Amy D Leads National Cross Series
November 20, 2008
Velo Bella’s Amy Dombroski currently leads the North American Cyclocross Trophy series. Amy has 182 points in the series, giving her a 58 point advantage over Georgia Gould of Luna. One race remains in the series, which concludes this weekend with the Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup in New Jersey. Velo Bella’s Kathy Sherwin is currently sixth in the series with 95 points.
Read the full story at VeloNews.
Go Bellas!
Monica’s Muddy Adventure
November 19, 2008
By Monica Tory
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Hallowe’en got started a little early (10/25 & 10/26) at the Ontario Cycling Association’s annual Hallowe’en Cross cyclocross stage race. With a serious addiction to cyclocross, and a prize for the best costume from every start in stage one, I didn’t need much convincing to make the cross-border (to Canada) drive to Kelso Conservation Area to try this event. Add in free, comfy accommodations at my in-laws home a short drive from the race site & there was no way I would say no to this one! So, I dug up a flair-iriffic costume, & my husband and I made the trip.
Stage 1: “Oink”
When I awoke in the night to the sound of strong winds, and a steady downpour, I started to get a little worried. I checked the temperature …. A mere 6oC out there. Yikes. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for classic cyclocross conditions. Now, in my view, 6oC is certainly rideable, probably actually enjoyable. But, add in the wind and a downpour, and that sounds downright awful. Bone chilling. Hmm. I fell back to sleep, grateful to be in a warm toasty bed, and awoke a few hours later, relieved to see that although the temperature and wind were unchanged, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. The weather continued to tease through the morning, but by race time the rain had stopped, the wind had died down, and the sun was making (very welcome) brief appearances.
Arriving at the race site, we found a well-organized race, friendly volunteers and competitors, and a pretty much perfect cyclocross course. Even without the overnight rain, the course had all of the ‘cross features you could ask for. A grass start into a sweeping right turn, sharp left over some tricky tree roots, through a serpentine section which featured a double barrier. Following the barrier, a nice little straightaway gave you some momentum to get through the upcoming … MUD. Did I say mud? Deep mud. Very deep. Pigs would have loved this back section of the course.
Earlier, while watching the previous race, I had assumed that riders were taking a very long time to get through that section because there was a long loop back there. Not so! The loop back there was a reasonable distance….it was just an absolute sty. After churning through the d-e-e-p, slippery mud, laughing at myself because I couldn’t figure out where “the line” was through those sections, and laughing because a spectator assured me there wasn’t a line, the course returned to somewhat firmer ground. Up a short steep hill (rideable for many people, but not for me), run down (for me…most people remounted at the top), around a bend & into a much longer, more gradual climb. This climb was a perfect ‘cross climb . It might have been rideable under dry conditions. But with the recent rain, everyone treated this as a WALK-UP. Walk-up? Yes. If you tried to run, your feet slid out from under you! At the top of the hill there was more flat stuff, some very nice (and very difficult) off camber hairpins, and then a ripping pavement descent.
Don’t you think that’s perfect? Well, that’s the course. Now, what about the actual race? I was happy to see there were lots more women than we have at typical races in Michigan. I got a reasonable start, ending up somewhere in the middle. The riders strung out quickly, and I lost track of how many were in front or behind me. Turns out that didn’t matter so much. By the final laps (5? 6? something like that), riders were taking extended breaks to clear the leaves and mud from their bikes, and many gave up altogether. In it’s second muddy race, my bike proved it’s worth ! No mechanical issues at all, despite the extreme mud. I finished tired & happy, placing 2nd in the women’s masters race. Happy turned to happier when I saw the prize: a little $, some schwag from Speed River Cycling, and a lovely 6pack from race sponsor Wellington County Brewery.
Stage 2: So many titles to choose from! “So that’s how you steer with your body” or “An expensive day out” or “4 laps down?”
