Marathon World Championship Report From Heather Holmes

Kenda/Tomac/Hayes rider Heather Holmes recently made the trip to Graz, Austria, to represent the United States at the Marathon World Championships. In only her second marathon distance mountain bike race Heather finished an incredible 25th. Read more about her adventure below.



Written by Heather Holmes

Wow! What an amazing and wonderful trip! I finally made it home from my trip to Austria for the Marathon World Championships - it was a long trip home requiring five flights and a night in the airport. I typically don’t race marathon mountain bike races, but after the US Nationals race in July I received a nomination form USA Cycling and decided to attend the World Championships in Graz, Austria. Since I was already racing the Kenda Cup ProXCT race in Windham, New York, it was easy to get a flight from Albany to Graz, Austria Monday after the last race. Plus, I looked at the course information online before committing and it was similar in length and elevation gain to the Nationals course, but with less singletrack and lower altitude.

So, the Monday after the Windham race I was in a van heading to the Albany airport with my Kenda-Tomac-Hayes teammates. Some of them thought I was nuts traveling to race without support in a foreign country, but I was excited for the trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got to Austria, Harlan Price (the male representing the US) emailed me a few weeks prior about staying in international student housing and I arranged for an airport pick up from the manager of the housing, Andreas. I was surprised when I landed in Graz to see both Andreas and Harlan waiting for me, with a sign so I would recognize them. This was my first time meeting Harlan and I knew instantly that he was going to be fun to hang out with! Both of them made me feel so comfortable and Andreas wanted to do everything he could to make all of the racers staying at his place feel welcome. I spent the rest of my first day sleeping, walking around to find gluten free treats and building my bike.

The view down to the valley floor from half way up the last climb of the race.

The next day, Wednesday, Harlan invited me to join him to ride part of the course. Since it was one big loop, 53 miles for the women, the preriding had to be done in sections. Also, since neither one of us rented a car we rode our bikes from our accommodations to the course. Riding to the course ended up being a good thing because less than 10 minutes from the start line there was a steep road climb, with 28% grade at the steepest section. Harlan and I rode the first part of the course, since he had already done the last part of the loop he was used to the course markings and familiar with the area so he showed me around. The cool thing about having one big loop to race was that preriding was like getting a free tour of the countryside! We rode through a few small towns, the grounds of a monastery founded in 1129, a school playground, cow pastures, farmer’s back yards and up a mountain with restaurants and a gondola at the top.

On Thursday, I planned on riding the second half of the course and as I started my ride I noticed my rear wheel seemed loose. Actually, I kind of noticed something funky going on with my wheel for a few days and I finally put together that the bearings in my hub seemed to be going bad. I was a bit stressed out, but luckily I traveled to Austria with two sets of wheels so I knew I would be able to get something worked out. I chilled out about the mechanical problem and finished riding the second half of the course. This section had the most climbing and the longest descent on the course. The climb finished at the top of the mountain with the gondola, it was neat to see so many people hiking and riding all over the mountain and kids playing on toys at the top. I was out of water when I got to the top so I tried to get water and a sprite at the bar; I ended up with one sprite, water and two glasses of wine and water mixed. It was kind of a funny situation, and luckily a customer came in that spoke English and helped us sort out the miscommunication, then he told me I needed to work on my German. I finished my preride with almost an hour of descending and rewarded myself with an espresso at the café near the start/finish area.

After I got back to our room Harlan was nice enough to take apart my hub and scope out the situation for me, turns out the bearings were bad and I would have to race my other wheel. I was worried about my second wheel because it was the setup I flatted at Windham the weekend before. Once again Harlan came to the rescue and helped me get my second wheel to hold air. This ended up being a good thing because I was going to race Kenda Small Block 8 tires, but it rained the day before the race and I had Karma tires setup on my backup wheels. Good thing too because even though there wasn’t much singletrack on the course the trail that was there was fairly hard, similar to the riding I had done on the east coast for the past two weeks. I knew the rain would make the trails very slippery and the tread on the Karma would be perfect!

Harlan in his TeamUSA kit in front of the Clock Tower, the cyclist in the photo asked to have his photo taken with Harlan.

