NO THIS IS NOT MINNESOTA.....no camera on this trip...sorry!Literally....NVGP was a royal pain in the butt for me. I ended up breaking and spraining my butt in the second to last stage! OUCH. Please pass the donut....both the jelly filled and the one that I now sit on! If you're interested....here is a race report that I whipped up quickly on each stage.
Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage Race
Riders in Attendance
Riders in Attendance
Laura Charameda
Natalie Klemko
Heather Labance
Kirsten Robbins
Stage One: Downtown Saint Paul Criterium
The first stage of Nature Valley really set the pace for the entire week. First off, our director, Laura Charameda decided to take one for the team! We were supposed to have six riders for this long and grueling stage race, but due to injuries we were down to three! In able to have a car in the caravan we needed four riders to start the stage…so we thought. Laura decided that she would direct us while racing with us and Tim would take over in the pit. Laura never realized that she would be starting in four at of the five stages that week!! So then there were FOUR!! Yippee. This criterium started of extremely fast and never let up. It was 60 minutes long with 4 sprint competitions and one Queen of the Mountain competition. A small break got off the front immediately after the Queen of the Mountain sprint. This break contained the World Champion, Kristen Armstrong who drove the pace until the break was secure. The peleton never caught the group of seven. Catherine Cheatly from Cheerwine attacked the break to win the first stage. Team Advil-ChapStick finished with the main group. We were confident that our legs were shocked into action and we would be ready for the next stage.
Stage Two: Cannon Falls Road Race
This stage is a 66 mile road race infamous for its severe winds and challenging dirt sections. Team Advil-ChapStick worked hard so that I could be in a safe position for all of the climbs, sprints and the dirt section. Under Laura’s direction in the field, the team was able to get me drinks and move me into good position throughout the day. We came into the finishing circuits all together. Kirsten stayed by my side helping me move up. My bike was making a strange noise that concerned me, so I was unable or unwilling to sprint with the mass pack. I was able to finish with the group and lost no time in the stage. The noise on my bike was just a loose cassette that Tim fixed up with no problems. I really love my Time bike and trust it more than I trust myself at times.
Stage Three: Saint Paul Riverfront Time Trial 5 miles
Time trials always excite me and cause great anxiety. No matter how long or how short, time trials are all about suffering. It’s you against the clock and the fastest time wins. Unfortunately for us, the World Champion of time trials was racing at Nature Valley Grand Prix. The World Champion put in a huge effort and won by almost 30 seconds! I ended up tied for 12th with Laura VanGilder about 18 sec away from the podium. Not bad, but still some practice of the TT bike is necessary!
Stage Four: Mankato Road Race 87 miles
Our luck ran out about 20 miles into this race. I was taken down in a crash. I flipped up in the air and landed directly on my tailbone. When all the “crashing” noises stopped I hopped up and felt excruciating pain around the tailbone. Upon my return from Minnesota, I found out that I fractured my tailbone. I fixed my bent up bike and started to pedal ever so gingerly. The race was well up the road and the caravan of cars and support vehicles were too. Tim waited for me and tried to motorpace me back onto the caravan. This is “technically” illegal, but usually overlooked if a huge crash was involved. The Com car came and yelled at Tim to move on...and he did. I was on my own! So about 25-30 girls went down and only a handful was ever able to “catch” back on to the back end of the race. After a 25 minute time trial….I was able to catch the race, but I was so tired and in a lot of pain. Once I caught on to the back of the race, Laura pulled me right to the front so that I could drift back and rest for a minute or two. The team did such a fantastic job keeping me in a good position for the remainder of the race. My other savior was the Advil that the team passed along to me! It really took the edge off of my pain and allowed me to continue to race. Natalie pushed me right to the front of the pack for the finishing circuits. We had to do four laps with a steep, long climb in every lap. Kristen Armstrong attacked on the first lap and rode away from the rest of us. There was a small chase group of five riders and then my chase group. I sprinted in for seventh and 13th for the stage. Tim took care of me from there. He was able to loosen up all the tight muscles around my tailbone. I took some Advil PM and off to bed. One more grueling race to go….with a broken butt!
Stage Five: Stillwater Criterium 50 minutes
This race is said to be the hardest criterium in the US. It starts at the bottom of a 25% grade hill that we must endure about 16 times. Most of field will be pulled from the course or quit before the end. This much is a known fact. It’s a race of attrition….survival of the fittest! The first three laps were not good at all for me. My tailbone was screaming for me to stop. I was pretty far back from the leaders, Kristen Armstrong and Mara Abott. I was actually in the fourth chase group. It was looking good for me at all. I decided I would grit it out and try to catch one group at a time and go from there. I was able to connect with the third group. This gave me hope. I didn’t Kirsten or Natalie at first and thought that maybe they had been pulled with the others. I managed to cling onto the third group, again giving me hope and inspiration. I was really tired and hurting though. Just when my spirits were getting discouraged…..Kirsten appeared out of nowhere. She was fighting her own battle of attrition behind me. She swooped up next to me and said, “Get on wheel, let’s go!” Kirsten dragged me and the rest of my group all the way around that course. She started to close the gap to the first group behind the two leaders. This inspired the rest of the group and we were able to close the gap completely! I couldn’t believe it. I now had the chance to sprint…up a 25% grade hill for a podium spot. My tailbone had some other thoughts, like “Can’t we just stop already!!” I dug deep and ended up 12th for the stage.
