Mt. Hood Stage Race

By Brooke Miller
Date: May 31-June 4th
Category: Women Pro/1/2/3 NRC Stage Race, 6 Stages over 5 Days
Filed Size: 72 women starting
Teammates: Tracey, Victoria (i.e. the "Pocket Rocket" or "Swedish Snowflake", Elizabeth, Yukie (guest rider), and Flavia (other guest rider)
Results: Victoria -- 10th in the GC, 8th and 9th in Stages 3 and 6 respectively. Brooke -- 17th in the GC, 1st and 2nd on Stages 2 and 5 respectively.

This was my first big stage race and I had a couple goals going in: I wanted to do a race that was horrible for me and race myself into the ground to see how I stack up against the competition in the weakest part f my cycling. This was an NRC race, and it was a climber's paradise: over 250 miles of racing (5 days, 6 stages) and over 13,000 ft of climbing. It's a good thing that I did not look at the course profiles until I was in the airport, because I am not sure I would have ended up in Hood River had I really looked at the last stage!

Stage 1: Prologue Time Trial
3-mile time trial with a small climb at the start and a small climb at the finish. I loved the first little hill because it gave me an excuse to go out too hot and not worry about pacing right away. Then I hit the downhill and I was in love with my TT bike--no longer a torture device, but now a beautiful machine built for speed. It was a super-fun course and the final climb just about killed me. I felt that I had as good a ride as I could possibly have given my situation (pre-race mechanical and resultant lack of warm-up) and I finished 16th and 37 seconds away from the leader. Victoria was next at 34th and the rest of the team had solid rides.

Stage 2: Road Race
This was the "flat" course with only 3,000 ft of climbing that was spread over two laps with a hill in the middle. The finish was after a long gradual descent and through a winding very gradual downhill.

We were all feeling our oats that morning and the pace was quick. The course was not hard enough to break up the field too much, but riders would get dropped on the QOMs and then chase back on the descents. The race was fairly uneventful, as there were not many attacks other than for the QOM and the pack would come back together again afterward. I was absolutely ITCHING to attack after the QOM, but decided that it would A. not be smart and B. Linda would kill me because it was under category A: not smart. If the race came to a bunch sprint, I would do well. There was no need for me to work to get solo or get a break going if I am a rider who does well in a bunch sprint.

Going into the final finish, the sprint began to wind up at around the 5K marker. My focus was on being in the front of the field sitting 3rd to 5th wheel and having an out where I could jump on any action that looked important. Several riders from different teams moved up and were driving the pace, stringing things out and making it good for me. I could move around on different wheels and was not boxed in. I stayed up front until about 1K to go and then the pace slowed. I was immediately swarmed by the pack and found myself hopelessly boxed out. ARGH!

I started looking to get out and to get out ASAP. I found a hole and darted through it, moving up to the front of the pack along the right side just as we entered into the final stretch. I looked up and could see the finish and realized that the pace was once again slowing as riders were thinking about jockeying for position and looking to see who would attack. I realized that I would get swarmed and boxed out again if I did not do something, so I decided to go for it and I jumped hard. It was far out--300-400 meters--but I have confidence in my long sprint and there was a slight downhill. I was sprinting into a headwind and was ducking low and pushing with all that I had. I figured that I would lead out the sprint and not win the race, but was hoping to hold off enough riders for a top finish.

With about 25-50 meters to go, Dotsie Bausch (the race leader) jumped around me hard and I threw it down with all that I had. I was even grunting. The finish was closing and Dotsie and I were neck and neck. As we crossed the line, we both did a bike throw and I was convinced that she had taken the finish. I was thrilled to have finished 2nd and Dotsie turned to me and just said, "wow". Yukie and Victoria were able to hang in the pack and finished in the bunch with Flavia, Tracey and Elizabeth rolling in right behind.

We rolled back to the start area and got ready for the podium. I was extremely excited with my second place finish,but when we got to the podium and I prepared myself to look hot standing in second place, they read Dotsie's name instead of mine. Turns out I won the stage! It was a photo finish and I took the sprint! I was giddy.

Stage 3: Road Race (56 miles, 5,400ft climbing)
I knew that this course would be the biggest challenge for me. It was three laps that started with a long gradual downhill and then ended with an equally long gradual climb. The climb was about 9 miles with only the last 2 being particularly steep. For me, the hardest type of climbing is long gradual hills that require a lot of sustained power. Steeper climbs are actually better--they are hard, but they are hard for everyone.

