I’m not a bragger by nature, but what Team TIBCO accomplished at Joe Martin is worth a boast or two. We dominated the race from start to finish by winning the prologue, the first road race and today’s criterium. By virtue of winning those stages came the individual and team classifications. Claudia earned the leader’s jersey on the opening day, and we all worked together to defend it until the finish. By coming together the way we did as a team to defend the pink jersey, the team classification was just an added (and very welcome) bonus.

Claudia has primarily raced in Europe during her lengthy career, and, as a result, she doesn’t have much experience racing American-style criteriums. She’s a natural climber, and sprinting doesn’t always come easy for her, so she was a bit nervous about today’s crit. We repeatedly reassured her that we were confident in her abilities and, should anything go not quite as planned, we would be by her side to make things right.

She had heard us call the course ‘technical’, and I think that was part of the reason she was nervous. The course IS technical, but it’s mostly technical because of the descents. The field isn’t too large. The roads aren’t too narrow – even narrow roads here aren’t narrow by European standards. The corners aren’t particularly tricky. There was nothing about the course that she couldn’t handle.

(photo credit: Wil Matthews)

We developed tactics to counter-balance Ali Power’s (NOW) strength and protect Claudia’s weaknesses. Claudia started the day’s stage with a 16” advantage over Ali in second, and she remained the biggest threat to the overall win. Ali is a technically strong rider who excels on descents, so our goal was to keep the pace as fast as possible on the downhill to prevent Ali from slipping away on this part of the course. Claudia would easily be able to hold her own on the uphill sections.

After two rainy road races, we were greeted with sunshine and blue skies this afternoon. It was a welcome departure from the previous cold, wet races.

From the gun, we raced full gas. We knew we’d drop a lot of the field with this strategy, and that was our goal. We wanted to thin the field from the start to help Claudia feel more comfortable in the bunch. It was advantageous for the entire team – with fewer riders in the field, we had less people trying to attack us.

(photo credit: Wil Matthews)

I took over at the front of the peloton on descent on the backside of the course on lap one. I led as fast as I could downhill and through the first few corners at the bottom of the descent. The road kicks up ever so slightly before the turn onto the hill that leads to the finish, and Chantal came around me on the small grade to take us up the climb. My job was done, and my race was pretty much over at that point.

We stuck to the plan throughout the entire race. String things out on the descent to prevent attacks on the backside of the course, and let Claudia do her thing on the climbs. We knew she could hold her own when the road went up, so our main concern was keeping the field intact at any other point. Each and every rider had her turn on the front whether it was down the hill, up the hill or chasing down a break.

(photo credit: Wil Matthews)

It was a race of attrition, and as the front group began to take shape, we had five riders make the selection. Shelley won the small group sprint – her second stage win in four days. Claudia finished just a few places behind Shelley to easily maintain the overall.

The day went perfectly to plan. It’s rare that this happens in bike racing – rarer still that we can say that about an entire tour. I couldn’t be prouder! Everyone worked really hard today as they did all week, and we all contributed however we could. It feels really great to be leaving Fayetteville with several wins to our name. It’s been a long time since Team TIBCO has been this dominant, so it’s extra sweet to be back on top.

I fly home tonight, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on my teammates who are heading to Silver City, NM for the Tour of the Gila. I hope they can carry the momentum we’ve created here with them into our next stage race. Gila will definitely have a different feel than Joe Martin. The courses are harder and the fields are deeper. If we recover well, I know we can show that we’re on the up and up – a real force to be reckoned with this year.

Go to the Source – meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com

(beach cruiser waiting for a ride at our team camp beach house)

Having arrived in California yesterday for the second round of team camp, I figured now might be a good time to fill you in on round one. This year, camp was split into two parts by Redlands. We all met up in Carpinteria, California two weeks ago and then our eight rider Redlands squad headed to the first NRC race of the season. I headed home to pack and move (which, as I’m sure you can imagine, wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do after two weeks away). After moving all weekend, I had an early wake-up call Monday morning to fly back to California for more team bonding, sponsor visits and training rides. When camp ends on Friday, it’s off to Charlotte for one of the biggest one day races of the season.

