RUMOR: There are Mountain Bike Races in Nebraska!

Well, now Iowa gets a lot of grief for having a mountain bike series.  My East Coast friends laughed out loud when I told them such.   So when I heard there was mountain bike races in Nebraska, I laughed as hard.  Iowa may appear to flat but we have rivers which creates bluffs.  Nebraska on the other hand looks like a pre-teen.  So I jaunted over there a few weeks ago (I know it is a late report but I did GO to Nebraska) and guess what?  It shares a river with Iowa which means, mountain bike racing is happening!

Much to my surprise I saw some pink racing over there.  Do you gals not know the meaning of taking a weekend off?    There was our own Joann showing those corn gals how to throw it down on the single track.   The first race was a time trial and short track race.  A time trial is pretty simple:  one course, riders start every minute of so and you ride as fast as your legs can carry you!  Oh and throw in some roots, drops. climbs and twisty turns.   Then on the same day, you hop back on and you race a short track.....that is many laps of a course that is a bit shorter than a regular mountain bike race.   After all of that Joann came out in 4th.   That is doggone impressive.

I usually don't write too much about spouses and such but a big shout out needs to go to Joe S.  He rocked the same courses to take 1st place.   That is some Iowa smack tossed on Nebraska.    He then came back to take 2nd on Sunday (see picture).  Great job Joe! 

Now if you are going to travel over for one day of racing, you might as well find a second race.  So Joann laced up her shoes, massaged down her legs and hoped back on for the Swanson Mountain Bike race on Sunday in the Cat 2.   Her first day of riding was going to pay big dividends for Joann.   She made the Pink Gals proud by taking 2nd over all.   My pink hat off to Joann for this awesome weekend of racing.

Believe it or not there seems to have been a bit of a change in Lee's race plans for this year.  For the past several years, she has been tearing up the road almost every weekend racing crits and road races, and making the Pink Team proud.   You can imagine my surprise to see her little pink rear end racing around Swanson on Sunday.  Yes, she was looking mighty fine.  In her first mountain bike race she took 2nd.  Kudos to Lee on a fine debut.

So there may be mountain bike racing in Nebraska, but the Iowa took over lots of podium places!

Your Roving Race Reporter,

Luann

VeloRosa Gals Win Women's Division of Gents

So I was spending Saturday on the couch dreaming of beer and basketball when I got a little notice that some type of illegal race was going on near Ankeny.  Well, well, well, that piqued my interest.  I looked outside to check the weather and it looked like it could pour at any minute.  Was this my April Fool's joke gone bad or was there something brewing out there besides the impending storm???

Being the dedicated roving reporter that it is rumored that I am, I headed that way to see what was going on.  Truth be told, that really cool VeloRosa hat you gave me is gone in the wind!  I know these ladies are dedicated to riding, but really???? In THAT wind?  You will never believe what I found?  Plenty of pink gals knocking down some serious mileage.  The Gents race is 66  miles of gravel with no support and just a little card with a bunch of street names on it.


Amy showing how much fun a cross bike can be

 

Julie, Julie, Elaine Jake and Lee warning others that they are moving slowly







What do you get when you team up five pink clad gals with a mission in mind?  Freaky fast gals taking down 66 mile of windy gravel.  Not only were they the faster women's team but they were 5th over all.  There were 30 some teams out there.....these gals rocked this race.




This is what winners look like!!

  Congrats to Kristin R, Kristin S, Ali, Karolyn and Sherry M-K on this accomplishment.  With the winds howling and threatening to push the riders backward, this team moved like a well-oiled machine making mincemeat of the gravel.  



A tire change does not slow down team VeloRosa!



Yes, this team is in first place and proud of it  Lee, Julie, Julie, Elaine, Jake




Pondering which beer to have next is also a team event.....Jen, Sara, Erika, Lee



Dee and teammates racking up the miles

 Many other Pink Gals teamed up with other teams to take on this challenging race.   Kudos to Dee, Kim, Michelle, Amy, Lee, Julie S, Julie G and Elaine for a great day of riding.

Your Roving Race Reporter,

Luann

Kim and Sherry Go 2, 3 at Colfax Spring Classic

Big pink congrats to Kim H and Sherry K for finishing second and third, respectively, in the Colfax Spring Classic Gravel race.  They worked together for a muddy, hard 24 miles.   The conditions were windy and gravel slushy creating quite the challenge for these strong ladies.   Add in several long, grinding hills and it makes for a long race.  This one had rich rewards.

Abby started off strong but the cold, damp conditions resulted in leg cramps that shortened her day. 

VeloRosa salutes both ladies on podium finishes and Abby for a brave effort for this first race of the series.

The next race is at The Tap in Cumming this Saturday.  Details at usacycling.org

Your Roving (used to) Race Reporter,

Luann

Sherry, Kim, Abby ready to roll!

