Exciting Ardeche! (Summary)

We arrived in Lucca last night around midnight- after leaving Ardeche from the last stage and driving 7 hours. I slept in this morning and am exhausted. I finished reading my crappy book and took a nap. I now feel like I can FINALLY write a little about the experience! We had horrible internet and I had to write up a report on Holland (look for it as a rider diary on Cycling News), so did not have much energy before to even attempt to fight the connection problems and get to my blog.

Ardeche was another huge race for us. The team did great... again. We have been joking about how the National Team is riding so strong, people are going to start thinking that we are all dopers! HARDLY! Jim has done a great job with this program and we have some great talent that is coming together really well. Here is my version of Ardeche...

Stage one: it was mostly flat with a couple of climbs. We were going to try and get Kat to go for the sprint jersey and hope that I would make it for the finish. The race was all together still on the first climb when one of the motorcycles lost control and came crashing into our peloton. I was right behind it and so was Chrissy. It was terrifying to have the bike’s engine rev as it went sliding all the way across the peloton, cutting a swath of carnage as it took down probably a dozen riders. The sound was the worst: crashing motorcycle, bikes and a high pitched whine as the engine gunned. Seconds later, screams. Chrissy and Alison had both crashed and I stopped just in time. We were not going fast, thankfully, so it was not as bad as it could have been. I stopped and was making sure that Chrissy and Ali were OK, they were, and telling myself that the screams from other downed riders were just dramatic. I find that it is much easier on the psyche to not look and to just tell yourself that everyone is OK. Thankfully they all were OK. It scared us all. The crash was bad enough that the entire peloton stopped to make sure that everyone was not hurt and taken care of. We sat there in the middle of the road, drinking, peeing in the bushes and talking about how crazy that was and cursing the wreck-less driving of the motorbikes (that was not the only one that had caused problems of sorts). Shaken, but all in one piece, the peloton resumed after a 10-15 minute delay and finished the course in a bunch. Kat had taken the lead in the sprints and so the team shifted gears to working for me on the lead out. They did a great job- Kat taking over on the last 1k when one of the Raligh-Life Force riders attacked. I jumped hard to get on her wheel and dragged Dianne Zilute (Safi Pasta) behind me. I was feeling good and being patient when Zilute attacked at about 300m. I got on her wheel and was waiting to jump around her and waited too long. I did not see the finish line and did not see the finishing markers ticking down the meters. I was so bummed to have missed a win when the team had set me up so perfectly on the finish. They really did. The whole team was up there on the finish and we were driving it. We took control of the finish and out horse-powered the other lead-out trains that were struggling to assemble. I knew that I messed up the finish and was bummed- despite it being my best finish in Europe so far and I was pretty excited... it was still a bit of a bummer to not deliver when the team did such a good job. We did have a podium though- as Kat had taken the sprint jersey (purple and neon-pink diamonds) and I was in the point leader jersey as Zilute was in the leader jersey and so I was the second in line.

The next day was a double-day with a hill climb time trial in the morning and a road race with two cat 3 climbs and a cat 1 climb. I was really happy with how I did in the hill climb- it was a SUPER hard, steep and windy, climb of about 4 k, then 4 k of fast, very technical downhill. I am sure that the downhill saved me more than anything- I finished 24th- a really good finish for me in any time trial, especially one that goes uphill.

Later on that day, we headed out to the road race. Priority number one was to get Kat a bigger lead in the sprints. To do so, she needed to make it over the first two climbs. The team was to keep me in good position and I had to make it over the climbs to the finish, which Jim suspected would come back together. My sprint would come at 100k. I knew that the climbers were going to work for me and that it was my job to heft myself over that last 15k long climb in good position so that I did not let them down. I also had the first two climbs to contend with- I won’t lie... I was nervous.

Thankfully for me, the climbs were narrow roads which make it hard to move around. I am able to get good position in most pelotons, so I got up front so that I would be able to have the luxury of drifting back through the pack if need be and not get dropped. I was climbing strong and feeling good- especially at the pace that they set, so I did not slip back much at all. All of us made it over the first two climbs and I got to watch (saving for the finish) as Kat soundly won the sprints on the heals of another great lead-out by the team! They made it look easy to get up there and Kat made it look easy to deliver.

I fought hard to move up again and was psyching myself up for the big Cat 1 climb of 15k. I was expecting to be in a world of hurt and fighting to make my teammates sacrifices worthwhile. I moved up into good position and was once again saved by narrow roads that prevented a lot of attacks. Katheryn was up front and covered the first flurries of attacks at the base of the climb, but everyone sat up when one of the Spanish riders broke free and started riding solo up the road. There were 26k of downhill to the finish and it was windy. The climbers sat up and let her burn matches and ride alone. That was a blessing for me as I thanked the Spanish rider for each kilometer that I made it up the hill, feeling good and feeling like it was almost easy. The pace was not hard and I was in good position, so I did not have much work to do.

