Herman Miller Classic: Grand Rapids, Michigan.

On Saturday July 28, 2012, Jade Wilcoxson, Leah Kirchmann and I raced the Herman MIller Classic Crtierium in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  After the expected slew of attacks and counters, Jade broke away with two other riders.  

Jade was just barely outsprinted by the American national criterium champion, Cliff-Ryan, and still managed to stand atop the 2nd step of the podium.  Hoping to round out the top 4 or 5 but only behind the break, I made one final attack with 1 lap to go.  I got caught just after exiting the final corner heading into the start finish. 

Great team racing, and an excellent first race for Leah who is back from her collarbone breaking crash at Nature Valley in MN.

Following our race, we watched the pro men race for their national crit champion title.  Optum ruled the race especially at the end where they took control with more than 5 laps to go.  The leadout train they gave Ken Hanson was perfect, and Ken delivered the goods, taking the national title.  I cheered so hard at the finish line that I had to sit down, very, very fast because I thought I was going to pass out. 

Way to go OPTUM!

Racing in Bend, OR at Cascade Cycling Classic

Day two, stage 1 leader's podium with Jade Wilcoxson, Kristen Armstrong, and me, Lex Albrecht

I am in Bend, Oregon at the Cascade Cycling Classic.  It is a six day stage race, including a prologue, three road stages, a criterium and an individual time trial.

I have one day left to race.  Things are looking good.  At the moment we have all of the leader's jerseys except one: the yellow one.  The yellow one is for the overeall leader.  And we want it.  My teammate Carmen Small is 4 seconds away from Alison Powers, the racer who is in the lead.  We want that yellow for OPTUM. 

I'll keep it short and sweet.  Jade Wilcoxson has the green sprinter's jersey (Carmen is the only one that this jersey could be transfered to in tomorrow's race, it stays in the team regardless), I have the polka-dot climber's jersey (that one is secured), and I have the white best young rider (under 26 years old) jersey by almost 4 minutes.

Here is a great report on yesterday's race from Cyclingnews.com : http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/cascade-cycling-classic-2012/stage-3/results



The rest of the details...(and they are good!) are yet to come, I have to rest up for tomorrow.  We have a yellow jersey to battle for.  YEAH OPTUM.

Stage Two Time Trial at the Exergy Tour

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies takes exceptional care of us riders.  So much so that they even brought 2 extra staff members on board for the Exergy Tour.  This race is kind of a big deal, check out Jade Wilcoxson's blog post on the Exergy Tour (www.jadewilcoxson.com) for a description of WHY.  The extra help meant that the oodles of clothes I changed in and out of during yesterday's rainy road stage were clean for today's...rainy time trial (TTs for short).

The 16.7km (10.3mi) TT started in Kuna, ID.  I slathered Chamois Butt'r brand Embrocation all over my legs again, and even on the glutes.  I saw one girl's bike practically slip out from under her as she bolted down the start ramp.  I decided to keep it cool and not risk bashing myself up on the slick pavement.  Anyone who noticed my orange and black Champion System's speedsuit on Tour Tracker might have mistaken the turns in and out of the start and finish of my race, for a Monday afternoon coffee-shop-ride. I kept it all together though.

TTs aren't necessarily my specialty but I felt fast with my areodynamic set up.  Thanks HED wheels, and thanks Dino (from HED) for the virtual bike fit, and TT tips. 

Rachel (our DS) brought us all a hot spiced chocolate concoction after the race.  What a treat.  Especially for a team of soaked-to-the-bone cyclists. I told you we're super well taken care of, didn't I. 

My pistons are massaged, my spirits are high, but I'm a little tired.  No coffee in the afternoon...so I'm already looking forward to tomorrow.  The Queen Stage!

Never mind, I'm going to go scout out some decaf.

Results: Amber Neben, Evelyn Stevens and Clara Hughes made up today's podium

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!