The day I beat the men elite :)

Right, it is seldom that the stars align so perfectly in cycling, so when they do, it's all about making the most of it. Ryan and I had actually joked around on a ride at Christmas when I was doing some "motor pacing" behind Ryan about how we would pull something like this off should the opportunity ever arise. We did not think that we would get this opportunity so soon in this year's Ballinrobe 2-day stage race:

First off, the Ballinrobe 2-day is a handicapped stage race with 3 stages in the beautiful west of Ireland, just north of Galway.

Stage 1: hilly 80km loop

Stage 2: 7km flat TT

Stage 3: flat-ish 120km (8 x 15km loop)

The special circumstance allowing for this opportunity is that the Ballinrobe 2day combines both men's and women's racing by giving the women a headstart over the Cat 1/2/3 men. So on stage 1 the women got a 10min headstart over the Cat 3 men/Juniors who got another 3min headstart over the Cat 1/2 men.

As a Cat 2 rider I got the choice to either start with the Cat 1/2 men or with the women. I actually thought my legs needed it a bit of an easier start today, so I decided to start with the women. 

Hanging on for dear life!

From the gun, the 10 women formed an efficient and fast pace line. It was great to see how everyone was working together, with everyone doing their fair share of work at the front. This pace line was only interrupted at the first intermediate sprint which became a drag race between Amy and me and which Amy won and on the first KOM, which I took ahead of Amy. Shortly after the descent from the first KOM we started climbing again, this time up the major climb of the day, the 1st cat Lally's Mountain at around 30km. Playing off my mtb background, I increased the speed on the climb, making it harder for the girls to hang on, with Amy staying on my wheel the longest. I decided to keep the pace up over the climb and was rewarded by a beautiful view of Lough Mask on the other side. The descent was technical and I was happy to be able to take it at my own speed. I kept looking back, but couldn't see any of the women behind me. I wasn't sure if it would be better to conserve my energy and wait for the girls to catch back up or to keep going hard. I decided that I would keep going hard to try and take as many KOM points as possible before being caught by the men, since this was the day where most KOM points were available. So I kept going in TT style, taking one KOM after another. I got word during this time that Amy and Dalia were only 30sec behind me and the men a further 2min back. I took the last KOM and was still not caught, so I kept going anyway. Then, just after the descent from the last KOM I looked back and who did I see? My husband Ryan!!! And more importantly, Ryan by himself without anyone in sight behind. When he passed me he just said: "Get on my wheel and do not leave it!". And that is what I did. 

25km "leadout" by Ryan

Thankfully the last 25km were mostly flat, so I could stick to Ryan's wheel (mind you, going behind Ryan on the flat is like motor pacing behind a motor bike!!!). The only time I went to the front during the next 25km was to take the next intermediate sprint. Ryan was on his limit and I was on mine and I counted down the km to the finish. The closer we came to the finish, the more time Ryan put into the chasing peloton. With 10km to go I knew that we would make it without being caught. Finally, 200m from the line it was my turn again to take up first position and I crossed the finish line with both arms in the air! With that I now lead all classifications: GC (yellow jersey), sprint (green jersey) and climb (polka dot), a first in Irish cycling history in a men's and women's combined race. 

WIN!!!

To be fair, this was quite a unique situation, and the circumstances all played in my favour for this to be possible: the course being hilly for the first 50km and then flat for the last 30km, the tailwind in the 2nd part of the race, the women working together well before the big climb, the large handicap and the fact that it was Ryan who broke away from the remnants of the men's peloton and bridged across to me. There is no doubt that Ryan, who was able to drop all of the men could have easily dropped me too, but he made sure I stayed on his wheel and didn't contest me in the sprints (thanks honey!!! women's cycling owes you one!). He also knew that he would take yellow from me after tomorrows morning TT. 

