Cross Season Has Begun, Go Kimberly!

Hi all!


So where are the reports from the GranFondo?????????? Please let those of us who couldn't go know how it went!

This chickenette went down south for another day of crossin'. It was a really fun day. The course was awesome, having grass, sand, turns beyond belief, dirt, stairs, barriers, gravel runups, etc. It was the largest women's field in a so-cal CX race to date, with over 40 starters in the combined 3/4 and 35+ fields. I had a bad start, and spent most of the day chasin. I was a good little chaser, picking off rider after rider, and by the end of the 2nd lap, only 3 were in front of me. I even caught the stragglers of the M45+/55+ who started a minute or 2 in front of us. However, I never did catch the top 2, and ended up in 3rd. I felt great about my fitness and the course, although I did manage to pull a quad while running, and I was too sore to double up and do the 1/2/3 race.

It was a good day for Santa Barbara 'crossers. I carpooled down with local Echelon junior, Somersby Jenkins and her mom, Avalon. Somer won the 3/4 race (yes, I was beaten by a 16 year old girl) and Avalon was 2nd in the 35+!!!! So we floated on home afterwards.

Cross is really really fun...do try it!

And I can't wait to hear about the Gran Fondo!

kimberly

My Last Race Report of 2009 (I think!)!!! from Sept 9th

Hi all!


I know you were all wondering why I was absent from the weekend and holiday rides...but at least I was riding my bike! I went to the Bay area for the weekend to do some visiting and riding, and a little bit o racing, too. Saturday was dirt (mountain, on a retro NO suspension mountain bike...), Sunday was a little warm up ride, and today was il Giro di San Francisco, a fun little crit held near fisherman's wharf.

And contrary to most San Francisco weather, today was beautiful, with not a cloud in the sky, and warm temps! It was a great day for a bike race.

About 18 people toed the line for my race, which was a straight W3. I recognized some of the folks from various races of the past, and knew there were some strong girls in attendance. I was the only so-cal
representative. The course was a 6 corner L-shaped course. The pavement was a bit bumpy, but it was a fun course, one little power bump, 2 downhill turns, and a wide safe course.

My race started pretty mellow, but there were lots of primes so things went crazy early. Having no teammates, I was just patrolling the race, sitting around and not doing too much. I went for the Rudy Project
glasses prime....but alas some girl decided to nearly take me out, and I had to sit up. It had the effect of making me angry...and I continued to be angry every time I had to brake in those downhill turns!

People were getting too excited about sprinting, and there was some sketchy behavior. I ended up not really worrying about the primes, just about not getting taken out. Anyway, partway through a girl got a little gap
but no one seemed to be worried so I just sat. Sure enough, she couldn't hang, and got swooped up 2 laps later. With 3 to go, a few people tried some attacks, and it was easy to cover everything.

Then the NorCal series leader attacked, and she looked strong. I went, and quickly got her back. I sat on with 2 to go, and when the pace got high, I noticed people hurting. Surprisingly, my legs were just waking
up and I felt really good. I decided to go for it. I was third wheel around the 1st downhill corner, and then on the last corner, I opened it up and took the inside line hard. Second wheel attacked, but since I was inside, I had a clear line, and I just stood up and went around her and never looked back. Just like SLO, I was still accelerating over the line (only this one was slightly uphill).... I kept it on full gas, waiting to see someone challenging, but it never happened, and I won!

After the race, I was chatting with some of the racers, who I must say were all very friendly and nice. I asked one girl how she did and she said she finished third. Then she quickly added, "but I was WAY behind you....when you went it was like I was standing still". I guess I won by 3-4 bike lengths. I would have done the 1-2-3 race, but I had a 5.5 hour drive ahead of me, and I needed to get on the road.

Anyway, I am now declaring my road season OVER! I didn't race too much this year, but I am thrilled with the way things have ended up. A couple easy weeks, and then it's on to CYCLOCROSS!!!!!! Bring it on!

Happy Labor Day! I saw a couple of Echelon riders up there, as well as

Aaron Long. I left before his race so I don't know how he ended up.

Jeannette Candau of Echelon (who just started racing this year, and bought my old race bike...) won the W4 race in grand style as well, so the locals showed those NorCal folks we are strong!

Cheers,

Kimberly

San Ardo, or How Not To Race!

Hi all!

While Matt was getting himself DQ'd from the triathlon for violating an unknown rule....Sarah and I went up to San Ardo to try our hand at the road race. Let's just say the highlight was visiting friends in Pismo on Friday night :-).

The weather was cooler than usual for San Ardo, which was a welcome surprise! My first negative was not sleeping much on Friday night because I was feeling poorly. The second was getting to the race to find only 7 people in my field. Those of you who know me know that I like to race in BIG fields, not so much in small ones. I guess I just don't see the point.... But I was already there, so I toed the line with the other SIX girls. They all knew each other, they were all from the norcal district. I didn't know any of them. Three were from Los Gatos BRC, 2 from Dolce Vita, and me and one other girl. The race was long. The published length was 63 miles, but in reality, the laps were longer than published, and the total distance was closer to 69....

