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Photos of the beautiful Whitman College Campus; also a photo of one of the intellectually stimulating classroom situations. The training camp photo shoot went smoothly. From left to right standing Rachel Heal, Laura Yoisten, Amber Rais, Helen Kelly. Sitting on the ground: Bev Harper, Christine Thorburn, Mara Abbott. Sitting in the car: Karen Brems, Bernard Kocis. Rachel, bunny, kand Christine (with Amber in the background). Rachel, Bev, Mara, and Christine on a trip to the Voler Team Apparel factory. Laura has tea with Linda and John Elgart, the team's Voler reps, and accomplished cyclists in their own right (they hold multiple national masters championship jerseys). Helen and bunny on the go.

A journal featuring stories by team members on what it takes to race on the pro women's cycling circuit.

You'll get an inside look into other aspects of racing such as travelling, preparing for a big event like a national or world championship, and juggling life's many challenges like work, school, and family. Make your selection from the articles below:

Christine Thorburn – May 26 – The Devil is in the Details
Katheryn Curi – May 15 – THE Dress
Helen Kelly – April 21 – Altitude Training
Mara Abbott – April 14 – Campus Life
Rachel Heal – April 7 – Tales from Training Camp
Email us at WebcorCycling dot com with your comments or questions. email us at webcorcycling dot com with your comments or questions
 

Helen Kelly - April 21 - Training at Altitude
This week I have been training at altitude in Reno, Nevada in preparation for Tour of the Gila in New Mexico. I have been training with fellow teammates, Rachel, Laura, and Amber. I typically suffer for the first week at altitude, so I was keen to train and sleep at altitude as ideal Gila preparation.

We have been staying with Amber’s parents at 4700ft (1430m) above sea level. The weather was in the 70’s as we drove to Reno and I spent the four hours happily snapping away with my camera.

Knowing that I would feel ordinary (translation – well below average) for the first few days at altitude, we only rode two hours the first day. With winds of 50km/hr (30mph), we wisely chose to ride 1.5hrs into a headwind and then we turned around, and flew home in 30mins. Amazingly, we found a 5% climb and with the tailwind, if we sat up and held out our jerseys, we could freewheel up it!

Coming from the southern hemisphere, I am one of the lucky riders that rarely trains and races in cold weather. I leave Australia at the end of summer and arrive in the northern hemisphere in the spring. At the end of the race season, I return to Australia for another spring and a long hot summer. My last winter was in 2001, so you can imagine my excitement to see snow-covered lawns on our second day in Reno.

After taking tons of photos of snow and watching it fall throughout the morning, I realised that this weather meant a trainer session for us. We pulled out trainers and sweated it out in the garage. With some good vibes and encouragement from each other, we succeeded in hurting our lungs and legs. Surprisingly, I could get my heart rate up to 180 (maximum is 203), which rarely happens for me at altitude.
 

The following day we decided to brave the cold and ride a 12km climb up Mt Geiger (6,789ft). I was bundled up in my thermals, ear warmers, gloves, and every other piece of clothing I could find. My coach in Oz told me not to go too hard today, so I climbed in my zone 2 (heart rate 160-165) and enjoyed the views over the Reno city. The terrain reminds me of Arizona – very dry, arid, and rocky. With 1km to go, it started snowing really hard. The snow was completely dry, but was quickly covering the ground. We decided to head down the mountain and seek drier terrain.

Yesterday we decided to do an epic 4-hour climbing day. We met three local Reno guys and the seven of us climbed up Mt. Geiger and down the other side. We passed through an old silver mining town called Virginia City, now a tourist town. Next to the fudge store was a quick draw pistol competition in action. It felt like we had just stepped back in time 100 years.

We descended an amazing canyon and found another 10km climb. I did some 2-minute hard intervals up this with two minutes recovery between each. I find these intervals perfect to prepare for attacking and surging up climbs.

So now that I have experienced snow, I am definitely ready for warmer weather. The excitement of riding all bundled up has dwindled and I look forward to wearing a sleeveless jersey and sunscreen again. So now it is time to do a little stretching before dinner and bed.

Happy pedalling.