Dede earns nomination to Worlds!

Dede has been informally called the "rookie of the year" for her surprise success in cyclocross this year. Now her success, which culminated in a 4th place finish at nationals, has earned her one of the five coveted invitations to race at Cyclocross Worlds.
Congratulations to our own grasshopper!!

Read the story at
USA Cycling
Cyclingnews.com

Grasshopper Wins

After walking away from the field on the second lap of the race, Dee Dee "Grasshopper" Winfield stretched her lead to 44 seconds and became the 2006 US Nationals Masters 30-34 Champion today in Providence, RI.

Joining Dee Dee in today's race were Sarah Kerlin (7th), Melanie Swartz (8th) and Anna Milkowski (who suffered a crash on the first lap while in the lead) finished 12th. Stay tuned for a detailed race report to follow...

More soon!

Alex

And once, when I went to Kona Headquarters...

By Alex Burgess

A few weeks ago I travelled to Seattle for the fifth round of the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross and decided to make a quick pit stop at Kona Headquarters in Ferndale, WA. Not knowing the trip would take a total 4 hours roundtrip from SeaTac airport, I figured it would be nice to see where our frames come from and the folks taking care of us.

Kona is located on a side highway about 110 miles north of Seattle a few miles off of Puget Sound in a pretty town called Ferndale. The geniuses designing and selling our frames are housed in a non-descript warehouse with a couple of offices and all one needs to throw a fantastic party. There are two stoves, a coffee maker, and espresso maker, fuseball table, pool table, basketball net, ski boat, showers and A LOT OF BIKES!

Entering the front door, one sees years and years of memorabilia from world champions to national champions in many cycling disciplines. One also sees more bumper stickers and anarchist propoganda than one would normally in the average place of business, but hey, it's Kona... A stereo connected to an Ipod pumps out a wide variety of tunes including everything from Dance Hall reggae, funk, folk punk, house and other styles of chemical-infused music.



Dale, Sarah, Ruth and Cory all work the phones in this area and sell Kona products to dealers all across the US. Dale and Cory tried to explain their sales territories to me, but I quickly got confused as they each have states all over the place and certainly someone was enjoying some good Washington micro-brew when the territories were drawn-up.

The Road team swung by the headquarters a few months ago on their way to British Columbia for races and signed one of our jerseys for the entire office. The jersey is located right next to the front door and one can't help but see our glorious colors as soon as one walks through the door. No wonder everyone was smiling!

Just to the right of the front door sits our venerable ally and all around cheerleader/supporter, Mark Peterson. Mark has worked at Kona for almost 11 years and done everything from selling to marketing to shipping to barbecuing, and now heads worldwide team sponsorship. Mark is the guy who approached us a year ago about sponsoring the organization and has been instrumental in encouraging Kona to incorporate our design change requests into their Lisa line of women's bikes. Mark also encouraged Dan and Jake (Co-owners) to include the Velo Bella logo on all 2007 Lisa frames/bikes. Thanks Mark!



At first I was a little taken aback at how small the office was and thought to myself, "this is it?" Well, like Alex in Wonderland (work with me), all I had to do was open a camoflaged door in the back left to see where the rubber meets the road (so to speak).

I have never seen so many bikes in all of my life. Boxes piled three and four high full of frames and components. Stacks of shirts, jerseys, pedals, forks and all manner of cycling gadgetry, the Kona warehouse was impressive to say the least.

Bre, Trevor, Dennis and Ed are the ones who make sure your frames have all the bits and pieces they are supposed to, as well as sending you all the items you've ordered from Kona. They are in the process of bringing the warehouse into the 21st century with a new barcoding, scanning and inventory management system and I found them hard at work drinking coffee and preparing to prepare to move boxes from end of the great hall to the other. Ed was a little shy, but Bre, Trevor and Dennis were kind enough to pose for this photo.

All in all, my visit to Kona was fantastic. I really enjoyed meeting Ruth (who I speak to all the time on the phone) and Cory (who is responsible for much of the midwest including my local Kona dealer), as well as the rest of the team there. Definitely a happy group who clearly love creating and selling bikes. Not a bad gig! The drive back to Seattle along the coast helped me understand why they love living here so much. Breath taking...

Thanks everyone! We love our Kona bikes and hope to see you all at some races soon...

Lieselot Decroix wraps up her 2006 Road season

Lieselot Decroix just sent a message to let us know she just now finished off her season on the road over in Belgium.

On Sept 24 she took 2nd place in the Jemeppe, Belgie dames elite race in her Bella colors.

