Comparison is the thief of joy.

I haven't posted on this blog in 7 years. My last post was about getting my a** handed to me on the Belgian cobbles with the National Team. It was, needless to say, an eye-opening experience. When I was called to the line of duty by Team USA at the ripe age of 22 yo, I thought I had a really bright future. I thought I would need to bring sunglasses. But it wasn't that sunny in in Belgium in the spring of 2013. I got dropped in every single race and was usually happy just to make it out of the neutral. Anyway, enough about Belgium. I was inspired to write this post after reading a blog post by my friend and fierce competitor, Kaysee Armstrong, a pro MTBer for Liv Cycling. We’ve been racing each other for a few years now in the gravel scene. She usually beats me by virtue of her bike handling skills (and also being very strong). At my very core, I’m still a roadie and have lots of learning to do.

Most of my training these days happens in the great indoors. Working 40 hours/week really cuts into my training time, so now I'm playing videogames every night on Zwift, and trying to be a #weekendwarrior. My now fiancé Jim is helping me improve my weaknesses. I’ve been working on my pop, descending on gravel, and even do abs 3 x week for 15 minutes. :)

This weekend I had a little bit of bad luck, but a larger amount of good luck. With about half a mile to go, I rolled a tubeless tire, making it unfixable. I was maybe a couple minutes ahead of Kaysee and that's when I knew it was time. Time to channel my high school cross country running days. 

Runner Roren

I heard a quote from this guy you might of heard of, Theodore Roosevelt, who said "comparison is the thief of joy." As much as I love the competition and had fun winning a race, at the end of the day what matters is that I enjoyed myself doing what I love most, riding my bicycle. Monday morning: I woke up at 6AM, picked out some work slacks, packed a lunch, and picked a podcast for the traffic jam, which is Atlanta. I've realized through all this gravel racing, I don't have nearly as much control as I think I do. Things usually go wrong at some point, and that's when you need to literally make a run for it. Or at least be able to think on your feet. I try to prepare as best as I can, but at the end of the day, the point of all of this is to just enjoy ourselves.

'Peace out. A Town down.

 

EURO TRIP 2014: Kermesses....O le’ do it

Checking out the local crops. Yep, they're good.

We’re in Europe for the next 7 weeks. We have one task- it is to bring honor to America.

We are very patriotic.

We (myself, Heather and Korina) will spend the next 7 weeks racing the Kermesses. According to Wikipedia, "Kermesses are typically found in Belgium, especially in the northern Flanders region, where they are the most popular style of amateur bicycle race. They also exist in the Netherlands. The bicycle race borrows the name from the kermesse (festival) where the bicycle race is often held on the same day as a town festival, though not always."

From this Kermesse experience, we’ll gain the skillz necessary to negotiate the European peloton, become better tacticians, and (hopefully) learn how to win a bike race.

We found ourselves on the same flight last year, but this year we are much faster and better looking. 

We’ve had a full schedule on the national circuit with DNA Cycling p/b K4 Racing. All those hours in the saddle, chamois time (in the most comfortable chamois on the market), and all the beets we blended in our BlendTec Blenders, have prepared us for this moment. As a wise man once said, “you only got one shot- this is your time to go, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime.” That wise man was Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem.

oh yeah chamois time

we did a group ride with the self-proclaimed "c-team." they blew a whistle when it was time for snacks. it was awesome

we rode a ferry over the canal to belgium. it took approximately 30 seconds.

So far we’ve done our first 2 races- Gravenwezel and Schellebelle.

Gravenwezel

This s*%! was hard. 100kim, 24 laps, 300m of cobbles each lap- longest crit of my entire life. It took a few laps to find my groove, but I made my way to the front and started following moves. We were trying to follow everything- until we realized that we weren't superheros. The racing here is much more aggressive, and girls are constantly attacking. It'll take some getting used to, learning which moves to follow, and how to conserve more. 

