Good thing about a local race weekend: I get to sleep in my own bed.
Bad thing about a local race weekend: I set my clock for an inhumanely EARLY hour.
And by inhumane, I am talking 4:45 and 5:15.

The Death Star(what Marian calls our bus) rolled up to the Depauw road race course around 7am after surprising the small staff at Einstein Bagel at 6am. The women A didn’t race until noon, so I had the chance to get some homework done on the bus and get a little nap in to catch up on the lack of sleep. Luckily Emliy Ebers, new German recruit, Stephan Hirsch, and I made Allen’s Rice Cakes from the Feedzone Cookbook by Biju the Chef and my Philippino buddy Allen Lim. So we had good noms as we waited to race. I was excited to race in the conference leaders jersey and defend it, except for the fact it was 30 degrees out and snowing…… I had to buck up and layer up. I ended up wearing a heavy wool long sleeve base layer, then my Marian long sleeve jersey, then my Marian vest, and lastly my conference leaders jersey on top. For my bottom half I applied embro, leg warmers, heavy wool socks, toe warmers, then wind proof booties over. I then had latex gloves under winter gloves, Vaseline on my face and ears, a wool scarf, and a beanie. I essentially covered every part of my body multiple times to face the wrath of the bitter cold Indiana weather. When the race started a couple small flurries of snow and attacks began. Then at about mile 2 Ashley James of Lindenwood attack and I covered it. Next thing I knew we had a gap. For the rest of the race it was just Ashley and I off the front – just like last weekend. A small excerpt between Ashley and I while off the front for 46 of 48 miles of our road race:

AJ: This is going to be a long day!
CR: Well this is your fault! You’re the one who attacked, I just followed!
AJ: I know, I know. I just can’t help myself sometimes.
CR: If we both keep up this whole going off the front together thing, I have a feeling I am going to get to know you real well.
AJ: BFFS!

We worked together until a kilometer to go and I laid down a strong attack and held it to the line, furthering my lead in the leaders jersey! And mind you, it was snowing about 80% of the race! Luckily the snow wasn’t sticking, so it was relatively safe, but still as cold as a witches t**. The girls back in the peleton, Kaitie Antonneau, Ivy Audrain, Emily Elbers, Stephanie Torres, and Beth Engwis did an awesome job and finished 1-2 in the pack sprint too.

Post race was a little chaotic as senior teammate Sam Stone crashed in his field sprint and he had to go to the hospital. The rest of the team rushed to the TTT site and was in and out of a skin suit within an hour! Ivy, Kaitie, Emily, and I #SMASHED the TTT by 1min37sec over 5miles thanks to our Zipp 808 Firecrest wheel sets diligently adjusted to our trusty steeds by our race weekend mechanic, Matt McKinney. We then packed up the bus and headed back for Indy.

As usual, Sunday is criterium day. Another early morning in the books with the women’s A race taking off at 1:10. I had time to sleep, jump into the NormaTech Recovery moon Boots, get some homework done, and support my teammates in their races. Typically support means cheering, but I had a special situation where freshman Women B teammate, Riley Missel, had a mechanical. And my bike was one of the few that would fit her. I happily let her use my trusty steed and she finished 5th!!! I was so stoked for her! I had time to get my bike back in my measurements and warm up, then it was time to line it up. The race started aggressively with attacks left and right. Finally Beth go into a move, then Ivy was able to bridge up with a couple others. Then on a prime lap I attacked and bridged up to the group. Beth rode awesome, but since she initiated the move she was tapped by the time I bridged up. It was a group of 5 and we all worked well together. With a couple laps to go Ivy and I communicated and I said I would lead her out for the sprint. I jumped with about 700 meters to go forcing the other girls to chase while Ivy used their chase as a fast lead out and got past me right at the line for a 1-2 bam wham punch photo finish.

Weekend #2 at Depauw was most definitely a success, full of teamwork that led to victories. And I was able to improve on my road race result, which I am very happy with. Race weekend #3 will be hosted by Lindenwood but won’t be for another 3 weeks. Until then I have midterms to keep me busy, going home to California to see the family for a few days, then back to the Mid-West for the Marian cycling team’s annual spring break camp in Tennessee!

Thanks for reading!
Best,
Coryn

It’s that time of year again! The collegiate season has begun. The MWCCC opener was hosted by Lindsey-Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. Despite being off the bike for 8 months, it didn’t take to long to get back into the swing of things. I have been riding pretty consistently for 3 months since the end of November or so. I had already raced a couple local CX races and Collegiate CX Nationals. But my real passion is road and I have been itching to get the road season started.

