Mountain Bike Monday with the ladies!

Last night was the first installment of mountain biking on girls ride night. It seemed like everyone had a great time. There were at least 10-12 women that came out to Sugar. We did it in anticipation of the Chamois Time race schedule for tomorrow. Due to the pissing rain we had all day today, the race likely won't happen. There was agreement though that we should have ladies mountain bike nights more often.

I love this thing!

Apparently I can even update my blog from this phone. How cool is that? I am officially hooked :)

State Road Race Champion

Well after ignoring this thing for months I suppose I should finally write something. Saturday was the state road race championship. I have a strong love-hate relationship with this race. This is only the 3rd time I have raced it, but the previous 2 years did not go as well as I had hoped. Last year, my chain got sucked up into my frame on the second lap and it took me at least 20 minutes to get my bike functioning again. I had to ride the last 40 miles by myself. The other downside to this race is the lack of participation. There were only 6 of us this year which was still an improvement from the 4 that did it last year, but not really a the turnout you want to see for an 80 mile race. I really love this race because it is one of the longest road races in the midwest, 81 miles to be exact.

With only 6 of us, Sandy, Amy, and I from Mercy, Katie from PRC, Lacey from DMOS, and Rebecca from Colorbiotics. We started out relatively slowly, no attacks through the first 15-20 miles. At first, everyone seemed content to have Sandy and I sit up front, but after a while there was some turn taking. When we crossed the Cedar River the second time, which is probably 12 miles from the start/finish area Rebecca accelerated splitting the group into 2 with Sandy and me in the front and Amy, Katie, and Lacey behind. We decided to work together. I personally thought dropping the group that early was not necessarily to our advantage with 65+ miles to go in the race, but what was done was done.

The second lap stayed pretty tame as well. We echeloned the entire time, each of us taking between 2-3 minutes at the front each time. The start of the third lap is when things got a bit more interesting. Up to this point the 3 of us had stayed neutral through the feed zones and through town, but suddenly Rebecca was pushing her way through West Branch. She almost passed our lead car. Then we got out on the road and you could tell she no longer wanted to work with us, but she made to serious attacks. About 10 miles into the last lap, I attacked up a hill. I was hoping to put some distance between me and Rebecca, but all I ended up doing us gapping off Sandy. I sat up and made Rebecca come around if she wanted to keep the pace up.

She and I rode together the rest of the race. We took turns trying to gutter the other person, but the wind was not enough of a factor to hinder either of us. When I pulled through I slowed way down to the pace that I was comfortable with. I think it was probably driving her crazy, but the worst thing that could happen is that Sandy would have caught up and I would have had a teammate to work with again. After we crossed the Cedar River the last time, Rebecca hung me out front. I did as I had all day and just rode my pace. Finally, with 50-100 yards to go before the last turn, Rebecca takes off. I had been dicking round enough that it caught me a little off guard, but I was on her wheel after 20 seconds or so. After rounding the turn though we still had at least 5 miles until the finish. I just sat there and let her do the work. Surprisingly, she kept the pace up even though I was just sitting back there on her wheel.

As we approached the finish, she started to accelerate one more time. I just took off around her hoping she would not be able to sit on my wheel and recover. After 50 feet or so I looked back and she was just sitting there pedaling. I finally won the Iowa state road race!

Sandy rolled in 3rd, Amy in 6th. In the women's 4 race, Cara was 2nd and Darcy was 3rd. It was a great day for Mercy women.

Kent Park Race Report

I'm not going to get all worked up about race reports this year. Last year I tried to include every little detail and it just made me not write my races up. So, in short, there was a great women's turnout, 23 total I believe. My legs felt kinda rough on the warmup laps, but I was hoping it was just nerves. As we made our way around the first lap, I got antsy and decided to attack on the second to last hill. I spent the rest of the race time trialing off the front. With a lap and a half to go, the men's 1,2 caught me and I hung with them for a half lap just to get a break from the wind.

It was a wonderful race. Michael did an excellent job promoting the race and Atlas did a great job with the prizes.

I was so impressed with the ICCC ladies. For many of them, it was their first race ever and they rode their hearts out. Great job ladies! I can't wait to do it again!

1st Ride at Sugar for the year

Kyle and I headed out after work yesterday to turn out a loop at Sugarbottom. The trails are in amazing condition. We were able to ride the entire south side minus Hell Trail and Troll Bridge (since they are both closed). We also rode the last green on the north that takes you to Cyclocross. Funny enough, as we crested the hill headed back to the south end, we ran into Burvee and Jody. We ended up riding with them around the south loop again.

Fun was had by all. I can only hope that time allows me to enjoy the trails again soon!

Kent park race report to come...

cycling Photos on CyclingDirt

T. Wells riding a Syntace Vector carbon bar at Fontana 12 degrees of goodness there! Syntace stuff is simply the best. It's always a great testament to a brand when Pros are running gear they actually choose themselves, rather than what they are simply given.

Kent Park Pics!

Kent Park was this past weekend. Robin raced and did very well! I'm sure she will post up a race report with some more details soon. But, she put in an attack about 3/4 through the first lap and ended up riding the rest of the race off the front of the women's field to take the win.

Here are some pics from the day:


Robin coming up the hill:







Oh yea.... Duethman was an animal! Don't mess with him.... he will eat your children.