Hot Days

Walla Walla has finally started to warm up. Over the past couple of weeks, we have been blessed with lower temperatures and cooling rain. Today was the first time that I biked mid-day, and ironically there was a high of 89.5F today. I have been joining in on the Allegro Cyclery/Wheatland Wheelers rides, and those start at 7:00 AM, 7:30 AM, or 6:15 PM, in order to avoid the heat. When I started my ride today, I quickly realized how hot it was going to be, but luckily the person I was riding with wanted to go easy, so we just cruised up Mill Creek, enjoying the trees and shade once we hit the slow, gradual hill to the turn-around point. My biking partner was actually biking to a Chemistry July 4th potluck, so I got a nice 2.5 hour break before I headed back by myself in order to avoid biking at twilight. It was very nice to have a 2.5 hour break where I could stock up on food and (attempt) to satiate my ever-hungry body. Because my riding partner challenged me to a time trial of sorts, where he was going to come back the next day and attempt to beat my time down Mill Creek, I started off hard and finished harder. Over my past XC seasons and cycling season, I have noticed a trend where I seem to get lazy when its hurts or gets hard. I didn't use to be that way, but as I get stressed out and tired, my body physically shuts down and I lack the mental energy to rally. Over the past 2-3 weeks, I have started to see a reversal in this. Although it hurts, I now have the mental drive to push myself beyond the pain. On the way down Mill Creek, I only briefly dipped under 20 mph before rallying and bringing my speed back up to 22-25. This was SUPREMELY satisfying, just like the 56 mile ride 2.5 weeks ago. Although I haven't gotten any pictures of the amazing wheat fields yet, they are incredible on every ride, and next time I post, I promise that I will post some breathtaking pictures.

The Crazy Gene

Disclaimer: If you read all of this, sorry for how long this post is. I will try to keep future blog posts shorter, but this one, being my first of the summer, and me still being excited about having my bike back, ended up being much longer than it needed to be.

As some of you may know, I recently gave up cross-country running in order to focus on academics and bike-racing. This past year my bike had multiple cracks in it and although I still rode it, I was very scared for most of my rides, particularly descents. Because of that, I have only ridden 4-10 times over this past year, and I attempted a season of track running during which I specialized in steeplechase (think long-distance running + hurdles + water and you have this event). Although that season did not go as I had planned after I severely bruised my heel bone and could barely walk, strained my hamstring, badly aggravated an old injury, I enjoyed getting to try steeplechase. In early May, I finally sent my blue Orbea Onix into Calfee Design so that they could repair my cracked frame and I could safely ride it again. On Friday, I got my bike back and it was PRISTINE!!! I thoroughly looked it over and the only way I could tell there was any repair work was a faint carbon pattern under the matte of one of my chainstays. Overall, it was INCREDIBLE workmanship and I am superbly pleased with their work. Upon getting my bike back yesterday, I went for a 20 mile celebratory ride. This morning, I got up early in order to go to the Saturday morning group ride. When I got there, I found out that today was the today of the 6th annual Ann Weatherill Cycling Classic, so I joined in on that. Before I made up my mind though, I encountered one of my XC coaches who managed to convince me to do the 60 mile ride based upon the fact that there would be 10-20 riders in the pack so I would never have to pull. Within 1 mile of leaving Pioneer Park, my other XC coach who showed up had technical difficulties and because the other XC coach and I waited up for him, we got dropped from the main pack. For the next 23 miles, I had to work REALLY hard at which point we hit the first rest stop and caught the main pack. Upon leaving the rest stop, there was a wrong turn marked on the course, so the two XC coaches and I managed to once again get dropped from the pack. After several miles of the back, I suddenly found out that I could now longer climb hills any faster than 6 miles per hour. I was officially fatigued. As soon as I soon where I was, I said goodbye to the two XC coaches who continued on to finish the Classic, but I took a shortcut back home and ended up biking a total of 57 miles today, a lot longer than the originally planned 20-30. Because of this rapid immersion back into biking and how much I am enjoying it despite the enormous pain, and although I am sad to leave the amazing environment of collegiate cross-country, I have now completely dedicated myself to a prosperous 2 years of cycling!

Fall Roads...

The leaves may be falling and the temperature along with it, but that isn't keeping the team off the roads! This past wednesday a group of us got out for a bit of faster past ride, and it was incredible! T-VO, Jay, Bennet, Chase and I showed up for some chilly exercise and I think we all got our money's worth. We started out on the good old Ferris Loop and after warming up, got in 15 min of good tempo that really got our legs going! After resting for a bit and cresting the hill on the return, we kicked it up again, this time practicing attacking and bridging. Though we only had a three man "peloton", it made for some interesting tactics practice. A sprint finish to round the ride out and we were back in W2! A quick jaunt over to the health center for an ice bath before eating absolutely as much as possible! I love riding. Sorry I have no pictures to put up either, but we'll get some good ones from this weekend, parents weekend!

