What would camping be without Nutella?

  

Alex...fireman to be

  

While at home...

When you travel as much as I have in the last 8 months, you really appreciate your time at home. I leave again for Europe next week to prepare for the World Championships in Austria...until then I'm going to post some memories I've made over the last month with my family! This is Nini, my youngest nephew, at the playground in Elora. 

Until next year...

This is a shot of my team at the end of the Tour de Toona. We had a good race. Rachel finished 2nd in the QOM and 9th GC. Kate finished 10th GC. Brenda won the crit! This was my last race with Victory Brewing for this year - I can't believe how fast the season has gone! I'm now home (in my NEW home) preparing for Worlds. We leave for France on August 22nd. While there we'll race in three World Cups and finish in Austria with the World Championships on September 23rd. :-) 

What a Day!

So my camera was on the blink for a little while, but it's working again! Until I take more pictures, I thought I'd add in one about the day Jeff and I spent in Quebec City after Nationals. It's a beautiful place with so much to see - old buildings, forts, citadels, cafes, shops and lots of steps! We stayed with Jeff's relatives and were treated to incredible meals and lots of nice walks :). A big thank you to Pierre and Reina such wonderful hospitatlity! 

We're Moving!

Jeff and I will officially become "home owners" on July 10th! 

BRONZE medal at Nationals - Quebec City

It was raining, the race was delayed and it was going to get dark by the finishing laps, but this was Nationals - the race in which every woman on the start line strives to have the best race of her season!

Despite the omnious conditions, the women raced hard from the gun. Kirsten Robbins was shoulder to shoulder with Erinne Wilock at the front keeping the pace high and the peloton safe as we approached the sketchy descent to the St. Laurence River. On the first time up the Cote de Gilmour, Webcor began to fire a series of attacks. I kept a close eye on Erinne and Alex Wrubleski kept a close eye on everyone else! The climb begins with a steep slippery pitch that lasts about 700 m before turning and leveling out into a shallow grade that lasts another 700 m. It then continues as a false flat for about 1 km. (perfect for a break to get away!)

On lap two, Tara Ross attacked on the steep part of the climb initiating another series of attacks. By the end of it, a break of five riders escaped - Erinne Wilock, Anne Samplonious, Alex Wrubleski, Marni Hambleton, and myself. The break worked well together for the majority of the race, extending the gap to about 4 minutes by the finish. With 2 laps to go, I initiated an attack before the descent, which got a small gap, but was caught by the bottom. On the climb, Alex then surged ahead and got a small gap. Erinne, Anne and I chased to a point where we were confident we could hold Alex at bay until the base of the climb. Unfortunately, we timed it wrong. On the last time up the climb, I surged and dropped Erinne. Anne and I were left to try to close Alex's gap of 14 seconds before the finish line. With 800 m to go, Anne attacked and I blew. We finished Alex in first, Anne in second, and myself in thrid.

Meanwhile in the peloton, Merrill Collins broke free from group with 1 1/2 laps to go and finished 5th. Laura Yoisten finished 3rd in the group sprint, bringing her into 8th overall.

On a personal note, thank you for your emails/phone calls of congrats...this race was very important for me and my goal to make the Worlds team...it was really nice to have everyone's support!! :-)

Keeping the bed warm

Dougy's been keeping my side of the bed occupied while I've been away racing for the last 7 weeks. I'm home at last and preparing (read: resting) for Nationals next week in Quebec City! The time trial is Thursday June 29th and the road race is Friday June 30th. Looking forward to great racing and good times with Jeff and his family. 

Nature Valley

This was the view from inside the van one hour before the start of the criterium in the Nature Valley Stage race. If you look closely you can see the hail on the pavement! Minnesota tends to have a lot of thunderstorms around dinner time - this race has been rained on three years in a row! By the time we started, the rain had stopped, the volunteers had put the barriers back up and swept the corners of debris. Kat had an incredible race and finished 2nd!!!  

