Corral Hollow Downhill Series #1: Everything good!

by Allie

It’s been a long weekend spent in the dustbowl of Carnegie State Rec area where the first race of the Corral Hollow Downhill Series was held on Sunday. I just got home, am still dirty and am pretty spent so here’s a rundown of events in my semi-conscious state.

Saturday: Practice from 9-2pm. Get up at 7, drive to Jackie’s, load up, pile in and take off. I had been honestly dreading the return to this venue since a disastrous race run a few years ago and since then I had built up the parts I dreaded most in my mind. I guess that’s what happens when demons of a bad race are allowed to live.

We arrived and the place was hopping. Registration was going, shop tents went up, bbq smoker was heating up, even a DJ mixing and spinning tunes. The vibe was definitely fun and positive to set the mood for a good ride. When the shuttle (flatbed stake trucks) arrived we loaded up into the back (moo-cow style) in groups of about 30 or 40 and they hauled us away up to nearly the top. From there it was a few hundred yard uphill hike to the start, a grade too steep for the trucks. I threw on my helmet, snapped my trusty Zeals to my face, took a breath and let the brakes go as best I could down the ultra-steep start, right to the place where I had eaten it hard in prior years.

Something snapped. I don’t know if it was my bike and me actually being in tune or my head being pulled out of my rear at that exact moment, but whatever it was made me focus, load up and lean into the berm that had previously sent me flying. I pinned it and was sent accelerating down the course!

I was having a good time right up until I saw the 20’ double in the middle of the trail. Slowing down I didn’t pay attention to position and slowly slid off of the side of the takeoff. I never actually did get a good look at it, but I heard someone on the course say “I saw a girl launch this earlier.” That was all I needed. I turned the bike around and headed back up to get a good head of steam. CHARGE!!! Pedaling as hard as I could I hit the takeoff and from the air got a good look at the length of the double…and the transition wasn’t getting any closer! CLANK-BRAAAAAAP! The rear wheel didn’t quite make it but I was still upright. That was all I needed.

Finishing the rest of the course I took a couple more runs and headed home. It poured rain on the dusty course for the rest of the night.

Sunday: The dirt was Velcro. In my practice run I did the following to prepare for a solid race run: Put more air in my tires, practiced a faster line around a tight turn, learned to make motorcycle noises when hitting the double.

It all came together for a solid, yet conservative run. Good enough for third place in a field of about 8 pro women! A HUGE showing for a local DH event!!!

I was 10 seconds off of 1st place and I know where I can make it up and what I’ve got to work on.

Gals, Please come out to this race series if you have any desire to try DH! It's an awesome course and every racer is appreciated and treated like a pro! The guys at RideSFO.com have done alot of work to make an outstanding venue for our local area!

Cat-ywompus

by Jen

This was my tenth anniversary otter. Woot! I'm not generally a fan of the early morning start. Really, nothing important in life should ever happen before 10 am. But John and I hauled ourselves out of the every stylin' Salinas Motel 6, drank our Bella Blend espressos, ate our rainbow sprinkles, and drove on out to Laguna Seca all dark and early like. Unlike the last few years of chaos, we got to drive right in and park real close like (last year, we ignored parking attendants, signage, and assorted barricades and dumped the car at random - miraculously, it was actually still there when we got back.). This early morning start thing, looking better and better.

Bike race part. Chatted it up with Ryan at the start. Always fun to have friends at the bike race. Rolly-rollyied around the track toward the back, then used that nice taily wind up the road climb to find the front for the start of the dirty fun. There followed lots of bikey riding. Woopty-woop up and down the hilly hills. Got all cattywampus in the sand. Ack, who put that there? Pedal pedal pedal up the little climbs. Wow, cool rainforesty single track. Is that moss hanging in the trees? Pedal, pedal. Swoosh through the ticky-tacky corners. Bobsleddery. Pedal, pedal. What's this road descent doing here? And back up we go. Woosh. Oh, my, that's quite a head wind isn't it. Ok, almost there, gotta go hard, maybe I can catch a few before the line. PEDAL, PEDAL, PEDAL. Oops, one more climb, forgot about this one. PEDAL, PEDAL. Down the track. PEDAL. Any y'all seen a finish line 'round here? Woop, there it is.



