Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Final Day of Racing

Altoona's 2007 Top Ten
Top Row L to R: Felicia Gomez, Mara Abbott, Kristin Armstrong, Kori Seehafer
Front Row L to R: Rick Geist, Kathryn Curi, Chrissy Ruiter, Annette Beutler, Kristin Sanders, Amber Rais
Photo by Carmen D'Aluisio

Stage 7 - The Final Day of racing in Altoona always comes down to the Altoona Downtown Criterium. Intermediate Sprints for time bonus and Sprint Jersey points always keep the race fast and interesting. With few lulls in the race the fast pace and constant accelerations would prove too much for many of the racers. At the end of the day it was a mad dash to the line with Laura Van Guilder once again taking top honors. Aaron's Kat Carroll would be the team's best finisher in 9th.

"This was definitely the most aggressive and hardest Tour de Toona I've ever seen. It's really evident that the depth of women's racing just continues to get better and better."

At the end of every Tour de Toona a special photograph is taken with long time race promotor Rick Geist. It's an honor to make it into the "Top Ten" photo each year and it's not and easy thing to do for sure. This year the "A-Team" placed two of it's riders into the top ten which is a great accomplishment for a second year team.









4 - 5 - 6

Hollidaysburgh Circuit Race - Stage Podium
Allison Testroete, Laura Van Guilder, Katharine Carroll
Photo by Christina Grace

Stage 4 - Hollidaysburgh Circuit Race has a long uphill drag at the finish: the type of finish that has been good to Aaron's Katharine Carroll. The race was aggressive from the start with constant attacks and counter attacks tempting riders with the hopes of a strong break being established off the front, however, at the end of the day it would be a made dash to the finish with most of the top sprinters going for it up the final hill into the small town of Hollidaysburg. Only veteran sprinter Laura Van Guilder and Sprint Leader, Alison Testroete would finish ahead of Kat on the day. Teammate Kristin Sanders would finish a strong second for the team in 8th place.

Felicia Gomez retains QOM jersey
Photo by Carmen D'Aluisio

Stage - 5 Martinsburg Circuit Race would finish with both Kristin Sanders and Kat Carroll in a small group of 13 riders off the front by 1:27. Teammates Carmen McNellis, Rebecca Larson, Sarah Caravella, and Catherine Powers would have to work hard on the day to keep the break in check as if it gained too much time it would threaten Felicia's 2nd place overall. This break would move Kristin up to 8th place in the overall standings and thus putting two Aaron's riders in the top ten. Goodluck seemed to be with the team on this day as a late race mishap to team leader, Felicia Gomez, would seriously jeapordize her 2nd place overall, however, SRAM technical support got her rolling again and with the okay to motorpace her back to the field Felicia would "motor" at speeds over 35mph on the back of the team car. Teammates Catherine Powers and Sarah Caravella had dropped back to help her back to the group, however the speeds would prove impossible to accelerate up to fast enough and they would be left behind to roll in on their own on the day.

Stage 6 - Altoona Blair County Road Race would prove to be the deciding race of the Tour. As current World Champion, Kristin Armstrong, and current National Road Race Champion, Mara Abbott gapped the remainder of the field up the first Blue Knob climb with Felicia Gomez being the only rider to attempt to follow the strong duo. Felicia would find herself in "no man's land" with a long decent ahead of her and decided it was best to ease off and join the group for the chase down the other side. Felicia would however, be the lone Aaron's rider to make the front group and would be isolated with some other very strong team representation until teammate Kristin Sanders would join her when another group made contact on the long descent.
Team's being hesitant to work together to bring back the strong duo off the front would cause the time gap to the leaders to grow rapidly and the tactics of Team Lipton would change when the virtual yellow jersey on the road would switch from one Lipton rider's shoulders to another. At the end of the day Felicia would slip from 2nd to 4th overall and teammate Kristin Sanders would remain in 8th place.

