Philly Week
by the Aaron's Professional Women's Team
June 5-11, 2006
 

Shannon Hutchison-Krupat’s Diary

I have had a rough couple of weeks as of late. I had been sick for 2 weeks, finishing up work with a rough class, and then a full on sprint to the airport to catch my Friday night flight back into Dulles. They lost my bicycle, told me it wouldn’t be here until after CSC, and then suddenly the bike had arrived via Delta airlines instead of United. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a spin in on Friday. All that said CSC didn’t go so hot, and I was hoping to gain my legs back for the inaugural Lancaster criterium.

In the past, Lancaster has always been a pro men’s race. There is still the pro men’s circuit race in the afternoon, but this year they added a women’s criterium before the big event. I guess that you could say that we opened for the men’s event. Catherine says that we are eye candy for the crowds until the men’s race.

We had added a couple of heavy hitters to the team for these next 3 races (The Triple Crown). New for today are two girls from the European peloton. Helen Kelly who rides for the Austrian Team Elk Haus and Annette Beutler who rides for the powerhouse Dutch Buittonport cycling team. I am stoked to have them be our guest riders.

The pace was fast and roads were bumpy. The road wear from the trucks made me a little nervous, especially going into turn three. There were several breaks and splits in the field. It didn’t surprise me that Annette was in the first break. The field stretched out, and Ina brought things back only to have Helen go up the road with a group of seven. They stayed a consistent 20 seconds in front of us and I could see that they were kind of sitting and looking at each other to see who was going to do some work. Then Helen attacked them, and she got a gap. Nobody wanted to chase her, and the gap grew a little. Laura Van Gilder tried to bridge, but brought the entire break up to her as both Colavita girls fell off the pace. I thought that the group might stick, but eventually it came back and we were down to 4 to go. My legs were finally feeling good, and it was time to start setting it up for the final sprint. 3 to go, and I tried to cut on the inside on turn one. Van Gilder cut it close, and I tagged the barrier pole. OUCH! I shook my arm. It was numb. Can I sprint? Can I grab my handlebars? I will be fine I told myself. Go! 1 to go ,and Candice came in front of me. I am here I told her. Down the backstretch we were on the outsid,e and Tina looked around and started yelling for Gina. Girls started going on the left and right. I had to move fast. I tucked onto a wheel to my left and was probably sitting about 10th wheel. Out of the last turn I waited a little to long. Ina jumped, and then we all jumped. I passed a couple of girls, and I ended up 5th and Annette was 8th.



GOOD TIMES IN PENNSYLVANIA

We spent the past week with excellent host families in Westchester County, Pennsylvania. Our guest riders, European pros Helen Kelly and Annette Beutler and their entourage settled in with Viktor Ohnjec and his family. Shannon, Jeremy, and I stayed with Kim and Jeff Dubeck and Mackenzie and Candice were just down the street at Bob and Mare Perna’s. Our hosts went way beyond the call of duty, from making us home-cooked meals to showing us the best country roads for riding – even picking up some key items at Beans Bike Shop! We got to spend an evening playing celebrities at a meet-and-greet with the Westchester Cycling Club, courtesy of the Ohnjecs and club president Susan Zabo. As an extra bonus we were treated to the company of 18 month-old Max “Wild Thing” Dubeck. A picture of his smiling little face with round blue eyes is now taped to the driver’s side visor in our luxury Jag Wagon, and he has become our unofficial mascot.

Following a tough race on Sunday, our team geared up for a recovery ride on Monday, followed by a visit to Reading’s many outlet malls. After our ride, however, we received some sobering news. Candice’s apartment in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin burned to the ground, and almost all of her belongings had been lost. Her downstairs neighbor, a young father, had not survived the blaze. We were stunned and saddened. Immediately the Aaron’s family began pulling together to support Candice. Aaron’s Corporate Furnishings pledged to provide new furniture; teammate Lee-Anne Asbury offered to send her time trial bike out to Wisconsin along with a care package; and the rest of us made plans to set up a fund and even Mackenzie’s dad made a contribution. As tragic as the events were, it was heartening to see that we have really become a family over the last few months. Jeremy booked Candice a flight home for the next morning and our tireless hosts Bob Perna and Jeff Dubeck helped pack up her bike and drove her to the airport. The remaining team put in a good training session together (with Annette driving the pace until we all cried uncle) and rested up for Thursday’s race in Reading.

