In Motion Off the Bike, EOD#2

In Motion Off the Bike,

Where we share a little bit of what the experts at

In Motion share with us...

Exercise of the Day #2:

Developmental team rider Jaime demonstrates a Pull Up. One of the best overall exercises for your back to keep you strong without spending a lot of time on upper body. You can modify the pull up by adding a band or a box to help you get up, if you need a little bit of assistance. At In Motion it's all control, no kipping up! 3 sets of 10.  It's so simple, and so good for you!

In Motion Off the Bike: EOD1

In Motion Off the Bike,

Where we share a little bit of what the experts at 

In Motion share with us...

Exercise of the Day #1:

Elite team rider Brenna Hosang demonstrates one-leg hamstring curls on the fitness ball.

Targeting the hamstrings, a common weakness for cyclists. 

Getting Excited for 2012

Watch for changes, we are working on getting the site (and our fitness) ready for the 2012 season. Check out the Elite team roster, so much talent and a super nice group of women will be representing this year at all the biggest races as well as locally and regionally. Racing right along side the elite team in many races will be a really talented and dedicated developmental squad, also many new faces for 2012. Another cool new thing this coming year is our club team, and a regular women's rides from BikeBeat in Chesapeake, just a few of the ways we hope to support and promote women's cycling in Virginia. Many returning sponsors as well as a few new sponsors for 2012 will also be added to the site, so keep checking back!

DCCX: a few days late

report by Avanell

Several weeks to DCCX, Chris and I had this great idea to watch a YouTube video of the race course in the years prior. THINKING that would help us in figuring out what to expect. The course looked flat and fast, with very few turns that would make for a good place to gap. I'll be honest, I was a little discouraged going into the weekend. The courses I look forward to are not power courses, but those that are technically challenging and test your bike handling ability. But walking around the course with Zuma (our 2-year old Basenji) and watching several races before mine, I decided that watching a video will not show ANYTHING very well! There were short steep climbs, false flats, tricky descents, and plenty of technically difficult sections. Everything I want in a cross race!

The start was a short, paved road which turned right onto another paved road before crossing a small bridge and hitting one of the technical sections. With a few short straights on grass with 180 degree turns, a little bit of loose dirt, the first technical section ends with a short, steep climb. At the top is a 180 to the left, a 90 to the right and a short steep descent with roots, rocks, and gravel at the bottom. A mountain bikers dream! But a quick wake up call (this is cross after all...not mountain biking!) puts us back onto another paved section. A false flat that takes us to a short, steep, grassy climb to the left. Descending into a fairly deep dip filled with a little bit of mud, the course made its way counter-clockwise around one of the two big spectator spots. A 90 degree turn to the left and over the first set of barricades. They were a little tricky to maneuver since you had to turn immediately beforehand and couldn't keep your speed going into them. After remounting, you had just enough space to build some speed, shift into the small ring, and make your way up a short steep climb to what many racers will say is the toughest part of the course. At the top of the hill is a 180 degree turn to the right and back down you go...only to get 3/4 of the way to the bottom and have to take a 180 turn to the left and go back up! This was definitely a place that would spread the field out even more and for some, determine the outcome of the race. Why? At the top of the hill, is yet another descent that drops you onto the road again and into the finishing stretch. If you gapped the person behind you during that off-camber switch-back, you could stay away until the end. But its not the end and there's still another 1/3 of the course to ride! After passing the finish line, the course moves you back onto the grass with several more 180's. The 2nd set of barricades will be on a straightaway with plenty of room to hit them at speed...and another place to open up another small gap. A few more long straights and a few more turns shoot us into the 3rd dismount, a set of short, deep stairs that can jump up and grab you if you're not careful! After remounting, ride through a few more turns, short steep climbs, and you'll find yourself back on the starting straight.

28 women lined up at the start of the DCCX Women's 1,2,3 race. Starting in the 4th and final row, I knew I would have to bump elbows with a few girls to get a good spot into the first technical section. Once we got into the technical sections though, I found it fairly easy to make a pass and snake my way through and up into the top 15. After the the 1st lap, it took the next 3 to make up 5 more spots. Grabbing 10th place came after passing a rider who slid out in loose dirt and pushing my pace through the 2nd set of barricades. Unfortunately, keeping that spot proved to be difficult as I was soon passed by Kristine Church (HumanZoom). The rest of the 4th lap I battled back and forth with Jennifer Tillman (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and was able to open up a big enough gap to hold her off for the 5th and final lap. Overall I'm extremely happy with my results...especially thinking that this course wasn't going to suit my riding style very well! It was a great venue and a well designed course. Definitely something to keep on the schedule for next year! Thanks to DCMTB for hosting the race and Dogfish Head Alehouse for being one of the title sponsors and giving the Elite Women the same payout as the Elite Men!