We hit the blistering fast downhill (strung out single-file the entire way down the mountain) and caught the Spaniard right away. There was a sprint at 96k and the finish at 100k (or thereabouts). Kat was not there. I saw her competitors for the sprint jersey moving into position and I started to worry. I heard the radio crackle looking for her and then some crackled reply. Turns out that on the downhill, her chain had dropped and she and Chrissy had stopped and were chasing. We were getting close to the sprint line- 1k to go, when all the sudden, Kat and Chrissy came up the left side of the pack, moved into position and Ali and Katheryn moved forward... Kat took the last sprint! I moved up and now we had our lead-out set. It was windy, that mysterious kind of wind that is somehow always in your face no matter how the road turns, and we set up a bit early. It was hard work to even sit on the wheels of my teammates as they wound up the pace. I saw 3k to go and we were already going hard. “OK guys, 3k to go” “NO, that was 5k!”... “5k?”... “Yes, 5k”... “uh, OK guys, 5k to go. You are doing great!” SHIT. I had misread the marker and was already working hard. The team was working much harder. Naturally, with the wind, the pace and the length of the lead-out, we could not stay up there all day. I watched heroic pull after heroic pull by my teammates, who would then drift back, catch their breath and get up there again. Kat was our last wheel and I saw the 2k mark and a small hill, felt the head wind and yelled up to her to hang on, to hold it steady- that she was the last. The radio crackled and Kat called for reserves. Next thing I knew, Alison mustered up another rush of energy and came up front for her last effort. We were approaching the 1k to go mark and Kat and Alison were both done- doing a great job and keeping me safe and now officially blown. Now it was my turn to fight for myself in the last stretch and the field was starting to swarm since the speed came down. Not good. Then, I heard my name and saw Katheryn come flying up on the right. I did not hesitate and got on her wheel. She mustered her last pull after two hard, red-lined efforts several kilometers earlier. She brought the pace back up, kept me safe and lead me through the last corner 600m before the finish exactly where I wanted to be. I was patient and looking at the markers- when I saw 200m, I gave it everything and dug hard to keep Zilute from coming around me. In the end I won- my first European win. Kat was again the sprinter jersey. (Side note: you should read Kat’s diary about the race when it is published on Cycling news and she will tell you about me accidentally taking her sprint jersey in the podium... I had already taken my stage win jersey and was sitting and nursing my fizzy water to the side of the podium. I heard them blabbing in incomprehensible french and heard “blah blah blah MEEEEELLAAAARRRRRR!!!” (That is Miller in French- or so I have come to learn) They were pointing at me, and I had heard my name. I gestured and looked puzzled. They again pointed and so I rushed out there, wondering what the purple and pink jersey was for. I pulled the jersey on, confused, but waving emphatically in the thrill of the moment- only as I walked back to Kat did I realize that I had made a mistake! They had called “Kathrine MEEEELLLLLLAAARRRRR” and had pointed at me... Kat took it in stride and has been making a lot of fun of me. She does a great job impersonating me waving at “my adoring fans”... A fan even came up to me the next day with a picture of me in the wrong jersey, asking for an autograph!)

Stage 4 we knew would be hard- it was the GC climber stage and Katheryn was our girl for the day. We started with 26 k of flat, including a sprint to set up Kat and then it was pure climbing hell from then on out. For a change, since I was not saving energy for the finish, I got to be part of the lead-out. Chrissy got up front at the 1k to go mark and went hard. At 500m, I jumped and was going as hard as I could and reveled when Kat jumped around around me and soundly won yet another sprint! What was even more fun was looking back at how much we had blown apart the field with our fast lead out into the sprint- they were way back there! It was fun.

Ali had been attacking hard on the flats, hoping to get a break off, but the whole peloton seemed to have that same plan and so the pace was blistering and nothing would stick. Riders were constantly attacking and attacking hard- only to be caught time and time again. As we headed into the climb, we heard bad news on the radio- Ali’s leg was hurting and she pulled out. When she had crashed with the motorcycle, she had hurt her leg and it was catching up to her.

My story from that stage is of me bonking and cracking on that first climb. Kat was taking care of me and leading me up the climb. I had not eaten enough (forgot, as I was not hungry on the flat part) and had chills. And it was a HELLISH hill. I kept looking up and thinking that we were at the top when I would see another steep pitch. I had first thought that we were at the top when we still had 3k left. Chrissy rode most of the race with me after I could not longer stay with Kat and in the end, we regrouped- beaten, hurt, fatigued, and just dead to the world. We limped back to the car and found Katheryn... “how’d it go?”... “uh it went OK. I got fourth” “FOURTH?!?!?!?!!!?” It was SO exciting! How Katheryn did it, I can only shutter to imagine- Fabiana Luperini (Italian National Champ) and this Spanish vapor of a woman, Maribel Moreno Allue (the Spanish National Champ) had attacked on that brutal and purely hellish climb-- while I was back trying hard to remember that there is no crying in bike racing, Katheryn was attacking the chase group and in no man’s land, chasing two of the top climbers in the world. She was in a solo chase for a long time until she was joined by two other riders on the Chirio team. (I am not fond of this team: I had watched earlier as one of their riders heard a crash, looked back and then attacked. I don’t like racing like that and don’t respect that). Katheryn battled the two of them all race, in the end, taking fourth behind Clemilda Fernandes of Chirio and moving to fourth in the GC.

