Barb Howe Diary - Queen Anne

Be sure to check out Barb's latest diary entry on Cyclingnews. This week features a special girly on girly interview of Ann Fitzsimmons

Peep Show

Hans posted another one. This time its from Surf City Halloweenie.

Another win for Ann!

Ann was on fire at the Central Coast CX race #4. Her form is just coming on, just in time. Ann is gonna whoop my ass into shape on those Fox Racing lunch rides. Hell ya, bring it Ann, bring it.

Also playing at the BMX park that day, were bellas, AmyAbele and Julie Starling, who have raced just about every CX race under the Nor Cal sun this year.

Ooo and..lookie, there's a little Velonews article on Ann's win.

Surf City Series Winners

Lift up your tiki mugs for a quick salut to our Overall Surf City Series Winners:

Men A - Ben Jacques-Maynes (Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada)
Women A - Sarah Kerlin (Velo Bella)
Junior A - Logan Loader (Alan Bike)
Men 35+A - David Eastwood (Art by Opsal)
Men 45+A - Larry Hibbard (Family Cycling Center)
Women 35+ - Melinda Jones (Team Santa Cruz)
Women B - Katrina Baumsteiger (Black Market Racing)
Women C - Juliana Perry (Dirty Diaper)
Jr Women - Meri Meighan (Velo Bella)
Jr Men B - Jesse Nickell (Bicycle Trip)
Men B - Robert Mau
Master 35+B - Murray Swanson (Pen Velo/Kondra Systems)
Master 45+B - Dwight Goss (Redwood Riders)
Men C - Eric Lowe
Singlespeed - Rich Maile (Art by Opsal)

Full overall results are here

Thanks for playing at our little luau...see you next year.

Wendy Simms Interview

All about Wendy! On Cyclingnews. We can't wait to have her flying bella colors.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/riders/2005/interviews/?id=wendy_simms05

Surf City #3 in the news

Velonews has a pretty cool story.
Cyclinngnews has one complete with Abbiorca pics

And some photos are here:

Vanderpoop
Jam Photo
Miss Mary

And a Peep Show here:
Hans Kellner

Surf City 2005

Thank you to everyone for coming out and helping at/racing our funny little series. We hope you all noticed that amidst the silliness, 3 things were paramount:
Great course, fast results, good time.

After we recover, we will be looking at whether or not we can do it again. As much as we (I) want to keep the series alive, its a huge undertaking. We welcome any feedback, suggestions, etc you have. I know I've already got my improvement list, just in case.

Results and photos are all here.

I personally want to thank:
*Brent Chapman for venue selection and fabu course design
*Miss Mary and Jeni for the world's best clinic
*Clinic instructors:
Sarah Kerlin, Melodie Metzger, Camen D'Aluisio, Chris D'Aluisio, Ben Jacques-Maynes, Stella Carey, Ann Fitzsimmons, Simon Vickers, and Josie Beggs.
*Jeff Clark - just about everything
*DJ Grant Stoner for the tunes
*Miss Mary again for the food
*Steve Litvin for the USGP insight, the expo, and the boogie
*Laura Sanchez - Booth babe to end all booth babes
*Valerie Mangin - For keeping kiddie kross alive!
*Pazzo - for capturing our personality so well in graphics
*Dave, Matt, Tim, Jeff H, Steve, Chris, Anthony, and other course set up/take down regulars
*All the Bella, SCCC, and other race day volunteers
*And the one and only Amy Hall

Women's C Challenge!!

What a huge success the Cat C Challenge was. We had 40 women on the line for the start of the race. I'm hoping many of you return for more. Got this swell email from Amy about it:

"Awesome race on Saturday! Congratulations for putting on a first class event!

Here is a picture of Liz with her new LEMOND! I was so thrilled that she won the bike. If the bike shop hoped to get more women interested in cross racing they certainly suceeded. Liz, Denise, Heidi and I all talked each other into doing the race totally at the last minute. I hadn't been on my mountain bike in over six years and Liz borrowed a mountain bike that was way too big just the night before the race. We were all motivated by the chance to win a bike but had such a blast we will be back for more cross action soon! I am in for next years cross season for sure. Now I just have to find a cross bike for myself!"

Huge thank you to Bicycle Trip and WildDingo.com for their support of women's racing.