Next week I'll be taking the weekend off of the cross bike to race in the 24th Annual Tidewater Mountain Bike Challenge in Williamsburg, VA! Check it out at http://tidewaterchallenge.blogspot.com/. A great spectator course, lots of fun, food, and one of the best events that I've ever done!

Also, check out BikeReg for UVA Cyclocross in Earlysville, VA on Sunday, November 6th! Just added to the calendar and open to everyone (not just collegiate racers)!

Supplements, more than just sugar and electrolytes!

Cycling is a demanding sport on the body, so if you want to be your best your nutrition must be the best.

The quality of our blood greatly affects our endurance. We know we need good quality meats, grains, vegetables and fruits to perform well. There are now some great nutritional companies out there, and extra supplements on top of your good diet that will increase your performance. When on the bike riding for hours the easy to use powders, pills, gels or bars are great.

Champion Nutrition provides the best pre-ride, during-the-ride, and post-ride supplements. Just look on the ingredients list and you see the quality is superior. For example Champion uses real food for carbs, like waxy corn maize, instead of just inexpensive carbs like maltodextrin. In addition to the high quality, the tast is also delicious, which is important if you want to actually use the supplement!

A few products standout as must-haves for cyclists...

Revenge Sport is the best tasting hydration drink around with all the ingredients you need during your ride. Our whole team loves it and cannot get enough, especially in the summer. It doesn't have stimulants so you can drink it at any time to stay hydrated.

Muscle Nitro comes in a pill for the pre-ride and provides electrolytes and phosphates to increase your performance on the bike.

Pure Whey Protein, awesome protein and really yummy selection of flavors. Whey protein is the most digestible form of protein that exists and is part of my post workout to help the muscles recover. Cookies and Cream is my favorite flavor.

There also are many others products that help. As a sprinter I really try to hold onto as much muscle as I can during the season. On long rides your body actually eats its own muscles for energy. There are amino acid powders I add to my drink so my muscles don’t get eaten as much. Other products like creatine may provide extra power and repeatability, but if you race in the hills the extra few pounds it puts on may negate any performance enhancing effect. If you lift weights at all in the off season Champion Nutrition also provides energy drinks with stimulants to help you lift harder and stay motivated to lift those heavy weights.

Want to try it? Look for our team at the races to get a scoop or buy some online!

sausage legs, or the lack thereof

Uniform (i.e.: kit) Deal-Breakers  

1. Tight leg-elastic (aka "sausage leg"): I have been known to cut, hem, sew, and otherwise alter my shorts to make them resemble less of a tourniquet. Even my skinniest climber teammates have experienced the tight elastic fit in the thighs that seem to ruin most team issue shorts. 
2. The Chammois: although chammois cream does help, you just can't very comfy on a bike with a bad chamois. 
3. Materials: quality of the material is my other big concern, not only because of comfort on rides, but also because there is almost nothing worse than riding in a pace line with someone who has a see- through panel on their backside. 

How Stralight Apparel Kits Compare
Starlight shorts are amazing to ride in & the jersey is super comfy. Easily my new favorite shorts, with or without a team logo. The icing on the cake is the quality of materials & construction allows for a really good looking design.

1) The Shorts: Very impressive fit! It was like someone who rides actually had input into the design! The legs do not cut off my circulation & the design of the bib allows a lot more air flow to cool my sides and back, I actually felt as cool riding in the Starlight bibs as I did in regular shorts. After riding in the Starlight bib shorts a few times I was very pleased with the chamois, nice and comfy but not over padded. Love it!  

2) The Jersey: Well fitted, nice and snug without being tight (I have the race fit), and really comfortable to wear. The jersey has a full zip front zipper that is small enough to keep from bulging akwardly like others I have raced in. Love it!

3) The Materials: They feel nice, they look great, and they keep you comfortable on a long ride. They are not limited in design by the way they are pieced together, either, so your design can look pro. Starlight offers the best design options I have seen for a competitive price, check out their work to see what I mean. 

Charm City, the other way around

Report by Ava

The second day of racing started out much better than yesterday.  A much better night sleep and making it in time for Chris to warm up a bit before his race kept us from getting overly stressed.  The course was run in reverse with the 2 sets of barricades, mud, stairs, fast section, sand pit, and then the slick, off-camber 180 degree turns dumping us onto a straight street finish.  At the start of the race I found myself in the 3rd row, a little better starting position than yesterday.  After the initial sprint I was hoping on settling into a rhythm fairly quickly since I didn't have to fight my way back for a good position, but it never quite seemed to happen.  I found myself in the top 10 fairly quickly and was battling to pick off each rider in front for the first 2 laps.  The barricades and stairs worked in my advantage and I was able to find the top 3 during the final turn of the second lap.  The turn into the first set of barricades I started sliding out, unclipped my right foot to keep myself upright, and used that as the beginning of my dismount.  I took the barricades at speed and was able to take 2nd place before the next set of barricades, which gave me a little more of a gap.  Still not settling in, I pushed hard through the sand pit on the fourth and final lap where I finally felt I had a safe enough gap where I could relax a bit.  I always wonder why there has to be an off-season for cross, but after this first weekend of racing I've realized that we have an off-season to forget how much pain this puts us in!

