Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Upcoming Events: Fall Flash

Photo by Brian Joder.
As many of you know, I work registration at a bunch of races put on by Bicycling Events. Prairie City was an absolute blast. People had fun, raced bikes, and had even more fun. Something similar to Prairie City is Fall Flash, a four-week series that we put on for some more dirty fun.

Fall Flash is as grass roots as it gets. It's going to be simple; you come, race your bikes, have fun, and go home. There are no awards. It's just racing for fun at the Prairie City State Park. You don't get another chance to ride this OVH park on your mountain bike unless you race with us.

Photo by Brian Joder.
The coolest thing about the race this year? We've added a new class, "First Time Racer." I know a lot of people shy away from racing due to faster guys passing them really, really (holy crap really) fast. We've all been there... I was there earlier this year and ended up winning my category in the spring series! This class will have a chance to race one lap around the course with the juniors. Even better, we're offering mentors during the race, so you can ask questions, improve your skills, and realize that you really want to keep racing mountain bikes. We want new racers to come out, have fun, and conquer some fears, whether big or small, and we're there to help you have the time of your life on your bike. Bikes are fun... Racing them is freakin' awesome! First time racers will be allowed to race in this category for all four races. We want you to have fun, gain experience, and become comfortable in a race. Yes, you will be racing against juniors, and yes, this means that a junior may beat you. That's okay... kids on striders kick my butt all of the time! It's about having fun on bikes!


Our race categories. Click to enlarge. 
Registration is now open. On the left are the classes that we are offering. Like I said, it's a smaller, "grass roots" type of race. Low key, to have fun, etc. Prices are $25 for the first race and $20 for the rest for adults, and $25 for the first race and $10 for the rest for juniors. Just as with the Prairie City Spring Series, we don't require a USA Cycling race license.

Races are on August 22 and 29, and September 5 and 12 (all Wednesdays). The Juniors/First Time Racers wave (1 lap) goes off at 5:45pm. Other waves go off at 6pm. Beginners do 2 laps, Sport 3 laps, and Experts 4 laps. As far as miles, it depends on the course each week.

There are more events to come, so keep tuned! If you're a Twitter person, follow our account @TimedRaces to get updates on when registration opens for some of our other events, such as the Sacramento Cyclocross Series and Folsom Rodeo Cross. More to come soon, so stay tuned!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Menlo Park Grand Prix

I wasn't originally going to do this race, but Asa bribed me into it so she could have some help in the crit. It didn't really take much. Before I knew it, I was out at the Menlo Park Grand Prix, checking out a bunch of lovely beautiful legs awesome bike racing and enjoying the day.

I'm too young to race any of the championship classes. Ten years too young. Sucks being a puppy, but hey, my parents had not met (and lived in different countries) nor were old enough to even think about having a child.

Asa raced the championship class at 1pm, which was cool to watch. It was an all-category race, so Asa was racing against some tough women, including the freakin' awesome Mary Maroon (have I mentioned she's pretty much my freakin' hero?), who won the race... and then won the P/1/2!

Photo taken by Team Mom, Cab!
After Asa's first race, we hung out for a while. Someone was driving by us and said hi (or probably some dirty comment), so we look up, and it was Cab and Tamara! Awesome surprise! Asa, Tamara, and I warmed up and Cab played team mom and helped us out a bunch. Thanks for being team mom, Cab!

The race was a W4 and a W4 35+ combined crit but we were picked separately. We lined up, had some chit chat (basically looked like a bunch of parakeets at the start line because, as women, we don't stop talking), and we went off.

It was a good race. The course is long for a crit (1.2 miles) and the backside was really windy. There was only one sort of technical chicane, which really wasn't that bad. Two long straightaways, long sprint at the end. We had a few hot laps with primes, which I got two (wine and a certificate to a cyclocross clinic). I'm a prime ho.