Suffering in the TT

The TT went OK with Ryan winning and taking yellow from me and I only lost about a minute, so I was still 2nd on GC and started the afternoon's stage in virtual yellow with only a 3min head start over the A3/Juniors and another 2min over the A1/A2s, which I felt was too little over the much longer course (pay back for me taking all the jerseys in stage 1??? ;)). It was great though when they presented the jerseys: Ryan got to wear yellow, I got green and Amy who was next in line on the KOM competition got to wear polka dot - all jerseys worn by family and friends :)

We got ALL the jerseys (Mel, Ryan, Amy)

The last stage the women didn't work as well together and we didn't get a good pace line going. Amy went for the sprint very early, so I got on her wheel and got a great lead out to take the first sprint ahead of her. Then, just before the first KOM we got caught by some of the A3s and the speed went up. The A3s had worked hard trying to stay ahead of the A1/2s. The speed was really high with the A3s and I don't remember which lap it was, but a group broke away at the front, just ahead of me. I was tired from my effort the day before and just couldn't hold on to their wheel and had to let them go. Surprisingly they got a really big gap quickly and kept increasing their lead. What I had not been aware off was that there were some A1/A2s in that break that had previously bridged across to our group and they were working very hard and well together pulling out such a large lead. By the time the rest of the A1/2s caught up to us, they were long gone and had about 4min 30 on us. Ryan being in yellow the onus was on Ryan to try and pull as much time back as possible, putting in another superhuman effort. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, and he eventually lost yellow by 5seconds, finishing 2nd on GC. But together with my 7th place overall and having kept both the KOM and sprint jerseys, this was a very successful weekend for team husband and wife and women's cycling in Ireland :)
Certainly, the stage 1 victory created some media attention (see links below). However, while I was going to my limits to pull off stage 1 with Ryan's help, what is more commendable is that several of the women were able to stick with the chasing A1/2/3/junior group on stage 1 and that many women were able to stay with the peloton on stage 3, as the pace was very fast at times. It bodes well for the future of women's cycling in Ireland!!!

• http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/magestic-mel-spath-rewrites-the-rules-with-stage-win-and-yellow-in-ballinrobe-two-day/
• http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/health/up-and-running-balinrobe-twoday-cycle-race-29500925.html
• http://www.chainreactionhub.com/latest-news/983-could-the-ladies-rewrite-the-rules

Back home for the Road Racing Nationals

A post that has been sitting in the draft folder 'like forever' published now for posterity's sake.....

I had the option to race with TIBCO in the Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage Race before returning to Ireland for the National Champs, my main goal event for the season. I decided against staying on so that I could get home earlier to get over the jetlag and have optimal recovery time. I was very happy that I did, because it took me over a week just to get over the jetlag. I had no power in my legs and was feeling wrecked and tired all the time. On the upside, I was finally united again with my husband, who I had not seen for 3 long and crazy months of racing with Team TIBCO in the USA and Ryan himself racing with Polygon Sweet Nice in Asia.

Upon return I had a light training week and to open up the legs took part in the Bobby Crilly Memorial near Belfast with Ryan. I had done this race before, Ryan likes it because it has a mountain top finish. The race starts handicapped, with the A2s (with me) starting before the A1s/A*s (with Ryan). The weather for the race was nearly the complete opposite of what I had been treated with over the last 3 months: it was freezing cold (single digits) and pouring rain - I was seriously questioning my choice of leaving the USA early.... Anyhow, during the race, the A2s worked together well and we stayed ahead of the A1/*s until we approached the final climb. I had managed to stay with the A2 bunch which fell apart on the drag towards the start of the final climb proper. I caught a lift with two of the A1 guys that had caught us for a bit and then went up the hill on my own pace. I got caught up in a tractor parade up the hill, but finally finished 9th overall, which I was super happy with, especially since Ryan hadn't caught up with me either ;) It's not often that I beat my husband in a road race ;)

Freezing and wet after the Bobby Crilly Memorial

I felt that my legs were finally coming around after the race and that my form was going to be good just in time for the Nationals. My main target was the Road Nationals, but I also wanted to give the TT Nationals a good try. For a while I wasn't sure if there was any point in starting, since it was a long course (40km) and I knew that even an intense week of TT training was not going to make up for my lack of TT training since last year's nationals..... but when my power numbers were finally picking up in the days preceding the TT champs, I decided to give them a go.