The first 2 laps were uneventful. I did way too much work, as I just couldn't get my mind around tactics with only 6 others, and no one wanted to do any work.... if they had their way, we would still be out there racing today! On the third lap, two of the girls did a great job of blocking while the other attacked. I had to jump hard to get around the blockers on a narrow section of the course, but caught on, just in time for another one to go. I walked right into all their traps, and they did me in. I blew up and missed the break. I had 18 miles to go to mentally beat myself up over it, and I did. I put my head down into TT mode and motored. I dragged the other los gatos girl with me most of the way around. We caught up to one other girl who was shelled from the break of 3, and then I dragged both of them around. At this point, I just wanted it to be over. I thought hard about giving up the race and jumping into one of the mens races when they passed by....

Right after we passed the town, maybe 1/4 mile from the finish, one of the girls attacked, and I just sat up and let them go. I didn't feel like sprinting for 4th place out of 7, and they knew I had done most of the work. I didn't have anything left to prove, or at least my mind decided I didn't. At least I got a good workout.

I am skipping Sisquoc in the hopes of saving what little ego I have left, and going for broke at the downtown crit in San Francisco on Labor
day! :-) I really am a crit rider.....

See you out on the road,
Kimberly

SLO Crit, A State Champ is Crowned!

Hi all!


Today was the SLO crit, which was really not slo(w) at all... I got my still-coughing-but-feeling-slightly-better self up at 5:30am to drive there this morning and race the crit. Chicken Ranch had a full women's squad out there, with 5 of us toeing the line. Susie, Jane, Sarah, myself, and our newest member, Edina (Eddy), were all up for this race.

We actually had strategy, and team tactics to play, and play we did.

Unfortunately the field was more than a bit sketchy, and there were THREE crashes during the race! Things started off well, with Jane winning the first prime. The 3 of us cat 3s decided to use the 2nd prime as a practice leadout, and Susie and Jane delivered me to the line first in perfect form :-). That in hand, I was feeling pretty good for most of the race. We tried to tire people out with some attacks, and I'm happy to report that Chicken Ranch got some serious airtime!

With 2 to go, I was too far back and getting nervous about positioning, but yet again a teammate came through in the form of Sarah Patz! Sarah had raced yesterday, too, and yet still had the energy to try and help me get up where I needed to be. I found a hole, and went up front. I saw some people coming over on the outside, and Jane was 2nd wheel.

Perfect. I latched onto that train, and around the final turn we went.

With about 1.5 blocks to go I launched, and came around them both, and never looked back. Finally a victory!!!!!!! Unfortunately, the sprinting pack got a little squirrelly, however, and behind me a couple of people got together, and Jane was caught up in a crash, which took a few riders right into the barriers (this is what I heard...I didn't even know it happened until I came back around...I guess when you're sprinting for the win you lose your hearing???). So that dampened things a bit. Susie and I went to see Jane at the ER on our way home.



She was being really brave, although she has a broken wrist and cracked scapula... ouch. Please send her your good thoughts, as she raced a really awesome race today (and yesterday, too where she claimed a 4th place).

I must say, that the womens CR team really came together today, and I am really happy to have been able to deliver us a V. :-) And since it was the So-Cal State Championship, even better!

I don't know how the other Races went today, as Susie and I left rather early to go check on Jane, but I hope all was well!

As always, I'm proud to be a part of this team.

Kimberly

 
Way to go Kimberly and to the rest of the girls!!


We were in the staging area waiting for the 3's race when the womens race was coming through on their final lap. It was an awesome site seeing all the CR girls drilling it near the front, then seeing Kimberly driving it w/ no one being able to get around her. Kimberly "State Crit Champ" Turner :-) sounds pretty good! As for for Jane, hoping for a quick recovery. Jane's crash looked really bad.


The men's 3's race was going really good.....until the final corner. The race had a full field of 75 riders and was fast w/ constant attacks. After dodging a number of mid-race crashes, all the CR'ers found themselves in the top 10 w/ only 2 corners to go. We were all sitting in good position when the rider sitting 3rd wheel overcooked one of the final corners and took out Matt, Ben, and myself. Most of the top 10 riders got taken out. Matt was shoved into the barriers, but managed to stay upright, Ben took a flyer over the hay bails and the fence, and I went down suffering minor scratches to the body and bike. On a good note, John VanMan managed to get through the mess for a top 10 finish. We're all OK, but bummed that we were all there, but couldn't finish it off.

I saw a bunch Ranchers riding around and racing, so hopefully we'll get more race reports.


Gabriel

July 4, 2009. A small field of 20 or slightly more 55, 60+ took off shortly after 800 AM under overcast skies and cool weather at Camp San Luis. It was a bit unclear to me, but I believe 3 riders broke away individually over the first couple of laps, including our own local, Karl (or Carl?) Weber. I heard later from Karl, these three eventually joined up at some point, but at the sprint finish, Karl emerged the winner. Note; Karl is 59, top of the


55 group and will be a formidable 60+ next year.

I managed to hang with the chase group of 6-7 riders through 5 laps of the 6 lap race, but unfortunately got dropped near the top of the final hill.

Riding alone, I maintained my position until the final few yards when someone passed me, possibly a 55+, but I’m not sure.

Final result, 11th over all; 4th 60+ against some of the top 60’s. If there had been a 65+, I would have won that, but believe there was only one rider older than me. See, eventually everyone dies off ;), so the longer you can last your odds of eventually winning increase.

All in all a good day, and I liked the course very much in spite of a few well marked pot holes and ruts. No one crashed in my race to my knowledge.

Note: I had an excellent pre race breakfast at Denny’s which included two poached eggs, Oatmeal, brown sugar and milk, a large bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of yogurt for $5.99 as I recall. Needless to say, I didn’t run out of gas during the race.

