CCCX Toro Park MTB- by MAry Ellen Ash

Photos Courtesy Rick Rasmussen

Race Name: CCCX – Toro Park MTB race:
Distance: 5 laps
Weather: sunny ~70 degrees with steady wind.
Course conditions: Long single-track/double-track climb followed by an awesome descent. No gflats.
Tire Selection: Slime 2.00
Race time: 2hr09
Warm up: Was still tweaking the bike position leading up to the start – slightly altered position and new shoes and cleats. Did 6x1’(1’) on the slight hills.
Race Strategy: Even with a smaller field, I wanted to push myself throughout the race. My goal was to be completely shattered by the end of the race. Since I didn’t get to pre-ride the course, I made sure to be careful in the technical sections so as not to crash. And I haven’t actually ridden by MTB in a full year, so this was a re-acquaintance with an old friend. I used the first lap to get my bearings.
Lap 1: the initial climb went pretty well and then for the remained of the climb, I hung with the masses. I was a little unnerved by a lady (Sharon) still hovering closely behind. By the top of the climb, she had caught me and decided to lead down the long descent back to the start/finish. I was pretty happy about that b/c she could pace me down the hill. And usually, I can gain time on most female MTB’ers b/c they lack the technical skills and are afraid of speed. That was not true of this lady – she flew down the hill. We were flying down the hill and I was barely hanging on.
Lap 2: Same as the first: I was starting to get concerned b/c I was putting in some hard accelerations and I wasn’t able to drop her. Maybe Sharon’ll start to fade soon – everyone breaks at some point.
Lap 3: My botched bottle feed put me back 20 seconds. I was starting to hurt a lot up the long climb and I began to worry that I had over-exerted myself on the first few laps. By the top, Sharon had gotten a 30” gap. I flew down that descent without an inhibitions and through the Start/finish, I saw her once again. We were still 30” apart!
Lap 4: I didn’t know if it was possible to catch her again. 30” meant I was still in contention, but I was getting tired and knew I had a whole another lap to go. In previous laps, my climb was all over the place – body moving, standing frequently – anything but steady. On this lap, I finally got comfortable. So up the climb, I put my head down and turned a gear that I was comfortable with - nothing too crazy. By the top, I had closed my gap to 5”. I knew if I was smart, I could close the gap on the descent. And lucky for me, Sharon botched a tight switch-back and crashed. Nothing serious, but it was enough for me to catch and re-pass once again. This race was becoming epic!
Lap 5 (the final showdown): Of course my legs would stop cooperating – the inner-thighs started to cramp! Crappy, and just in time for a long climb with no recovery! I started chugging the remainder of my bottle and spinning my legs as much as possible. And I had nurse my legs up to the top. If I made it to the top first, there was no way she could pass me. I made it to the top with a 20” advantage. And I descended almost too cautiously. Sharon was un-nervingly closing in on me. I got to the finishing straight and then sprinting (rather ugly to onlookers) for 1st.

Liza makes it 2 wins in 2 days at Madera- by L. Rachetto

Race Report: Stage 1, Madera Criterium
Approximately 32 starters Pro 1-3 Women

Five of the SugarCRM women lined up to race stage 1 in Madera with a time trial in the afternoon, our plan was to race a little more conservative since the race was likely to come down to a field sprint. Code 3/Honda Hopkins, TIBCO and Touchstone had some strong riders that would be motivated to race today. Our plan was to follow moves, try a few attacks and if a field sprint was likely, set up a lead out.
A majority of the attacks came from Touchstone as a few of their riders spent some time off the front. A few solo riders, TIBCO, Jane Despas, Emily Zell were motivated and kept the field together. Erin Dunn, MaryEllen Ash and Kim Fong assisted in covering moves that could be threatening. Lindsay Myers put in a solid attack with 8 laps to go. A few laps later Touchstone put Cara Gillis on the attack with the field playing Cat and Mouse with who would chase. Eventually TIBCO put their riders to the front and brought back the move. With two laps to go Touchstone started a leadout, but with one lap to go TIBCO started taking over with Sarah Bamberger and Mary Ellen Ash on the train. On the left Lindsay Myers picked up the speed to allow me to take her draft around the final corner. As the finish was near it looked like Sarah was going to take the win, so I dug deep to come around her just barely at the line. First win in the pro-women field of the 2009 season.


Race Report: Stage 3, Madera RR
30 Starters, 4 teammates
Our top rider Lindsay Myers finished 8th in the time trial on Sunday. We knew she would be a marked rider, so our options were to send Maryellen, Erin, or Kim up the road solo or in a break. Initially there was a Davis rider who quickly escaped off the front solo and stayed off for about 8miles, however Maryellen and a few riders rolled through at the front to bring her back. The next lap was relatively inactive until a break of about 7 got away; SugarCRM was represented with Erin Dunn. Two riders (Touchstone and unattached) escaped from this break and stayed out front for almost another lap, after they were caught a few counter attacks occurred but rolled together for another ½ a lap. It was a bit discouraging that teams were really not interested in racing aggressively, but instead pulling at the front. I attempted an attack for a few minutes off the front to shake things up, but otherwise the field stayed intact until the final 2 km. Touchstone and TIBCO were the only possible threats at the front and also good protection from the wind. I instructed Lindsay to stay on my wheel incase we could jump clear as riders were trying to position themselves for the sprint, but I jumped with Alison Starnes from TIBCO. With some solid power she provided a good leadout and I came around her at the end for the win.

