it’s a sickness … untreatable.

and gots a few pics of day1

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Madera Women’s Elite

It bugs me that i only get to see little snippets of the racing at events like Madera. It’s a pretty hectic race weekend with a 3 stages tucked into 48 hrs (or 4 in 72 if you’re racing the Men’s proseys) ~ so you’re on the go most of the time. Still, i was a bad BellaBoy and snuck off from my role as nubian-trainer-slave to hunker under a tree and scope out how the Women’s p1/2 opening criterium shook down.

I couldn’t believe how many starters there were for the crit this year! What a great field of locals showing up and putting on exploits. I know Madera is a bit of a change from the big-name, large and in-charge cha-chingblingbling races of the Central Valley spring NRC/HWY 99 Series(es) … but it’s still a hoot and a holler if you don’t mind scaling back to grassroots racing.

The Elite women went right to it with Cheerwine bubbling out there normal effervescence of attacks. This is a team that loves to animate races on the local or national scene. It is a cracking squad that have made a name for themselves not only as a sprinter’s team (VanGilder), but also one chock full of strong-willed attacking machines .

In contrast to Cheerwine’s frenetic jumps off the front at Madera was Webcor’s stalwart, Bev Harper, throwing herself on the sword a dozen times over to chase down dangerous moves for her teammate, Christine ‘goddess of the clock’ Thorburn. But the Madera crit this year saw a bit too much aggression and eventually a break with all the major teams represented but PROMAN stormed off the front.

The move went with more than a few laps remaining ~ so, whether the break would stick or not was in question for the entirety of their effort. It made for some great spectating and tense riding as PROMAN/Webcor drove the pack to chase down the break in the final few moments. Hammering the break like their life depended on it was Touchstones new hardcharger Olivia Dillon, EastonSugarCRM’s rising star Brianne Burgess, Cheerwine’s assassin of the attack Sarah Bamberger, and weewittleJenJoynt of MetroMint.

The break rotated well with Dillon, Burgess, and Bamberger doing what looked to be the majority of the work. You can’t really blame the MetroMint rider for sitting on … as she’s all of 12 pounds left wet … but, Bamberger can’t be called much bigger and that woman is a pounding beast on the hills AND the flats.

Dillon and Burgess were completely committed to the break and heaped on power with utter abandon. Bamberger was, without doubt, the favorite for the stage win ~ but all four riders were in the mix and looking to eek out any seconds possible to cushion themselves from time gains the TT artists would put into them during the afternoon’s 2nd stage.

The final minutes would continue to see Webcor chase with help from PROMAN’s Cooper and Ligler … but they could only get within a handful of seconds as the bell lap rang. And of course, almost on cue ~ Virginia Perkins shot out of the pack like a cannon. That final lap bell signaled a massive acceleration by the PROMAN rider to try and bring down the gap to the break. The field would string out significantly from the speed, but the 4 riders would keep a small gap and fight it out for the stage win. Bamberger met expectations and launched a pro-level sprint to win by bike lengths. Burgess was 2nd, and Joynt would end up throwing her bike past Dillon for 3rd.

Bamberger’s teammate, Kelly Benjamin, would take the field sprint for 5th … just ahead of a valiant Perkins and the ever-ready Amanda Eaken of MetroMint.

Good race.

Thorburn would then sta-omp the TT … showing us all how the scientists push themselves into the deep. She and Harper would then defend well in the RR and take home the GC. I believe Benjamin won the road race, making it two stage wins for Cheerwine and the TT and GC to Webcor.

damn good race.

- - -

Madera Women’s 35+

Best tactical racing of the weekend - period. The Velo Bellas tried to take wood to Dawn Neisser and her ProTech Racing gals … but those ladies in black defended well and Neisser earned herself a well-deserved GC victory.

The criterium at Madera is always a gamble. It’s a double-stage day, so if you’re in one of the waves that flies the crit first … you can absolutely burn yourself to a cinder and have little-to-no antifreeze left in the system for that sufferfest of a TT later in the 90 degree afternoon.

The crit course is a very, very long and flat affair. It’s relatively non-technical, but does have a train-tracks crossing that caused more than a few flats during the day. There are enough safe lines over those buried rails, but if you take one of the baddies … it’s a quick trip to the pit for you! And, having a few chunks of discarded glass on the circuit doesn’t help, eh?

