(Sunday, July 17 – New Haven, IN) Junior riders Sarah Fickel (13-14 years) and Hope Zimmerman (10-12 years) took top honors at the Indiana State Time Trial, which is part of the Lance Armstrong Junior Race Series. Hope covered the 20k course in 44’47” to take the 10-12 age division. Sarah raced in the 13-14 division with a finishing time of 43’41”.

… more to come…

Catherine relaxes after battling two-days of cyclocross racing in Tulsa, OK.

Race Report by Catherine Walberg

The last two weeks of October have been what I love best about cycling: competition and life experiences. It started with a dash to Tulsa, OK to make the Friday night debut of the Tulsa Ruts and Guts Cross Race. The event was sponsored by Air Assurance and promoted by Mike Guillan and Tanner Culbreath.

The race was “under the lights” at night and had it all. The promoters miraculously created a super neat course out of a dirt pile that surrounded a park like water center piece. The course snaked up and down interesting elevation changes and challenged riders with technical descents, tight turns, and two rock barriers. To do well, a racer needed to be good technically and fit.

The crowd, music, beer, and food electrically charged the atmosphere, providing racers with the needed motivation to give it their best. I had time to do a couple of practice lap before the gun went off. The promoters had posted a hefty Women’s Open prize list ($500,$250,$160,$125,$100,$80,$70,$60,$55,$50,$45,40,$37,$35,$30,$25,$20,$15 paying 18 deep) which drew a solid women’s field. Tammy Wallace (ThinkFinance) out of Texas and Oklahoma’s own Miranda Long (Team Undiscovered) added to my motivation by keeping the pressure on behind me. Even though I led from gun, I was never comfortably ahead. They kept the heat on until the end. After a pretty mighty effort, I crossed the line in 1st followed by Wallace and Long. As I coughed most of my lungs out during the recovery ride, I was reminded that cross just might be the most intense cycling there is.

Given the competition, the win on both days was particularly satisfying. By midnight, I was sitting quite happily in the Waffle House with the Topekans (Steve Tilford, Bill Stolte and Trudi Rebsamen) enjoying a very yummy late night snack of eggs, waffles and toast!

The next day the races moved to New Block Park in Tulsa, for the debut of the New Cross on the Block. The race proved to be easier physically but costly financially. The upper 80s forecast produced a groan at breakfast as we realized we were racing mid-afternoon. I did one practice lap only to look down and see at least 20 goat-heads in both tires. Needless to say, both my race tires quickly lost all their air and my enthusiasm for the race dwindled significantly. But, I like the promoter, Ray Hall, and the course was really fun. The race was held in the revitalized area of Tulsa’s downtown. It featured New Block’s beautiful park along the river. Hats off to Tulsa for revitalizing its downtown area!! The course ran along the river and up a steep hill, traversed an off-camber slope, and back around to the finish. So, with the help of the home team, my bike was equipped with heavy duty tubes, plenty of slime, and my training wheels. I wasn’t worried about the weight because Blue’s Cross frame is so light that even with the added weight, my bike still felt fast and light. (I loovvvve my new Blue Cross frame. It is, by far, the best cross bike I’ve ever ridden—-really!!)

Anyway, I realized I’d raced a bit like the rabbit on the run the day before so I decided to start a little slower and be more calculated about the race. It was windy so I didn’t see a need to try to be in the lead initially or a need to race solo. After a lap, though, only Tammy Wallace and I remained in the front. As we headed up the hill and entered the more technical part of the course, I decided to take over the lead. Wallace had good power; but, I was better technically. I gained some real estate through the off-camber zigzag section of the course and decided to put in a hard lap and see if I could get a comfortable lead. It worked and I took 1st, followed by Wallace and Long.

Next year, I’m going to start with the slime and super Mr. Tuffy tubes so the prize money doesn’t go straight into bike maintenance! All in all, the Tulsa scene once again proved competitive and fun. Oklahoma really has it going on in terms of racing: great races, good competition, and always a healthy dose of post-race fun.  (October 15-16, 2010)

Andrea Wilson, shares a brief race report by reporting that “Debbie got away from the field about half way through the first two road race laps. I was chasing with a couple of other girls who didn’t seem too concerned with catching Debbie Milne (ProBikeCycling) since she wasn’t from TN and did not pose a threat to the championship jersey. The race was up the road, so I threw in a little attack on a little hill and got away from them. The course was tough, with extreme heat; however, I managed to stay away for the remainder of the race although I never caught Debbie and I finished 2nd and achieved the championship jersey.”

Photo by Bart Nave

The Tour de Toona, a race well known for offering equal prize money between the Pro men and Pro women did so again in this year’s installment. With this in place the team was honored to have representation. Full results can be viewed by clicking here.

Both Debbie Dust (Chicago, IL) and Lori Jug (Johnson City, TN) scored silver medals. Debbie clocked 57:52.40 in the women’s 35 to 39 while Lori clocked 58:18.70 in the 40 to 44 age divisions.

In the Elite women’s tandem, Liz Merritt (Mesa, AZ) and Jacquelyn Lockwood (Chandler, AZ) earned gold by clocking 59:01.20.

Mary Downing clocked 1:04:39.19 to finish 11th in the 35-39 age group.

A complete list of results for the time trial can be found by clicking here.

NRC Elite
Jacquelyn Crowell –4th
Lee Farabaugh – 6th

NRC Development Team
Andrea Wilson – 1st
Molly Freeman – 3rd