Junior Track Nats '09

I don't even know where to start. Nationals were not what they were meant to be, at all. The day before it started I began to feel a little sick, and by the time racing started, I pretty much just wanted to curl up in a ball. Riding the track made me want to die, but I had to just try and do my best.

My first event was my 500m. I've never had any luck with this. I've never broken the 40 second mark, and I seemed to be on track to riding a solid 39. I felt decent, but my legs just didn't have any go. I came out of it with a 40.5 and a 6th place. After that, I just began to feel sicker and sicker. I had my mass start test later in the session, and that was the only way I was going to Moscow. I knew that I had it in me, but I felt so awful I didn't see how it would happen. After many tears and much indecision, I decided to to just give it a go, I had nothing to lose. Bob and I decided that if I was slower than a certain time I'd sit up. Sure enough, I was way slower than that time. I just called it a day and packed up to get ready for the scratch race.

In 2008, I placed 2nd in the scratch race in the 17-18 age group, I really felt that if I played my cards right I might be able to see a repeat. I felt better, so I just put my head in the race and gave it a go. I rode the race the best I could. I went to go, and I just didn't have my jump. Last year, when I went, that was it. It just wasn't the same. I still managed a 4th place finish right at the line with Shelby Reynolds. My bike throw saved me. I was very happy with my medal at first, but the more I thought about it, the less pleased I became with it as I realized I had done so much better the year before.

I rode the Team Sprint with Tara McCormick this year. Tara is a 13 year old beast from California. I have never seen a girl annihilate a field the way she did. She broke the national record in her 500. She rode a time that would've won the 17-18 women's field in an 84 inch gear and she lapped her field twice in the points race. If that's not a beast, I don't know what is. We ended up qualifying third, and we were pretty confident that we would maintain our position. Unfortunately, as the day went on I began to feel sick again. As an added blow, Tara crashed in her scratch race which was right before our Team Sprint bronze medal ride. We settled for 4th place which was pretty decent with all the happenings of the day.

My pursuit qualifier was the morning of the 3rd day. During warm up, I did a flying 1k with Bob timing me, and I was right on. I went up to the line feeling very confident in myself. My first km was awesome, right on target time for a 2:45. It's that last km that always gets you. I ended up riding a 2:48. That put me into 7th overall. I was pretty happy with my performance though. I had given it all I had, I don't know if I've ever pushed myself that hard in a pursuit. I rode the same time I did last year as well, with much less training. I think I had a pretty good ride.

The keirin was in the evening. I saw this as my last attempt to get a jersey. Bob told me exactly what I had to do, and I executed it perfectly in my heat and qualified for the final. I raced the keirin final tactically better than any other keirin I have ridden before. I put myself in the perfect position (after a little bumping!) and when the motor pulled off, I was 2nd wheel. When the girls hit it, I had nothing. I just hung on for the ride and finished 5th. Once again, immediately afterwards I was ecstatic with my tactics, but as it set in that I had been on the podium in 3rd last year, I wasn't so happy. For some reason, this hit me extra hard. I had really seen my self succeeding in this race.

The final day was the points race. I was totally expecting the usual ride from the group. Coryn would attack, lap the field once, and we would all just roll around and sprint once in awhile when they rang the bell. I was so wrong. We actually raced for once! After the first sprint, Gabby attacked and everyone was waiting for Coryn to answer, so I just hit it. I held off the field long enough for me to take first place points. That set me up in a medal already, so I just had to pick points the rest of the race to keep it. I ended up in 5th, but I was actually proud of this one.

I realize that I haven't had the time to train that everyone else had, and what not. I know all of that, and I'm constantly told that I impressed people with the vast improvement I made in the 10 weeks leading up to Nationals. I'm impressed as well. It's just not the way I envisioned my last year as a junior. I saw myself winning a national title, vying for a spot on the worlds team, I came home with 4th and 5th places. It was a bit of a letdown.

Overall, the 17-18 women rode brillantly. The times were much faster than in years past, and the races were competitve. Good job, girls!

Also, I'd like to thank Bob Biese. He has been a great friend to me for years and was an awesome coach for me while I was at Nationals. He helped me keep my head on and do the best that I could. It really wouldn't have been possible without him.



I found these photo's on facebook. They were taken by William LaRoque.

I have alot to look forward to, though. Next season is a whole new game in U23s. Already I've made some progress towards having a more successful 2010 season by being invited to the Elite/U23 Women's Developmental Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. Hopefully, I can my mark here.

Final Days of Preparation

One more day until Nationals start! I got a good track workout in on Monday. I pretty much just worked on starts and the line for the mass start test. My starts have gotten so much better, I'm really happy with it. My mass start test on the other hand, is crazy. The first 500m is so fast, I'm gonna have to have everything go right to get close to it.

