Nature Valley Grand Prix Final

Photo by: Carmen D'Aluisio

The final day of the Nature Valley Grand Prix had it's ups and downs for the Aaron's Team. The team reached it's goal of keeping Rebecca Larson in the "Wheaties Sprint Leaders Jersey" which was a fantastic accomplishment. She was also awarded a $500 bonus for being the "Wheaties Cybersprint Champion".. Rebecca would finally be awarded the Red Sprint Leaders Jersey for the Women's Prestige Series that she will carry into the International Tour de Toona, the next stop in that series.

Photo by: Carmen D'Aluisio

Felicia Gomez would be the team's top finisher in 5th place in the overall standings which should give her a lot of confidence going into her National Championships in St. George, Canada early in July.

Photo by: Paul Forsythe

On the flip side, Carmen McNellis would find herself off her bike on the second lap of the race after having dropped her chain mid-way up the steep 14% grade on the Stillwater circuit. Maybe a miss-shift, maybe a mechanical, either way it was a tough way to lose time after having fought so hard all week.

Photo by: Paul Forsythe

Kristin Sanders would also fall into difficulty when two of her chain ring bolts went flying off her bike. Stuck in her big chain ring for the final two laps of the race she would also come off her bike on the steep 14% losing precious time that would have placed her well into the top 10 in the overall GC standings. Instead, I'm sure it left people wondering what had happened to her in the final results. Kristin is well prepared for the US Nationals coming up in July and we should see good results from her there in both the individual time trial and the road race.

Photo by: Paul Forsythe

Sarah Caravella, Catherine Powers and Michelle Kiesanowski played a major role this week riding in strong support of our team's leaders.

Photo by: Paul Forsythe

This was Michelle's last race with the Aaron's Team before leaving for France with the New Zealand National Team where she will complete her season. It was a pleasure to have Michelle as part of the team and we wish her well and much success for the remainder of her season!

Day 4 - Mankato Road Race

Day four of the Nature Valley Grand Prix began a bit shakey but by the time the first intermediate sprint rolled around the Aaron's team was together and ready for action. "The team really nailed it today with the leadouts for the intermediate sprints...it really makes me happy to see them communicating so well and working together"

Felicia Gomez and Kristin Sanders would both finish in a select group of 5 riders to finish 3rd and 5th respectively. Carmen McNellis would round out the team's top three finishers in an impressive 9th place.

Felicia Gomez atop stage podium for 3rd place
Rebecca Larson continues to lead the "Wheaties Sprint Jersey" Competition
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/jun07/naturevalley07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/jun07/naturevalley07/naturevalley075/Imgp6072

Nature Valley - Day Three

Day three of the Nature Valley Stage Race opened with a 5 mile individual time trial that was won in true World Championship Style by Kristin Armstrong of the Lipton Team. The Aaron's Team, Kristin Sanders would post the team's best time of the day in 6th place.

Day three would close with the Minneapolis Downtown Criterium. Rebecca would be called to the line as the "Wheaties Sprint Leader" along side Kristin Armstrong "Overall Leader", Catherine Cheatly, "Best Young Rider", and Alex Wrubleski, "Queen of the Mountain Leader". Once again, teamwork played a major role in securing the jersey at the end of the stage with great leadouts by Felicia Gomez and Carmen McNellis. Rebecca would once again stand a top the podium at the end of the night as the "Wheaties Sprint Leader".

Nature Valley - Day Two

Upon completion of day two, the Cannon Falls Road Race, the Aaron's Team would see Rebecca Larson climb a top the podium to receive the "Wheaties" Sprint Leader jersey as well as the "BMC Most Agressive Rider" jersey. Although tied in points with Catherine Cheatly of Cheerwine, Rebecca wears the jersey based on the most 1st places in the intermediate sprints. This will be a tough fought battle since most of the nations top sprinters are in attendance.


With fully committed leadouts from teammates Carmen McNellis, Sarah Caravella and Catherine Powers, Rebecca was able to win two of the days intermediate sprints over her competitors. It was really exciting to see Rebecca receive the Sprint Leaders Jersey today...and a bonus to see her also receive the jersey for the most aggressive rider on the day. She actually crashed just prior to entering into the finishing circuits, so for her to jump back up and throw herself back into the competition was fantastic as well as a relief.

