Match Made in Heaven

Heading out on the Saturday morning ride, PC was telling me more about the lil Vanderkitty & it dawned on me that I might know some prospective parents....my own! They'd been talking about adopting a furry friend last year but never found the perfect match or felt like the timing was right. So when I told them about her that afternoon, I was pretty sure that was as far as it would go...little did I know they'd be driving her home less than 48 hours later!

From all accounts, mine included (as I had to b-line it to their house to meet her), she's taken to them as much as they have to her. It was great to

see how comfortable she was there already and how much they were enjoying her company! Seems as though it was meant to be the way everything fell into place - including the name they gave her...Weezie. This was my grandma's (Eloise) nickname, who passed away last year at 100 years of age; she was the fabric of our family, loved by all & lit up every room she entered.

How fitting!

Ali Kat

Vanderkitty Needs A Home!!!

It’s not often that a stray cat walks into my store but last Wednesday that’s just what happened. Over the past week we had heard a cat crying but didn’t know where he/she was living. When the sun finally came out on Wednesday, so did the cat from under our store. This kitty is a young female who looks to be in excellent health. She acts more like a dog than a cat, following everyone around wherever they go. She doesn’t cat nap and doesn’t mind the cold. She can even stand on her hind legs. She has a tortoise shell/tabby coat, is part Persian, with a magnificent tail, has a great stripe down her nose and a purr that is as quiet as a mouse. If you live near the beach and want a kitty to keep you company, I’ve got the one for you. We have named her Topaz but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you changed her name as long as you feed and love her.

WARNING - if you look at these pictures, you will soon own a cat.

Peter Teeuwen Cycling Award

Congratulations goes to Laura, our Cheetah and Captain, for receiving the very coveted Peter Teeuwen Cycling Award today. We are all proud of you and all that you have done for cycling this past year. The Vanderkittens thank you for your leadership to our club and look forward to a great year ahead with you at our helm!

We also want to thank Bob Devich for taking the photo of Laura receiving her award.

Cats Gone Wild

Maybe it's the weather but I'm not so sure. Cabin Fever has set in and when it's in the 20's in VA Beach, the Vanderkittens just don't know what to do. I've asked some of our felines what they are doing and I had immediate response with pages of their training schedules. These girls are very busy and are making every moment count. I'm not going to share our training secrets with all, but want to share the most important.

We have one who is hoarding nuts until Summer, relaxing and thinking about a trip somewhere warm. Planning to kick ass in a month.


We have one who is also using the deep elbow bend aka the Hand to Mouth Exercise. She's seeing immediate results in the mirror.

We're a breed that starts watching the weather channel for as long as we're watching spinning tapes. We're growing. We're felines. What else would you expect???

Winter Training - Brrrrrr

Most cats don’t like the cold and my cat, Tiffany, is no exception. She spends her January days going from the fireplace to sleeping on heat vents. In my next life I hope I come back as a cat so I can sleep all day long.

The bumper crop of acorns means a cold winter ahead and it’s definitely here. Temps in the 20s for a few days in a row means most of our riders at the beach have had to dust off their trainers and use their tapes for training. Erika has been leading spinning classes over at Bike Beat with some of our cats while Roberta has been doing the same at Inlet Fitness. Barbi Cat has been spending time in her garage with others spinning away. The pool at the Great Neck rec center is a home away from home for Kelly, Donna, Winnie, Claudia and Sherry. Winnie is collecting winter gear so she can soon brave the elements of January and start riding outdoors.

The cold obviously isn’t bothering Suszann one bit because she bundled up and attempted an outdoor run. Unfortunately she stumbled over a glob of hardened cement and went down. She hobbled home and jumped on her trainer and decided that staying indoors is safer for her although cabin fever has set in. She’s even named her trainer “Wilson” and needs the warm weather to rescue her.

I have put in more miles on my trainer in the last 2 weeks than I did all of last year. Although the temps usually don’t bother me, patches of ice on the road give me reason to stay inside as well. I have decided to pack up the family and take a vacation to Jamaica where I will cross train by swimming up to the bar to get an umbrella drink!

Belated Birthday wishes to Sherry, our Lynx Cat, who celebrated her birthday on December 29. We hope you had a special day and promise to give you a birthday spanking when we see you next!

Podium Cat

2010 Resolutions

It’s time to clean out the closets and get rid of the old, to make room for the new. It’s also that day of the year when everyone needs to put together their New Year’s resolutions for 2010 and hopefully stick to them for as long as possible. I polled some of our felines to see what 2010 has in store for them and here are a few !

Eat more ice cream
Gain weight
Drink more water – drink less wine
Drink more wine – drink less water
Sell their bikes
Have 1 less chin
Manage time better, volunteer more and turn back the hands of time (with the big 40 coming)
Take nothing too seriously the whole year
Learn to ride with a large group, make decisions quicker and keep in touch with friends.
Learn to shift gears, increase speed to ride with the B group, go on several out of town bike trips and lose weight before the VK kits arrive.
Be nice
Make a new recipe every week
Do 100 sit ups a day
Log in bike miles for the whole year
Change a flat
Update VK blog weekly

Happy 2010 from all of us to all of you!