Congratulations to Laura Somak, Laura Leigh Birdwell, Pam Sponholtz and Lucy Kovari. These fabulous ladies completed in VOS last weekend! The recaps below exemplify their teamwork and accomplishments! Way to go Jobing.com!

Laura Somak says…
How to sum up 3 days of racing for the Jobing.com Cat 4 Women’s Racers? It was fun, scary, thrilling, sad, inspiring and crazy! The support from our team is so much appreciated – Mindy, Brie, the Shoemaker family, Jill, Angi, Andy, Andrew! Thanks to all for coming out!

Day 1: It’s still dark and we’re loaded and ready to go to the west side: The TT ended up really great for me. I took 2 min off my time from last year! But, we did have a rough start on the warm up. My fault. Let’s just say that my bike was not cooperating, the chain locked up. Nerve wracking moments for me! So thankful that my awesome teammates were much more calm than I was!
Laura Leigh was trying to decide which bike to ride. She has her awesome Cannondale, and also Teri’s TT bike. What to do? She rode around for all of us to watch, to see how the bike fit her. I think we decided that she needed the seat lowered, but we did not have a way to do that.

Pam’s Garmin lost its charge and Laura Leigh was borrowing a bike – so neither of them had any way of knowing their speed. Lucy ran off to find a mechanic for my issue. I think we all ended up with great, very competitive times, finishing within a minute of each other! Now, that’s a team! We stuck together, even on the solo event!

Day 2: Pam arrives @ my place @ 5:10AM to load up to drive south for the Road race: It’s colder out in the middle of the desert than it is in town! We master packed all 4 bikes and all of our crap into Pam’s truck! I think that helped a ton… to all drive together. It makes the long day so much more fun! It pays to arrive early; parking is a mess at this one!
We hit the road at 8:30 for a neutral rollout down the hill, around the right turn and over the dreaded cattle guard. We continued down that hill between 17-19 mph. Much slower than last year. I was surprised. Last year we were going 25mph+ when we hit that corner at the bottom of the hill. This was much tamer. At least 2 of us stayed together at all times on this lap. I think Laura Leigh is a great shot at jamming up the hill, so I want to block the wind for her. Pam shot to the front, where is it much safer, so I went up with her for a while, too. The climb up the hill the first time was uneventful. The pack did split. Laura Leigh and I were in the front pack, not by much. As we went down the hill and around the cattle guard right, the chase pack caught us. We all went down the hill together, a little faster this time. The climb up the hill was strong on this lap. The field broke. There were 5-6 girls just off the front at the top. I was trailing, along with the Cat 4 leader and a master. I knew I didn’t have anyone up in the front from Jobing.com, so I rallied the other 2 gals and we chased down the front pack and caught them. My thinking was that this was the right move, since I was not bringing the leader to a teammate. My decision to work with the leader was because I knew that was the only chance we had to get some pink back in that front pack at that time. So, there were 8-9 of us in that front pack and one of the gals said that we better not let all that work go to waste, so we took off. The leader was a strong gal. She kept attacking, trying to get away, and couldn’t. We all worked together and took pulls. It did not take more than 2 miles for me to see that I was one of the slower ones in the pack. I still took my pulls. We all worked. We were all talking riding about 22mph. I found out the masters winner is a self-proclaimed “out of shape” Cat 1. Coming around the last right to start our last climb, we seemed to slow down. We were all still talking. I’m thinking, ‘this is going to get ugly and become a sprint up the hill to the finish anytime now’. It happened. I held on the best I could, then found myself in the back with one of the other masters (not the Cat1, she was gone with the pack). She tried to help me, as I had helped her on lap 2. We were inside of 1k, and they slipped ahead of me. At that point I gave it all I had because I knew I was riding for time. There is no rolling it in on a stage race! Dang, my legs would not go any faster. I could hear Mindy and Brie yelling for me to keep going. That really helped. Laura Leigh came up soon after I finished, then Lucy, and then I heard what happed to Pam. Pam deserves the sportsmanship award for stopping to help a rider that went down. Lucy told us that a gal hit Pam’s back tire and went down and was hurt pretty bad. Pam stopped to help her. Way to go Pam! That is what is really important!
We gathered around Pam’s truck, loaded what we could and had to get to the feed zone quickly, before they closed the road for the race. We were staying to support Louisa and Teri in our Jobing.com pink, as well as our friends Catherine, Angi and her husband JR. It was great to see them race. What we did not expect was the accident and delay. It was hard to sit and wait, helpless, to hear if the riders were ok after a car had been allowed to pull out on the course, and then stopped, with the men’s pro/1 race in progress. A few riders hit the car. It sounded awful. Glad they are doing ok. The race resumed and we were there to cheer and support. I got home at almost 5pm. That was a 12 hour day. So worth it!