Keep on riding everyone! (and posting, lets keep this going!)

Track Racing 101

Hey, Whittie cyclists!

I hope you all are having awesome summers. Mine is filled with bikes & sun.

I moved down to San Diego in June, and I'll be here until early September when I'll be hopping the Atlantic to spend fall semester in Scotland, land of wool sweaters, wellies, and Chris Hoy. Swappin SoCal rays for Scottish rain will be..interesting. It's always above 70+ here, 85+ inland - gorgeous cycling weather. I'm still getting used to the heat, and I've got the sunburns to prove it. I have to make sure there's a water stop on all rides over 25 miles, reapplying sunscreen all the time, etc.

The main reason I'm here is for the track, although there are plenty of other perks, too (i.e. SUN). The San Diego Velodrome has launched such stars as Chris Horner, and actually in Southern California it's difficult to swing a dead cat (sorry for the visual) without hitting a former Olympian or world champion. My track coach is Dave Grylls, a 2-time Olympian, my road coach is Robert Fagnant, who rode for Jelly Belly, my host dad is Jim Rasmussen, cycling badass, and on the track I've met such cyclists as Connie Paraskevin and Tara Whitten. People here are, in general, fantastic cyclists. Maybe it's because they can train year-round, or the terrain is awesome, or their racing season starts in late January, but in any case it makes for great competition.

Track is FUN. First off, it's drastically different from road. Like, drastically. Sure there are similarities, like most of the bike components are the same, you pedal, there's a finish line, etc. But then there are the changes which threw me for a loop - no coasting, no brakes, the banking, the constant constant sprinting. One thing I thought was funny - on the Encino track there's a sign saying, "LEFT TURN ONLY."

But after two months I'm quite comfortable, and I can already feel a big change in my road abilities. Track helps you 1) spin faster and more consistently, 2) sprint like a bad ass, 3) endure more high-intensity efforts without puking, 4) handle your bike well, etc.

Very useful.

I'm not competing on the road much now except for the occasional crit. Because Southern Californians begin their road season in January, it ends mid-July. Then track takes over until late September. Personally, I think the the early-ending road season is a waste of sunshine, but hey, I'm from Eugene. We take full advantage of any and all clear skies and often racing August includes downpours.

*Oh yeah. All us Whitman riders, we're kind of hardcore. I'm not going to say SoCal riders are wusses because they do train like maniacs, but you get my point. Rain & fog send them running for their SAD lamps.*

August is National Qualifier time for the track, and I qualified last Saturday in the match sprint. I beat the reigning national champion and came in second overall. There's another qualifier this weekend, so we'll see how I do.

I'll miss Whitman come September, but I'll be back in the spring to tear up the road with you all!

Much love,

Rachel

Tour of Walla Walla Success

Hello All,

You are receiving this email because you mean a lot of me and to the team. I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you an indepth look at the weekend's events in the Mens Pro category so you could all be a part of the excitement. I hope you enjoy the reading below and again, thank you for helping the team and myself reach this milestone.

* * *

This past weekend the Whitman team put on a great show at the 15th annual Tour of Walla Walla despite facing some of the Northwest's stiffest competition in what has grown into the most prestigious stage race of the year in Washington state. In the Mens Pro category, the field was stacked with the 110 of the best riders from the Northwest and British Columbia, plus the Bulgarian National Road and Time Trial champion and the regional elite Team LandRover Orbea (Pro team '09) which featured two New Zealand national champions.

All the Whitman riders (20 riders spanning all 8 categories) who competed and volunteered, put in their best effort racing with heart and sportsmanship to bring home some huge results. Although I do not know all the results at this time, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the success of our team in the Pro.1.2 men's field. Using a composite team of current students and alumni, we fielded one of the strongest teams in the race and brought home the goods.

My teammates, Alan Schmitz '03, Nick Littman '09, Colin Gibson '10 and team supporter Alan Adams worked tirelessly for my general classification bid, culminating in a 4th place overall. Whitman has never placed a rider so high in the general classification in the Pro.1.2 mens field at this event and as we reflect more and more about the firepower we were up against, we realize just how special this weekend has been.

