The "A Team"

Criterium Podium - Cascade Classic

2008-07-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Alison Testroete, Brooke Miller, Gina Grain

Cascade Classic 2009 Criterium Podium

Inspiration is a Two Way Street

2008-06-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

Mia Van Maldegiam on a Designs for Women Specialized bicycle

Inspiration from both her parents who are avid cyclists as well as the Aaron's Pro Cycling Team

Catherine Powers - Teacher/Professional Cyclist

Catherine Powers, one of the veterans of the Aaron's Team, while not racing as much this season as season's past, still continues to take time out of her teaching schedule to make time for young cycling enthusiasts. Catherine was interviewed by Mia Van Maldegiam on her career as a professional woman cyclist for a career day fair.

The Aaron's Team met Scott and Melissa Van Maldegiam and there two kids, Mia and Alec a couple of years ago at Criterium Nationals in Downers Grove, IL just outside of Chicago. Since then, the family has invited the "A-Team" back every year as a host family and is an enthusiastic supporter of the team.

Orange or Red?

2008-06-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

After Kat Carroll's strong ride at the Nature Valley Grand Prix she pulled on the Leaders Jersey for the Women's Prestige Series as well as the Sprint Leaders Jersey....well done Kat!

Nature Valley Grand Prix

2008-06-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

Four weeks on the road took the "A-Team" from Montreal to Philadelphia, to Minnesota and to Austin, TX before a much needed rest at home.

Along the way we revisited some of our wonder host families and got to catch up with them as well as meet some new folks that took the team under their wings. GRATitude GalORe is all I can say...thank-you, thank-you, thank-you all for your hospitality and support! We can't do this without you all.

Polka Dots in Montreal

2008-06-04T21:15:00.001-07:00

Felicia takes flight in the Climbers Jersey

Felicia Gomez claims the Climbers Jersey on day 1 of the QOM competition

A top the podium with some of the very best in the World

Brian is All Smiles

2008-06-04T21:06:00.001-07:00

Brian Muck, the Aaron's Team Mechanic, hit the streets of Little Italy in Montreal Canada to represent the Aaron's Team during the mechanics/directors race that takes place every year prior to the elite women taking the course. Brian's love of cycling shines through that huge smile.

Upcoming Races for the "A-Team"

2008-05-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

The "A-Team" will send a team of riders to contest the Montreal World Cup and Grand Tour of Montreal as well as send a small but strong squad to the CSC Invitational in Arlington, VA this coming weekend.

Both Felicia Gomez and Julie Beveridge will be looking for a top placing in the Montreal WC in hopes of landing a spot on the Canadian Olympic Team. If Mt. Hood is any indication of the form these two riders are carrying into this tough selection race I would say they have a lot going for them. A strong supporting team of Meredith Miller, Kristin Sanders, Alison Testroete and Carmen McNellis will be heading to Montreal as well.

At the CSC Invitational it will be Erica Allar, who recently finished 3rd in Sommerville, Anna Lang and team veteran Catherine Powers who will look to bring home some cash in Arlington, VA before being joined by Athens Twilight winner, Rebecca Larson and heading up to race in the Triple Crowne of races that begins in Allentown at the Lehigh Valley Classic. Reading will be spot two of the Triple Crowne followed by the Liberty Classic in Philadelphia, PA.

For the Liberty Classic, the "A-Team" will see the return of Kat Carroll from her recent european racing where she claimed 2nd place in a stage at the Tour de L' Aude. Joining her will be Meredith Miller, Rebecca Larson, Carmen McNellis, Kristin Sanders, and Erica Allar who finished 8th place in last years race.

Erica Allar 3rd at Sommerville

2008-05-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Erica Allar

Photo by Kurt Jambretz

Kellie Benjamin, Tina Pic, and Erica Allar a top the podium at Sommerville

Flying solo at Sommerville, Aaron's, Erica Allar went up against some tough competition form the Colavita and Cheerwine squads. By putting her super sprint and race savy to work she finished third place in a tough drag race with some of the countries very best sprinters.

Rock on Erica!!!

Mt. Hood a HUGE Success!

2008-05-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Overall G.C. Podium - Julie Beveridge Wins at Hood!

The "A-Team" has been knocking on the door since Redlands for it's first big stage race win and we finally got it! Kat and the team came close in Redlands, Felicia and our small team of 4 came close in Gila, and Julie and the team "mission accomplished" in Mt. Hood.

Team G. C. Rebecca Larson, Meredith Miller, Julie Beveridge, Felicia Gomez, and Alison Testroete

The team started off strong with 5 of our 6 riders in the top 15 after the prologue. With her 5th place finish, Julie would pull on the Best Young Rider Jersey that she would continue to hold on to for the remainder of the race.

Best Young Rider from Day 1 to the end

On Stage 1 Meredith once again showed her strength at the front of the race and assisted Alison in claiming a $500 preem. With two laps to go, Felicia crashed but lady luck was on her side with the 3km rule already in effect giving her the pack time at the finish. At the finish it was Meredith and Alison who set Julie up for a tough uphill finish...luckily when a little voice whispered in Julie's ear she took off and finished a strong third behind two of the best sprinters in the world.

Stage 1 Podium - Jo Kiesanowski, Tina Pic, Julie Beveridge

Stage 2 the Cooper Spur Circuit Race had it's ups and downs. With Kristin Sanders trying her hand the QOM intermediate sprints she was the unfortunate victim of a hard crash that left her with a mild concussion, stitches in her elbow and a dislocated shoulder. Eyes wide when I got to her laying on the ground I could tell she wanted to get up and continue but it wasn't the thing to do...in the trusted hands of Judy Richardson, M.D I jumped back in the car and tore down the hill to gain contact with my other riders. Felicia also had her battle of the day on that same lap...after getting dropped on the descent she finally found that her rear brake had been rubbing causing her to get dropped on the downhill. Up the final climb of the day and in a tight sprint to the line it was Felicia coming 3rd in a photo finish at the line. Another day for Aaron's on the podium!

Stage 2 Podium - Jeanne Longo, Joanne Kiesanowski, Felicia Gomez

Stage 3 the Individual Time Trial would prove to be a decisive day for the overall G.C. With the UCI officials checking legality of each riders time trial bike (must meet weight and measurement standards) and it being each riders responsibility to arrive at bike check prior to their start time, Jeanne Longo possibly cost herself the overall win when her bike didn't pass but her start time did as she made adjustments to her bars. Who knows in the end what the final outcome would have been...Julie wasn't without difficultly either and lost valuable time when she dropped her chain and had to dismount to put it back on...maybe she would have won the time trial, who knows. In the end Julie finished 2nd on the day but gained enough time to put her into the yellow leaders jersey which the team would defend.

Stage 4 the Wy East Road Race, which was the stage last year, that Aaron's tried to rock race leader, Leah Goldsteins world, would prove much different this time around. The team was prepared for the other teams to come out to hammer us but it never materialized. A huge group of riders would arrive at the final climb together and the final time gaps would be minimal. Meredith Miller covered an important attack at the end of the race that would give her a head start up the climb and allow her to give Julie one last effort as she came by close to the finish. Felicia did a fabulous job staying with Julie and helping to minimize the efforts that Julie had to put out covering key attacks at the end of the race. At the end of the day Mara Abbott was able to pull herself a little closer by winning the stage but with no time bonus available for this mountain top finish she only gained back 25 of the 50 seconds she needed on Julie. Julie would climb with legend Longo and finish 3rd on the stage to keep the yellow jersey.

Stage 3 - Julie Beveridge and the Aaron's Team Still in Yellow on the Mountain

Stage 5 the riders would take to the streets of downtown Hood River. Again the team would focus on defending the jersey and that they did! Everyone on the team rode a strong race and in the end would come away with the yellow jersey and the overall team G.C. to show the depth and teamwork that make the Aaron's team one of the top teams in the country. The celebration was a bit suppressed as Julie hit the deck in the last corner of the last lap sliding like a professional base ball player across the pavement. Once again it would be the 3km rule that would award her pack time and thus she would win the overall by a mere 11 seconds over Jeanne Longo.

Overall G.C. Podium - Jeanne Longo, Julie Beveridge, Leah Goldstein

Support Crew and Host Family - Leslie, Chris, me and Jim

MUCH thanks to our host family, Leslie and Jim and to my husband Chris for all their additional support!!! Thanks also to our mechanic Brian Muck and massage therapist, Sky Robbins for their great attitude, good energy and hard work! Teamwork rocks!!!

Aaron's Nailed the ITT in Gila

2008-05-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Felicia Gomez WINS ITT at Gila!!!

Julie Beveridge 3rd in ITT at Gila...looking good!

Stop #3 on the Aaron's Bicycle and Helmet Safety Tour

2008-04-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

Meredith Miller demonstrates how to fit a helmet properly.

Rebecca Larson poses after her Athens Twilight victory with our team's "Biggest Fan ": )

Prior to the Team's awesome victory in the Athens Twilight Criterium in Athens, GA the women visited the Barrow Elementary School on Stop #3 of the Aaron's Bicycle and Helmet Safety Tour.

