Alberto's race report from U of O (March 2-3)

First Race Weekend as an A!

I thought I would share a few of my thoughts on my first race in the Men’s A field.  I was a bit nervous leading into the weekend because I had never raced at this level before.  I had seen how fast they were but still didn’t know how it would feel from within the race.  I was also really excited because my parents and my brother were going to be there!

The Road race started off very quickly up the first little climb.  I was surprised by how hard they went right off the gun.  Apparently some gaps opened up within the first half mile, with one person almost getting dropped!  I was comfortable sitting in the pack as we neared the main climb on the course.  It’s around 4 miles long, and is fairly steep in a couple of places.  Sure enough, about halfway up the climb I began to loose contact with the split.  I had seen people getting shelled earlier, so I knew that there were people behind me.  I kept as high of a tempo as I could and tore down the descent with the group occasionally in sight up ahead.  Part way down the descent my chain fell off of my cassette and got a bit jammed between the cassette and the frame.  I managed to get it out but was hesitant to use my biggest gear for the rest of the race.

Flying down the descent.  Right before my chain jumped off.

I never caught the lead group, but I ended up joining a few other guys and we kept on going.  We started off as four, but by the end there were seven of us.  The last time up the climb a few of the guys in the group were stronger than me and got away.  I came to the finishing climb with two other guys.  My legs were close to cramping completely so I decided to try and ride the other guys off my wheel rather than attack hard.  Luckily they were pretty tired because I was able to distance them without too much difficulty, and the cramps only hit right before I crossed the line.

The TTT sucked.  That’s all.  Kevin (a very strong freshman) had only raced 16 miles in the D’s that morning.  I had raced almost 60.  Kevin practically ripped my legs of in the TTT.

I was very excited for the crit.  I am a fairly good bike handler so I can normally hold my own in crits.  I hear that the A’s usually attack hard from the gun so I was ready for a fast start.  And it was fast!  However, I felt good.  I was moving around well, and none of the surges put me on the back foot.  Around ten minutes in there was a lull in the pace.  In front of me some people overlapped wheel and the guy directly in front of me went down.  I didn’t have time to react, crashed into him and went over the bars.

Before I crashed in the crit

That was my first ever crash on my road bike.  I have crashed many times on mountain bikes and cross bikes, but that was my first road crash.  Initially my breath was knocked out of me, but I got that back rather quickly.  I thought I was fine besides a little road rash.  During the car ride home, I was feeling very sore.  Especially on my right side (where I had landed).

Walking back to the cars with my brother after my crash.

My friends convinced me to go to the health center once we were back at Whitman.  The nurse I saw thought I was fine.  A few days later I began vomiting, and the pain in my side was worse because of the vomiting.  I returned to the health center, and the doctor sent me to get x-rays.  Turns out I had cracked a rib and that the broken rib caused the vomiting!

So, my spring break plans had to be cancelled.  I had been planning on doing the training camps and racing all break, but that was no longer a possibility.  So I bought a plane ticket home.

Yesterday I went for my first real ride a week and a half after the crash.  The weather was amazing.  It was hovering around 80F the entire time!  My ribs hurt while standing and pedaling, breathing deeply, or whenever I hit a bump, but it was manageable.  I think I will be able to ride gently the next couple of weeks!  And I hope to be racing again shortly!

Thanks for reading!

Alberto

U of O- Mackinzie's race report

            I just want to start out with how incredibly FUN the race weekend was!!! The food was incredible (nutritious and delicious), the 6 hour long car ride on the way back probably generated to most laughter/time interval in my entire life, there was so much green and so many hills, and I was so inspired by watching all my teammates race and hearing the cheering squads while I raced.

This was my first time racing road and I had no idea what to expect or how the whole weekend schedule would turn out. I was excited for sure and didn’t really feel any pressure, but it was still something new and I was like ‘three races in one weekend…?’

