2007 in Review

Where to begin. It seems like just yesterday I was writing something similar to this post for 2006. Life's changed quite a bit for me since then. I'll try not to bore you too much and leave out most of the details (you've heard it before anyway, if you're a regular reader). I'm also going to try to throw in some pictures. Enjoy!

January:

I tried something different this year and opted out of doing roller races for the year. I figured I needed a little break from the intensity. Plus, it seemed to bother my knee when I did some last year. Can't quite remember what I did during this month. Probably lots of roller rides in Nick's basement.

February:

I did one of Donnie's indoor compu-trainer races. Never dealt with watts before until here. I did a 16 mile race ('96 Olympic Road Race course). My average watts were just over 200. I had no idea what to expect when I did this race. I hadn't been on a compu-trainer set-up until then. Definitely enjoyed the experience. It's nice to mix things up in the winter time. Compu-trainers give you some motivation other than a regular trainer or rollers.

March:
Froze Toes was postponed until the first week of March. It was pretty cold and the Women's Open field was extremely small (total of 4). I don't understand why more women don't show up to this event. It's an awesome early season race! Over my spring break, my mom and I drove to Fort Collins, CO to check out Colorado State University's campus. She stayed with me for a few days and then left me on my own the make sure I could handle it. I managed. I even did a race while I was out there. Participated in CSU's home race - the CSU Oval Criterium. This was when I first became aware of the team Rio Grande. They dominated the field having probably close to 3/4 the total number of women. It was pathetic. All they did was attack, and there was only one or two other girls that were willing to chase them down other than myself. Great experience though and got to meet some people from the CSU team. I also did quite a bit of riding around the area to check out the scenery and riding in general.

Here's one of the many awesome views from campus.

This picture is for anyone from the CSU team that reads my blog.

April:
When I think of this month, I think cold and rainy. Probably because of the State Fair Ground Criterium. I remember being all bundled up and still freezing. Loved the race though!

I also did the Sylvan Island Stampede mountain bike race, which was fast and fun as always. Pretty sure this was the first race I did on my new mountain bike - 2007 Giant Anthem 1. Sweet bike by the way!

Other races I did included the Eagle Point Criterium (where Anne Meyer out sprinted me as usual), Iowa City Road Race (had a really bad race), and the Old Capitol Criterium.

May:
The race season was in full force this month. Did the Sockum Ridge Mountain Bike race in Washington, Iowa. I also went to Wheels on Willy in Madison, WI for the first year. It was a great event. Of course I did the usual Memorial Day Weekend stuff in Iowa. The Wapello to Burlington road race was fun. I pulled off a 17th place in the Men's cat 3/4 and managed to avoid all the crashes. The Snake Alley Criterium was interesting. It rained all day. With the right tire and pressure choice, things were manageable for me. I actually almost had myself talked out of racing. Ended up pulling off a 6th place, so I was happy I raced.

Melon City the next day was dry at least. Don't really remember how the race went, but I pulled off a 12th place finish.

The Quad Cities race was my only DNF for the year. It was also my first trip to the emergency room. The race had gone well, but on the last lap on the back stretch (a straight section, go figure) two girls locked handlebars and went down in front of me. At 30mph reaction time is pretty slow and I had no choice but to run into them. I don't remember much except seeing two girls go down in front of me. I have an image of Jane Riessen lying on the ground next to me as well. After that, I remember regaining consciousness while sitting up against the side of a building. Don't recall how I got there or anything to that effect. Needless to say, I was advised to go to the ER. My parents took me and I had a CAT scan done. No concussion, thankfully, just a nice little road rash on my face.

I sure did come out lucky on that one. By far my worst crash ever. My helmet was destroyed.

June:

I raced in the Hummer Hammer, put on by DICE. Made the break of 3, but Connie Inks eventually rode away from us as some of the guys passed us.

Also did a few races down in St. Louis. Had another crash in the Tour de Winghaven. It was an awesome course, but had been raining quite a bit of the day. On the last lap, Samantha Schnieder went down hard in front of me on one of the round-abouts. Locked up my brakes but the slick payment didn't like it. It was a soft crash, as I just slid across the road. The other race I did was the Webster Groves Criterium. Unfortunately, a miss understanding cost me a few places in the finish. The officials didn't make it clear about what was to happen when the men's field lapped us. Caused quite a bit of havoc. Oh well. At the end of the month, I headed to Peoria, IL for the Brimfield Road Race (part of the Proctor Cycling Classic). Definitely the sweetest road race course I've been on so far. Rolling terrain and very scenic. I was third in the Women's Category 3 race.

July:

The Proctor Cycling Classic Criterium was the same weekend as the Brimfield Road Race. I've done this race before so I knew what the course was like. Pulled off a 2nd place in the Women's Category 3 race, beating Kristen Meshberg for the only time this year. I finished 3rd in the omnium for the weekend. I love this weekend because they actually have a separate women's category 3 race.

In July, I also did the Bicycle, Blues, and BBQ road race in Northern Iowa. Windy, that's all I have to say. Did both the Iowa Games mountain bike and road race. Both were fun. Had a really good road race, but only did the one lapper. I went to Superweek again this year. Great time! Awesome prize money and some of the best competition in the country. I don't know why more Iowan's don't go to these races. I won't go into details on all the 8 races I did. Pulled off a 4th place overall in the Women's Category 3/4. Had another crash one of the days that took me out of contention for podium omnium. Also had my best race ever. There was a break-away of 3 riders up the road. Another girl attacked the field and I went with her. We ended up bridging the 30 second gap and almost lapped the field. Sprinted for a 3rd place finish.