I finished somewhere around 16th of 40ish. Weird thing, these combined age groups. It was too much fun being a Bella; lots of cheering fans, which made me grin. That, and the socks; it's all about the socks. Big Congrats to Ryan for the podium finish!

John managed two laps without harming any trees or other wildlife. Both John and bike finished in one piece.

Then, I did some booth time (pics above). It was such onerous work, what with the dancing and hula-ing, and the coffee drinkin'. I flaired out lots of little (and not so little) girls with beads. So shiney. Happiness all around.

Boy 1: I wanna get one of these boy beaters for my girlfriend.
jen: What size do you need?
Boy 1: Uhhhh.
(jen holds up some sizes)
Boy 1: Uh, she has like big boobs (makes boob shape with hands)
jen thinks, congratulations, are they real?
Boy 2: get the small, it'll be all like tight and stuff. she'll look hot.
Boy 1: Uhhhh, ok, I'll take a small.

All Downhill at Sea Otter

by Allie

It could have been the aroma of Bella Blend whipping through the gale force winds, possibly it was the snazzypants for this year’s theme or maybe it really was the beer, but DAMN I had a great time at ‘Otter this year! (well, minus Saturday’s Dual Slalom fiasco, after which I admittedly slinked off to the back of the trailer to throw my own little pity party. Attendees: Me, myself and our pal Jose C.)

The Sea Otter downhill course is nothing new to me, however the beating my confidence took on last year's course left me a little freaked out this year.

Friday’s first practice run was very cautious and reserved but unwarranted. The guys who basically had to rebuild the course after last year’s wear did a fabulous job!

I kept riding through practice and although the course was slightly duffy, the “grin-factor” was climbing to about an 8!

Saturday was dual slalom. The event happened, now it’s over. That’s all I have to say about that. Fast forward to Sunday.




We practiced Sunday morning, and Saturday’s deluge left the course’s dirt tacky, grippy and all-around yummy!!! I took a couple of practice runs and then stayed up top to play in the berms. The Sea Otter downhill course berms are pretty legendary and by the time I felt like I was railing the set of “S” berms, the course had rocketed up to “grin-factor” 10!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEe!!!!!!

Needless to say I was having a great time. My race run, although not fast, did a huge boost for my riding confidence. I know where I lost time, however it was not due to uncontrolled bobbles or tactical mistakes. I simply didn’t pedal hard enough. Lesson learned but a good time had. I wasn’t first, but not nearly last either.

Thanks to Bella extraordinaire Jeni Udall and our Fellas Mike and Kyle for the support at the downhill race and for making me wear a jacket so I didn’t catch cold. Actually, thanks to everyone who was there watching and cheering on. It’s an awesome push to hear people rooting along the course!

Copperwhopyerarse

by Marian

All the boys at the shop had been telling me for days how absolutely maximum extreme Copperwhopyerarse is. I got excited instead of scared after listening to the elaborate Copperwhopyerarse stories of "uphill, in the snow, both ways, we had to rub sticks together to make fire, I saw my life flash before my very eyes."

So I'm excited about the race. And I'm excited because it was going to be the first time I raced with my rockin' teammate, Amy.

Our race wasn't until 11:20 so we had a reasonable, downright civilized departure time of 8 am. I rolled up to Amy's house at about 7:40 and Amy, pro that she is, is already loaded and ready. Chad, Amy's husband, tells us that the course is hard enough and that we should just "let the course do the work for you. Don't feel like you have to work to get the pack settled because the course is tough enough."

So, off Amy and I went, with a quickie stop at Peets. Mmm, coffee, how I love you. Quickie stop about 45 minutes from the course to get gas and I, amped on the large Peets coffee and not one who understands the concept of moderation, stupidly purchased a Red Bull. And not the standard issue 8 oz Red Bull, but the Big Girl 12 oz can of Red Bull. For after the race I tell myself.

