Bike Jam

This weekend was a fun-filled weekend of crit racing. It's better than sitting around and eating potato salad!! First stop: Maryland Bike Jam. I got a sweet call-up for this race, so it's officially my favorite race ever! Notice the great spot on the line next to the National Crit Champion! The team raced really well as a team, but no great results to show for it. In the end I was in a break with Rebecca Larson with five to go. Cheerwine bridged up but did not contribute. I think thats all Rebecca and I needed, one more pull! Any whooooo0, we were caught with less than two to go! Time to get ready to sprint....not. I decided to try to take a breather, gambling away my position. I would never really regain a good position to sprint. Darn. I'll keep trying though. One of these times it's going to work. Right?
Bowlesie in the AM with a nice cup of Joe in a shark "G'Day Mate" cup. It made me think of Rochelle Gilmore! :)
Here is a nice photo of me grinding my teeth. Rebecca on my wheel and Cheerwine bridging up. Darn it again!
This is us leaving Mo's house! Mo is Reem's awesome brother who takes us in for this race every year. He lives a block away from the park where we race. Nice pose Laura!

Can Am U19 Challenge! A Great Day!

Can Am U19 Star and stage winner, Lauren Parak and her mountain bike State Champ sister Brittany!

Maddie is testing to see if I like butter with the buttercup trick, YUP, I do! Bill, Maddie and I went to the Can AM U19 Challenge this weekend at the Fairgrounds in Augusta (my Tues night crit venue). I was asked to say a few words to the girls before the start of their race. I was really looking forward to seeing the girls race, especially b/c my niece, Lauren Parak was racing. Lauren won her race and was second overall GC for the weekend. AWESOME job. I was enjoying myself so much, I stayed for the better part of the day. Those kids are just amazing! Maddie was the trophy girl. She handed out the trophies to the young men! She loved it.

I then spent the rest of the day riding with Teresa and Ann. I coach Teresa and Ann is on her team. Again, I had a very enjoyable ride/clinic with them. We rode for 3 1/2 hrs through Stokes State Forest, Sunrise Mountain and High Point State Park. My weekend looked pretty busy with clinics, talks and training, BUT...... I enjoyed it so much. Those are some of my favorite kinds of weekends.

Off to Maryland tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

H

Sorry It's Been So Long

This photo cracks me up. I just thought I'd upload it to make you smile....those who know Maddie! She continues to shame me on my bike. She does wheelies, rides with no hands, motor paces, leads out Bill for high-speed sprints and corners better than most of you out there. :)

OK, quick update: I was settling in to a nice weekend a few weeks ago when I got a call from my teammates at the Southeast Crit Series. They booked me a flight for the next morning to come and race in Alabama for the next two days. I couldn't resist and packed up for a 4 AM departure. The races were fun and we were able to get some decent results on the last day. I actually made the podium...no not for first, second or even third. It was for MOST LAPS LED. I was on a solo break for over 30 minutes and picked up some nice primes on every other lap. Bowlsie was forced to rest up in the pack and she was ready to go when the counter attack went. She made it into the winning break and placed fifth.

I rushed home to go straight back to my preschoolers. I picked up a tuna sandwich at the deli across the street from my school.....and this is what almost killed me. I was crushed by a horrible case of food poisoning. I've never had food poisoning and never want it again. Let's just say I lost 9 lbs in two days and was throwing up blood! Yup. Good stuff. I never do anything little, it's got to be BIG with me.

It has taken me two weeks to get back on my bike and feel a little like myself again. I was getting worried at how weak I had become. But alas, it was only temporary. I'm getting stronger every day, but have changed some of my racing plans due to the setback. I'll go up and do the Montreal World Cup and then return home instead of staying for the stage race. I'll race with my team at Reading and then go as planned to Philly. I was afraid that the stage race would bury me for Phillly. ??? Who knows. Now that I'm feeling stronger I'm second guessing the decision....IMAGINE THAT, me second guessing my decision.

This weekend is Bike Jam in MD and then Somerville in NJ!!

I'll get some updated photos soon....when the racing begins again.

xo

Yes, This is NJ!

