190 Women at Bella Women's Tour!

by Jackie Yamanaka





Mother Nature smiled on the Montana Bella's for our 2nd Annual Women's Tour. Rain threatened. The higher elevations had snow! We were asked constantly what about the weather? I said, "We're riding. Rain or shine. Women are tough."

Are they ever. In the end, some 190 women came with their bikes - road, mountain, comfort, tandem, 'cross - and rode either 15-, 22-, or 40-miles! I'm humbled and proud that so many women - all ages, sizes, and abilities - are brought together by a bicycle.

We learned our lessons from last year when we were overwhelmed with 164 riders. I expected maybe we'd have 50. I'm glad I was wrong. This year we had pre-event packet pick-up at a local bike shop, had road guards out at the worst intersections, and staggered our start times so more could be there for the kid's ride and the post-event door prize drawing.

We also invited a local group to come and sell bike helmets for a bargin. Montana VB also bought some helmets for kids and others. We're already giving them away.

I'm so proud of our growing number of Bella Fellas. They helped pump up tires, fix flats, hand out food and beverages, direct traffic, and shout encouragement to their wives, daughters, sisters, co-workers, and fellow (did I really write that?) human beings and cyclists. Of course it didn't hurt that I kept the "boys" happy with hamburgers and beers.

The best compliment had to be when one woman came up to the registration tables after riding and said, "We think you need to host this ride more than once a year." Uh.... unfortunately right now there's a small core of women who make this event happen. We can only hope that as word spreads like our infamous wildfires - The Montana Bellas are in da House! - we'll get more volunteers - Jackie Yamanaka.

Anna Takes Two Second Place finishes in Michigan!

By Anna Milkowski,

The course today was very similar to yesterday's (the ground is so dry they have to use drills to put in the stakes), same and different tricky off-cambers and tons of turns, but the grass was a bit more worn. I ran only 30psi today in the tubulars (35 yesterday) and it helped me to be much smoother in the corners. Got the hole shot again, led Kerry the whole first lap. But a friend noted what I think is the moral of the story: "You have more tools than the hammer." And said I should have eased up halfway through that first lap once I had forced the selection, made her do some work, because there was a drafting effect on this course.

I wanted to lead since I didn't think I was good enough in the corners, but I was better today and maybe if I had not gassed myself I could have jumped ahead to lead those corners I wasn't good at or closed a small gap coming out. But instead I led that entire first lap, went pretty hard even though I did ease up and rest a bit, but made myself vulnerable to Kerry's attack coming through the start finish on the paved stretch. She put 23 seconds into me in that second lap, and the gap at the end was 37 (five lap race).

Pack racing and tactics are new to me in cross because so often I ride alone (we all do in the women's fields), but I think it's important to improve in this area. But I was psyched to ride better today than yesterday. Teammate Maria did a great ride for 10th. Promoter Jeff Notz put on a fantastic race weekend and I recommend it highly. I can help you crack in on the logistical front next year. For now, on to Vegas!

Anna

VB-K Elite Cross Racer Maria Stewart (MN) Reports in on Her First Race with the "Big Girls"

By Maria Stewart
2007 Elite Velo Bella Cross Team

Today was my first CX race with the "big girls," the UCI DoubleCross
race near Detriot, MI. I haven't been THIS nervous for a bike race
for several years. This morning, I was sure that I was going to throw
up, pass out, or both. Luckily neither of them happened!

My race didn't start until 1:45, but I headed out to the course around
10 so I could have plenty of time to get ready and watch the B and C
class races. I cheered on Monica, a Michigan Bella in the Women's C
race. The venue was a horse/livestock show grounds (think 4H). The
race course was the most exciting CX course I had ever ridden. It had
everything you could put in a race course: off-camber turns, tight
corners, fast open sections, grass, gravel, dirt, pavement, riding
through a horse barn (no horses in it!), and tons of spectators.

The race started pretty fast, but I was able to hang on to the back of
the pack. Some of my competitors were top cyclists in the US- many
had UCI points. The laps were pretty long compared to courses at
home, so we ended up racing 5 laps for the 40 minute race. My barrier
training really paid off today. For those of you who don't know, I
spend several afternoons each week at Como Park jumping my CX
barriers. Each lap, I crossed the double barriers really smoothly.
My race strategy was to hang with the pack as long as possible and
then just race hard. That's just what I did! I even passed someone!

I finished the race 11th out of 14, which isn't much to brag about
except that its my first CX race of the season and my first UCI race
ever. My race was Cat 1/2 Women, so I definitely placed within my Cat
2 ability. My VB-K teammate Anna Milkowski (New Haven, CT) finished
2nd. I was impressed, even though she thought she could have raced
smoother.

This race definitely sparked the racing fire under my butt! It was
really inspiring to race with women who are among the top in the
country. It was even more inspiring to know that I didn't get
completely shelled (even though the winner was posting lap times that
were a minute faster than mine!). The CX world had better watch out
for Maria Stewart in the next couple years!

The Men's Elite race was awesome too. Probably 50 racers started, and
it was amazing to watch them snake through the course. Jonathan Page,
who placed 2nd at Worlds last year, took the win, but not without a fight.

Tomorrow is another race at the same venue, but a different course.
More about that race tomorrow. Now, I'm looking forward to a great
night of sleep!

Maria

The Legend of the Pink Slipper

By LiLynn Graves
Ithaca, New York

The little town of Ithaca, NY has some of the strongest riders and most humble and supportive of all. I am lucky to have joined these amazing athletes the past few years and participated in the town races held every Tuesday evening after work starting right after the spring forward time change, and lasting right up until the lack of daylight forces us to hold the infamous "pink slipper race."

