THSJ Women Take State Crit Championship!

Phenomenal Team Hotel San Jose rider Jen Purcell takes it all in the State Crit Championship! As the crowning achievement to a fantastic weekend of racing, Jen again proved her mettle as a rider and sprinter in the State Criterium Championships.

Always a race of attrition, this crit inevitably takes place in no less than 93 degrees and 90% humidity on the streets of downtown Fort Worth, TX. The course is a great combo of standard right-hand turns and a couple of tricky ones, including the crash-tastic 110 degree, off-camber, cobbled one, just a couple of turns before the finish.

The heat seemed to keep everyone happy to rotate at the front for about the first 10 minutes- then Kacey of Lipsmackers made a move, and no one wanted to be left out! Jen was on it like white on rice, as were a couple of Metro VW girls, including their strongest rider, Shannon Koch, and relative newcomer (and former San Jose rider,) Lauren Robertson. Also represented were the Austin Flyers, Moritz's Tracie Akerhielm and Christina Smith of Veloforma- all in all, 8 riders.

The break seemed to be working well together, and Lori & Rachel covered things in the pack. Lori's rear derailleur took this race to misfire for the first time, starting when pedaling out of the start- the chain fell off! After a push from junior track star Shelby Reynolds of Sugar Cycles, the chain was back on, but the rear der. ghost shifted continually throughout the race. Very exciting- it made every pedal stroke a surprise!

Up in the break, Christina Smith decides she wants no part of a pack sprint with this crowd, and makes a move. No one is terribly worried, and she scoots off, head down and pedaling. Coming into the last 25 minutes, Christina has about a 30 second gap, and the break starts to look at bringing her back. Throughout about an 8 lap effort, Jen puts her head down for about 6 of them, and drills it to retreive Christina. She is brought back with 4 to go, and Jen sits in to recover for the sprint.

On the radios, Rachel & Lori hear only chaos, coming in for the finish, as Jen goes from the front of the pack, Shannon of Metro VW comes around her, and the sprint is on! Shannon slams from one side of the road to the other in two separate, desperate attempts to get Jen off her wheel. Jen powers out enough to get alongside Shannon, and they drag race the last 100m to the finish. It was so close, no one celebrated until the officials saw the race camera, and Jen, due to fantastic riding, tenacity and a great bike throw, was deemed the 2009 Texas State Criterium Champion.

An incredible ride, by an incredible rider, for an amazing and well-deserved victory.

Back in the pack, Lori takes a flier with one lap to go. Afraid her bike will shift when she stands, she sees this as the way she can help Rachel chill out in the final lap. Brought back on the rear side of the course, the pack sets up for the sprint. Coming out of the final turn, Whitney from Metro VW takes off- being a powerful rider, her best bet for the finish is to make it as long & hard as possible! Rachel comes up through the pack, and barely misses winning the field sprint for 8th place. It was a great ride, and superb effort on everyone's parts.

Thanks so much to our amazing women's team sponsors: Hotel San Jose, Crumpton Cylces, Vittoria, Oakley & Hed Wheels. Also we would not have made it in this hellacious race without our wonderful water-throwers, Barry Lee & Adam Biechlin! Lee Whaley and Wes Mundy, your calm collection on the race radios, as well as the timely reminders to drink, drink, drink kept us all sane and hydrated. A million thank you's are not enough!

Photo courtesy of Will Shoot Photos: http://shop.willshootphotos.com/Road%20Cycling/794128

Memorial Weekend- Gary Glickman & GS Tenzing Crits

The Memorial Day Weekend always signifies something special to Texas racers: 3 days of hotter than heck crits, with the finale being the Texas State Crit Championships!

Starting Saturday, the San Jose women riders were ready for action: the new Gary Glickman course was a creative use of roadways, with a long, false-flat finish. Lori worked hard the first half of the race, then decided to preserve her legs for the next couple of days, but Jen & Rachel kept it together for a great finish. Metro VW put a rider out as a last-ditch effort to not have a field sprint with Rachel & Jen, but Jen went after it, and held the 300m pack sprint tidily at bay behind her.

On Sunday, our mantra was reserve, preserve & observe, as we needed to put forth no more effort than necessary. Some of the main contenders for the Monday State title were not racing at all over the prior two days, so we needed to be more savvy than ever to stay fresh. We all felt like it was our best team-racing, to date: we were more patient, waiting for moves to develop before going after them or bringing them back, and we all knew we were fine with a pack sprint.

Sure enough, despite various team members being off the front at different parts of the race, with one lap to go, a pack sprint was a certainty. The Flyers had launched their rider, and as we slowly reeled her back in, we all got ready for the jump. With her inimitable style, Jen went from the front of the pack, and took the long, tailwindy sprint with no real contention from anyone, including Lipsmackers' key sprinter, Kacey Manderfield. Rachel came in just behind for 4th, and while a rider came across Lori's wheel in the last 50m, she was able to hold it together for 7th.

Another great couple of races, and fabulous wins for the Women's Team Hotel San Jose!

Houston Grand Crit

Again, yay for Crit season! The Houston Grand is always a fun event- they do a great job of creating a festive atmosphere- from "Recoveritas" to viewing tents, Houston's only downtown race is a blast!

The course was a little different from years past, shortened on the long straightaway and run clockwise. This made the finish one loooong drag race- a half mile slight false flat, with nothing in the way of the line.

This course has historically been lousy for any kind of breakaway in our small fields: the long straights allow the pack to keep breaks in sight, never to be forgotten, and the few turns are 90 degrees and simple, by and large. The Flyers were also racing, though, and they're good about trying to get people off the front, so we thought it might be possible with two strong teams trying.

