Snow to surf

by Wendy

The first day that I strapped on a heart rate monitor for a mountain bike ride I knew that I had turned into one of those “serious” racers that I swore I would never be. To some people, training to improve your race results might seem like a natural progression, but I had actually fought it for years. I had been quite happy racing on minimal effort. I always assumed that training would suck the fun out of cycling, so I had avoided coaches, intervals, hill repeats, lactate thresholds, and maximum heart rates for years.

In fact, when I first met Norm he asked me what I did for training - “when the time changes in the spring, I put it in the big gear” and he almost wet himself laughing at me. When I qualified for cyclocross worlds three years ago I was terrified of making an ass of myself (and my country) so I decided it was time to hire a coach and with that came the first of many hill repeats. But with that first real workout I promised myself that if I ever stopped having fun, I would quit. So every year I enter at least one fun event where I honestly don’t care what the results are.

This past weekend was one of those races.

Snow to Surf is a relay event on Vancouver Island that starts at Mt Washington ski hill and makes its way down to the ocean by way of skis, feet, bikes, and boats. You might guess I would do one of the bike legs but I am usually the XC skier. Over 100 teams enter (each with 9 members) and there is a huge outdoor beer garden at the end of it all.

I have done this event for the past 5 years with an incredible group of girls that have all become great friends. Many of the girls have competed at a high level in some sport but most are weekend warriors now, just looking for a good excuse to get outside and play.

We rent a cabin up on the hill and spend Saturday night drinking wine, catching up, laughing, playing games and pretending that we aren’t competitive about the race. Sunday we race our individual legs as if it were the world championships and Sunday afternoon we drink too much at the beer garden and tell each other how many teams we passed, the near puke, the beefcakes that wouldn’t let a girl pass, the mechanicals, and how bad we are going to hurt because we didn’t train this year. It is always a great time and even though I am usually gearing up for a big mountain bike season in April I always take part because it is a great reminder of why I race – good times, great friends, cool places.

I knew this year was going to be a wicked Snow to Surf because it was sunny and warm! After three solid weeks of cold rain, hail and even snow, everyone was pretty excited about sun. I did a huge ride up to the hill on Saturday and after 8 girls pushed Janet’s truck out of the snow (one in flip flops, two in shorts) we hiked into the cabin. We feasted and drank, went over race logistics and caught up on everything that had happened since our surf weekend in Tofino in February and my wedding in December. There were usually three conversations going on at once, and always laughter.

Sorry guys, there were no pillow fights in our panties.

Sunday was sunny as promised and we went to breakfast a little fuzzy and dehydrated.

Leg#1 – DH ski: Erin Ward was our down hill skier. She has been my friend for years and was a National level ski racer before that. A natural pick except….the skier has to run UP the mountain in ski boots before they get to ski down. It is the shortest leg of the relay but by far the hardest. You can always tell the skiers in the beer garden because they are still coughing 6 hours after the race. DH skiers are hard to get back two years in a row – the pain is not easily forgotten. But Erin had been skiing a lot this winter and more importantly practicing running up hill so she came down in a great position.

Leg#2 – 8km Nordic ski: In previous years I have started the XC ski near the back of the pack so I had to pass a lot of people. One year I swore I was going to the Olympics because I passed 100 people during my leg! (Ok some were classic skiers and some obviously hadn’t waxed their skis in years but I felt like a rockstar!). I hadn’t been able to ski much this winter so I was a little nervous but when my personal technician crew delivered my skis freshly waxed to the start (thanks Rumon & Norm) I remembered that sometimes it’s not about skill, it’s about the gear. Erin handed off the sweat band and when I could tuck faster than guys twice my weight I knew that my skis were waxed perfectly. But it wasn’t as much of a rockstar ski for me this year because Erin’s good position had put me in a more competitive group. I only passed a quarter of my quota but snot was still flying out of my nose and my tongue was dragging.

