Monday, April 30, 2007

Meet the Barkers


A big thank-you goes out to Pam and Bruce Barker for welcoming the entire Aaron's SE Crit Series Team into their beautiful home by the lake over the Athen's Twilight weekend. Not only were we treated to coffee and pastries at their coffee house "The Cup" but sent on our way with chocolate covered espresso beans...yes, ladies, I have them stashed! : )

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Caravella 2nd at Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium

Race #2 in the SE Criterium Series moved to Roswell, GA for the Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium.

Aaron's, Sarah Caravella, was the team's second rider to stand atop the podium in the first two days of racing here at the SE Criterium Series. She had a strong 2nd place finish as she came to line with two of the nations strongest veteran sprinters.

Katharine Carroll followed up her big win at Athens Twilight with another great finish in Roswell in 4th place and thus keeping her series lead going into Tuesdays event in Beaufort, SC.

Report from Sarah:
The Aaron’s team lined up for day number two in the southeast crit series with the showdown in Roswell, Georgia. Coming off a big win the night before in Athens’s Georgia, the team was primed to defend the leaders Jersey and most aggressive rider’s jersey that Katharine Carroll had won the night before.
With strong teams such as Colavita, Cheerwine, Advil, and Target Training represented, we knew we had our work cut out for us. The race started aggressively with teams anxious to launch attacks from the gun. The course only allowed for a couple of opportunities to advance causing a dogfight just to maintain position in the field. Around mid race with the laps beginning to wear on the rider’s legs, Kat Carroll launched a brutal attack and quickly established several bike lengths over the field. Quickly Colavita’s Iona winter, and Cheerwine’s Chrissy Ruiter chased in hot pursuit. The break seemed to be the most threatening of the day but the rest of the peleton refused to had a duplicate podium from the night before. The break was brought quickly back and the field seemed to be riding for a field sprint.
With one lap remaining Aaron’s began to set up for the sprint. It was vital that not only we try to go for the win, but that we also defend the leader’s jersey. Coming up the backside of the course, Shannon, anticipating the swarm jumped up the hill and strung out the field with a blistering pace. Still fighting for position myself, Kat flew up with other side with me on her wheel and set me up perfect going into the last corner.
I then jumped on Colavita’s Tina Pic as we started for the sprint. A couple of inches short, I finished second behind Tina. Laura Van Gilder rounded off the podium for third.
The big news of the day though came with Kat finishing fourth in the sprint and maintaining the leader’s jersey.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Aaron's Katharine Carroll Wins Big in Athens

The South East Criterium Championship Series kicked off tonight in Athens, GA with the Athens Twilight Criterium. Katharine Carroll got the first NRC victory of her career as well as receiving an award for leading the most laps.
Report by Kat:
8 crits in 9 days. I had never done a stage race of crits before, but I looked forward to the opportunity to race this USA Crit Series with my team in my territory. After moving out to CA last year, I was very much looking forward to racing in the south for a couple weeks. Two years ago I got thrown into the fire of NRC crit racing when I naively agreed to race "Twilight" with my BMW-Bianchi team. At that time I couldn't have told you what NRC actually stood for. The race that year was in the rain and crashes instantly broke up the field. I chased for most of the race and finally made on to the front group. My current teammate, Shannon Hutchison-Krupat, grabbed the victory that year and I finished a decent 11th. There was nothing like that baptism by fire to get me hooked.

Fast forward to 2007. Our team has such a dynamic group that we knew we had several shots at winning the race. Once again proving her specialty, Catherine Powers won the race to the staging area, the call-up area and finally the starting line, as we all knew positioning was key. As we staged the officials announced that turn 1 was "skinnier" this year, making it all the more critical that we were in front on that first lap. Athens is notorious for calling out prime after prime in the beginning of the race, causing the field to string out from the gun, and sure enough they were ringing the bell almost every time we came through. If money was on the line, there was a good chance someone named katharine/catherine in an Aaron's kit was winning it during the first half of the race.

I kept the pressure on a couple times after winning some primes but Kele Murdin from Ultralink was the only one who was interested in working a break and eventually things would come back together. Two-thirds into the race there were back to back primes, and I looked back and saw we had a gap. Chrissy Ruiter and Iona Wynter bridged up from the pack and it was clear the pack was going to let five of us stay out front for a while (Kele Murdin, Ally Brandt were also in the break).

The setting for this race is crazy. Athens is a college town, home to the University of Georgia, and its students and citizens know about the party-on-the-streets that surrounds the night time crits. There really are thousands and thousands of screaming fans that get louder as the night goes on. We distributed radios before the race, but I did not know how useless mine would prove to be during the race because of the crowd noise. Let's just say that factored into a little bit of stress for Carmen throughout the evening, but no doubt it added to the high drama of the evening.

