Amanda Miller

Valley of the Sun Criterium

Ok, ok. I’ll update. Sorry for the late post. Still trying to recover from the long drive back to Fort Collins. Valley of the Sun ended on an awesome note. The criterium course was one of the funnest I’ve done. It had a slight uphill finish and lots of fast tight turns. Good times. Mad props to Chloe Forsman and the ColoBikeLaw.com team for stringing the race out from the get go. It was fast, hard, and fun. That split the pack up pretty well. Eventually two girls got off the front. I had made note of who they were and fortunately, neither of them were within threatening time for the G.C. I came into the criterium 31seconds ahead of 2nd place. One of the girls who was in the break won the road race. She probably would have killed the G.C. had she not flatted in the time trial. Tough luck but she did an awesome job the other two days! The other girl in the break was Shannon Koch from Metro Volkswagen. She’s super strong. I’ll be racing with her in France in a few weeks. Speaking of which, all 4 of the girls going over to France at the same time as me were at Valley of the Sun. That was super neat to see. They all seem like super cool girls and really fast! It’s going to be a great experience. Anyway, back to the criterium. I positioned myself towards the front the entire race. Coming in to the last corner, I was in perfect position. It was a perfect sprint for me too (uphill). I pulled off the field sprint for 3rd place in the criterium. This gave me another 10second time bonus. So I won the G.C. by 41seconds. It was a great way to start the 2009 season off. Also, it was super cool to see so many familiar faces! St. Louis Revolution made the trip down to Phoenix and had a strong showing. Now, it’s back to training and trying to survive the wind. Today there’s 40mph sustained wind with up to 65mph gusts (ouch!!). Next weekend (Feb. 28th) is the legendary CSU Oval Criterium. It’s a fun course and I hope lots of people show up for it. After that, there’s another crit in Colorado Springs the following day. The days are ticking for the Europe trip. I hope I have everything in order! My parents are visiting this weekend. I’ll post more at the beginning of next week. Thanks for stopping in!
-A

Valley of the Sun Road Race

Another beautiful day in Phoenix. Blue skies, warm sun, and little wind. 70ish Pro/1/2 women and 20ish category 3 women lined up for the start of the 59mile road race. The course was a triangle. There was a slight hill – big ringable, but enough to do damage. We did 3.5 laps. On lap 2 was a Queen of the Mountain time bonus (15, 10, and 5 seconds). There were quite a few full teams there. I stayed at the front for most of the race, but stayed out of the wind as much as possible. Attacks were thrown down, but nothing stuck until the last 1/2 lap. There were lots of crashes in the race, which had me prety freaked out. On the 2nd lap, I latched on to the GC leader’s wheel near the front. I followed wheels and stayed top 5. Ended up taking the sprint for the 1st place time bonus on queen of the mountain. Coming in to the stage I was 14 seconds down from 1st place. The first place girl didn’t get the top 3 bonuses, so I had already taken over the lead. After the QOM, it was time to be safe and race smart. I watched the girls I needed to be watching. An attack went down with 2 riders up the road. I wasn’t sure who they were because I wasn’t paying attention when they got off (go figure). Anyway, we caught one of the girls, but the other girl finished 5 seconds ahead of us. I followed wheels going up the hill for the last time and finally got on the right one. The sprint wasn’t on top of the hill. We crested the hill and had about 300meters before the finish, which was slightly downhill. I jumped at about 220meters to go and held it for 2nd place. There were also time bonuses for top 3 finishing places. So I was able to get a total of 30 seconds in bonuses. The girl who won was back a ways in GC coming into the road race. I’m now leading the GC by 59 seconds. Tomorrow’s criterium should be interesting. I’m glad it’s race season again!! Good night
-A

P.S. Happy Valentines Day!!