A Pacific Crush girl did an attack, to which I reacted to, when on my right I hear Breana Hill from UC Davis (whom I know through collegiate racing) say, "C'mon Kasea. I owe you one anyway" (story: I was gassed out at Conference in Reno so I gave her a leadout). I followed her, we caught Pacific Crush, I looked back and told Breana, "Shit go go go! We have a gap!!!" And we booked it. 3 laps to go, we had a gap. 2 laps to go. Gap. Holy shit, maybe we can pull it off, but Breana was gassed and I couldn't pull it off on my own, especially with how windy the back side was. We got caught at about 3/4 of a lap to go. Damn.

It was a risky move. I knew that if the move was to fail, we'd be gassed at the end and we wouldn't have the sprint. We surprised the field, that's for sure, but in the end we got caught, we took the risk of not having enough legs for the sprint. I rolled through the finish line in 7th place.

I can't say I'm super happy, but hey, this is only the second time I tried a ballsy move like this and the longest I've ever been able to stay on a breakaway. We were close to it, Breana and I have worked together in collegiate races before and we were able to organize ourselves enough to pull such a risky move. I'm actually really happy we were able to do that. You don't see many of those moves in the W4s.

After the race, there was a mixup. Asa got put in the wrong category; instead of being put in the 35+ W4s (which she would have won), she got put in the open W4s (in which she got third). She protested because it was a registration error, but the USAC officials decided to keep results as they were originally placed.



We'll see what the future brings. I'm not sure if being able to pull off moves like these are good or not. My next race is either Fast and Furious or Dunnigan Hills. We'll see what the results are in those.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Lodi Cyclefest

This race came and went. I told my coach that I needed redemption on this course since I got lapped last year. I didn't like that; getting lapped is a really shitty feeling. When I first started with my coach, this race was months away, then I saw the schedule and went, "Holy shit! Crap! No wait... it can't be July yet. Crap it is!"

Warm up time! Photo by Jeff Namba
Lodi is a W 3/4 race, so we know it's going to be faster than usual with a few more games in the field. Women love tactics. It's also a technical course. It's a figure eight with narrow turns and some cobbles. Basically, it's a freakin' fun race if you know what you're doing.

As I saw who was in the race, I knew we were in for a fun, fast, and hard race. These women are tough. The more the day went on, the more nervous I got. This was my "A" race, I got lapped last year, I knew exactly what was going to go on in the race. Was I ready? At that point, I either was or wasn't.

I taped up my achilles and my knee for this race. We got to the race around 1pm and got our numbers, ate lunch, watched some racing, chatted, and then warmed up. Frank helped Asa and me get our bikes and pit wheels ready, helped us out with anything we needed, and so on. It helped calm the nerves because apparently this is srs bsnz and I was nervous. Okay there, Kay. Way to go on that one, buddy.

Photo by Tim Westmore.
I started the race pretty mellow, but I started to get anxious. I'm the type of rider who needs to attack otherwise I can't get into the race. So I did just what I needed to do for the first 15 minutes of a 40 minute race. I got a prime and nearly got into a breakaway with a Rio Strada girl, but it didn't stick. Damn. I did as many attacks as I needed to do to get into my zone and then chilled for the rest of the race.

The race went well. Some shady cornering from some girls. I actually told one to watch where she was going because the girl couldn't hold a line if her life depended on it. Herp sorry, don't really wanna crash. I hear it hurts like a mofo.

Photo by Tim Westmore.
As we raced, the usual happened. People attacked, counter-attacked, played games, more attacks, more primes (which I didn't go for), etc. Asa and I then started to organize ourselves. As we saw two laps to go, everyone started to organize even more (you see this a lot more with a CAT 3/4 race).

The last sprint came. I was in a good spot and felt good. The problem is that I froze, just as I always do in the final sprint. Ever since my injury, I've been afraid to go all out in a sprint because I'm scared that I'm going to pop my achilles. The biggest issue is that I know I can out-sprint those girls; I've done it before, I can do it again, but I froze. I rolled passed the finish line in 5th place.

