SoCal Cross Prestige Series #7 Cross Religion & Collegiate
November 22, 2008
SoCal Cross Prestige Series #7- Cross Religion & Collegiate
2nd, Hannah Eckvahl, Juniors 10-14
8th, Marian Hunting, Elite Women 1/2/3
8th, Marian Hunting, Singlespeed 4
6th, Laurie Tremor, Women 3/4
8th, Victoria Jones, Women 3/4
5th, Heather Nelson, Masters Women 35+
USGP of Cyclocross #3–Mercer Cup, NJ
November 15, 2008
USGP of Cyclocross #3–Mercer Cup, NJ
6th, Deidre Winfield, Elite Women
8th, Amy Dombroski, Elite Women
13th, Kathy Sherwin, Elite Women
16th, Anna Milkowski, Elite Women
17th, Melanie Swartz, Elite Women
2nd, Alicia Styer, Junior Women 10-14
Surf City Psycho-Cross: Photo Gallery
October 28, 2008
Take a tour through all the fun and mayhem of a Velo Bella Halloween! Follow the links for more photos of all the hijinx. And check back soon for more Bella reports from the races. Got Tricks?
Photo copyright Michael Hernandez, norcalcyclingnews.com. Used with permission.
See more photos by Norcalcyclingnews!
Photos copyright Lyne Lamoureux. Used with permission. See more Surf City Photos by Lyne.
For more photos and race results, check out the Surf City Blog!
Cross Vegas: Top Ten for Kari!
October 9, 2008
By Kari Studley
Bothell, Washington
As I summed it up to co-workers who asked where I’d been the past week: “ I was sick, slept all Friday and Saturday, Got enough energy to race Starcrossed Saturday night, sick Sunday & Monday. Felt better Tuesday, went for a ride and felt okay, so I went to Vegas….to race!” I think I will forever remember their blank expressions –I’m sure Vegas is the LAST place they’d ever think I’d go, even when in perfect health. But I think I am addicted to Cross Vegas - I just love the excitement and energy of this race. Where else does Elvis sing the national anthem and help hand out awards? Love it! And this year there were BUSLOADS of people being brought from the strip to spectate – at least 4x as many people cheering and watching compared to last year.
But CrossVegas is totally worth it! And since I didn’t have anything to lose (last year I crashed 1st lap, taco-ed my front wheel and got pulled second lap…and I only had the big ring as we hadn’t found a derailleur hanger that worked on the frame) I could only improve on last year if I finished the race. And with a start number of 35 (out of 39), hopefully the only way to go was up. They had also changed the course from last year which really favored me a lot better – it was now an even bigger time trial on grass >> just my thing!
Without any particular expectations, other than finishing and not getting lapped by Katie Compton, I took my place at the start line, got to meet fellow Bella Marian, and guess I was standing near Laura Van Gilder (HUGE professional road cyclist) among other big names in women’s cycling. I’m honestly still learning who’s who… but I at least now know who Laura is.
Photo copyright Lyne Lamoureux. Used with permission.
The start was hot! Literally as it was 81 degrees. Just when I had settled into what I thought was a good position, a surge of riders from behind swarmed past me, so back to work in moving back up through the pack– let the attrition begin! I saw Shannon & Tilley in the group ahead of me so I jumped across and joined them on the run up. Half a lap later and still feeling good, I pushed on to join Kathy Sherwin. A lap later, another bella came into sight – her racing greatness: Barb Howe! In total shock and still feeling good, I kept moving through to the front of the pack into 12th with 10th & 11th in sight up ahead. A lap later, “black” and “green” (I nickname by kit colors when racing when I’m on the hunt) were mine (I was now 10th!!!!!) and it was now 3 more painful laps of time trial solitude. It was awesome to hear people cheer for me and see Alex beside himself with excitement. On the last lap, Alex exclaimed: “You’re in front of Laura Van Gilder! One of the best road cyclists ever! Keep it up!” For all I was concerned, there was no way anyone – regardless of who - was going to take 10th from me if I could help it.
