Cantua Creek

This is an out-and-back course with a short, 1 Km climb to the finish line. The cat 4 women got to do two laps, meaning we went up this little climb twice. The rest of the course was pretty flat, and other than some dodging of bees going through the orange groves, the first lap was very slow and uneventful, and I chatted with the 15-or-so girls in the group.

We dropped a few when we jumped up the hill the first time, then second lap started with one team of girls trying to get everyone to stop for a girl who had a mechanical. Now, I haven’t been racing for too long, but I’ve never stopped for someone else’s mechanical. Especially if she has 4 teammates in the race. So after some girl-discussion where people were shouting about poor sportsmanship, etc, most of us carried on and some stayed behind with mechanical-girl.

Those of us left picked up the pace, had a paceline going for the rest of the race, then the climb came and I got up it first. It feels good to win!

Pine Flat

I was terrified of this race because, as everyone who rides with me knows, I am a really slow descender. I get scared. Furthermore, I know someone who was in the hospital for awhile after a crash on the fast descent of this race. Now, I’m a praying person, and the only thing I asked for before this race was to get down that descent safely!

The (very cold!) race started with a bunch of rollers and cattle guards to contend with, plus some actual cattle that we had to stop for at one point. Then, about 20 miles in, came the descent. Not fun, but I managed to get down it only a hundred meters or so off the back, and worked with another girl in a similar situation to get back to the group.

More rollers, more fog, then we finally got to the nasty climb (actually two: a longer one then a shorter one) that ends the race. A couple girls jumped, so I went with. We managed to hold off the rest of the girls,worked together on the descent/flat before the second climb, and then I booked it up the last 1K by pretending it was Chantry. It was cold, steep, and it hurt, so basically it was just like any Tuesday morning, only without any of the Tuesday morning crowd to contend with, I won.

I highly recommend checking out these races up in the Northern half of our fine state… you may have to contend with some cows, but there is some fun riding!

-Shannon Castle

I recently finished my first racing season, which went too quick.  I have noticed a big difference from my first race to my most recent one.  My first race turned into a time trial within the first five minutes; my second, I crashed in the rain and finished a lap down.  I got dropped in the third race.  Now it is no problem for me to stay in the group in races and also the Montrose and Tempo Ride Group.

I used to be really scared riding in the group rides, always looking at the wheel in front of me and never taking my hands off the bars and the brakes.  Now I am able to ride in the group rides, looking up the whole time and being able to grab my water bottles while in the pack. I also never knew how much time you need to train.  I thought riding 1-2 times a week and getting around 50 miles would be enough.  It turns out it wasn’t.  So now i ride 5-7 times a week and get around 200 miles.

I originally had a goal to do 10 races and then it turned out that I did 25 races.  Twenty-three of them being on the road.   In addition, Eddie Ramirez convinced me to do 12 Hours of Temecula with Antonio and Devin and also I raced the Turkey Trot Cross Race.

This year was great and I can’t wait for the 2012 Racing Season.  Special thanks to Eddie, Andres, and Eddy for all the help and support this past year.

Bailey Eckles

Becky Siegel swept the time trial, road race, and criterium in the Women’s cat 3s to take the GC win.   Vikki jumped up in the rankings after a stellar third place in the road race, and defending her position in the criterium.

Women Cat 3 GC Podium (Becky: 1st, Vikki: 5th)

Shannon began with an impressive time trial, and moved up from 3rd to 2nd after being in a breakaway in the road race and a pack finish in the crit.  Ericka moved from 6th to 4th after being a part of the breakaway in the road race (getting 5th– Read race report), and also moved up a spot after finishing with the pack (6th place) in the crit.

Women Cat 4 GC Podium (Shannon: 2nd, Ericka 3rd)

Results:

Cat 3 GC – Becky 1st
Cat 3 GC – Vikki 5th
Cat 3 TT – Becky 1st
Cat 3 Road Race – Becky 1st
Cat 3 Crit – Becky 1st
Cat 3 Road Race – Vikki 3rd
Cat 4 GC – Shannon 2nd
Cat 4 GC – Ericka 3rd
Cat 4 TT – Shannon 3rd
Cat 4 Road Race – Ericka 5th

The 2nd lap was not too eventful either until we reached the hill. At stake were some QOM bonus time so the pace started to pick up immediately.  The hill is only 4 miles but it felt like forever in the moment. Shannon and I previously had talked about the fact that either her or I needed to take the QOM points. I don’t fancy myself a strong climber so I didn’t think I was much in contention for the QOM. Surprisingly, as we started to reach the top of the hill I just pushed it and before I knew it I was at the top of the hill and nabbed a 2nd place for some QOM bonus time!

When the group caught me and the 1st place QOM we realized we were in a breakaway and picked up the pace. We wanted to make sure to keep up the pace so they wouldn’t catch us. I took some turns pulling as did Shannon, and we rotated through. Going into the hill the final time the pace really picked up half way through. I was hurting, but told myself so was everyone else and I only had to push it a little longer. The group started to break up with 1k to go. Shannon and I were right there as well as the current leader, Nina. I mustered up the remaining power I had and just put it all in for that last 1k. I couldn’t manage to catch the group of 4 about 100m ahead of me, but I did nab a 5th place! Not bad for someone who doesn’t consider climbing a strong suit. Overall it was a really fun race with both me and Shannon putting in some good, solid, hard work!!!

-Ericka Bettge

Sue Thompson is spear heading Huntington Memorial Hospital’s “Helmet give away/ Bike safety event that will be coming up soon.  The goal of the program is to target at-risk , under served youth in our community and offer free helmets and bike safety checks.

