Quick overview of the past weekend for anyone interested…
Arrived in San Diego after around 14 hrs of driving(I’m slow in the car, what can I say?) and met my teammate Leah for the first time.
I was immediately struck by her funny personality and how down to earth and cool she seemed. Always a nice impression to have of someone you’ll be working so closely with.
The next morning came early, 5:30 AM wakeup call to race at 9. The race was in the middle of B.F.E. so we left a bit early to be sure not to get lost. When we arrived the first shock to the system was how cold it was. Bitter was more like it. Ugg!
Boulevard Road Race is a 104km race with 3,000ft of climbing every lap (3 laps total). We took off and my initial plan was to just sit in till the end as I wasn’t sure how my legs were going to feel after driving for so long. Of course, true to my style of racing, that’s not what happened. In the 2 years prior to this one that I’ve been racing I’ve never had a team and never been to keen to just sit in and follow wheels. Maybe my results would have looked a bit nicer on paper but I’m happier to try to do something instead of play it safe. Anyway, at the end of the first lap at the beginning of the climb I was first wheel and could hear quite a bit of heavy breathing behind me so I picked up my leg speed just a touch to see if anyone would react. Nothing. So being antsy to get a move going I attacked semi thinking someone would go with me and we could get in a break. Instead I found myself alone with a pretty substantial gap. The motorcycle official moved in behind me soon after which gave me a bit more confidence that I had gotten 30 seconds pretty quickly. The gap continued to grow for the next few miles till I was heading down the back side of the course and he told me at one point I had a minute and a half. I was feeling pretty strong, not great, but good enough to keep the move going. I approached the section of the course where it slowly becomes a false flat and was given word that I had a minute 25. Then he went back to the pack. Within two miles I could hear activity behind me and looked back a bit shocked to see a pack. I was unable to see who it was until the motorbike came up to me and told me that the men’s Cat 4 race had caught the women’s group and in the process towed them back up the road. I was pretty livid that one of the races had not been neutralized. I know this happens all the time in the US but it’s even more frustrating when it happens to you… 
I hung on to my move as long as possible but was eventually resigned to the fact that I was going to get caught. We struggled for a good part of the second lap with Cat 4 guys who kept insisting on sitting on our wheels, pretty lame if you ask me. The official finally started a yelling match with a few of the guys who wouldn’t neutralize, instructing them to move to the inside of the road and stop drafting off of us. Classic.
Come the end of the race my legs were feeling the drive down to SoCal and the lack of racing. Janel Holcomb started applying the pressure on the back false flat section and come the beginning of the climb simply rode away. She was really amazing, it looked as though she was on a Monday coffee shop ride. My teammate Leah killed it for second and I blew my load to get 4th. All in all I’m pretty happy looking back on it as I really feel that I’m a different rider to what I was last year. I’ve been working a ton on my climbing and it’s payed off. All thanks to a superb coach who always answers my most insane questions and seems to have never ending patience with my neurosis about my form. I set very high standards for myself and sometimes get lost looking at the details instead of seeing the big picture. Sure, a podium place was more appealing to me than 4th but considering that I’m not a natural born climber and I’m still a ways from my peak fitness he says I should be happy and keep looking forward. It was a great feeling to have such a great race with Leah, a good sign for the year. She fast and very capable and I’m thrilled to have her as a teammate.
Sunday was a short crit called Red Trolley. The course was pretty straightforward. Four corners, one short kicker of a climb to the finish line and a fast downhill on the back stretch. It was POURING rain, freezing and very windy. Nice, my favorite(really)! I rode at the front from the start but knew immediately my legs were not spectacular. They felt pretty flat really. The first prime was called and Leah and I went for it, I won (painfully) and then looked back after the first corner to see that we had a pretty big gap. Leah, myself and Jen Wilson from the South Bay Wheelmen team started working the break and trying to get organized in some sort of rotation which seemed to be futile for the first few minutes due to the wind and rain. The gap kept going up which really surprised me as there was a full Rock Racing squad present without one member in the break, Scott would have personally murdered us had that happened on his watch. Anyway, we ended up lapping the field with about 7 laps to go and at that point just got ready to sprint it out the three of us. Now here’s where it all went wrong for me personally but awesomely for Vanderkitten. Generally I’m pretty quick in a sprint but today it was not happening, the legs basically told me to piss off. Leah dieseled up the last climb and crossed the line first with me in third. I was pretty friggin’ irritated with myself. But hey, that’s racing! Shit happens and if you aren’t mentally tough enough to reflect on the mistakes you’ve made and move on then you may as well turn in your wheels.
Overall the weekend was very positive for the two of us and I’d suspect for the team as a whole. I called Scott at home after the crit to voice my concerns about my results and give him the run down on Leah’s fantastic performance. He was pretty reassuring that he believes in me and was more than happy with our weekend. Nice to know.
Camp starts next Monday, really looking forward to it. I’ll update you guys soon!
Best,
Lizzer
