Felicia Gomez -- my "fan" from the previous entry -- arrived in Europe just a couple days ago, and hit the ground pedaling at a crazy-fast race in Holland -- the races are long and flat there with absolutely no climbing. Though she lives in the US, Felicia is a Canadian citizen, and is racing with the Canadian National Team in Europe in the hopes of making the Canadian Olympic team for Beijing. She is in the Olympic pool of riders that will be considered (a huge feat in itself), and with good results over the next weeks and months, will attain her dream of being an Olympian - how exciting is that?!!
There's a picture of her here in that race in Holland -- the caption only mentions Oenone Wood, but Felicia is the Canadian-maple-leaf-clad rider pulling at the front. Yup...she rocks.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
A Fan Letter!!!
Woo-hoo! There's a fan letter for my Redlands coverage in the "mailbag" on VeloNews.com today -- it's the fifth letter down, and you can read it here.
And, well, yes...Felicia is a friend of mine -- she's a prof at Fresno State, too, so we know each other from there. But, honest....I didn't ask her to write this!
Some of the racers I've interviewed and met at the races have been very generous in their compliments of my coverage, but believe me, the feedback hasn't all been positive...I even got snapped at by a team director at Redlands when he felt I'd slighted one of his riders (he apologized later, though, so it's all good now). While I'm obviously not covering a war zone so it's not a life-and-death situation, what the racers do is very important to them -- and it's also very important to me to try to report it as accurately as possible. It's pretty challenging, I think, for both of us -- I can't see everything that happens and have to rely on them to help me piece it together, and they are so tired after their efforts that talking to a reporter is probably the very last thing they'd like to do. But, it usually works out. It's a fun challenge for me, and because I do feel like I give it my all, it's nice to receive feedback now and then that it's appreciated. Just as I'm sure the racers enjoy getting some pats themselves. Awwww, I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy now....
And, well, yes...Felicia is a friend of mine -- she's a prof at Fresno State, too, so we know each other from there. But, honest....I didn't ask her to write this!
Some of the racers I've interviewed and met at the races have been very generous in their compliments of my coverage, but believe me, the feedback hasn't all been positive...I even got snapped at by a team director at Redlands when he felt I'd slighted one of his riders (he apologized later, though, so it's all good now). While I'm obviously not covering a war zone so it's not a life-and-death situation, what the racers do is very important to them -- and it's also very important to me to try to report it as accurately as possible. It's pretty challenging, I think, for both of us -- I can't see everything that happens and have to rely on them to help me piece it together, and they are so tired after their efforts that talking to a reporter is probably the very last thing they'd like to do. But, it usually works out. It's a fun challenge for me, and because I do feel like I give it my all, it's nice to receive feedback now and then that it's appreciated. Just as I'm sure the racers enjoy getting some pats themselves. Awwww, I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy now....
'Rappin' up Redlands -- Stage 3: Sunset Loop
The final stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic on Sunday was exciting as always, and once again included multiple circuits around the Sunset Loop, a beautiful residential area in the hills above Redlands that includes challenging climbs and twisty descents. The women's race was first, and I was unable to get podium shots because as soon as I'd grabbed a few interviews, I had to jump in a media vehicle to get back out on the course in time for the men's race. But, as always, you can read my story here on VeloNews.com, and see the much more professional snaps of Casey Gibson.
I did get a few snaps of the men's podium after their race was over. This is Santiago Botero after his team secured his overall win. He's waiting to don the yellow and red jerseys, and held onto that bottle of vitamin water through each new fitting. And, what can be said about those Rock Racing kits?....they've definitely added color to the men's peloton...
Here's the final men's podium from a pretty bad camera angle since Rock Racing's entourage was pretty excited at their overall win, and were dominating the press area. Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin took second, and Burke Swindlehurst of Bissell came in at third.
And there was a lot of schwag for Botero, including a Redlands Classic framed poster and trophy. He kept trying to leave the podium but they just kept bringing him stuff.
Race over, I stayed up late to write my last report for VeloNews, and then slept in -- aaaahhhh! While most of the ValueAct Capital team had left before I even got home from the race, a few spent the night, too, so we all said some tearful goodbyes in the morning. This is Martina giving a very heartfelt hug to host mom, Leslie.
And this is Martina trying to find a place to sit in the team car for a 5-hour ride back to Oakland...
