Pink Gals Make Successful Run in Nebraska's Psycowpath Mountain Bike Series

The Psycowpath mountain bike series took place at four venues in Nebraska this year. Our pink gals traveled over the state line and looked quite impressive. Kari in her first year racing in Cat 3 blew away the competition to win the series. She had two first place finishes out of the four races to tally the most points over all. It was impressive to watch Kari gain confidence with each race as she knocked out the competition. In the same series, Lee moved up to Cat 2 and had a great year. The transition from Cat 3 up to Cat 2 proved to be quite challenging. The first race was a lesson in how the next level races as far as course difficulty and length. Lee persevered to garner enough points to place second overall in Cat 2. Joann chose to do the four-hour, Marathon category races. Out of the two races she raced she garnered a first and a second place. This was enough points to finish 5th overall. Katherine and Zoe also traveled over for the first race in the series. Zoe won the junior division and finished second overall. Katherine took third in her Cat 2 race. This is a great showing for the VeloRosa mountain bikers! Your Roving Race Reporter, Luann

Oh What a Party!

Next to riding bikes VeloRosa sure knows how to throw a party. Big THANKS to Jason and Sakari for hosting a great shindig. About 45 members, spouses, friends and sponsors showed up to celebrate what a great year 2013 was for biking, friendship and racing.

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP BY FEBRUARY 15 FOR THE 2014 TEAM. It is the only way to stay informed of social rides, training rides, rides to find good food, ride just because we can! Look to the right and up to see the link (BUY NOW). Enjoy the photos from the party! Your Roving Race Reporter, Luann

Lee Wins State Cyclocross

With the temperatures hovering just above zero and north winds cutting across the field, eight brave women started the Masters State Cyclocross race last Saturday. It was the kind of bitter cold that makes one wonder why anyone would be on a bike nonetheless be a cheering fool! Pink racer Lee decided that it would warmer to go fast. She took off right behind Cat 1/2/3 racer Robin and let 'er rip. There was one master's racer that got in between Lee and Robin but she knew she was a hunted woman. Lee used great strategy to stay close and then surge into second place. Once she was there, she pushed the pace to create an insurmountable gap between the other master racers behind her. This caps a great 2013 campaign for Lee where she climbed the podium in all 13 mountain bike races (11 wins) and won both master's cross races (Capital City and State)which she entered. A big VeloRosa cheer to Lee, racing for the Pink! Your Roving Race Reporter (now heading to warmer climates), Luann

VeloRosa Sweeps 45+ at Night Cap Cyclocross

The annual battle under the lights took place at the Night Cap Cyclocross on a crisp fall evening.  The air was cold but the racing hot.  The added vibe was provided by fans, some three deep, cheering and jeering the riders along.  The course packs a lot of distance in a small patch of land behind Mullets.

When around 40 women take off in one bunch, it is quite a scene.  Nestled in the group was a contigent of pink racers including Ali, Michelle, Erika, Dee, Kim, and Joann.  The race spread out a bit and the real race was in the Master's 45+.  Lap after lap three ladies exchanged the lead.  Kim held it at the start but Dee and Joann were working to hunt her down.  Pretty soon it was clear that this category was a VeloRosa race.   These seasoned bike racers were putting on quite the show.  There was little time for plucking dollars or grabbing a chug of beer.   They put on quite a show in the multi-lap race.   In the end, Dee came out on top with Joann second and Kim third.  What a great showing for the pink racing gals.

In the 35+ race, Erika held on for fourth place.  She has been tearing up the courses this fall prior to a break to rest her body.  She came back with a full charge and showed it at this race.

Ali and Michelle took on the super large Cat 4 race.  Both ladies put down a superb effort and represented VeloRosa in fine fashion.

Even with all of these racers, the crowd contained tons of pink-clad teammates.  If there was one certainty on this night, VeloRosa is the premier women's biking team in Iowa.

Congrats to all that raced and cheered!

Your Roving Race Reporter,

Luann

The blog site is not allowing photos at this time.  Hopefully they can be added later!

Pink Gals Clean Up at the Iowa State Mountain Bike Championship

Wow!!! What a weekend of mountain bike racing for the VeloRosa Team. The woods were littered with pink jerseys burning rubber throughout the flowing trail. The Mullet is a premier race that caps off the Iowa Mountain Bike Championship Series. This year is also served as the State Championship. The race kicked off with the marathon, 4-hour race. It was hard to tell if this was a race open to all bikers in Iowa or a Pink Gals race. Dee, a regular marathon racer, was joined by Angie, rocking the fat bike, Kristin, Ali, and Michelle. Dee took second and Michelle third but each lady rode repeat laps! Thanks to our mountain bike trainers Bruce and Kyle for honing everyone's skills so that they could put it down for this race. The Cat3 race featured newer pink racers Kari, Amy and Heather along with Deann, whom came out for her first race of the year. Kari and Amy were regulars at the team mountain bike training rides and showed off their collective confidence on the trail. Heather finished second with Kari coming in shortly thereafter capturing third. Kim took on a strong field in the Cat1 race. You may ask, 'What is the difference between Cat1 and 3? About three more times up those step, rutted hills that try to kill you in the last mile. Kim showed her strength by finishing strong and by always flashing the smile even while she is suffering. Joann, the leader in the IMBCS series Cat2, was challenged by one of the biggest field of the year. In addition to her main challenger for the year, Katherine, several newer faces from multiple states showed up to try to strip her from the podium. But do not fear, Joann rode her race and beat all of the challengers. The surprise of the race came when Lee put her big gal race shorts on and moved up from the comfort of Cat3 which had been her candy all year long. In her first Cat2 level race, she lost the main pack early but kept at it. She gradually started to pick off those in front of her. Lee's legendary hill climbing ability proved to be her ace-in-the-hole that lead her to a 30-second win over the third place racer. Joann and Lee also placed first and second, respectively, in the State Championship for Cat2. Watch out next year for both of these ladies to be tearing up the dirt!!! Wow! That has been a lot of dirt to cover for this mountain bike season. As much I would like to take some time off and only look at pints of beer, I guess I will be checking out the strange sport of cyclocross. Do these pink lady racers ever take time off? Cheers to all that race and bigger kudos to those that come out to cheer and support our rocking ladies! Your Roving Race Reporter, Luann (NOTE: I am having problems with getting this to format. I apologize for the run-on paragraph!)

Palooza Cross

The photos say most all that you need to know as to why bikers swarmed Altoona on a hot summer day. Cyclocross is just plain fun. The VeloRosa women took to the course and proved that biking, running, falling and smiling make for a great day. Erika led the team with a podium, third-place finish in the Women's Masters 35+ categoy. Congrats to Kim, Amy and Michelle for tackling this challenging course. As much as the photos above show fun there is more to 'cross than just serious racing. If you really want to enjoy this sport you need to look beyond the race track and have some fun. Kim demonstrates how to stop and smell the green flowers along the course! Many more races to come. So get out and ride! Your Roving Race Reporter, Luann

VeloRosa Wins State Team Time Trial

Erika and Heather brought a summer of road racing and Joann and Lee brought a season of mountain biking to form a team that could not be beat at the Iowa State Championship Team Time Trial in Altoona. These pink gals took on the 60-mile course in the August heat. This was a 6-lap race that featured plenty of hills and 90-degree turns. The team time trial challenges the four racers to work together for the whole race. The final time is based upon the third racer that crosses the line. In true VeloRosa fashion these ladies worked together for the 59 of the miles and then sprinted for the finish. They completed the 60-mile race in just over three hours. Congrats Team VeloRosa for bringing a state title home! Your Roving Race Reporter, Luann