I took a rest day on Friday so we scoped out the town and rode up to the clock tower near the center of Graz. Even though the hill seemed small, the views from the top were amazing! Later in the day Harlan went to a café to wait for his friend Rick to come into town. I decided that I would catch a bus to the opening ceremonies for the event, and try to meet up with them later. As I was heading down the street to catch the bus I noticed a guy wandering down the street with a cast on. Luckily, Harlan told me Rick had a broken arm so I walked up to him and asked if he was looking for Harlan. Sure enough he was, so we found Harlan jumped in the car and drove to the opening ceremonies in Stattegg. It was so cute, there were about 40 kids carrying in flags for each country and saying welcome in the language of the country.

Finally, it was the day before the race, Saturday. I wanted to get my ride in early so I could spend the rest of the day relaxing. There was one section of the course that I hadn’t ridden yet so I was going to try to get that in, but I decided it would be too long of a ride. Instead, I rode up to the course and went up the crazy steep start hill one last time. Then I headed back to my room, set up my nutrition supplies for the race and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Steps leading up to the Clock Tower, luckily there is a road on the back side that is less steep!

The weather Sunday morning was beautiful, no rain and not too hot, perfect for bike racing. I made plans earlier in the week to meet up with my support crew the morning of the race. Once again, I had no idea what to expect. Through the awesome network of cyclists in Salt Lake City, a couple living in Austria planned to meet up with me to take care of my water bottles and technical support during the race. I strolled out of my room at 8 AM and was greeted by the friendliest couple imaginable. I was so impressed, they had printed out all of the maps to feeds zones, highlighted the important times they needed to be there and told me it would be no problem to carry around my extra wheels, tools and water bottles. I chatted with them for a bit, then I went back to my room feeling so excited because awesome people were doing my support. I was extremely grateful because I knew it was going to be a lot of work for them to be my support crew. Since the course was one big loop and the five feed zones were scattered all over the place, it was going to be stressful and time consuming to drive to each feed station. Not only that, but I found out that they lived two hours away so they had to wake up at 5 AM to come to my rescue, incredible!

Now it was time to get on the bike and start thinking about racing! Harlan and I rode to the start of the race as part of our warm up and once we got there we were glad we had, the traffic was jam-packed. We even arrived before Andreas and Rick, both had left in their vehicles the same time we departed on bikes. I rode around in the neighborhood near the start for my warm-up, I wanted to make sure my legs wouldn’t be dead when we hit the road climb early in the race. I could hear the announcer calling up the men, as they started 15 minutes before the women. I knew our race would be starting soon, I was more comfortable than I expected during the call up and at the start. Once the gun went off the women stayed together as we rolled up the gradual road climb to the base of the steep climb. I knew once we hit the steep climb the race would break up, sure enough no one really attacked, but the field started to break apart. Once we got to the top we headed into the woods on a trail, I tried to pass some people here so I could get a good position for the technical riding. I continued to pass people throughout the single track and before I knew it we were working our way through the flats to the first feed zone. I rolled through, got two bottles from my wonderful support crew and continued on my way.

Although it was hard, the rest of the race was a lot of fun. There were awesome spectators everywhere, kids on the playground wanting to get high fives, people cheering us on as we rode through a beer garden and at every aid station my wonderful support crew. I couldn’t help but smile during a lot of the race, the views were beautiful and when there weren’t people around the cows had cowbells on so it was like they were cheering for us! I continued to work my way up in the field, and after about three hours I decided my goal was to finish in five hours. I passed a couple of girls at the top of the gondola climb and tried to pick off more people on the descent. I was closing in on two or three, but I took a hard fall about half way down on a gravel road. Apparently, 4 ½ hours of racing affects my judgment on how fast to take a corner! I still managed to catch one girl, but she stayed on my wheel and came around me at the finish. I was seven minutes over my goal of five hours, but I was extremely happy with myself for riding hard during the last two hours of the race. At the finish my support crew was well prepared and handed me a large bottle of water and a lot of chocolate. Overall I had a great experience and for my second marathon race ever I didn’t do too shabby!

My race wouldn’t have been possible or nearly as much fun without my support crew - Renate and Rudy, Harlan for fixing my mechanical issues, the clothing sale from TheChurchOfTheBigRing.com, donations from wonderful people and the words of encouragement sent my way, thank you everyone! Also, I would like to thank all of my wonderful sponsors for the great equipment this year - Kenda Tires, Tomac Mountain Bikes, Hayes Brakes, Manitou, Voler Clothing, KMC chains, Hammer Nutrition, Specialized shoes and helmets, WickWerks chainrings, Kinesys sunscreen, Crankbrothers pedals, Hydrapak, Finish Line lubricants, Ergon grips and Genuine Innovations CO2 inflators. Big thanks also to Bootworks Cycle Center in Park City, Utah for helping me get my bikes up and running this year!

