W1/2: Heather Ross
W3: Kerry Stivaletti, Rhonda Serr, Adrienne Belliveau, Jennifer Zierke
W4: NONE ☹
The 3-Hour Pre Race Drive
I picked up Adrienne around 8am and we were Chico bound. I wasn’t excited about driving 3 hours on pre race legs, but we really had no choice. Chico State was having a new student orientation and everything within 30 miles of the place was booked. At least we had an afternoon start time, so we didn’t have to get up before the sun. During the drive we had a brief cell phone conversation with Kerry. She was driving solo and needed a little entertainment (not to mention a gas station stop for tamales and product) for the lonely drive up I5.
Paskenta Road Race
Adrienne and I arrived to Paskenta to find......... I don’t know, nothing, and our teammates of course. There was actually a Paskenta style weeding reception going on directly across from registration. I forgot to ask Adrienne how she felt about the wedding venue. I bet it tops the Turlock Lake Resort and it’s disco ball. Adrienne, Rhonda, Kerry and I did a little warm up, ok maybe not. I think I putted 2 miles at a heart rate of 95bpm. I hope no ones coach reads that sentence. We skipped the team meeting this time because we figured we knew what our goal was, Duh, dominate! I attempted to ride my bike and hold my spare wheels simultaneously while searching for the follow vehicle. I don’t know how people do it. The wheel bags were swinging back and forth in the wind and it was a miracle one didn’t catch in my front wheel and cause me to fall over. I safely got the wheel bags in the women’s follow vehicle. They were nicely labeled “Keith Hillier.” I assured the driver that the wheels were not stolen, but that my boyfriend refuses to put my name on anything except for my pink bike and helmet that would never fit him. I pointed at the nicely typed label on the front wheel hub that also read “Keith Hillier.” He let me go and I was off to the start line. As we stood at there waiting for instruction, Kerry told me I looked good. Kerry specifically requested that I put that last line in the race report. I think she is trying to make sure her name is mentioned first. Maybe I should start over..... “Kerry, Adrienne, Rhonda and I did a little warm up prior to the race.” Anyway, I don’t actually remember having any pre race instructions. I guess my head was just full of Kerry compliments. The race began and attacks started early. I followed a couple, but nothing stuck. As a team we decided to stop covering them because it appeared they were not going anywhere. There was no reason to burn all of our matches. A group of about 8 women managed to get off the front for about 15 minutes. We decided that was enough and we needed to bring them back in. Kerry and Rhonda went straight to the front and drilled it until the group was caught. The race stayed together for a while and got a little boring. A metroment rider (Sabrina David) managed to pull away from the field about 25 miles from the finish. No one went after her and the race got a little slower. Rhonda was behind me talking about computraining or something with a fellow rider. I figured I might as well make an attack since everyone seemed a little too comfortable. I went off the front in an attempt to catch Sabrina. I got closer to her, the field got farther from me, and then I realized the wind was just too strong and I wasn’t willing to use up all my marbles this early in the game. I worked hard, but not too hard. As soon as the field caught me Adrienne took off! Not a single woman responded to her attack and she and Sabrina just disappeared into the distance. Keith had told me to get up front around mile 37 before a 5 mileish stretch of loose gravel. I did just that. I saw the miles trickle down and I figured Adrienne would dominate the gravel and take the win. I just had to sit in. As soon as the race hit the gravel, the race was on! I got right on Asa Sales wheel. I had raced with her quite a bit on the MTB and I knew she had skills. Two other women joined our little break (A masters Team One rider Lesley Jensen and an Audi rider Amanda Mattioli). I didn’t have to do any work because I had a teammate up the road. I just stayed strong and hammered through the gravel. As soon as we hit the climb Asa was gone and I could see Adrienne struggling up the road. My group of 3 managed to push right through the gravel up to Adrienne and Sabrina. The five of us made the final turn to the finish. Since I was well rested due to Adrienne being in the break, I was first across the line! It was great to hear all the people screaming “Yeah TIBCO!” Adrienne and Rhonda followed me in at 6th and 7th respectively and Kerry in 4th in the MW category! Kick @SS! We rode back to the cars to find that the Paskenta wedding reception was well underway. My stomach was hurting from all the gu and strenuous exercise. That’s the proper version to describe my pain anyway. Race Over.
