Tulsa Tough

After travelling more than halfway across the country, I finally made it to Tulsa, Oklahoma for Tulsa Tough.

Tulsa Tough was a three-day stage race, consisting of three hilly criteriums-just my style!

I was lucky enough to be racing on behalf of FCS|Rouse p/b Mr. Restore for this race, which was fantastic.

The first stage was on Friday evening, and the second was Saturday evening as well.  I was glad we were able to race at night or late afternoon as the heat was a killer!   We raced in +43-46 degree weather, including humidity that felt as if you were in a tropical rainforest.


I shoved as much ice into my jersey as I could and plunged myself into an ice-water cooler before starting trying to keep my core cool as i could

On Sunday, we raced at the hottest time of day-2pm.  There was a steep climb every lap of the course that kicked up at the beginning and gradually flattened before a quick downhill and a terrifying sharp corner at the bottom.  The crowds were insane on what was called "Cry Baby Hill" all day;  but was nice to get sprayed by hoses and waterguns to cool us off!     You have to watch the following!;

http://vimeo.com/43947788

We had a bit of bad luck with almost our entire team getting caught up in the crash, but ended up as a great weekend with some fast racing in our legs.

I am now at Nature Valley Grand Prix for a 5 day, 6 stage-stage race, back with my team Specialized Mazda-SGC!

Ill keep this updated for nvgp as best I can,


Karlee

Liberty Classic

After a good training camp weekend with the Specialized Mazda-SGC girls up at Lac-Megantic, and a great week, our team was headed down to Philadelphia for Liberty Classic.

Philadelphia was a gorgeous city, everything was old and brick. We were able to see the famous "Rocky" staircase, which was where our race start took place.

I wasn't sure what to expect in regards to the race, as I had heard some rumors of a very challenging course. After a pre-ride of the race loop on Saturday, I was looking forwards to the race.  The course featured a mostly flat circuit, with an awful steep climb called 'Manayunk Wall', which reaches grades up to 22%, and Lemon Hill, a short steep kicker.

Liberty Classic UCI race took place Sunday, against most of the fastest women in the world.  It was a challenging day, not having the greatest legs, but I did what I could to help out my team before my race was over.  Nik was able to finish in the small group up front and ended up being a pretty good day for Specialized Mazda-SGC. It was also awesome to see the 50,000 spectators whom lined the streets; dressed in costumes, waving flags, drinking beer and screaming as you past.

We also finally got our names on our bikes so we can tell them apart;

Lots more races to come this month and next.  I am headed off to Tulsa, Oklahoma today for three days of racing this coming Friday through Sunday with FCS Rouse.

-Karlee