Thanks again to everybody for the support.  Thanks to the wonderful staff at BikeBeat Newport News for covering for Chris and I while we went to the race.  And thanks to Twenty20 Cycling for supporting such a great event.  See everyone next time!

Ava in the number 2 spot after a greatrace

Patty was also representing VA Asset Group in the elite women's field, she made us proud (as usual) with 10th the first day and 9th the second day in a really tough race.

Charm City CX

Report by Ava

Ava charging through the sand

Julie H. at Charm City CX

A late start from Newport News left Chris and I arriving to a 'not so comfortable hotel room' at 2:00am.  Roughly 3 hours of sleep and it was time to head out for the race!  Weather conditions for day 1 were "perfect cross conditions"...low to mid-60's, overcast, and the threat of rain. I broke out the embrocation cream, knee warmers, arm warmers, and thermal cycling cap for the first race of the season! On the start line, everybody was feeling the drastic change in temperature and were trying to shed layers at the last minute. For call-ups, the Women 3/4 lined up in rows of 8. I was in the 4th row and Julie H. was 2 rows behind me. At the whistle, there was the traditional sprint, vying for position into the first corner. Everybody typically goes straight, unfortunately 1 girl 2 rows in front decided she was going to go towards the course tape. Whether she couldn't get clipped in, or she was losing her balance, we'll never know. What we do know, she cuts in front of several girls in the 3rd row and runs directly into the girl in front of me. Five-ten yards from the start line I'm already trying to avoid a crash! Having started 26th back, I lost about 15-20 more spots.  Julie H found herself about 10 wheels in front of me.

The first half of the course had slick, off-camber, 180 degree turns making maneuvering around other riders challenging.  The sand pit offered a nice opportunity to out-sprint (as in dismounting and sprinting on foot) some of the riders trying to ride through (which was much easier to do later on as the sand got packed down). More slick cornering, a short fast section, mud, stair run-up, more mud, and another fast section allowed for me to jump up a few spots.  The natural barricades and the man-made barricades put me in a much more comfortable position where I could settle into a rhythm before starting another lap. Julie and I stayed fairly close together for the remainder of the race until the last lap. The penultimate lap (word of the day!) I took an off-camber right turn a little too quickly and slid out. Luckily I had a big enough gap that I was able to keep my position. The last lap however, Julie took that same corner just 50 feet behind me and wasn't as lucky. She slid out the same way, but unfortunately suffered a broken collarbone in the process. Hopefully this one will heal as quickly or quicker than the last one! I finished in 7th overall out of 60 starters. And had Julie been able to finish, she probably would've finished right behind me in 8th place.

Thanks to Julie for the support during the race and I hope you're not on the injured list too long! Thanks also to Chris for cleaning my wheels and bike in the hotel courtyard this evening with a trashcan, ice bucket, and a cut-up milk carton as wash buckets! Good luck tomorrow to Erin & Patty, both of whom raced today in the Elite 1/2 category. Charm City CX Day 2 tomorrow!

Grand Cycling Classic

Erin riding on LVG's wheel, photo from cyclingnews.com 

Erin went out to Michigan for some NRC action this weekend and was not disappointed. Luckily the weather cleared up a bit from the crazy conditions the men faced, although the race was shortened to 40 minutes. The course had 6 corners over 1.2 km. The race was made fast by Tibco's constant attacking to try and get away from Colavita's Cliff-Ryan. Colavita had their way, what was left of the field was together at the end for a group sprint. Erin got a good position and was able to sprint into 7th place for a great finish. Watch the final sprint here!

Chesapeake, Millersburg, & PLT

Report by Emily Joyner with text message assists from Erin and Ava


Chesapeake Crit is a flat course with three corners just under a mile long. This year I made the age requirement, because they only offered the age-grade option for women, and since I have always enjoyed the course I was excited about the race.

Emily at Chesapeake Crit, photo by BJ Samuel

With the flat course and small numbers the pace was predictably slow with very hard attacks every now and then. Ali (VBVK) was able to get off by herself after one hard attack and gained about 15 seconds on the group for several laps. After the group began to work together she was pulled back. After that, other attacks were launched but nothing stuck for more than half a lap. I am happy to say I got a nice prime that loosened up my legs about half way through the race, and even happier to report that we were all together at the end of the race. With one lap to go Ali attacked again, I got on her wheel and her teammate Jen got on my wheel. The three of us had a gap on the rest of the group and Ali kept her fast pace without letting up all the way around through the last corner. I jumped hard with Jen on my wheel for a long sprint, I managed to push a hard enough gear to stay in front through the line. My first win at Chesapeake Crit, and my first age-grade title.

