Tour de Walla Walla 2011

[tannille]

WALLA WALLA TT

I’m in between the morning TT and evening Crit at Tour de Walla Walla so I will take this opportunity to fill in a race report. I have been giving updates on facebook and twitter    (Balancepoint) from my phone to help keep peeps informed while down here. I will continue to do so for the men’s crits tonight.

After a 24-hour period of stomach issues and realizing I forgot to get travel insurance I arrived at the start of the TT a little worried.  I super pleased my stomach issues had subsided by the morning. I decided to skip the Polar fit test that I regularly do first think in the morning due to insurance reasons. I was up at 5:30am this morning trying to get some travel insurance, which turned into a stressful ordeal due to phone line connection (cell and hotel landline – that is going to be expensive). By 6:30am I had secured some insurance and needed to get to the TT start. A Coffee, a smoothy and an eload endurance drink of electrolytes into me and get the bike on the car.  I had set up my bike the night before and had planned to get to the tent, fill tires with air and get on the trainer as quickly as possible. That plan went flawlessly and caused no undue stress. Thank you Cory Forest for teaching me that having a pre-race plan is just as valuable as a race plan.

The Sunlife tent has been a real asset for the team; Matt and Hailey had the big yellow beacon up by the time I arrived with the Nelsons’.  A quick trainer warm up, number’s pinned on correctly  (THANK YOU HAILEY) and Monica and I were off to the start line. 

The course is 15km with a climb in the first half and a gradual, false flat, downhill to the finish line. The hill was a little longer than I had anticipated and a few mistakes had been made by the time I got to the hill.  Not enough hard effort on the trainer to feel ready for that hard of an effort coming out of the starting gate.  Nearly missed a turn within the first 5km – Thank you yelling lady at corner telling me to turn. Aren’t volunteers that now what they are doing great?  Lost a few seconds there.  Went out way too hard and had to start managing some signs of fatigue about 2/3 of the way up the hill.  Kept the feet turning over as smooth and fast as possible for the remaining distance.  Kept my display on average speed over the course of the race because this is a good motivator for me to dig deeper and go faster. Knowing I would be under my desired average speed at the top of the climb gave me the incentive I needed each time I glanced at the display.

Monica waited at the finish line for me and we rode back to the start line together for our cool down.  I drank my eload emend recovery drink and turned the attention on getting the Quail dialed for his race. He was the last teammate at the tent when we finished. I managed 10th out of 29 with the difference between that and 5th being 6 seconds apart.  A respectable go.

Ultimately there are a lot of teams down here with fancy team cars, wicked bike set-ups, and support staff (mechanics and coaching) helping riders get to the start line.  What I see from the Balance Point crew is support staff built into the team.  All spring I have witnessed a core group of people drag what we need to the races, get set up and help each other with WHATEVER issues arise on the way to the start line.  I am stoked to be experiencing road racing along side this super supportive crew (with a few phone calls to Marni and Cory – OF COURSE!!!)

Things to change for next time – Drive the course first and a few harder efforts on the trainer during warm up (I truly believe this is were the spirotiger would have an advantage). Don’t go all out at the beginning, start smooth for the first third and continually increase effort to go all out for the final third (Rookie mistake).

Thanks for reading,

T.   

[GinnySellars]

Thanks for the read Tanille!!

Well, I'm learning lots just from reading your post. Last year during our EES sessions, we did some chats about pre-race prep. Talking about it vs. actualizing it are too different things. I'm really impressed with your attention to detail. It makes all the difference to an outstanding effort.

Great effort in the TT. Very solid result!! Good to learn a few things along the way too. Write them down, so you don't forget as you prep for your race next time.

Yeah, I agree with you. It's been a great team feeling at the early races. Thanks to Matt for the Sunlife tent...it's been brilliant for those rainy pre-race warm ups. I also noticed that every one is so generous with their time, willing to tweak the gears, or share fuel, pin numbers etc.

Also awesome that you are getting some input from experienced bike racers. As our team is getting faster, and a more serious threat in the races, we need to draw more on resources to help with tactics, race prep etc. Tom is a terrific resource, and maybe Cory or Marni would be willing to have a session with us.

While I'm bummed to be missing the stage race this weekend, your efforts as a crew are inspiring to train really well this weekend. GO BPR GO!!

[Matt]

The Tour of Walla Wall was a wicked race!  The courses were great, and it was well organized.  It was fun having such a large group of team mates there!  And thanks to Hayley for being the support crew all weekend!