I went on a recovery ride down to Redondo Beach today with Bob. It was really nice to just get out on the road and chill. We went to this really nice coffee shop, and relaxed, which prepared me for the laundry mishap that happened this afternoon. My Dad was being nice and decided to wash my bike clothes for me. Unfortunatly, he washed them in warm water and made the colors run, so all of my kits were pink. I do love pink, just not where it doesnt belong, haha. Luckily, my dad found some color taker outer and we used that and it corrected the damage.

Tomorrow is race prep, then packet pick-up. I am so ready to start racing.

California!

I seriously wish I could live here. This is the best weather ever. It's hot but not too hot, it's not humid, it's sunny, it doesn't rain. What more could you ask for? Except for roads to ride on and maybe a backyard.

I got in yesterday around 3:30. Traveling with a bike is no fun. It was so difficult to get it checked and then trying to maneuver it while we were trying to catch the shuttle, it was crazy. My back is so shot from carrying bags and everything. The plane ride was lovely though. I got to watch House and Confessions of A Shopaholic, so I was happy. Once we got our car we headed to our hotel. It's so close to the track which makes it super convenient.

I got on the track today. I love it so much! It's so fast and smooth, I'm in no rush to return to T-Town. My legs are sluggish from flying, but I should get over that soon. I think that my form is good and I'm excited to see what I can achieve out here.

Tonight I'm going to watch the Junior Omnium at the track and see how they do it on the West Coast. Tomorrow I have a track session in the afternoon and then Tuesday I'm riding to Redondo Beach with Bob in the morning. I'm pretty pumped to get on the road, actually.

That's my quick update. Nothing too exciting yet, that all starts on Thursday!

It's here!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for LA! It feels like I should have so much more time because Nationals were so late last year. I really wish I had more time this year. I've put 110% into this, but I know if I had a little more time it would make a huge difference. I know that I have done everything right and I just have to make sure I race with my head.

I'll give you a quick rundown of my racing schedule:

July 2nd
AM: 500m TT
Mass Start Test ( A flying 2k that could qualify me for worlds)

PM: Scratch Race

July 3rd
AM: Team Sprint Qualification (still looking for a partner!)

PM: Team Sprint Finals

July 4th
AM: Pursuit Qualifers and Final

PM: Keirin Qualifer and Final

July 5th
AM: Points Race

I put in a good race on Tuesday. There are two more girls from New Zealand who arrived on Monday, and Cath Cheatly came back this season so it was real racing! It was good to actually have a field.

I'll try and update this daily while I'm at Nationals, but sometimes things get a little crazy!

11 Days To Go!

I can't believe that Nationals are so close. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was just doing my first race of the season. I will be flying out the morning of the 27th and racing starts July 2nd. I have been working so hard the past couple of days. May Britt's been pushing me so hard. I did a 30 lap points race behind the motor with Ryan and Nick on Monday. I honestly didn't think it was going to be that bad... boy, was I wrong! I couldn't see straight for an hour!

Yesterday, I motorpaced in the morning and then I did Tuesday Night Racing. Over the past two years, Tuesday nights have become much more intense. It used to be that a Tuesday was nothing like a Friday Night Race, but now they are easily comparable. Anyways, my legs were pretty tired from Monday and the session in the morning, so I didn't have alot to play with. I got 6th in the Super Sprint Elimination (which is 1/2 miss'n'out 1/2 scratch race). I almost made it to the scratch race this time, but I tried to shove myself on the bottom again, and it didn't work... again. For the Tempo, I really just tried to sit in and get some speed in. After that we had a Flying One Mile, May Britt told me to not even worry about it, but I ended up getting Dana's wheel and sprinting to 5th place. The final race of the night was a Points Race. I got 1 point on the last lap, but that was pretty much all I could do. I'm not really worried about my form. I know that two weeks out from nationals last year I was suffering, and it paid off. I trust May Britt, she knows what she's doing.

On the line before the one mile.

Dana and I are going to be in California at the same time! I'm so happy because I'm the only member of Young Medalists/Team Dual Temp heading out to track nationals, it will be nice to have an honorary team mate and training partner for a few days. We're hoping to go and watch the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix and check out the SoCal race scene... and of course see Iggy.... hahaha =)

It's been awhile....

It has been quite awhile since I've done this. I think I started off too strong and then got bored. Since it's summer and all it does in PA lately is rain, I think I'll try this again?

