Team Revolution

In the video, I’m seen between the two leaders. Video quality isn’t great, but you can see me chugging up that hill!

Whew! I shake my head in disgust as I remember that race today…I quit early. It’s that simple. I lost at least one, maybe two places because I COASTED–stopped pedalling–before the line. Actually, I thought I quit at the line, but it was the WRONG line. And I am dumb. Why race my butt off for an hour and 25 miles worth of racing to give up one half second short? You can see my legs just hanging there while Carrie’s telling me not to quit. If this video had better resolution and slow motion you can actually see the line I sprinted to, me realize my mistake and flail to make it up and throw at the line. No dice. 5th.

What’s the difference between 5th and 3rd? A really big deal? Just $10? We’ll see.

Here’s my dim recollection of the race:
It started out aggressive, more so than I was giving credit to a 3/4’s race. There was a steady incline after the first turn and a brisk start and an attack on the second lap dropped quite a few in the back. Then a crash on that same hill in the fourth (?) lap, left a lot of racers scrambling to hang on. Prime laps in the second half of the race mixed it up some more and a field of 40 starters was reduced to about 15 in the front group.

On the bell lap, a girl jumped in the start/finish and made a final attack attempt. I recognized its potential and quickly grabbed her wheel and tailed her up the hill. On the backstretch I expected her to lose steam and didn’t want to get caught pulling the pack through the last two turns. I gave up my 2nd place position and let an Atlas girl who’d won two of the prime laps get on her wheel and another girl who’d done good attack work in front of me. I felt good about my fourth hole, considering a long, uphill sprint after a fast downhill last corner.

As we turned the last corner, my wheel (the girl in front of me) started to let a gap form in front of her and at that point I conceded to be sprinting for 3rd. “OK, third’s OK, do it right….wait….wait….not too early….OK! NOW!” and I went and was worried about having jumped too late. I wasn’t getting around her. I kept on until what I thought was the line. And the rest is disappointment.

New day tomorrow!

4. … and goes down hard …
Originally uploaded by Luke

Here’s a look at Superweek’s points leader, Kelly Benjamin, crashing while throwing her bike at the line. Carrie held her position in front of Catherine Powers for her 3rd place finish (and somehow, after a 35mph sprint, managed to avoid rolling over Kelly’s head.)

Whew!

Proving Grounds/Test Area
That is just what we did!!! We tested, and proved we could withstand the pressure today. I am sooooo proud of the XPLANE/Team Revolution crew today. They stood up, planted both feet and took names!! Now,I will let you hear it from the girls point of view.
—-Sydney—-
All week I’ve only wanted one thing, and that’s to get in a breakaway. Hadn’t happened and it was beginning to frustrate me. Yesterday, after getting into an ultimately unsuccessful break with Catherine Powers, I knew I wasn’t the only one.

So today, I decided to keep my eye on Catherine and if she were to jump to give it everything I had to help a break get away and stay away to the end. Catherine positioned herself towards the front, so I did too, and sure enough, on the third lap, someone jumped, might have been the Southbay woman and Catherine caught her, I’m not sure. But in the blink of an eye, Catherine (Aarons), Sara (Cheerwine), and a Southbay Wheelman were away. Alarmed, because I’d let myself get trapped, I sought a way to get clear of the pack. Suddenly there was a gap and I jumped through it. After turning the corner, I checked my wheel to see if I’d brought anyone with me. Nope. It was clear and I put my mind to catching the tail of the 3. Got that done and we were off and pacelining in short order. From then on, it was one big ouch all the way to the end. I didn’t have anything left for finish line sprinting, but was mighty pleased to have made it to the end with those gals and to have achieved the day’s objective.