Over 200 kids listened intently as Rebecca Larson, Erica Allar, Anna Lang, Kristin Sanders and Meredith Miller spoke to them about what their daily lives entail as professional bicycle racers as well as the importance of helmets and general bicycle safety.

50 helmets that were generously donated by the team's title sponsor, Aaron's Corporate Furnishings, and were delivered to teacher Teresa Sheppard prior to the team's arrival. A contest was created that would challenge the kids to think about bicycle and helmet safety and to express that through a written story, a poem, or any creative process. The top 50 entries will be awarded one of the bright red helmets! One of the kids raised her hand and asked, "Can we submit multiple entries?" The helmets have been a great hit!

Rebecca Larson wins Hometown Athens Twilight Criterium

2008-04-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

Victory was SWEET in Athens for the Aaron's Team!!!! Check out the article in the Athens Banner-Herald

http://onlineathens.com/stories/042808/news_2008042800574.shtml

Hometown gal, Rebecca Larson proudly displays the Leader's Jersey that she will be wearing in Race #2 of the South East Crit Series. She took this jersey after winning the Athens Twilight Criterium in Athens, GA.Rebecca also claimed the Lap Leader Jersey for the Series for leading the most laps during the race. Prior to the nights racing

"The Kat" is interviewed on thebroadbandracer.com

2008-04-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

During the Redlands Bicycle Classic a couple of weeks ago, Mari Holden, former World and National Time Trial Champion, interviewed Aaron's, "The Kat" Carroll.

Check it out and enjoy! http://www.thebroadbandracer.com/fly.aspx?taxid=19&layout=player&videoid=313

We are looking forward to a creative video diary from Kat soon...hint, hint, hint.

Garett Lemire Cycling Classic

2008-04-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Aaron's, Anna Lang, riding solo at the Garett Lemire Cycling Classic in Ojai, CA finished 4th by winning the field sprint. A breakaway of three riders took the top spots on the day. With temps of 102 degrees Anna said it was a battle just to over come the chills she was experiencing.
*correction and due credit should be given to Rachel Tzinberg of the Bicycle Johns Racing team for winning the field sprint.

Way to go Anna!

1 806 Cromwell Tiffany Colavita Racing 1:00:17.1
2 835 Wynter ParkIosna Colavita Racing 1:01:18.1
3 842 Tzinberg Rachel Bicycle Johns 1:01:21.3
4 821 Lang Anna Aaron's Womens Pro Cycling 1:01:21.7
5 834 Wilson Jennifer South Bay Wheelmen 1:01:22.3
6 812 Gauthier Shontell Colavita/Sutter Home 1:01:22.3
7 820 Kroepsch Lara ValueAct Capital Cycling Team 1:01:23.4
8 845 Schuster Pamela Helens/Trek 1:01:23.5
9 817 Kelly Helen Team TIBCO 1:01:23.9
10 833 WangsgardNichole Colavita Racing 1:01:24.2

Redlands Overall Podium

2008-04-16T07:02:00.001-07:00

Redlands Bicycle Classic Overall Podium

L to R: Mara Abbott, Alex Wrubleski, "The Kat" Carroll

The Aaron's Women did a fantastic job this year at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Katharine "The Kat" Carroll got things rolling with her 2nd place finish in the uphill individual prologue on day one. Teammate Meredith Miller also had a very solid riding placing her inside the top ten in 9th place which would be a preview of her strength in the coming days.

On Day 2, the Aaron's Team would not only claim the lead in the Sprint Jersey Competition but would also put together an aggressive race that eventually would allow Kat to claim the stage win at the end of the day. Meredith Miller set the tone of the race the entire day with aggressive riding. First in a strong break of 5 riders that would put Team High Road on the defensive to protect their yellow jersey, second, in a 1 1/2 lap solo breakaway, and third with a finally last effort to contribute to the winning leadout for Kat's stage win...bravo Meredith!!!

Stage 2 Podium Sprint Jersey Leader "The Kat" Carroll

Day 3, the Redlands Downtown Criterium would finish in a bunch sprint with Rebecca Larson and Katharine Carroll finishing in 5th and 6th place respectively.

The Final Sunset Road Race once again saw some "Miller Time" at the front of the race with an early solo 1 min. bridge attempt that would join Aaron's with Cheerwine rider Anne Sampolonius off the front. With only seconds separating the top three in the overall GC and the win still in reach of all three it would be a show down for the time bonus given at the first QOM sprint on lap 1 and at the final finish in downtown Redlands. In the end it would be a trio of young guns standing atop the overall podium with Alex Wrubleski overtaking Mara Abbott with time bonus and Kat Carroll retaining her 3rd palce overall.

The Next Generation

2008-04-09T15:48:00.000-07:00

One of the best parts of returning to events year after year are the reunions you get to have with friends that you've made along the way. I first stayed with Andrew and Laurel Haglund way back in 1997 during my 4th Redlands Bicycle Classic and have gotten to see them pretty much every year since. This year I was able to bring their boys Reed, Josh and Ethan their very first jerseys. We hope they too will be proud to be an "Aaron" as our Erica Allar says.

"Women's Night" at Concept Cyclery

2008-03-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

This past Friday evening, Felicia Gomez was the guest speaker at a special "Women's Night" and Concept Cyclery in Morgan Hill, CA. As well as one of countries top stage racers, Felicia is also a tenured professor at Fresno State University and holds a PhD. in Exercise Science and Nutrition.

Felicia is a natural when it comes to speaking to large groups and she gave a wonderful presentation on nutrition and how it plays a major role in exercise and recovery.

Saturday, Felicia joined the group in Morgan Hill for a morning ride and was able to help several beginner riders.

Sunday, at the CVC Criterium, one of the women that attended the event came up to thank Felicia once again for all the great information and advice she had given at during the two previous days...Flea, has just added 15 new fans to her fan club!

Central Valley Classic

2008-03-10T23:13:00.000-07:00

Felicia Gomez during the Central Valley Criterium

After a long trip down under and some really strong race results Felicia Gomez returned to hometown soil to race in the Central Valley Classic this past Sunday in Fresno, CA.

Against some tough competition from Team High Road, TIBCO, Colavita, and ValueAct, Felicia was able to put herself in the winning break of six riders that would almost lap the field. With world class sprinters like Ina Teutenburg, Brooke Miller, Tait Satto, Iona Wynters all present Felicia would have her hands full but she gave it a good go at the end and finished a strong 5th.

Kat Claims Jersey in New Zealand

2008-03-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

Women's Tour New Zealand Overall Jersey Winners

Aaron's/US Team Member Katharine Carroll, Kristin Armstrong, Lorian Graham, Carla Ryan

The Women's Tour of New Zealand completed it's final stage today. Aaron's/USA Team Member, Katharine Carroll finished 7th on the stage and was the Overall Winner of the Sprint Jersey over some tough competition. Felicia Gomez, guest riding for Platteland finished a very strong 12th place overall. Carmen McNellis also riding for the US National Team finished 26th overall. All really solid performances - congrats to each of you!

We are excited for your return to US soil and look forward to you coming back into the Aaron's Team fold. Safe travels!

Kinetics Cycles Grand Opening

2008-02-21T12:08:00.000-08:00

Pictured: Anna, Carmen, Bruce, Meredith, Erica, and Kristin

Pictured: Carmen, Meredith, Erica, Alley, Kristin, Anna

Bruce Kaiser at Kinetic Cycles was super happy to have the team come out to support the shops grand opening. Super nice shop! Hopefully we can get him to put up a signed Aaron's jersey next to the super sized photo of my husband Chris...he gets all the attention : )

Pictured: Chris D'Aluisio and Chris D'Aluisio

Sorry gals, we missed getting our photo with the Specialized Angel...I was told she had been wearing the wings for 6 hours already and that she needed her rest : )

US Women Down Under

2008-02-20T20:59:00.000-08:00

The North American Women had and impressive showing down under during the first stage of the Geelong Tour. Aaron's riders highlighted in red, Webcor riders in green and other American's in blue.

