Deb Borden, Leigh Valletti, Marianne Holt, and Tiffany Ballew headed up to Asheville’s longstanding French Broad Cycling Classic this past weekend. The omnium consists of a time trial, road race, and criterium. travelgirl, through excellent teamwork, dominated the weekend in an impressive manner, as the Asheville Citizen Times (one attached; one linked below) documented both Saturday and Sunday.

www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060724/SPORTS03/60723023/1002/SPORTS

In the time trial, all travelgirls cracked the top ten, with Leigh and Deb placing the highest at 4th and 6th, and Tiffany and Marianne rounding it out with 9th and 10th.

In Saturday’s road race, the team put their efforts behind highest placed riders Leigh and Deb, and, eventually, a break of 4 containing Leigh went up the road.  As is her custom, Leigh outsprinted her breakaway companions, winning the day. Tiffany, Deb, and Marianne patrolled the field and came in with the group, ready to defend in the next day’s crit.

On Sunday, outnumbered by North Carolina’s BMW/Bianchi squad, travelgirl put all their efforts to keeping Leigh in first place. Deb and Tiffany were instrumental in keeping the field together after numerous attacks designed to fatigue Leigh and the team. As repayment for all their efforts, Leigh got the job done and won the race, securing the ominium victory as well.  Deb and Marianne came in with the field, and Tiffany cheered from the sidelines after getting popped from doing a 4 lap all-out effort to bring a dangerous late-race escapee back to the field.Next up, Bank of America Criterium, Sandy Springs Cycling Classic, Criterium Nationals, and BERMUDA!

Next up, Bank of America Criterium, Sandy Springs Cycling Classic, Criterium Nationals, and BERMUDA!Thanks for your support!******************************************Kim Sawyer
Manager, travelgirl Women’s Cycling Team  

Endurofit Athlete and Team Advil/Chapstick rider Mara Miller took bronze in the TT and crit and the Gold in the Master’s 40-44 RR at Nationals Last week.

Nationals was hosted at seven Springs, PA in the western part of the state which played right into the hands of the Pennsylvania native. With nothing flat and all sharp, steep ups and downs, Mara was right at home on the courses. After a sketchy crit and a surprising outcome in the time trial, pulling on the stars and stripes was a breath of fresh air.

Mara got away from the pack of 10 that was left after serious attrition due to the difficulty of the course, when another woman attacked. Shortly after Mara attacked her and found herself solo for 11 miles to the finish. Her team mate and sponsor liaison was there at the finish to see her win the title.

Mara has worked long and hard for this moment and even did a week of training on the actual courses two months ago. We are honored to have Mara on our the team, salute her efforts and congratulate her on a job very well done. Congrats! Š

Just checking in to give you the report from the first day of Superweek. Got a nice start to the week with a 6^th place finish in the Otto Grunski Crit in Menasha today. After sitting in for most of the race I tried 3 times to get away and then true to form, a break of 5 went up the road and it was well represented, having one guy from each of the good teams and I knew I had missed the move. It went up the road so fast that there was no going with this one from the back where I was recovering and trying to figure out how to play the rest of the race.With 10 laps to go a solo rider went up the road. When another bridged and the field didn’t respond, I knew I had to go. I caught the two within a lap and immediately saw that they were both pretty knackered. Knowing the field was doing 27mph minimum on the tail wind side and 25 on the headwind side, I proceeded to encourage them and tell them that we had to do at least 27 on both sides to stay away. These guys were really struggling so it was going to be tenuous and I was going to have to do most of the work if I wanted us to stay away. Fortunately I had really good legs and drove it at 28mph into the headwind side for 3 laps which was enough to get us the gap we needed to stay away. At one time we had 30 seconds, but when the field decided to chase for the sprint, it came down pretty quickly. With a 1 lap to go let one guy pull the whole length of the head wind side as the field was baring down upon us.

When he pulled off for me to take my pull, I attacked them both and just drilled it to the line to take 6^th, the first man after the break. It’s a good thing I did, because my breakaway companions got caught 50 meters from the line. I found them afterwards and thanked them for their hard work and told them they did a really good job. They said the same. It was almost as satisfying as a win since it came in such dramatic form and it felt good to come cross the line solo. More importantly, I felt really good and I hope this is a sign of more good things and more fun racing to come.Stay tuned for more reports from the road. I attached the file for anyone who is interested in checking it out.

