A dream comes true...

CX Nats Race Report— Elite Women’s race

Callie McDowell

This weekend I found the phrase “dream come true” on my lips at least once an hour. There was so much to psyched about: phenomenal weather (sorry Cali girls but that was a veritable heatwave for New England), fast course conditions, an encouraging pre-ride session on Saturday, and of course, the company of the circuit’s finest ladies of our team Velo Bella-Kona! It should be said that last year— my first year ever racing ‘cross— that I had admired our pink, blue, black, and –boa’ed flag from afar, but let me tell you, it has been 10x more fun flying the colors myself and getting to race with such a wonderful crew with the support of so many fabulous sponsors.

Race day on Sunday unfolded for me without much fanfare or nervousness. My difficulties were in conveying to what extent the whole experience was a little surreal for me. My first season racing in the elite category has been a mixed bag of results but an absolute blast. Truthfully, I’m still shocked my license is green every time I pull it out of my wallet. Among so many other aspects, just my upgrade has been a goal and dream come true.

Inside of 2 hours to the race, my pulse picked up bit. But the course was fast and so much like my favorite mountain bike trail “Chutes and Ladders” in some places that I couldn’t help smiling to myself thinking of how awesome the race itself would be. Warming up in a humming line of trainers with Dee-Dee, Anna, Erin, and Melanie, I was again overwhelmed by gratitude for my good fortune in finding such a talented and positive squad of women with whom to race. Right on!

Cut to the race as my teammates were off like shots from their hard earned staging positions in the rows nearer the start. More gushing and appreciation: In the elite field I’ve found you need not harbor much concern that the girl in front of you will bumble with her pedals. The start went smoothly and was uphill— just my style. Soon my legs were singing with the pleasurably pain of digging it in and seeing girls recede in my peripheral vision. Unfortunately, a quick bout of nerves prevailed and I let up off the gas for the transition from pavement to grass as I had a flashback to a previous race where with well-meaning, targeted aggression I had hit the terrain change with such force that my race ended then and there having overcooked the first turn. Fortunately, I quickly collected and refocused my thoughts. I motored along for the first lap, pleasantly surprising myself by riding with and even past women who only last year I watched from afar thinking such thoughts as, “Golly, they are taking those barriers awfully quickly!” and “Gee, how the heck did they ride up that!?” Nothing quite so fine as amazing yourself in this manner by taking a step closer to becoming just such a racer.

Now, I cannot lie that the details commence fogging over in the second to last lap. I recall voices of encouragement, both familiar and anonymous. Before the race I was recounting to a friend that there’s nothing more humorous to me than having perfect strangers screaming “Yeah, Bella!” as I am racing my last laps with a near complete lack of poise, snot emerging from my nostrils, and my tongue lolling out of my mouth in a most uncomely fashion. Makes me wonder just why they are calling me beautiful….

Hilarious, but as usual, I revel in the way in which everyone loves our team, colors, attitude, our fabulous kick-butt Kona kitty bikes, and supports us with great gusto accordingly. The energy all along the course had me smilingly giddily all afternoon and dreaming of cowbells throughout the night. And while no amount of cheering would have landed me on the podium this year, after the race, I was equal parts content with my finish and inspired and eager to improve for next fall.

Congratulations to our whole squad and best wishes to Steph for a speedy recovery. Thanks to our support crew and all the sponsors for contributing to yet another one of my dreams becoming a reality.

GRASSHOPPER WINS! GRASSHOPPER WINS!

After walking away from the field on the second lap of the race, Dee Dee "Grasshopper" Winfield stretched her lead to 44 seconds and became the 2006 US Nationals Masters 30-34 Champion today in Providence, RI.

Joining Dee Dee in today's race were Sarah Kerlin (7th), Melanie Swartz (8th) and Anna Milkowski (who suffered a crash on the first lap while in the lead) finished 12th. Stay tuned for a detailed race report to follow...

More soon!

Alex

The night before Nationals....

Here we are in lovely Providence RI, for Cyclocross Nationals - 2006.

We once again have an impressive team lining up for the championship events.

For Friday's Master's race we have:
30-34
Sarah Kerlin
Anna Milkowski
Melanie Swartz
Deidre Winfield

45-49
Andi Mackie

Sunday's Elite race:
Ann Fitzsimmon
Erin Kassoy
Sarah Kerlin
Callie McDowell
Anna Milkowski
Melanie Swartz
Jen Tilley
Deidre Winfield

Unfortunately Stephanie White is out with a broken ankle. We'll miss you and wish you a speedy recovery Scout!


Listen to the Live Audio cast on Sunday at 2pm for the elite women's race to hear how well your Bella teammates are doing at velonews.com.

Stay tuned for race reports.

Thank you to all of our sponsors, teammates, and supporters that have helped us get here.

Capitol Cross Classic

By Dee Dee "Grasshopper" Winfield

It was the first race I had done that was less than 2 hours from home. How awesome, we loaded Cadence in the car and left the morning of; meaning we were going to get home before 10:00 that night, woohoo! It was one short year ago that I had begun to race my bike again. I was still about 10 pounds over my “competition weight” and still breastfeeding but I was there, infant in arms, ready to race. Last year, 7^th, today, 1^st but not without a good fight.

I got the hole shot but didn’t keep the lead for long, Mo came around me at some point and I around her and vice versa. Back and forth we traded, making for a very interesting race. Mel had a great start and was with us for a while but had an issue with a flat at some point. The weather was cool and the course pretty dry but there was a nice technical section on the back side. I was able to grab her wheel at one point and decided to attack once we hit the pavement. It took several tries of out of the saddle power tapping but eventually I was able to get a gap and keep it with about 1.5 laps to go. It was a tough race with lots of battling but it was nice to come away with the victory after not having raced last weekend due to illness.

