MERCO Race Report-NOW women

What: Merco Classic
Who: Lauren Liscinski
Where: Lovely Merced, CA
Why: To see if the legs are coming back...

SATURDAY: The Crit

I was definitely intimidated going into this race. I have had less than spectacular races the past few weeks and to say I was nervous rolling by the HTC-Columbia and TIBCO team trailers is a bit of an understatement. I got in a really good warm-up rolling around the beautiful streets of Merced (no sarcasm....) and timed all the pre-race necessities quite well. Wheels in pit-check. Porta-potty stop-check. Pre-race gu-check. Just enough time to have a full panic attack-check.
I got a good spot on the line and the race was fast and furious from the gun. Attacks were going left and right and I found myself doing everything I could to stay in the top half. I was feeling good though; legs felt awesome, lungs working, only thing rusty was my nerve being in that aggressive of a race again. Sergio had told me over breakfast to not be afraid to attack... so about 20 laps in I did. Very short lived, but it felt good to find the legs. I also found myself off the front for a lap or two w/ a group of five but it was very apparent that nothing was going to get away.
With five laps to go things got hectic. The S-Turn was especially tough as it was narrow w/ footed barricades on both sides. At one point I found my options to be either A. Go into the barricades or B. Hope that the butt near my shifter would support me... Turns out Ina Teutenberg can support that kinda thing. Go figure. Things stayed hectic the rest of the race and with three to go a girl swerved in front of me on the home straight. I moved right to get out of the way and felt shifters on my hip. I tried as best I could to stay stable and lean into the person to right the situation... no such luck. I hear carnage behind me, rear wheel skips.. "power in the pedals." We come around the back side and the moto-ref slows us all down. Turns out the crash was worse than I imagined. We're stopped at the start/finish for about 20 minutes while the medics carry away the injured. The officials decided to start us w/ five to go. That was not a good sensation after getting cold and stiff. I got to the front but was not confident enough to hold my position so I slipped back a bit and found myself sprinting for 19th. It felt great to be active and I was happy with my result. Top ten next time for sure.

SUNDAY: The Road Race

I had absolutely no expectaions for this race, except that it would hurt. 72 miles with the same women as yesterday and then some. Again, it was on from the start with Ina Teutenberg attacking on the first roller. This would be the entire first lap. I could not believe how aggressive and fast the first 24 miles were. There were a ton of small breaks that would go up the road and then either HTC-Columbia, TIBCO, Webcor, or PB-2012 would decide they did not like the composition and the chase would be on. After the first lap I decided to try to sit in a bit more since it did not seem like anything would get away. I was so happy to see Steven's parents in the feed zone as I seemed to have a complete inablitiy to utilize any of the race food I took with me. I grabbed the gleaming silver ball from David Leece's hand and unwrapped the aluminum foil faster than I thought possible. Inside was the bearclaw I was praying for. Instant sugar high.. and it was sure needed for that third lap. There is a really rough section of road on the third leg of the rectangle (Cox Ferry Rd) that I had been at the back for the first two laps. My only goal was to be near the front here on the third and final lap.
However, I could not remember how far away the turn was....so, I found myself patrolling the front the entire third lap. "Get to the front and defend your position there." It seemed like the only way to defend it was to go with every move that tried its hand at getting off the front. I tried to be as smart as I could and simply follow wheels, but there were a few times that I had to put out more energy than I wanted. Right before the turn I went with an attack following a HTC-Columbia wheel and as we made our way around the turn I looked back and noticed it was a significant gap. Even though I had already predicted nothing would get away, I got really excited at the possibility of a top 5 finish off the front and tried to encourage the girls to work. We organized a rotating paceline but we just didnt have the power with full TIBCO and PB 2012 squads chasing (see the photo here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/merco-cycling-classic-ne/stage-2/photos/109675). We got caught before the final climb and I found myself drifing backwards. I felt a hand on my butt and realized I was now traveling at the same speed as the peleton thanks to the Webcor girl that had been in the break with me (unfortunately I dont know who she was). She gave me words of encouragement and I found my legs enough to get up the climb at the back. I used the next descent to work my way to the front before the final rollers (http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/merco-cycling-classic-ne/stage-2/photos/109676).
There was a crash the last 5k or so that caused a gap between the front group and where I was. I only had one effort left and I used it to sprint back on to the back of the front group. Once I was there though I simply could not hold on and pedalled in for 37th. Again, I was happy with my result and I got to meet some strong, influential women. This was a great preview of what the rest of March will have in store with San Dimas and Redlands coming up and I am super excited.

Sorry this was so long, but I hope you enjoyed parts of it! Thank you to every member of this team as you have each had a part in giving me this opportunity to race with the highest caliber of women in the sport. I hope to have more good news as the season goes on.

Best,
Lauren Liscinski
U25 Elite Women's Team Captain
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