Geelong Women's Tour - February 21-22, 2008
Stage 1 - Thursday 21 February: Time Trial Portarlington
1 Christiane SOEDER (RLT) 11:28.0
2 Susanne LJUNGSKOG (MSI) 00:35.7
3 Ina TEUTENBERG (TMP) 00:37.4
4 Leonie BURFORD (NSW) 00:48.9
5 Katheryn MATTIS (WEB) 00:53.7
6 Kristin ARMSTRONG SAVOLA (RLT) 00:54.6
7 Alexis RHODES (TMP) 00:59.7
8 Judith ARNDT (TMP) 01:00.2
9 Alex WRUBLESKI (WEB) 01:01.0
10 Linda VILLUMSEN SERUP (TMP) 01:05.6
11 Christine THORBURN (WEB) 01:09.9
12 Vicki WHITELAW (ACT) 01:13.4
13 Charlotte BECKER (NUR) 01:14.1
14 Oenone WOOD (TMP) 01:14.4
15 Chantal BELTMAN (TMP) 01:14.5
16 Alison POWERS (USA) 01:15.0
17 Edita PUCINSKAITE (NUR) 01:18.5
18 Bridie O'DONNELL (AUS) 01:20.3
19 Amanda SPRATT (AUS) 01:20.8
20 Katharine CARROLL (USA) 01:21.3
21 Sara CARRIGAN (LBL) 01:21.6
22 Sarah D�STER (RLT) 01:23.9
23 Suzanne DE GOEDE (NUR) 01:24.1
24 Sharon LAWS (ACT) 01:26.1
25 Trixi WORRACK (NUR) 01:26.8
26 Pascale SCHNIDER (RLT) 01:28.4
27 Lauren FRANGES (USA) 01:29.4
28 Lorian GRAHAM (VVP) 01:29.4
29 Natalie BATES (MSI) 01:30.8
30 Peta MULLENS (AUS) 01:31.4
31 Carla RYAN (AUS) 01:31.6
32 Serena SHERIDAN (NZL) 01:32.3
33 Christina RUITER (USA) 01:32.9
34 Tiffany CROMWELL (AUS) 01:34.1
35 Miho OKI (MSI) 01:35.7
36 Felicia GREER-GOMEZ (VVP) 01:36.2
37 Priska DOPPMANN (RLT) 01:37.2
38 Ruth CORSET (QAS) 01:41.6
39 Jenny MACPHERSON (ACT) 01:42.8
40 Erinne WILLOCK (WEB) 01:45.4
41 Louise KERR (QAS) 01:45.8
42 Kathryn WATT (LBL) 01:45.9
43 Carlee TAYLOR (QAS) 01:47.4
44 Marina DUVNJAK (NZL) 01:47.7
45 Fei WANG (GPC) 01:49.6
46 Eva LUTZ (NUR) 01:55.0
47 Toni BRADSHAW (NZL) 02:01.2
48 Emma RICKARDS (RLT) 02:01.3
49 Catherine CHEATLEY (NZL) 02:02.6
50 Belinda GOSS (VIS) 02:02.8
51 Josephine TOMIC (ACT) 02:03.8
52 Zoe APPEL (QAS) 02:04.2
53 Lang MENG (GPC) 02:05.1
54 Olivia GOLLAN (MSI) 02:06.7
55 Carissa WILKES (NZL) 02:07.3
56 Helen KELLY (VIS) 02:07.9
57 Xiao Mei HUANG (GPC) 02:08.8
58 Monique HANLEY (VIS) 02:10.7
59 Carmen McNELLIS (USA) 02:12.9
60 Yong Li LIU (GPC) 02:15.0
61 Rochelle GILMORE (MSI) 02:16.9
62 Regina SCHLEICHER (NUR) 02:18.4
63 Brei GUDSELL (NZL) 02:18.4
64 Tina MAYOLO PIC (VVP) 02:19.7
65 Katherine O'SHEA (VIS) 02:22.5
66 Liz YOUNG (MBC) 02:22.6
67 Amy DOMBROSKI (WEB) 02:23.0
68 Sheree McKENZIE (MBC) 02:23.1
69 Carly HIBBERD (MBC) 02:25.0
70 Nicole WHITBURN (VIS) 02:27.7
71 Rachel NEYLAN (QAS) 02:28.1
72 Emma MACKIE (LBL) 02:28.7
73 Jaccolien WALLAARD (VVP) 02:29.8
74 Tahlia PASKIN (QAS) 02:31.0
75 Lauren KITCHEN (NSW) 02:31.3
76 Min GAO (GPC) 02:34.1
77 Ashleee ANKUDINOFF (NSW) 02:34.6
78 Theresa CLIFF-RYAN (ACT) 02:34.9
79 Kerryn CHARMAN (VIS) 02:38.6
80 Lisa FRIEND (NSW) 02:40.4
81 Jemma O'BRIEN (NSW) 02:41.1
82 Michelle MEWING (MBC) 02:44.1
83 Li CHEN (GPC) 02:48.1
84 Patricia PALMER (MBC) 02:51.3
85 Hayley WRIGHT (MBC) 02:54.4
86 Linn TORP (LBL) 02:54.5
87 Marina ROMOLI (MSI) 02:57.1
88 Sorcha FLETT (LBL) 02:59.8
89 Kim SCHOONBAERT (LBL) 03:00.2
DNS Jocelyn LOANE (AUS)

Aaron's Women in Australia

2008-02-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to wish our Aaron's gals down under good luck with the upcoming Geelong Tour and Geelong World Cup. We will be thinking of you and sending you good vibes!

Please keep us posted on how things are going. We would love to see some photos!

Amgen Tour of California Women's Criterium

2008-02-18T22:20:00.000-08:00

The Amgen Tour of California Women's Criterium kicked of the Women's National Racing Calendar of events (NRC) today in Santa Rosa, CA.

With a team victory the previous day at the Norlund Corporate Criterium the Aaron's women were excited to ride their momentum to another big result.

With approximately 85 women on the start line and several of the top American sprinters represented over several teams it was going to be a tough race.

The pace was high the entire race making it hard for any attacks to get more than a few seconds up the road before getting quickly shut down. Both Kristin and Meredith played a huge role in controlling the front of the field and keeping our sprinters in position.

About mid-way through the race, our Anna Lang crashed on the back side of the course resulting in a complete bike change but she quickly rejoined the group and was solidly back in the race. Unfortunately, with less than 5 laps to go and not more free laps remaining another mechanical forced her back into the pits and she would be unable to finish the race.

With one lap to go Erica Allar had moved up into great position and looked poised to give the final sprint a good go for the second day in a row but in end didn't quite find the finishing kick she needed.

Meredith Miller would be the team's top finisher in 20th place. She would also claim a $150 preem during the race.

Brooke Miller - 1st
Laura Van Guilder - 2nd
Fahlin - 3rd
Olds - 4th
Wangsguard - 5th
Wilson - 6th
Perkins - 7th
Riley - 8th
Trew - 9th
Gauthier - 10th

Kristin Sanders - 34th
Erica Allar - 52nd
Anna Lang - DNF

Norlund Corporate Criterium

2008-02-17T19:40:00.001-08:00

The Victory Salute! Erica Allar's first win of the season

Today the team raced in a local NorCal race (Norlund Corporate Criterium) as a practice race for tomorrow's big NRC opener.

The field was relatively small with a couple team member of Colavita, Cheerwine and VanderKitten showing up as well as our Aaron's Foursome. (Erica, Anna, Meredith, and Kristin). The team's main objective was to put together a final lead out for Erica which they beautifully executed in the final few laps of the race.

With a couple bike lengths between her and second place she gave her best victory salute! Photo on it's way from Meredith.

1st - Erica
4th - Anna
14th - Meredith
15th - Kristin

The A-Team Rocks

2008-02-17T07:55:00.001-08:00

Pictured L to R: Erica, Tristin, Claire, Anna

The A-Team arrived into the Bay Area last night to ready for the first NRC race of the year. The Amgen Tour of California Women's Criterium in Santa Rosa, CA will be the team's first race of the season together. The team will be a small team but a strong one consisting of Erica Allar, Anna Lang, Meredith Miller, and Kristin Sanders.

Upon arrival, the team headed for a welcoming dinner at Anna's father, Fritz and step-mother, Mari Beth's house. Joining the team were Anna's mom, Tunstall and step-father, Terry as well as Anna's sister, Claire and brother, Tristin. We left with full and happy bellies!

Entertainment for the evening was supplied by the newly formed rock band, which is yet to be named.

Everyone is looking forward to the races this weekend...reports to follow!

Sponsor Correct

2008-02-10T20:00:00.001-08:00

As a professional, its imperative that you're always sponsor correct....ALWAYS

Keeping Up-To-Date with the Aaron's Team

2008-02-03T09:31:00.000-08:00

This year the Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling Team has a brand new website...please check it out at http://www.aaronsprocycling.com/

We will also continue to post to our A-Team Blog at http://www.aaronscyclingteam.blogspot.com throughout the 2008 season. This site will continue to link you to riders personal blogs as well.

The following link will take you to our Specialized Team Page on the Specialized Riders Club Site, where you will find additional up to date journal entries on what the team is up to as well as results.
http://www.specializedriders.com/team/show/12

Loved this one too!

2008-02-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

Call it operator error or artistic photography...either way, I love it!

Our Guardian Angel

2008-02-02T18:45:00.000-08:00

Loved this photo of our guardian angel!

The 2008 Aaron's Professional Women's Cycling Team

2008-01-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

Pictured L to R Back Row: Anna Lang, Erica Allar, Carmen D'Aluisio, Meredith Miller, Catherine Powers
L to R Middle Row: Julie Beveridge, Felicia Gomez, Rebecca Larson, Carmen McNellis
L to R Front Row: Katharine Carroll, Alison Testroete, Kristin Sanders

Rain Panties Required

2008-01-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

Not sure who's camp Kat is going to this week but here is the one I'm preparing for : ) Bring your rain panties!

Wed Jan 23	Rain	51°/39°	80 %
Thu Jan 24	Few Showers	51°/39°	30 %
Fri Jan 25	Rain	51°/36°	70 %
Sat Jan 26	Showers	53°/37°	40 %
Sun Jan 27	Showers	55°/39°	40 %

Ready for team camp

2008-01-18T06:48:00.001-08:00

Forecast for Santa Cruz, CA

Fingers crossed...

