Cyclocross National Championships  Bend, OR  Dec 13, 2009

The National Championships have been a long time coming.  It’s something I’ve been focused on since I started training back in April.  To think about a race for that long is stressful and nerve racking to say the least.  But you can’t help it when it’s the biggest race of the season.

This year the event was held in Bend, Oregon, a hotbed of cycling in the state of Oregon.  The week leading up to the race was the coldest they’ve had in years.  I spent the entire week indoors riding the trainer.

The course was set around the Deschutes Brewery with a mix of rough trail, soft grass, steep climbs, a huge set of stairs, and some tricky off-camber sections.  When I pre-rode the course on Friday everything was completely frozen.  The only dry part of the course was the pavement through the start/finish.  Even though I hate riding on ice I knew it would favor my bike handling skills, if I could stay upright.  Haha!

By Saturday the weather changed and the sun came out, warming things up to a balmy 30 degrees.  I did a few more laps and was pleasantly surprised to find that everything had melted.  I was shocked because 24hrs earlier the course was under a few inches of frozen snow and ice.  Now it was wet, muddy, slushy, sloppy, and slick.   The conditions made the course a lot more fun and not nearly as stressful.  Made for an easier night of sleeping as well.

Overnight the temperatures dropped and the course froze once again.  I pre rode one lap at 10:30am and had a few close calls trying to stay upright on the icy turns.  Even though the sun was out the air temperature was still chilly and things weren’t warming up as fast as I had hoped.  Oh well.

My biggest mistake of the day came at the end of my warm-up.  Not realizing there were 105 women at call up, I mistimed my warm-up and arrived at the start grid after my name had been announced.  The official started call-up 5 minutes earlier than normal.  It was dumb luck that I was only a few seconds late, otherwise I would have missed out being in the second row.  As it was, I didn’t get to line up behind Katie Compton.  Darn!

The start was blazing fast and I was only able to move up into 4^th position by the time we hit the first grass section.  The first lap of any cross race is always total chaos.  Riders get ahead of you that can’t ride their bikes and slow things down.  Riders are trying to pass in places they shouldn’t, and girls are going down all over the place.  Meanwhile Katie Compton is riding away as I’m stuck behind slower riders.  Ugh!

Trying to stay upright in an icy corner

I finally got around everyone and had a clear track ahead.  Whew!  The crowd was huge with lots of fans cheering my name.  I was maxed out but having fun.  Lots of linked recoveries and near misses.  The course was changing by the minute as things slowly warmed up.  I was passed by Amy Dombrowski after the first lap and stayed 20 feet behind her for another lap.  Then Meredith Miller caught and passed me as I slid out on one of the turns.  Damn!  I lost some momentum after my crash.  I rode in 4^th for the rest of the race, having to hold off Laura Van Gilder, who was chronically only 5 seconds behind me.  Close enough to make things stressful.

Running the barriers

By the last lap I stretched my lead over Van Gilder and was able to relax coming into the finish.  My 4^th place was good enough for the podium.  I wanted better but I was also very satisfied and happy with how things went.  It’s been a challenge trying to play catch-up to riders that have been competing all summer, and for the past four years for that matter.

Getting ready for a steep drop

The podium ceremony was in the beer tent so the crowd was very vocal.  Plus it was warm with all those hot steamy bodies.  Afterwards I watched a great men’s race and caught up with friends.

Elite women's podium

It’s been a great season and a lot of fun.  I’m glad I came back to racing and I’m glad I was able to be successful.  My goals were to ride up front, be competitive, and not embarrass myself and I know I accomplished all of those.  Now it’s the long awaited off-season.  I will take some time off the bike and enjoy the holiday chaos.  Time to dust off the skis!

Happy trails

Alison

USGP Series Finale  Portland, OR  Dec 5-6, 2010

I’ll admit that I haven’t been looking forward to the last race of the USGP series in Portland, OR.  After looking at pictures and hearing stories from last year’s mud fest, I was not psyched to spend two days slogging around in the mud with temperatures only supposed to be in the 30’s.  Imagine my joy when I looked at the forecast and saw it was supposed to be sunny and dry.  Yippee!  I might luck out and get a dry course and some fast racing for the first time all season.

It rained a bit over night before the temperatures dropped below freezing.  In the morning the earlier categories were treated to a thin layer of mud on top of frozen ruts.  As things warmed up and more categories raced, the course dried out and became quite fast.  Still a few mud sections and some challenging ruts, but overall the course was dry.