Post Road Race
Kerry, Rhonda, Adrienne and I (notice I start with Kerry now) met up with Heather and headed back to Corning to check into our Holiday Inn Hotel. I was in charge of standing outside and watching over the cars and bikes (ok we only care about the bikes). I thought my teammates were playing a mean trick on me and were showering and eating dinner while I waited. It turns out that an entire boys high school basketball team was checking in before us, so we waited around for about 45 minutes. We did indeed end up showering and ate at some hole in the wall place within walking distance. I ate soup, salad, pasta and bread, but that was not enough food to hold me through the night. I got up at 11pm and 3am to eat. I couldn’t sleep because I was so hungry. I blame it on Kerry because she told me she was making banana bread and didn’t. I had been looking forward to that! I have to give her a pass though because the night before she was dealing with bike frustrations. I myself was stalking my competitors on USA cycling while Keith got all of my bikes and gear ready for the stage races. Yes I am grateful for Keith and yes I was stalking you ladies. If you are not a USA cycling stalker you are not coming to the races prepared. I knew exactly who to watch on the climbs and in the dirt, and who potential GC contenders would be. No I am not going to give away names, you will have to be a weird crazy stalker yourself. There are always a few wildcards and new faces, but never the less I am usually dead on.
Downtown Chico Criterium
The morning of the crit the alarm went off at 5:00am for the 8:05am start time. We quickly packed up the cars and headed to the continental breakfast. I made sure to shove a little extra food in my lunch pale for later. We arrived to the crit to find that cars were being towed off the course. Apparently downtown Chico must be the happening party spot for the locals on a Saturday night because there were about 20 cars that were left overnight despite the large “Tow Away” signs and the bags over all the meters. We warmed up on our trainers and took numerous laps around the course while we waited. Start whistle was finally blown around 9:05am. We were off. Kerry made sure to get the first prime per coaches’ request. The race was getting faster as another prime was called. This time it was for a 5 second time bonus. These bonuses are huge and can make or break GC. The funny thing was that Kerry won a bottle of olive oil. I told her I would have rather had the 5 seconds. She was sure to let me know that at her next BBQ I would not be partaking in any of the olive oil bread dipping appetizers, but that I could have 5 seconds. I am not sure what I am going to do with 5 seconds at a BBQ. Maybe I could use those seconds to add to motion censored lights. It seams like every time I am using a public restroom the lights turn off on me. I am always left flailing my hands around in an attempt to make the lights come back on. Hmmm 5 seconds. That could help. O yes, back to the race. Lets see. There were actually quite a few primes called for a 30 min crit, which caused a lot of yo-yoing at the back. I made sure to stay up towards the front to stay out of it. I figured I would much rather be up front in the wind then in back on the yo-yo. Mid race my friend Erin Durkee attacked. No one followed her and she was able to take a time bonus and the win! I personally didn’t feel the need to chase her down in the crit. I had a good time cushion from the road race and was pretty confident in my upcoming time trial. I wish I had thought about my teammate Adrienne’s time though. It’s hard to keep track of your own stuff let alone the entire teams. Erin ended up edging Adrienne out of 3rd place GC by about 10 seconds. Never the less we are all very happy for each other. The funny thing about women’s racing is that there is so few of us you become friends with your competitors and end up training together over the week. I always look forward to seeing them at races. During race time we get competitive, but once its over we get lunch. I mustn’t forget about the field sprint after Erins solo win. It was actually my favorite part of the weekend. With 1 lap to go Rhonda hammered to the front with Kerry on her wheel. I was trying so hard to get up there, but my legs wouldn’t allow it. I realized Adrienne was behind me and just took a hard pull on the side. Kerry and Adrienne ended up taking the field sprint for each of their respective categories. It was such a beautiful sight to see! Amazing! I am still excited about it.