Anyway, the Women’s 35+ category is moving in the direction that the Men’s 35+ have been traveling ~ namely, that of building high-quality fields of safe, strong, experienced riders that have moved through the NorCal ranks and know what it means to have fun and race fierce. A lot of folks were commenting this weekend about how much enjoyment the master’s events have been generating recently … wide-open, friendly, and competitive racing. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Velo Bella took it to the TT riders in the crit, moving themselves off the front in attacking groups. ProTech was quiet for most of the stage, sitting at the back and saving matches … but there was an extremely dangerous move late in the race with solo rider LauriFenech and VeloBellas Andi Smith, Erika Donald, and Sue Lovecchio. Throughout the stage, EastonSugarCRM’s Holly Roberts did a TON of chasing, but late in the crit saw ProTech rally and bring the break back. It was a well pedaled field sprint to finish out the day ~ I’ve got video of it that i’ll upload soon.

Neisser destroyed on the afternoon TT, putting in a barn burner of a ride that rocketed her into the GC lead by almost 2 minutes. The Velo Bella women put her and her team to the test, though … from first lap on. Unfortunately, a freak pothole crash took down Erika Donald and Pam Davis of Webcor early on. That was a real shame, but if you got a look at that wicked pothole that took them down? you’d understand.

Immediately stopping to make sure Pam was ok was Doc Soni and Linda Locke of Velo Bella. See what i’m talking about? good people in these masters races. Everyone was ok, but that was 4 riders and 3 VB’s out of the race. Up front, it turned to Sabine Dukes and Laura Sanchez to launch big attacks in the “cobbles” to force a chase by ProTech.

Immediately upon hitting the rollers, Velo Bellas tactics continued with a vicious counter attack by Andi Smith, and after the first roller, Sue Lovecchio jumped across with forever young LauriFenech with her. These three would press the pace hard for the next 2 laps, but Neisser and her ProTech team rallied huge and kept the time gap under 2 minutes to secure a very well earned GC win. Fenech would outsprint the Velo Bellas for the stage win ~ a nice compensation for a rider who ALWAYS wants to ride hard and smile while doing it.

bravo, ladies.

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Madera Geezers

Well, the 45s and 35s are really almost one category nowadays. And since half the 55+ guys crushed my sack in the TT, too … sheeet, we might as well just have one big race for us all.

… but then again, i’d lose more often ~ so, nix that idea.

The 45s was a story of TT maniacs. John Novitsky took the GC win by hammering out an impressive low 22min effort against the clock and then withstanding the onslaught of attacks in the road race. Bubba Melcher was 2nd by a second, they say … and that’s a pretty amazing result by Novitsky because we all know the kind of form Melcher is in right now. Hat’s off.

And hat’s off to my VOS’mates who went full guns blazing to try and snap off the winning break in Sunday’s sufferfest. Great racing.

The 55s was all about Larry Wolff of Webcor staying out in front of the hammer Hennessey. The criterium was a bit of a fiasco for the 55s, as they just lucked out with the 45s catching them in the final lap. There was some field swapping and that is always a bad decision by everyone involved. Hopefully we’ll work better at being disciplined with ourselves and not falling into that trap. ah well.

The road race was a surprise combine of the 45s and 55s … which negated a lot of the potential tactics to be played out by the 55 field. It’s a shame and something similar happened in the Women’s p1/2 and 3 fields. ah well … you’ve got to roll with the punches and take what the race gives.

In the 35s ~ well, it was a day to tilt at windmills. TeamSpecializedRacing took 11 guys to the start line … and we pretty much made every one of them earn their team’s inevitable GC win. Last year it was a hardman break that saw Mic Hellman win the GC over me by a few seconds. I’m kind of bummed i didn’t put more attacks in last year to try and win it outright … but, Mick’s pretty much the coolest guy around so you aren’t really able to muster up all that much mean-mojo propulsion against him. which sucks.

But THIS YEAR, since they brought out the full fleet … there was all kinds of inspiration to try and crack those buggers. JeffPoulsen, ShannonthePike, and i tried a few cards in the crit on Saturday … but most of our efforts were solely to try and sap out some of the power their team would uncork in the TT a couple hours later.

it didn’t work.

Specialized is the best masters team in the nation right now. Hands down. And they have half a dozen national caliber TT riders.

so we hate them.

