Mission Accomplished!

It seems like yesterday when the concept of a club team for Vanderkitten at the beach was being bounced around. The idea of an all women’s team, who would be giving 100% of their financial support to the pro team, was new to all of us. Those who came to join the first club for Vanderkitten had many reasons for joining as well as varying levels of cycling fitness. The first order of business when setting up the team was to have a mission statement that worked for us, which was to “support women in their cycling endeavors, whatever they may be”. We are proud to say that our inaugural year of Vanderkittens at the beach surpassed all our hopes and dreams. Not only did we grow from a handful of girls to almost 30, every girl on the team had the support from all the others, so they all felt special. Our race team was small and almost unbeatable. We had members that were in their teens and we had grandmothers as well. Our felines that chose not to race found themselves comfortable in group rides getting to know each other and finding confidence in their ability to join in and be a part of something big. We found that we had triathletes who used our training rides to get better. We had runners who found their race times getting faster. We had ladies who went from beach cruisers to road bikes without missing a beat. We even had some who joined our team to be able to wear the coveted Vanderkitten kit. We are proud of each and every one of you.

The race season is winding down and fall training has started. The weather is about to turn cool so that centuries will be the ride of choice. The Vanderkittens will be seen sporting their kits up and down the East Coast. We want to thank Dave Verrecchia, the owner and creator of Vanderkitten Racing, for making this dream come true!