Amanda Miller

Whitefish Bay Classic (Super Week Day 8)

8 days of racing in the past 9 days is finally over. I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. Today was the last crit of the series. It was relatively technical with two sketchier corners. I think everyone was pretty tired from the past few days of racing. Originally there was some talk of a mid-race break away attempt. But by the time it was all over and discussed, the entire field knew about it so there was no way it would work. A few people attacked, and my break-away partner from the other day was off the front for a few laps. Nothing stuck though. The pace stayed somewhat high – 22.7mph. I still didn’t feel comfortable with the pack. I tried to stay near the front, but kept getting swarmed around. I just don’t like it when 3 people ride up on both sides of me heading into a corner. I don’t know if there were any wrecks in our race or not. There were several close calls though. The end of the race came and I made my way to the front with 3 laps to go. On the 2nd to last lap I was swarmed around again and was at the back of the pack. On the last lap I decided I was just going to go to the front and pull. Who cares if it wastes energy, but I don’t want to crash. My strategy played off. I was able to grab the wheel of whoever attacked, I think it was the overall wheel. In the last corner I was sort of screwed because I had to take the very inside and it was pretty rough. The sprint started from the corner and it was one of the longest sprints of the series. I ran out of gears and started spinning pretty fast at 36mph. I came across 2nd, barely. I knew the overall leader had first, but I had to throw my bike pretty hard to get 2nd. I didn’t even know there was someone on my left until I saw there wheel at the finish line. The 2nd place finish bumped me up to 4th overall. Not what my goal was coming into the race, but oh well. It was a good time and I’ll definitely try to squeeze it in next year. One thing I don’t understand is why not very many Iowa cyclists show up to this. It was only a 4 1/2 hour drive from the one of the Southern most parts of the state. I realize RAGBRAI was going on the same week. But Super Week lasts for 3 weeks or something like that. The competition is amazing. The races are the best organized I’ve been to. The crowds are huge. The races are long. What else could you ask for? That’s all I have for now. I’m in the process of getting some pictures posted. Leaving for Colorado Saturday. Have a good day!
-A

Whitefish Bay Classic (Super Week Day 8)

8 days of racing in the past 9 days is finally over. I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. Today was the last crit of the series. It was relatively technical with two sketchier corners. I think everyone was pretty tired from the past few days of racing. Originally there was some talk of a mid-race break away attempt. But by the time it was all over and discussed, the entire field knew about it so there was no way it would work. A few people attacked, and my break-away partner from the other day was off the front for a few laps. Nothing stuck though. The pace stayed somewhat high – 22.7mph. I still didn’t feel comfortable with the pack. I tried to stay near the front, but kept getting swarmed around. I just don’t like it when 3 people ride up on both sides of me heading into a corner. I don’t know if there were any wrecks in our race or not. There were several close calls though. The end of the race came and I made my way to the front with 3 laps to go. On the 2nd to last lap I was swarmed around again and was at the back of the pack. On the last lap I decided I was just going to go to the front and pull. Who cares if it wastes energy, but I don’t want to crash. My strategy played off. I was able to grab the wheel of whoever attacked, I think it was the overall wheel. In the last corner I was sort of screwed because I had to take the very inside and it was pretty rough. The sprint started from the corner and it was one of the longest sprints of the series. I ran out of gears and started spinning pretty fast at 36mph. I came across 2nd, barely. I knew the overall leader had first, but I had to throw my bike pretty hard to get 2nd. I didn’t even know there was someone on my left until I saw there wheel at the finish line. The 2nd place finish bumped me up to 4th overall. Not what my goal was coming into the race, but oh well. It was a good time and I’ll definitely try to squeeze it in next year. One thing I don’t understand is why not very many Iowa cyclists show up to this. It was only a 4 1/2 hour drive from the one of the Southern most parts of the state. I realize RAGBRAI was going on the same week. But Super Week lasts for 3 weeks or something like that. The competition is amazing. The races are the best organized I’ve been to. The crowds are huge. The races are long. What else could you ask for? That’s all I have for now. I’m in the process of getting some pictures posted. Leaving for Colorado Saturday. Have a good day!
-A