It was raining when we started and we made our first tactical mistake by lining up in the pack of the pack. Normally for a road race, it is not a problem to line up in the back because the pace does not start out too fast and you can move up at your leisure. In this case, that was a big mistake, as we immediately went into a descent that was wet, rainy and dangerous. It was hard to move up. Because of the rain, riders were taking whatever line they could and just staying away from each other. That meant that there were riders all over the place and there was no good way to get around anyone. All of us tried hard to move up, but a rather large group had managed to get ahead and broke away on the downhill. That group probably had 10-15 riders in it and they had a dangerous gap.

As we hit the flat area, I realized that we had to do something, so I got Yukie, Flavia, and Victoria up front and we started chasing. It was the PABW Powered by TIBCO train working to catch the group up ahead. We were not pulling too hard because we did not want to blow, but we were working. The funny thing was that Leah Goldstein from Symmetrics said something eventually about how we needed to take harder pulls, so I turned to her and said, "Yeah! Show us how it is done! Get up there and take a pull!" She did and then I suggested that some other riders show us how it is done.

We caught the group, but it was hard to start a 56 mile race chasing from the gun. The climb hurt me. I tried to stay with the QOM group on the first climb, but I blew up and was dropped by the QOM group and then by the main chase pack with Victoria riding strong inside it. I crested behind them and then had to work hard on the descent to catch back on. I did and the race regrouped again. I was joined with Yukie and Flavia, but it turned out that Elizabeth and Tracey got stuck in the back of the descent and gapped off. Tracey got a flat and it took them over 40 minutes of waiting in the rain to get a wheel change. Her race was effectively over and her day was not a good one. Elizabeth got into a group that made the wrong turn and were not able to catch back on when they got back on track. All and all, it was quite the bummer to lose two riders on that course.

The second time up the climb, I realized that I had to find my own pace. I let the QOM group go and tried to stay with Victoria in the main chase group. This time, I was able to hang on and got to rest on the descent.

The final climb hurt as the hard attacks went off at the base of the hill, two miles before the finish. I worked to keep my pace and was happy to pass popped riders. I ended up finishing 19th (56 seconds back), but the great news was that Victoria finished 8th--a top 10 finish in an NRC race for our first year category 3 racer! Excellent! Dotsie Bausch won the race, keeping the leader's jersey.

Stage 4: Time Trial
The TT was a 10-mile out and back that had a good-sized climb on the way out and was supposed to have headwinds on the way back. We got lucky in that there were no winds. When I started, I got into a good rhythm and was watching my powermeter to keep my power low. It is SO hard for me to not go too hard at the start, but I was reining myself in. I figured that the TT would take about 24 minutes, so for the first 2-3 minutes, I would use my computer to give me upper boundaries for my effort and then use it later to give me lower boundaries.

I was feeling really good and it was feeling way too easy, but I was sticking to my plan. Because I was sitting pretty high in the GC, I was racing with the fast women and I got passed 2 miles in. It was hard for me to take and at first, I started to push the pace to stay with her, but then, the smarter part of my brain told me to race my own race and to ignore it. I settled back into my pace and stayed there.

On the way back, I was now using my computer to keep me pushing and keep me focused. I had a lower power limit that I was trying to maintain and it was tough! Especially with the downhill--I was in my 53x11 and pushing. I felt good and it hurt all at the same time. With about 100 m to the finish, Bev Harper came up on me and began to pass me. I tried to sprint but I had nothing. For the first time ever, I did NOT have a sprint at the end of a TT. That was my goal. I finished 19th, 2:18 off the leaders. Victoria finished 27th with no aero equipment. Flavia had her time messed up, but there was not much to do about it. Tracey, who was going easy in the TT because she was going to work her buns off in the crit, still managed to pull 40th--not bad for an easy ride! I am not sure where Yukie finished. Dotsie Bausch won again.

Stage 5: Crit
The crit course was one of the most fun that I have done. It was in downtown Hood River and went around Full Sail Brewery, one of the big race sponsors. The pavement was smooth and the curves sweeping. There was a hill, which they claimed was 30ft, but I swear it had to be more than that. It was a good hill! And there was a nasty off-camber downhill corner on one section that definitely spiced the race up a bit, not in a good way. But, all and all, the race was smooth and fast.