The details:
TT

My goals were to manage my intensity as well as I could, based on Heart Rate and Resp Rate.  I set up my road bike with some clip on bars (thanks Quail!), and was ready to go.  My first TT was a disaster, and I haven’t spent any time training for a TT since then, so my expectations were modest. 

I went out at balance point plus 15 right from the start (so much for control!).  I hit the hill and went all out.  The last half of the TT I started to fade a little, working to keep my HR balance point plus 5-7.  I was really happy with my effort, but I should have gone out a little slower.  I think I might have saved a few seconds by monitoring my effort better, but all in all I gave it 100%.  I finished 37th of 79, which is an improvement from my first TT. 

Crit

My goal in the crit was stay near the front and avoid any trouble.  I didn’t think any breaks would stay away, so I wanted to sit in until the end.  The crit was a 1.1 mile loop with a ton of turns – super fun!!  No one was able to get away so I sat in until 2 laps to go.  I was about 5th wheel on the last lap when David jumped off the front with half a lap to go.  He got a good gap and it looked like he might make it all the way to the line!  I sat 2 wheels back and waited to see what the group would do.  In the last 75 meters everyone started to go.  I jumped across to David and kept going.  I was passed by 6 guys just before the line.  I finished 7th, with David a few riders back.  It was a great move by David to try for the win, and it gave me a few options as things developed on the last lap.

Sunday RR

Goals – concentrate on controlling my resp rate and keep on top of my nutrition to avoid cramping. 
The race was 109kms long.  Basically we did two large loops.  The loop had 3 climbs (done twice), with the finish coming after the final decent on a slightly uphill finish. 
The first time around I felt really good.  The group kept the tempo pretty consistent.  I found myself on the front during the second hill and put in a steady effort.  That gave me a sense of who the stronger riders were.  The group split up on that climb, but came together again on the decent, and the final climb of the first loop had about 20 riders in it.  At the start of the second loop the race slowed down, and at that moment my legs started to feel bad.  I felt cramping on the way, so I drank most of my second bottle in an attempt to get some extra salts in.  By the time the tempo picked up my legs felt worse.  I was dropped from the lead group just before the final hill.  When our chase group hit the start of the final hill both my legs cramped.  I actually stopped, and rode back down the hill for a little to let my legs recover!   I limped my way up the hill until a group caught up to me.  I finished off 16th in the road race, and 16th overall.

Improvements that I will make for the next race:
Overdose on salts! (especially as it gets warmer)  You might see a few tubs of eLoad Zone Caps In my back pockets.  I was taking over 1400mgs of salts per hour (thanks to the eLoad Endurance) – but still not enough! 
Increasing my cadence on the climbs will also help I think.  The slope of the hills made it possible to ride in my big ring a lot of the time.  This caused me to mash more than I should have. 
I’m also going to continue to use the rollers in training, as this seems to work my coordination as well.

It was a fun weekend with some decent results for me.  It was great to see how well everyone rode, and we had a great BPR presence!

Thanks for reading!
M

[kiwichris]

Really great reports guys - you are showing a good insight to your physiology and your suggested changes for you to focus on are bang on!!

Look forward to seeing you this week to debrief in more detail and structure the next block of training.
WELL DONE!!

Chris

[Andrew]

Wow... David off the front on the final lap of the crit, Matt splitting the field on the hills, Quail making the podium, Tanille TT queen. A very impressive showing from our small group. This race might need to be a major focus for 2012!

And what about Jenn and Monica??? Hope they are happy and satisfied, can't wait to hear the news.

Cramping issues for Matt. Certainly a big ring climb that puts you at the front of a big crowd could add to the neuro issues and muscle tension problems we have discussed. It will be interesting to see if the rollers and eccentric work with Chris at the track will help. I have more ideas to discuss when I get home.

Leaving Mallorca today, and will be in Salty Dog trails by the weekend. Hope to have some company. Watch out, cause I feel good!!!

[SimonC]

The Capt'n is quite impressed with the BPR showing @ Walla.
All riders showed true grit in racing in those early season WA winds 
The Shredmaster also showed some Boss like qualities in the Cat 1 races !!!
The Capt'n is even more impressed with the Guardian's TRASH talk about the Salty Puppy Throwdown 

An interesting point about making Walla a focus for 2012 ... or any cycling race.

I think BPR has the potential to field a competitive road team ALL year long. Internally we have the talent and we should be able to attract some new talent as well. The only thing holding us back is our nomadic shift of priorities ... from road ... to mtn ... to tri.