Luckily, they look pretty silly in their big red “S” kits … so, that at least makes me want to voodoo-doll them a bit less. Anyway, the TT went as expected with the red armada taking the top 400 places. It meant the same as always, the real showdown would take place on the road race course. And what a beautiful bit of hellfire everybody unleashed out there.

The attacks started immediately. Well, actually ~ we delayed our real start by 5 minutes as we all waited for Clover’s Chad Timmerman to change a flat he got in the first few seconds of our neutral promenade (i love that word … promenade… sounds like a gay fruit). Our group stopped to have a tinkle and luckily, Chad made it back to the pack just as we saw the field starting behind us start to ramble up from behind. No worries, we hit the gas full-throttle and didn’t stop until the finish line hit.

yippee for bike racing!

We VOS’ers lost our Pike-man to illness, so it was just Jeffe and I to match wits with the other kids. Our goal was simple ~ since i had trashed the TT something ugly, our only real hope was to whittle down the Specialized fleet with so many attacks that they’d maybe let a couple of their GC guys go with a move that Jeff could sneak in. The best we could do was get Jeffe up spots in GC and maybe hunt a stage win ta’boot.

Last lap, and sure enough ~ Jeffe is driving a small group up the road. Specialized has Roemer and Innes in it … so i figure there’s a chance their Team will let it go. But alas, both the REDS and San Jose chased the move down. Damn fine effort put in by the armada as Hellman had flatted in the cobbles and 4 teammies were sent back to make sure he hauled it back to the group. Ah well …. all was caught and we prepped for the field sprint finish. Jeffe still almost pulled of a coup with a 2nd in the sprint to that bigmuscle Nolan.

Just fine, in my book. Just fine.

- - -

Madera Proseys

yup … it was a pretty good weekend all around. James Mattis unleashed his TT demons, apparently … putting himself into the GC slot with some firm authority. Their afternoon crit was a solid affair, with notable performances from KatCarroll as she put the stomp down in a closing moments acceleration. Winning the crit might have been that young debutante, Andy Goessling. He is yet another product of our NorCal HighSchool Mtb League … class of 2007.

hell yeah, and right on.

The road race might have been won by BMC’s Glavin … but, i can’t be bothered to find out for sure. Word is that Joel Robertson put in some hurt and was joined up late by his teammie Vince Owens. Vinny is a very, very talented young man who might be able to punch his way into the American Pro circuit here in the next couple of years. He’s almost ready.

Mattis and Moore were the only Giant Strawberries in the field, i think … so, it was left to the chicks to defend James’ GC win. So, KatMattis and KatCarroll went nutz on the tempo front and kept the M&M boys rested enough to hold off all the pretenders. Good for them … every one of them.

- - - - -

ah well … sorry had to rush this out, but gots to get back on the clock.

lates and see you at the next one,
~m

The men’s race is going to be so fast this year at Redlands.

so, so, so fast.

i mean, look at the talent in the top-20 of this field. Then look at how strong the next 3 pages of results are.

fast.

- - -

and the ladies,

i’ve already called Abbott for gold in Beijing, but now i’m going to just remind folks somebody has been banging the bells about the talent of Kat Carroll for awhile now.

i’m just saying.

and there are 99 riders in that field.

how f’ing cool is that?

- - -

and i can’t help but post this picture.

there’s just a lot going on here.

ok, i’ll admit it ~ the Hanford 35+1/2/3 crit was the most fun i’ve had in a bike race all year long (pix grapt from Gary at CVC ~ pre-emptive gracias, hombre).

The field was solid sized, but not ungainly. The quality of competition was superb, with nobody walking away in absolute other-wordlyness. The weather was like buttah and all the boys just seemed ready to suck it in. The vibe was … great.

And that’s maybe the draw to these “small-town” bike races … meaning, that this was a race that didn’t just “take over” a downtown for a day … instead, the Hanford crit (and it’s like in Visalia, Tower District, and to some extent Merced) turn out their town and invite you to take part in their enjoyment of an early spring day in farm country.

cool folks, warm trees, long mornings …

i guess that’s why the romantics dreamt of shepherds and herd’lers.

Anyway,

Fast starts and full-throttle action is what masters racing in NorCal is all about right now … and that’s just what we did at Hanford. Sierra Pacific started shooting their guns off early and in earnest, but the field was too big and too hungry for them to set the tone alone. CVC, ActionSports, SierraBikeWorks, those SLO-Nexus hammerheads and a slew of others kept the speed and motivations high.