Steve

Which Kim Was It?

Originally sent 6-5-09

Hi all!

So in a last minute rush, I snuck out of a reception at work, and rode over to the Sandpiper Prologue bike race. No warmup (just the 10 minute ride over), and I got there only to be told that I was too late to sign up. But thanks to my ChickenRanch connections, some serious strings were pulled, and I was allowed to start, the only catch was I had to

pretend to be Kim McDaniel, who had signed up but was not there! And

it just so happened that Kim McDaniel's start time was within a minute of this discussion....so I was called up to the line immediately. As I am waiting for my countdown, Jurist remarks "watch the gravel section and the off-camber turns" and the guy next to him said "oh, you didn't preride? Ouch." Then it was time to start. Lovely. Anyway, it was fun, but I didn't know what was coming, and therefore did not ride with my usual fearless TT spirit. The dead squirrel in the trail didn't help matters any, either! Anyway, I completed the course in due time (albeit slower than many) passing 1 guy and getting passed by David Jurist about halfway through, and almost did a good job of blocking Bart at the end (because I didn't know where the course went...) but alas he got by me anyway :-).

Anyway, my ride was good enough for first place in the women's division. I won...a round of golf at Sandpiper. Too bad I don't really know how to golf!

It was a good chicken ranch turnout, and everyone had fun. The race was really efficiently run. I hope they do it again! A lot of Ranchers did really well, so they should brag! This was sponsored by ChickenRanch and Fastrack, so thanks!

Kimberly

A Mountain Biker Is Born!

Hi fellow chickens and chickenettes,

(warning, this is a long one, so if you want the bottom line, skip to the bottom)

So today I did my first mountain bike race. So many of you made it seem like so much fun, I just had to try it! As expected there were some hiccups, but all in all a spectacular time, and I can't wait for the next one!

So I borrowed a bike, graciously loaned by fellow chickenette Kim Lyons. The only problem was, the bike was in Santa Ynez, and I wouldn't be able to get it until the morning of the race. Not a problem, I thought, I could just get there early and figure it out then. I would jsut swap out the pedals, adjust the seat, and go. Which is pretty much what happened, although not without the help of Barney, because I wasn't strong enough to get Kim's pedals OFF the bike! (note to self--must build upper body strength a tad...). Then the rear tire was flat!

While holding the bike while Kim took the wheel off, I did what I guess anyone who has disk brakes knows you should NEVER do, somehow I pulled the brake lever. Oops. Then the wheel wouldnt go back on. NOthing like last minute mechanic work-- I got to learn how disk brakes worked, and got the brake working again (thanks to Mark Luke and David Larsen and Blinger). Then I got to preride a little, and get everyone's last minute advice. Some of it included...pedal up the hills, just use your granny gear, it's all in your head, get in front before the climbs, etc. Sounds easy enough, I thought!

At the start, I was with the other 15 or so beginner women. I got a good start and passed all but 1 person before the first hill. I had a good gap on the rest of the field, but that was soon thwarted when I realized I didn't know how to climb the hill! I got in my granny gear and spun happily, until the front wheel started coming off the ground...I shifted my weight forward, but with no prior practice....alas I lost so much momentum I had to get off and run. A girl passed me and

then I was mad. I got to the top of the hill and soon there was an

off-camber downhill. I love to go downhill, but alas, when you have never done something, it might not be the time to pull out all the stops! I was flying along happily, and then hit a little bump and flew in the air. Came down fine, but scared myself a bit and decided I should slow down. Unfortuantely that didn't happen in time before i hit another bump and didn't land so well that time. I flew in the air and landed on my elbow. Ouch. I layed there a minute or 2 and let a few guys pass me, and 2 girls. The guys asked me if I was ok, and I"m pretty sure I said "I'm not sure". Good answer...

Anyway, I decided I was fine, and that I needed to keep racing. I got back on my bike and off I went. I was feeling ok, but there was a lot of blood. I didn't really like that thought, so I forgot about it. I passed the guys again, to which they said "I guess you're ok" and kept going. I passed one girl and then saw the other. I kept going...by this time the course got a LOT easier (or I started figuring out how to ride this fat tire thing). I finally got to open it up and use my cardio fitness a little, and then I noticed that the race was almost over. Oops. Nothing like hitting your groove at mile 10 of an 11 mile

race! I passed the final girl on the run into the finish in a

crit-worthy sprint. Aside from a horrible bruise and an abrasion/laceration worse than I've ever had in a road race, I'm good to go.

The bottom line: I got 2nd place in my age group...and more importantly had a great time! I think I'll be partaking in more dirt rides in the future!

It was really fun seeing all the chickens there! I saw lots of chickens on the podium! It was very fun and I really appreciated all the comraderie and fun. Congrats to you all--I won't mention you by name since there were so many and I'm sure you want to brag on your own!

Thanks for making my first mountain bike race fun.

Cheers,

Kimberly

Kimberly reports from Madera!

Hi there,


Well stage one of madera is behind me. It was the crit. Not much to report other than I narrowly missed winning the prime and was top 10 at the finish. The race started 45 minutes late...so much for a well timed warmup!! Race was slow...I took a couple of flyers and tried to make it more fun. Picked a wheel at the end but there were too many teams and the girl I was on wasn't fast enough. I came around about 10 people but it wasn't enough to win. At least I showed them that even though I have no teammates, chicken ranch is hardcore :) and now I am fresh for the tt.

