A week of racing in Winthrop

by Erika

School’s Out for Summer!!!

While my teammates were pre-riding in Park City, I was closing up my classroom as students left on the last day of school. This is a bittersweet day—but, admittedly, mostly sweet! Taking days off during the last week of school is a big no no, so I was not able to join everyone for the NORBA in Park City, but there were races the next two weekends in Winthrop, Washington. This is a beatiful town in the Methow Valley nestled in the North Cascades and the trails there are buff, fast, and super fun, so my husband and I arranged to stay the week!

The first weekend was a stage race. This was my new Kona Lisa Supreme’s maiden race, and I was soooo excited to race it! There were 22 women in the 1/2/3s and some really fast gals from the Seattle/Portland area.

The TT was a hilly 10 miles. I don’t think my bike was adjusted quite right because I could not find a comfortable and powerful position in the aero bars. I finished 9th—not that great, but I’ll take it! Time trials are so painful!

The crit was in downtown Twisp—population 1,000. Rough roads—four left hand turns—headwind on the backside. After racing in the Walla Walla crit and DNFing, I was really nervous about doing another crit. After a few laps, I made it into a break of five—Suz Weldon and Lise Grace from Wines of Washington, Leah Stralka from Byrnes Invent, Allison Beall from Ti Cycles, and me. I knew these ladies were fast and I would have to work hard to hang on. The cool part was hearing my husband’s whole team cheering for me each lap and the racer who must have been pulled from the crit yelling, "Go Vello Bella!" The two Wines of Washington ladies took turns attacking off the front while the rest of us covered their attacks. With two laps to go, Suz Weldon took off and got a gap we could not bridge. On the last lap, I was telling myself that 5th place with these ladies is pretty darn good and I would be happy with that, so I sat at the back of the line. On the backside, one our friends was standing on a corner yelling at me to get to the front before the next turn. So—without thinking—I just did it. I sprinted to the front of the line, took the inside around the turn, hammered up the hill without shifting, made the last turn, and sprinted for home. I kept expecting someone to pass me before the finish, but no one did!!!! I have never felt so proud of a second place finish. Here is the sprint:

The road race on Sunday was 71 miles, and I was so keyed up after the crit, I did not sleep too well. Leg cramps during the night didn’t help much, either. I woke up on Sunday feeling like I had been hit by a truck. The race went pretty well until my bottle got dropped in the feed zone—bummer. After that, I just held on the best I could and tried to avoid cramping on every hill. I finished 8th in the road race for a 5th place in the GC.

I woke up Monday morning with very sore legs and a knee that didn’t want to bend, so we had a couple days of easy riding to try to recover for the mountain bike race coming up on Saturday. As much as I love my new road bike, I could not wait to put it away and spend quality time with my mountain bike. Again—the riding here is phenomenal!!

We got in some great rides and rested plenty before the the Methow Cycle & Sport Mountain Challenge—an Indie Series race put on by Mark Peterson at Kona. I think there were six women in the pro/open class and it was a fast start! Kristy Berg and I went out hard and left behind the rest of the field. Kristy is a great technical rider and she got away from me in the steeper sections of the course. I came in second without any crashes or mechanicals which is always a bonus! Here is a pic of our "podium". (Awards were a little late, so the other ladies must have gone home.) The braver podium finishers stood on the picnic table. Knowing me, I would have fallen off...

Mark from Kona even gave a plug for Vanderkitten while I was up there!

Thanks for reading!

My Podium Shot

by Denise


So, I decided to make the 2.5 hour drive to do this criterium in Stockton and had a kick-ass time.....I got 2nd place. The course was great, it was nice'n warm, and there were plenty of Port o'Johns, which is a plus in my race book. An EMC gal and I agreed to work together on the last 2 laps, so we could place--which we did.

I quickly realized that if you race in the front of the group, the announcers will call out your name on most every lap, which makes you feel like a rock star. Since, I had no other teammates in this race, I was able to move about pretty easily, with no other worries, except keeping myself safe and riding smart.

Here's a recap of how dang famous, for 40-minutes, I really was:

"Denise Ramirez of Velo Bella is out of the saddle chasing down
Webcor."

"Velo Bella is charging around this corner."

"Velo Bella was nipped at the line for this preem."

Photo Courtesy of Steven Woo
"Here comes EMC and Velo Bella for the sprint finish! Velo Bella is
coming along side and is she going to get it?! EMC takes the win, with
Velo Bella second, and Team X taking the third spot!"

So with that, EMC gal and I gladly scooped up our prize envelope and we looked around for the podium. What?! No podium photo?! If I bust my female balls, for any race and I place, I want to relish in the limelight a bit longer and have my picture taken, like the rock star I am!

I decide to take my own picture with my prize envelope. Cheesy I know, but this is my race and my blog, so here you have it--taken in my backyard. I pulled out my 4-hour old, wrinkly, sweaty jersey from my backpack and put the dang thing on, just for this podium shot.

I just opened my prize envelope and not only was it chock full of $$, it contained a hand-made card and lots of glitter'n stuff. Someone took their time to make this and I think it's lovely.....it makes up for the lack of an official podium shot.

NMBS Deer Valley XC Report #2

by Noel

Wow! I finally raced my mountain bike again and I was immediately reminded of how painful mountain bike racing is…all out, right from the gun!

Some of you may know that I had a rough season last year due to a knee injury. I had knee surgery in October and have worked hard to get the knee back in racing shape again. Until this weekend I’ve just been riding road and hitting a few road races like Gila, Tri Peaks, and the Iron Horse. After putting myself in a serious hole of exhaustion from work, school, training, travel, and racing leading up to the Iron Horse, I took a full SEVEN days completely off the bike and then decided it was finally time to start mountain bike riding again. So, I did two MTB rides over the last couple weeks, decided the knee was ready, and headed to Deer Valley for my first mountain bike race since the Brian Head NMBS race last summer.