Get to the racecourse and it's the standard registration, "Oh, hey, good to see you, how you doing", (Amy knows everyone!) and the port-o-pots.

Amy and I head back to the car and I hear the Red Bull calling me. I couldn't hear the voice of reason over the pounding of my heart, so as we're changing into our spandex superhero suits, I polish it off. I rationalize it by telling myself that "It's got about 300 calories and it's liquid, so I'll be able to absorb it easily before the race."

Pro Tip from Amy: Pin your number on your jersey before you put it on to ensure full three pocket access. It's really a good tip, however, I found that pinning my number was a bit more technically challenging because by this time I was all hopped up on caffeine.

Not enough warmup for either Amy or I.

To the line. 16 Cat 4 women in our race. 3 Velo Bellas. Soni, Amy, and myself. A couple women from Nor Cal, Deb from Left Coast, and some other people in spandex on bikes with two wheels. It was kind of a blur.

Off we roll. Soni, Amy, and I had staked out spots on the line and so we were all able to hold great positions for the first part of the race, although I think I let myself get pushed off of people's wheels a little to easily. I still don't fully understand the finer points of cromulent pack etiquette. Oh well. It'll come.

First couple of miles: choppy, choppy, choppy pavement, which I'm totally fine with, I'm not afraid, but I'm not so happy riding up in a group on crappy roads.

First lap, we kind of grind up the the alternatively textured hill, but because we're at an uphill tilt, it's not so bad. It's decently long climb and the pack is grim, concentrated, and focused. No small talk about who you are, where you're from, how was your drive, isn't this nice weather, man the wildflowers are going crazy, eh? Just grinding, grinding, grinding uphill, uphill, uphill.

We get closer to the top, where it flatted out and you can pick up a little speed before the last kicker, and one of the Nor Cali girls tells the other women at the front "Alright! Let's whip it up and string the pack out. Let's go!"

When I heard this I just couldn't help but ask myself:

Why? I mean, we hadn't even done the first lap. Jiminy juice boxes, we hadn't even done 10 miles! Why, why do you want to string the pack out? Why do you want to "whip it up"? What is so bad about enjoying the first lap as a pack, with a group of 16 women? I mean, I hardly ever get to enjoy a nice ride with 16 people, let alone a nice ride with 16 women. That just doesn't happen. Can't we all play nice for the first lap and enjoy this as a group?
But noooo.

The Nor Cali girls want to "whip it up!" and so, because I'm not going to get strung off the back so easy-like, and because I'm fully-caffeinated and wearing my smarty-pants, I throw out some Devo. You know, "Whip it. Into shape. Shape it up. Get it straight. Try to detect it. It's not to late." But, thankfully, I'm not the only one who's not fully on the over-eager style "Let's whip it up! Let's string the pack out!" page, so a couple other people join in.

And, I'll admit right here and now that I was a total bitch. Why? I didn't want to string the pack out. What's in it for me to string the pack out this early? Nothing! So I would ride up to the front (deliberately!) of the group and then downshift, sit up, and soft pedal. Maybe that was the wrong thing to do, but I'm sorry I just did not see why it was necessary to break the pack up in the first 10 miles. Especially when I've got some teammates I would like to see come with me. And besides, it's to early in the race to be working that hard.

We reach the top of the first climb, and when I look around I see that Soni is still with us.
Yay!
But when I look back, I don't see Amy.
No, no, no, no, no!
This is not at all what I had planned, this is not at all part of my scheming. I'm kind of worried because Amy's not one to get dropped easily so I wonder if something bad happened. (I find out later that yes, Amy was struggling with some asthma issues. Ugh. Total bummer.) But Soni was still with us (about 8 of us I think?), so I had a familiar, friendly face and was content.

Through the "flats" which weren't so flat and were actually awfully windy we tried to paceline it. Key word "tried." The ringleader suggested that we have a rotating paceline and pull off to the right. No, the other right. Wait, what are we doing? Which side are we pulling off to? Are we pulling through or dropping back? I am so confused. Good thing Soni was there because she had it all dialed and all I had to do was copy her. Yay!

