The Dirt Field

The Race: Air Force Cycling Classic, Day 1 – Clarendon Cup
The Course: 50 laps
The Field: Pro women
The Finish: 7th

My teammate Leah Guloien and I represented Team Colavita last weekend at the NCC Air Force Cycling Classic while the rest of the team raced the NCC Tulsa Tough. After so much travel, I was excited to be at home for a few days and racing in familiar territory. The field was an interesting mix, with several solo and pairs of riders from pro teams like Exergy and Vanderkitten, super sprinter Laura Van Gilder, a number of strong regional riders, and a full squad from Team Tibco. Leah and I suspected the biggest challenge would come from trying to stay on top of Tibco’s tactics without burning ourselves out.

The race went exactly as anticipated. Tibco launched one attack after another from the start; with six riders, they could afford to burn matches. An early crash took out one of their girls when another rider made a wrong turn, but that still left their team with plenty of firepower. The same pattern happened multiple times: a Tibco rider would go, they’d get a bit of a gap, somebody would try to bridge, the field would go with them, the gap would close, repeat.

One gap grew to a threatening distance. The field wasn’t exactly organized in the chase since nobody wanted to be the one doing the bulk of the work, but through a combination of surges and thwarted bridge attempts, the gap eventually closed. However, the sustained effort had put the hurt on me and when the next Tibco rider went (Amanda Miller), I couldn’t respond. Allison Arensman from Pepper Palace bridged and the two quickly put serious distance on the field. While we tried to chip away at the gap, the intermittent hesitations in the bunch as we played Who Wants To Work gave the pair up the road a chance to grow their lead substantially.

I tried to bridge twice, but was unsuccessful and I sat up quickly. It became apparent that the two were going to stay away (they eventually lapped the field), so I tried to recover and wait for the sprint at the end. With two laps to go, I was sitting too far back in the field, but managed to slide into solid position by one to go. Rounding the last corner, I started my sprint when I thought it was a reasonable distance for my legs. In retrospect, I started too soon and began to fade before the line. It was enough to earn a 7^th place. Leah and I weren’t thrilled with how the day had gone, but knew it was time to recover and focus on the next day’s race.

The Race: Air Force Cycling Classic, Day 2 – Crystal Cup
The Course: 60 minutes
The Field: Pro women
The Finish: 2nd for the race, 3rd in the omnium, Most Courageous Jersey winner

We expected much of the same for Sunday’s Crystal Cup. The course seemed less conducive to a break and the field was likely to be more vigilant about letting gaps open, but that didn’t change the fact that Tibco had a lot of riders and nobody else had the team strength to match them attack for attack. With hopes of helping to improve my 7th place standing in the omnium, Leah did extra work to cover moves and chase as Tibco sent rider after rider off the front. She got up the road for a bit with Sam Schneider (Tibco) and it looked like the move might work, so I patrolled the front with Tibco, covering any attempts to bridge.

As the gap grew, I started thinking that might be the winning move, but then LVG and Lauren Tamayo (Exergy) shot forward to bridge and a few other riders followed. I jumped on their move and the gap came down, while at the same time it appeared that the break slowed up. We caught them and although I expected an immediate counterattack, I was hurting at the moment. Leah was still going strong, so she protected me and I sat on her wheel. Shortly after, Lauren Stephens (Tibco) attacked and got a gap almost instantly. Sara Tussey (VeloShine) bridged but ended up in the middle between Lauren and the field.

They stayed up the road for a few laps and it looked like the race was going to be a repeat of the previous day. Without even thinking about it, I sprinted out of the field and got clear. It was a hard dig to get to Sara, but I caught her and kept on rolling. She got on my wheel and we did a few rotations, and then we were crossing the line and I heard the announcer say, “ONE TO GO!”

One to go until what? The midrace point? Huh? I hadn’t looked at the lap counter since a while earlier, when the remaining laps hadn’t even been posted yet. It didn’t feel like we’d been out there for an hour yet. I had to ask Sara if it was actually the end and when she said yes, I had this moment of thinking holy shitballs, this might actually work.

That last lap flew by. It’s easy to handle a new level of suffering when you know there’s a great result on the line that is just pedal strokes away. Coming down the final stretch, I got on the front, motored hard to keep the gap on the surging field, and then stood to finish the sprint. I heard the announcer yell that I’d clinched 2^nd place before I’d even crossed the line and then I was across and YES!

It was an incredible moment. This season has had many ups and downs, moments where I have struggled with figuring out my new role as a professional on a team, times where the team has worked so hard without seeing results at the end, races where I’ve come out wondering why I wasn’t stronger/faster/smarter. The odds were against us at Crystal Cup – Leah and I had only each other to rely on – but through a completely collective effort, I was able to make a move that led to a great result. It felt wonderful to come through for her, for our team and sponsors, for the people who have supported me all season, for myself.

While I was waiting behind the stage to do the podium after the finish, the announcers began the presentation for the Most Courageous jersey. Then they called my name as the jersey winner and I nearly cried. It felt like such an honor to put on that jersey in front of my parents and friends. Finding out after the race podium that I’d moved up to 3^rd in the omnium was icing on the cake of a perfect day.

Meanwhile in Tulsa, Jen brought home a 2^nd place finish in Sunday’s race with the support of our team and ended up 3^rd in the omnium there. It was an awesome way for Team Colavita to wrap up the weekend and head into the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Some good photos of the race can be found on CyclingNews.com.