Day 3: Teri was at my house by 7 with the Jobing.com tent, and helped me load up my truck for the Circuit race: I picked up Lucy and we headed downtown Phoenix to meet Laura Leigh and Pam at the team parking lot. It was a really cool atmosphere down there. New course this year was kinda exciting, kinda scary. We set up our Jobing.com tent and our trainers near the start/finish, right along the course. I was sure moving slow. I didn’t feel bad or sore, just slow after already racing for 2 days. I think we were all on the same page. We helped each other set up to warm up. Angi and Mindy were there to support us. The Shoemakers were there and helped, too. We all went to sign in and checked wheels and checked the latest results that they posted. We were looking good! We were trying to keep me and Laura Leigh in the top 10. Lucy was not far behind, and Pam was a trooper to show up to race with a sore back.
They did not allow a warm up lap, so we hit the course not knowing the road surface or turns. We had about 40 total on the line, but it felt like 100. We hit the first right pretty fast, trying to get position. The roads were better than last years, but not great. There was a heck of a headwind at one point on the course, too. Most of the gals were pretty safe. I quickly picked out a couple to stay clear of, too. Laura Leigh and I talked thru the entire race. We both felt ok. I think we were set up great with Laura Leigh blocking wind for me and we were ready to go for the finish… until a gal came up too fast on the inside of us, and hit the apex of the corner too early. I think she hit the curb, slid and lost some control. She slid into Laura Leigh… right in front of me on the final corner! Laura Leigh came unclipped, I tried to dart for the inside to avoid a crash, and I had to brake. We were going bout 25mph on that corner when this happened. I’m thinking “we only have 300 meters left after 3 days! Don’t take out my team mate!” Somehow all 3 of us held on, Laura Leigh and I were able to jam for the finish and get the pack time. I

I think had that snafu not happened, we would have come in 2-3 places better on the crit. Dang! But, no wreck, so we can’t complain! That was fun!

In the end, I was tied for 5th by time, but awarded 6th, because the other 5th beat me in the crit.
No complaints! I improved since last year, when I was 11th. Pretty cool experience for me, even the 2nd time around! Very cool to spend an entire weekend with my friends and teammates!

Some words from Laura Leigh Birdwell…
VOS from the Novice:

So here’s a recap from a newbie racer.

Time Trial: I arrived at the TT with two bikes – my trusty aluminum Cannondale road bike and Teri Twarkins’s super-spiffy Scott (decked out, by the way, with Kona and Ironman bumper stickers). The first words out of Pam’s mouth were, when she saw me, “So, did you decide? We have bets going on! Which one are you going to use?” I shook my head and looked at my watch – I still had about 5 minutes to decide before warming up. “Uh, I dunno,” I replied.
The Scott was about 1/3 inch too big and as Pam observed, I was pointing my toes quite a bit from the saddle. As I stood there, debating, I looked around the parking lot. The best of the best were here. I saw the best TT bikes, disc wheels, Giro aero helmets, and everything aero. By that time, Lucy, Laura, and Pam were already warming up on their trainers – man, they looked professional! All three were on their aero bars, pushing the pedals on their TT bikes: Laura on her new, black Cervelo, Pam on her well-raced Cannondale, and Lucy on her husband Josef’s tri-bike (who, by the way, is a professional triathlete). So, I decided – the Scott it was!
As we warmed-up, Laura had quite a fiasco with her chain – but in the end, I think this fiasco actually helped her. It got her adrenaline going!
10 minutes into the TT, I realized I should’ve listened to the wisdom of Pam – I didn’t feel like I was getting enough power from my legs and my toes were hurting more than my quads or hamstrings. I ended up doing most of the TT out of the saddle, leaning entirely on my arms on the aero bars. Hmm….
TT results:
Laura Somak: 9th
Laura Leigh Birdwell: 10th
Pam Sponholtz: 12th
Lucy Kovari: 14th