It was wonderful to finally hook up with the team – to catch up with the girls from last year, to meet the girls new to the team this year, and to see Tim, the mechanic extraordinaire, again. I drove to Utah Friday and pre-rode the course that afternoon. Everything felt good and I was excited to race the next morning. However, I was also a little anxious to see how I would actually race since Friday’s pre-ride was only my 4th mountain bike ride since last September…yikes!

Well, it turns out that I did remember how to race my mountain bike and it was pretty darn fun, in that super sick sort of painful way. Out of almost sixty starters, I was called to the line 3rd to last since this was my first race of the year. I couldn’t even spot a couple of my fellow Bellas from the waaaaaaay back of the field. The race immediately sent us up about a ½ mile fire road climb before hitting the singletrack, so I knew I needed to start strong and just hoped there would not be the usual back-of-the-field start line crash. The NMBS folks played their typical small collection of really bad tunes, shot the gun, and sent us off to ZZ Top’s “She’s got legs….and she knows how to use ‘em” – lovely. A couple of girls barely stayed upright, but amazingly there was no start-line crash and we were off. At the top of the climb a ½ mile later, I had managed to move up about 35 spots and was sitting in the low twenties – sweet! I was just bummed the climb wasn’t longer so I could have kept moving up.

Then the course sends you on almost seven solid miles of tight singletrack: super fast, tight, fun stuff, and also lots of switchback climbing singletrack. It really is an absolute blast, but once you do hit that singletrack, it’s pretty difficult to make a lot of passing progress from that point forward. So, I went back and forth with a few girls but maintained my position for the first lap. At the end of the first lap, I grabbed my gel flask, put it in my mouth to open it and get some nourishment, and I broke the top completely off in my mouth! This was not good since gel is the only thing I can eat in a MTB race and was, therefore, the only thing I brought with me! So, I ventured on to finish two more laps in the heat with no food – not the best situation to be in. I hit the second lap and climbed well again, passing a handful of riders. I maintained good position again throughout the second lap, but was definitely feeling the heat and lack of food. All I could think about was that Coke feed waiting for me at the start of the 3rd lap. Let me tell you, that ice cold Coke was the most heavenly thing I could have possibly had at that moment. And I drank the entire bottle up the climb that 3rd lap, which again left me with nothing to eat or drink for the remaining seven miles. Well, plain and simple, I just ran out of steam on the final lap and completely faded; my performance over the last 1/3 of the lap was downright sad. I lost about five or six spots and ended up in 27th. I must have looked pretty pathetic at the finish because a guy passing out giant cold Gatorades handed me one, then took it back, and said “here, let me open that for you”. I didn’t mind.

What a day. Mountain bike racing is tough. My legs hurt and I coughed up dust for a solid 24 hours afterwards. It was fun, though.

Huge congrats to the other VB-K racers! We managed to get a top ten finish in every single discipline in the Pro field over the weekend…booyah!

~ Thanks to Kimber for arranging all of our host housing!
~ Thanks to the Robinsons for hosting Kristin and I and for all the puppy love from Duncan!
~ Thanks to the Canfields for the fantastic post-race BBQ and for all the skeleton stories…you skeleton racers are crazy!
~ Thanks to Tim for taking such good care of SO MANY of us!
~ Thanks to the awesome VB-K downhill girls who cheered us on and then kicked butt in their own races!

NMBS Deer Valley XC Report #1

by Shannon

Have you ever had one of those weeks where everything was falling apart and you weren't sure you should even hop on the plane to go race for fear it may not make it? This was my week prior to Deer Valley. A couple of weeks ago I re-injured my knee which was just mentally hard for me to take and I couldn't put in the training I needed. I knew I would race anyways because I had already purchased plane tickets and registered. So then last friday night Noah woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach flew. Kris came down with it Saturday and me Sunday.

So by Tuesday night I had lost 10 lbs. Lucky for me I recovered fairly fast, Kris was unlucky and was still fighting it Thursday when we left. Thursday morning (the day we were to leave) I woke up with a head cold and a hamstring that was as solid as concrete. I was really feeling that the forces that be were not with me, I was a train wreck. We got on the plane anyways and made it to Salt Lake. I chose to not race the Super D to conserve my energy. I must say my attitude wasn't the greatest. I was excited to be around all the Bellas because they all have such a great presence/attitude and I was hoping it would be infectious (since I seem to catch everything). Our tires finally came from Schwalbe so I had Tim put on the Racing Ralphs and then pre rode with Jen and Kristin which was fun and the new tires were awsome and my bike felt great.

We got done pre-riding and Jen gave me some words of encouragement , she said I had nothing to worry about for the race on Saturday (thanks Jen). It really made me feel better because at that point I wasn't sure why I was entered in a Pro XC race with the year I have had. So Saturday morning I woke up and decided I was going to make the best of it. I took off for my pre race warm up and oddly enough I felt awsome. Not really sure how but I felt great. I got to the start line. I was going to try someting new and try and start more conservatively. I was towards the end of the pack by the halfway point. I think someone said 45th. I didn't really care because I wasn't last and the course is so much fun. So I just kept on riding and passing people.

In the second and third lap I probably should have been more aggresive at passing people becuase I kept getting stuck behind girls on the singletrack. So the entire race I just kept moving up. My knee was great ( I had a shot of Kenalog on Wednesday) and my attitude was the best it has been in years. The third lap I realized I was doing alright and really wanted to beat last years time. About 1/2 way through the lap I was getting ready to pass 2 more girls and a bee decided to take residence in my jersey and kept stinging me.

I finally had to stop to find it and get it out, I lost the girls unfortunatley. So I worked hard and pushed to the finish for 35th place and 9 minutes faster that last year. My best placing at an NMBS race ever. So....not too shabby. My confidence restored and attitude renewed. So I guess I learned that attitude really is everything. I know from here my season will be better and hopefully I will see that top 25 placing I have been training hard for.

Happy Trails

Hy-Vee Triathlon

by Reagan

Hy-Vee Age Group Triathlon
ITU World Cup
http://www.hy-veetriathlon.com
Des Moines, IA
June 17, 2007

PRE-RACE
This was the first year that Des Moines has hosted an event of this size, so I came expecting the worst. After doing the Denver Danskin a couple of years ago, I have become pretty aware of how organized a large event has to be. And if it isn't, how bad it can be (ie. Denver Danskin).