Speaking of Patrons, we raise a shot of Patron to the following:

Stacy Marple (UC Berkeley)
Maureen Kunz (Cal Cycling)
Emma Worldpeace (Cal Cycling)
Julianna Perry (Dirty Diaper)
Brianna Hand (Cal Cycling)
Ryan Hostetter (Cal Poly SLO)
Erika Donald (Velo Bella)
Kim Natzel (Bay Area Velo Girls)
Soni Andreinipoulser (Safeway)
Katie Behroozi (Velo Girls)
Jennifer Davis
Doris Lara
Marian Hunting (missing link)
Amy Fisher (Velo Bella)
Kathleen Farley
Kelley Colditz (Cal Poly Wheelmen)
Kristie Hamilton (Cycling-Training.com)
Jen Coler
Jackie Wheeler
Elizabeth Garcia
Candace Hedum
Marisa Strong (SF Sport & Spine)
Katrina Loera (Velo Bella)
Winona Hubbard (SCCCC)
Samantha Sommer (Team Santa Cruz)
Heidi Horton (Velo Bella)
Lauren Haughey (SF Sport & Spine)
Susan Brown (Ride Tribe)
Denise Ramirez (Velo Bella)
Yvonne Ebberoth (Ride Tribe)
Cathy Boland (Velo Bella)
Schuyler Bartholomay (CP SLO Wheelmen)
Liz McAfee (Velo Bella)
Anna L'hommedieu
Amy Foxgrover
Jackie Mann (Ride Tribe)
Robyn Jensen (Velo Bella)

Local Coverage: Come an get it

We got a nice little mention in yesterday's local paper

An excuse to type Puu Puu

If you are coming out to the Surf City race this weekend, bring your lunch money.

Heather from Heather's Patisserie will be out in the early morning with coffee and the county's best bakery goods. She will be joined by Trinity Deli who'll be serving up sandwiches a little later in the day.

But if you have a big kahuna kind of appetite, no worries. We've got Aloha Island Grill coming out with their full barbecue to serve up some puu-puus and the rest of their famous Island Style menu.

And, there's been some rumors that someone might be hiding a Seabright Brewery keg out in the venue somewhere. But don't worry. If we find it we'll put a stop to that right away.

Velo Bella Kona for 2006

The Kona Bicycle Company partners with “The fabulous women of Velo Bella”
Team Velo Bella-Kona 2-year deal includes addition of Wendy Simms to roster

Welcome “reception” this Friday at Surf City Gran Prix Cyclo-Cross

KONAWORLD (Nov. 15, 2005) – The Kona Bicycle Company today announced a new two-year partnership with the fabulous women of Velo Bella – the California-based collective of professional bicycle racing teams and clubs. The new Team Velo Bella-Kona partnership will encompass Velo Bella’s professional road racing team, professional mountain bike racing team, and elite level cyclo-cross team, know as the “Flamingo Flock”.

Adding to the already deep talent and fun pool, Kona rider Wendy Simms will be joining Team Velo Bella-Kona for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The Velo Bella-Kona partnership will also support Velo Bella’s recreational and amateur racing clubs around the United States as well as Velo Bella’s numerous camps and clinics.

In classic Velo Bella and Kona style, a semi-official celebration and “reception” in honor of the new relationship will take place in Santa Cruz above the Bicycle Trip, 1127 Soquel Avenue. The “reception” will feature DJs from San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland and Santa Cruz. Kona Brewing Company Longboard Lager will be served and the party goes from 9 until it ends…

Kona team manager, Mark Peterson, said that, like every solid relationship, Velo Bella-Kona was destiny. “This relationship is a natural. The Velo Bella culture is a lot like Kona in that it’s all about bringing fun to the sport. Kona is fun and Velo Bella is fun so we’re in for a lot of it.” said Peterson. “We’re proud to call Velo Bella partners and ambassadors and look forward to supporting their mission in any way possible.”

“When Kona contacted us initially we were in the midst of coordinating our Surf City race”, explains team co-founders, Sabine Dukes and Laura Sanchez, “We were going through our boxes of hula skirts, coconut bras, and leis, and thought well how perfect is this partnership?” Sanchez adds, “We've waited a long time to attract a sponsor that appreciates our quirky style and charm. It’s a pivotal point for us because we now have more opportunities to support developing riders while attracting newcomers to the sport. Finding the right sponsor is a lot like finding the right coconut bra, they don't all fit...with Kona we not only have the right fit but we Kona knows how to get their hula on.”

Team Velo Bella-Kona will be riding on a variety of Kona bicycles, including Kona new road rigs King Zing and Zing Supreme, King Supreme and Kula Supreme mountain bikes, and Team Jake cyclo-cross bikes. Additionally, Velo Bellas more than 150 club members will get special Kona deals through Kona’s authorized dealer network and grassroots racing program. Peterson reports that orders for Kings, Coilers and Stinkys are already pouring in from Velo Bella riders.