Wheel & Sprocket Brewers Hill Criterium (Super Week Day 7)

It was a bit chilly out today. I was cold in just a jersey and shorts before I started my warm up. The course was a square. The start/finish was on a slight incline (aka power hill). Then it was a left turn to a flat section, another left turn to a downhill, another left turn to a flat section, and then a left turn back to the hill. Pretty boring. And to make things worse, the course was bumpy. I still don’t feel comfortable with the group. There was a crash before we got the first lap in. Not sure what happened. A few girls bumped into each other from the sounds of it. I was being very conservative during the race. They didn’t really do much in the way of primes this race, just two towards the end. This made the race was pretty uneventful. We averaged about 20.5mph. A few people tried some attacks but nothing stuck. If I would have been smarter, I would have attacked, but I didn’t know what my legs could handle after yesterdays race. So anyway, the last few laps came. I had a great position with 3 laps to go. The girls in front of me sat up and the rest of the pack game around us…bummer. There goes my spot! So I fought my way back up with one lap to go. Still not in a great spot but what can you do. Rode the last lap trying to not crash. Succeeded in not crashing. Sprinted up the hill for 7th place. Felt like I could have done a lot better but had really crappy positioning. Live and learn. I’ve realized top 3 overall is a little out of reach for me. I’m going to settle on maintaining my 5th place. 4th place is ahead by 1 point. I guess we will see what tomorrow brings. My legs feel great after today. The race today sort of loosened them up. That’s all for now. I probably won’t post until Monday because it’s going to be a long drive home tomorrow night. Have a good one and stay safe!
-A

Wheel & Sprocket Brewers Hill Criterium (Super Week Day 7)

It was a bit chilly out today. I was cold in just a jersey and shorts before I started my warm up. The course was a square. The start/finish was on a slight incline (aka power hill). Then it was a left turn to a flat section, another left turn to a downhill, another left turn to a flat section, and then a left turn back to the hill. Pretty boring. And to make things worse, the course was bumpy. I still don’t feel comfortable with the group. There was a crash before we got the first lap in. Not sure what happened. A few girls bumped into each other from the sounds of it. I was being very conservative during the race. They didn’t really do much in the way of primes this race, just two towards the end. This made the race was pretty uneventful. We averaged about 20.5mph. A few people tried some attacks but nothing stuck. If I would have been smarter, I would have attacked, but I didn’t know what my legs could handle after yesterdays race. So anyway, the last few laps came. I had a great position with 3 laps to go. The girls in front of me sat up and the rest of the pack game around us…bummer. There goes my spot! So I fought my way back up with one lap to go. Still not in a great spot but what can you do. Rode the last lap trying to not crash. Succeeded in not crashing. Sprinted up the hill for 7th place. Felt like I could have done a lot better but had really crappy positioning. Live and learn. I’ve realized top 3 overall is a little out of reach for me. I’m going to settle on maintaining my 5th place. 4th place is ahead by 1 point. I guess we will see what tomorrow brings. My legs feel great after today. The race today sort of loosened them up. That’s all for now. I probably won’t post until Monday because it’s going to be a long drive home tomorrow night. Have a good one and stay safe!
-A

Chase Food Folks and Spokes (Super Week Day 6)

Fortunately it didn’t rain today. It was actually quite pleasant out. Relatively cool with a slight breeze. Being it’s the start of the weekend, a few new faces showed up for today’s race. I recognized one, but didn’t know any of the others. Today’s race was 30miles (or 48 laps) on a 0.6 mile course. It wasn’t too tricky. The corners were wide enough that you could pedal through all of them. The back stretch was a little rough but nothing too bad.

The race started off at a decent pace. I led the first lap and tried to push it hard. We didn’t get a pre-lap in before it started so I wanted to be the first one through all the corners to choose my line. A few attacks went and they were chased down. Then suddenly one stuck. Not sure how or why really. It included the overall leader from Flatlandia (also the girl who I recognized from Peoria), a girl from Kenda, and a girl from ABD. They had quite a gap on us – 20 or 30 seconds. Once we finally got a little bit organized (about 5 or 6 of us), the gap started to close. Then it started to grow. I later found out that lapped riders were helping the break-away…WTF? Some how or another I got pushed to the back for a few laps. I probably let myself because I was getting fed up that no one would help the small group of us trying to chase down the break.

