Link to each race report from the list below or just scroll down to browse:

09-13-08 San Francisco Twilight Criterium

The final race of the season for the Webcor team was the Twilight Criterium right here in our home base of San Francisco. It was a great event right downtown in the Marina district with an estimated 15,000-20,000 spectators cheering us on. I continued my 3-week "racing season" and suited up with the team for some racing fun instead of manning my usual spot on the sidelines with a radio. Since Webcor Builders was also a sponsor of the race and we knew we had lots of loyal fans on hand, we wanted to have a good result. We convinced our super criterium speedster, Gina, to delay her off season camping trip in the Yukon by a week to fly down and race with us.

Here is Gina's Report:

San Francisco is one of the US cites that top my list of favorite cities to visit. Throw in a Twilight Criterium on the downtown streets and it tops the list!!!

WEBCOR BUILDERS was the major sponsor of the event which made the race even more special. Team Webcor lined up with a charging team of five including newly crowned US National Masters Pursuit champion and Team Director Karen Brems. Bev, Janel, Christine, and I rounded out the roster. Bev, Janel, and I were already warmed up from a fantastic ride up Kings Mountain or canyon or hill or ridge or…the day before. We had the pleasure of riding with the WINNERS of the auction to ride with the Webcor Women’s Cycling Team: Howard Love and Gordy Holterman. Thank you for the pre race warm up ride!!!

So in true fashion, Karen was a strong representative at the front of the pack for the entire race chasing things down and keeping control of things up there. Christine showed her great form going into the World Championships by being in the major break of the evening, rolling up there with the presence of a lion knowing that Laura Van Gilder was with her sitting on, not doing too much, and Katherine Carroll attacking trying to get away. This did not deter the lion. She knew what the pack was doing. Yes the rest of the kittens were looking at her to do a lot of the work and then they would just pounce and go for the jugular. As a champion and a lion always stays cool, Christine played her cards well, and it came back to a full house; the break eventually played all their cards and came back to the main pack at around two laps or so to go. Back in the jungle, Team Webcor was ensuring nothing of any threat would get up the road without one of us in it. Janel, Bev, and Karen had all pistons firing.

They ate their cat nip earlier in the day. I was able to sit pretty and tame my mane during this time. When the break came back, Christine kept the pace nice and high at the front to deter any attempts for somebody to attack. This worked perfectly as I floated my way to the front at about two to go. On the last lap, as we talked about in the pre-race talk, Karen was going to drop me off at the last corner. I was on Karen's wheel and she was driving it like a motor bike on the track; but, the winds and a raging Aarons team came from behind toting Cheerwine. I jumped on the back of them. I think I may have left that second jump that I needed at the Great Wall of China, and the double kick that I needed to win just didn’t come.

With cheers for Webcor coming from the sidelines from all our friends, family and sponsors I am surprised the announcers could even hear themselves speak. I even heard GINA! MOVE UP!!!! :-))))) Thanks for that ;-) The staff of WEBCOR womens cycling team organized an amazing dinner and evening at a restaurant on the course, giving us the opportunity to spend some time visiting with our dedicated sponsors and supporters for the year. Thank you to everybody who organized this evening, and a big thank you again to all of our sponsors and supporters for coming out to the race.

Cheers WEBCOR!

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09-03-08 US Masters National Track Championship – Individual Pursuit

Report by Karen Brems:

How often do you get to sleep in your own bed and race a national championship 40 minutes from your house? The answer is usually never, so I decided to take the opportunity to do just that and race in the Masters National Track Championships at our own Hellyer Park Velodrome in San Jose, CA.

It started about a month ago when Linda Elgart emailed me wanting to put together a Webcor/Alto Velo women's team pursuit team for nationals. I have always thought the team pursuit was a really cool event. The bulk of what little track training I have done was in the mid 90's with the US National men's team pursuit squad. I've never done a team pursuit, but I've watched a lot of them! My track bike was still in my bike case after coming home from the US Olympic Track Trials in 2000 and I had not touched it since. I figured if I was going to dust it off and make the effort to get to the track to practice for the team pursuit, I might as well try the individual pursuit as well.

Patt Baenan organized a Beat the Clock and Help Beat Cancer charity time trial event to be at the Hellyer track on August 10. This gave the local trackies an opportunity to try the timed events before nationals. I showed up, not having ridden on a track or even in aerobars in eight years. Amazingly, I still felt pretty comfortable on my old bike. Track bikes have not changed much in the last decade! I was also just coming off two weeks in the car driving behind the team every day while they raced in Germany and Sweden and then another week of standing in the hot sun most of the day in Orange County while the team raced at elite nationals! I had never done a 2km pursuit before (Elites race 3km). I rode a 2:42 at the Beat The Clock event, but I knew I was capable of going faster – my legs loaded up almost immediately (my body does not like warming up and then racing three hours later!) and my pacing was inconsistent. The winning time at nationals last year was Annette Hanson in a 2:44 at T-Town, which is a faster track than Hellyer, so I figured I had a pretty good chance to win. The Webcor pro team race season was over, so I had three weeks to train!

Fast forward to yesterday at 6pm when I did my 2nd ever 2km pursuit at Masters Nationals. Given it was on a Wednesday, I went to work in the morning as usual and just left a bit early to get to the track. I spent a lot of my racing career also working as a Software Engineer, but I don't think even I have ever worked and raced in the same day! I picked up my number and registration packet. Hmm – there is a bottle of wine in the reg. packet – welcome to masters racing!!