Stealth - thanks to Black Umbrella for the pic!

Last year I had finished 2nd to Olivia Dillon in the TT Nationals, who was not going to do them this year. Instead, Caroline Ryan reappeared on the start list after skipping them last year, a TT specialist and world class individual pursuiter. Well, you can only do your best and I gave it a good try. I knew I had to give it all to have a chance for a good placing, but I had trouble staying focused on the technically easy and straightforward course (2 corners and one turn around on a big open flat road). But it was the best I could give that day and good enough for 2nd place, 24seconds behind Caroline Ryan... Same result as last year :( One year I'll have to win this race!

Leading the bunch through the village (photo credit: Toby Watson)

I had one day recovery before heading back for the Nationals road race. I knew that this year the nationals would be a much different story to last year. Last year I was an outside bet, an unknown, to win the nationals against the much more experienced pros, who arguably underestimated me. And I used that fact for my advantage then, banking on the pros watching each other and not me when it came to the final few hundred meters to the finish, when I surprised my breakaway companions by opening up the sprint unwatched and grabbing the win as they reacted too late. I knew I didn't have that card to play this year round. In fact quite the opposite, I knew I was going to be watched by everyone: I had finished my PhD and gone pro with Team TIBCO earlier this year. I had raced abroad for all of the road season until the Nationals and had only just returned. But I had also no idea of the form of the domestic riders. I knew I had improved myself, tactically and physically, especially my ability to accelerate and recover after having done all those crits in the USA, but you always have to be prepared for surprises.

Giving the peloton a world class lead out ;) (pic by Black Umbrella)

I knew my form was good and I went into the race very focused after that kick in the butt of 2nd place at the TT Nationals. The course was 7 laps of a 13km loop in form of a triangle. The course was not as flat as it had been made out to be in the media, with a hilly/draggy section on small roads on one side of the triangle just after leaving the beautiful coastal village of Carlingford. The other two sides of the triangle were flat and on wide roads, especially the run in back into Carlingford. It was windy and raining on and off - a typical Irish summer's day. My plan going into this race was simple: cover any dangerous attacks and maybe get away with a few strong riders myself. I was feeling strong and confident and went into this race wanting to win it again. I was hoping for an aggressive race and took the honour of the first attack up the climb out of the village. Of course I was being chased down. There were plenty of attacks and a few breaks during the race, with the Garda club being particularly active and riding well as a team. After I noticed who was working with whom and finding myself boxed in by members of teams after their teammates attacked, I decided to stay in front to be able to react immediately to any threatening attacks. I had to do a lot of chasing and controlling and riding at the front. It was only a small number of people who tried to get away with most riders opting to sit in the bunch and let the others play. Only one attack build up a decent gap with Lydia Boylan and Caroline Ryan, and a couple of people participated in chasing them back down. In the latter laps it became clear that nothing was going to get away (although others and I tried), so I was preparing myself for a sprint finish.

