Wind and Milkshakes

By Marian Jamison

Reno, Nevada


See how stoked I am to ride in 30 mph winds?

So! After leaving Reno at 6am, chaining up my poor little truck, and driving through the snow to meet up with my dad in Grass Valley, I managed to arrive at Land Park in Sacramento with plenty of time to warm up and register and talk to the ladies.

There were, um, four Bellas in the 1,2,3s. Katie, Soni, Ryan and myself. We were all pretty active and rode well and put in attacks. I attacked at one point and opened up a few feet of real estate between myself and the pack, but immediately cracked (ouch) and was caught. We chatted prior to the race about setting up Ryan for the finish. As we were going into the last lap I found myself next to Soni totally blocked out from attacking or doing anything worthwhile. I managed to reposition myself into the top ten-ish as we approached the last turn, but realized upon looking around that there was no one around me to lead out. And . . . I let myself get bullied in the last turn and lost about 10 places, then lost a few more in the sprint. But I was happy to see Ryan sprinting ahead of me.

It was fun, though, and I was proud to see all the Bellas riding so strong and aggressively. Plus, it was gorgeous down there. It's hard to be unhappy on a day like that.

I thought I had a really good idea of where the Zamora road race was, having raced the course two years ago as a collegiate race, but I was wrong, and failed to print out directions. As it turned out though, I didn't want to warm up in the damn wind anyway, so getting there on time would have been just silly. I feel that it was better driving around on farming roads telling my dad, "Oh, it's out this way, I'm sure. See, this is right where the climb is . . . oh, wait . . . hmm . . . maybe we should have turned right back there . . ." But, we found it. Whew!

There were four of us again - myself, Katie, Soni, and Sarah. Did I mention it was windy? Oh, I didn't? Well, it was windy!!!

I was feeling pretty good, but picked the wrong wheel heading up the KOM climb, which is more of a hill than a mountain. So . . . a little gap opened up between the girl in front of me and the pack, and then I was flailing around in the wind with an ever growing gap between myself and where I wanted to be. There was a small group behind me, so I slowed up a little bit so they could catch on, and then started hammering. It ended up being just me and one other girl, who I told, "We can catch them!" even though I didn't think that was very likely. But, lo and behold, we did. And on the head-wind stretch no less! But when we came to the KOM hill again, I was off the back. Again. Hmm.

This time there was clearly no catching back on. I TT'd it for about half a lap, then caught up to two girls who'd also gotten dropped, then we broke apart on the KOM hill again. Damn. Almost a whole lap in the wind by myself before I was caught by a group of 4 who were hammering to stay away from a larger group behind them. So, we hammered to the finish and I ended up 2nd in the sprint, which was more of a long fast wind-out before the line. Sarah was with the lead group, and I think Katie and Soni were with the larger group behind me.

It was a hard day! And anyone racing out there is tough tough tough. I'm super proud of my teammates.

On a side note, at Snelling, which was my last race, I think the biggest problem (other than my legs, my lungs, my back, and the supposed "cold" that I claim to have had) was just getting bummed out by riding in the wind and not being able to stick with the lead group. Today I was determined to stay positive and happy and not get crabby, and it worked! I was even happy when I was TTing into the head wind trying to keep my speed above 12 mph. Haha. Really though, it made all the difference.

And then I drank a milk shake. Mmmm . . . milk shake . . .

Startline... Anyone? Anyone?

By Allie Burch
Novato, California

We are here. The race start is *way* over there -->

This was valuable information given to the three of us after an hour of hiking straight up the wrong single-track (with downhill bikes) on the wrong peak of a completely unmarked downhill course on the practice day before the race. Although the descent to the real start was pretty sweet, our little adventure had kinda done me in.

This was my first foray to the Keyesville Classic event.

The adventure started at 4:45 am on Friday with a 5 and a half hour drive to Keyesville. As the flat farmscape of I-5 droned on, it gave way to the flat farmscape of 46 then 99 into Bakersfield. A quick turn East on 174 was a welcomed change as it dropped out of the valley then climbed and twisted it’s way through the mountain pass along the Kern River up to Lake Isabella where the canyon opened up to an outdoor lover’s playground!

Once I arrived, I geared up and started pushing up the Snake pit course with Jackie and Dain. Fast, chundery sections to rocky singletrack, switchback to a rocky funnel…ok, these look fun, but where the hell does this thing start?!