I moved up a few spots in the General Classification. I was 13th overall for the week out of about 150 riders. This race is all about teammates and team work. When we started with three…it wasn’t looking good. Everybody sacrificed, including Tim to help get an almost top 10 at one of the hardest stage races in the US. We certainly raced liked we had a full team of eight!
Natalie Klemko
Heather Labance
Kirsten Robbins
Stage One: Downtown Saint Paul Criterium
The first stage of Nature Valley really set the pace for the entire week. First off, our director, Laura Charameda decided to take one for the team! We were supposed to have six riders for this long and grueling stage race, but due to injuries we were down to three! In able to have a car in the caravan we needed four riders to start the stage…so we thought. Laura decided that she would direct us while racing with us and Tim would take over in the pit. Laura never realized that she would be starting in four at of the five stages that week!! So then there were FOUR!! Yippee. This criterium started of extremely fast and never let up. It was 60 minutes long with 4 sprint competitions and one Queen of the Mountain competition. A small break got off the front immediately after the Queen of the Mountain sprint. This break contained the World Champion, Kristen Armstrong who drove the pace until the break was secure. The peleton never caught the group of seven. Catherine Cheatly from Cheerwine attacked the break to win the first stage. Team Advil-ChapStick finished with the main group. We were confident that our legs were shocked into action and we would be ready for the next stage.
Stage Two: Cannon Falls Road Race
This stage is a 66 mile road race infamous for its severe winds and challenging dirt sections. Team Advil-ChapStick worked hard so that I could be in a safe position for all of the climbs, sprints and the dirt section. Under Laura’s direction in the field, the team was able to get me drinks and move me into good position throughout the day. We came into the finishing circuits all together. Kirsten stayed by my side helping me move up. My bike was making a strange noise that concerned me, so I was unable or unwilling to sprint with the mass pack. I was able to finish with the group and lost no time in the stage. The noise on my bike was just a loose cassette that Tim fixed up with no problems. I really love my Time bike and trust it more than I trust myself at times.
Stage Three: Saint Paul Riverfront Time Trial 5 miles
Time trials always excite me and cause great anxiety. No matter how long or how short, time trials are all about suffering. It’s you against the clock and the fastest time wins. Unfortunately for us, the World Champion of time trials was racing at Nature Valley Grand Prix. The World Champion put in a huge effort and won by almost 30 seconds! I ended up tied for 12th with Laura VanGilder about 18 sec away from the podium. Not bad, but still some practice of the TT bike is necessary!
Stage Four: Mankato Road Race 87 miles
Our luck ran out about 20 miles into this race. I was taken down in a crash. I flipped up in the air and landed directly on my tailbone. When all the “crashing” noises stopped I hopped up and felt excruciating pain around the tailbone. Upon my return from Minnesota, I found out that I fractured my tailbone. I fixed my bent up bike and started to pedal ever so gingerly. The race was well up the road and the caravan of cars and support vehicles were too. Tim waited for me and tried to motorpace me back onto the caravan. This is “technically” illegal, but usually overlooked if a huge crash was involved. The Com car came and yelled at Tim to move on...and he did. I was on my own! So about 25-30 girls went down and only a handful was ever able to “catch” back on to the back end of the race. After a 25 minute time trial….I was able to catch the race, but I was so tired and in a lot of pain. Once I caught on to the back of the race, Laura pulled me right to the front so that I could drift back and rest for a minute or two. The team did such a fantastic job keeping me in a good position for the remainder of the race. My other savior was the Advil that the team passed along to me! It really took the edge off of my pain and allowed me to continue to race. Natalie pushed me right to the front of the pack for the finishing circuits. We had to do four laps with a steep, long climb in every lap. Kristen Armstrong attacked on the first lap and rode away from the rest of us. There was a small chase group of five riders and then my chase group. I sprinted in for seventh and 13th for the stage. Tim took care of me from there. He was able to loosen up all the tight muscles around my tailbone. I took some Advil PM and off to bed. One more grueling race to go….with a broken butt!
Stage Five: Stillwater Criterium 50 minutes
This race is said to be the hardest criterium in the US. It starts at the bottom of a 25% grade hill that we must endure about 16 times. Most of field will be pulled from the course or quit before the end. This much is a known fact. It’s a race of attrition….survival of the fittest! The first three laps were not good at all for me. My tailbone was screaming for me to stop. I was pretty far back from the leaders, Kristen Armstrong and Mara Abott. I was actually in the fourth chase group. It was looking good for me at all. I decided I would grit it out and try to catch one group at a time and go from there. I was able to connect with the third group. This gave me hope. I didn’t Kirsten or Natalie at first and thought that maybe they had been pulled with the others. I managed to cling onto the third group, again giving me hope and inspiration. I was really tired and hurting though. Just when my spirits were getting discouraged…..Kirsten appeared out of nowhere. She was fighting her own battle of attrition behind me. She swooped up next to me and said, “Get on wheel, let’s go!” Kirsten dragged me and the rest of my group all the way around that course. She started to close the gap to the first group behind the two leaders. This inspired the rest of the group and we were able to close the gap completely! I couldn’t believe it. I now had the chance to sprint…up a 25% grade hill for a podium spot. My tailbone had some other thoughts, like “Can’t we just stop already!!” I dug deep and ended up 12th for the stage.
I moved up a few spots in the General Classification. I was 13th overall for the week out of about 150 riders. This race is all about teammates and team work. When we started with three…it wasn’t looking good. Everybody sacrificed, including Tim to help get an almost top 10 at one of the hardest stage races in the US. We certainly raced liked we had a full team of eight!