If we want a competitive cat 1 road team, we need to support this team ALL year long and not put it on the back burner during Mtn Bike season. The Capt'n is guilty of abandoning ship with respect to road races in favor of other priorities  So guilty as charged ... straight to the yard arm for the Capt'n.

The Capt'n is committed to helping the Guardian et al to foster a more Roadie Friendly atmosphere with the goal of developing a HIGHLY completive Cat 1 race team. More to come on this for sure, but it would be a shame to only field a road version of BPR in Mar/Apr/May and not follow thru with some of the bigger stage races.

Capt'n
 

[Schulzy]

I also travelled down to Walla Walla this past weekend. It was awesome to have so many BP members out there!! We definitely need to attend this race again in 2012... along with a few other stage races (Race the Ridge, Mt Hood). Stage racing is a true test of recovery! 

I had a great time hanging out with the BP crew and was really excited to watch my teammates rip it up! Unfortunately, I struggled all weekend with a combination of chest congestion/plague  and a few metabolic issues. I was able to rest between stages which definitely seemed to help. I was able to change my goals for the weekend and decided that I would start each stage and just see how it goes!

TT: I was able to get a good warm-up. I tried to Spiro which was a struggle. I felt great for the for 5 minutes  of the TT(was able to get my HR up in the TT position). Soon.. my TT turned into a goal of completing the stage.  Although I didn’t feel super, I did manage to stay positive. It was a great test of my TT position and equipment. I am happy with my position on the TT bike and feel that with a little more practice I will definitely be able to generate enough power on the TT bike to perform well!

CRIT: I asked the race officials if I could skip the crit but no go!! I thought that I could rest after the TT and see how it goes in the RR. I was told that I needed to hang in for atleast 15 min and could not quit until I was given the signal from the race officials. I definitely struggled but was able to survive the crit with a great group of women and I had the opportunity to test out my ability to accelerate/sprint.  I think my sprint is back!  Another bonus was that Tannille and Monica rode in the same crit and I was so pumped to see my teammates riding sooooooo strong!!!! Tannille was a demon in the corners and Monica rode smart and aggressively right to the end!  I can’t wait for the next crit racing opportunity!!!

RR: I tried my best and suffered from the very start! Even my extremely competitive nature was not enough to make me ride faster! I rode ½ of the race and made a difficult decision to quit. I tried to base my decision on long term goals and recovery and have no regrets about my decision!

I’m looking forward to some laps of Salty this weekend!! Ready to rip off some fast laps! Andrew, I hope you kept the waffles to a minimum in Mallorca because Salty is a climber's delight!  What’s the plan??? I am off work from thurs through mon and would like to get some laps in starting on fri when I feel fresh and recovered!
Jen

[Andrew]

I need to confer with family before I commit to a Salty weekend. I should be available Friday afternoon, pending calls to the hospital. Will write more later.

[Andrew]

Simon, in response to the dream of a BPR competitive road team...

Yes, that is in our dream plan. Our next step is to secure a title sponsor willing to fund a very small but dedicated staff and manage and organize the team. We have put out feelers in the past, and are ready to take the next step. Just need the right sponsor with a three to five year commitment and willig to work with the BPR ideas to create an impressive team of great athletes.

I am working on a few angles, and open to ideas if anyone hears of a company wishing to drive forward with the BPR competitive team.

[StephenU]

Hey Ya'll..
The Quail has been run ragged since the weekend and now has a few minutes here to post the details.  I tried to get into the Cat 1/2 race but the field was full so I stuck with my pre-registered Cat 3 and tried to finish it off in style.

Friday's 70km Road Race featured a long climb 3 times, twice @ race speed, once neutral..  Race length, approx 2 hours.
Super windy/rainy/cold conditions..  I made a decision to ride conservatively and let others dictate the day as I had hopes on a good GC race. I wanted to save some energy for the Time Trial the next day.
The final climb featured a group of around 10-15 riders straight into a headwind.  It meant the pace was slow and so I tucked in the group and waited.  I let others do the work.  I was just below LBP the whole climb.  There was a lone breakaway rider trying to make it to the finish line and I was getting frustrated as we neared the finish.  I was blocked in and when the rider next to me attacked, I was right on his wheel and flying.  It was an insane burst of speed and the two of us handlily dropped the rest of the group.  The breakaway rider made it to line less than a bike length ahead of us so it was mistimed and poorly judged.  I wanted to go early but could not as I was sandwiched.  Oh well, no regrets with my decisions and happy with my 3rd on the day that included a time bonus. Happy
Thanks so much to my teammates and friends standing at the top of the climb yelling and cheering for me! It was super cool sharing the success of the day with them at the finish line..