Bill and I went for a great ride together today. It's very rare that we're able to ride together, so when we do....we bring a camera! We went through Stokes State Forest, up Sunrise Mountain where these photos were taken and then to High Point State Park. What a fun, beautiful ride.

I'm missing my teammates who are off racing in the Southern crits! I'm hearing bits and pieces...but it sounds fast and furious down there.

My cough is still driving me...and Bill nuts at night, but strangely enough, it doesn't really bother me at all when I'm on the bike. The other night at 1:00 AM when I was in a complete coughing spasm, Bill seriously suggested that I get on my bike (b/c that seems to be the only time that I don't cough). Needless to say, I didn't get on my bike at 1:00 AM.

Coughing, Coughing and Some More Coughing

Bowlsie....always thinking of our sponsors!! Just wanted to see how often Bowlsie reads my blog. Let's see how long it takes before I have to edit these photos. She cracks me up I tell you.

OK, back to coughing......It all started the day before Battenkill... a sore throat....stuffy head....I held off the cough for a good week. I thought that I could beat this thing before it got to my chest, but NOOOOOOO it always goes there. I'm trying to teach and train through it, but it's becoming difficult. For starters, I've been kicked out of bed due to my hacking cough. So, I'm not getting the rest and recovery needed. I'll try to lay low for a couple of days. The cold rain will help me to stay inside and take it easy.
My teammates head out for the crit series down south in a day or so. They're racing 8 crits down there!
Oh...Mary Zider is the name of the third place woman at Battenkill! Mary, I apologize for calling you that 80lb climber!! But really, you can't weigh much more than 80 lbs. :) Seeing that it's like your third race ever, I think we'll be seeing your name a lot more.
OK, the cough meds have kicked in and I'm off to bed for the third time tonight!

Battenkill Roubaix and Sweet Host Housing!

This is the Rice Mansion in Cambridge, NY. And this was our host housing for the Battenkill Roubaix Race! Elisa, Bill and I stayed overnight in this beautiful mansion. We were served a huge pasta dinner the night before with all the volunteers for the race. Our rooms were HUGE and had the most wonderful king sized beds to ensure a good night's rest. We would need it!

Reem, the trooper that she is decided to drive up on Saturday morning to join in the fun! I had never done this race and only heard great things about the epic dirt climbs. We were to race on dirt for 30 percent of the time, actually we were either going up or down and nothing really in between.

It was a cold and windy day, but no rain and no snow. We were just 24 hours ahead of a big "Noreaster" storm. The race started with a sweet call up for me....that's always nice and doesn't happen that often! The first third of the race was pretty uneventful. I could tell I was in good form up against my competitors on the first dirt climb. I rode up the climb at a good pace and cruised down the decent to find myself at the front all alone. I had a significant gap but decided that I didn't want to fight the winds alone for 40 miles, so I waited. I found myself in another little break with a very tiny girl! Her kit said Nerac...not sure if that is the name of the team...but I'll do more research on it later. We had a good sized gap and after this 80 pound girl and I rotated a few pulls, I decided that I did not want to stay out there all day with no draft. I was hoping that someone would bridge, but that didn't happen. So the group caught us. We settled back into the race and another group caught us with Reem in it. Reem attacked and things picked up a bit. Soon after Elisa put in a strong attack and got into a break with Anna Milkowski and the Nerac climber. Elisa looked super strong as they attacked a dirt climb ahead of us. I got to the front to cover and watched the girls ride away out of sight! We came around a corner to another steep dirt climb and saw Elisa's RED TIME booties way up the road....all alone! Elisa's cold got the best of her and she was popped from the group. I decided to bridge as hard and fast as I could and try not to let anymore Target Training riders go with me. I didn't want it to be uneven numbers to my disadvantage when I got to the break. I popped off the group and bridged solo. I wasn't sure that Anna would continue to work once I got there, but she did. The three of us in the break were comitted to work for the next 25 miles.