Photo by Jeff Namba
I won't lie, I was extremely disappointed. I felt as if I just couldn't do it, as if I had failed for some reason. Then I realized that last year, I got lapped and I've been hurt for over a year and a half. It wasn't a win and it wasn't amazing, but it was definitely an improvement. My coach has gotten me from being one of the weaker, lapped riders to being on the podium. Am I still disappointed? Yes, but I have to realize that there was a lot of good in this race. I'll ask my coach what I need to do to get out of my mental block in the final sprint and I'll go for the win next year. This is my favorite race... I want to be on the top barrel, and I think I can do it.

Asa and I went to get our prize money, I got my prime, and we both got podium wine. It wasn't a bad result. Seriously! I went from being a lapped rider to getting both a prime and on the podium. I went from being one of the weaker riders to being in the spot light quite a bit this year. There were many successes, but I have to improve, I'll get out of that rut, and I'll be on that top barrel.

Photo by Jeff Namba
Since I got a $10 gift card for the brewery in Lodi, Asa, Frank, Frank's kids, and I went to spend it. Asa and I got our post-race beers and we had some good times just hanging out. We parked our bikes in the front and everyone loved them, especially since both had podium wine in the bottle cages. After some good post-race hydration, we went back home. I went to feed some horses and then hung out with two friends, ate Chinese food, watched movies, and became one with the couch. I pretty much zonked out.

I had a blast this year. I'm a lot stronger. I'm looking forward to next year, to being stronger, and to getting on that top barrel. It's going to happen! I gotta say, you know you're having a good season when 5th is disappointing.

Next up, Menlo Park on Sunday. Wish us luck!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Davis Fourth of July Criterium

As you can tell, there's no report for Leesville Gap. Why? I didn't do it (nice, Sherlock), and it's a good thing I didn't. My achilles and right knee were in so much pain that day that the roads would have probably killed (not really) me. Anyway, my teammate and sister from another mister, Asa, got third, which is awesome. I just keep telling myself that my excuses were legit. Don't judge me.

The Davis Fourth of July crit is known for being a bloodfest. The course is technical and fast, and sometimes, technical and fast don't go well together. My goal for the race was to pretty much attack, counter attack, and lead Asa out on the final sprint. This year, the field was a W4 only. Nice.

Photo by Alex Chiu
There were surprisingly not many crashes in the race before us (E5s). One guy ate it on the last turn, but that was all I saw. Another guy bent his front wheel before the race started. Yeah, Asa and I did a "wtf?" A huge change from last year, though, where pretty much every lap has someone hitting their face on the asphalt and every other lap had a broken bike (or rider). Okay, I can dig this, but Davis didn't keep it reputation of being a blood bath. Not a bad thing, mind you, but y'know, we all love bloody sports or something (yeah, I kind of miss hockey).

After Asa and I picked up our numbers, we went back to the truck and Asa started to warm up. What was my warm up? I rode to the porta potties because I had to pee. Yeah, that was it. We got there later than we planned and by the time I changed my trainer wheel, then changed back to the tubular, then do all my number stuff, blah blah blah. Not worth it. My job that day was to haul Asa around, not win. So, I said, "I'll warm up on the first few laps." Spoken like a true crit slut.

Photo by Alex Chiu.
The plan was working. The field was pretty strung out for most of the race, and I was never in the back of the field. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I was fifth wheel or higher for the whole race. I attacked a few times, didn't get the first prime because, hurr, I didn't warm up at all. I got two other primes though, because I apparently warmed up enough during the race. This was my race to play, and I did just that. More attacks, more counter attacks, fast turns, got to pick my lines. One girl got into a solo break, I couldn't get her so I told the rest of the field, "Uh, someone help me catch her." I saw her go, go, go, then she gave up after she crossed the start/finish line so I knew we were safe. At that point, I realized that I was going to have to counter attack sooner. The good thing is that one of the sprinters kept calling out all of the attacks that were going to happen. Oh really? Don't mind if I do!

Photo by Alex Chiu.
The race was pretty safe. It wasn't slow, but, for the most part, it was kept safe. Midway through the race on turn one, the girl leading the lap over-corrected her turn and nearly took out my front wheel. If it weren't for mountain biking, I wouldn't have dodged that wheel so well, without over-correcting. Asa saw that and gave me kudos after the race. Amazingly enough, that kind of move doesn't scare me anymore. I've been getting more and more confident with my riding, cornering, and corrections. I'll admit that mountain biking has a lot to do with it. So, after that correction, I just did a little "oh shit" and moved on with the race. Good times. Saved myself from eating asphalt.