As you might remember, I last blogged before San Dimas. I wrote daily race reports on my first road race of the year (you can read them here if you missed them and want to catch up). Following San Dimas, Amanda, Melanie and I stayed in Ventura for a few days. Jo and her husband Jeff Pierce (you might know him, and if you don’t, you should – here’s why) were doing their own thing, leaving Melanie, Amanda and I to our own devices. On Monday the three of us went out for an easy spin, but on Tuesday we decided a long ride with some climbing was in order. We talked to our former teammate and local, Alexis Ryan, who told us about a climb out of Ojai up to Rose Valley. It was a beautiful, mellow climb up Hwy 33. The gradient was perfect to put some tension on the legs but not overdo it. And the views from the top were amazing.

On Wednesday, we rode the couple hours from Ventura to Carpinteria and arrived sometime mid-afternoon. Our mechanic Josh and Jeff and Jo were already at the house getting things in order  for the circus to begin. Rushlee Buchanan, Sam Schneider and Jasmin Glaesser were the next three to arrive. The trio had flown in from Europe two days prior and were staying with our team founder Linda Jackson in Menlo Park. They drove down in a team car and arrived at the beach house a few hours after us.

Sam has been with the team several years and has become a familiar face for Team TIBCO fans. Rushlee joined Team TIBCO the year prior to me. She raced with the team for two years (so overlapped with me in ’09) before leaving to race with another North American team. Last summer, she represented New Zealand on the track at the London Olympics. She’s fully focused on road this year, and we’re happy to have her back! Like Rush, Jasmin represented her country in London last year. She was part of Canada’s bronze winning team pursuit squad and took the young rider jersey at the Exergy Tour. She’s a new recruit without a ton of road racing experience, and she was one of the two teammates I hadn’t met until team camp.

(the beach is just a few steps away from the back door)

The eight of us got to work sorting things around the house. Each year, we stay in one of two houses owned by the Cook family. The riders all stayed in the same house, so there we divved up the space, assigned rooms and ran to the grocery store for basics. Jeff cooked us a fantastic dinner, and just before midnight, the rest of the Euro crew arrived: our team director Manel, Shelley Olds, Claudia Häusler and our soigneur Nadia.

Way back when, Shelley raced for the Proman Hit Squad (what has now grown to be Exergy Twenty16). Primarily focused on track, she had hoped to earn an Olympic berth in the points race and scratch race. When her events were pulled from the Olympic track program, Shelley switched her focus to the road, began racing in Europe full time and represented Team USA alongside Evie Stevens, Amber Neben and Kristin Armstrong in the road race this summer. Claudia is best known for winning the Giro Donne and Tour de l’Aude. Although my new German teammate has primarily raced in Europe, she has traveled with her European teams to contest select US races in the past. This will be her first season racing with a North American team.

Chantal Blaak missed out on the first few days of camp. She stayed in Belgium to race Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) with the Dutch National Team. Although Chantal has been racing for quite some time, we have yet to officially cross paths, and I’m looking forward to getting to know her during this second round of team camp.

Back to round one – with the late arrivals, it was a late night. Lucikly, we didn’t have too early of a morning on Thursday. The first full day of camp involved sorting through all the schwag that accompanies the start of the season – new kit, new bags, new sunglasses, new shoes, new everything. We spent a good chunk of the morning getting our stuff sorted. Mid-day included a team photo session with Larry Rosa. He had joined us on Wednesday and did head shots and lifestyle shots with the early arrivals. Thursday was team photos on the road and more head shots. Our photo shoot was followed by an afternoon spent with sponsors. Shimano, Fuji and Reynolds each ran through the ins and outs of the equipment they provide us with during the season. Reynolds is a third-year sponsor and both Shimano and Fuji are new to Team TIBCO this year. The sponsors hung out while we took more team photos with Larry, and then stayed for dinner, which was a particularly delicious meal of catered Middle Eastern food. It was nice to have a chance to chat with the people beyond our equipment in a more casual setting.