Only one rider can win (me :P) (pic by Black Umbrella)

The run into Carlingford was on a wide open and exposed street, with a full on head wind. About 20 women had remained in the bunch for the sprint. The bunch spread out the full width of the road as we crawled our way towards the finish line in Carlingford and I was riding smack bang in the middle of the road, keeping an eye on both the left and the right side of me. The headwind was very strong and deterred any last minute attacks. I knew that there was still a lot of fresh riders in the bunch that had been doing nothing but hiding in the bunch all day, so I thought letting it come down to a proper bunch sprint would be too risky. I was feeling confident in my strength and decided to start a long sprint early, at 500m to go. I know I can do long sprints and my plan was to ramp up the effort as we came closer to the finish, to avoid any of the pure sprinters to come by me. And so I kicked hard and rode faster and faster as we approached the line, basically giving the whole bunch a perfect lead out, holding on through legs cramping, but nobody came by me and so I made it again first over the line, just to shut up those that thought my win last year was a fluke ;)

Women's Podium l-r: Siobhan McNamara, Mel Spath, Mary Costelloe

I'm really happy to get to wear my national champs jersey for another year and would like to take this opportunity to thank those that have supported me so much this year, especially my husband Ryan, and my friend Stewart Carr. 

Here are some links to interviews, reports and videos from the race:

http://womenscycling.ie/blog/2013/06/26/i-had-homemade-pizza-and-a-glass-of-wine-the-night-before-mel-spath-is-the-2013-national-champion/

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/14824/Spath-confirms-with-second-Irish-national-road-race-title.aspx

http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/mel-spath-takes-elite-womens-national-road-race-title-from-siobhan-mcnamara/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tji3wVWY52c

http://vimeo.com/69120446

Last few weeks in the USA

Better late then never: Here's my post of my last few weeks of training and racing for Team TIBCO in the USA in May and June.

When I returned back to California after a successful few days in Canada, I noticed that while I was on the road for racing, my total weekly time in the saddle would only amount to about 11-12hours a week. So I stupidly decided to make this week a big one. I felt good after Canada, full of motivation and with the National Champs as my main goal, I felt it was time to put in some good long hours. I did the
I finished off an already hard week with the Mt. Hamilton Classic Road Race (100km race + 70km to get back to the start), to make it a total of 25 hours on the bike. I was already tired going into the race and nearly bonked half way up on the long climb up Mt. Hamilton, crawling over the top with an average HR of 150bpm, suffering all the way on the dead heavy roads after the climb, finishing in 7th place. In hindsight I think it would have been better to take the week off, having just returned from 12 races in 24 days across the USA, China and Canada, constantly changing time zones and chasing sleep, so I really needed a recovery week now.

View from Skyline

Obligatory stop in Half Moon Bay on the Wednesday Ride

I felt really crap for about 3 days, barely able to get out of bed, let alone do some easy riding. I actually don't like recovery weeks for that reason, it's like once I allow my body to rest it makes me feel so sh*t just to make sure that I loose any desire to start back into training too hard too soon. Motivation can also be at an all-time low during that time. But I understand the necessity of it and to be honest, I don't think I could have done any real training anyway. So I decided to go down and ride around the bay for the first time in my 4 years of visiting the bay area.

Art installation in the bay area

My Fuji :)

More beautiful views of the bay

My recovery week was followed up by a criterium in Glencoe, near Chicago. We had a good team entered with Rushlee, Meredith, Sam, Skylar and I. Glencoe is right next to Lake Michigan and the whole village put on a great show for the race and we stayed with another amazing host family. The organizers even printed trading cards for each of the pro riders. Unfortunately the heavens opened just as we started to race. And by heavens opened I mean a downpour of biblical proportions. There was so much water coming down so quickly that the water was coming back out of the gullies and flooded the road in some of the corners of the race. The speed went down drastically and I had lost most of my braking due to the rain (like the rest of the field), making the race really slow. I could also hardly see with all this rain coming down. This seemed to work in our favour as Sam managed to sneak away into a break with Erica Allar when a small gap had opened after a prime sprint. Our task was just to control the race from there on to make sure they won't get caught again. It all worked out well, with the brake staying away and Sam sprinting into 2nd place.

My leftover trading cards set of the suspicion of the airport security in the luggage scanner....

Quick pit stop for raw juice

View of Lake Michigan

A bit of rain during the Glencoe crit

After Glencoe I returned back to California for another few days of training before my last 2 races in the USA before my return back home to Ireland: the Air Force Association Cycling Classic Criteriums in Washington, DC.