I was pleasantly surprised by how cute downtown Des Moines is. The Gray's Lake area where the swim and transition area were is a beautiful, shaded lake. The transition was nicely organized with assigned places. We had to check in our bikes the night before. I didn't really like the idea of my baby spending the night outside without me, but I sucked it up and dropped it off.

4 am. The wake up call in the hotel rings. I haven't raced in a couple of seasons, so I forgot how early 4 am is.

4:30 am - TRAFFIC! As usual, a big long line to get into the parking. I had timed the drive the day before and added time for traffic, but I didn't add enough. I had to ditch the car and walk in. I was lucky enough to have a driver that could park the car.

5:30 am - Arrive at the transition. Rush to put everything in place, get my timing chip, and get in the water before the swim warmup closed.

RACE TIME!!

SWIM
After racing exclusively in Colorado, I had a hard time believing that the water temp was really 80 degrees! My plan was to take it easy. I really needed to stay at about 85% effort for the swim and bike to complete the run. I tend to get over anxious with the mass start and start out too fast.

The start, as usual, was all hands and feet. But everyone settled into place by the first bouy. I was able to sight good lines without interrupting my stroke for most of the swim. I stayed within my planned perceived effort and felt fresh coming out of the swim. For once I was thinking the whole way "This feels great!"

Did I mention how fabulous it is to come out of the water onto carpet and not have to run through sand? Sweeeeet!

BIKE

Trans 1 went smooth. I only wish I could run better in bike cleats. I still haven't worked out the "cleats already attached to the pedals" thing yet.

The bike course was pretty fast and relatively flat. Only one major hill. Very little wind (especially for Iowa). The first 3 miles were pretty congested with racers. That pesky no draft rule is difficult to follow when you're packed in like sardines.

Top Ten Insights on the Bike
10. Zipp Disc wheels sound sweet as they are *passing* you.
9. I stayed in my planned perceived effort and still had a good mph average.
8. My front wheel is just slightly out of true.
7. Passing men feels good and makes them mad.
6. There is a really cool looking vintage clothing store in downtown Des Moines.
5. This is not the Tour, so why is there a guy in the devil suit?
4. This is awesome! I love racing!!
3. That fun downhill on the way out? Oh yeah, not so fun on the way back.
2. Ladies crossing the street in front of racers think that if they bury their heads and don't look at you, you aren't there. Luckily there was room to swerve.
1. I love racing!

RUN

Ick! My least favorite part. I just wanted to get through it. Since most of it is a blur, I will keep it short. Very few hills (except the big on at the finish line), mostly cloudy skies, well stocked aid stations. All I can say is that I ran the whole thing (only the 2nd 10K I've ever run). Near the end, my goals kept getting shorter. "Just make it to the turn in a mile, just make it to the next block, just make it to the stop sign, just put one foot in front of the other"

CONCLUSIONS:

Des Moines put on a great show, even for the age groupers! I'll definitely do this one again if it comes back.

VB Tri Kit rocks! I LOVE POCKETS!! Even if they slow down the swim a bit.

I ended with a PR by 30 minutes! sweeeeetttt. . .

I have more pics on my blog at http://www.twobarnfarm.com

Women's 4 Pesky Road Race Report

by Tracey

I promised myself that I would make time to write a race report for this one.....so here it is!

Woke up 4:20 a.m. Saturday morning-I am thinking to myself; "Why am I doing this? Oh ya, because it's fun! All I can think about is my experience last year with "Pesky"-my second race ever & nothing but suffering and the occasional "wow" this is beautiful! Get in the car at 5:00 a.m. and roll into Pescadero around 8:00. Throw on my clothes, jump on my bike and ride over to the registration. I immediately run into Angela & give her my extra bottle for the feedzone. I head for the bathroom and see another Bella-we introduce ourselves & she (Sarah) so kindly pins my number on while we wait in line. I get in about a 15 minute warm-up and we are off.

We cruise through town and then the race begins. A good friend of mine who races for CRC got the first prime-Cool! We all stay together up the first climb on Haskins. We hit the second hill and NorCal Tawnya is leading the pack. I see Mara (triathlete who won Berkeley Hills) start making her way up to the front-I go with her. We get on the front and as we reach the top we turn around and the rest of the field is a ways back. As we start the downhill a couple other gals catch up and encourage us to try to get a gap.

As we reach Highway 84 we are one big group again. As we are hammering into the wind on Highway 84 I am anticipating the Haskin's Hill climb-is it going to hurt as bad as last year. Right before we make the turn up to the feedzone the Specialized gal attacks-no one seems worried, we'll catch her on Haskin's. I see Angela and grab my bottle. Shortly after the feedzone, we make another right turn and start the Haskin's climb. I find Mara again and tell myself; "stay on her wheel". As we reach the top we finally caught the Specialized rider and I looked around and was thrilled to be the 3rd or 4th rider over the top. I see a couple of other riders behind me. Several other gals ended up catching up with us on the downhill and we ended up with a group of 9 riders for the rest of the race.

As we approached the "prime" a couple of gals duked it out and sprinted for the line with the Team Ritchey gal taking it. We all stay together over the Stage Road climbs and when we reach Highway 84 we decide to do a rotating paceline and take hard, short pulls. We all worked really well together, with a couple of the gals taking longer monstrous pulls-I had to dig deep to stick with them.

As we approached the turn up to the feedzone we saw a fairly large group of riders in front of us-turned out it was the women's 3 chase group. We passed them right before the feedzone. We started up Haskin's for the last time. My legs were feeling really heavy-a couple of the 3's passed me and I was not able to stick on Mara's wheel. I told myself; It's almost over, don't give up! I ended up finishing in 7th place and I was happy! What a great race-such beautiful scenery! I met some really great gals-many of whom I had not raced with this season-turns out many of the girls in our little group are cyclocrossers/mountain bikers(even an ex-pro mountain biker doing her first road race) or triathletes.