Leg#3 – 6.8km downhill run. I passed the band to Malaika Ulmi who is our downhill running legend. Every year she does this leg which has most people so crippled two days after the event that they need assistance getting off the toilet. It is a steep grade down the mountain on pavement. You can usually hear someone’s IT bands popping during this leg yet Malaika practically skips it. She is the ultimate racer as she will gut herself for the team, almost puke at the end, and then smile for the camera 2 minutes later. Her pass tally was low this year too because Erin had such a great leg.

Leg#4 – 6.4km downhill run. Steph Green was a last minute addition and had no idea what she was in for. We had met her at the surf weekend, got along great and she was coming up to support us (read: drink). The last minute change was probably going to kill her because this leg was another steep downhill run on pavement. Good thing she was just a buck ten. She was nervous at the start but seemed to find her stride because she finished strong, with a smile (or was that a grimace?).

Leg#5 – 12km mountain bike. Catherine Hamilton was fired up for her mountain bike leg because she had just purchased a shiny new bike the day before. Virgin ride. I think the new bike was probably 5lbs lighter than her old one so nothing could stop her from feeling fast! And there was more trail on the course this year so she put her mad technical skillz to use. I think Catherine keeps quiet about how much fun she has on her leg because she doesn’t want to trade it!

Leg#6 – 5km Kayak. Janet Rygnestad had moved to Protection Island last year and was commuting by kayak. Her daughter Natasha had apparently been “helping her train” the past couple weeks by sitting back and watching the seals while mom did all the work. She booked a fast boat and borrowed a carbon paddle to get an edge. There was a big battle with a guy who did NOT want to get “chicked” but Janet snaked him at the end!

Leg#7 – 30km road bike. Alison Keple was decked out in full pink for her road bike leg. Pink helmet, pink kit and I think she had pink earrings. She said she could hear little girls screaming “I LOVE YOUR OUTFIT” as she hammered out the ride in her tri bars. Hopefully one of those girls will be getting into cycling in the next year – guaranteed! She was psyched about her ride because the sparkly purple girl that has taunted her in previous years was nowhere to be seen Sunday.

Leg#8 – 10km canoe. Our paddlers Winnie Chow and Sarah Cormode are the secret weapon of our team. Wee little girls with huge smiles that will DESTROY guys on the water (and then flirt with them in the beer garden). They know how to read the tides and paddle SO well together that they are impressive to watch. They too snaked a boat at the finish to ring the bell and get the team beer tickets.

We all met in the beer garden and told stories of the day. As usual we drank too much beer, got too much sun and spread out to chat with friends we hadn’t seen for awhile. We ended up second in the open women’s category (destroyed by the same team that beats us every year).

After picking up our chocolate medals we said our goodbyes and promised to start training for next year’s race so we could finally beat them, knowing full well that none of us really cared that much if we won. So with a great race weekend fresh in my mind I head out to do some speed workouts with a heart rate monitor AND power tap on my bike (total XC geek, I know).

After this weekend I know that I still enjoy my racing as much as ever so its not time to pack it in just yet.

More Napa Valley

by Piper

I'm a singletrack kinda girl.

I'm not afraid to admit it.

I don't own a roadbike. I have no desire to ride 60+ miles on a road.

My love affair with biking revolves around rocks, roots, ruts, narrow trees, steep descents, logs, switchbacks, and yes, even mud: anything to keep my mind off the fact that I'm asking my body to push itself harder than I normally do. And the Napa ValleyDirt Classic excited me.

This was my first year at NVDC. Sea Otter bored me with its endless fireroads. NVDC had its share of fire roads (most of which seemed to be going UP), but it had enough singletrack to keep me smiling and happy.

The details of the race are kind-of a blur: There were lots of fun, narrow singletrack through the trees, whoop-de-doos, logs to jump over, rutted and steep descents, mud patches that covered my legs in mud, and yes, there were also lots of fire roads.