View of Half Moon Bay

Approaching Washington, DC

We had a full team of six entered into these two crits: Rushlee, Amanda, Sam, Jo, our new team member Lauren Stephens and me. The weather was very hot and humid, with the sun burning down on us. The first race went really well with Amanda getting into an early 2-person brake, so that all we did was cover any attacks and control the race. Amanda won and with Jo and Sam finished 4th and 5th place, respectively. I came in 16th, still struggling to be in the right spot going into the final corner, since it's not my sprint power that is holding me back. After the race we took a little detour back to the hotel via some of the historical and political sites in Washington, like the Lincoln Memorial and the White House, finishing off the evening with a nice dinner in a great Italian restaurant.

TIBCO dominating the podium on Day 1

Sightseeing :)

More sightseeing :)

TIBCO in front of the Lincoln Memorial

The crit on Day 2 was more technical and my legs were heavy from the race the day before. I felt I was overheating and I found it hard to stay focused on the race as I was going to leave straight after to go the airport to fly back home to Ireland after 3 months on the go. I burnt my last few matches to get into some breaks, but all were unsuccessful. Finally, new addition Lauren showed us what she's worth by riding off the front solo, so that our task again was to control the race. I was happy to sit in and thought I was mistaken when I the last lap being announced only 43min into the 1hour race, so that I messed up in our lead out, but all was good since Lauren stayed away to take the solo win, and Jo finishing 4th again and Sam in 6th, enough for Jo to win the overall! I finished down in 17th place, with my head already on the flight back home to Ireland, where I would finally see my husband again who was to return from a stage race with his team in Indonesia a day after my arrival.

Definitely NOT traveling light.

Stay tuned.... :)

I always thought that I'd have more time once I am done with my PhD and turn full-time cyclist, lol. Well, it has been a crazy few months since I started my trip to the USA to race for Team TIBCO. I arrived here thinking I will be doing one stage race and stay for the training camp and then go back home to Ireland. By now I have raced 4 stage races, 9 crits, 2 one-day races and one TT, travelled to California, Georgia, South Carolina, and Illinois in the States, and inbetween to China and Canada. I've changed my return flight to Ireland twice, but now it's nearly time to get back home. I only have another 2 crits (Airforce Classic, Washington, DC) to do before I go home. Talk about getting around.....

When the opportunity to ride for Team TIBCO came about while I was on training camp in Gran Canaria, I was a little bit hesitant at first. Was I really ready to race on such a good women's pro team? I knew I was throwing myself in the deep end...... Physically I was just getting back into shape. I had had to cut my 2012 season short by 3 months to get my PhD thesis finished. This meant I had lost a lot of fitness by the time I started back into winter training after submitting. Going out riding with my friends, they pedaled up the hills with ease, but I was suffering - I couldn't give into the embarrassment of being dropped! My yearly November training camp in California was marred by illness and bad weather. Back home in Ireland the bad winter wasn't helping with the base miles either. Then I finally got in a stretch of good, consistent training in Gran Canaria in January, while finishing my thesis corrections and setting up my own racing team. And then I got the call from Team TIBCO....

Well, I am not getting any younger and I have no time to waste. With Ryan racing abroad as well as a first year pro I thought it was the right time to do the same. So I went for it. I still think it was the right decision, and I learned a lot, but it was also tough at times to adjust to being on the road, new people, new expectations and responsibilities. I still consider myself very lucky to have been given the chance to become part of this team, and privileged to live the pro-cyclist's lifestyle.

Stay tuned for my next few blog posts, where I'll try and summarize my experience so far as a neo-pro with Team TIBCO!

Team TIBCO is ready for business!

Success in Canada

After China, I returned to California for 2 days for washing clothes and repacking before boarding another flight to Canada for the GP de Gatineaux road race and time trial. 

