Velodrome and Coaching

The past few weeks and weekends have been a small break from racing before summer racing kicks into full gear, as well as providing some much needed recovery. I went into the doctor’s last week due to a lingering cough from the bronchitis in my lungs, and that seems to be coming around though my heart rate still doesn’t quite match my power output.

Off the bike I wrapped up with one job and started at a new one (as well as continuing to work at the two others), started a new summer class, celebrated my birthday and started dog sitting an amazing puppy named Luxa.

On the bike I have been using the break the past few weeks to become acquainted with the Major Taylor Velodrome. My freshman year on Wing It, Tom S. suggested I try track racing, but things never seemed to work out. However with dog sitting this summer I may not be able to travel as much for racing so the velodrome seemed like a good compromise so the Saturday after nationals I headed up for Track 101.

I truly had a blast, for me it was much more fun than going in circles on the Little 500 track, and it has been a nice break from the Bloomington cycling community (as much as I love it). So far I have taken a few of the Beyond Track 101 classes as well as participating in the training sessions on the track. Hopefully I can upgrade by the end of the summer and get pummeled into a pulp by the elite riders in the area.

My first track race was this past Thursday and I won my first two races (granted, it was the entry level group). That aside it was very low pressure and a very controlled, constructive environment something that provided a mental break from the way road racing has become. My teammate Emma is up in Indy and racing Thursday nights as well so it also provides a chance to catch up and talk about upcoming road races that are on our team schedules. Long-term I think it will help with the mental side of cycling as far as the cat and mouse and strategy portions, something I need help with. Shorterm however, it is providing some fun and a change of scene as well as a good reason to spend time in Indy, visit friends and go to the Whole Foods up there.

This past weekend has also been a bit outside of my normal training. I have been working as part of the coaching and ride leadership for a team and camp in from Ann Arbor, Michigan. It has provided a unique opportunity to put my coaching license to work doing something that I already do on a regular basis with the women on my Little 500 team, and get paid doing it. Overall it has been quite the experience working with everyone from competitive athletes to juniors just getting started as well as folks who just wanted to experience Bloomington riding.

The eclectic mix of people has made for some interesting situations as well as this constant feeling that I was herding cats, however I learned a lot, even from the riders who were just starting out. Coming from Michigan many were nervous about the hills, something that at first confused the crap out of me. However the more I thought about it the more I realized that they were going through the same thing I went through when I was in Tennessee and Utah and dealing with the mountains for the first time. For someone from Michigan, Firehouse is a mountain. Going downhill and hitting speeds over 40 miles an hour can be terrifying for someone who rarely goes downhill for more than 30 seconds, and never at speeds quite that high.

Anyways, it’s been a nice few weekends off but I am anxious to get back to racing my bike. Next up on my race schedule is the Snake Alley/ Melon City/ Quad Cities weekend, followed by Glencoe.

Collegiate Nationals: Road Race and Wrap-up

Sunday morning rolled around, bringing with it 20 mph winds and wind advisories for 50 mph wind gusts. The course involved going around a small lake a couple times before heading out for a long pass through Ogden canyon and then the four mile climb at the end of the race. Fortunately in the valley area the wind was not too bad, lending to a flat, relatively easy 40 miles to start the race.

The road race was the even I had hoped to do well in coming into the weekend, but as I woke up the morning before I could tell it was going to be a rough day. My body was clearly still stressed from the day before and with the altitude my lungs seemed to be getting worse, not better. With Melissa injured I warmed up before taking my place in the callups, chatting with a few women from Lindenwood at the start.

Starting from the front of the pack was a major stress relief for me, and I instantly was able to find a group of MWCCC women as well as a few nice wheels. Within a mile or two I had found Kaitie (Marian) and settled onto her wheel for almost the entire first 20 miles or so. I knew she wasn't going to be doing any work but would be staying towards the front and so if I kept on her wheel I would be in generally good position. To my surprise, this worked rather well.

There were several minor attacks, but none that the pack deemed dangerous with mostly girls going solo off the front but never out of sight. Towards the middle of our second lap around there had been a rider from Florida off the pack for awhile. The pack had huddled to the right of the road and I saw an opportunity to stretch my legs a little, swinging left from the back of the pack and making a move up the far end. Once separated I looked back to find a rider from Lindenwood and one from Marian with me, no surprises there. I stayed with them a few minutes, working our way to the rider from Florida.