Kat Carroll and Carmen McNellis, two weeks of pushing, prodding and poking

2008-01-17T20:06:00.000-08:00

Week One: LA, California Track Camp

Kat and I (Carmen M) got the wonderful opportunity to participate in the women's elite team pursuit camp in LA, California. Other riders at the camp were Alison Powers, Kristin Armstrong, Lauren Franges, Kori Seehafer and Christen King. The camp was run by a Andy Sparks who helped push us every day to make great improvements.

Week Two: Salt Lake City, TOSH (The Orthopedic Surgery Hospital)

Aaron's Anna Lang

2008-01-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings from Manressa Beach

2007-12-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from Manressa Beach, CA. It was a Very Early morning in order to see both the moon set and the sun rise but totally worth it! Breakfast was pancakes and coffee (sans sand by the way). With our new trusty propane torch from our weekend of installing a new tankless hot water heater, Chris got the fire started without a hitch : )

Where were you for the Holidays?????

New Aaron's Team Website Coming for 08'!!

2007-11-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

The team is super excited to have a new team website for 2008! Please make note of the new web address http://www.aaronsprocycling.com in order to follow the team throughout the season.

Hope all our friends, host families and fans are doing well. We are looking forward to seeing you all in 2008!

Chicken to Race?

2007-10-29T10:54:00.001-07:00

The Velo Bella Surf City Annual Halloween Cyclocross Race never disappoints. Ask anyone, the Bellas know how to put on a fun party! If you've never experienced this race you should definitely not miss it next year so mark your calendars now.

Although a bit apprehensive to test out my cross legs after 4 yrs. of retirement, I was excited to utilize some of the creativity that I've been storing up all season long and went into costume making mode.

Ingredients as follows:
1 LS White T-shirt
1 pr. White bikini panties
2 feather boas
1 hood off an old hooded top
1 piece of red felt
1 pr. industrial gloves
Hincapie bib shorts and knee warmers

My one prayer would be that the weather would be sunny as the thought of wet chicken feathers just ain't pretty.

I was very excited that not only did my chicken feet stay solidly positioned on my feet but they were as much an advantage as disadvantage on the run-ups. With a necessary exagerated knee lift in order not to trip myself and go head over heals, I propelled myself up those run-ups like the champion chicken I've always imagined myself to be! My construction was rock solid...I retained most of my feathers and the ones that did go flying others were able to enjoy. For my efforts I received an entire flat of California Giant Strawberries...yummy!

So gals, the competition is on! Can you top it?

Another Aaron's rider feature

2007-10-23T13:27:00.001-07:00

(Readable Text Below)

West Palm Beach’s Kristin Sanders, 36, is one of South Florida’s toughest female cyclists. A pro for three years, she’s been in the top 10 in national championships in road races and time trials and won the masters national championships in road races, time trials and criteriums.
Q:What’s your training routine?
A:I usually train on beach roads, north on A1A to Juno Beach or south, sometime to Fort Lauderdale; it takes five hours to Commercial Boulevard and back. My routine depends on the day, anywhere from two hours to six hours. We’re so lucky we can ride outdoors 12 months a
year. When I’m training I can enjoy the scenery.
Q:Have you ever been hit by a car?
A:No. I try to be proactive with cars because I know they don’t know what we’re going to do. Accidents are a little the fault of the riding community. Some are riding against traffic, some stop at traffic lights and some run them. West Palm Beach is like a big beach town, not like Fort Lauderdale. It’s slightly slower, more laid- back. Up north in Jupiter it’s like farmland.
Q:What does it mean to be a pro cyclist?
A: I race for Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings, a national women’s team based in
Atlanta. We have salaries, etc. I also have a full-time job managing advertising accounts for Cox Radio Miami but we can work from home so I have amazing flexibility.
Q: What is your race schedule?
A: Our team goes to every one of the national race calendars, the professional-level women’s races. Some of our members are suited better for some races so our director decides who races
in each. I get 60 to 80 starts per year. People have this misconception that because I’m in Florida and criteriums are in Florida, that’s what I do. But I usually do stage races (like the Tour
de France) because my skills make me competitive in time trialing and climbing.
Q: What bicycle do you ride?
A: I absolutely love my Specialized Ruby, which takes a woman’s proportion and weight into consideration. Women are different from men. And it’s super lightweight.
Q: What’s your diet?
A: You want to be as light as possible without losing strength. My diet is pristine. I eat lots of really good food but no bad food. I’ve taken everything that won’t benefit me out of my diet including ketchup and butter. I went a whole season without candy or cake. I eat tons of
vegetables, red meat, whole grains and pasta.
Q: Have you done other sports?
A:I’ve been doing sports forever. I showed horses for 10 years then had a college swimming scholarship. After that I was burned out on the structure and lifestyle of being an athlete so I was a regular person for a few years. But I’m better off being an athlete.
Q: How did you start cycling?
A: When I moved to Florida I gravitated toward a couple of girls who were run-
ners, but I was never a great runner. Then I ran the Disney Marathon and 5Ks for fun. Eventually I started triathlons, which was a no-brainer since I had the swimming background. Of the three sports, cycling turned out to be my best.
Q:How does South Florida rate for cycling?
A: We have a ton of great cyclists but the problem is getting courses for races. It’s very difficult and expensive. You need road closures, police support... There used to be a great race in West Palm Beach, but no more.

Aaron's in Bicycling Magazine and Women's Adventure Magazine

2007-10-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

Aaron's, Katharine Carroll, aka "The Kat" is currently featured with her Mom, Vida Greer in the November issue of Bicycling Magazine...check it out!

Aaron's Team Director, Carmen D'Aluisio is currently featured in the Sept/Oct. issue of Women's Adventure Magazine.
And coming soon...Kristin Sanders will be featured in the November issue of South Florida's Adventure Magazine!!!

Next Generation of Specialized rider

2007-10-01T16:35:00.001-07:00

After the Crit World Championships in Las Vegas last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Millie Tanner and her family. Millie is a young rider from Southern California who also rides a Specialized S-Works Ruby like us. In 2007 she was the 2nd strongest rider in the Women's 10-12 age group in SoCal/Nevada.

While its a little weird that I have been a licensed driver longer than she's been breathing, its pretty cool that we're both working hard to get stronger and faster. I have heard so many of the women that I race with and against state that they wished they had found cycling at a younger age. One day cycling as a junior will be just as popular as little league baseball and rec soccer. Keep up the good work, Millie!

Ah, Bermuda

2007-09-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

Team presentation: Carmen, Felicia, Sarah, Rebecca

Someone missed their flight : (

This past week 4 members of the A-Team arrived on the island of Bermuda to race in the final race of the Women's Prestige Series, The Bermuda Grand Prix.

This go around I was thankful to arrive a day early to relax and hang out with Felicia who had also arrived early straight from the Tour of Leelanau in Traverse City, MI.

The day proceeding the opening day of racing the organizers put on a reception at the Bacardi Headquarters where teams are all formerly presented and everyone has a nice dinner and of course a little rum, perhaps in a Dark and Stormy or maybe a Swizzle.

The first night of racing gets things rolling with a 30 min. criterium in downtown Hamilton. It's and evening race starting at dusk and ending in darkness. Some of the A-Team was still finding it's legs while Felicia was duking it out with some of the top sprinters in the US. She would finish 4th on the evening behind race winner Kelli Benjamin, Laura Yoisten, and Laura Van Gilder.

Day 2 - The Lighthouse Challenge, a 1K uphill time trial, would see Felicia Gomez take the leaders jersey with an exciting stage win. Felicia bested her time of the previous year by 7 seconds!! Teammate Sarah Caravella would put in a good ride placing her in the top ten. With solid rides by everyone, the team was in the hunt for the team competition, trailing first place by a mere 3 seconds.

Hill Climb Podium

Day 3 - The Dockyard Criterium would prove to be a tough day for the A-Team. Upon completion of the race Catherine found she had a loose spoke that was causing her wheel to rotate "out of true". Generally what this means to a rider is a little unplanned resistance training. Felicia would try time and again to sprint for bonus seconds only to be outdone each time by LVG and Karen Brems. Let's just say, it was a good learning experience : )Felicia Leads the bunch at the top of the Cork Screw Hill

Day 4 - The Catlin Hamilton Circuit Race would be a new stage that would take the riders up a steep twisty hill which we were excited to see, however, not really long enough to take the sprinters out of the competition it would again be a day to contest the intermediate time bonus sprints. Powers was back and the team gave it a good go but at the end of the intermediate sprints it was LVG with 9 seconds, Karen with 9 seconds, and Felicia with 9 seconds...a net gain of zero. There was still hope, as the finish of the race offered still enough seconds for Felicia to be able to place 2nd overall in the race which would be enough to take the series. It wasn't meant to be as Felicia just didn't have another jump in her to go with the sprinters to the line. Sarah would be the team's top finisher in 6th for the stage.Team Podium: Sarah, Felicia, and Powers

Once all the seconds were tallied Felicia would be the team's top finisher in 3rd place overall. Catherine and Sarah would round out the top ten in 9th and 10th respectively. The A -Team would take the win in the Team Competition!