Saturday morning was the TTT. Teammates Jackie Kurth, Allie Dragoo, and Ivy Audrain ripped up the course and defended our LWC TTT win from last year. I was super excited to kick off my “comeback” with the TTT. It is such a special event of teamwork, communication, and consistency and there is never a dull moment with the girls. Although I was gasping for air and my legs were fatiguing, I crossed the line with the girls with a huge smile on my face and I was so stoked to also share my first win back with the girls – that makes it even extra special.

We had about 2 hours to pack up, head to Subway for lunch, then drive to the road race course. This LWC road race course is one of the more challenging races of the MWCCC season. It is a pretty rolly loop with the climbs significant enough to get you in your small chain ring for over a minute…that’s a pretty long time for the Mid-West! And the last kilometer and a half is very challenging as well. With 1500 meters to go it is about a 6 percent incline and for the last 500 meters it plateaus to the finish. Marian let a lone dangler off the front to cook for during the first lap. Into the second lap Jackie initiated the Marian attacks. Then it was bombs away, alternating attacks from Jackie, myself, Ivy, and Allie. A couple breaks formed, but none stuck until Allie attacked, Ashley James of Lindenwood followed and I followed Ashley. The three of us worked together well, but unfortunately Allie had to drop. It was just Ashley and I all the way to the finish. We equally shared the work but when we hit the final climb to the finish she had me tapped and I dropped a couple bike lengths on the climb. Ashley took the win and I rolled in for 2nd. No one ever likes getting 2nd but I was happy considering I have only been riding for 3 months and I haven’t been climbing.

Sunday Funday: Criterium Time! Things got heated on the fast course very quickly as Jackie, Allie, and I got off the front 3 laps into the 45 minute race! As a break of all Marian girls we had a TTT effort and lapped the field with 6 laps to go. We kept the front of the race fast and planned to lead out the girls who were holding down the fort in the peleton who were Ivy, Emily Elbers, and Beth Engwis. We successfully stacked the top ten and #SMASHED the race with me taking the win, Jackie 2nd, Allie 3rd, Ivy 4th, and Emily 5th.

Overall, was an awesome kickoff weekend for myself and the entire Marian Knights team. Of course I would have rather like the win in the road race, but there is always next race weekend for that! But driving back to Indianapolis with victories in the TTT and Criterium, I can’t complain! Especially coming back from my break and only training for 3 months. I even got myself into the conference leader jersey! I am really happy with my progression on the bike and even happier with the things I am balancing in my life!

Life is good! Thanks for reading!
Onto the next race weekend: Depauw!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/american-national-championships-2013/collegiate-women-d1-d2/photos/248625

It’s a new year! Time to have a fresh start at another year and to at least attempt to fulfill a New Years resolution. But it’s difficult to know where you’re going if you don’t recall where you’ve came from.

2012 was very unconventional for me. And I’m sure you’ve noticed at some point that Coryn Rivera wasn’t the usual Coryn Rivera you know of. For 10 years, ever since I was 10 years old, cycling was my life – it was my passion, I lived for cycling. All aspects of my life was centered around training and racing; it was my first priority. And for the first time in my life I had to reevaluate my priorities.

As a lover of NBA basketball(GO LAKERS!!!), lets take a look over the shoulder of my 2012 in 4 quarters:

1st Quarter:
I started the year with strong intentions. I had big goals for my 2nd semester of college and I wanted to be successful in my first collegiate cyclocross and road season, all while trying to race with Exergy and the US National Team. I had intentions of balancing multiple plates very high in the air. I was taking more credits this semester and I started my season with a surprising bang at Cyclocross Nationals with a 2nd in the Collegiate race and a 5th in the Elite Women’s race. Midway through the first quarter of the year, the collegiate road season began and I fell in love, once again, with the collegiate camaraderie. Studied together, trained together, traveled together, ate together, won/lost together. Always a team effort. Towards the end of my first quarter was my trip back to the Ladies Tour of Qatar and Exergy team camp. It had been exactly one year since my life changing(and threatening) concussion during the last stage of the Ladies Tour of Qatar. I didn’t finish with the results I wanted, but I had put some mental demons to rest and survived the tour. I then went on to a busy team camp with Exergy and raced the Merco Cycling Classic.