I found myself passing groups of riders in the singletrack sections, only to have them pass me on the fire roads. Again and again. I found myself battling mostly with one woman, we took turns passing each other. She finished 30 seconds ahead of me, and it turns out she wasn't in my category. But I'm glad I had someone to push me more than I would have pushed myself.

This was a fun race for me. I finished 7th, Sport women 30-35. Now on to my favorite race of the year (in California, at least): Skyline. A true singletrack course for a singletrack kinda girl.

Dino MTB Race

By Lindsay

Well, I'm officially a mountain bike racer now.

Its been a long day. I got up at 7, mostly because I was tired of trying to sleep. We left for the race 9:30 and got there around 10:45. I was very anxious because I wanted to ride two warm-up laps before the 12:00 race started.

I registered and changed quickly, and I probably would have had time for two laps, but after I saw the course I figured the second lap would hurt my confidence instead of helping it. I had been told that they course was easy and I wouldn't have to ride over any logs (haven't managed any decent wheelies yet).

The first and last miles of the 3 mile loop were highly technical and the lap had four logs. I had to walk most of the last half mile because it was too technical for me and I was really shaken because of all the men coming up behind me in warm-ups. By the time, I made it back to the car I wasn't happy. More like scared out of my mind.

I had an hour of my husband's expert race and an hour of sitting around to calm down. Then another setback.

For months I thought that I was in for a one-lap race because that's what beginner women have always done in the past. I always thought a 3-mile bike race was kind of ridiculous, that's what I'd been visualizing for months, so when I found out that we were doing two this year I wasn't happy.

By the time I got to the starting line the nerves had cleared and a sense of resignment had set it. "Just tuck in and do it," I thought. There were three women in my class. We filed into 1-2-3 order right from the starting line, with me in the middle and stayed that way for rest of the race, just spreading out more. The third place girl dropped out, so I was technically last, but since I was legitimately pulling away from her I consider it a small victory.

It was the winners 4th year in beginners, and the other women's second, so as the only true newbie in the group I think I did okay. My lap times were just slightly slower for two laps than I expected for one, so I guess that was okay. My only real disappointment was have to walk a good portion of the course. I'm going to a skills clinic next weekend, so with that and plenty of practice riding I should be a lot stronger technically by the end of the season.

Today was just considered a practice race and didn't count for points or prizes, so I didn't get to stand on the podium (really disappointed). I thought I might be able to move up to sport after a couple of races, but it looks like I'm going to stay a beginner for the rest of the season.

There should be a bigger field at the real races and I guess my new goal can be to become a fast beginner and let other people race beginners for year number 5 (you have to upgrade if you win the series). You gotta have goals, right?

Finally, one last bit of info. My average HR for the race? 189 for a 50 minute effort. I've always had a fast little ticker, but wow.

Napa Valley Dirt Classic

by Kathleen

Napa Valley Dirt Classic
Weather: sunny, ~67 degrees
Course: One 22 mile loop. Some mud puddles and rutted sections but a super fun mtn bike course
Attendees: Sarah K., Teshia, Julie P., Kathleen, Vanessa, Piper, and Mo was the bella cheer leader
Place: Kathleen 3rd, Julie 4th, Sarah 4th(pro), Vanessa (2nd,category?), Teshia & Piper? Mo - 1st place for sharing her blanket and cheering.

I can only speak for my race. The pro elite/expert women all left together. I decided to do this race because my friend goaded me and because I really wanted to see this course. A friends comment kept resonating in my head, 'it's a real mtn bike course.'

I decided it would be a really scenic workout for my still tired Sea Otter legs. As we took off and made it onto the first flat section 3 gals were off the front, and then Paula Bock and I caught up to Sarah and Josie (Ithink it was Josie B.) and we worked together and then I settled into my own pace while Paula and Sarah took off.

Having few technical skills, I got passed by a few gals and lots of single speed men on the fun windy downhill single track. Sort of like riding in UCSC. Some of the rutted down hill I walked because I didn't pick the right line and...I'm trying to stay up right these days.

