Amanda Miller

Cascade, Nationals, and everything in between

This blog has obviously been lacking updates. I have been unmotivated to write blog entries. I apologize to all you committed readers . Anyway, I’ll try to write about what’s been going on since my last post.

July 21-26 was the Cascade Cycling Classic. The courses were great. It was a fun race, but extremely hot.

Stage 1: Flat, boring, and hot. Our sprinter and guest rider, Kirsty Broun, took the green jersey with sprint points and finished 6th on the stage.

Stage 2: Hot. Anne was in a well-represented break for a majority of the break, so the race was boring until the final climb. We caught the break-away on the last 10km climb. My job for the day was done once we hit the final climb. I was told to take it easy going up it to save my legs for the rest of the week. So I did.

Stage 3: Redemption. Finally, my legs started to come around. The time trial course was mostly the same course that would be used to Nationals, so I wanted to test it out. I pulled off a decent result. Jessica won the TT, which was pretty awesome!

Stage 4: My legs felt awesome. TIBCO attacked essentially from the gun. As you can see, the race started on a climb. There was a select group that made it over the top together ahead of the main field. The only team not represent was Webcor. Anne made the break. The group pulled away from us and had quite a big time gap on us. Webcor came to the front and showed us why they are truley one of the top teams in the nation. Very impressive team work! The break was caught. Attacks happened, but nothing stuck. The final climb took it’s toll on the group and whittled down the numbers. I was able to make it into the 2nd chase group. I watched Evie Stevens ride away from everyone, again.
Stage 5: Whicked fast! This stage was a flat criterium. It had a few technical turns, and two really long straight-aways. The pace was high and the group was strung out the entire time. I won a prime. So did Toni. Our sprinter got 3rd place after an awesome leadout by Anne. It was a fun race.

Stage 6: Hot again. This course was the same as the nationals road race course, so everyone was testing the waters. Attacks happened, but nothing stuck. The race came down to a select group that ended up spliting up in various parts of the course. Anne got 4th place on the day.

I got to spend some time in Bend. It’s a pretty cool area. Lots of neat scenery! Here’s some photos from a drive.

Fast forward a few days to Elite Nationals.

July 30 was the road race. Like I said, it was the same course as the last day of Cascade. It was an early race so the temperature wasn’t a huge factor. Amber Rais of TIBCO was off the front for 60km of the race. I flatted on the 2nd lap going up the feed zone climb. Neutral support was up with Amber and we didn’t have a team car in the caravan. Lucky for me, Webcor stopped and gave me a wheel (THANKS SO MUCH DAVE!) I chased for 1/2 a lap. I came close to catching them, but then they decided to heat things up and chase down Amber. So, I rode the rest of the lap to the feed zone and called it quits. Didn’t see any point in trying to chase back on any longer. I was only going to dig myself into a hole for the time trial. I don’t know how the race played out exactly. But once Amber was caught, there was a break. My coach, Meredith Miller of TIBCO, was in it. From my understanding, she attacked with 2km to go and stuck it to win the National title – SWEET! Congrats again Meredith!

July 31 was the time trial. It was 35km long. The course was the same as the Cascade TT plus a 10km loop. It was a hard race for sure. I couldn’t really find a rhythm and wasn’t motivated at all during the TT. Somehow I pulled off 20th though (but I was 4minutes behind the winner). My teammate Jessica Phillips won the TT. AWESOME!!!! She is absolutely flying this year!

Now I’m in Iowa. My friends got married this weekend and I got to play dress up

Congrats Claire and Brady!!!

Yes, this really is me.

Next up is Downer’s Grove this coming weekend. After that, it’s back to Colorado for a few weeks. Then Gateway Cup in St. Louis. The season is starting to wind down. Then I’ll have more time to blog (about nothing) . Thanks for checking in!!
-A

Fitchburg, Utah, etc.

Sorry for the lack of post. After Fitchburg, I was super busy and didn’t find the time or energy to finish my race recaps.

Our guest rider, Evelyn Stevens, maintained her lead on the last day of Fitchburg. It was a criterium, so all we really had to do was make sure major threats didn’t go up the road. We controlled the race pretty well and it came down to a sprint finish. It was really awesome to be working for the yellow jersey. After Fitchburg was over, I fly back to Colorado. I hadn’t been “home” for a month. It was nice to be back in town and not living out of a suit case. The first week I was back, I worked everyday. Time to play catch up .