Dee Smokes CIRREM--New Record

CIRREM promises to challenge the riders on the 100K/60 mile course.  Mother Nature can throw a wrench in every one's well-rehearsed plans.  Even with hundreds of miles under your belt, you may just not finish.   That is why it is a revered race.  Many try to enter but only about 100 get the opportunity to try it.  The weather threatened to put a dagger in the hearts of those well trained.

But none of that pertains when Dee Mable mounts her bike.  Dee combined with Jason Simpson to put down the hammer on the other women in the field.  The previous course record was 5 hours;  the new one  is 4:19.  That folks is not just a record breaker, it is record demolisher.   Many have tried to ride that far for that long at a hard pace but Dee accomplished it on a cold somewhat windy day.

All should bow down to Dee for this awesome feat but she would not like that. So give her 5 or a hug and reiterate that the hammer has been thrown down.  Who dares to take it up next year?

Not that Dee was the only pink gal out there toiling over gravel and hills that reminded me of Colorado.  OK, I have never ridden my bike in Colorado but my job as blogger to image that I have raced everywhere.  Joann S left it all out on the dirt and came in 4th place.  That is also an outstanding effort.  Kim H was not far behind finishing 5th.   All VeloRosians in the top 5!!!!

Pink Rocks!!!!!

Your Roving Race Reporter,

Luann

The New 2013 Kit Design

Dirty Du--Great Teamwork

So I took a little vacation and thought the biking world would come to halt. Alas, I was wrong. Oh boy did I miss a doozie. But not to fear, with a little investigative work (I am a trained journalist) I have uncovered the true racing spirit that happened in my absence. So a little race took place near the center trails. It involved trail running, mountain bike racing and another trail run. Now many folks that race mountain bikes do not spend considerable time running. There are not many tris that involve trail running and mountain biking. So for one to compete in this event..........remember it is a 2 mile trail run (hilly, muddy) and 14 miles of mountain biking (see prior note) and then 2 more miles of the same running. If you think there are no hills in the middle of Des Moines, well, simply put, you are wrong.

So do the Pink Gals have the ability to put all of this together? Ha ha! I scoff at your silly question. Of course! This is VELOROSA!!!! But before I go to the details, here is little story of what happens when you don the Pink Kit. So, Michelle has been riding, training, showing up on Mondays, learning the ropes. She has done some trail riding. I am guessing she saw the email about the Du and said I can do this with a little running help. She recruited a runner. On race day, the runner was not able to run. Now what would another racer do? Likely drink beer and talk about next year. But that would a Pink Gal racer do? Take on the whole dang race herself. We do let quitters wear pink! She ran and then rode her little legs to the bone. Upon dismounting and preparing for the last 2 mile run, it seemed daunting. That is when super teammate Megan stepped in and decided another two miles was not too much to give to a teammate. Of course, she took her post-race beverage with her. Now that is true pink spirit. CONGRATS!!!! to Michelle on her awesome jump off of high dive and more so for sticking the landing!

 Kim teamed up with Megan to take 15th in the team competition. Joann took 4th in the solo competition. Sara 6th and Michelle 7th. Big kudos to all of the gals that raced this grueling race!


Your Roving Race Reporter, Luann

Lee Takes 5th at Spooky Cross

Lee brought her A game to the Spooky Cross race on Saturday at Living History Farms.

With the women only being offered the choice of racing Cat1/2/3 or Cat 4  Lee was not discouraged by not having a Master's category (besides it seems she likes to race the 35+ instead of the 45+........a strange gal indeed!).  She she donned her Miss Kitty outfit and left a lung somewhere on the course.  As the only VeloRosa racer, she had great fan support.  Thanks to the recent mountain bike clinic she even hopped the top barrier on the hill.   The first time she hopped it, celebrated and promptly fell off of her bike.   Not to be dissuaded by that, the next time she hopped it, and started to grind up the hill.  Maria was kind enough to give her that last push over the top.  By the next lap, her quads were burning.  The crowd was yelling at her to hop it again.  Not wanted to disappoint and truly being motivated by cheers, she hopped it again and this time Pete gave her the final lift over the hill.   Could she do it one more time?  On the final lap Lee was yelling that she was not going to hop it only to have Pete sit on the barrier.  Would she run him over?  Nope she gutted it out, got over the barrier and Pete took her the rest of the way. 

Sunday brought out a few more racers with Erika taking on her first cyclocross race as the Crash Test Dummy.   A very fitting outfit with plenty of padding.............just in case.   She raced hard without crashing to finish 9th.  A great showing for her first outing.

Julie G raced dressed as a real racer (Luann did not know that Julie owned a regular helmet or a kit!).  Lee reverted back to her usual cyclocross racing style by enjoying the course.  At one point Lee was seen giving hand-downs of Fireball, Hamm's beer and candy.   As she is always taking hand-ups, this seemed a very fitting way to end her cross season.  Julie and Lee raced for DFL with Lee winning that race.

Your Roving Race Reporter,

Luann