NVGP: I hope you had the time of your life

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Nature Valley Grand Prix Stillwater Criterium The Course: 13 laps, 14 trips up Chilkoot Hill The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 19th on the stage, 14th on the GC First and foremost, here is our final video masterpiece as a team.  The videographer, who shall remain nameless to protect him from the masses of people who would mock his appalling love of liverwurst (seriously, it has the word wurst in the name, isn't that a hint??), asked that one of us make a joke referencing the fan shown in the background. After we finished making fun of him for being totally lame, of course I did it. The wurst part (see what I did there?) is that it's the kind of joke I would have made all on my own. Better to let him take the fall for it, though. [caption id="attachment_3220" align="alignnone" width="400"] Team director Michael Englemen interrupts our warm-ups to ask if anybody has ...continue reading.

NVGP: On the bright side, I got a lot of cadence practice

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Nature Valley Grand Prix Menomonie Road Race The Course: 81.3 miles, 4 laps on the finishing circuit The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 17th Things That Happened In This Race: 1. It poured rain while we waited to start. The announcer cheerfully told the crowds, "At least it's a warm rain!" He said this to 90 shivering, dripping riders while standing sheltered and dry under an awning. I wanted to shoot him with the starting gun. 2. We rode for many miles. Attacks were met with the full attention of the field and nothing stayed away. I made it into one small break that did not last. A few riders went solo up the road and were left to dangle by the field. Nothing says "non-threat!" like the field not bothering to chase you. 3. Which is why it stung a little when I attacked and was left to chill ...continue reading.

NVGP: If I tell you my secret plan, it’s not a secret plan, DUH

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Nature Valley Grand Prix Uptown Minneapolis Crit The Course: 28 laps, 6 corners The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 9th We got home from last night's crit really late and I squandered my free time this morning poking the asshole cat and inserting "that's what SHE said" into conversations. As a result, writing this report got pushed to the last minute and now I'm writing it during the van ride to the next race. If you want real insight into my charming pre- and post-race personality, you can see my Nature Valley feature video here. Also, who says "prognosticate" in an interview while riding the trainer? I can't decide if I deserve props or a bitchslap. My teammates vote for the latter. This is why I love them. The race was tough - I was nearly involved in four crashes, four of my teammates hit the ground (and bounced with minimal ...continue reading.

NVGP: Failure to launch

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Nature Valley Grand Prix Cannon Falls Road Race The Course: 74ish miles, or so I heard The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: The parking lot Thursday morning dawned cold and wet, but ever the optimists, the women of the Nature Valley Cycling Team prepared diligently for the road race scheduled to begin at 5pm. This included fretting, checking the weather obsessively, and eating everything in the host house that was not nailed down (excluding the cats, because life here would not be the same without those assholes precious little bundles of joy). Can we talk about the cats for a second? On the whole, I don't mind cats. They're fascinating; while I'm told they have bones, personal experience suggests this is a lie. One minute a cat is sitting on the floor and the next minute he's on top of the refrigerator. No matter where he is, he's silently judging you. ...continue reading.

NVGP: In which I neither cried nor panicked

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Nature Valley Grand Prix Downtown St. Paul Crit The Course: 28 laps, 5 corners The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 10th This was my first double day and I wasn't sure what to expect from my legs in the crit after a hard TT in the morning. There was enough time between stages to go home, shower, eat, generate more magical team moments, and head out again, so I'd nearly forgotten about the morning's race by the 6:15pm start. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="400"] The start/finish stretch in downtown St. Paul.[/caption] Our team plan for the race was to make sure Brianna stayed in the Best Amateur jersey, maintain my standing in the GC, and make sure everybody survived the first crit. I stayed on the trainer to warm up while the rest of the team went to check out the course, with a plan to jump off at 6:00 and get ...continue reading.

NVGP: In which time trialing turns out to be oddly satisfying

Posted on by lindsay
The Race: Nature Valley Grand Prix St. Paul Time Trial The Course: 7.7 miles, gently rolling terrain, out and back style The Field: Pro 1/2 women The Finish: 24th Today started brutally early when my alarm (and my roommate's alarm, which blared with an intensity more suited for a nuclear holocaust warning) went off at 4:45am. The two of us needed to get to the time trial venue early for an interview with the local Fox news channel. As we waited to get started, another news anchor came over and asked to use my bike as a prop. He asked how much it was worth and was afraid to touch it after that, even after I explained that I beat the shit out of it in races. I heard him tell the cameraman, "If this falls, drop the camera and go for the bike." Then he announced on camera the bike's value, ensuring that ...continue reading.