Muddy Jersey

The third installment of USGP racing in New Jersey last weekend. Left on Thursday with Kaitie and our buddy Chris (who served as our mechanic for the weekend) for the 15 hour drive. Big Beaver Falls, PA served as our resting place for the night before finishing up the drive on Friday and picking up Marko at the airport in Philly. Linda also flew in and met us at the course for the preride. The preride was actually cancelled but we were on the road all day and did not realize this . . . so we rode anyway :)

Rain all day had left soft grassy ground primed to turn into thick mud. If the course had a chance to dry out it would have been flat, fast, and all about power. But it misted rain all night and we knew this would be a sort of deja vu experience from last year in NJ.

Headed into downtown Princeton for some tasty pizza at Cafe Theresa. It was a hopping place and we even ran into Meredith and Cody from Cal Giant who also decided pizza was a good prerace meal choice. Alas I forgot my camera but the highlight was Mark getting a pizza that had egg on it - called the Uova - it was pretty impressive.

Saturday we woke up to more misting rain and reports that the course was a mess. Bike changes were going to be key today and we were ready although poor Chris was a bit worried about having to help 3 of us in the womens race. This would be tricky. This year at least more of the course was rideable but there were still a couple sections you had to run. It was thick, grassy mud that quickly bogged down the drivetrain and wheels - ick.

I'm going to keep the report brief. Huge field here this weekend - except for Compton - all the top riders were present. Getting anywhere near a top 10 would be awesome. I had a great start - clipped in, up in the top 10, and then we hit the muck. I was doing alright and just trying to get through the mud. I was in the top 15 for awhile but decided to not take a bike change until the third lap. This was likely a mistake as it was getting clogged up. There were about three sections you had to run and this was definitely slowing me down as well. I was at least happy to not fall down at all today. I was balancing fairly well through the slop and my lines (while not fast!!) at least kept me upright. I ended up 19th on the day with Linda finishing an impressive 12th and Kaitie 14th. Not super happy with the result but so it goes. I'm trying to improve my technical, muddy skills but that's a slow process for me! Thanks Chris for all your help in the pit! Trying to help out 3 ladies in one race is a feat and he did a great job!


We cleaned up and watched the guys race. Another slogfest and Mark finished 19th.

We then headed over to Linda's friend's house for dinner. She cooked us up a bunch of pasta which was awesome.

Thanks for the dinner Anjou!


We headed back to the hotel and made ourselves some dessert. Smores!

Sunday the sun was out and the course dried out a bit. It was definitely tackier and would make for a faster race but it was still soft and messy. Luckily dry enough that the bikes didn't get bogged down and getting bike changes would not be necessary.

Another good start for me. That has long been a problem for me and I was happy to have a weekend where that wasn't an issue. I didn't exactly get the hole shot but going into the grass in the top 10 is good enough for me. A muddy 180 turn with a slight hill caused many to dismount and clogged things up a bit. I picked off a few riders and just tried to take advantage of the straights. There were some muddy turns that I was taking awful lines through. I felt ridiculously slow and after the race Kaitie told me she was running them. She was riding like a rockstar, by the way, KFA is her new nickname. Doesn't quite have the ring to it that KFC does but you get the point. She ended up a very strong 10th place and nabbed the last UCI point spot. Linda passed me on the last lap to finish 13th and I was 14th. An improvement and given the field of tough riders I'll take it. Check out the team blog for more pictures, links to various reports, and full results.

PB girls post race


We cooled down, cleaned up, and watched some of the guys race. Marko in action


The fans were pretty good throughout the weekend and by the stair run up the cheering was great. During the races they stuck chips and dollar bills in the mud for riders to grab. Odd but funny.

Dorito and dollar bill alley


We had to hit the road right after the mens race so that we could drop Mark off in Philly and he could catch his flight. A quick stop at a Chipotle after that for some burritos and then began the long drive home. Made it to Akron, OH on Sunday night and then finished the rest on Monday.

And now we're hitting the road again! This time to North Carolina for some racing in Hendersonville. These are UCI events and are generally not attended by lots of people so it's a good opportunity for us to go after some points. Kaitie, Linda, James, and myself will make the trip down. We'll be staying with my KENDA teammate Kat for the weekend and I can't wait to see her!

Thanks to all of the sponsors for making all this travel and racing possible - Edge, Lazer, Ridley, TRP, and especially Planet Bike. Thanks also to Chris for all his help this weekend!
And thanks to everyone who still checks in to see if I've posted yet - sorry to be such a slacker about updating!

