Monday, May 26, 2008

Sunday and Monday Results - and a Cup of Iowa!

Sorry this is sooo late - but we drove home last night through the stormes that hammered through Iowa - and I wasn't about to sit down at the computer when I got home!

The Mellon City Bike Race was on Sunday and a large field of Cat 4 Women toed the line - 30 in all - the largest Cat 4 Women's race this year in the state. Dee, Kim, Kristin P. and Lindsey were joined by Kristin Reese, who just couldn't stay away for the whole weekend!!!

The race started fast and furious - and the fast pace took it's toll on the field. The field of 30 was paired down after about 4 laps to a lead group of about 14 or 15 and then small groups of 4 or 5, and some solo riders trying to bridge the gaps.

Dee and Kim made the front group, which was driven by Kelli Menti, Lindsey Koren (winner of Snake Alley), Ana Nelson among others. Lindsey was tucked into the 2nd group, along with Maria Rutenburg, Kristin Pavlovich was stuck in no-man's land between this group and the next, which included Kristin Reese.

At this point -all the groups settled into strong tempos, either trying to bridge to the next group, or, in the case of the front group, position themselves for the win.

With about 3 laps to go, Kelli made a strong attack, helped along by Lindsey Koren (of Indiana). Sarah Huang - a 12 year old phenom - made the cut as the trio flew down the back side hill. Dee got caught in front, as Ana and Emily, who both had excelent races at the Snake, made an attack, trying to round out the top 5 from Iowa and steal some Iowa Cup points from Dee. Kim came around Dee, lending her wheel, and draft, pulling her back up to Ana and Emily. About this time, 3 other riders, including Kris Maraves of Waukee, attacked the group, bridging to the front 3. This made a group of 6 with 2 laps to go. Lindsey and Kelli continued to ride strong, resulting in shattering the front group, leaving Kris, Ginger Sides and Anna Loney to fend for themselves to the line.

On the last lap, Ana and Emily lead down the back stretch, nearly catching the next rider, Anna Loney, at the bottom, Dee attacked this group of about 8, charging up the hill.

In the mean time, Kelli, Lindsey and Sarah sprinted for the line - with Lindsey winning, followed by Kellin and then Sarah. (did I mention that Sarah Huang is 12?! WOW! Amazing!! - remember that name in the 2012 Olympics!!)

Meanwhile, back on the hill, Dee was leading the group up up up to the top, around the last corner and into the downhill straight, 200 yards to go - with Ana and Emily stuck firmly to her wheel. What looked like a sure PRC 1-2 punch was thwarted by pure guts and determination as Dee rounded the corner, downshifted and hammered it home to the line - taking pack sprint for 7th place - and five precious Iowa Cup points, placing her in the lead by one point over Kelli Menti.

Kim Hopkins charged from the group, throwing her bike at the line to move up one more spot to finish in 11th, having ridden a strong ride in support of Dee. Lindsey Hiem finished in 15th, just ahead of Maria Rutenburg - who also rode strongly all weekend - Kristin Pavlovich and Kristin Reese both soloed home to finish in 21st and 24th respectively.


Rock Island Criterium

Not much of an editorial for this, as Dee and Dave broke the tandem out to begin thier official Leadville Training on Monday (so I didn't actually get to see this race...) but Kristin Pavlovich and Lindsey Heim both toed the line on the pool-table flat, 8 corner course in downtown Rock Island. Lindsey had a strong race finishing 13th in the 26 rider field and Kristin smiled her way to 20th.

Congratulations to one and all for fine performances throughout the entire weekend - I'm proud of all that you have ALL accomplished in this past year!!

While not everyone could make the trip to eastern Iowa this weekend - everyone DID play a role in the great results - from the great bikes and support from Forrest and Ben at Bike World, the shades from Oakley, the testing from Jenny and Zoom, the awesome group rides, the cheering from the hill on the snake, and even a warm cup of coffee from Zanzibars - the think that makes this group click is the common love of bicycling - and the universal support that is exhuded from all and to all - has the power to lift everyone to reach for thier best!

I'll post some pics here as soon as possible - in the mean time - watch for some fun group rides being scheduled soon, and a "learn to ride in a group" session by Dave in the upcoming weeks.

Peace - Dave

Missing Pink!

What a phenomenal start to the memorial race weekend girls. I’ve enjoyed hearing about the road race on Friday night and the legendary Snake Alley on Saturday, but it really makes me feel like I’m “Missing Pink”. I decided Friday afternoon that I was too buried with work and family commitments, to try and partake in the festivities this weekend with the ladies in Pink. Reading about it just isn’t the same as being there with you and I probably should have said, “to heck with it” and went!!!