A number of moves went and were swallowed up. Gentlemanly aggression was in full effect … and that is, by far, the hottest kind around. bottle that shit up and sell it.

Everyone appeared in agreement that a break was going to go off, and EVERYone seemed willing to toss grenades out in hopes of riding the destruction into the winning move. Hanford is a glorious course for stuff like that.

Last year me and bigBobNewman went ape-shitz for breakaways in the p1/2 before that bully Hanson dialed us back into reality. Bob and I were loving every pedalstroke out there last year and did our best to repeat this time with the proseys, but the race gives and the race takes away.

But this year’s masters crit was a straight-laced street fight with attack after attack rumbling off the front. Sierra Pacific was strong and definitely protecting well, but that moment in the crit when fatigue from the furious start did the inevitable settling into legs and some open mouths and wide-eyes were glancing about in hopes of a little respit when …

Brian Bosch thunderclapped out of the pack like a Norse warlord. It was like there were a couple of wolfhounds in front of him, snarling open a path for him to accelerate through. Brian had lined up at the back of the race and had let his men soften up the field dutifully, readying it all for his spear to be thrown down.

Thankfully, LUCKILY ~ i was glancing right and saw a milli-second soon enough to recognize the severity of Bosch’s move … ‘cuz when you see that kind of energy radiating off of a guy, that kind of grim determination and utter embrace of the pain to come … you move, NOW.

and i did. I put 100% into the pedals to whip myself up to speed and find his wheel. barely. and Bosch kept accelerating, and kept accelerating. the speed this brute kept pouring on was … inhumane. I had to throw forward strings of my very soul, and latch them in desperation to keep from falling out of his wake.

Bosch put in over a mile of speed that about crushed my will to live.

And then Dirk Copeland bridged across.

oy … who’s getting 3rd out of this group?

- - - -

Luckily there was a prime right after Bosch put in his herculean effort and Copeland matched him feat for feat. I told them i wanted no part of the split and they could go buy ice cream with it afterwards. I had to sit on those monsters for almost 2 laps before i recovered enough to start pulling.

(that made me train harder this week, oh yes indeedy)

And so we rotated. but, like i said … the pack was too hungry and too strong and a half-dozen more laps go by, and they’re licking at our heels again. I see that the group is sprinting for a pack prime and that their acceleration will put them within striking distance of our threesome. I toss some gasoline on the fire and stretch some speed for a quarter lap in hopes only a couple strong men will make it across and re-ignite our breakaway.

True enough, first starting the bridge is Bosch’s teammate TimmyGranshaw. It’s an acceptable loss to have him latch on, a guy who will work hard and not a pure sprinter. But then next potential bridger comes from Steve Gregorious … the big MorganSpinely sprinter who is extremely difficult to beat in any circumstances … and, i realize that is just too dangerous a man and so put down a hard effort to keep him at bay.

It works, but shooting out of the tip of the pack is the Laberge and he makes it across before any of us can do a damn thing about it and that seals the deal … break forged, hammer down.

We rotate well, each rider playing their cards. I luck into grabbing laberge’s wheel and do my best to make him re-accelerate after his pulls. It’s what we do … us, bombers … try and knock the wind out of the true flyers as much as possible, over and over again.

Of course Dean is generous enough to take it for awhile, but with 3 laps to go he snuffs me off his wheel and takes mine easily. I’m pretty content with it and we roll along chuck-wagon style to the finishing laps.

Now, I know out of this breakaway i’m a sure bet for … least likely to sprint his way out of a paperbag … but, sometimes you’ve just got to damnwell practice this sort of stuff to get better at it … so, i got out my notepad and perked up as best i could to see what could be seen.

No games were really played until after bell lap was crossed. Granshaw kept pace, but there was definitely a few eyes looking to see when the attacks would come. Bosch took the front early on the backside of the course, with Copeland slotting behind him, me, Laberge, then Granshaw. Bosch kept the speed strong all through the approach to the chicane and so the question had to come, “would he lead it out all the way?”