Tour de Millersburg Stage Race is three races in two days: time trial, crit, and road race. Erin and Amanda travelled to Pennsylvania for the weekend to compete in a competitive women's field with some fun racing. The time trial was 10 miles total with an out-and-back course, Amanda described the race a nice river ride. In the tt Erin placed 5th and Amanda placed 15th. The criterium was later the same day, it was full of attacks and maintained a solid pace, although none of the breaks stuck. Amanda led Erin out for the sprint on the last lap and Erin took off from the top of the hill at the last turn for a wicked long sprint. Erin was out in front most of the way but got nipped at the line by a Kenda rider for a 2nd place finish in the crit. The road race was on Sunday, Erin and Amanda had a good time riding and racing together. Erin finished in 9th place at the road race for a spot on the GC podium with 3rd overall!

Ava looking fast, photo by Dan Gibson

PLT Time Trial is a 23 mile flat course shaped like a lollipop. The PLT TT is run several times throughout the summer and this was Avanell's second time at the PLT this year. This time around the wind was kicking and the rain was falling, but Ava's time was still close to the PR the got earlier this summer. Great race Ava!

Crossroads Classic race report

Located in and around Salisbury, NC, this series involved 4 days of racing for the women, with fun courses, friendly riders, tough competition, and both a leaders competition and a sprinters jersey for the series. Lots of teams were represented, including Missing Link, Kenda, Hincapie, Iron City, ABRC, and Pain Pathways just to mention a few.

Thursday's Salisbury Criterium 

8-corners with a short up and down over a 0.9 mile course. This was my favorite course of the weekend, it was a fast technical, but not sketchy, with enough straight away to move around without making the course slow. It was fast from the start, many attacks, many gaps, and a trimming of the field size after the first few laps. Sarah Tussey (Hincapie) showed her strength with some very hard attacks that seemed to always be times when the field was hurting the most. Eventually Tussey got away from the field with two other riders, Stephanie (Iron City)  and another rider (ABRC). Tussey went on to drop both of the other two riders and solo away for the win. The other riders stayed away from the field to finish off the podium and grab up sprint points. I was in the field for the sprint and jumped first before the last corner, but not hard enough, Sarah Fader (Pain Pathways) was on my wheel and sprinted passed me like I was standing still, another rider (Hincapie) also got around me before the line. So, I finished 3rd in the sprint and 6th overall. I also snagged a few sprint competition points, but I realized pretty quickly that fierce competition was going to be between the two Sarahs.

Friday's Statesville Criterium 
This course was supposed to be an "L" shape, but due to construction it was changed to a short 4-corner race with a few ups and downs. I felt pretty good on the corners until I clipped a pedal chasing Tussey on one of her monster attacks, which she was pulled back on, only to launch several more times and end up getting off solo. Fader took just about all the primes. Tussey lapped the field and then led-out the sprint, which Fader won for 2nd place. I did not ride well in the last few laps and ended up in a bad spot too far back going into the sprint, 8th place finish for me. .

Saturday's Road Race

recovery ride in the paddle boat after the road race

This was one of those courses that is just boring with a small field, 42 miles of rolling hills. Combined with the leaders points race and people marking other people it was not much of a race, group ride with a few attacks until everyone tried their luck in a sprint finish. I have been known to attack in this situation out of boredom, but this day I was actually really excited about sprinting after an easy race. With less than 500 meters to go the motor ref rolls up to our field, now moving pretty fast (and me with a good position, for a change), and tells us something no one could understand. This was followed by a flash of yellow, I assumed it was someone sprinting and the motor ref was trying to tell us we could use the whole road now. I immediately went left to get in the mystery sprinter's draft. As soon as I did this I heard a chorus of men's voices yelling at me to get out of the way and a rush of large non-female riders coming up all around me. This all happened in less than 1 second, so it was very scary and confusing and a miracle that no one was destroyed in the sprint. I backed off but then realized how close our finish was accelerated onto someone's wheel nearby to try and salvage the sprint. With 100 meters to go we were packed like sardines with mid-field men who were no longer sprinting, so we were stuck in whatever position we were in. I think the quickest minds to realize what was going on probably had an advantage in this finish. Fader won the race, and that's what I would have predicted without interference, but for this one she really had to show her quick thinking and reaction to the situation. I think I fared better than some people who really got stuck in the back, this race was just frustrating because we did not get to finish properly. I later learned that the moto ref told us our field was neutralized (with less than 500 meters to go) until the men passed... hahah!