Legs are probably blown for tomorrow, but since Katie and June stayed with a slow pack today, they’ll be fresh and dangerous, and I’ll do everything I can to support that.
—-Katie—-
So after having some saddle issues over the past couple of days… my own, that is, not the bike’s… I wasn’t too sure what my body was ready to do today. When Sydney told me it was her goal to go with Catherine, I figured that was an excellent strategy after seeing her yesterday. I watched Sydney stay on Catherine’s wheel almost like glue for the first 2 laps… almost radioed her to get a little closer a couple of times, but didn’t ultimately need to ‘cuz she was always working back to that wheel quickly. When she jumped for the break early in the 3rd lap, I took over position near the front of the pack so I could jump with anyone else that went. But, it seems, there were a lot of tired girls in the pack today, so we rode the rest of the race at a rather leisurely pace. I guess I’m rested up for tomorrow! The sprint finish was a tough one… I was in good position, but it started awfully early and my legs weren’t too excited about standing for a long sprint! I’m so proud of Sydney for sticking with her goal and making it work today!!!

FINE job ladies. Tomorrow we attempt to grow wings!!! With Sara Uhl and Julie Bishop hunting more sprint points, I have got quite a job ahead of me. 4 pm start time. Think fast, fast, fast thoughts. Dash for Cash!!!!
Later
C-

Tuesday’s race was a melting pot of attempts. Attack, bridge, establish, return to the group. Attack, join the break and beg for cooperation, of those you’re off with, to stay away.
We all were scratching our heads at how to make our break stick. 1st Katie gave it a go and her engine started to ping a bit, then me, who hit it hard with an attack to bridge Catherine Powers (Aarons) and Julie Bishop(HT Naturals), but couldn’t quite close the last 100 meters, as Catherine demonstrated that she wasn’t waiting. Julie joined me back into the pack and we set up for yet another attempt, this time we Sydney would give it a go. Away she went!!! joined by 3 others, making a nice group. Unfortunately, not everyone wanted to work,I guess felling their chances sprinting with Kelly were much better!!
June took it to the house with 2 to go and kept us all safe with a nice pace. As I jockied with Katie to move up for the last turn, things looked to be getting a little dicey. We just didn’t know how much until the last 1000 meters. As we passed through the feed zone, we accelerated, leaving 2 crashes behind, with 200 meters to go.
I sprinted alongside Catherine for a push at the line, only to miss Kelly Benjamin’s(Cheerwine) head by 12 inches as she crashed, just barely past the line. See the beginning of the end…..
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We all finshed in the top 20. I got to stand on a box with 3rd, Katie 10th, June 13th, and Sydney 19th. What a Day!!!

….. from Sydney ….
Damn. I’m glad I left that 12/25 cogset on from Snake Alley. Might not have been big hills but they were big enough to make you feel ‘em - a lot by the 5th lap. I also had 5 opportunities on a particular downhill to wonder if shox on a road bike might not be a bad idea. Overall, I thought it was great that the three of us who road today all placed in the top 15 and personally, I had what I would consider my very first successful field sprint. And by that, I mean I didn’t get freaked out and managed to go from wheel to wheel for a 10th place finish. Wish one of our breakaways would have worked, but Katie (2) and I (1) gave it a go and that’s all you can do.

… from Katie …
So just after June had given me a tip to watch a particular wheel, that wheel started to jet away from the pack on the first hill of the first lap. I decided to give it a go and see what would happen. We worked together off the front for the majority of the first lap before getting caught. I tried (in vain) to get Syd to counter… but the way the race went it was rather smart of her to sit in and see the course before trying any moves on her own. There were enough just-bigger-than-rolling hills to allow regular breaks off the front, but none were to get away. Into the 2-lap-to-go lap, a strong group of 5 of us got off the front, and I thought we had it made. But I was quite wrong! After spending the majority of 2 laps off the front I was pleased to hang on for 6th. It was so great to see Syd off the front for a good try and to see June mixing it up with the big dogs, too! And, of course, we had great feeds and motivation from our sprinter who decided that taking a break today would help her overall sprint points series. Good thing we got those new radios!
….from the support crew….
Talk about elated!!!! 3 girls in the top 15!!! You gals rock. Now lets see if I can hold the tent down tomorrow, or should I say blow the top off!!!
Lets get down to Bidnes!!
C-