I could see Copeland doing calculations and i knew Laberge was happy at the prospects … but i remembered Fremont last year where Bosch lead it out, INTO A HEADWIND, for 600m and still wouldn’t allow anyone to overtake him, not even Scott McKinley (and we know how fast that freak is). I remembered Fremont and I said to myself, “hell yes, Brian … go for it.”

and he did.

the speed that Bosch brought us up to was fantastic. it was break-neck. Now, some of you may know what kind of a speed junky i am … and so, just trust me when i say … it was the kind of fun you don’t even get in cyclocross, at its most butt-puckering.

But, Bosch is injured from the Copperopolis fall and after the final turn, a turn taken at speeds right on the edge of slide-out … he succumbed to the pain and Copeland jumped beautifully away from us all. Copeland was just riding glass all day long and is a pleasure to watch on a bike. Learn from him, young afficianados.

As for me, I was just a deadfish for Laberge to come around with his sprint. I did my best to uncork some speed, but need to train more ‘cuz there wasn’t much parity there. All i could do was give a “that’s the man” nod to Bosch at the line and accept the lumps from the others.

good motivation to get out on that bike. just what an early spring race should be doing, i reckon.

~m

It’s a chockfull of racing in the NorCal this weekend ~

Up in the Bay, there’s the Brisbane weekend.  It’s a weekend for those who like to go around in circles, that’s for sure.  Fast courses, fast fields … always aggressive, but tactical races.

Down in the central valley will be the exclamation points to the spring series of races down there.  The city of Hanford (and Sentinel paper) tosses down a bunch of cash at bike riders for their seasonal downtown criterium.  It’s a great way end a string of races in a part of the state that puts a ton of energy into promoting top-notch bike events.

Saturday we all use the Orosi Road Race as prep for the crits … and just to take a gorgeous trip around the Sierra foothills.  For any who haven’t done Orosi, you’re missing one of the most beautific courses on the NorCal circuit.  It climbs and rolls and drops down so fast you’ll wish you were buckled in.  Orosi has one of the fastest, safest, most butt-puckering descents in the US.  holeee  sheet, you can rail that drop like an H-bomb.

The NorCalCyclingNews gossip-wagon will be in effect at Orosi and Hanford and be sure to throw a couple heckles out if you’re in the neighborhood.  I’ll be doing a shake down off the Women’s event at Hanford … since there’s a nice fat $2K prize list (+ primes) for them … and then i’ll try and get better than ass-last in the break like i did last year in the prosey event.

ah well…

see you out there and say ‘hey’ if you do,
~m

very fast, very long, very much cash on line for the racers this weekend in Visalia.

i’ll get on the hyperbole train soon enough.

but, you know how time has it’s own agenda…
- - - -

all cool.

InaT overtook BrookeMiller in the long, headwind drag to the finish. The TIBCO leadout was pretty intense with 3 of their women in HelenKelly, AmbertheRais, and LaFranges going ballistic just past the start finish on the final lap. Miller had her arms out protecting her spot, with what looked like Samplonius of Cheerwine looking to bump into the train. Somehow, Tutenberg blasted up onto Miller’s wheel and was given the full-on sleigh ride up to the finish.

Experience is one thing, but … there are few riders who come around Miller in that sprint.

Clash of the Titans.
-

One of the photographers grabbed this shot of the final lap slide out when VanGilder lost a bit of traction. Sometimes, crashes just happen. VanGilder and Hatch (Vanderkitten) both lost their front wheels in separate spills and had a lot of riders pile down on and around them. Neither was in error … it’s just what happens in bike racing.

We risk, folks. That’s why it’s so sweet, and so bitter at the same time.
-

but, when you see this kind of stuff at bike races in America … it’s all sweet.

Community.
-

Community. you dig?
-

Exeter Time Trial

(NRC for the femmes, BigBragFest for the fellas)

Even though i’ve only been on my bike a grand total of 75 minutes this week, since some consider me a “personality of the sport” (read as, “jeezus, there is he again…), i was given a late start time at the TT today. Yup, started around the 15 spot … which meant 14 riders all were able to swing a little jollies in my face as they passed my suffering, slobering, knights-in-white-satin ass (and yes, the VOS skinsuit is on the way … but, sometimes you’ve got to rock the dead with a bit of ghost riding, you dig?). Now, i don’t want to say i cracked out there today … but, they should prolly rename one of the San Andreas fault-lines after me.

yeah, it was ugly out there on my end … but i tell you what ~ if there’s ever been a more beautiful time trial course ridden in the history of the cyclo-verse .. i’ve never heard of it.