I got lucky and was called up to fill the last spot on the front row.  Whew!  I got a good start and was third going into the first grass section.  I was able to stay in the top five the entire lap, avoiding most of the chaos behind.  Katerina rode away like she always does with Amy Dombrowski close behind.  I rode in third for part of the first lap and was quickly joined by Alison Sydor and Meredith Miller.  We stayed together the rest of the race.  I felt strong and confident going into the last lap.  Unfortunately I hit a root hard with my front wheel and flatted early in the last lap.  Damn!  First flat in a cross race all year.  I was able to ride hard on the flats, but had to slow down in the turns.  Half a lap later I got a quick bike change and ended up finishing in 5^th.  I would have loved to have gotten on the podium, but I was super psyched to have finally felt good.  I haven’t had good legs for a cross race in almost six weeks.  Things are finally starting to come together, and just in time with Nationals only a week away.

On Sunday I wasn’t as lucky with the call-ups and had to line up in the second row.  I guess there was a rider that had more UCI points than me, but failed to show up for Saturday’s race.  I lined up behind Katerina Nash, my teammate, figuring she’d be leading the charge.  The start was fast, but luckily the pavement was half a kilometer long so I was able to move up and jump into the grass section in second.  The legs felt great and I was able to stay up front the entire first lap.  Eventually Katerina rode away from me and I was joined by Meredith Miller.  I stayed with her for half a lap, but couldn’t hang with her impressive bursts of power on the flats.  Then Amy Dombrowski caught me.  We rode together for another lap.  I had a fluke crash on a left hand turn that took me out of contention for the podium, again.  Unfortunately I went down at the bottom of two climbs so I had to run my bike up, down, and around before I could jump back on.  Lost a lot of time, and some confidence.  I rallied and finished in 5^th.  I wasn’t disappointed because I had another day of great legs.  It was fun aggressive competitive racing, which I love!  And I was at the front making things happen, which was my goal at the beginning of the cross season.

I’m hanging out in Portland with friends and then driving over to Bend on Friday for the US National Championships.  Katerina won’t be there, but Katie Compton will.  I’ve got to have great legs and a flawless race to get on the podium.  Can’t wait!!

Until then….

Alison

Alison chasing Amy Dombrowski

Flying over the barriers

End of season local Colorado cross races

I am finally getting a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, or the end of the cyclocross season that is a short two weeks away.  Yippee!  I’m having a blast but ready to be done.  I miss my mountain bike and I miss all the fun weekend rides with friends.  All I’ve done the past six months is train and race, train and race.  No complaints, but I’m ready to do something different.

This past weekend I raced in my last local cross race.  I didn’t want to travel so I stayed home and did two hard races up in Denver.  I took last weekend off so the legs were a bit flat.  Amy Dombrowski kept things exciting on Saturday, and then on Sunday I spent most of my race trying to catch all the masters men that started in front of the women.

Saturday’s race was across the street from Dove Valley, the Denver Broncos training facility.  It was on a beautiful grassy sports complex with great views of the mountains.  The entire course was on grass, except for two sections on a sidewalk and two short sand traps.  This was the perfect UCI course, smooth and fast.  Unusual for Colorado races which are typically run on trails, fields, open meadows , or dirt parking lots.  I loved it!

Amy Dombrowski, my future teammate on the 2010 LUNA team, raced on Saturday.  She’s been tearing it up on the east coast so I knew she’d be hard to beat.  I had lousy legs again and she put the hurt on me all day.  I had just enough to chase down her attacks and sit on her wheel, but not enough to do any of my own attacks.  She worked hard to drop me, and wasn’t successful until the very end of the last lap.  I messed up my line through the sand pit and wasn’t able to close the gap before the short steep climb to the finish line.  Not the finish I was hoping for, but at least it was a hard race.

Sunday’s course was in Golden; much more technical and exciting to race, and watch.  Amy didn’t show up so it was me against the local girls.  Not very fair to them, but I feel it is important to support the women’s races.  I felt much better than yesterday and dropped everyone within the first minute of the race.  I rode alone off the front, seeing how many of the Masters men I could catch.  They started a minute ahead of us, so I was able to pass about 2/3 of the field.  I had some friends and family cheering me on, which kept me motivated.  Plus I won a pound of coffee for riding both sand pits!

I fly to Portland, OR this Friday for the USGP series final.  I’m staying with some friends during the week and then travelling to Bend, OR for the National Championships on the 13^th.  I hope the legs keep improving because they will need to go super fast.  Wish me luck!

Cheers

Alison

USGP #3  Mercer Cup  New Jersey   Nov 14-15^th 

When I heard they cancelled the pre ride of the race course on Friday because of high winds and rain I knew it was going to be a challenging weekend.  And then my flight to Philadelphia got delayed 2 1/2hrs because of the weather.  Ugh.  It rained all last week in the New Jersey area, making the beautiful grass of Mercer County Park one big super saturated sponge full of mud and water.  

This was the third round of the USGP cross series.  I was hoping to get on the podium again, but after seeing how muddy the course was Saturday morning, I knew it was going to be a challenge.  It rained all Friday and Friday night and then stopped Saturday morning.  The course was laid out on mostly flat grass with lots of U-turns, a few off-camber sections, one set of barriers and one set of very small stairs.  Not overly technical.  But hard nonetheless because of the thick peanut butter mud.  Many sections of the course that would normally be rideable were so full of mud that you were faster getting off and running. 