With both sadness and excitement Lieselot has signed with Lotto-Belisol which is a UCI trade team near her home and not far from where she is attending college. Lotto-Belisol is also where Christine Vardaros headed last year.
Like Christine, Lieselot will always remain a Velo Bella at heart but race professionally for another team.



We were so happy to have Lieselot on the team this last year and giving her that first pro opportunity. I think we figured she could learn a lot from racing with our team, and it turned out we learned a lot from racing with her!

We wish her the best of luck in her career as a pro rider in Europe and know she has incredible talent and heart and is one of the sweetest gals we know. Which is what we know makes the best champions of all.


Shine on little Bella!

2006 Velo Bella Pro Team Cross Frame

Friday, October 13th, 2006

There is still time for you to purchase your own 2006 Jake the Snake Cyclocross frame in Team colors! The frames are GORGEOUS and made of Easton Ultralite aluminum so they are super light, strong and durable.

Frame Geometry can be found here:

http://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/JAKETHESNAKE/index.html

Besides, who wouldn't want a kitty and our logo on their bike?

USGP #1 and #2

What a beautiful weekend in Gloucester!

If you have never been to Massachusetts in the fall, you should go. Gorgeous colors as the trees begin to shed their leaves, few tourists and PLENTY o’ bike racing…

Almost 70 women started each day which is more than I can recall ever lining up before. Cyclocross is truly taking off here in the US and there were at least as many spectators (not just racers) attending the Gloucester races as there were at most of the NORBAs this year. What a fantastic scene!

The Velo Bella tent was BY FAR the most colorful and commented on set-up at the race with streamers, grass skirting and gorgeous bikes hanging on the Ultimate Support racks up front. The beautiful bike racers didn’t hurt either!

While Lyne Bessette, Wendy Simms and Georgia Gould battled for podium positions on both days, the true sensation of the weekend was Dee Dee “Grasshopper” Winfield of the Bellas. Dee Dee lives in Charlottesville, VA and is a natural born locomotive… She was pregnant last year, and so her starting position on Sunday was anything but spectacular, nonetheless, in three laps she powered past almost the entire field and had the announcers, pit crews and spectators saying, “Who is THAT?” Oh, she’s just a Bella bike racer who has already won two events this season; including dropping Georgia Gould at the Charm City Cross race in Baltimore a few weeks ago… Grasshopper’s latest race report can be read here…

Fact is, all the girls did a fantastic job of representing themselves, the Velo Bella organization, our sponsors and their products. Dee Dee merely stood out because no one (but me) expected her to do what she did. Keep an eye on the results this year, the Grasshopper will be hopping all the way to Providence…

Alex

And now, YOUR 2006 VB-K Professional Cross Team

VELO BELLA – KONA ANNOUNCES 2006 WOMEN’S ELITE CYCLOCROSS TEAM

The Velo Bella - Kona women are back for another year of flinging dirt and spreading mayhem across the cyclocross circuit. And, now they’ve gone bi -coastal. For the third year in a row, the nation’s largest all female cyclocross team will spread the Bella vibe around the Crank Brother’s US Grand Prix of Cyclocross, US Cyclocross Nationals and at over 60 local races across the US.

“Velo Bella is dedicated to providing a place for women to ride their bikes, race their bikes, and above all, get muddy in a skinsuit. With continued membership growth across the US, we felt it necessary to create a bi-coastal cyclocross team to mentor and inspire our members wherever they are. That and there just isn’t enough mud here in California” said Team Co Founder, Sabine Dukes.

The 2006 Elite Velo Bella-Kona Cyclocross Team will consist of ten riders from around the United States. Roistering dry California sand will be Sarah Kerlin, Barb Howe and Ann Fitzsimmons. Sarah (Capitola, CA) was the 2004 US National Cyclocross Champion, 30-34, and 2004 US National Team member. Barb Howe (Larkspur, CA) has won numerous UCI races here in the US and was a National Team Member in 2004 and 2005. Ann Fitzsimmons (Morgan Hill, CA) rose through the Velo Bella ranks as a beginner a few years ago to place 12th at the 2005 US National Cyclocross Championships. Team veterans Erin Kassoy (Palo Alto, CA), Shannon Holden (Spokane, WA) and developmental racer Marian Jamison (Reno, NV) complete the squad.