I think back to last year when we were all just starting to learn about cycling, envisioning a team of our own and wondering where it would take us. Now, we are there and I am so proud to be part of a team that looks out for one another, encourages others to excel and take their cycling dreams to whatever level they like!!! I made the decision not to go this weekend, but I was never made to feel like it was a wrong decision. That is what is great about my team and why I am “Missing Pink”!!!

I met with my Chiropractor Saturday morning to try and relieve a migraine that I had since Friday. Fortunately, it was very successful, so I decided that I would head out at the first break of sunshine about 4:00 pm to get in a 2 hour ride. I started down Westown Pkwy to 63rd Street, Hwy 28 to Park Avenue and then the Great Western Trail head to Orilla/Norwalk and through the south side (my old stopping grounds) and Hwy 28 and back home. It was a pretty relaxing 2 hour ride until I started down 50th Street south on my way home, about where Prairie Life fitness club is, and some young wiper snapper decided that he had something to say to me about riding on the road instead of the trail. I decided that I wasn’t going to put up with his belligerent comments and said a few choice words to him and gave him a thumbs up or I guess it was a middle finger up to let him know I didn’t appreciate his comments. At that point in my ride I was “Missing Pink”!

I guess it just doesn’t feel the same without my teammates there to practice rotations, chatting about the days stresses or just seeing the smiles as we gracefully flip off those belligerent a_ _ whips that drive by. I wish I could hear and see the smiles on your faces this weekend as you all cross the finish line at Snake Alley and the other races that bring each of us closer together as a team. Way to go girls!!!! I was cheering for you from a far and I know that you will represent women in cycling well!!!
- Dalena

Saturday, May 24, 2008

SSSsssssNake Bite!!



Kim Hopins, Kristin Pavlovich, Lindsey Heim and Dee Mable lined up with 20 other women in this morning's Cat 4 Snake Alley Criterium.

Snake Alley is, known as the 'Crookedest Street In The World' is a 7 switchback brick street that climbs the hight of a 10 story building in one short block - of course there is a one block climb right before entering the Snake - just to zap any momentum you might have had - yum.

After a pre-race lecture about safety and stuff by the race officials - the ladies were off - on the kaotic (get it - Kaos!?! - that was for Matt!) first lap - it is all about staying moving and not getting caught behind a miss-shift or crash. Of course - crashes on the Snake are in slow-mo, as riders are moving up the steep climb at 6-8mph. While the crashes may not be too painful, they are disruptive and will cause a dominoe effect on the riders caught behind.

Luckily all the pink riders made it to the top in one piece, and the race was on! The race spread out into a single file line and as the pack made it around to the Snake for the 2nd of 6 laps, the 20 racers stretched from top to bottom of the hill.

One girl from Wisconsin then hit the gas, breaking away on her own, leaving the rest to fight for 2nd. Dee found herself in about 10th with Kim close behind - then Kristin a couple places yet, then Lindsey rounding out the top 15. As the race wore on, Dee began picking off riders one by one, moving up a spot or two on each lap - with Kim and Kristin doing the same. Lindsey found her place in 15th!

On the last lap, Dee found herself alone in 5th place up the Snake for the last time - and that is where she would finish. Kim fought her way into the top 10, finishing 9th. Kristin duked it out with Maria Rutenburg, with Maria finishing in 11th and Kristin in 12th. Lindsey finished in 15th, not DFL - which made her proud!

From learning to ride in a group only one short year ago - None of these ladies would have imagined racing in this legendary race - much less finishing - and finishing well no less! Very - VERY impressive - for one and all!

After the 5th race in the Iowa Cup - the All9Yards Ladies still hold the lead. Kristin Reese holds the lead with 27 points and Dee close behind with 26. Three more races to go - Mellon City Critierium, May 25th; and the Clear Lake Road Race and Clear Lake Criterium the 2nd weekend in July.

Tomorrow - The Mellon City Criterium - and Kristin Reese made the drive from Des Moines to join in on the fun! Tune in tomorrow night to see what happened!

On the boys team - Herbie took on a large Cat 5 field of about 40 to finish 16th. Jerome moved up from a bad start in the 4s race to finish a very respectable 7th (I'm pretty sure). Dave Lippold had a great start in the Masters 40+ and finished in the top ten in a very strong field. Steve Robinson had a great race in the Cat 3 race to finish in the top 15. In the 1/2/Pro race - Lane had some trouble shifting on the Snake and couldn't make up for his horrible start and Jerod's busy week with his new baby and his start at the back conspired against him, and both guys were out by lap 10 of their 20 lap race.