Race Local

photo thanks to djonnymac

This past weekend was the last time I'd be racing in Wisconsin for the rest of the season. I've got an ambitious and busy travel schedule these next 5 weekends leading up to Nationals. So I was excited be at home and have two back to back races in the state series. Sure it's cool to travel and do the big events but we've got an awesome group of people and events here in Wisconsin. Racing local is fun.

Saturday we were in Whitewater and the course went up and down this huge hill at a local park. Very physically tough course with lots of climbing. We had our Indian Summer this week too with temps in the upper 60 and lots of sun. I'll take that any day over rain and cold and it felt awesome to ride in short sleeves. Dave decided to come along too despite recently getting over the flu. The bug he had was bad - out for a solid week - and I'm not sure how I managed to avoid it but I did. A brutal course to come back to as there was no going "easy" and only one stretch to "recover" on.

It was a small turnout and we had 6 women in the race including my teammate Kaitie (that's my junior teammate Kaitie A. - KFC was off in France smoking the competition). We start and Kaitie takes the lead with Sam S. and myself following. She goes off course on a corner and we come around as she tries to get back on the bike. I sit on Sam's wheel figuring that Kaitie can catch back up - I really want us to go 1,2 in the race. After two laps I can see Kaitie has moved up well and is not too far behind us. On the longest climb I attack around Sam and give it a go. This race hurt! All of the climbing made it tough and it seemed like we did a zillion laps. On the last two laps I could see Kaitie had moved up into second place and was now hunting me down! :) I wouldn't have minded at all if she had passed me but I admit I was trying to hold her off! She has great endurance and really seems to get stronger as the race goes on. I took the win and she finished 2nd.

I then stayed and watched Dave race with the 30+ guys. I often do this race too but not on this course when there's another race tomorrow. He rode well for a guy who lost 5 pounds in a week and hadn't been on a bike much the past 2 weeks. It was fun to cheer the guys on a bit and chat with some fellow racers/fans.

Sunday was Estabrook in Milwaukee. I've always liked this race - in a park along the river. Pretty flat and mostly a power course but a few twists and turns and a fun little stretch in the woods. Dave decided to sit this one out so Cider and I drove to Milwaukee and met up with my parents, brother, and his girlfriend who came out to watch some cross racing on a beautiful day.

I decided to do two races today and wanted to really go out hard in the womens event. My starts haven't exactly been a strength for me and I wanted to push it now in preparation for the UCI races to come. The women in those races certainly don't ease into things and my version of "fast" is still slow compared to theirs! So off we went and I was out of the saddle and sprinting hard. Sam was on my wheel for two laps before she slipped off. I was passing a lot of masters men who started in front of us and used them as carrots the rest of the race. It's easy to settle in and be complacent when you're off the front but I tried to accelerate quickly out of the corners and push it on the straightaways. All the cheering superfans made doing that so much easier! Thanks especially to my family for coming out and for Chris and Billy yelling for me over the barriers! I took the win and then lined up for the 30+ mens race.

photo thanks to djonnymac

I didn't quite have the energy to push super hard in this race so more just tried to have a good steady effort and get some more solid training in. Seeing that we had 11 laps in the race made me wonder if I'd really make it through them all! I settled in though and just tried to keep up a good pace and have some fun. That really is the whole point of cross! I ended up 8th out of about 15 guys. James killed it in the Mens Elite race and won. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did a nice little write up of the race here.

thanks Renee!

After the race I went out to dinner with my family at Cafe Hollander. Cool little restaurant on Downers Ave. that sponsors a cycling team. Tasty food and fun to hang out with my family and celebrate my moms birthday a day early.

All in all a great weekend of racing. Next up is the third weekend of USGP racing - this time in New Jersey. Last year this was a mudfest. This year's forecast thus far looks better. Kaitie, Linda, Mark and myself will represent for Planet Bike. Should be fun. Road trip starts tomorrow! Thanks for reading!

Wisconsin Halloween Race

So after some fleeting thoughts of going to Boulder for some UCI racing in the mud we decided to take a weekend off of travel and race locally. The Midwest has a great scene and it's always fun to stay home and support the local events. I missed out on the Halloween race last year as it coincided with the Louisville USGP so it was nice to be a part of it this year. Breaking out of my normal boring routine I decided to actually attempt a costume this year. Granted I wasn't quite as intricate as many of my fellow racers I was proud of myself for at least making an effort! Devil horns and red fish net stockings are cheap and easy!