Decision time. I made the mistake of confusing the rider from Marian, and thinking it was someone else rather than Jackie Kurth, and the rider from Lindenwood was not someone I expected them to be working for. I had been in situations like this during the regular season where a rider from each of these teams would follow an attack just to bring it in and I suspected that Coryn and Kaitie would not let this go the entire race. This was not the winning move, and I knew that.

So I sat up.

In retrospect I probably should have stayed with that small group, especially given my mistake in who the riders were. It would have brought some attention to IU and I would have been stronger for it, but unfortunately the knowledge that there was still a lot of race to go weighed on me and I returned to the shelter of the pack, this may be my one regret from the weekend.

We came into the first feed zone and I missed my first bottle which had mix in it, I would have only water and some of the food in my back pocket the remainder of the race, something that may have factored into how dead I felt at the end. Ivy, from Marian, had picked up a neutral bottle and graciously gave that to me.

As the pack swung off the short loop it was a mad dash to be on the front going into the canyon which was going to be a tricky descent due to construction and sketchy roads. I found myself in the right place, surrounded by riders from Lindenwood, Wisconsin, Lindsey Wilson and Marian. Always nice to have familiar wheels in situations like that.

As we came into Ogden I started to notice the wind and we began to hit the rollers leading into the mountains. As we came into the final climb I began to fall off, unable to breath and my legs not willing to move any faster. The minute I was off the wind struck and I could tell that it was going to be a long climb.

Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe my experience going up the mountain. Having ridden it before I felt comfortable with it, perhaps even confident. However, I was not prepared for the 30mph headwind up the entire set and my lungs were giving out on me, the elevation and coughing proving a bit too much. I summited alone and rode the remaining 10k mostly by myself, rolling in for 55th in the field.

That evening saw me in the medical tent not just because one of our riders had gone down, but because my coughing was so bad I had trouble breathing after the race. A trip to the doctor's and the hospital confirmed that I had acute bronchitis and would be spending the next few days off the bike. Whoops.

Looking back at the race there were a few decisions I made that having hind sight I probably would have done differently. However, I have no regrets about my nationals experience. I have one more collegiate season ahead of me and I very much intend to make it count. Luke, Paul, John and I will all be returning for next year's season and this experience has taught us a lot in terms of communication, racing, and general team organization. As a team we finished 23rd out of 60 in the omnium, something that will help with call-ups for next year. I truly hope we can bring full, cohesive men's and women's squads out to Virginia.

This season I had the privilege of representing IU both in conference and at nationals, as well as at team leader's meetings on the conference and national levels. I really look forward to taking comments and advice from other team leaders and coaches and applying it to the IU team next year. With as amazing as the Bloomington bicycling scene is, there is no reason why we can't have a cohesive program that stands on its own year to year.

Next on deck for me is summer racing, as well as stepping into some racing on the velodrome. However, that being said this past weekend was a little taste of something amazing, and I have high expectations for myself next collegiate season.

Collegiate Nationals: Criterium

Saturday was my first day of racing in Utah and on deck was a 60 minute, eight corner criterium with about 70 other women. Prior to this my largest race was 35 women, and to say I was nervous would be an understatement. Like I told a friend beforehand, this was my first rodeo.

Melissa and I got to the race site roughly two hours before our start. We were able to get in a few laps of the course and at the time I noticed a fairly large pothole on the small climb coming out of the finishing straight, as well as some major wind. Other than that the course seemed fairly wide open with nothing that made me terribly nervous.

A phone call with the coach confirmed that the race was going to be a crap-shoot. I had not done any hard riding or training in over a week and we really did not know how my legs were going to feel, let alone my lungs. My goal was to find a friendly wheel (preferably Marian or Lindenwood) stick too it, and HIDE.

Warm ups went well, but even before the race started I was having a hard time catching my breath and there was a lot of coughing. Melissa and I had agreed that she would take the better call-up in the Crit and I in the road race and so my start put me towards the back which was a bit rough. As we started I found myself fighting tooth and nail to get up to the front and having very little success doing so. I am 99% sure there was a small wreck in the first turn out of the start a few laps in, but no one else seems to remember it, so I may be crazy.