Because I had not raced nationals before, I was unseeded and was the first rider of the first event of the evening. This meant I had no other times to shoot for, but I was racing the clock anyway, so that did not matter. It was nice to be able to do my warm-up on the track instead of having to get on my trainer. Although warming up for a major track event with 60-70 other riders on the track at the same time is a bit sketchy! The only real down side to my seeding was that I was significantly faster than the woman I was paired with, and had to pass her after 3-4 laps. They call it "Pursuit" because two riders go at the same time on opposite sides of the track and "pursue" each other. Unfortunately I caught her in the turn, which meant I had to go a longer distance, which probably cost a few tenths of a second (which matters on the track!).

The national record in my 45-49 age group was a 2:36.44. Given that it was set at altitude in Colorado Springs, which is one of the fastest tracks in the country and Hellyer is one of the slowest tracks in the country, I did not think I could break it. Most people would say Hellyer is around 2-2.5 seconds slower per kilometer than COS, and that matches the 3km times I have done on both tracks with relatively similar fitness. I was hoping for something around 2:38 at Hellyer.

I got my bike measured and weighed and on the start line ready to go. There was no audible countdown, which was kind of odd – you just had to watch a digital clock. I had a horrible start and kind of wobbled down into the blue lane. It sort of felt like my holder let me go a bit before I expected it. I started accelerating and then I heard a double gun shot. I was not sure what to do, but I watched the Olympics every night for two weeks, so I was pretty sure a double shot meant a false start so I sat up. I have never false started before or even seen anyone else false start at any of the elite nationals I've been to. Apparently, on the track, you are allowed one false start. I was kind of embarrassed, but throughout the night, it seems that about every 3rd heat had a false start! Even people who were chastising the other false starters before their race false started! There are no brakes to hold yourself back with, so as soon as your weight shifts, you start rolling unless your holder keeps holding you back.

Now for take 2. This time I made certain I waited until I saw "00" on the clock before putting any pressure on my pedals! The key to a good pursuit is getting up to speed and then floating that 2nd lap which seems so easy, so you don't blow up on those last two incredibly painful laps! I will say though that 2km is less painful than 3km! My 2nd lap was faster than I had planned, but I felt good and was ableto gradually increase my effort and keep my lap splits pretty consistent. The last two laps hurt, but I was able to hold a good pace. I was quite pleasantly surprised to hear my time of 2:35.56! I guess I go faster with a number on my back :). My time was good enough for the win as well as breaking the national record by .9 seconds. It was also the fastest women's time of the meet – 2nd fastest was a 2:37 in the 30-34 age group. Second in my age group was 2:52. I rode a 53x15 gear (95.4") which is the same as I used 13 years ago when I did my best 3km pursuit at Hellyer at track districts. Most pure track riders would use a much smaller gear, but I just don't have the leg speed to spin a small gear.

Many thanks to Bruce Wilford for coming down for the race and one of my training sessions to call my lap splits! Overall, it was a fun event and I am looking forward to the team pursuit on Sunday!

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09-01-08 Metromint Giro di San Francisco

The Giro di San Francisco is one of the classic criteriums in the Bay Area. It is the final race in the California Cup Series and often the final race of the season for most Bay Area riders other than those going to World Championships. The downtown San Francisco venue always draws a good field and good crowds.

In preparation for the San Francisco Twilight criterium in two weeks, I decided to do this race myself instead of assuming my usual position standing on the sidelines with a radio! Christine joined me for a Webcor team of two. Interestingly, the announcer kept confusing the two of us the whole race. Christine is younger and faster than I am, so I took it as a compliment :).

For a local race, we had quite a competitive field of probably 40 women. Sarah Bramberger and Stacy Marple were there from Cheerwine; Brooke Miller, Victoria Bastide, and Liza Riccetto represented TIBO; and Shelly Olds was there with several other Proman riders. Kat Carroll was racing in an Aaron's jersey, but it soon became clear that she was riding for Brooke as she recently signed with TIBCO for 2009. The course is an L shape with a small hill on the backside and lots of potholes and bumpy pavement and even RR tracks going across the first turn.

The race was quite aggressive from the start, with several small groups or solo riders dangling off the front at various times. Our goal was to get Christine off the front. She made a couple of good attacks, but was obviously heavily marked. It soon became clear that Christine needed to wait until later in the race when people were tired to be able to get away. I settled myself near the front and tried to cover anything that looked dangerous, and watched Brooke and Kat and waited for Christine to launch.

With about 10 laps to go, Christine finally got away solo on the backside hill. She put in a big effort and got a gap of around 20 seconds or so relatively quickly, while the rest of the field looked at each other waiting for someone else to chase. There were some unsuccessful bridge attempts, and Brooke took a good pull to try to entice the pack to work, but when she looked around and saw me on her wheel, she sat up. Eventually Kat went to the front and started chasing in earnest. I pretty much stayed 2nd wheel behind her. She slowed a bit a few times to try to get some help, but nobody else seemed really willing or able.

With 3-4 laps to go, Christine's gap was coming down to probably the 10-12 second range. Sarah Bramberger attacked to try to bridge and nobody reacted. I figured Christine might need some help, so I let her go as well. Christine saw Sarah coming up and did want a bit of help, so she slowed up slightly, thinking Sarah was actually Stacy Marple. Sarah made contact with Christine, but used all her matches to get there and could not help the breakaway effort. Christine then attacked and dropped Sarah again. With 1 lap to go, Christine still had a slim lead of maybe 5-7 seconds.