Stage 5 was another hellish hilly day and this time, I was prepared. Our plan was for Katheryn to do her job and for the three of us to stick together. The race started out on a Cat 1 climb- we could barely clip in because it was so steep where we started- and so we just were racing for the time cut while Katheryn was to race to keep her spot in the GC and keep her eyes open for any opportunities. For the three of us, we were doing a looonnnnggg (117k) recreational ride and had packed a “picnic”. Instead of just race food, we had sandwiches stowed away in our jersey pockets! NO BONKING this time! It was gorgeous- really beyond description and we did enjoy the day, despite being utterly exhausted by the end from 4 hours in the saddle.

Katheryn had a rather un-eventful race. The two race leaders had attacked and Erin Willock from the Canadian National team jumped up to them. Katheryn did not go since she did not want to drag riders to Erin. The pack did not race hard and Katheryn tried hard to stay awake. There were no changes in the GC that day for us and nothing too exciting to report. Except that I was officially really, really tired.

Stage 6 was a circuit: we were doing 6 laps and we knew that there were two climbs on each lap. None of us had done this course before and we had originally thought that it would come down to a field sprint since the finish was windy and technical and we expected the race to regroup.

Our thoughts changed quickly when we went up the climb for the first time... holy hell! It was 2k of super steep and (to be redundant in describing this race in general) hellish. There was a lot of wind out there too and it was clear that there would definitely not be a bunch sprint finish. I joked to Zilute (super cool rider and another friendly face in the peloton) that we were not getting our bunch finish that we had toasted to at a BBQ the night before. She is a good climber, so she managed to get to the finish anyway.

It was an epic day though- we headed into the day with Kat already a lock for the sprint jersey. Her biggest threat to it had been time-cut the day before. (Made me realize that I have gotten a whole lot stronger on my climbing that I was not worried about being time cut... baby steps). Katheryn was in fourth in the GC and that alone was exciting. We were hoping that I could get to the finish to pick up another stage win, but that was our big goal. When we saw the hill, that goal was altered a bit... it would have been very hard for me to make the final selection. On the first lap- Kat saw a great opportunity and attacked as we headed into the windy roads of the town. She was quickly out of sight and had a great gap right away, after catching people off guard and attacking on the downhill. It was a brilliant move- early, with 72k left in the race, but a brilliant move. I was up front and saw two riders trying to bridge, then a flurry of other riders trying to make the cut. I saw everyone else come back and heard Jim radio to Kat that the two were right behind her. She had a minute.

We headed into the third lap and she had two minutes on the field. I knew my job... I got to the front to set the pace on the climb! Two jobs in one: 1. slowed the field way down- it was about as wide as a bike path and hard to get past me and 2. put me in position to make it over the hills. First time in my life that it was good that I am not a fast climber- the gap went from 2 minutes to 3! I was proud! And I felt good too, since I climbed nice and easy up the hill. Piano, piano!

Kat continued to hammer away and get a bigger and bigger gap as the field was trying to decide what to do. They were not going to chase. Luperini had tried to go, but was brought back. A flurry of other riders tried to go and were brought back. I hung on and was dropped on the fourth climb, clawed my way back only to be dropped again on the fifth. Clawed my way back to be dropped a final time on the second hill on the fifth lap. Meanwhile, going into the last climb on the last lap, the field split. The Canadians helped Katheryn when they realized that Clemilda was caught behind the split and they worked with her to help put time on the Chirio rider currently sitting in third place in the GC. All the while, I heard Jim on the radio telling Kat that she was doing great and past the hardest part. I was picturing her sprinting against her two break-mates and beating them to the line.

As soon as I crossed the finish, I turned to find out if Kat won... knowing that she was on the podium- finishing no less than third, but believing that she should have won, and probably did. Right away, I found Laura (our soignier) and she said that Kat won... by over 3 minutes! I had figured that she attacked the group she was with... until I found out that they had never made it to her! She was solo the entire time!!!!! It was amazing. I could hardly believe it! The two riders could not make it to her and she kept pushing and pushing hard. I was thrilled!!!! Then the next big news.... Kathryn had pushed Clemilda off the podium! She had taken over third place after putting enough time on her with the finish!!! Especially given how I felt about that team and their racing ethics- I could not have been more thrilled! WOW! Here, our scrappy little team of 5 went into this race, had a second place, two stage wins, a sprint jersey AND third overall! Talk about exceeding expectations!