Teammate Kaitie was a cute lady bug - nice!

Made the trip to Milwaukee alone as unfortunately Dave has caught the dreaded swine flu. He was laid out on the couch for 4 days so I headed to the race planning on doing both the womens and mens 30+ race. Dave is leading the overall 30+ category so I told him I'd do my best to try to beat some of his closest competition!

All in all a perfect day for racing with cool, windy temps. Course was a bit wet in a couple spots from all the rain the day before. Two sets of barriers (one set on a hill) and the dreaded coffin jump were the obstacles for the day. Lots of people were choosing to run the coffins as they were pretty wide. I figured I'd make my decision once I got to them! About 10 women on the line so a pretty small field - awesome to see about 30 women raced the two lower catergory races earlier in the day though. Kaitie, Sam Schneider, and I formed a group early on. Halfway through the lap I came around and tried to push the pace a bit. By the start of lap 2 I had a gap on them and soon saw that Kaitie had pulled away from Sam.

Other than the first and last lap (when there were some riders nearby me and I decided to run) I jumped the coffins. I have to say that I was pretty nervous about smacking my rear wheel each lap. I also heard about some nasty endo's and I really didn't want to do that. All the pictures I've seen show me with this goofy look on my face - jaw clenched and bracing for impact. I'm just happy I made it over.

With two laps to go I saw my teammate Patti down on the ground near the start/finish. She had several people around her and it didn't look good. She was unable to finish but luckily nothing was broken. Then I noticed I couldn't see Kaitie anymore and as the course looped back I saw her shouldering her bike and I knew she had a mechanical. Her front deraileur bolt had popped out and she had to run for nearly half a lap.
Unfortunately Kaitie's mechanical caused her to drop back and finish 4th behind Sam and Holly Klug who were 3rd and 4th, respectively. So after the womens race I tried to stay warm and then lined up with the guys for the 1/2/3 30+ race. There were about 15 guys on the line. Off we went and I tried to steadily move my way up as the race wore on. It's fun to do the mens race because you can stick with a group of guys generally and try to be more tactical. I was trying to be smart and ride the course technically well. I decided to use some Dugast Rhyno tires today and I have to say those things are amazing. They really handle well and I feel so much more confident taking corners hot with them. By about halfway through the race I had picked off some guys and was feeling alright - admittedly I was ready to be done though too!
On the last lap I was with another guy and I wanted to try to beat him so I turned on the gas through the twists and turns and then put my head down for the final pavement stretch before the finish. I was happy to hold him off and finish 5th. Thanks to all of the costumed super fans on the hill - they were awesome.

Some more costumes on the day included the classic Tighty Whitey

Katy's impressive hand sequined showgirl outfit (during the mens elite race she put on a trench coat and was "flashing" riders as they ran up the hill - hilarious!)
and Holly's Cruella deVille

We've got lots of creative and artistic racers and it was super fun to see everyone's creations.

Another weekend at home planned with two Wisconsin races. The next month will be filled with travel after that so I'm enjoying the down time. I'm also desperately trying to avoid getting sick - Dave is finally starting to feel better but I figure I'm not out of the woods yet. Keep drinking that Echinacea tea!

Thanks to Renee for all of the great photos used here!

Trick or Treat

Awww yeah - nothing like racing bikes on Halloween. I even put forth a weak attempt at a costume. The coffin jump scared me every lap but somehow I managed to clear it. Thanks to Kerry Drake for the sweet picture. Report and definitely more photos later.

USGP Louisville

Second weekend of USGP racing in Louisville. We loaded up the van on Friday morning and a good crew of Planet Bikers headed down to Kentucky. We had several junior riders come with us which was pretty cool. The Planet Bike team has so much talent across so many ages and it's awesome when a bunch of us can come together and race. This weekend we had Emma (age 12), Jordan (age 14), and Sarah (age 14) plus our Elite junior Kaitie (age 17). Marko and myself both raced Elite and then Bob and Greg came out for the Masters races. Mechanic David and Jordan's dad Jim rounded out the group and helped us out all weekend.

After driving in the rain the entire morning it was nice to see the sun as we crossed the Ohio River in Louisville.