Manny, Felicia, Laura, Sarah, Kelli, Carmen, Catherine

It was a GREAT Bermuda this year! The best trip in my three years of going to the race. Our host families were the best...thank-you's go out the the Pilgrim's, Conway's, Manny Packwood and Lynden Rowe. We had a lot of fun hanging out on the beautiful beaches with several of the women from the other teams as well as nights out dancing and scooter racing...oops, I mean riding : )

After race Awards Presentation: Jon, Catherine, Felicia, Rebecca

And now...it's Viva Las Vegas!!!

Write up on Ardeche

2007-09-19T15:23:00.001-07:00

Cyclingnews diary entry on Ardeche.

Kat Carroll WINS both final stage and Sprint Jersey

2007-09-15T22:07:00.001-07:00

I will have to let Kat do the talking on this one but I wanted those inquiring minds to know that Kat not only won the Sprint Jersey in Ardeche but also got the final Stage win!

Sooo proud of you Kat!

Sprinter or Horse Jockey?

2007-09-13T02:29:00.000-07:00

Three stages into the Tour Cycliste Feminin International de l'Ardeche I am in the sprinters jeresy. I'm hoping to keep it that way and help get another stage win before its all said and done. Brooke Miller bested her 2nd place finish in stage one by winning stage three. So far the USA national team has been working great together to dominate the intermediate sprints and the finishes.

Nice jerseys, huh?

Aaron's Team Does the Double

2007-09-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

The Aaron's Atlanta Race Weekend, September 8 - 9, kicked off with the Grant Park Criterium. The "A-Team" comprised of Shannon Hutchison-Krupat, Sarah Caravella, and Rebecca Larson would give the home town crowd a taste of what was to come on Sunday for the Aaron's Buckhead Grand Prix. Sarah Caravella would convincing win the event with a two lap solo finish with teammates Rebecca Larson winning the field sprint for 2nd and Shannon finishing 4th.

On Sunday, it would be Rebecca Larson standing on the top step of the podium at the Aaron's Buckhead Grand Prix, after lapping the field to clinch the Double Win Weekend. To top that off she would be flanked by her teammates on the podium for an Aaron's Clean Sweep! Way to go ladies!

Still Going Strong

2007-09-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

Just a quick up date for all our wonderful supporters out there who have followed the "A-Team" all season.

The US National Championship weekend in Downers Grove, IL had it's high points and certainly its low points. On day one, Katharine Carroll escaped the peloton early in a four woman breakaway and would finish on the podium in 3rd place along with race winner Brooke Miller and 2nd place finisher, Alison Powers. On day two the hoorahs and high fives were replaced with tears of pain and frustration as Carmen McNellis would end the day with a refractured collarbone from a crash in 2007 and Kristin Sanders would end the day with a fractured wrist. "It was crazy...there were crashes throughout the entire race. Everytime I would turn around another rider would be rolling into the pit from a crash somewhere on the course." Aside from the crashes and broken bones the women did have two great team races...I think a lead out train is coming.

The weekend after the US Nationals, Sarah Caravella traveled solo up to Binghamton, NY to compete in the Chris Thater Classic. She would score valuable points toward the "A-Team's" 3rd place NRC overall team standing by placing 6th on the day.

On Labor Day, Rebecca Larson, Shannon Hutchison-Krupat and Sarah Caravella would hit the streets of Atlanta bright and early to race the Atlanta 10K. No, it wasn't a running race but a 10K drag race on 6 open lanes of downtown Atlanta, GA. One might wonder why someone would be crazy enough to awake at 5:00am for a 7:00am race start to race for a total of 17 min....well how does a prize list of $10,000.00 sound! Agressive team riding by all would be finished off with a strong second place finish by Rebecca Larson only bested by the multi-time crowned US National Criterium Champion, Tina Pic.

Meanwhile...Katharine Carroll has joined the US National Team in Europe for some tough european racing. Beginning with a World Cup race in Poulay, France followed by the Holland Ladies Tour currently underway.

Last Two Days at the OTC

2007-08-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I am home and I have had some time to regroup. We had a fun last two days at camp. Saturday and Sunday we did testing out on the road. The tests were hard in the blistering hot weather, but we ended up adding to the ride each day. Who can give up a group ride, sure bets riding by yourself.

Here is a picture of me getting tested int the lab. It wasn't fun, but not a lot of people can say they've been tested at the Olympic Training Center. So the feeling of excitement took over the feeling of "I have a big tube in my mouth and can't breath out of my nose."All in all the camp was a wonderful experience and was so happy to be invited. It was awesome not to have to cook for yourself and just worry about resting, recovering, and riding. Now I am back in the real world of having to go to work (teaching), training, racing, cleaning the house, walking the dog, etc... But I really can't complain that much, I do have it pretty good compared a lot of people. Crit nationals are next!

Women's Endurance Talent ID Camp

2007-08-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

I was very fortunate to be invited to the Women's Endurance Talent ID Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Other "new" talents that were invited: (left to Right) Ashley Anderson, Me(Carmen McNellis), Carol Hutton, Susannah Pratt, Megan Guarnier, Marissa Asplund, and Shelly Olds.

Day one: This was, for most of us, our first or second time on the track. Bikes with no brake, no gears, and worst of all fix gear (no coasting, you can't stop pedaling). Well, I guess you could stop pedalling but the outcome would not be so pretty. Luckily we all survived a really long morning on the track. We had lunch and then went on a great ride through the Garden of The Gods. Later that afternoon (evening) we had a presentation by USADA, nutrition discussion, and meet with a sport Psych. They sure kept us busy for the first day.

Day two: We started of the morning by completing a timed flying 2k on the Track. For you who have no idea what that first sentence was saying...We had to go as hard as we could around the track for 6 laps. The flying part means we didn't start for a standing position, we had speed going into it. We had a little more down time today, which was nice because my legs didn't feel that great from being on the track for 2.5 hours the previous day. Dirk Friel spoke to us about Training Peaks and then we were off to the track again for evening races. Every Tuesday and Thursday they have evening races at the Velodrome in Colorado Springs. Jim gave us the opportunity to race and I was glad we did because it was a blast. I came out with one win and 2 seconds. Not to bad for my first night of track racing.

Day 3: This morning we did some testing in the lab. Not much fun. I was pretty tired from the night before doing so many efforts. I was able to get in a quick needed nap. This afternoon we had beautiful weather and road a nice 3hr ride through the Air Force Academy. Now it is time for bed, more testing tomorrow!

We have two more days left so tune in for another update!

Carmen McNellis

Kat Carroll Podiums again in Winston-Salem

2007-08-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Winston-Salem podium

L to R: Kori Seehafer, Kat Carroll, Tina Pic, Laura Van Guilder, Gina Grain

This past weekend the "A-Team" flew back to the east coast to duke it out with some the of the best sprinters in North America at the Charlotte Presbyterian Health Care Criterium and the Hanes Park Criterium in Winston-Salem. Report to follow by Kat.

Saturday night the "A-team" lined up on the downtown streets of Charlotte to try their hand at winning one of the biggest prize purses in women's cycling. I was joined by Shannon, Rebecca, Catherine Powers, Sarah and Kristin. After a couple warm-up laps around the course it was time for staging and call-ups. When they called my name, I thanked my lucky stars for the chance at good positioning and waved to my mom, granny and brother who had made the trip from TN to see me race. The race started and things were quickly strung out. Coming through the start/finish for the first time we heard the bell for a $250 prime the next time through. I jumped for it with Kori Seehafer from Lipton, and we raced all the way through the line for the cash. When we crossed I looked back and saw we had a group of six that had separated from the field. Not everyone was committed to working and after a little time off the front, we were back in the field. That was a bit of a preview for the entire night. A prime would draw a group out, but without organization or motivation, it was all back together going into the final lap. Cheerwine and Colavita were working to set up their sprinters, while I tried to insert myself as far up as I could. Coming out of the last turn a small gap opened up that I had to come around to reattach to the top four riders. Once I made contact, they had started their sprint and there was no chance to move up any further. I rolled across in 5th, with Rebecca 11th and Kristin and Catherine keeping themselves in the money on the day. We definitely were looking forward to another opportunity to race like we knew we could.
A highlight of Saturday evening was having a large Aaron's Corporate Furnishings cheering section. They were super active in their cow bell ringing during the race. We got the chance to meet several different staff members in the Charlotte/NC Area who came out to support us. I really feel like it would be hard to match or beat the type of support that we get from our sponsor, from the President of the company all the way down to individual store employees. They keep up with our results and cheer us on at races whenever we are close to their town, even when it is close to 100 degrees outside! Thanks Aaron's!!

Sunday was another day...another race and another chance to improve upon our results from the night before. We drove to Winston-Salem for our 12:30 start time. The start list was virtually the same from the night before. The race started out pretty fast, but the A-team was ready to make its presence known my attacking and covering every move. While some breaks looked promising, nothing really seemed like it would stick and the field readied itself for a bunch sprint. Coming out of the last turn, I used my momentum on the outside to move up past the women who were getting pinched on the inside. I jumped immediately coming out of the corner, but was not able to get around super speedy and consistent Tina Pic and Laura Van Gilder. Nevertheless, finishing on the podium with company like that was a nice reward. Shannon sprinted in for 8th and Rebecca and Kristin once again finished in the money to make it a pretty successful day of racing for the "A-team".

