Jenn's Road Adventures

Jennifer Reither reporting from the Minnesota Bike Festival.

News Videos

Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 6

Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 5

Nature Valley Grand Prix Stage 4

Nature Valley Grand Prix Day 2

Nature Valley Grand Prix 08 Stage 1

Blogs

NVGP Stage 2 Blog

NVGP Stage 1 Blog

RacerX to Announce

Jenn's video's of Nature Valley Grand Prix are on the web at:

http://spokesproductions.blip.tv/#998980

Minnesota, Majorca and More

I am home from a fantastic two weeks of cycling adventure. Minnesota was awesome as many of you may have seen from my VeloNews web cast and blogs at www.minnbikefest.com. The racing was great and the event a success. With a few years of announcing under my belt, my stage nerves are relaxing and I am more fluid with commentating. This year Race Director, Dave LaPorte threw me another responsibility and huge opportunity asking me to do race day wrap ups for every stage, every day. I have to admit, the first few days sounded and looked a bit rookie, but with help from the video editor/cameraman Rick Fuentes, I was not humiliated on screen. By the last day at Stillwater I was getting the T.V. recap work done in a few takes.

For the second year in a row during the NVGP I have stayed with the Stewart family in the Lino Lake area about 30 minutes outside of St. Paul. This year I had a little bit of extra time and Mark Stewart took me to ride the velodrome in Blaine. I rode the track twice and even received some one on one Madison exchange coaching from Eric Sonders, former US National Madison champion. The all wood track is gorgeous. Hand built by the Schurmann family, the “special” wood is not treated and withstands the weather of the four seasons. If you’re a track nut, make Blaine Velodrome one of the must do’s races in the future.

After wrapping up the NVGP, I head straight to Majorca for the 2009 road bike launch for Giant. I arrived to the launch a day early and spent a bit of exploring the islands capital, Palma, and even took a quick ride on one of the hotels loaner bicycles, heading to the hills for a nice little spin. The island is beautiful and the people amazing. The beach was clean and the water warm. The riding was incredible. The hotel was top notch and the food tasty. I don’t have the words to describe the breath taking views of the mountains and beaches, so I’ll let you enjoy the photos as they have a story of their own.

I am home for a bit of training and track racing before heading out to Oregon on the 8th for the Cascade Stage Race. Keep an eye out the next ROAD for the articles about Minnesota and Majorca.

Spring is Classic 2008
March 16, 2008

Along with Spring comes racing, and the NRC is fully loaded for the women. I started off my season successfully with a last minute entry in the Sequoia Classic in Visalia CA. After a wet February I was excited to drive up the 5 freeway and enjoy the wildflowers that I heard were breathtaking and since I was heading North, I might as well race. (Click on photos for larger size)

Visalia was beautiful. Jen (my SBW teammate) and I drove the TT course taking photos at every turn and valley. The Exeter Time Trial (Exeter is 10 miles east of Visalia) was the hardest TT I have ever done. With a huge climb at the start, rolling terrain in the middle, a modest climb near the turn around, and a head wind on the return, I used a full range of gears to complete the TT in 1:12:23, placing 30^th. The winner Kristen Armstrong finished the course in an impressive 1:01:39. Photo left was a grab shot from our hotel window.

Jen and I spent the night with the best host family ever, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Harvad. With a good night sleep and morning pre ride, we were off to the afternoon crit.

The crit course one on of the best I have ever raced. The corners were clean; the course challenging and safe, with a wide finish that was perfect for a head to head sprint.

It’s early in the season, but the women are super fit. It always amazes me how fast some of the girls are this early. I was happy finishing 19^th.

I followed up Visalia, the next weekend, heading down to Del Mar with my friend Tut, visiting me from out of town. We headed down to the Del Mar crit in San Diego for some good local racing. My mom lives local and headed over to watch the race and take some photos. Del Mar was perfect. I had a two hour warm up, down Pacific Coast Highway and headed to the start line. I used the crit to practice sprinting and took 6 primes, but finished 11^th.

Next I am off to San Dimas, followed up with Ojai and April 13^th the Sea Otter on April 19^th.

Happy Riding.