Friday was more of the same – a late morning to give the Euros further chance to acclimate after the long travel and big time change. We got up at our own pace and did our own thing for breakfast. By mid-morning we were out on the bikes for more team photos. Larry captured action shots of us as we rode. When his work was wrapped, we picked up the pace and settled in for our first longer day on the bike. Post-ride it was massages, naps and enjoying the beach as dinner was made.

We had split the team into three groups of three, and each group would be responsible for one night of dinner. My group was me, Jo and Melanie – and we were up first. We put together fish tacos, and I made my (semi-famous) chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Meetings followed dinner, and Friday’s meeting involved an overview of logistics around camp and upcoming racing.

(climbing legs required)

Saturday was our biggest day on the bike. It included 6500 feet of climbing over 4.5 hours of riding. It was the perfect kind of climb to put a little tension on the legs without overdoing it before Redlands. We stayed together until we hit the main slopes of the mountain – then, at that point, we each rode to the summit in the way that best suited us. We were pretty split up as climb went on, but we regrouped at the top to take some photos and enjoy the all-around amazing day.

What comes up must go down, and we had A LOT of fun with the descent. We flew down the twists and turns, with everyone getting a chance to punch it on the front. An unspoken game of ‘catch me if you can’ took shape. Towards the end of the descent, the wind picked up, and we had to pedal hard as we shot down the road. Once we reached the bottom, we spun home at a chit-chatty pace.

Jasmin, Rush and Amanda handled dinner that night. Their menu included homemade pizza – with everything made from scratch (including the dough) and vegan brownies (to accommodate various diets within the group) with ice cream.

Sunday was a pretty miserable day. It dumped rain for nearly our entire four hour ride. We were soaked to the bone when we got home. Lucikly, it wasn’t a cold day, so the rain was tolerable, but the roads weren’t super clean, so we were super gritty and dirty. That night we went out to dinner for burgers in Santa Barbara at a cool burger joint called Eureka. The Euro’s had been jonesing for them, and we were all happy to indulge in greasy burgers for one night. Everyone left happy and content.

(Kim Anderson opened Handlebar Coffee after retiring from professional cycling)

We broke out the time trial bikes on Monday morning so that we could dial in our TT positions. After taking the bikes for a quick spin near the house, we reported back to Josh on the changes needed. After everybody was squared away with their time trial bikes, we grabbed our road bikes and headed into Santa Barbara, with Handlebar Coffee as our mid ride stop. Kim Anderson and Aaron Olson own the place, and it’s always a treat to drop in and say hello to those two. Unfortunately we were in and out fairly quickly because rain was threatening on the horizon.

By mid-afternoon, we were back to the house to enjoy a chill afternoon. Shelly, Sam and Claudia were tasked with cooking dinner using the leftover food in the fridge. They come up with baked chicken, potatoes, fresh veggies and salad with banana and strawberry sundaes for desert. Their meal was clearly a camp favorite since they were voted as the winners of the Top Chef competition!

That evening, Rushlee flew out, Chantal flew in and I packed up to head home on a 6AM flight the next morning before everyone else would head to Redlands.

Our five days at camp were less about training and more about getting to know each other and our sponsors, familiarizing ourselves with the equipment we’ll use all season and having everyone under one roof for (likely) the only time this year. It was nice to train with my teammates, but the emphasis was more on team organization and logistics than training.

I didn’t blog about Redlands because I sat out of the race this year, but I want to give massive props to Jo for her best-Redlands yet. She grabbed second on the first road race (in a thrilling finish at the end that included a protest), rode incredibly strong for third on the queen stage on Sunset and finished fifth overall. Claudia took the climber’s jersey after a gutsy ride on Sunset.

Before I sign off, I want to send out a huge thank you to Anthony at Cal Giant for hooking us up with wonderfully tasty strawberries that were enjoyed in some way in just about every meal, and to my new friends at MotoFish Images for sending us the tastiest care package every – gluten free treats that oozed amazing gooey goodness!