Thank you so much to Angela for cheering for me and feeding me and thanks to Sarah for the number pinning-great to meet you! GO BELLAS!

I am now looking forward to spending some time in Yosemite camping with the kiddos.

Danskin & Redondo Bella Style!

by Raja

I'll take that Oh La La with a side of Kona!

Swim till you're weazing

Ride till it burns

Run till you wanna puke

Don't forget to wipe the boogies before the photo op...

I think the phrases "You Go Girl!" and "Girl Power" took on a whole new meaning at the Danskin Women's Triathlon. If you've ever heard Sally Edwards speak - to too would be clamoring away powered and ready to race. I actually wanted to swim by the time she was done giving us the "You're Fabulous" cheer. Amazing...

Not that I did very well in the swim... but I know how to ride a bike.. and kinda know how to run up hills...kinda sorta...I just fake it really well ;o)

I won my age group at the Danskin Women's Triathlon in Los Angeles and was 4th overall out of nearly 700 women. I'm good with that.

Is it ok to be completely and totally surprised when you've just done well??

REDONDO BEACH TRIATHLON - What a cute little tri-thingy!

It's a swimmer's race, so I just wanted to get the swim practice. It was actually one of the nicest ocean/ beach start swims I've been to. The water was crisp & refreshing.. and clean! The waves were coming, but at least after last year's Los Angeles Tri experience.. it was manageable.

The bike is a speed bump. 6 miles. Better hurry. Especially if you're a sucky swimmer like I am.

The run is 2 miles, winding in and around the Redondo Beach Pier. Basically it's a test of getting up to speed after every corner. It was fun though... (at least until you had to run past the greezy fish stand....blaaahhhhh ...)

I ended up winning my age group and placing 3rd or 4th overall. Neily Mathias, my coach's wife, won hers too! (Except she's a wicked swimmer) I'm pretty sure Neily won the entire race. Last time I checked, she was 2nd.. but I'm pretty sure the girl who "won" missed a bike lap... otherwise her bike split beat most of the men .... and that girl can ride. I'm suspicious.. . oh well.... I hope she had didn't miss a lap and kicked everyone's a$$ on the bike.....

Both races were a ton of fun.. and I recommend them to both seasoned triathletes and newbies!

Now.. on to Nationals at the end of the month.... gulp....

24 Hours of Adrenaline Report

by Dablondeus

Blog Report Link

Don't tell the Hamana Hos......but Tits of Steel just wanted to race the 24 Hours of Adrenaline for fun. However, that's not the way it went...

Friday evening: set up camp and socialize with our camp mates the Velo Nerds,Google Earthlings, Team MBOSC, and our pal DJ in a phenomenal social area set up with comfy camp chairs, stoves, a keg, and a heater donated to the group by our sexy volunteer, Geo. I decided that this weekend was going to be fun, and began to enjoy my first Google sponsored pint in my commemorative glass. Our gracious sponsors Jeni and Kyle soon showed up and began to wow the crowd with BR Lights. A fun social evening. A great start.

7:00 am: crawl out of a warm tent for two monster cups of Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company's Fair Trade Organic Sumatra Dark Roast and two slices of Nicole's campfire toast with organic peanut butter and raw honey. It was cool to see Eve out there supporting us and Mark, since she had to drop off the team for motherly purposes.

10:00 am: We saw Caroline off to her running start, then I sat in the shade to hydrate and enjoy my final moments of rest.

2:30 pm: first lap. While I was waiting for Becky to come in, volunteer extraordinaire Geo gave me an awesome back rub (that's Nic in the photo), including pulling my shoulders out of their cyclist's slouch position with his giant man hands of steel. It was a rough and rutty dust fest out there until Hurl Hill. I regretted the high tire pressure I was running until I got to the climbs.

My hardtail scooted up the fire roads and shot me up the giant fire road whoopties in my big ring. What sucked on the ruts made those long climbs easy. A fair trade in a course with about 2000 feet of climbing. I resolved that during lap two I would power through the rough sections with a little more resolve to reduce my lap time.

Between laps one and two, I was informed that we were in second place, the Hamana Hos were first. The excitement grew and the pressure was on.

8:00 pm: My best lap. We were in second place, and the Hamana Ho sharing my lap was waiting in the transition area with me. Her teammate came in shortly before Becky; Kyle told me I'd catch the Ho on the grind, and dammit if I didn't. I passed her, then she hopped on my wheel. I swerved over and slowed, then hopped on hers. She tolerated it for the remainder of the climb. Once we hit more technical stuff, she showed a bit of apprehension, so I passed her closely on a single track. She called, “Be careful!” after I scraped by, then followed me to the bridge. I hopped off the bike, ran up the stairs and she asked me if I was going to ride down the stairs on the other side. I just kept running, then ran down the middle of the flight, my bike blocking her way. At the bottom I knew the lap was mine, because I am strongest on the flats, and that's where I took off. I finished in front of her. She found me at the transition area, and gave me a big hug for making the lap fun. Then she offered to teach me to ride stairs in the morning after the race, because she said I was a good rider and shouldn't be afraid. Jeni was standing there with a knowing smile as I thanked the competition for her offer. How could I tell her I didn't ride them because I knew it's what she wanted? I think this was the first time in my life where I felt competitive enough and strong enough to use some strategy out there. It was a new feeling for me, and I liked it.

10:30 pm: Old habits are hard to break. One and a half pints from the keg, not so bad, right? I wanted to wind down from the coffee, GU shots, and Gatorade all surging through my system. I headed to the tent, and caught very little sleep between random fits of anxiety.

1:30 am: Feeling oddly like an old shoe, I dressed in my warm cycling clothes. The best thing I can say about this lap is that BR Lights rock. The white light illuminated everything I needed to see out there, which was good, because I was delirious. I had no legs and no brain. I was caught on the grind by the tiny Ho that could. I resented her big time as I hopped on her wheel. She was making me work way harder than I wanted to. Eventually I dropped back, promising myself I would catch her soon enough. Suddenly I was alone; I saw night lights parallel to me, but maybe 500 feet up. Realizing that I was no longer on the course, I sighed and threw my bike over my shoulder to hike back up to it. I finished three minutes behind the Tiny Motorized Ho. We had been eight minutes ahead. Never have I been so bummed to have dropped off of a wheel.