I saw Aaron long...his crit was later so I don't have a result. His tt is later too. I think we are the only 2 chicken ranchers here...

Tt is in a few hours.

 
Ok...so the TT is behind me...and it only took 4.5 hours for the results to come out.

The actual TT was hard, as all TT's are...however, I felt pretty fast!

In the 10.5 mile course, I manged to pass 6 people! I was feeling pretty good about it, but of course you never know until the results come out....

So...it turns out I got 3rd place in the TT (out of second by ONE SECOND), and therefore am 3rd overall in GC. 1st place claims to have a TT time over 1 minute faster...bummer! Oh well...we'll have to see how things shake out tomorrow. There are a couple people not so far back, so the Road race is going to be hard tomorrow.

So think fast thoughts tomorrow as I attempt the 68 mile road race. I don't know where I'm going to find the energy for it!

Thanks for all the good luck vibes...madera is now behind me! The road race today was long. Not particularly hard, just long. I tried to win on a solo flyer on the last climb...but alas it was not to be and I got caught. I managed to grab a wheel and finish with the leaders though...so I thought I had 3rd locked up...only to find put I got 4th cause they had forgotten to give the girl who got 4th in the tt a bonus from the crit. So I got 4th by 2 seconds. Damn... Oh well the prize was identical- a velobob t shirt and $10.

It was fun, and at least I finished strong!!

Kimberly

Sent from my iPhone

Just a few tidbits, Happy Holidays Everyone!

I guess the racing season is never over; or maybe Iron Mike just never stops!

I hope everyone had great holidays, I just got back from the hecker race. It was a perfect 75 deg and a field of 13 racers set out on a perfect course"fast and tacky" the race went well finished second, with the third place guy 20 seconds behind. This is the editorial part: if anyone has any ideas to get more racers to the charberlin ranch, fire all the thoughts and ideas to hecker, he holds the key to the best place to race and only 30 minutes away. that's the soap box for today, that's a lot of words for someone who normally doesn't talk much!! see ya

mike abbott

Congrats to one of our newest members, we are going to have to teach him to write a race report. This came in from Gabe!

Congrats to John Van Mannekes from the Ventura chapter of the CR team for taking the win in the Piru TT today in the Cat 3's, and the 4th fastest time of the day!
Proof that the new 2009 kits are FAST.
Gabriel
 
I know there are tons of folks with all kinds of backgrounds on this team, but if you want to really feel like an underachiever check out this article about Kimberly Turner, or should I say Doc. ;O0 WOW! Kimberly congrats from your biking buddies and thanks for getting us some recognition in the intellectual world.

Hey Rich, nice legs! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with white hairy legs. ;o)

Kimberly Does It Again. Cross Queen!

Hello everyone!
I know that most of you are into the 'off-season' but to have some fun and to improve my bike handling skills, I have decided to try a little cyclocross! It is really a lot of fun, and I've been to 2 races. I can write a race report now after the 2nd one...I had to do at least 2 to make sure it wasn't a fluke!

Last week I went to Spooky Cross in Irvine. It was my first ever 'cross race. It was a lot of fun, and I managed to get 3rd place, even with 2 crashes! Thankfully cyclocross crashes don't really hurt since you're just not going that fast, and the ground is a bit softer than pavement (usually).

Today, I did ConvertCross at Lake Casitas. It was so much fun! The course was really fun, a lot more technical than last week. Today I repeated with another 3rd place in the W3/4 race. I did drop my chain once and get it all tangled, but I was much smoother than last week, and I even got to use my newly found log-hopping skill! It was really a fun time, and there were lots of folks out there cheering. :-) The fields have been good sized--the largest to date in Socal women's 'cross racing!

Here are some photos that fellow ChickenRancher Randy Tinney took.

Cheers,
Kimberly (who is hoping to break the 3rd place streak so she doesn't get the "3" award at next year's banquet)

Check out Kimberly's blog for more details.......

Cyclocross = Beer?

Kimberly, fresh off her award winning appearance at the Chicken Ranch awards dinner won't let her season end. Great Job Kimberly!

Well, I attempted my first Cyclocross race yesterday, SpookyCross in Irvine! The good news is that I podiumed! 3rd place! And it was the biggest womens 3/4 field in a so-cal Cross race to date, or so they said! And in 'cross, beer is part of the prize!

:-)

Our Lady @ Sisquoc!

Hi Everyone!

Well, I survived Sisquoc. It's the only race I've done 3 times (2 years ago, it was my first race, after only owning my bike for <1 month). I don't have a lot to show for it, results-wise, but I do feel better about my fitness this year than last year. I raced the 1/2/3 race, and I did get dropped, but not until the 3rd lap this year, and I felt MUCH better about my climbing :-). I got gapped due to being behind a girl who had a rubbing brake, and I wasn't quite smart enough to notice the gap until it was too big to close. Oops. Then, although I did use all of my descending skills, hitting a top speed of 48mph, I couldn't catch back on. Anyway, I finished feeling pretty strong, at least until I tried to get off my bike and my hamstring cramped like nobody's
business. Ouch. I got 19th overall, out of a starting field of >30.
Only 24 finished, however...