Sunday's Salisbury Criterium

This is a nice 4-corner criterium with a small hill... well it felt small in the first half of the race... it felt a lot longer towards the end! I attacked the first prime and got it, but couldn't hold my gap for very long. Next lap an Air Force rider, Peggy, attacked and no one reacted, she immediately got 20 seconds. By the next lap she had over 40 seconds, and at one point she had over a minute. The field was not riding steady or really trying to pull her back at all, it was short hard efforts and seemed more focused on the overall points race than the day's crit. After one hard attack up the hill a group of four people got away including Tussey, Fader, Stephanie, and someone else. The group was not working together, Fader wanted a field sprint and Tussey did not want to pull everyone around, but the field was not working together either and so the break stayed away until the last few laps. With three to go I decided to try and bridge up, I was off on my own for part of the lap, but the field caught up with me right as I finished bridging up, which also happened to be at the bottom of the hill. I fell off and had to sprint back second time, this time it was bell lap and I caught up with the field about 5 seconds before the sprint started. What would have been a really hard sprint for me anyway turned into an impossible sprint. I managed to stay ahead of a few people in the field for 9th place in the race. The winner was Peggy, the early solo break, Fader won the sprint and Stephanie came in 3rd.

My overall result was a consistent, but not fabulous, 6th place finish after four day's of racing. The leader jersey went to Fader, although she was technically tied with Tussey, who took home the sprint jersey. Next up for our team is Chesapeake Crit and Tour of Millersburg.

PA State Championship and Chamois Cream

PA State Road Race Championship
Great course, great weather. The course is 48 miles for the women on a challenging 12 mile loop that is located in rural Berks County in eastern PA. Patty was at the race representing team VA Asset Group by herself, she got into a quick break that got pulled back and then spent some time chasing a solo break. In the end it would be a group sprint for the women who were still in the peleton, at this point 12 -15 riders. Patty did an awesome job in the sprint and took 2nd place, even with some confusion about where the finish line actually was. Nice work Patty! 


Chamois Talk
This week our team sat down to talk (over some coffee, of course) about chamois cream, and here is what our riders had to say about the topic:


Amanda- "it took me 5 years of racing to figure out where i'm supposed to apply chamois cream... now i just can't get enough!!!"

Tiffany- "Chamois cream is crucial for pregnant riders too, all that extra junk in the trunk needs some serious tlc."

Julie H.- "I started using Udderly Smooth Chamois Cream earlier this year when I became involved with the team, and I’ve never looked back. With its shea butter base, this cream has a great consistency and makes rides much more comfortable."

Leslie- "Udderly Smooth is so smooth and silky. It almost makes me wish I were a cow!"


Emily- "Even on the long hot rides Udderly Smooth goes the distance and makes me one happy cyclist "


Erika- "Udderly Smooth chamois cream with shea butter saves my behind every ride. Can't climb into the saddle without it!"


Erin- "I've even started wearing it when I'm not riding my bike..."


"Like" our page today, we have some complementary chamois cream for the 200th fan on facebook! 


See you at Page Valley and Crossroads Cycling Classic next weekend!

Grandview GP and Liberty Crit, short race report

Pennsylvania was the place to be this weekend, with a double race weekend and a very competitive women's field at both races. Virginia racing was not happening this weekend after Blacksburg was cancelled (and Erin was sad). 

Grandview Grand Prix: Saturday, July 23

This is a great, technical 1-mile course neighborhood of Grandview, PA. The course has six turns over one mile, with a long straight finish on wide Grandview Boulevard. The course did have a lot of shade, but it didn't matter much because it was HOT! Leslie and Patty were representing team Virginia Asset Group this weekend. The women's field had good numbers and the riders were a strong group, this combined with the technical nature of the course led to a smokin' fast race. Leslie raced about 5 laps and pulled herself because she was feeling the heat. Many riders were dropped from the main field during the race for one reason or another, and by the end of the race the pack size was whittled down to about 15 riders. Position was critical for this race and Patty did a great job staying where she needed to be. In the final (very long) sprint it was Kacey Manderfield (Pure Energy) for the win, with Patty at a solid 6th place. 

Liberty Criterium: Sunday, July 24

Course description: a fast 1-mile oval loop in the Great Valley Corporate Center, with one small rise in the course. So totally different from Grandview. Leslie and Patty both raced again on Sunday and Leslie felt much better and was ready the hot day. About 5 laps in Patty got off the front for 2 laps with a CAWES rider before it was pulled back, another rider managed to get off solo for a few laps but in the end it would be a large, sketchy bunch sprint. Team Kenda won the race, Patty took 19th and Leslie 23rd. 

Great job to Leslie and Patty and good weekend racing. Here are some races we are looking forward to in August: Tour of Page County, Crossroads Cycling Classic, Dawg Days Crit, Tour of the Catskills, Chesapeake Criterium, and probably a few others I am forgetting! 

training & massage, a winning combination

Sports Performance Training Blog
by Emily Joyner


This week I got to blast my muscles and then get a massage all at one convenient location! Although the massage is not part of the standard performance training package, it is an option because In Motion has a certified massage therapist in house. Massage is a special treat for me, but I can see why many pro athletes have sport massage as part of their regular routine.