Photo by Alex Chiu.
More attacks and more counterattacks. On the second to last lap, the front end of my bike felt like it was washing out. Weird, I don't usually corner so poorly that I feel like my front end is going out. Whatever. On the last lap, I heard the bell and booked it to the front. The whole lap I just drilled it. I still felt as if my front end was washing out. Whatever. One more lap. One more lap. It hurt, and I was deep in the pain cave (so deep, I'm surprised I came out straight. It was tastefully decorated, by the way). The only two things that helped me finish that lap were 1) I'm here to support Asa and 2) I don't have to sprint at the end, she does; I'm off the hook!

Last turn, I drill it a little more and then I see Asa and another girl attack. As soon as I saw those two go, I yelled, "GO ASA! GO!!!" I then thought that I could maybe stand up and get a decent placing, but when I tried, my legs said, "Hahaha nope!" So I sat up. No more legs for me. I ended up 12th out of 21 or so girls. Asa? second!
You can see me smiling in the background!
So, people ask, why didn't Asa get first? My first reaction is to say, "Bitch, you try to do what I did," but I stop myself and tell them my hypotheses. Let's see, the girl who got first had about 5 or so teammates helping her out. Asa had one (yours truly). First place is a pure sprinter (I know because I sprinted against her at Cyclebration). If I would have been able to give Asa 100 more feet on the lead out, she would have won.

The main reason? Remember how I was complaining about my front end washing out? Turns out that I had a front flat. Yup. I rode a tubular wheel with a flat for two fast laps. How I didn't crash how I still have teeth, I don't know. I'll just thank the Powers that Be and leave it at that. No questions asked. I'm freaking lucky. Would I have been able to go faster and help Asa get first? Maybe. It's all "What ifs" now. Some folks ask me why I'm so happy and proud if I finished mid-pack. Uh, because I helped my team get on the podium! I'm freaking proud that I was able to help do that! Team work, guys. You can't do anything out in a field like that (there were a lot of very strong women in this race) without a team. 

Photo by Tony Troy.
 We hung around for pretty much the entire day, watching some kick-ass racing and taking pictures of Asa on the podium. Hung out with good friends, saw Chuck Hutcheson win the P/1/2 (freakin' awesome race!), saw Bubba race the Masters race (dude's an animal!), cheered Mary Maroon on in her race (she's pretty much my hero), and drank beer. Yup, I had two beers after my race and was pretty much plastered. The good thing is that my legs didn't hurt for about an hour after I drank those beers. Score. 

I usually do an easy spin after a crit, but I dug so deep that I couldn't. My legs were shaking and I was exhausted. I knew I did my job... with a flat (I can't get over that!). Asa and I talked to our coach, who looked very happy with our performance. Yay! I surprised myself at what I was able to do in this race. I didn't know I could dig so deep into the pain cave. I didn't know I could lead an entire lap for my teammate, do so many attacks, win two primes, and counter attack pretty much every move the girls made. And it's all thanks to my coach. If it weren't for him, I couldn't have been able to do that. He does all of the hard work, I just follow his program. I know I made the right choice for a coach when I see how good my results have gotten this year, and you know, he's just an awesome person all around. I'm lucky to have such an awesome coach. It's all you, Coach! 

"Go pink or go home."
The rest of the day was fun. Throughout the whole day, people kept coming up to me (people I didn't even know) and told me that we did a fantastic job and that our race was fun to watch. That was so cool to hear! Girls from the race came up to me and told me how strong I was. Stoked! Seriously. I'm so, so stoked to hear that. I feel stronger, so hopefully it only gets better. Again, all thanks to my coach!

I'll leave you with this ridiculous picture of my friend, Derrick, with my bike. Look at how sick that wheel looks. Too bad the front one flatted, because that was an awesome combo.
Next up is Lodi Cyclefest. My "A" race. Eek!