I felt good about the break because I knew if we got brought back we had two sprinters who were very capable of winning the race in a field sprint. If we stayed away, I was ready to do my best imitation of a sprinter and go for it. As we rolled there were only three of us working, as Cheerwine and Colavita sat on. When we got to 8 laps to go, I thought we might just be able to stay away. With 4 to go I thought it was going to be close. When we crested the hill on the backside with 2 to go and I saw the field coming around turn 2, I knew we would probably make it as long as we didn't start playing too much cat-and-mouse. Ally Brandt did a monster pull until we got to the hill on the last lap when Chrissy Ruiter launched an attack. Iona followed her and I hopped on Kele's wheel who was 3rd in line. We came around turn 4 and the drag race to the line was on. I came around Iona in the last couple meters to become the second Aaron's rider in three years to win Athen's Twilight. . Shannon rolled in 3rd in the field sprint for 8th overall to give us two in the top 10.

The Vice-President and President of Aaron's, Don and Ed, were in attendance and I am glad we were able to put on a good show for them in order to say thanks for all their support. Aaron's has been a fabulous sponsor this year and there is no better way to show them what a difference that support makes than by winning a race. On a whole the team raced great and we're looking forward to the rest of the Southeast Crit Series.



Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Crit Racing fun in the South

The Aaron's women will be on the road this next week looking to dominate the USA Crit's Southeastern Series. They will be racing 8 crits in 9 days in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Here is the schedule with a link to each race:

Monday, April 16, 2007

East and West



This weekend the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Women’s Cycling team was represented on both the East and West Coasts for the Jacksonville Cycling Classic in Jacksonville, FL, the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, CA and the Santa Cruz Criterium in Santa Cruz, CA.

On Saturday, Mother Nature was in the drivers seat at the Laguna Seca Motor Speedway in Monterey, CA . Sunny skies one minute and torrential down pours and plummeting temperatures the next minute forced officials to make a quick decision to cancel the women’s race at the mid point of the race. At that point in the race, Aaron’s, Felicia Gomez was the virtual winner of the QoM competition having won the first two hill spirnts and Catherine Powers and Carmen McNellis were sitting in 2nd and 3rd place in the Sprinters Competition. “It was disappointing to have the race called when the team was racing so well and had so much to lose” said team director Carmen D’Aluisio. With no NRC points awarded, no prize money awarded and no jerseys awarded the team had to walk away knowing that it is racing well and is right on track for some big results.

The California crew took the opportunity to race Sunday in Santa Cruz, CA at the Santa Cruz Criterium and had a fabulous race! Aggressive racing throughout by the entire team ended with Katharine Carrroll winning the bunch sprint and Sarah Caravella coming in second. See the wonderful article that was written in the Santa Cruz Sentinel at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/April/16/sport/stories/01sport.htm

In Jacksonville, FL the A- Team began their day with a meet and greet in the Jacksonville Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings Store. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat, Kristin Sanders, Lee Anne Asbury and Julie Granger then took to the streets of downtown Jacksonville for a fast and furious criterium. Kristin Sanders placed herself in the winning break of four and brought home another podium finish for the Aaron’s Women in 3rd place. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat won the field sprint against some of the best sprinters in the women’s peloton for 5th place overall.

On Monday, the East coast crew competed in Macon, GA in the Sue Komen Race for the Cure to support Breast Cancer research. This is also the opening day of the Tour of Georgia. Shannon Hutchinson-Krupat was the team's top finisher at-top the podium in 3rd place. Shannon's Report - This weekend Kristin, Lee Anne, Julie and Shannon had a great weekend of racing and riding. They were also lucky to have some great host families. (Scott and Sandra in Jacksonville, and Bob and Ann in Macon) Thank you for opening up your homes to us and letting us share a few days with you.

Today was the Sue Komen race for the cure. It is a women’s bike race to help support breast cancer survivors, raise awareness, and to raise money for research. Last night we went to their dinner and enjoyed talking and meeting many tough ladies. They all were amazed that we race and at how hard we work. What they don’t realize is how inspiring they are to us. The fight they go through can not compare to our battle on the race course. We only hope that in some small way that us racing and doing our best will inspire them to continue their commitment to women.

We also had time to visit with the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings folks. These are the people behind the scenes in the corporate furnishings world and our A-Team world. The backbone of our sponsorship is our two fearless leaders Don and Ed. Their excitement and commitment to women’s cycling is truly amazing. For those of you that don’t know, this all started two years ago when I asked Aaron’s to sponsor me. That year I won the superbowl of criteriums, Athens Twilight, and they were hooked. The A-Team was born.

After the race today we went to dinner with the rest of the Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings men and women. They had spent the day at the race cheering us on. It was so great to hear the cheers every lap. We signed posters and hats and they made us feel like superstars. Thank you for all your support and encouragement. It is wonderful to have such a great group of people there to keep us going. You are the greatest cycling fans a group of girls could have!