Oh, my. Did I say I was happy about no mechanical issues? That didn’t last long. The course for day 2 was completely different, but just as awesome as day 1. No mud, but plenty of grass, hills, a TRUE run up, and …. a tough beach run/ride. I was determined to get a better start … and did. But the joy didn’t last long. Carefully steering around a huge stick on the course, about 1 minute after the start, the rider beside me did not avoid the stick. It jammed sidewise into my chainrings (and bent them!), and I ground to a quick halt! Some kind spectators helped me remove it, and get the chain back on, and I was chasing back, but…my chain fell off. Again. And again. Eventually, it got sucked in so bad that it was a figure 8 & neither I nor the kind spectators could make it right, so I ran through the rest of that lap & then abandoned 
BUT, my husband was still racing, so I stood by the side and cheered him on.
Watching from afar, I was amazed at how Jonathan took a descent/corner combo leading into the sandpit. At that moment I could REALLY see how you steer with your body. It was amazing! As Jonathan ran through the sand pit, I was still pondering the leaning phenomenon, trying to figure out how to start doing that myself to improve my cornering. Off in my daze there, Jonathan ran up to me and said, “hey, you aren’t racing! Can I have your bike?” And I said, “Sure, but what’s wrong with yours?” Well, that should have been obvious. That awesome lean and body steering was due to …. NO SADDLE. My bike was even more useless, so Jonathan continued on, riding the entire race sans saddle & earning the (well-deserved) respect of all of the spectators! So, day 2 wasn’t a huge success … no podeedums, no beer prizes, and an expensive day out. BUT, it was still awesome & I would recommend the Kelso ‘cross races to everyone !!!
Results:
Monica Tory
Stage 1 - 2nd, Masters Women
Stage 2 - 8th, Masters Women
GC - 3rd, Masters Women
See the full results!
Central Coast Cyclocross #4–Fort Ord, CA
November 17, 2008
Central Coast Cyclocross #4–Fort Ord, CA
1st, Beth Welliver, Women B
1st, Michelle Perez, Women C
2nd, Amy Abele, Women 45+
2nd, Brenda Mai, Junior Women
Kiss Cross #6–Richmond Park, MI
November 16, 2008
photo courtesy jack kunnen
Kiss Cross #6–Richmond Park, MI
5th, Monica Tory, Women B
Cross Crusade #7–Portland, OR
November 15, 2008
Cross Crusade #7–Portland, OR
15th, Sara Johnson, Women A
19th, Carrie Barton, Beginner Women
17th, Lara Wilkinson, Women 35+
Bellas in the Bay: Bay Area Super Prestige #2
November 10, 2008
NorCali Velo Bella ‘Cross maniacs turned out in force for the Bay Area Super Prestige #2 at Candlestick Park. There was flair galore. Such a lovely Fall day for the ‘cross suffering!
All photos copyright Lyne Lamoureux. Used with permission. Grazie!
And look, there’s more in the full gallery! Keep up with all the North American news at Lyne’s Podium In Sight.
Marian’s Stuck
November 10, 2008
By Marian Hunting
Santa Barbara, Cali
My Convert ‘Cross Race Report
Singlespeed race:
Again I was the only one on the start line with matching sex chromosomes, but I was not going to be deterred and I was not going to be dfL, which was a pleasant change. Race started out with a long pavement drag strip that had all of us singlespeeders spun out like a five-year old on a Halloween’s worth of HFCS. Lots of grass, lots of tight turns, some upsy-downsies, a sharp-lipped, flat-tire special, and no rest whatsoever.
I started, I finished.
Women’s race:
I had a much better start than I normally have and I was in the top 8 for the first quarter of a lap. I remember thinking to myself “Killer! Alright, now let’s just keep our $hit together and not f*ck it up!”
Of course I then proceeded to do exactly that.
Hit the the round log hop with full battering ram force, almost lost my bars and lost several places. After the first set of barriers, my drawers got caught on my saddle and in a blink of an eye I went from respectable midpack to dfL.
Suck, suck, suck.
The grass was slow, the turns were tight, there was no rest anywhere, and after the first lap, I had had plenty of the whole racing thing but it just kept on going and going, like a terrible dream.
A terrible dream that I had already lived through on the singlespeed.
Suck, suck, suck.
And there were so many people out there cheering for me (You all do realize that I kind of suck at this, right?) and like Morgan, I kind of wanted to stop and apologize to them for sucking so hard.
Mostly I just wanted to stop.
Suck, suck, suck.
All those turns.
Tight turns.
Turns that made me realize that the Buick Roadmaster station wagon has a better turning radius than I do.
