Joe Martin is Finished, We're Rocking Gila

The Joe Martin Stage Race finished with Alison Powers from NOW and Novartis for MS 2nd place overall, just behind Claudia Haussler of Tibco.  Tibco raced an excellent race... we still wanted that win though.

Alison Powers 2nd and Lex Albrecht 5th overall in the Joe Martin Stage Race (Claudia Haussler from Tibco won)

Right after the conclusion of the final stage, we jumped in the Ford van and C-Max hatchback and started the long drive to Silver City New Mexico for the 5 stage Tour of the Gila.  A tough race at altitude.

We're in the middle of the race, but this morning is an extra special day.  It's my teammate's birthday.  Happy Birthday Olivia Dillon!  We went out for a fun coffeeshop ride this morning before our afternoon criterium.

Coffeeshop ride to flush out the pistons before the stage 4 afternoon criterium.  NOW and Novartis for MS enjoying  downtown Silver City New Mexico.

Two Stages left to go.  Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) is sitting in 2nd overall behind Mara Abbott of Exergy 2016.  Katie Donovan and I (NOW and Novartis for MS) are rounding out the top 10, but our whole team has our work cut out for us to get Alison to the top step.

Joe Martin Stage Race 2013. Stage 3

It was another rainy day at the Joe Martin Stage Race (stage 3).  I used the same formula as yesterday to keep warm in the rain.  The only bad part was that after almost 3 hours of riding in the wet weather I was ready for a hot shower.  But because of the embrocation burning on different parts of me...I could only handle lukewarm. 

It was a 68 mile day with a decent amount of attacking, with several small breaks going up the road.  My teammate Katie Donovan initiated one that stayed out for 20 miles.  At the end of the day the sprint didn't play out for us and race leader Claudia Haussler (Team Tibco) scored a few more seconds over NOW and Novartis for MS's Alison Powers who is in 2nd place.  We didn't want Claudia to gain any more time on her... Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Powers finished just off of the podium in 4th.  After moving back up after an attack just before the end of the race, I rolled across in 6th, followed by Alexis Ryan who had been working to lead Powers out.

There is one more stage left: a 50 minute criterium in downtown Fayetteville and a lot can still happen.

This is the top part of the GC going into the final stage:

1	Claudia Haeusler (Team Tibco)	5:46:58
2	Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS)	0:00:16
3	Lauren Stephens (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)	0:00:30
4	Joelle Numainville (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:00:32
5	Lex Albrecht (NOW and Novartis for MS)	0:00:42
6	Lorena Vargas (ISCorp p/b Intelligentsia Coffee)	0:00:51
7	Brianna Walle (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies)	0:00:54
8	Anna Sanders (FCS|Zngine p/b Mr. Restore)	0:01:01
9	Maura Kinsella (NOW and Novartis for MS)	same
10	Shelley Olds (Team Tibco)	0:01:02
11	Robin Farina (NOW and Novartis for MS)	same

Joe Martin Stage Race : Stage 2

Some of my teammates went for a spin to get coffee this morning.  I stayed back.  Moments after they left, I heard, and felt thunder reverberating through my hotel room.  Then it started to pour outside.  Good choice to stay back.  Lucky choice.

The beginning of the race was going to be wet and chilly.  This is how I got prepared:

1. a) Embrocation on: 

      my arms

     my legs

     my feet

     my chest

     my, ahem, glutes

     and a little behind my ears.

1. b) I slathered a thick layer of petrolium jelly over my legs to make sure the embro would stay on through the rain, and to create an extra barrier against the cold.

2. I wore latex gloves underneath my long-fingered gloves
3. I taped the holes in the bottom of my Specialized S-Works shoes with electrical tape

Good news. The whole scheme worked.  I was comfortable the whole race.

None of the day's attacks stayed away.  But my teammate Lauren Romanski stayed away SOLO the last few miles, and it was cool to see her gain over 20s.  The field caught her just before the end of the race.  Our finish wasn't very spectacular...we didn't manage to get on the podium or score any bonus seconds.

