Sea Otter Roll Call

The bella huntin will be good at Sea Otter.

We’ve got about 50 entrants in the event.

Long list of bellaotters here

Otter Roll Call

Race O Rama

Just checked the results from last weekend. Seems we had bellas competing in everything from Crits, to Stage races, to MTB Marathons. Only thing missing was a little gravity action.

And where’s a cross race when you need one?

Redlands 06 – fast and furious

Redlands Classic was this past weekend.
We had some tough battles to start with (warm weather, smog, shorter race, and Amber Neben).

The Bella’s held it together even though they were out numbered. Kele did a great job of being active in the Crit and took a big shot at a solo break away with about 6 to go, to only have Tmobile recognize her as a threat work hard to not let her go.
In the Circuit Race, Kristin D worked hard in the chase group to finish a respectable 24th at one of the toughest races around. Jen J and Jane Z did great and remaining near the front and safe through the crit and helping Kele and Kristin whenever possible. Nicole suffered due to asthma induced by the valley smog and had to sit out the event.

Check out Kele’s write up on her 3 blogs about the race:
Sunsets are Beautiful

Redlands Crit

Uphill Time Trial

We also saw 2 junior Bellas do well in the kids crits. In the 7 year old category where Kat Baty took 2nd place, and Mary Ellen in her first race finished mid pack for the 9 year olds.

Pictures and a Video coming soon.

March 24-26

Redlands Classic, CA
Stage 1, Panorama Point Time Trial
43rd, Kristin Danielson, Women1/2/Pro
44th, Jane Ziegler, Women1/2/Pro
54th, Jen Joynt, Women1/2/Pro
61st, Kele Murdin, Women1/2/Pro
93rd, Nicole Freedman, Women1/2/Pro

Stage 2, Downtown Criterium
33rd, Jane Ziegler, Women1/2/Pro
39th, Kele Murdin, Women1/2/Pro
50th, Kristin Danielson, Women1/2/Pro
63rd, Jen Joynt, Women1/2/Pro

Stage 3, Sunset Road Race
24th, Kristin Danielson, Women1/2/Pro
32nd, Kele Murdin, Women1/2/Pro
49th, Jennifer Joynt, Women1/2/Pro
70th, Jane Ziegler, Women1/2/Pro

Overall General Classification
26th, Kristin Danielson, Women1/2/Pro
38th, Kele Murdin, Women1/2/Pro
55th, Jennifer Joynt, Women1/2/Pro
65th, Jane Ziegler, Women1/2/Pro

Orosi Road Race, CA
9th, Kathie Reid, Women 3/4

Hanford Criterium ,CA
11th, Heidi Horton, Women
14th, Sabine Dukes, Women
??, Soni Andreini Poulsen, Women

Dirty Duathlon: Warda, TX
1st, Kirsten Inserni, Women 19 & Under

Central Coast MTB #4, CA
2nd, Ann Fitzsimmons, Expert Women
3rd, Kathleen Bartolussi, Expert Women
9th, Julie Starling, Sport Women
11th, Daphne Hodgeson, Sport Women
8th, Rosalind Rondash, Beginner Women

Pinole Team Time Trial, CA
3rd, Karin Jeffery (with Thomas Jelmyer), Tandem
7th, Elizabeth Benishin and Kathleen Farley, Women 80+

Nova Desert Classic MTB Marathon, AZ
9th Place, Erin Duggan, Pro Women

Chicasaw Trace Race
4th, Sami Fournier, Pro Women

Naked no more!

The Zamoran Wind

A few bellas headed out to the Zamora Road Race and lived to tell about it.

Bunny’s weekend introspection
Lula’s Land of Cold and Crazy Wind

Land of the Cold and Crazy Wind

By Lula

I’ve decided to write a little race report about Zamora RR “the land of the cold and crazy wind”, regardless of my disappointing 22nd place…that’s right! Whoever said Lula wanted to upgrade and be a cat 2 is insane….believe me! I can barely keep up with the 4s, most of the 3s, and not even with one of my team-mates to make part of the racing plans, how can I upgrade?!

Oh, I know, maybe after I get a job and have some kids …. Like the gals who finish on the top 10…. what I learned during the warmup. Great!!!

Thank God I had no expectations coming to this race. Besides expecting a warmer weather…which for my early disappointment it wouldn’t happen…But wait a minute, the Bellas is not all about placing and upgrading, right?The Bella world is all about flair, and fun, and friendship, and flair, and fun, and flair….you got the picture.

And my Bella friends, “flair and fun”I do know about. I’ve been training my whole life for this moment. It is a beautiful discovery…Back to the race report.

Before the race we all gathered at Sabine’s car to talk about race tactics. Thank God, Monica and the gals decided NOT TO ride for 1.5 hrs before the race…. I can tell you that Lula appreciated!

Michael was there and gave us some really good tips on what to do and not to do; later you will see that the gals did a good job following Mike’s what to do and I did a beautiful job following Mike’s not to dos. What can I say…It was too windy and cold for me to concentrate.. I could barely pin my number on the jersey…seriously. If wasn’t for Sabine I would be there until now..

Ok, Monica, you said you wanted to separate yourself from the 4s but you forgot to mention some of the 3s too, including me:)

Once the race started, I kept thinking on what Mike told us: “no matter where you are in the field, you will be working. So don’t panic and work. Get your face into the wind on that long stretch so you are well positioned after the turn”…wait a minute, put your face into the windy? Did he really said that? Nooo.

