Team IE Bikes

January 21, 2010: Elfin Forest XC mtb race and “Keeping It Real”

Race report by Angela

Whenever I start feeling a little cocky, life has a way of bringing me back to reality. I have to confess, I’d been sorta pleased with myself after the Balboa Park and Santa Cross races. I’d kicked some arse, my wattage was up, and hot damn, I was feeling en fuego. That should have been the warning that reality was about to strike.

The Elfin Forest race course was brutal. It was a 5.5 mile lap and the Cat 1s and pros were doing 3 laps. [In mtn bike racing, a Cat 1 is not the same thing as a pro. Cat 1 is “expert”, pro is…well, pro]. I know 16.5 miles of racing doesn’t sound like much, but each lap had 1,100 feet of climbing with some seriously steep grades (up to 25%). It was straight up and straight down, and the descents were fairly technical.

Rhonda was there as well, but she was still under the weather from the cold she’d had since before Balboa Park. She was hacking pretty bad, but determined to race. She promised to see a doc after the weekend. We lined up in decent position with the rest of the Cat 1 and Pro racers. The gun went off and the pack of racers headed to the first test, a steep degraded fireroad climb. Not a lot of bumping and grinding to report….mtn bike racers are fairly civilized. Two pro ladies passed me, but I didn’t want to blow up and so I let those wheels go. Then halfway up the fireroad, a Cat 1 lady (my category) passed me. This was unacceptable, so I ramped it up and passed her back. After a 5-second descent, it was on to the next test – an even steeper paved climb. I dieseled up it and passed both of the pro ladies, managing to fend them off on the following singletrack climb as well. Shortly into the first descent, one of the pro ladies passed me. A little while later, the Cat 1 lady went by who’d passed me on the hill. There wasn’t a lot I could do about that – I was at the limit of my ability. Not a minute later, I went by the Cat 1 gal. She’d crashed and was getting back on her bike.

After that, the race was all about trying to maintain position, not crash out, and hopefully catch the pro lady down the road. I kept seeing her about a minute in front of me and did some serious ass busting to try and make up time on the climbs. At the start of the last lap, she looked back while on the fireroad climb and saw me, and started working noticeably harder, but didn’t gain any ground. This gave me some hope and I started putting a little time into her. Then on the steep paved climb, she looked back at least 4 times, and got out of the saddle really getting after it. At this point, I thought “she is MINE”! Sure enough, she blew herself up. I passed her before the singletrack climb and kept her behind me. However, she passed me back a few minutes into the descent. I wasn’t gonna crash out trying to catch this chick who wasn’t in my category. I still had some hope – I kept seeing her just a few seconds in front of me, so there was a chance that I could reel her in on the fireroad just before the final technical descent. If I was able to get in front of her, I wasn’t above trying to hog the trail to take the overall female win. Unfortunately, she crashed out maybe a minute later and was unable to finish the race, which totally sucks. At first there was rumor that she’d broken her collar bone, but later the verdict was that she was scuffed up. Definitely not the way I wanted to take the overall. Rhonda hung in there for a fourth place finish despite being sick. She did finally go see the doc, and come to find out had bronchitis! She is such a trooper for doing that race!

So other than the ladies crashing, this all sounds great, right? Took the win and beat a couple of pros too. Now comes the “keeping it real” part. The next day I went for a mountain bike ride with some friends that I haven’t ridden with in awhile. They proceeded to show me how a mountain bike is supposed to be ridden! I felt like a novice trying to keep up with them going up, over, around, and down the stuff that they were riding! My favorite part was when we stopped to check out a manmade jump – somebody had built a ramp over a log with a sketchy landing on the other side and trees to run into if you missed. While we were looking at it, three teenage boys on downhill rigs with full face helmets and body armor came by. They looked at it as well and then made the jump. Then one of the guys in our group – a Navy SEAL and kick ass at everything guy – proceeded to calmly ride the jump on a cross country bike, regular helmet, no body armor, and made it look like BUTTER. Then later they took me down something called “Blood Alley”, and they were so happy and carefree going down a descent that absolutely deserved it’s name! I came away with a good ass whupping, healthy meal of humble pie, and a great wake up call that I’m going to have to knuckle down a little more if I want to see any results this season.