Suck, suck, suck.
And people kept cheering for me but there I was, stuck in suck.
Some of my fans, aren’t they fabulous?
Suck, suck, suck.
I remember towards the end of the race telling myself “I will only do one more lap of this. One lap max and then I’m pulling the plug. This is a fat load of malarky!” So through the start/finish I looked at the lap cards & it was two to go.
Suck, suck, suck.
“Alright,” I told myself, “I’ll do one more lap. But, if I do one more lap, then I will actually only have one more lap left to do and I can’t very well pull the plug with only one to go can I? GAH! Oh please, dear God make it stop!”
Suck, suck, suck.
“Please, God, make it stop! Ohh, beer!” Grabbed a beer. Fumbled the beer.
Suck, suck, suck.
But then a nice young man in a bright red skinsuit ran across the course, rescued my beer, and handed it off to me again. “Hoo-ray for boys!” This time I didn’t fumble it & was able to drink what was left of it.
And then I got lapped by Coryn Rivera.
Suck, suck, suck.
But then, remarkably, it was over and I hadn’t even finished dfL.
And what the wise man says, that two wrongs don’t make a right, is true, but two wrongs followed up by 5 beers in quick succession makes for some awesome heckling of the Pro/1/2 Men. This week had me hollering “Ride it like you have a pair!”, “C’mon, ride it like you mean it, boy!”, and as per the wise man’s suggestions, “Stop sucking!”
Perhaps I got a little excited, but honestly, sometimes I can’t help myself; ‘cross is hot!
The end.
P.S. I realized after this weekend that perhaps I should be thankful that boys don’t like me because ‘cross racing is horrible for the lady parts. Especially two ‘cross races in a row on a terribly bumpy grass course.)
Photos by Kimberly Jo & RTinney. Grazie!
Highland Park Cross, NJ
November 9, 2008
Highland Park Cross, NJ
3rd, Deidre Winfield, Elite Women
5th, Melanie Swartz, Elite Women
23rd, Alicia Styer, Women 3/4
Sacramento Cyclocross Series #3–Discovery Park, CA
November 9, 2008
Sacramento Cyclocross Series #3–Discovery Park, CA
8th, Marian Jamison, Women A
5th, Yvette Crockrell, Master Women
1st, Beth Welliver, Women B
LARPD Cyclocross #6, CA
November 8, 2008
LARPD Cyclocross #6, CA
2nd, Yvette Crockrell, Women 35+
Dam Cross–SCPS #7, CA
November 8, 2008
Dam Cross–SCPS #7, CA
2nd, Barbara Howe, Elite Women
3rd, Kari Studley, Elite Women
7th, Shannon Gibson, Elite Women
CICLE Cross–SCPS#6, CA
November 8, 2008
CICLE Cross–SCPS #6, CA
2nd, Kari Studley, Women 1/2/3
4th, Shannon Gibson, Women 1/2/3
1st, Hannah Echkvahl, Junior Girls 10-14
Beacon Cross, NJ
November 8, 2008
Beacon Cross, NJ
2nd, Deidre Windfield, Elite Women
6th, Melanie Swartz, Elite Women
2nd, Alicia Styer, U19 Women
14th, Hillary Styer, Women B
Top Three for Sara!
November 6, 2008
By Sara Johnson
Beaverton, Oregon
Grimy Grin
I wasn’t sure how I would do in this race. There was quite a bit of all out sprinting and not too much technical stuff. Plus, it was my first muddy cross race. We had a nice clearing in the rain for our start. Had a pretty good warm up, and we didn’t have to wait at the start line for too long. I had a decent start, not amazing, but definitely not as bad as usual. I’m finally learning some of the tactics. I hung out in about 7th for the first lap, then passed a couple people on one of the open paved sprint sections.
For the next 3 laps I battled back and forth from 4th to 7th. The last lap was the lucky part of the race. There was one run up that was actually rideable if you got a good run at it and no one was in your way. I was hanging out in 3rd or 4th and was accelerating up to the little hill to ride up it, right as I got to the bottom, two other girls were off their bikes getting ready to run up it and just converged on my line. Bummer, I jump off my bike totally expecting the other A women (who were smart and took it wide) to pass me on the outside while I ran up behind the two beginner women. Well, by some dumb luck, the girls moved over enough to let me through the inside line and I ended up on top in front of the other girls in my class.
