Ftichburg TT

I was motivated for this one. Getting good at the TT had been a project for this season that got postponed with my early-season "fitness emergency," but I got on the bike as much as possible during the last two weeks and was ready to give it a go. I have a sick fast position and bike - it was just a matter of getting used to my position and pacing. Pre-rode the course four times this week which was probably good given that we raced in dense fog. Rode the race and maybe I went out too hard because I was pedaling through mud on the way back, at times the speed dipped to 17mph - yikes - but made it to the finish. But it was good enough for 8th! Two seconds out of 6th so of course I wish I pulled that off - because you could find two seconds just in the turn-around - but exciting. Alison Power won, with Evelyn Stevens just four seconds behind. Good to know that the woman who has been killing all of us this season in the Northeast is actually phenomenally fast!

Housatonic, East Hartford, Exeter

Backlog of races to report so quick! Dead at Housatonic and Evelyn Stevens killed us again. Made that mistake of thinking I was totally out of the race after the first selection when in fact it was very close up the road. East Hartford - back to my wreckless racing self for a day - wahoo finding legs! Exeter was cool cool though I needed to follow that fast Nicole Freedman up the right side at the finish rather than get caught behind a near crash!

Home Again

Stopped in the Berkshires for a few days - hard to say how much I love riding here. Evidently it rained the entire time I was in Canada so it is very green! Got to ride with my mom. I know her seat is a little low - she likes it that way. Now back in New Haven, where it's been raining non-stop. Trying to hold onto the sensation of being a real bike racer that I rediscovered at PEI, valuing recovery for instance and not buzzing around constantly. Doing some work on a land conservation conference taking place at Yale next week- trying to prepare for the storm, excited for a New Haven festival called Arts and Ideas, and liquidating tons of excess bike possessions. An imminent move promises streamlining. I'll miss New Haven though. Back on the bike getting ready for Fitchburg. Hoping now begins a new phase of the season where I am competitive in races. Housatonic Hills on Sunday.

Tour of PEI Stage 5

Missed opportunity in the crit today. Unclear objectives and I underperformed. Bridge to winning break went and at that point I was actually sitting second wheel and just did not make it happen, having tried to go across minutes before. #$*%! Team did not make the racing as in previous days but so it goes. Overall it was a very positive week: 3rd on team gc, QOM, 6th, 10th on gc (and me 16th), three top tens in stages. Such fun racing, and extremely meaningful for me to find my legs again and to race with a strong team where aggressive racing made sense. Still astonished I went from last place last week, off the back every day but one, to riding solidly here. These last two weeks testify to the merit of the sink or swim strategy for fitness adaptation through hard racing, that is for sure. Montreal tomorrow, home Saturday, Fitchburg in the future. Speaking of which, perhaps I should make some plans...

Stage 4 Correction

In the spirit of accuracy, quick clarification: Race leader Tara Whitten (battling on the road for yellow with Australia's Bridie O'Donnell) was in the break, driving it. So MTN would have taken second on GC. When Whitten crashed (along with the others) and needed mechanical service, that spelled doom for the break.

Tour of PEI Stage 4

My adoptive team MTN Energade almost won the race today. I can't tell you how exciting it was. After some hard racing that included pressure by a long break of Natasha Elliot and a Quebec rider and some attacking by others teams including us, Carla and Marissa got away on a QOM. They were in a small group at first, then another few came across to make a force of about 10. For maybe 20 minutes the gap was hovering around 30 seconds. Chase was full bore but teams were getting fried, and honestly, the elastic had snapped. I even overheard as much from another team director. Then suddenly, just as it looked like the break was gone - 50 seconds and Carla would have moved into 1st on GC - Carla and another rider crashed in the break. The field saw it on a hill. And just like that the gap came down and the break was caught. Raced hard to the end but it ended as a bunch sprint. QOM won. So close but a great day of racing, with the notable exception of losing the team's sprinter to a crash (her second in two days). Still in disbelief I have legs. Hard race but nowhere near as hard as yesterday. Long portions of the race spent sitting on the chase, then some hard parts. But no echelons and no time riding in the caravan, much less steep and less incessant hills. Could actually take the hands off the bars to drink and eat. Lobster feast after the race and now we are in Charlottetown for tomorrow's crit. Time for a non-Euro to win a road/crit stage - how about a South African or at least a North American!?

Tour of PEI Stage 3

Stage 2 brought a 120k road race contested in very windy conditions. I had heard PEI was FLAT but constant up and down would be a better description. The plan was to go for it to try to split the race and advance top rider Carla on gc, plus win QOM. Maybe it's that question of picking your battles. I was hoping to get in the early break because of my diesel fitness but the field would have none of even the most suicidal of breaks. Race leader Tara Whitten - an unknown to most - was super strong, helped impressively by two teammates. Australia took quite a lot of control of the race, and it paid off when Bridie McDowell, 2nd place on GC, won an intermediate sprint bonus that put her in the yellow jersey. I felt great for 50k, tried to cover some moves but then the legs turned to mud. After that I was basically surviving for 70k. My team killed it on the QOM, with rider Marissa escaping in short breaks to take the jersey. A big downhill crash occured when a rider who had ridden into the gravel shoulder tried to hop back up but instead catapulted herself into the field. MTN rider Cherise landed on her head, shaved the lens off her racing glasses - very scary. Hanka Kupfernagel got a chainring to her forehead. Totally unecessary. The crash followed by a QOM split the field into echelons but the front did not ride hard enough to stay away. Quality time in the caravan. Managed one attack to try to split the finish but I was basically useless. I had eaten 2 gels and 1 bottle all day. Stupid but the race was so windy I felt I could barely take my hands off the bars. After that it is all about recovery, as today brings another day of more of the same: 120k of wind and rollers.