Team mechanic, Josh Boggs speaks out

Photo by Carmen D'Aluisio










































Thursday, July 26, 2007

1 - 2 - 3

From L to R: Rachel Heal, Rick Geist, Kori Seehaufer, Felicia Gomez

A Team Time Trial greeted the women on Stage 1 of the Tour de Toona. A fun and challenging event that most of the women out here have never experienced before. It's one thing riding at speeds up to 45 miles per hour in one's aero bars by oneself and yet another glued to the back wheel of a teammate. With this in mind the team headed out on Monday morning to preview the course and go over some simple instruction on how to make this event our friend in about one hour.

Later in the evening the team great the TTT with excitement and a bit of nerves and delivered a fourth place finish with 5 of it's 7 rider team crossing the line together.

Stage 2 would introduce a brand new course to the event. One of the shorter course of the race at only 48 miles, would prove to be very difficult and would finish with a lead group of around only 20 women. Included in this select group was Aaron's Felicia Gomez and Kristin Sanders in 10th and 11th place. Former world class alpine ski racer, Alison Powers would show yet again her love and talent of the "fast decent" and leave her competitors behind for a solo win on the day putting her in yellow going into Stage 3.


Felicia Gomez receiving the QOM Leaders Jersey

Stage 3 Johnstown to Altoona would be the first of two 95+ mile stages with opportunity to gain or loose big time on the day. The race began to take shape as Catherine Powers of Aaron's would make it into a small break of 5 strong riders later to be joined by Felicia Gomez and another group of strong and motivated riders. With two in the break and one of our strongest climbers we were more than happy to keep the ball rolling. "Powers" was our rock star on the front today working consistently with about 5 other women from other represented teams putting over 5 min. on the chasing peloton by the base of the first long climb. From the base of the climb it would be ALL Felicia Gomez setting a tempo that would pop rider by rider until only Kori Seehaufer from Team Lipton would remain on her wheel. With Kori motivated and in position to take over the leaders jersey and Felicia motivated to take the QoM jersey and move into 2nd place overall it was game on over the top and down the descent. By the last 5km the two would open up a 1 :42 gap on a chasing group of 4 riders that crested the top together only 30 sec. behind and 3:00 to the main group containing Aaron's Kat Carroll and Kristin Sanders.

International Tour de Toona 2007


The "A-Team" arrived in Altoona, PA several days ago to begin one of the best stage races held in the US.

For a long time now, this race has prided itself in the length and difficultly of it's courses, the quality and size of it's field, and the fact that they have managed to offer women an equal prize purse to the women and the men which is quite rare in the sport of cycling.

The courses here in Altoona and the surrounding counties challenge women with varied terrain as well as long tough stages of up to 98 miles in length. Climbs of 2 - 4 miles in length aren't extremely long climbs for these women, however, add on top of that miles upon miles of never ending rollers these courses become very challenging day after day.

Altoona has always attracted the top women in North America as well as many european racers. This year alone the 100+ women's field size has reigning World Champion and current US National Time Trial Champion, Kristin Armstrong, current US National Road Race Champion, Mara Abbott, current Canadian National Road Champion, Gina Grain, current Canadian National Time Trial Champion Anne Samplonius...and the list goes on and on. Bottom line, the competition is top notch.

At the end of the day it's not easy to come home with a pay check when you are battling the top women in the sport, however, knowing that the opportunity to receive equal prize money to the men is very satisfying and gives one hope that the sport is going in the right direction.


Sunday, July 22, 2007

Catherine dominates Superweek

Friday, July 20, 2007

C. Powers

Catherine Powers
Full of...culture and grace
Outside the Milwaukee Art Musuem

Supa-Dupa Week! Fun in Wisconsin

On July 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 Catherine and Sarah participated in the Point Premium Root Beer International Cycling Classic (Superweek). From Friday the 13th through Sunday the 15th, we stayed with Don and Peggy Jorgensen and their children in Blue Island, Illinois outside of Chicago. Blue Island went all out to make us feel welcome, holding a barbecue on Friday night for the riders and lining the course for the races. Claire Jorgensen generously donated her room for us to stay in and we enjoyed chatting and watching The Tour de France with the family.

