Order Your Kits!

Team designer, Kim Hopkins has been at it again - and this time has simply outdone herself! Beautifully designed, quality crafted and reasonably priced, we should be seeing lots of pink on two wheels this summer!

Three jersey options are available; short sleeved, long sleeved and sleeveless. If you plan on doing any official USAC Road Races, you will need the short sleeved jersey. The sleeveless can be worn in mountain bike races. Arm warmers are also available for $30 and will look the same as the arms of the long sleeved jersey.
Tri kits are also available, but not pictured. The look will be similar to the designs below. Tri Tops, with a zipper, are $74 and Tri-shorts, which feature a tri-specific chamois, but are longer on the legs, closer to bike shorts, are $70.

For the rest, prices are listed below the picture and there is a size chart at the bottom. Louis Garneau will be the manufacturer again, so fit will be very similar to the 2009 kits. Louis Garneau assures us the the chamois is new this year, and there will be no issues with the stitching. As always, if there are any issues with the construction, they are happy to address them! Click on each picture for a larger image.

Ordering will be done via Paypal (on the right side of this page) and is due by 2/10/10. You may renew or join your 2010 membership at the same time as you order. Boys are welcome to purchase jerseys this year, and as long as 12 are ordered, mens sizing will be available. The long sleeved jersey is unisex sizing. If you want a jersey for your man - just order and pay for the women's, but send an email to Dee changing it to a guys fit.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Kim at kimhopkins@mchsi.com or Dee at deemable@msn.com - Thanks!

A New Look! A New Beginning!

Welcome to the VeloRosa Cycling Team!

We welcome women of all abilities and interest to join us in our celebration of cycling! Whether you want to ride competitively, improve your mountain biking skills, compete in triathlons or simply enjoy some leisurely rides with like-minded women, VeloRosa is the club for you!

Throughout the summer we'll offer clinics to help you ride comfortably in a group, maybe even do some racing! We'll also help you with your triathlon training or learn to hop over a log on your mountain bike! Maybe you are just looking for a fun group of women to go with for a Wednesday night ride to Adel. We've grown from a group of 12 women who wanted to learn to ride in a group and maybe do some racing to an 80 member strong club with sweet pink jerseys, Wine rides, State Champions, Ironmen, Mountain Bike Champions - and everything in between!

We'd love to have you join us this summer - as a member of VeloRosa, you'll be invited to numerous events throughout the year, women's only training rides, bike maintenance clinics and weekly rides, races and events! You'll also be able to order the beautifully designed 2010 team jersey and shorts, plus triathlon gear, casual wear and more!

To join, simply scroll down the right side of this site, and click on the 'Buy Now' button below the Membership information! We'd love to have you!

Last Steak Ride of the Summer!

Join us this Wed., Sept. 16th, for the last Steak Ride of the summer! We will meet at the Rendezvous Bar in Adel at 5:45. It is located at 909 Main Street. If you are driving out, there is a small parking lot in the rear or you can park on one of the side streets. Plan on riding a total of 20 miles. We will ride the trail from Adel out to Redfield and back. Just far enough to earn a great steak dinner and a beer!

Big Creek Road Race this Weekend

The weekend is almost upon us! Look for some great cycling fun to happen in and around the Des Moines area.

Start the weekend of right and GO jump in a lake! Hosted by GO! Training, the swim starts at 8am on the beach at Big Creek Lake. Contact Dave Mable at dmable@juno.com for more information.

Stick around after the swim and race the Toyota Big Creek Road Race, brought to you by the women of the Bike World/All9yards Cycling Team. With $1900 in prize money and a great 6 mile rolling country course, the start/finish in beautiful Big Creek State Park (right near the beach... bring the kids!!) - it will be a great race! There will be a 'Women's Beginner' race for women who have raced for less than a year - the open race is for all the fast chicks that have been beating each other up for more than a year. Go to bigcreekroadrace.blogspot.com for more information.