August:

I made the move to Fort Collins, Colorado in early August. Also upgraded to a category 2 on the road. I did my first race out there the weekend before school started. The races were held in Dillon and Copper Mountain, both above 9000feet. The altitude definitely kicked my butt in both races. The Copper Mountain criterium was one of the coolest crit courses I've raced on for sure.

Here's a picture of the course. It went through a ped. mall. Pretty fun!!

I also did a mountain bike race and another criterium (Niwot Criterium). The mountain bike race completely kicked my butt. There was a ton of climbing at high elevation. It was near Winter Park, CO.

It was a point-to-point race so we had to ride to the start, which was just outside of Frisco, CO. Love the scenery!!

September:

I flew down to St. Louis for the Gateway Cup. Missed the Friday night race, but was able to race the other 3 days. Great competition and awesome courses. Didn't do as great as I was hoping, but you'll have that.

September also marked the start of my collegiate racing career. The first collegiate mountain bike race was the CSU's home race. It was in Beaver Meadows, which sits at about 9000feet. Still wasn't quite adapted to the altitude, and it showed. Had the worst finishes of the season in the short track and cross country races. It was a good time though, and I got to know some of my teammates better.I also did a few of the New Belgium cyclocross races that were held mid-week in Fort Collins. I was surprised at how many people showed up for these races. Georgia Gould even came out and whooped up on the men in the men's elite field. In the middle of the month, I did the Parker Criterium near Denver, CO. One of the hardest criteriums I have done. Got to meet the director/founder/owner of the DFT team, Megan Hottman, while I was at the race. The Parker Criterium was the last road race for me of the season. Collegiate mountain bike racing took up just about every weekend of September and October. We traveled to Durango, Colorado for Fort Lewis College's race weekend. Was only able to race the short track race though because of torrential down-pour Saturday evening. The cross country course was slop so they canceled. Bummer, because the course was pretty sweet and challenging.

The drive to and from Durango was awesome. Beautiful views - I took tons of pictures. We also stopped and rode some trails at Kenosha pass on the way back Sunday since the cross country race was canceled. Sweet trails!! The University of Wyoming race near Laramie, WY was also this month. It was the first time I saw snow since I had moved to the mountains. Saturday's short track race was beautiful and I think I actually wore short sleeves and bibs. Sunday morning it was freezing and there was an inch or two of snow on the ground. Epic. The short track race was my first win of the collegiate season.

Here's a picture from Saturday - the short track race.

Here's a picture from Sunday - the cross country race.

October:

More mountain bike racing. The first weekend, the team traveled to Grand Junction, CO for the Mesa State College races. The short track race was moved from it's original location to a gravel parking lot. Soupy. The cross country race course was pretty sweet. Luckily, most of it was dry by the time we raced. The landscape near Grand Junction was completely different than what I had already seen in Colorado.

Conference Championships were held at Western State College in Gunnison, CO. There was snow on the course Sunday morning for the cross country race. It was the first cross country race I won all season. On the way back to Fort Collins on Sunday, we had to drive over the Monarch pass in the snow. That was an adventure.

Finished 2nd in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference Women's A Endurance category. Decided less than a week before mountain bike nationals that I was going to go. Booked a plane ticket on Monday morning and flew out of Denver on Thursday. Sure glad I went though! The best experience in my life in cycling so far. Ended up 2nd in the cross country race to Chloe Forsman (professional Luna Chix rider) and 6th in the short track race.

November:

I took a week break off the bike after mountain bike nationals. Started thinking about cross racing. Really couldn't decide if I wanted an off-season or not. I took the train back to Iowa for Thanksgiving and raced at the Middle Park Madness cyclocross race and both of the Jingle Cross cyclocross races. I won all three of the races, so decided I would give Nationals a shot. I also found a coach for the rest of the season, as well as 2008.

December:

Did a few cross races in Colorado. Huge fields! Pulled off some decent results. I had to go to the doctor's because of a cough. Ended up having bronchitis and possibly sports induced bronchial spasms (again). That sort of had me worried for Nationals. Fortunately, I started feeling better a few days after I took the medicine. I originally had planned on racing the U23 and collegiate races at cyclocross nationals. However, I had to stay the night in Hays, Kansas on Friday night due to a major snow storm. Pretty bummed about that. The course was slick for the collegiate race. Snow, frozen ruts, and ice make for an interesting race. I crashed in the first corner and had to make up a lot of ground. Pulled off a 3rd place finish though.

Now, I'm in Iowa for a few more weeks. I don't go back to school until January 22nd. I'll probably head back around the 10th or so. Looking to log some miles while I'm hear. So if you're interested in riding, let me know. As for next year - I have lots of big plans. Whether or not they will actually happen, I don't know. I'll be racing for Defined Fitness Training out of Denver, CO for road and cyclocross. For mountain, I'll be racing for the Vanderkitten Women's Developmental team out of California. And of course, I'll be racing collegiate for Colorado State University. It's going to be a busy season!! I'll put my schedule up once I finalize some details. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I'm bored. Not much for me to do here. Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday. Happy New Year!!

-A