Jeb Stewart
Owner/Head Coach
Endurofit, LLC

Time to update everyone on how it has been going here at Superweek again.

Sunday

After Saturday’s fun, Sunday turned out to be a bit of a bummer. In a race that averaged 27.5mph for 90 minutes, nothing was getting away, not even a 28.5 mph breakaway attempt after I went for a prime that I lost. (The legs were heavy after Saturday’s effort). I tried my best to get into the fray in what was a fast and furious field sprint. Unfortunately it wasn’t fast enough and too large a bunch came to the line for my taste and I ended up in 28th. As I tell so many of you, that’s bike racing. No big deal, onto the next day!

Tuesday

I took Monday off to recover and make my fitness carry through the week and began racing again at the MGA Proving Grounds, a 10 mile RR course on a really fast, fun course with a few good climbs. After doing 5 laps we were to finish with half a lap on a car racing track with a down hill into a hairpin turn followed by 500 meters of flat, a 100 meter 7% grade climb and 200 meters to the finish. AwesomeI just sat in for the first lap surfing the back and watching guys go up the road only to be chased down since the field was fresh. On lap 2, Adam, Sean and I started going with moves but again, even after 1 15 min get away by me, nothing was sticking. Then on lap 3, a break got away and a chase group formed in front of the Peloton and Sean was in it. When 4 guys jumped to chase them down, I jumped and let them pull me across and when we caught them another guy jumped and I went with him and before we knew it, we were in the break.10 of us made it, but for some reason, these yahoos were attacking each other and not working together well. I took it upon myself to convince everyone to work together since we had the largest group with the biggest gap of the day. I even attacked the group to let them know I was feeling good and everyone started to work and within a lap we had 2 minutes on the field. With every team represented in the break, I knew their team mates were shutting the race down behind us and we could easily stay away if we got it together.

I was feeling really good but sat out every 3rd pull just to make sure I wasn’t doing too much. With 1 lap to go, one of two team mates in the break attacked and I chased him down since no one would respond. Everyone was starting to slough off since we had 2 minutes so I pushed the pace on the climbs to keep things going and everyone responded by continuing to work. However, and this is bike racing in a nut shell, with 3 miles to go, everyone stopped working and the attacks started coming. I don’t know if it was because everyone was tired, if they were just saving themselves or if I had showed too many cards but when two guys attacked, no one would chase and seemed ok with racing for 3rd. I wasn’t and immediately chased them down. When I caught one guy and told him ”let’s go”, he said he was cramping and couldn’t. Silly me, I believed him and went back to the group and he hit the gas and started soloing to the finish line. Again a few more attacks came and I jumped with the 2nd one and found ourselves drilling in into the car track with a kilometer to go. The group caught us and again, no one would work, even with two guys up the road and the win walking away. Frustrated by their tactics and my mistakes I just decided to put my head down and go and lead it out for ½ a kilometer all the way up the climb and at the finish 2 guys came around me for 3rd and 4th, leaving me in 5th. I would rather try to win and get 5th than be overly conservative, expect everyone else to do it and end up the same or worse. Right or wrong, a decision had to be made and this was mine for the day.
It was an awesome day and a really fun race. 30 miles in the break was incredibly fun and took its toll on my legs and I learned a lot again by the mistakes I made. The race was mine to win but I let it slip by hesitating, then doing too much work and then making tactical errors at the end. Again, this is bike racing and I am really happy and blessed to have even been in that position. Sometimes you get it right, others you don’t. The key for me is to be grateful when it does and for the lessons I learn when it doesn’t. What a day. I averaged 290w for 2 hours for my normalized power and 338 for 15 min in the first break of the day. Wow!