The big moment came a little less than halfway through. A rider in attempting to avoid that massive pothole moved abruptly, knocking into Mikayla from Lindsey Wilson. Mikayla stayed upright but it set of a chain reaction in the middle of the pack. I had been following a train of Coryn and Lindenwood up the right hand side and saw the wreck happen to my left. Initially I was safe but the Lindenwood rider went down in front of me. I ramped her wheel, knocking my chain off, but grace of god kept it upright. I was able to shift back on quickly enough that I remained with the pack, which at this point had been cut in half by the wreck.

As we moved through that lap I looked around the pack for Melissa, only to find that I was alone. Teammates began calling for their riders, and I heard one of the Marian coaches yelling "Jackie is out". Never a good thing to hear. As we came around to the start/finish I could see Melissa walking towards neutral wheel support and was glad to see she was moving. Riders came back in and soon enough Melissa was back in the pack.

At this point I had managed to work my way up to the front of the race, sitting comfortable around Lindenwood and Marian, but a few laps later found myself middle back again. Alarm bells going off I saw a line up the side and took it as we came into the start line. That launched me to the front, and I quickly found myself pulling away from the field just a points prime was called. Whoops.

Screen shot of my attack that my dad found. 

I was able to hold it for about a half lap but with 70 girls coming up behind me there was just no way to sustain it. Back in the pack I stayed in the front until about 5 to go at which point I quickly found myself moving backwards in the pack, my legs cashed out. I tried to stay close to Melissa and move up in the last five laps but I made absolutely no progress. Rolled in with the main field in 33rd, with Melissa taking 29th.

What was cool after the fact was a few women from the MWCCC telling me good job. I may not have felt it was a very good finish but it was kind of them to say, and good to hear that someone had noticed my feeble attack. I really think our conference has some of the best women in it as far as development of the sport is concerned.

Our men had a rough go of it with Turner getting pulled. Paul was in three wrecks in the crit, and although he had perfect positioning going into the last lap he was in a wreck on that first turn that took him out of the race, John rolling in with the main field. We would later find that Melissa was injured enough that she would not be contesting the road race.

That night was the banquet with the announcement that nationals the next year would be held in Richmond, Virginia on the same course as the 2015 Worlds. How legit is that?!? Huge shout out to Lindsey Wilson for adopting me for the evening, none of my teammates besides myself attended the banquet and it was kind of them to take me in. Fun group!

Before Collegiate Nationals

I had the pleasure of running the twitter feed for Indiana Cycling this weekend, and so a quick note before I start. For those of you who weren’t aware this is not a blog about drama. Don’t expect to come here and get a full dish on who came to nationals and why, that’s not me and honestly I don’t think anyone knows the full story.

Moving on.

Nationals were full of highs and lows, but honestly to understand everything that happened I have to back up a bit. Thursday night (April 25^th) I started to get sick. Fever, coughing, congestion, and the whole nine yards. A phone call with the coach set me on a path of vitamin C mixes, Zicam and five days off the bike. I think Bloomington may be experiencing a serious Kleenex shortage after I went through the stores.

We flew into Ogden on Tuesday April 30^th. That evening I discovered that the newly installed cable housing was creating too much tension and one of the brake cables was broken. Contrary to a few friends’ beliefs I was going to need my brakes for the weekend. A quick run into Ogden the following morning resulted in a repaired cable and that afternoon I got on the bike for the first time in five days for a 30 minute spin on the road race course.

I have never felt worse in my life. The altitude was affecting me, and looking back at my ride data my heart rate was several zones above where my power was. Even though I thought I was getting better my body was clearly disagreeing with me and the 5000ft above sea level was not helping.

Thursday gave me the opportunity to do the climb as well as practice the descent several times. Given my history with mountain descents I really wanted to get this one right, I wanted “NO BRAKES” to be an option for me rather than my usual timid descending style. The climb was rough, though I got to do about half of it with members of the Lindsey Wilson Cycling team and I felt comfortable with it. By the time I did the descent a fourth time I was able to get through it with only touching my brakes on one sweeping turn, and hitting speeds that I never see in Bloomington. I was starting to feel ready and was looking forward to Saturday and Sunday.

