Madera Stage Race

By: Anny Henry
Category: Women’s Elite Pro/1/2
Field size: 26
Teammates: Rita Szeto (in the 3s)
Place: Criterium: 17th, TT: 19th, Road Race: 12th, General Classification: 15th
 
Madera is a flat, flat, flat race.  All flat.  The 4 corner crit is flat, the 10 mile TT loop is flat and the 68 mile road race is flat accept for 1 small section that has a couple of power rollers…sprinters paradise.  Russ and I came out early on Friday to ride the TT course and drove the road race and the crit course.  There were several strong teams registered including Webcor with Christine Thorburn & Bev Harper, Cheerwine had 4 riders registered Touchstone and ProMan each had 3 riders registered and Metromint had 4.  I had modest plans for this race.  I wanted to sit in and rest in the crit while practicing my cornering skills with a faster pack, have a solid TT and be ready for a split in the road race on Sunday.  My goal for the weekend was to find my place in what is a new peleton for me.
 
Saturday Morning Criterium:  It was a beautiful central valley morning that promised to be hot later in the day.  I was a little nervous but I did my usual crit warm up and as we lined up for what was supposed to be a 1/2/3 race the official decided to split the 1/2s from the 3s and run both fields on the course separated by 30 seconds.  It was fun to roll up with the 1/2s and I was too far into the “zone” to be nervous any longer.  We roll out and it is immediately pretty fast with attacks that saw all of the teams try and put riders into a break with nothing sticking.  We ended up lapping the 3s twice so the whole race was fast.  I’m feeling good, really good, and trying to anticipate the surges with some luck and I wasn’t working too hard.  I heard a fair amount of “huffing & puffing” but I also noted many who were, like me, saving their energy for the TT later in the day.  With about 5 laps to go Cheerwine, Metromint, Touchstone and one other got a break off the front and Olivia Dillon was driving it to a 25 second gap so with the time bonuses the leader would get nearly a minute on the field.  That left ProMan and Webcor to chase and a truly epic effort by Virginia Perkins on the last lap closed the gap to 6 seconds.  I finished 17th and my time was the same as all but the girls in the break as they also got time bonuses for the first 3 spots.
 
Saturday afternoon TT:  It was hot and I heard the temps were about 90.  I poured a bottle of water on me as I rolled up to the start to stay cool.  I got a clean start and into my rhythm quickly, first turn was solid and I’m still in my rhythm.  Kelly McDonald passes me and I’m not worrying about it.  I note I’m closing on my 30 second girl and I’m deep into my zone.  We get to the 2nd turn and she keeps going, I have to brake really hard, come to a complete stop, and make the turn, damn.  I quickly get back up to speed and hit the final turn and I know it is a mile to the finish and I give it all I have.  I ended up with a 27:01.  I think I gave up 20-30 seconds with my turn mishap but I managed to finish 19th and little more than 1 minute separated me from the top 10 in the GC.  I’m now off the leader Christine Thorburn by 3:33.
 
Sunday Road Race:  Our start was scheduled for 11am, we started on time and they included the 3s in our field so we rolled out a group of about 40.  I was excited as Rita and I would get to race together.  It was hot, over 90 again and the sun was relentless.  It became pretty clear nothing was going to get away with even the most valiant attempts by Touchstone and a few others.  The bumpy section was no fun at all and my Powertap quit on one pass through.  I went to the front and took a good pull to work off a little frustration and rotated back into the pack.  Janelle Kellman asked me what it was like on the front – I told her there was a nice cool breeze up there.  The heat made this a bit of a race of attrition and as we came to the rollers that marked the finish we were probably a bunch of 25.  Several girls went really early.  I knew to be patient and get some momentum over the first bump as this was going to be a real bunch sprint with a very strict centerline rule.  I timed my sprint pretty well and came in 12th in the 1/2s.  I picked up a few places in the general classification and finished 15th.
 
What a great weekend.  What’s not said here is all the fun hanging out before and after the events and I especially enjoyed talking with Rita and the other girls in our races.  Hydration, food intake and recovery were all key and I felt really good in all 3 events.  I felt really solid in the crit and am certain I can really improve here.  The TT is something I know I can get better at and road racing continues to be my strength.  Most importantly is I did find my place, was comfortable racing with this new group and I walked away knowing I was ready. 
 
Thanks for reading,
 
Anny

At the end of the road race, I finished 5th in the 3s (17th overall in the stage).  The 5 of us were given the same time, with the 6th and 7th W3 39 seconds back and the W3 after that was nearly a minute back.  That finish helped me leapfrog a few spots, after a dismal TT — which I expected — up to 7th in the GC.  I was generally pleased with what I tried to accomplish, specifically in the RR.  It was great to get a chance to chat with Anny and Russ, made the weekend all the better to have a teammate out there.  Huge thanks to Russ for inspecting my tires before the road race and swapping out my rear tire with one of their new tires.  Lifesavers!  Who knows what would have happened otherwise, particularly with that bumpy section on the course.

 -Rita

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