I scheduled the training session first. It happened to be an off-day for cycling so this was the only hard effort I would put in that day. I enjoy the warm-up and stretching sequence, and find it really loosens me up without taking very long, I use bands and active stretches. The plyometric section of jumps and bounding make me sort of nostalgic to my old gymnastics days because of the emphasis placed on sticking the landing and focusing on balance. I think I am improving with the bounds, too, or at least I am more aware of my actual abilities... when I first started doing the jumps from one leg to another I would try to go much farther than I could actually land and end up falling over, now I can stick them.

The strength circuit this week was pretty awesome, every time I come I learn new exercises or variations that are exciting to me. This session, he split the strength up into two circuits. Circuit 1 had a leg exercise followed by a hip/quad stretch, then pull ups followed by a shoulder/back stretch. Circuit 2 focused on strength, but took away stability rather than adding weight to make the exercise more difficult and utilize core muscles during the exercises. With my recent back injury I can see the weakness in the left side during this type of exercise because I loose balance very easily, but the exercises do not cause pain in my back. While the entire workout engages the core, the last set is directly targeting core strength. This time we did a plank series and then a variation of a crunch to finish it off. Protein shake for the road and I am done... now it's time for the massage!

What can I say, it was a one hour massage, and I loved it. The massage therapist was able to combine a relaxing massage with stretching , especially in my legs. Problem areas like my IT bands and my piriformis received attention and I know massage helps both of these areas just from using a foam roller on my own. In the end I felt very relaxed and could have fallen asleep, but my hour was up and I had to drive home. I was actually sleepy for a while and even after riding later that evening fell asleep very quickly when I went to bed (which is not always easy for me).

Overall, I really like the combination of training then massage at In Motion- it's like he icing on the cake!

Franklin Omnium: race report

Race Report by Emily Joyner
The Franklin Omnium is a new race this year, and were are very thankful to the hard work of the VBVK team and Celerity Cycling for all the work that went into it. The Omnium consisted of three races, anyone who registered for all three races was entered into the omnium. The other option was to sign up for individual races, people who did this were not eligible for omnium points.



Time Trial: the course was a 10 mile route that went out and back, flat and fast with not too much wind. We had one rider who came out for the TT, Erin, so all our omnium hopes fell to rest on her shoulders.... all the sprinters had really good excuses for not being able to make it. When the dust had settled and the results were posted Erin placed 2nd in the time trial behind Ali (VBVK) and 1 second in front of Laura (VBVK).

Glad I got new tires before the corners!

Criterium: A very technical course with 5 left turns and 2 right turns, some of which were faster than others. The field was a strong but small group of women with VBVK well represented, plus Tripower, Fat Frogs, and VA Asset Group now had 3 riders present. After several attacks (including our own Leslie off the front for the first 1/4 of the race) there was a break with Ali (omnium leader), Erin (2nd in omnium), and Emily (Erin's helper) that was able to push off the front and stick. Erin and Emily tried several strategies to get Erin off by herself, but Ali kept it together for a 3-person sprint. With 2 1/2 laps to go Emily went to the front and held pace. With 1 lap to go Emily started winding up the lead out and Erin kicked it into full gear after the final corner and won the crit. Ali placed 2nd and Emily placed 3rd. Back in the field the VBVK team attacked regularly and Leslie responded, however, Jen (VBVK) eventually got away solo for 4th, and the rest of the field sprinted. Leslie showed her skill and jumped first with a strong acceleration that gave her the field sprint for 5th overall. Erin and Ali were now tied going into the last race of the omnium, the road race.

The happy team after some great team work! 

Road Race: All the same faces as at the crit, plus one more from our team, Ava, who was busy all day Saturday selling people great bikes with great service with a smile on her face at BikeBeat. Laurel Larson (SynFit) was also there as a fresh face for the weekend and competitng only in the road race. We started the race late, but eventually were off and rolling on a nice Sunday pace-line for the first eight miles of lap one (14 miles/lap). Erin and Ali (VBVK) were marking one another and both teams seemed very focused on the competition for first in the omnium rather than the road race. Leslie got up the road with Laurel briefly and VBVK quickly pulled it back. Emily responded with another attack that got a big gap with no one interested in chasing except Laurel (SynFit), who bridged up. By the time Laurel and Emily received a time gap a lap and a half later the gap was up to around 10 minutes. Back in the pack the several attacks were launched to try and get Ali away, both Ava and Leslie helped cover these with Erin, but mainly the pace was casual. With a few miles to go for the leaders we were informed that the race would be shortened to 3 laps and we were to finish when we crossed the line. Laurel took the win and Emily came in second. The field sprint would determine the omnium winner, at about 1K to go Leslie got to the front and gave a killer lead-out getting Erin close enough to sprint for the win, which she did!

