Sea Otter NRC Podium

(by Shelley Olds, PROMAN/Paradigm
I want to tell everyone on the team how awesome it was racing with you all this weekend. For those of you that weren't there, let me give you a little run down:

The team for the weekend was 7 strong, with the 5 towers and the two shrimps in attendance. Going into the race, I was a little nervous and unsure about my fitness and how I would feel in this kind of a race. The circuit race at Sea Otter is pretty tough. It's about a 2-mile race course, wide-open and usually very windy with a significant climb and a fast descent on every lap. We did 22 laps on Saturday...

I knew going into the race that it was going to be a race of attrition. I also knew that I had 6 very strong teammates to race with and I was confident that we would be able to control the race. I spent the entire first half of the race conserving energy, watching other teams go for the sprint and QOM points, and spinning as lightly as I could up the climbs. PROMAN was patrolling the front and Rachel was the first to go with an early move that had Tina Pic, Brooke Miller, and Stacy Marple. The move was probably designed to set up a counter move and so Rachel covered it perfectly. Back in the field, Helene was moving towards the front to prepare for the counter. As soon as the move was brought back, Helene attacked off the front and quickly established a big gap on the rest of the field. She stayed off and increased her lead even more.

Then all of a sudden there was a group of 8 riders off the front of the peloton with members from Tibco, Cheerwine, and Colavita in chase of Helene. PROMAN immediately responded and moved our entire squad to the front of the race. There was a moment of indecisiveness when we all tried to figure out if we should bring the move back as a whole, or have one of us go across the gap to join the break. Helene had been on her own for at least 4 laps battling the wind and the course itself. It was in our best interest to send someone else up the road.

Everyone did their part to close the gap just enough for me to jump across on the climb and catch the break on the descent. As soon as I made contact, the team shut down the field and the break was gone. Helene was still off the front and we were gaining on her slowly. Eventually, Helene dropped back to the break and we were comfortably riding the winning break with everyone back in the field resting in for a possible field sprint if the break ended up getting caught.

The break was strong and sort of steady in the beginning with Cheerwine doing most of the work. They had 3 riders out of 10 in the break and one of them was Laura Van Gilder. Helene did her share of the work in the break, even after being off the front for days, and both Tibco and Colavita used a rider to set the pace. In an effort to drop the strongest sprinter in our break, Colavita's Tiffany Cromwell, put in a huge effort on the climb and shattered the break into pieces. The first three chasers were Stacy Marple, Rachel Heal and Dotsie Bausch (who was just covering the move in case they caught her teammate Cromwell). I was not far behind with Catherine Cheatley and the rest of the break was gone, including Van Gilder, Buchanan, and Helene. Now there was a break of 5 with two Cheerwine, one Colavita, one Tibco, and myself.

I did a little work early on to bring the Colavita rider back, but our chase was highly unorganized. Colavita was there to doom the break and allow her teammate to stay off, so that left 4 of us to work. I took my turn trading pulls with the two Cheerwine girls early on until it was obvious that the move was gone and there was no real commitment from anyone in our break to bring her back. That was when I started racing smart, conserving energy, and constantly trying to position myself to cover a move should it come from the Cheerwine duo. Luckily, it never did and I was able to stick with the group of 5 until the end.

With one lap to go, Stacy Marple put in a strong effort on the climb and the break split again, but we reunited at the top of the climb just before the descent. I rolled through and hit the corkscrew first, opening a little gap from the group on the descent. I was reabsorbed on the small riser before the last left hand turn and the attack immediately came from Tibco's Rachel Heal. Marple covered and they opened a small gap on the rest of us. I moved across the gap and caught the two leaders going into the sweeping turn. The group cam back together again before the last right hand turn and we were creeping towards the finish line. Everyone was waiting for the other one to attack and I was patiently waiting for the right moment to jump. I was positioned in the back and waited until about 150m before the finish to jump.

In the field behind me was Virginia, patiently awaiting her moment to unleash her sprint for the finish. Helene and her break had been reabsorbed by the field in the last lap so the field was racing for 7th. Virginia, Kristina, Rachel, and Helene were all nicely positioned in the top 10 coming into the final straightaway and finished the day for PROMAN with 5 in the top 21 riders. The entire team finished the race, which is something to really be proud of as well.

I am really proud of the team. We were a force in the Sea Otter Circuit Race this year and held our own against the best teams in the country. Everyone did their part, we communicated well, and we made decisions on the fly and as a whole that ultimately paid off big time. It was truly a pleasure joining you all for my real first race of the season. You have really established yourselves in the women's national racing scene and I am honored to be a part of it.

Can't wait to race again.

