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Amateurs Make Mankato Their Day in Nature Valley Grand Prix, Almost Upsetting Leaders

By James Lockwood

OUCH-Maxxis knew the fourth stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix well, having won the course the previous two years in its former incarnation as Health Net.

Bissell Pro Cyling knew this course well, too, having lost the leader’s jersey last year on the course’s mile-long climb during the four laps of the finishing circuit.

So, each knew what to expect from the 92-mile Mankato Road Race. But what transpired surprised most people, turning the showdown between powerhouse North American teams into the amateur hour – or 3 hours and 30 minutes, as the case may be.

Winning one of the biggest races of his career was Wheel & Sprocket’s Andrew Crater, who, at 31, continues to race on an amateur team despite having a professional background. He, along with Chad Gerlach of Amore & Vita presented by Life Time Fitness-Velo Vie and Mike Nothey of Land Rover-Orbea benefitting the Lance Armstrong Foundation outlasted a breakaway of 14 riders to take the top three places in the stage.

It was a move that was initiated 14 miles into the race, and few thought it would go to the end.

“I didn’t know [if we could last],” Nothey said. “I thought we would get caught in the finishing circuit.”

Instead of being caught, the trio finished 17 seconds ahead of a charging pack that included all of the overall contenders, including the current leader, Bissell Pro Cycling’s Tom Zirbel, and his teammate Peter Latham; OUCH-Maxxis’ Rory Sutherland; Sebastian Haedo of Colavita-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light; and a host of other riders from Jelly Belly Pro Cycling and Team Type 1.

Zirbel said losing only 17 seconds was good.

“We lucked out,” Zirbel said. “I didn’t think [the break] was going to come back.”

The break that everyone ended up talking about included – at its peak – 14 riders who had built a gap of eight minutes nearly halfway through the race. Zirbell said there seemed little motivation for anyone to initiate a chase, with all five major teams represented, including Jelly Belly’s Jeremy Powers, OUCH-Maxxis’ Tim Johnson, Bissell’s Cody O’Reilly and Kirk O’Bee, Colavita-Sutter Home’s Davide Frattini, and Team Type 1’s Aldo Ino Ilesic.

Not until Fort Collins, Colo., amateur team Ciclismo Racing decided they needed to take charge about 40-miles from the finishing circuit did the gap start to fall. Zirbel tipped his hat to Ciclismo’s work as well as CRCA/Empire Cycling Team presented by Northwave.

“It could have been so much worse,” the Bissell rider said. “The amateur teams went to the front and really brought that break back. We would not have had a chance to catch the break if they hadn’t worked.”

“Today, we really showed we could go up there and tide up front,” said Ciclismo’s Nick Frey, who entered the day leading the points for both the APC Best Young Rider Jersey and the Nature Valley Best Amateur Rider Jersey but lost both on the climb in Mankato.

“We were going really slow about mile 25,” he said. “We assessed who was in the break, and every major team was represented. I thought Colavita might move up for Haedo, but they weren’t willing to sit on the front.

“So, we decided to put two to three guys up front. Then we said, ‘Let’s everyone go to the front.’ We sat up there for 45 miles.”

The assumption was that the guys in the break would not have the energy to finish strong on the two-mile circuit.

“We knew the break was going to be fried going into the finishing circuit,” he said.

As it turned out, they weren’t fried enough.

It wasn’t the group of 14 who were in the break that entered the circuit, though. Instead, it was a more selective group of eight, and of them, it was only O’Bee and Ilesic who remained of the big teams. The group also included Nicholas Clayfield of HagensBermanCycling, Ben Raby of TradeWind Energy/The Trek Stores, and Ty Stanfield of Kenda Pro Cycling presented by Spinergy.

It was Stanfield’s move at the fourh sprint line at mile 64 that created the split and drew out Gerlach, then O’Reilly, Nothey and Crater.

“I was just trying to get something going,” Kenda’s Stanfield said. “The break was going slow. I was hoping to get a little help, and Chad bridged up. Chad was like, ‘Attack the group. Attack the group.’”

It had not been the first move Stanfield had initiated. He and Clayfield had originally missed the move that formed the winning break. Together with local amateur Chris Doig of Flanders/Minnesota Bicycle Racing Club, the three worked over 12 miles to catch the leading 11.