            The road race started off at a reasonable pace, just cruising down the road while the field sorted itself out. Then we hit the first hill and I make the rookiest move, dropping a chain while shifting, and then somehow found myself unable to shift it back on. So I hopped off my bike quick, fixed the chain and got back on just in time to follow the last rider up the hill before the follow car caught up. I put out a hard effort then to catch back up to the lead group, knowing that I couldn’t let them get away and it would be easier once I caught up and could draft again. Once with the lead group, we hung together mostly until the big hill in the middle of the lap and I realized how stressful it is to race in a pack of other people. You never know when they might make a move or if you’re in a good position. And just being surrounded by other riders of questionable handling skills kept me constantly on the alert. As we reached the climb, girl from ID struck out off the front and I followed. I didn’t manage to quite keep up, but I kept her in sight up the winding ascent, kept up a good pace and I think even started to reel her in by the end of the climb. She reached the downhill ahead of me and I never really saw her after that. (It was downhill all the way to the finish line except for the last short steep punch.) I felt good after the race though and finished 2^nd so that was awesome.

Later that day, about 40 minutes before the start of the TTT, I decided I’d better get up from my huddled position in the trailer and start getting ready. It turns out that sitting or standing in the damp and the cold for hours isn’t a great strategy for staying warm so the TTT was a great excuse to work up a little body heat. Molly, Luke and Alberto all have plenty more to say about this particular TTT ;) but I will remark that while I’m told TTT’s are supposed to be flat, this one experience would lead me to believe otherwise..

            I was probably the most nervous for the crit the next day, but it ended up being the icing on the cake (if I ate cake and liked icing). I started out by positioning myself near the front, paying attention to the speeding up that was happening near the start/finish line. When a prime lap came up, instead of fighting the lead girl for the points, I just followed her at a slightly more reasonable output of energy and then sprinted around her as soon as she started slowing down. When I looked back after the corner, she wasn’t right behind me so I put my head down and basically time trialed the rest of the way in to a solo win.

            A HUGE thanks to everyone who contributed to making this past race weekend happen and to those who keep the entire team running, especially Molly and Luke-I don’t know how they do it, but I’m impressed! Looking forward to the next race weekend, which is coming up real quick. Thanks for reading!!

Mackinzie

University of Oregon Race Report

Hey All,

We just got back last night from our first collegiate cycling race of the season! With midterms keeping several students in Walla Walla, we had a small but mighty group of 10 racers and were lucky enough to have Robert Street chaperone for us. Thanks so much for all the cheering, going on a chocolate milk run, and bringing your car for the weekend! We would also like to thank our two homestays (Judy Abel & Leila Snow) for letting us invade your homes over the weekend. We really appreciate it!

Here is a quick synopsis of race results. We will be having racers post about their own experiences periodically throughout the week, so keep an eye out for that as well as photos from the race!

Don't forget that you can follow us on Twitter (@WhitmanCycling) during the race weekends for live updates! You can also follow us on Facebook (Whitman Cycling).

Love,
Molly

University of Oregon Collegiate Race

March 2-3, 2013

Road Race:

      Men A: This was the first Men's A race for both of these guys!
            Alberto Santos-Davidson (sophomore): 11th
            Luke Ogden (junior): 15th 
      Women B:
            Molly Blust (senior): 2nd
      Women C:
             Mackinzie Stanley (freshman, first year racing road): 2nd
             Becca Mellema (freshman), Arika Wieneke (sophomore), and Laura Neff (sophomore), all first year racers, completed their first bike race! And what a first race - there was a long, tough, twisting climb right in the middle of the course. 
      Men D: 
             Kevin Wallin (freshman): 1st
             Nick Davies (junior) completed his first collegiate race since taking a year off! We are so happy to have him back!
TTT:
     Men A: 2nd
     Men B: 6th
     Women B: 2nd
     Women C: 5th
Crit:
     Men A: 
            Alberto crashed about 10 minutes into the crit - he (and his bike) are ok. But he looked super comfortable in the pack those 10 minutes and will be right in the thick of things once he's back on his bike! Luke got a lot of practice riding with the A's in the peloton and is going to be in the thick of the the sprints once he gets his shifting fixed :)
     Men B:
            Whitney Griggs (senior) completed his first race in the Mens B field and craftily avoided a crash that took down a large portion of the peloton.
     Women B:
            Molly: 3rd
     Women C:
            Mackinzie: 1st (solo break!)
            Becca: 13th
            Laura: 18th
     Men D: 
            Kevin: 4th
            Nick: 23rd