Blah, blah, blah. Then there were 6 and when we turned into the wind, we lost Soni. Nooooooo! No, no, no, no! Why did we want to string the pack out? What was the point of this?

And then there were 5. Another climb, which wasn't that bad, and then that rattly downhill.

Now I think I've made some considerable gains in my descending skills, but it was noticeable that those Nor Cali women gapped me on that descent. Note to self.

Neutral feed and I bobble my first bottle, and yes there's a reason I ride bikes but maybe I should spend some time practicing that because that was positively heartbreaking dropping that bottle. Heartbreaking.

Thankfully, 50 feet up the road there was another feeder, which I didn't bobble, but the lid was screwed on all cattywompus style (yes, you can cross-thread a water bottle!) and so every time I took some water, only half would end up in me and the other half of it would end up spilling all over me. Grrr.

But, Hernandohoot's out, cheering for the ladies, and shouting out encouragement, like the color black, is always in style.

We climb. We paceline, or rather everyone else pacelines and I try to fake it as best I can. Blah, blah, blah. Finally, we roll into sighting of the last hill and our pacelining efforts are breaking up. No sense in pacelining up the hill, so we spread over the road. I climb and I look left and I look right. Wait, that's funny. Where did you all go? I wasn't trying to attack so why are you all back there?

So I shout out to the ladies, because maybe it's still a little early to go off and play by myself and I hadn't gapped them that much, "Hey, c'mon, let's go ladies!" But, no response from the ladies. In fact they get smaller. What's up with that?

I had to make a choice. Those Nor Cali women put time into me on the downhill. I had about 4 or 5 more miles of racing. I can sit up and wait for the four ladies back there or I can put my head down and go for it.

Alright, head down, time to get rolling. I look back and am thrilled (and shocked) at how much time I was able to put into them. Oh, but it hurts. The hill flattens and I big ring it. Oh, I am ready to rock! More climbing. Ok, this whole climbing thing is really getting on my nerves now.

Finally, the top and it's time to rail it on the descent. I've got the mental image of the Nor Cali women dropping me on the descent so I'm gunning it. Zen, I am one with my bike. I am one with the road. I am a descending genius.

Until I look back and lo and behold, one of the Nor Cali women is back there in the rearview. How? I had dropped you like a stone on that climb! I didn't even see you when I looked back at the top of the hill! How have you caught up to me? I'm not a crappy downhiller either. How do you do that? What is your downhill secret? Dah!

She catches me. As she rolls along side me at 35 mph+, she shouts "Work together?" And of course I respond with"Yes! Lets!"

Newsflash: In order to work together you actually have to be together. In about a minute she's waaay up the road from me, so working together becomes, well, a dream. How? How did she do that? I was barely even working the brakes! How?

Alright. Fine. We've still got some flats and some rollers, I'll just minimize the damage on the rest of this descent. Ok, here are the flats and I start working back up to her, but man, total rockstar that she was, she got herself waaaaay up the road from me. How? How? What is your secret oh Nor Cali Zen Mistress of the Downhill?

A little climb before the last 1K. I get serious about reeling her in but she's still a ways up the road from me. But she's getting closer. "Ok, I guess I need to stop messing around and get this done." She gets closer, I'm reeling her in, I'm going to make it happen, and I can taste the finish. Or maybe it's the Red Bull and the powerbar that I'm tasting.

200meters to go. It's uphill, but I've got my diesel engine getting fired up, so as we kick it up the hill, I'm able to pass her with some time to spare, still accelerating and people hollering on the sideline "You've got her, you've got her, you've got her!" and I look back and yes, I do have her, thank you. (After the race I find out that that was her husband yelling to her not to me. Ah, well, it was pretty exciting and I'm easily confused when I'm red-lining it.)



Across the line, I glance back and she's just finishing and I was a little shocked. "Is that it? Wait, did I really just finish the race? First? What? Are you sure there hasn't been some mix up with the numbers?"