...and from the other side of the car, you can really see that it was a tight squeeze with all the team gear! In the end, they had to transfer some equipment to a couple other cars so Martina could sit in the car instead of riding with the bikes on top!
Since I hadn't had much time to take pics at the host house all week, I made everyone pose for one final group shot. This is, left to right, team mechanic, John, from Boston; team soigneur, Molly, from Portland; the famous Martina, a racer from Oakland; Lara, another racer who I met for the first time this week, who lives in Colorado; host dad, Joe; racer Sharon, who lives in Denver; racer Hannah, from Australia; and back to the left in front, host mom, Leslie. Just part of the fabulous crew that welcomed me into their race world this week -- it was definitely an honor, and fun to boot!
I did get a few snaps of the men's podium after their race was over. This is Santiago Botero after his team secured his overall win. He's waiting to don the yellow and red jerseys, and held onto that bottle of vitamin water through each new fitting. And, what can be said about those Rock Racing kits?....they've definitely added color to the men's peloton...
Here's the final men's podium from a pretty bad camera angle since Rock Racing's entourage was pretty excited at their overall win, and were dominating the press area. Toyota-United's Chris Baldwin took second, and Burke Swindlehurst of Bissell came in at third.
And there was a lot of schwag for Botero, including a Redlands Classic framed poster and trophy. He kept trying to leave the podium but they just kept bringing him stuff.
Race over, I stayed up late to write my last report for VeloNews, and then slept in -- aaaahhhh! While most of the ValueAct Capital team had left before I even got home from the race, a few spent the night, too, so we all said some tearful goodbyes in the morning. This is Martina giving a very heartfelt hug to host mom, Leslie.
And this is Martina trying to find a place to sit in the team car for a 5-hour ride back to Oakland...
...and from the other side of the car, you can really see that it was a tight squeeze with all the team gear! In the end, they had to transfer some equipment to a couple other cars so Martina could sit in the car instead of riding with the bikes on top!
Since I hadn't had much time to take pics at the host house all week, I made everyone pose for one final group shot. This is, left to right, team mechanic, John, from Boston; team soigneur, Molly, from Portland; the famous Martina, a racer from Oakland; Lara, another racer who I met for the first time this week, who lives in Colorado; host dad, Joe; racer Sharon, who lives in Denver; racer Hannah, from Australia; and back to the left in front, host mom, Leslie. Just part of the fabulous crew that welcomed me into their race world this week -- it was definitely an honor, and fun to boot!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Redlands Stage 2: Downtown Crit
Stage 2 of the Redlands Cycling Classic is a smokin' fast criterium in downtown Redlands. Nine turns, the best racers in America, lotsa crash-potential, and overzealous crowds make it a really great race. Here's my report on VeloNews.com along with some snaps.
Teams don't typically share their soigneurs with each other, but Aaron's Meredith Miller kinda brings that out in people. She's a hammer on the bike, and a great person wherever she is. Here, ValueAct Capital soigneur, Molly, gives Meredith's legs a rub-down before the race while Meredith dishes with Martina Patella.
These are our ValueAct Capital hosts -- Joe, Leslie, and their oldest daughter, Caty -- at the race to cheer on their VAC girls. Joe and Leslie are firefighters and just about the nicest people you could meet. When I referred to myself as an "embedded reporter," Leslie said I'm more of an "emfloored reporter," as I was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor of her daughters' room all week!
Waiting for the start of the women's race.
Though this is not the best picture since I caught her scratching her nose, I was happy for VAC's Leah Goldstein when she got called up at the start -- she was in 11th place in the GC, and the first 15 were called up. I put her in the race notes of yesterday's report on VeloNews.com because she is back racing her first full NRC season after having a horrific crash at the Cascade Classic in 2005. She crashed on a 40 mph descent and had terrible injuries, including severe damage to her face. She is truly amazing, and it is very inspiring to see her racing -- and racing incredibly strong. You'll hear more from her, guaranteed.
This is Abbey, a beautiful 9-year-old who is the National Spokesperson for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, singing the national anthem before the women's race. I talked to her mom on the sidelines, and she said Abbey's form of MD is very rare, and, thankfully, not fatal. She was absolutely fearless in front of the large crowd, and when she finished and everyone went crazy with applause, she smiled, confidently looked at the women lined up to race in front of her, and gave them a "thumbs-up" with an enthusiastic "Good luck!"