Go to the Source – meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com

Our goal was to attack from the start. We were looking to get up the road or force the extra weight out the back for a smaller group finish. It became clear quickly that other teams had alternate strategies in mind. Most moves were quickly neutralized and the pack stayed together as single unit until after the first points sprint. Then the attacks started to heat up as the teams were ready to start racing.

Thirty minutes into the race, a six rider move went up the road. Most of the big teams were represented, but we had somehow missed out. We each took turns jumping from the peloton in hope of bridging across. We’d gain a bit of a distance, but the gap was too big. Eventually, Jo just went to the front and drilled it. Her pace brought the break back to within closing distance. I took over from there to make the catch. I suspect that would have been the race winning move had we not been so insistent on being part of it.

After that, there were several more attacks – all insignificant. When we saw five laps to go, we knew were probably setting things up for a field sprint. My teammates and I focused on staying near the front to catch any late race moves. We were all pretty tired at that point, and we were lucky that nothing went away that would have forced us to respond. I’m still getting my race legs under me at this point, so I probably wasn’t in the best possible position, but I did keep an eye on Jo to make sure she was safely tucked towards the front.

With one lap remaining, I started to move up on the little steady uphill grade on the back side of the course. I saw Jo ahead in the perfect position, and although I wanted to help her if I could, I thought the best thing to do would be to stay put. I didn’t want to come around her and risk bringing too many people up with me. It could have had a swarming effect.

Honestly, I didn’t really have it, either. I didn’t have enough legs to keep the high speed Jo would have needed, so it also made sense in that regard to let her do her thing. The steady grade on the back side of the course is followed by two right hand turns in quick succession and then a fast downhill ahead of the finish. I’ve been told that Optum had been on the front and started to fade, and Gillian Carelton (Specialized-lululemon) used that as her opportunity to jump the field.

Gillian opened up a gap before the final turn before the finish. There was a little reshuffling before the line. Gillian held onto her ever so slim gap, and Jo took fifth in the sprint behind, good for sixth place. With a few more races in my legs, I know that I’ll be there for Jo in the end to help her get a better result that she deserves.

With the exception of missing the mid-race move, we rode pretty well today. Personally, I was happy to see how I handled the first bit of intensity of my season. This weekend was the perfect opportunity to slowly build into this type of effort instead of throwing myself into the deep end and drowning.

From a team perspective, it’s always a little bit disappointing to miss out on a better result. Still, we’re able to keep this weekend in perspective. Jo clearly has fitness that Amanda and I are still building, and Melanie is very green at these types of races. She’s new to criterium style racing, and she’s got a lot to learn – which is great. She has a huge engine, and it’s clear that once she figures things out, she’s going to be amazing. She just needs to be patient with herself as she learns the ropes and have faith that she’ll eventually be able to contribute.

All things considered, it was a good weekend. We all stayed safe. We communicated well. We snagged a podium. We’ve come out of the race with more fitness than we had coming into it.

Now, onto team camp in Carpinteria where we will finally join our teammates who have been in Europe racing all spring. After reading report after report of the dismal race conditions that they were subjected to, I know they will be incredibly happy to see sunshine and the beach! And I am excited to meet a few new faces for the first time and to reconnect with former teammates and new teammates who I know but have never raced with prior to this year.

See my Strava file here.

Go to the Source – meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com

(photo credit: Brian Hodes / VeloImages)

We landed on the podium. My legs felt happy albeit not quite as fit as I might wish they were. There were (too many) crashes, but no one was seriously injured. I think I’ll call it a good day at San Dimas.

I described the course yesterday. I neglected to mention that I’m not a huge fan of the circuit. There’s a section where we can use only half the road. Our lane is sectioned off by cones, and there’s traffic on the other side. We had 77 starters, which is a decent sized field. Everyone is fighting for a spot on the front. Racing in one lane between cones and the curb makes things super sketchy – especially on the first few laps when the entire peloton is together. It can get a little too tense for my liking.