Superweek in all its entirety seemed not as much about the racing as the experience.
After being thoroughly spoiled with the welcome barbeque's and pancake breakfasts, Catherine and I set out to conquer the first race of the series, Blue Island.

The flat four corner crit seemed a good introduction back into racing after our three week hiatus. Lining up at the start line was a strong representation of teams hailing from all corners of the United States. Among them, the powerhouse Cheerwine had brought three of their riders. With one up on us we knew it would be a challenging week.

Before the battle began with Cheerwine, we were faced with challenges of our own. Catherine got caught up in a crash on the backside of the course coming away with only a couple of bruises and mild road rash. Then only a few laps later another crash occurred taking Catherine down again. What luck!

Thankfully for the rest of the race the girls managed to stay upright on their bikes. The race decidedly came down to a pack sprint as we aggressively vied for position on the last lap. It was a long windy sprint coming into the finish and Catherine set herself in position for the lead-out. Kelly Benjamin from Cheerwine jumped early into the headwind and made it difficult for the lead-out we had tried to set up. I jumped, but Kelly was able to hold her sprint to the finish. I finished second and Catherine finished 7th. Not a bad day, but we wanted better.

The next race was in Bensenville, IL. Another flat crit with only a few more corners.
Kelly Benjamin was in the leader's Jersey after the first race, so we knew what we were up against. The race started out fast and aggressive and never seemed to let up. There were a series of threatening attacks that Catherine was over all day. If she wasn't in them then she was forcing the pace and chasing them down. With only 7 laps to go, Catherine drove a break that seemed promising. The field was hot on them, but the break was so strong they maintained a gap that only came back with two to go. Then it was everyone's race, and it reflected it . The field was fighting for position with every last bit of energy they possessed. Catherine again set up for the lead-out, but as the field closed in the group came over into the barricades. I got knocked on my bike and knocked out of position. I chased back up to 5th wheel by the final corner, but it was too little to late. I would have to settle for 3rd. Almost there, but luckily we had 3 more days of racing.


On the evening of the 15th we traveled to the Cudahy area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where our new host, Barbara Johnson was waiting for us. The next day our legs were feeling the travel and the racing and we decided not to race in the rain, thinking of the long week of hard racing ahead of us at the Tour de Toona. Barb’s beautiful garden and the family of bunnies (including 4 babies) were just the restful environment we needed. Later in the day we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, using the passes Barb’s friend had secured for us. It is an amazing building and the Pissaro exhibit and large contemporary collection are fantastic. In the evening we took a spin and ran into our Cheerwine buddies Kelly and Sarah, who teased us for playing hookie.

The race on the 17th was held in the Whitnall Park Botanical Gardens and featured a steep hill, winding descent, rollers and slightly uphill finish – like a shorter version of New York’s Central Park races. We rode to the race (well, Sarah rode to the race and I rode half way until my tire got ripped to shreds by some glass and I had to hitch a ride with Al, an elderly gentleman on his way to buy supplies for a Knights of Columbus picnic – thanks Al!) and with some help from our friends at SRAM (thanks Jose!) got ready to rumble. Sarah initiated a couple of attacks but soon discovered that Cheerwine was unwilling to work with her. Catherine bridged up to a group of riders and ended up riding through them and was off the front alone for a couple of laps before a series of attacks brought the field back together. On the final laps, the fight for Cheerwine sprinter Kelly Benjamin’s wheel was vicious and Sarah got bounced around like a ping-pong ball between the eager riders vying for position. Meanwhile, Catherine was attempting to lead it out from the front, unaware of Sarah’s troubles behind. Catherine ended up 4th and Sarah managed to stay upright despite having to unclip as a result of a particularly hard hit.

On the 18th we raced at the Proving Grounds in Lyons, WI. The 9.7 mile course has many rollers and a kicker hill into a flat finish. Sarah started the attacks off and in the next lap Catherine attacked and then countered herself, eventually forming a break of 4, including Sarah Uhl, Christen King and Sydney Brown. The group worked together, steadily increasing the lead over the field, which gave up chasing after a lap. In the finish, Catherine positioned herself well and managed to out-sprint Sarah Uhl for the win. Yippee! Sarah was 5th in the field sprint.

