Our Panel
With moderator Jannette Rho, Chicago Women's Elite Cycling Rider and Rider Development Program Manager
Val Brostrom, Elite Track Racer
Val started racing alley cat races on the streets of Chicago. She took her speedy legs to the velodrome in 2007 and quickly started racking up the medals. She earned 2 silver medals at Elite Track Nationals, and countless IL State Championships in various track races. You can find her out at the Northbrook Velodrome on Thursday nights during track racing season (May-September) where she not only races but is also race director.
Day job: Pathologist & Laboratory Medical Director
Season Duration: May—September
David Reyes, Elite Cyclocross Racer
David started riding with his Dad in 2002. Racing since then has taken him around the country racing NCC and NRC races on the road. He is now focused on cyclocross local P1/2/3 races and regional elite UCI races. He has won the Chicago Cross Cup P1/2/3 overall series 3 years in a row.
Day job: Engineer at SRAM and team director for Heritage Race Club
Season Duration: September—January
Daphne Karagianis, Elite Road Racer
Co-founder and team captain of Chicago Women's Elite Cycling, Daphne also got her start racing on the streets of Chicago and racing at the Northbrook Velodrome. She raced her first crit in 2009 and was hooked. She's been racing on the road ever since, and currently holds the IL State Road and Criterium Championship titles. She's now packing her race calendar with NRC, NCC, and UCI events.
Day job: Designer
Season Duration: March—September
THE DISCUSSION
With over 25 participants and 8 volunteers, we got right into the discussion after a brief introduction and survey of the audience. We had 4 audience members who had never raced before!
"A" and "B" races: When planning a season, you can choose which races will be "A" and which will be "B". Your A races are priority or most important, and you can focus your training around those events. David suggests using your B races for practice. Give yourself a goal for the race: "I will stay in the top 10 the entire race." Try things you might not normally go for, test your strength, push your limits.
Audience Question: How do you pick your A race if you don't know your strengths?
Val: Choose what you think looks FUN!
Daphne: If it's your first year racing, don't worry about A and B. Just race as much and often as you can, get experience, and learn from your races. The next year you can reflect on your season and start choosing what you like best.
Peaking: a strategy for reaching your top performance. As David Reyes pointed out, you can't be on top form for every single race for months at a time.
Audience Question: How do you have multiple peaks?
Dave: You rest! Don't be afraid to take rest.
Tapering: deliberate recovery just before the competition. Val mentioned decreasing volume on the bike to avoid too much fatigue, but having short, punchy workouts to keep in good form.
Step outside your comfort zone: All of the panelists have tried different disciplines, making them better all-around riders. For example, you may be focused on road, but racing track can help improve your sprint, and cyclocross can help with your handling and cadence skills. Val mentioned that she uses crit racing as workouts—to stay in shape and get intense efforts to better prepare her for track competition. David also races crits to gear up for his cyclocross season—he says it is important to not worry too much about your result when racing for practice. Daphne may have a full road season (March-September) but she races at the track during the week to sub for a road workout, and when her season is over she tackles a few cyclocross races.
Other topics covered included: Team goals vs. personal goals, Form vs. Fitness, Training plan between A races, setting S.M.A.R.T goals
Worksheet for participants to start thinking about planning their season.
RESOURCES
Race Calendars
www.illinoiscycling.org/calendar
www.northbrookcyclecommittee.org
http://raceatra.com/schedule/list
The 2016 Illinois State Championship Races
Road Race: SUN 7/19 – PSCS Willow Springs Road Race
Time Trial: SAT 8/20 – Scarlet Fire Racing (Paw Paw TT Course)
Criterium: SAT 8/27 – Bloomintgon Criterium
Mountain Bike*: SAT 9/25 – Jersey Presentation @ Farmdale Festival
Cyclocross: SUN 12/3: Ten 27 Cycling Club & Spidermonkey Cycling / Montrose Harbor
Track: Masters: 7/9, Keirin: 8/4, Scratch: 8/18, Timed events: 8/20-8/21, Points: 8/25, Madison: 9/1
Beginner
www.chicagowomenselite.com/development
RAFFLE!
Congrats to our raffle winners Sue Wellinghoff (XXX) winner of the Ancien Bike Tune-up, Mary Russell (BFF) winner of the Nutrition Consult with our very own Jannette Rho, and Andy Fleishman (PSIMET) and Lisa Lim (BFF) winners of the Pro-Trump Deck of cards!
THANK YOU
Thank you to all of our clinic participants for engaging in a wonderful conversation. We hope you are just as excited for the upcoming racing season as we are! Any lingering questions? Shoot us an email: info@chicagowomenselite.com
Snowymountain Photography, Annicka & Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, Scott and Ancien Cycles, panelists David Reyes and Val Brostrom, communications coordinator Maria Larkin, our mentor Alison Powers at ALP Cycles Coaching for arming us with knowledge, Gabriel Galloway and Frank Schimmel for helping CWEC achieve non-profit status, and our 2016 sponsors for giving us the means to put on these clinics.
NEXT CLINIC: COURSE RECON
Saturday, April 2 @ 8AM
Join us for a group ride and course discussion, leaving from Edge Athlete Lounge and heading to Calumet, where Half Acre Cycling is hosting their beginner crit series "Skyway Classic" (April 4-7). Route will be posted closer to the date.
These clinics are open to men and women of any age.