2nd Quarter:
I was doing well keeping up with school, but it was still very challenging. Often times my conversations with my professors were about scheduling when I could take an exam early due to my traveling. I prefer turning in assignments and taking exams before I left for races, that way I can focus more on racing and when I return to school I won’t have to catch up on much content. Spring break came around quickly and instead of going on a spring break camp with the Marian Cycling team, I earned a spot to race the road race in the Pan Am Championships and race the Vuelta El Salvador. I came back from South and Central America with a mechanical filled race in Pan Ams and the most exhaustion my body has ever experienced due to the 7 days of racing in El Salvador, not to mention added exhaustion from the typical 3rd-world sickness which had me running to the bathroom for a couple nights in a row. Upon my return from my spring break trip I had difficulty getting back into my routine. Truthfully, I had lacked motivation for anything. It was at that time that I began to reevaluate what was important to me in my life. As I headed into finals week, the importance of training slimmed but I continued to ride as much as I was motivated to because collegiate road nationals was fast approaching. I finished my freshman year of college on dean’s list and was successful at collegiate road nationals with Marian. I went home for the summer and even though I had more time for my bike, I still wasn’t motivated to walk out the door into 70 degree weather. My passion for cycling was dissolving, but I didn’t want to lose my passion completely. That’s when I thought I needed a break. I felt like I failed to myself, my family, and my supporters. But I knew if I didn’t take a break, there was a huge possibility that my passion for cycling would quickly turn into hate and I would have really failed. I know I love the sport and it has given me an abundance of opportunities in my life and I didn’t want to eventually hate the sport AT ALL. I did one last race, Tulsa Tough, and called it a season. I wanted to end my season on a good note and chose Tulsa Tough to do it. Tulsa Tough is my favorite race of all time: the city is full of life, the courses are challenging, and all the fans have a fiery passion for a grand ole time. Going to Tulsa is always so much fun on and off the bike. I was lucky enough to share my time with Tulsa with people who care about me. Even without a race win, I can easily call Tulsa Tough one of the highlights of my 2012 season, simply because I enjoyed my time there.

3rd Quarter:
I hung my bike, my 2012 cycling season was officially over and it was officially summer time. It was odd for me to not be busy coordinating travel plans to the next race. And honestly, I can’t even remember the last time I didn’t have to, but it was definitely a nice change. My summer consisted of a bunch of fun stuff that I typically wasn’t able to do because of cycling. I surfed, caught up with a bunch of friends and family, went off-roading, made a fun trip to NorCal for the 4th of July, and had a lengthy road trip across the country with a couple friends. We drove from my home in California back to Indiana to get ready for the start of my sophomore year at Marian University. As the start of school approached, I was able to watch the Redbull Moto GP at the Indianapolis Speedway and celebrate my 20th birthday, which marked the start of a memorable part of my year. I started to grow close to a handful of individuals in Indianapolis and I had multiple opportunities come my way like a couple internships and a chance to still be involved with the Marian cycling team as an assistant coach even if I hadn’t been riding. On top of that I was taking 21 credits, so I was definitely being efficient with my time off the bike. I was thankful to be a part of yet another Marian University National Championship, just in a different way. It was rewarding to see my help of changing gears, making ice socks, calling splits, cheering, help create tactics, going grocery shopping, and etc towards the team turn into a victory. It was a whole different side of the sport I had never experienced and it gave me a different perspective on the sport.

4th quarter:
This was a transition quarter for me. A lot of things were changing in my life and I had to keep up with times. In October, midterms came and went like a flash. I focused my time on school, internships, starting my strength program, and family and friends. School was getting busy with my last chance to bring my grades up, one of my internships was coming to an end and I had to soak up as much experience as I could, I started to do a strength program to create a good base for my body as I planned on getting back on the bike soon, and I spent whatever time I had left over with my family and friends which created even more value in the relationships that I have. By November, I dusted off my bike and began to ride whenever I had the time for however long and however much intensity I felt like. Then Thanksgiving rolled around and that set the tone for the rest of the year. I started to think about how blessed I am and how thankful I am to realize that I have good people around me. The Purdue collegiate cyclocross race marked my first race back since my 8 month break off the bike. Despite not riding for 8 months and a mechanical, I was happy to finish 3rd. It lit a fire under me and I remembered why cycling is my passion. Then after finals week, I began more structured training on the bike and began to conjure goals for the upcoming season. As the final seconds of the 4th quarter began to tick off the clock, I was blessed to spend Christmas and New Years with my family. A perfect way to end the year – with those who love me the most.

If I had to describe my year in one word: BLESSED.