Friday, May 23, 2008

School is in session!!!

Dee vs Punk
David vs Goliath
Underdog...

The Little Engine That Could!

"Scotty, 'Imposible' is NOT in our vocabulary."
"iye-iye cap'n."

The Wapello to Mediapolis Road race was held tonight - in 56 degree temps - and a strong east-northeast wind - The course, one climb 2 miles after the start, and another with about 5 to go - went into the wind for 7 miles, turned south for 10 miles, then west for the final, tail-wind aided, 7 miles to the finish on the outskirts of Mediapolis.

Dee was the only girl in pink to ride this evening - against 3 punk rockers - Kelli, Kris and Kristin Galleger. Certaily prc had 3 of their strongest cat 4s at the line.... vs Dee.

Due to the small field size (they were the only women to race today) they were combined with the Masters race to make a field of about 20. Shortly after the start -it was agreed upon between the women to not ride with the Masters Men - so the 4 of them worked together in a smooth rotation as they headed east, then south. Dee sensed some strategizing as the prc girls would be chatting behind her as they worked through the rotation... and about this, she was correct.

As the turn back west - and into the tailwind - neared, the prc girls made sure to stick Dee on the front through the corner - "I just heard 'click, click click' and I knew I was in trouble." Dee said. Just as she predicted - Boom! Boom! Kelli and Kris took off in full sprint around her and off they went. Dee put her head down, with Kristin comfortably in tow - and went into full chase mode. "I could see them looking back every now and again - and I pulled them a bit closer, then fell off a bit, then would pull a little closer - all the while, they would look back to see if I was closing in." After about 5 min of hard chasing, Dee realized that they were pulling slowly away and that all she was doing was giving Kristin a free ride. She sat up, pulled over and gave Kristin the lead - which she took - for a bit. Dee took a rest, then back to the front - and Kristin never came around again for the next 5 miles. With 1k to go - Dee, still sitting on the front, decided it was now or never and dropped it down into her 12 and took off - Kristin tried, but failed to come around as the line neared - giving Dee a very respectable 3rd place finish.

Kelli won, with Kris close behind - Dee 3rd and Kristin 4th. Congratulations Dee - your tenacity and "Never Say Die" attitude - You are an inspiration to us all!!!

On the boys side - Jerome (Shrek - and hubby to Erin) came in 8th in the 4s race - and Herbie (our spin class hero instructor.... how shaved his head for todays race...???) came in 3rd in the 5s race - his first one! He had a great sprint - coming in more than a bike length ahead of 4th place! 2 guys were off the front in his race - and word has it that he did yomans labor to try and reel them in - and still took the sprint - A) I see more road racing for Herbie and B) I don't think he'll be a 5 for long!!!

Next up - Snake Alley Criterium - Representing Pink will be Kim Hopkins, Kristin Pavlovich, Lindsey Heim and Dee Mable - Go GIRLS!

Dualys, Tris and a weekend of racing!

Been a spell - but lot's goin' on!

Dee Mable ventured out to Cali. in early May to take on what is known as the toughest 1/2 Ironman in America - dang. She traveled with a motly group of tri-geeks - JJ, Zippy, BenG, Primeau and Krista B. On a hot day - and over a course that has as much up as anyone would care for - she finished her first ever 1/2 in a respectable 6:27:18. Congratulations to Dee!

This last weekend, Jana, Erin, AJ, and Jill traveled to Galena for the hilly Duathlon! Jana has been working very hard, having recently qualified for the World Duathlon Champs (In Italy in Sept) at the National Champs in April. Her work paid off in Galena as she won the Women's race, smiling all the way (well... maybe not ALL the way!!!). Jill, AJ and Erin rocked out too - Erin and AJ finishing in 4th and 6th in their age group, while a friend of thiers from Cedar Rapids (we'll have to get her in pink!), Amanda finished 3rd in their age group! Congratulations to all!

This weekend (Memorial Weekend) there will be blurs of pink at the races along the Mississippi River. Friday is a 24 mile road race from Wappello to Mediapolis. Saturday is the infamous Snake Alley Criterium - a legendary race. We'll be cheering as the women make 8 grueling laps up the crookedest street in the world! Yikes! Sunday is the Weed Park Criterium - a one mile circuit in a beatiful park overlooking Ol' Miss in Muscatine. The Snake and Weed Park are the 5th and 6th races in the 8 race Iowa Cup - which is lead by our own Kristin Reese, followed in 2nd place by Dee Mable.

