Primal Pro Womens Race Clinic was a HIT in Northen Utah

Check out an awesome report just published on cycling illustrated. Thanks to the wonderful cycling community in Northern Utah, Primal Pro Women hosted a cycling clinic that was a hit. Check out article at

http://cyclingillustrated.com/2013/05/primal-pro-race-clinic-by-nicky-wangsgard/

Smooth sailing in St. Louis

Posted by Kori Seehafer

Primal Pro Women arrived in St Louis, MO, for Tour de Grove and stop #5 on the
USA Crits calendar this past weekend.

We were greeted with great Gateway city hospitality.  It started with Big
Shark Cycling so graciously accepting our bikes being shipped to and taking over
their shop.  Thanks Mike Weiss for inviting us to come to your event and taking such great care of the women!

Hot Mama and Kaytie in the Dutchtown Classic

Then, Steven Wilkes of SRAM NRS, nabbed our bikes from Big Shark and helped set-up our BH's.  I met my new teammate Kaytie and her husband Austin who picked me up from the airport.  They were our logistics experts extraordinaire and Austin treated us like a pro tour team by cooking for us each day.  Thanks for spoiling us Austin!

I was then introduced to our awesome host family Brad and Paula and their pups.  Brad is a distributor with SRAM and had trainers set-up at the race course everyday.  He was there for everyone, and hadvery long days so everyone could have a place to ride.  Thanks for your efforts Brad!

I even met a nice lady gardening while I was doing a ride in the local area.  I was
adjusting my saddle and broke the seat bolt and she drove me to Big Shark to repair my bike. Thanks random resident of St. Louis!

Finally on the last day of the races my good ol friends from St Louis took
care of me.  Kerry Soraci with IScream Ice Cream gave me nice treats and story time
and Carrie Cash hauled off my bike to help me deliver my bike at the next venue.  I’m
truly grateful to everyone there for being so supportive.  It makes me love this sport
even more. Thanks past and present bike racer chicks!

Our goal for Tour de Grove was to defend our USA crit team overall 1st place lead
and help Joanie Caron and Tiffany Pezzulo move up the individual rankings.  At the
end of the week, we dropped a place in the individual standings but still held onto
our 1st place team lead.   The points are tight in the individual competition and we look forward to the challenge. Thanks USA Crits for providing an awesome series in which to compete!

On Race Day (Tour de Grove on Saturday), it was very windy.  We had a few mishaps, Kaytie flatted and then crashed but neutral support got her back in the game, and Joanie and Mel crashed the day before and were a bit battered and sore from the experience.  During the race, Mel was assigned the job to cover major attacks and the team wanted to work on moving more as a unit and being cohesive. Mel did a stellar job at covering moves and the field was all together with 3 laps to go.  The team got to the front and started to control the pace.  With two to go, the wide roads and wind caused the peleton to jostle a bit and teammates to lose each other.  Kaytie and Mel were able to get our
sprinters back up to position somewhat but in the end our top finisher was Joanie Caron in 9th. Thanks teammates!

There was great fan support at the races and it was fun to see old faces in the cycling community.  Thanks St. Louis for making it a fun weekend!

After being unable to ride for most of the year due to health issues, it was exciting being at the races again.  Thanks body on-the-mend!

We finished off the weekend with a third race: the Dutchtown Classic. While our results were somewhat ho-hum (Tiff Pezzulo in 14th); the girls are getting to know and trust one another more during the races. We look forward to building on these experiences and being able to put it all together to pull off a win in the near future!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned!

The USA CRITS Series Heads to Tour de Grove for Stop #5

Primal Pro Women are in St Louis, MO, tomorrow afternoon with the mission of defending their USA crit team overall 1st place lead and help Joanie Caron and Tiffany Pizzulo move up the individual rankings. They are currently 2nd and 4th. Race begins tomorrow, Saturday, at 4:20pm, central time.

Tour de Grove's course is one of the most technical courses on the circuit. Just 300 meters from the finish line there is a 180 degree turn. This section has created some eventful finishes in the past. Watch race live at http://usacrits.com/smartstop-self-storage. See you online:)

Primal Pro Women's Race Clinic Coming to Salt Lake City, Utah!!!!

Three of the 2013 Primal Pro Womens' riders are from Utah, Tiffany Pezzulo, Kaytie Scott, and Nicky Wangsgard. They are excited to give back to their hometown communities. May 21st they will host a well organized, packed with valuable information race clinic at the Rocky Mountain Raceway. Primal women have been hosting these clinics around the country since March and from feedback and experience, the clinics have been a hit. After the clinic, Primal women will coach the attendees during an live training crit (c/d beginner flight). Then after, there will be a chance to debrief. Check out the flyer below. E-mail Nicky Wangsgard if you have any questions at wangsgardnicky@gmail.com.