Because I didn’t do any UCI races last weekend I was called up in the second row.  I lined up behind my teammate Georgia Gould and figured that would be a good wheel to follow.  It worked well and I got a good start.  The first 200m were on a paved road and then we took a hard left turn through the mud onto the grass.  I was in 3^rd going onto the grass but got quickly swarmed by other riders.  I got stuck in a lot of traffic going through the tight off-camber sections and spent a lot of energy trying to get around riders that couldn’t seem to stay on their bikes.  Frustrating!  Once I got clear of the chaos I was able to ride hard and make up lost ground.  The mud, however, quickly drained my legs of any energy they still had, and I faded mid-race to 4^th.  The gaps were huge and luckily I didn’t have to worry about the riders behind me.  I so wanted to get on the podium the first day.  More UCI points and a much better payout for prize money.  Oh well.  4^th is still a good ride.

Sunday was warm and sunny.  The course was slightly different, but many of the same slow mud sections were still there.  Some parts were faster and some parts were actually harder than yesterday.  I lined up in the second row again but had a miserable start.  Not sure what happened.  Went into the first mud section way back and spent the first half of the lap trying to get around riders that had no idea how to ride in the mud.  So frustrating and very taxing physically.  By the time I was in the clear the front group was long gone.  The legs felt very heavy so it was hard to make up any ground.  I did pass two riders to move into 5^th and that’s pretty much where I stayed the rest of the race.  Nothing spectacular.  Georgia was also struggling, about 10 seconds ahead of me.  I rode as hard as I could, but it wasn’t enough to make the podium.  

I’m on my way home and will take the weekend off for the first time in months.  It will be a much needed break.  Can’t wait!  Then it is off to Portland Dec 4^th for the last weekend of the USGP series and then Nationals on Dec 14^th.  Can’t believe this chaos is almost over.  Haha!

Happy trails 

Alison

Iceman Cometh Nov 7, 2009

This past weekend I raced in the 20th running of the Iceman Cometh, a monstrous mountain bike race from Kalkaska to Traverse City, Michigan. It is one of the biggest races in the country, with over 4700 participants and $30,000 in prize money. I’ve heard about the race for years from my husband, a Michigan native, and decided that it was time for us to experience the event. We always take a yearly trip back to Grand Rapids to visit his family, so this year we timed our trip to coincide with the Iceman.

The Iceman gets its name from the notoriously bad weather that usually greets the racers on race day. But this year we lucked out and had gorgeous sunny weather with unseasonably warm temperatures. That meant racing in shorts and short sleeve jerseys. Not what I was prepared for.

The course is a 28 mile point to point race on mostly double track with a few short sections of single track thrown in to keep things exciting. The course is also well known for its sand. Michigan is one big sand pile, and the sand sections on the course can be huge momentum sucking pits of despair. With all the rain of the past month, the sand was fast and packed down. Lucky for us!

The women’s race started at a brisk tempo; not the lung searing drag races I’m used to in cyclocross. With 28 miles ahead of us no one was willing to bury themselves in the first few miles. After 15 minutes of racing there was a front group of five riders; myself, Kelli Emmett (Giant), Heather Irmiger (Gary Fisher/Subaru), Amanda Carey (Kenda), and Jenna Rinehart (Specialized). Our group rode together until 8 miles to go, when Kelli Emmett put in a painful attack on some steep rollers. I countered, wanting to test my legs to see how they felt, and caused a split in the group. It was now down to Kelli, Heather, and me.

The three of us rode a brisk tempo for the next few miles. I was thinking of the finish and how it would play out if all three of us were still together. With a mile to go, I attacked up the last climb in the race and decided that if I wanted to win, I had to go for it. I got a small gap on Kelli and went with it. She fought hard and never quit, keeping the gap between 5-10ft for the last km of the race. I couldn’t believe how hard I had to go to stay ahead of her. With 500m to go we were still together, so I attacked again and stayed in front. Coming around the last right hand turn I still had a short lead. The final 100m were downhill, and I was able to sprint to victory.

Riding that hard for the last mile put my heart rate and respiration through the roof. I could hardly see straight I was breathing so hard after crossing the line. It took a good five minutes before I could finally talk. But then I got to celebrate my biggest victory of the year! It was oh so sweet! After a bunch of interviews I went up on the podium. I got a huge bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne that I sprayed on the crowd. Plus a check for $3000! How cool is that.

It was a great race and one I would love to do again! Now we’re headed back to Colorado tomorrow. My next race is this coming weekend. It’s the third round of the USGP in New Jersey. Hope the weather cooperates!

Until then…

Victory at the Iceman!

Champagne on the podium at Iceman