Pro MTB Team Spices up Mt Snow

By Boa Boy

Dawn broke over the North Carolina hills to reveal a gorgous valley below our rented house. Shannon Gibson, Barb Howe, Jennifer Tilley, Natascha Cowie and Erika Krumpelman journeyed to Banner Elk, NC contesting the sixth round of the NMBS this past weekend. Morgan Styer and his family joined to support the team and do a little racing over their own.

The XC race began under threatening skies but relented long enough for the girls to complete three laps with an average time of about 42 minutes per lap. Shannon had to withdraw after taking a flying leap off her bike during a tricky decent. Fortunately, her ballet skills came into full use and while ending up spread across a large boulder, walked away from the race with minor injuries to race the following day.

Barb Howe continues to improve her fitness and competitiveness on the circuit with a season high 23rd placing in XC and a strong showing at the Short Track on Sunday.

After finishing 3rd in the U23 Nationals race, Natascha "Clunk" Cowie suffered a bit during the XC race, but recovered well enough to post a fantastic first national-level pro Short Track race on Sunday. Natascha is one to watch for the future. In the meantime, anyone know of any jobs in the Boulder, CO area?

Jen Tilley returned to racing after a long month of illness and no training to post a respectable 33rd placing in XC. Jen has begun transitioning to cross and looks forward to a strong season this year after sitting out last year with a severe collar bone injury.

Erika Krumpelman exemplifies all that a Bella can be. This was her first year as a pro and at the experienced age of, well, older than most of her competitors, Erika battled through adversity and injury to complete a successful season. While her results were never to her liking, Erika is one tough competitor and an excellent role model for all of us reading this blog. Battered, bruised, scarred and perhaps even broken, Erika never quit, never gave in to the second thoughts or the doubts so common amongst bike racers and perservered to finish her season this past weekend with a solid showing in the XC. Barely able to move Sunday morning after a close encounter with a tree on Thursday during practice, Erika cheered her teammates on from the side lines and I am proud she elevated her status to pro. Thanks Erika and CONGRATULATIONS on a fine season.

The final round of the NMBS is in two weeks in Snowmass, CO and I invite ALL VBs in attendance to use our tents as their own and enjoy yourselves while preparing for the races.

Till then

Have fun,

Alex

Stephanie White is Junior Women XC Champ!

By Stephanie White


This past Friday I participated in the Jr. Mountain Bike National Championships at Mt. Snow Vermont, specifically in the Cross Country event. The cross country course at Mt. Snow is a classic New England loop, with a lot of climbing, a .5 mile long mud bog, and a rocky, rooty, terrifying descent.

Essentially, the course climbs to the top of Mt. Snow, a climb broken up by the mud bog and a few technical sections, and then descends to the finish. My race was only 2 laps long, but in the muddy conditions of the day each lap took over 50 minutes. I knew from the beginning that winning this race would qualify me for the World Championships in Ft. Williams, Scotland. Talk about motivation!

I got a good start and followed a DEVO rider named Essence Barton up the first climb. We got a gap on the rest of the field and held it until the end. The climb on the first lap was tense, as we both knew it was between the two of us now. I felt strong and Essence gave no sign of feeling tired.

When we got to the descent I made sure to go in front because Essence, being a downhiller, could easily get a gap here. It turned out not to matter, however, because Essence quickly passed me and had a 35 second gap by the end of the descent. I spent the next 1/3 of a lap chasing her down and caught her, but knew I had to drop her on the climb if I wanted to win.

I opened up a gap on the climb and started the descent with about 20 seconds on her, but Essence caught me halfway through the descent. After that things got scary. There was no way I was going to let Essence beat me on the descent, not when I was the stronger rider and the better climber. I hung with her, pushing myself to go far faster than I wanted to, but miraculously did not crash. 2/3 of the way down the descent there was a short climb, where I hammered and opened up another gap on Essence.