Friday:

The weekend began with a challenging road race course north of Waitsburg late on Friday afternoon. After Red Truck Racing (Vancouver, CA) worked hard to bring back a small breakaway composed of Hagens Berman Team leader Soren Peterson in the final 15km, Colin Gibson helped me stay safe as the stage came to a bunch sprint finish. He delivered me to the top 5 at 500 metres to go. The sprint began early, at 350 metres and after my initial jump, I was able to dig extra deep at 150m, finding another gear and took the bunch sprint by a wheel. Amazing. All our of 5 riders finished in the bunch (same time) so the next day's time trial would decide our GC contender.

Saturday:

Thanks to the support of my coach David Youngblood and all my housemates and close friends, who covered the road with chalk and waved the flag of flanders at the top of five 5mile hill (approximately half way through the 9.3 mile event), I did a perfect individual time trial, finishing 10th, 50 seconds faster than last year race. After the event I sat 10th in GC, only 20 seconds out of 2nd place.

The criterium in downtown Walla Walla, featuring a section of the Whitman College campus, was great fun. It was a wet and treacherous race with numerous crashes at the top of the circuit (at the Apex store corner), however Colin and Nick did an amazing job of covering moves and staying close to me, protecting me from the wind. In the end colin and I were cornering exceptionally well and although I messed up the final lap (though there was still 1 lap to go) he finished 7th and I rolled over in 9th. Safe, muddy, and accidently completely rested for Sunday's 100 mile road race. Due to separations in the field, I moved up to 5th in the GC, only 55 seconds out of 1st and 11 seconds out of 2nd.

Sunday:

The classic Waitsburg road race features two climbs per lap plus a short feed hill, 90 minutes per lap and at 2.5 laps, the total time of the race was over 3.5 hrs. Colin unfortunately flatted, and although he chased his heart out for 45 minutes, he was unable to catch back on. Alan Adams monitored the front throughout the first half of the race and survived through to the end to help protect me during the final 20km. Alan Schmitz used with big frame to keep me protected in the cross winds through the first lap. Nick Littman pulled back a late (ultimately the race winning move) breakaway in unbelievable style (that guy is so strong), echeloning the whole field for twenty minutes as we drove off the penultimate climb, through waitsburg and into the final 3km, 10 minute climb of the day, leaving the lead group only 30 seconds up the road. Up the final climb I used my knowledge of the climb and partitioned my effort for the best result. Although 7th and 9th in GC attacked at 1.6 km, I let them drift 10 metres ahead. The remnants of the breakaway appeared within closing distance and although the fight for the stage win was out of reach, I targeted the majority of that breakaway group as my goal to ensure my top 5 GC position. Going for the best time, we dropped the yellow jersey and I followed Kevin Rowe (a very talented Team Exergy rider currently 4th in GC) out of the group at 1.4km to go. Over the smooth pavement left hand corner, 7th & 9th powered up the climb just ahead, and as the road tilted an extra 2-3% degrees, I followed Rowe's wheel back up to the two riders at 1km to go. As soon as I passed the 1km to go we rounded a right hand corner, the gradient dropped a few degrees and Colin Gibson, waving the flag of flanders like a madman at the finish, was within my sights. Like every other training ride, now it was time to increase the pace all the way to the line. Up the inside, on the left, 7th& 9th attacked again, and after Kevin (pasted to the right side of the road) moved left just enough for my wheels to get out of the gravel, I surged past, veering left and bridged the 10 metre gap, attacking immediately over the right hand side and opened up the sprint of the line. Moving past the 10-15 riders of the breakaway group (with Sam Johnson '07 of Hagens Berman- ultimately finished 10th in the stage- cheering me on as I blew by) at 300 metres and moved on, powering past Colin at 150 metres, taking it all the way to the line for the best time possible. Finishing 7th on the stage and only 53 seconds back of Hagens Berman's veteran rider Soren Peterson, I moved up to 4th in the GC.

This weekend has been an amazing experience and I am absolutely blown away at the quality of our team and our ability to execute with only a 5 man group (most teams fielded 8 riders). I wanted to thank all our our sponsors and supporters by sharing with you my take on the most successful weekend of racing the Mens team has ever had. I have heard great things about the women's racing this weekend and I look forward to hearing those stories as well.

Without your support, our success would not be possible. I am not going to try to name names because I would miss someone - everyone's tireless effort is what makes our team an important part of the Walla Walla community.

Thank You,

Sincerely,

Ben Chaddock '10

Whitman Cycling

Stage 1: Kellogg Hollow Road Race: 1st

Stage 2: Individual 5Mile Road Time Trial: 10th

(Snagged the yellow for my warmup)