Makala Jaramillo
Alexis Jaramillo
Mahika Peterson
Ragan Weigel
Lauren Weigel
Veronica Scott
Eire Chen
Maize Wimbush
Aine Chen
Sarah Vargas
Our experiences at Valley of the Sun were all things amazing. This is exactly what we had hoped for in a team when we first talked with Nicola. In the time trial, we both saw improvements in our results from 2 years ago at this race. It was really fun learning about tactics from Shelly and how to work as a team to help Melisa secure the win in the GC. It was our first time racing with team tactics and it was the best experience ever! We are super excited for the upcoming camps to learn even more about how to work as a team.
- Ragan and Lauren Weigel
Valley of The Sun was a great weekend away from California. The stages consisted of three races. A time trial, road race, and a criterium. The races had a beautiful view, if you weren’t suffering too hard to look around. It was really fun to be able to meet and race with my teammates. For the most part, the races were on time, and marked well. Except, for the impromptu 14 mile TT experience my sister, Aine, and all the juniors had to go through. Still, she powered through, and behind her close friend and teammate Sarah Vargas, also having notable racing credentials through the weekend, was able to get a solid third place.
For me, the Road Race was nuts. I, my fellow 15-18 age group juniors, and Melissa Moorer (a pro MTB racer on our team) went through the 62 mile cat 3 race. The course was beautiful. As far as you could see there were large lands that were filled with cactus. It was dry, hot, and windy and the sky was cloudless, only cut by the hilly mountains that roughly outline the horizon. The course's finish line was on a large climb that dropped many riders as the race went on. It was the longest race I had ever done, and it was my first time getting food from the feed zone. For the most part many of the accelerations were purely on the hill, so I was able to meet and talk a little with my teammates. Most memorable was talking with Alexis Jarimmilo, who I have been racing with since the 11-12 category. It was great getting to know her a bit better, after racing so competitively with her through my short cycling career. Aine’s race with Sarah was a little shorter than mine, with 14 miles. Her race was neutralized for most of the race, so she was able to meet with her competitors not on her team. Her words were, “It was more of a social ride.” Still she said that she had lots of fun.
Then, the criterium came around. Aine and I personally love criterias the most. In my home town of San Diego, crits are nearly the only races that exist. Aine did great, getting first place. From what I heard from my family, all the junior categories were thrown into the race together, so she found a good wheel, and made solid turns. In the end, she had a sprint that outsprinted the girls, and she won. I was hauled up in the hotel room, not answering my texts, when Aine burst into the room and exclaimed, “I won! I texted you 500 times!” I couldn’t believe it. When it was my turn, I knew I had to do a good job. The race was at 5:05pm. On our team, we had 3 previous national champions for crit. Veronica Scott, Maize Wimbush and me. I knew it was going fast and furious, with the combination of nat champs, our entire team, and the other women who were crazy strong. The course had many turns, and the straight aways were short. Therefore, I knew there wouldn’t be a successful breakaway. I tried to stay as comfortable and patient as possible through the ride, and only accelerate when I needed to. It paid off in the end, when I was able to get my best placing out of the three races, 2nd place.
Finally, there were few things off the bike that made the VoS races even more memorable. If you are in the Chen family, when you aren’t riding, you are in the hotel, recovering. In the small, two bed hotel room, we watched a total of 6 movies: The A-List, She’s the Man, Lucy, Minority Report, The Rock, and The Spy Who Dumped Me . An interesting combination of films, and some definitely better than others. Still, they were all really fun to mock, enjoy and laugh at. Additionally, we got a hotel that was really near the main town of Sun Valley, and near the crit course. We were able to ride back to our hotel after my race, and because it was so late, we rode in the dusk. It was really surreal. With the combination of slightly chilly weather, the feeling of finishing a good race, feeling slightly tired and relaxed at the end, riding with my family and the purple pink sky, it was a very memorable event and a great way to start the season!
- Eire & Aine Chen
Valley of the Sun Results Highlights:
Cat 3 Women Time Trial:
9th place - Makala Jaramillo
10th place - Alexis Jaramillo
Cat 3 Women Road Race:
5th place - Alexis Jaramillo
7th place - Makala Jaramillo
Cat 3 Women Crit:
2nd place - Eire Chen
6th place - Veronica Scott
9th place - Makala Jaramillo
Cat 3 Women GC:
7th place - Makala Jaramillo
8th place - Alexis Jaramillo
9-12 Women Time Trial:
3rd place - Ana Regina Morales Navarro
9-12 Women Road Race:
4th place - Ana Regina Morales Navarro
9-12 Women Crit:
3rd place - Ana Regina Morales Navarro
9-12 Women GC:
3rd place - Ana Regina Morales Navarro
13-14 Women Time Trial:
2nd place - Sarah Vargas
3rd place - Aine Chen
13-14 Women Road Race:
2nd place - Sarah Vargas
3rd place - Aine Chen
13-14 Women Crit:
1st place - Aine Chen
2nd place - Sarah Vargas
13-14 Women GC:
2nd place - Sarah Vargas
3rd place - Aine Chen