And, of course, her singing and enthusiasm brought a lot of the women to tears -- Team High Road's Kim Anderson, far right here, had to take her glasses off to wipe her eyes, and was clearly very moved.
European races like the Grand Tours are famous for their podium girls. In America, of course, we're all about equity, so Redlands has podium boys...woo-hoo! Here, one of them gives Alex Wrubleski, the day's second placed racer, her stage medal.
The women's podium, left to right: Webcor Builders' Alex Wrubleski in second, 19-year-old Swede Emilia Fahlin of Team High Road in first, and Advil-Chapstick's Brenda Lyons in third.
Mara Abbott remained in the yellow and red jerseys and Alex was in green.
And the men's stage podium, Cuban Luis Alberto Amaran of Colavita-Sutter Homes in second, Jeff Louder of Bissell in first, and Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez, also of Cuba, in third. I caught Ivan in an interesting pose here.
And on my way back to the car, I caught these little Aaron's fans....their parents have hosted the Aaron's team in years past. There was a third little guy with them in a jersey, but apparently he'd had enough of being chased by the papparazzi all day, and refused when I asked their mom. No worries, little guy -- your support of Aaron's women's racing is plenty enough!
Teams don't typically share their soigneurs with each other, but Aaron's Meredith Miller kinda brings that out in people. She's a hammer on the bike, and a great person wherever she is. Here, ValueAct Capital soigneur, Molly, gives Meredith's legs a rub-down before the race while Meredith dishes with Martina Patella.
These are our ValueAct Capital hosts -- Joe, Leslie, and their oldest daughter, Caty -- at the race to cheer on their VAC girls. Joe and Leslie are firefighters and just about the nicest people you could meet. When I referred to myself as an "embedded reporter," Leslie said I'm more of an "emfloored reporter," as I was sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor of her daughters' room all week!
Waiting for the start of the women's race.
Though this is not the best picture since I caught her scratching her nose, I was happy for VAC's Leah Goldstein when she got called up at the start -- she was in 11th place in the GC, and the first 15 were called up. I put her in the race notes of yesterday's report on VeloNews.com because she is back racing her first full NRC season after having a horrific crash at the Cascade Classic in 2005. She crashed on a 40 mph descent and had terrible injuries, including severe damage to her face. She is truly amazing, and it is very inspiring to see her racing -- and racing incredibly strong. You'll hear more from her, guaranteed.
This is Abbey, a beautiful 9-year-old who is the National Spokesperson for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, singing the national anthem before the women's race. I talked to her mom on the sidelines, and she said Abbey's form of MD is very rare, and, thankfully, not fatal. She was absolutely fearless in front of the large crowd, and when she finished and everyone went crazy with applause, she smiled, confidently looked at the women lined up to race in front of her, and gave them a "thumbs-up" with an enthusiastic "Good luck!"
And, of course, her singing and enthusiasm brought a lot of the women to tears -- Team High Road's Kim Anderson, far right here, had to take her glasses off to wipe her eyes, and was clearly very moved.
European races like the Grand Tours are famous for their podium girls. In America, of course, we're all about equity, so Redlands has podium boys...woo-hoo! Here, one of them gives Alex Wrubleski, the day's second placed racer, her stage medal.
The women's podium, left to right: Webcor Builders' Alex Wrubleski in second, 19-year-old Swede Emilia Fahlin of Team High Road in first, and Advil-Chapstick's Brenda Lyons in third.
Mara Abbott remained in the yellow and red jerseys and Alex was in green.
And the men's stage podium, Cuban Luis Alberto Amaran of Colavita-Sutter Homes in second, Jeff Louder of Bissell in first, and Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez, also of Cuba, in third. I caught Ivan in an interesting pose here.
And on my way back to the car, I caught these little Aaron's fans....their parents have hosted the Aaron's team in years past. There was a third little guy with them in a jersey, but apparently he'd had enough of being chased by the papparazzi all day, and refused when I asked their mom. No worries, little guy -- your support of Aaron's women's racing is plenty enough!
Redlands Stage 1: Beaumont Circuit Race
Pretend with me here that I actually had time to put up links to my VeloNews.com race articles each day that I was at Redlands....here's the report from Friday's Stage 1.
