Joe Martin Stage Race!

Wow! what an amazing turn-out for the virtual Joe Martin stage race!  The line up was stacked with Olympians, Ex-Olympians, National Champions, and generally strong riders. 

Stage 1: Individual Time Trial. The time trial was on the much loved and much hated Bologna course :) It's flat for the first few KMs and then straight up for the last two KM. It ends up that you spend 50% of the time on the flat and 50% on the climb.  At my weight the strategy was clear: pace the flats and hammer the hill. I would need to really hit the hill hard if i wanted to place well. I had it all planned out with time split goals ... and then it happened. They changed the type of race at the last minute. Instead of the traditional TT setup, it was a mass start, with no splits. So i set up my Garmin head unit to read from the Kickr while i used my Garmin pedals to power my bike on Zwift. I'd have to try to track my own splits. It kinda worked out. haha. I did pace on the flats, and perhaps a touch too much ... I totally ignored everyone around me and just stared at watts, targeting about 221, which is a touch under my FTP.  and then i got to the hill, and hammered up at 250+ (about 5.1w/kg).  I think i was in 50th at the bottom of the hill .. and about 35th at the top.  The top girls pushed 5.9w/kg for about 15 min (the full TT). Holy crap. I was happy with my 4.8 w/kg :)

Stage 2: Road Race. Well, this was interesting. We were supposed to have a moment of silence at the start (for 1 min) and then a neutral rollout for 1km.  The moment of silence worked well. the rollout .... not so much.  Someone didn't get the memo and there were several riders pushing the pace off the front. I stayed around 2w/kg until the 1km mark and then sprinted to catch the main pack. ouch!  After that it was chaos and watt bomb thru the hill Titan's Grove, and then chill in the desert./flats.  I stuck with the top group (averaging 4w/kg)!  Very fun race! the end was interesting too. it was supposed to end at the top of a hill, but instead we had to sprint down the other side. I hesitated and it cost me. I was 9th.

Stage 3: Crit. Crits always hurt, and this was no exception. The course was relatively flat with the exception of a 1-2-3 punch where there were three short steep hills in a row with no recovery in between. I was happy to hang with the front group to the end and even took a QOM on one of the short hills. in the final 1-2-3 punch i just didn't have it. I gave everything for 12th place.


It was an incredible experience to get to race alongside (even virtually) such a strong field of women!

Tour of the Gila 2020 - virtual stage race on Zwift

Tour of the Gila ... Wow! what a cool experience! It was so fun to get to race against such a strong field of riders ... in my own house!  I raced as part of team Revo, which is a great group of girls  - find out for yourself and meet the team here.

Day 1 - Team Time Trial.  Turns out you have to practice these things :) That said, the girls did awesome! we worked together pretty well, though we could have done with some practice. You can check out the footage here (general race footage) or  here (my team via my avatar).  Team Revo was 6th!


Day 2 - Circuit Race.  This was a fun course with lots of little kickers and real climbs.  We ended on a flat with an all out sprint where I snagged 6th!  you can watch me and my avatar here

Day 3 - Mountain Stage. This was so hard and so fun! it finished on the top of a long 20 min climb where i came in 8th overall. you can watch me and my avatar here


It was such a great experience, and I got 8th overall in the Tour. i'm already getting excited about the next one - The Joe Martin Stage race in June!

So it's been a while ...

It's been a while! Life has been full ... full of joy, building a family, and growing as a person and an athlete.  Our little family is complete with 3 wonderful girls ages 3, 5, and 9!   As the girls are growing i've had time to get back into riding and am starting to race more seriously again. I've never really stopped riding and racing ... but this is the first season in a very long time that i'm feeling close to race shape again!

The year started off really well ... I won all 5 of the Budu Races in the Open category, posting the fastest female times in all five races!  I was gearing up for the NWEpic Series with an eye on the USA Marathon Nationals. The future of racing (for 2020) is uncertain but i'm still in the game. Literally.

I found this online racing and riding program called Zwift last October. What a find! I stumbled upon a woman's team and a great group of riders there. it's been amazing for my racing and fitness.  I lead a weekly ride which is super fun.  Through the woman's team i have been invited and participated in several 'invite only' Pro races on Zwift. You line up against the best in the world. It's intense! My best finish of the 5 races I did was 15th, and I was super happy with that :) I even started a YouTube channel to stream the races!

The USAC has moved their races to Zwift as well and I've got my eye on them. Until we race outside, I will leverage Zwift to maintain my fitness and and feed my  racing appetite. And i'll use the trails on our property to keep my trail skills in check :)