The true meaning of the name means the summer road races have come to a close, but the legend of the "pink slipper" is so much more meaningful that these folks actually train for this event. There is no set date, there is no purse, there are no actual prizes, but the sincere commitment to the legend is taken so seriously that the casual gathering in the parking lot after the race to ask who won is burned in each riders memory for that entire year until the next "pink slipper."

The actual slipper does exist. It was a strappy pink sandle found on a ride along the side of the road about ten years ago and picked up by a rider which he placed on his handlebars not knowing the future of such an item. From there the legend began and a few years later a beat up old brown berkinstock was added for the B group of riders. They felt they needed a shoe to shoot for also. Now the races have at least 60 folks per race so we have A, B, and a C group.

Last night a most appropriate, run over silver ballarina shoe, found next to a dumpster up on campus was donated to the C group. So the race was a great success and with the weather looking like tornados threatening the race, I was the only chick. Feeling a little nervous about the weather and if I had a chance at winning such an important event, I put on every piece of velo bella war fare I could find. Sleeveless jersey, sleeved jersey over, arm warmers, team shorts, team socks, team vest, pink helmet, pink wheels, pink handlebar tape, pink fluff, team gloves, and I smoked the boys in the C's. I got my name on the silver slipper!

Splatter Painting

By Angela Brown
Columbia, Tennessee



I raced on Sunday (my first Sport class mtb race), which turned out to be the muddiest race I've completed thus far. The Lock 4 Challenge II was held at Lock 4 Park in Gallatin, TN, on Sunday, September 9. Rain was falling when I left the house, but I had missed the first race in this series because of a twisted ankle, and I wasn't about to miss the second because of Mother Nature.

I arrived to a steady rain. Rumor has it that the place turns into a mudpit when wet. This was only my fourth time on the trail. All three of my previous rides had been in the drought conditions. Sketchy, dry dirt is a challenge in and of itself, so really I don't care either way. Different conditions, different challenges. I proceeded to the sign up table and listed my new racing category: Sport. Already I felt better!

Right during our warm-up and line up time of 9am, the sky opened up and soaked us all in a steady downpour. At least it was a warm rain. Water dripped off my helmet, soaked my socks, and fogged my glasses to the point of no use. When I made fists with my gloves, it was like wringing out a damp dishrag.

With four Sport women lined up to go, the Sport class guys took off ahead of us and chopped up the trail into a soupy mud. I took the first section of the trail through mud that was thick enough, in some areas, to lose a shoe in if you were hiking it.

It continued to rain through part of my first lap, making some sections of the trail very, very interesting. There are parts that will send you down a hill and into the lake if you're not careful. I attacked those cyclocross-style, dismounting and carrying my bike through, then getting back on. My only scratches of the day were from doing this, so I'm not convinced this was a good idea.

Then, I felt myself going down and slowed enough to land softly into some shrubs...face first. My face was covered in leaves. I hope it made some kind of pretty pattern. The turtles came out to play and I dodged at least three on the trail.

The second lap, the water had either receded some, or drained, because things went much better and faster. In my last three miles, the expert guys started catching me (their race started later) so I knew I had to get this thing over with. I stood up to crank it out for the uphill finish.

For my first Sport race, I took 2nd place on the 17.5 mile total course in 2:07. And I slept like a baby Sunday night!

I went for a dip in the lake at Lock 4 afterwards with some friends....fully clothed to wash the mud off of everything. I even had mud in my teeth, and slung it in my eye at one point. You haven lived until you've attempted an eyewash while moving on a bike, lemme tell ya.....

Thanks for reading!

'tis the Season

By Shannon Holden
Spokane, Washington

Can you believe it's cross season already?

I am so excited. This past weekend my husband, son, and I drove to Portland, Oregon to spend the weekend with my brother-in-law and his family. He is an amazing free rider, so it is always a blast to ride with him. We went on some pretty spectacular rides.

We had made plans to drive to Seattle Monday morning to race in the Labor Day cross. I was pretty excited, because I haven't raced since June. I was actually really nervous driving in, my stomach up in the air. When we got there I got signed up and took out to pre-ride. It was a fun course, really sandy. It had a 3 good run ups and 1 set of barriers. I got a couple of laps in and it was time to get to the start line.

When I got there I noticed there were some pretty fast girls there, Bridgette Stoick, Kelly Jones, Kristi Berg to name some. It was going to be brutal. I took out hard with the front pack. It felt good, I love the run ups. I come from a running background so I can usually do some damage.

We came around to the barriers and when I went to get back on my bike I hit a rut and bounced my chain out. It seemed like foreve and couldn't get it back on. While bent over I saw 2 girls fly by through my legs. So I was sitting in 7th at this point. Furious I took off on my bike and started hammering. I passed one right away. The other is pretty strong so it took me about 1/2 lap to catch her and I passed her on the run up.

So back to hammering. It is so windy at South Sea Tac I never could see anyone in front of me. So I had no Idea where I was. I came around a corner the 4th lap and there was 4th place right in front of me. I got so excited that when we got to the barriers I set my bike down in the same rut and bounced my chain off again and off went 4th place. I pushed hard the last 1/4 lap but just didn't have it.

It was fun. I finished 5th which I was pretty happy with. Plus I got to race cross in September which doesn't happen on the other side of the state.

Full results