Schellebelle

90 km, 15 laps, more cobbles. This race went way better. I was able to stay in the top 10 riders the entire race. I covered a lot of attacks with Heather, made it up the road a few times, but everything came back together. The roads were super narrow, so only 2-3 girls could go through each corner at a time. There was a section of cobbles, and then some really tight corners near the end of the lap. On the last lap, I moved to the very front and fought to stay there. I managed to get a 10^th, Heather 15^th and Korina 31^st. We’re starting to learn how the peloton moves over here, and what it takes to be in the front group on the final lap, so that's good. We're learning lots of skillz! It's very exciting. 

this is our life. we normatek and go on the internet- and train sometimes (most the time)

our view from coffee mundo- our second home

We found a castle

#LeatherForever 

GGGGGGANGSTA

These funny Dutch names might not mean much to you, but here’s the schedule.

Schedule

6/29 Wielsbeke

7/6 Beveren-Waas

7/7 Waterliet

7/12Moerzeke

7/16 Arendonk

7/18 Vrasene-Beveren

7/22 Strijpen-Zottegem

7/25 Erpe-Mere

7/26 Sint-Maria-Lierde

7/27 Haaltert

7/29 Kapellen

7/31 Herentals

8/2 Lotto Cycling Cup

8/3 Ninove

8/4 Oostkamp

9/5 Brugge-Dudzele

8/9 Heusden

8/10 Massemen-Wetteren

Stay tuned for more on EURO TRIP 2014: LEATHER EDITION.

Special shout out to Alex and Cathy Kim, DNA Cycling, USA Cycling, and Jack Seehafer for making it all happen. This wouldn’t be possible without you. We’ll make you proud.

Also thanks again to everyone who donated to my RallyMe campaign. Without your support, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue this incredible opportunity. You should all be expecting postcards. 

Euro Update

EURO UPDATE

DS Jack, Janel & I ride to Valkenburg & beyond on an uncharacteristically sunny day in Holland. 

So much has happened here in Northern Europe over the last 2 weeks. We returned to Belgium for Le Samyn and Omloop van het Hageland, and ventured north to Drenthe for a series of races, which included a World Cup (Ronde Van Drenthe). I technically finished my first European race, and have gained tons of racing experience.

Le Samyn des Dames: 122.6 km

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/le-samyn-des-dames-2013/results

Unfortunately, I had to sit this one out. Following Omloop Het Nieuwblad, I came down with a nasty cold. However, I had a great replacement-- Megan Guarnier. Megan races for RaboBank Liv/Giant and is the current US Road Race National Champion. Her team wasn’t competing in Le Samyn, so she was able to share her extensive European racing experience with Team USA. The team was plagued with lots of crashes, but fortunately we have some great mechanics—Rico Suave (aka Pinky Winky), and Merick (a giant Polish teddy bear). 

Right to left: Me, Merick, Heather. 

Omloop van het Hageland - Tielt-Winge 2013

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/omloop-van-het-hageland-tielt-winge-2013/results

I learned that for me moving up on the climbs is easier than moving up on the flats. Each time we’d approach a climb, I make a huge effort to move up. When it’d flatten out, I’d have a hard time maintaining my position in the group. I also learned that another really good way to move up is to take the sidewalk, the dirt, or the rumble strips. However, it is risky. 

The race really split up after a crash. There were 2 poles sticking up from the middle of the road and then a pile of bikes. The race blew up even more on the cobbled climb. 

Heather and I finished in the same group on the finishing circuits. We made it 95 km and then cheered on our teammates from the sideline. 

We then had the best Cokes and sandwiches and sea salt vinegar chips EVER. Food tastes exponentially better after suffering on the bike all day. 

Drenthe 8

The morning of Drenthe 8, a special guest joined us for breakfast—the Dutch rider Marianne Vos. Admittedly, I was star struck.  I could hardly eat my cereal. Vos is the reigning road and cyclocross world champion and won a gold medal in the road race in London, and a gold medal in the points race in Beijing. Because of her versatility, some call her the best rider of all time. At breakfast, she talked about the MTB stage race she'd done the previous week. She's working on her global domination of mountain biking now. I believe in her.  