I managed to maintain this gap down the rest of the hill and along the flat to the finish. I was nearly crying as I crossed the finish line and greeted my friends and family as the new Jr. Cross Country National Champion! I leave for Scotland, and the World Championships, on September 1st!

A special thanks to my parents, my sister Libby, my "cycling aunt" Kelly, and my boyfriend Jeff, who were all there to help me and have been so supportive of my cycling. Also thanks to Alex Burgess, Melanie, and Judd, who were cheering in the feed zone, and Morgan and Tim, who were in the pit ready to help with a mechanical problem. I am fortunate to have the support of all of these people and of all the Bellas out there. Thanks!

Alicia Wins MTB Nationals Junior 8-10!!

One of our younger Velo Bellas, Alicia Styer became the 2007 US National Junior 8-10 year old XC Champion last Sunday morning. Nervous yet steely eyed prior to the race, Alicia rolled to the start line intent on smashing the competition, or atleast making it to the top of the first climb without passing out.

As you can see, she not only didn't pass out, she had a smile on her face! Ah, to be younger again...

After tagging along with Catherine Maier (Rad Racing and in an older age category) Alicia was heard to grumble "no gifts" under her breath, and launched a vicious (albeit short) attack on her companions struggling up the never ending technical climb.

For thos who don't know, Rad Racing is a kindred spirit in the cycling community focused on providing juniors an excellent start in the cycling world. Rad Racing is based out of the Northwest and supported by Kona among others.


Fellow junior Catherine Maier who races for Rad RAcing in an older category.

The race ended in fine fashion with a strong sprint to the finish a full minute or so ahead of the competition. Alicia's parents report they have to pull her off the trainer in the winter time and is always pushing her father to make the bike ever that much lighter... Unfortunately, her brother wasn't terribly impressed by his older sister's accomplishment...

Velo Bella - Kona Pro MTB Wins US National Championship...

Velo Bella Crushes the Field at the US National Naked Crit Championships!

Mt Snow, VT
July 21, 2007

Four members of the 2007 VB-K Pro MTB team contested the 2007 National Naked Crit Championship Saturday night taking home Stars and Stripes and a wad of cash.

Amidst giant crowds of interested onlookers of ALL ages, a mixed field of male and female athletes representing Cross Country, Down Hill and Trials disciplines bore all to achieve glory. After a few warm-up laps and the occassional "feed," your Bella sisters toyed with the field before dropping the Tilley Hammer and launching Barb Howe to victory.

The first team to arrive and survey the scene, our athletes casually rode in circles staying warm and checking things out before deciding whether or not the contest was worthy. Fortunately, after a stop in the tech zone where Head Bella Wrench Boy Tim Brennan gathered clothes and distributed small cap-fulls of warming liquid, our racers took to the course joining an ever increasing number of male and female contestants riding all manner of two-wheeled machines.

While their male competitors launched off the front in the first few laps vainly attempting to display their, well, prowess; our ladies grabbed wheels and tucked-in to conserve their energy before setting-up the Pink, Purple and Blue train for sprinting star and Queen of the Galaxy, Barbarella. Our train firmly in place, Natasha "Clunk" Cowie cranked things up leaving the boys bewildered and out of the breath.

Spent and covered in sweat, Clunk pulled off letting Shannon Gibson take over. Powerful thrusting legs further distanced our ladies from the trailing boys, but alas one final attempt to preserve dignity from a young Down Hilling male brought things a bit closer before Tilley The Hammer thundered forward.

With the bit between her teeth and an eye on the cash, Tilley launched an aggressive assault ultimately sacrificing her body for the team colliding with the offending down hiller at the start of the bell lap.

Seeing her chance and filled with rage over The Hammer's fall, Barbarella took over the reigns and whipped forward displaying the power only a two time World Cross Team member can. With a final race ending explosive sprint, Barbarella shot across the line arms thrust to the sky with victory and a wad of cash in her hands.

Will You Marry Me?