Always a good idea to see the course before the race and we enjoyed the 70 degree temps and got in a preride.
Totally flat course with lots of straight power stretches. Soggy, spongy grass with a few muddy ditches and a couple of packed down sand pits. And who could forget about the Green Monster.
Not really as bad as it might seem - the steps are huge though and hoisting your bike up (when you're short like me!) is no easy feat. You also have to be careful not to clip your pedal on the ramp as you fly down - often unclipped.

We got a little muddy on the preride - we tried to stay clean but at some point we just gave up and tried to have fun with it.
After cleaning up and checking in at the hotel we headed out to grab some dinner at PF Chang's. Had a really fun time with everyone and we even finished things off with the Great Wall of Chocolate - 2 of them to be exact.
We had a little competition - 4 adults vs. 4 juniors - who could polish off the wall first? I'm proud and somewhat surprised to say we whooped up on those kids.

The next morning Jim and the juniors headed off to the venue early for the races. Katie and I slept in, ate breakfast, and watched some MTV - we're lazy Elite racers and drove out to the course a bit later. We were pleased to hear that Jordan won the Boys 15-16, Emma won the Girls 10-14, and Sarah was 3rd in the Womens 3/4. Way to go everyone!

We made it to the course and watched the guys finish their masters races - Greg won the 55+ race by a huge margin. Bob was 9th in the 45+. Not bad for a guy who had spent the week overseas on business! Kaitie and I warmed up on trainers and got ready for the race - the sun even peeked out and with temps in the upper 50s the conditions were perfect.

Kaitie and I both got front row call ups in the field of about 40 riders. It was great to see and catch up with lots of fellow racers - the USGPs always have a good turnout. Off we go and the muddy ditches soon after the start caused a bit of a bottleneck. I had a decent start and was maybe 12th through the first set of barriers. I tried to move through some riders on the first lap and settled into the top 10 by the start of the second lap.

By the third lap I was 9th and saw Sue Butler just in front of me. Sue is a really strong rider and I knew she was having an off day. I tried to pass her quickly and continue moving up. As I heard bell lap I saw Alison Sydor maybe 10 seconds up on me. photo thanks to Dave McElwaine

I tried to take advantage of the straightaways and bridged up to her. The possibility of taking 6th place seemed very real and I tried to take advantage. I came around her with half a lap to go but couldn't shake her and she came back around as we headed up the Green Monster the final time. She came back around me and I tried to stick to her wheel through the last twisty, muddy sections. As we came out on the road she turned on the gas and I couldn't come around. I crossed the line in 7th - solid.

Kaitie rode really well and finished in 10th for the final UCI points spot.
The race was a blast - it was just muddy enough to be fun. Bike didn't get bogged down and you still got to play around in some sloppy sections. And being more of a power rider the soft, flat sections suited me well. Kaitie and I post race.
We ditched our dirty bikes and went and cooled down on the clean pit bikes. There's this awesome road near the course that was beautiful with all the colorful leaves.After our ride we cleaned up and headed out to watch the Elite men race.
The junior Planet Bike riders are rock stars. They got up early, raced early, and then hung out on course the entire day to watch the rest of the races. Here are Emma and Sarah during the Mens race.
Marko had a solid race. He wasn't feeling super good but he still managed to finish 13th which is still points for guys at a C1 event. You can see the muddy straights were getting good and rutty by the end of the day.
Post race we loaded up the vehicles and chilled at the hotel for a bit before getting dinner together at a local Mexican restaurant. Another fun night with the team and we relaxed for a bit back at the hotel before calling it a night. So last week we Punk'd Linda by hiding her bike on her and I knew that more pranks would be pulled as the season went on. So I'm crawling into bed and as I sit on the edge of the bed (in the dark room!) I feel all these weird cold things in my bed. Kaitie had put a bunch of juice boxes under the covers - I was pretty confused!
Watch out Kaitie - you're next! Actually Jim got her Sunday morning by putting sausages from the continental breakfast in her boots - eww!

The juniors again made us proud on Sunday with more great finishes - Jordan repeated and won again, Emma was 2nd, and Sarah won the womens 3/4. Greg also won the 55+. Way to go everyone!

Temps were a bit warmer on Sunday and again the sun was out so the course was a bit drier and faster. A few changes to the course had us go through a muddy section with a stair run up and then through a sloppy puddle that had formed from the bike wash near the pit.