 We had to ride through this pasture with the cows, luckily on the day of the race people were around to keep the cows away from us.

The view down to Graz from the Clock Tower, we were staying in the building behind the tree on the lower left of the photo.

MurIsland – A steel structure built in the middle of the Mur River, it’s like a bridge with a coffee shop and bar inside!

Marathon World Championship Report From Pua Sawicki

Read all about Pua's adventures at the Marathon World Championships in Graz, Austria, where she posted the best ever finish by an American!



Written by Pua Sawicki, born and raised in Mililani, Hawaii

Our hotel was about a 20 minute spin from the race start and I decided to make that spin part of my warm-up. When it was time to leave, Ron took off with the car and all of our tools and equipment and I took off on my bike, and I really had no idea what I would soon be witnessing. As I was getting closer to the venue, I noticed that the traffic began to pick-up and it was not just the traffic of cars with bikes, but much of the traffic was made up of cars filled with cycling enthusiasts.

The start/finish area had taken over the whole road and the only access of getting in or out of that road was a little bypass detour around the venue. I am not sure exactly how to explain it, but it was a controlled, super chaotic situation. Imagine an already narrow road with no shoulder that just fit two cars and people were parking on both sides of this road where half of their car was on the sidewalk or grass and the other half was in the road. So, there were cars coming from both directions trying to get around each other, while other cars were trying to park, while people were trying to walk over to the venue with their flags and noise makers, and while bicycles were trying to warm-up and make their way through, weaving between all the cars. If that does not sound super chaotic, trust me, it was. And believe it or not, I never heard people honking or screaming at each other, it was just another day at a race. It was incredible.



When I finally made my way through all of that, I reached the venue and I was trying to take it all in. The venue was massive. The start/finish line took up the whole road, it was lined with banners and flags that represented each country, around that was the team pit areas, there was a whole bar and food set-up with rows of picnic tables lined up, there were RVs, cars, people and people on bikes everywhere. The other thing that was super special, was seeing everyone riding around in their own countries colors and wearing the stars and stripes on my shoulders with USA written across my chest.

Before I knew it, I was standing at the line and the brutal 53 mile ride that I have been dreaming about for some time was right in front of me. I felt calm, confident and ready and the 2-minute countdown was the longest 2-minutes ever. The street ahead of us was lined with people and they were all screaming and chanting and the gun finally went off.

The course began with a couple miles of road with an ever so slight grade and this was used as a casual warm-up. There was a lead car, followed by a lead moto as we made our way to the first climb that was about a mile long with a grade of 28%. The pack was silent and you could hear the humming of the tires against the pavement, the shifting of gears and you could almost hear the intensity of each racer. Each rider was moving around for position as we made our way to the base of the nasty climb.



As we made our approach, I made my way to the front and was ready for the race to really begin. I hit the hill pretty hard and there was some answer, but I realized everyone was going to just stick on my wheel. The climb continued and I would have someone come up next to me or pull a little in front, but we would hit a slight flat for a few seconds and I would continue to push and found myself right back in front and after about 9 minutes of climbing we reached the cresting of the hill where there were massive crowds with people screaming and chanting. Everything was kind of a blur, but I remember hearing the announcer and because they had no idea who the girl in the lead with the USA jersey on was, I heard him announcing the girls names who were behind me (Sabine, Petra, Ester).

We crested the top and the front of the pack was switching around a bit as they decided to jump out in front of me before we started to descend. We turned into the first single track climb that was a little rooty and before I knew it, I looked up and everyone was stepping off their bikes. It had stormed the 2 nights before the race and everything was a little slick and muddy. I thought it was rideable, but there was no way to get around and I jumped off and began to run to the top just as everyone else.

We continued knocking out each mile and as we approached one of the longer single track descends, I knew I had to get in their first. I felt super confident on the technical descends and I felt that I could put some time on the single track that we were approaching before we hit a flat road section. When we approached it, there were 2 girls in front of me, but I managed to snake my way around them and that is when I let the brakes go and just held on. I quickly realized we were coming up on the rear of the Master Men who started 15 minutes ahead of us and all I could do was scream to get them out of the way. There were different reactions and for the most part they would sort of move to the side, but when I came up to one of the last turns that took us out of the single track and onto the road, I saw a guy in front of me. I was trying to call him off and instead of moving, he continued to try and make it out of the turn and because it had come up so fast, I ended up sliding into the turn right behind his rear wheel and before I knew it, I was on the ground.