The mud squad is led by Anna Milkowski and Melanie Swartz. Anna (New Haven, CT) has placed highly at UCI road and cyclocross races, including taking 11th at the 2005 US National Cyclocross Championships. Melanie (Reston, VA) is a rising star in the Mid-Atlantic region and ranked 6th in US for UCI points in cyclocross during 2005. Veteran Bella Jennifer Tilley (Lawrence, Kansas), Dee Dee Winfield (Charlottesville, VA) and developmental racer Stephanie White (2004 US Junior National Champion, 15-18) from Bedford, NH complete the eastern squad.

The team will be riding in sweet style with custom painted cyclocross frames from Kona Bicycles, featuring Easton stems, seatposts, bars, forks and wheels, as well as SRAM Force drive trains, Avid brakes, Chris King headsets and Selle San Marco saddles. TeamEstrogen.com sells team clothing and sexy skinsuits provided by Hincapie Sportswear, and Giro helmets and Zeal Optics protect our racers through the worst conditions possible. The ever sassy Vanderkitten clothing line will help us relax post-race, and the lovely Good Vibrations will keep our racers “safe” at the post-race parties. Pedro’s and Ultimate Support provide our mechanics with all they need to keep the team’s bikes rolling smoothly, and UC-Davis Sports Medicine ensures our athletes are ready to perform wherever they race.

Velo Bella - Kona is a non-profit, grassroots, multidiscipline cycling team based out of Watsonville, CA. Velo Bella’s contagious spirit and unique approach to women’s competitive cycling have created a following across the United States and around the world. The Bellas encourage women to cycle, no matter what their level. The distinctive Velo Bella kit can be found on recreational riders, elite level racers, and all those in between. More information on Velo Bella can be found on their website: http://www.velobella.org/.

Bellas GoGo to Interbike

After we are done baking cookies for sponsors, and pro-spotting, and geeking out on bike stuff, we'll be at the Schwalbe booth # 3425 at 2:30 on Thursday, Sept 28th.

Yummy.

More babbling about it here

Surf City Website is UP!

Check it out by clicking here

Looking for Sponsors for Surf City!

Surf City will be back in 2006!

But we need your help to keep the series alive! If you are interested in sponsoring the country's longest running cyclocross series, please email us:

sabine@velobella.org

We are the only cyclocross series in this area to offer top racing, beginner incentives and free kid's races. But we need your help to pull the party off!

You'll get the undivided attention of loyal cross racers and fans, and the unashamed kisses from hundreds of thankful bellas. What could be better than that?

Here are a couple of prelim dates to tease you with:

October 15th, 2006 - Soquel High (tentative)

October 29, 2006 - Watsonville Fairgrounds

November, 12, 2006 - tba

We're still scouting out locations, so more on that when we know.

In the meantime, dream about cross, it will be here before you know it.

Our popular cyclocross clinics will be held at course locations on the Saturday before the first two events.

October 14th, 2006 - Soquel High (tentative)

October 28th, 2006 - Watsonville Fairgrounds

Surf City Cyclcross is a fundraiser for the Velo Bella Elite Cyclocross team. Thank you for your support of our team. In addition to cyclocross team funding, this year we are also donating $2/entry at each race to local charities and groups. Donees for each race are as follows:

October 15th, 2006 - Janel Lodge Medical Fund

October 29th, 2006 - Shared Adventures

November 12th, 2006 - Second Harvest Food Bank

What did you do this weekend?

Karla won the 24 Hours of 9 Mile in Wisconsin

Monica broke her silver streak

Rene, Zoe, and Tina drove a bazillion miles to race and win the Montana State Championships

and the two Sues and Amy got compliments on their fluff

Read all this and more in our race reports

We met some chicks

while we were in Vancouver.

Check them ouoot. We hope to share more about this team soon!

Special Thanks for BC Super Week and Kona

I just wanted to send a special thanks to the people of Delta, White Rock, Vancouver, and Tsawwassen BC.

This past season Jamie Davidson and the folks of BC SuperWeek invited the Velo Bella-Kona team to attend the BC SuperWeek events and we were glad to have gone. Gastown was amazing, huge crowds so loud it was hard to here. You got to get there early to get the good spots! *read Jen Chapmans race report!

The support and crowds were some of the best in racing we have seen. The people in these areas were super gracious by letting us stay in their homes and supporting the huge community events. The gals went on a massive community ride with families where it ended in a fun BBQ and music.

The team and I would highly recommend this series of races to anyone who is interested in some tough but fun road races as the purses are pretty nice and the folks are some of the nicest we have met! Canadian cycling is alive an well, and should be looked at by anyone serious about racing that doesn't want to fly back East.

We also want to thank Kona bikes of Vancouver for the super BBQ, Matt hooked up a good one!