Merco Credit Union Foothills RR- Lindsay Myers 7th

By Lindsay Myers
03/02/09
I’m still on a racing high from the weekend of fantastic racing in Merced. I’m so glad the racing season has begun…I LOVE racing! The team arrived to Merced mid morning on Saturday for the downtown Merced criterium. We’re beginning to really fit the part of a professional women’s team now that more of our sponsored products have arrived (Giro glasses and helmets), we’re looking good!
I was really looking forward to the weekend because the line up of teams promised stiff competition and good hard racing. Team Highroad has been doing some Norcal races…they were definitely the force to be reckoned with. I really enjoyed the experience racing with them. As Jen said, “Ina [Tuetenberg] just EMITS coolness!”
We wanted to be present in the race, being represented in any breaks…and we did just that. Starla was up the road in a several lap break of four women. She managed a prime win against arguably one of the best female sprinters in the world! After lots of attacking, chasing, and airtime for SugarCRM (thanks to Dave Towle), it looked like the race was going to come to a field sprint. At four to go, I got on the front to try to string it out a bit to keep things safe as the pace had lulled a bit. With a couple laps to go, Karla and Liza were positioned really well towards the front of the field. At this point, I was sitting in for a pack finish and Karla was up front duking it out for a top ten finish against some of the best sprinters. Way to go Karla!
The team headed out for an hour spin after the race and made it back in time to see the Pro Men’s mad dash for the line. The majority of the evening was spent in a hole-in-the-wall (but fantastic) Thai restaurant. Then back to the hotel to put the legs up and recover as much as possible for the early rise the next morning.
Leaving right on schedule (I was impressed with this), we made our way to Starbucks before the short drive out to the middle of nowhere where the race started. The sky was looking a bit ominous and I was really hoping the showers would hold off until we were comfortably in the car post race. The first road race of the season and I was stoked! The course is basically a rectangle with a couple rollers coming into the finish. The field was smaller than I had expected, with a few additions from the day before. Still present were Highroad, Tibco, and Colavita, with Webcor and Valueact having only one rider. We rolled out at a mellow pace and things didn’t get interesting until we made the left hand turn for the second leg of the “rectangle.” This is when the racing started with continual attacks. The pack wasn’t letting anything get away. SugarCRM did a great job of taking turns being in the moves and making sure there was some red in the mix. We demonstrated fantastic team work in forming a rotation at the front to chase down a threatening break that had managed a gap on the field. Rounding the corner to begin the final lap, my coach, Laura Charameda came up beside me and said “The race begins NOW.” At the rate we were going, I was figuring we would bring back the break before the finish. I was expecting some serious attacks on the rollers leading up to the finish. I stayed close to the front to be in a position where I could hopefully respond. With a couple miles to go, Tibco sent everyone to the front. They set a pace that was surprisingly not brutal. My legs were pretty toasted by that point and I was in a bad position. I gained some spots before the last short climb and held it to the finish, picking off a couple riders on my way. We had a respectable finish with four riders in the top 20. As a team, we didn’t have it to get someone up far enough to duel out a podium finish, but I think we raced SO well as a team DURING the race. I am so happy to be part of the women’s SugarCRM team…they are really a great group of women to work with. The support behind the team of the Los Gatos club is phenomenal as well. We had a pro feed zone worker, Bryan, help us out and even had homemade cookies for us post race! This is a great beginning to the season…it made me remember how much I love this sport!

Merco Credit Union Criterium- Karla Kingsley 7th, Liza Rachetto 8th

Saturday morning we all gathered in the lovely town of Merced. There's something wonderful about the early season central valley racing, and I had started to feel like the Vagabond Inn of Merced was my second home. The front desk attendant even recognized me from the previous weekend when I came down to do Snelling. There is nothing like the charm of a small town. But we were there to race. The Merco Credit Union Grand Prix is a great crit on the streets of Merced, and it always attracts great racers. This year, Team Columbia, Tibco, Colavita, Kahala LaGrange, Proman, Vanderkitten, and several others were all represented, and there were 6 of us from Team SugarCRM.
The race started with a bang, and a slow first lap as everyone recon-ed the chicane and corners. The next three laps were all prime laps, so the speed increased to high and stayed there. It was great aggressive racing, and everyone on the team played a role in covering attacks and launching some of our own. My legs weren't feeling outstanding, so it was my job to try to conserve energy where I could and only go with the most threatening moves if I was in position. Starla managed to grab a $60 prime out of a break she was in for a couple laps before it got reeled in. The counter-attack launched a group of 4-5 women off the front, and we were caught out of it. I heard the announcer saying that that was the race, up the road, those women would stick, but Liza proved him wrong with a huge effort on the front to bring them back. Ultimately, it came down to a field sprint. I positioned myself near the front of the pack while Lindsay, Starla, and JV launched some attacks to keep the pace high in the last 5 laps. With a couple laps to go, Tibco started organizing their lead-out train, and then really ramped up the speed in the last lap. I saw Brooke on the train, with Ina Yoko Toutenberg on her wheel, and I knew that Ina's wheel was where I wanted to be. In the last half lap, I had to make a couple big efforts to stick on Ina's wheel, but I was there coming around the final corner. I had a moment's hesitation out of the corner when the others started sprinting, and I lost a little bit of ground, allowing 3 other girls to pass me before the line, putting me in 7th place, with Liza right behind me in 8th.
All in all, it was a great team effort, and I was so proud of the way that the team worked together during this race!
-Report by Karla Kingsley