Coffee Crit

By Monica Tory
Kalamazoo, Michigan

A few weeks ago, with the 2nd annual BTR Park Criterium fast approaching, I found myself busy with two tasks. First of all, campaigning for some other cat 4 women to race with me! The organizers told me that due to the points series rules, they would NOT be able to combine fields, even if I was the only cat 4 women’s entrant. I don’t want to be a bad sport, but … the thought of paying to spend 45 minutes riding around my local business park by myself was not a good one. Don’t get me wrong — I LOVE to time trial. But I’m entering crits to get more group-racing experience and …. well, 45 minutes, by myself, in circles, sounded downright awful! Second, and most importantly, I wanted to do something extra to sweeten the primes for the women’s races, and (hopefully) encourage more women in our area to come out and try this very beginner-friendly race. I didn’t have to look very far to come up with Bella-riffic primes! One of our super Velo Bella - Kona sponsors, Jason Benford / De La Paz Coffee, generously offered to donate a shipment of ultra-fresh, unbelievably scrumptious Bella Blend to the cause. Schering-Plough & Coppertone, a sponsor of our local triathlon club, also stepped up and donated some very nice schwag bags (filled with “all sorts of stuff you can use” — spray on Coppertone sunscreen, water bottles, towels, Dr. Scholl’s products, and more), which were distributed on behalf of Velo Bella - Kona and Schering-Plough.

While my first task one didn’t start out so well (by race morning, I was still the only cat 4 woman entered, and I found myself walking around the race course asking female spectators if they’d like to come out and race in the afternoon!!!!), by the end of the day I had two girls to race with — one (Mariann Barnes) that I recruited from the sidelines, and another (Jenny) who braved construction traffic, had to change in the car on her way down from Traverse City, and … thankfully … the race organizer’s held the race start for 5 minutes so she could sprint over to the start line.

The weather was great — gorgeous, sunny, and in the high 80s, with a slight headwind on parts of the course. Turns out the officials DID combine the 1/2/3 and 4 women’s fields, so I didn’t need to worry about recruiting fellow racers after all! While waiting for the start, I was super-surprised to see that I had a fan club! Ten or so friends from our bike and triathlon club had come to watch me race…which stepped up the ante for me! (It’s also good for the race….they loved watching and can’t wait to try it next year. yay!) Bella Dianna Rose had also made as 2 hour drive just to watch! I am really spoiled and lucky to have such great support out there and every day!

It was exhilirating to stay with the 1/2/3 ladies, even if it was just for the first 2 laps. The course was wonderful….big swoopy curves, smooth pavement, a small hill/overpass, a nice section that was with the wind, and plenty of enthusiastic spectators. After being neatly dropped by the 1/2/3 ladies (and Jenny) in their 3rd or 4th acceleration, Mariann and I worked together for the rest of the race, trying different strategies to see if we could bridge back up to the main group. Our strategies didn’t work, but we had a great time experimenting, trying to lose one another, and getting to know each other too. Without trying, we split the primes pretty evenly (1 De La Paz Bella Blend for each of us, the Schering-Plough Coppertone schwag to Mariann), and by the last few laps it was obvious that Mariann was going to win any sprint that I left to the last minute! I tried to time my final attack well & it worked … I was still several bike lengths ahead by the time I crossed the finish line….

Monica Tory, cat 4 women, 2nd of 3

Fellow Kalamazoo Bicycle Club member Zolton Cohen has posted a fantastic gallery of race photos (click here).

Marathon Woman: Stony Creek Marathon

By Dana Nevedal
Detroit, Michigan

The weather was just perfect- mid 70’s and mostly sunny. The trail was bone dry, loose and gravelly in many places.

I was disappointed to see that there were ony 2 of us registered in my class as the race was about to start. I guess that word had spread of the misery that was last year’s 100 degree scorcher. The attrition rate had been huge. All in all, the women’s turnout was pretty low.

All the sport women started together in an open area that led up to wide single track and then a long-ish gravel 2 track climb. I am way faster in the 2 track than the singletrack and I knew that I needed to get up that 2 track first in order to enter the single track ahead of the group. At the start I stood and powered ahead of the group all the way to the climb, then settled in for a steady push. A FFG from the 40+ age group caught me on the climb but I didn’t care because she was not in my class. I hit the single track well ahead of my competition and with several bodies in between as buffer.

For the next 3 laps I hammered on the 2 track (6 miles) and recovered in the single track (4miles). I never saw another female rider that whole time!! I was passing lots of people on the 2 track and getting passed on the single track. I felt awesome, like my pacing was good and I could go all day. Avg speed 10.7mph.

