Toona Stage 3

Today was a comedy of errors.

the stage was meant to be 91 miles long. A break went up the road at mile 8 or so with at least one contender from 9 of the 13 teams.

The field the slowed as very effective blocking took place.

Then the field was stopped and turned around as we went of course. We got back on course and were stopped not 10 minutes later when we got to where the break was neutralized. They then sent out the break and then the field at the original gap time. About 20 minutes later, 8 miles from the top of the 10 mile climb we were all stopped again because we we were directed off course a second time. The field was stopped and we had to wait for the break to be directed to turn around and come back to us and then we had to wait some more because the Men's 2 points guys and the Men's 3 points guys had to be let through. We then were sent up the road out of our little shaded spot out into the blazing sun and stopped AGAIN to wait for I am not sure what. Finally they started the break and then us.

The legs felt ok until that long stop and then could not going again up the remaining 8 miles of climbing (with an 18% grade at the top). I popped off there with a bunch of folks behind me and was alone at the top. It was supposed to be mile 50 at the top, but our wrong way sojourns meant it was mile 54.5. So I faced 40 miles alone. I was hoping the ladies behind me would catch me. but no dice. So I went careening off the mountain and set to work just going... but all of a sudden I came upon a stopped SRAM car and a group of 9 ladies. We were off course AGAIN. So we turned around, tried to get into a rhythm and then at an intersection with marshals we ended up going strait rather than turning because they were not paying attention (they had been out there all day in the hot sun). But they yelled and that time we did not go more than 100 yards before being set on course again. I lost contact with that group on the way past Feed 2 and up to QOM2 . At the feed my computer was reading 7 miles longer than it should have read. QOM2 was at mile 77 and QOM 3 at mile 86.

I kept turning over the pedals and was overjoyed to see the 10 km sign and the 5 km sign and was picking up my pace at the 3km sign. A moto ref then stopped me with 2km to go, because the cat 5 men's race was just started and they were going out the way I was going to finish! I was soooo mad! 2km to go and I had to stop! I must have been gaining on two ladies from that group of 9 though because they too were stopped there. The three of us then rolled in together.

My time for the 98.4 miles I raced was 5:25, but I was out on course for 6:13 due to the 48 minutes worth of stopped time. Of those 98 miles I was alone for probably 40 of them. We climbed 8615 feet today. Felt completely empty at the finish but have to find it in my legs to do a crit with a pack of super fast chicks tomorrow. They eliminated the time cut due to so many misdirections and so much stopped time.

Toona Stage 2 - finish on blue knob.

Not sure quite how to describe this. The staging area was crazy - even though Farm Team with our little tent was a small island of calm once everyone arrived.

This stage was a point to point race starting about 45 minutes from where we are staying in Altoona. The finish was about 45 miles from the start. So we had to get all 7 riders and bikes to the start along with our caravan car. We also needed to get enough vehicles to the finish so that we could get all the people and bikes back down off the mountain. Happily the race started at 2:45 so we could take our time in the morning and still have plenty of time for the vehicle shuttle.

Unfortunately we started at 2:45 and it was mid 90's and super humid at the whistle.

But back to the madness. There are 13 women's teams and 12 or 13 men's teams here. Each team had a caravan vehicle, plus there were moto refs and police cars and police motos and at least one ambulance and one broom wagon per field. Plus a couple comm cars per field, and two SRAM Neutral Support cars per field. There was also one helicopter for each field not to mention all the motos with photographers dangling off the back. So we had officials trying to herd caravan drivers into separate lines for each race. And riders milling about all over.

The men rode out first and we didn't start until after they had completed their two exhibition circuits of their town. We got very few pre-race instructions - we had a rolling enclosure so we had the whole road as long as we were inside the caravan, which mean no yellow line rule to be harangued about. The only thing they did remind us was that if we were seen throwing a bottle into a farmers field we would be fined $500... and possibly have to buy a sick cow. It seems that in past years cows have eaten discarded water bottles and that said ingested bottles get stuck in one of the stomachs, making for a sick cow in need of an expensive operation. So after that, we were told to have a safe ride and were started.

Our two exhibition laps around the start town were fast but not uncomfortable and the field felt steady and safe. From the exhibition we went screaming downhill and racing started. Pace was high but not unbearable and then we zoomed into the first climb... just before the last pitch I was dangling and then off. The ladies were flying and my legs were screaming. After the fact I found out it was in the mid 90's and humid.

Happily at the top I was not alone and eventually I ended up in a group of 7. We worked together so-so for a while and then three went up the road with one team mate. Amy warned me that one of the women was going to make a break for it and to get on her wheel. I was boxed and couldn't and the 4 I was with, two of us were working and two had given up. The two who had given up kept talking about how much they just wanted to get picked up. It was a tough spot for them because the Broom Wagon (yes it was labeled as such) was in theory supposed to stay behind the last person, but had passed us at mile 15. However it was a downer that they were not helping pull and were vocal about wanting to stop. We climbed the first QOM together (mile 34) and stayed together about 15 more miles until we hit the feeds zone (mile 50) where they dropped back and I assume stopped. The other woman and I (Suzie from PK Express) kept on riding and got into a good smooth rhythm of pulls. That took us to mile 68 and the bottom of the final climb to the finish. We came across one of my team mates a mile or so before the climb and Amy jumped in with us. The three of us separated on the climb with Suzie in the lead then Amy and then Me. My average speed to the bottom of the final hill was 19.7 MPH or so. If the final climb is included that drops my speed down to 17 point something. The winners of my field had an average speed of 20 point something including the final climb. They were flying! Apart from the First climb, the QOM, and the final climb, the terrain was constantly rolling - almost nothing flat in there.