I quickly got up and jumped back in the saddle and that is when I realized that my handlebars were sideways. I pulled over and thought that I might possibly be able to budge it back, but I had no such luck and my only choice was to continue on and stop at the next feed/tech zone to straighten it. I got back on my bike and realized that I still did not get caught or passed by anyone and I started pedaling and picking up my momentum again. We were now on a flat open section and I knew that they would soon see me and if I was not seen, the Swiss support crew that I just rode pass and that were everywhere on the course would tell them exactly where I was. And sure enough, I took a glance back and there they were. With their little train behind me, it did not take long before they were once again sitting on my wheel.

We made our way through the streets of Gratkorn where people were once again chanting, screaming and blowing horns and whistles. The next section took us on the bike path that lead to a narrow little trail through the town that shot us out near a school where we went through 2 buildings, made a right and a quick left up this hill that looked like a big wall. As we attacked the hill there were Master Men everywhere and we were flying past them, yelling and trying to call them off. Then the wall turned into a narrow single track that would go straight up the side of this hill and when I looked up, it was another train of men in front of us. There was barely any room for 1 bike on this trail, but I knew that I had to try anything I could to make my way through because every second would count in this race. I began yelling and forcing my line past and I could hear the girls behind right on my wheel doing the same.

Our little train of 4 or 5 continued and although I realized that they were making me work, this was the World Championships and I only had one thing on my mind. As we were getting close to feed/tech zone 1, I noticed that I managed to put a little gap in our train and it was Sabine on my wheel and 2 of the Swiss girls on her wheel. I realized that I was soon going to lose my spot because I had no choice and needed to stop and get my bars straightened, but I was feeling pretty confident at that point and knew I had to just keep calm and I would be able to catch back up.

The feed was on the grounds of this huge monestary and they took us around the outside of the walls and when I looked up, all I could see were crowds and crowds of people. I was looking down the feed zone between all of the people searching for Ron. The people were everywhere lining the course and they were screaming and clapping while the neutral feed was yelling and holding bottles right in front of me and I finally saw Ron holding up my bottle. I yelled out at him that I needed a wrench and he ran over to grab the tools. I pulled over and saw the girls go by and we calmly did what we had to do to get me back out on the course.

It felt like forever, but I was back on the course with my bars straight and weaving through the tape that led us out of the grounds and back onto the road. I was sitting in about 5th or 6th when I looked up and I caught a glimpse of the lead pack in front of me and the chase was on. The chase continued as we turned onto the dirt and we quickly got to a longer, super fast descend that was pretty rooty. I knew if I could really push that edge, I would be able to make up time and I did. I came out of that first section and when we made a turn onto a little road that routed us into and through a patio of a little restaurant, I looked up and there they were. We got into the second section of that descend that was super steep and a little slick and when we came out of that, I pulled right behind the group and rode straight to the front and I knew I was back in the race.

As we were riding into more of the climbing, I started feeling the inside of my right knee where I went down and hit. The muscles were beginning to tighten and I wasn't feeling the same power and strength as I was in the beginning of the race. I continued to pedal through it and when we finally reached the feed/tech zone 3 and hit the last long climb of that section before the last big climb of the day, I could feel that I might be in trouble.

With every push of the pedal stroke it felt like the muscle was on the verge of tearing and although I was not giving up I slowly was dropping back and by the time we hit feed zone 4, I was about a minute back of the lead and sitting in 6th place. As soon as I headed out on the last big climb, I knew I was going to have to do everything to just hold on to my spot, my legs were not feeling like themselves and before I knew it, Pia was riding by and I was now in 7th. It was going to be a long way to the top, but I knew if I could hold it till then, I could definitely hold it down to the finish.

This climb took us to the top of Shockl Mountain which was a ski resort and the last part of the climb right before the crest of the hill was super steep and lined with a crowd of people who were chanting and trying to give you as much motivation as they possibly could, and it did. Another spectator that came as a complete surprise was a cow that was standing right on the side of the road next to the people, just standing there and checking things out.