Time Trial
We had a few hours to spare after the crit with the first rider being sent off at 12:40pm. Typically the TT start order is alphabetized by last name, meaning I am always last. This time was no different as the order was decided based on road race results from the previous day, with first place going last..... me. I have become quite accustomed to being the last woman standing all alone with the officials for 30 seconds. Although this time the master women were started after the elite women, so I had some company, Kerry. She was actually trying to figure out how long she could TT before I passed her. I explained that I wouldn’t be passing her since she started after me. It took her a second, or two, but I think she finally got it. It was my turn to start and the official was calling my name, “JenniferMarie.” He asked what my friends call me as if “JenniferMarie” was far too long. I replied, “Jay-Z Blue.” He just looked at me with an awkward stare and said I was up. The other official asked if my bike positioning was ok as he held me for the start. I was actually a little sideways, but I went with it. The worst part, 20 seconds, 10 seconds, 5..4...3....2.....1 and I am out of the saddle trying to get my speed up before I tuck into my arrow position. I can see Sabrina up the road and the only thing on my mind is passing her. I continue the TT as if I am riding for my life. I don’t actually remember much of it until the last mile or so when I could see the finish line. I instantly picked up the intensity and hammered as hard as I could. My breaths were so loud and my face showed all of my bodies agony. This was the 3rd race in two days and it was just me and my bike left all alone to make a final statement. I did it. I finished at 23:56 which was good enough for 1st place by about 50 seconds. I was left gasping for air after. I actually felt like crying for some reason. It’s a little sick actually that I enjoy being put through that punishment. I met up with Adrienne and Rhonda as soon as I caught my breath. We waited for Kerry and her little red arrow shoe covers to cross the line. When she did we headed back to the car a couple of miles away, packed up and headed back to the crit course in downtown chico where results were to be posted.
The Wait for Results
We settled in some Downtown Chico grass with a Beach Hut Deli Sandwhich and chips as we watched Heather in the W1/2 race and waited patiently for results. Heather was absolutely amazing as she covered every attack and got in a break that unfortunately didn’t stick. Women were getting picked off the back and she just stayed in there strong and finished with the pack. It made me realize that I have a LOT of work to do. I am actually going to practice this weekend at Towncenter criterium in ElDorado Hills. I am going to have Heather show me how it’s done. My teammates tell me that my crit skills are getting “better.” I think that’s just a nicer way of saying I am not great. Kerry is actually pretty honest. She told me I turn like a bus! Haha The sad thing is that she is not exaggerating and the correlation is quite funny. We waited around until 4pm when the results were finally posted. There were some protests to be made and the results were not actually made official. We went ahead and left before the podium presentations. We had a long drive home and it didn’t appear that results or podiums would be within the hour. We had finished racing around 1:15pm, so we were ready to go.
The Draft and the High-Five
I am getting a little exhausted of typing now and Keith needs to use the laptop for Sea Otter, so I need to finish this up. I would wait for him to return, but he tells me that posting a race report after Wednesday is unacceptable. We do have a desktop, but I don’t remember all the passwords. Anyway, Kerry decided to lead us home. The plan was to stop at a gas station first. The problem was that Kerry’s GPS had another plan. We ended up pulling over in the middle of nowhere. I explained that I was on E and that my gaslight had been on for miles. She fumbled around with both her GPS and i-phone trying to figure out where we were. I pulled mine out which gave us completely different directions then her two devices. Frustrated, Kerry askes which of the three ways we should attempt to get home. We ended up choosing one that we thought would lead us to a gas station. I was drafting Kerry (in a car yes) in an attempt to break the wind and save gas. To make a long story short a lone ranger (CHP officer) pulled up behind us and asked what we were doing. Kerry explained the situation as I leaned out the car window afraid to get out. The CHP officer simply explained that we were in the middle of nowhere and miles from a gas station. We planned on making a drive 12 miles north, the opposite way of home, to a gas station he told us about. Kerry gave him a high-five and we were on our way. We made it! I actually thought I had a 13 gallon gastank, but I got 14.2 gallons of gas. Who knows? Who cares? I did buy an ice cream sand which there though.
We ventured home and made it fine. That was a weekend I will never forget!
Thank You For Reading,
Jay-Z Blue
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