The second week I spent in Snowbird, Utah at the Specialized Dealer Show. I got to see all the new 2010 product. It’s pretty freakin’ awesome! Specialized really stepped it up this year (not that they were lacking, but 2010 is going to knock your socks off).

Also, I am now riding a 2010 Specialized Amira prototype frame. It is sweet! The Amira is essentially going to be the women’s Tarmac. Super stiff and light weight. I’ll write about it more another day.

While in Utah, I attended classes. When I wasn’t in class, I was riding, of course. I rode the Amira one day while I was there. Being at a ski resort, our riding options were pretty limited. So one day I headed 14km down the mountain, turned around, and rode back up. I kept going passed where I started and went until the road ended at a campground. Snowbird sits at around 8500feet. Not sure what I climbed up to, but the views were AMAZING! I spent a majority of my time riding the mountain bike trails. Why? Well, I needed a break from the road bike and the trails weren’t as limited as the road riding. One day I spent some time exploring the high country. This little taste of mountain biking is making me want to hop on the mountain bike again SOON! I demoed at 2010 S-Works Era (comparable to the Epic) – amazing bike. I also rode the new S-Works 29er. Sweet ride, but 29er’s aren’t for me. I do like the new SRAM XX groupo though! Here’s some pictures, because my words won’t do any justice (not that pictures really will either…but I’ll try ).

My ride for the week – 2009 S-Works Safire. I raced this bike a few times last fall. Super fun bike!

Ah…the views! I wanna go up there! And yes, I found a way!

Looking back down the valley at the resort.

Most of the trails I rode were double track or fire roads, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun or a work out!
The view from the pass I rode up on my exploring day. Breath taking!

Ya…all smiles!

The tunnel I came out of.

So where am I now? I am in Bend, Oregon at the Cascade Cycling Classic. I’ll be here until August 1st. Elite Road Nationals is also here in Bend. I’ll try to post race re-caps as often as possible. As for now, here’s a few pictures of Oregon.

It’s pretty here too.

The newest addition to Black Betty…Miss Piggy.

And that’s a wrap. Check back for race reports soon! Good night!
-A

Fitchburg Road Race (Stage 3)

Today’s stage was a 105km road race. It was 6 laps of an 18km loop. We started and finished in different places. The start was downhill, and the rest of the lap was essentially all downhill until the last 2km climb up to the finish. The sun was out, and it was a beautiful day minus the wind. Things were relatively calm throughout the race. We (LipSmacker) tried to be aggressive and threw down some attacks to make other teams work. Coming into today’s stage, our rider Evelyn Stevens was 1st place by 1 second over Team Type 1’s Alison Powers. So we definitely had our work cut out for us. None of the breaks were sticking due to the nature of the course and the wind. With 2 laps to go, Toni got off the front with 3 other riders. This group quickly gained quite a bit of time on us. At one point, they had 2 minutes. Sweet! There was a bit of mis-communication that happened about who was in the break. The lead rider in the break was 1:22 down in G.C. At the top of the climb on the last lap, 8 riders put a gap on the rest of the field. By this point, the field wasn’t any bigger than 40 riders. The 8 rider group included some key G.C. riders, including Evelyn. She was the only LipSmacker rider though, so Jessica, Anne, and I pushed the pace to close the gap. Anne was 10 seconds down on 1st place G.C. coming into today’s stage. Once we finally made contact, we realized the group had caught 3 of the 4 riders from the break. Andrea Dvorak of Colavita was still up the road. She was the rider 1:22 back from the lead in G.C. So Jessica, Toni, and I went to the front and drilled it to decrease the gap. Once we hit the final 2km to the finish, we could see the rider up the road. I had started to fade a ways before the 2km sign. Fortunately, Anne and Evelyn were still in the group. I lost contact once we hit the climb and just rode in. Evelyn pulled off 2nd place!! Andrea Dvorak won the stage. Not sure of the final time gap that she had on the field though. Anne place in the top 10 as well. I haven’t seen final results yet. But Evelyn is still in the yellow jersey, and won a 5 second time bonus for 2nd place in the stage. Sweet!! This has been an awesome race for us as a team. It’s really cool to be able to do all this team work and see results. Tomorrow is a 25mile criterium, roughly an hour long. More to come afterwards!! Thanks for reading! Bonne nuit!
-A

