| Author | Post |
|---|
chapco
Administrator
| Joined: | Thu Dec 21st, 2006 |
| Location: | Outer Space |
| Posts: | 135 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: |    |
|
Posted: Wed Jul 9th, 2008 11:04 pm |
|
I saw little Ryan racing Cascade classic today.
80 mile stage through the high desert (and it was hot today). They got stopped behind the mens pro field that had a bad crash so I can only imagine they were baking out there.
Ryan finished the stage and looked pretty good today for such a brutal event. Lets hope she cools down and gets lots of rest.
Attachment: Ryan.jpg (Downloaded 115 times) Last edited on Wed Jul 9th, 2008 11:06 pm by chapco
|
Girl Ryan
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Wed Jul 9th, 2008 11:13 pm |
|
So I am going to give a super short synopsis of today's events:
Its freggin HOT up here today and the race was 80 miles in the desert with a little in a really nice canyon. It is in the upper 90's and super super dry so hydration is key...well my race was sorta pure luck for me today (and my "ability to endure" as the race flyer says for todays stage..) Basically there was one climb in the middle of the stage, and the climb sorta reminded me a bit of Wente but not quite as steep. Boy those NRC girls can go fast up those things... I got popped out the back with a few others and at the top of the climb the entire womens field was standing in the road w/the entire caravan (hmm...are they waiting for me.. hehe) Well turns out there was a nasty crash in the men's field involving a cattle grate and a moto which forced a guy to be airlifted out... I hope he is going to be ok. BUT the ladies race stopped for about 20 min or so (at least) standing in this heat... yuck! So they re-started the race w/the same breaks that came out of the climb, and it started like a crit... WHAMO we were gonna catch those breaks in the last 30 or so miles... and we did. I was just tucked in staying out of the wind in the long field that was totally strung out for the entire 2nd half of the race so when we came back into town we had to go up this "hill" which had the finish at the top. This thing was brutal after going balls out for 79 miles and we had to do this 1 mile super HOT steep climb.... whoa... there was serious carnage!!! I decided to just go my pace darnit and I ended up right behind the main pack in the front and ended up passing Brooke Miller herself... although she is more of a sprinter and she had done a bunch of work and all that stuff.... but still..... I was a little happy deep down inside  She is a stud for sure...
So now I am going to take a nap and see if I can do this stuff all over again tomorrow.... I am on vacation after all....
Cant wait to race w/you gals again soon... I miss my team mates!!!!
|
natasha
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Sat May 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 231 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 04:07 am |
|
Way to go little Ninja!!!! I was thinking about you all day - checked NOAA for the weather report this morning for Bend and saw it was gonna be hot, hot, hot. Congrats on a great finish for the first stage! I'm here pullin' for you in Santa Cruz!!! I did have a lot of fun doing Cascade - mostly b/c of the fabulous beer pubs...mmmm
Keep sending us the updates!
Here's to happy legs Natasha
|
velobella
Administrator
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 04:43 pm |
|
| GO RYAN!!!
|
TNelson
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 04:51 pm |
|
i bet you are loving having 2 water bottle cages!!!!
go ryan go!
|
Girl Ryan
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 11:20 pm |
|
Day 2:
1. I LOVE having 2 water bottle cages
2. I LOVE having an all carbon bike now for long bumpy days
3. I LOVE big fields to hide in...
4. The beer here in bend is superb 
The start today was like a 1 min bike ride from the house I am staying at... so I show up at like 10 min til start all comfey and ready... sign in and line up. Today's stage was again going to be long with some climbing and especially a lot of climbing at the end of the stage. My goal was to stay w/the group to the base of the last climb and ride my own pace up the finish climb. This was a tough goal because in the middle of the stage they had a KOM hill that was not super long... but a good leg burner so If I made it over w/the group then I am happy and golden to the finish.
So we start the race and w/in the first 1 mile the attacks start flying left and right over these big rollers on the way out of town (ouch... this is gonna be a LONG day). We spent the first hour and a half just suffering and I never even got a chance to drink, but FINALLY a good break w/all the major teams represented got away... except the yellow jersey was still in our group (I was confused) so Molly w/the Minties gave me some insight... the girls up the road were not too high on the GC and Kristin Armstrong (the yellow jersey) did not have to worry too much and the group got shut down for the middle of the race (YIPEE!!)