       
              

Skills Clinic & Mock Crit!

Since our first planned race of the year, Cherry Pie, was cancelled, we decided to put on a skills clinic and mock criterium this weekend to prep the new riders for the somewhat complicated race format. A criterium seems to be one of those things that, no matter how many times it is verbally explained, it is a bit unclear as to what exactly you are supposed to do until you actually witness or race in one. Sprints in the middle of a race? Does it mean anything to win the prime laps? It's a time-based race but there are lap cards? What?? I don't get it... We successfully (I think I can use that word without getting in too much trouble) cleared that mystery up for the 10 new riders that showed up today (they had to come out at 9:30am on the Sunday of a three day weekend so I would say that is a great turnout!). The skills practice held before the crit included shoulder bumping, cornering, holding each other's hands (perfect for Valentines Day season), and crossing wheels. Check out the photos below!

Logan testing his flexibility and balance during the water bottle pick-up drill.

Cam reaching for a water bottle.

Arika is DOWN. But everything is ok, because she's giving us a thumbs up!

Arika and Laura

Start line of the women's mock crit. Please take a moment to notice how many girls there are in this picture. And all but one of them are new to the team! The majority of the Women's C field is going to be made up of Whitman riders!

Mackinzie & Rachel in the break.

Jenna & Kristin learning that drafting makes riding in the wind a lot easier.

Laura looking pro in the drops.

Start line of the men's mock crit.

Look forward to race reports beginning the weekend of March 2-3 when we attend our first collegiate race hosted by the University of Oregon in Eugene!

Here Comes Race Season...

25 DAYS UNTIL OUR FIRST COLLEGIATE RACE!

It always surprises me how fast the race season sneaks up. One minute I’m thinking about base miles and how I will get some time on the bike over winter break. Then I blink and realize that I need to start thinking about travel arrangements, riding intervals, and making that Taylor Swift cd that will be playing in the car to race weekends more times than not.

The fast moving approach to the race season also means that team activities and excitement pick up. Here is a quick recap of what we have been up to!

• Lizzy and I went on a wild goose chase for a bathroom in Milton-Freewater that included locked outdoor restrooms, a convenience store, a shoe store that we never found, and finally ended inside of a bar that we decided would be a great place to start a bar fight.

• The team has started meeting every Tuesday night. We are covering topics such as nutrition, what you need to carry in your saddlebag, and race format. Once we get into the race season we will use this time to go over questions from the weekend, reflect on the races, and track goals.

• We had a team movie night featuring my future husband Andy Schleck in the documentary, “The Road Uphill.”

• Team photos were taken last Friday. A big thanks to Whitman’s photographer, Greg Lehman! We will make sure to send out the team photos when we receive them.

Cam and I looking super pro after team photos.

• Alberto has been the driving force behind our ever-growing Saturday morning ride. We had 13 riders out last Saturday and the weather wasn’t even nice! And since I can’t seem to go on any group ride without causing problems, I decided to flat my front tire. AND I didn't even have to change it because my teammates are awesome. I just watched them and took pictures.

Cam keeping warm.

First year riders, Jenna and Kristin (we have so many new women!!!!)

Alberto changing my tire with Whitney supervising.

Expect to see more blog posts as we get closer to race season!

Love,
Molly