Racing continues in the morning with the individual time trial.

Nature Valley Begins with Celebration

The team arrived in Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix on Tuesday and already had something to celebrate...a team dinner followed by a little birthday celebration for Rebecca Larson, the team's youngest rider, who just turned 26.

The race began with a downtown Criterium in St. Paul that was fast and furious from the gun. With intermediate sprints for both the "Wheaties" sprint jersey and the "Sports Bean Queen of the Hill" climber jersey to be determined the race was fast and furious. The first sprint was won by our birthday girl Rebecca Larson only ten minutes into a 60 min. race. The second sprint point was announced a lap early so when a second bell rang and the sprint point was announced again I'm sure there were some frustrated sprinters. Having to go all out two laps in a row is a tough thing to do. Rebecca got in there for the second sprint at 2o min. into the race to pick up third place points.

Check out a nice photo of Carmen McNellis on Cyclingnews.com.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/jun07/naturevalley07/index.php?id=/photos/2007/jun07/naturevalley07/naturevalley071/CYC-NVP096

At 30 min. into the race there would be the single QOH sprint of the night. As the sprint wound up it was clear that the climbers would battle for this sprint and it was Aaron's Felicia Gomez who would squeeze out 4th place points as well as make the selection of the nights race. Eight riders would form the winning break of the evening, gaining close to 30 sec. on the chasing field. With a crash on the last lap in the break, the women would solo across the finish line leaving some to wonder what had happened. In the end all the eight riders would finish with the same time do to the "3km" rule which allows for any mishaps that may happen at the tail end of a race.

Thursday the race will move to Cannon Falls where the women will race a 65.3 miles.

The Liberty Classic

This past Sunday the "A-Team" assembled in Philadelphia, PA for the Liberty Classic, the final race in the Triple Crowne Series. With top three podium finishes by both Rebecca Larson and Catherine Powers in the preceeding two races the team was looking forward to a great day in Philly. In the end, due to a crash at 1km to go our finishing horse power would be greatly reduced with Sarah, Shannon and Felicia all being claimed by the crash. Catherine having done her job coming into the final 1km would only leave us with Rebecca as a final leadout person and that wouldn't be enough in this super strong field to get the result the team was looking for. Katharine Carroll would finish a respectable 13th in a world class field with Rebeccca hanging on for 26th.

I would like to send out a huge thank-you to Kim Dubeck and her parent's Bob and Mare Perna for so graciously hosting the team during the Triple Crowne races. Thank-you to Mike and Wendi Ross who hosted a team dinner for both the Aaron's and the Jittery Joe's Men's Team prior to the Liberty Classic. Thanks to all the friends and family members who came out to cheer on the team and lend a helping hand. Without your love and support none of the this would be possible...thank-you all so much!

Prior to race day the team joined forces with SRAM at Keswick's Cycles in Cherry Hill, NJ to sign posters and talk to cycling enthusiasts.

Josh Boggs, team mechanic proudly displays the tools of his trade.

A huge thanks go out to team doctor, Sheryl Oleski and husband Micheal whom provided wonderful support to the team before, during, and after the races in Lancaster, Reading and Philly.

Little "Miss Muffet"?

I can always count on the team to be at the front when it really matters : )

Sheryl, Rebecca, Carmen, Sarah, Shannon, Flea, Powers, Micah

LANCASTER 6/3/07

It had just started to rain when we arrived in Lancaster, PA. We started our warm-up and watched the Amateur men race. It started to rain harder and their field was strung out in a single file line. The men were taking the turns slowly and I was pretty impressed with their handling of the wet corners. The course looked safe until there was a big gap in the field. We wondered if maybe their race was over, it wasn’t over, it was delayed because so many of the guys had crashed. Corner three was extremely bumpy and nasty with diesel fuel....at least 30 men had crashed! I guess that the course wasn’t so safe after all. I normally enjoy racing in the rain, but this made me a bit nervous. The men’s race resumed and the rain stopped. Game Time!

Our field was pretty small, but stacked. T-Mobile, Lipton, Cheerwine, and Colavita all had strong showings. I was a little nervous starting in the back. I would just have to make a hard effort the first two laps for good placement.