Julie P. caught me a couple of times and nicely kept asking me how I was doing. I think I only grunted a reply. You always know you're suffering a bit when you grunt instead of speaking. I was truly amazed when my carpool buddy, Emily, who was one of the 3 off the front, heckled me from behind and passed me yelling something about - wrong turn and crashing. She ended up catching all the gals in her class to win her race.

Ah to be 28 again.

I was waiting for the long, long, long climb out which was a combination of walking and riding and not as long as I had imagined it. Imagining for the worse was a good choice. At the very end I caught Sarah, and was feeling good until I crashed spectacularly on this small downhill. Me and the bike tumbling down the hill. My handle bars wrapped around mybike and my front brake sort of exploded and I had to do the last~1/2mile without a front brake. I'm hoping as Sarah passed me that she held up a sign that at least gave that crash a 10 for style points as my bruises today are rather colorful.

Paula Bock was 1st & Celeste McCarty 2nd in my race. It's a fun race, nice organizers, shower afterwards, and Napa is oh so pretty this time of year. Definitely give it two thumbs up. Howell Mtn is in August in case you missed this one. That's two loops of mostly the same scenery and fun swoopy trails. You don't get the evil climb out but it's much warmer.

Wente Road Race

by Denise

I raced with the 45+ and Cat 4/35+. I being in the Cat 4 section, was a bit intimidated with all of these highly experienced girls around me.

We rolled out in a nice tight group and I knew we were hitting that hill/feeedzone soon, so I needed to stay in front. That hill was a bit steeper than I recall. Linda, who was racing in the 45+ category told me to stay on her wheel and to only look at her wheel.

Sure enough, she got me to the top lickity split. If it were not for her, I would've slipped off into the hill abyss. THANXS Linda! Cheryl from Left Coast, Pennie from Le Feminine Peleton and I worked together nicely from there on.

Cheryl was the hill climber of our group andkept that screaming pace towards the finish. I tried to get just a millimeter ahead of her, to no avail. I have no idea of where I placed, though I am thinking 10'ish. We waited for 45 minutes for the results to be posted and the shivering took over, so we headed back.

I really like that course and it was so terrific to see all of those Bellas at the finish line.

Photo is from RonaldMariano.com , visit his site for some great shots of the Wente Road Race

Wente Crit not a race report

by Soni

I am not writing a race report because that honor goes to Heidi, who won the 4s race at the Wente Crit, but I had to say a few words about it.

This is an awesome team! The women's 45+ raced with the women's 4s which isn't what I would normally consider a good situation for either group. But Liz & Monica, who raced earlier with the 1/2/Pro field, decided to help me and Heidi in our 4s race. They kept their eyes on where we were, told us when we should make moves and such, and helped move us around.

Monica took a huge pull, maybe 3 laps at the end with Heidi and I on her wheel that kept the race safe, kept us in good position, made the team look totally studly for the spectators, and helped Heidi get into position for a superduper sprint to win!

I really valued racing with them--usually when I race with the 2s, we aren'treally racing 'together' so this was a pretty special opportunity.
Thanks gals!!!

Wente Crit Race Report

By Heidi

We had Monica, Liz B, Soni and I out there in a field of 35-40 riders. These gals are my heroes- they raced hard on Saturday, raced in the Cat 1,2,3 race earlier, then came out and worked for Soni and I.

We did a pretty good job sticking together, and whenever I found myself sliding back in the field, there was Liz or Monica ready to pull me back up to the front. Sonny and I tried to watch out for each other and stay out of the nasty wind as much as possible.

This was a sketchy course, lots of room for crazy moves and crashes happening in all of the races throughout the day. With about 5 laps to go, Monica took a monster pull up to the front, and kept Soni and I out of the dangerous pack.

Monica deserves a medal for her hard work- she kept us at the front all the way to the bell lap, and into the second to last turn. It was incredible! We had a beautiful bella train going round and round. I swear I had this sh*t eating grin on my face the whole time.

