D'Endurance: 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.