While he ended up being caught by the chase in the finishing circuits, he finished 17 and earned the Freewheel Bike Most Aggressive Jersey, a target of the team’s coming into the stage.

That jersey could have easily gone to Gerlach. While working with Stanfield to push the pace after the sprint line, Gerlach attacked again at the 78-mile mark with Team Type 1’s Ilesic as they moved for the King of the Hill points. By mile 80 – 2.5 miles from the circuit – Gerlach had dropped Ilesic and moved 30 seconds ahead of the field.

“Today, I felt really good,” he said explaining his solo move. “Those guys just all started to look really slow when it got hilly. Once we were coming into town, it was really cool.”

However, he had never seen the hill in the circuit.

“The hill just hurt,” he said. “I really lost it the third time up the climb.”

It was the second time up that the chasing seven – with Gerlach just up the road – started to split. Nothey made his move, riding away from his fading breakway companions, and Crater dug deep to stay on his wheel.

“I couldn’t attack,” Crater said. “That guy was just going. It was all I could do to stay with him.”

“We were going really slow, or at least I thought,” Nothey said, explaining his move.

Nothey said he thought Gerlach had gone out too early – 10 miles from the finish – to be able to stay away. That spurred him on to catch the Amore & Vite/Life Time Fitness rider.

Once the three hooked up, Crater said it took both patience and pain to win the race.

“I knew I could beat [Nothey] in the sprint if I could stay with him,” Crater said.

“I didn’t want to slow way down and they have to jump,” Gerlach said of his tactics in the final lap. “I know that means I gave a lead-out to Crater.”

“I figured if I could jump in the second to the last turn, I could beat them,” the Wheel & Sprocket rider said.

Even then, the win almost slipped away from him, literally. Coming out of the last corner onto the finishing straight, Crater’s back wheel skipped out from underneath him, giving the rider a momentary scare.

“I figure, you are either going to crash, or you are going to win,” he said. “Today, I won.”

And, for another day, Bissell’s Zirbel took home the leader’s jersey.

“We decided to take a risk and say, ‘We believe in Kirk,’” he said. “All I had to do was follow Rory.

“It worked out in our favor. I didn’t have to work all day until the finishing circuit.”

“It was the plan that we didn’t want to ride tempo,” Bissell road director Eric Wohlberg said. “We wanted to just be in a position where we didn’t have to ride.”

While the team didn’t, Cody and Kirk did, and Wolhberg said that made the difference for the team.

“Cody and Kirk did a fantastic job today. They saved the day for us.”

Going into the final, sixth stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix – the Stillwater Criterium featuring the infamous 18-percent-grade Chillkoot Hill – Zirbel maintains his seven-second lead over Sutherland and a 10-second lead over Haedo, while a scrum of 22 riders representing eight teams all are within a minute of the lead.

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Team Type 1’s Jacquelyn Crowell is the only female competitor sharing her behind-the-scenes observations and experiences from start to finish at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Through four stages, she leads the APC Best Young Rider competition (for racers younger than 26) and is 14th overall, 1:19 off the lead.

This entry is a little shorter than my previous ones because the late starts have made for some late nights and we have a long day ahead Saturday.

During Friday night’s Uptown Minneapolis Criterium, we were basically trying to keep it upright and hopefully maintain our position in the overall or move Alison Powers up (she is currently second). I was also allowed to race for myself a little bit, but that didn’t end up happening because I didn’t ride very well.

Our director, Jack Seehafer, let me ride for myself because I am still in the Best Young Rider’s jersey. But my lead is pretty slim – one second, in fact – over Amanda Miller (Lip Smacker® Professional Women’s Cycling Team). So I really wanted to get a time bonus. But I ended up not riding, just thinking too much.

After the race, we went out to dinner at an upscale place called Figlio, which was right along the course. I actually had to get up in the middle of the dinner to go to the women’s podium ceremony and receive my Best Young Rider jersey. I returned in time to have a nice dessert that came complete with a sparkler on it. I guess they wanted to honor me because I won something.

After that, we got back to the Team Type 1 van and found it had been tee-peed. It was quite a surprise. I guess this gives us the right to harass all the other teams since we don’t know who did it. But it’s on now!

Saturday’s Mankato Road Race is 91 miles and it’s going to be a long day for us after three days of racing. To have the longest stage of the race this far into the event is going to be tough – mentally and physically. Once I push through that, there’s just the last day (Sunday’s Stillwater Criterium) after that. The end is in sight.