I was able to catch a good wheel going into the last corner sitting in third position. I sprinted waay early, and was glad that I hit the line when I did.... It was a fun win, and I am so happy to have teammates like these gals.

Helena Primavera RR Bunnies

by Tina

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day…"

It was de-gorgeous outside.

As I wheeled my bike out of the hotel, a lady made the comment that I definitely picked the right day to ride my bike… Unlike the snow that I'm now looking at outside my window in the office… bluch! Although, the trees I planted are very very happy at the moment.

Anyway, I digress… We sported two Bella ladies, Zoe and me. And seeing that it was the day before Easter, I had to sport some appropriate flair…There were 15 women in our field and ALL Cat 4s… There were entire teams, 5 from Helena, 4 (I think) from University of Montana, 3 fromGAS (hee hee)…It was awesome to see so many ladies out!

The Helena RR is a mostly flat 40-miler, with wind and depending on which lap you're on, it could be a cross, or a head, or a tail… or flat out blow you off the road! You really could never tell. After a somewhat painful experience teaching the nuances of the forwarding rotating pace line, a break went off the front at about mile 8 that brought our field down to about 9.

A short rise on a dirt section just after the causeway brought that number down to 6. Zoe and Cathy were at the front of this splinter, and unfortunately, I just watched a U of M rider bridge the gap back up to the front group and couldn't grab her wheel. Dang hilly dirt - I'll get you one day! Lots of potholes and washboards – I think there was one good line for about 30 feet on the entire 3 mile section.

I tried to catch on by myself and decided to sit up and wait for two others churning down the road toward me – especially when I noticed the turn up ahead into a headwind… Jen (Helena), Annie (GAS) and I worked really hard and had at one point on a headwind section brought the group back within 100 meters, but no dice…

Somewhere in there, we lost Annie (maybe blew away?), which left Jen and I to hang in there. I felt really really strong Saturday (which just kills me that I couldn't make that jump), and Jen was right there with me and we kept the front group in sight most of the entire race.

At the last corner, Zoe and Katren took off from the front group, bringing it down to a sprint between the two, with Zoe taking theprize!! Jane (Helena) took the next group sprint for third, and then Jen and I were the next "group" in for 7th and 8th. Another awesome showing by Zoe-baby and I keep getting stronger and stronger!

I'm loving meeting all kinds of new people – and with all the women in the field, it's been great for that. Well, I'd better go do intervals - until our next race: Butte Highlands (April 29th)

Rocky Mountain Roubaix Race Report

by Tina

After a lovely 5 hour drive the night before, I woke up to a sunny morning… The forecast had been touting mostly cloudy skies, threat of rain, and highs in the low 50s. With a start time at 10 am, that would mean temps in the 30s to 40s.

Driving over, I mentioned to my husband that I would rather have it be cold, rainy, and slimy – just to weed out the weaker ones, which may have been me after my ego was done trash talking.

It was only my second real race and nerves were tight – it was a miracle I kept my breakfast down – and only had one round of the nervous-rea. Rocky Mountain Roubaix takes its name from our favorite Belgian race with cobbles and unpredictable weather - only this one has lots of dirt roads and pavement that's actually worse then the dirt!

They combined the women's fields – we even had a Cat 1 road racer on her cross bike out there to show us just how bad we were – was 18 –which is HUGE for Montana. I was very excited. We had many Bellas – me, Jackie, Erika from Idaho, and soon to be Zoe (I think she just has to fill out her waiver) all in our Velo Bella kit and full of flair – me with the sparkly frog on the skateboard mojo and matching earrings, to Jackie with her cross bike and pink bar tape and matching sidewalls on her tires… It was fabulicious.

The race got off with a calm pace and the first sign of a dirt road sent an itchy Cat 1 racer on a desperate attempt for a breakaway –we chased her down like the dog she was…And – this was really funny – cuz' it showed me the difference between men and women racers – on the first dirt section not even 3miles in, a lonely voice toward the back cried out "CRAP – I got a flat!" and the entire field went, in unison, "Awwwwww." That's when the Cat 1 took off.