Training ride in Parc de Gatineau

The next morning we went on a training ride in the Gatineau Park race. The park was super beautiful, with nice smooth roads and great views. The ride was good for testing the legs, which were definitely not liking it. 

View point (+thumb)

The road race the next day was 120km, 12 laps of a 10km circuit. My job was to protect my teammates, chase any dangerous attacks, or let any less dangerous attacks go to calm the peloton before reeling them back in in the later laps of the race. I stayed in front for most of the race doing my job, I even won the first prime, but at 100km my legs decided to stop listening to me. I managed another few last ditch efforts for my teammates, but then had nothing left to even stick with the bunch, so I had to let my teammates take over for the last 15km. I trundled around the course the last lap and a half by myself, catching glimpses of the bunch wherever the course doubled back on itself. All the time I was hoping that my teammates had stayed fresh enough for the finish and that our plan would work out.

Viewpoint from Parc de Gatineau

When I finally made it to the finish line I found my team waiting for me already, screaming and shouting and jumping in the air - our team had worked perfectly to plan with our team controlling the race in the last few km to put Shelley into position to win the sprint! What a great feeling it was to have played part in this success. 

Win for Team TIBCO!

One anti-doping control and a shower later, Team TIBCO spent the evening celebrating with a nice dinner and walk around in the warm summer evening in the buzzing town of Ottawa.

Then we had one day to recover before the TT, which was the same course as the road race, just the other way round. I did the best I could, but my legs were still fried. My teammates were flying though, with Chantal taking 3rd, Claudia 6th and Shelley 7th, while I had to be happy with a smack-bang middle of the field 16th. 

Straight after the race it was the usual procedure of quickly packing the bike and legging it straight to the airport for a flight back to SF.

The China experiment

A couple of weeks before Speedweek my DS asked me if I would be interested in going to China to race the Chongming Island Tour and World Cup at the start of May. If I would be interested? Well, of course!!! I've done World Cups in mountain biking before, but this would be my first road racing World Cup. Trying to organize a visa in time was nerve-wrecking but it all worked out fine and just in time.

After the last race of Speedweek I flew back to California where I had 10hours to quickly go "home", wash my clothes, repack and get back to SFO airport to fly to China via Korea. I arrived with my team late in the evening in our hotel on Chongming Island. Thankfully our mechanic (who was being harassed by the Chinese girls like a rock star) built our bikes, because the racing started straight the next day in the morning.

The Chongming Island Tour has 3 flat stages, on big straight roads, with few turns, and the team was riding in support of Shelley, our resident sprinter who had won the World Cup there the year before. It was funny, in the race book the profile was like a dead persons heart beat - exactly 3.5m above sea level.

Day 1 (passed by OK in good weather without any issues but also no results to write home about, it was a bunch sprint and we all stayed safe and arrived with the bunch. We were stared at by the locals a lot though, which was funny.

A bit dirty after Stage 2!

Day 2 was another flat day, but this time round in pouring rain. At least it was warm. I punctured less than 1km into the race with a big chunk of metal in my tire and had to chase back on. It took forever because I wasn't comfortable to cycling an inch behind the car, but I'm getting better. Then, trying to move up inside a corner, I had to brake and slid out on the wet, slippery tarmac. Thankfully I didn't take anyone else down and the bike was OK to ride, but I had to chase on again. Then, just after I had caught back on we got into a crosswind section and the pace went through the roof! Cursing myself for not having moved up further into the safety of the front I now had to fight tooth and nail to stay on that wheel in front in a peloton-long line out. Of course people let wheels go and I found myself in maybe the 3rd group on the road. Thankfully my teammates were in front, so I hoped they made it into the break. Our group chased hard to get back to the next group on the road, where I found 2 of my teammates, so only Shelley had made it into the break. Another group caught back on and the two big teams not represented in the break kept working hard in the front so that eventually they reeled in the break. A few crashes later (which I luckily avoided) it came down to another bunch sprint, with the front of the peloton coming down in a huge pile up just after the finish, where the surface was even more slippy.