Fitchburg Circuit Race (Stage 2)

Today’s stage was a 55km circuit race. Our race was 11 laps of the 5km (3.1mi) circuit. The course wasn’t too technical. It seemed like most of it was downhill, except for the finish. The finish was a pretty significant hill. The first 100meters of the hill were big-ringable. Then it flattened out some. The last 200meters were pretty steap and not as big-ringable. Our goal for the day was to move Evelyn up in the G.C. Coming into the stage she was 4 seconds down from the lead. We were very aggressive throughout the race. All of us attacked. The lead group was whittled down to 54 riders by the end. We started with 113 riders. No attacks were able to stay on this course. The wind and the downhill were too big of a factor. On the last lap, Jeannie Longo pushed the pace over the hill and a small group got off the front. Evelyn was in it. It didn’t stick, as ValueAct and some other riders pulled it back. We caught them on the straight-away before the right hand turn up the hill. I was sitting 4th wheel and as I passed Evelyn, told her to hop on. Colavita’s Tina Pic jumped hard at the base of the hill. I was 2nd, but there was no way I could close that gap. I gave it my all until I could barely turn over the pedals. I hit the 200meter sign and didn’t think anyone was going to come around me. I tried to dig deep but had nothing left. Soon enough, I saw Evelyn and Jen McRae coming around me, along with quite a few other riders. Evelyn got 3rd, taking a 3 second time bonus. Also, the lead 3 riders had a gap on the rest of the field, and the officials gave them a 2 second gap. This gave Evelyn 5 seconds ahead of the leader. So now she is in the yellow jersey. AWESOME! Anne is still 3rd, just 10 seconds down. I came across the line for 13th place and moved up in G.C. to 19th. We have 4 riders in the top 10 now. Everyone rode super well today. We came in with a plan and goal, executed it perfectly, and walked away with our desired results . Tomorrow is a big day. We are all going to have to race hard and smart. It’s a 67 mile road race. Until then!! Thanks for reading!
-A

Fitchburg TT (Stage 1)

We woke up to thunder showers this morning. It’s been raining off an on since we arrived yesterday afternoon. Still haven’t seen the sun. My start time for the TT wasn’t until 1:40pm. We headed off to the course just before 11:00am. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped and the pavement was dry. Sweet! It sprinkled off and on while I was warming up, but nothing significant. About 20minutes before my start, fog started to move in. It was pretty thick! Visibility was really bad – maybe 200meters or so. I got in a pretty good warm up (or so I thought). I was on the rollers for 45minutes and felt that my legs were loosened up. I headed to the start pretty early (7 minutes) just in case. I didn’t want to show up with 15 seconds to spare like Nature Valley. Stood around, got my bike checked, and soon enough I was being held on the ramp for the start. Off I went. The course was rolling. Everything was big-ringable. The hills weren’t steep by any means, just gradual. There were some pretty fast downhill sections. The pavement was rough in spots. Most of the course was blocked by the wind from the trees. It was a beautiful course, even though I couldn’t see much of it. We drove it last night so I knew what it looked like without the fog J. I never found my rhythm during the TT. I couldn’t get comfortable. I forgot to tilt my saddle up a little and kept sliding way forward on it. But I just couldn’t find the right gear to push. My mind was all over the place. I kept thinking about the course, dodging potholes and rough sections, thinking about how I couldn’t get into the rhythm. I was focused on my breathing, but couldn’t push my legs hard enough. I never felt the burn. Anyway, I finished with a 21:02:91 in 21st place. We put 4 of our 8 riders in the top 11…SWEET! Our guest rider Evelyn Stevens, finished 2nd just 4 seconds off Alison Powers lead. Anne finished 3rd, Carla 7th, and Jessica 11th. This is super awesome. We are all excited to race the next 3 days. There’s no internet at our host house, so I’ll try and hop into a coffee shop with updates. If not, I’ll be keeping a journal on my computer and upload this later. Thanks for reading!

-A

Tour of America’s Dairyland

A quick update for now. Toni, Kate, and I are hanging out at a sweet coffee shop in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Internet (and technology in general) has been pretty chaotic lately. So sorry for the lack of updates.

We are still alive and kicking. Rubber side has been kept down. We’ve pulled off some good results and made some money.