After about an hour or so of chillin it got super windy and we started getting strung out again.. it was time to move up to that break... I got popped off the back in the feed zone because I needed like 2 new bottles and the neutral guys are hard to spot... plus for some reason the group seems to go faster through the feed so its like furious trying to fight your way to a bottle then sprint back up to the group. Well I was not alone and a nice big ol tibco powerhouse brought me back up to the group (cuz Im smart like that)..
So we made it to the base of the climb and I remember the race profile in my mind... long and steep at the end. So I made up my mind to do my own tempo... and that is what I did.... so I was on my own at 10 k to go and was spinning fairly well waiting for it to get steeper.... any minute... its gonna get steeper.... um where is the steep part... 5 k to go.... ok it has to get steeper up here... NOPE it was a super gentle climb!! DANg It!!! I should have stayed w/the group longer (when am I gonna learn) but in the mean time I did spin up nicely and picked off a couple girls on the way and I feel ok for doing it.
So sorry about the long winded description but day 2: OVER
Tomorrow uphill TT (goal: get through it so I can ride in a dang crit already!)
Ryry
|
Girl Ryan
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 11:22 pm |
|
PS still trying to decide which is harder Kern or Cascade
Kern's courses are way more brutal
The weather in bako is way hotter (98 here does not feel as hot as 98 in Bako for some reason)
Its way prettier here...
so right now I am saying Kern is way harder
|
LLLocke55
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Fri Dec 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Berkeley, California |
| Posts: | 350 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 11:28 pm |
|
| Go Ryan! Keep those reports coming.
|
natasha
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Sat May 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 231 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Thu Jul 10th, 2008 11:56 pm |
|
Another day of GREAT riding! I love reading your race reports, keep'em coming!
Having done Cascade and Kern - Cascade is FUN, but hard. Kern, well, Kern cracked me and cracked me good. Plus they are missing brew pubs on every corner.
You have me fired up for Cascade next year!!! Thanks for the inspiration And triple yay for the new bike!!!!
|
velobella
Administrator
|
Posted: Fri Jul 11th, 2008 12:14 am |
|
| Thanks for these updates!
|
marjamison
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Mon Oct 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | Reno |
| Posts: | 70 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Fri Jul 11th, 2008 12:59 am |
|
| What a stud.
|
Girl Ryan
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Sat Jul 12th, 2008 05:40 am |
|
Day 3: TT and Crit
TT: Well.... not too much to update y'all on the TT... I am not a TT person, I dont practice my tt and I never ride a tt bike.... so.. yeah. Interestingly enough I was barely able to squeak by the time cut (time thrown down by kristin armstrong the winner was unreal....). So yeah, I did it
Crit: Our crit started at 5:45 PM which was sort of fun because the lighting was perfect and the crowds were wonderful. They ended up not keeping the time cut for the crit and let everyone race, but the field was huge. Unfortunately I wanted to take a quick lap to check out the course and ended up lining up at the back of the pack  bummer because when the whistle goes its balls out strung out. So gaps were opening up and I spent the fist 20 min just moving up, moving up wherever I could and I did fairly well. My legs were feeling good (amazingly) and I was burying myself to pick off people. Finally some team members (I wont name the team) had their gc person toward the front so in the middle three of them got together and let a gap open up just a little bit.... and on this course that is all one has to do. Unfortunately I was behind them so I got behind this huge gap that opened up and suddenly there were like 3 other girls with me drilling it so we took turns rotating and pushing sooo hard to try and stay in to make the time cut ... and we did but unfortunately we ended up getting pulled and it looked like the rest of the race there were like 30 girls left of the 80 that started. Wow.... If only I had been up in front of the split but my start position was soo horrible and I could not pick off 60 girls in 20 minutes..... especially when we are single file. So it was a fun crit... I am feeling good and I was amazed at how many super strong girls did not finish it. Just goes to show how strong some of these Olympic level riders are..... they are amazing.
Ok time to hit the hay so hopefully tomorrow will be a good day (long climbing road race) and I will let y'all know what happens.
Last edited on Sat Jul 12th, 2008 05:43 am by Girl Ryan
|
natasha
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Sat May 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 231 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Sat Jul 12th, 2008 02:43 pm |
|
Congrats on surviving the TT - and you finally got to the fun part, the crit!