Christine and Karen's "stand-in" on the podium Photo courtesy of Lisa Hunt

The final two turns are really close together and then it is a pretty long, uphill sprint from the final turn. I have done this race many times, and I knew my best chance in the sprint would be to attack into the 2nd to last corner and hope to have a couple of bike lengths gap coming out of the final turn. I don't have the speed I used to, but I still seem to be able to get through those final two turns faster than most people! I also knew Brooke would be hard to beat though, so I thought that Christine's ever-diminishing lead was still our best chance for the win, and I did not want to sprint early. Martina Patella (ValuAct) made my move for me (she told me afterwards she's watched me do it several times) and I grabbed her wheel going into the final two turns. I tried to come around her on the finishing straight, but came up about a wheel short. Meanwhile, Brooke came up on the other side and just nipped me at the line for 2nd. The three of us only passed Christine about 15 meters from the finish and she hung on for 4th! She also collected several $100+ primes during her solo effort!

I unfortunately missed the awards podium – the problem I have with doing local races is I know too many people! I took me forever to walk two blocks from my car to the finish area after changing and getting some water, and they started without me. Luckily I had a good stand-in (see photo at right)!

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09-01-08 Green Mountain Stage Race Stage 3

Webcor continued their domination of the Green Mountain Stage race, with Katheryn winning the final day criterium!

Here is Katheryn's Report:

Stage 3: Burlington Downtown Crit

This crit course has to be one of my most favorite, a technical 6-corner crit in the heart of Burlington, Vermont with lots of spectators and bumpy roads. The weather was beautiful for the 34km crit, although the winds were a bit gusty and the only tailwind was on the downhill portion of the course. My number one goal was to keep things safe as I am still nervous about crashing.

After a neutral first 1/2 of the first lap (very odd) it was game on and I immediately went to the front to keep the pace high. There were a few other riders who set a good tempo and I was fine with sitting second or third wheel. The first sprint of the day was for points and cash, followed five laps later by a sprint for time and cash, which I got second in. I tried a couple of times to get off solo from the group, but the wind conditions made it very hard and I settled in to keeping my position in the front. Janel did a great job of helping to close down any attacks and keep me safe at the front. With 15 laps to go there was another time bonus and cash sprint, which I won. The pace remained high as the lap cards counted down and I was happy that it also remained safe. The rough roads were definitely tossing people around.

At five laps to go, there was a points and crowd prime of $165. I was in perfect position, sitting second wheel out of turn 5 coming into the downhill before the sharp left turn up the finishing stretch, which was uphill. I came around the woman leading the group and tapped my inner Cavendish (yes, I was actually thinking this as I was sprinting) and won the sprint. This definitely gave me the confidence that if I was in good position for the last lap I could win the race. So, with two to go, Janel was sitting second wheel with me right behind her and as we came around for the bell lap, Janel pulled through to the front after the second turn. I let her know I was on her wheel and she did a perfect leadout for me. I came around her on the left up the finish stretch and gave it all I had for the win.

The crazy thing though was there was confusion as the officials yelled at us that we had one more lap even though the announcer and the lap cards indicated differently. Make a long story short, there were three of us who did one more lap but were informed that the first finish counted, not the second. Thank goodness.

So, Janel and I wrapped up a great three days of racing with three stage wins, 1st and 2nd, and having a ton of fun in Vermont. What more could you want!!!

Thanks for reading.

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08-30/31-08 Green Mountain Stage Race Stages 1 & 2

Katheryn and Janel continue to lead the field in Vermont.

Here is Katheryn's Report:

Stage 1: The Bridges Resort Circuit Race (2 laps, 64.2 miles)

This would be a day for the sprinters as there was only one significant climb that was about 17 miles into the loop, and it was followed by a false flat before descending for almost five miles. Otherwise, the roads were flat to rolling. Our plan going into the race was to protect our first and 2nd GC placings and to set Janel up for the QOM, and try and pick up some time bonuses at the intermediary sprints and finish. With a small field of only 39 or so women, the pace for much of the first lap was pretty mellow. Janel led the QOM a bit early and got pipped at the line by another rider.

Coming into the intermediary sprint, there was a bit of confusion and Janel was not able to get together with me soon enough for the leadout. Janel did manage to get 2nd and I got 5th.

On the start of the second lap, a rider rolled off the front and the peloton seemed content to let her go. It was fortunate for Janel and
I that we had pre-ridden the TT course with her the day before and looked at how she had gone in the TT; she was over 1:30' back, so she was no threat to us.

The rider sitting in 3rd place, Jennifer Stephenson (Ultralink), had one of her riders set tempo, although Julie's gap steadily grew to almost two minutes. Coming into the QOM, the pace definitely picked up and Janel got 3rd. The group was able to bring the gap down between the base of the climb and the base of the descent but never completely brought her back. She managed to stay off for the win and although Janel did a great job of trying to set me up for the sprint, she mistimed things and we got swarmed. We did maintain our GC positions and did not expend too much energy before the Queen Stage.

Stage 2: Mad River Road Race

Unfortunately due to heavy rains washing away part of the original course, the race organizers were forced to reroute today's race. I was a bit bummed as I have done this course three times and find it epic. Yet they did a great job of quickly finding a suitable substitution.