Georgia State Championship Series
Race 7, Ellijay

By Natasha Cowie
Dahlonega, Georgia


So, it was supposed to be a rest weekend, but at 9:30 last Saturday night I was like, sure whatever, it's the closest race I'm going to do all year (45 minutes from home) and it's a cool course. Why not. Also, I was chasing points in the Georgia State Championship series. My points lead was large enough that I was almost assured of winning without the race, but not quite. BUT I was totally going to race conservatively, just cruise, go easy, whatever. Finish for the points.

Right. That was the plan, but there's nothing conservative about me. I mean, I have a nose piercing and a subscription to Mother Jones magazine. Anyway, so I got to the race course early on a cloudy morning. Beautiful course, lots of climbing, winding around ridges that border Carters Lake in north Georgia. Warmed up. Sort of. Needed more coffee. No problem, though, I had my Magic Canadian Hot Short Shorts on. (I am seriously into the Louis Garneau team kit. The short shorts are very fun. And they are making me favourably adjust my tan lines upwards.)

On the start line. OH my god there are some fast people. Well that's okay, I told myself, just try to hit the singletrack second or third wheel, hang out, see what happens. We started with a parade lap thing: half a mile of climbing on a paved road, then the last 2/3 of the course before going through the start/finish to start the first full lap. Predictably, Jamie took off in front, and I sat third wheel for a while to see how my legs were working. Hm. They were happy, I was happy, so I passed Paula and moved into second. That kind of surprised me. So I was like okay, might as well try to chase Jamie, at least it'll give me something to do for the next hour or so.

I notched up the pace, nearly got run over by some large singlespeed dudes, and then rode by myself for a while, observing the oak-hickory hardwood forest and thinking about how much I wanted to eat the blackberries hanging from bushes surrounding the trail. And then...I found Jamie. Hey girl, she chirps. How are you doing? Well, pretty good, I said. Do you know what lap we're on? No. Um...are we on our last lap? I don't know, girl, she says. Do you think anyone can tell us? I ask. (At this point we were in the middle of a huge section of forest without anyone or anything nearby.) Yeah, maybe someone at the finish line, Jamie says. Well, Jamie, I say, I guess I'd better pass you then. Been nice riding with you.

Thus began my two laps of freaking out. I passed Jamie, decided that probably that parade lap counted as a full lap and sure, I was probably about to finish, cruised across the line shouting at people "Is this the pro finish?" Everybody either a. stared at me like I was a driveling idiot or b. cheered me on, saying "Go faster! Go faster!" Crap. I had just run out of water. Like "going faster" was totally going to happen for the next eight miles and 1000 feet of climbing. So I started lap 3.5.

Somehow I finished. I lapped a bunch of sport guys on the last lap, and as I was climbing a hill so steep I couldn't really see straight, some dude proposed to me. I told him I'd better finish the race before I made a decision on that one.

A nice clean win by about 2 minutes, and many comments on my pretty Kona as I rode around after the race. I also got a lovely pink massage stick for turning the fastest female lap.

Happy trails everyone. (And happy roads too.)

Editor's note: Clicky here for more on Tasha's adventures.

Papillion Twilight Criterium

by Reagan

Papillion Twilight Criterium
July 14, 2007
Papillion, Nebraska
Reagan Osborne
Iowa Bella

More Photos Here

First off, it's pronounced "PUH - PIL - YUN", not "PAH - PI - YON" like most of the world pronounces the French word for butterfly. Weird, I know, but we are in Nebraska. Too much corn in our diets? You decide.

Pre-Race
Got to the venue about 2 hours beforehand. My husband's Cat 5 race started at 4pm, mine started at 4:50pm. It was HOT HOT HOT. About 94+ degrees and the typical midwest humidity. The only thing that made the trainer warmup bearable was the breeze coming from the north. Oh yes, that will come back to bite me, won't it?

Standing in line at the registration tent, we heard someone say, "Hey, there's a Velo Bella here!" Turns out, he's a Webcor rider (Ben) from California who is staying with family in Nebraska right now. Nice to be noticed. I feel like a rock star!