Bummer on the late line up, but it sounds like you were navigating through the pack really well. That is a tough course to close gaps on - especially w/ such a big field. 80 riders is a lot!!!!
I hope you have fun on the RR today!!! We're thinking about ya
|
Girl Ryan
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 02:02 am |
|
Day 4: My last day.
Well today was my last day... I was unable to finish this road race, but it has been a good adventure! We started on a hill.... Ms. Armstrong wanted to keep the tempo high.. and we tempo'd the climb from the parking lot... My legs stung sooo much from the crit and I just got popped off at the top but was able to chase back on... then a loooong descent before some windy flat stuff which I was able to hang in no problem. Then before the first feed zone the road started to go up again and the attacks were going.... I was so done... my legs did not want to turn the pedals any more and I got popped off w/ several others and at this point I ended up by myself with like 40 miles to go and an approx 20km climb up mt. bachelor at the end... I did not want to do this all by myself and I called it. The sag wagon was on my tail and the poor guy would have had to follow me all the way to the end (and at this point it would have taken me a while..) So I hopped in and called it quits for my race. I gave it a good try and this field was fast and furious, so I am happy for doing as well as I did
Next race: SLO Crit... who wants to join me?
|
Miss Mary
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 03:26 am |
|
hey ryan, you did a great job! thanks for the race updates!
-mm
|
TNelson
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 04:07 pm |
|
good job, ryan! you hung in there through what sounded like some pretty damn tough racing. you're probably all super-pro strong now and stuff.
bring on the SLO crit! woot-woot!
|
natasha
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Sat May 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 231 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 07:47 pm |
|
I soooo remember that starting hill on the RR. I couldn't believe how fast they flew up...and it sounds like it was the same game plan this year. Not to mention that for a lot of them this is about their zillionth stage race of the season.
Congrats for racing sooo many days in a row. Now you get to drink beer!!!!
Enjoy the rest of your vacation in Bend
|
Girl Ryan
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 08:11 pm |
|
Thanks for the kind words....
OH YEAH one thing I forgot to mention (i feel so lame about this...) TYLER WON THE CRIT!!! He has not had a win in like 4 years and his field was 70 strong.... It was awesome to see him overtake the other sprinters on the finishing straight....
|
natasha
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Sat May 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 231 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 08:15 pm |
|
| WOW!!!!!! That is SO fantastic! Tell him congrats - that is a super impressive win. The slackers don't show up for Cascade, that's for sure. Woooohoooo!!!!!
|
Miss Mary
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 08:51 pm |
|
way to go tyler! send him my best! and have a mirror pond for me!!!!!
-mm
|
velobella
Administrator
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 11:14 pm |
|
Girl Ryan wrote: Thanks for the kind words....
OH YEAH one thing I forgot to mention (i feel so lame about this...) TYLER WON THE CRIT!!! He has not had a win in like 4 years and his field was 70 strong.... It was awesome to see him overtake the other sprinters on the finishing straight....
hell yeah! that makes me happy
|
velobella
Administrator
|
Posted: Sun Jul 13th, 2008 11:14 pm |
|
Girl Ryan wrote: Thanks for the kind words....
OH YEAH one thing I forgot to mention (i feel so lame about this...) TYLER WON THE CRIT!!! He has not had a win in like 4 years and his field was 70 strong.... It was awesome to see him overtake the other sprinters on the finishing straight....
hell yeah! that makes me happy
|
TNelson
VB Team Member
|
Posted: Mon Jul 14th, 2008 12:00 am |
|
AAAAAAH! I'm so excited for Tyler!!! He must have been wearing white socks or something.
I hope he drank some extra beers for the win. I can't wait to hear about it!
|
bunny
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Mon Jan 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 362 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Mon Jul 14th, 2008 02:52 am |
|
so cool!
we heard Tyler crashed at Davis and were worried about him but obviously he is just fine!!
soni
and awesome job to you representing the bellas at the big race!
|
LLLocke55
VB Team Member
| Joined: | Fri Dec 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Berkeley, California |
| Posts: | 350 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
| Frizzle-frazzle: | |
|
Posted: Mon Jul 14th, 2008 03:23 am |
|
| yay to Tyler and yay to Ryan..good week of racing.
|
Current time is 04:16 am | |
|