Starting at the base lodge of Lincoln Peak at Sugarbush Resort, we had a neutral rollout down the access road before heading south on RT 100. The small group seemed content to keep things together through the first hot spot sprint at mile 14 and there were some attacks before the turn onto the first climb of the day – Brandon Gap. Brandon is a gradual 7mile climb. With a headwind, it definitely kept people in check. Janel did manage to win the QOM, but was one point shy of winning the competition; bummer but it was great practice for her.

For the next 26 miles, the peloton was greeted with a lovely head/cross wind and at times the pace was mind numbingly slow. Janel and I did our best to stay awake and up front. We were so happy when we finally made the turn onto the Notch road, just outside of Bristol. Janel and I did drive the last 18 miles after yesterday's race as there were some technical aspects to it. The Notch Rd had a great steep, short kicker in it before taking a quick left onto a 1.5mile dirt road. Jen (Ultralink) made a great attack on the climb, and both Janel and I were right on her wheel. This also put us in great position for the dirt road.

We successfully made it through the dirt section with bottles still in our cages and no flat tires. There was still a good sized peloton as we rolled through the center of Bristol and eventually up Baby Gap. With a tail/crosswind, things moved along nicely and the group was together as we hit the 4.5k to go mark and the most challenging part of the course. The climb up Appalachian Gap averages about 12%, with the final 500m close to 20%. As soon as we hit the bottom, I went to the front and upped the pace; Janel then took over and we traded off efforts to blow things apart. Soon, it was just the two of us and we wanted to put as much distance/time between us and the other riders.

As I have ridden this climb many times, I knew it fairly well and was feeling good. Janel did a great job of tackling the beast and with my encouragement, hung tough. She and I rolled across the finish together, she slightly ahead of me for the win. We have secured our GC placings going into tomorrow's crit. Goals for the day accomplished, whoopie!

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08-29-08 Green Mountain Stage Race Prologue

The Webcor duo of Katheryn and Janel made the trip to beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont for the 4-day "Green Mountain Stage Race." They started with a 1-2 finish in the opening prologue time trial.

Here is Katheryn's Report:

Janel and I made the trip to Vermont from California. Amy and Rebecca were taking a break after a spectacular first season with Webcor, and Gina, Christine, Erinne, and Alex were taking a break after the Olympics. The prologue was Egan's Big World Individual Time Trial, a 5.7-mile point to point race. The course started out in the small town of Warren Village and headed East into the beautiful countryside.

After leaving the start, a right turn lead the racers to a stairstep climb, not too steep or long, about 2.3 miles, and then the course rolls along slightly downhill. At mile 5.2, a "dip" in the road dropped us down quickly and then immediately back up for about 750m (steeper at the bottom).

We had a chance to pre-ride the course yesterday and then again right before the start and it provided us with a great chance to plan out our attack. We both knew we had to be careful not to go out too hard on the hill but hard enough to gain valuable time. Unofficial results have me winning and Janel finishing a close 2nd. Jennifer Stephensons (Ultralink) finished 3rd, 41 seconds back.

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08-13-08 Olympic Games Time Trial

Webcor is very proud of Christine's impressive 5th place in the Olympic Time Trial. Only the best athletes in the world get to even compete at the Olympic Games, and everyone one of them has timed (or tried to time!) their peak for that one special day. There are only three medals in each event, but they are quite often separated by fractions of seconds or fractions of points from the hundreds of athletes that don't get invited to the NBC studio!

Christine's Olympic journey began five years ago with the founding of the Webcor Builders Women's team to support her dream of qualifying for the US team in Athens. It has been quite a ride.

Here is Christine's Story:

After the Athens Olympics in 2004, and being a surprise 4th place finisher in the time trial there (missing a medal by 19 seconds that time), I had personal thoughts of attempting a second Olympics. However, I made no plans to delay my medical career, and by December, 2005, I started my dream job at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. I thought I would see how racing went in 2006 before committing myself to another Olympic campaign. Fortunately, I had a fantastic day at the Salzburg World Championships at the end of the 2006 season, which landed me a bronze medal in the time trial. This ended up being my ticket to Beijing, once the selection criteria were announced by USA Cycling by the end of 2007: top priority for discretionary nomination was having medaled at a World Championships in the previous two years. Aside from Kristin Armstrong, who placed top three (silver medal) at the 2007 World Championships, no other US woman rider met an automatic qualification criterion for the 2008 Olympic Games.

After two years of diligent work in clinic, I was awarded Partner status at the Palo Alto Medical Clinic. My colleagues there had been very supportive of my occasional week away for bicycle racing in 2006 and 2007 (it was my vacation time, after all), and encouraged me to take a leave of absence from the clinic prior to the Beijing Olympics in order to qualify and perform to my best. In retrospect, it would have been better to take leave starting in February when our Webcor Builders team began racing internationally, but I continued to juggle the two professions through mid-April (hoping to impact my patients the least possible). My racing campaign began badly in Australia, suffering three broken ribs in a crash on the second day of racing this season. I feel fortunate that no other US riders met automatic selection criteria during the spring of racing in Europe when I was just finding my fitness again. With some hard racing with my Webcor teammates in France (Tour de l'Aude) and Montreal (Montreal World Cup and Tour) through May and June, I felt more confident I would peak perfectly for Beijing in August. After a short rest, we had another racing block at Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon and the Tour of Thuringen in Germany and the Sweden round of the World Cup. Now I was definitely ready!