Valley of the Sun Time Trial

Today was the first stage of Valley of the Sun. I had no idea what to expect, because I don’t consider myself a time trialist. It was a 22km out and back time trial. Pretty flat, with some false flatness. There wasn’t much wind, but it seemed like there was a head wind both ways. The wind down here in Arizona is pretty weird. Anyway, off I went. I was the 3rd Women’s Pro/1/2 (out of close to 70 total – wow!!) to start so I only had to people to chase. There were some earlier categories still out on the course so I had more “rabbits” to chase. I caught my 30second and 1minute girls before the turn around. I wasn’t sure how I was pacing myself, I just tried to keep it steady. I was starting to worry that I went out too hard, but I never really felt like I dropped pace. Anyway, I picked off a few other riders, and never got caught. I didn’t have any timing equipment on my bike and forgot my heart rate strap, so I was doing the TT on pure effort judgement. It was weird since I’ve been training with power and/or heart rate for over a year now. I finished the race and felt like I had worked hard. I might have been able to push it a little harder, but was satisfied with my effort. Results were posted and I found out I had ridden a 33:42, which was good enough to put me in 2nd place. What!?! I am currently sitting 14 seconds down from first place. There’s several girls within a minute from the leaders time. It’s going to be a tight race, but should be fun. I have no teammates down here so I am going to have to race smart. I really have lots of credit to give towards my equipment. I had a pretty sick set-up and am lucky to have such good friends that loan me their stuff. Thanks everyone! Check back later for more updates! Tomorrow is a 50-something mile road race. There’s 470ish feet of climbing per lap and it ends on top of a hill. Sweet! Also, there’s queen of the mountain on one of the laps where time bonuses are awarded. It’s going to make for some fun racing! Good night!
-A

CSU Cycling Team’s February Fiesta

For those of you who live in Northern Colorado:

Please join the CSU Rams Cycling Team for an evening celebrating the past, present and future success of your favorite collegiate cycling team! Head upstairs at the Rio Grande Restaurant (143 W. Mountain Avenue) on Thursday, February 19 from 6:00-9:00pm for a fun night of food, live music, a silent auction, and of course Rio margaritas.

This year’s silent auction includes some fantastic items, including signed jerseys from Fabian Cancellara, Tyler Hamilton, and Tom Danielson, a complete bike courtesy of Peloton Cycles, original artwork, personal coaching, and much more!

Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the door. Both your ticket and anything you purchase in the auction is 100% tax deductible. All proceeds from the evening go to the CSU Rams Cycling team. Bring friends and family for a great night and a good cause!

We look forward to see you all there!
Your CSU Rams Cycling Team

The Flyer can be found here.

It’s coming

This weekend is the first race of the season. I’m heading down to Phoenix, AZ for Valley of the Sun. Friday is a time trial. Lucky for me, our Lip Smacker team time trial bikes are in. I’ll be riding this bad ride down there with a disc wheel on the rear and a Zipp 808 on the front.
Saturday is a road race. From my understanding, there’s almost 500feet of climbing per lap – watch out! Sunday is a criterium. This should be a good first race of the season. It will be a good indicator towards what I need to work on.

That being said, I’ve been doing lots of riding. Guess that’s what happens when you have lots of free time on your hands. Thursday, coach and I went out for a pretty hard 4 hour ride. I rode in shorts and a jersey.

We headed East of town for some flat riding before heading back into the hills. Awesome view of the snow caps (and Long’s Peak).

Multi-tasking

Saturday I hit up the Oval group ride again. It was (in my opinion) a disaster. They changed the route to avoid riding on a busy stretch of rode. This time, we headed straight on to a “gravel” road. When I hear the word gravel out here, I think smooth and hard packed because that’s pretty much all I’ve seen here. I know what real gravel roads are like from back home (Iowa). Anyway, this gravel road was like a gravel road in Iowa. Huge rocks, loose gravel, washboards, the whole works. Definitely not ideal for a carbon road bike. I like to consider myself a mountain biker (at times). I did not like the gravel at all. Anyway, some heavy hitters showed up. Tom Danielson came up from Boulder. Jonathan Garcia was out as usual. Most of Team Legacy was there. Anyway, you get the jist. It was FAST. I lasted 45minutes. Pretty bummed about it, but I still got in another 4 hour ride.