-Brent Chapman
Velo Bella - Kona Road Team

MTB National Photos Added

Sorry about the delay in getting these up.

But the Tour has been soooo distracting.

Pics of MTB Nationals in Sonoma have been added to the gallery here

Wendy goes to Gastown

The VB-Kona road team is in BC for BC Superweek.

Wendy wanted to race, but dirt called. But the good little bella that she is, she wrote in a report with pics on the Canadian fun!

Story and pics here

MTB Nationals

Just some pics to tease you with...

reports and more pics soon!

Monica earns silver at Nationals

Monica stormed the tough, hilly, windy and wet time trial course and earned a silver medal yesterday at USA Cyling Masters National Championships at Seven Springs Pennsylvania. Other bellas competing in the time trial included Barb Grabowski and Liz Benishin.

Racing continues on Friday for the criterium and Sunday for the road race. The masters team will be joined by Lisa Samuelson and Diane Castor. More reports as we get them and I find a coffee shop to post them.

Full time trial results here

Bellas get super "toit" at Deer Valley

Wendy writes in about the team's latest adventures at the Deer Valley NORBA.

What happens to a cross country team when the downhiller invades their world?

Wendy's report here!

Whats up for the Velo Bella -Kona Road team for July?

Report from Bend Oregon.

This week starting Thursday the Bella gals will be racing the Cascade Classic stage race (the same one Lance used to springboard back after cancer!).

The weather is beautiful and the ladies are all excited about this race as this is one of the final races of the year for the team to travel to.
We will post more to the Velo Bella email aliases as the week progresses.

Right after Cascade is over we head straight to wonderful British Columbia Canada where the gals partake in the BC Superweek series. This is the first year for Velo Bella to attend so everyone is super excited as we hear that this race series is one of the best on the west coast. Be sure to check out the BC Superweek site!

First on the list is "Tour De White Rock" where the gals fresh off cascade will only be able to make the Criterium however flamingo flocker Sarah Kerlin might be sneaking up for an early bid at taking home some money on the Kona Queen Zing! Sarah might also be going to the newest edition to bcsuper week called "Giro di Burnaby". Looks like a blast! Go Sarah!

After that we head on over for "Tour De Gastown" the gals are worried about me having too much fun at this race because the smell coming from the back seat can be terrible when on the road! Just kidding. Gas Town is another Super Classic for the Canadian road scene that the ladies are bound to have a blast at.

Then we cruise over to "Tour De Delta".. man if you haven't had enough in 2 weeks straight of racing this is supposed to be the epic way to wrap it all up!
The gals will also be meeting up with another local group of ladies called the Dizzy Chicks for group ride and then a local event with the Mayor oh my!

Send out those Bella Beams to the chicas of the road.

-Brent
VB-Kona Road Team Manager

Kiersten's North Carolina Adventures

Kiersten headed out to the North Carolina NORBA National in full flair style. Photos added here

More and more race reports

Read about Tina's revenge, Lula's flipflops, and Angela's salsa in our just updated race reports.

And congratulations to Tina for coming back to a race and showing it who's boss with a win!

Lieselot Decroix 2006 Minnesota State Champ!

While searching the web it was brought to my attention that our newest Velo Bella-Kona Elite team member Lieselot Decroix won the Minnesota State Road Race Championships.

Lieselot along with a handful of other Bellas represented and did great. Congrats Lieselot on your first big win in the USA! Congrats to the other Bellas Margot, Sheryl, and Laurel who rode great too! And to Paula and Sarah in the Cat 4 race.

Brief Results:
1 704 Lieselot Decroix Velo Bella State Champ
2 707 Ann Hansgate U of M
3 710 Anne Grabowski FCCC
4 709 Margot Herman Velo Bella

Full results can be found here.

Wacky Jackie Wins!

Jackie Yamanaka wins the 24 Hours of Rapelje in Montana

and survives to tell about it!

Lieselot Decroix to finish out season with the NRC team

Everyone keeps asking me who Lieselot Decroix is. Well if you live near Minneapolis or somewhere out in Belgium or event Hood River OR you just might would know who she is.

Lieselot is one of our Jr. Velo Bella’s (international too), just 19 years old living here as an exchange student from Belgium. Her name is pronounced pretty much like its spelled (lisa-lot). Tough one for promoters when they are calling her up for awards!

