Hoogerheide Here I come!

By Dee Dee "Grasshopper" Winfield

Jan. 15^th-20^th

So, Buck left that evening b/c his flight to head back home was pretty early on Monday. He had come in mostly for the race and it was great having him there. The following morning Rhonda and I rode some of the canals in Nommay and later toured around Metz on our way back to the Brussels airport to drop off Mark Matson.

Once we arrived at the airport Rhonda and I kind of looked at each other like, “what now?” We looked at the map and picked a place to go, I got behind the wheel, Rhonda navigating and we went. But… we had a minor change of plans b/c we couldn’t exactly find the mythic cyclocross town we were looking for: Hofstede, Belgium. Instead, we found a hotel in Aalst (at this point it was getting late) and stayed there for the night.

The following day we traveled to Oodenarde and were driving around looking for places to stay, sights to see and saw the sign for the fabled Koppenburg. We walked up to the top and looked down. It was very slippery even walking and I think we both silently decided we weren’t going to try and ride it. We went a little outside of town into Kluisberg and parked the car, unloaded our bikes (oh the car is another story in and of itself, let’s just say filled to the maximum capacity and then some) put on our riding gear and off we went.

We had no idea where we were going but ended up having a spectacular ride seeing tons of the surrounding cities and towns and enjoying having a few hills to grunt our way to the top. We drove back into a small town called Berchem where we had previously seen a Bed and Breakfast above a Butcher shop and inquired about staying there for a few days. The place was awesome and Ingrid was extremely hospitable, even going so far as to wash our stinky laundry for us and provide us with a breakfast so immense that we used it partly for lunch and dinner.

We went out for a great ride that day after finding out from Els that a bad storm was coming. We rode what is known as the Eddy Mercx route and ended with a pretty steady headwind and crosswind that frequently found us sideways on our bikes (remember the V8 commercials?) and got back just in time before the rain started.

We left for the cycling house the following day and previously planned on doing another ride in this region but the wind kept us inside on the trainers. The following day we rode along the canal systems for a leisurely ride and then Saturday to Zannebeke to take a peek at the local cross race that Erik, Ryan, and Chance were to race on later that day. Supposedly the wind had died down but you wouldn’t have known it riding out there. We took one lap around the course and were completely muddy so we headed back to town. What took a little over an hour to get there took about 35 minutes to return (this including stopping to change a flat).

Jan. 21^st Hoogerheide, NED

What a day, How do you ever know when you are going to have a good race vs. a bad race. Sometimes the legs feel great during warm up and they die, sometimes the opposite. I didn’t know what I had in store for myself this very day but it was definitely not a stellar performance. I am not sure why; not enough preparation, too much preparation, the course, my mind, my body, too much chocolate perhaps??? Who knows, but my start was off the hook horrible and it only got worse from there. I just didn’t have anything. I never gave up trying but after the first lap every attempt was futile. I was embarrassed by my performance and feeling pretty low. I was in a funk. I certainly didn’t want to leave Belgium with a feeling like this in the pit of my stomach .

I know Buck and Alex would tell me I am being too hard on myself, but I didn't come all the way to Europe to represent you in this way. Next Sunday at the World Championships I race for my family, all of you in Velo Bella land, the United States and our sponsors. I've got a week to get it together.

Dee Dee's Flying Circus Goes To Europe

By Deidre "Grasshopper" Winfield

Arrival into Burssels through Jan. 13^th

It has been a while since I have been at the computer typing but here goes. We arrived in Brussels the Friday before the Nommay race (Jan. 14^th) only to find our bikes had not made the trip across the Atlantic. So, we headed to Izegem for the evening only to return to the airport the following day to find that our bikes still had not arrived.

Well, this was pretty much very disheartening. Rhonda and I were supposed to race the following day 5 hours away but we had no bikes. We went upstairs and down in the airport shuffling from one continental rep to the next with no one being able to really provide us with any optimistic advice and with one employee even replying, “ well, your bikes could be in Tokyo, we don’t know.” So, we headed back downstairs for one last stitch effort and as we are sitting there faces in our hands feeling pretty low, an angel of some human form comes in and says, “Mazza and Winfield, you are Mazza and Winfield, correct?” “Your bikes are right out there.” Woohoo, we offered our praises and off we went bikes in tow.

It was a great car ride to Nommay with Mark Matson (Kona Factory Team Wrench) burning up the highway. But, once there, we had no idea where exactly to go to get to the course and I think it took us almost as long to find the race venue as it did for us to get to Nommay. Nevertheless, we finally found the venue after a high speed chase of of the Hanka Kupfernagel’s support vehicle. Hey Alex! Where is MY support vehicle? :)

Unfortunately, we had no idea how to return to our hotel after all the twists and turns. This is where it got a little tricky b/c I only speak a little French and they only spoke a little English. My big concern at this point was getting back to the Hotel b/c my husband had flown into Switzerland earlier that day and was scheduled to arrive in Nommay around noon. It was now almost 7:00 p.m. We were a little behind schedule. I was able to get a ride back to the hotel with a very nice woman who was working at the venue and ironically enough, the hotel was only about 2 miles away. We had just taken a different route to get there that was much more confusing.