About Velo Bella:
Velo Bella is a non-profit, grassroots, multidiscipline cycling team based out of Watsonville, CA. The Velo Bella mission is to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle through cycling and laughter. Velo Bella’s contagious spirit and unique approach to women’s competitive cycling have created a following across the United States They inspire women to get out and ride a bike, race a bike, and to eventually grow the pool of talent and have a lot of fun along the way. While the core Velo Bella Team is a committed group of female racers, membership includes female cyclists interested in completing their first race, century, or even group ride. More information on Velo Bella can be found on their website: www.velobella.org

About the Kona Bicycle Company:
Bikes and Stuff. www.konaworld.com

Ann wins one!

Congratulations to Ann Fitzsimmons for her win at CCCX#3 yesterday. This is Ann's first win of the season. Ann came to the team and the sport of cyclocross 3 years ago in response to our Dirty Dozen contest for beginners. Its sheer joy for us to see her success today.

Look, there's a blurb about it in Velonews

(picture stolen from Farid Abraham who has always taken great pictures, but finally went digital so that we can actually see them!)

Please win this stuff

Surf City Overall after #2

Math is hard. But we scribbled and scrawled and figured it out. Here are the points after the first two events in the Surf City Series.

Ben Jacques-Maynes (Kodak/Sierra Nevada) seems to have a commanding lead over Mike Hernandez (Safeway Bag Boy) and David Wyandt (Boomswagger.boom) in the Men's A Presented by Kona. But with the added variable of USGP racers at the last event anything could happen. Ben could oversleep, Mike could get a hole shot (right), and David could get his Boomswagger sponsors to pony upsome extra boom.

Sarah Kerlin (Velo Bella) has a slight lead over her teammate, Ann Fitzsimmons and Stella Carey (Kelly Bike) in the Women's A Presented by Bicycle Trip. Sarah, resplendent in her purple horns and tail, took over the lead with a great performance at the Halloween event. The rest of Kerlin's 47 teammates will be at the final event, so look for things to shake up a little in this category.

Jeremy Blalock (Joselyn's Bicycles) and Logan Loader (Alan Bike) are in a dead heat tie in the Junior A event Present by Bontager. More than pride is at stake here as the overall series winner gets to take home a set of Bontrager XLite tubular wheels. Don't you wish you were 17?

Consistency has paid off for David Eastwood (Art by Opsal). He leads the Men35+A Presented by Bicycle Outfitter over cross stalwart, Mikey Matthews (BuyCell.com) and the resurrected Tim Thompson (Flossaid/Eurocycling). Nipping at all of their heels though is the corpuscled winner of race #2, Alan Coats (Amgen).

Hey Look! Larry Hibbard (Family Cycling Center) is leading the Men 45+A. Mark Abele (Boure/Rivendell) is in a solid 2nd place.

Other category leaders include:
Melanie Dominguez (Bike Trip) - Women 35+
Katrina Baumsteiger (Black Market Racing) - Women B
Julianna Perry (Dirty Diaper (ewww)) - Women C
Jesse Nickell (Bike Trip) - Jr B
Robert Mau (Needs a sponsor) - Men B Presented by Scotts Valley Cycles
Murray Swanson (Pen Velo/Kondra Sys) - Men 35B
Matt Dunstan (Scotts Valley Cycles) - Men 45B
Eric Lowe (C's don't need no sponsors) - Men C
and riding like a man posessed,
Rich Maile (Art by Opsal) - Singlespeed

Thanks everyone for coming out. Look forward to seeing the gang at Surf City#3: Crankbrothers USGP #5. Pre-registration for this event is encouraged. Remind your loved ones (and their sisters) about our Women's Cat C Bicycle Trip challenge.

and ummmm....what else...
oh yeah! Thank, visit, and spend lots of money at the following sponsors:
Bicycle Trip, Scotts Valley Cyclesport, Bicycle Outfitter, WildDingo.com, Hincapie Sports, Bontrager, NCNCA, Kona, WTB, Crankbrothers, Calabazas Cyclery, Dwight Goss Construction, GU, California Giant, Gizdich Ranch, Palo Alto Bicycles, PAZZO, Phil Wood, Ritchey, Rock Lobster, Subaru of Santa Cruz, Seabright Brewery, Sheila Moon, Vanderkitten, Crossroads Bicycles,Chain Reaction Cycles,VeloTech,White Industries, and Munktiki

Because we feel like it

This doesn't have a lot of anything to do with anything, but it sure is cool. Thanks Pazzo.

Velo Bella Beginner Giveaway!!

Would you like an opportunity to win a brand new fully built Lemond Poprad cyclocross bike! (yes! the one in the picture!)

Thanks to the amazing generousity of Bicycle Trip, if we get at least 15 women to race the WildDingo.com Category C event, we are planning to give away this fantastic bike during the C women awards ceremony at our cyclocross race on Saturday, November 19th in Watsonville.