The whistle blew and we were off. It was pretty fast the first 5 laps or so. I was breathing pretty hard. Catherine and Rebecca and Sarah were going with attacks. I made my efforts and moved to the front. Eventually a small group got off the front including: Ina Teutenburg, Catherine Powers, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Sarah Tillotson, Laura Van Guilder (LVG), and two other girls. The group was gaining time and I told Catherine to remember, “You are the sprinter!” I didn’t want her to drive it to hard and be blown before the end.

For the next few laps Sarah, Rebecca and I covered stuff in the field. There were a couple of good moves, but nothing got across and it was coming down to the sprint. From our viewpoint we saw two girls in the break get popped and we caught them in the last lap. Colavita went to the front and I got on her wheel. Sarah wanted to go on the hill after turn three, so out of turn three I jumped to the right of Colavita (unfortunately the long way around) and I looked over and Sarah was going up the left side. The sprint was on. After going the long way around Colavita I got onto the little train and hung on. The last stretch is super bumpy and no one passed anyone. Sarah ended up 6th and I was 10th.

Up in Catherine’s group Ina tried to tell one of the girls that she had a flat tire. “You have a puncture!” she said at least twice to the girl. I am sure that the fear of Ina actually talking to her combined with her thick German accent was very shocking. The poor girl didn't really understand Ina. Finally, Catherine our team interpreteur jumped to the girls rescue told her she had a flat tire. Unfortunately, no free lap for her, they were just inside of eight to go. On the final lap Ina and Laura were watching each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Catherine took advantage and jumped hard to catch them by surprise. Catherine dug deep and was able to hang on for third place! Only Ina and LVG caught her before the line.

1st Ina Teutenburg
2nd Laura Van Guilder
3rd Catherine Powers

CSC 6/2/07

After a crazy week of flights from Newark, cleaning out my office at work (I have a new job as a High School Orchestra teacher in the fall) and meetings, I flew back up to DC to get ready for the CSC race. We had just missed Sarah's birthday the day before, so we surprised her with a chocolate cake. Boy was it good! Great pre-race food!

As to the racing, I was especially nervous for the CSC race. This is always the hardest crit of the year. It is usually fast and it is also very technical with five turns and one section I call the wind tunnel. We had decided to cover the front and to try and work breaks if it looked good. Rebecca attacked early and Laura Van Guilder (LVG), Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Mackenzie Dickey and a couple of other girls bridged. They were just ahead and I thought that it was mostly sprinters and might not be such a good break. Then Brenda Lyons attacked us and bridged up. It definitely wasn’t looking very good for Rebecca. We needed another person. I tried to bridge up, but my legs had no snap from my week of work and two flights. I ended up just going hard and sitting on the front. I got to my radio and told Sarah to bridge. She attacked and got to the break just as LVG attacked them. All the sprinters just looked at each other waiting for the other one to chase. Rebecca jumped and still no one reacted. She went hard and got to LVG. The field was going pretty hard and we caught what was left of the breakaway group.

With Rebecca and LVG gone Catherine, Sarah and I went for primes and covered the front of the field. With two to go there was a $100 prime so I went to the front. Sarah Uhl and I had been duking it out for the previous two primes and she was really watching me on this last one. Seeing this Catherine jumped hard, but Uhl got on her wheel. Unfortunately, with my snap non-existent I got shuffled to midpack. Sarah moved into third on the final lap and Catherine and Uhl just hanging on in front of the field.

Rebecca and tried to make LVG pull the last lap and lead it out. Rebecca wanted to attack her a little early and catch her off guard, but she went a little early. LVG got the win by a bike throw and Rebecca was 2nd.

In our group Uhl was able to stay out if front of the field for third place, Kelly Benjamin won the field sprint with Sarah Caravella hot on her heals for 5th. The entire podium was Cheerwine and Aaron’s!

1st Laura Van Guilder
2nd Rebecca Larson
3rd Sarah Uhl
4th Kelly Benjamin
5th Sarah Caravella

Mt. Hood by Kiwi Bear

Wow what a great tour. The team rode awesome and we had a great time. Carmen and Chris were fantastic at taking care of things, we were especially grateful for Chris’s help as he was racing too and was always there to take care of our bikes and help out. We stayed with Jennifer who was in charge of all the volunteers for the race. What an incredible lady. She came home one night after a long, hot day working in the feed zones and organising her volunteers and still had the energy to go for a run!