Jan. 14^th the Nommay World Cup

The day began with some chilly temps and some rain but soon warmed to a balmy 45 degrees or so. Perfect weather for cross. Seeing as we had just gotten our bikes built at 8:00 p.m. the night before and rode the trainer for about ½ an hour I was a little concerned about my ability to perform on Sunday. Rhonda and I warmed up on and off the course. I was psyched b/c it had been so long since I had raced. We line up and bam, the gun goes off.

The start was fairly smooth, a stretch of pavement into a 90 degree left turn where you had to dismount, run up the stairs, then immediately down the muddy descent, onto the gravel path then left turn into the muddy field around we go, ½ way up the hill, dismount, down, quick left turn (still not clipped in) oh, off the bike again, up the hill, back down the other side another quick left turn, again ½ way up the hill, off the bike, around to the left, this was a very hard area the ground was muddy and it was so easy to get bogged down but the legs felt good, off camber turn to the right, feeling good around the corner down the muddy descent onto the pavement and back at the start for the next lap. Lord, I'm tired just typing it out!

It was a good course and I was definitely struggling in some spots but was feeling good. I went down a couple laps into it b/c I tried to bunny hop the girl’s wheel that had gone down in front of me. Stupid, stupid! Then I had my pedal caught around the hose to wash the bikes (I mean what are the chances) so when I tried to go, I couldn’t. In retrospect it is pretty funny but I was cursing myself. Alll in all, I was pleased with my race and was looking forward to next weekend.

Bella Training Camp, day 2,3,4

by Tracie


We rode, ate, and rode some more.

It was cold, but sunny, and the routes were beautiful (well, except for Sunday – sorry – there was nothing beautiful about Sunday). In terms of conversation, I think we did some real bonding:

It’s 9:30 as we pile into the car to head down to the ride.

Teammate: Well (glancing at car thermometer), it’s 27 degrees.

Me: That is cold. That’s like, five jerseys and two pairs of shorts cold.

Silence as we watch our breath puff-puff through the air.

It’s 9:35.

Teammate: Well, it’s up to 31 degrees.

Me: That is cold. That’s like, still less than freezing. That’s like, so cold that your snot freezes on its way down your face.

Teammate: That’s like, four jerseys and a vest and thermal leg warmers cold.

It’s 9:37

Teammate: We’re up to 32!

It’s 9:38

Teammate: No, wait, 33!

It’s 9:49 and we pull into the ride start parking lot.

Me: Hey it looks like we’ve hit 40 degrees!

Teammate: 40 degrees is still pretty damn cold.

Me: What is that, like a couple base layers and a thermal jersey and a jacket?

Teammate: Well, the other day when I left work it was 39 degrees and I wore this-this-and-that.

Me: Yeah but it’s one degree warmer now.

Teammate: Yeah but it’s not as windy.

Me: Yeah but we might have to go down some descents.

I put on my kit.

Teammate: You’re wearing ARM WARMERS too??

Me: Wait, you’re not?

Teammate: Well I dunno, if you are then maybe I should.

Me: Well, I just thought if it gets warm I can always take them off.

Teammate: Oh. But what if it warms up a lot?

Me: I don’t know. Hey, it looks like teammate-over-there is wearing a thermal vest.

Teammate: Oh CRAP. I don’t have a thermal vest.

Me: Me neither. Maybe I could wear two normal vests?

San Bruno HillClimb

by Cheryl

Jan 01 2007 – no time like the present for sticking to the new year's resolution to get on the road and RACE!!

This morning was the san bruno hillclimb and yet another hill to become acquainted with, or should I say feel the love for!

Step one was to check in (get the free h2o bottle) and get situated with race number etc. On the way to warm up on the road – since I haven’t sunk any cashola for a trainer – ran into liz b and wayne (thanks wayne for the adept placement of my number). Had a quick chit chat there till I realized my teeth were doing the chattering!!

Being my first road race, I decided to test the theory that google-ing warmup protocols for bike racing could actually return something of value and ta-da .. I got something with enough detail but not too much to put me off .. so I proceeded to test it out thru the chilly and deserted, let alone foggy and depressing office park in Brisbane, hoping not to get lost and miss the start of the race! Amazing how quickly you can fill 30 minutes!

Rightio .. back from the warmup and time to strip off a layer and get ready for business!

Definitely a low key very friendly vibe in the pkg lot. Lined up in the cat 4 women’s section and got ready to hit it with my best shot – thanks to pat benatar and my new shuffle! Lots o’velogirl action, an EMC2 girl, bicycle trip and other random folk.

The start is kinda cool to see everyone spread out on the road – albeit ahead of you!! Lotsa frantic folk blasting up the hill and initially quite demoralizing but applying the same logic as cruise control on the freeway at a constant speed, I settled into a fairly good pace and was happy to see the flashing light signifying the intersection to the cow palace.

Why happiness you ask?! With my’undercover brother’ knowledge from driving the course earlier, I knew that a flat section was ahead and a chance to make up some ground .. and that I did! Kept cranking till I had a few surprise interactions from strangers that helped with the motivation all the way to the turn into the park and the realization that I was about half way to the top.I eyed a couple of people ahead of me and used them as motivation to get to the top – a velo girl and a squadra girl.

I started to hear the voices at the top and coming around the corner realized it was time to turn on the juice and I sprinted past a couple of people – including the squadra girl and got 6th out of 16. This was a really fun race and I really look fwd to the honour to wear vbk colours at more races during 2007 and continuing to learn about road racing.