Off we go. I had one of my best starts of the year. Clipped in immediately and was sitting in 7th place through the first set of barriers. A group of 5 had formed and Amy Dombroski and I were chasing after them - actually I was desperately trying to stick to Amy's wheel!
By the end of the first lap she had gapped me slightly and I was riding alone. This was pretty much the entire race for me. And I even took a dollar hand up on the second lap - the guy made it so easy! I was feeling slightly worse than Saturday and found myself slowing down a bit and with just under 2 laps to go was passed by Kari Studley.
On the last lap I was trying to stick with her and at one point went through the tape and off course. Luckily I stayed on the bike, lifted up another section of tape, and rode back onto the course. But my hopes of retaking 7th were gone and I just tried to stay smooth and finished 8th.

Kaitie (rocking the white skinsuit!) had another strong race and finished 10th again after attacking Devon on the last lap. Nice riding Kaitie!
Another really fun race! The USGP events always seem to have a good crowd of specators and the announcers also really make for an exciting race. We had some Wisconsin folks travel down to Kentucky also and it's always great to hear people yelling your name.

We again grabbed some recovery drink and clean bikes and headed out for a cool down. This time with Devon for company. We miss having her in the Midwest!

Required muddy leg shot.
We cleaned up and went to cheer on Marko in the Mens Elite race. He was feeling better today and had a good ride to finish 10th.

And that was pretty much the weekend! We hit the road for the 7 hour drive back home and made it to Madison just before midnight. All in all a really fun weekend of racing - great to have such a big crew of PB riders and lots of success for the entire team. Thanks so much to Bob and Planet Bike for the support. Also huge thanks to David and Jim for all of their help throughout the weekend. Most of the photos are also thanks to Lyne Lamoureux - I can't say enough great things about her beautiful shots. I always admire the folks that travel across country covering bike races and putting photos up online. Check out Podium in Sight for excellent photos/reports.

The next couple of weekends will be spent at local events. We almost made the trip out to Boulder for some UCI races but after hearing about the wicked snowstorm that's hit the area with nearly 3 feet of snow I think we made a good choice! It's been a crazy month of travel and it will be nice to stay home before things ramp up mid November into Nationals. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Canada, eh?

Last weekend several PB riders headed up to Toronto for some international UCI races. I went last year and the racing was awesome and it was a good place to try to pick up some points as many racers choose to attend events in the Northeast. So Linda, Kaitie, James, and myself loaded up the van along with Linda's friend Dave who would help support us for the weekend. Getting through Chicago is always interesting - we lost about 40 minutes in traffic - could have been worse I guess!

We picked up Tristan at the airport Saturday morning and headed to Centennial Park for some ski hill racing. The course is super cool and goes up and down (and up and down again!) a ski hill.

photo thanks to Dave McElwaine

It's especially cool that you can see almost the entire course from the parking lot. Very spectator friendly. It was a beautiful day out - 50s and sunny - perfect conditions for racing! About 20 women signed up for the Elite race. The odds on favorite was Canadian Natasha Elliot who has been having a great season and won both these races last year. From the gun it was her and fellow Canadian Pepper Harlton pushing the pace. I had my usual mediocre start and had to pick off riders on the first lap. By the start of the third lap I passed by Kaitie who was in 4th and saw Pepper and Linda not far in front of me. Linda got a gap and I sat on Pepper's wheel figuring I'd attack her near the end of the race. I just didn't want any of the girls behind us to catch us. With just over a lap to go it was clear she was fading so I went around her and bridged up to Linda. As we heard the bell I pulled through the straightaway before Linda came back around in the technical twisty section.

photo thanks to Jon Safka

Linda was riding incredibly strong and I knew she had rightfully earned 2nd. I crossed the line with a big smile on my face for 3rd. I had an even bigger smile on my face when I saw Kaitie come across for 4th. After some stomach issues in the middle of the race she made up some impressive ground and passed 4 riders on the last lap.

photo thanks to Jon Safka

It was awesome to have 2 of us on the podium. And really if they had done the 5 person podium as they did with the guys we would have had 3 on there. Great results for the Planet Bike women!

After the podium we cleaned up and watched the men race. James made up lots of ground after staring in the last row and finished 13th.

photo thanks to Dave McElwaine

Tristan had an awesome ride and finished on the podium for 5th. Impressive!

photo thanks to Jon Safka

After the race I hung out with my former Kenda teammate Anne and we got some dinner and coffee at the Buck! It was a lot of fun to hang out with her and chat. I haven't seen her since last year when we came for the races and it had been too long! Thanks for coming out and cheering Anne!