The warm up laps went well. Half the course was uphill, with the back side being a fast descent into a fast corner and finally a tight corner. I took the first warm up laps slow to gauge the lines I needed to make the turns. The last turn was the diciest. You had to swing wide over a soft seam in the road, then back to the curb to make it without whanging the telephone pole. The leader from the masters race had already tested the hay bale in front of the pole. Definitely do-able.

Race-Time!
This was a 40 minute Women's Open race. Separate awards for the different Cats, but we all raced together. The start was uphill and I was in a bad gear. Duh! Didn't think to check that!

The women quickly split into several groups. Then those groups splintered even more by the 3rd and 4th laps. The fast group of women seemed to hang out and work together. I soon realized, that the Cat 4 gals I was racing with weren't going for that.

I was able to hold my own on the descent taking the corners tight and fast. I wanted to lose as little momentum as possible going into the hill. I lapped a few gals, got lapped a few times. I was just waiting to get pulled, about 10 minutes in I was in pain and wishing to get pulled. However, there weren't that many women, so they let us all finish.

I got in my groove about 20 minutes in. My husband said I got "that stubborn look" on my face again. That meant that, barring catastrophic body or bike failure, I was finishing this race. I would gain a ton of ground on the downhill, but lose it on the uphill.

Results
2nd Place in Cat 4! Okay there were only 4 of us, but I was pretty jazzed. Plus I won the unofficial award for "Best Bar Tape"

When I came in my husband was talking about how impressed one of the Corner Marshalls was with my cornering and handling. Tight, fast, perfect lines. Sweet!

On the way back to the car, a different corner marshall (from the dicey corner), stopped me and complimented me on my cornering.

I feel my first crit went well. I realize I have a long way to go, but it was an encouraging start.

BTW: Catherine Walberg (2006 National Masters Cross Champion) was the winner of the Pro women class. Even after testing out the hay bale on the first lap, she went on to win - just like the Masters race. Maybe that's the secret, the hay bale bounces you up hill faster?!

Carrera de San Rafael

Coyote Creek Race in the morningby Monica

Saturday night 6:35pm start time
W 1/2/3
Downtown crit, $1500 purse for women

This was the second race of the day for Stella, Sarah, Natasha & I having done Coyote Creek in the AM. I arrived at the starting line a bit nervous as the crowd was huge and I was staring at some pretty impressive, much younger riders.
At first I was feeling a bit intimidated on the line than I thought "what the ____? what other sport can someone like me, at 47 yrs old, be on the starting line with chicks racing as pros?" just have fun. Then the, very loud gun went off.

The first third of the race I sat on the back, timid and not riding with confidence at all. I decided I needed to get my ass up there as I was in danger of being the victim of an accident. I moved up and I was swallowed up and in the back again. Then I decided, dammit, get your ass up there so I moved up to the front third about half way thru the hour long crit

Soon a chick went off the front a Jazz (Y) Apple rider and everyone was pretty content in letting her dangle out there for a bit. Then Rachel Lloyd of Proman jumped, she was on the outside with a decent jump and I knew that was the move to go on so I went. I managed to get myself up to her and we worked together for a few laps to pull that other chick in. It was really exciting hearing the cheers of the crowd and many people all over the course crying out my name. Rachel, Jazz Apple & I were out there with a decent gap. At one point I heard the bell for a prime but the crowd was so loud I wasn't sure what was happening. As we came around to the finish line I heard something about who was going to win this $200 prime. Jazz Apple was sitting on the front with me second wheel, so I went for it and got it. Yeah!

Not too long after that Martina Patella of Value Act bridged up to us, so now our little break had 4. It wasn't organized, there was some trading of pulls but nothing with a concentrated effort. I really wanted to not over work as Proman and Value Act had the numbers in the field yet, I also didn't want our little foursome to get caught. Everything was going great and I thought we might make it until i looked at the lap count and it said 9 ...shit, that was way more laps than I wanted. Yikes! I decided then there was no way they were gonna lose me. I gotta say here, thank you to all of you in the crowd cheering my on, it was really sweet and so HELPFUL!