7:00 am. Caroline woke me to tell me we were ten minutes ahead again, and I didn't have to do my last lap if I would let Sophie take it. In my mind I heard, “You are the weakest link. Good-bye.” I was happy to sip coffee as I warmed the bench and cheered on Nicole and Sophie as they left for the last two laps.

10:45 am: We beat the Hos by one lap. The day was sunny, and the beer relatively cool. Dance contests filled the void until the awards ceremony. We patiently awaited our podium call as we basked in the wonder of our win. The announcer called out “First place, Tits of Steel” and we jumped up to receive the glory. It was exciting to throw on the yellow jerseys, receive the first place medals, and get cheered on by the crowd. It was really cool to hold the BR Lights banner during all of the photos, and to stay on the stage for photos of just our team.

This weekend will definitely go down as one of the most awesome in my book. Geoff, Jeni and Kyle were tireless in taking care of us for the entire race. I mean, these people gave us cocoa, rubbed our shoulders, mounted our lights and cheered us on every minute of the race. DJ had gotten me a tent at the last minute, and Mark & Eve lent me their cozy sleeping bag. My teammates were so mellow, beautiful, and wonderful to race with. We took first place and made our light sponsor proud. I met more cool people with whom I hope to ride again. It was a big 24 hour love fest.

Will Tits of Steel race next year, or just go down as a one hit wonder? Who can say, but I can't help wondering, what would have happened if we had actually trained for this?

CHDH - Part Deux

by Allie

Scene of the crime: Carnegie SVRA - Livermore, CA
Course: Dry, hard, dusty...faaast
Stan's Tubeless setup: Tasty!!

The second Corral Hollow Downhill race was Sunday, and again, RideSFO did an outstanding job of course building, venue, awards, prizes, shuttle, "maul and haul" (medics), and everything else that made this race series such a blast.

The course had changed since the last one. The g-out line had changed, the ground was a bit more loose, a double was placed very close to a pretty wild off-camber turn which made it nearly impossible for me to get enough speed to clear, but since the wind was pretty stiff it was good to stay on the ground for most of the course.

The practice and race runs were clean, but come to find out right after the pro gals finished, there was one time missing. We were given the option of rochambeau-ing for placing or taking another run. We decided to ride. Again, clean descents for all...except one, which is a real bummer since we all took the gamble on another run. I actually had a 100% clean weekend, which was key for a 1st place finish. I might not have been fastest down the course every run, but since the run was clean it gave me the fastest time. Sometimes slower is faster and I guess that's racing.

I have to tout the Stan's wheel set again. They're light and they were easy to get rolling immediately. Sturdy, light and stiff. I had some trouble with a non-cooperating DH tire and had to throw a tube in - I was pleasantly surprised to learn that since the valve stem unscrews there is no need to take the entire rim strip out! Easy, easy easy!!!

I wore the Fox Launch Suit and Launch knee/shin guard combo, which were very comfortable, even in the heat, but thankfully I didn't have to put any of my protective equipment through any "testing" trials this time!

Again, the guys at RideSFO really make everyone feel welcome, especially the gals. Phil has really worked hard to accommodate the women's field and has done a great job. Although the women's field was much smaller than last time I was super stoked to see another Bella, Ivy out there on Saturday rocking the course!

Please gals, come out and race this next one!!!

A handy little Q&A:

Q: I've never raced DH, would like to try, but am afraid of getting in someone's way. Are the guys all agro and will they yell at me or run me over if I'm picking my way down the course?

A: Everyone here is really cool and helpful. In the very unlikely event that something like this would happen one of the guys would probably go kick the offender in the tender parts for you. Another added bonus: You get to see Waylon Smith in a skin suit.

Q: Do I need a full DH sled to race this?

A: Although it would help soak up all of the bumpies a freeride bike will work just fine.

Q: Do I need full DH protective gear?

A: A full face helmet, knee/shin and elbow guards are strongly encouraged.

Q: Does anyone have extra gear they would be willing to lend me so I can try this event the next time?

A: YES! pm me - I have an extra set of full gear that I'd love to lend out for this.

Dash for Cash and EMC Criterium

by Flandria

Dash for Cash Crit, Cat 4, Field Size 20

Bella Team Mate: Mo

The course has four corners, wide lanes and long stretches. The weather was freezingly cold and as the fog rolled in, the wind picked up pretty much in every category race. Tail wind, cross winds and head wind all mixed up. It was hard to determine the wind direction in the last stretch before the last corner to the finish. The finish was more than 250m sprint stretch.

Last year, it was a dash for cash every lap, this year we had 5 premes of $30. I preferred last years race format because it made the race a lot more interesting. It was less wind last year but then we get to sprint every lap.

The race started out calm and remained pretty reasonably calm due to the strong crosswind. There were a couple of attacks but it was for the premes. It was going to be too hard to get a way with a couple of people because of the wind.

The teams to look out for were Protech and Form Fitness. They have strong riders and with just me and Mo - we decided to see how the game plays out. The wind was a big variable more than anything. Everytime there was an attack, the pack brought it back or they all sat up. After every preme, there was no threat of a break away. Metromint took 2 of the 5 premes. They had two in the team and both lead out each other to win the premes.

The last two laps as usual started picking up and I positioned myself where I wanted to be. As soon as everyone hit that last corner, everyone sprinted and I was able to get on a Protech wheel. Form Fitness and Pegasus got first and second. I sprinted past Protech for third. Sweet.

EMC Crit, Cat 3/4, Field Size 40

Bella Team Mates: Tracey, Soni and Kim

The weather was better today. It was sunny when I woke and drive up to Pleasanton was pleasant. The wind subsided and was calmer. The course has four corners but a lot smoother and curved turns. The road was re-paved, it was pretty smooth surface.