When not racing, we kept ourselves entertained by watching various Disney movies belonging to Jennifer’s daughters. Jump In and High School Musical were among the favourites. Unfortunately we ran out of time to watch the sing along version, Kat, maybe you can get a copy for the next race??

We started the 6 day tour with a 3mile prologue. It started with a short uphill, followed by a slight downhill and finished with a short climb. Not much to report here, rode out, raced, coughed up our lungs afterwards, rode home, cooked dinner and went to bed.

What can I say about stage 2? Well, it was a slow, long, hot, and kinda boring 84 miles (apart from the climb). Carmen had given us the talk earlier to prepare us for a potentially slow stage and to be patient as there was a lot of tough racing coming up. We did a few laps of a relatively flat circuit, with one climb each lap. The girls did a great job of looking after Felicia on the climb and she was able to take a controlling lead in the QOM competition.

Stage 3 was 66 miles and a lot more exciting. We did 3.5 laps of a circuit that was pretty much a long gradual climb on one side, and a long gradual descent on the other half. On the 2nd lap Carmen had a great attack which forced VAC (in yellow) to chase. This was followed by a perfectly timed attack by Kristin. There was some chasing for awhile, but no one was able to get up to her. Kristin rode amazingly and stayed out there on her own until just a few km to go on the final climb. As she was caught Kat attacked with Felicia on her wheel and they were able to get a gap with Kat taking the win and the yellow jersey! Awesome work.

Stage 4 was an 18.5 mile time trial. A tough course with a couple of climbs. Leah Goldstein had a superb ride and won the TT and took over the yellow jersey.

Our plan for Stage 5 (the mountain stage) was to make the race as hard as possible to force Leah to chase and hopefully get the yellow jersey back. To Leah’s credit she did an awesome job at covering our attacks. We made it hard from the first climb 8miles in. Kristin, Felicia and Leah got in a break and both had a great race with Felicia winning the stage solo, but not enough time to take the yellow.

The final stage was a downtown crit. Felicia tried her best to get away but Leah wasn’t letting her go anywhere. Kat got away and was joined by Katie Mactier with Kat taking the win! All in all, a great tour for Aaron’s!!

Photos from Mt. Hood

The Aaron's Team visited four different schools during their visit to the Hood River in Oregon prior to the start of the epic 6 day Mt. Hood Stage Race. The "Pros in Schools" program reaches over 1500 kids in the Dalles and Hood River, OR. The team also attended the "Kids Race" on friday afternoon after their own hard day of racing to sign posters and cheer the kids on.

Felicia Gomez would capture the Climbers Jersey on Stage 2 and hold it to the end of the race. Pictured here is Felicia at the end of Stage 6...Mt. Hood looms in the distance.

At the completion of the Cooper Spur Circuit Race Kat Carrol would pull on the Yellow Leaders Jersey and join teammate Felicia Gomez. The two finished 1st and 2nd on the day.

After a long 90 miles in hot and windy conditions with thousands of feet of climbing, two of Aaron's riders would once again climb the podium. Felicia Gomez would capture the Stage win and Kristin Sanders would finish 3rd after a great team effort to wrestle the leaders jersey out of Leah Goldstein's hands.

So Many Races...

It's been a while since we've all posted...in that time, all nine of us have been racing on both sides of the country. We'll try to give a brief re-cap in chronological order:

Sarah proved that her lucky number was four with two 4th place finishes at Raleigh and Bike Jam. Then the team got race in New Jersey...see Catherine's "Grrr report" below.

On the other side of the country, the stage racing team scored an early podium in the prologue at Mt. Hood, and followed it up with Kat Carroll-Felicia Gomez, 1-2 finish on stage 3. Felicia and Kristin showed their strength as climbers on stage 5, finishing 1st and 3rd as the whole Aaron's team tried to wrestle the leader's jersey away from Leah Goldstein on the epic 89-mile stage. Kat wrapped the six-day race up with a win in the crit. The team finished with 3 stage wins, 1 2nd place, and 2 3rd places, Felicia Gomez 1st and Kristin Sanders 2nd in the Queen of the Mountain competition, 1st in the team competition and 4 riders in the top ten. A very solid team effort.

Overall Podium - 1st Leah Goldstein, 2nd Felicia Gomez, 3rd Kristin Sanders (Making her NRC stage race podium debut!!!!)