I’ll be racing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The next two days are rest/riding days. I haven’t been racing a whole lot here as I don’t want to fry myself before Fitchburg, Cascade, and Nationals. I’ve had a pretty intense first half of the season as it is. So that’s why I took 2 days and the rest day off from racing, raced today, and will take the next two days off from racing

I’ll try to write more race recaps later. Just wanted to check in for now Thanks for stopping in!

Blue Mounds Road Race

Thursday was the Tour of America’s Dairyland Blue Mounds Road Race. The course is the 2016 purposed Olympic road course. It’s a pretty challenging course. Here’s the profile.

The first part of the race was neutral down “Blue Mounds” hill. After that it was relatively flat with some quick rollers and a few long descents. The climbing didn’t really start until about mile 8 as you can see from the profile. After that, it flattened out some more. It wasn’t until the feed zone hill was pretty brutal. Not sure how long it was, but it seemed to go on forever. It started out steep and then backed off. The women’s pro/1/2/3 did two 22 mile laps. The end of the race finished going back up “Blue Mounds” hill. It was a 1km climb with a pretty steep gradient. It leveled off at the finish for the last 200meters.

Our race was off at 9:15am. There were about 25 girls starting the race. I had one teammate – Kate Ross in the race. Team BH, Vanderkitten, Verducci-Breakaway, and Kenda Tire had multiple girls in the field as well. The first part of the race was pretty tame. A few girls threw down some attacks. We were trying to split the field up some. It definitely would have helped to pre-ride the course so we knew what was coming. The first climb came. I set tempo up it trying to split things up. We reached the top and there were 8 other girls left. After some slight hesitation, we all go organized and started rolling turns. Once to the feed zone hill, I set tempo up it again, hoping to shed a few of the riders. I got to the top and looked back to see Devon Haskell of Team BH on my wheel. We put the pressure on and created a gap. We stayed away for most of the 2nd lap, but got caught again before the last time up the feed zone hill. When the chase group caught us, we all sat up and spun out a bit. Things split up again on the last time up the feed zone hill. There were 4 of us together at the top. We reached the bottom of the climb together. Devon set pace up the first part of the climb. We dropped the other two riders mid-way through. At about the 200meter sign, I attacked and held off for the win. Tour of America’s Dairyland is a “stage race”. There is an overall leader’s jersey and the whole works. Here’s some pictures from the day.

Podium shot. I got to chug some of the best chocolate milk I’ve ever had!

Way too many jerseys on for as hot of a day it was. And jeans….what!?

The course was awesome. One of the best I’ve done in the midwest. The women’s race could have been a bit longer though. The men pro/1/2 did 88miles, and we did 44miles. 66miles seemed like a happy medium. Otherwise, it was a great race and I had a blast. The weather added to the grueling factor of this race. It was 110% humidity. I am not used to such thick air. On the first lap, I was seriously concerned about how it was going to affect my race. Definitely wasn’t getting enough oxygen and didn’t feel like I could push myself as hard as I wanted to. Once I found the rythym, things got easier.

Anyway, that’s all for now. More updates to come!
-A

Stillwater Criterium

Anne, Kacey, Toni and I left the host house early for a warm-up. We rode to the course from there. I was starting to get a bit worried, because the ride was longer than I thought it was going to be. It was beautiful out though. A slight breeze, but warm temperatures and clear skies.

Stillwater is one of my favorite races. The hill is awesome. Part of the reason it is so cool is because of the spectators. It makes going up the hill 14 times a lot easier when you have so much encouragement.

I got to start the day in the white jersey for best young rider. Alexis Rhodes was the actual leader though, by 1:32. She was also leading the queen of the mountain competition, which takes precedence over the white jersey. Anyway, being a jersey wearer, I got to start on the front line! Sweet! Starting position is really key for this race. They start you at the bottom of Chillkoot Hill. It’s a mess the first lap and you end up having to navigate your way through riders and spectators.