Right at the start, the masters 4/5 race had a bad crash right on their sprint finish. I heard a pain scream and run out to see who it was. My hunny was racing in that race and my heart dropped. It was an EMC racer...not good. The officials made us lap around the course a couple of times then we waited until the ambulance tended to the EMC racer.

The start was F-A-S-T. We had a lot of Cat 3 women in the race because they didn't have a Cat 1-2-3 womens race. The teams that had the numbers were Metromint, Pegasus, Dolce Vita, Alto Velo, Protech.

Tracey, Soni, Kim including myself were all trying to go for a good position. It was a challenge! The pack was big. It was a repeated mushrooming and stringing out. It was fast all the way to the end. Teams were tagging each other pushing a fast pace. It was insane! We had some sketchiness on the corners as everyone was in battle for positioning. Tough crowd...

There were several attacks and a couple of pseudo-breaks I saw but it didn't stick as the organization wasn't there.

With 5 more laps to go, the speed increased. We were strung out, then the speed came down at 4 more laps to go. At lap 3, the pace started picking up and this time, more positioning taking place and there's only several spots up there! I was about 25 spots or more behind the leader. At 2 more laps to go, a Dolce Vita racer drilled the peloton pushing our limits! Insanely powerful and strong up in the front! I was still in the same position trying to sort myself out and just hanging on the demonic speed...ouch! Everyone had their cozy positions...oy.

I finished a reasonable 9th overall. I saw Stacey come in on my left and she finished 10th. Since Cat 3/4 were picked separately, we found out from the results that there were several 3's in front of us except that strong Aimee Baker from Protech (She had Shawn Bausman leading her out again! Shawn won overall and behind her was Aimee - dang.)... Myself and Stacey finished 2nd and 3rd on the podium. Yay Bellas!

Maillot Jaune...if only briefly...at Tour of Kensington Valley

by Monica

What a fantastic weekend, spent playing "Tour de France" at the 2007 Tour of Kensington Valley (Brighton, Michigan). My Bella Fella and I both took the plunge this weekend, trying out this newly converted stage race (was an established road race until this year) as our first "real" road race. ("Real"? ... something other than a time trial.) For beginners, this was an omnium (points) style race. Many thanks to Bella Dianna Rose & Priority Health’s Kathy Kirk for answering my many many (MANY) naïve questions & offering lots of advice last week! Here’s the scoop:

Stage 1: TT / Prologue (May 19). 1st/5

For such a super-short race, the 2.7 mile closed course in Kensington Metropark caused a lot of pre-race angst ! Last week, message boards were filling up with discussions about “the huge hill” on the TT course & debates about TT bike vs. road bike were flying through cyberspace. Race organizer Joe Lekovish even posted a video series of the course to help people decide “which bike to use”.

As it turns out, “the hill” was greatly exaggerated. It was very short and gentle & I was extremely happy that I chose my TT bike. A 1.5ish mile descent with a slight rise and swoopy curve at the end, turnaround a cone in a wide road, then climb back up to the start line. It was over and done in 6.5 minutes, which was fast enough for a cat 4 win & and put me in the yellow jersey for the next stage !J

Stage 2: Criterium (May 19). 4th/6

Bella cheerleaders!!! Yay! Dianna & her little guy Matthew came out to watch and visit (& maybe to make sure I was following all of the great tips and advice...um, sorry if I disappointed!) – THANK YOU!!! You’ll see some great photos taken by Dianna later in this thread. (And maybe she’ll post a picture of Matthew too – he’s a little sweetie!)

Ok…back to the race. Held in a business park a couple of hours after the TT, the crit was 8 laps of a 1.5ish mile closed course. After hearing so many “crash” stories & being very new to group riding, I was grateful that the cat 4 field was small…only 6 riders. [And also grateful that I saw the horrendous men’s cat 5 finish line crash after my race was done.] The more numerous 1/2/3 women were on the course at the same time, but we didn’t see them. I tried to apply all of the “teachings” from Kathy, Dianna, and velobellabb for riding w/out team, but in the end I wound up just doing a lot of experimenting and learning about how people (and how I) would or wouldn’t react. A very good learning experience on many levels......and I wasn’t last…...4th/6 & bye bye yellow jersey!

Stage 3: Road Race (May 20). 5th/7

By Sunday’s road race, I had answered some questions about what my strengths/weaknesses are, but hill climbing (relative to the other riders) was still an unknown. The course was 3 x 8.5 mile loops of scenic, quiet roads in Kensington Metropark, including several rolling hills, one steeper climb, and a Paris-Roubaix-esque turnaround in a shelled/gravelly parking lot.

I rode along for the first loop to get a feel for the other riders & how I would climb relative to them…and, unfortunately for this course, quickly determined that climbing is a weakness (…for now)! I skirted a crash that took out one rider and delayed another, & things went well until the steepish climb on the 2nd loop -- when I and another rider were dropped. The other dropped rider was no where to be seen, so the rest of the race was a “reverse breakaway” for me … trying to bridge back to the lead group of 4. Embarrassing confession: Trying to catch up was actually really fun! I did get the lead group back within sight & the gap was diminishing as the final lap finished. But I couldn’t make up the difference in time & finished 5th/7. Many thanks to Sarah McGuire (Priority Health) for encouragement & coaching tips during our cool down lap!

Century Ride around Lake Tahoe

by Diana

I am back from what is rightfully named "America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride". I was one of 3400 riders! (Over 2000 of them were Team in Training riders.)

The morning was brisk so I started the ride with leg warmers, arm warmers and the Bella gortex jacket. As the day progressed I stripped down to just the Bella short sleeve jersey and Bella shorts! And what did my bike wear? I wish I had a photo to show you, but I had this very cute little pink basket on my handlebars and a pink bell that I rang when I passed someone. (After all, I am a Bella now.) It made this very odd whining sound at faster speeds! hee hee Part of the charm of doing this ride is that every Team in Training team from the different states will decorate their helmets to indentify themselves. (Detroit had half of a Motown Record on their helmet which very much made them look like they had mohawks!)

