Race report- Wilmington and SPCR

Wilmington Grand Prix
by Emily who was not there,  as told to her though a series of text messages...

Debbie Dust out in front

Leslie Winters right in the thick of it

The time trial on Friday was won by Patty! The grand prix was a part of the National Criterium Calendar (NCC) and so was well attended by pro's and top elite riders. We proudly had a full team (the max is 6 riders per team) attend and race. Debbie made a big first impression giving the crowd a good look at our jersey while she spent the first three laps out in front solo. After the pack pulled her back our riders fought for good position and reacted to the other attacks. VA native Rachel Warner (FCS Rouse) and another rider had a good break on the field with as much as 45 seconds gap that looked promising towards the end of the race. Lenore Pipes (RideClean) put in much of the effort to pull that attempt back and force a sprint for her teammate Erika Allar. The break was pulled back with about 3 laps to go and another Virginia rider Lindsay Bayer (XO) took the opportunity to make her move and attacked the field. This attack proved to be the winning move. The rest of the field fought for possition and set up for a sprint. The sprinters rounded off the podium with VanGuilder (Mellow Mushroom) in second, Allar (RideClean) taking third. Our riders placed well, with Patty 13th, Debbie 14th, Amanda W. 18th and Julie 26th. Amanda E. completed her first NCC race showing confidence and skill!

Stony Point Circuit Race

by Avanell
Considering there were a couple big races up north, the turnout for the Stony Point Circuit was pretty decent.  Morgan pushed the pace high from the start, with Mallory, Julie Hunter, and myself falling in behind.  After pulling the pack around the first lap, she pulled off and the pace slowed down just enough for me to get an attack off at the end of a false flat and into a left hand round about.  On the other side of the fast sweeping descent, there was another short steep (ish) climb that leveled into another false flat.  Knowing I couldn't hold the break for 14 more laps, I sat up a bit when I saw I was being chased.  Joanna (RCV) had bridged and was followed by Morgan, and Alena (VCU) bridged and was followed by Julie H.  The 5 of us pushed on, alternating pulls, and steadily increasing our lead until we lapped the field with only a few laps to go.  On the last lap Morgan pulled double duty on the lead out, pulling through on the long descent and up part of the hill on the back side, only to drop behind me as I pulled around the 2nd false flat on the back side, and down to the base of the final hill at the finish stretch.  Morgan pulled around me and started the difficult lead out up the short steep climb to the final left hand turn where Julie went around her for the final uphill sprint.  Julie out sprinted Joanna for 1st place, Morgan continued her sprint for 3rd, Alena came in 4th, and I slow rolled it in for 5th.  Great job to Julie for the win, and Morgan for an awesome leadout!

Weekend Report: DB Mtn Cross, RIR Crit, and Tour of the Dragons

Devil's Backbone Mountain Cross
This race starts and finishes at the Devils Backbone Brewing Company and follows a route through the back roads (paved and unpaved) of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The challenging course includes high ascents and fast descents including some 15% + grades and a total of over 6600 feet of elevation gain. Brenna went for the longer of the two race options at 65miles. She felt luck to be able to follow an experienced pro down some of the trickier descents, and managed to stay on her bike up even the steepest grades. She finished the race strong in 4 hours and 25 minutes and was the first woman to finish the race, only 30 minutes behind the first place men.

Richmond International Raceway Criterium
contributed by Avanell, Leslie, and Morgan

After getting stuck in tunnel traffic, leslie set a new record for cutting it close, arriving at the race at 1:55 for a 2:00 start!  Thankfully she was able to multitask while driving and arrived fully dressed for success, well, except for the mismatched shorts and jersey. The RIR is a 3/4 mile track near Richmond, VA that hosts NASCAR races and once a year a criterium that's a part of the Virginia BAR series. Tradewinds Racing had a good turn out for the race with 6 riders who enjoyed the open track and the nice weather. Amanda E went off the front early and with such a strong showing everybody else was on the front controlling the pace. Shortly after Morgan bridged up to Amanda. After they were about 1/4 lap ahead Julie K attempted to bridge. Getting stuck in the middle, Ava jumped and bridged to Julie. Leslie and Julie H did an amazing job of controlling the pace after that, allowing both breaks to lap the field with enough laps to go to attempt a couple more attacks and set up a strong lead out train. Leslie pulled us around the last couple of laps, and Julie K gave an awesome 1/2 lap lead out for Ava and Morgan who took 1st and 2nd in the field sprint. The team worked great together in breaks, controlling the field, and the sprint and we're definitely getting stronger and more cohesive every race! Awesome job ladies and thanks for getting me across the line!
Tour of the Dragons, VT
by Patty Buerkle
The weekend was a really fantastic time! The Tour of the Dragons is a super fun stage race with 3 great courses in beautiful Bennington and Manchester, Vermont. The first stage was a 10.7 mile TT. After warming up on the trainer I headed out of the parking lot which was 2.5 miles to the start. I had about 20 minutes to spare until I my start, although as soon as I pedaled off my bike stopped shifting. What?! The rear derailleur cable had apparently snapped. After a few of us looked at the shifter and realized it wasn't going to be a quick fix, John's teammate from Bikereg.com had his road bike available (50cm and we have the exact same seat height...what are the chances!!!) since he had a TT bike for the time trial. We switched pedals and I time trialed to the time trial about 5 1/2 - 6 minutes late for my start but my day had been saved and it was a scenic hilly TT, awesome!