We got caught by the field with 2 laps to go. As we got caught a Tibco rider, Stacy Marple (not sure ...all those girls look the same to me) jumped, I latched on to her wheel. She immediatedly sat up. The entire field swarmed, I settlled in mid pack. We came around for the last lap and on the hill there was a crash, unfortunately, I had to go around it and then it was too late. I came in at the end of the finishing field. I believe Sarah got up there for some of the purse money....nice going girlie!

It was a great race. Nice to hear Michael on the microphone and some good publicity for VB Kona.

Once again, thank you everyone for all your yelling, cheers of encouragment...it really does make a difference!

Big Bear - Jen and Teshia win!

by Jen

Gah, that was a hard day of racing. Altitudinous suffering. There's something particularly nasty about racing at altitude in the heat of summer. The kind people at Team Big Bear gave the expert-pro race an extra lap around the top of the mountain. Nothing like spending an hour or so at 8000 feet. Yum. Funny thing, the 40+ womens' expert race did not do the extra special lap, much to the dismay of one of the riders. I'm thinking, hey, wanna trade? I'll do your nice short race and you can do my silly long one. It'll work out great. No?

It was a lovely day in the neighborhood, though. Something about pine trees and vertiginous views raises my morale even when the pedals aren't turning so easily. Blue skies, a peak of the lake, and mountains folded upon mountains folded upon mountains. I think I remember why I like this sport.

I was not liking the sport quite so much when I cramped like crazy on the first climb. Too little warmup, too much speed way too soon. I'm not of the fast start persuasion. Start slow, finish fast. True confessions? I really wanted to turn around, take my toys, and go home. But that seemed like a really lame thing to do. So I kept pedaling. What's a little cramping among friends anyway?

There was a cute loopy, swishy downhill single track that was over far too quickly. Courses at Big Bear come in an almost infinite variety. This one was heavy on fire road with rolling climbs and lots of pedaling. I especially liked the sandy corners. Surprise! I prefer the uppy-downy courses: up the mountain, down the mountain, up the mountain down the mountain. But with only two races on the calender this summer? I'll take whatever they throw. It's their party, they can make me cry if they want to.

The nuetral feed guy who threw cold water on me and the other nuetral feed guy who handed me a fresh bottle are my new best friends. Tastiest water I ever had. And necessary on that dread second lap around the top of the mountain. Are you sure you don't want to trade races? Here, take my number. You know you want to.

So after a lifetime riding around in circles on top of the mountain, we at last came to upper Fall Line and Lower Fall Line. Upper Fall Line is a total tease. Yay, we finally get to go downhill. Not so fast, says Upper Fall Line. Suddenly you're grannying your way up this sandy bit of climbing, dodging the tree on the left and the rock on the right. More up than down. Say what? I don't wanna pedal anymore. Make iiiitttt stttoooppppp. Does this race even have a descent?

Then, the Fall Line Mess. It's steep, with lots of loose rocks, and dusty sand. But oddly, not especially hard to ride, if you don't stop to think too hard about it. With no oxygen to spare for the brain, I didn't stop to think. Thump, thwack, kachunk, kachunk, thwap, oops, thwap, woohoo!

Voila, the finish line.

The End.

Marathon Woman: Stony Creek Marathon

By Dana Nevedal
Detroit, Michigan

The weather was just perfect- mid 70's and mostly sunny. The trail was bone dry, loose and gravelly in many places.

I was disappointed to see that there were ony 2 of us registered in my class as the race was about to start. I guess that word had spread of the misery that was last year's 100 degree scorcher. The attrition rate had been huge. All in all, the women's turnout was pretty low.