Going into this ride I was far less confident than I had been in years past. Why? Well, I have a nine month old so I have not done any training in earnest since September of 2005! Pre-Matthew I could do a flat century in about 4 1/2 hours and a mountain century in about 5 1/4. I knew I had a better chance of seeing an alien then I did finishing with a time remotely close to my historical times. LOL!!!

Despite the lack of TITS (you know....Time In The Saddle), I did quite well. I did many of the miles solo, but managed to find a few fast groups so I could suck some wheel! Somehow I finished this 100 mile mountain course in 5 hours 34 minutes. I joke to my closest friends that I now have a twelve pound battery pack to draw from since my pregnancy! However, I think there are probably easier and more effective ways to find power when you need it.

The best part of the ride??? The cheers I heard! Yep, I heard several "Go Bella" shouts. One guy from Tennessee said he rides with his Bellas on occasion. I was even fortunate enough to meet another Bella! She was a coach for one of the regional Team in Training teams out on the ride.

Yep, I'll be doing the ride again next year I am sure. If you have the time or desire to ride a very challenging course, I highly suggest it! See attached photo for a pic at the rest stop. Yep, the whole ride has scenery just as beautiful!

6 hours of addison oaks mtb race

by Dana

my awesome friend kim volunteered to be an honorary bella for the day and be my teammate for the 6 hours of addison endurance mtb race.

the weather was cold and cloudy, with some drizzle coming down intermittently all morning. we signed up for the 2 person open sport class and had 3 other teams to compete against... all men!

kim started out the race, fought the crowds at the start, and got pushed hard during the first lap... she tagged me in the chute and i took off. i was feeling really nervous and not quite 'in the zone'. about 2 miles into the course there was a really really tight section. i came in with a little too much speed and not enough focus on my driving and clipped my handlebar on a tree. i freaked out, squeezed both braked and did a somersault still clipped into my bike. i landed hard on my back and the nose of the saddle somehow whacked me hard on the lower back. i was really shook up but calmed down enough to get back on the bike and finish my lap while obsessing over whether i had seriously hurt my back and/or neck. i rode a bit more cautiously and chatted with some 12 hour solo guys who were very encouraging (thanks carlos and travis) for the rest of the lap. i tagged kim at the chute and warned her that i did not know if i could go back out right away, if at all.

our velo fella rob met me at the chute and helped my back to the tent and assessd the damage. he made sure i drank and had a gel, and cleaned the hunks of dirt out of my shifter pods and brake levers. he gave me a pep talk, and i decided that i would at least do 1 more lap so that our team would not be disqualified (each rider was required to do 2 laps.).

when kim was expected back i went into the lap counting chute to meet her but she never arrived. we expected her to be out for 40 min (7 mile laps) but it had been over an hour and i started to worry. then the announcer informed everyone that a man had a very bad crash on a split log skinny at the end of the course and that an ambulance was coming to take him out on a backboard. then some friends came through the cute and told me that kim had stopped to administer 1st aid to the man who was hurt. she stayed with him out there for over 30 minutes, kept him immobilized, and covered up so he would not go into shock until EMS got there. it ended up that the man broke his back, and if he had been moved he might have been paralyzed!

after the injured rider was put in the ambulance kim rode the 1/2 mile to the chute and i left for my second lap. i warned them that i was going to take it easy after my fall... but once i got out there the sun came out and i started feeling stronger and more confident. i was sore, but working hard out there. i made it back so much faster than kim and rob expected that she was hanging out at the tent when i came down the straightaway to the chute. i yelled out to her and she had to scramble to get on the bike and meet me for the tag!!

during my recovery i decided to check the preliminary results and discovered to my disbelief that we were not in last place, but appeared to be tied for 3rd!! i was so excited that somehow kim and i were in the running for a prize against a team of men, despite our early problems.

i let our velo fella know that if we really worked hard that we could still be competitive. he let kim know when she came back and we were on fire. what had started out as a just for fun race ended up really getting our competitive spirit going.

we realized that we were coming up on the 4pm deadline for starting laps very soon. i got in from my 3rd lap around 2:30 and kim went out. rob and i were trying to figure out how many more laps we could squeeze in before 4. we were still tied for 3rd.

kim came back in from her 4th lap at about 3:15 and just yelled "ride fast- so i can go out again!!" so i went out and rode as hard as i could. despite feeling really fatigued and sore i hammered on the flats and stood on the climbs. i rode in the big ring on a lot of the singletrack where i had always used the middle before. all i could think of was how rotten i would feel if i got back at 4:00:02 and kim couldn't get out for another lap.

my ffg friend chris caught me at the last mile and told me i had to sprint the rest of the way to make it. this was a flatter section so hammered all the way to the tents and the chute. rob was waiting and started yelling when he saw me!! i had made it back with 4 minutes to spare!! kim went out for a hard 5th lap. i drank my endurox and cracked open an oberon. we finished with 9 laps total and 3rd place. the 1st place guys had 10 laps. 2nd also had 9 laps but finished ahead of us. 4th had just 7!!! we didnt't realize it but we manage to get ahead by 2 laps in the last hour!

we were so proud of our come from behind finish in a class full of men!! we won cool messenger bags filled with swag with the 6 hours of addison oaks logo on the front.