Since the time trial course was one lap of the road circuits, I had my first opportunity to see the course on Thursday before the road race on Saturday (the time trial was on the following Wednesday). Jim Miller, USAC team coach, had been to the course a year earlier for the men's test event, and had done a great job describing it to me earlier in the season, so I was quite prepared to see the 12km slightly broken-up climb (three parts with two very short descents between) followed by 10km of a fast-pedalling descent at a lighter grade, and a final 1km uphill to the finish. I had been riding my beautiful Orbea Ordu up Old La Honda and Highway 9 climbs to get used to riding an unusually hilly time trial. I debated wheel selection again, but settled on my original choice with disk and deep dish front since most of the climbing was under 6% (but up to 9% in pitches). The most important section to make time on competitors was clearly the climb, but with a headwind on the shallow descent, a strong effort downhill would be important too.

The road race was already eloquently described by my Canadian teammate, Erinne Willock, but I will make a few notes here too. As she noted, my job for the US team was to follow any early moves and later chase back threatening riders to set up our best climber, and the best climber in the field, Amber Neben. Although the pace the first 75km before the circuits was very slow, the headwind was strong, so my actions at the front took some effort out of me. I then attacked twice up the climb for the first time (we raced twice on the 24km circuit also used for the time trial after the 75km slightly uphill lead-in to the circuits at the Great Wall), hoping to tire the riders like Nicole Cooke (Great Britain) and Marian Vos (The Netherlands) who are better known for their powerful sprints but can climb well unless the pace is quite hard. Then, when a lone Russian rider put a minute on the field over the top of the climb, the US coach radioed to ask me to make a large effort on the descent to bring down the gap. This I achieved, but at the cost of being able to keep pace with the group the second time up the climb immediately following!

This second lap on my own ended up being another view of the circuit from a time trialist's perspective, and I finished at my own steady tempo. Unfortunately, Amber dropped her chain and was unable to get it back on quickly just as the race took off on the second lap. Kristin managed to stay with the second group after having crashed a lap earlier, but the US women were clearly out of medal contention in the road race. Alas, I really thought we had a good chance at it by racing as a team this year.

I recovered just fine from the road race (did I mention it was pouring rain and actually COLD by the time we finished – after planning all season for high heat and humidity?), and I knew I could have a very good day three days later in the time trial. The day of the time trial was warm and humid but not unbearable. You could actually see some of the Great Wall after the rain took away some of the smog and humidity clouds. It was an amazing setting for an international peace event, I must say. Kristin (the other US representative) and I warmed up on trainers in the cabins provided with meager window air conditioners. I still used the cooling vest after efforts to keep my core temperature a bit lower.

I do not always use a radio in a time trial unless I know the person following me (like Ted or Karen) will give me the encouragement I want, but I drew the second-to-last start position, so split times would be extremely helpful. Unfortunately, there was some confusion about channels for each of us, so my radio was taken away to the follow car above the warm-up area, and I did not get it back until shortly before I left for the start ramp. I shoved it in my sports bra (as I have done before when there is no pocket in the skinsuit), and thought briefly about having it in a plastic bag and taping the cord, but I didn't want the distraction of those details at that point of my mental warm-up routine.

Before I started, I heard from Jim Ochowiz, my follow-car coach, that Great Britain's Emma Pooley had set the early fastest time split. The US team placed a timer halfway up the climb in addition to the official time check at the top of the climb. Given Emma is a fast climber and a known fast starter (but not always fast finisher), I was prepared to be a bit behind at the first time check without panicking. I felt I had a good start, and Och was giving me nice encouragement just before our first time check. The last thing I heard in the radio was "you are about to get to the first time check," and then there was silence. Usually, that means the coach does not want to give you a really slow split as it might discourage you. I did my best to stay focused and ride my own race. About halfway down the descent, a motorbike pulled parallel with me. At first I thought this was the last rider's moto (reigning World Champ, Hanka Kupfernagel, started last at 1 1/2 minutes behind me) catching me, but then I realized it was the camera moto, and I finally thought maybe I was having a fast ride after all.

I was careful, but not too careful, rounding the final downhill sweeping turn and started the final uphill 600m in a bit too light of a gear. Being out of the saddle and nowhere near my shifters, I tried to make up for it with a higher cadence. I sat down once over the plateau and "sprinted" out of the saddle the final 100m across the line. When I finished, Jim Miller was there telling me I just missed the bronze medal by three seconds. I told him I had no idea I was that close because my radio stopped working before the first time split. My radio earpiece cord had pulled out of the radio itself.

My teammate Kristin completed her very successful year by winning the gold medal, finishing 24 seconds ahead of Emma Pooley, the somewhat surprising silver medalist. The 2004 bronze medalist, Swiss Karin Thurig, held on for bronze again this year, but by only 1.5 seconds ahead of Jeannie Longo (yes, at 49 she is still one of the fastest women in the world!) and three seconds over me in 5th place. I give credit to Kristin for being meticulously prepared for this event and peaking just right (although she has been killing her US competitors since June).

The men raced after us, and Levi Leipheimer had an excellent ride to take the bronze medal for the US. Dave Zabriskie, after breaking his back in the spring and being a bit off top form, finished 12th. We had another celebratory dinner like we had had in 2004 when the US riders finished gold (Tyler Hamilton), silver (Dede Barry) and bronze (Bobby Julich), and myself in fourth. Frankly, I did not enjoy myself for a second time celebrating others' medal rides. I know I should appreciate the opportunities I have had to represent the US twice in the Olympic Games, and truly I do. However, my goal was to return to earn a medal, and I think I might have had three seconds more to give if I knew I was that close rather than having the lapsed radio communication give me the opposite impression.