January 18, 2010: Balboa Park mtb race and Santa Cross CX race

race report by Angela

Rhonda and I did a mountain bike race in Balboa Park on December 19 - it was a blast! Who would have guessed that you could put together such a fun course in the middle of San Diego. They used every ounce of single track that they could wring out of the park. It was a short course (only 5 miles) and not a lot of climbing, so we did 4 laps. Glad we didn’t do more - we’d still be dizzy! They started us off with an extra half-lap on the flats, to spread out the racers before hitting the single track. That worked really well - it was “game on” from the gun. They started all the expert racers together in one big group. This was cool because it allowed us to duke it out with the guys on even footing.  Both Rhonda and I had great finishes - I took first and also beat over half of the Cat 1 men, and Rhonda took 3rd with a strong finish.

As soon as the race ended, I hightailed it for Santa Barbara to meet my friend Heather. She plied me with margaritas…evil wench! :) Hard race, lots of tequila, not enough food…it was a winning combo for the “perfect hangover”. Anyway, she kicked her boyfriend out for a few hours so that we could catch up, and we gabbed until I passed out.

Sunday morning….off to the cyclocross races!!! I seriously think Heather had ulterior motives pouring all those margs into me! :) We picked up Somersby Jenkins, who needed a carpool, and headed off in the RAV4. The course was crazy ass hard! Lots of off-camber dirt, three long steep climbs and one steep run-up, plus another very short very steep loose little climb, one little dropoff, and lots of tight turns. The only pavement was the start/finishing stretch. It was a kick ass course. I was woefully undergeared, out of the saddle on every climb, but at least my cross bike had been fixed so that I didn’t have the chain drop problems.

I did both the 3/4/35+ race and the pro/2/3 race. I’ve never had so much fun at a race! The competition was fierce in both races! We were cutting each other off in the corners, diving for the inside line, banging bars…it was sweet! The 3/4/35+ field was huge, over 30 ladies, with several recently crowned masters state champions and the cat 3 state champ wearing her “state champion” skinsuit. But the win came down to me and Somersby. She was riding my wheel on the flats - a friend of mine kept yelling “Angie, don’t let her ride your wheel!” But I didn’t want her in front of me, and I didn’t want to slow down for fear somebody would catch us. I figured I’d pull her the whole lap, then hit the dirt drop and pavement first and be sprinting for the line before she was off the dirt drop. It worked exactly that way! She wasn’t able to go around me on the last climb and I took the inside line on the downhill so the drop and the finish line were mine. Afterwards I told my buddy “she’s 18 and she carpooled with me! What was I supposed to do? Brake check her?!!?” His buddies thought that was funny, but seriously! Heather had a great race too, so we were all pretty happy.

The pro/2/3 race was also fun. Not as big a field, only 12 of us. I was pretty pooped but told myself I could drop out after two laps. But…adrenalin took over and it was just so much fun! These girls were every bit as cutthroat as the ladies in the first race. I was coming up on this pro on one of the steep climbs. I said “on your left” as I started going around her, and she came over on me! I threw an elbow, then we started leaning into each other. It was a monkey knife fight! I was undergeared and in the rough, so I couldn’t make it around her - we bumped hips and rubbed shoulders and struggled for position the whole way up the climb, but she made over the top first. But then on the fast off camber left turn on the descent, she pulled a foot out and slowed down, and I dove in front of her! Never saw her again. I was outgunned by the first and second place ladies, but duked it out for awhile with several ladies before the eventual third place girl got away. Wound up with fourth place and have now catted up to a 2, so I’d better work on my mounts and dismounts.

October 25, 2009: Sunday Oct 18th. First Race Tom’s Farm Time Trial

Race report by Verna

Doing this race was a very last minute decision. I raced Fiesta Island the previous weekend and got second place. Not bad for having a mechanical and almost missing my start time!  I had no idea that there was a So Cal Time Trial Series, but my 2nd place at Fiesta Island gave me 4 points and I was tied for second after two races. When I found this out I decided to do the next race in the series which was Tom’s Farm. The only problem was I was already registered to do a track race later that day.

I had done Tom’s Farm TT back in September so knew what I was in for.  It’s an 8.5 mile course with a half mile climb right near the start and rolling for rest of it. I showed up right at 7 as I wanted to have an early start time to have as much time possible between my TT and the track race.  I am still getting the hang of proper TT warm ups but it’s getting better every time,  I spent nearly an hour on the trainer warming up.  I was the second rider sent off and I passed the first rider with in a few minutes.   TTs are such a mental challenge,  I knew there were a few downhills where I would spin out so I really tried to focus on suffering as much as I could when I wasn’t going down hill.  I would get out of the saddle and hammer up the rollers and notice my speed would drop instantly.  If I can learn to climb in the aero bars I can be faster.  Once or twice I caught myself thinking that I had a second race to do and I should hold back.  I quickly erased those thoughts and pushed harder, knowing that was just an excuse to stop the pain.   I was hurting pretty bad by the end and could barely keep my bike upright after crossing the finish line.  Just how the end to a TT should feel.