We kept going and followed a singletrack straight up the most logical looking peak for a downhill course. Half an hour of hiking through soft sand later, we decided that there is no way this can be a start since there is no place to stage riders. Besides, we were the only one’s up there! We rode down and found the real start, which sent the rider down a fire road with a few rollers and a long flat section. Fine if you’re on a small travel bike, but on a 37 lb downhill sled?? Kill me now.

One of my goals for this race was to really look over lines and get somewhat creative. There was a group of rocks that looked like they could be ridden over as long as the rider threaded through the two boulders on either side. Jackie and I stopped to session this section and see just how possible this line was. I backed up and started my approach to the rock line, but slammed on my brakes before committing to riding it. By this time there were three other guys looking at the line as well. I dragged my bike up as was about to abandon the idea just as I heard Jackie say, “actually, I’d kinda like to see how that line is done.” I think she was talking to the guys, but what the hell. I backed up again and rared up to go…I’da made it too… but I got object fixation on the big flat rock wall right in front of me and smacked into it all “George of the Jungle” style. Of course after this the guys cleared it without a problem. I, on the other hand found an alternate line that I liked better anyway.

Saturday was the downhill race, a combined best time on the two courses. The first course, Dutch Flat, was best ridden on a hard tail. There were three rises that made a rider slugging a rolling couch want to puke, but all of a sudden the course got really fast. There were three of us in the pro class, two on downhill rigs, and one on a hard tail. Needless to say, Tiffany, who was on the hard tail enjoyed a few seconds advantage over us on the downhill bikes after the first run.

Time was more than made up, however on the second run where, even though the course had uphills and flats, the technical sections were easily floated over on 8” of suspension.

When the dust had settled and the results were in, Jackie and I had the fastest combined female times…exactly. We were in a dead tie for first. She was exactly one second faster than I on one of the courses, I was exactly one second faster on the other.

The final results had placed Jackie in first and me in second, the tie-breaker being the fastest down the second course. We clambored up on the podium and proclaimed our victory right as the snow started flying!! An isolated snowstorm came blowing through to cap off the awards.

Once the course was marked, and the race promoters set up and organized a bit, the event went really well and was a very fun event. I even met fellow Velo Bella roadie (and now MTB extraordinaire) Tracy Nelson at the downhill! (I can’t wait to read her writeup on this event!)

The Badass Club

By Tracie Nelson
San Luis Obispo, Cali

I've been working on a short list of things that will automatically classify a person as a "badass":

1. Person has blood stains on their bike
2. Person has raced in the snow
3. Person has done a DH race on a hardtail

Hello, Badass Club! Okay, so what if I did do #3 really, REALLY horribly, and maybe the course really wasn't THAT challenging as far as downhills go, but the fact that I competed in something that involved hurling yourself down a rocky ledge and am not currently sporting a BODY CAST - well, I'm pretty proud.

Keysville was bitchin'.

Here's a quick summary:

1. Short track is the bomb. My teeth were bleeding and I had snot coming out of my eyes but it was all worth it when I started lapping old fat guys.

2. I've never been so cold in my life! My sleeping bag became my new best friend and we snuggled the day away. I devised a plan to cut arm and leg holes in Cuddly the Sleeping Bag and wear him in my XC race. I also considered carrying him up to the top of the DH course to keep me warm while I waited for my start. (As an added bonus I could strap Cuddly to my back for the way down as body armor.)

3. Pint glasses are better prizes than t-shirts.

4. I'm so sore I can hardly walk.

5. Next time I camp out at a race I will solicit a camping swan-yer (how the heck do you spell that word?) to cook hot meals, provide body massages, and service my bike. Applications are currently being accepted. Vollunteer basis only, must provide own tent and transportation.

6. I kicked ass. Knobbies are my mojo.

Bella Aggression: Dash for Cash

By Rachel Mickelson
California


I’m was so excited about participating in the first bike race of the year that I spent the better part of the morning on the potty…Uggggggg, nervousness attacks me in evil ways.

Fitness level is good, slept good, ate well the night before, instant oatmeal 3 hours prior to race start..had all my duckies in a row, or so I thought. My last bike race had been last summer and I only participated in about 4 of them…never really got my “mojo” back or whatever you want to call it. Today, I was ready to hit it hard!