You do not have to win. You don't even have to make it to the podium. You just need to show up and race. The winner will be choosen by random drawing based on those Women Category C racers that finished the event. The drawing will be held during the C women podium awards.

If you have ever competed at a B level, Women 35, or As in any cyclocross race, ever, you are not eligible. This promotion is being held to encourage newcomers to give this quirky sport a try. If you are not a newcomer, then send this message to some friends you've been meaning to sway into racing. If you are a newcomer, then shoot, what are you waiting for? We're talking a BRAND NEW BIKE here ladies.

Category C women race at 9:25a.m.. They will get their own start and there will only be Women B, Women 35+ and Junior women out on the course at that time. The course is tough, but its not scary (although that run up is a bitch) The atmosphere will be full on bella style, even if it rains, expect fun, mischief and coconut bras. And of course, all the support and encouragement that goes along with that type of mayhem. Mountain bikes are perfectly fine to race on, just remove your bottle cages and your bar ends.

This race is also some kind of big deal event, so come early and race and then stay for all the excitement as the nations top cyclocrossers face each other in the afternoon. Lots of prime opportunities for boy and girl watching.

And remember, we need at least 15 women on the line, so bribe your friends into joining you.

More information on Surf City races here.
Info and registration for the Watsonville race here (please pre-register!)
and the world's most fabulous technical document is here (no offense Tom)

Due to the race being held on a Saturday, we will not be able to hold a clinic before this event, but I encourage anyone with questions to email us and we'll tell you all you need to know. And then some.

See you there.

Sabine

p.s. If you are even in the neighborhood of Bicycle Trip (in Santa Cruz) please stop in and thank them for their amazing support of cyclocross. Buy something too. And a big thank you to WildDingo.com for their support of the Women's Category C race.

BABW Article

Ooo..Cool. Check out this article about Velo Bella in Bay Area Business Women

1-2 Button my Shoe

And in the racing action back east, Bella riders Barb and Christine worked over the lone Kona rider, Georgia, to finish 1st and 2nd at Highland Park. And, probably very happily scoring her first victory of the season, Christine snuck around Barb at the last corner for her first win of the season.

Congrats too to Erin for picking up a few more UCI points and to Lisa and Susan for spreading bella flair east coast style.

Velonews Article
Cyclingnews article
Cyclocross World

Image courtesy of Dennis Smith/http://www.cyclingnews.com/clickthru.php3?url=http://www.dennisbike.com/

Just the FIAC Jack

Congratulations to Sarah Kerlin for winning the FIAC National Championships today in Watsonville. She even did it without her purple tail and horns.

The women's race was a 4 woman affair until Sarah broke away near the end of the race for the win. A surging Lauren Constantini was secondand Stella Carey (with gears) was 3rd.

The men's race saw the first time this season that Andy and Ben faced each other. By the end of the first lap they had already established a gap on Justin. Ben launched a few attacks and soon was off and cruised in for a pretty good margin over Andy. Justin won the crowds though as he never had to get off his bike. Not only did he hop the running barriers, he also hopped and rode the run ups. The USGP organizers in the house did take note...

Henry Kramer outlasted a duel with infrequent but strong racer, Bryan Miller to take the win in the Masters 35+. Early leaders Rich Maile and Alan Coats succumbed to a rolled tire and a stiff back respectively. Rich rolled off for a DNF and Alan salvaged a 3rd.

Congrats also to Bella, Andi Mackie for winning the Women 35+. Other bellas in the house included Cheryl Hennessey, Julie Starling, Betty Jordan, Amy Abele and Alyse Weyman.

Otherwise it was a pretty low key day. A fun fast, but long course, and DJ Grant on the speakers led to another pleasant day of cx fun and friends. If only I had remembered the battery for my camera.

Fortunately, John Blankfort did not forget his batteries. Check out his pics here

Canadian Flair

Just got this email from Heather:

"I'm busy drinking Molsons. I'm in Canada representing VB at Nationals : ) and hanging out with my Mum.

I won Masters W 30-39 yesterday in Hardwood Hills, Ontario (an hour from my home-town). Was the first time Mum's watched me race a bike. I could hear her excitement as she cheered me on, it was very sweet. Race was great but there's not much flair in Canada. It's funny to think that last weekend I was watching a flaired-up Ben J-M race in a Bella kit."

Yeah..Heath! Picking up a maple leaf!

Lyne Bessette and Peter Wedge won the elite titles.

More stuff on this:
Cyclingnews
Velonews

Mild Mannered Californian

Looks like Barb won another one! This time it was UCI2 race, Lower Allen Classic. Bummer about Christine's crash, but yay to Erin. She picked up some just in time UCI points. Here's the Cyclingnews report and full results.