Day 3 was a circuit race around the streets of the local village. We were going OK as a team, but couldn't finish it off in the last few and frantic kilometers, that included yet another crash. This was probably the closest I have raced within a peloton, with elbows and handlebars nearly touching, but it felt surprisingly safe.

Ready to go shopping in Shanghai!

After the last stage we spent some time in a market in Shanghai, haggling for handbags, shoes and watches.

View over Shanghai - it's a big city

Day 4: Recovery day and a nice ride around the island. It's a very organized island where trees are planted exactly the same distance apart.

Recovery ride with Cipollini

Day 5: World Cup. 130km or thereabouts in 40 degree heat. The start was in Shanghai, so we had a long transfer over from the island. The day was super hot. We all had our assigned tents and it was crazy how much media attention this event attracted. It was difficult to find a good time to put on chamois cream, without a camera filming, a microphone being pushed into your face or the riders being asked to pose for pictures. I've never experienced anything like this before. There was even a race helicopter! It was so hot we kept dumping water over our heads and put ice onto our necks and into our jerseys and helmets. My job during the race was to keep attacking, hoping to create a breakaway or at least to make some of the other teams work hard. I kept attacking left, right and center, but nothing stuck and I was chased down every time. Some other people were let go, but not me.

Another breakaway attempt

We had to go through an 8km tunnel, that was scary, then over a 10km bridge. I kept attacking throughout the race until the craziness of the last few km started. I hung back towards the finish, which was even more crazy today because someone at the front missed the correct turn and we went down the wrong road in the last km, had to scramble through a barrier and then start sprinting again towards the finish. It was chaos! For a race where everything else was organized so perfectly, it was unfortunate that this incident had happened.

Our Chinese translators - Roxanne and Sally or "salt and pepper" ;)

The next morning we were all back on a flight to California. Arriving back in California my short Chinese experience felt like waking up from a weird dream!

At the airport in Korea....

My results in China were:

Chongming Island Tour:
Stage 1: 65th
Stage 2: 57th
Stage 3: 62th
GC: 52th

Chongming Island World Cup: 77th

(Results found here).

I'll have two more blog posts coming up soon about my racing experience with Team TIBCO this year, covering my trip to Canada and the last few crits in the USA. Now I'll be resting up for the National TT champs tomorrow!

Learning the ropes in crit racing

Because of my inexperience with crits, my DS signed me up to do Speedweek. All I thought was - eurgh, a whole week of crits? How horrible!!! - whereas my teammate Sam, our crit expert, couldn't have been happier. But deep inside me I knew I needed it. What better way to learn how to race crits than a week of crit racing?

Skylar, Sam's little sister would join us in the races and the team would be supported by the Schneider sisters' dad Dave, so I was outnumbered by the Schneiders! Skylar is only 14, but races crits like a seasoned pro. My money's on her once she's allowed to race on adult gears.

The crits would be based all over Georgia and South Carolina and we started off with the Terrapin Twilight Crit in Athens, a buzzing student city. I was really nervous and the race was super hard, especially on the backside drag that stretched the field in every lap. But I managed to stay with the peloton for the first 20min, at which point I would have gotten dropped before. But I was told that the peloton eases off after about 20min, so I told myself to "hang in there". And then, just a lap or so later, the bunch did ease off ever so slightly and I knew I had made it. The time went up to 25min, then to 30min, and the laps went down. When I saw 7 laps left, I knew I would finish the crit without being dropped and I did! I was probably the happiest 36th position finisher ever.