On the 19th we took advantage of the late race time to stage the first annual Cheerwine vs. Aaron’s Egg-off. Chefs Sarah and Sarah whipped up eggstraordinary creations for the hungry judges. In the end we decided we couldn’t possibly decide on just one winner since both the smoked salmon-poached egg on goat cheese crostini and Southwest breakfast burrito were eggceptional. That afternoon we raced the Shorewood Criterium, a flat course with a fun chicane and some very bumpy sections. The community there is very supportive and crowds lined the streets, offering up premes every couple of laps. Catherine and Sarah eagerly gobbled up several of these. Catherine went for the field sprint, getting second place to Kelly Benjamin, while Sarah worked hard during the race and ended up 11th.

We’ve had a great time here in Milwaukee/Chicago! Thanks so much to our hosts the Jorgensens and Barbara Johnson! Thanks as well to the SRAM mechanics for all your help, to Jordan of Rock Racing for feeding us at the road race, to Sven’s Coffee Shop for internet access and to The Palomino for switching from the Brewers game to The Tour!


The "egg-off"



Thursday, July 19, 2007

National Pictures!

Katharine Carroll on the last leg of the four 180 turns. It started raining about half way through the start list. It made things interesting on the 180's, but our team navigated them well - no crashes!

Rebecca Larson During the Time Trial



Kristin, Rebecca, and Katharine on our recovery ride. It was very hard to do a recovery ride, all the roads were either fast downhills or steep uphills.


Carmen McNellis made the other girls stand in mud to get this great photo. Didn't it turn out nice girls!




Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Nationals - Seven Springs, PA

The A-Team just finished up Nationals. Friday, 13th was the time trial and Monday, 16th was the Road Race.

The Road Race was 2 laps of 27 miles with hard climbs and fast down hills. We had four girls racing, Rebecca Larson, Kristin Sanders, Katharine Carroll, and Carmen McNellis. The race started out pretty mellow for the fist 12 miles and then the attacks started. We did a great job as a team covering dangerous moves. Katharine got in a break with about 10 people, we were hoping this would stick, but it didn't as the group sat up. Katherine kept going hard as the group got caught and she was off the front for a while before the climbers caught her. A small group was off the front for awhile until we hit the long highway climb and it came back together with about 20 girls. As soon as this happened someone attacked again and about 8 girls got away. Sadly we were not part of this group, but we had 3 in the next group back of about 10 girls. We chased hard up the last big climb and into the finish. Our group was sprinting for 9th place. Laura Van Gilder sprinted it in for 9th with Kristin following for 10th. Carmen came in 12th, Katharine 19th, and Rebecca 34.

1. Mara Abbott (Webcor Builders)
2. Kristin Armstrong (TEAm Lipton)
3. Amber Neben (Buitenpoort/Flexpoint)

Stay tuned for pictures!

US National Road Race

Teammates Kristin Sanders, Kat Carroll and Carmen Small before the start

The "A-Team" sent four of its eight riders to the US National Championships in Seven Springs, PA this past week. This championship course would truely crown the strongest rider on the day with it's constant rolling profile topped off with two tough climbs. The team rode a great race with Kristin Sanders being the team's top finisher in 10th place. Carmen McNellis, in her first National Championships would finish in 12th, Katharine Carroll finished 19th and Rebecca Larson 34th. Webcor's young rider, Mara Abbott would be crowned both the Elite National Champion as well as the U23 National Champion after winning in a close sprint with Lipton's Kristin Armstrong.


Saturday, July 7, 2007

Aaron's, Kristin Sanders WINS the US National Time Trial Master's Championship in Seven Springs, PA...CONGRATS Kristin!!!

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Tour of Grandview




This weekend was the Tour of Grandview in Columbus, Ohio. This is one of my favorite races. Not only are the races great, Jay Baumeister puts on a great race, but I have some great host families there. I thought that I would give you a little background on my great host families. They have really made my travels to Ohio memorable and enjoyable and helped me to feel at home.