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Carson Miller, racing in the NVGP for Land Rover-Orbea, has provided us with another entry after today’s Uptown Minneapolis criterium. Enjoy!

Another pleasant and relaxing day here in Minnesota culminated in a blur. With the Nature Valley having been comprised of late afternoon and evening races until now, the riders and teams have begun to settle into a daily routine.

After sleeping in, probably later than normal for most, we awake to our coffee pots which have been pre-programmed to turn on. The coffee is complimented by breakfast and time spent in front of the TV and computer. Some riders check the news, others update their Twitter pages, and the rest of us fill our time with e-mails and phone conversations back to our homes and family.

With breakfast and the first cup of coffee consumed, some riders will head out for an easy one or two hour spin, and the rest of us choose to keep our reclined position on the couch until the last possible moment; only leaving the couch for a massage or to refill the bottle from which we have been drinking out of. As the riders return from their morning rides, they get their turn on the massage table before returning to the couch.

Lunch and a brief nap come next, before we depart for the day’s race. Many riders climb into the team vehicle with some snacks and a steaming hot cup of coffee for the drive. Upon arriving at the race, it is go time. With the vehicles staged for the race, riders begin their pre-race routine. Different riders will have a different way of preparing for each day’s race, depending on their job for the day, and their style of riding.

This week I have been focusing on trying to find my way to the front end of the race, making and following moves that look to have promise. When I am not covering moves, I have done my best to look after our protected riders, ensuring that they have plenty of food and drinks to get them through the day’s stage.

Tonight’s criterium was run around downtown Minneapolis on a very fast and fun challenging circuit. With fans lining the entire length of the course, and the battle for the overall General Classification becoming tighter, it was sure to be fast – from the gun. And it was. After spending what seemed like an eternity on the start line, I could feel my heart rate slow, and my legs bristled with goose-bumps. Not exactly what I want to feel. Sitting there with my heart beating only 60 times per minute, I knew that my world was about to be rocked. Out of the blocks, and I was summoning every ounce of strength I had, trying to push the pedals faster and more forcefully.

Twenty minutes passed before I was finally feeling comfortable on my bike, and on the course. The remainder of the evening was a blur as the peleton raced around the course. Near the 1-hour mark, and with 10 laps remaining in the race, several crashes took place. With some riders starting to feel fatigue, while other teams were setting up lead-out trains, the tight corners became chaotic, and I found myself caught out on two separate occasions.

Initially I gave chase, hoping that I would be able to regain contact with the peleton, but realized my efforts were in vain after several laps of riding flat out, only to maintain the same gap between myself and the field. With the writing on the wall, I sat up and rolled across the line. My day ended a little bit early, but I knew that there was no point in wasting energy that will be valuable over the final 2 stages.

With tonight’s race behind us, we have returned to our host house for showers and dinner. Tomorrow’s stage will be a change of pace as we again hit the open roads of Mankato, MN for nearly 150 kilometers of racing in the middle of the day. Between now and then, I have some serious resting and recovery. Hopefully I can find some freshness in the legs tomorrow, and with that, I might find my way back to the sharp end of the racing.

Thanks for reading. See you all in Mankato tomorrow afternoon.

Keep the Rubber Side Down,

C-

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Brooke Miller Wins Uptown Minneapolis Criterium; Armstrong Still In Yellow

By Cynthia Lou

No trip to the Nature Valley Grand Prix would be complete for Brooke Miller (Tibco) without a victory, with Miller celebrating a criterium victory two years in a row. Today’s aggressive race to the end saw Shelley Olds (Proman Hit Squad) taking both second place on the podium and the Wheaties Sprint Jersey, while veteran sprinter Laura Van Gilder (Altarum Women’s Cycling) rounded out the podium with a third place finish.

“It was a very aggressive race. I had to throw a lot of elbows and do a lot of aggressive moving, but that’s what you do when your team is putting themselves on the line for you – you make sure you deliver,” said Miller, who had her first big NRC victory at the Nature Valley Grand Prix in 2006 and continues to win stages every year.

Though there was speculation that the beginning of the race might be a repeat of Wednesday’s St. Paul Downtown Criterium, with race leader Kristin Armstrong (Cervélo Test Team) taking control of the front, it soon became clear that the teams were not going to just sit back, actively seeking to shake up the general classification and tempt Armstrong to work.