Friday saw me heading out to Antelope Island to watch the individual time trials. An event I had initially registered but would be scratching due to illness and needing to save my matches for the crit and road race. However, it was great to cheer on my teammates as well as others from our conference. Melissa had an amazing ride, finishing somewhere around 7^th in the time trial, and our men did well also with a 15th place finish in the TTT as well as individual results for Becker and Turner.  We were headed into the weekend with high spirits and hopeful attitudes.

More on Saturday and Sunday to come at a later date. 

"One Last Race"

Well, by the time this gets posted it will be Friday. Everyone will be pulling on race day jerseys, nerves will be sinking in and there is nothing quite like hearing “mount your Schwinn bicycles” and Straight No Chaser sing Back Home Again in Indiana as the pace laps start.

I was lucky enough to start the race for Cru Cycling last year, a position I was initially going to fill again this year. Unfortunately though, you will not see me out in the track today. I’ve been waffling back and forth all year, going between focusing solely on collegiate nationals to attempting to do both. However, the decision was removed from my hands when I ended up having a cyst removed from my wrist joint two weeks ago. The doctor said I could probably race, but it soon became clear that my wrist was not going to support me jumping on the bike and even if it did I could possibly injure it severely enough to ruin nationals. My teammates have been amazingly supportive through this whole process and I owe them more than I can quantify.

I may not be out on the track today, but I will be in the pit putting my coaching certification and race experience to use, and I could not ask for a better group of girls to coach on race day.  However, there are a lot of people who have made Little 500 what it has been for me.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Little 500. Without it I probably never would have started riding competitively or found a place within college. Little 500 gave me friends, it gave me community and it gave me something to work for. That being said, there are a few teams who deserve more than just a general thanks from me:

Thank you so much to Wing It Cycling for helping me to fall in love with riding, thank you for your support and friendship my freshman year. I had so much fun racing that year and the top ten finish is something I still cherish today.  Tom, you remain one of the most influential people on my cycling career and I owe you more than I could ever repay in terms of knowledge and support.

Thank you to Cru Cycling for taking me in and helping me renew my faith. Thank you for walking with me during my long months of physical therapy for my knee and thank you for continuing that journey with me for three years. I could not ask for a better group of women to call teammates.

Thank you to Melanzana for letting us into your team and life these past years. In particular I owe Dana, Christine and Rose for your kindness. I can't express how awesome it is to see how much our teams have grown stronger because of each other. 

Thank you to all the riders, men and women, who became my friends. I have had more fun on the track in the last few months than I can ever hope to have again. I love watching the friendships that form on the track between people of all different skill levels. They say Little 500 is the great equalizer and I could not agree more in terms of the connections it creates.

To those of you who are not graduating this year, cherish these months. It’s hard work, and sometimes it seems like it is not worth it, but I would not give up my four years on the track for anything. Support your teammates, and know that they would travel through hell and back again for you. In turn, encourage the teams around you. Little 500 may pit you against each other but some of my best moments in college have been because of other teams and the friends I made during track practice.

I guess what I am trying to say in the end, is thank you. Today was the last day at the track and as I looked around I realized how much of myself I discovered because of Little 500, and how far I had come from that scared freshman during rookie week. 

See you on race day and Godspeed.

Regionals Race Report and Conference Wrap Up

Regionals Race Report

Saturday's road race at Purdue was the perfect course for me. Finishing with a “gradual turning steep at the top” climb was right in my comfort zone and I was hungry for a top ten finish. Tactically, it was one of the better races I have done. With four off the front in the first lap, the pack settled in for forty miles of wind and hills on the first lap. The wide open course made hiding challenging at best and a tricky descent in the backside sent alarm bells ringing in my head. Four laps later as we came up to the final climb I knew that I had to gauge my moment, if I went too soon I would just pull the pack with me. Waiting has to be the hardest thing to do but as we came over the top I fought through for 8^th (4^th in the field finish).