Next up...Sarah and I head to Elk Grove as a warm-up for the following weekend's Crit Nationals in Downers Grove, IL.

2007-08-02T19:47:00.001-07:00

Catherine meets the the local wildlife at the farmer's market in Asheville, NC

The Final Day of Racing

2007-07-31T12:35:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

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

1 - 2 - 3

2007-07-26T05:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

Catherine dominates Superweek

C. Powers

2007-07-20T21:17:00.001-07:00

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

Supa-Dupa Week! Fun in Wisconsin

2007-07-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

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"

National Pictures!

2007-07-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

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!

Nationals - Seven Springs, PA

2007-07-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-07-07T11:20:00.001-07:00

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

Tour of Grandview

2007-07-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

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

2007-07-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

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.

Nature Valley Grand Prix Final

2007-06-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-12T08:20:00.001-07:00

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

2007-06-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-05T07:56:00.001-07:00

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...

2007-06-04T14:56:00.000-07:00

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!

"A" Team Car

2007-05-24T06:39:00.000-07:00

Our new team car is a beauty! Bike racks are coming! Hip hip hooray!

Getting Together with Teammates

2007-05-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

It's great when you have teammates to train with. Catherine Powers, Michelle, and I (Carmen M) got together in Colorado Spring and had a great day of riding. Here are some pictures to enjoy, it was a beautiful day!

Riding through Garden of The Gods.

Carmen McNellis

Michelle took us on a dirt road, it wasn't bad. I guess it will help prepair us for Nature Valley. (It had a "non pavement section")

The Big "V" Salute

2007-05-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

Pictured front and center is little Mary Micheal Knight. Not only can she do a killer layout back flip but she stomped the competition during the kids race at Joe Martin. The team was proud to stand with her on the podium for her victory salute! Well done everyone! Thank you so much to to Knight Family as well as Brian Stein and the Darling Family who hosted both myself and my soigneur Christina. Hope we can do it all again next year.

2007-05-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

Back in Asheville, I took a break from my hard training ride to check out the local wildlife.

Joe Martin - 1st overall

2007-05-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

We just wrapped up the final race of the Joe Martin Stage race. We packed four stages into just under 48 hours, and at the end of it all, the Aaron's team showed itself to be a solid group that's totally capable of winning and protecting a leader's jersey. Going into the crit we knew we had an :11 second advantage over second place, and everyone rode diligently to ensure there were no major threats to our overall lead. To top off the weekend, we were able to cross the line in first and second in the challenging crit.

Criterium Podium
1st - Katharine Carroll, 2nd - Sarah Caravella, 3rd - Nicky Wangsgard, 4th - Amber Rais, 5th - Alex Wrubleski

Overall Podium
1st - Katharine Carroll, 2nd - Alex Wrubleski, 3rd - Katheryn Curi, 4th - Brooke Ourada, 5th - Leigh Hobson

8th - Felicia Gomez
11th - Kristin Sanders
16th - Carmen McNellis
**Official and complete team results to be posted after tacos and beer later tonight!!**

Thanks so much to Carmen, Josh, Christina and Scott for taking such good care of us this weekend. Thanks also to the Knights and Brian Stein for letting us take over their houses. Here's a picture of the Knights' pug named Chad.

Joe Martin Stage Race

2007-05-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

Joe Martin Stage Race

Today we had a big WIN!!!! Katharine Carroll came out ahead of Laura Van Gilder in the sprint finish. It was a total team effort with all seven riders contributing at crucial times. The SE Crit series last week help the A-Team organize themselves at the finish leading Carroll to the win. Tomorrow is a 68mile road race in the morning and then an uphill time trial (2.5miles) in the afternoon. Enjoy the picture and check back tomorrow for more update!

1st - Katharine Carroll, 2nd - Laura Van Giler, 3rd - Lee Hobson

Michelle Kiesanowski and Felicia Gomez riding Wednesday. Our Wonderful host mom, Amy Knight took us on a beautiful ride.

Felicia and Carmen McNellis

2007-05-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Trauel scrabble- nothing a little duck tape can't hold down

USA Crit Series Sum Up by C.Powers

2007-05-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Race #5 was in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The weather looked ominous when we arrived and settled in to the local coffee shop for a couple of hours of email and chat time. When we emerged, the sky was still dark and the wind was picking up. We warmed up on our trainers, certain it would start raining any minute. As it happened, the clouds kept it cool but the rain never came. We lined up in front of the Smith Barney VIP barbecue tent and rolled off for another aggressive race. The many primes kept the race fast -- most notably the Texas Roadhouse prime, which inspired an inexplicable frenzy at the front of the race. Laura Van Gilder leapt off the front solo for several laps, and the Aaron’s team sat back and watched as Colavita was forced to chase her. With 6 laps to go, Catherine put in a solo attack and stayed off until 2 to go. With Powers reeled in, the Cheerwine choo-choo came to the front with Sarah and Kat fighting for wheels just behind it. Unfortunately, our sprinters got boxed in and Kat finished 6^th.

From Spartanburg we made the long drive to Atlanta and were relieved to find that Jeremy had turned down our beds for us in the spacious Hutchison-Krupat abode. The next morning we were on our own, as Carmen flew back to California for a much-needed rest before Joe Martin. Kat took over logistics and Powers adopted to duties of soigneur (minus the leg-rubs). We enjoyed the delicious coffee courtesy of Shannon and Jeremy (a welcome improvement over the continental breakfast at our hotels) and made spinach omelets while we did an enormous quantity of laundry. We loaded up and took off for Sunny King. What a difference from Spartanburg! It felt like it was 90 degrees and it was all we could do to stay hydrated before our race. LeeAnne met us at the race, newly invigorated after her pep talk from the night before and ready to kick some Colavita bootay. The race attracted a lot of attention in the community due to the kids races, climbing wall and country fair atmosphere. We took off in the heat while LeeAnne’s husband Dan (fresh from his 4^th place ride in his own race) encouraged us on the radio. After a few laps, Powers and Cheerwine’s Chrissy Ruiter found themselves off the front in a break that lasted a third of the race. The two split primes and worked together smoothly, building up a gap of almost 25 seconds.

But the rush to the line for the mid-race points sprint brought the gap down and Chrissy was instructed to stop working. Within a few laps, the two were back in the bunch. None of the counters stuck for long, but a solo attack from Kiwi Dale dangled in front until 2 to go. The Aaron’s team was determined not to be pushed around by the Cheerwine train this time around. Powers led Kat and Sarah up the right-hand side next to the Cheerwine women, up the hill and down the backside, sprinting up through the start-finish with one to go, leaving Kat and Sarah right up at the front to fight for wheels. Kat jumped the Cheerwine train going into turn 3, forcing Laura Van Gilder and Tina Pic to jump early, with Sarah on Tina’s wheel. Sarah ended up 3^rd and Kat held on for 6^th place.

Our final race of the series was in Decatur, Alabama. It was quite a cultural experience. By the time we got in to town and checked in to our hotel (where a raucous hip-hop wedding reception was being held) most of the town’s restaurants were closed. We had enjoyed the free buffet after Sunny King, but it wasn’t quite enough to hold us till morning. So we set off in search of food. And what did we find, but Waffle House! We felt it was very important to expose Michelle a.k.a. Kiwi Bear to this quintessential American experience and Waffle House did not let us down. The usual assortment of interesting characters (a cop, a man with tattoos in an undershirt, a woman wearing a hair net) looked up from their coffee as we walked in. Our waitress dripped southern charm, calling us all “hon” and obliging us with Waffle House paper hats. And the chocolate chip pecan waffles, hot chocolate, grits, eggs, raisin toast and capped home fries were delicious. We decided it was important to start storing up calories now for the upcoming Joe Martin Stage Race. We knew Carmen would approve of our decision. Either that or she would never leave us alone at the races again …

The next morning, Decatur was a ghost town. We couldn’t figure out where everyone was but then we realized that everyone who wasn’t too hung over from the previous evening’s festivities was at church. We rode around looking for a coffee shop to no avail. Apparently, coffee shops don’t open on Sundays in Decatur. The heat and humidity discouraged us from spending too much time outside so we fled back to the hotel room and watched a program on E! about Paris Hilton going to jail. Three hours before the race we decided we’d better eat again. We went to Tony’s Country Kitchen and had some more southern fried food, surrounded by church ladies with rock hard hair who stared us down to let us know that they knew we hadn’t attended services that morning. Powers tried fried green tomatoes for the first time (yum!) and Michelle tried grits again in order to confirm that she doesn’t like them. For one last time we iced the bottles, schlepped our bags down, packed the van and headed to the race. We set up in the shade next to the Hub team and prepared for the final assault. The course was 4 corners, wide open, with a good hill up to the finish. The first few laps were a bit swarmy but the Aaron’s team stayed in the front, as Kat and Powers made sure to lead as many laps as possible without wasting too much energy (we ended up finishing 1-2 in the lap-leader competition, which won us a good chunk of well-deserved change as a reward for our aggressive riding). There were some early breaks and Michelle did a great job covering some moves. Then Heather Labance (an Advil-Chapstick rider who flew in just for the last 2 races) went off the front solo and stayed away for several laps but some tempo riding and attacking from Cheerwine, Colavita and Aaron’s brought her back. The winning break went on a prime, and consisted of Powers, Robin Farina, Kele Murdin, Laura Bowles and Cheerwine’s Catherine Cheatley and Sarah Uhl. The field was tired and happy to see that group go up the road, as only one of the riders (Cheatley) was in the top 10 for the overall. So without too much effort, the break built up a healthy gap. Cheatley did the bulk of the work and Powers made a habit of snagging laps and premes, taking a few pulls as well. With 2 laps to go, Kele Murdin tried to attack the group to go solo, but Cheatley was having none of that and easily brought her back. Laura Bowles also attempted a flyer but was reeled in. Powers sat tight on Uhl’s wheel going into the sprint and tried to come around the track sprinter at the finish but to no avail.