Anyway, I don't have the exact results of the other Ranchers, so you'll have to wait for their reports. I do have to point out, though, that not only are chicken ranchers fast bike racers, they are great teammates. On the way to the race today, I ran over a nail and put a hole in my CAR tire...and by the time I got to the race it was well on its way to flat. Randy, Brett, and Mitch all helped me change my tire (basically not letting me do any of the work, but letting me get my hands dirty so it looked like I did), and Gabe and Blinger supervised the job :-). So I was happily on the road home without incident.
THANKS ALL!!!!

I was going to race tomorrow, but the thought of getting on the road at 5am is really unappealing, and with a work deadline looming that i forgot about, I might not see you in SLO tomorrow....and go to Worlds instead.

Have a great day, and thanks again. It's great to be a Chicken Rancher.

Kimberly Turner

PS. Also thanks to Charlie Zimmerman for his superb feed zone efforts.
He made taking a feed easier than ever.

Kern Final Day! (yes, its finally over)

Thanks Kim for the great reporting! It was a well run race with stunning scenery throughout Kern County (farms, rivers, dude ranches, one room schoolhouses and my personal favorite was the start and finish at the old cemetery).

Kim and I had a great weekend of racing (as reported) and the end of the last race is where I'll to fill you in. Our break of 7 in the 2nd lap continued for a bit until the first big hill. Kim and I had hatched our plan for the final climb to keep my ranking high and perhaps give the girl in 1st a good run, but the heat and hill climb were a bit much. Now down to five, we worked together to lengthen our lead. On the first downhill however, my bike began to vibrate with a high pitch whine so I had to pull over and check it over. All seemed secure so I rode away into a fast chase to get back on. Our follow vehicle let the girls know I had a mechanical and they spun easy to let me catch back on. We worked together again, but I would sit on the back on any descents in case of more issues. The lead girl was paying attention and really hammered it on the last long (and fastest) descent. My bike was whining so loud I made the other riders nervous so it was impossible to catch her on the downhill into the straightaway. She rode off into the sunset (I mean up the final climb) and I was happy with 3rd for the stage knowing that the girl who took 2nd really worked hard and had no time on me.

We washed down with the cattle hose, drank another 80 gallons of water and enjoyed the awards ceremony. Glad to be home...time to get some well-deserved rest.

Susie

Bakersfield "The Final Day!"

The race reports are fast and furious these days. I'm just posting them as they come in. Great Job B Teamers! So read em all and leave some comments!

Hi all!

So today's race was scheduled to be 75 miles of hilly terrain (for those of you who raced way-back-when (I didn't, but I learned this from Mark Fennel's blog)--this is the old Woody course that they used to use for
the so-cal championships). There was about 2000 feet of climbing per
25 mile lap. However, due to a concensus among the 3s, with a brutal forecast for today (over 100 yet again), the race was shortened to 2 laps. So instead we had 50 miles with 4000 feet climb.

The race started on a neutral, because one of our field was in the port-a-potty, and seeing as we were in a nice mood, we started slow till she caught up! Once the race got underway, one of the girls in non-contention went to work attacking from the get-go. It made for a fun race. The course is a really fun one--almost the right combination of rollers, the best descents you could ever want, and lots of climbing. The descents were as fun as I remembered from last year, and I again managed to top my previous in-race top speed (53mph) on the fastest of them. (the new bike is speedy...) Unfortunately the climbing was just a bit too much for my non-climber self, and I got shelled on the first big hill. I caught a lot of people, though, until I was most certain that only 5 were in front of me. Unfortunately those five were speedy climbers, and there was no way I was catching them! And the folks behind me were too tired to do any work to add much, so I had over
25 miles solo ahead of me. The good news is, that Susie was in this
break! Susie will have to add her own race report to tell about what
went on there, but from what I heard, even with a mechanical, she still finished strong, and got 3rd in the stage, preserving her 2nd in GC. I held my 6th in GC as well.

We had a ton of fun. We stayed around for the awards ceremony, which for this race is quite extensive. Not only did we both take home cash, but Susie won a CLOCK for winning the TT, and even the LAST place finishers in each category get awards (the RED LANTERNS). It is a Velo Bob race, after all, so we all got t-shirts as well.

So there you have it. Another Kern women's stage race behind us. I think the Chickens were well represented. And Susie will be a 2 before we know it! She doesn't believe me...but I say, add up the points!
(really, Congrats, Susie--you had a fabulous race)

Cheers,
Kimberly

Bakersfield Day 2

Hi all,

Here are the day 2 highlights. Susie is doing awesome!

Susie and I had a good road race this morning. We were both able to
collect some bonus points on the intermediate lap sprints, and Susie
finished 2nd. I had a great position going into the final climb, and
had a ton of momentum going into the sprint, but I got pinched off, and
don't quite have my normal sprint aggression going, so I had to sit up
and be content with 6th. Knowing we had the hillclimb in the afternoon,
no one went crazy. We protected our positions in GC and were still 1st
and 4th.

The hillclimb was just plain hard. It was the main selector of this
race. As most of you know, I'm not really a climber, especially this
year, and it showed. It was over 100 at the start of the climb, again
today (someone said yesterday's TT was 112 degrees), and so that didn't
help. Susie had a great climb, but unfortunately the girl who was 2nd
in GC after stage 2, who is 18 and wears a kit advertising Dewars (I
found that amusing), was superfast and managed to win by enough to put
Susie in 2nd in both the stage and GC. I got 7th, and am now in 6th in
GC. Did I mention I wasn't a climber this year??? Thankfully we
didn't get heatstroke (there was at least one victim of heatstroke at
the top of the climb, shivering and lying by the side of the
road--although I heard later she did recover fully), and managed to keep
pretty hydrated.