Video of the pro men's Terrapin Twilight Criterium

This was the first pro-level crit that I didn't get dropped in and it completely reversed my dislike and fear of crit racing. I actually think this was the most fun racing experience ever. Racing in the dark, cornering so close to the barrier that you touched the zip tie that held the barrier together every lap, shadows racing over the tarmac and thousands of people out having fun in a warm summer night cheering on the racers - wow, I finished with such a high, I was a convert! I knew I had finally cracked crits and I actually couldn't wait for the next one!

The next crit, the Historic Roswell criterium, was in complete contrast to the Terrapin Twilight one. The sun and warmth had been replaced with pouring rain and cold temperatures and the racers were huddling together under a tree before the start of the race, trying to stay warm. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the Historic Roswell Criterium in the pouring rain and my teammate Sam got onto the podium for 2nd place.

Women's peloton in Roswell

After a long transfer from Duluth, Georgia to Beaufort, South Carolina on our rest day, the third criterium, the Coastal Empire Cycle Fest, was again completely different. It took place in a chilled town in hot weather right down at the beach and was super fast and super fun on a straight-forward 4-corner course. I managed to get into a group chasing the break, but the peloton caught us again and stopped chasing for the leaders.

Thanks to our host John!

The next day's Downtown Walterboro crit wasn't my type of course with tight roads and corners and a long back straight (and maybe it didn't help that the legs were tired), but on the positive side my teammate Sam won!

Teammate Sam on the top step in Walterboro!

After Walterboro we had another recovery (i.e. transfer) day to Greenville, a great cycling-mad town, where we spent our recovery ride with our hosts.

Next day's Spartanburg crit was probably my best performance (if you ignore the first half). The course became challenging by a slight drizzle, just the type that turns the road into a slippery ice rink. I nearly binned myself on a slippery rutty section on the road at the start. Several people slid out during the race. I took it easy for the first half, navigating safely and testing the corners. By the second half I was racing near the front in perfect position. My legs felt great and I was having super fun, being in the mix at the front. Unfortunately I let myself be pushed back in the later laps and just as I was making my way back up the front in the 2nd last lap some riders came down just in front of me and I was caught up behind the crash. Bummer!

Fun with the Schneider sisters :)

Another transfer back to our original host family in Duluth, we only had 2 more crits left, Belmont and Sandy Springs.

The Belmont crit was my worst one. I had a bad start and the pace was super fast for the first few laps (thanks, Sam!), with a steep hill on the course, making it hard to chase and move up into a safe position. The peloton was lined out all the way and I chased down too many gaps that riders let open in front of me before I could reach my teammate. By that stage a break had gone, but I had spent all my matches just to get into the safety of the front that I wasn't able to be of much help. Eventually my legs gave up on another high speed ascent up the central hill and I was dropped. Not fun.

The final crit of the series, Sandy Springs, was another hilly crit and my legs could have been better, but they could have been worse too. Straight after the finish, I had to pack my bike and make my way to the airport to catch my plane. Thanks to Holly for the lift to the airport and lounge access, so that I could have a shower before my flight back to SF!

Leading the peloton in Sandy Springs

The Speedweek was a something of a mad experience, a crazy whirlwind of ups and downs,  adrenaline fuelled racing, late nights and lots of traveling. I have learned so much during it and have come a long way in that week as a rider. I am very grateful to those that have helped along the way. I owe a big thanks to Dave for his support and mentoring during the races. All during Speedweek we stayed with amazing host families, so thanks to Edie and David and the kids, to Valerie, and to Jeni and John for sharing their homes and food with us and making us feel so welcome. I feel blessed to have met so many nice and supportive people!

Jeni with the 3 crit girls after a Mary Kay make-over!

My Speedweek results were:

• Terrapin Twilight Criterium - 36th
• Historic Roswell Criterium - 29th
• Coastal Empire Cycle Fest - 24th 
• Downtown Walterboro Criterium - 24th 
• Spartanburg Regional Classic - 36th 
• Belmont Criterium presented by Carolinas HealthCare System - 39th
• Global BMW Sandy Springs Cycling Challenge - 28th