Our goals were to have Victoria finish in the pack so that we could save her for the final road race and for me to win the stage. We wanted everyone up front to do what we could, but mostly, we wanted everyone to finish in one piece.

The race went off and I got good position right away. I was really feeling great and that type of course is perfect for me. It gave me a great mental boost to hear women who had been kicking the snot out of me on all the climbs breathing hard. I could not stop smiling. I was biding my time. I did not want to go for any primes, but wanted to attack if I felt my oats and wanted to pay back the QOM crowd.

I did throw down two small attacks after primes, just to get things going, but I was not really doing anything serious. Just wanted to keep the pace high and make people work. I ended up winning one prime after letting Alicia Lion (Webcor) lead me out. She had attacked and I followed her. I almost felt guilty jumping around her and nabbing the prime, but I did it anyway. I am sure she would have done the same.

I had not been aware of what was happening behind me in the pack. Turns out that that off-camber corner would be a very bad thing. India clipped a pedal and went sliding around the corner and half the pack got stuck behind it. Tracey, Flavia and Yukie were there and then were forced to try and chase back on. At 6 laps to go, the corner snagged another victim, race leader Dotsie Bausch, whom we later learned had broken her collarbone.

We continued to race, waiting for Dotsie to come back in after a neutral lap. We did not know then that she was out of the race entirely. Then, with two laps to go, Alison Powers attacked at the top part of the climb and into the corners hard. She got a great gap on us and was off the front. Leah pulled hard to try and bring her back and I pulled through. With 1.25 laps to go, I could see we were close--she was starting to sit up and look at us, deciding if she should wait for the bunch sprint. When I saw her slowing, I backed off too and looked for someone else to pull. Alison saw that and attacked again. No one else pulled through. As we crossed the line into the bell lap, Amber attacked and tried to chase down Alison. I got on Amber's wheel and she was pulling hard, but could only pull for about a half a lap. I pulled through and so starting at the .5 lap, I was pulling hard and trying to catch Alison. This was serious now. I was expecting to lead Amber out from the effort, but I wanted to catch Alison. It became clear that I was not going to get her, and so I decided to go for the 2nd place win with all that I had. So, I jumped and held off the field for 2nd. Victoria rolled in with the pack- we did our job of keeping her safe in the GC and I was happy with my second place. Next time I won't let a rider like Alison get away so easily--I need to respond right away. But I was inspired with the ballsiness of her attack. It really was a great move.

Stage 6: Three Peaks Road Race
This race was 70 miles long with 7,500ft of climbing over three big peaks. The race finished on a long climb- around 10 miles or so. It was epic! I knew that it would be a hard course for me, but also felt that it would not be as hard for me as the circuit race because the climbs were steeper.

We started off like a crit, jumping hard because the race started with the same descent that had gapped riders on the circuit race. This time, however, the pack stayed together and we were off to the base of the first climb, which was about 15 miles long. I had moved up to the front and the goal was to get Victoria up there. Our plan had been for me to try and stay with the QOM group and then attack the descent with Victoria on my wheel, so that she could attack the second climb with a gap. I knew that I could gap the field on the descents, so if I could just hang on with the leaders for the first climb, I might be able to help Victoria do some damage.

Mara Abbott from Rio Grande Sports Garage was a rider to watch in this race. I knew that she would go for the QOM's and would be looking for a win. Sure enough, at the base of the first climb, Mara attacked. The pace got hard. Mara can climb circles around me, but I managed to hang on. The field split. After a few minutes redlined, the pace slowed and I could tell that the field was being pruned to the final groups. I was starting to look for Victoria and thinking that we needed her up there. Mara had slipped back into the pack and the pace cooled again. I guess even the climbers can't do that for too long. I was proud to hang on long enough to learn that little lesson.

Mara attacked again and again, but I hung on. I was hanging on near the tail end of the group that had splintered to less than 20 riders, but I was starting to drift back. Still, no Victoria. We needed her up there! I was popping and starting to drift off the back. Next thing I know, I am getting dropped, but here comes Victoria!!! Victoria had not been in good position when the attacks went off and she had to bridge up on her own to get up there. I saw her and I was super excited. She passed me and joined the group that was dropping me. As she joined them and I faded back, I saw them slow again and I thought to myself, "Victoria needs me. Get up there!" and so I mustered up some strength that I did not know that I had and bridged back up. The pace slowed and so I was in the lead group.