Saturday night I had the privilege of representing IU at the annual conference meeting. It was really nice to have people, including the conference directors, coming up and telling me that this was the most they had seen of IU in years. I think it speaks volumes of the efforts of members to sacrifice Little 500 participation in order to go to Utah.

Sunday was a very flat, awkwardly windy course through downtown South Bend. Because of the buildings you never knew quite where the wind was going to hit. Within the first fifteen minutes Ashley James and Kaitie Antonneau were off the front, leaving the field to fight for third. I was struggling at first with the turns but then something clicked. It was as if everything I have been reading as well as the advice of friends and my coach to be more aggressive and maybe do a little less work had finally sunk in and the last half of the race I felt as if I were flying. As the final three laps started Marian formed a train for Coryn and I saw my chance, sneaking onto the back wheel with two Lindenwood girls as well as a few others. They hammered it along the backstretch and as I glanced back to make sure that I didn’t get boxed in, I realized that the field was no longer with us and I was fighting for top ten. I barely passed a few girls at the line, but came in tenth, my second top ten of the weekend and of the season.

“You can count on this, I’m only getting better”

Conference Wrap Up

2012 Conference 8^th Nationals 10^th

2011 Conference 6^th Nationals 6^th

2010 Conference 7^th Nationals 8^th

The above is the placing of Indiana University Cycling the past couple of years that results are available at the MWCCC website. This year we went 4th in the conference and 3^rd in the nationals qualifying rankings. We were the first ranked non-varsity program and while we still have a ways to go, this was huge progress.

In three weeks Melissa, Graham, RJ, Austin, Paul, Turner and I will be competing at the highest level for collegiate cycling in Ogden, Utah and I could not be more excited.

Going to nationals this year has been my personal goal since the end of development camp in August. I have worked towards this goal with steadfast confidence since then, dealing with doubters and taking setbacks in stride. Our team as a whole came together in the fall with the overarching goal being nationals. We have been told that it wasn’t worth it, that we were stupid to even try because we weren’t going to win, and that there was no way we could hope to hold our own against two varsity programs (not to mention how dare we do anything other than Little 500).  Everyone took this and let it fuel them, focused on the goal of competing as a team throughout the spring and qualifying for nationals. It is safe to say we accomplished that goal with flying colors.

You have to start somewhere. Three of us will be returning from Ogden for racing next year and this experience will only make us stronger. If you never try for fear of losing then what is the point of racing your bike? It is like going through your entire racing career in the pack and never attacking. Pointless.

This year was not necessarily what we expected. We got pummeled at races, overwhelmed by larger, more organized teams. We stayed at friend’s houses, drove our own cars up, and covered many of the expenses individually, dealing with the issues that come with not being a varsity program such as limited funding and little support. However, we did find support within the Bloomington cycling community and for that I am eternally grateful.

To everyone who said we could do it, who cheered us on, thank you. To organizations that sponsored IU Club Cycling, such as IUSF,  Rec Sports, GU and the Rudy Project, thank you, we would not be headed to Ogden without you.

I don’t expect to win at nationals, in case that wasn’t clear. Honestly, I don’t even know what my expectations are. I hope to be of some assistance to my teammates, and I hope to gain experience that will be of use to the women’s team next year with Emma continuing in the A field and others looking to upgrade.

To my teammates, both men and women thank you for going through this with me. Thank you for showing up to races with an amazing attitude and the realization that we were all in it together. Thank you for making it fun, and thank you for being the inspiration I sometimes needed.

To my competitors, thank you for being so gracious. Thank you for giving me pointers, for your coaches that gave me advice, and for your friendships that I have appreciated over the past few weeks, especially at the races that I was by myself for. Thank you for housing me, thank you for your words of encouragement when things got tough. Thank you for letting me into your twitter conversations and musings. Most of all, thank you for letting me play bikes with you.

See you in Ogden. 

My parents came to watch the road race!

Some of the best ladies in the world to race with. Can't believe I won't see them every weekend anymore.

Marian/ Little 500 ITTs/ MSU/ Michigan

Wow. Okay, so clearly a lot has happened since I last updated this, so bear with me.

Remember that big snowstorm after the Lindenwood race? Well, long story short I fell walking on the ice and broke my tailbone. Sad to say it is all downhill from here.