And so there you have it.
Soni finished in the top ten. Yay!
Amy had some asthma problems (total bummer!) on the first climb and spent the race working with some of the other women she was able to find. She said that a couple of the women that she worked with dropped out after the first lap, which was probably not easy to take.

SERC#2, MTB in TN

The Tennessee Bellas were out in force for the SERC #2 race at Chickasaw Trace Park in Columbia, TN, on Sunday, March 25. Three Bellas hit the trail in three categories, and the formidable cheering section kept the faith throughout the hot race day temps.

THE BELLAS RACE!

Angela Brown started with the first wave of one-lap Beginner Women racers at 9:00 am. Despite losing her chain twice because of a bike mechanical, she turned in a 00:60:47 lap on the 9-mile loop to take 6th place (revised to 6th from 7th because of a junior participant, according to usacycling.org).

Jennifer Moorehead challenged the Sport Women with a 4th place win in two laps on the 9-mile course. Jennifer’s lap times were 00:52:70 and 00:53:99, respectively.


Sandy Kern started in the heat of the day with the Pro/Expert Women. After a strong start, a bike mechanical kept Sandy from completing the third lap of her race.



Additional results can be found at www.goneriding.com

THE COURSE AND ADDITIONAL RACE NOTES

The day was peppered with crashes off of a hill at the beginning of the course (thank goodness our Bellas made it safely through). One accident appeared to be serious. The rider was taken by air to Vanderbilt medical and is doing fine now with what appears to be no lasting damage.

Here is a crash photo from another race and some additional course notes from Dustin Greer, who is currently the #1 ranked semi-pro XC racer and a big Bella supporter.



“It was a humid 87 degrees today when the Pro/Expert wave went off at 12:30. The trail was loose and the powder was deep in some areas. A lot of riders were complaining of chainsuck during their pre-ride on Saturday as they couldn't keep enough lube on their chains to combat the dust.”

“The course was almost exactly the same course used last year. One section was rerouted...that was the downhill that overlooked the dump, which has been moved farther into the woods. Also the finish climb was moved from the pavement into the grass on the left side of the road. The loop was just over 9 miles long. It began with a long drag in the grass that lead to a dirt road and onto a long pavement stretch, which by the way, will not be used next year. At the end of the pavement comes the famous (or infamous whichever way you look at it) steep downhill to the lower field and into the singletrack. The singletrack is rocky for the first mile, including one steep climb covered with rocks. Some of the rocks were removed making the climb much easier. After this section comes the River Trail which is flat and really fast. The Ravine Loop then takes you into a slalom section through a bamboo forest before you climb up to Rick's Trail which descends back down the hill. Then its into the Trail of Tears which features all the climbing with the worst being the last climb up to the dump. The new downhill takes you into the final section called the Black Hills Trail. These last two miles are rough and fast. There is a little climb that takes you back out to the start/finish. It's an uphill in the grass for the last 400 meters to the finish line.”

Great Job Bellas!!

De La Paz Coffee Pugs

by Dee

Some people just have coffee mugs.

Not me.

A few days ago Molly brought me 5 bags of Velo Bella Coffee to give to Abby and Shelly. One bag was for me. It smells AMAZING!!

I put it on the stairs.
I went out.
I came back home.

As I was putting the key in the door to open it, I thought, why does my house smell like a coffee shop?

I opened the door and found out.

My evil pugs had attacked and mauled the coffee and strown it all over the front entrance. Coffee beans were EVERYWHERE!!!

I have no idea pugs liked coffee, but apparently it drove them into a pug nip frenzie!

They completely destroyed 3 bags. 2 bags escaped unharmed.

I gathered up all the unharmed coffee beans in the ripped up bags and kept them for myself, gave Abby one bag and I am giving Shelly the other bag on Monday. Maybe they were trying to get the cat on the label?

Weird.

But my coffee pugs are fine. I thought they'd be wired and peeing all over the house - or worse....but nothing else happened.

And the coffee is INCREDIBLE!!!!

Can we get more?