Drenthe 8 is a pancake flat figure-8 race that starts in Dwingelo, Nederland. One makes 3 total figure eights over the course of 144.1km. There is one cobble section 200 meters long that’s repeated 6 times. I was in the very front row at the starting line. From my first two European races, I learned that it takes a lot of skill and experience to move comfortably through the group to get to the front. I thought that by starting in the front, it would be easier to maintain position. What I learned at Drenthe 8 is that it takes even more skill, experience and great mental stamina to maintain position in the front. Women in the European peloton ride so much closer together and aggressively than they do in the US. The moment you’re not thinking about moving up or maintain your spot, you’re immediately pushed back.

It was super fast, and strung out from the beginning. Of course, there were crashes. Lots and lots of crashes. I actually saw the worst crash of my racing career. It was really scary. Post race though I was able to talk to my more experienced teammates about what happen. They gave me advice on how to black these moments out of your memory, as these moments are an inevitable part of racing.  

Check out this VIDEO from the race. I showcase my mad dirt skills, and Heather crashes. 

And as we've learned, it’s not a true European race unless somebody gets lost. In Drenthe 8, I was the one who got lost. Note the deviation from the Figure 8 in the GPS file. 

Despite getting lost, I was able to technically finish my first European race! Score!

Ronde Von Drenthe World Cup

Team Presentation

At fancy World Cup races, you get free dinner and party favors at Team Presentation. Each team is called up individually to the stage. Again, I was surrounded by women I’ve idolized since beginning my cycling career. In the dessert line, I stood behind Giorgia Bronzini. She had banana yogurt and fruit cocktail. So I did too. 

The Race 

It was raining. There were cobbles. There were lots of crashes. It was very, very fast.

The course was pancake flat except for a manmade climb called the VAM. It's actually a pile of trash with grass over it. It brought me back to my roots, as I was born on Staten Island, most famous for having the largest dump in the world. The Dutchies put grass over it, and voila-- a climb! 

I made it over the VAM with the group, descended the opposite side and fought on the flats in the crazy cross-winds. The most important thing I learned from this race was to never stop to check to see if you have a flat. Because if you don't, it's really embarrassing. And it's really hard to catch back on to anything. I rode through the cobbled section with a grupetto. We were caught in the middle of the caravan. The caravan is a very chaotic place to be during a race. It's another area I've been learning a lot about on this Euro Trip. 

My race ended in the Argos-Shimano van. They had dry clothes and food. They brought me back to the start-finish. It was amazing. As much as I wanted to finish the race, I wanted to avoid getting sick again. 

Noviolon

Cancelled due to a blizzard. 

Skratch Labs Musettes make great purses! Jade Wilco and I making a fashion statement in Dwingelo, ND.

This week: Remedial Worlds Camp 

Stay tuned! 

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad & A Proposal

It all began at the Denver International Airport. No wait-- let’s take a step back. It all began at the De Crescenzo house early Wednesday morning. Heather wasn’t aware that my grandfather is actually a Mafioso. Clad in his gold-chain, tinted glasses and thick Brooklyn accent, he informed Heather of the diamond heist at the Brussels Airport—our final destination. Said it could be bad for punctures.

The first things I packed for Euro Trip 2013 was the book How to Curse in Italian, an American flag scarf and a diamond skull ring. I plan on proposing to Peter Sagan with the skull ring because Jade says he has a nice AK47 jacket that it would match perfectly (as depicted).

The ring.

Peter Sagan's BA jacket

A Haiku Dedicated to Peter Sagan

Peter, oh Peter. 

Your jacket is so badass. 

Will you marry me? 

We had so many carry-ons, and the plane was so full, that we had to wear our helmets for the entire flight to Atlanta. The moment I took my helmet off, I hit my head against the airplane door. We made sure to get our last fix of America at Qdoba and boarded our plane to Belgium. We arrived in Brussels the next morning. At customs, I was asked the purpose of my trip. I responded cycling, and the desk man asked "What do you think about Lance Armstrong?". There's no escaping this question. No matter where you go. 

We found our teammates and staff (the Hillminator and Rico Suave) at passenger pick-up. After cafe, we started the drive to our sport-hotel in Sittard, Holland in the Netherlands. Our hotel is called Fit-Land. It's home to USA Cycling, a beauty school, soccer camp and NL Army training. The place has a lot of heart and has accommodated all of our kale and beet needs. They just installed an espresso machine and 50 inch TV in the cycling lounge so we can recover adequately in our Normatek space pants.

