Superweek: week 2

Hey Everyone! After an amazing first week of racing with all the girls I went home for one day and then back to Superweek for the Women’s cat 3/4 series! I was really impressed with the size of the fields; it’s awesome that so many women came to race J! I’ll try to give a short summary of each day but everything has blurred together a bit.

07/22 –WDSC Cedarburg Cycling Classic
Today was the second day of the 3/4 series, but the first day that I raced. The course was really fun with a small hill on one side with an equal descent on the other side of the course and a slightly uphill finish. I got in a break with three other riders and we almost lapped the field but because it was raining we decided to stay in back of them. It was a fun race and I took second in the sprint.

Lining up in Cedarburg

07/23 – Volkswagen Whitnall Park Road Race
My second day of the 3/4’s series was a circuit road race with a small climb up to the finish (YAY!). The course was fun and right from the gun there were lots of attacks, I did my best to follow them but nothing really stuck. The end of the race came down to a field sprint with one girl off the front (for some reason no one knew she was gone . . .oops!) and I came in 4th.

07/24 – Racine.org Criterium
The Racine criterium was a super flat course with four corners and a good headwind on the finishing straight. The backside of the course was a bit bumpy but I found a good line so it wasn’t a problem. Going into the last couple laps everyone was together. I attacked with what I though was about half a lap to go ... but it turned out the announcer had told us the wrong thing and it was 1.5 laps to go but I managed to hold my gap on the field and win my first superweek race.


The Podium in Racine
07/25 – Chase Food Folks and Spokes Criterium
One again the course in Kenosha was flat with four corners and a bit of wind . . .I'm sensing a theme . . . it was a tough race and I made a big effort to get a break going but nothing could stay away so with about half a lap to go I prepared to attack but just as I was about to go someone came up the other side, I chased her but ended up second.

07/26 - The Great Downer Avenue Bike Race
Once again today the course was very flat with four corners, although one of them was a v-turn. I got in an early break of about eight and we made it stick. The finish came down to a sprint and I was about two inches from winning but took a solid second once again.

Apart from racing this week I had a great time watching the pro men’s races and hanging out in the SRAM neutral support pit with Jose and Chris who were amazing.
Anna

Alpenrose Challenge

While the girls continued tearing it up at Superweek, I went to give it a try in Portland. The Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge was 3 tough days on the track. It was so great to see such a tough women's field. For the first time, the promoters had to split the Women Cat 3/4 from the Women Pro/1/2. There were enough women for 2 HUGE fields!


Friday was the pursuit in the morning and the 500m sprint at night. I opted out of the pursuit since I have never done one and thought sleep would benefit me more after traveling on Thursday. In the 500m I finished 2nd behind Canadian superstar Monique Sullivan- this ended up being a theme in the sprint events.

Saturday was a long day; I think we were at the track for over 12 hours with about 1 hour in between sessions. The morning started with the 200m TT which seated us for the sprints. I made it into the sprint finals with little problems and got handed a wake-up call by Monique in the finals. Hmmm... I know what I need to practice! Also on Saturday was the 5 mile scratch race. This was a super fun win over a tough field. P.S. A scratch race is like a crit on the velodrome. Basically, after 5 miles the first one over the finish line wins. I sat in good position for most of the race and didn't panic when attacks went off the front. It ended in a bunch sprint which, of course, I love.

There was a nasty crash in the men's keirin on Saturday. The local news crew was there and caught it on video. Don't watch if you are scared of the track. Luckily, everyone walked away. The bad news is there was about $15k of broken bikes/wheels/computers/etc. I don't know why this is one of my favorite races.

Sunday was the keirin, miss and out, and points race for the women. I won my qualifier in the keirin putting me in the finals right away. The miss and out wasn't as glorious. I actually dropped out and decided to save my legs since I didn't feel like I had it in me to place well. I felt pretty good in the keirin final but still came in second to Monique; this race was a little more respectable then the sprint finals. She is super fast and fun to race with. I am trying hard to talk her into moving to Colorado to train with me :) The last event for the women was the Points race. At this point, I was exhausted (6th day out of 7 of racing) and tallied the Overall Leader's Points. I was winning and the only person that could beat me was Jen Triplett. If Jen won the Points, she would win the Overall. I rolled the dice and did not race the Points. Thanks to Shelley Olds for taking control and winning the Points race because I ended up winning the Overall too.

Thanks to all the Alpenrose folks for having such a fun and supportive race! See you guys in Seattle next!

Cari

Richton Park!

We landed in another awesome host housing situation! How do we get so lucky? Dan and Susan live in Naperville and are our most gracious hosts! They cooked up a full-on breakfast and also a dinner too! We couldn't do what we do with out our hosts! THANK YOU so much!! :)

We kicked superweek off tonight with a criterium in Richton Park. It is a new addition to this year's superweek -- and it was an excellent addition at that! The course was fun and most of the people who lived in the neighborhood were out enjoying the race-- always nice to see. The course consisted of four left turns with a couple of chicanes thrown in. The back straight had a nice head wind and some of the corners could be considered, well, undesirable. But nonetheless... we did 50 laps and it was a beautiful day.

The field turned to be about 50 riders deep, with some talented riders showing up. During the race, there were a couple minor attacks and a couple gaps, but nothing would stick. With about 15ish to go, it seemed as if everyone knew that it would come down to a field sprint- which it did. Cari had a great wheel to follow and ended up 3rd- Kate 22ish and Clare 24ish. It was a good race to get our legs under us.

Clare had a nasty crash with about 20 to go. She was off the front with one other girl and while glancing back to check their gap, the girl in front of her slowed down a bit... she ended up overlapping wheels and went down hard. She trashed her helmet and scraped up her back/hip/knee. Ouch. She got back in and continued to race. I'm sure she'll feel it tomorrow. :(

Until tomrrow!
~~Kate

P.S. Cari wants everyone to know that the podium consisted of girls who race the track. (Cari has highjacked Kate's computer and hoping Kate doesn't notice this.)

Superweek Preview!

This weekend, the Cowgirls will be heading to the Chicagoland and Milwaukee areas to participate in Superweek! The P,1,2 women race during the first week beginning on Monday, July 14. We'll participate in 7 days of racing!

Here's the line up:
Monday: Richton Park, IL
Tuesday: Bensenville, IL
Wednesday: Bensenville, IL
Thursday: Shorewood, WI
Friday: Ripon, WI
Saturday: Waukesha, WI
Sunday: Evanston, IL

For more: click here: Superweek!

We'll be updating regularily!


~~
tutu--- kate

Headed to Cape Town!

Congratulations to Missy!!! She was selected to coach the Junior National Team for Junior Worlds in Cape Town South Africa! I don't know about y'all, but I'm excited! She is heading out this Tuesday and will be gone for the next couple weeks-

Congrats and thanks for being an excellent coach!

(hope you like the photo... Missy is probably laying down the law in Europe somewhere...)

~~kate

Kate's dream car

After having the privilege of renting one of these fine machines in Minneapolis, Kate has moved the scuba yellow Chevy Cobalt to the top of her dream car list.