Still a Girl, Under the Mess!

I spit all over my face, blow snot rockets meters away from my bike, get bad chafing when I'm really unlucky, and sometimes have a bit of blood on the wrong side of my skin.  Bike riding isn't gross, but it is no beauty contest. 

Return from a recent, long, bike ride where I got especially dirty!

Thanks to Velo Gioielli who has helped me keep up with my more feminine side though.  He's an artist who has created a few custom pieces that fit with my Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies kit. 

Check out these bracelets and earrings, made from chain parts, and spoke nipples!

Velo Gioielli has a shop on ETSY (http://www.etsy.com/shop/VeloGioielli) if you want to check out what he has in store.  It's a lot of fun to browse, and he's more than likely to have, or be able to whip up something that suits you to a T. 

I'll be wearing some of my jewelery from Velo Gioielli at the Air Force Classic Bicycle Race criteriums this weekend in Arlington, VA.  Is it enough to distract from the mess of mucus and sweat that I'll manage to make?  Come by, say hi, and have a look! 

THANKS for the jewelery, I love it!

Who Won The First WBR Raffle Prize?

Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies has teamed up with World Bicycle Relief (www.worldbicyclerelief.org) to raise money to send specially designed bicycles to developing countries overseas.  Check out one of WBR's videos, above.

On September 17, 2012 a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine Trainer will be drawn as a grand prize in a raffle to support WBR and Lex Albrecht's 2012 season.  Check out all of the details on this website, by clicking the ''WBR Raffle'' link in the bar across the top of the page.

Today, the first weekly bonus prize in the WBR Raffle has been drawn!

CONGRATLUATIONS TO SARA MOFFATT!  You have won this week's prize: AN OPTUM PRO CYCLING presented by KELLY BENEFIT STRATEGIES CYCLING CAP! 

Sara's ticket will go back into the final draw for the grand prize. 

Prizes are drawn weekly, so the earlier you get your tickets, the more chances you will have to win!  Thanks to everyone who has bought their tickets so far, and good luck in the upcoming draws!

How the 2012 Exergy Tour Ended

The final stage of the Exergy Tour in Boise, ID was only 75km long but the hills were relentless!  For the first time during the Tour, the sun was out full force, perfect for racing.  There were oodles of spectators all over the course.  I even spotted our new friend Grace Alexander, an up and coming cyclist who Optum rode with two days before the beginning of the Exergy Tour.  There were plenty of costumes too.  I was fortunate enough to get a picture with the scantily clad devil painted in red bodypaint at the end of the day.

veloimages (steephill.tv)

 A freak accident took out two of my teammates, Janel Holcomb and Courteney Lowe only 50m after the start line.  Exergy Team set a very high tempo from the start, and although the game plan wasn't necessarily to launch any, we had to work hard to cover attacks from the gun. 

Carmen Small ended up in fourth place for the day, just barely missing the podium.  Häusler from GreenEdge took the stage win, and Neben from Specialized-LuluLemon won the overall GC.

I was pooched after the race, and crashed down on my hotel bed, fully kitted up.  I even had my Mavic shoes and Lazer helmet on still.  My nap lasted at least 45 minutes. 

Exergy Tour put on a rodeo for all of the riders to celebrate the end of the tour.  Adrian lent me his rubber boots (I pretended they were cowgirl boots, and still wonder to this day if I fooled any of the real cowboys with them).  I rode a horse, a mechanical bull, ate the most tender steak of my life, and watched my first ever real-live-rodeo.  Exergy gave every rider a genuine cowgirl belt buckle.  Special edition.

Thank you Optum, thank you Optum staff, thank you Exergy, thank you to all of the sponsors that support myself, Optum, and women's cycling.  The Exergy Tour was awesome.

I'll Tell You How Stage 3 Went...

(Team Optum-KBS getting ready #EXGT: Team Optum-KBS getting ready #EXGT)

After some quality recovery with my Compex Sport Elite Machine (check out @Lex_albrecht on Twitter for pictures) following Stage 2, the pistons were feeling pretty good.  Stage 3 of the Exergy Tour started with 3 km neutral out of Crouch, ID, and then Optum put out a few attacks, and covered a few more.  It was going well.  

We entered into the feed-zone at an unusually early point in the race (only 38.3 km in).  Most riders didn't even bother taking a bottle.  I had plenty of Clif Shot drink mix left in my bottles and the 10+km climb was about to begin anyways.  Nobody wants to haul around extra weight uphill for the fun of it.

A break with Optum's Janel Holcomb got away on the climb.  The field split up as we ascended, and all of the Optum riders were in the front group (execpt Janel, who was off of the front).  As we crested the top of the climb, the pace kicked up and the 5 km descent before the second climb began. 

Today, I remembered my Mavic shoes, my Thule backpack, my Lazer helmet and frame-less Lazer Magneto sunglasses, but I left my balls at home.

