24-25 May 2014 Quad Cities Weekend

Snake Alley – Burlington IA

Oh, Snake Alley. I have unfinished business with you. For those reading about ‘The Snake’ for the first time, Snake Alley, dubbed the crookedest street in the world, is a pretty famous street. Read more about it here in blog about my first experience with the Snake in 2011. My best performance on Snake Alley came in 2012, coming 3 months after being hit by a car and still healing from a badly injured hip. I placed second in a close sprint. I’m still hunting for the win. This year, that win was definitely NOT in the cards. This year I lined up with Vanderkitten teammate Korina Huizar, who made the trip out from NorCal. I was able to get a good start off the line to enter the Snake second wheel. My legs felt great.

Entering the Snake in good position. Photo by SPBRC Women's Racing

Next time up, I attacked the climb. Third time around, I hit the front and pushed the pace again. Forth lap Korina attacked through the start finish and entered the Snake first, me on her wheel. Ever so gradually I slowed my speed, giving Korina a good gap by the top of the climb. The lead bunch was now down to about 6, and chasing furiously. I sat in, ready to attack when Korina was caught – but then the next time up the hill, my body just shut down, legs barely about to turn the pedals over. As a clear sign my lungs are still healing, my oxygen supply apparently ran out. My lungs began to burn. Straining for each breath, my neck muscles tensed and I felt my throat begin to close up. Initially I thought, ‘I just need to recover. Keep going.’

View from the top of the Snake.

Each lap I slipped further backwards, riders passing me as if I were standing still, my breathing becoming more and more difficult. Clearly recovery was not happening. My race was done. Meanwhile, Korina was hammering it! The front group was down to four. Unfortunately, at some point entering the Snake another rider rode into her wheel. No one went down, but the action pinched Korina’s tire against the sharp bricks. Slowly over the next lap, air escaped from her tire and, with 4 laps remaining, her race was done as well.

Korina powering away on the Snake. Photo by Katie Isermann

Melon City Criterium – Muscatine IA

Disappointed in our outcome on the Snake, we approached Sunday with renewed vigor, hungry for a win. Twenty times up the low-gradient climb of Weed Park in Muscatine IA was challenging after tackling the snake the previous day. Quality riders made the race active and exciting.

Quality field at Melon City. Photo by SPBRC Women's Racing

I felt much better, the shallower gradient taking less toll on my lungs than the steepness of the Snake. I concentrated on keeping good position and conserving energy on the climb. About half-way through the race, I tested my legs to grab a prime. The effort caused small gaps to form, and Korina used the opportunity to launch an attack that saw her off the front for several laps.

Korina attacking up the climb. Photo by SPBRC Women's racing

Being the speedy sprinter that she is, she eventually decided that off the front solo was not her favourite place to be and backed off the pace to fall back into the fold, but not before initiating some panicked chase efforts. An onslaught of attacks followed as the race neared its conclusion. One lap to go and I dropped back to look for Korina in the bunch. Shuffling in the pack in a messy chase had left her out of position and towards the back of the pack. Teamwork paid off. I put all my effort into leading her through the bunch, reaching the front for the start of the climb. Back in decent position, she dug deep and stormed up the climb, carrying speed over the crest to power over line for the win! Me - I took a bit of time to get up the hill that last time…

Korina with cute podium boy on the top step at Melon City. Photo by Erika Fulk

Quad Cities Criterium – Davenport IA

We headed into Monday with winning vibes. In the past I’ve enjoyed good success on the Quad Cities course, supporting teammates to the win in 2011 and 2012, and then, racing without teammates, finishing second last year. A change of venue this year meant a different course, a bit disappointing since I loved the old course, but also exciting to tackle something new. With storms approaching, we got in one lap of racing before officials neutralized the race and told us to seek shelter.

Ominous skies loom over the Quad Cities start line. Photo by Katie Isermann

Sixty minutes and an impressive thunderstorm later, we were back on course ready to race. The course presented two tricky sections, corners 3 and 4: fast, downhill corners with multiple brick sections. No doubt tricky in the wet. My impulse was to drive the pace the first lap to string things out, making the race safer. The plan backfired when I went down on corner 3. Fortunately I slid out into the curb, out of the way of the other riders. OK, maybe I was a little too confident there. I popped back up immediately, and, with no free laps, remounted quickly, still in the field. Spinning furiously with no resistance, I promptly dismounted, re-engaged my chain, hopped back on, and headed off again, this time off the back in hot pursuit. I sprinted furiously up the hill in an effort to regain the bunch. I scrubbed off speed, wary of corner 3, only to go down again in corner 4. Despite approaching at reduced speed, my wheels went out from beneath me as on ice. This time, I went down hard, sliding clear across the road. While I sorted myself out, the bunch came around for third time. A third crash, this time taking down multiple riders, brought the race to a halt. Rider Maddi Pape, last year’s Quad Cities winner, went down hard and required medical attention. I had time to regroup, bandage up my wounds, and change wheels – I was riding borrowed wheels and no longer had confidence in the tires. Korina was using my race wheels with Clement tires, which perform well in all conditions. I swapped to my training wheels, with grippy Clements, and headed to the start line – bandaged and bleeding – with huge cheers of support from the crowd to join the other riders still waiting for the restart. The second delay spanned 25 min. The dangerous conditions required caution and race officials gave us 4 neutral laps to assess the safety of the corners followed by 6 laps of racing. Confusion on the first lap of racing about a QOM at the top of the hill (worth $350) saw me put an huge effort into the climb only to find the QOM called on the next lap. I put in another dig but by this time I had nothing left and fell further and further back each lap as my lungs decided to take another nap. Korina rode fiercely to take fourth in a dramatic sprint finish. Kudos to Gwen Inglis (Groove) showing excellent form—and grit—to take the win. And also Chicago rider Daphne Karagianis (Chicago Cutting Crew), impressing once again with 5^th.

On the front at Quad Cities. Photo by SPBRC Women's Racing

Thank you to Leah Sanda for organizing awesome accommodation and to Molly Shough’s parents Cathy and Ray for generously opening their beautiful house to host us, and awesome support from Rob Curtis and the PSIMET team!