And here are a few snaps from that day. Remember that I was an "embedded reporter" at the host house of ValueAct Capital, as I'm working on a feature article that includes them, and this is Caroline, the daughter of our hosts. She is decked out in a VAC jersey because she worked the feed zone for the team today -- she's an expert at it, having learned the ropes last year. There's rumors circulating that other pro teams are trying to woo her over to their camp -- but she's a devoted VAC fan!
The start line in Beaumont, outside Redlands.
Some of the women who were called up at the start. From left, Cheerwine's Leigh Hobson, Webcor Builders' Christine Thorburn, Team High Road's Kim Anderson and teammate and race leader, Mara Abbott, and Aaron's Katharine Carroll.
I rode in the media car. This is an advantage not because you get to actually SEE the race up close -- as is obvious here -- but because there is a race radio in the car through which we can hear the officials along the course shout out what is happening. It's a bit chaotic as the reports aren't always timely and sometimes we miss important details, but our driver, Hoss, did a great job getting us through the course on each of the five circuits the best he could.
The women's stage 1 podium: Alex Wrubleski, a Canadian on Webcor Builders, took second; Kat Carroll took first, and another Canadian, Cheerwine's Leigh Hobson, took third.
This is Argentinean Sebastian Haedo, JJ Haedo's little brother, in the media tent waiting to step onto the men's podium. His team, Colavita-Sutter Home has taken a podium at EVERY SINGLE race they've entered this season. They're crazy-fast right now.
The men's stage 1 podium: Sebastian Haedo in second, Cuban Santiago Botero of Rock Racing in first, and Bissell's Burke Swindlehurst in third. Today was the first time I interviewed Burke, and he wins the "best interview" award -- a very prestigious award in my own mind, of course. He was incredibly gracious and fun to talk to. It's got to be very tough to talk to reporters after a long hard stage like this, and it's always refreshing when a rider makes you feel like you're not putting them out.
Botero is a former World Time Trial Champion and has won numerous stages at the big European Tours -- he's a rock star...pun intended, I suppose. This is his first race in the United States, and today's stage put him in the green sprinter's jersey...
...and the red climbing jersey...
...and the leader's yellow jersey. And he was wearing all of them at once, which I've never seen anyone do -- usually they take the previous one off as the next is put on! He was also a good interview, and was quite gracious.
And here are a few snaps from that day. Remember that I was an "embedded reporter" at the host house of ValueAct Capital, as I'm working on a feature article that includes them, and this is Caroline, the daughter of our hosts. She is decked out in a VAC jersey because she worked the feed zone for the team today -- she's an expert at it, having learned the ropes last year. There's rumors circulating that other pro teams are trying to woo her over to their camp -- but she's a devoted VAC fan!
The start line in Beaumont, outside Redlands.
Some of the women who were called up at the start. From left, Cheerwine's Leigh Hobson, Webcor Builders' Christine Thorburn, Team High Road's Kim Anderson and teammate and race leader, Mara Abbott, and Aaron's Katharine Carroll.
I rode in the media car. This is an advantage not because you get to actually SEE the race up close -- as is obvious here -- but because there is a race radio in the car through which we can hear the officials along the course shout out what is happening. It's a bit chaotic as the reports aren't always timely and sometimes we miss important details, but our driver, Hoss, did a great job getting us through the course on each of the five circuits the best he could.
The women's stage 1 podium: Alex Wrubleski, a Canadian on Webcor Builders, took second; Kat Carroll took first, and another Canadian, Cheerwine's Leigh Hobson, took third.
This is Argentinean Sebastian Haedo, JJ Haedo's little brother, in the media tent waiting to step onto the men's podium. His team, Colavita-Sutter Home has taken a podium at EVERY SINGLE race they've entered this season. They're crazy-fast right now.
The men's stage 1 podium: Sebastian Haedo in second, Cuban Santiago Botero of Rock Racing in first, and Bissell's Burke Swindlehurst in third. Today was the first time I interviewed Burke, and he wins the "best interview" award -- a very prestigious award in my own mind, of course. He was incredibly gracious and fun to talk to. It's got to be very tough to talk to reporters after a long hard stage like this, and it's always refreshing when a rider makes you feel like you're not putting them out.
Botero is a former World Time Trial Champion and has won numerous stages at the big European Tours -- he's a rock star...pun intended, I suppose. This is his first race in the United States, and today's stage put him in the green sprinter's jersey...
...and the red climbing jersey...
...and the leader's yellow jersey. And he was wearing all of them at once, which I've never seen anyone do -- usually they take the previous one off as the next is put on! He was also a good interview, and was quite gracious.