After sitting in the back a few laps I decided it was too sketchy. There was so many close calls it was scary! I made my way to the front to take a pull. Once I did that, a girl game around me attacking. Right as she attacked I said “Let’s not attack. Let’s get organized.” or something to that effect. Not sure why I said it, but I did. I latched on to her wheel and the next thing I know we had a gap. We started pushing the pace and our gap increased. Both of us were tired and doubting our capabilities. I tried to keep the spirits high and said we could do it. The gap to the leaders started to shrink. Before we knew it they were within reaching distance. I think we finally got them in 5 laps. Those were definitely the longest and hardest five laps of my cycling career so far. So I did it. I finally made the break (well, bridge to it anyway). I can’t even remember how many laps we had left. I think I finally came to when there were 9 laps to go. I was pretty trashed after the bridge.

The break worked well together. We eventually caught the pack but decided not to lap them because it was closing in on the last two laps and the sprint would have been really sketchy. The ABD girl attacked with 2 to go but we closed it in a lap. I found my wheel on the back stretch only to be boxed in on the last corner. Bummer! Ah well, I still pulled off a 3rd place finish. I’m happy with that, especially after how yesterday went for me. Didn’t go for any primes today, probably because most of them were in the last 10 laps and for the field only. I do remember one prime being done right as we were getting ready to catch the break. Lucky for us, they didn’t sprint for it. The 3rd place finish moved me up to 5th overall. I don’t think first place is reachable, but maybe 2nd.

I’ve heard rumors that tomorrows course has a decent sized hill in it. I’m looking forward to that. Two more days left. I’ll post an update tomorrow night. Have a good evening!
-A

Chase Food Folks and Spokes (Super Week Day 6)

Fortunately it didn’t rain today. It was actually quite pleasant out. Relatively cool with a slight breeze. Being it’s the start of the weekend, a few new faces showed up for today’s race. I recognized one, but didn’t know any of the others. Today’s race was 30miles (or 48 laps) on a 0.6 mile course. It wasn’t too tricky. The corners were wide enough that you could pedal through all of them. The back stretch was a little rough but nothing too bad.

The race started off at a decent pace. I led the first lap and tried to push it hard. We didn’t get a pre-lap in before it started so I wanted to be the first one through all the corners to choose my line. A few attacks went and they were chased down. Then suddenly one stuck. Not sure how or why really. It included the overall leader from Flatlandia (also the girl who I recognized from Peoria), a girl from Kenda, and a girl from ABD. They had quite a gap on us – 20 or 30 seconds. Once we finally got a little bit organized (about 5 or 6 of us), the gap started to close. Then it started to grow. I later found out that lapped riders were helping the break-away…WTF? Some how or another I got pushed to the back for a few laps. I probably let myself because I was getting fed up that no one would help the small group of us trying to chase down the break.

After sitting in the back a few laps I decided it was too sketchy. There was so many close calls it was scary! I made my way to the front to take a pull. Once I did that, a girl game around me attacking. Right as she attacked I said “Let’s not attack. Let’s get organized.” or something to that effect. Not sure why I said it, but I did. I latched on to her wheel and the next thing I know we had a gap. We started pushing the pace and our gap increased. Both of us were tired and doubting our capabilities. I tried to keep the spirits high and said we could do it. The gap to the leaders started to shrink. Before we knew it they were within reaching distance. I think we finally got them in 5 laps. Those were definitely the longest and hardest five laps of my cycling career so far. So I did it. I finally made the break (well, bridge to it anyway). I can’t even remember how many laps we had left. I think I finally came to when there were 9 laps to go. I was pretty trashed after the bridge.

The break worked well together. We eventually caught the pack but decided not to lap them because it was closing in on the last two laps and the sprint would have been really sketchy. The ABD girl attacked with 2 to go but we closed it in a lap. I found my wheel on the back stretch only to be boxed in on the last corner. Bummer! Ah well, I still pulled off a 3rd place finish. I’m happy with that, especially after how yesterday went for me. Didn’t go for any primes today, probably because most of them were in the last 10 laps and for the field only. I do remember one prime being done right as we were getting ready to catch the break. Lucky for us, they didn’t sprint for it. The 3rd place finish moved me up to 5th overall. I don’t think first place is reachable, but maybe 2nd.