We settled into a pace for a bit until we hit the 5K to the QOM mark and the climbers attacked for the QOM. This time, I was not able to even pretend to hang on. At this point, the race spilt again into the lead group with Mara, Leah Goldstein, Alicia Lion, and some other great climbers. Then there was the chase pack where Victoria was. I got dropped, but was ahead of my group for the time being.

As we came to the descent, I was feeling good and wanting to make up time. I took the descent aggressively, passing a few riders that got popped and bridging right up behind Victoria's group going into the second climb. I was not able to close the gap, but climbed the second climb right behind them. About halfway up the second climb, I got picked up by a couple other riders and we formed a second chase pack. Mel and Maria from McGuire and Cat Malone from Webcor were there, as were some other riders who I did not really know. It was kind of funny because Mel was trying to get me to work to catch the group ahead, who were about 1:40 in front of us. I told her that I had a teammate up there and was getting buried in the GC, so I had no desire to help them move ahead. And it was true--I was not going to help them get Victoria, but I would sure like to make THEM work.

So, then we got to the last descent before the final climb, a narrow, windy single-lane forest service road that was closed to traffic. I would not say that I attacked the descent, but I definitely took it fast. I got a quick gap on the rest of the group and pulled ahead. I was being safe and slowing for all the corners where I could not see, but the second I had a good sight-line, I gunned it. I was grinning and even let out a whoop around one particularly fun corner. I got a huge gap on them that I know exceeded a minute, maybe two. They were nowhere in sight for quite a long time. I then settled into a tempo pace that I could hold and waited for them to catch me. It took them 20 minutes to catch me after I hit the base of the descent. I was glad to have made them work, because the final climb was long and gradual. Maria got to the front and started pushing the pace on my least favorite, 5% grade type of hill. I was hurting. I started to slip off the back and I told myself, "NOT NOW! Don't get dropped now. Hang on!" and I jumped and hung on. Then I started to slip again, and again, I yelled at myself to hang on, "Not now... not now...". Again, I got back on. Then I started to slip again.

My goal in this race had been to suffer and to hang on as long as I could and to not beat myself. I did not want to say that I could have gone harder. I did not want to say that I gave into the little voice that said it was ok to slip off the back. I was proud of myself at that moment... as I got dropped, I know that it was not because a voice said it was OK. It was because I was dead and could not push harder. I could not keep up physically.

Then I worked on my second goal: to push myself. So, I looked at my powermeter and gave myself a goal power to maintain for the rest of the race. For a while, I could hold it, and then it became harder and harder. I was yelling at myself, pushing myself, challenging myself. As we hit the 5K mark, I passed a popped Cat 4 or 5 guy who was riding along. I could not talk, I just dropped my head and rode on, giving him a thumbs up as I passed. He settled in behind me. We hit the 2K to go and I was all but dead. I hung on. At 1K, the guy behind me passed me and he said to me, "don't give up here" and that gave me more energy. I mustered another final push and passed him again. I was popping in and out of the saddle and now pushing myself verbally, with observers being given the treat of hearing me say, "COME ON BROOKE! come ON!" Behind me now was a rider on TRIA closing in. I did not want her to catch me. The last 200m of this course was the hardest and steepest. She passed me right before I got there and I did not want her to get too far ahead. As I hit that steep part, I am not sure I could have made it up without Katie Behroozi yelling for me! I heard her and came out of the saddle. My lower lip was quivering and I was giving it everything that I had. I crossed the line completely spent. I slumped on my bike, but managed to not collapse. Then, I went to spin around and my body was so trashed that I just started to spontaneously cry. It was happy, I just was so fatigued that I could not control myself. My breathing tightened and my body broke down. After about a minute, I got back under control, but I was pretty thrilled that I was able to push myself THAT hard.

That was the toughest race I have ever done, but also one of the best. I accomplished ALL of my goals for that race. I did not give up. I gave it everything that I had. I could NOT say that "I could have gone harder." I raced myself into the ground and it felt good.

AND THEN I FOUND OUT THAT VICTORIA GOT 9TH!!!!! She had managed to take second in her chase group and finished top ten! And that landed her 10th in the GC!

I was pretty discombobulated after that race, but Yukie, Flavia and Tracey all finished, and finishing that course was spectacular in and of itself. Great job to all!!!