Omnium Results: Erin won the omnium, Ali (VBVK) placed 2nd, and Emily placed 3rd.

Ironhill Criterium

Report by Emily Joyner

This race is so much fun. The crowd is fantastic from the amateur mens race through the pro women and right until the end of the pro men you will have a difficult time finding a place to watch the race along the front side of the race with out being in a crowd. The primes are typical for a USA Crit event, constant bell ringing for $50 - $250 sprints, and that really gets the race moving. I really like the course, too, it is a 1k rectangle-shaped course through the streets of downtown West Chester, PA, and while the streets are fairly narrow the turns feel fast and the course really works well. Oh, yeah, and its flat.

Although missing some of the heavy hitting pro teams, competitors were some of the top USA Crits racers like Erika Allar (Ride Clean) and Kacey Manderfield (Pure Energy) were there to push the pace, especially during prime laps. The primes seemed to be the main motivator and kept the speed consistently fast for the first half of the race. I worked on moving up every chance I could, although my teammate Leslie always seemed to be a few places ahead of me.

photo of Leslie by Todd Leister from www.cyclingnews.com

The race stayed together and strung out through the mid-race points prime until Kacey attacked and Erika went with her getting a quick 10 second gap. The gap held steady for a few laps as the group was unable to organize for a chase. When the break got a few more seconds on the field Arley (CAWES) and a Kenda rider attempted to bridge up to the break. The pack was still unorganized, but a few good efforts was enough to pull the bridge attempt back. With a lap and a half to go a Kenda rider went to the front and attacked/pushed the pace until the sprint. There was the typical jockeying for position on the last lap and a two-rider wreck coming out of turn 3. I think the wreck spaced people out a bit more for the final sprint, and my position going into corner 3 was the same place I finished in.

In the end the race winner was Erika Allar, followed by Kacey Manderfield, and in 3rd place Colleen Hayduk (Pure Energy). Team Virginia Asset Group had two riders in the top 20, Emily with 11th and Leslie with 19th. Special thanks to Leslie and family for hosting us on the farm for a great weekend!

The big 'Toona: continuing tour blog

Tour de Toona has historically been a favorite race among top female racers both in the US and internationally because the promoters give women the same routes and distances as the men and offer equal prize money for women, the result is a very exciting and very competitive race. This year the women's start list is actually bigger than the men's start list with teams from Canada and New Zealand represented! 


This blog will be updated as each stage is completed tracking the progress of team Virginia Asset Group p/b Artemis/Trek throughout the week. Our team for Toona includes riders from other teams in the Mid-Atlantic region who all joined together to meet the 6-rider minimum to enter the race. Erin & Patty race with this team all season, other riders on the Toona team include Lindsay and Monika from XO Communications, Ainhoa from Cardio Sports Lab, & Sarah from Sticky Fingers. 

Wednesday July 6, Stage 1- the prologue time trial:
This 3 mile very technical time trial took riders through downtown Altoona with 17 turnes before the finish line. The winner of the stage was Team Tibco's Tara Whitten who will go into the road race in stage two with the yellow jersey. The riders wearing the Virginia Asset Group team jersey finished in the following places after the short time trial: 30th - Patty, 35th - Lindsay, 37th - Monika, 50th - Erin, 65th - Ainhoa, 71st - Brenna, 76th - Sarah. The race is still wide open, with two long road races and the criterium still to go. Good luck ladies! 


Thursday July 7, Stage 2 - Richland to Blue Knob
This 73 mile road race was basically uphill the entire way with varied difficulty of climbs along the way. It was a fast race and the winner was Veronique Fortin (PK Express) with a time of 3:29:02. Our first rider in was Patty, just two and a half minutes behind the leader and in 22nd place for the day. Monika and Erin came in close together at 31st and 32nd, followed by Lindsay at 41st, Ainhoa at 44th, Sarah at 61st, and Brenna at 67. Full results available here. Team Virginia Asset Group riders all made the time cut and will continue on to stage 3, the next road race, after a rest day tomorrow. Happy resting and good luck on Saturday with 91 miles!


Saturday July 8th, Stage 3- Altoona to Blue Knob to Altoona

The rest day was well appreciated by our team, all of who lined up to start the 3rd stage of the tour. This stage reads 91 miles on the map, but that probably does not include all the extra miles from going off course... the moto took racers on the wrong route 2 times during this race, and at one point the main field had to stop and wait for the break away to get back on course because they were so far off they were behind the field. 3 miles after the group restarted was the big 6 mile climb and the group was shattered on this climb. Several groups were re-directed again, before finding their way to the finish line with 103 miles on the computer. The stage's results are posted here in full, here is how team VA Asset Group finished: Patty 25th, Lindsay 34th, Erin 45th, Monika 48th, Ainhoa 52nd, Sarah54th, Brenna 63rd