Uhl took top honors with Powers a close second. Sarah sprinted in for 10^th in the Stage. It was the end of a tough week of racing.

Overall, the Aaron’s Professional Women’s Cycling Team had a strong week. We had 5 podium finishes and 1 win. We held the overall leader’s jersey for 4 of the 8 stages. We earned 3rd, 6^th, 17^th and 25th places in the overall points competition. We won 3^rd place in the team points competition. And we were 1-2 in the lap leader’s competition, reflecting our aggressive racing style. We learned a great deal which we will apply to our future racing as a team. We are fired up and ready to rock at the Joe Martin Stage Race next weekend!

2007-05-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

"This isn't a stage race..."

2007-05-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

Stop #4 - Greenwood

2007-05-04T04:54:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2007
Greenwood, South Carolina
by Catherine Powers

It seems like only yesterday that we were racing in Walterboro. Oh yea, that’s because we were! South Carolina is beginning to blend together in a blur of hotel rooms, hot steamy morning rides, long drives and late afternoon racing …

Today we rode over to the race course and headed straight to the coffee shop for some pre-race caffeine. After a good warm-up we lined up and were treated to the national anthem sung by a local high school beauty queen. And then we were off.

The race didn’t have the blistering pace of some of the other crits of the series, but a good hill, a chicane and some wind kept it hard and did some damage to the back of our dwindling field. Kat and Sarah patrolled the front and won some premes in the first part of the race while Powers and Michelle struggled to wake up their legs. By mid-race, Powers was feeling the beast – covering moves, attacking and snatching up a preme. The attacks started coming fast and furious and Kat and Powers covered and countered as best they could. In the end, the right group never formed off the front and it was clear it was coming down to a field sprint.

With 1 to go, Powers snagged the gambler’s preme and then kept the pace high through the chicane on the back side of the course. The Cheerwine train came barreling by with 2 corners to go with Sarah in tow. Last minute shenanigans by another sprinter, however, left Sarah fighting to close a gap to the sprinters ahead. Sarah and Kat ended up finishing 7th and 12th but stayed upright to fight another day – tomorrow, in fact!

Powers Podiums in Beaufort

2007-05-02T04:55:00.000-07:00

Yet another Aaron's Team member climbed atop the podium on night 3 of the SE Crit Series in Beaufort, SC.

Catherine Powers rode an agressive race from start to finish. Out numbered 2 to 1 by two of the strongest teams in the event Colivita Sutter Home and Cheerwine, Catherine positioned herself well going into the final lap to finish 3rd on the night.

With teammate Katharine Carroll in the "Leaders Jersey" it was beneficial to have a break get away tonight, said team director Carmen D'Aluisio. "This is an omnium event so there is a lot of point totaling going on." After the valuable 10 point mid-race sprint was won by Kat we were hoping a break would go up the road and that we would be in it. It was then up to Kat to try and out sprint some of her closest competitors.

Teams will be moving up to Waltersboro, SC tonight for the 4th race in the 8 race series.

Katharine Carrol still leads the series with Tina Pic of Colivita tight on her heals.

Meet the Barkers

2007-04-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

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! : )

Caravella 2nd at Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium

2007-04-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

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.

Aaron's Katharine Carroll Wins Big in Athens

2007-04-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Crit Racing fun in the South

2007-04-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

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:

East and West

2007-04-16T20:37:00.000-07:00

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

Visit to Aaron's Corporate Furnishing Store in Jacksonville

2007-04-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

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

Results so far...

2007-04-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

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

Aaron's in Orlando

2007-03-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

These are just a few pictures from our tour of Orlando this weekend. Julie, LA, the Aaron's gang and myself had a great time. Thank you to everyone that came out and cheered us on! The weather was warm and sunny. Just perfect for the race.
We were a little nervous going into the race. Not only was it our first of the season, but we couldn't let down our fearless leader from Aaron's, ED!
The three of us kept everything in check for the most part until Kenda attacked and got a 20 second gap. LA and Julie gave it their all bringing it back. I did a couple of jumps myself to try to get across. Eventually the Kenda girl came back to the field. Thank goodness! Unfortunately, the next lap they called 5 to go and said that the Kenda girl had flatted, so they were giving her another 20 second lead! I couldn't believe my ears! LA drove it around and a couple of girls attacked us and I went with them. We caught Kenda with one to go. And there were more attacks. I went with each girl trying to save as much energy as I could for the sprint. Out of turn three we were all spread out across the road. I stayed in the front and watched for the attacks to come. I lead it around turn four. It is an awfully long way from that turn so I didn't jump immediately. I waited a tiny bit and just decided to go. I kept shifting and trying to hammer as much as I could through the finish. We did it! Our first win of the season!

Farewell To Redlands

2007-03-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

After 4 days of tough racing the "A Team" said farewell to Redlands and our wonderful host families, Carol and Dick Gentilli and Laurel and Andrew Haglund. Most of the team is heading home for a few weeks to rest and train before returning to California for the Sea Otter Bicycle Classic.

I couldn't have been more happy to see the team ralley on the tough and final stage, The Sunset Road Race...it's a race of attrition that can take down some of the best riders but our team seemed to have one of it's best days which to me shows a lot of character.

I want to give a big thanks to our staff, Jon Husk and Carrie Edwards, who made my job a heck of a lot easier as well as Gus Gomez who just jumped in and did whatever he could to help out the team and staff. Also, thank-you to Barbara Dowd, who came all the way out from Athens, GA to support the team and take photos all week.

Redland's host family

2007-03-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Carol made us this awesome sign before she took off this morning. She and Dick have been so supportive of ALL of us while we have been in their home. While they seem so excited to have us, I am sure they'll be slightly relieved when we leave and give them access to their house again. Thanks for letting us overtake the place!!

The Other Side

2007-03-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend I will be down in sunny Orlando with local gals Julie and LeeAnne, while the rest of the team is out at Redlands. My race won't be as grueling as Oak Glenn, but I am going to be just as nervous. It is my first race this season and time to see how the leggos are doing. I also will have a bunch of Aaron's folks to cheer us on and support us. Time to rock and roll!

SHK

Fun Times In Visalia/Exeter

2007-03-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sequoia Cycling Classic

Visalia, CA—March 18-19

By Catherine Powers

Refreshed from a day of recovery rides and shopping, Sarah, Rebecca and I piled into Felicia’s car for the trip to Exeter. We were up to our usual antics and made the car ride interesting with our fascinating J-lo hand puppet impersonations among other routines. My nose and lungs could tell when we were approaching Exeter as they were assaulted by the pollen from the blooming fruit trees.

We arrived at the McCauley’s house and were greeted by his son Andrew who cheerfully showed us around and offered up his room. Shortly thereafter our host Mayor Ted arrived and after making sure we were well taken care of, he headed out to complete his own grueling training regimen (not only is this man the Mayor of Exeter, he also sells insurance and somehow finds time to train for the Exeter Time Trial!). Later that evening we met Janice McCauley and were treated to delicious hamburgers.

We spent the week training in the gorgeous green hills around Exeter, waving to the cows along the way. I was convinced I was sick, since I don’t usually suffer from allergies but after the 3^rd day Coach Carmen made me suck it up and train. We rode the time trial course several times and I tried to master those scary downhill turns while Sarah did her first intervals of the season. We got to finish our rides by soaking our legs in the still-frigid pool at the McCauley’s and then relaxing in front of the television with Andrew.

On Thursday, Sarah and I got to ride with a group of local Exeter cyclists (including Ted) which was fun until some of the women dropped us on the hill! Later that evening, Kat Carroll arrived so we were able to add a few new jokes to our repertoire (some of the old ones were starting to wear thin).