All the sport women started together in an open area that led up to wide single track and then a long-ish gravel 2 track climb. I am way faster in the 2 track than the singletrack and I knew that I needed to get up that 2 track first in order to enter the single track ahead of the group. At the start I stood and powered ahead of the group all the way to the climb, then settled in for a steady push. A FFG from the 40+ age group caught me on the climb but I didn't care because she was not in my class. I hit the single track well ahead of my competition and with several bodies in between as buffer.

For the next 3 laps I hammered on the 2 track (6 miles) and recovered in the single track (4miles). I never saw another female rider that whole time!! I was passing lots of people on the 2 track and getting passed on the single track. I felt awesome, like my pacing was good and I could go all day. Avg speed 10.7mph.

Twenty-six miles into the race I hit this log on top of an off camber climb in the rollercoaster without enough speed and bogged down... then tumbled down the hill. I was now upside down pinned under my bike and clipped in. My knees hurt. I whimpered and a nice man from the clyde class stopped and hiked down the hill to help me. he carried my bike up as I wobbled on my shaky weird feeling knees. My friend Lynda Racy from the 40+ class passed through and offered some encouragement. I pushed my bike up the rest of the climb and thanked the nice man. I rode off cautiously with a pain in my left knee. The other girl in my class was not far back and I was trying to hold her off.

When I finished the 3rd lap I stopped to switch camelbacks with the help of my Velo Fella support guy Todd. He handed me a gel and helped me get a fresh camelback on. The old one got stuck to my pigtail braid and I just tore it out out of frustration. As I took off trying to get out of there before the other girl in my class passed me Todd yelled for me to get the flag out of my derailleur! I looked down and not only was a pink plastic flag stuck in there but the wire stake was all wrapped around the jockey wheels. If he had not pointed that out it could have been a disaster. I yanked it out and took off but my knee was aching and did not like anything but spinning. I started to worry- had I torn something? If I pushed too big a gear would my knee give out?

I was riding more conservatively now. I was afraid of what was wrong with my knee and afraid of falling again. I knew I was going to walk that log in the rollercoaster this time... and when I got there the sign outfitters girl I was racing was right behind me. We had been chatting for a bit. She was on my tail but not trying to pass. I followed the lead of the bella who did the 24 hours of adrenaline and did not tell her I was walking that log. I just stopped and got off at the last minute and she had to too! We walked the climb together and I kept her behind me as long as I could after we got back on the bikes but when the trail widened she took the pass. With 5 miles left in a 42 mile race I lost my lead. I never saw her again. my legs were fresh, but my knee ached and I had lost that drive to win. I just wanted to finish and get off the bike without messing up my leg anymore, and that is what I did.

I finished at 3:59 something- 16minutes and 30 seconds faster than my last year's time. I also got to stand on a box and get a silver medal which was sort of bittersweet since there were only 2 of us. But my time was commensurate with a podium spot in the women's sport classes from both this and last year so I felt good about that.

Full results available here

NY Bella Linda Tersegno wins 2 BRONZE medals at National Senior Games, Louisville, KY

by Kate

New York Regional Bellas Home Page

Linda's report of the National Senior Games, Louisville, KY June 23-28, 2007:
I had no idea what to expect in Louisville and feel like I did really well!! I finished 8th out of 23 riders in the 5K TT, 4th through 7th places were close, I was out from the winner by about 35 seconds though. The 10 K time trial I moved up one spot to 7th place. Both earned ribbons anyway. Very nice courses in a closed park.

The road race was really a circuit race course. Very winding, up/downhill (scary!) 2.4 miles loop on a pretty park road. I had never raced this type of course so I stayed near the front due to 4 bad crashes we witnessed in Mike's race. I really had doubts about doing the 40K event at all. But it was fun really! I placed third with a photo sprint finish. The same happened in the 20K road race on the same course, but not with such a close finish. We had lapped riders from another age group and they were at the finish line area with 3 of us and it was too crowded.

It must have been the jersey that helped!!

Final results for Linda:
Bronze in the 20K RR
Bronze in the 40K RR
8th in the 5K Time Trial
7th in the 10K Time Trial
Congrats, Linda!!