Stage 6 Podium - 1st Katharine Carroll, 2nd Katie Mactier, 3rd Jill McLaughlin

Back on the east coast, Rebecca Larson showed how happy she was to be racing in the states again by snagging a solid 2nd place at CSC. On Sunday in Lancaster, Catherine Powers almost made it to the line ahead of Ina Teutenberg and Laura VanGilder, but ended up holding on to the final podium spot...

More reports and pics to follow...

C.Powers gets a pedi....GRRRrrrrr

One by one the A-Team Crit Crew assembled in Raleigh. Josh arrived first with the team van and then picked up Catherine (minus her suitcase) at the airport. After a taco-flavored dinner, the two settled in to their hotel rooms, dreaming of victory at Raleigh. The next day there was time to spare before the 4pm race so Josh and Catherine did what anyone would do – they got pedicures! Josh opted for a sassy red polish, but Catherine stuck to clear. The calf and foot massages were almost like a good pre-race rub from a soigneur. Feeling fresh, Josh and Catherine drove to the race, where Sarah and Rebecca had secured Smarty Pants Parking across from a Cheerwine van laden with two enormous cherries and a faux tv antenna – interesting promotional gimmick …

The Raleigh crit saw many attacks. Several small breaks formed, including one with Catherine and Nicky Wangsgard, which stayed off for a few laps, but nothing gained more than 10 seconds. Lots of premes kept the race interesting and lucrative, with Rebecca and Catherine nabbing some moolah. Everyone covered moves, and Sarah made sure not to let Laura Van Gilder go up the road without her. With one to go, Catherine got the gambler’s preme and tried to keep the pace high around the back side of the course. Rebecca and Sarah were tucked in a couple of wheels back. Some late-race confusion ensued and the lead-out went to Cheerwine, who came in 1-2, with Nicky Wangsgard rounding out the podium. Sarah was hot on their trail in 4^th place. Grrrrr!

The team grabbed some sandwiches and headed to Richmond, where the Nature’s Path team graciously hosted. Rebecca and Catherine stayed in the “shed-teau”, known for its rustic charm. The team was treated to many varieties of Nature’s Path cereal and energy bars in addition to eggs and coffee in the morning – yum! Then everyone piled in and headed to Baltimore, where teammate Shannon was waiting to get in on the action and Josh’s sister and nephew were waiting to cheer for the team.

Baltimore Bike Jam is renowned for being a swarm-fest and it did not disappoint. The A-Team covered moves and manned the front, but it became apparent that the winds, lack of corners and long downhill section did not serve to make the course conducive to a break-away. The team gathered at the front for a lead-out with 2 laps to go, but fighting to stay together amidst the swarm was a daunting task. The lead-out train was interrupted when a very aggressive rider employed roller-derby tactics, slamming into Sarah’s shoulder and sending her flying into the grass. Luckily, she was able to hold it up and still sprint, coming in 4^th. Double grrrrrrr!

That day, after saying goodbye to the best mechanic on the planet, the team was treated to a lovely meal of beef brisket, pasta salad and fruit at Catherine’s parents’ house. The Champneys and their friends provided very comfortable accommodations for the team. The next day after a delicious breakfast the team headed out for a ride in the beautiful Baltimore countryside with friend-of-the-team Kristy Scheffenacker.

After the ride and a quick lunch the team drove up to Teaneck, New Jersey where Catherine’s father and stepmother had prepared a yummy barbecue. Sarah was victorious in the evening’s game of scrabble (despite Catherine’s father’s use of a certain suspicious 2-letter word). The next morning, the team was treated to eggs and coffee and headed off to take part in the country’s oldest bike race, the Tour of Somerville.

The team pitched in to set up the tent, chairs and trainers. The doctor formerly known as the Aaron’s Team Doctor, Cheryl Oleski and her husband came to help out and watch the race. The team lined up in the hot sun and took off on a new and improved race course. The race was not terribly aggressive (although Meredith Miller did take a solo flyer and stay off for a lap and a half) and the premes not terribly enticing, so many people were fresh for the sprint. This made for a dicey finish. Catherine led it into the last turn but the sprinters got swarmed on the left when an attack went up the side. Sarah and Shannon were boxed in – frustrated because they were unable to sprint. Triple grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!