One of the Biggest Races of the Season

This Philadelphia classic has gone through many name changes; however, remains one of the most sought after titles for over 25 years! With all the atmosphere of a World Championship, it's an amazing race to be a part of. For this reason, the women's field always exceeds 140 starters! Unfortuantely, with that number of riders and their differeing levels of experience, crashes are practically guraranteed on the first lap. A number of our Victory riders (myself included) were caught behind one such crash; however, we were able to catch back on to the main peleton after a long hard chase effort. Our young rider Kim Geist won the Best Young Rider's award - maintaining Victory's hold on that very special title! 

T-town

I finally got to see the infamous track in Trexlertown, PA. This velodrome is a major hub of track racing in the US. It's quite a facility! Across the road is a 1.5 mile paved circuit for walkers, rollerbladers and cyclists. It too is very well planned and seems to work well for all who use it. 

Victory Brewing

After a 10 hour ride in the RV we've arrived in the home of our title sponsor - Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Bill and Ron (the owners of Victory Brewing) invited us for dinner at their restaurant. With the help of Bill's young daughters Audrey and Amanda, we were then shown how beer was made from "hops to bottle". It was a great meeting such down to earth, nice people! 

Craaaazy Crits!!!

Descending darkness, pot-holed strewn roads, and rain - none of these obstacles stopped Chrissy from placing 3rd in a very tough crit at the Tour de Montreal! 

Tour de Montreal

The Tour de Montreal is a premier cycling event in Canada beginning one day after the World Cup. As our Crit team is in the US with the team van, we were fortunate enough to borrow Lauren's parents' RV for this race! We began with a very technical 12 corner time trial that took us through the streets of Lachine. Rachel finished in 5th with myself, Krissy and Lauren close behind in the top 20. Yesterday was our first road race on the bumpy roads of Rigaud. Unfortuantely Rachel was taken out on a descent at 65 KPH! Fortunately she's one tough cookie, got back into the race and finished with the front group over the steep last climb. Today we have the evening crit in the Italian section of Montreal and tomorrow we finsh off with our final road race. 

My #1 Fans!

On very little sleep and a lot of adrenalin, my mom and her friend Winnie made the trek to Montreal this weekend to watch me race in the World Cup. Spectators at this race are a tough bunch, as they must hike up the mountain to see the start/finish. My mom and Winnie asked for directions up the mountain from a fitness-crazed Quebequois and were sent on a 2 hour hike up the trails of Mont Royale! They made it in plenty of time to cheer me (and the rest of my teammates) on as we crested the 2 km climb 11 times. After the race, the adventure for Winnie and my mom continued, including the services of helpful policemen and taxi drivers to find their car and then to find me in the maze of student housing. They truly are my #1 Fans! 

Once a cyclist always a cyclist!

This is my dad :-). We often meet for breakfast and this is his preferred method of travel...and not just on the nice days! My dad bikes to work in the winter too. He's an inspiration and I'm very proud to be his daughter! 

Yellow Jersey!

In a battle up Mount Nebo (one of the hardest climbs I've ever done) Rachel toughed it out against Alicia Lion to hold onto the yellow jersey! 

A Stage Win!

My first NRC stage win and this is the picture I thought best portrayed what was going through my head during the entire 4 1/2 hours of racing in 40 degree heat! It was a 93 mile race with three climbs. By the end of the third climb we had shrunk the group to eleven riders and moved Rachel into 1st GC. Our goal was to get someone off the front for a stage win, so we began to fire off a series of attacks coming into the finish. With 5km to go, I got a gap and gave it everything I had to make it over the finish line 30 seconds ahead of the group. Rachel took the group finish for 2nd and Tara took 3rd. The swim in this pool afterwards never felt so good! :-) 

Mike - always sticking up for the safety of the racers!

 

Andy and Chris

With 10 riders to look after, Mike recruited the help of his mentor Andy and our mechanic Chris. The three of them make sure we don't have to worry about anything but racing our bikes. We would certainly be at a loss without them! Thanks for everything guys!