NOW U25 Womens Race Report for Redlands

They don’t let just anyone race the Redlands Bicycle Classic
by Jennifer Johansen

They don’t let just anyone race the Redlands Bicycle Classic. To be accepted means you’re supposed to be there. You’re supposed to be there with some of the best women cyclists in the world; some real-life, world-class athletes. This opportunity was meant for the NOW-MS Society Women’s Elite Team, an opportunity to learn and bump bars with the best.

With SDSR under my belt, I arrived in Redlands Wednesday evening with a beautiful Specialized S-Works, amazing teammates (Lauren Liscinski, Julia Lafranchise, Jenna Kowalski, Kendall Ryan, and special guest rider, Tammy Wildgoose), epic support crew, a superb director Kurt Stockton, the best climbing legs I’ve ever had, and some fresh confidence.

Thursday morning at 11:10 AM, Prologue TT. I began my ascent up the TT course. I put in a decent time, placing me amongst some strong women. Admittedly, I did get passed, but only by one rider; a rider by the name of Kim Anderson of Team HTC-Columbia who started 30 seconds behind me.

Recover. Check out The City of Beaumont’s Road Race course.

Friday, Stage 1: The City of Beaumont Road Race. The course does one large lap and then two smaller loops for a total of ~109 km. First initiative: get myself to the front and stay there. The race started with a fast slightly downhill tailwind sections into a left turn where the course starts climbing to the first QOM. In order to hang with the likes of Mara Abbott, I HAD to get to the front before that turn. And I did. The rest of the race was a battle to stay toward front, and most importantly stay toward the front leading into the climbs. I got dropped up the climb with a group of around 15, including one of my teammates, Kendall Ryan, on the 2nd to last lap, but we were able to chase back on to the peloton where I stayed until the final climb of the day. I came into the climb at the back after getting a feed (big mistake, I’m not sure what I was thinking.), my legs had had enough and I went off the back. I finished 2:45 down from the leaders. Jenna Kowalski, Kendall Ryan, Tammy Wildgoose and I lived to fight another day. Unfortunately, some poor luck for Lauren Liscinski and Julia Lafranchise (who spent the day battling flats and avoiding crashes) meant we were two down.

Recover.

Saturday, Stage 2: The City of Redlands Criterium. This was hands down the hardest crit I’ve ever done and the most emotional I’ve ever been on a start line. The cutest 7-year-old girl wished us good luck and belted out the national anthem for an excited crowd and an anxious field. Once the gun went off, honestly, it was all I could do to hang on. Bad legs? Maybe, but these girls were flyin’! Kendall Ryan rode a great race, smart and strong. She was in the top 15 wheels all day and finished an impressive 13th! And that’s on junior gears! Ladies and gentlemen, watch out-she turns 18 this year. Our guest rider Tammy Wildgoose finished in the pack and all of us get to race the final and most challenging, IMO, stage.

Recover.

Sunday, Stage 3: The Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race. The race started off with a 5-mile “neutral” section. Everyone was battling for good position because the first lap QOM was going to drive the pace hard up the first climb. As soon as we got the green from the official, they drilled it going for the QOM, and dropped most of the field. All four NOW-MS ladies ended up in a group of around 20 riders, including riders from the top teams-HTC-Columbia, TIBCO, Peanut Butter 2012, and Colavita-to name a few. We rode until pulled by the officials to receive a pro-rated time for the stage. This is how most “finish” this race, which is just a testament to its selectiveness.

I can’t write this without acknowledging the achievements of the Elite men of our team. Corey Farrell, Cory Greenberg, Danny Heeley, Kit Karzen, pro rider and team alumni Sergio Hernandez and guest riders Blake Anton, Thomas Hubbard and Charles Bryer had a good race finishing 18th on team GC, a great improvement over last year. I’m hoping our women’s team follows their lead. We will take this incredible experience and all the lessons learned (some pretty painful) and come back next year faster, stronger, better.

I can’t thank my team, NOW-MS Society, enough for their unwavering and whole-hearted support of their U25 development program. They have worked tirelessly to connect us with high quality and supportive sponsors that allow us to race at this elite level. Check us out on our website: www.teamvrc.org and on our Facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/NOW-MS-Society-Womens-Cycling-Team/243102731721?ref=ts. You can find the Elite men at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/NOW-MS-Society-U25-Mens-Cycling-Team/295199539303?ref=ts


Kendall Seyer
NOW-MS Society Cycling
Director of Communications & Marketing
kendallseyer@yahoo.com