Sunday I headed out for another solo 4 hours. I did my Carter Lake ride. It was cold, but pretty nice out still. When I was heading back to town, I noticed dark clouds rolling in from the East. Not good. Luckily I made it back before they let loose.

Heading up Carter Lake hill. Ouch! It’s steep! You start in your 39-25 at about 280 watts.

The clouds heading West over Horsetooth Reservoir.

That’s all for now. We leave Thursday morning for Arizona. Hopefully the weather holds out. Also, I will be heading to France on March 9th until April 9th. We will be living in Limoux, France. There’s 4 other girls going on the trip. Should be a great experience. Thanks for stopping in!
-A

2009 Results

2/13 – Valley of the Sun Time Trial – 2nd Women’s Pro/1/2
2/14 – Valley of the Sun Road Race – 2nd Women’s Pro/1/2
2/15 – Valley of the Sun Criterium – 3rd Women’s Pro/1/2
Valley of the Sun Overall – 1st Women’s Pro/1/2
2/28 – CSU Oval Criterium – 1st Women’s Open
3/1 – Colorado College Criterium – 2nd Women’s Pro/1/2
3/7 – Denver University Criterium – 1st Women’s Open
3/15 – Grand Prix de Chambery (Chambery, France) – 8th Women’s Open
3/22 – Cholet Pays de Loire Dames (Cholet, France) – 58th Women’s Open
3/29 – Dolmans Heuvelland Classic (Limburg, Holland) – 22nd Women’s Open
4/4 – La Ronde de Bourgogne Road Race (Burgundy, France) – 7th Women’s Open
4/5 – La Ronde de Bourgogne Team Time Trial (Burgundy, France) – 3rd Women’s Open
4/5 – La Ronde de Bourgogne Criterium (Burgundy, France) – 13th Women’s Open
4/5 – La Ronde de Bourgogne Overall (Burgundy, France) – 9th Women’s Open
4/19 – USAFA Road Race – DNF Men’s Pro/1/2
4/29 – Tour of the Gila Mogollon Road Race – 33rd Women’s Pro/1/2
4/30 – Tour of the Gila Inner Loop Road Race – 22nd Women’s Pro/1/2
5/1 – Tour of the Gila Tyrone Time Trial – 27th Women’s Pro/1/2
5/2 – Tour of the Gila Downtown Criterium – 7th Women’s Pro/1/2
5/3 – Tour of the Gila Gila Monster Road Race – 15th Women’s Pro/1/2
Tour of the Gila G.C. – 20th Women’s Pro/1/2
5/17 – North Boulder Park Criterium – 4th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
5/23 – Snake Alley Criterium – 1st Women’s Pro/1/2/3
5/24 – Melon City Criterium – 2nd Women’s Pro/1/2/3
5/25 – Quad Cities Criterium – 4th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
5/29 – Blue Dome Criterium (Tulsa Tough) – 22nd Women’s Pro/1/2
5/30 – Main and Brady (Tulsa Tough) – 32nd Women’s Pro/1/2
5/31 – 13th and Riverside (Tulsa Tough) – 12th Women’s Pro/1/2
6/7 – Liberty Classic – 65th Women’s Pro/1/2
6/10 – St. Paul Riverfront Time Trial (NVGP) – 25th Women’s Pro/1/2
6/10 – Downtown St. Paul Criterium (NVGP) – 22nd Women’s Pro/1/2
6/11 – Cannon Falls Road Race (NVGP) – 25th Women’s Pro/1/2
6/12 – Uptown Minneapolis Criterium (NVGP) – 23rd Women’s Pro/1/2
6/13 – Mankato Road Race (NVGP) – 25th Women’s Pro/1/2
6/14 – Stillwater Criterium (NVGP) – 4th Women’s Pro/1/2
NVGP Overall – 9th Women’s Pro/1/2; 1st Best Young Rider
6/18 – Blue Mounds Road race (T.O.A.D.) – 1st Women’s Pro/1/2/3
6/19 – Trek Waterloo Classic (T.O.A.D.) – 9th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
6/23 – Attitude Sports Road Race (T.O.A.D.) – 10th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
6/24 – Fond du Lac Cycling Grand Prix (T.O.A.D.) – 8th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
6/26 – Greenbush Road Race (T.O.A.D.) – 2nd Women’s Pro/1/2/3
6/27 – The Downer Classic (T.O.A.D.) – 14th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
6/28 – Carl Zach Cycling Classic (T.O.A.D.) – 8th Women’s Pro/1/2/3
7/2 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Time Trial – 21st Women’s Pro/1/2
7/3 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Circuit Race – 13th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/4 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Road Race – 36th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/5 – Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Criterium – 14th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/21 – Cascade Cycling Classic Road Race -64th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/22 – Cascade Cycling Classic Road Race – 84th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/23 – Cascade Cycling Classic Time Trial – 23rd Women’s Pro/1/2
7/24 – Cascade Cycling Classic Road Race – 16th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/25 – Cascade Cycling Classic Criterium – 22nd Women’s Pro/1/2
7/26 – Cascade Cycling Classic Circuit Race – 29th Women’s Pro/1/2
7/30 – Nationals Road Race – DNF
7/31 – Nationals Time Trial – 20th Women’s Pro/1/2

