The Race: Tour of America’s Dairyland NCC series
The Course: Four 1-hour crits
The Field: Pro women
The Finish: 2 podiums, 3rd in the NCC omnium
At the end of Nature Valley, Team Colavita split off in different directions, with the Canadians going to their national championships, Jamie heading home, and the rest of us driving over to Wisconsin to do the four NCC crits of Tour of America’s Dairyland (ToAD). Mary was taken out violently* with a stomach virus the day before ToAD began, which left our squad down to four – Jen, Tina, Whitney, and myself. Tina was coming back to race after taking over a month away from racing to recover from an injury, so she was fresh and ready to roll while the rest of us were well-worn from so much time traveling and racing. Even the team van had taken on an old, broken-in, decaying food and sweaty shoes smell.
Shorewood Criterium
We didn’t have a clear plan going into the Shorewood crit because nobody was sure what they would be able to do – Tina was coming off her injury, Jen was recovering from a bad cold, Whitney was in the throes of that same cold, and I was feeling queasy and paranoid that Mary’s stomach virus had taken hold. We decided to keep in touch during the race, communicate how we were each feeling, and go from there. This course was pretty straightforward, save for some of the roughest pavement I’ve ever ridden. I had trouble settling into the race at first, but started to come around midway through. At the end, Whitney jumped on the front and took a monster pull for a lap while the Fearless Femmes and other sprinters organized a train behind her. Jen pulled off a sweet 2nd place finish in the sprint and started our team on the right foot for the ToAD NCC series omnium.
East Troy Cycling Classic
The weather was dark and stormy all morning, but by race time seemed promisingly clear. The course was short with lots of turns that proved to have a good, fun flow. Whitney and I worked throughout the race to cover moves and keep Jen protected for another sprint finish. I had quite a bit of fun that day – my legs felt decent, the course was great, and my mid-race flat proved to be only a momentary setback. In the end, Jen rolled across the line in 5th. It was a solid finish, but we decided to tweak our plan for the end of the race and try something new the next day.
Giro d’ Grafton
This race was a little nuts. The first few laps weren’t fast enough to thin out the field, so it was all elbows and bumping as we rolled around and I couldn’t seem to move up in the pack. (Also, let me take a moment to ask spectators to stop yelling, “Move up!” Dude. Duh. Everybody knows this. Everybody is trying to do this. The person you are yelling at is probably already bleeding out of their eyeballs trying to do this.) Anyway, once the attacks started coming, the pace picked up and the field strung out. It felt safer, but I could tell I was wearing out from the long stretch of races and my chasing/bridging/cornering efforts were starting to have a haphazard, knee-jerk feel. There was a small crash late in the race that neutralized us with three laps to go. We rolled around the course behind the motor ref while everybody fought for position; you could have cut the tension with a knife and there were some close calls in the tightly-bunched pack. Once we got going again, Colleen from Femme got on the front and drilled it to start the leadout and then I took over with one lap to go. I made it halfway through the lap before I died and had to pull off. Jen flew by in the first few wheels and went on to take 3rd place. It was a great team effort.
Carl Zach Cycling Classic
This was one of the hottest race days we’ve had all year, and my legs were dead before I even got on the bike. A solid warm-up and two desperately-needed ice socks got me as ready as possible before the start, but a crappy staging spot left me caught behind a crash in the very first corner. I headed immediately to the pit and restarted the race from there. It took a while to get the legs going and getting to the front was a challenge, but I could see Tina covering moves while I pulled myself together. At the end of the race, Erin from Femme jumped on the front and led out the second to last lap. When she started to slow down coming into the start/finish stretch at one to go, I jumped around and went as hard as I could until just under halfway through the lap. Jen and Tina blew by when I pulled off and went on to take 4th and 7th, respectively.
It was a great series of races for our squad, despite most of us being tired from travel and more than ready for some rest. We raced as a team, covered each other whenever necessary, and executed our plans as best we could. While we’re still working to get back on the top step of the podium, we got close at ToAD and have great momentum going into the next part of the season. In the meantime, I have a few weeks off to rest and ramp up for the NCC Boise Twilight Crit and the NRC Cascade Cycling Classic.
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*We’re in our hotel room; it’s early in the morning and she’s working at her laptop while I’m on a teleconference and doing crunches on the floor. Suddenly, she leaps up, rushes past me to the bathroom, and hurls. I freeze mid-crunch and stupidly ask, “Wow, are you okay?” Sharpest tool in the shed, that’s me. Sadly, she did not improve and had to catch an early flight home.