Twenty-six miles into the race I hit this log on top of an off camber climb in the rollercoaster without enough speed and bogged down… then tumbled down the hill. I was now upside down pinned under my bike and clipped in. My knees hurt. I whimpered and a nice man from the clyde class stopped and hiked down the hill to help me. he carried my bike up as I wobbled on my shaky weird feeling knees. My friend Lynda Racy from the 40+ class passed through and offered some encouragement. I pushed my bike up the rest of the climb and thanked the nice man. I rode off cautiously with a pain in my left knee. The other girl in my class was not far back and I was trying to hold her off.

When I finished the 3rd lap I stopped to switch camelbacks with the help of my Velo Fella support guy Todd. He handed me a gel and helped me get a fresh camelback on. The old one got stuck to my pigtail braid and I just tore it out out of frustration. As I took off trying to get out of there before the other girl in my class passed me Todd yelled for me to get the flag out of my derailleur! I looked down and not only was a pink plastic flag stuck in there but the wire stake was all wrapped around the jockey wheels. If he had not pointed that out it could have been a disaster. I yanked it out and took off but my knee was aching and did not like anything but spinning. I started to worry- had I torn something? If I pushed too big a gear would my knee give out?

I was riding more conservatively now. I was afraid of what was wrong with my knee and afraid of falling again. I knew I was going to walk that log in the rollercoaster this time… and when I got there the sign outfitters girl I was racing was right behind me. We had been chatting for a bit. She was on my tail but not trying to pass. I followed the lead of the bella who did the 24 hours of adrenaline and did not tell her I was walking that log. I just stopped and got off at the last minute and she had to too! We walked the climb together and I kept her behind me as long as I could after we got back on the bikes but when the trail widened she took the pass. With 5 miles left in a 42 mile race I lost my lead. I never saw her again. my legs were fresh, but my knee ached and I had lost that drive to win. I just wanted to finish and get off the bike without messing up my leg anymore, and that is what I did.

I finished at 3:59 something- 16minutes and 30 seconds faster than my last year’s time. I also got to stand on a box and get a silver medal which was sort of bittersweet since there were only 2 of us. But my time was commensurate with a podium spot in the women’s sport classes from both this and last year so I felt good about that.

Full results available here

Maillot Jaune…if only briefly…at Tour of Kensington Valley

by Monica

What a fantastic weekend, spent playing “Tour de France” at the 2007 Tour of Kensington Valley (Brighton, Michigan). My Bella Fella and I both took the plunge this weekend, trying out this newly converted stage race (was an established road race until this year) as our first “real” road race. (”Real”? … something other than a time trial.) For beginners, this was an omnium (points) style race. Many thanks to Bella Dianna Rose & Priority Health’s Kathy Kirk for answering my many many (MANY) naïve questions & offering lots of advice last week! Here’s the scoop:

Stage 1: TT / Prologue (May 19). 1st/5

For such a super-short race, the 2.7 mile closed course in Kensington Metropark caused a lot of pre-race angst ! Last week, message boards were filling up with discussions about “the huge hill” on the TT course & debates about TT bike vs. road bike were flying through cyberspace. Race organizer Joe Lekovish even posted a video series of the course to help people decide “which bike to use”.

As it turns out, “the hill” was greatly exaggerated. It was very short and gentle & I was extremely happy that I chose my TT bike. A 1.5ish mile descent with a slight rise and swoopy curve at the end, turnaround a cone in a wide road, then climb back up to the start line. It was over and done in 6.5 minutes, which was fast enough for a cat 4 win & and put me in the yellow jersey for the next stage !J

Stage 2: Criterium (May 19). 4th/6

Bella cheerleaders!!! Yay! Dianna & her little guy Matthew came out to watch and visit (& maybe to make sure I was following all of the great tips and advice…um, sorry if I disappointed!) – THANK YOU!!! You’ll see some great photos taken by Dianna later in this thread. (And maybe she’ll post a picture of Matthew too – he’s a little sweetie!)

Ok…back to the race. Held in a business park a couple of hours after the TT, the crit was 8 laps of a 1.5ish mile closed course. After hearing so many “crash” stories & being very new to group riding, I was grateful that the cat 4 field was small…only 6 riders. [And also grateful that I saw the horrendous men’s cat 5 finish line crash after my race was done.] The more numerous 1/2/3 women were on the course at the same time, but we didn’t see them. I tried to apply all of the “teachings” from Kathy, Dianna, and velobellabb for riding w/out team, but in the end I wound up just doing a lot of experimenting and learning about how people (and how I) would or wouldn’t react. A very good learning experience on many levels……and I wasn’t last……4th/6 & bye bye yellow jersey!

Stage 3: Road Race (May 20). 5th/7

By Sunday’s road race, I had answered some questions about what my strengths/weaknesses are, but hill climbing (relative to the other riders) was still an unknown. The course was 3 x 8.5 mile loops of scenic, quiet roads in Kensington Metropark, including several rolling hills, one steeper climb, and a Paris-Roubaix-esque turnaround in a shelled/gravelly parking lot.