Congratulations Primal Pro Ride Contract Winners

Tonight Nicky Wangsgard personally handed pro ride contracts to the 1st eligible Division 1 and Division 2 Collegiate USA Criterium Champions. Congratulations Rose Long (D2) from Icahn School of Medicine and Nicolle Bruderen (D1) from the University of Colorado. They will join Primal Pro Women p/b BH at the Tulsa Tough June 8th, 9th, and 10th. The Primal gals can't wait to continue to developing future cycling stars. See you in Tulsa Rose and Nicolle!

Terrapin Twilight Crit--or how to lose your mind on a start line

Posted by Tiff P (aka "Hot Mama")

This past weekend we headed to Atlanta, GA for stop #4 on the USA Crits calendar: The Terrapin Twilight Crit in Athens, GA.  Athens kicked off the supersweet southeast Speedweek crit series--aka what racing is meant to be!

In setting up our clinic, Prof got us hooked up with Frazier Cycling and some of the families and coaches behind this grassroots program quietly formulating future superstars. We stayed with Coach Kelli (Kelli Rogan--a former pro roadie and track rider) and her son, 6-year-old Baden. On the morning of Athens, a few Frazierites (Zoe Frazier, her brother, his friend and Dominique) took us on a spin around Lawrenceville where we were staying. Super great to get to know these awesome young-uns.

We headed down to Athens for the race several hours later. Athens is a huge race with tons of fans. It can be really hard to deal with parking, finding registration, etc. Thanks to Frazier Cycling, we were super styled and were able to come camp right on the course under those welcome blue tents covering legions of junior riders and their parents. We adopted speedy Zoe to race with us for Athens and pulled Dominique into our little Primal racing web too. We had our pre-race meeting and then it was race time!

All the Speedweek races are tremendous--great crowds, cool towns, excellent purses...But Athens is sort of the crown jewel of the series. The vibe is just ELECTRIC and there is no way to not get totally pumped (and totally nervous/tons of port-o-potty trips) for this race.

With Joanie and I in the top 5 of the USA Crits overall, we were super lucky to get call-ups...A very key thing in the throw down that happens in this race. Sitting on the start line--I tried to take a moment to just absorb the awesome-ness of the whole scene: racing with great teammates in front of a huge crowd! My adrenaline was supercharged and I just had one of those moments of "wow--I'm so lucky to even be here!" A year ago I was toward the end of my pregnancy--a huge whale that had to pee all the time and craved cured pork products.

The race started out very fast and aggressive with lots of primes to keep things interesting. I was able to test out the legs in a prime sprint and then sort of settled in to wait for the finish. Teammates Kaytie, Mel and Prof were rockstars of coverage making sure no move got too far up the road. As the race went on, the night got darker, the shadows got weirder and the crowd got louder. Thank god for the excellent bike handling skills of most of the pro women's peloton. Sometimes I think what we do is crazy--even though I love it!

In the last few laps, Mel got Joanie I towards the front but on the last lap we just got a bit jumbled and ended up finishing 12th and 15th respectively. Not horrible but certainly not what we were hoping for. Joanie's finish kept her in 2nd in the USA Crits overall and hungry for more podiums in the upcoming Speedweek races!

We had a blast getting to hang with the Frazier Cycling crew--it really MADE the experience! Can't wait to see the talent that keeps coming out of the program!

While I had to head back to Salt Lake City for mom and work duties after race #2 in Roswell, the rest of the team continues on with the series races. I'm cheering them on from home and I hope you'll do the same! Remember to check us out on Twitter and Facebook! Thanks for reading and see you at the races!

USA Crits #4, Clinic, and Speedweek

Primal Pro Women are on there way to USA Crits #4 in Athens, Georgia. They are looking forward to defending their USA Crits Team overall first place and move Joanie Caron and Tiffany Pezzulo up in the individual rankings. Joanie is third and Tiff is 4th. Most of all, we can't wait to host another clinic. We have just loved sharing our expertise and advice to up and coming cyclists. Racing and teaching the clinic will be Kaytie Scott, Joanie Caron, Nicky Wangsgard, Melina Bernicker, Tiffany Pezzulo, and Zoe Frazier. Zoe will join us as a powerful local guest rider. She is still in high school and fast as lightning! We can't wait to have her positive young energy around.

After Athens, the girls will race speedweek which is composed of seven fast and exciting criteriums. We will keep you posted on our progress at the series.

Picture of Tiffany Pezzulo and Nicky Wangsgard racing the Athens Twilight in 2011.

 Primal women in action at clinic in Charlotte, NC.

 Zoe Frazier can't wait to race with Primal.