I got dropped on the darn curvy wet roads, and just as I clawed back to the lead group, I got dropped again as we entered into the day's final descent.  Not cool.

What is cool though is that as the lead group neared the finish line, Jade Wilcoxson launched some strong attacks against the field, keeping the pace high and the pack organized.  Carmen Small and Janel gave Leah Kirchmann a sweet lead out, and Leah just barely missed the victory, which German national champion Ina Teutenburg took home instead.  2nd place podium for Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies.  Way to deliver the goods LEAH!  And Jade is back in the top-10!

Way to go girls!

If anybody saw where those balls are at, shout me a holler.  

(P.S.: BIG ups to Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, who WON THE GIRO D'ITALIA!)

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

Exergy Tour Stage 1

I woke up early to get a coffee and breakfast.  I had been looking forward to it all night.  It was raining outside.  I pretended it wasn't, which worked, until I actually had to venture out into it to get to the race.

I started the race with several layers on, including a rain jacket.  I had Shammy Butt'r Hot Embro, or hot warming balm in other words, on my feet.  For anybody who uses warming balm, you know that the ''hot'' stuff is SERIOUS business.  I used the mild version on my legs (even on the glutes, on Adrian's advice, he is our wise mechanic) and slathered a layer of oil on top before putting my Champion Systems leg warmers on.  It's not ''Euro'' to race with leg warmers apparently, but that doesn't change anything for me, I'm North American.  I didn't regret wearing them.

Several km after the start a huge crowd of school children cheered all of the riders on.  There were tons of fans on the hill of the main climb in today's stage.  Others were scattered throughout the course with their cowbells in hand.  We might not acknowledge them when we race by, but we hear the cheers, and we know they're there, and we LOVE the support.

Briefly, how it played out:
There were a few breaks in the race, and Optum was present in all of them.  Leah went in the first break, which stayed away from the main field for quite some time.  Then Jade, Carmen and Janel caught up to her group.  This was good for Optum.  Near the end of the race, with just over 10km to go, the main field was all back together in one pack.  Carmen, Jade and Janel worked the front for a bit.  There were several attacks that had to be covered, so I went with them, but none stayed away.  When there was a slight lull in the peloton's pace, I took a flyer, and was reeled back by Specialized-Lulu Lemon after a couple of kilometers, and Jade counter-attacked right away.  She too got brought back, and Carmen, Joëlle and Leah worked hard up at the front to make the sprint finish. 

There was a huge crash with under 1km to go.  No Optum Orange spilled on the road.  Good.  Thanks to some excellent teamwork, Leah still managed to get a 4th place finish.   Jade also scored enough points in the QOM sprints (Queen of the Mountain) to stand in second place for the competition.

Theresa Cliff-Ryan won the stage.

You can watch the Exergy Tour live, and check out all of the race stats on Tour Tracker here: http://exergytour.thetourtracker.com/

A screenshot of my flyer at the Exergy Tour on Tour Tracker, courtesy of Michael Foley

 
Unfortuantely in the crash, World Champion Georgia Bronzini went down.  We hope she is okay.  Especially after Kristen Armstrong who broke her collarbone yesterday at Exergy, and cycling superstar Marianne Vos breaking her shoulder in Europe as well.  Enough bad luck, it's got to be over now, right?  Right.

Exergy Prologue

 Foolproof.  No thinking, just pedaling.  With a clear schedule taped to the Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies team van, we didn't have to question our schedule, warm-up plan, or remember when our start times were for the Exergy Tour prologue.  I like that.

 The prologue was short, and our warm-up on the Kinetic Road Machine trainers was imperative.  As we pedaled, some fans stopped by to take pictures or get their rider cards autographed.  We had a selection out for them on the hood of the Acura TSX sportwagon.  

There was a plethora of fans out to cheer on the international group of racers as they raced around the 3.1km prologue course.  I'm a big fan of cheering, and I love it when the crowds come out for us.

To get a good placing in this event, top notch equipment is essential.  Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefits strategies rode Orbea time trial bikes and HED disc wheels, and either HED deep-dish front wheels or HED tri-spokes.  The other thing that was obligatory was taking risks on the tight turns.  One was a tight over-ninety -degrees turn out of a speedy little descent, and another was a 180 U-turn shortly after.  A couple of riders who were gutsy enough to take them at big speeds and short lines went down.  Everyone from Optum is alright. 

Unfortunately, the hometown star (Boise ID) and Olympic champion Kristen Armstrong crashed and broke her collarbone.  We're not on the same team, but it is never, ever cool when any rider goes down for any reason, and I wish her a full and speedy recovery. 

Optum has 4 riders in the top 20 (of a 100+ rider field) after the prologue. 

Stage one is a 123.5km road race that starts and finishes in Nampa ID.  Follow us live on Tour Tracker.