If I have internet access this weekend - I'll be updating each evening. If you want live updates (pretty live anyway) go to cyclingupdate.com and click on twitter - we'll be updating the racing throughout the day - for each day of racing.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Mountain Mondays and the TNWCs!

Lead by Brian Duffy, Mountain Mondays was kicked off to a great start with perfect weather, perfect trail conditions and perfect company! Kristin Reese, Kim, and Dee were joined by Rhonda from Norwalk as well as some boys - Kyle Sedor, Taylor Webb, Dave Mable and Ron (?).

We all met at the Ashworth Pool for a kind of 'intro to mountain biking' evening on the local trails. Straight to the J-11 connector trail - and we were winding through the woods. All was smooth until the log/twisy-turny section near the end. This was a great opportunity for a teachable moment - and we all dismounted and then took turns getting over that nasty log in the middle of an off-camber 'S' turn! The folks who would be less experienced on mountain bikes were treated to 4 guys acting as spotters - giving them the confidence they needed to tackle anything.

Off to Denmans - and the only casualty at the entrance log was Dave - good thing he was behind everyone so they didn't see his endo... he'll make it someday.... Anyway - soon into the woods the first large log was encountered - and with spotters, the new kids all took it on - and made it! "WooHoo's' echoed through the woods as, one by one, they tackled the log crossing. - on to the biggy - and again- with the spotters - everyone took it on - and with only a couple of crashes - everyone eventually made it!

There was joy in the ride - in just winding through the woods - all 9 of us - enjoying a perfect evening on the trails with good friends - Thanks to Bike World for supporting this ride - we look forward to a summer long festival of all things dirt. Thanks to Duffy for leading and orgainizing - and to Tylor, Kyle, Dave and Ron for spotting us - On to Leadville! :)

TNWCs (Tuesday Night World Championships)
Well it was a slim overall turnout for the TNWC tonight. For the girls, it looked like it was just me, Jenny Weber, her husband Craig Hanken representing the Pink tonight. Both Jenny and I were running late due to traffic so we rolled in, just as they group was rolling out of Bike World. Another gentleman, named Mike, was also late and headed out of town to catch the group on his own right ahead of us. After checking our tires and preparing for our feat we set out determined to catch the group even though they had about a 5 minute lead and more than likely traveling about 5 mph faster than us. Of course, on the way out we caught a couple of those lights on Euclid and also just before Ankeny by Casey’s, which we were hoping the group hit a few of them as well to help with our efforts. We decided to take a short cut and turned east right before the left turn going up the BIG HILL toward Saylorville to try and catch the group in Ankeny. As we cross over Oralabor Road we hear a BEEP BEEP and I believe it was Kim West on his scooter cheering us on! We must have missed the group by a couple of minutes, but did run into the guy who left right ahead of us that was still hanging on to the hope of catching the pack as well. We picked him up and now it was four of us on the mission.

Overall, we had a great ride logging 33.8 miles, averaging 20.5 mph and had 4X15 hard efforts. We all helped pulling and helping to cut through the swirling wind which we couldn’t quite figure out which direction it was coming from and weather getting cold and rainy.

By the way - Jenny's avg heart rate on that ride last night was 129 and mine
was 170. ha ha ha - Dalena
-

Friday, May 2, 2008

The All9Yards/Zoom Athletes Rocked the Dualy!

Lead by Jenny Weber - Mrs. Zoom Performance, the collective athletes of All9Yards and Zoom Performance had a strong showing at the PRC Dualthlon on Thursday night at Big Creek.

Jenny found herself in the lead after the first leg of the run, but the wind took it's toll and gave advantage to Jane and her TT bike and aero helmet (and strong legs!) during the 10 mile bike race portion of the event. Jenny stayed strong on the 2nd run, finishing 2nd in the inaugural event. Tom Hamilton, a Zoom athlete, finished 3rd overall, only seconds behind 2nd.

Other All9Yards ladies included Kristin Reece, Kim Hopkins and Erin Rewerts. All of them love love love running. Just ask em. Really. They did great and had a blast.

Thanks to Jane, Kelli and the rest of the PRC crew for hosting the dualy - we'll look forward to the next one on May 29th.

Meanwhile, Dee is out in California, camping out in the sticks somewhere to do the Wildflower Half-ironman triathlon on Saturday, May 3rd. GO DEE! Follow her progress throughout the day on Cyclingupdate.com - click on the 'Twitter' link on the left.

Other Zoom athletes participating in the Wildflower half include JJ Baily, Matt Zepeda and Krista Bartholomew. Good luck to everybody!