This time in two weeks I'll be in California for Junior Track Nationals. The weather hasn't been cooperating with my training though. It has rained almost every day, it is a little ridiculous. We have been getting some racing in, though. There's been three Tuesday Night Races and we just finished up our second Friday. I haven't had a lot of good results, but they have been improving with each race, so I'm hopeful for Nationals.

Opening Night at the track could have been better. It got rained out on Friday, so it ended up being Saturday. I raced at the Race Avenue Criterium in Lancaster in the morning. It ended up being my most successful 1/2/3 race by far. For the first time since Junior Nationals, I felt like I was in a field that was actually my level. It was so nice to be able to race instead of hanging on for dear life. I was in the front of the field most of the time. I tried a few attacks, I got off for a lap, which is the only break away I've ever been in, and had 5 seconds on the field. I got caught, but I was still pretty proud of it. I set the sprint up pretty well. I was 3rd wheel coming around turn 4. I got nipped at the line, and had to settle for 4th. Overall, it was pretty good and I made $60 which was very nice. I'm planning on hitting it up again next year, it was a wonderful course and a well run race. Afterwards, I went home, ate, showered, took a nap, and then set off to the track. Since the racing got moved to Saturday, a lot of girls weren't there because they were preparing for the Liberty Classic on Sunday. It ended up being only 8 girls. Being so close to nationals, I wasn't content to roll around the boards for 15 laps. I raced really hard, which didn't result in the best finishes, but I got my workout in for the day! Most of the people in T-Town went to watch the Philly race. Honestly, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It is always a great time, but knowing that I could've raced but was unable to because of the accident made it bittersweet, and I really didn't want to go through that. Instead, I stayed home and put in some more road miles so I can be in a postion to race in the Liberty Classic next year.

The Festival of Speed this past Friday was largely uneventful. I didn't make the Keirin Final or have any other really outstanding results. I went off the front with Kim Geist in the Point-a-Lap and picked up one point which ended up getting me 5th place.

I have pretty much made up my mind to scratch road racing for the season. With the timing of the accident, I just didn't have time to work on my form. I will be concentrating on road when I get back from nationals and may be attending Kristin Armstrong's Developmental Camp in Boise to work on some of my road form and help me to decide whether or not I'm going to make the trip to Oregon for Road Nationals.

Dana has finally returned from California! I am so glad to have her back, I can only handle so many training sessions alone. Unfortunately, she leaves again for LA on Thursday, but I'll be there for a couple days while she's there, so that should be fun.

Well, I think that's it for now. I'll try and keep it up this time.

Race Report #1

Last Saturday morning my dad and I made the trip to Philly, so I could participate in my first race of the season. I raced the 2/3/4 category at the Philly Phlyer. I was very focused on the task at hand. I can tell I'm going to do well when I'm quiet. I don't know why but sometimes everything just clicks, and it did for me on Sunday. I think it was because I knew that I had to do well. If I hadn't, I would've been very discouraged and I doubt I would've decided to race the rest of the season.
Anyways, the race was a 2 lap 6 mile circuit with a couple small climbs. My field was about 15 girls, I think, which is actually pretty good for a rainy day. I was very nervous about the climbing because it irritates my back. I was sitting on the start line thinking "I really don't want to do this", and before I knew it, we were off. Immediately, two team mates attacked and my racing instincts kicked in. I got right on their wheel, but they sat up as the field rejoined. A couple miles later, the one team mate attacked again and Katie L. followed. I knew that the other team mate in the field would block for her, and since I'm unsure of my form right now, I sat in and waited for someone else to make a move. Taylor attacked to chase down the break, and when she was caught I immediatly countered her and bridged the field up to Katie. The race was rather uneventful from that point forward. Katie made some attacks but they never really formed into anything. Coming up the hill for the last time, I was climbing in the front, I shifted back to third wheel for the final off-camber corner and the sprint. I waited for the girl in first to begin her sprint, and when I finally went I was surprised with the lack of power I had. It was like I stood up to go and nothing happened. Needless to say, I dropped back a few places and ended up with a 5th place finish.
I am very happy with that result. I was expecting to get dropped and have a horrible ride, but I didn't. I climbed much better than I expected, in the top few without much trouble, and I still knew how to race well. My back did begin to bother me part way through, but I was able to push it to the back of my mind. I even finished in the prizes, so that was nice =)
Coming up this weekend is the Philly 2-day. The first day is a circuit race in Fairmount Park followed by a crit on Lemon Hill the next day. There are already 27 girls signed up for the womens open, so it promises to be a good race.
On another good note, I may be done with rehab soon. Jay at rehab said that I seem to be doing well, and there's not alot more they can do. It's more of a waiting it out thing at this point. So, even though they aren't saying I'm cured, it's still a relief to hear I've been making progress.