Laura Cook Goes Pro!!

One of our own has been chosen to be a part of the Vanderkitten Pro Team in 2010! See the Press Release below.

Vanderkitten Announces 2010 Roster and Sponsors

Vanderkitten Presented by Kenda revealed the 2010 Road Team kit and sponsorship line-up today at http://vanderkittenracing.com/. “This season is about streamlining our program, building on our consecutive USA Crits Team Titles, supporting our National Championship winning athletes, and continuing to gain exposure for Women’s Cycling outside of the racing community” said David Verrecchia, Vanderkitten Creator.

“We will continue to build upon our long-term partnership with Kenda and Storck Bicycles, combining our resources to promote Women’s cycling by developing a program that will help launch cyclists to new levels” added Vanderkitten Managing Director, Mark Zefeldt.

Vanderkitten Racing also adds an “official” mountain bike squad of Barbara Howe and Shannon Holden focusing on endurance and multi-day stage races in the dirt. The MTB squad will also ride Kenda tires, Easton and SRAM just like the Road team, in addition to the impressive Ibis Mojo SL and Tranny Carbon frames.

“The Ibis relationship has been so easy and so supportive it was a natural evolution to take what we did in Cross, and apply it to Mountain for Vanderkitten” adds Barbara Howe of Vanderkitten.

Vanderkitten/Kenda’s Road sponsor list includes Vanderkitten Clothing, Kenda Tires, Storck Bicycles, Easton Components, Giro Helmets and accessories, Motortabs, SRAM, Tifosi eyewear, Relegate Coffee and the Hawley Company.

Vanderkitten’s Roster includes: Captain Jennifer Reither, Jennifer Wilson, Anna Lang, Starla Teddergreen, Erika Graves, Barbara Howe, Shannon Holden, Haley Beann and Laura Cook.

Vanderkitten Racing was established in 2007 to promote Women’s cycling and create a sustainable model of top-level athletic participation for women.

Anything But Dismal!

It’s hard to believe that just a year ago we fought wind, rain and cold temps at the 2009 DD Time Trial. It was so dismal lots of us found ourselves not even able to warm up because the tents were no shelter for the rain coming at us sidewise. Luckily for all of us, this year was a different story. After checking weather for the last week which at one time called for rain, we were pleasantly surprised to have the temps in the 50s, a bit of a headwind out, but no rain in sight. The only small distraction were a few dogs who had enough sense to stay out of the road. 25 ladies signed up in all categories and the beach Vanderkittens took 12 of those spots. Laura, Ali and BJ had the 3 fastest times of all the registered women.

Results for our team

CAT 1-2-3

1st – Laura – 1:02:44
2nd – Ali – 1:06:06

CAT 4

3rd –Karen – 1:15:17
4th – Roberta – 1:15:30
7th – Suszann – 1:22:46

Masters

1st – BJ – 1:06:43
4th – Claudia – 1:22:51
6th – Barb V. – 1:24:36
7th – Susan – 1:24:39
9th – Donna – 1:28:14
10th – Wendie – 1:29:13
11 – Christy – 1:29:25

Great job to the race promoters!

Snowball Crit #2

Another great day weather-wise for Snowball Crit #2 yesterday. Looked to be about 20 women who showed up for this one…most of the same riders from two weeks ago with at least two out of town girls making a road trip to participate in this last local training race. Some break attempts were made early on by Laura, Ali and a couple of others which provided some short lived division of the field but eventually everyone came back together. On a Cat 4 prime lap, one rider headed out without chase from anyone, took the prime and as it turned out, also took several more laps solo. She eventually got about a 17 second lead from the group so with about 8 laps to go, an effort was made to bridge up to her. It succeeded ultimately and a group of five at that time then began trying to hold the gap for the remainder of the race.

Cook sat in with the field & timed her move to bridge up to the lead group. Another rider followed on her own at some point thereafter bringing the total to seven women for the last 2 laps. Coming into the back stretch the sprint started right before the straightaway and a hard effort was given by everyone. In the end, Cook took 2nd and Ali came in 4th.

Team effort out there with racers and supporters!

Roberta, Ali, BJ & Laura

First BAR race of the year coming up next weekend: Dismal Dash Time Trial. Hope to have a lot of VK team members entered and racing against the clock!

Richmond International Raceway Criterium Race Report

Kudos to Team Nature's Path for securing the Richmond International Raceway for a crit this past Saturday. Very cool venue. Ali and Laura headed up to race in the women's open, with a field of 31 riders at the starting line. There was a brutal headwind on the backside of the track, and a nice tailwind coming into the finishing straight of the 3/4 mile track. Several break attempts were made, the one that finally stuck was a solo effort by Ali from the inside. With four or five laps to go the field didn't bring her back in and she came in solo for the WIN. Laura managed to take the field sprint for second place.

A couple of our competitors ran into some trouble and were involved in a crash. Heal fast, compadres!