Wasn't that sweet?

Well, I got shelled off the main group about 1/3 of the way in on a steep dirt section, with two Bellas still in the lead group, Zoe andErika, to bring home the hardware. They ended up dropping the Cat1, and Erika and Zoe came in 2nd and 3rd – Woohoo!! Erika will have to give you more details on that one –

I managed to find some girls willing to work together and we roundedout a beautiful day of racing with a SWEET sprint finish – I took a flyer at about 100k to go and thought I had a nice gap, but justbefore the line one of the girls I was working with came up and got me by a couple feet. It was really cool though – I still get goosebumps. I like to Sprint. A lot.

And many many kudos to Jackie for toughing it out on her cross bike - she's our awesome mountain biker, cross racer, 24-hours of dirt and mud chica and she did awesome! :)

Thanks for reading until next weekend – Helena Primavera RR – I'll be donning my beautiful Easter bunny ears!

Master Women Wrap Up

by Monica

Circuit Race, Friday
W 30+ & W 40+
VB racers Liz Benishin & Monica Neilson
Weather some clouds, mild temp., windy

The officials combined the W 30+ and the W 40+ fields. I knew Jen Holladay, ofTamarack, who was racing in the 30+ field (we met at Cascade Cycling Classic (aNRC race) a few years ago. It was sweet to see her again. She is a pretty strong rider and I knew she was a good, safe wheel to be on. She seemed to want to lead so I sat on her wheel as much as possible.

I felt great on the climb up the Cork Screw and never felt like I was working hard. I sat in, watched my competitors and waited to see who would do what. Unfortunately, on our last lap, on the last climb, the officials neutralized us as the Cat 3 women were catching us. It was really discouraging, I felt really good. I planned to punch it on the last time up the climb and I couldn't.

We ended up passing the Cat 3 women at the last left hand turn before you make your way to the finish line. It was here things got all messed up, groups mixed together that weren't supposed to. It was a cluster **^#! In the end, I took 2nd and Liz took 3rd.We did get to sit outside in the rain for three hours waiting for the results to be right. Amazing when there were only 12 people in our field! Gee, maybe the"official" decision to only start the various fields 40 seconds apart (vs the stated 2 minutes) caused more work for the officials too. hmmmm......



Road Race, Saturday 4:17 start time
Weather: beautiful but windy

Once again combined the W 30+ with the W 40,VB representation- only me. We had four laps and a big part of this race is attrition so its important to be patient, play it out and see what happens.

Each time up "the wall" the field narrowed. On lap 2 we were down to 6, 3 30+ women and 3 40+ women. We had some trouble getting a good working pace line going as not everyone wanted to play. That's okay, there's no written rule that you have to participate.

Every lap on the long descent I took the lead. I know this course well and I know that leading through the big left turn at the bottom of "the wall" allows you to carry as much speed as possible up that hill. This worked out great. I seemed to set the pace up the climb, not intentionally, it just happened.

The last lap as we made the right up Barf Boy to the finish line, everyone was watching everyone to see who was gonna go, or who was gonna do what. The pace was pretty mellow. I kept my eyes on my two opponents and kept them off to my side, making sure they weren't resting on my wheel.

We picked up the pace as we got closer and closer to the finish line. At the 1km mark, Alexis (of Joselyn's and the W 30+ group) and I rode a little harder. We found ourselves with a little gap....cool! At about 500m to go, Alexis hit it hard. I got out of my saddle to go with her but she gapped me off a bit. I kept my pace up and crossed the finish line just behind her but for first in my field! It was so great to see Michael, Sabine, Jeff, Soni, my crazy husband, brother in law and nephew out there cheering. It was late, it'd been a long day for everyone and I really appreciated you guys sticking around.