USAT Nats - Take 1

by Raja

I'm back...

...and I think I could sleep for week...

While I would love to report back that I came home as the W30-34 nationalchamp.... you all would know I would be hallucinating and perhaps in some serious sleep deprivation. I didn't go to Nats to win. 'Cause of course, I'm already a winner. If I happened to qualify for Worlds, that would have been amazing, and very very scary. But I didn't. And I'm really ok with that! Let me explain...

Dave leaned over and looked at me with a little twinkle in his eyes, "Did you ever imagine that when you did that first Mission Bay triathlon on your, mountain bike that you would be here two and a half years later?"

Actually no. It hadn't even occurred to me.

My road in triathlon to date has been short and fun. I've now had 1 year of coached training, so you won't hear me complaining about my perceived "lack" of performance at Nationals this year. I managed to miraculously slice 4 minutes of my swim time. I couldn't have been happier.

The bike didn't go as I'd hoped, but that was my own fault. A newbie error. I was hell bent on using the disk. Was it a head game? Having the disk gave me confidence? Setting up in transition prior to the start I had noticed the disk loosing tire pressure. Down from 130 PSI to 80 in about 10 minutes. No holes, tire looked good, I pumped it up again to give it another test. Pumped to 150 PSI. (Which takes a feat of strength for me since that's far more than I weigh!). In the rush to get everyone out to close transition, I felt the tire, maybe a little lower, but not nearly as bad as before, tightened all the valves and left. If I got out of the water and the pressure was significantly lower, I'd just change my wheel prior to leaving transition. If it felt pretty solid, the leak wasn't that bad.

In a nut shell, I think I shot myself when I didn't change the wheel. I'm usually very solid on the bike. Steady. Aggressive. Fast. This time the bike felt squirrelly on the downhills and squishy on the uphills. With about 1500' of climbing and almost continuous turns, my legs were toasted and my time was slower than it should have been. I asked someone on course if my bad wheel looked low, "no, well yes, but not flat" was the response I got. That's about how it felt. It definitely wasn't so low I couldn't ride. But I found I was riding very conservatively on the downhills & corners. No risks. Within the first 2 miles of the ride I passed the first crash victim. Even Nats isn't immune to crashes.

When I racked my bike and hit the first of 7 hills on the run, I knew my chances of qualifying for Worlds was done. I got kind of excited...

You see, Dave & I got married in May. Since then I have been training like a mad woman. Honeymoon? That would have to wait until after training. If I qualified for Worlds, that's an entire summer of training and the first week of our honeymoon spend racing in Europe. As exciting as that may have been.. I haven't really been in the sport long enough to know what I'm really doing. So now that Worlds wasn't going to be an option... all I can think about is how great Italy is going to be in the fall... and we can take the road bikes and ride where ever we want in Italy...

So while I was suffering like a beast on the run, it occurred I had a lot to be happy about. Breaking my back/pelvis 8 years ago had made me a stronger person. Who knows if I'd even be racing triathlon or cycling if it hadn't had been for that accident. I really was just excited to be doing something extraordinary.

Some things I learned:
1. Jim was right.
2. Starbucks coffee is better than their danishes.
3. Starbucks sandwiches are better than their coffee.
4. It doesn't pay to be stubborn.
5. Got a lot of training left to do!
6. Bellas ROCK! Ashley Erickson did GREAT! placing 10th in her age group.
Nikki Shue also did great in her crazy age group!

Happy Racing!

Leesville Gap Road Race

by Monica

W 1/2/3 Sunny, 85-90 degrees

This was my first race after almost a month off. Life just got in the way-a new job, crazy schedule, family stuff, car accident ....you know, all that stuff life throws at you. I didn't know the course at all, never having raced it before but I heard many stories about the crappy roads, gravel sections, nasty climb and flat, windy section that goes on forever. Great!! I managed to crawl out of bed after a lousy night's sleep anyway, at the crazy hour of 4:40 AM.

