French Broad Cycling Classic

French Broad is a 3 day race with a flat time trial, hilly with climbs road race and a rolling criterium. I was glad to know that the race was a cat 1-3 womens race instead of a 3/4 race so that I could get more experience and learn the different tactics that are in the women 1/2 field. The first day was a time trial and I cut it close arriving to the race because there was a big accident on the interstate which equals a lot of traffic. Only having 20 minutes to warm up and get myself ready, and showing up to the line having a mechanical almost missing my start, I thought this TT was going to be disastrous. When I started I felt better than I thought I would. I finished 10th in the time trial and I was really shocked to finish that well.

The next day was a climbing road race. It had 3 climbs and hilly in between. I was very shocked to see at the line that there were 55 women! I was very happy to race in such a large number of girls, It has been a while when I have raced with that many gals so I was excited and nervous. The race was not too hard there were attacks in which every one was pulled back. The middle climb came an it was about 3-4 miles long. It was on a highway-type road so there were no switchbacks to gain speed or recover, it was just a no ending up hill. At this point there was no womens field left, we were all spread apart like peanut butter and sooner or later we all got picked up by the 50+ masters and the Cat 4 men. As all the women sat on the back of their race and got a free ride to the final climb, I was just trying to stay on my teammates wheel. We were flying though the mountains downhill for like 8 miles. The last climb came as an uphill finish, this climb was about 3 miles, I got 13th and yet again, I shocked myself with how I finished. I was very happy!

This was at the start of the road race with all of the women. Huge field!!!

The last day was the criterium, this time not as many women showed up like in the road race, but there was still a fair amount of women there. It had just finished raining at the start of our race and luckily the 2 main corners were dry. It was fast right at the start with attacks and counter attacks and very good team tactics. Halfway in the announcer called for a $100 prime and I am pretty sure everyone heard it because everyone was sprinting for the line as if it were the finish. Luckily there was no head butting in this race but it was an aggressive finish. On the last day, I surprised myself again and finished 12th in the womens 1,2,3. The start of the Womens 123 race:

I went to Moe's and enjoyed myself a Moo Moo Mr. Cow off the kids menu for a perfect job well done lunch for the weekend! Good job to the Kenda Kool Kids, Jackie Blackwell, Nicole Johnson, and not pictured but Catherine James!!

Taking the silver in the Time Trial

The Big day had finally come. The race of Truth. My legs felt tired but it was a good tired feeling, if thats even possible. I have been training for this certain event all year, we purchased a TT bike, wheels, and perfected my position. Previously in the year I have registered for more the 1o time trials to race and train and winning just about every single time trial. Coming into the event I did not set hight goals for myself because it was my first Nationals and I did not want to disappoint myself. I was hoping to at least get on the podium for the Time Trial.

After I warmed up on my trainer I went to ride on the road for a little bit because I had about 15 minuted to spare before my start. It turns out that the officials want you to be at the start about 10 minutes early anyways. I roll up to the start line, and the officials tell me I have about 2 minutes until I start. It was a bit chaotic for my start.

When I started my time trial, I felt really really good. I passed about 10-15 girls who started in front of me, and I was really happy when I passed the girls. I crossed the line and I had the new fastest time but there were also about 10 other girls who had not finished yet, so I wasnt sure where I finished.
This is the finish:



We had to wait a nerve racking hour and a half for results to be posted. And the offical results were:

1. Jacqueline Denny 42:23.30 Team Kenda
2. Addyson Albershardt 42:32.70 Team Kenda
3. Zoe Frazier 42:36.50 Frazier Cycling
4. Alexis Ryan 42:50.80 The TEAM SoCalCross
5. Bailey Semian 43:29.20 Chester County Cycling

Traveling to Beautiful Bend, OR

We woke up at 4am for a 24hr day of traveling, no kidding, it was 24 hours! The first flight went from Charlotte to Phoenix, it was 4 hours in a plane and there was a lot of turbulence so everything was shaky. We arrived in Phoenix at 9 am, and because of the time differences we were ready to eat lunch while everyone else was enjoying their breakfast. We had 20 minutes to chow down on out whoppers from Burger King until we got on to the next flight that left from Phoenix to Portland. The Portland flight was not as long as the first flight, only 2 hours this time. Unfortunately we had an older, junky plane with a very small place to nap in. We arrived in the Portland airport at 1 pm and it was empty as if Lance Armstrong came to town and everyone left to go see him. Right when we landed, I knew this was going to be a culture shock. We took a shuttle to get a car rental and the kind driver, by the way her name was Cher, held our bikes while driving.



We got dropped off at the car rental place thanks to Cher, and we picked up out Dodge Pick up truck. It seated 6 people!! This thing was huge!! We left Portland for a 3.5 hour scenic drive through the evergreen christmas tree forest passing mountains that still had snow. After leaving the mountains the terrain turned into a desert, but it was only 50 degrees. Huge thunderstorms pop up all the time:




When we arrived we had dinner and started putting the bikes together. This is going to be an AMAZING and unforgetable trip. The best part of the day was flying over the Grand Cannon and being able to see in person how huge it really was! Now we are off to get groceries from Trader Joes!!!

Today is the Day!

Today is my very first blog. Right now I just finished packing my bags for Bend,OR. Where I will be racing 15-16 Nationals and competing to be national champion against 20+ other girls. This will be my first attempt at nationals and I couldn't be more excited! My dad, my coach (Robin Farina) and I have been planning for this race since the beginning of the year and we are coming down to the very last days of preparation then its, "Go time"!!

We leave Saturday morning at 4am. After stopping once in Phoenix, AZ, we will be arriving in Portland around 12-1 pm. After we get to Portland we a have a 3.5 hour scenic drive through Oregon. We are renting a pick up truck so that there will be plenty of room for all of the luggage and bike cases.

Other than packing my bags, I have been resting, stretching, and rolling out my muscles with my foam roller. I've been reading my summer book for school. It's called "Snow falling on Cedars". I have also unpacked my bags from 1.5 week of racing and training in Johnson City, TN, Greenville, SC, and Salisbury NC. And did a major cleaning in my room.

Tomorrow I am going to spend the day with my mom. We will be going to have lunch and get manicures and pedicures before I leave. Always a tradition before a big race!

The first picture is a race in downtown Salisbury on Friday. I am on the line with my teammate Jackie Blackwell. The course was technical and it was brutally hot out, in the upper 90s.

The second picture was my brothers car with all of my stuff stacked to the very top heading to Greenville, SC. I fit 2 bikes and 3 sets of wheels with my luggage and food all in the back of his car. Crazy!

Look for more posts on my journey to Bend, OR!