We want to say a HUGE thank you to those who generously open their homes to teams for race host housing. We have been so lucky to have many amazing hosts this season, both at @redlandsclassic and this past week at @joemartinstagerace. Here is the women’s team as JMSR with their host Kevin, who made the team feel so welcome and comfortable in Fayetteville. Having host housing really makes these big races possible for us, we are so grateful!
Mount Gaylor and Devil’s Den Road Race
The first stage of Joe Martin was led with a lot of nervous energy and excitement. It was a particularly hot and windy day and we knew it was going to be a tough one. The women’s peloton rolled out just after noon for a grueling few hours. The course had a good amount of elevation but the determining factors of the course would be the Devil’s Den climb and descent leading into it. Up until Devil’s Den the Red Truck crew was all together in the pack of 95 women, doing well but already feeling some of the implications of the heat. When we got to the base of Devil’s Den the peloton was already somewhat spread out from the descent and then it exploded as the faster riders made it to the top fighting for the QOM and everyone else followed behind. This climb was hard but also stressful as our team was separated, the caravan was trying to pass riders, and the effort was high. After making it up the climb in a gruppetto off of the front group I eagerly awaited a feed. I grabbed a bottle and ice sock from Steve.
For the rest of the race I rode in the gruppetto of 15 riders (including my teammate, Nadia), and every once in a while we would catch the next rider ahead. We each pulled through to keep our speed high as we wanted to make sure we were safe from time cut. As we were nearing the finish there was some road construction that stopped us and had us standing around waiting until the road was paved, it was probably only 5 or so minutes but it felt like we were losing time. At this time I was also at my last sip of savored water, and so was the rest of the group, we were all desperate for water and shelter from the sweltering heat. While I knew I was very dehydrated and would have done anything for water I still felt ok, and strong approaching the finish. Once I saw the 200m to go sign I rode up to rush a rider and sprint for the finish, getting 2nd of our bunch.
Post Devil’s Den I only knew where Nadia was and had some idea of where my teammates were but wasn’t sure. Brenna ended up making the front group getting 17th with the same time as the winner! Unfortunately due to the heat and illness our three other riders did not finish or make time cut to move onto the next stage. This was really hard for them and the rest of the team as we were down to only three riders now. While this was a tough situation to be in, it was a wake up call to the effects of heat and illness while racing. Many riders suffered from heat exhaustion in this race, which was unavoidable in some cases no matter how well you hydrated.
One hard stage was complete, so time to recover and prepare for the next three tages.
Sunday Criterium
The final stage of Joe Martin! At this point our legs and bodies were a bit dead but we were excited for this final showdown. The course had eight corners with a descent that lasted two straights and a climb which lasted three. The race started off very fast and aggressive, with having to sprint after every corner and even on the downhills just to stay on a wheel. After a few laps of fighting to stay on I popped out the back and continued for another rider for a lap and then rode on my own for a few more until I was pulled from the race.
Brenna was able to stay in for several more laps, looking strong in a really tough pack.
While this race was just hard and did not go to plan, the preparation and process was dialed. We had a solid warm up before the race and pre rode the course for some recon. We were on top of our nutrition and hydration. We lined up early so that we could have a great start position in the pack and we moved up the pack as we could.
I’m proud of myself and the whole team for how we rode Joe Martin, it was a super hard stage race and was at the next level of racing for us. We rode well and we rode as a team. In the end Brenna finished 27th in GC!!!
Stage 2:
The stage started with a 10k neutral rollout followed by a long stretch of flat highway. There were a few attacks along the highway but nothing stuck and the pace remained very moderate until the 1st climb. Once we reached the steep punchy climb the pace quickly changed and the group started to split. I was near the back of the pack going into the climb so I hard to work hard to get around people and get to the front group. The split didn’t last long and the rest of the field caught back up right before the technical descent. The field once again blew up on the descent and I ended up off the back after taking some of the gravely hairpins extra cautiously. The descent lead into the biggest climb of the day so I climbed as fast as I could until I caught up to a group that both Lilly and Brenna were in. We all really began to feel the effects of the heat and humidity going up the climb but luckily Steve and Holly gave us ice socks and cold bottles in the feed zone at the top of the climb. After a few kilometers of riding in a rotating pace-line in a small group, we saw a larger group ahead and kept the pace high in order to catch up. The group ended up being around 30 people and we rode together with a pretty moderate pace and no attacks. Around 10k from the finish I moved to the front to bring the pace up to keep Brenna from loosing too much time in the GC. Once we got to the finishing climb a girl attacked early and I followed the attack. We turned the corner and were faced with an extremely steep kicker of the climb, which is when I realized my shifting wouldn’t go into the easiest gears so I had to weave across the road to keep moving. I fell behind from the girl who’s attacked I followed but still had a gap on the rest of the group so I kept pushing to the line. Brenna and Lilly ended up finishing close behind.
Stage 3
Stage 3 was a short uphill TT up the Devils Den Climb we did on the first day. Everyone was feeling pretty tired by day 3 but relived it was slightly cooler out than the first two days. We all did a longer warm up to be ready to attack the steep uphill section from the start. I ended up too fatigued to hold the pace I planned but gave it my best shot and ended up with a time of a little over 12 minutes.