I had Lieselot on the radar for the team for a while, but wanted to make sure she was ready to race in the NRC circuit. Well, I contacted Sarah Stratton out in MN and asked her to keep an eye on Lieselot’s progression for me. She started the season off with a bang and took several top 3s and started racing in the masters’ men’s races to get ready for some NRC fun.

After Nicole had decided it was time to retire I contacted Sarah about Lieselot's progression and told me that she was ready for NRC. So I extended the offer to have her join us at Mt Hood to test her legs out. And test them she did. Lieselot took 7th place on Sunday's final grueling mountain stage and 12th overall in GC in her first NRC race!

We have extended our offer to her and she will be joining us at Cascade and BC Super Week to wrap up the season before heading back home to Belgium. Plans are for her to move out here to the Bay Area and spend some time racing in some local races in between the next few weeks. So keep your eye out for her and say hi.

I will keep you all updated on how it goes for her!

More photos of Lieselot at MT Hood

Cheers,
Brent Chapman
VB-KONA Road Team Manager

Velo Bella Mudderflies

bellas...

bikes.....

mud........

wings.


We don't need to say more, but Miss Mary did anyway. And pictures too.

Bellas in the Hood

Is there a Hood in Oregon?

I think there is.

Photos (photos by Brent)

Results

Kele's report

Its Happening in Kern County

About a half dozen bellas made the trip to Bakersfield, CA for the 10th annual Kern County Women's Stage Race.

Lots of trials and tribulations and teetotaling (whatever that is)

Ryan won a stage
Liz won the overall
Linda won our hearts (and the award for doing this 10 years in a row!!!)

and our support crew treated us like the princesses we are.

If you missed out on the fun, you can check out the pics here

Bittersweet Belgian Chocolate for Wendy

Wendy Simms rode to her best ever finish in a World Cup event this past weekend!! Fresh off the presses race report here

photo by Rob Jones of Canadiancyclist.com

Rolling in Fayetteville

Hiroko feeling good at Fayetteville! Brent's report here

Jen Chapmans post will be going up in Race reports soon.

GIla Monsters and Wildflowers

Racing all over the place this weekend.
Gila, Wildflower, Fontucky, Sacramento, Minnesota, and Cool.

Be sure to read some of the hot of the presses race reports:

Wendy Simms Gets Shot at in Fontucky

Brent's Gila reports here and here

Jen's Gila report

Kele's got stuff on Heela here and here

Tim got Fontanafotos

and Brent's got Gilapics

and be sure to be enthralled with all of our results

Race Reports Rollin IN

Catch up on your bella racing news..its only Monday and we already have 4 race reports ready to go from this past weekend's action.

Surf City CX Series, yeah mon!

Surf City will be back in 2006!

Here are a couple of prelim dates to tease you with:

October 15th, 2006 - Soquel High (tentative)

October 29, 2006 - Watsonville Fairgrounds

November, 12, 2006 - tba

We're still scouting out locations, so more on that when we know.

In the meantime, dream about cross, it will be here before you know it.

Our popular cyclocross clinics will be held at course locations on the Saturday before the first two events.

October 14th, 2006 - Soquel High (tentative)

October 28th, 2006 - Watsonville Fairgrounds

Surf City Cyclcross is a fundraiser for the Velo Bella Elite Cyclocross team. Thank you for your support of our team. In addition to cyclocross team funding, this year we are also donating $2/entry at each race to local charities and groups. Donees for each race are as follows:

October 15th, 2006 - Janel Lodge Medical Fund

October 29th, 2006 - Shared Adventures

November 12th, 2006 - Second Harvest Food Bank

Velo Bellas little future

Katya Baty - Velo Bellas newest Jr. rider (age 7 cat)
2nd place Redlands Crit

This year while the road ladies were racing Redlands Classic we were lucky to meet the Baty family, Jonathan, Michelle, and Katya. Kristin Danielson and myself stayed in their home and found that their 7 year old daughter is a cycling phenom!

Katya rides to school with her mom and dad most every day of the week. The Baty's are avid cyclists and supporters of bikes as year round commuter vehicles.

This year she raced her first time at the Redlands classic crit as a new Velo Bella on a single speed and took 2nd place narrowly losing to another local racer on a geared bike. Katya plans on training all year in prep for next year where she can race in the 8 year old category and take the win this time.

Welcome to the team Katya and good luck!

-Brent
VB-Kona Road Team Manager

Otter Mischief

Yea...so it rained a little at the otter this year.

As if that was going to stop us any

Congrats to all who raced (regardless of whether you are listed in the results or not)
and bella kisses to all who helped out

Photos of the otter here

Soni's report
Monica's report
Wendy's report