Racing Galore: Tour of the Gila, Collegiate Road Nats and More

I apologize for the recent lack of updates. It’s been a whirlwind of a couple weeks, what with Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico, followed quickly by Collegiate Road Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin, followed by finals week at the University of Arizona. School? Eeek…what? I just want to ride my bike…

Instead of running through each stage of all the races we’ve done in the last few weeks, I’m just going to post a few highlights from Tour of the Gila and Collegiate Road Nationals, which are the two big races I attended in the last few weeks. However, the team has been active all over the state of AZ and beyond, such as Luisa’s recent MTB racing success at Battle of the Bear. So check back soon for reports from the rest of the ladies.

Tour of the Gila: Silver City, NM, April 28 – May 2

Gila had it all: crazy weather, hard stages, big climbs, crazy descents, high altitude, awesome locals, lots of laughs, a few tears, and oh yea, snow. Yes, snow. In May. In sum, the team took Gila by storm. Oh, and also weathered the New Mexico storms at the same time. Not only were we the top-placed amateur team in the final GC, we even beat a pro team!

Roster: Melanie Meyers, Kathryn Donovan (guest rider), Chloe Forsman, Arielle Filiberti, Erica Zaveta, Judy Jenkins, Ruth Clemence, and Cara Gillis.

Director: Maggie Williams

Final GC Results: Melanie – 10th GC; Katie – 12th GC; Chloe – 25th GC; Cara – 49th GC; Erica – 54th GC

Highlights:

• Stage 1 included a bit of a bathroom break faux pas, which will not be elaborated on here and a Lance Armstrong sighting.
• An awesome petrochemical-free host house (though not really according to chemist Judy…)
• Sustained 40 mph winds with gusts over 60 mph on Stage 2. People were being blown off their bikes; bikes were blowing away; and the women’s main peloton crept along under 10 mph into the headwind for over an hour to the finish. In short, brutal. Also, lots of porta-jons knocked over by the wind…eeewwwww!!!
• A poncho purchased for $6.
• An enormous pot of rice and beans that lasted for three days and tasted better and better each day.
• Scrabble Cheez-Its.
• A dislocated shoulder (poor Judy’s), which was put back into place at the ER with a bucket of water. Also, some over-zealous nurses with scissors.
• A windy TT. Like…can’t ride in the aero bars windy.
• A fun crit. I love the Gila crit. More Lance sightings.
• A freezing start to Stage 5, which later turned into snow at the end of the final stage.
• A serious lack of Internet..and with a bunch of Internet junkies, that meant a lot of time at the coffee shop…and that meant poetry readings.
• I’m sure I’m missing something…ladies, help me out!

Collegiate Road Nationals: Madison, WI, May 7-9

As I mentioned above, Collegiate Road Nationals isn’t a Specialized D4W team race, but we had a number of riders representing their respective schools there. And since the weekend ended with a National Champion three-times-over, we better brag about it! As a side note, Collegiate Road Nationals is split between Division I and II schools, which is determined based on the size of the school, and there are separate events for DI and DII schools. The events include a road race, criterium, individual omnium from the crit and road race, and a team time trial.

University of Arizona Riders: Melanie Meyers, Chloe Forsman, Judy Jenkins, Kimberly Truitt, and Erin Lauterbach.

Dartmouth Rider: Arielle Filiberti

Lees McRae Rider: Erica Zaveta

Highlights:

• Ari won the DII road race, crit, and individual omnium! Awesome!
• In the DI road race, Melanie placed 4th, Chloe 10th, Erica 12th, Judy 36th, Kimberly 52, and Erin 59th.
• All of the women survived an epic day of racing with rain and temperatures in the low 40′s.
• A big shout-out to Erin, as the road race was the longest distance she has ever ridden, and to boot, I would also argue that it was probably one of the toughest days I have ever had on the bike. Big props to all of the ladies for finishing, and especially to Erin for finishing with a smile, despite the conditions.
• In the DI crit, Chloe placed 7th, Erica 9th, Melanie 17th, Judy 44th, and Kimberly 58th.
• The crit was a fun circuit around the capitol building in downtown Madison.
• In the DII team time trial, Ari’s team placed 3rd.
• In the DI team time trial, Erica’s team placed 2nd, and the University of AZ team (which is all Spec D4W ladies) placed 5th despite a slight mishap during which Judy crashed. Yes, she’s ok!

Arizona State Criterium Championships

We are proud to be able to claim two new state championship titles for the Specialized D4W team in Arizona! Mary Hall showed off her awesome sprint to win the Pro 1/2 race. Kimberly Truitt also handily won a field sprint for the Cat 4 State Champion title. Congrats, ladies!