It was quite a thrill to have so many supporters at the Games this time. Of course, my fabulously, wonderfully supportive husband Ted did everything possible to get me everything I needed, whether that be emotional support or special time trial equipment. My coach, Jay Gump, was there to cheer as well as Webcor management staff, Dario Falquier and Frank Scioscia. My sister Jolene brought her 12 year old daughter Eva this time, and I know we will talk about her experiences for years! Webcor Builders CEO and diehard cycling fan of ours, Andy Ball, was able to make the trip as well. Andy, it has been quite a fun ride with your support these past five years! None of this would be possible without the support of Webcor Builders and its sub-contractors for the past five years, and this year, La-Z-Boy (Erinne's uncle). Industry sponsors are critical as well, and I give special thanks to Orbea, Voler clothing, Kaenon eyewear, and PowerBar for years of amazing support. Back home, The Bicycle Outfitter has always taken care of bike maintenance even with (ok, usually with!) last minute requests. There are many others who have helped me along my journey, and I thank you all as well.

I have decided to finish my racing career at the World Championships in Varese, Italy, the last week in September. Wish me the best for my last international time trial and road race!

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08-10-08 Olympic Games Road Race

Just the subject line of this report is a huge achievement for the entire Webcor team. We started out in 2004 as an amateur team with some of the best riders from the San Francisco Bay Area and the lofty goal of helping Christine qualify for the US Olympic team in her first full year of national racing. That goal was achieved, and with generous support form all of you, we have grown the team every year to 2008, where we stepped up to become the only North American registered UCI Professional Women's trade team, racing the most competitive events in world against the best riders in the world, the majority of whom were specifically peaking to compete for their country in the Olympic Games. We again set a very lofty goal for the team – this time to qualify four riders for the Beijing Olympics. This goal was achieved and everyone on the team played a part in it! See these CyclingNews photos of the Olympic road race:

Christine and Erinne in the pack when it was still dry
Christine at the front in the rain
Erinne

Here is Erinne's Report:

I'm at home again and watching the Olympics on TV now. It still feels like I'm a little kid watching these super humans perform some impossible task. It's hard to believe just two days ago I was in Beijing, and just one week ago I was one of these athletes on TV with thousands of people watching me. It was a life-long dream of mine to compete at the Olympics and with 12 years of bike racing, I finally made it to the start line and with a team and fitness that was strong enough to contend for a medal.

It was a long journey to get there and the past two years have felt like a lifetime. With an injury taking up most of my 2007 season, Team Canada had a poor international ranking and during 2008 we had to chase international points all year in order to qualify Olympic spots. We were fortunate that Webcor sent us around the world to get those points. So by June, Canada had secured the maximum of three riders at the Olympics and the Team was announced. The USA had secured their three spots long before but their Team was also not announced until June. So, Webcor finally realized we had achieved our first goal of qualifying four Webcor riders to the Olympics. As a first year UCI Team that was quite an achievement.

The Olympic Road Race was held on the second day of competition at the Games. All year I had been preparing myself for very HOT and humid conditions. In late July I spent a week training in a heat "torture" chamber here in Victoria. This got me acclimatized to the heat and humidity and then the week before Beijing was spent in Kyoto, Japan to again get used to the heat. So I was really surprised when I woke up the morning of the race to rain and cold temperatures. To make it worse, the sun started to poke through at the start line so we all stripped down to shorts and jerseys and didn't think of putting rain jackets in the follow car…

The course was a sort of lollipop. We went out on a completely flat, wide open highway for 78km, then we did two 24km loops out in the mountains by the Great Wall of China. This circuit had an 11km climb and then a 13km descent. The start was exciting at Tiananmen Square , with thousands of Chinese spectators for the whole 78km. Unfortunately, this open road with head-wind made for a very slow and negative beginning.

Going into the Olympics I was prepared for the race to be the hardest race ever, so I was shocked, when at 1.5 hours into it we were still puttering around at slow speeds and having pee stops. Within an hour the rain started, and as we continued at slow speeds and into the mountains I was getting a little cold. The Aussies, USA, and Italians were the only teams rolling at the front and keeping the race in control during this time.

Finally, we hit the circuits, yippee! We were fighting for position, attacks were starting, and the first climb was about to begin. At the base of the climb we went through the start/finish line and then the chaotic Feed Zone, as everybody was grabbing bottles. As we hit the first climb, my Webcor Teammate Christine Thorburn of USA launched two almost consecutive attacks that were the first hard wake-up calls to our legs. Christine had done a fabulous job of being the worker for her USA teammates, Amber Neben and Kristin Armstrong. After Christine's attacks, the rest of the hill was a steady tempo set by Amber Neben (USA) and Trixi Worrack (Germany). Us Canadians were sitting in great position being patient and we were feeling good. There were a few non-threatening attacks on that first climb but other than one Russian off the front, the pack was surprisingly still all together at the crest of the first climb.

Now we started the first descent of 13km. The weather conditions were going from bad to worse as the rain was picking up and temperatures were cold in the mountains. The descent was scary as you couldn't see more than two inches in front. Christine again went to the front on the descent and drilled it to bring back the Russian off the front. At the bottom of the descent it was of course another big fight for position through the toll booths, the right hand corner (covered with slippery paint) and into the beginning of the second climb. Alex was right behind me in the right hand corner and went down hard with a few others on the slippery paint.

