the backside some splitting was finally made.  I had just lead the group over a couple hills and was sitting back a bit when the girls in front put on a move and being on the wheel of someone couldn’t put on the gas and get around quick enough.  A gap formed and the couple girls I was with couldn’t close.  We chased for the rest of the lap without much luck.  Our group of 5 consisted of 2 that had teammates upfront, so they weren’t going to push too hard.  And the 3 of us couldn’t make up for the front groups determination to stay away.  So coming to the final hill I ended up in front and was forced to lead our small group up the last few km.  Seeing the finish line at about 300m the group moved and I gave it everything, but after some consistent effort I didn’t have much left in my legs to get a good sprint.  The race was tough but I learned a lot from the hard work and what it means to miss an opportunity.
  Cycling is so different from running, in that groups really matter.  A gap can be bridged in running just by a runner putting in a kick and moving up with some extra effort.  But in cycling, that extra effort has to be enough to not only bridge the gap but also to fight the wind, go faster then the already flying group in front and shake anyone else on your wheel (unless it’s a teammate of course).

17 March – Circuit Race, 39 miles (7 laps), start time – 6:43 am
Result: 7th, 3rd in print bonus lap for :01sec

Another early morning with a dark warm up, glowing beautiful sky as I wait in line for the porter-potties, and the sun rising at the start line.  The only upside was getting it over early and missing the heat that became more intense with the morning sun.  It was a good race with a lot of kicks but no break-aways.  This kept you awake and the race exciting.  So after 7 laps it came down to the last sprint finish.  I had decent positioning in the group going into the last turn and up the hill to the last km.  Then on the last uphill and about 500m everyone started really kicking and I went with them.  My sprint isn’t strong enough to beat the winner Leah Kirchmann, but I gave it all I had and came across the line with a solid 7th place.

GC Overall Result:  7th

It was an overall good race, I moved up strong each day and improved.  I learned a lot and with the field becoming more competative with each race, all I can do is be challenged more and push myself to go harder.

Tucson Bicycle Classic Website

Old Pueblo Grand Prix
9 March 2013- 7:00pm
Tucson, Arizona

Results: 19th overall, field of 41

Fun and great race!  One girl broke away about 1/3 in and without any organization and with her team blocking any effort she kept her lead all the way to the finish.  Very dynamic race and loving the speed and movement that comes with criterium racing.  It reminds me of racing with the Junior Men in Italy and the aggressive moves made on every straight away.  I especially liked racing with teammates this race.  For the first time there were other Kenda girls in the race and allies to work with.  5 of us total, but there was no chance to really line up or work the team factor.

After the past couple weekends of good racing I have moved up from Cat. 3 to Cat. 2 and can now race in the National Series Races and in races only open to Cat. Pro/1/2.

So the next race on the schedule is now the Old Pueblo Grand Prix…
Right here in Downtown Tucson!!