After this part of the course, we make a right hand turn and hit the hills. It’s sort of rolling for awhile. After the rollers, we hit a section that has been the scene of crashes every time I’ve raced San Dimas. There are bumps from roots growing up through the pavement on the right hand side of the road. The bumps aren’t visible from a distance, and they certainly stay hidden when the entire peloton is together. We were going through this section really fast on the first lap. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I wasn’t super surprised when I started to hear noises indicating riders were going down.

It was one of the crashes where it seemed to have ended and then more people go down. I was on the left side of the road, and the crash started domino’ing in my direction. I was thinking: “No. No. No. NO!” Luckily I managed to avoid hitting the deck.

I found Jo and Melanie pretty quickly as I surveyed the damage done to the peloton, but I didn’t see Amanda. I started freaking out a little bit, and I dropped to the back as I looked for her. That’s when I realized that Mara Abbott [Exergy Twenty16] was missing. You might remember from yesterday that she was the race leader heading into today’s stage.

Exergy was at the back of the bunch trying to get information, too. The peloton had gone up the road a little bit while were attempting to figure out what had happened. It soon became clear that Mara had definitely gone down, so I helped Exergy neutralize the peloton. The yellow jersey had gone down and cycling etiquette dictates that we wait for her to rejoin us – or at least until we knew what had happened to her.

We weren’t getting much information out of the commisaires, so it was a bit of a cluster for awhile. Exergy didn’t know what had happened to Mara. I dropped back to the moto commisaire and the SRAM guys on motos asking ‘Where’s Mara?’ and ‘Did Mara get up and start riding again?’

Finally, more than one lap after the crash, we were finally told that Mara was part of a group chasing one minute down. Her teammates dropped back to bring her back up, and two miles later, she had rejoined the peloton. Halfway through lap three, racing was on again.

There were attacks, but nothing got away. When it was an individual rider, the peloton would let her go, but she’d be back quickly.

After lap three, a four rider break went up the road. I don’t remember everybody that was in the move, but it was perfect. Amanda was in it, and every team except for Exergy was represented. I was a little surprised to see one of the Vanderkitten riders bring back the move. The work should have been left to Exergy. They missed the move, and they had the most to lose.

After the break was brought back, Katie Donovan (NOW/Novartis for MS) attacked. She built up a decent gap and stayed away alone until we caught her just before the main climb on the last lap.

Prior to Katie’s catch, the peloton was pretty content to let Exergy do the work. Lauren Tamayo and Ali Tetrick were on the front setting a steady tempo. They weren’t killing themselves, but they were doing decent work. Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies pitched in on the last lap because they were looking for the stage win. We were able to sit in for the most part.

The peloton wasn’t racing too hard. We’d always splinter slightly on the climb and then come back together at the bottom. Leading into the last time up the climb, after Katie had been caught, we were all lined up single file. Jo and I were fifth and sixth wheel. I knew if the peloton went really hard, I wouldn’t have the legs to stay with them, so just as things started heating up, I sat up and allowed a gap to open. It gave Jo and the other riders in front of me an ever so slight advantage.

Jo later reported that things reshuffled slightly over the top, and that’s when Brianne Walle (Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies) attacked. Jo and Taylor Wiles (Specialized-lululemon) were the only ones able to follow. The trio worked together although it doesn’t sound like they were trading equal pulls.

Bri pulled really hard at one point and opened up a gap. Jo had been third wheel, so Taylor was left to close the gap, but she couldn’t. Amber Neben [The Dare to Be Project] flew up on the right side, and Jo jumped onto Amber’s wheel. She said it was a full on drag race to the finish. Bri won. Amber outkicked Jo to the line.

We’re happy with how the race went for the team. Jo is happy. She gave everything she had in the end. It was a team effort during the race as we covered moves and looked to get up the road, but at the finish, it was all Jo.

I was reminded again today that while I might feel good, I’m not as fit as I normally would be at this point in the season and that I’m okay with that. After such a roller coaster of a ride during my ‘cross season, I’m able to take a step back and recognize the value in good legs and the importance of remaining patient as I use the good legs to build maximum fitness.

Strava file for today’s race.

Go to the Source – meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com

Go to the Source – meredithmiller.missingsaddle.com