Friday, April 4, 2008
The Baj
After spending a day with the Kelly Benefit Strategies - Medifast team earlier this week, I wrote a feature article on Andrew Bajadali that you can find here on cyclingnews.com
Had an exciting day out at the races here in Redlands again today -- actually in and around Beaumont, as the circuit race was there. Gotta get to transcribing notes now so as to write my reports...
Had an exciting day out at the races here in Redlands again today -- actually in and around Beaumont, as the circuit race was there. Gotta get to transcribing notes now so as to write my reports...
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Rare Ramblings from Redlands
The Redlands Cycling Classic started today here in Southern Cali, and I have a rare moment to do a quick blog entry. So, here goes...
I spent Tuesday with the men of Kelly Benefits Strategies - Medifast, the team of 2007 Redlands defending champ, Andy "The Baj" Bajadali. Rode with them on what was a 31-mile recovery ride for them. Thankfully, only one person ended up in the dirt temporarily, and it wasn't me...and wasn't because of me. Whew! This is super sprinter Alex Candelario, Brian Buccholz, and Dan Bowman chatting with Road magazine editor, Neal, after the ride.
I'm staying in host housing with the ValueAct Capital cycling team -- an incredible group of women who are being hosted by a terrific family headed by husband and wife who are both firefighters. This is Australian rider Hannah Banks (right) and the famous Martina Patella striking a pose with one of the team cars in the host house driveway.
Today was the Prologue, a 5km uphill time trial -- The Sun Time Trial -- in the streets of Redlands. This is the women's podium, left to right, Aaron's Katharine Carroll, and Team High Road's Mara Abbott and Kim Anderson. Mara scorched the course, finishing almost 30 seconds before anyone else.
And the men's podium, left to right, Toyota-United's Ben Day, Health Net-Maxxis' Rory Sutherland, and Ben's Canadian teammate, Dominique Rollin.
When a photographer asked the guys to all step on the top step of the podium for one last shot, New Zealander Day struck a more cozy pose than Sutherland had anticipated....Rory's exact words as shots were snapped: "This is just wrong."
And a puppy that I buddied up to for a few moments while waiting for race results. Awwww.....
Tomorrow is Stage 1, the Beaumont Circuit Race. It's gonna get crazy-hectic from here, so don't know that I'll be able to do any more posts until it's all over, but will get back to ya as soon as I can. Will at least try to post links to my daily reports on VeloNews.com, and here's today's.
And additionally, my latest article for USA Cycling's website was also posted today -- here.
I spent Tuesday with the men of Kelly Benefits Strategies - Medifast, the team of 2007 Redlands defending champ, Andy "The Baj" Bajadali. Rode with them on what was a 31-mile recovery ride for them. Thankfully, only one person ended up in the dirt temporarily, and it wasn't me...and wasn't because of me. Whew! This is super sprinter Alex Candelario, Brian Buccholz, and Dan Bowman chatting with Road magazine editor, Neal, after the ride.
I'm staying in host housing with the ValueAct Capital cycling team -- an incredible group of women who are being hosted by a terrific family headed by husband and wife who are both firefighters. This is Australian rider Hannah Banks (right) and the famous Martina Patella striking a pose with one of the team cars in the host house driveway.
Today was the Prologue, a 5km uphill time trial -- The Sun Time Trial -- in the streets of Redlands. This is the women's podium, left to right, Aaron's Katharine Carroll, and Team High Road's Mara Abbott and Kim Anderson. Mara scorched the course, finishing almost 30 seconds before anyone else.
And the men's podium, left to right, Toyota-United's Ben Day, Health Net-Maxxis' Rory Sutherland, and Ben's Canadian teammate, Dominique Rollin.
When a photographer asked the guys to all step on the top step of the podium for one last shot, New Zealander Day struck a more cozy pose than Sutherland had anticipated....Rory's exact words as shots were snapped: "This is just wrong."
And a puppy that I buddied up to for a few moments while waiting for race results. Awwww.....
Tomorrow is Stage 1, the Beaumont Circuit Race. It's gonna get crazy-hectic from here, so don't know that I'll be able to do any more posts until it's all over, but will get back to ya as soon as I can. Will at least try to post links to my daily reports on VeloNews.com, and here's today's.And additionally, my latest article for USA Cycling's website was also posted today -- here.
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