Over all time was 24:21 and an ave speed of 21.2 mph.  Good enough for second place out of 6 women and 4 more points in the So Cal TT Series.  I have been 2nd place the last 4 TTs I have done (Piru, Tom’s Farm, Fiesta Island, Tom’s farm) One of my goals for 2010 is to win a time trial!

As soon as results were posted I hopped in the car and drove off to the Encino Velodrome for an Omnium.  I set up my TT bike on the trainer for keeping warmed up between races and put on my warm up gear. (I used an 88” for warm up, a 90” for the races. Looking back I wish I had gone smaller). It was an open category race and it was a pretty strong field for late in the season.   Hanan from Pro Man came down from Hellyer and I knew she was going to kill it!  I’m still pretty new to track racing and there’s so much strategy involved.  First up was an 8 lap scratch race.  It was pretty slow paced at the start, there were a few attacks but no one really put the hammer down until 2 laps to go then it was all out. I ended up 5th and scored one omnium point.  I was happy with that as I knew there was some fast girls out there. 

Next up was a miss n out. I’d never raced one before but I had seen one.  Every other lap the last person across the line gets pulled til there is no one left. I much prefer tempo races but no one asked me!  Obviously everyone else had raced one before and had a better idea what to do! I got boxed in and pulled early. 

Those two races were about 10 minutes apart.  After which there was  pursuits and sprints, neither of which I raced. So I had quite awhile before my points race, at least 30 minutes. I rode the TT bike on the trainer for a bit but it was very hot and I was ready to go home by this point. All the racers were huddled in the little bit of shade from the two tents in the infield.  They finally call us up for the points race, 40 laps and sprints every ten.  Two girls went off the front to lap the field, and the field split after that. I was in a group with two other women, one of them had a team mate in the break. Obviously she wasn’t going to take any pulls. I wasn’t really feeling all that motivated myself but was working in the paceline.  One girl started yelling that if we didn’t work together we’d never catch them.   Eventually they break lapped the field, shortly after that I start to feel the TT damage in the legs.  I was was starting to suffer badly just to stay within my little group and was fading fast.    Knowing I wasn’t going to score any points and that I did so poorly in the miss n out  I decided to pull off the track with 10 laps to go and call it a day.  Not my best moment but I just wanted to be off my bike and out of the sun.  Last over all in the omnium with 1 point but they gave us all prizes anyway. I got a sweet pair of sunglasses and a tub of Cytomax.  So thanks to Bicycle Johns for sponsoring the race. 2009 was my first season of racing and I’m really looking forward to the 2010 season with a strong group of ladies!

October 19, 2009: Play time in San Diego!

Race report by Jamie

It’s the off season and we decided to put our cross training to good use!  Faye, Raegan and I put together a relay team for the Women’s Sprint Triathlon inMission Bay.  What a fun weekend!  We met bright (ok, well dark) and early Sunday morning to get set up in transition.  We were the only ones who brought in a trainer and as obvious by the confused look from behind me as I warmed up on it, some of the triathletes were a bit confused by us… ok, so maybe it would have been less confusing if I hadn’t been warming up on the trainer in ugg boots and a wetsuit…

Off to the real warm up in the bay as I relinquished the trainer to the real cyclist of the day.  And perhaps I should have taken that cross training more seriously.  That swim was brutal!  I sprinted out of the water, and handed off to Raegan (aka Sporty Spice) who rode her little heart out.  Not only did she take 2 minutes off her split from last year she posted the 12^th fastest bike split in the race (out of 662 participants!).

To drive it home, Faye absolutely rocked it!  Raegan, Eric and I were waiting at the finish line, counting the time, expecting her in a couple minutes when all of a sudden Eric says, “here she comes!”  Sure enough, instead of the 7:20 min miles she had expected, Faye runs it in 6:37/mile!  Shortly after the first elites came in, our girl Faye is sprinting to the finish and running through the finishing ribbon as we had won our division!  A super fun weekend with some great gals and a terrific finish, what more could you ask for?

September 7, 2009: End of Season Team/Friend/New Member Ride!