The coolest thing is that John Kern, an athlete I coach who got dropped in every race he did up here last year, took 2nd in his race. Talk about improvement. John is so strong, and is now learning how to race. He’s going to be a serious force to be reckoned with. Wednesday Today was an equally fun circuit, a 2.3 mile hilly, fast circuit with a 150 meter double step climb 200 meters before the finish. Again, the racing was so fast that nothing was getting away. I tried with the winner of Tuesday’s race and we only lasted a half a lap at 31mph so I knew it was time to go to the back, sit in and plan how I would approach the sprint. I asked the bigger teams if they were going to try and keep it strung out going into he finish to lead their guys out and keep the finish safe just to put it in their heads that this is what needed to happen.With 3 to go, a really strong rider got away, but we reeled him in on the last lap and the speed began to pick up. I moved to the front with half a lap to go and when I saw the lead out train getting lined up to lead out the overall leader, I immediately put myself on the front by pedaling down the side and barged my way into the line. Suddenly an attack went up the side since the pace wasn’t quite fast enough to deter this and when I saw them get a gap, I jumped from 4th wheel to their wheel and suddenly it was a group of 6 of us going into the last turn at the bottom of the hill.

We went through that turn at 33mph leaning on each other and I even said to the guy, “don’t take me out” as we flew through the corner. He yelled to his team mate to go and suddenly a gap opened up as the rider attacked. I lost his wheel but plugged it to get back on which cost me the win. I came across the line in 4th. This was a huge step forward for me as I have not been doing well in field sprints this season. I almost have to relearn how to field sprint every year and instead I prefer to sprint from a small group like you have in a breakaway. Again, a great day and a really fun race. It’s nice taking home cash every day too!

Again, John Kern took 2nd in his race, missing the win by inches. Suddenly I am in 7th overall so I guess I might be racing instead of resting tomorrow.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Check out the results at
 http://www.internationalcycling.com/results.php

Be well my friends,

Jeb Stewart MS, CSCS
Owner/Head Coach

It’s day 7 of racing for me and day 5 in a row. Surprisingly, I am holding up to it pretty well and am actually doing better each day, more or less. 

Thursday 

After a great result on Wed, it was a friend of mine’s turn on a very hard course in Humboldt Park, Milwaukee. The course had a 300 meter downhill into a hairpin, 120 degree turn to a 200 meter stair step up hill climb, 3 right turns and it repeats. If we ever wonder why we do short, hard repeats, this is it. The download showed 45 x 30 sec at 400w+ every 90 seconds. OUCH! 

We were participating in the typical non-stop attacking and I was on the front drilling it to bring back a group and when the pace slowed and I saw a very strong pro go up the road, I yelled “Sean, Adam, that’s the move”, and Sean went with it. I worked my tail off to shut it down and keep anyone from getting across to it long enough for it to check out of Dodge.It was my turn to sit in for a while, but after it was established, I tried unsuccessfully to get another move up the road. This was where I made my mistake, I should have just sat in and waited for the sprint since 5^th was on the line. Also, not being 7^th on GC, no one was going to let me go. I finally realized this (too much caffeine that day didn’t help to have a cool head either) after doing way too much work and went to the back and let the field do the work.

The end result was Sean taking 2^nd, me settling for 14^th and Adam taking 18^th. Not bad. We now had everything but a win, a 3^rd, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th or 10^th for the week.

Friday

Friday, we awoke to rain. This was not heartening as Brewer’s Hill is one of my favorite courses, but it is sketchy with 2 down hills, lots of bumps, holes and waves in the concrete. It also has 2 climbs. J I went ahead and got on the trainer anyways and figured I’d just spin my legs out and call it an active recovery day. The Cat 4 field was crashing every lap in the cobbled corned which is never good for the nerves. I have learned to try not to pay attention to this kind of stuff and tune out everyone’s worry filled chatter if I am even thinking about racing. (Note: Avoid negativity prior to race time like the plague).

With 15 min to go until race time I decided to do a few laps around the course and check it out. It was still drizzling but everyone was lined up and when they said riders ready, I put on my glasses and said, “here we go!” I figured if it was bad in the Peloton I could always bail out and they weren’t giving refunds since there were no tornados! J

Typical of races ion the rain, we hit the gas from the gun to try and drop everyone and within 5 laps we had done just that and ended up with a group of about 15. About 5 laps later it was only 10 of us left. 5 more and it was the final selection of 8 of us with the field chasing. We’d hit the gas anytime we’d see them behind us and eventually they were gone. Once the free laps were done, one of the leaders flatted which was incredible bad luck for him, but helped our chances all the more.