The next day's race was on the opposite side of the park. The course was more technical with a few ditches, some twisty sections, and a few short steep climbs. Still plenty of power but not quite the same as Saturday. Here Kaitie, James, and I are hanging out waiting to preride.

photo thanks to Jon Safka

I at least clip in quickly off the line but again I settle into about 10th as we hit the barriers - which they moved on us! During the prior races they were on a hairpin turn and you had to dismount before the turn. Kaitie and I were both fooled and dismounted before the turn and there were no barriers there - they moved them about 100 meters further on a straight section. Woops!

photo thanks to Jon Safka

As we approached the first steep ditch leading to a steep climb Pepper (riding second wheel to Natasha) hit the ground hard forcing nearly everyone to dismount and run up the hill rather than ride. This clogged things up a bit and I spent the lap trying to move up. I was having some trouble with a hairpin turn on a hill and was taking the corner waaaay too slow. At one point I was in 5th place and coming into that turn had to dismount as I nearly hit a tree. Two riders came around me and I was only able to pass one of them before the race was over. On my last lap I was ecstatic to see Kaitie sitting in second place not far behind Natasha! What a great ride by Kaitie - and she was making up time every lap. At the finish Natasha only won by 15 seconds. Watch out for Kaitie - she's having an awesome season thus far!

photo thanks to Dave McElwaine

Linda was riding well also and finished a strong 4th place.

photo thanks to Jon Safka

I ended up 6th - a bit disappointed as I was close to 5th for much of the race but just couldn't close the gap.

photo thanks to Peter Kraiker

They went 5 deep on the podium today so once again Planet Bike had two riders up there. Sweet!

photo thanks to Jon Safka

Kaitie was a rock star today and had lots of post race interviews to attend to.

After all the paparrazi let Kaitie go we went for a cool down before watching the guys race. Here Linda and Kaitie are hamming it up for the camera.
And a bit of refueling with some oatmeal bars - Linda digs in.
The guys raced really well and we had fun shouting at them and handing out Planet Bike beanies to specators. Same finishes as Saturday with James in 13th and Tristan in 5th. Nice job boys!
Here James is jumping on the compression bandwagon with his cool socks.
Tristan representing on the podium.
It was fun to hang out and chat with lots of folks associated with the races. Photographer Peter Kraiker traded me this awesome hat for a couple of Planet Bike beanies. I've been looking for a cool cycling cap and this totally fits that criteria. His son, Zef, makes them and you should check out his website here.
Kaitie wanted her photo taken with Saturday's winner and all around nice guy Tim Johnson.
Tim then asked Kaitie to tell Jeremy Powers that he's not as cool as Tim and that she doesn't want a picture with him.
Kaitie bravely told him what Tim said but quickly clarified that she was just joking. I mean who wouldn't want their picture taken with J Pow.

The Planet Bike ladies also got their photo taken with race promoter Craig - thanks for all of your support of cross and giving the women such great prize money!

photo thanks to Jon Safka

We had fun goofing around with the Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld guys as well as Natasha.

photo thanks to Peter Kraiker

We also Punk'd Linda when I decided to move her bike which was parked near the podium area. I hid it behind a truck and Kaitie and I watched from afar as she proceeded to freak out thinking someone had stolen her bike. It was pretty hilarious and she got pretty worried. I'm sure she's scheming of how she's going to get us back - I'm prepared.

We packed up, dropped Tristan off at a hotel, and hit the road to head back home. It was pretty smooth sailing other than about a 15 minute wait at the border.

We made it back to Madison about 2AM and collapsed into bed. Another weekend of travel and racing down. All in all a really fun and successful weekend of racing. Huge thanks to Dave for helping us out with driving, getting the bikes ready, and keeping us organized. Thanks to Jon Safka, Peter Kraiker, and Dave McElwaine for all of the photos. It was great to see all of you guys again. Also much love to the sponsors for helping make it happen - first and foremost Bob and Planet Bike.

USGP weekend #2 on tap with another roadtrip planned to Louisville, Kentucky. We've got a huge crew of Planet Bike riders headed down for some big races. Weather looks wet right now so it may be muddy - oh boy!

Thanks for reading!

Ohio 3 day

Another belated race report but it'll have to do! Lots of pictures anyway!