From Friday on it was all business. Friday morning we attended the sponsor breakfast in Exeter where we were treated to pastries, espresso, eggs and coffee courtesy of the Wildflower Café. We enjoyed fraternizing with our friends from other teams and hearing Mayor Ted give a great speech.
We were thrilled to see that Kathy Reed, Velonews’ new crack reporter would be reporting on our race since that means the women’s race will get full and in-depth coverage. And we were also happy to meet Sheri Clark, who worked so hard to get us a PRIZE LIST EQUAL TO THE MEN’S. After breakfast, we headed up over Rocky Hill with sponsors, community members and other riders. Then it was home to shower and change for school visits. Janice had invited us to Rocky Hill Elementary School where she is a librarian. Sarah and I were greeted by a large crowd of charming, eager children who had lots of great questions about cycling like “What do you do when you have to go to the bathroom while you’re riding?” and “What happens when you get really tired?” After the question and answer period, I got to read a story to them about Norma Jean the Bicycle Queen. Then we headed over to the Heart after school program at Lincoln Elementary School where we met our teammates Kat, Rebecca and the newly arrived Carmen Small-McNellis.
We gave another presentation, explaining how our bikes work and stressing the importance of wearing a helmet. These children were younger, so their questions were more amusing: “Are you a boy or a girl?” and “Do you get scared?” and “My dad has a bike.” and “Who is Aaron?”

Friday night we fueled up on lasagna and went to bed, dreaming of the time trial. Saturday morning the mood was very serious in the house. Everyone was focusing, preparing mentally for the hard effort ahead. Everyone that is, except for Sarah. Somehow Sarah managed to get exempted from the time trial so she was in a very chipper mood. We ignored her studiously.

Since I had the earliest start time of any of us, I headed out first and met Carmen and Sarah in the parking lot outside Exeter High School, where they had set up a tent and chairs and trainers for us. I warmed up on the road, trying to get more comfortable on my still-new time trial bike. After some hard efforts and many trips to the porta-potty I was ready to go. I lined up behind Kirsten Robbins and listened to Dave Towle give his always-stellar performance on the P.A. system (lately, he has favored analogies to space travel). When it was my turn to start I went hard off the line and watched my heart rate climb and climb. On the hill, I got worried and backed off a bit but I realized later that the heat was making my heart rate faster than normal. I flew down the other side, terrified in my aero bars. In the sharp right turn at the bottom I slammed on my brakes, nervous about the bad pavement and not trusting my time trial bike. My caution on the turns cost me some time, but my mother assures me I did the right thing. The rest of the ride was a world of pain. I was passed by two women and passed three myself; my throat was dry, my lungs heaving, my legs aching. But before I knew it, I was headed down the hill again, flying towards the finish.
It was a tough day out there for all of us but my teammates put in some great rides. Kat got 6^th, Felicia got 8^th and Rebecca got 15^th. We were happy that our team put in such a solid performance. The field this year was very strong, attracted by the $10,000 prize list. We headed home to recover for the next day’s criterium. We were thrilled to hear that our host Ted had also had a good ride in his time trial. He finished ahead of both of his buddies and kept the rubber side down.

The morning of the criterium, Rebecca was in fine form. She was brimming with energy, humming a little tune for her teammates. As it turned out, this was a sign that she was going to have a very good race. We all rode to Visalia from Exeter, getting in a nice warm-up. We met Felicia in Visalia and pre-rode the course after our team meeting. Sarah and I were recruited to be the lead and follow riders for the kids’ race. That was an excellent warm-up for me as the 11 year-old behind me pushed the pace and I had to ride tempo to stay ahead of him. Sarah, on the other hand, almost got taken out by a falling rider in the back of the field.

And then it was time to race. Our strategy was to be aggressive after the first third of the race but we didn’t need to do that, since T-Mobile started sending off attacks right away. The race was fast and many short-lived breaks formed ahead of the field, with Aaron’s represented in all of them. Rebecca and Felicia were especially active while Sarah made sure she got in the moves that looked dangerous. We took three cash primes and definitely made our presence known throughout the race. With 5 laps to go, the officials made a mistake. They briefly flashed 2 laps to go on the lap counter, before changing it to 5. Some of the sprinters, including the T-Mobile squad, our own Sarah Caravella and Colavita’s Mackenzie Dickey saw 2 to go and never looked back. The pace got higher and higher and with 3 laps to go some riders were sprinting for the line. Fortunately for us, Rebecca was still in good position. With Sarah tired from her all-out effort, Rebecca took over and sprinted for the finish, landing an impressive 3^rd place spot on the podium. Nice work Rebecca!!!

It was great to get a chance to race for the first time with Carmen McNellis this weekend and the team is looking forward to taking it up a notch next week at Redlands. Thanks again to our awesome hosts the McCauley family and to the promoters of the Sequoia Cycling Classic for putting on an excellent race!

A focused team pins their numbers on. Nice tan lines, ladies.

Rebecca on the podium!

Pretty poppies.

The famous muruals of Exeter...don't worry, we didn't actually touch the wall.

Merco Credit Union Crit and Road Race

2007-03-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Five of this year's Aaron's team met up in Merced, CA to kick off the 2007 NRC season with two races: a fast, technical crit and a rolling, potentially windy road race. With such a strong squad (Powers, Caravella, Sanders, Gomez and Carroll) we were definitely looking to start the season off with some momentum-building results. Almost 100 riders anxiously began the fight for position before the gun went off. The only entrances to the course were two adjacent 4-ft wide gaps in the fence and everyone stood huddled together waiting for the 35+ men to finish crashing through the course, before we could pour through those two small gaps and take our place on (or WAY behind) the line.

The race started and things were strung out from the get-go. As per Carmen's instructions, we "sat tight" for the first 10 laps of the race to get a feel for how things would go down. We stayed towards the front and eventually tried our hands at getting something off the front. Several moves got small gaps, but the charging field brought most everything back in under half a lap. Coming into 10, then 8 and 5 laps to go it was very obvious that this race was going to end in a field sprint and we all needed to be in the front to do our parts in the leadout. This crit course has a notorious chicane that has caused trouble in years past. While it is not that technically difficult, it seems to cause some sort of weird mind trick on riders, leading them to do stupid things. But this year, it was not to blame for any crashes...Going through with two laps to go with all of our riders in the top 20ish, I thought we were going to finish crash free...until the second to last turn of that lap. Someone in the front lost it and took out a big chunk of the field. Coming through the start/finish on the bell lap, I heard "Caravella's out, kat you're our sprinter." Unfortunately that was the second time we heard that in as many crits as Sarah's 2007 bunch sprint debut was postponed by another crash/mechanical. After sitting on the front for the past several laps to help keep the pace high, I was a little fried. I managed to miss the crash on the final lap that took Felicia out, but couldn't get around the 18 people in front of me. Kristin was the only other Aaron's to cross the line unscathed, and while no one was too badly scraped up, we were anxious to get a better result. Thank goodness for the road race...

After a 6 AM departure in search of eggs, we dined at Paul's Place, a cozy local "Dennys"-like restaurant since IHOP didn't believe anyone needed breakfast before 7 AM. After having some butter with a side of eggs and toast, we headed out of town towards the road course. We had the luxury of driving in through the finish, which was a great way to recon the last 4k of the circuit (as if passing through two times prior to the finish wasn't enough). The tight turns and several rollers were probably the most interesting section of the entire 24-mile loop. We suited up and took to the start line in short sleeves and shorts alone, which was a vast improvement from last year's temperatures in the 40's. Again, the first third of the race would be a chance for us to sit in until it was time to try and create a move. Some people tried to animate the race towards the end of lap one, but most efforts were short lived and the group stayed together.

Another stupid crash in an unlikely place happened just past the feed zone, but luckily all Aaron's riders dodged the carnage without any problems. Felicia had a faux-flat on the bumpy roads and gave us the opportunity to practice getting an important rider back on. She did a great effort to quickly make her way up through the caravan where I was waiting to pull her back up the front. As we came through the rollers at the end of lap 2, Kristin timed a counter attack perfectly and quickly established a 25 second gap. The field was content to let one person go, but once others tried to chase/bridge, the gap came down. Just like in the crit, no one was super motivated to have a break stick, and it was obvious the whole field would be together coming into the last 4k.

Carmen encouraged us to be near the front as we made the final turn going into the last 4k. The pace was high, and with about 2k to go I jumped and got a small gap. It was too small and at the 1k mark the field came charging by and I saw Sarah C. sitting in great position on a Webcor rider's wheel. She was steadily moving up without much effort of her own, and besides dodging a rider or two to avoid being boxed in, found herself in a great spot with 500m to go. She jumped from behind this group at around 300m with a super kick and barely missed out on our first victory for the year. After mechanicals or crashes had stopped her from showing her sprint the last two races, it was nice to see her blow past the strong field for a solid 2nd place podium spot.

Highlights of the weekend:

Felicia being ferocious on the front during the ENTIRE crit and even winning a prime. The tenaciousness carried over into the road race and she was quick to cover any dangerous move in the road race.
Kristin establishing a 25-second gap almost IMMEDIATELY after a well-timed counter attack in the road race.
Powers constantly sacrificing herself to cover moves and helping her teammates into better position in both the road race and the crit.
After a disappointing crash-out of the crit, Sarah came back and raced a smart road race that put her into position for the win. For her first bunch sprint of the year, not bad.
And for me, I managed to get a pretty good start to my cycling tan.

Carmen and John provided great direction and support. It's nice to get the "A-team" moving smoothly. Overall, it was a great momentum building weekend for the team. I am looking forward to adding Rebecca to our line-up for CVC next weekend and hope that we'll keep this whole podium thing going.