TT - 16km loop and Windy!
Out of the start tent @ BP and held it there for 2 minutes then went up to BP +7 for the rest of the effort.  I could not summon anymore out of my legs.  I think my mega sprint effort the previous day and the cold weather did something to my legs.  21:39 and a 5th on the day would put me in 2nd on GC.  I was beaten by a young TT phenom from CyclingBC junior team again. (spring series)   I think it was a solid effort though against a big Cat 3 mens field in the States!  Happy as I knew GC hopes were pinned on a good TT.

Criterium
Once again, I decided to ride "aggressively conservative" to stay out of crashes, etc..  Staying in the front 1/4 of the race would be important.  Sure enough, two crashes occured and I slithered though no problem.  I tried to give it a go on the last lap for some fun and games but was handily out sprinted but good positioning produced a 10th.

110km RR
Previous posts have described the course and features so I will make it short!  Right off the start two guys attacked and after some thought, I followed.  I knew I would be marked by CyclingBC as I was 2nd on GC and a threat to their yellow jersey guy.  I was followed by a super strong young rider from CyclingBC.  We eventually bridged to the other two..  At this point the rest of the field was chasing HARD and they all decided to shut it down.  Super Windy!!  So I went back and talked with the race leader and explained to him I was happy with 2nd and would help his team defend 1st if they helped me defend 2nd.  I had a guy only 5 seconds back and another around 10.  It was a great ploy by me I think because they jumped on that opportunity becase a:) they knew I was riding strong and b:) they needed the help on the descents because they were limited by junior gearing.  As the race went on, there were a few other solo or two rider attacks that CyclingBC brought back and I closely watched the two riders jsut below me on GC.  Neither of them tried anything so I really only had to help with a little bit of pacemaking on the climbs (make it hard enough so no one would attack) and drill it on the descents for the juniors.  All the hammering on the hills, etc, dwindled the group down but there was a long road with headwinds into the finish. Lots of the previously dropped riders caught back onto the group and so it was going to be a massive sprint finish.  It was certain of holding onto 2nd if I could stay ahead of 3rd place dude in the sprint and keep bonus seconds from him.  I decided to be aggressive in try and surf my way through the field in the sprint.  It was winding up real fast and there was a MASSIVE high speed crash just behind me and to my right.  Bikes and bodies all over!  Broken collarbones annd dislocated shoulders! Ask Jen to describe it as she witnessed it!! So I ended up 5th on the day and secured 2nd overall.!  Super HAppy and proud of my strength, tactics, and patience...  My Cat 3 Career is done!

Sorry for a lack of physiological info here, but this was all hammering and decision making.

The Quail

[GinnySellars]

Jen, quite remarkable how positive you were about the weekend with the plague and metabolic issues. You are such a star. Though I'm sure the 9 hour drive gave to time to put it all in perspective!!

Stephen....WOW, what a great read. Seems you were really able to think tactics along the way. Well done!

[Monica]

After the weekend away at Walla Walla, I’m feeling great!  A bit tired of course, but my spirits are up!

The Prologue of the race went smoothly.  David and I picked up Tannille at Kelowna Cycle, packed up and headed south.  The Honda looked impressive with five bikes on the outside and bags of extra wheels on the inside!!  Travelling went well and we arrived in Walla Walla at midnight.  The next day (Friday) we were happy to have extra time to sleep in, have waffles (yeah!!), go grocery shopping, race package pick-up, buy new tires (one of my tires had a travelling incident and got a big hole!) and generally loaf around.  Later in the afternoon we watched Quail shred the pack on the climbs in the cold cold rain – awesome performance!  Then we (David, Tannille & I) drove the road race course.  For me, this was sooo important to see the course and the hills especially.  My hill climbing has gotten better over the past few years, both physically and mentally, but I need to be in a good frame of mind, and seeing the climbs with the grades and locations in the race was essential.
 
