Updates!

Anne in the pack with Jen S.

Krystal in the pack on a windy paved section


VERO pushing the pace today.

Chasing.....



Lots has been happening locally for the team.
This past weekend Leigh Hobson took first place at the Tour of Bronte race in the women's field and 7th in the men's field. Congrats Leigh! That cross season is looking good already!
In NY at the Tour of Battenkill Vero, Krystal, Anne and KK took to the dirt and pavement for a challanging 100km course that was a race of attrition. With colder temps and good winds the pack was mellow on the pavement and hammered the dirt all day which made for a good hard race. Vero finished as our top rider in 7th place. Krystal had good legs today and was looking great but unfortunately at a critical time when the pack was climbing AGAIN on dirt section 7 she had a mechanical issue. NEXT TIME! You rock the dirt roads Krystal. Anne and Krystal came in around 4min back and KK finished with her group. Good job ladies. Next year I think we know what to expect so I think it will be a different ball game!
Anne is up in Boulder racing on the dirt roads in The Boulder Roubaix with Mara Abbot and Meredith Miller in the pack. This made for some hard racing. Anne has been hitting the dirt roads a few weekends in a row with the Koppenburg race last weekend as well. She is on a mission for Gila and Joe Martin...watch out!

Here are a few picks from Battenkill up above. More to come as we get them!

Cheers
Team Nanoblur-Gears

California Round Up!

Well we are back from our first set of stage races in California. Most of the team was racing into better shape while some of the team seems to be in pretty good shape already and it's only going to improve for them too!
San Dimas proved to be fun racing, with day 2 being 90 degrees putting a bit of new stress on the body!
Anne was able to get in a break that finished her in 4th place in the RR. A good start to the season for just racing into shape. The crit was active and Jo, Anne and Vero stuck it out til the end. Vero being quite aggressive and maintaining her normal stellar position! There are some pictures above of the crit.
Overall I felt like SD was getting back in the pack and the feel of racing again. For me it had been a long time since I had been in a big pack so I think it was good for getting some early season nerves out.
Next came Redlands. A few more racers and a few more good racers. I love Redlands. Maybe because I KNOW it is a hard race. And I like hard races.
The prologue was lung burning as usual. I won the bet on who won...Amber Neben :). She is a special talent that woman. I think I got a cup of tea as a prize...sad..yes.I think so too!
The team were ok with our performances. Vero topping off the quickest time placing her in 22nd overall.
Next came the Beaumont RR. My memory of this is hell as last year there were 45km winds for sure...and even Amber said it was one of the hardest races she has done....it was awful. So having said that this year felt way easier. Don't get me wrong, the pace was fast and the hills were hard...but there was no whaling cross wind to deal with all day..big difference, especially for us little folk.
Krystal attacked early in the race and stayed away for 25km...go Krystal! It was great to have our jersey up the road for that long. And for Krystal to GO FOR IT. Much more satisfying to have tried. Once the peleton caught her Anne and Vero tried a few more attacks but no one was letting anything go. The plan for the day was surely to get the finish time bonus. And so it went just like that. Joanie followed some good wheels and practiced her sprint coming in a fine 8th. Not bad at all for the first big sprint of the season. I think we will be bumping that up to podium levels soon enough! Joanie is off to Belgium for a month and you can bet she will return ON FIRE with some wicked legs for Joe Martin.
The next day was the crit. I can admit that we missed the boat that day as we were the only team not in the break. But as I said, we are racing into shape and things will change by the next race. It was a hard crit, especially the middle part when the real time bonus was on the line and Ina scooped it, which led to counters and more counters and a break getting up the road. They put in enough time to put Ina into the lead for Sunset.
Last was Sunset loop. Now if you have raced Sunset..you will know that EVERY year..when the neutral car pulls off..it is GAME ON..NO wasting time..AT ALL. We were going hard into that hill....and it was cross eyed all the way up. It was pain..but in a way I always like Sunset..it's a great hill. a few of us were with the main pack til the third lap...at which point I think after that we were off and with our subsequent groups or alone. But everyone rode on and finished the race. Vero tried one attack and was brought back..but kudos for trying. Anne had some back spasms...that has to hurt...and well I just was dangling that third lap and ended up with a group that unfortunately was not that motivated to race!!! And we rode/raced...i would say more rode..the last 4 of 9 laps. And people joined our group from behind. Looking back I think a few of us should have just kept hammering...but it's funny when the group isn't doing that its hard to do it alone.
I was glad to see that my legs felt the best on the last day of racing and I think they were starting to come back. I just wish we were still down there with more racing to do!
Thank you to our wonderful hosts! You were truly amazing and so nice to open your homes to the team! We hope you will have us back in 2011!!!!
I posted some pictures of the racing. We will keep you posted on team events. Tomorrow is the local GOOD FRIDAY RR and next weekend is BATTENKILL!!!!
That's all for now!
Team nanoblur-Gears.

Véro 2e à la Greenville Spring Training Series

L'entrainement en Caroline du Sud est terminé !
Nous avons profité de 2 courses local à Greenville pour complèter notre entraînement et réveiller nos instincts de coureuses. La 1er avec un peloton de 22 filles, où j'ai réussi à m'échapper avec 4 coureuses et où j'ai terminé 2e au sprint... Si KK et Joanie avait été là, ça aurait été dans la poche...! Nous avons pris le départ de la 2e course avec le peloton maîtres où moi et Joanie avons fait un échappé de 11km. Nous avons été en mesure d'être active et agressive tout au long de la course.

Moi et Joanie sommes maintenant en Californie et attendons avec impatience le reste de l'équipe pour notre 1er stage race à San Dimas !