I made my way through the top of the resort and all the people and the cow and headed back down. As I eventually got closer, I could hear the excitement down in the venue and the crowds of people got bigger and bigger. I finally got to the final stretch to the finish line and there were the crowds pounding on the boards and I crossed the line in 7th place at my first Marathon World Championships.

The race unfolded in every way that I would never have expected and I had to be content with how it finished. I walked away from that race with a confidence that I never had and an experience that I will never forget and cannot wait to experience again next year. I will never forget what it felt like to be wearing the stars and stripes with the USA across my chest and hearing the chant of "USA!" or "go USA!"

Team USA clowning around Heather Holmes, Pua Sawicki, and Harlan Price (l to r)

I realize this is already practically a novel, but I have to say a few thank yous to the people who made all of this possible and successful for us.

First, to all of our partners that have supported and made all of this possible and providing me with an amazing ride. Ellsworth, Ergon, DT Swiss, ControlTech, Magura, InFinit Nutrition, Hutchinson, Shimano, Lake Shoes, Lazer Helmets, WTB Saddles, Squadra, Adidas Eyewear, Fuel Factor, I.E. Bikes, Wobble Naught, Crankbrothers, NiteRider, Innovations, Nomad, PureFit, byeKyle and Swiftwick Socks. You guys rock and we appreciate you more than you know!

Second, we wanted to say thank you to Max Muscle. This is a very new relationship that has been awesome for all of my vitamins and supplements and have been making a huge difference. Thank you to them for making this trip possible.

Next, a huge thank you to Ergon. Topeak-Ergon had a huge showing at this race and they provided us with a first class support team that we have never had and it was amazing. We had a pit to base out of, a mechanic outside of Ron to rely on, a super massage therapist and many experienced individuals to learn from. Thank you to them for helping us out in every way possible and making sure we had everything we needed. And congratulations to Alban for his 2nd place, Wolfram for his 5th place, Sally for her 10th place and Robert for his 23rd place.

Lastly, I wanted to say thank you to Ron. He never gets the recognition that he deserves for all that he does. He is an individual with many, many hats and is always there for me. I could never have done this or could never do this without him. Thank you Ron, you are awesome!

Oh and of course, thank you to everyone for all the support. We appreciate it way more than you could know!

aloha,

pua

Help Send Top Under-23 Rider Robbie Squire To Worlds by Entering To Win Fantastic Prizes

All season 19 year-old Robbie Squire has been sharing his stories with you, now it's time for us to share. On the strength of his amazing finishes throughout the year, Robbie has been selected to compete on the US National Team at the upcoming World Championsihps in Canberra, Australia. Although Robbie is one of the top cross country racers in the country, USA Cycling will not be funding his trip down under.

After hearing that, Riley Siddoway, director of the Tour De Park City, has established an online raffle to help raise money for Squire's trip to Canberra. This is where all of us come in. By following this link, you can enter to win fantastic prizes including a Reynolds Solitude Wheelset, Garmin 605 GPS computer, Rudy Project helmet and glasses combo, or one of 3 nutrition packages including Hammer heed and gel, Sportslegs, and Pro Bars. Each raffle entry costs just five dollars or buy ten entries for just 40 bucks. There is no limit on the number of entries you can buy.

Robbie needs our help!

All proceeds from the online raffle go directly to help fund Robbie Squire's trip to the World Championships in Canberra, Australia. At the start of the 2009 season, Robbie was told it was unlikely he would qualify for the World Championships this season. After all, he was just 19 and this would be his first season racing in the Under-23 category. In order to qualify, USA Cycling told him, he would really have to prove himself on the race course. Well, Robbie has done just that. Squire finished second at the National Championships by just seconds and has consistently produced top finishes on the US and World Cup circuit this season, capping it off by finishing 13th at the US Cup finals in Windham, New York.

Now that Robbie has done his part, it's time for all of us to do ours. So follow this link, enter the prize raffle and help send one of America's best young riders to the World Championships!

Winners of the prize raffle will be randomly drawn from the list of entrants on Tuesday, September 8th. We would like to give special thanks to Riley Siddoway and the Tour De Park City for creating the online raffle and donating the prizes. The Tour De Park City is an annual road bike race held in Park City, Utah. Race lengths of 50, 100, and 170 miles are offered as riders are treated to the best road riding Utah has to offer. Click here to learn more.