The ultimate goal is to decrease a child’s risk of traumatic injury through the education and awareness. The 2 stipulations are that the event take place in the Huntington Memorial Hospital catchment area, and that under served youth must be targeted.  More details to follow, as they become available.

It’s slim picking for additional kits right now, but a shorts/bibs and jersey order is in the works to tide us over still our normal spring reorder.  Details to follow

Keira Dooley and Thomas Ward are always in search of news and or pictures for our newsletter.  Please keep them in mind.

Eddie and a host of others, are supporting our junior racers in the Palm Spring Century, to get some extra long miles in their legs.

Coach Rick announced the UCI- World Para-cycling championships are being held 02/10-12 at the ADT center in Carson.  Rick is coaching some of the worlds best at various disciplines.

Our March guest speaker will be Gerry Cody, talking about the “La Ruta Race in Costa Rica”  please come out and here Gerry’s presentation

The cat 3 race was a bit hectic after a severe crash in the 1/2 race just 1 mile up the road from the start.  The field took a neutral lap, stopped, and was restarted about 45 minutes later.  They rode a shortened race, Becky took the QOM bonus time, and Vikki got the 2nd place QOM bonus time.  Becky was the top cat 3 (the cat 3 field and 1/2 fields were raced together, scored separate), coming in with the main field of the race (there was a breakaway up the road), and Vikki took 3rd in the cat 3s.  Becky’s time gap increased from 19 seconds to 2:22 and Vikki moved up from 11th to 5th place.

Tomorrow will be an exciting day for the PAAWT as we look to defend four spots on the podium.

Shannon defending her third place spot

I wanted to give a shout out to Thomas Ward for being my partner in crime with the PAA Newsletter. He graciously stepped to assist with editing articles and providing content. He is also a new member to PAA. Please join me in welcoming him to the club.

About Thomas

Thomas joined PAA in 2011 as Newsletter Editor. He’s an endurance roadie. A California Triple Crowner. His favorite rides are the organized tour rides Solvang, Palm Springs, Wildflower & Las Vegas and the organized club rides to San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Barbara & San Joaquin Valley. Favorite races are time-trials. It’s common to see Tom on the road supporting crews as SAG on ultra-distance events and supporting rides for charity in the Los Angeles area.

Thomas Ward at Tour de Palm Springs 2012

Nicole Luque

By Nicole Luque

I started cycling 16 years ago participating in my first sprint triathlon as a high school senior. It was a long road to get to the point where I actually began to enjoy the sport. I didn’t ride at all while running in college and post-graduation. After a few marathons and injured IT bands, I realized that something needed to be done differently. So, I started doing sprint triathlons again, realizing that combining both cycling AND swimming was a much better balance with my running. I bought my first road bike after doing a couple triathlons on a hybrid. For awhile, a really long ride for me meant 40km (The distance of the cycling portion of an Olympic distance triathlon). Training mostly on my own, I struggled to get through two hours of riding.  To reach my goal of completing an Ironman by my 30th birthday, I had to really step it up. I started spending many weekends logging miles on the San Gabriel River Trail. Riding with others training for Ironman made it bearable.  I ended up finishing the 2007 Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 12:24:17, and my bike split was 6:58:31 for the 112 miles (16.06 mph average).

Fast forward to the beginning of 2009, I was starting to prepare for Ironman Canada later that year.  I wanted to do better than before. Getting better on the bike was a key component. I was introduced to a number of PAA members around that time and started doing some group rides with them.  Not only was I becoming a better rider by cycling more, but doing Montrose Tempo taught me to feel comfortable in large groups. I was introduced to a wealth of riding options in our local San Gabriel Mountains.  To get ready for the hills in Canada, I was out on Angeles Crest, Hwy 39 and/or GMR almost every weekend.  I learned that a 5-6 hour bike ride could be enjoyable. To get better, I would follow up with another 2-3 hours the next day. I went into Canada a much better cyclist, and it showed with a finish time of 11:27:53 and a 5:56:12 bike split (18.9mph).

In the fall of that year, I became a member of PAA. I am now in my third year of membership.  In addition to the ride options, I have benefited from the club’s Crit/Road/Cross/Mountain clinics that the club has put on. I had a lot of fun on the Summer of Love Ride last year. I’m logging more miles in my running shoes than on my bike these days, but cycling is still a regular part of my endurance training. Over the past few years, I’ve done several cross races and a road race in addition to triathlons. I’m planning to join the awesome PAA Women’s Team for at least one road race this year. Triathlon and cycling can coexist peacefully. I encourage pure cyclists to mix it up and try a duathlon or triathlon.

Nicole Luque & Shannon Castle competing in a triathlon together

Vikki Appel — Cat 3
Ericka Bettge — Cat 4
Shannon Castle — Cat 4
Alicia Chang — Cat 4
Becky Siegel — Cat 3

The first day is a 14 mile time trial, and the girls were ready to rock it.  The cat 4s started off with a strong performance with Shannon coming in 3rd, only 15 seconds back from the leader.  This puts her in major contention in the general classification withtime bonuses in the road race and crit.  Ericka had a solid first time trial coming in 6th, less than a minute back from the leader.  Alicia gave it a solid effort for her Eddy Merckx style time trial.

In the Cat 3s, Becky took the win with a 19 second gap over 2nd, and a 38 second gap over 3rd.  Vikki had her best time trial to date, coming in 11th.

The road race will be a major factor in the general classification for both groups.  Shannon will be working to make up the time, and Becky will be looking to hold the gap.  Vikki, Ericka, and Alicia are prepared to do their best to help the GC contenders, working to ensure that time bonuses are taken by PAA.

Bond Girl ready to protect the GC

Check back for a blog following the road race.