When BennyJackMaynes thundered past me … it was like watching a roman sculpture given life. Those perfectly symmetrical calves, each delicately split down the middle by a jauntily etched vein, naturally complimented the idyllic scene of soft blossoming hills and delightfully disappearing central valley roads.

It was such a pleasure to be in the same race … well, er … on the same course as such a world class time trialist. Watching Ben roll over that terrain like the jolly green giant on an afternoon stroll … well, if you ever needed inspiration to get out there on the bike and just make the training happen … there it is.

Ben Jaques-Maynes is the man.

But I tell you what ~ there are some up and comers in this sport. The Giant Strawberry crew got a big boost from their young stallions … Ozzie Olmos, Max the Jenkins, TDibble. You can’t expect them to push themselves to the level of those top-10 guys … but, you know it’s on the horizon for those guys. And speaking of a top-10 guy … Zwizza stormed to a 7th place and signals to me that the Bissell squad could very well put on a show at this year’s TourDayGeorgia TEAMTIMETRIAL. That is gonna be so damn hot to watch.

And, i think a nice mirror to those young manlies were the rockstar performances of Hutch (x2) and Thurlowtheglow. They are badass. ’nuff said.
- - -

But, we’re really here for the women .. NRC, baby.

To run out of superlatives … is only to be expected when attempting to describe the show put in today by the REAL Armstrong.

Kirsten, plain and simple, is one of those once in an epoc spikes of genetic mutation … an other-worldy combination of preternatural beastly spirit and contained cogitative discipline of the mind. She’s an invading visigoth with a Phd.

just awesome to watch.

But there are other stories to tell…

Alexis the HighRhodes took 2nd in the competition between the rest of the mortals (and, we rightfully call it a “win” for that young rider … ‘cuz Armstrong is THE class in the world when it comes to racing against the clock. i mean, let’s face it ~ if there are a ton more women who can actually compete on an even plain with Kirsten … we should round them all up and breed them like super-soldiers. i mean, we could probably take over a few galaxies with them femmes at the forefront…).

Stomping herself onto the final coveted podium spot, with all the spit and vinegar we’ve come to expect, was none other than that micro-scientest of the sport … Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s ProCycling). What I’ve been impressed with in Felicia over these past two seasons is her ability to balance a healthy, steaming plate of ambition, with a nodding, grudging acceptance that at her level (the top of the American circuit), all improvements are incremental and coated with patient, never-ending discipline. She keeps moving forward, and that is greatness in the making.

For the NorCal ~

Van Houweling (MetroMint) showed she is, once again, one of the best time trialists in our talent heavy region. She has a solid position on the bike and can pace herself in a controlled, yet impassioned manner. She gives it all out there and always has a smile to share about it. She makes me want to have fun on the bike.

The face that rises next in impression has to be the EmZell of PROMAN. Her 11th against that field shows how much her inner fire has been stoked and kindled by the PROMAN outfit. They’re sending riders over to Europe, free and clear and wanting them to push their own boundaries of what can be done. Hell yeah, people.

To say that Martina Patella’s (ValueActCapital) ride today was a breakthrough is almost as big of an understatment as saying KatCarroll’s (Aaron’s ProCycling) was in her amazing fistfull of 5th. Patella and Carroll are actually 2 riders in which i see a lot of similarities. Both are fast finishing hardwomen. They each have a flashing intelligence behind the eyes, even if Carroll is a bit more introverted than the media-savvy YellowBug.

In this and next season, I can see Patella growing into the rider that Carroll is becoming. The powerful Aaron’s rider is an interesting phenomenon - she’s shown she can bang it out in UCI stage races for sprinter’s jersey’s, but also pound away at the horrid, horrid silence of suffering that is the long, solo breakaway … OR, the unforgiving, unrelenting race of truth. Carroll has just become a GC threat.

There are yet more stories to tell, but desert is being called upon and me and the woman are having more fun this weekend then Spitzer spending bonus miles.

more soon,
~m

beauty was in bloom today

Flavia Oliveira embodies VanderKitten

There was no reason VanGilder needed to push 100% today …

but that’s the kind of Professional she is. One of the best US athletes … ever.

oh my Amber … mayhaps a bit too deep in the aero-file?