Category — Bicycle Racing/Training

So I am new to the team and to blogging but am anxious to get underway! After last week’s team camp, I am ready to get  the season started. Camp was supposed to be in ‘warm’ Phoenix but it was not so warm. On a side note, before the flight out, I rode in cold rain and did not have time to dry my shoes before the next day’s ride and so started the ride in 35F temps and still wet shoes…hmmm.

Moving on, the agenda was a little bit of bike riding, meeting new faces, schedules and learning about our new sponsors. We have a nice collection and encourage you to check them out! Unfortunately, I was not able to take home all of my goodies due to the size of my suitcase but some single serving packets of Xood and my Genuine Innovations products made it and have been getting use out of them. I had been grumbling about needing to get a frame pump and a new allen key set. Now I have them and can actually fit them in my pockets!

Thanks for reading and check back often to see what the girls are up to as we ready ourselves for an exciting 2011!

Rachel

Wow, this weekend was a great experience!

I did the Valley of the Sun Stage Race this weekend along with Judy and Tracey, who both did awesome! I’ve never done a 3 day stage race before or a time trial, so I definitely learned a lot. I’m not in the best of shape right now so it was a good way for me to see where I’m at and what I need to work on. It’s always tough when they put us CAT 3′s with the Pro, 1,2 field. I unfortunately got caught up in a wreck in the first 3 miles of the road race!!! I wasn’t expecting that but it happens. The crit on Sunday was even tougher! Very fast and lots of strong women. I had a great time though and I look forward to racing as much as I can this season!

First off, we are excited to announce that we have a new team name!  For 2011, our women’s team will be called Missing Link Coaching Systems/ Specialized (formerly Specialized D4w p/b Bicycle Haus).  We are very grateful to our title sponsor Missing Link Coaching & Training Systems for their support in 2011.  We will continue to ride Specialized bicycles and equipment, and we are very excited to be working with a new bike shop – Nicollete South Bike Shop – which is owned and operated by one of our riders, Jenna Rinehart and her husband Justin.

2011 Team Camp

This past weekend, we had our 2011 Team Camp in Phoenix, Arizona.  Typically, you can count on Arizona to be sunny and warm in February, so it’s the perfect location for an early season camp.  Well, Arizona did provide the sun, but not the warmth.  Our team camp coincided with some of the coldest recorded temperatures in Arizona in loooong time.  We shivered through camp, but we all still had a great time riding with each other, getting to know each other, and trying some products and equipment from our great sponsors!  Here’s a quick overview of the weekend.

Day 1: The plan was to follow the route of the Saturday morning training ride in Phoenix (call BOS or Bartlett on Saturday).  Well, given the cold temps, we decided not to make the chilly descent down to Bartlett Lake, so we stuck to riding closer to town.  Still, we had a good time and finished the day off with a delicious Italian meal at Mary’s house.  I was too cold to take photos, but I did manage to snap a few at Mary’s.

Mary’s son Owen steps in as new team massage therapist. [Read more →]

Top 5 reasons why team camp was great even after my flights got rearranged due to New England blizzards:

1. I got to meet some of my awesome new teammates and ride with them

2. I got to see what collegiate racing is like in the Southwest and got to race with some of my new teammates

Mel, Judy, Kapri and me in a collegiate race Sunday morning (along with some other folks)

3. I rode with more skin showing than just my nose IN FEBRUARY!!
4. I met some interesting local vegetation (does everything in AZ have spines???) [Read more →]

Shivering before our ride out to Barlett Lake

Mary, lookin' good, snacking on some HoneyStinger during a pit stop

[Read more →]

So it was cold, and I whined a lot, and there was a lot of climbing (which actual climbers probably wouldn’t noticed, but finely tuned hill radar definitely picked up on), but it was actually so much fun that I felt warm (so of).

It’s going to be a great (and warm!) season.

c

As an athlete living in Colorado, I typically begin structured training in March or April. This past spring, I knew I was in for a long racing season if I was going to reach my goal of qualifying and competing in the Xterra World Championship on October 24th. Thus, I put the pedal to the metal and began cranking away- in the pool and on the trails, via foot and via bike. I raced a lot, trained a lot, and managed to pull together a great race back in July at the Xterra Mountain cup, which earned me a spot at the World Championship.

Since qualifying in July, my racing season has been solely focused on the Xterra World Championship. Yeah, I raced quite a bit throughout August and September, but I wasn’t rested or tapered, which was often times pretty frustrating. It’s a good thing I trusted my coach to do his job because I definitely felt like hitting the snooze button and skipping workouts on more than one occasion…

When mid-October rolled around, I was ready. I began my taper and focused on sleep and recovery. A week later I packed my bags and my bike and flew to Maui with my good friend Becky. I had two days to stretch my legs, review the course maps (the bike and run course were not open for practice), and swim in the ocean. My family met us in Maui, complete with “Luisa- Off Road Warrior” teeshirts and their loudest cheering voices and whistles.

[Read more →]

Last Saturday, October 25th, I participated in my second Xterra USA Championship at Snowbasin Resort in the beautiful state of Utah. I raced this event last year so I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting myself into, but nothing can truly prepare a person for the unrelenting climbs of Snowbasin and the top-notch competitors who gather there to duke it out from all around the U.S.

The Xterra racing series is based on a culmination of points. Racers earn a specific number of points depending on how they place in any given event and those who earn the most points qualify to race at the Xterra USA Championship. This year, I earned the maximum points possible and won my age division in the Xterra Mountain Region, thus earning myself a spot to the national championship. [Read more →]

Today we rode to our 2nd consecutive Arizona State Team Time Trial Championship! (Sorry no pictures yet!) Specialized D4W was represented by myself, Judy Jenkins, Tracy Perez and Kim Truitt, and we did incredible.

Originally, we were to race a 40k out and back, but some recent severe weather washed out a good bit of the road, and the race was shortened to 30k. I have to say the course was so much better then Picacho in regards to traffic and general road condition; the wind however seems to be consistent no matter where the course is – a not so awesome head-wind on the way out and sick tailwind to push us home at speeds exceeding 30mph! Unfortunately we lost some horse-power early on when Kim suffered a mechanical, many people would have simply given up after such an early incident, so needless to say we were all impressed by her drive and dedication when we saw her not too far from the turn-around.

Thanks to Nippy and SW Hand for putting on the race! Great day ladies, it was awesome riding with all of you! Rock on!

- Heather

As I look at this podium picture, I can’t help but chuckle. Am I really THAT short or are these chicas just tall? What I apparently lack in height I made up for this race performance. This photo is taken at the Xterra Mountain Championship where I won my age group, placed second overall for amateur females, and qualified for the Xterra World Championship. As you can see, I was so stoked about winning a German stein that I forgot to look up for the picture… Whoops.

Xterra Mountain Championship is not a race for the faint of heart. With 3,600 feet of climbing on the 15.5 mile mountain bike and 1,300 feet of uphill on the 5.75 mile run, this course is a duesy. Not to mention the altitude… Only the one-mile open water swim in Lake Nottingham is of “normal” caliber. Needless to say, I had a great race and used my small stature to ascend the climbs like a billy goat on both the bike and run. Thanks to Specialized and all of our wonderful sponsors for helping to make my race a positive experience.

For some of my other recent race results, check out the Crankworx cross country race from July 31st and Xterra Indian Peaks from today, August 8th.