Road Race: As the four of us sat in the car, eating breakfast, laughing, and trying to stay warm, a gal was warming on her trainer directly in front of Pam’s truck – tattoos covered her super-muscular arms and she had a look of “I’m going to kill you” on her face. iPod in hand, she certainly wasn’t listening to any Frank Sinatra.
As we approached the start line, Laura asked, “Did you eat enough?” I laughed – that’s something my mother would say. I guess when you ride with someone long enough, spending hours together on the bike, you get to know each other pretty well…and look out for each other.
The course was fun, except for the fact that there was oncoming traffic. At one point, I found myself pleading to the gal on my right: “Please, please, whatever you do, hold your line. Please, please, do this for me…there’s a huge semi coming from the other direction and when it passes us, I’ll be inches from the center line.” She was very understanding. Whew. J
We booked it pretty quickly the first time up the hill. The group separated for a time, Laura and I and about 10 others were in the front group, but then we descended really slowly and the groups merged again. As we approached the hill the second time, I got a little mixed up with the route and thought this was the finish. So, I attacked as we turned onto the hill.
For a while, I thought I had pulled an Andy Schleck. “Yes! Go! Go!” I thought to myself. I was on top of the world! I was going to win the road race! And then…I was humbled. A little gal, with calves like rocks, breezed past me. And then the tattooed gal…and then number 828…and then 5 others…and then I heard Laura, between breaths, say, “Laura Leigh, keep going” and she, too, breezed past me. I was left in the dust – with a headwind – all alone. I saw Mindy and Brie handing water and cheering us on. That kept me going.
Worst of all, when I reached the finish line, I thought we were done. I saw a few remnants from the group disappear down the road and I wondered how Laura placed. I started to back pedal, took a sip of water, and said “Good job!” to a gal who quickly passed me. Then it hit me. We weren’t done.
I booked it, but never caught the group. Four others and myself worked together to get to the hill and then, I pedaled as fast and as hard as my legs would carry me, finishing about a minute and a half behind the first group.
At least Laura stayed with the group.
Pam, I learned later, helped a gal who had taken a hard fall after hitting Pam’s back tire. Though she lost about 8 minutes from her time, she didn’t even think twice about doing the right thing.
Lucy posted a good time, especially considering that she hiked Camelback the day before!
RR results:
Laura Somak: 9th; GC: 6th
Laura Leigh Birdwell: 11th ; GC: 8th
Lucy Kovari: 18th; GC: 16th
Pam Sponholtz: 27th ; GC: 24th

Criterium: Fun crit – really fast! Lots of turns! (arrows on the course would have been nice) The gals took off and I did my best to protect Laura so she could finish well and hold her 5th place position. I attacked once, hoping it was a prime lap. Nope. Laura and I were in really good positioning as we approached the final turn – 4th and 5th – when suddenly, I heard a tire screech. I saw the gal in 3rd skid across the lane, inches from my front tire. Somehow, she managed to stay on her bike. Somehow, my front tire managed to miss her back one as it skidded before me. Somehow, I managed to stay on my bike, despite unclipping my right foot on the turn. Somehow, Laura didn’t hit me from behind.
Somehow, by the grace of God, there was no crash.

So, all things considered, it was a great ride. We learned much, saw much, and laughed much. As we rode together to the road race, Pam had said, “It’s all about having fun, right?”
Yep. All about having fun. And we did. J

Final results:
Laura Somak: tied in time for 5th, but was placed 6th
Laura Leigh Birdwell: 7th
Lucy Kovari: 16th
Pam Sponholtz: 21st