Anyway, we have tomorrow's hilly road race tomorrow...so we'll see how
that goes. I'm hoping I feel better after a night of sleep! Susie has
over 5 minutes on the girl in 3rd (did I mention how fast Susie is on
the uphill?), so we shouldn't have to do anything too heroic to protect
her GC spot, and maybe we can work on moving her back into 1st.

Ciao,
now relegated to domestique, Kimberly

Bakin In Bakersfield, or Bacon In Bakersfield Day 1

Hi all!

Just wanted to check in from the depths of h*ll (or wait, is that just
Bakersfield, CA) to report on the women Chickens representing here at
the Kern Co. Women's Stage race.
The good news is that I survived the first day of my second Kern.

I am kind of tired and still dehydrated (even after drinking 1 recovery
drink, 2 water bottles, 5 gatorades, about 5 glasses of water at dinner,
and 2 diet cokes (ok, so the diet coke didn't help, but it sure tasted
good...). It was the worst I have ever felt on a bike. The temperature
was well over 100, although I'm not sure how much! I didn't really want
to know. And it was windy, too. The wind was so hot, however, that it
felt like being in a convection oven (I can only assume that's what
being baked feels like). Although on a good note, I accomplished the
following:

1. Finished.
2. Didn't throw up (came mighty close though)
3. Didn't blow up/pass out/ride off the road
4. Achieved my max heart rate at the finish (201)
5. Ran a higher avg. heart rate than I thought previously possible
without blowing up... (189-my threshold is 167)
6. First time I felt like was racing in a sauna (devil's punchbowl last
year was close though)
7. Didn't drop my chain this year!
8. Got 4th.

And on a great note, Susie won the TT, and is sitting in 1st
place!!!! She remarked to me (before she found out she won, mind you),
"On a scale from one to ten, this race was a zero,"
to which I replied,
"Zero, you're being too nice, it's definitely a negative 10,"
to which she said "you WOULD say something like that, being the engineer,"
to which I think I actually started TALKING about negative numbers! I
really was beat.
Anyway...you get the idea.

She has a tad over a minute on me, and with us sitting in 1st and 4th,
we'll have our work cut out for us tomorrow. Tomorrow we have a 50 mile
RR in the morning (with 7 time bonus opportunities), and a 13 mile
Gibraltar-style hillclimb in the afternoon. We'll work hard to
represent Team Chicken Ranch, at least until we drop from heat exhaustion!

Good luck to all you chickens racing Mountain Bikes this weekend! I
hope the heat spares you a little...our forecast up here is not kind.

Ciao!
Kimberly

Kimberly's Sea Otter Adventure

Hi all!
Well, I survived Sea Otter for the 2nd year. Survived is about all I can call it, though!

Here's my little race report. Many folks have great results to report, but I won't steal their thunder. I'm sure reports and stories will come in soon!

Circuit Race: My circuit race was on Friday, at lunchtime. The weather was fine--a tad windy, not too cold.

Only 15 women were in my race (cat 3 is a much smaller category than cat 4 in women's racing), so I knew there would be nowhere to hide. And there wasn't anywhere to hide. I got cooked on the steep part of the main climb the 2nd time up! Being a decent descender, for a few laps I would get gapped on the steep part of the climb, and then chase back on on the descent and backside.

Unfortunately this practice was stopped on lap 4 or 5 (they all run together in my mind) when the girl on the front kicked it up a notch on the climb.

Oh well...Anyway, I finished the race in full-on chase. I wasn't too far back, though, and I nearly caught another chaser on the sprint in. However, the times are all off in the results, and the girl I finished right behind does not correspond with the published results either.

Oh well....the norm for sea otter, it seems. Regardless, I was pretty demoralized after that race, and it was more than a bit of a challenge to try and be motivated for the road race today.

Road Race: After yesterday, I decided to take the road race lap by lap, and just use it as a good training exercise. I knew the race was full of strong climbers, and that it was going to be a challenge to stay attached.

Not helping matters were the strong winds and cold temperatures! It was not a good sign when some of the barriers on the track blew OVER while we were lining up for our start! And the neutral start on the track was more like a sandstorm as the winds whipped. I was very glad I didn't have deep section wheels!

Anyway, the race was pretty uneventful, save for the wind. I got gapped on every single steep climb, but thankfully the course has a lot of rollers, so I could just power back on. This was basically how the race played out for me.

I got to know the moto-ref and the follow car guy pretty well, since I was continually passing and getting passed by them! We had a little conversation going a couple of times...the first time I got dropped he was giving me the encouraging "keep working hard" stuff, which I know only means 'I feel sorry for you'...but later on, he was like "wow, you have quite the motor" because I just kept powering back on.

If only I could climb better...this racing thing would be less work! All the more reason to kick up the training a notch.

Anyway, I managed to stick on all the way through the final lap, but alas all that chasing had taken its toll, and when the grade turned up on the finishing climb, my little motor decided it had had enough. It was a slog up the hill, as those tiny climbing girls rode away. There was nothing I could do. Nothing was left.

I passed 3 struggling masters riders as I slogged up the hill to the finish. Susie was already there, as she is one of those tiny climbers I spoke of....she got 6th!