Firecracker at Falls City

by Shannon

So this past weekend my husband, Noah, and I headed to Portland, Oregon for a weekend of riding, racing and, well, family time. It was a beautiful weekend until the evening before the race in which it started pouring. It poured most of the night and most of the next day. We drove from Portland where my sister lives down to Falls City for the Firecracker MTB race. The race is held at a free ride park, that should tell you how the course is going to look. It was raining when we got there but I decided I needed to pre ride. So I went out and got some pre race mud. The course climbs on a fire road for some time before it turns left and heads up a muddy slippery pitch, in which at the top you get to climb over tree which is about waist high, unless you can ride the off camber slippery ladders that go up and down each side. You then hit the fire road again for about 1/2 mile until you make a right turn up a totally unridable climb. This was the longest hike a bike I have ever seen in a XC race and once again quite slippery. Once to the top more ladders to get over some more downed trees and then another fire road up. Once at the top it is fun downhill for about a mile, turns to fire road for a little then it turns left and goes straight down the hillside, crazy dhing. From there the DH is fun for a little a few more ladders one with a drop at the end then a fire road decent which makes a 180 and goes straight up a slipppery mudd climb back to the start finish. It sounds like a lot but it was all compacted in to all but 4.5 miles. Now to the race. I felt pretty good. The course is totally my husbands style so I felt a little strange with him on the sidelines watching Noah. I started pretty good, no one would go so I took lead and a couple of girls went with me. I let them by and hung on the rear wheel for awhile. We climbed up and up and when we finally got to the downhill one of the girls was downhilling like my husband, insanely fast. I was dropped. I was having problems with my glasses so I had to take them off. This turned out to be interesting because when we hit the fire road decent I was going so fast that it was like I was being attacked my a million little mud nazi's. It was crazy, I couldn't see anything, If I opened my eyes I would get splatted with mud and then my contacts would move all over. I decided then that I needed to put my glasses on before the Fire road next time, even if I couldn't see out of them. I lost a lot of time the first laps trying to figure out the vision issue and just getting used to riding in the mud. I actually got caught by another girl, which pissed me off so I stepped up my downhilling the third and fourth lap. The awsome thing was that as muddy as it was my shifting stayed perfect and my brakes worked awsome the entire time like there wasn't any mud at all. Got to love Easton and SRAM. My husband put on a Nobby Nik and a Skinny Jimmy so my climbing traction was awsome even though it was slick as snot, I could ride better than I could walk. So I kind of settled in the Second and third lap. I haven't raced much there year and I think it was showing. I was unsure of how my body would do (especially my knee) so I settled in and I shouldn't have. The last lap I decided I needed to go. So I cranked the climb. Just as hard as I could go 185 plus Heart rate the entire time, and pushed the downhill, testing my limits. I made some awsome time on the girls in front of me and put 3 minutes on the girl I passed at the begining of the lap. Now if I could just figure out how to get my mind and body to push that hard the entire way. It was a good race, I got 3rd to some amazing riders so I am happy. I was so caked in mud, about 1/4 inch on my bum and I couldn't even unzip my jearsey because there was too much mud in the zipper. My face was unrecognizable. The best part about it was I got to race my mountain bike and race on some awsome trails improving my skills. After the road race last weekend I have realized my true passion lies with the nobby tires. I just LOVE mountain biking.

So for those wondering how my knee is doing, here is a little update. My friend is a rep for a certain bike company (name not to be disclosed) he gave me their newest pair of MTB Shoes to try. I switched over 2 weeks ago and have been riding them soley. They are very very stiff and seem to keep me more in alignment. Between that, Physical Therapy, icing twice a day, and motrin, my knee seems to be doing a little better. Maybe I am mental but it seems better. I still have pain when racing but it is tolerable for now. I am hoping this is a trend and I will be back to myself in the next month. I am just so happy to be racing at all right now, that placings don't matter. They will come when they come. Welll Noah and I are off to support my husband this weekend for his first every solo 24 hour race. Should be fun!!! I will enjoy his pain I think after doing it solo last year. He He He.

Until next time...

Happy Trails.

Smokin' - SERC #6, Jackson GA

by Tasha

2.5 weeks after graduation and I'm putting my B.Sc to work with a job in the local coffeeshop. And biking. Brother and I were on the road at 530am for the sixth race in the SERC (Southeastern Regional Championship) series. I woke up as we were going through downtown ATL and saw the rising sun in a apocalyptic-looking gray haze. Not clouds. Freakin' smoke, drifting north from the huge wildfires in the south Georgia swamps. The swamps dried out (the state is already in a 100-year drought, and it isn't even June yet; scientists say that we need several tropical storms to break the drought cycle and extinguish the fires.) and now the peat is burning. The smoke regularly drifts all the way into the north GA mountains where I live.

Jackson is a typically south GA looking place. Pines and red clay. The course was at a nature center, on land that was probably farmed 50 or 60 years ago judging from the age of the forest and the steep terraces that we rode up and down repeatedly. I volunteered to be a rabbit for the kids' race and almost missed my own warmup thanks to one of the little shrimps who required shepherding (he was walking his bike up and down the hills...we ended up walking out together while he told me ALL about dogs and Star Wars).

Started the race at 930 in dense smoke. Race SMRT Cowie. S-M-R-T smart. Grab second wheel, stay there, try not to breathe too hard. The smoke was fog-thick for the first two of three laps and I inhaled so much of it that my snot was black. And it was dusty. But my Zeal Zests did remarkably well in the nasty conditions. The polarized lenses weren't too dark, and they kept dusty smoky crap out of my eyes.

Incidentally, I decided that I needed high performance eyewear for graduation too, so I wore my PINK PINK PINK Juice Zeals perched on my head when I picked up my diploma from the Vice Chancellor. (By the way the Zeal office and warehouse are built from recycled styrofoam and concrete blocks, and they do a bunch of other minimal packaging and major recycling things. This is super cool. Check their website at http://www.zealoptics.com/company/eco_zealot.htm?m=4&s=3 for more info.)

The first three women gapped the field at the start. I was super sneaky. Paula and I got away from Kym on the last lap, and when she slipped on a steep climb I kept going. Carefully, so she wouldn't think I was breaking away and try to chase. Once I was out of her sight I took off. (Note to self: this trick will never ever work again with Paula and Kym so don't try it next weekend.) And then nearly crashed into my dumb brother crossing the finish line. (Tristan, the youngest in the pro/semipro class at 18, took 3rd.) But I managed a nice little finish salute anyway. My first ever.

And then I couldn't figure out how to open the bottle of champagne on the podium, so Kym had to help me because everyone else ran away when I started shaking the bottle. (I know how to open beer bottles, not champagne bottles.) Then I sprayed the crowd. And drank the remainder. Warm champagne is the best way to finish a race. Fun!