Shannon



















Sunday, April 15, 2007

Visit to Aaron's Corporate Furnishing Store in Jacksonville


While in Jacksonville, Lee Ann, Julie, Shannon and Kristin swing by the Aaron's Corporate Furnishings store. We recieved such a nice reception of smiles, support and snacks and enjoyed hearing about their Yellow Jersey award (pictured in the background) for strong store performance. Congrats to the Jacksonville store and thanks so much for supporting us!!!

Pictured from left to right riders Kristin Sanders, Julie Granger, Lee Ann Asbury, Shannon and Carlo from Aaron's Corporate Furnishings and rider Shannon Hutchison-Krupat

Jacksonville Cycling Classic- To NRC or Not to NRC

A field of just under fifty riders lined up for the Women’s Criterium at the Jacksonville Cycling Classic including four Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings riders Shannon Hutchison-Krupat, Julie Granger, Lee Anne Asbury and Kristin Sanders. From the gun, Cheerwine was the aggressor throwing off the first attack on the first lap with Laura Van Guilder, which Shannon easily covered. A second attack came shortly after on lap two, again from Cheerwine, which established a small gap. Kristin jumped across to represent Aaron’s in the breakaway group of four. With Cheerwine’s strong sprinter in the break, Kristin did minimal work to aid in its success, knowing that if the break was caught, Shannon was riding comfortably in the bunch and ready to unleash her world-class sprint on the field. Surprisingly, the break away seemed to be gaining ground on the field; each of the strong teams were represented. The chase wasn’t coming and the gap grew slightly lap after lap. Kristin threw in a few attacks in an attempt to drop the faster sprinters with no avail as one rider seemed motivated to keep the break together. Back in the field, Julie, Lee Ann and Shannon did their part in protecting the break and discouraging chasers, even as Cheerwine itself again turned the aggressor and sprinted for prims. On the last lap, going into the third corner, Kristin and two of the riders jumped, racing for the fourth turn. Kristin went through the fourth corner third, gave it all the sprint she had and came across the finish line in third, getting Aaron’s on the podium. In the field sprint, Shannon pulled out all the stops, going third wheel into the third corner and accelerating to dive to the inside into the fourth and shooting through the tiniest of holes. Shannon’s instincts proved to be right on target as she came into the finishing stretch perfectly set up to duel the finish with another one of America’s top sprinters. Shannon again proved to be stronger and smarter as she carried more speed and momentum towards the line and she took the sprint over the field. Julie and Lee Ann finished with the field, safely crossing the line well spent!

Post-race drama: An unfortunate circumstance was uncovered after the finish of the race as the riders gathered and regrouped. Several of the bigger domestic teams were represented at this race chasing the coveted National Race Calendar (NRC) points for their teams. It wasn’t until after the finish that we found out the truth: The Jacksonville Cycling Classic was not an NRC sanctioned race (as it had been promoted), the promoter had known this for quite some time and chose not to “tell” AND we would not be receiving the points we had come to race for- and rightly earned. All of us professional riders felt very deceived and flat-out lied to. A second blow came with the news of the prize list as it, too, had been presented in a very deceiving manner. Unbeknownst to the racers, the mid-race sprint prizes (prims) were taken out of the total prize list, which is absolutely against USCF (national cycling federation who governs our sport) rules. Prize lists may not include prims unless specified, which it was not and, in addition, is extremely uncommon. So, it is with a mixed bag of feelings, both satisfaction in our results and disappointment in this race promoter, that we leave Jacksonville and look forward to our next race in Macon, Georgia…

Special Thank You: Once again, the women of Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings are eternally grateful to for incredibly gracious host family, Scott and Sandra Gross. Thank you to Scott and Sandra for undeniable hospitality and making us feel right at home. The support of host families like the Gross’, we are able to do what we do and in the best of circumstances. We can’t thank you enough!

Final results:
3rd- Kristin Sanders
5th- Shannon Hutchison-Krupat

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Results so far...

So far for the first six weeks of the season, we've scored some pretty decent results. We're looking to continue this progress and stay on the podium...

9th Katharine Carroll Santa Clarita Grand Prix
1st Felicia Gomez Santa Clarita Grand Prix - QOM
2nd Sarah Caravella Merced Credit Union - RR
4th Rebecca Larson Bentley's CVC Raymond Granite RR
6th Sarah Caravella Bentley's CVC Tower District Criterium
6th Katharine Carroll Quad Knopf Cycling Classic TT
8th Felicia Gomez Quad Knopf Cycling Classic TT
3rd Rebecca Larson Quad Knopf Cycling Classic Criterium
5th Katharine Carroll Redlands Bicycle Classic Prologue
9th Felicia Gomez Redlands Bicycle Classic Prologue
6th Felicia Gomez Redlands Bicycle Classic Stage 1
4th Felicia Gomez Redlands Bicycle Classic Overall
4th Felicia Gomez Redlands Bicycle Classic QOM
1st Shannon Hutchison-Krupat Spin City Classic
5th Lee Anne Asbury Spin City Classic