As we went into the final climb with legs that were seizing up and teeth chattering, I was about 5th wheel through the start/finish line when Emma Pooley attacked on the right. Because I was feeling so good on the first climb, I had decided to be really patient and wait for the possible winning move. So I decided not to react to Emma's attack, thinking it was still too early. In retrospect I probably should have gone since I was right there, but again who knows how my frozen legs would have reacted had I tried. There are so many what ifs…

Then we went through the Feed Zone where I lost a couple of positions, since people caught behind the crash were now catching up (and freaking out!) – then a small descent. Here my rear wheel slipped and my bike was sideways; I held it up, but by the time I regained control I had lost the rest of my positions and the chase and attacks were flying at the front. With the now bad position and frozen legs I couldn't get back up to the front. I was in a little chase group of about 14 riders including Amber Neben of USA who had dropped her chain, Oneone Wood, and Sara Carrigan (2004 Olympic Champion) of Australia. We climbed steadily up the final hill and then Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany, 2007 TT World Champion) and Anita Valen (Norway) drilled in to the bottom with their 11-tooth cogs, while the rest of us could barely hold on since we were spinning out our little gears. At the bottom, we were not far behind the lead and sort of caught the tail end of the first chase group. I finished 37th. Leigh Hobson was the first Canadian and North American finishing in 17th. Alex Wrubleski finished 50th after her crash and Christine finished 52nd after her incredible team effort.

Sometime near the top of the final climb a small breakaway occurred with the future leaders. Nicole Cooke of Great Britain won the gold medal in the five person sprint. Emma Johansson of Sweden took the silver and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy took the bronze.

Unfortunately it was a disappointing day for the Webcor riders. It was a strange race and surprisingly many of the "favorites" were also not present in the top ten. I am happy however with the fact that I went into the race with excellent fitness and had prepared perfectly. It's too bad we froze and had some bad luck but we made it to the OLYMPICS! No matter what, that excitement and experience will be with me forever.

Also, I have to thank our family members who made it a very special day with their presence and who went through more trouble than you can imagine to sit in the rain for seven hours to watch our race and cheer us on.

After the race, I got to go to the CBC and Radio Canada Media Tower for interviews and that in itself was very cool. Then for the next week, I had a vacation with my family and got the chance to see some sights in Beijing and watch some other Olympic events. Tony and I made it out to the Time Trial on Wednesday and got a chance to catch up with Andy Ball and the other Webcor guys who came out to support us. (Thanks GUYS!!!) And we cheered Christine on to a very exciting and close 5th place.

Thanks to everyone, Webcor Builders, our fabulous staff (Karen, Dave, and Avery), my teammates (every one of you), La-Z-Boy (and my Uncle Bernie), and all our families and friends who have helped us along the way for all these years and thanks for all of your time and effort. We couldn't have made it to Beijing without you!

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08-09-08 US National Elite & Under-23 Road Race Championship

Amy was 3rd in the U23 road race. Photo courtesy of Karen Brems

The US Webcor Women lined up bright and early Saturday for the US Elite National Road Race in Orange County, CA. Elite and U23 women raced together, but were picked separately, so it was a "race within a race" to some extent. Our primary goal was the Elite title for Katheryn or Janel, but we also knew that Amy and Rebecca had a good shot at the U23 title if they could be the first U23 rider across the line.

Unlike the past five years, the course was not selective at all in itself, and without Gina and Alex, our team's sprinters, we knew we had to force a breakaway. With a small team, we knew it would be tough, and the team did all they could. In the end, the race came down to a field sprint despite our best efforts. Amy did a great job getting on the podium in 3rd in the U23 division. Here are links to a couple of CyclingNews photos from the day:

Amy on the podium
Rebecca covering an attack

Here is Katheryn's Report:

With a 7am start time, the foursome of Janel, Katheryn, Rebecca, and Amy rolled out a bit bleary-eyed but excited to tackle four laps of the approximately 18-mile circuit. Unlike the previous two years' nationals course, which was in Seven Springs, PA, this year's course was in Irvine, CA. The profile was a lot less selective too, as the two "climbs" were not only short but also shallow and had u-turns at the top.

Despite the early start, the team was happy to be racing before the heat of the day really set in. The first two laps even blessed the riders with overcast skies. The peloton seemed to mimic the grey skies as it was fairly mellow the first lap and a half. Several riders tried to force an early break but were either immediately covered or allowed to solo for a bit before being swallowed up by the group. All four Webcor riders did a great job of being up front and making sure that nothing dangerous went away.

On the third time up the second riser, one of the Colavita riders attacked and Janel did a great job of covering her. The group did not respond immediately and the two of them gained a small gap. They stayed away until about 5k from the start/finish line going into the final lap.

There were a few more attacks during the beginning part of the final lap and as the course was not selective enough to whittle down the peloton, there were still a big group and many fresh legs. Rebecca, Amy, and Janel were again very attentive at the front and did a great job of covering things.

The last time up the final climb, Mara Abbott (Columbia) attacked several times and finally things began to break up. She got away briefly with Lauren Franges (Tibco) but as Aaron's missed the move, they chased the two down. There was a flurry of attacks after the capture, and Katheryn and Janel tried to go a few times. Katheryn got away briefly solo and another time with Lauren but again, nothing got away.

In the end, Brooke Miller (Tibco) won followed by Tina Pic (Colavita) and Kat Carroll (Aaron's). Amy was the 3rd U23 rider to finish and earned herself a podium spot.