I had about 2 hours before the crit to get my bike fixed and what an adventure that was! Let's just say it was as close as you as you could get as the announcer was saying, "One to go!", for the race before mine, my bike was coming out of the stand, I was heading to sign in, and at the start line. Whew! The crit course was 35 laps/21 miles, fast, technical, so much fun, and I came in 6th in the sprint. To top off the crazy day I ran over a piece of glass on the course, had a slow leak and my tubular went flat afterwards. Good timing!

The road race on Sunday was a 62 mile loop with a dirt section and 3 tough K/QOM's. The field broke apart on the 2nd QOM and shortly after that the GC leader soloed away and gained many minutes on us by the end. There were about ten of us in the initial group I was riding with and about three more ladies caught on about an hour later. With quite a few attacks and regrouping, it came down to a sprint with us and I ended up fifth in the sprint for another sixth place finish.

Weekend update: VA, CA, NC, and 3 wins!

Walton Park Criterium, VA

Morgan wearing her podium hat!

The Charlottesville Racing Club and Louisa County Parks and Recreation promoted a nice criterium in Mineral, Virginia. This year the race was the first half of the Charlottesville Omnium, the second half being the Wintergreen Ascent. Morgan represented the team at both races. It was rain for the crit, but she raced strong and the field stayed together for a sprint finish. Morgan won the sprint! Enough said. This is Morgan's 1st Crit win, and also her first season road racing, very proud of you Morgan!!

Wintergreen Ascent, VA

Gold- for Morgan and Mallory!

The ascent up to the Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia is 6.1 miles of climbing with an average grade of 8.3% and a max grade of 13 %. According to John Summerson of Carolina Cycling News, "Wintergreen is similar in overall statistics to the French climb of Joux Plane, a famous Alps ascent and one that is often used in professional tours including the TdF". The annual race took place this weekend and our team was represented by Mallory in the junior women category and Morgan in the cat 4 women. Both riders took the fastest times up to the top of Wintergreen and won their categories. Congrats on a great weekend ladies!

Tour de Moore, NC

Tour de Moore Road Race is one of the oldest road races in the South, this is it's 37th year, and in the past it has been used as a Pan Am games qualifier as well as a qualifier for the Quebec Provincial Team. This year the road race is the qualifier for an amature team at Nature Valley Stage Race, so the competition was all there trying to win the one spot. Brenna represented our team in both races this weekend. Saturday's road race involved a lot of attacking, but none that resulted in a break and the race finished as a group sprint. There were two near-wrecks close to the finish line with everyone jockeying for a position. Brenna safely navegated her way through, but lost some ground before the sprint, and finished 19th. The race winner was Erin Burton (RGF Women's Cycling).

Sunday's race, the Brick City Criterium, was aggressive with a break sticking this time. The break contained riders from 3 different teams who were all strong. Race winner Bergen W. (Pepper Palace) eventually broke away from her break and soloed back to the field a lap ahead. The sprint was for the remaining places and Brenna took a good position into the last corner and finished the race 8th over all.

Went Vinyard Road Race, California

one of the hills at Went Vinyard RR

Amanda W. spend her weekend racing and exploring in California at Wente Vineyard RR. The 64 mile road race is in it's 25th year, not a bad legacy. She did this race, hills and all, on a rented trek 2.1, which is not quite as nice as riding a Trek Madone in the hills.  It was a very challenging race, with amazing hills and Alison Tetrik-Starnes attacked, who attacked, and attacked some more - but there were two other beasts racing who beat her in the end. Around 20 women started the race and at least 7 got dropped and didn't even finish.  Amanda hung on for about 35 miles before losing contact with the leaders, but made herself keep pedalling the "tank", and ended up with an 11th place finish only 2 minutes behind the pack.

InMotion Off the Bike, training pics

In Motion Off the Bike Training Blog

Erika and Jaime work the strength circuit that focuses on core.

Erika and Jaime shared pictures of this week's workout at InMotion, where professionals hold the most recognizable certifications in the strength and conditioning field.  One really great thing about training there is that certified strength and conditioning specialists, certified athletic trainers, physical therapists, and sports medicine physicians collaborate to bring you a wide spectrum of options to improve your performance.

Roanoke wet Roanoke

Roanoke Race Weekend

Special thanks to Starlight for promoting a great race weekend

Julie H. sprinting for the line 13th overall, 2nd place for cat 4's

Roanoke Twilight- Women's open on a fun and challenging downtown crit course with lots of corners and a few ups and downs. This year the slick course really split things up for the start, with the field breaking to pieces by the 3rd lap. The race was loaded with attacks and eventually Emilie Ray (Real Deal Racing and Canadian National Tean) got away with Ali (Velocita).

Morgan riding in solo for 8th overall, and 1st for cat 4's

Emilie later got away from Ali for a solo win, with Ali taking 2nd. Kelly (Velocita) attacked the chase group and got away for 3rd. Julie K. worked very hard to catch the breaks and cover attacks during the race, and finished in the chase group sprinting with Ava, Jen (Velocita) and Kimberly (Affinity). Ava gave a great lead on the last lap and Julie came in 5th overall, with Ava taking 7th overall and 1st for the cat 3's in the race. Morgan got away from the second chase group she was in and soloed the last 3 laps in for 8th overall, and the 1st cat 4 in the race. Other results for the team include: Amanda E. 11th, Julie H. 13th, and Mallory 16th. Great job to all the competitors in a tough race who came out and braved the weather and stuck it out to the end!