Riders from Tibco, Colavita/Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, Webcor, and ValueAct Capital sent riders up the road with attack after attack, nothing gaining more than 10 seconds before being caught.

The 25-lap race had three sprint competitions, plus an additional prime competition to keep the race active.

The Sprint Competition alternated between Kirsty Broun (Riverstone CDA) and Shelley Olds, with Olds taking the first sprint and Broun taking the second. It was Olds’ victory at the third sprint competition that finally won her the Sprint jersey.

“I’m just happy to be in the jersey for the day,” said Olds. “It’s not necessarily my priority. I’m just doing the best I can in all of the competitions. A stage win would be really nice, so, tomorrow’s a new goal.”

Tomorrow’s Mankato Road Race will indeed be another opportunity to mix up the general classification. Armstrong has traditionally ridden away from the field on this race, so the teams will be sure to keep close watch over her.

The Freewheel Most Aggressive Rider’s Jersey went to Tibco’s Katharine Carroll. Shelley Olds captured the Wheaties Sprint Jersey. All other jersey results remained the same.

Follow the action tomorrow as Stage 5 of the Nature Valley Grand Prix moves to Mankato, Minn., starting with the festival opening at noon, with the women’s race beginning at 1:50 p.m. Catch the action at http://www.Twitter.com/MNBikeFestival or http://www.minnbikefestival.com/, link ”Live Updates“ to follow the action live!

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Nature Valley Grand Prix Turns into Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home Show with Third Win

By James Lockwood

Sebastian Haedo stood before a monstrous crowd after the fourth stage of the Nature Valley Grand Prix waiting for his team director to translate the questions coming from the race announcer.

The Argentinean who rides for Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light speaks no English. But, nothing was lost in translation with his performance Friday evening in the Uptown Minneapolis Criterium. His team lines up, he sprints, he wins.

Haedo took his second win of the six-stage race, and along with the second place he earned leading out his teammate Alejandro Borrajo in the team’s victory in the Cannon Falls Road Race, he now sits third overall with the bonus seconds that came with his placings.

“This victory is awesome,” he said. “It was a good day for me and it was a good day for Colavita. We all did our work today, and we were able to put together an important win for me.”

The third team victory for Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home put the team in good position going into the 95-mile queen stage Saturday, the Mankato (Minn.) Road Race. It was something other teams were noting.

“On paper, we didn’t want Borrajo to get any time,” said OUCH-Maxxis’s Andrew Pinfold, who finished third on the stage. “Not that Haedo is not good, but Barrajo is a little better climber.”

“I think we are getting the old Borrajo back,” said Team Mountain Khakis’ Tom Soladay, who used a Bissell-controlled peloton to protect his sprinter’s jersey for the second day. “When he is on form, he is dangerous.”

For Friday, though, it was Haedo getting the accolades for his second win. The victory was not certain, however, as the team could not get its sprint train lined up until one-and-a-half laps to go in the 40-lap race.

“It was a brothel out there,” said Jelly Belly Cycling Team’s Brad Huff, who finished second. “Every team wanted to be at the front, and not everyone should have been at the front.”

“From lap 15 to lap three [to go], it was just mayhem,” Pinfold said.

Much of the race was uneventful. From the start, few riders were able to break away, and Bissell Pro Cycling marshaled the front with its whole team, setting a steady but comfortable tempo to keep breaks in check and its overall leader, Tom Zirbel, safe.

“I had an armchair ride the first 30 laps,” Zirbel said.

“It was all about protecting Tom tonight,” said Bissell road director Eric Wohlberg. “In a crit, being on the front is the best place to be.”

Soladay said that worked out to his advantage trying to protect the Wheaties Sprinter’s Jersey, a goal of his for the Grand Prix.

“I knew that Bissell didn’t want any of the sprint points. That was great for me. When I went up, I had eight guys between me and the rest of the field who might challenge for the points,” he said. “With Bissell up front and the tight corners, you really had to light a match to get away.”

Until the last 10 laps, Soladay and Bissell served as the show.

Then Jelly Belly moved forward with its train, and the jockeying began.

“It was a little too early with the sprints out of the corners, but it worked out for me. It allowed me to rest in the train,” Huff said.

“It worked out for Brad,” Pinfold said. “He didn’t have to fight through the laps. He stayed fresh, and it showed at the end.”