Very happily for me the weather cooled off a little after that initial climb. We have two support crew with us and they were both in the caravan car (one to drive and one to hand bottles to the riders), so we had no one in the feed zone. We were told that the Comm cars and SRAM support cars had water and I suspect the Broom Wagon did as well, but being outside the caravan I was outside of feed support. It looked like I was going to do the full 74 miles with two bottles. I did get a feed from a support car from another team at one point. That was a bit nerve wracking - getting a bottle from a moving car, but I managed not to crash into the car or get run over so that was good... though I gave up a nice Competitive Cyclist bottle to do so.

It was fun watching the helicopter - I always knew where the field was. When still with field the downdraft from the chopper was noticeable and it was noisy. It was also odd having the whole road. I found myself very unwilling to cross the yellow line. There was a bit of a rumble strip on the yellow on a number of roads too. The strips weren't bad to ride across, but if you were caught unawares it could be a rude awakening.

In all on the day we covered 74 miles with 6320 feet of climbing. For me that came out to a 2340 calorie ride.

My time, approximately 3o minutes behind the leaders was within the time cut and that means I race the 91 miles tomorrow. Yesterday's race finished at the Blue Knob Ski area. Tomorrow we will climb that hill again in the middle of the race. This time we will go up the back side, and it will take us 10 miles to gain the elevation instead of the 6 from yesterday. From what I hear at the very top we get some packed gravel and a bit of 18% grade. That should be fun. That climb is from mile 40-50 and is the first QOM. Then we go screaming down the road we climbed up yesterday and do some rolling terrain before we hit QOM 2 at mile 70 and QOM 3 at mile 79. The last 12 miles is supposed to be predominantly downhill.

Official results are posted at Cyclingnews.com. The results are incorrect and somehow they think I finished some 10 minutes ahead of when I actually finished. Not sure what happened with that. None of my team mates have the wrong times... just me and all of them are in the results so I wasn't mistaken for one of them. I guess they wrote my number at the bottom of the wrong sheet of paper, and did not correct it. We discovered that after the protest period so I believe it will hold. I certainly did not get 10 minutes worth of time bonuses! The error in the results did not affect my ability to ride tomorrow, since all the women made the cut - including those who did actually finish behind me.

Toona TT

So we all rode down to the start from our lodgings (couple of miles) and it was hurry up and wait. They were measuring bikes for UCI legality at the start and we were initially told we could have the bikes checked (weighed and measured) an hour before so we had time to make adjustments as necessary. Once there they said nope we had to wait until all the men had started. So it was find Chris and Scott (our crew) to change wheels for those who brought disc wheels and helmets and to eat and drink.

For me that was also time to practice some held starts. I have chickened out of being held the few TT's I have done this year and Toona had a big scary ramp so I was going to take a standing start. But Chris gave me some pointers and practiced with me a few times and I decided I would most like make it off the ramp the right way - rolling down on top of the bike, rather than fall off the side like I was afraid of.

I thought that since I was riding a road bike with clip on aerobars that I would be OK, but for peace of mind (didn't want to find out 10 mins before start that I had to make adjustments, I had mine checked... Seat was too far forward... so it was off to SRAM neutral support to have it moved back a cm. Then back to be remeasured and corralled in the start house.

Up on the ramp I got clipped in with both feet (for me the hardest part of the held start) and was so focused on not leaning that when they said go I froze. Lost a couple seconds on that. but then it was down the ramp and into the first two corners in a blink of an eye.

Then the 8 block in the areobars section hammering up hill ... took me about half the course to get into the rhythm of the corners.

When I finished I heard the announcer talking about that I was riding a regular bike with aerobars attached. I was too busy expelling lung tissue to pay much attention though.

I did a couple miles or so in warm down trying to figure out how to get back to the staging area without riding on the course, and took off the clip on bars and moved my seat forward again and hung out for a time. None of us were called for doping control so we rode back to our lodging for dinner.

Results are not on the web yet.

7/7 9AM: found some results up at Cyclingnews.com ... not dead last but not far out of it. 72/77 starters. With a time of 6:40 I was one minute down on the leader. Our best placed rider, Jenny Ives, was 33rd, 28 seconds down.

Tour de Toona TT preview

The tt course will be fun

A fair bit of up and down, a couple good spots for aero positioning and a lot of short blocks where it will basically just be one long arc. Not sure how it will race but it was fun to ride this morning. There is one whoop de whoop where there is a gentle climb up and then the ground just plummets away from you and then it flattens out at the bottom for a road crossing and then shoots back up again. That spot where it flattens out looks like it isn't possible to do at speed but it can be done. We also turn down some little alley way that is covered for a block - looks like we are pulling into a bank teller.

So we start, hammer two blocks make a left and a long block later a right. Then we cruise 8 blocks mostly up with that whoop de whoop in there, then take a right up a steep pitch then a block later make another right going down pretty good. That levels out and climbs a little and we are on that leg for 4.5 blocks. Then another right (down hill) followed a block later by a sweeping left which continues to go down for three blocks. then it is an slight uphill left, one block, right, one block, left, one block, right into the covered alley for two blocks then a left for a short block followed by a right for two blocks with a gentle left curve/ chicane for two blocks then right, one block,right, two blocks, left 1/2 block, right and then it is hammer the two blocks to the finish.

Hot and sunny here today.

I am hoping for a little cooler tomorrow.

Looks like we ladies are expected to start around 7:20 tonight.

Men going out at 6.

Start times should be posted soon.

3:07 PM: Just got the start times, My teammate Amy Kneale is the first woman off the line, 10 minutes after the last guy starts. I start at 6:58:30 - the 3rd Farm Team woman to go. Got word we can wear skin suits from other teams, so Team Delphine will be representing tonight... I hope I don't pop out of that size xs skin suit...

3:37 PM: My number is 428