Rachel won the first prime, Jen countered, and there was a decent looking move that lasted for a couple of laps. One Flyer, Kim from Solar Eclipse, and our Jen. After a turn, a 2nd Flyer made a jump for a bridge, and when she hit the break, we decided we no longer liked the move, and worked with the other girls to shut it down. We figured we could do better than 1 in the top 4, and certainly with 2 from the same team- no way!

Long story short, lots of attacks, nothing sticks. That's just the way that course goes.

The race comes in to a long drag race up the finishing straight. I'd been protecting Jen, covering moves, so I knew I'd be hanging on as I could. There was a little mix-up at the finish that caused Rachel to lose position, but she still finished a great 4th, with me right behind for 5th, and Jen taking the V. How rad is that?!

Houston Metro Crit

The Houston Metro Crit began with an inauspicious start time of 7:50 am- we drove to Houston Friday night and roused ourselves at 6am to make this first-time, parking-lot race.

Imagine our surprise when we found the course an interesting series of turns and chicanes! Fun for we happy crit racers!

Rachel attacked from the gun, to be countered by myself, Lori, and I was off the front with another gal for a lap and a half. Jen countered, and true to form, we never saw her again. I ended up in a chase group of 2 Shama Cycles gals, and after some attacks, dropped one.

Jen lapped the field, Laura towed us halfway to lapping them, and Rachel sat in the pack for the field sprint.

With Jen mixed in with the pack, she was able to lead Rachel out, and I came around my girl for 2nd place. Altogether, we got 1st, 2nd and 4th, plus 3 of the 4 primes. Yay, THSJ ladies! Amazing team work and a great finish.

Sugar Crit

The Sugar Crit is a fun, technical course. The promoters do a good job of creating a festive atmosphere, and the whole shebang happens in "downtown" Sugarland, a nice shopping center with store goods ranging from window treatments to a doggie boutique.

The race started with a first lap prime, so things went hard from the gun. While we started with around 30 women, they had staged the cat 4's with us, so there was a bit of a flurry as the 1/2 gals scrambled to get ahead of the crowd in the turns. Our Jen won the 1st prime, a round of drinks at Sherlock's, and the race was on. The attacks kept coming- Rachel went, and when she was reeled back in, I went, and when I was brought back, Tracie from Moritz (solo winner of this race last year,) went. Jen saw the move, and bridged up to her. Daniele from the Flyers knew that was the place to be, and set out to bridge with me sitting firmly on her wheel. We made it up there, but man, I was totally pegged from all of the efforts! I try to pull through a couple of times, but I'm not recovering, and eventually drop back to the pack.

In the meantime, Lauren of Metro VW has launched with Kate Sherwin on her wheel- I see them fly by while I am drifting backwards. Sigh.

So with ultimately 6 riders down the road, Rachel & I cover attacks in the pack, and get ready for the field sprint. I'm set to lead Rachel out, but there's a miscommunication regarding where she wants to go from, and she sets out on her own, launching with 2 turns to go. She is able to use the turns to open a good gap, and holds it to easily win the field sprint.



By all accounts, Jen was cornering so much better than any of the other gals in the break, she was opening gaps behind her through every turn. While Lauren put in a good move with a turn to go, Jen shut it down in about .001 seconds when she opened up her sprint, and left all the girls comfortably in the dust. Great job to everyone- again, super team work and great use of tactics by all.
Jen signing autographs for some young fans. :)

Coldspring Road Race

Coldspring Road Race is a classic, late-spring Texas race. Since we've gotten rain in the last weeks, the hills were green, as well as rolling, and the tall, east Texas pines were looking particularly fresh.

We had 22 or so women on roll out in the women's race, 3 from San Jose, 4 from Brain & Spine, and pairs from Moritz, Bikesport, and a few other teams, joined by the local Veloforma gal & Daniele from the Austin Flyers.

The race would total 46 miles, completed over 3 laps of the course. The finishing hill is somewhat infamous, as it's always longer than it looks! The first lap was uneventful, except for some late attacks on the final hills, which shed some riders and brought our group down to 15 riders.

As the muggy heat of the day set in, everyone started looking for feeds on the 2nd lap- Rachel & Jen got feeds from Wes, and I just succeeded in throwing down my water bottle. Darn! Having team mates is helpful, though- they allowed me to share from theirs, thank goodness!

Coming in on the last lap, attacks started to get more frequent and more serious. Michelle from Moritz attacked a couple of times, and I followed, so we would not be in the position of chasing. Shortly after getting reeled back in the 2nd time, Rheannon from B&S attacked, and Jen closed that gap. Then Christina from Veloforma went with 2 K to go- I hopped on her wheel, and she put her head down to open a gap from the pack. We got a little ways, and then she realizes I'm sitting on her, so she starts trying to flick me off her wheel- in the midst of this, the pack is gaining ground, and we're reeled back in. About 1K out, she attacks again, and again I'm on her wheel. I'm feeling the earlier efforts, and know this is my last bit of energy, so I look back to be sure Jen is on my wheel. Right at the base of the climb, about 400 meters, I know I'm about to blow, so I give my last little oomph, and give a last push for Jen to come around. She does, and it is soooo far out! I wished we could have gotten her close to the line, because it is a LONG uphill sprint. But Jen is a beast- she comes around, and holds everyone off by lengths. Hooray for team work! Rachel finishes 9th, and I wobble in for 14th. Great race, great team work, and great results.