Here we go… come on Lula, move up, up, up, up, move, come on, everybody is suffering, up, up, it is windy, and cold, … (this is me talking to myself) up, good job, keep going, I see Sabine, look, she is going, wait a minute, she is not into the windy, she is protected, she is going, and going, and gone….

Come on lula, move up, oh, look….a paintball field? That looks fun, maybe I should be there…wait more fun, but I don’t like guns, Oops… The right turn, little hill, S*%#, focus Lula, focus….oh, I remember, after this roller, there is a small down hill and then a turn and then it will get crazy, so focus, NOW….. There is the turn….and wow…it is windy. I will let these people go, and these too, you too, i will get protected and rest….right…. I see Monica up front, Sabine with her and here comes Kim…hi Kim! She is gone….

Up hill andthere they went…gone with the wind…wait a minute.. COME ON LULA….WORK..PADDLE PADDLE PADDLE….I can’t breath…..

I looked back, and saw a small group way behind and like Mike said “you don’t want to be in the wind by yourself” so I waited for that group instead of chasing down the group in front of me. For a long time, almost the full lap, the gals were so disorganized… Some inexperienced but quite strong riders. I even tried to get them going but one gal finally said “I’m wondering if they don’t want to work because they have team-mates up there”and I said “I have 3” and smiled

We were about 10 gals with only me and another 2 gals with no team-mates; so I did the “wuss” (just learned that thing…I just didn’t work too hard at all. I would do my part of the work, but not my best. Some times, we could see a group in front of us and they would work harder but sometimes they would give up.

Oh well…. The paintball field….Oh I wish I was there…

After the 2nd lap, I mean, right before passing by the finish line at the 2nd time I started getting really bored…and was planning on just stopping.That’s it! I’m a quitter… But then, something happened, something magical happened: I see Mike jumping up and down yelling: Good job Lula, you’re look great (or something like it) …. Oh Sabine, he said I look great!

So… I kept on going….but at this point we were about 6 don’t know how. And I started thinking that we were the last group of the race…I was cold and tired and bored. I kept thinking of Kim who just raced in the snow the weekend before and she was way up in the front…crazy Bella!

So, we actually caught up with 3 other gals who got dropped from the group in front and before the KOM we caught Jana who was exhausted. Then, after the last right turn we saw the crash (3 gals down) and two gals in front of me decided to just stop…seriously, they stopped in front of me … Another crash?! So I yelled: hey hey hey…I always do that and 3 gals on my group took off and I stayed behind with jackie to the end.

At this point, I just wanted to finish…I forgot to mention that at lap 3 I had cramps in my legs… but since I imagined this was a silly excuse to avoid working, I told my fellow group riders that something was wrong with my bike….yeah…that was even sillier… Do you think they believed on my excuse?!

Anyhow, I managed to stay at the back to the group for a couple of minutes until the cramps were gone. But then, my “piriquita” started yelling…. “that’s it! I’m done!” I was soooooo cold….you are all too good for me! Kim, you were my moto:”if Kim can ride in the snow so can I ride in the cold”

MTB Update: Hunger Launches Holden to Victory in Whidbey Island "Dash"

Two weeks since Training Camp and the Pro MTB team has opened the season with Shannon Holden’s VICTORY at the “Dash for Cash” on Whidbey Island, WA this past weekend. Shannon had a stunning “come from WAY behind” victory in her first MTB race since giving birth to the “Next Lance Armstrong,” Noah Holden, eight months ago.

Sweat pouring off her and grinning ear to ear, Shannon was heard to say , “This win is for my son, my husband, my teammates, Spokane, WA, and above all, for my Team Manager Alex who I can’t wait to split all my winnings with at Sea Otter.”

Always a stickler for trail maintenance, Shannon used her Team-issue new carbon SRAM X.9 rear derailleur to trim trail-side branches and twigs as she rolled through the first lap. Fortunately, the X.9 components are strong and ultimately Shannon’s collection of branches fell away on the second lap leaving her to focus on the growing hunger pains building within…

Wallowing in purgatory somewhere mid-pack while passing the veggie burger stand grilling-up tasty snacks behind pit row, Shannon realized she hadn’t eaten anything that morning being so nervous about her first race. Knowing she was in a race not only against her competitors but also her own fuel supply, Shannon kicked in the afterburners, dipped deep into her labor pain reserves and roared past the race leaders after a two-lap long chase on her way to a fresh steaming sandwich just past the finish line.

Way to go Shannon!

Team Manager’s Note: Even the Pro’s forget basic pre-race steps sometimes, but the difference between a professional and the rest is how one handles the adversity created by that mistake…

Winter Blues and Caribou
The rest of the Team is hunkered down in snow or waiting for snow to arrive. Sami Fournier continues toward her Wednesday move date with steadfast focus and courage despite all manner of obstacles; and all her teammates wish her a safe journey down, across, up, down, around and over the US as she and Jon make their way to a new adventure in Oregon.

Don’t tell the Republicans, but while the rest of us have been freezing down here in the States, Wendy has enjoyed warm sunny weather up in British Columbia for weeks and has put in some serious training, including culturally aware cross training events like seal chasing; running with the reindeer while dutifully wearing her VB-K tri-suit; as well as practicing Super D with a small herd of barely domesticated Caribou on the hill behind her property. Wendy is primed for Sea Otter and an exciting season…

All is well in the build towards Sea Otter and our first major Team race of the year. We hope to see LOTS of pink and blue running around Laguna Seca in a few weeks!

Meet Wendy Simms of the Pro MTB Team

Dirt Bella, Wendy Simms, writes in.

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