For Pinfold, his teammate John Murphy, and Colavita, it was not so easy. As Jelly Belly came to the front, Bissell as a team went back, OUCH attempted to form its train for Murphy, and individual riders from various teams tried to get onto the right wheels hoping for the victory.

“Tim Johnson was just sheparding myself and Murphy through,” Pinfold said. “Everyone was fighting for wheels. I think everyone just wanted to get the win on this stage.”

As the laps counted down, Jelly Belly started to fade, and it opened the door for Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home and Haedo.

“What we came here for we got,” said Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home’s director Sebastian Alexandre. “The team did a very good job.”

Despite the convincing victories in the past three stages, Alexandre remained coy about the team’s chances to make it four in a row in the Mankato Road Race, featuring a circuit finish that includes a mile-long climb averaging 14 percent.

“Tomorrow is going to be a different stage,” he said.

Bissell’s Wohlberg concurred. Despite Haedo’s move up the general classification, OUCH’s defending champion Rory Sutherland – winner of last year’s stage in Mankato – still sits seven seconds back of Zirbel, and OUCH, Bissell, and Jelly Belly all have riders within a minute of the lead.

“Colavita is closing the gap to us,” he said. “The next two days will be a little more suited for our guys. We’re going to see who can get up that hill and see what happens. We’re going to try to turn the tables.”

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Racing continues on Saturday with the Mankato Road Race. This will be a test of endurance and racing tactics. The races will start and finish in the City of Mankato. The final 30 to 45 minutes of each race will play out with multiple laps on a finishing circuit inside the City during the community festival.
Cross winds could shatter the pack on the 80-mile rural loop and the best climbers remaining in the lead group will then attack each time up Main Street Hill.

Women’s Pro/Elite Race: 86 miles
Men’s Pro/Elite Race: 86 miles
Finish: Four laps of the Mankato finishing circuit

Event schedule:

12:00 PM – Expo opens
1:15 PM – Men start
1:50 PM – Women start
2:00 PM – MN Iron & Metal Amateur racing
4:35 PM – Men finish
4:45 PM – Shimano/Hoigaard Tour de Kids fun race
5:40 PM – Women finish
6:00 PM – Expo closes

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Kacey Manderfield, of the Lip Smacker Cycling Team, was so kind to write a report about her race in Cannon Falls yesterday. Enjoy!

It seems to be my luck that this particular course is just out to get me. Last year in 2008 I made it though what I remember as a more difficult race, as we had to fight wind across the fields unlike the calm air we experienced this year. However, after making it safely onto the final circuit last year and even making the lead break, I ended up surfing the pavement on my rear as a rider slid out in front of me leaving those behind her no where to go. This year the frustrations of poor bike handling skills continued and once again I’m left with no options.

The Cannon Falls race course in general is a fast one for a road race. There are no truly defining climbs and with a calm wind day like we experienced this year the chances of a break getting off and sticking were quite slim. This of course results in the majority of the pack staying together in a massive group, which also means it only takes one bad decision or move to take down numerous riders. As I recall there may have been a few small encounters early on in the race that caused havoc for some. In general holding a good position and staying away from the back can keep a rider out of harms way, but sometimes even those in the best positions somehow end up in a mess. If I had to name my strengths as a rider, I think one of the first things on my list would be positioning. I generally have a good idea of a smart place to be and I can generally get myself there and maintain my spot. Yet somehow this race has managed to result in pavement contact for me two years in a row.

This year we were only about 5K from the dirt section (my favorite part!) and entering the finishing circuits and I was in good position, getting ready to navigate my way to a good spot for entering the dirt. Before I got a chance to start advancing and with no warning at all a few girls in front of me just seemed to tangle and go straight for the pavement. I don’t crash often because I’m typically pretty good at avoiding such situations but there was no getting out of this one. In no time I was on the pavement and all I really remember was hearing my helmet scrape along the ground as I came to a stop tangled in the bikes and girls in front of me. I tried to tuck my head into my arms as I was curled up on the ground and prepared for what I knew was coming – a pummeling from all the riders behind me! Sure enough one after another, a wheel in the back and two or three strong hits to the back of my helmet. Then it all stopped and I just laid there on the bottom of a heap, waiting for bikes and bodies to clear off the top.