BOY, according to my husband, I really made those girls hurt…. One problem, I KILLED myself at the beginning of the race. I broke all of the rules in Bicycle Racing 101! This race was a 30 minute race with a sprint lap after the first four laps. I WENT HARD for the first FIVE laps and Faded, faded…I could have won $10 for each lap that I won. I got second in like five of them. At the finish, I was WAY back. Click here to read HOW FAR back (…….16th, dang it!).

I WILL REDEEM MYSELF!

On a positive note, I got an excellent interval workout. My kids saw me out there racing like their Daddy. Treated myself to Starbuck’s after the race.

See more great photos of all the race action here.

Photos courtesy of Steve Weixel, Santa Barbara, California. Used with permission. Thanks Steve!

Tip Top Sprint

By Jamie France
Clemson, South Carolina



Sunday, 9 March, was our old faithful course of 35 miles at Donaldson Center. The field of women was smaller than usual -- only 30 of us, all Categories raced together. The cold was excruciating. I heard on the weather that it was 28 degrees with wind chill. It felt every bit of the 28 degrees. Everyone dressed for the cold, but still -- we were miserable for the first two laps. It took us 14 miles to warm-up to where I could feel my fingertips. My brain was frozen for those two laps as well. Luckily, everyone was in the same boat -- cold muscles, cold face, runny noses.

I really started to feel good in lap 3. I was feeling like I really wanted to stretch my legs, but I stayed imbedded in the pack. I followed a few attacks, but the pack always got us reeled back in. The bigger teams were really controlling things, and I had no teammates. (I had started the race with a brand-new-Bella, Kim Turpin, who I knew was super-strong, but she broke a cable in lap 1 so she was out.)

Before I knew it, we were approaching the 200m-to-the-finish mark, and the sprint began. I finally got a chance to open up and go for it. It was crowded and I had to hold back until I found a gap, powered through, and passed a bunch of gals with only 10m to go. It felt great!

I ended up 11th out of all 30 women, my best finish ever -- but wait! Here's the best part: I was 1st among Cat 4 women, my prevoius best being 5th. And since they scored the Cat 4 women separately from the 1/2/3's, I've got that warm & fuzzy feeling of a job well done when I see the results posted with "1. Jamie France - VeloBella - Clemson, SC" at the very tippity top of the list!

Oh La La!

Fat Tire Fling

By Tracie Nelson
San Luis Obispo, Cali

I won!!!

But not in Merced.

Nope. No Merco for me this year. I've filled my central valley quota for a while, thank you very much. Instead, Ryan and I headed up to Fort Ordy-oh-Lordy to fill our poison oak and dust quotas at CCCX. Aaaalllll-right. (Who wants a body massage?)

So we packed up the knobbies and technu and chocolate chip cookies (the three essential ingredients to a pleasant mountain biking experience) and headed up north for a day in the dirt. The CCCX races remind me a little bit of collegiate racing because they're so low-key and the feild sizes are kinda dinky and everyone is friendly and chatty and really dorky. I like it.

I raced the Sport division again, since it was only my second race, and was suprised to see that this one girl who has been winning every race under the sun was also still racing Sport. She beat me last time and is definately fast enough to be holding her own in the Expert class, but Whatever. I'm new to this; what do I know?

So a quickie blow-by-blow (the not interesting part): Winner Girl sprinted off like a bat out of hell from the line and I sat on her wheel on the pavement. I looked behind me to see if everyone else was sitting on my wheel and they were nowhere to be found. (Game on.) I jumped around her to get on the dirt first; dropped her on the first lap; she caught me on the second lap and rode away; I caught her on the third lap and rode away from her to win the race. (Yay.)

Ryan won her race too. ROADIES UNITE!

Now for the interesting parts:

1. Since I beat a sandbagger, does that make me a sandbagger? One of her friends asked me if I planned to upgrade to expert "next year". As in, 11 months from now? As fun as it was to have a good hard race (that girl gave me a serious run for my money) and to have won (it's nice to win something other than a scrabble game from time to time), I don't really think it's fair of us to keep beating up on girls who are new to the bike. I'll race up next time.

2. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, get out of your chamois when you're done with your bike! Not that I was timing them, but there were some peeps (who shall remain anonymous) hanging around in their spandex for a good TWO AND A HALF HOURS after their races were over (sitting around in the feed zone in your bike shorts does NOT count as training time!!!) I'd hate to know what's growing in their shorts.

3. I saw a guy in baggies and shoe covers. I laughed out loud and then told him that I liked his fashion statement. Creativity deserves recognition.

4. I had fun. CCCX is not a FUPA.