Sean tried attacking with 3 to go to no avail and on the final lap, the pace went up and while lapping the rest of the field, the knuckle heads jumped into our group at the bottom of the climb and almost caused a crash as the sprint was beginning. We got around it safely although no less frustrated by the seeming lack of brain power by the officials. Unfortunately, I didn’t move up far enough, not giving the leaders the respect they deserved and I ended up 3^rd. another great day in the saddle, having overcome rain and another tough race. We looked like we had finished Paris Roubaix with all of the grime we had on our bikes and bodies. Epic!

Saturday

Surprisingly, I am feeling pretty good, which is a first for me, but I must just be getting used to it at this point. By no means was I feeling “great”, as my legs felt like complete garbage in my warm up, but I felt calm and relaxed which can go a lot farther than good legs.

Today’s course had 9 turns and was very tight and technical. Usually not my strong suit, but today I got called to the line for my podium the day before and it gave me just the edge I needed to get to the front fro the gun and stay there. These kinds of races are much easier at the front than anywhere else in the Peloton, especially the back. I did it last year and dropped out because I couldn’t move up once the race started since I got pushed to the back.

Today was another day and I never left the top 10. We’d be going around 1 corner, while the tail of the field was going around a corner 6 corners back. I rode smart today, being tired and having learned a few lessons this week, giving away better finishes because I had done too much in the race. I simply sat in the front and let others pull me to the moves that went up the road. With 10 to go, they called a prime and I jumped o the last wheel of 5 guys who went for it with no intention of contesting the prime. This is one of my favorite ways to establish a break and when the prime was finished I yelled to the rest of the guys, “let’s go” and drilled it. Unfortunately, no one came with me, but I looked back, had a huge gap, put my head down and went.

Within 2 laps I had 30 seconds on the field and although dying, suddenly realized that I had a really good shot at winning this thing solo. The field seemed like they were going to let me go since I wasn’t a threat on GC anymore. With 7, 5 and 3 laps to go, they threw out $50 primes and I snagged them all. Unfortunately, they race leader and team Endeavor decided they wanted to win the race and with 2 to go, they brought me back. I was severely disappointed but sprinted as hard as I could when the field came by, jumped in 10^th wheel and was positioned for a good finish in the sprint in spite of the fact that I was wasted. With ½ a lap to go, 3 guys went down in front of me and I had to come to a complete stop. I just punched it and went as hard as I could to the finish, ending up in 16^th, and $170 richer for the day, a nice consolation prize. Another great day in the saddle.

John Gissal had the race of the year and nabbed 8^th in a cat 3 field of 100 riders. The cat 3 races are 2.5 times as long as anywhere else, taking almost 2 hours. It was so hot that they had to feed during the crit and only 30 riders finished. It was impressive.

The legs are not so fresh today and neither is the mind, but we’re here and we’re going to finish the last day. 8 races in 9 days, unbelievable. Thank goodness for a rest week next week and I am dreaming of getting home to Deb and my own bed. To anyone who likes to race and travel, I highly recommend coming to Superweek. The racing is fast, the people are friendly, the courses are incredible and the pay outs are good. It’s a neat meeting place for cyclists from all over the country and there is a series for every category within the 3 weeks of racing. I have come for the last 4 years and as long as I am racing my bike, will probably come back every year.

Thanks for listening, I hope you enjoyed the reports. I apologize for any misspellings and grammatical errors, but at this point I am cross-eyed and too tired to edit, so forgive and please indulge me. J

All the best,

Jeb Stewart
Owner/Head Coach�

This past weekend, in her return to racing, travelgirl Marianne Holt took 6th in the Lenior Criterium. Kat Clark (Fuji/Bolt Brothers) escaped the field after taking a prime and stayed away for a solo win.

After a mid-season lull, the team is gearing up for the second half of the season.  Look for the travelgirls at:

French Broad Cycling Classic; Asheville, NC
Bank of America Criterium; Charlotte, NC
U.S. Criterium Nationals; Downer’s Grove, IL
US 10K; Atlanta, GA

Thanks for your support!!