When I finally opened my eyes I was staring at the grayish black pavement less than an inch away from my face, my Rooly glasses lying next to my head were undamaged. Once I sensed that everyone has gotten of the top of me I started to move, a bit nervous about what I might discover, but lucky for me everything on my body seemed to be alright. By the time I was uncovered and on my feet our mechanic, Max, was right there and getting the chain back on my bike. The wheels were spinning and I jumped back on the bike as Max pushed me off to continue riding. I had felt the hits to my head but nothing was enough to cause any throbbing or ach there, and other than that I could tell my left forearm had taken a pretty good blow but I could still grip the bars and as I double checked there was no bone fracture pain! At this point it was clear the day’s race was over for me and anyone behind me, but I needed to finish so I was able to start the following day’s stage.

The finishing circuits brought more comic relief to the situation. Coming out of a corner I got out of the saddle just to stretch my legs and put some more pressure on the pedals when all of the sudden I heard a noise equivalent to splintering wood, simultaneously my left hand felt the breaking fibers of my carbon bars as they snapped at the bend. As it turns out the grinding of my carbon fiber bars against the pavement during the crash had compromised their integrity. At that point the drop of my bar remained in place only because of cables and bar tap. I was expecting to be pulled from the circuits as I was so far behind the main bunch but after being told I was suppose to complete all the laps I just sat on the tops of my bars, avoiding any pressure on the left hood, and rolled around the last few laps until the race was complete and I was assured the ability to start stage 3.

Although my bars and helmet need to be replaced and I was sure to have a few scrapes and bruises, it is all just part of the sport. It is always good to ride away from a crash and at the end of the day a bad day on the bike is still better than a bad day in a cubical!

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New for 2009, The MN Bike Festival welcomes the inaugural Uptown Minneapolis Criterium as the Nature Valley Grand Prix moves from downtown Minneapolis to the Uptown neighborhood for the Friday evening event.

The course will have competing pro teams race past Calhoun Square on a 1-kilometer course that comprises six tight corners and a furious race to the finish line.

With a long straightaway across the finish line into a very short run between turns one and two, speeds will descend from a brisk 35-plus mph into the low digits before ramping up again out of turn five on Lake Street. Strong racers and teams will stay up front to control the tempo and avoid accidents.

The real spectacle comes near the end of the course as riders make turn six onto Hennepin Avenue and into a long, wide one-block straightaway to the finish line.

Event Schedule:

4:30 PM Expo opens & Stunt Rider Shows
6:00 PM Kids’ race
6:30 PM Women pro race
7:45 PM Men pro race
8:45 PM Racing ends
9:00 PM Expo closes

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Throughout the Nature Valley Grand Prix, Jacquelyn Crowell is sharing her observations and experiences as a first-year professional for Team Type 1. Through the first three stages, the University of Florida student leads the APC Best Young Rider competition (for racers younger than 26). She is 14th overall, 1:19 off the lead.

I went into Thursday night’s Cannon Falls Road Race with the goal of keeping my teammate, Alison Powers, protected and possibly moving her closer to the overall leader, Kristin Armstrong. We also hoped to help Ali get a time bonus at the finish. But that didn’t work out. Fortunately, Kristin didn’t get a bonus, either.

The 66-mile race went well for us. We kept it upright, which was good, since there were quite a few crashes. We are working together as a team better than we have in the past, but there is still room for improvement.

This was a hard race. The wind wasn’t as bad as last year, but it was still a deciding factor. I tried to stay in the front and out of the wind while still covering attacks. Finally I was able to do something for the team! I felt really bad Wednesday night because I wasn’t able to do anything for the team during the criterium in Downtown St. Paul.

There was a big crash a few kilometers before we made a right turn onto an 800-meter dirt section as we neared Cannon Falls. Right up until it happened, I had been fretting because I didn’t think I would be able to get to the front before we got onto the dirt. Our director, Jack Seehafer, had told us how important it was to be at the front going into that section. So here I was, thinking I hadn’t done what I needed to do, when there was suddenly a crash on the right. All the girls who had been in front of me were gone and there I was at the front!

I loved the dirt section. It was awesome. Some girls actually missed the turn on the outside and my teammate, Samantha Schneider, and I dove to the inside and passed about 20 people. That was great.