After a day of adjusting to jet lag, we made the trek to Gent, Belgium where we competed in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. It's a Flanders' preview single-day race and is full of narrow roads, steep climbs, and steep cobbled climbs. 

There were 175 starters-- twice the size of any field I've ever competed in. The style of racing over here is awesome. It felt like a traveling circus-- the chaos, the crashes in nearly every corner, the sprinting out of every corner, and the variety of languages all added something special to the racing experience.I had my drivetrain ripped off by a girl behind me in the neutral zone.  Since we were car 16, I hung out for a while. I was convinced that my race was over. To my surprise, it wasn’t! There was an extra bike for me in the team car. That’s never happened before. It was awesome. After what felt like eternity, I finally made it back to the caravan. In the process, I learned some Euro tricks, and finally made it back up to the main group. Shortly thereafter, the cobbles happened. Nothing in Boulder prepared me for those. All you can do is pedal-- really hard. We hit the first real climb and the group split up. I was in the second group and then we hit the Pattersberg. The girls in front of me unclipped and started walking, so I unclipped and started running up the side. A nice Belgian lady offered to help get me back up to speed, so I obviously accepted. I chased and chased and chased some more. This really nice racer from Finland and I did all we could to catch back up to the group. We were unsuccessful, and told to get into the broom wagon. Later that day, I received a LinkedIn request from my dropped companion. She's going to endorse me for getting dropped. 

Jade finished 17th and K Mac finished 30th. They're BA. Your first European race is a lot like losing your virginity. You can't expect it to be good the first time. Unless you're Jade Wilcoxsin. In which case, it's good every time. Jamie and Jackie barely missed the time-cut. Heather, Jamie and I waited at the Eddy Merkx Sports Center for the team, and we went back to Fitland. Stay tuned for more European adventures. Thanks for reading!

Euro Trip 2013

In nine days, I'm departing for Belgium- the land of cobbles and frites- to represent the US National Team in a series of classics races. This is the first time I've had the honor to race with the National Team, and I've never felt so patriotic in my life. Recently, I've found myself riding the roads of Boulder with the the Team America World Police theme song (America, F Yeah) blasting from my earbuds. Me and six other women clad in stars and stripes will start our European campaign in Gent, hop over to the Netherlands and finish in the Northern Italian city of Padova. Here's the schedule: 

Het Nieuwsblad—23 Feb. Gent, BEL
La Samyn—27 Feb. Framieres, BEL
Omloop Hageland—3 March Hageland, BEL
Drenste 8—7 March Assen, NED
Ronde Von Drenthe—9 March Assen, NED
Novilon—10 March Assen, NED
La Classicà Ciclista della Città Padova—16 March Padova, ITA 

One of my Team USA teammates will be my friend, Heather Fischer. Heather and I met at the US Talent ID Camp at the Olympic Training Center in 2011. We had both just started racing bicycles and weren't very fast- now we're a lot faster. We're planning on mastering Microsoft Office Suite in-between races. 

Stay tuned for more updates! America, F Yeah!

The Background

Ciao, I'm Lauren De Crescenzo- it's Italian. 

I grew up in Broomfield, CO. Somewhere halfway between Denver and Boulder; It's in the 'burbs. I began racing road bikes while I was attending Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Here I learned about hip-hop music, Coca-Cola, and the proper use of y'all and all y'all. I joined the Atlanta peloton, and did group rides that I had no business being on. I'd find myself dropped in downtown Atlanta, and the outskirts of the city (where the Confederate Flag still waves). As this was terrifying for a girl from Broomfield, CO,  I quickly became faster at riding a bike. This speed, inspired by fear, was then channeled into racing for my university and for a U25 Women's Devo Team. 

Later that day: Book Burning Party!

Receiving my degree. 

                                                                 

I just graduated from Emory with a degree in Cultural Anthropology/Global Health/Italian Language and Culture, so the only logical thing to do was to move back to Colorado to pursue bicycle racing. I'm racing for Team Kenda p/b RACC, and was just selected to race with the US National Team in Europe. In this blog, I'll share my experiences from racing in US and in Europe-- with a touch of anthropological flair. Grazie a tutti!