Anyway, I made it up the hill in the first 5 and held that for the first lap. The 2nd lap, Kristin Armstrong drilled it and created a gap. Two riders went with her – Shelly Olds (PROMAN) and Andrea Dvorak (Colavita). I was in the chase group along with my teammate Anne. Our group whittled down to 8 riders by the time the race was over. On the last lap, Anne told me to move up into position. I came into the last two sweeping corners 4th wheel. I made sure not to open up a gap because I knew things would light up at the bottom of the hill. I rode tempo behind a few girls at the bottom. Once it got closer to the top, I gave it my all. Kat Cheetley of Colavita was next to me. I could see her out of the corner of my eye and I just kept going. I came across the line 4th place, 14 seconds behind Kristin Armstrong. This was by far the best race I’ve ever had.

After the race, I learned I had moved into the lead for the white jersey. I won by 5 seconds. It was a close race. The young rider jersey wasn’t a goal for the team when we started the race. Anne was our G.C. rider and ended up moving into 5th place overall, just 1minute and 11 seconds behind Kristin Armstrong. I moved into 9th place overall, 1minute 57seconds down from the lead. Our guest rider Edwige Pitel finished 14th, 4minutes and 43seconds down from Kristin. LipSmacker had 3 riders in the top 15. It was a great result for us. We finished 2nd in the team G.C.!

Now I’m in Wisconsin for the Tour of America’s Dairyland. I won’t be doing all of the races. Tomorrow is the start. It’s the Blue Mounds road race. The course is the purposed 2016 Olympic course. Should be a good time. That’s all for now!
-A

Mankato Road Race

Another beautiful day in Minnesota. We lined up for a start time of 1:50. It was perfect riding weather. Sunny, a slight breeze, and mild temperatures. Plan of the day was to keep Anne in 4th and possibly move her up in the G.C.

The racing didn’t start for quite a ways into the 92mi stage. After the first two sprint points, TIBCO started throwing down some attacks. Our guest rider Jessica Phillips was in a break for a long time with 3 other riders. When they were caught, I was near the front and ready for the counter. Meredith Miller of TIBCO countered, and I latched onto her wheel. The break didn’t stick. There was another counter. Eventually 4 riders flew up the road. The break included Rhodes, Bausch, Miller, and Benjamin. No one wanted to chase. A little later on, two riders bridged to the break. The riders were Evans and Dillon. Most of these riders were quite a ways down on the G.C., but top G.C. riders needed to keep an eye on them. The break eventually grew to almost 4 minutes! Still, no organized chase. Everyone was trying to make Kristin Armstrong do the work. Once again, Kristin proved why she is truley one of the best riders out there. Not only is she super strong, but she’s super smart. At the end of the day, Kristin still leads the G.C. by 11 seconds.

We hit the finishing circuits and the lead group quickly whittled it’s way down to 20 riders or so. I managed to stay with the group until the last lap up the hill. I chased as hard as I could, but I was cooked. Managed to come across the line 25th place. Anne was 23rd. Alexis Rhodes ran away with the race. Very impressive! Unfortunately, she was caught in a crash during the Cannon Falls race and moved back to 40th in G.C. Her win during the Mankato road race moved her up to 2nd in G.C. She won the stage, collected the climber’s jersey, and also is in the young rider’s jersey. I am 1:32 down from the lead in the young rider competition. Today at Stillwater, I get to start in the white jersey since Alexis is starting in the climber’s jersey.

One more stage to go. It’s the hardest stage (in my mind). Nothing like ending a 6-stage stage race with a brutal criterium . More to come later!
-A

Uptown Minneapolis Criterium

Today’s crit was in uptown Minneapolis. It was a pretty sweet course. A few long straight-aways, and a couple good corners. Not to mention, it was FLAT. The course was fun, but the race was pretty much just a speed workout. We averaged nearly 27mph.

So about my race: I started near the back. It took me quite awhile to finally move up into the top 30. But I made it, safely. Our goal for the day was to ride safe and make sure Anne didn’t get into any trouble. She is our top rider in 4th, and we are hoping to keep her there or move her up in the next two days. Anyway, I followed Anne’s wheel around for a lot of the race. Avoided some sketchy riders. Had some fun figuring out the right lines in corners. The last couple laps came and I moved closer to the front. I never did make to the top 10 in this race. Anyway, TIBCO pulled off the win with Brooke Miller showing us all how to sprint. There weren’t any changes in the G.C. on our team. I pulled off 23rd place in the crit.

Today’s stage is a hard one. It’s a 92mile road race. The finishing circuit is extremely hard after a long day in the saddle. It has a good climb in it. We do 4 circuits. More to come later! Thanks for reading!
-A