We came onto the finishing circuits in good position and with all five of us from Team Type 1. It would have been six, but Morgan Patton, one of two riders on our team who has Type 1 diabetes, didn’t make the time cut Wednesday. It’s always a blow to the team when you lose a rider because we’re like a family, not just a team. But Morgan is still around and helping us out. She was even cheering us on in the feed zone.

The highlight of Thursday had to be when I got called up to put on the Active Performance Complete (APC) Best Young Rider jersey. I was fourth in the standings heading into the stage but ended up first by the end of the race. I don’t know what happened to the other three girls who were ahead of me, but if I can keep the jersey, that would be awesome. I have kind of been in a slump after collegiate nationals and a crash at the Wilmington criterium. So it feels good to finally be first at something.

I also want to use this platform to thank our host family for making dinner for us after the races. It’s awesome to come home each night and have a nice dinner waiting for us. And a big thank you to the race organization of the Nature Valley Grand Prix for letting me share my thoughts with you.

I’m looking forward to Friday night’s criterium in Minneapolis. It will hopefully be an easier day for the team. It should also be a semi-recovery day for the upcoming stages. We need to make sure we are ready for Saturday.

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Here’s another race recap from Land Rover-Orbea’s Carson Miller:

The Nature Valley Grand Prix hit out for the open roads today. The racing was aggressive right from the start. Only 5.6 kilometers into the stage, and we crested the first of several KOM sprints on the day. I have noticed that Minnesota, at least this area, has no mountains. In fact, to highlight my point, the officials here have changed the KOM (King Of The Mountains) competition to a KOH (King Of The Hills) competition. As a rider who prefers extended climbing to the short and punchy hills that we are currently facing, my duties today would involve covering and initiating break away attempts, as well as fetching bottles from the car if the need should arise.

As I mentioned yesterday, with the legs starting to come around to the efforts, I am wanting to move towards the front end of the race – the sharp end of the action so to speak. Last night’s one hour race was just what I needed to sharpen up my systems, and I felt like I was firing on all cylinders today. Rolling along after cresting the first hill, and the peleton was getting settled into the rhythm of today’s race. As we wound through the countryside and farmland that surrounds Cannon Falls, MN, I put in several digs trying to escape the stranglehold which the Bissell and Ouch teams had on the field. No luck, just some moments of suffering.

I drifted back into the field taking a few minutes to evaluate the racing, as well as to take the opportunity to get down some food and drinks. Another 20 minutes down the road, and I was starting to feel frisky, again. Looking for the right opportunity for another attack, and I finally found my chance. A rider from the Colavita Sutter Home Cooking Light Team came down the left gutter, and looked to be headed up the road. I was right on his wheel, which initially resulted in disappointment when he arrived at the front of the peleton and stopped going forwards. With one lone rider up the road, and a hill coming quickly, I thought I had a good chance at getting away. Over the top of the hill and I had finally escaped from the peleton. Finally, it has been many days of racing and trying to get away, and today that success came – for a few short and agonizing minutes. I poured on the gas, hoping my gap would grow. When 3 riders from Bissell and 1 from Ouch came across, I thought we had it made. A few attacks and counter attacks from Bissell and I was blown to pieces.

After quickly being reabsorbed by the peleton, I hit the bottles and food again. I focused on staying out of the wind, and trying to get some energy back into the legs for the remainder of the stage. We rolled back into town at a furious pace which only quickened upon starting on the 5 technical finishing circuits. Another 20 minutes of all out effort racing around city blocks and the finish line was within sight.

Rolling across the line, my head hung low, with my tongue nearly scraping the pavement. After finally managing to get up the road, I was feeling a bit of success and joy, which was overshadowed by the pain and suffering of the previous two-and-a-half hours of racing. After a few minutes of spinning the legs, I rolled into our team tent and collapsed into a chair. Changed and ready for the drive home, we loaded our cars and return to our host houses for dinner, massages, and now bed.

Today was a fantastic and challenging day of racing here in Minnesota, and we are just getting things going. My legs are feeling better with each day, and I am finding my way towards the sharp end of the racing here. Three more challenging stages lay ahead of us. Time for another massage, and then it will be lights out for me.

Thanks for reading. I will see you all in Uptown Minneapolis for tomorrow night’s criterium.

Keep the Rubber Side Down,

C-

Carson Miller,Land Rover,MBF,Minnesota Bike Festival,NVGP,Nature Valley Grand Prix,ORBEA     Comments Off