Marian was five days after the tailbone incident and the last thing I wanted to do was sit on a bike for not one, but two criteriums. However, I was already registered and I would have to be on my deathbed not to race a bike (especially after racing with a concussion/whiplash last summer after the wreck at camp).

Saturday morning rolled around, my alarm didn't go off and when I got to the race site I locked myself and Ashton out of the car for what is the second time this season. The day racing was a lot of fun though, it was a cool course with a wicked fast technical portion through the campus. The collegiate race proved to be a good learning experience, and massive thanks to Ivy from Marian for giving me some tips on how to handle the turns. I felt really comfortable throughout the entire race, which was a nice change from my usual inner panic. As is my problem though, I put in too much work and popped off the back with two to go. I got in with a small group off the back and was able to break away in the final run through thee technical portion and fly to the finish line for 18th place. Not my best, but in the points.

The afternoon was a very different kind of racing, the cat and mouse "I'm not going to pull, but I'm not going to let anyone get away" which I HATE. I finished with the pack after finding myself in horrid positioning coming into the technical portion of the last lap, and having to work from the back of the pack for the sprint.

Moving on.

Monday I had a doctor's appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to look at my wrist which had been aching and swelling the past week. Lucky me, I had developed a cyst inside the joint. Fortunately they were able to take care of it that morning and the recovery period is only supposed to be two weeks. I spent an hour with needles and the like in my wrist but was patched up, sent on my way and went for a ride that afternoon (granted that ride involved only one hand, but still).

The injured wrist without the hard brace on.

Wednesday was ITTs for Little 500 and at this point my wrist was still causing a fair amount of pain and I was concerned about my ability to control the bike as well as get up to speed with only limited ability of my second hand. It hurt, but I got 14th out of 133 girls with only one hand in the drops. All I heard afterwards was "You looked like you were in pain".

My name on the board (that lasted about ten minutes).

Okay, so now about this past weekend of racing.

Ouch.

The road race consisted of half gravel/half paved roads for a grueling 42 miles. I knew my wrist was going to be a factor and that thinking was proved right when we hit the first gravel section. I found myself 30 seconds off the pack with Stephanie (Marian). We soon caught three others which dropped to Stephanie and I and then grew to four again going into the second lap. At this point I knew there was no power in the universe that was going to get me to the pack and I found myself on the wrong side of a shattered group. Between the gravel section and the 20+ mph winds on the paved roads I ended up doing the last three laps by myself in no man's land with the pack in sight and two girls a minute or so behind me the entire time. However, many thanks to the Men's A fields for the words of encouragement as they passed me on lap 4.

Gravel, dirt, dust, sand you name it, we raced through it on Saturday.

The ITT that afternoon was equally painful with the wind, a firetruck and a brush fire all adding to the frustration. I got 15th in both events.

I stayed the night with Tessa from University of Michigan and it was fun to talk about boys, bikes and eating gluten free. It was nice not to stay in a hotel, and many thanks to her for being willing to house a competitor.

The Crit the next days was a very fun course with sweeping turns, a tailwind up a small rise and a massive headwind into the finish. Right off the bat Coryn, Ivy and a few others from Marian/Lindenwood were off the front. I found myself, as usual, in the main pack doing way too much work on the front. Field sprint for 14th. After the fact that statement about me doing too much work was repeated multiple times from multiple people that I have a lot of respect for. I know that tactically it is not the best move since I am often without teammates, but I also still have this bug in my brain about doing work in criteriums. For me part of racing is doing work and driving yourself into the ground. It's how I learn, it's how I get better and sucking wheel all day just to pop out for a field sprint just seems wrong.

The A Women NOT on a varsity team.

Regardless it has become clear that my tactics need some work...so the coach assigned a little homework. I'm supposed to read it, memorize it, practice it and repeat. No pressure. At the end of the day though, it was a very stressful car ride home between talking to my coach and then also with the doctor about my wrist and I was an emotional wreck by the time I got back to Bloomington. Frustrated with my consistent "just out of top ten" results as well as worried about my ability to continue riding, I ended up going straight to my parent's and curling up on the couch for an hour. Tomorrow is another day, another week of workouts and another chance to get it right.

Homework.