Tour de PEI Stage 2

Stage 2 featured a time trial across the Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island, the world's longest bridge spanning ice-filled waters at 14k. Our director as well as the astute Cascades director Max (who had studied the previous year's worth of wind data on the bridge!) advised a few riders to sit up in the sprint yesterday so they could start the time trial early. Unfortunately I have been time gapped so many times before that I finished a respectable 35th on Sunday! We raced with a fierce cross tail wind that turned into a pure cross, then cross headwind over the course of the starters. I was satisfied with my ride - with my current diesel fitness a 14k flat windy time trial is probably my best event - and the team did great: 6th, 10th, 18th (me), 27th, then the sprinter. Because of the strange results, there is unquestionably a lot of aggressive and very hard racing to come. The team of surprise winner Tara Whitten of Atlantic Cycling Center is going to have its hands full.

Tour of PEI Stage 1

Today brought 10 laps of a flat and windy 10k circuit with intermediate sprints. Avoided a big early crash in the wind. Totally different race from Montreal so far, just not nearly as fast. Felt a bit like some of the flat circuit races at Altoona. Wasted some energy jumping into a few splits destined to return but important to be part of the team effort and priceless to remember I actually can race a bike. Sprint finish won by Bronzini. Hoping to do a solid time trial tomorrow - I sure got enough practice in Montreal.

Tour of Prince Edward Island

Hello from Summerside, Prince Edward Island, start to the Tour of PEI and home of Anne of Green Gables. Arrived last night after a nap-filled bus trip and enjoyed a very leisurely recovery day of sleeping, building up the bike, 1:30 easy spinning on the race course, taking care of some logistics, and the opening race banquet. Still missing my race wheels but they should turn up. To my relief the team I am riding with, the South African team MTN Energade, though surprised to have a guest rider foisted upon them, is extremely welcoming and a great group. They/we could win the race. I really hope to have some fitness and contribute to the effort. Hard to know what to anticipate. The field will be less strong since big gorillas Cervelo and Colubmia and smaller gorillas Nuremberger and Webcor went to Philly, replaced by new teams and some ringers flown in. German National Team will be a force. Courses are mostly flat with wind a major factor that will cause splits in the field. A 15k TT across the Confederation Bridge (bridge is 14k long....) on day two will shape up the GC and make room for breaks. I sure hope I gained some fitness from my rough race in Montreal. It is going to be a very fun week if I am strong enough. Pictured: view from the bus window, the bridge we time trial across (from the bus), and Summerside near tomorrow's finish line.

Stage 5: Mt. Sainte Hillaire

Promise to add some photos soon. Final stage, this one featuring the novelty of a hill. Five loops with a 1k hill with QOM followed 3k later by the start finish sprint line. Much better with positioning. Cervelo controlled the race for yellow jersey Kirsten Wild, with World Cup winner Emma Pooley motoring at the front at 40-45k/hour the whole time just to ward off attack. Positioning war into the turn into the twisty bike path section preceding the hill. Finding my legs powering the flats but now how about a hill? Not so good - needed to chase back into the group even on the calm first lap. Second lap kaboom and thus I completed my max-time-off-the-back reintroduction to fast stage racing with 65 of rolling on my own and for a while with a couple tired riders. Moved up almost every day but and managed to secure the Lanterne Rouge. Um ahem... at least I finished! Finish the race at 8pm, then to a banquet, back to Montreal, home at midnight, pack the bikes, up at 5, get lost driving to Elisa's, drop the car, get a ride to bus to PEI, on the bus to PEI for 14hrs. Now today, short recovery ride in Summerside PEI. Legs this week. That is the plan.

Stages 3 and 4: Lachine TT and Little Italy Crit

Rode the bike path the 3k TT. Did not invest too much in this event, given that I was feeling rather wrecked from the previous day, was 27 minutes down on gc, and that even when fresh I don't excel at this length of event. Time trial is done without aero bars or TT bikes given all the Euro teams having flown in, a short out-and-back on a spit of land in the Lachine Canal (maybe?). Scrubbed too much speed in the first set of corners but fine otherwise - 68th place and 29 seconds back. Others are just so much fitter. The winner averaged 53k an hour. Times like this I just realize that is a whole different league. After the TT, Cascade mechanic Gary identified and fixed my binding heatset - and suddenly the bike felt great - wahoo! Maybe I had not just been a freaked out scared rider these past few days, but my bike had actually been slightly unstable. Home for a nap and food. My teammates ate horse (pictured) but I passed... In the evening, we rode urban guerrilla through Montreal (past its bike-sharing stations!) to the Little Italy crit. Fast but non-technical four-corner crit. Riding on the outside you don't even have to stand up. Luckily missed a crash and was comfortable in the group for the first time all week. A bunch of riders caught behind the crash tried to chase rather than take a free lap, but it's nearly impossible to catch this field once gapped, and were sadly cut from the race. So hard to think clearly at times like these. Time gapped at the finish - silly as I had legs to have gotten myself up further. Cascades lost Joanie to the crash/chase escapade. Another got gapped when a plastic bag blew into her wheel and she needed to stop once free laps had ended. Today brings the big stage: 130k with a real hill, preceded by a 5k sprint/positioning war on a curvey path the width of one bike. Wish me luck. We've got one rider 26th on gc. Hope to position well and help her move up.