Can you tell Sara is a downhiller?
I held my spot to the next area where the clusters usually happened. It was rideable, but only if you had a clean line. One of the girls I was battling with, came up on my outside and I had a beginner girl in front of me on the inside. So, jump off my bike to run around, fully expecting to get passed. Once again, the “waters parted” and I ran right through and was still in front of the pack. It was the last lap, with only an open sprint and one more barrier to the finish. I gave it what I had, hoping the other girls were suffering like I was.
Over the HUGE final barrier
I came up to the last barrier (it was HUGE by the way) jumped over it, got back on my bike neck and neck with 4th place. We were both struggling to get back in our peddles with the finish line only 25 feet away. By pure luck I got into my peddles just before she did and secured my 3rd place finish.
Tons of fun! Although I’m still picking dirt out of my eyes. Next weekend, PIR.
Group Project: Velo Bella Takes on the San Diego Women’s Triathlon
November 6, 2008
By Whitney DeSpain
San Diego, California
On Sunday, October 19th, several Bellas met for a photo at 6:45a.m. This was right after the transition area closed, and just a few moments before the first of our group would be hitting the water. There were a few tears, but lots of hugs and reassurances. The race we’d been anticipating for 8 weeks was about to begin.
Bellas, all dressed up and ready to go!
In August, a group of us had met at a nearby Panera’s to talk about the race. This was going to be many of our teammates’ first go at a triathlon, so we wanted to make sure everyone felt supported. Over the next two months, the “veterans” and the “newbies” trained together, attending swim clinics, brick workouts, a transition clinic, and several open water swims. We had swam, biked and run our hearts out. Now it was time to race.
Wave after wave of Bellas went into the water. When they came out, they were greeted with their own cheering section- Christine, Lynn, Sandi, LaDawn, Chris, Jacky. Whitney and three of our friends from Team LUNA Chix, Chris, Darlene and Randa, were there with “Bellas Rock” signs, a megaphone and a duck quaker (it’s a LaDawn thing- don’t ask). Everyone looked SOOOOO good coming out of the water. We knew it was going to be a great race.
The cheering squad positioned themselves around the course so we could make sure no one ever felt alone. There were also signs stuck in the sand and taped to poles on the run with every single girl’s name.
San Diego Bella Vicki Jones running hard
One by one, we watched the Bellas come off the bike and begin the run. The first Bella to head down the finish line, Amy Larson, had a huge smile on her face. I screamed, “Kick it in!” as she headed down the final stretch, and boy did she ever! She passed several gals in the last 500 meters, and went on to take 2nd in her age group. At her first triathlon. It was turning into a great day.
Jackie came down the line next. This race was supporting the fight against Ovarian Cancer, and Jackie was racing in honor of her sister- a survivor. In classic Jackie style, she danced and leapt her way down the chute, and ended up with yet ANOTHER fabulous finish photo. And she managed to take 10 minutes off her time from last year!
Amy Larson and Karen Casey smile in satisfaction after finishing their first EVER triathlon
After that, every time we looked up there was someone we knew. Erin, Yvette, Laurie T., Jennie, Britt, Karen, Marlene, Deb, Deanna and Lori R. all joined Amy in completing their first triathlon. Heather, Lori S., Terri, Marilyn, Shannon, BJ, Cindy, Dawn and Vicki all returned and had GREAT performances. And Sherry and her 11-year-old daughter Kai proved that being a Bella runs in the family!
Post-Race Fun at the Party Car
After everyone had crossed the finish line, we all met at the party car. It was easy to find- big white tent, bubble machine, balloons, and LOTS of activity. There everyone was given a champagne glass filled with sparkling cider to toast to her success! It truly was a BELLATASTIC day!!!
We have to thank B&L bikes for all their support throughout this process. San Diego women couldn’t ask for a better bike store. Will Scandalis, swim coach extraordinaire taught the ladies how to swim smart in the race- thank you! Also, thank you to Team LUNA Chix for providing us with so many great products at the start and finish of our program.
The Happy Bella Family!