I’ve heard rumors that tomorrows course has a decent sized hill in it. I’m looking forward to that. Two more days left. I’ll post an update tomorrow night. Have a good evening!
-A

PCW Cycling Heritage Square Criterium (Super Week Day 5)

I woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday. The weather wasn’t looking so hot though. The race went underway around noon. It was cloudy and sprinkled a few drops at the start. Then it cleared up for a while and the sun even came out. I definitely felt good during the race. Another girl took off hard from the beginning. I followed. We got a gap and they called a prime for the first lap. $10 and some tri socks was up for grabs. I went for it and succeeded. A little later on I went for another prime, got a gap and attempted a break away with 2 others. Nothing stuck. Seven laps to go I went for another prime and got it. A total of $40 in primes. Two laps to go the skies opened up and it poured. Crap! Made it to the top five on last lap. Coming into the last corner the girl in front of me went down. I almost saved it but a girl came up on my right and we both went into the curb. Got up on my feet fast and took off. Nothing broken on the bike or body, just a little scratch on my elbow. Ended up 21st. Not so hot. Got bumped from 2nd to 7th overall. Pretty bummed about it, to say the least. Not sure if I’ll be able to pull off a first place finish overall at Super Week or not. It was my goal, but the girl in 1st won today, increasing her lead to 23 points on me. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day. I really felt I could have pulled off a top three today. Oh well,it’s racing right? Tomorrow is in Kenosha. I remember I flatted last year and did pretty bad. Hopefully I can do better this year. Have a good night!
-A

PCW Cycling Heritage Square Criterium (Super Week Day 5)

I woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday. The weather wasn’t looking so hot though. The race went underway around noon. It was cloudy and sprinkled a few drops at the start. Then it cleared up for a while and the sun even came out. I definitely felt good during the race. Another girl took off hard from the beginning. I followed. We got a gap and they called a prime for the first lap. $10 and some tri socks was up for grabs. I went for it and succeeded. A little later on I went for another prime, got a gap and attempted a break away with 2 others. Nothing stuck. Seven laps to go I went for another prime and got it. A total of $40 in primes. Two laps to go the skies opened up and it poured. Crap! Made it to the top five on last lap. Coming into the last corner the girl in front of me went down. I almost saved it but a girl came up on my right and we both went into the curb. Got up on my feet fast and took off. Nothing broken on the bike or body, just a little scratch on my elbow. Ended up 21st. Not so hot. Got bumped from 2nd to 7th overall. Pretty bummed about it, to say the least. Not sure if I’ll be able to pull off a first place finish overall at Super Week or not. It was my goal, but the girl in 1st won today, increasing her lead to 23 points on me. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day. I really felt I could have pulled off a top three today. Oh well,it’s racing right? Tomorrow is in Kenosha. I remember I flatted last year and did pretty bad. Hopefully I can do better this year. Have a good night!
-A

Bellin Health Village of Howard Cycling Classic (Super Week Day 4)

Today’s course was flat and boring. Really nothing else to say about it. There weren’t really even any sketchy sections to make the course technical. The hardest part was the headwind on the back stretch.

My stomach didn’t want to eat this morning. Not sure what was up. I knew I was in for a treat though when nothing seemed to want to go down. Today was one of the hottest days so far up here. I’m sure it was in the 90’s. I was used to riding in that kind of heat, but the past few days it’s been in the lower 80’s so I’ve gotten spoiled. Time to adapt again!

The race started and I took off. I actually got clipped in right away. That happens about every 3 out of 10 starts. So I took advantage of it and sprinted from the start line. It strung out some and I led the first lap, but everyone was still there. A few people attacked during the race and there were two primes. I tried to go for the first one but went way too early. Yada yada yada, some people attacked, then they were realed in, you know…the usual stuff. It was pretty unorganized. So here’s the kicker. I felt like crap. No it wasn’t my legs, it was my stomach. I don’t know what it is. I’ve head issues with it before…not wanting to eat and what not. Well during the race today, I threw up a bit in my mouth…yuck and sorry for mentioning it. I think most of it was the heat. I just couldn’t get comfortable.