The criterium in Reading was not quite as fast as Lancaster, but it wasn’t lacking for action. Aaron’s patrolled the front of the race and made sure we were represented in the breakaway groups that formed and re-formed throughout the first half of the race. Midway through the race Victory’s motor Katherine Carroll attacked the field and dangled at 10 seconds. We were not terribly concerned but thought it wise to bridge up. Helen attacked in an attempt to cross the gap, but as she was brought back German powerhouse Ina Teutenberg countered her move. Ina’s timing was impeccable, and all the other major teams missed the move. She soon joined Katherine, who struggled to keep pace with her. As the largest team, Colavita had the responsibility to bring the break back, but their domestiques made little headway. Aaron’s Helen and Catherine made repeated attacks to bridge but were shut down. So the field was racing for 3rd place. The last few laps were inconsistent, with frequent lapses in speed resulting in field swarms. Aaron’s riders fought to stay ahead of the swarms. With 1 lap to go we got together to lead out our sprinter, Shannon, but our train got shut down. I was able to escape the swarm, and accelerate up the right side of the field and kept the pace high through turns 5 and 6 but riders bunched up on the straight-away into the last turn and our sprinters Shannon and Annette had to weave their way through for 10th and 11th place.

Eager for revenge, we rested up on Friday and Saturday focusing on the big race to come: the Commerce Bank Liberty Classic in downtown Philadelphia. Friday night the Dubecks treated us to one last meal at the local Mexican restaurant, where we got to watch Max get his first taste of hot sauce (followed by much spitting). On Saturday we took a spin on the beautiful Westchester country roads and then packed up for Philly. We checked into the Sheraton and engaged in a massive schleppathon, as we’d not thought to pack separate race bags but rather had to bring all our bags and bikes up to the rooms on the overburdened hotel elevators.

Sunday morning we were up early, nervous and excited about the big race. Our teammates Glen and Kari had flown up to help us out, and it was great to have them there to set up camp for us in the tent city across from the Philadelphia Museum of Art (famously featured in the movie “Rocky”). We ate at the buffet in the hotel and headed to the race course. The weather was cool and clear, promising to be a beautiful but windy race day.

The race is a huge spectacle. There are huge television screens set up so spectators could keep track of us along the whole course. Cycling fans and press crowd the streets and lined the course. The local bike clubs had set up recreational rides in the area and people in the Manayunk area host cookouts and rowdy parties in honor of the event. It is such a blast to be a part of it.

We signed in, put on our radios, and warmed up a bit. Then we rolled up to the line, ready to rock. On the first lap as the road narrowed into the left-hand turn towards the Manayunk area there were two big crashes. Shannon and I were caught behind them but managed to avoid going down. We chased hard to rejoin the group just at the base of the climb. That was the worst of it – Manayunk, the first time up. The climb is just under half a mile long with sections of very steep grade. Mackenzie, Annette and Helen blazed ahead, and Annette got the first of many mountain points.

The field came together on the descent, and as the race wore on it became clear that no breaks were going to stick. This was primarily because the T-Mobile squad was actively chasing anything that went up the road. The high winds also didn’t help the breaks’ chances. Mackenzie did her part when a dangerous group got a gap, bringing Annette up to the leaders. On the final lap, we drove it into the climb to keep it fast for Annette. She clinched the Queen of the Mountains jersey, earning Aaron’s a spot on the podium and lots of media coverage.

In the end, the race came down to a field sprint. Helen and I helped get Shannon and Annette into position. Annette came in 4th and Shannon 10th. I rounded out the team’s overall team points lead by coming in 22nd. We were very pleased. We had such great support from everyone and it really paid off. The team has decided to give half of our winnings to Candice to help her rebuild.