Where is the Team?

Well the season is underway this week as Team Nanoblur-Gears meets in California for the first OFFICIAL team race San Dimas! Some of us got our feet a bit wet the last few weeks racing in South Carolina or Tucson. Veronique was on the second step of the podium after an aggressive race in Georgia, Joanie battled the men's race and made the final winning break to take 4th! And Guzman tested her legs in Tucson taking fourth in the last road race stage. Anne S Krystal and KK are feeling fit and Krystal is down in Tucson getting those last intervals and miles in on the mountain before San Dimas. Everyone is excited to race! And excited to get teh team race dynamics under way for 2010.
Stay tuned for updates and pictures in the weeks to come!
Team nanoblur-gears :)

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." T.Roosevelt

Another Great Day in The Saddle

Ahhh another great day in the saddle....
I felt a bit of hesitation today about heading out as the forecast called for rain and snow....but we just bit the bullet and stuck with the plan....TT up Caesar's head....let's do it!
With a TON of stuff shoved in our pockets..OK I MAY have had the most...JUST IN CASE of bad weather!! We headed off from Aunt Sue's as a starting point.
The weather ended up being pretty mild! And I had to jimmy a way to carry all that warm clothes up the hill without wearing it!!! Let's just say I had a big hump in my back!!
Vero made sure I was on my toes, and me her..we were good partners up the climb...it always helps....everyone had their own plan up the hill so that worked out great.
After a chilly descent we warmed back up quickly as the terrain here is rarely flat for long!
We rounded up with a solid 3.5hour ride finishing up 178 and back to Aunt Sue's for a fresh cookie..some opted for a fresh Coke :) and then home for that famous KK RICE PUDDING! It was the bomb...you go KK......
Oh...side note..so we were about 15min from the end of the ride and Vero OUT OF THE BLUE SAYS..."OH MY GOD!!!...I FORGOT TO EAT MY 2 EGGS" and you really had to be there because here we all thought...what? As she paused after the OH MY GOD..we were thinking did her pedal fall off??? She flatted??? A dog coming???? AHHHHH NO....she simply had this random...serious moment as she recalled that she forgot to eat her eggs before the ride...too funny....and with her great French accent it was 100 times funnier...I love the accents, everything sounds better!
Now we are eagerly looking to watch CLARA HUGHES SKATE FOR CANADA!! But we can't find it on TV! How irritating!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
We actually all woke up at 11:30 to watch the Canadian Joanie figure skate..it was very emotional.it was awesome, she was awesome. Truly amazing performance.
Well, time for me to get to work on dinner. Our group is fixing up a salmon dinner with stir fry...YUM!!! Can't wait!
Only 3 more days here..so sad! It's been the BEST training and I kind of wish I could stay until San Dimas..but Tucson will bring some racing :).
The team is all getting stronger, it's great stuff! And we are good at pushing one another. Every day is a bit better. It's great to watch.

Until next time....
Nanoblur-Gears

Official Camp Ends!

Well the official camp is over! It was fantastic, and we ended up with GREAT weather to boot! The team is coming together well.

Yesterday we dropped Frank and Anne off at the airport...(Krystal and I) where we progressed over to Chilli's for Fajitas and Chicken wraps. It was nice to eat out actually! Our last camp ride was a nice 3 hour ride on a new AWESOME route which brought us to some KICKERS of hills near the end that we had not found to this point. But that's all good since we finished at AUNT SUE'S where sorbet...ice cream, fresh cookies and fudge awaited as well as a bunch of picnic tables in the sun! Truly a great ending.

We are so glad that Anne made it to camp after all the storms, and that we had a few days with all 7 of us together.
Frank was just great with his route mapping and short sweet meetings! We had so many amazing rides and the nice roads seemed just endless. The good thing is Frank learned a lot of the roads here for next time! I think it's time for that Garmin......???? Would be fun!
Thanks Frank for following us and supporting us all week, I know you were itching to hammer up Ceasars Head.... :). But glad you hit the roads a few times!

So now week 2 begins! KK, Krystal, Joanie, Vero and I are sticking around for more riding until Sunday. We have mapped out a plan that should work to mold all of our training ideas together....Joanie may be busting out some sprints here and there, but that's good, we can chase her :)....ROCKET.....
We are on our easy day and are heading to Clemson for SUSHI!!! Let's hope that it's good sushi for our sakes! We have some riding to do! We are all a little to excited to go to Starbucks..oh the little things you miss :). So that's the first pit stop.....
Krystal and KK went to town on our MOTIVATIONAL board today...thanks ladies...I feel inspired every time I am about to go to the bathroom... :) by the sign on the door. See the picture above and ZOOM IN FOR MOTIVATION!
KK is hard at work on an engineering project, building a self charging converter/flash light with some other funky applications...go KK....
I got to catch up on some Personal Training plans for a few clients and the ladies are all chillin today catching up on work...emails or NAPS! :) Always important to have naps :).

We are looking forward to another week of hills and sprints and miles before we head our separate ways to Tucson, (2 of the team are staying here til San Dimas) or back to Toronto to hit the Trainer..it's ok KK..it will be short lived! Cali is calling!

I was able to set up my Quarq power meter today with the Garmin. Pretty sweet. They have sponsored the team and it looks like it's a great tool! I think a few other of the women will be hooking it up soon! Thanks Quarq!
The girls all did different things today with some hiking, some riding some doing yoga and core....mish mash......good times...

Besides that...all is good. The sun is back out after a short rainfall last night, and we are back in the saddle tomorrow.

Until next time....
Keep the rubber side down...