So the second to last lap came and a lapped rider decided to pull. I don’t know what it is with lapped riders getting in the main pack and mixing it up. I actually asked an offical after the race what we were supposed to do. She said it was rider etiqute to go to the back of the pack, but also that they could still ride with the main group. The offical stressed they shouldn’t go to the front and pull because then it looks like they got dropped intentionally to help out teammates. Alright well anyway, so we have a lapped rider pulling. Not everyone knew she was lapped so a few people were jumping when she jumped. Ah well.

Alright well the last lap came and finally someone else pulled through. The lapped rider stayed near the front of the group until the second to last corner. I had found my wheel for the sprint and wanted to stay there. This lapped rider all of a sudden pulls off in front of us and slows down. Crap. So my wheel goes around her and I am stuck. I finally make my way back to her, but not the positioning that I want. The course has a sweeping curve before the finish line. This is were I messed up. I was on the inside and of course everyone moved to the right. I got squeezed to the curb. There went my wheel again. So now I was left to sprint with 5 or so people up the road. There was quite a gap. I came across 7th. Still in the money and enough to cover entry fee for the day so I was ok with it. Still bummed about how it all played out, but you’ll have that. Now if only I can figure out what the crap is going on with my stomach.

Overall I’m standing in 2nd place, down by 3 points. It could all change tomorrow though. First place is 20 points and it goes down a point each place. I guess we will see. The race is in Sheboygan. I can’t remember exactly what the course is like. I’ll try to get an update posted tomorrow evening. Sort of depends where I end up staying. Have a good night!
-A

P.S. DOPERS SUCK! All this crap at the Tour is getting annoying! Unfortunantly all I’ve been able to do is check Velonews.com. I sure hope the DVR is taping VS because I’d like to see some interviews. I’ll post more on my thoughts when I have time.

WDSC Cedarburg Cycling Classic (Super Week Day 3)

Today was the first day of the Women’s Cat ¾ series of Super Week. The field was decently sized with 36ish women lining up for the start of the 25 mile crit. The course was just under a mile long. There was one block of a slight uphill that was on rough road. Then it made a right turn only to keep going uphill for about another half block. Then it started to go downhill for the next block and 1/2. Finally it was a right hand turn to an uphill finish. The right hand turn was a bit sketchy because you had quite a bit of speed going into it. Not too bad though. They threw out 3 primes during the race. I went for 2 of them and got each. The first one was for $25 cash, and the second one was for $50 cash. I figured since I didn’t know anyone in the field I should go for the cash incase there was an outstanding sprinter in the field hiding. Throughout the race there were a few attacks, mainly from an ABD junior. Nothing stuck though. There were even a few crashes, all of which happened behind be. I tried to stay in the top 5 the entire race. One – to avoid crashing. Two – to cover any attacks that I thought would stick. Three – not have to sprint out of every corner like I did this weekend in the Pro/1/2/3’s. Anyway, the last two laps came and of course no one wanted to work. I stayed 2nd wheel. Coming into the last lap a girl who I thought looked familiar came to the front. She stayed at the front the rest of the way. She even started sprinting out of the last corner. That was an extremely long sprint. It went for probably 2 blocks. Ouch. I stayed in her draft as much as I could but I was scared the rest of the field was on my heels waiting to pounce. So I started my sprint too early. She nipped me at the line by a wheel length or so. After thinking about the race more, I realized something. I have raced against the winner before. In fact, it was recently at the Proctor Cycling Classic Criterium. She was racing for Kenda then. Now she is racing for a different team, which is why I didn’t but two and two together. I remember having a tough time beating this girl to the line. Well now that I know who she is, I’ve got a wheel to watch J. So 2nd place and two primes almost put me to the break-even point with entry fees. Hopefully I can pull of some more top 3 finishes. Maybe even a win? It would be nice to win the overall, but it’s going to be tough. That’s all I got for now. Time to go watch the Pro/1/2 race. Tomorrow I’m in Green Bay. I’ll try to get a post put out there eventually. Until next time! Happy riding!
-A