Sat. evening head down to the State Capitol where the Bicycle Coasting Contest will take place on the East Walnut Street hill, beginning at 6:30 p.m. A $5 entrance fee benefits the Des Moines Bicycle Collective. Also on Saturday, the Des Moines Cycle Club is hosting a Pajama Party bicycle ride in the East Village. The ride is free, but a $5 per person donation is requested for the alcohol-free pajama party, $1 of which will be contributed to the Partnership for a Drug-Free Iowa. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., with food and bike vendors on-hand. The ride starts on East Third Street at 7:30 p.m. and will continue through downtown Des Moines for about one hour. There will be prizes for the best lighted bike and the best pajamas. The pajama party will begin in the parking lot on East Third Street, between Locust and Walnut streets, immediately following the bike ride and include a showing of the movie "Breaking Away."

The final event of the weekend is the East Village Criterium bike race on Aug. 30. Events start at 8:15 a.m. and continue all day until the award ceremonies at 6 p.m. Events include races for kids and age groups to age 60 and older. Race day registration starts at 7 a.m. near the start/finish line at the foot of the Iowa State Capitol. Online registration, at www.eastvillagecrit.com, closes at 10:59 p.m. Friday.

What A Great Way to Start the Day!

Thanks Dee, JoAnn, Joe, Kristin and Lori for another great ride from Bike World West Wednesday morning! It started out a little chilly and of course very dark, but we were excited to see JoAnn and Joe pull in to join us!

Monday, JoAnn was going to give it a go, but do to the heavy rains opted out. The forecast was in our favor today and we only got honked at one time! I think everyone had a great morning and we didn't have one rain drop!

Let's do it again soon! Go Pink!

45+ Miles On The Bike Was Our Goal...

...but didn't think we would be welcomed by a monsoon to start our early morning ride!

This past Monday morning Joann, Dee and I headed to BWW to do an early morning ride with a regular BWW group of riders starting at 5:15 AM. We planned to do the Urban Loop with them and then head out East to finish on the Van Meter loop to try to get in 45+ miles.

As I drove to BWW for the start of the ride, I noticed it starting to sprinkle a little. According to the radar, on my handy dandy I-phone, it looked like we might just get a little sprinkling for the start of our ride, but wasn't supposed to be get too crazy. Not many were gathering for the early ride this day, possibly because of the threat of rain. It ended up being the three of us and three other riders. One was a new rider, out of Chicago area, named Mike. After one last evaluation of the radar, along with the encouraging advise of Mr. Dave Mable, that we would only get the “tail” of the storm, we headed out to try and "Git-R-Done.” Joann, recovering from a broken collar bone, decided not to take any chances with the threat of slippery roads and opted out of the early ride. JoAnn, it was so nice to see you back on the bike so quickly after the accident. Great job!

We started out with the regular early group, but after about 2 miles ,decided that they really must have wanted to ride by themselves, because they started out really fast and it was just too dangerous with the heavy rains to go continue at that pace AND it was still dark out. At one stop light, our brakes weren't even working properly. So Dee, Mike and I let them break away and by this time the rain was really starting to come down. By the time we got to the Valley Junction area the rain was coming down so hard it was stinging our faces. We decided to not take any chances and pulled into an awning area to wait it out. I am so glad we did.

Once the rain subsided, we headed out again and Dee suggested that we just turn around and head back East to complete the Van Meter Loop instead of trying to finish the Urban Loop first. As we headed back east my enthusiasm to continue on was dwindling and I really just wanted to head back to Bike World West, get in my car, head home to take a nice hot shower and get the work day started. I'm glad that Dee encouraged us to continue on. We ended having an awesome ride, along with our new friend Mike! It turned out to be a beautiful morning and so our goal 45+ miles was complete!

Thanks Dee and our new friend Mike from Chicago! I couldn't have done it without you!

The Bike Collective Experience!

Have you ever wondered what happens at the Bike Collective downtown? Well, I did too and finally got the chance to volunteer my time with some great Friends this past Friday night. I had so much fun and it was nice to know we were making a difference in our community. After picking up a few snacks and drinks JoAnn, Joe, Natalie, Amy, Lisa & Myself worked for about two hours cleaning and helping to organize the facility. The organization is completely ran by volunteers who collect donated and used bicycles, fix them up and give them charity or sell at a very affordable price.

If you haven't had a chance to volunteer this year with your fellow members in the club, then watch for details on upcoming opportunities to help the Bike Collective out. If you aren't able to volunteer at an organized event with the club, then feel free to stop by their shop anytime to give a little time for a good cause. You can find more details and photos by going to their website: http://dsmbikecollective.org/