I rode along for the first loop to get a feel for the other riders & how I would climb relative to them…and, unfortunately for this course, quickly determined that climbing is a weakness (…for now)! I skirted a crash that took out one rider and delayed another, & things went well until the steepish climb on the 2nd loop — when I and another rider were dropped. The other dropped rider was no where to be seen, so the rest of the race was a “reverse breakaway” for me … trying to bridge back to the lead group of 4. Embarrassing confession: Trying to catch up was actually really fun! I did get the lead group back within sight & the gap was diminishing as the final lap finished. But I couldn’t make up the difference in time & finished 5th/7. Many thanks to Sarah McGuire (Priority Health) for encouragement & coaching tips during our cool down lap!

6 hours of addison oaks mtb race

by Dana

my awesome friend kim volunteered to be an honorary bella for the day and be my teammate for the 6 hours of addison endurance mtb race.

the weather was cold and cloudy, with some drizzle coming down intermittently all morning. we signed up for the 2 person open sport class and had 3 other teams to compete against… all men!

kim started out the race, fought the crowds at the start, and got pushed hard during the first lap… she tagged me in the chute and i took off. i was feeling really nervous and not quite ‘in the zone’. about 2 miles into the course there was a really really tight section. i came in with a little too much speed and not enough focus on my driving and clipped my handlebar on a tree. i freaked out, squeezed both braked and did a somersault still clipped into my bike. i landed hard on my back and the nose of the saddle somehow whacked me hard on the lower back. i was really shook up but calmed down enough to get back on the bike and finish my lap while obsessing over whether i had seriously hurt my back and/or neck. i rode a bit more cautiously and chatted with some 12 hour solo guys who were very encouraging (thanks carlos and travis) for the rest of the lap. i tagged kim at the chute and warned her that i did not know if i could go back out right away, if at all.

our velo fella rob met me at the chute and helped my back to the tent and assessd the damage. he made sure i drank and had a gel, and cleaned the hunks of dirt out of my shifter pods and brake levers. he gave me a pep talk, and i decided that i would at least do 1 more lap so that our team would not be disqualified (each rider was required to do 2 laps.).

when kim was expected back i went into the lap counting chute to meet her but she never arrived. we expected her to be out for 40 min (7 mile laps) but it had been over an hour and i started to worry. then the announcer informed everyone that a man had a very bad crash on a split log skinny at the end of the course and that an ambulance was coming to take him out on a backboard. then some friends came through the cute and told me that kim had stopped to administer 1st aid to the man who was hurt. she stayed with him out there for over 30 minutes, kept him immobilized, and covered up so he would not go into shock until EMS got there. it ended up that the man broke his back, and if he had been moved he might have been paralyzed!

after the injured rider was put in the ambulance kim rode the 1/2 mile to the chute and i left for my second lap. i warned them that i was going to take it easy after my fall… but once i got out there the sun came out and i started feeling stronger and more confident. i was sore, but working hard out there. i made it back so much faster than kim and rob expected that she was hanging out at the tent when i came down the straightaway to the chute. i yelled out to her and she had to scramble to get on the bike and meet me for the tag!!

during my recovery i decided to check the preliminary results and discovered to my disbelief that we were not in last place, but appeared to be tied for 3rd!! i was so excited that somehow kim and i were in the running for a prize against a team of men, despite our early problems.

i let our velo fella know that if we really worked hard that we could still be competitive. he let kim know when she came back and we were on fire. what had started out as a just for fun race ended up really getting our competitive spirit going.

we realized that we were coming up on the 4pm deadline for starting laps very soon. i got in from my 3rd lap around 2:30 and kim went out. rob and i were trying to figure out how many more laps we could squeeze in before 4. we were still tied for 3rd.

kim came back in from her 4th lap at about 3:15 and just yelled “ride fast- so i can go out again!!” so i went out and rode as hard as i could. despite feeling really fatigued and sore i hammered on the flats and stood on the climbs. i rode in the big ring on a lot of the singletrack where i had always used the middle before. all i could think of was how rotten i would feel if i got back at 4:00:02 and kim couldn’t get out for another lap.

my ffg friend chris caught me at the last mile and told me i had to sprint the rest of the way to make it. this was a flatter section so hammered all the way to the tents and the chute. rob was waiting and started yelling when he saw me!! i had made it back with 4 minutes to spare!! kim went out for a hard 5th lap. i drank my endurox and cracked open an oberon. we finished with 9 laps total and 3rd place. the 1st place guys had 10 laps. 2nd also had 9 laps but finished ahead of us. 4th had just 7!!! we didnt’t realize it but we manage to get ahead by 2 laps in the last hour!

we were so proud of our come from behind finish in a class full of men!! we won cool messenger bags filled with swag with the 6 hours of addison oaks logo on the front.

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