When I crossed the finish line I had to resist sitting up and doing the pro arms-up victory pose as I rode through – I might as well won as far as I’m concerned. That was the best race of my life! With 10th I also qualified for UCI points which means I will no longer start 4th from last (which is based on registration order), so I’m very excited about that.
Alex just laughed when I asked in earnest if Laura was in the black or green kit. I now know she’s in a black kit. Hope to see her more in passing…
Carrera de San Rafael, CA
August 9, 2008
12th, Ryan Hostetter, Women 1/2/3
20th, Sarah Kerlin, Women 1/2/3
21st, April Hamlin, Women 3/4
26th, Katie Norton, Women 3/4
Video of Race for Sight Finish “A” Race!
July 22, 2008
Check out #16 crossing the line! Less than a minute behind leader Glen… :-P
Race For Sight - Windsor, NY - July 19
July 21, 2008
Saturday was a hot and humid one, but NY Bellas Kate and Melissa seemed to handle the heat just fine, finishing the A and B races with 1st and 2nd place women results respectively. This race is one to generate funds for resources for the seeing-impaired in the area and and the course has been in existence for years. I raced it the last time in 1994, where I touched wheels with another racer and went down, getting stitches in the back of my hand and swearing to never race there again. Why I tried it again this year, I’m not exactly sure. The A course was 38 and the Bs did 27 mostly flat miles.
Melissa and I warmed up with another teacher friend of hers and talked teaching as well as a little about racing strategies. Melissa also expressed that she was just racing for the idea of fun with no expectations as she is in the middle of her baby-making project this summer and was feeling pretty full of fluids in her gut. Good to get a little intense exercise in before the next stage of this particular summer event!
Citizens’ races are such great fun, since there’s plenty of people to work with, you can tuck into the pack of men, and suck wheel if you’re so inclined. Much more exciting than racing with a handful of women in a licensed upstate NY race. Both Melissa and I were able to race with others rather than just dangling off the back somewhere alone.
My race with the As was fast and at one moment quite scary, as there was a crash right in front of me - I felt the guy’s drink splashing on my legs as I missed riding over his bouncing bike by a fraction of an inch. Scheiße! That’s EXACTLY why I had sworn off this flat race all these years! There aren’t enough hills to break up the pack. In any event, once I got over my shot nerves, I was pleased to find that the pace was quite doable for me, and that I saw only once another woman in the front with me, and as soon as we hit the small hills, I never saw her again.
As in the Owasco Flyer, I rode with the big man, Glen Swan again (and his other homies, Jack R. and Mark S. who are bigshots in their own way…) and this time I made him rub knuckles with me while standing in the street, so that we could get that out of the way ahead of the race and he wouldn’t think I would take him out. I tried to stay in the top 10-15 people for the whole race and did find myself having to pull now and then, which made the second lap a little less easy for me. The chase group in which I found myself worked pretty hard until the very last bit - when I asked where exactly the finish was, I was surprised that many of them just seemed to stop pushing as we approached the final climb. That puzzled me. I ended up beating a bunch of studs who really should have been ahead of me. Granted, I could hardly walk when I got off my bike, but that was weird.
My speedskating friend Marcia was there to spectate, and she did a great job cheering Melissa on when she came through the corner in town - naturally the VB jersey made her easy to find. (Me not so, however. Marcia thought I might have been in the crash, because she missed me coming by twice - so well tucked in the men’s pack I was!)
Two very sweaty women:
Allie on Podium at MTB Nationals!
July 21, 2008
Allie has done it again. This time she lands an amazing 5th place at Mountain Bike Nationals - Downhill. Check out the pics in Cyclingnews
More updates soon….
January 27, 2008
Early Bird Road Race, CA
3rd, Thea Rusthoven, Women 4
January 19, 2008
Masters Cyclocross World Championships, Belgium
5th, Betty Jordan, Women 50-84
4th, Andi Mackie, Women 40-49