On the spin back to the car, my hamstring completely cramped up, thankfully it let up with some stretching.

I don't know my final placement, not that it matters much, as I got on the road home quickly. I was happy with my efforts today, though, as I worked through the hard stuff, and had fun on the technical stuff, and am not feeling as bad about my fitness as I was yesterday.


In typical Team Chicken Ranch fashion, everybody was super supportive of each other, and I think fun was had by all. At least it seemed like it to me! And congrats to everyone who did well--please post race reports!!

Cheers,
Kimberly Turner

Kimberly and Susie, Representing!

Hello all!
I'm just back now from my LONG day in Ojai, feeling the effects of beingout in the sun all day, not to mention the racing part!

Chicken ranch was well represented in many of the races...and I'm sure lots of racereports will be flying around soon enough.

My first race today was at 7:01 am. Too early for working that hard, at least when you're still sore from yesterday's crash! Let's just say my back was screaming at me for about half the race. I rode in the main group, but didn't work the hill properly on the last lap, and only got 10th.

I was a little annoyed with myself, but hey, it's experience. Although teammate Susie Willett was awesome, and managed a 4th placefinish.

I only wish I could spin up the hill time and time again the way she can! She's going to rip it up at sea otter...

However, being the persistent type, I ate, hung out and cheered for the4/5s, 35+,3's and 2's, and then took the line again for the pro1/2/3race.

Now that one was a bit speedier! It was also really hot. My goal for the race was to ride hard and lay it all out, and see how long I could last (the teams of TIBCO, Colavita, Value Act, Touchstoneclimbing were all there, not to mention the so-cal strengths of Helens,and southBay wheelmen).

I lasted a whole 6.5 laps before getting gapped on the hill. I kept on chasing, as I had told myself I had to get a reasonable workout in, and would ride until I got lapped. I made it past the halfway point, so I was ok with that.

The few other women from the morning race crazy enough to toe up for #2 were already all dropped out by the time I left the course.

But the most important thing was that the second race of the day was actually FUN! With nothing on the line, and only myself to satisfy, it was really fun to ride with the big girls.

Oh well...maybe next year will be another story.

Kimberly

Great Job Kimberly and Crew!

Greetings!

In the spirit of Chicken Ranch race reports...I offer this peek at the action from our day at the races. A few of us girls ventured south forthe L.A. circuit race.

There were actually 7 SB area women in the women's3/4 race today--a great showing by the locals!I was feeling quite organized--I even left the house on time (ok, 1minute later than planned) this morning.



However, due to a little time loss picking up Marian (new cat 3 in the area) I was late getting to Olivia's. I knew I was in trouble when Olivia called me on our way there, and there was no salutation to be had, only a terse "where are you." Oops...we weren't THAT late! Anyway, we did finally leave the SB area, after our much needed Starbucks stop.

In Starbucks, I asked Olivia if she was nervous, and got "no....(small pause here), well, only about not getting there in time!" Oops again.

On a good note, we managed to fit 3 people, 3 bikes, 3 trainers, 3 duffel bags o' random stuff all in one small VW Golf! We were probably the only ones who actually followed the directions on the race flyer which said "please prevent global warming and consider carpooling to the race in cars of 3 or more!"Anyway, we did get there, and got out of the car only to be nearly blown over by the wind! Hmmm. It was going to be a chilly day at the races.

Turned out that the riding direction was exactly perpendicular to the wind...pure crosswind the WHOLE course. As I was getting readyW3/4 ,Olivia was following me around like the paparazzi--I felt so famous. Ok..so I could have done without the photo journalism when it comes to changing clothes and applying chamois butter!

On to the race....the race was about as interesting as one could expect from a flat road with a U-turn at each end! There were about 30 womenin the 3/4 race. Susan Farber was also racing for Chicken Ranch, and I had "stealth teammates" Olivia and Marian. As Olivia said...(based on her inability to fit into the new kits), "she is just too big for the chicken ranch britches," but can still be a "stealth chicken rancher." (note--Olivia is a lot smaller than I am...so I'm not sure that this is quite accurate)

And stealth teammate she was! She attacked on lap 2because "the race was too slow" and I got to see who was strong when they chased her down. I was happy to block for her, even if she was wearing the frog colors of Echelon :).

The race really came down to the final sprint. Marian attacked on the final corner, which was too early, but managed to string it out a tad. I had a pretty good wheel going into the sprint, managed to time it better than I have all season,but I still have some work to do.

The wheel I picked didn't quite get me where I needed to be so I had to do some dancing and managed to get 3rd, still accelerating at the line. The rest of the Ranchers...Susan Farber 8th (stealth racer) Olivia Walling 14th (stealth racer) Marian Hunting 18th.

We stuck around just long enough to hear the race results and pick up the cycle computer that I managed to win, and then it was back home,with a nice stop in Malibu for lunch. Good times...next up, San Dimas! Have fun, and enjoy the photos...

How'd everyone else do this weekend?

Kimberly

Kimberly's Valley Of The Sun Race Report

Kimberly, congratulations on finishing all your races and having the Chicken Ranch go for it attitude. Rest up, the season is early.


Hi Everyone!

Well I survived the valley of the sun weekend :-). I am sure people
will report on all sorts of fun (and fun-ny) stuff that went on...but
since they haven't yet, I'll start things off with a report of my race.
I don't have any photos for the team blog, but considering how many
times I saw the camera out this weekend, I'm sure there are MANY that
will surface.