There are 2 days left though.  We've got some work to do, and we're looking forward to it.

Joe Martin Stage Race: Stage 1

Stage 1 at the Joe Martin Stage Race presented by Nature Valley is a 4km uphill time trial.  The course reminds me of my favorite place in the world to ride: The Parc National de la Mauricie just north of Shawinigan, Québec in Canada.

I was the third rider off today. Our team director Kurt Stockton said I was sitting in the HOTSEAT (first place) for quite a while. I had no clue though, I was busy racing.  Plus by the end, I was oblivious to almost everything but the feeling in my legs anyway (which was "BURN").  I was juicing out every last ounce of effort that I had left in me.  Heck, I was going so hard that my field of vision was reduced to probably something around 5 degrees. 

I just read a motorcycle driving manual a couple of days ago that stated: for every 15km/h faster you go, your field of vision is reduced by 20%.  I won't do the calculation here but I don't think this rule applied to me today... the PAIN factor overrode it.

I was one of the 5 riders to finish in under 10 minutes. (Finishing in 5th, just like I did in 2011!). My teammate Alison Powers just barely missed the victory but had an EXCELLENT ride and finished in 2nd.  NOW and Novartis for MS is now in the first place for the team classification.

But there are three stages to go, and we want that leader's jersey...

At Least They Were Homemade

I flew in to Tulsa, Oklahoma this afternoon.  Team mechanic Erik, picked us up in the Ford van and drove us to Fayetteville Arkansas, where NOW and Novartis for MS will be racing this week at the Joe Martin Stage Race.

At the Tulsa airport I saw something that impressed me.  It was a vending machine that sold fresh flowers.  The bouquets on the upper row were $20 and $10 was the price of the ones below.  What a wise thing to have in an airport.

So that impressed me, but a few hours later I spotted something that (almost) astounded me.  Before arriving at our hotel, look at what I saw being advertised on the side of the road:

Fried pies!?  Are you kidding me?!  I've never heard of such a thing.  Did I try one? ABSOLUTELY NOT!  (Erik did though.)  I see some pretty interesting things on these bike racing adventures I have...

That was the extent of my sightseeing though.  The Joe Martin Stage race starts tomorrow.  Time to get down to business.

Joe Martin Stage Race 2012 Wrap-Up: PINK, GREEN, WHITE, and perhaps best of all, ORANGE.

The fourth and final stage of the Joe Martin Stage Race is a criterium on a course that I love: a few downhill sections and a great kicker and some tight, but not too tight, corners.

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefits Strategies successfully defended all 3 leader’s jerseys.  The jerseys switched hands a few times amongst our riders during the Joe Martin Stage Race

·          The pink leader’s jersey (or winner’s jersey, in other words) was passed from Carmen’s shoulders on to Jade Wilcoxson in the 4^th and final stage.  Carmen had also started out with the green points jersey, but the way our strategy played out, Jade also ended up in green at the end of the stage race.

·          Emma Grant began the stage race with the white jersey (for the best rider under 23 years of age) which was passed on to our teammate Courteney Lowe on day 2.  After riding up in the break for the 4^th and final stage, the jersey was passed back to Emma. 

·          We rode aggressive, sometimes we rode defensively (I can admit that I find that part significantly less fun then when we get to launch attacks like a wild storm of bombshells, but it’s part of the game).  Some of us went up the road and some of us stayed back to make sure the right people were chasing. 

I’m happy with the way the race turned out.  We all rode hard, we all rode strong, and we all did our jobs.  Our team director, Rachel Heal cooked up some excellent plans of attack, our mechanic Adrian Hedderman maintained our bikes in perfect condition and spruced up the leader’s bikes with matching bartape and barhoods, and our soigneur Jeremy Fliss helped us recover with primo massages after every race, and his notoriously excellent sandwiches.

Good job team, we got the pink jersey, the green jersey, the white jersey, and we’re all proud to have OPTUM ORANGE on our backs!