Sunday July 9th, Stage 4- Downtown Altoona Criterium
We are proud to report that we had our full team roster lined up at the start of the final stage of the tour, it was a tough week and the field size had decreased going into the the crit, so the team was really energized by having everyone still present and racing. The crit course is a one-mile downtown course that is all up and down with 6 corners and an s-turn. It proved to be an intense all-out race. Everyone seemed to get held up by a wreck at some point, and riders many riders were shelled off the back pretty quickly, with less than 30 riders finishing with the pack for a sprint finish won by Laura Van Guilder (NOW & Novartis for MS). Team Virginia Asset Group had 2 riders finish the crit, Sarah in 24th place and Erin in 32nd place. Full Crit results are here. The overall GC was effected heavily by this final stage, and the only riders who were placed in the GC were the riders who finished the crit and received a place and time in the stage. Janel Holcomb (Colavita) won the overall GC.  On team VA Asset Group Erin and Sarah both received a GC placing. Erin finished the tour at 30th and Sarah 39th. 


Great job to all the VA Asset Group riders during the difficult Tour de Toona: Brenna, Lindsay, Monika, Ainhoa, Sarah, Erin and Patty. 

ID3: Roanoke's 3-race weekend

This is the 3rd year I have traveled for this race and each year it's a good time and a weekend I always enjoy.


Day 1- the Mill Mountain TT:
This time trial is a hill climb, 1.87 miles up Roanoke's Mill Mountain for an elevation gain of 900 feet. For as much as I really dislike time trials and as much as I am really not a climber I have to admit I enjoy this race every year. My enjoyment has little to do with my result in this stage of the race, but it's more of a sense of accomplishment from just being in so much pain for 12 minutes and still pushing hard. This year was no different and my effort put me in 3rd place (my best result but 1 second off a PR).

Day 2- the first Criterium: 

Getting ready for a hot race

This race is a 5-corner crit on a flat 1KM course (flat in Roanoke is unique enough), it has long fast straight sections and a tricky first 2-corner 180. It's a great course for spectators because of the shade and ability to watch the almost the entire race from one spot. I rode on the front and set pace for the first few laps to make sure the corners would not be too ugly. After the primes started I found myself testing my legs on the sprint, and then fielding attacks that began to follow. The main attacks came from the VBVK team, who sat in first and second after the hill climb. After numerous attacks and with less than 10 laps to go Jen (VBVK) launched off the front, I was able to get in her draft and the gap got smaller after a lap. As soon as the group caught up with us Brittney (VBVK) used the momentum to sling-off on her own attack. I jumped and got in her draft on the back of the course and she held her speed through the line taking a prime. We worked together for the last 6 laps gaining about half a lap on the field before our bell lap. I took the lead for most of the last lap at an easy pace until the 3rd corner where I wound it up for the sprint. I had the jump on the last corner and held it to the line for the win. Jen took the field sprint for third. After this race the overall points race was a three-way tie for first between Jen, Brittney, and I. It would all come down to the final race.

Day 3- the second Criterium:

funny jersey, cat5 = squirly

The final criterium is the more technical with an "L" shape, a short steep uphill on the back side, and a longer more gradual uphill on the front. Today I was really focused on getting the win, which would mean a win in the overall points omnium. The race had several primes which gave everyone a chance to take the last corner fast and try out the sprint. I pushed the pace after one prime with a rider from VT to see if a gap would stick but it was too early and the VBVK ladies pulled it back pretty quickly. Towards the end of the race on a prime lap I saw an opportunity to get a gap up the short steep hill and took it, Jen bridged up and we worked together to stay away for the rest of the race. We had a big enough gap on the last lap to take it slow, I went to the front on the back side of the course and started my sprint out of the last corner. Jen has a very good sprint and used the uphill to her advantage, but I jumped first and was able to hold her off by half a wheel at the line. I got the race win and the omnium win, and I was very happy.

Great race, well organized and really fun with lots of great primes at both crits. I recommend it!

In Motion, strength and rehab

Sports Performance Training Blog by Emily Joyner

One awesome thing about In Motion, that I realized after my crash at BikeJam, is that they are experts in physical therapy and sports performance, kind of obvious, but since the wreck and my nagging back pain I was a little nervous about returning to training. Having experts in both therapy and sports performance has put my mind at ease and after two sessions my back actually feels a lot stronger...and my sprint feels like it might be making a comeback!

Emily working hard at In Motion

While the exercises vary from session to session the format stays the same: warm-up using bands and active stretching, plyometric exercises, strength circuit, and finishing up with a core circuit. Today we focused a lot on lateral movements, which as a cyclist I tend to neglect, but seem to help me feel stronger overall. In the final part of the training session we always work core strength, which I used to feel was something I was good at, but in the three weeks after my crash it has really turned into a weakness. I know that strengthening my core will help my back to heal properly, and I am very glad I have professionals helping me with my cycling goals in mind.