So just because my passion wasn’t as big a part of my year than it usually is, I didn’t lose it. If not, I grew a greater love and respect for it. Being on the bike feels at home for me and my bike has created a lot of opportunities for me as well. Now that I had the time to take a breath, it is time to get back at what I love. I am so happy and ready to get back to my “usual” self while still having a little more balance in my life. Shout out to the individuals who have helped me grow this year. You know who are and you have impacted my life enormously. A sincere thank you.

Another shout out to my closest supporters, sponsors, fans, and followers! Huge thanks for being along for the ride! Even if I didn’t ride as much! Hope you stick around as I plan on coming back to #killbitches!!!

Alright! Enough looking over my shoulder and back at 2012, time to look at the road ahead and take on whatever lies ahead of me…

ANDIAMO!

http://cyclingillustrated.com/she-sweetbeautifuland-lovablebut-43-titles-19-years-old-meet-coryn-rivera-exergy/

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120509/SPORTS0605/205090313/Butler-coaches-start-adjustment-new-conference

http://www.bikeworldnews.com/2012/05/07/mit-marian-dominate-womens-criteriums-2012-collegiate-road-nationals/

http://www.standard.net/stories/2012/05/05/top-collegiate-cyclists-make-their-move-ogden

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/05/news/fort-lewis-marian-crowned-ncaa-mens-womens-team-time-trial-champs-duke-mit-win-division-ii_216639

Ogden, Utah

The last time I raced in Utah was in 2004, my first US National Championships. I was 11 at the time and only started racing that year. I walked away with 2 National Titles in the the Junior Women’s 10-12 category.

To be back in Utah 8 years later for the 2012 US Collegiate Road Nationals was very special to me. Utah was where I won my first national titles, which I am very proud of. It would also be my first collegiate road championships. Collegiate racing is everything it’s cracked up to be! I like to call it ‘glorified junior racing’. I love it, so fun and the racing is just as intense. And everyone out racing is also investing their time in a degree, something I value greatly. So it was great to be back in Utah and I was ready to get the racing going and defend Marian’s national titles!

Team Time Trial

First was the Team Time Trial. This is my first collegiate team time trial at nationals. Marian’s women’s team comprised of Sinead Miller, Jackie Kurth, Kaitie Antonneau, and myself. We all knew we had prepared physically and technically. We were all equipped with wicked fast Zipp 808 Firecrests and new Giro Selector TT Helmets. The course was similar to the TT course back in 2004, so I was familiar with it. It was an out and back rolly course. On the way out was a ripping tailwind and on the way back was naturally a headwind. We caught 2 teams on the way out and fought hard on the way back to finish catching 3 teams and finishing with a time of 48minutes flat. About 1min30sec faster that second place, CU Boulder. We were ecstatic to defend the TTT title for Marian University. This also marked my 42nd US National Title and I was proud to share it with Sinead, Jackie, and Kaitie while racing for Marian.

Criterium

The next day was the downtown  criterium. Ogden has a pretty neat downtown area and we raced along their streets in the afternoon. The course was fast and had a pretty solid rise in it, but not enough to make a difference. With the course being fast, no breaks were able to stay away. We each took our turn attacking, but we were heavily marked and never truly got away. With 2 to go Sinead strung it out for us. Kaitie came out of the last corner 2nd and I came out 4th. Kaitie defended her title, I finished 2nd, Sinead finished 7th, and Jackie finished 11th. Super stoked for my roomie to defend her title. It was an awesome team race.

Road Race

And the final day was the road race.  Our race was 68miles long on a very challenging course. We started out with 3 small fast loops, then descended to go right back up the mountain towards the finish. Along with Sinead, Jackie, Kaitie, and myself was Allie Dragoo and Lisha Herold joining us. The race started extremely cold with temperatures in the 40′s. The first lap was calm and nothing significant happened. Going into the 2nd lap, us Marian girls began attacking one after another to shake things up. Finally, the elastic broke and a strong solo rider got off the front, she eventually burned her matches and we caught her going up the final climb. The real race came down to the final 5mile climb. I rode within myself on the climb, caught a couple riders on the downhill and worked with them to catch another rider up front. I crossed the line in 6th place.

Individual & Team Omnium

After adding up all the points from the men’s and women’s races, I ended up 3rd in the Individual Omnium and Marian University WON, defending our road title from last year. So proud and honored to be yet again part of a National Championship winning team! Thanks to the team, this marked my 43rd National Jersey! THANK YOU! Special thanks goes out to Dean Peterson and Matt McKinney for their support throughout the entire collegiate road season! Can’t wait to do it again next year!

Photos from 2012 Collegiate Road Nationals HERE!

Until the next race!

Coryn