Jefferson Cup RR

Hello readers,

I have done the Jeff Cup for the 4th year in a row, and this year was the fastest with the strongest field of competitors. There were about 50 women in my category, and many were fast! I was not expecting a whole lot from my legs during the race because I was doing a pretty intense block of training leading right into the race. I was able, after a few unsuccessful attacks, to place 7th. There were a few surprises during the race. The first was when Andrea Dvorak of Colavita Racing, and I nailed it on the longest climb of a 4 lap curcuit (40 mi. total), and some riders were able to come with the acceleration, followed by the whole field! I was hoping for a breakaway with Andrea, not the whole field coming along to! The next came from Laura of Team Tripower. She launched the fastest acceleration on the hill during the 2nd lap, and had us all gasping for breath. She got 2nd in the field sprint as well! I knew she was in good shape, but I was not expecting an acceleration that hard from her. She raced a great race.
Next up I will be doing a few more local races before our team kicks off the season in Jacksonville, Florida, and then onto the USA crits series!

Rachel

Racing!

Hello,

I have now gotten the first races of the season under my belt! I had fun, and had a successful weekend. I traveled with my friend, and fellow racer Amity Elliot. Our trip started off a little late, and after a few direction boo boos we did not arrive at the motel until about 1 am. We had to wake up at 6:30am for the race on Saturday. The motel was a little seedy. For example, after I waded through the crack heads, a drunk guy kept asking me for a metal clothes hanger, but we survived. So, now onto the races.
Saturday was a 30 minute crit on a .5 mi. circuit with rough pavement surface (press and seal). I checked in and got an ok warmup in, but had to set tempo and launch extra attacks during the race to get my legs going. With about 3.5 laps to go a rider from a team called Tripower (Sally) launched a very good attack, and I was quick to be on it. I looked back and saw we had a gap. I helped maintain the gap for the rest of the laps and then pulled off beside her to have a side by side sprint. I was able to take the sprint which gave me a win in my first race of the season. My friend, Amity, was super strong during the race, but got boxed in for the field sprint. She raced some of the 30+ mens race later in the day to get some extra workout in her legs.
Sunday was a 40K TT...well it ended up being around 41.5K. The course was pretty much an out and back course with a tailwind out and a headwind back. Due to a few more direction errors, we arrived late at the TT course, so we only got in about 15 min. warmup, but despite this my legs started off fine. I got my heart rate right up at LT and was able to hold it. It came to 92% of my max sprinting heart rate . I was able to win the TT by 1.5min. I felt good through the TT, and was able to keep a very steady pace with my heart rate only varying a few beats a minute. It was a fun weekend, and I cannot wait to race again.

Thanks for reading,
Rachel