I don't have any stellar results to report....other than that I had a
blast, and did manage to finish the thing, and not DFL either! Here is
my brief report.

Day 1: Lots of riding in the car...hours and hours of it! Much of this
time was watching the weather on my iphone and watching the chance of
rain go up and up. I thought we were going to Valley of the SUN!????

Day 2: TT. Woke up early. My start time was not until 1:54! However,
Brett's was early, so we were off bright and early. We raided the
hotel's free breakfast on our way out. They caught on to us by day 2
and put out less of the "portable food." The rain started
mid-morning...and depending on when your start time was, it was either
cold, windy, rainy, all, or none (I had wind and a teeny bit of rain
during my 38 minutes of pain)! The people in the morning claimed that
the way out was harder, and there would be a tailwind on the way
back....but alas when I reached the turnaround it was not to be, and I
found myself facing a headwind the entire way back. Oh well. I
actually felt pretty good, and rode a good TT (for me), although
afterwards I found myself in 15th place. Oh well...this is early season
for me, and there were some FAST women here! The most stressful part
of it was 5 minutes before my start time when I discovered my rear brake
was sticking really badly. Everyone was trying to fix it, and it turned
out to not be fixable in 2 minutes or less...so off I went, with the
words of wisdom from the guys "don't use the rear brake...you don't need
your brakes in a TT anyway"... Thankfully even in my delirious state, I
remembered not to touch it, and so I don't think it cost me
anything.... I won't spoil the other results...

Day 3: RR. I was worried about the road race. Coming off the flu, and
this being really early-season for me, I knew my climbing was not going
to be where it needed to be. And alas, it wasn't! It was a 58 mile
race, with what turned out to be about 3000 feet of climb. (at least
thats what my computer said afterwards) They combined fields with the
women's P/1/2 so we had a field size of ~75! It was by far the largest
and fastest field I have raced in. The road was narrow, and the CL rule
was in effect, so it was really hard to move around. I was fine on lap
1, and on the first half of lap 2, but since it was a QOM lap, the pact
was blistering, and I got gapped. My flat riding skills and descending,
however, are not so bad, so I started chasing on the backside
immediately. I quickly caught up to a woman from the P1/2 race who had
flatted, and we chased the pack back down. She was very strong, and we
shared the work. I sat in the pack and recovered until the hill came
around again. Alas, I got gapped on this hill, too. This time, there
were 3 of us reasonably strong who started a chase. However, one of the
girls was not quite strong enough, and she let a little gap form. The
other girl was REALLY strong, and she kept saying we were going to have
to pick it up to catch on. I was willing, but I got caught when the
other girl started to drop off and I was behind her. I tried in vain to
catch the other girl, but I didn't quite make it. I let the other girl
catch on, and we started hammering. Soon we caught 2 other girls who
were OTB as well. The 4 of us kept pushing, but never quite made it.
The peoloton was hovering like a mirage...close enough to make me want
to give it everything, but too far. There were 2 girls fading
fast....complaining about bonking, so 2 of us did most of the chasing.
However, we didn't ever quite make it, and finished off the back.
Bummer. When I looked at my data, I saw that I worked harder in the
last 16 miles of the RR, than I did in the 14 mile TT the day before!
Oh well. I was pretty disappointed, but at the same time, I was happy
with my perseverance, and I can't really kid myself about being ready
for climbing races, even the smaller hills...I guess I've gotta get out
there and do my climbing intervals...
I think I was in 20th place after the RR...

Day 4: Crit. The crit was an 8 corner number...kind of a figure 8
shape. I usually love crits, but I have only done one other 1-2-3 crit,
and that only had 12 people...so I must say that a crit with over 75
people did really intimidate me! I was feeling severely outclassed from
getting dropped in the RR, and so I just didn't have my usual fire. By
the time it started, I had seen a few crashes in other fields, and was
kind of letting it all get the better of me. Then in lap 2, someone
bounced right into me, and although I was able to easily save it, it
freaked me out and I hovered in the back for awhile. A long while.
About 1/3 of the way in, I realized I was plenty strong, and my legs
were feeling good. I didn't have any problems following the surges and
I can corner fine, so that was ok. I was just a little scared of the
pack size, and some of the sketchy riders. It was a really fun course,
though, and I think if i had to do it again, I'd have a lot more fun
with it. I had bad positioning coming into the final lap, and so
although I passed a bunch of people, I still managed only to get 14th in
the 3s. Oh well. I feel good about the race, though, and about my
power on the flats. It will all come together eventually! It is really
easy to get ahead of myself, and expect too much, but the bottom line is
that I have only ever raced a handful of crits, and experience seems to
count for a lot!

My final result was 18th I believe...not that it matters much!

I have to say that the whole experience was a lot of fun, and I'm
already looking forward to the next one! I cannot express how great it
was to have so much team support and comaraderie. Having the trailer to
sleep/eat/hang out in during the day was invaluable, and everyone was so
helpful and supportive. It was really great. I think everyone had a
good time. And all the joking around even made the drive seem less
long and unbearable :-). Thanks to Craig and Matt for doing all the
driving!

I'm sure the jokes will get around in time...or maybe they won't!
You'll have to just go on one of these team trips to see for
yourselves! I highly recommend it.

Cheers,
Kimberly (recovering today).