We worked hard together and finally it came down to a three women sprint. Unfortunately, none of us knew where the finish line was. It was a looooong straight finish and we basically lined up across the road until Anna jumped first and then me. I sprinted in for the win. It was a fun day and great to ride with Anna and the Nerac girl ( I will get her name soon....so sorry).

They had a nice podium ceremony and then we all went our separate ways. Bill and I met up with some of the Skyland's guys (Kevin K., Roger, James and Paul Walsh) and my biggest fans, the Paraks (Diane, John, Brittany and Lauren) for an awesome Chinese feast. We all had great racing stories to share from the day at Battenkill Roubaix!!

2007 US Open Double Podium!

Team Advil-ChapStick Race Report
2007 US Open in Richmond, Virginia
April 7, 2007
2nd place Jen
3rd place Heather Labance

Team Advil-ChapStick Riders in Attendance:
Heather Labance
Kirsten Robbins
Laura Bowles
Jen McRae
Mara Miller
Natalie Klemko

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow – because it made the race more fun for us!
Team Advil-ChapStick jumped out of bed at 6 am and peaked out the window to see a winter wonderland. We arrived at the race hotel where racers were swirling in disbelief that we would start this race in the heavy snow and winds. Our director for the day, Tim Chien kept us calm and organized. He discussed team tactics the played out perfectly throughout the race.
John Eustice designed a course for us that was nine laps of a three-mile circuit, short but intense and very sweet, sweet because our teamwork landed us a double podium. Our new addition to the team Jen McRae placed second and Heather Labance placed third.
Laura Bowles jump started the race in a two-woman break away with Colavita/Sutter Home. The two worked hard to stay off the front sacrificing themselves to make TargetTraining and the other teams work hard to bridge and chase in frustration. Mara, Heather and Kirsten stayed close to the front to cover any bridge attempts while our sprinters Jen and Natalie stayed tucked away in the peloton waiting for their moment to spring to the finish line.
Laura’s break was reabsorbed after four laps and instead of waiting for a counter to follow, Kirsten countered herself. She wound up in a small break with Colavita/Sutter Home and TargetTraining. This break was also reabsorbed into the field.
Five laps to go and TargetTraining tried desperately to get off the front alone. Fortunately we had one of the two fastest sprinters in the field and were not about to let anything go now. Laure, Mara, Heather and Kirsten patrolled the front sucking back attacks to keep Jen and Natalie in good contention for a field sprint. On the final lap Laura and Kirsten ramped up the pace and lead the field to the bottom of the climb, 500 meters to the finish line. Heather drilled it up the climb with Colavita/Sutter Home, Andrea Dvorak and they gapped the field. As Heather and Andrea pedaled down the home stretch, the sprinters lined themselves up behind them and wound up their sprints. Team Advil-ChapStick’s, Jen McRae jumped first with 200 meters to go in an attempt to catch Colavita/Sutter Home’s, Tina Pic off guard. It looked like she would pull this off until at the last second, Tina nipped her at the line. Heather decided to give one last push to the finish and sprinted in for third.
Jen and Heather looked fantastic on the podium in all of our Champion System Gear and Rudy Project glasses. The Advil-ChapStick really stands out amongst the other colors in the peloton. Natalie and Laura sprinted in to the top ten finishing 6th and 10th. Not too shabby for our first east coast race. Maybe it should snow more often.
Thank you to all of our sponsors that make our
Team Advil-ChapStick possible


Wyeth http://www.wyeth.com/
Advil http://www.advil.com/
ChapStick http://www.chpstick.com/
TIME Sport http://www.timesport.fr/us/home.htm
Mavic Wheels http://www.mavic.com/
Champion Systems http://www.champ-sys.com/
Clif Bar http://www.clifbar.com/
Ritchey http://ww.ritcheylogic.com
Rudy Project http://www.rudyprojectusa.com/
Shebeest http://www.shebeest.com/
Women's Cycling Development Program http://www.uswcdp.org/index.php
Shimano http://www.shimano.com/
Timex http://www.timex.com/
Thule http://www.thulegroup.com/


For full results and photos go to:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/

Contact:Laura Charameda
Director, Team Advil-ChapStick
advilchapstick07@aol.com