Giro di Jersey

Hello readers,

Laura and I did the Giro di Jersey points stage race. Laura was coming around after being sick, and I was using the race as a good preparation for Fitchburg. Coming into this race I wanted to race aggressively so no one had an easy time during the race. There were three stages spread over a long weekend.
Friday was a 15K TT on a rolling course. I managed 3rd. and Laura was right there in 4th. Not bad considering that was her first road TT, and she did not use a TT bike.

Saturday was a 32 mile RR on a pretty flat course with one stair step climb in it. We did 3 laps on a 10.75 mile circuit. I planned to make the race hard on this climb, and I got away on the second lap for a while, but the field chased me down. With Laura's help, I tried the same move again, but a few of the riders were ready for the move so it did not work. The race came down to a field sprint, and Laura won! I got 4th. Laura moved up to 2nd in the overall classification, and I maintained 3rd.

Sunday was a 20 mile circuit race. It was 8 laps on a 2.5 mile circuit. The start was early (8am) which meant we all did not get a whole lot of sleep. In the beginning a launched a few attacks, but the group was ready. The group did not want to have a hard race so when riders were not attacking we were pretty much coasting. I was going to launch an attack with 1K to go, but since we were racing so slowly the group would have been rested enough to react to the move. So I decided to wait for the sprint. I wanted a clear run to the line so I lead through the last two corners, and from the last corner it was 300M to the line. That is long way to sprint, but I give it a try. Laura and another rider (Jacki Crowell) were able to come around me, but I held on for 3rd. Laura won again with a tremendous, and moved up to first overall! I maintained 3rd overall.

It was a fun race, and was good to meet Edwin Bull who manages VanDessel Sports. He raced the pro 1,2,3 race. Juice Plus was able to give a good showing on top of our VanDessel bikes!

Rachel

Liberty Classic

Hello all,

Juice Plus had four determined riders ready to battle the hard course, and the worlds best riders in the Liberty Classic "Philly". The team consisted of Holli, Rachel, and two guest riders: Amity, and Steph. Laura was sick, but still came to cheer us on, and Gina was not able to get away from her shift in the ER. Nonetheless, our team had a great race, and we finished it with all four starters! We all raced well, covered moves, battled for position, and finished with Steph 9th, Amity 35th, Holli 49th, and Rachel 58th. Steph would have won the U23 jersey, but only Americans were eligible for the prize. Amity stayed in the fount group the entire time, and was right there through to the end. Holli rode with pure class because she was coming down with respiratory infection which drained her of any energy. It was very impressive for her to finish, because the general rule of thumb for this race is you have to be in top form just to finish it. Hats off to Holli! I was sad to see Holli sick, but she wanted to battle to the end. So I lead out the sprint from our group, and she beat all the riders that were in our group. All in all it was a good race for Juice Plus, and we cannot wait until next year!

Thanks for reading,
Rachel

Reading Classic

Hello Readers,

Today was the Reading classic, the second race of the Triple Crown. The course was 1.8 miles long with 6 turns, and very rough pavement! We had to do 14 laps (25 miles). The field, as expected, was packed with talent. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and many other big names were there. Juice Plus was represented with Holli, Amity, Steph, and Rachel. Laura is a bit under the weather, and did not race today. Being perfectly honest, today was not our day. Our start positioning was acceptable, but as the race got going we did not position our selves well. Holli, early on, found herself too far back, and a rider a few spots in front of her could not hold on and formed a gap. The effort that Holli had to make to close the gap was enormous, and she could not quite do it today. Amity and I were pretty much with her, and in the same boat with regard to gapped riders. We were gapped off in a group just behind Holli's group. The groups we were in eventually were pulled, but it was not all a total loss. Steph finished in the main group that was just behind the breakaway. Everyone has off days from time to time. We had ours today, but there is always another race. After Reading, we went out and had a good meal. We are lifting our spirits, and prepairing for another race. The Liberty Classic is Sunday, and it is the biggest of them all.

Wish us luck,
Rachel

Leigh High Classic

Well, we are here in Kutztown, Pa, staying the week for racing the Triple Crown Races. The first one was Tuesday, June 3, in Allentown. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, however, by 11am it was already getting hot and humid for racing a criterium against the fastest women racers in the world... Ina Teutenburg and Kristen Armstrong to name a few. We have had no team manager this week, so we have had to adjust our usual "preparation for the races", which makes it a little more stressful. We brought on two guest riders for this week of the Triple Crown... Amity Elliot from Virginia, and Steph Roorer from Vancouver, Canada. Gina, our other teammate, will only be racing with us for the Liberty Classic on Sunday. Lehigh Classic was the hardest and fastest race we have done this year. It started from the gun... head down, pedals powering through...pushing, bumping the entire race. Laura took on every attack that tried to get away. She held off for a portion of the race, while Cheerwine and us tried to keep the pace slowed down to assure Laura's break would stick. Eventually, other teams, like Colavita, who had Tina Pic in my group, were consistently chasing and attacking to bring the front group back. That kept the race so FAST. I felt like I was motorpacing the entire race.Then it was two laps to go, and I forced my legs to attack to keep the pace high so Laura could stay safe in the front and not get swarmed at the last minute by other riders. Only 33 riders finished this race out of about 90 girls.. That should tell you something about how difficult the race. Laura finished 10th, Steph finished 20th, and I finished 19th. We as a team are pleased with our performance for Lehigh. We are looking forward to Reading Classic on Thursday and one of my favorite races, Liberty Classic on Sunday.

Until then....Holli