Shelley

Coming back to the NVGP

by Jeff Corbett
[Former Team Director, Health Net Pro Cycling Team]

Yeah, I’ve been to a few bike races in my days. How many? Probably well over 1000 in the last twenty years. But I’ve never been asked to write about why a certain event appeals to me, until now. As you can imagine after attending so many races I have found some that I enjoy and some that I would rather not remember. The Nature Valley Grand Prix is special to me. It is one of only a handful of races I can honestly say I will truly miss now that I am retired from racing and directing.

Why Nature Valley? What makes it so special? Well I would be lying if I didn’t admit that some of my affection for the event comes from my success there. You always tend to enjoy the events that your team does well at. And my teams have given me plenty to smile about having won the event overall in 2005 and 2006, as well as winning 12 of the last 26 stages over a five year run. But it isn’t the victories that keep me coming back every year; it’s the magical combination of good people, good courses, good competition, great fans, and relaxed atmosphere that mark any exceptional event.

When I say good people, I’m speaking of those involved with putting on and sponsoring the event. First on that list has to be Nature Valley and Great River Energy, without whom, I wouldn’t even be writing this right now. These companies have embraced the event not because it brings them a huge media impact or a ideal marketing platform for new products, but rather because they know that it’s events like this that make a place come alive. They know that these types of events help people build pride in their hometowns and enjoy it as more than a place to rest their heads or send their kids to school. These are important things, they’re the things that break the pattern of work and sleep that we all fall into. Much like concerts in the park or company softball, events like the Nature Valley Grand Prix help bring interesting and exciting activities to Minnesota cities both large and small. Maybe I shouldn’t be telling you all this… as a person who makes his living off cycling I should be saying that cycling is a marketing bargain and a great way to market your product and service and people love cycling. Well, all those are true but it doesn’t change the fact that most people who come out and watch a bike race in this country can’t name a single pro cyclist. So why do they come out?

Well I’ll tell you. They come for the entertainment. They come for the show. And the show is more than just the pro race, it’s all the ancillary events attached to a race. It’s the expo and the kids race, it’s the bands and the food, it’s the chance to yell and cheer for something even if you don’t understand it. The folks that sponsor the Nature Valley Grand Prix know this, and so do the folks who put on the event. That’s why they are a success.

There are many other ingredients that make the Nature Valley Grand Prix a success and I’ll be speaking about all of them in the months leading up to the 2008 edition. Stop back to read more about what makes this event a success and to hear some of my favorite tales from my years at the event. I may even be giving out a few tips on how to win the event and who to watch in this year’s edition.

[picture courtesy Pezcyclingnews]

Cole's Race

By Teresa Moriarty

The Nature Valley Grand Prix is a prestigious bike race that assists families in need at Children’s Hospital and Clinics. For the past nine years, The Nature Valley Grand Prix has been summoning professional racers from across the globe, while making a positive impact on those who are with Children’s Hospital and Clinics. In the year 2000 there was no wavering from this race’s influence.

Back in the 2000-2001 school year, I had another amazing group of sixth-graders that I had worked with as an elementary teacher. Each student was unique with their own talents, all eager to break away from their lower school years so that they could set new life goals, and use their tangible talents to achieve them. However, one of my students was given a different path, a far greater challenge than five days of hard bike racing in Minnesota. His was the race against time, a goal to have a longer life. This beloved student was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Within two days of his diagnosis, Children’s Hospital in Saint Paul became his second home and classroom where lessons on life, health, and perseverance were administered by those who came to his bedside. But who was the real teacher? Cole was the educator, this eleven-year old sixth-grader. He taught others what it really means to push onward, to stay alive and fight cancer. This was Cole’s toughest race.

And where did his support come from? It came from his wonderful parents and younger brother. It also came from an amazing team of physicians, nurses, and from those who make things possible at Saint Paul’s Children‘s Hospital. The medical team tried so many new treatments for Cole, which we all know takes money, time, and dedicated people to understand about this disease. They never gave up on helping Cole to fight for his possible win.

As 2001 lead the way in our new millennium, that year gave me a new reason as to why I race in the Nature Valley Grand Prix. I race for Cole! You see, Cole will never be able to take his own bike outside again in the backyard where he made a BMX track course to have races against his brother and friends. Cole lost his race against cancer. So now, I race for Cole.

Thank you to all of the individuals who make the Nature Valley Grand Prix what it is: a prestigious bike race that assists families in need at Children’s Hospital and Clinics.

From my favorite stage in my final NVGP '05

by John Lieswyn

The following is excerpted from my Cyclingnews.com diaries and describes a stage in which I raced the day after losing yellow in a massive nighttime criterium crash. I thought I had just pulled some muscles but I was later to learn that I had actually broken my pelvis...