Snowshoeing, Riding, Etc.

I’ll probably be updating this thing more often since I have lots of spare time. I haven’t made the transition to MissingSaddle just yet. Still trying to get things dialed in. January has come and gone. Seems like just yesterday I was celebrating New Year’s Eve. It was a solid month of training, that’s for sure. I logged close to 100 hours on the bike. The weather in Fort Collins has been pretty amazing for riding this winter. I’ve been back here since the beginning of the month and have spent more days riding outside than inside. Awesome!

Last weekend I went snowshoeing. It was an awesome workout and I found muscles that I haven’t used in a while. We went to Cirque Meadows up at Pingree Park. I spent a month there this summer for a class. It looks a lot different covered in snow. The hike round trip was 8 miles. All uphill for the first part. Breaking trail is always the hardest. Especially in deep fresh powder. Ok picture time!

So pretty! It snowed on us almost the entire way.

Erick…

The snowshoe tracks.

This weekend, the weather was awesome in Fort Collins. Saturday marked my first appearance for the year at the Oval ride. This ride can be pretty cut throat. The “Who’s Who” of FoCo usually show up. It’s an 80+ mile ride that has a variety of terrain. Read more about it here. This past Saturday there were 50+ riders to show up. It made for a fun, but sketchy group ride. There was a crash towards the beginning. Fortunately no one was hurt. The Windsor “wall” split the group. A few miles later, the major crosswind split the group again. I found myself in a chase group off the back of the main pack. We caught back on to the group where and stayed there for a while. My coach, Meredith Miller, and I opted out of the Carter Lake detour and headed back to Fort Collins. Good call because my legs were toast. I definitely wouldn’t have kept contact with the group for the rest of the ride. The end of the ride involves some decent climbs. I ended up with just over 70miles in 3.5 hours. Ouch. Read more about the ride on Jeff and Sonya’s blogs. Also, these pictures were taken by Jeff Kerkove.

The ride meets on CSU’s campus at the oval.

The group rolling out East of town.

Today I did a solo 4 hour ride to Carter Lake and back. It was a beautiful day. The weather man had called for snow and cold weather. Instead, it was sunny and almost 45 degrees with hardly any wind. It was an awesome ride. Here’s some pictures.

Climbing out of town.

The infamous Carter Lake.

Smile!

A hill. Who woulda thunk it?

An awesome view of Long’s Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.

And that’s all I have for tonight. First race is coming up in less than two weeks. There’s several of us from the Fort Collins area heading to Valley of the Sun in Phoenix, Arizona Feb. 13-15. I can’t believe the 2009 season is just about under way. Time flies when you’re having fun! Take care and good night!
-A