First road trip of the year for me with some PB teammates - Mark, Linda, Kaitie A. and myself hit the road on Friday to head to Ohio for 3 days of UCI racing. We would meet up with Katie Compton who has been unstoppable so far this year and won the World Cup last Sunday.

We pulled into the race on Friday to soggy conditions. Rain for pretty much 48 hours preceding the race meant it was going to be a muddy race. A hilly venue that was actually on a golf course - it was a little surreal to see this beautifully manicured course and this muddy lane that had become the race course. Lots of off cambers and some short little climbs.
It was a frustrating race - the off camber sections were so difficult to ride (at least with my poor technique!) that I ended up doing a lot of running. And a lot of crashing! I got a nasty scrape on my forearm from my first slip slide in the mud into a course stake. I sort of settled into a rhythm to the lap but my bike was getting super mucked up and I decided to not go with a bike change.
With two laps to go I was disappointed to see Kaitie A. on the side of the course with a shouldered bike - turns out she snapped a derailleur hanger and she had to drop out. It was too bad as she was riding so well and was sitting in 6th place before the mechanical. KFC took control of the race in typical fashion after the first lap. She was riding alone and easily took the win.
Linda rode an incredible race and finished a solid 4th. Way to conquer the mud!
I ended up finishing 11th after a last lap crash and an unclipped foot allowed two women to pass me. I was just happy that the race was over - it was one of those races I just wanted to get through. I know I need to embrace the mud but I'm still figuring out how to ride it in all it's permutations. After spraying down the bike and myself and trying to contain the resulting sopping mess I headed over to watch the men and see how Mark was doing.
Mark was having an awesome race and was sitting in 3rd when I first saw him. Parbo ended up passing him with about 2 laps to go but Mark was able to finish a really strong 4th place. He was a little muddy after the race.

After cleaning ourselves and the bikes up and loading everything back into the van it was dark and we were hungry. We headed to one of my favorite post race dining establishments. Mmm - burritos.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to relax. You know what they say about chamois time.

Saturday brought the race in Middletown. Beautiful sunny day with a mostly dry course. Just one slightly muddy section. I had a bad start - seriously . . . clipping in to your pedal shouldn't be so difficult - and then got caught behind a crash in the sand volleyball court. Took me a lap to get my bearings and then I needed to work on hunting people down. Katie C. of course was riding incredibly and was alone off the front. Linda and Kaitie both had a great race and were sitting in with a good group.
In the end Katie C. won, Kaitie was 6th, Linda 7th, and I was 8th. Fun race and solid results for all the PB girls.
After our race we watched the exciting mens race. J Pow was impressing the crowd with his barrier bunny hopping skills. It was pretty cool.

Mark had an awesome race. He and Wicks were sitting about 30 seconds behind Powers. On the last lap Wicks attacked him and he couldn't quite respond but finished 3rd - on the podium!

Final day was the big one at Harbin Park. The great promoters of the event worked hard to secure huge prize money for the race and even had equal payout for the top 5 men and women. A good course for me with lots of power sections and not too many technical twists. There were 3 large mud puddles, 2 long sand pits, and 2 bunny hoppable wood playground borders. I had a much better start today and was feeling decent. I was actually hopping the borders (I was told only myself and KFC were doing it cleanly - sweet!) and was soon sitting in 6th place.
Dede was just up ahead and behind me were my teammates Kaitie A. and Linda. I tried to reel Winfield in but all of us remained in the same spots the rest of the race. I was 6th, Kaitie 7th, and Linda 8th. Our superstar teammate repeated once again - she is fierce. I only wish I could watch her race rather than struggle minutes behind her!A little muddy after the race due to the big mud puddles. Finally after a few laps I found the good lines but I still got plenty dirty.
Hung out after the race and chatted with Katie, Mark, and her cheerleader mom Debra. Check out Mark's awesome T shirt!
We also watched Mark's race - he put on a good show once again and finished 7th.

We loaded up the van after the races and hit the road right away. We had 7 hours back to Madison and finally made it home around midnight. Thanks to everyone involved with the races - it was a super fun weekend. Thanks also to our helpers before, during, and after the races - Daniel and Mike did a great job helping make sure the bikes were ready to go. Thanks also to all of the sponsors for helping make the weekend happen. Planet Bike, Edge, Lazer. All of the race photos are thanks to Lyne Lamoureux - she does such an incredible job of covering events and her photography is beautiful.

Travel continues as I leave for two UCI races in Toronto tomorrow morning!