Epic!
Red Wing Road Race, 163km with six hilly finishing circuits 7km each. The course includes two dirt road sections, many rolling hills, strong winds and occasional rain.
EPIC! Now THIS is bike racing. Unfortunately for me, I spent most of the day groveling and hanging on. Receiving pain rather than dishing it out.
We began quite slowly today. Perhaps everyone had seen the wind on the drive in, or tired legs needed warming up. I was glad for it. Riding with a groin pull and touchy knee meant that I couldn't find a comfortable position on the saddle. Hard accelerations are out of the question. At 30km we're over the first KOM (I'm wearing the climber jersey but contesting it today isn't possible when I don't know if I can even finish the stage) and headed towards a right turn into a strong crosswind. Gord and I have got ourselves in position at the head of the field, while Tyler and Greg chance getting a flat to charge up the gravel shoulder. Jelly Belly is also ready for a jam session. Within twenty minutes we've broken the field into 8 echelons, with just a dozen in front. Milne, Baldwin (Navs), Menzies and a teammate (AB/E), Brice Jones, Matty Rice, Mariano, Dave McCook, Patey (Jelly Belly), Jonathan Page (Colavita) and four of us Health Net pb Maxxis guys. High powered split! We go out to 1:40 lead before Milne stops pulling. A Jelly Belly guy flats, they quit pulling… the JB is back on and Greg absolutely rivets us all over a small climb. McCook and Rice go OTB (out the back)…there's a lot of arguing and gapping off of each other between Navs and us…and we're losing our hard earned gap rapidly. A period of rain coincides with the second sprint. Milne pumps me again and widens his lead by another 3 seconds. Teams McGuire Realty and Webcor Builders are hard at work in the second group welding the race back together.
Over the dirt roads now, and Greg has hit the wall. He's bonking (out of fuel) and I'm close to it as well. The groups are constantly reshuffling…not much is said as we all focus on figuratively holding the wheel of the guy ahead. A Penn Cycles local team mountain biker ringer, whose name I have forgotten but deserves mention, absolutely drills it over a 1500m dirt section and singlehandedly brings the group I'm struggling to hold on to in contact with a split I'd missed.
For the middle hour of the race I wonder how much damage I'm doing to my body; it's screaming at me and I'm really unable to hold the wheel in front. I call into my radio for ibuprofen anti-inflammatories, and our soigneur Debbie crushes 400mg into a bottle for me. Hope this works. The bottle goes down with a nasty taste. That feed zone precedes the finishing circuits by just a few km… good! Gord has gone up the road with powerhouses Menzies and Pate. Now I really have a reason to "sit" (not assist in pulling at the front).
Onto the circuits and Milne is running out of guys to control the race. Attacks from Brian Jensen, Aaron Olsen (Colavita), and Jonathan Page (Colavita) blow the remaining Navigator workers off the front, and the men in red pull away from us quickly. Milne tries to recruit me to help, since Page will overtake my 2nd on GC before threatening Milne's yellow jersey. I suggest Milne try attacking as the best defense. And he does, in a perfectly timed, powerful surge. As the one who suggested it, I'm well placed to follow. Nobody else can or will respond, and we're clear! Milne closes half the thirty second lead to Page, and I finish it off. We've now got 5 riders clear and 3 laps of the residential circuit to go.
It's great to go from total suffering just to hold a wheel on flat ground to feeling like a factor again. The muscles are still all out of balance but I can now manage the pain and with each successive lap I'm closer to getting a bottle of liquids at the finish. All five of us are totally dry, and there is no feed zone on this circuit. Each time past the finish line I'm looking jealously at the bottles an illegal feeder is handing up to a competing team, but I'm not so bad off as to risk a penalty.
Last lap. In the break Pate has attacked and established a ten bike length lead over Menzies and a further couple lengths to Fraser. It was definitely possible that the three could have rejoined one another, but the issue was settled for Pate definitively as a car following a lapped group decides to stop right in front of the Jelly Belly powerhouse on a descent. Gord said Pate was fully sideways and unclipped from his pedal, executing a full emergency evasive maneuver. After that Pate tried unsuccessfully to go solo on the last hill. Game over, chalk up another race win for The Gord.
I'm not interested in the minor placings but with the strange timekeeping we're experiencing here I ride 90 percent in the sprint. Page has jumped us but doesn't get clear; Jensen comes around to take 4th on the stage. He's so excited that he pumps a fist in the air…it would be silly for a pro rider but I'm happy for Jensen. It's a big result for him!
Young Milne has done a great job containing me today. He's kept the leader's jersey on one of the most epic race days of the year. Tomorrow I have one more chance to take it back… I'm hoping my injuries heal up enough to get some real power down on one of my favorite tough-man criterium courses of the year. If Milne can stay with me, he truly deserves the overall win. Until tomorrow, then!