The first year that I did this race was in 1999. I rode for Cox Atlanta Velo that year and I stayed with the Sohner's. They have three kids Dan, Bradley and Kyle. I haven't stayed with them since that first year, but they still come and cheer me on. This year Dan is actually in college in Athens, OH. Talk about feeling old! He also came to pick me up at the airport. Wow he is driving too! All three of the boys work at the races and help out and Bradley even did the announcing. Their mom and dad were also at both races cheering me on. It is so awesome to see them and catch up with them!

My other family is the Evans family. John and Stephanie have been great hosts! We have figured that I have stayed with them 5 of the last 6 years. (I didn't go two years ago because I flew to Italy and got married.) My first year with them they had two boys Luke and Eli. Just after I left that year Steph found out that she was pregnant. Now they little Isabelle who will be in kindergarten this fall. I always look forward to seeing them and see how they grow and listen to their great stories. Usually I get to see a swim meet before the Saturday races. All the parents get a kick out of the crazy bike folks that show up to cheer the Evan's kids on.

On to the races. After putting my bike together and a quick PB&J it was time to warm up for the races. I got my number and warmed up and got to the race with about 15 minutes to spare. As I sat underneath a tree to relax and stretch a little a couple of local girls asked if they could sit with me. They introduced themselves and told me that this was their first race ever. They had gotten one day licenses and were there to check it out. They asked me what category I was and when I replied a one they looked more nervous. It was so cute hearing them telling me about their riding and asking about racing and how to get on a big team. I told them that they would be just fine. Find a good wheel to follow and just stay with that person. It would probably get strung out, but just ride through it, it would get easier.
As the race started three girls quickly jumped off the front. The field slowed and I knew that I had better jump across. I attacked and one girl came with me. We traded pulls and we were across. Our group was a little unorganized and eventually my group grew to 8. I encouraged everyone to just pull a little bit so that it would stick. Our lead grew and with 3 Kenda and 2 from the local scene attacks started. When we came up on the field I attacked and hoped to get away in the confusion, but it didn't work. Eventually we were down to the last lap. The girl that had bridged with me attacked with two corners to go. I jumped on her wheel and out of the last corner I accelerated around her for the win!

Sunday I knew was going to be more difficult. There were more women and it was hot and it is a hard and technical course. Basically down hill and then up hill.
As the gun went off Priority Health attacked and took Kenda and Roadhouse with her. Several girls went in front of me and I was waiting for them to go up but no one when anywhere. Going up the hill the Roadhouse girl had fallen off so it was just two of them in the lead. I should have went across then, but I waited for the other teams that had several women to react. Then the Kenda girl came back to us and the Priority girl had 20 seconds! I attacked several times over the next laps trying to get up to the leader but never could get away. With about 5 laps to go I had to think about the sprint to the finish. It is a long uphill finish. Probably about 1k from the last turn. I wanted to go with about 200 meters or so. Not to early because there was also a headwind. As we hit the last lap I put myself about 4th wheel on the downhill. The Kenda girl in front took it hard on the descent and gaped us out on the last two corners. I yelled for the girls to go, but no one was reacting. As we started the climb she still had a gap and everyone seemed content to let her get second. Well, I wasn't content. Way earlier than I had wanted to go..about a quarter of the way up the hill I jumped. Not crazy hard, but enough to get a gap and I just kept ramping it up. I passed the Kenda girl and accelerated more. I thought please just hang on to the line without anyone else passing! I hit the line and had 2nd place!

Thanks to everone for a great weekend! I had a great time in Ohio. Thanks Sohner family, Jay Baumeister, and the Evans family. I hope to have some additional pics for you guys later.

SHK

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Aaron's Shannon Hutchison-Krupat takes win in Grandview Heights, OH


Shannon Hutchison-Krupat WINS at Tour of Grandview!

Photos by: Paul Forsythe

Congrats to Shannon on her win in Grandview Heights, OH...story to follow.