It was a challenge to try and read the posted results in the dark, have the awards at 9PM and finally, eat a sandwich at 10PM. We had to miss the Kona party, dammit....but hey, it was sweet leaving the Otter at 9:30 at night with no traffic!

It Must Be the Booties

by Raja

Today turned out to be a bootiful San Diego day. Sunny, no wind, nice temp.. and perfect for a bootilicious time trial at Fiesta Island in the middle of Mission Bay. I had just realized that once you get in line, your nerves escalate exponentially the closer you get to that guy straddling the bikes. "It must be the booties" said the guy 3 up from me. "All the fast ones have the booties" he joked. It was his first TT, as it was my first as well. I replied, "yeah, I don't have one of those crazy helmets... but I got booties!"

Whitney DeSpain had just finished the first of her 5 loop course and looked great. So Cal Bella's got to stick together, "Go Whitney!" I screamed. All you bellas out there... Whitney is the BEST support and cheering squad one could ask for -Bella Extraordinaire- she attracts energy and happiness, what could be better???

"Twenty seconds..." said the voice behind my left ear, "you have twenty seconds." He kept speaking but all I heard was "blah blah blah.. blah blah..." and all I could think about was "OK, I have lost the ability to clip into my pedals..." He said something about laps and finishing and luck. I'll take some of that with a side of fries please! :-)



And I was off, my first TT now under way. Having a triathlon background, I'm a little more familiar with racing TT than road racing, having said that, I haven't owned a bike for year yet...so "familiar" is a relative statement. I was however pretty familiar with that ache in the legs left over from the half IM 2 weeks ago. Yesterday I hopped on my bike for a couple of hours to wake up the legs - thought perhaps that would be wise...Eh, ache, smake... whatever.. right??!? Laps 1 & 2 felt nice and smooth. Lap 3 errr... and lap 4, well.. not so much. Lap 5, you can feel the finish... my bum hurt, my legs hurt, heck, even my arms hurt (???). I'm still getting used to aerobars... I finished in something like 33:17, happy for my first TT. Lots of improving left to go. Whitney looked at me sideways - "THAT'S GREAT!!" she said... "you should stick around.. your new fiance just may be a podium boy!"

Here's the REALLY interesting and important part of the day... A woman walked up to Whiteny & I and smiled a great big smile, "you have the best looking [kit] out here." Really she said that! Then a guy from Pez Cycling seemed to agree and took our photo (so look online on their something or rather "distractions" part of their website!) for their cycling news website. VB making the news! (well, not really, but I can dream can't I??). So Whitney & I made a pact... more flair next race!! We'll show 'em "distraction"!

Results came out, and my new fiance, Dave, did indeed become a podium boy and I placed second behind the Master aka Yvonne. Can I tell you how EXCITED I am??!? Whitney gave me a huge hug and said, "you realize the only one to beat you was Yvonne?" Now I don't know Yvonne personally.. but let me tell you.. she makes the guys look slow. Not only is she wicked fast (like 3 minutes faster than me!).. she's pretty too! Ugg! So jokingly I replied to Whit, "well, I'll just have to catch her now won't I!". (I stress jokingly!) So on to the next race. I doubt I'll catch Yvonne... but the good news, in 2 years she'll be on to another age group.. so there's hope!!

That's it from bootiful Southern California. It was the new VB booties, I swear!

Ojai beckons for Velo Bella -Kona gals

April 2nd
Garrett Lemire Criterium

Three of the Velo Bella -Kona gals went down to race the Garrett Lemire NRC crit.
Kele Murdin was team captain with support from Jane Ziegler and Jen Joynt.
The event was not too eventful, and no breaks happened, so it went down to the sprint and the gals missed out.
Jane did make a move on the front to pick up the pace as it was slowing drastically and the big teams were forming.
See Janes photos in cyclingnews:

jane 1
jane 2

Thankfully the sun was shining as the endless weeks of rain and dark skies were starting to get on us, and it was a much needed break!
Kele and Jane did Amgen crit the day before, you got to read her blog on whats buggin her!