Only 2 more weeks to Nationals!!!

Biscuit Brings It at Pilarcitos

By Erin "Biscuit" Kassoy

Sunday's final race in the Pilarcitos series was perfect racing conditions. Cool weather, sunny skies, light wind, and a whole lot of screaming spectators. I had only been to one other Pilarcitos race this year since the other three conflicted with USGP weekends, so at the callup, I had no standing. I was the unnamed "rest of the women's field." I felt a little lonely, being the sole person in the second row. Fortunately, once the whistle was blown, we were are the same - fighting for the front. The field included Rachel Lloyd, this year's new face Shelly Olds, fast Stella Carey, crit standout Kristin Drumm, Lauren Costantini in her last Norcal event, Josie Beggs beautiful as ever even with plates in her cheekbone, our own Andi Mackie, Katrina Baumsteiger, and other local familiar faces. Missing were Sarah, who was there to cheer, and Anne Fitzy.

I had no idea what to expect from my body since yesterday's race was the last day of a two week training block that included two-a-day workouts and a million hard efforts. My warmup sucked - I felt like I was riding through a creek upstream. But there is something about the race atmosphere that cut through the muck. I had a crappy start (seems to be a theme this year) and had to play catchup right away. I got stuck on a slow wheel though the twists and turns of the eucalyptus forest but eventually got around before the long beach run. After some more chasing, I hopped on a train of Lauren, Kristin, and Josie. Things were good until Lauren tried to pass me in a tight space and caught her front wheel in my rear skewer. Tangled up, we had to stop and regroup. By the time I got going again, I was behind and had to chase the three down again. Fortunately, my engine got going at that point and I rode past all three through the forest and got a gap that I held for the rest of the race. I was closing in on Stella during the last lap when a mechanical just past the pit kept me from shifting into the big ring. With a lot of pavement left, I did my best in my little ring but couldn't make up any more time. I finished in fourth, which I was very happy with. Now I just have to rest up and let all the training soak in before nationals. And I have to visualize riding fast through ice and snow - any chance we could truck in some snow for the Surf City finals on Saturday?

By the way, my rock lobster frameset from last year is still for sale if anyone is looking for a holiday gift for yourself or someone you love.

-erin

White Wins Where it is White in Winter!

By Stephanie "Scout" White

Hello Everyone,

What an interesting weekend! Anna Milkowski and I raced the Cheshire Cyclocross race on Saturday and I did the MRC Cyclocross race on Sunday. Neither day was UCI, so this was a training weekend for me.

I did two races each day (the B men on Saturday and the C men on Sunday, along with the
women's races both days). This was difficult, but great for training. Saturday's course was essentially a mountain bike race with a long flat field stretch to the finish. Half of the course was in the woods (with tight descents and a killer run-up) while the other half was classic field riding
with some sand, a few barriers, and sharp corners.

Anna said she wasn't feeling well at the start, but she must have felt better very quickly because she had a great race! She had the holeshot into the woods and rode to an awesome 2nd place finish. I had a good race, but that run-up nearly killed me. It was soooo long! I rode with Pauline Frascone and Chris Rothfuss for most of the race. Chris got away on the second to last lap and Pauline and I worked together, trying to bring her back. In the end we didn't catch her and Pauline out sprinted me, but I still got a decent 6th.

Sunday's race was the more exciting one for me. I did the C mens race in the morning, which was fun but freezing cold. I got 8th and got to preride the course a bunch before the A womens race. The course started out on flat field, but quickly transitioned into these awesome switchback banked corners. Then there were some barriers, followed by a wooded (but wide and smooth, if a bit muddy) section. The second half of the course was on a sloped field, with steep climbs, fast corners, and a rock ledge thing. There was another set of barriers (uphill) and some fast flat sections. The end of the lap was a giant log/fence that stretched across the field, including the pit.

My little sister, Libby, also did the elite race, which worked out well for me. Libby got the holeshot off the start (she can sprint insanely well!) and led me out until the first corner. She accidentally took the corner too wide. I passed her on the inside, but it worked out because she
inadvertently blocked for me to the outside. For the first half of the race I rode crazy hard, trying to get $100.

The (slightly drunk) race promoter offered a $100 prime to the first one across the line the first lap. I had a gap on the rest of the field and was opening it, all the while thinking about getting both the first lap prime and the win, when I got a flat over that stupid rock/ledge! Luckily I didn't roll the tubular and my Easton Circuit wheels held up great so I could still ride it to the pit. Still, I was passed by half the field (I was in 8th) and thought my race was over.

Now, usually in this situation I would be so disappointed I wouldn't race as hard as I should have. Today, though, I was feeling so good and was so pissed off that I rode really hard, picking people off as I went. After a lap my dad had my Kona bike all ready (after sprinting to the car to change out my wheel) for me and I'm thankful he did because I much prefer the crisp shifting of my SRAM components. I made up ground steadily, until I was competing for second with Arielle Filiberte and Melody Chase. I sat in this group for a while, but Perry (the leader) was about 15 seconds up the road and I thought I could go faster than my group was going.

With 1 1/2 laps so go I attacked on a climb to open a gap on the group I was with and just hammered. I was closing on Perry, but I wasn't sure if it was enough. On the last third of a lap I caught Perry and passed her, taking the win after getting a flat. Going through the pit the last time was so fun because the pit/beer garden was full of people all cheering their heads off. This was a breakthrough race for me because I learned how to suffer and come back from adversity like I have never done before. And I got $100 for the win anyway.