The field was small, (15 I think) but there was some power on the line, Jane Despas, Molly Van Houleing (sp), Pat Ross, Jen Joynt, and Ashley Zimmerman among them. I was mentally prepared to suffer.

The pace started out mellow enough, even stopping for a pee break after 35 min or so. Soon we crossed over Hwy 20 and hit the rough road section with the rollers. I stayed within the front three here so I could kind of pick my line through the pot holes. We were moving at a decent pace thru all this. As we got closer & closer to the start of the main climb I moved to the front and tried to set the pace. I ended up cresting the top of the climb 3rd with Jen Joynt & Pat Ross off the front. Behind me with a little bit of a gap were Zimmerman, Despas and then Van H., int that order and all spread out a bit.

The decent is definitely rough but turned out to be much better than I feared. Zimmerman and I teamed up, we could see Joynt & Ross ahead of us. We knew it was going to be in our best interest to have Despas catch us, which she & Van H. both did as the terrain flattened out. Molly had no reason to work since Jen Joynt is her teammate and was up ahead. Jane & I began trading pulls, with Zimmerman coming in every now & then. Soon each of us started playing this game so our efficiency wasn't great. Plus, Molly was doing what she could to disrupt our chase. What was frustrating was that Joynt & Ross were dangling about 500-750m in front of us.

To keep this report from being too damn long, I cut to the chase - we caught them (Ross & Joynt) at the feed zone hill but then they actually got away again, not much but gapped us off a tiny bit. We hit the next, shorter climb and Molly & Jane picked up the pace. They gapped me a little and I dropped Zimmerman. The decent from there was a blast! Wicked fast, open and really fun. When I hit the bottom Van H and Despas were just one good effort away from me. I saw that Despas was driving the pace so I knew I had my work cut out for me.

I told myself, "don't blow your wad here, you can reel them in slowly..don't panic, stay within yourself." Soon I caught them and soon after that we caught Joynt & Ross. Now we were in the windy, long flat section of the course. No one really wanted to work. There was a little bit of an effort to get organized but it wasn't working. After about 7 miles of this Ashley Zimmerman caught us. So now we were six again.

I had a headache (hydration related?) and no idea how much further we had. I had no computer, nothing to go but time. Jen Joynt attacked, I waited for someone else to make a move as I knew she couldn't stay away. We regrouped quickly. Then Van H. attacked, once again short lived, we regrouped. At this point in time, I took an assessment. I felt really good. I felt like the people to beat were Despas and Van H. but Zimmerman is a good sprinter so don't discount her. I'd worked a fair amount in this race so I sat on the back and saved energy.

After a bit Van H. attacked and Despas jumped, I didn't react right away as I wanted someone esle to. BIG MISTAKE! (Remember, I just said they were the two to watch...hello brain? ) After a slight hesitation I went with Pat Ross helping me in the chase but then we hit the final stretch of gravel (which was long) and got stuck behind a group of men. By this time it was too late, the two of them were gone.

We hit the 1km sign and everyone slowed down, no one wanted to lead. You could see the finish line ahead and the road was as flat as a pancake. I figured Zimmerman was the sprinter of the bunch so I got myself behind her. At the 200m sign we were barely moving, just crawling along. Jen Joynt jumped, Zimmerman on her wheel with me in tow. We came across the line, neck & neck, all three of us throwing our bikes. Jen had 3rd as she was just ahead of Ashley & I but I thought I nudged out Zimmerman. Evidently not, as they gave me 5th place. Pat Ross finished 6th. Up ahead Despas out sprinted Van H to the line for the win.

I thought the course was much more fun than I expected. It wasn't as hot today as some years which helped. Other Bellas racing today were Andi Mackie who won her age group, Julie Porter - don't know how her day went and also Mo (Meredith) racing in the 4's. I didn't see her afterwards either so not sure how her race went. I missed Marian- she must've had something come up as I know she was planning to come.

Thanks for reading. I hope Fremont went well for everyone