Despite no one on the podium for the elite riders, the Webcor ladies raced a great race and worked very well as a team.

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08-07-08 US National Under-23 Criterium Championship

The only separate national championship race for the U23 women is the criterium. In the Road Race and TT, they race together with the elites. (The elite national criterium is in Chicago in a month or so.). Webcor's U23 team of Rebecca and Amy headed out the the Angel's stadium parking lot for the race.

Here is Amy's Report:

Thursday morning Rebecca and I awoke, hoping that the crit fairies had come to us in our sleep. We followed our strict routine coffee and breakfast rituals and were soon on our way to the crit course, which happened to be in the Anaheim Stadium. It was the most parking lot-tiest course I have ever seen. In the immense Angels parking lot, metal barriers lined a 1.2 mile loop. Because of the nature of this course we knew it would be difficult to get away from the group because you would always be in sight and because it lacked any corners or technical aspects. In our pre-race meeting, Karen advised us to test the waters of the field a bit before attempting any attacks. We also decided that the best case scenario would be getting a break with one or both of us in it, considering that neither Bec nor I are thoroughbred sprinters. Plan B would be Rebecca leading me out for the sprint.

At 9 am the field of 20 under-23 women were off for 21 laps in the parking lot. Dave was the only mechanic in the pit and did a good job cheering, as Avery kept us awake with the number of laps remaining. For the first few laps Rebecca and I just sat in conserving and observing. Shortly later a prime was announced and Karen told Rebecca to counter that move. The rest of the race was fairly similar. There were 3 primes to counter off of. We made use of those, and Bec and I were like clockwork as we countered another's moves. Several times we were able to work a bit of a gap, but the field would always quickly swallow it up like a ravenous wild boar. At 6 laps to go, nothing in the entire race was able to gain more than 10 seconds on the massive 20-women peloton. We decided to go for one more explosive attack. Rebecca went and opened up the biggest gap of the day. I hopped on a girl's wheel who was trying to bridge, then tried for the counter but again the field was on me like white on rice.

Plan B was now on our plates. Metro-Volkswagen had three girls in the race and wanted to set Kim Geist up for the win. With 3 laps to go they were already starting their lead-out train. So Bec and I comfortably sat behind it until the final lap. Rebecca came on my left and pulled me to the front. At 500m she started accelerating into her sprint. We lacked some communication and the innate Gina-ness of a leadout, and were swarmed with 300m to go. Girls were shooting right and left like dull bullets for the final 200m and my sprinting legs led me to 7th place with Rebecca rolling in just a bit later.

Early Friday is the road race...send some wattage our way.

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08-06-08 US National Elite & Under-23 Time Trial Championship

The American contingent of Katheryn, Janel, Amy, and Rebecca is now in Orange Coun, CA for US Nationals. Only USA Cycling would schedule nationals during the Olympics, but they did, so Christine decided to go to Beijing instead!

The Time Trial was the first event and we had one national champion with Rebecca winning the Under-23 division and Amy placing 3rd in that category. Katheryn made the podium in 5th in the Elite race with Janel in 9th.

Here is Rebecca's Report:

Two young Webcor riders made the podium – Rebecca in 1st and Amy in 3rd. Photo courtesy of Karen Brems

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 were the Elite and U23 TT National Championships. Kathryn, Janel, Amy, and I all came down to Orange County, California to compete in the hot, hot conditions of so-cal. The TT course was 35K that started with 4K on a bike path before you hit a canyon road on which the majority of the course took place. Start times for the four of us were all around 10am, but it was already crazy hot when we went off. Luckily we had our tent to stay cool under and everything was in place for a good day.

The race was a bit nuts for me as my time trial bike didn't make it to California in time for the start of the race, which was a bit of a bummer as our TT bikes are sooooooo nice and fast. I spent the day before the TT running around the O.C. trying to work out an alternate plan and luckily with help from the US Women's Development Program I got a full front end set up of bars/shifters/brake levers so that Dave, our mechanic, could work his magic and transform my Orbea Orca road bike into a fast TT machine. I couldn't get quite as low as I would have liked so I felt like a bit of an 80yr old man in my TT position, but the bike was fast!

Katheryn finishes 5th in the Elite time trial. Photo courtesy of Karen Brems

The course was rolling with gradual climbs and descents, but other than the first little kicker climb you could stay in your big ring the whole time. I was wicked thirsty by the end of the race but I knew either Amy or I had won the U23 Time Trial when I had started last and I crossed the line as she was the only one in our age category that I didn't pass out on the course! Katheryn and Janel had good rides in the Elite field as well with Katheryn getting on the podium in 5th and Janel finishing in 9th. Despite the nations' best being off in China right now for the Olympics, the TT field was unbelievably strong and it's cool to see how high the level of US cycling is right now. There are a lot of fast girls which makes it harder to win, but only improves the state of the sport in the long run. Amy and I both got on the podium for the U23 TT with Amy taking 3rd and me winning a brand new stars and stripes jersey as national champ!

It's my last U23 year and I won this same jersey back in my first year as a U23 when I was 19 so it is sort of special to me to win again at the end of my U23 years showing that I came full circle the last four years. I started at the top, and then after taking a year off and slowly coming back last year, it was a good thing to accomplish before I move of to the senior division full time and continue with the rest of my cycling career. The TT was a warm up for Webcor and we are all really excited for the US National Road Race Championship coming up next!!!!!!

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