Hey Team IE Bikes…well, another season is nearing an end and what a great, great season it was.  Although we are a smaller group we had A LOT of members out racing road bikes, tackling triathlons, and traveling oversees to bike with the best at the TDF.  Our jersey and team name made it to many states and left quite the wake!  The team philosophy has never been about results, but Team IE Bikes posted some serious results and has finished 18th out of 233 teams racing in the SCNCA series!  Yes, I said 18th….holly cow!

I am very proud to wear this jersey and represent a great bike shop (thank you Matt) and great group of riders.  The reputation we have established is strong and evident in the number of emails I am getting asking about our team and asking about what it takes to join!  Exciting, exciting…

The plan is to carry on into next season and continue being a strong, positive group of road bikers who ride because we love it and compete because it is fun!  We hope now that we have a season to reflect on that we can make the necessary changes to be better and bigger if that is the case.

We will have a season end group ride on September 27th that is open to all members, spouses, friends, and new members.  The ride will leave out of IE Bikes but the course has yet to be decided.  It will be more of a social ride although I am sure some work-horses will throw down from time to time…go for it, as for me…these legs are gonna be in rest mode!  Please email me or Angela so we have a fair idea of how many will be joining.

Till then, take care and enjoy the “off-season” if you have one!

Rae

September 1, 2009: Sisquoc….hot but HUGE success for Raegan!

Race report by Raegan

The officials decided to cut one of our 3 laps, due to the extreme heat. It was 100 degrees and 115 on the back side. We had a pretty good size field with 23-25 starters. During our second lap, we some good attacks and one girl off the front for half a lap. We brought her back in just before the final climb. Just then Leah from Fog Racing  took off. At that point the entire field broke up.  Melinda from Las Vegas racing  and I tried to chase her down. I tried to hold my 3rd place position for the finish, but the heat was too much. With my heart rate holding in the 200’s, it was too much for me to handle. I ended up with a finish in 5th place with only 16 finishers. Unfortunately we had two girls from MS Now go to the hospital for heat stroke during the race, with one passing out on the final hill. Both girls are ok and made it home safely.

August 25, 2009: IE Bike Girls were ‘ON’ at Ontario!

Race report by Carole

For several of us, the Ontario ‘Summer End Grand Prix’, was the season finale and IE Bikes’ girls showed up in force. Angela arrived early and had her legs ON as she powered through three races……all before 12N!! Angela & Cindy arrived early enough to race in one of the men’s races for a warm-up.  Then, the game was ON for the women’s 8:55am womens 3/4 race with a fieldsize of ~35.  With Carole in a tie for 2nd place in the intra 5-race series points and a slight chance for the series win, we had a plan to get her up a win. Also on board to help was our PAA/ReMax friend and newest IE Bikes teammate, Linda Stark.  From the whistle, it was attack after attack by Rae, Cindy, Angela, Raegan, & Linda.  With 3 laps to go, Cindy, in her usual, unrelenting power, bolts on a solo break for almost a full lap.    All of the girls had Carole in a great position in the last lap for a 4th place spot and everyone in safely in a pack finish.  An hour later, Angela and Linda are still ON….and line up for the women’s 1/2/3 race and both stayed strong throughout!  Wow, way to go, girls!  What an awesome day of teamwork and was so great to hear the compliments from other teams about ‘those IE Bikes girls’.  Seems that everyone appreciates that we push the envelope with speed, attacks, and strategy.  We’re excited about the strengh and enthusiasm of our new teammates!  Looking forward to next season!

August 16, 2009: Camp Pendleton Sprint Triathlon

Thanks Rhonda for a great race report! :)

Seems like every race this year I start off tired – but who doesn’t? I drag myself out of bed and head to Camp Pendleton to race the Sprint Triathlon. Little did I know it was going to be a beach start swim – gosh I hate them. Those waves can be pretty brutal sometimes. Of course the set comes in when my wave goes off. It was a pretty challenging 500 meter swim. Ducking under waves all the way to the first buoy.  I check out my time when I came in  and wow was it slow. Off I go and tell myself don’t look at your watch. Next is  bike leg and I am feeling pretty good. Passing all kinds of athletes and loving it. Then I spot this one lady in my age group who drafted off me in the last race and I decided that I am going to fly by her and make it look so easy – I did and I never saw her. Got off the bike and ran and held everyone off and ended up with a third in my age group out of 25 women that completed the race. I am pretty sure there were a lot of athletes that DNF because of the swim. It was a good morning after all!