Saturday morning was an early start, off to the TT.  Thanks so much to Matt and SunLife for the tent.  It’s great for the team to all be warming up together under the SunLife banner!  My goals for the TT were to stay at BP (170) + 5 to +10, and to pedal fast and smooth, not getting bogged down.  Lining up at the start, I was surprised how everyone was totally geared up with TT bikes, aero helmets, deep dish wheels etc.  I was on my road bike, no aero gear at all, and off I went!  The legs and heart felt good, and I kept in my HR zone, pedaling smoothly.  I ended up in 28th, not too far off the times of other girls with the full aero set-up.
After a nap and lunch, we were off to the crit.  The cat 3 women raced with the cat 1/2 women which made for an exciting and fast field.  After a few laps, I couldn’t quite hold the pace and fell back into the second group of about 15 girls.  We worked hard but could never catch up to the first group.  It was fun to have Tannille and Jen in the pack.  At the end, there was a sprint for the finish, and I ended up 10th, with which I was very satisfied!
 
Sunday brought the road race with sunny skies and wind.  My plan for the RR was to stay near the front, and to be conservative to keep energy for the climbs.  On the climbs, my plan was to give it my all, to stay with the front group knowing that there were downhills to recover.  The first lap went exactly as planned.  On the second lap I held on for about ½ way to the top of the long climb, and then started going backwards.  I did a couple of efforts to try to get back on, but no go!  I then had a windy TT for 17km until a group caught me.  The six of us kept a nice pace line going and scooped up two more girls before the finish.  We never did catch Tannille who was up ahead, strongly TT’ing on her own.  I tried to sprint at the line, but I had nothing :-(  I finished 18th, which was okay.

All in all it was a most excellent weekend!  The BPR team is awesome to travel, race and hang out with.  The team camaraderie is amazing.  This was one of my most satisfying race weekends!

[ScottH]

Well done crew! Really motivating to hear everyone doing so well. And sounds like a fun, well organized event which I will for sure add to the race plan next year.
Hearing Quail speak of those juniors riding so strong once again, just makes me wanna get to that level and join in on the fun.

Once again congrats, cya all on Thurs.
Peace

[Davnel]

Walla Walla Wrap-Up!

I solidly agree with the posts that describe this as a great event and point out what a tight crew BPR is. Stage racing is such an interesting challenge. Here's the summary for me:

TT - Went pretty much as planned. I got out quickly had no problem getting to BP+5 in the first 2 min. I let my HR continue to climb to a peak of BP+ 17 on the one significant climb at mile 3 and settle to BP +10 on the rolling downhill finish. This was a good effort for me and I was quite happy until I saw the results! 52nd place, nearly 3 minutes down on the winner. Ouch, but I do think some structured time in a TT position could improve this.

Crit - One of the biggest fields I've raced in and one of the biggest courses I've been on. Matt and I stayed aggressive and kept refreshing our positions to stay in the top 15. It paid off with a smooth, almost incident-free race. In the final two laps the pace seemed too slow and I was worried a lot of fresh legs were going to swarm us at the end.  The memory of this happening two weeks ago at the Spring Series spurred me to take action. As we exited the chicane-like corners on the back side of the course I attacked and tried to not look back. Did I mention that the course was really long? It felt huge! But it was pretty cool to have a gap coming through the last corner even if I couldn't hold it. In the end I was happy to have stayed focused and to have made a viable move.

Road Race - This was a big challenge. A month ago I cramped at 75km into a relatively flat road race that I had started fresh. Two weeks ago I made it to 88km before cramping in the second day of a small stage race. So I was nervous about the 104 km distance and the number of climbs. Thanks to the BPR testing, the difference between now and then has been the focus on training at, and above, balance point wattages. As a result I survived a lapse in focus that got me dropped and required about 15km in a small group to chase back on. I started the second lap more determined. All I needed to do was hang around Matt who was continuously positioned near the front and racing with a real purpose.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't handle the push that came about half way through the second lap. I am very pleased to report that the Eload eDiscs I took after that were easy to chew and swallow, even with limited water, and I didn't cramp again in the final push to the finish. 28th overall and a good improvement on my TT placing.

Generally, I think my training has shown obvious results in improving my tolerance for racing. Next road race I'll hope to remind myself that you get very few chances to race in a year so stay tough and take a few eDiscs earlier as insurance!

Thanks to a great BPR team,
David

[GinnySellars]

Thanks for the read Dave and Monica. GREAT efforts both of you. I'm constantly reminded in reading these posts of the differences between triathlon and road racing. There is no room to turn the brain off in cycling, whereas in a long tri, I think there are big chunks where 'disassociation' is not such a bad idea. You all mention a brief lapse in focus and you miss the positioning entering a corner and are gapped, or get behind a crash, or miss the break etc. It's so much more than pure fitness...you gotta be mentally tough and willing to suffer in a whole different way. You guys inspire me.