TRIA Orthopaedic Center Your Cycling Blog

Waking up this morning there is a lot of positive energy in our large host house in Hudson, WI, and for a good reason: Every member of the Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All-Star Team is starting stage 4 of the NVGP. Yesterday we raced the Cannon Falls road race.   After the previous day with a time trial and criterium I was feeling a bit stiff and sore especially from the crit crash, and woke up with whole new eyes to the world of professional cycling. 

This race was the first road race where I have been able to use the full road, and the full road was actually used. We started out rolling through the neutral zone, and then it was on! The first QOM (Queen of the Mountain) was 3 miles in so there was a bit of a tension you could feel in the field as everyone got rolling into the race.  It was hot and humid but the race rolled on. I felt myself wanting to go to the front or off to a side just to get a breeze blowing across my face as I got hotter and hotter sitting in the field. Attacks were thrown back and forth between different teams in the rolling hills we encountered.

For me, the most memorable section was the gravel. I was told way before arriving in Minnesota to make sure I was towards the front on the gravel section. Not having a computer/powermeter on my bike, I didn’t know what mile we were at or how long we had been riding so the only way I knew we were about to enter the gravel was by the lead car’s trail of dust in the air.  I moved up as many positions as I could, putting me in the top 30 of the peloton going through, and I just mashed through the section. I witnessed riders crashing across the gravel, but I was not one of them, which was great.  I came out of the gravel in the back on the first group, and I gave it everything I had, but in the end, my legs got me. I had a full bottle on my bike I was wishing I could get rid of but when you are done, you are done.  I tried to stay with the groups that came by me, and I did for a little while, but once again, I popped.

The best part of the stage yesterday, was riding along in the peloton and seeing my teammates around me.  At one point, 5 of us (as far as I could see) were riding within a few riders of one another, staying with it, and making our presence known in the peloton. Also, I am very proud of myself for not only making it into the final circuit, but being able to finish the race, and not getting pulled.  The hardest part of the stage was the finishing circuit.  I came into it perfectly: In the first group, made it through clear without any crashes or injury, but after the first lap, I suffered on the rise to the finish. With 5 more laps to go I found myself getting farther and farther back getting passed by groups as they went by.

Almost everything I encounter in this race is a learning experience. Yesterday was the first time I have gone back to a car to get feed bottles, for not only me, but also members of my team.  I also found out what the smell of burning brake pads was like. I found myself riding next to Bronzini (Current World Road Champion), and Shelley Olds, not to mention Kristin Armstrong, or Olivia Dillon.  I have found how important it is to set small goals for myself. Looking out of a smaller window, instead of a large one, and realizing that I’m riding for today, to learn from these experiences, and not for anything else.

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By Elle Anderson, Dartmouth College, and Robin Bauer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All-Stars Team

A beautiful sunny evening in St. Paul was interrupted by a storm that blew in an hour before our race. With the high winds and rain now coming, the race suddenly took a different turn. It was the first of many fast changes in the course of the night’s event.

Even without the rain, this 6-corner course is difficult. With the rain, all of the manhole covers, bricks, concrete slabs, cracks, and curbs were much more dangerous and slippery. Although the rain dissipated during the race, the roads were very wet and set the stage for many pack crashes. The first crash was 15 minutes into the race and took out at least 20-30 riders. In a split second, nearly one third of the field was down.

Elle’s thoughts about the crash: I think it was a manhole cover that caused it, but at the apex of the turn a racer to my inside just slid out and started a domino effect throwing me over the curb and onto the highway median.

Robin’s thoughts about the crash: As I came into the turn, I saw a line of riders down. I tried stopping and then maneuvering around it but instead was taken out by a girl who slammed into me from behind.

Elle: After untangling my bike from the pile-up I hurried to the pit. My shoulder was aching from hitting the concrete and I had also somehow landed on my face. At the pit, I was comforted to see Robin and Laura (Bauer and Ralston, respectively, both are Kowalski’s Collegiate Allstar team mates) there too, who were also ok. As the rush of the peloton went by we accelerated and blended in.

Robin: The race got going again and there were few more crashes. Thankfully none of them too bad since the rain buffers the falls some. But those manhole covers! I must have hit one because my rear wheel started to slide before I thankfully regained my balance… but I did not regain the wheel in front of me. Again, in a blink of an eye my race completely changed. I was no longer with the main peloton but was instead chasing.

Elle: The pace continued to be insanely high for the later part of the race. I had to grit my teeth as I slowly counted down the laps. I was incredibly relieved to see one lap to go and still be with the main pack.

Robin: It was a great race but things that were totally unexpected happened. I am excited to move on to stage 3.

Elle: Yes – a pretty spectacular race and I’m really glad we survived! Queuing up on the start line I had no idea what was ahead of us. Looking forward, Stage 3 is going to be a blast.

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By Holly Mathews
Kowalski’s Markets Collegiate All-Stars Team
University of Wisconsin-Madison

When most people think of a time trial, it seems they usually think of 40km. While this may have been the norm, that gold standard seems to be changing to much shorter distances.  Regardless of distance, I think the proverbial “You either love time trials or you hate ‘em.” stands true, but it would be premature to tag myself with either extreme given that this was only my second individual time trial. This morning was a race of truth and I learned a lot.

The team got to the course with ample time to get warmed up, get changed and be ready to go. I was the first to go from the Kowalski’s Collegiate All-Stars Team and I found out the hard way that keeping an eye on time is just as important as hydrating, warming up, having equipment ready, this, that, and the other thing.  If my heart wasn’t already pounding when the clock was close enough to see that I had less than one minute to be ready on the ramp, it was then.  I threw my extra clothes to John (our director sportif), ran up to the platform with my bike, clipped in with 5, 4, 3, 2… and off I went.

Other than the start, the race went pretty much as anticipated—roads were rough, conditions were not optimal, it hurt the whole time and the last hill stripped my legs of the little they had left.  My performance placed me in the lower half of the field, but I’m moving forward because it’s the only thing I can do. There is a lot more racing to look forward to and I am thrilled to be here at a race of this caliber, riding with some of the best in the sport.

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