Raceway Report

Four of us took a road trip up to Richmond for the RIR (Richmond International Raceway) crit on Sunday. With temps in the mid 50's and partly cloudy skies, the conditions were pretty nice for mid-March. It was a combined field of categories with a total of 27 women at the line. Tradewinds started out of the gate with a quick pace that was maintained for much of the race. They made break attempts as did we and some lasted for a few laps but eventually were pulled back in. Two primes were picked up in the process.

With about 10 or so to go, Ali got a gap with a Tradewinds rider and Cap'n Cook, Britt & Jen all worked together to help make it stick. Eventually a rider from Potomac Velo decided to go off of the front and bridged up solo. The three of them finished out the remaining 5 or 6 laps with Ali getting 2nd place in the sprint. The field had closed in and came across the line seconds behind with an end result landing all of us in the top 10.

Another great day of of early season racing with teamwork making the difference. Thanks to Richmond Velo Sport and Team Whole Foods for putting on this event and Dan Bo for the pics!

First Race Weekend

First of all, BJ Samuel freakin rocks. 60 years old this month. One of the fastest 40+ time trialists in the country. One of the fastest time trialists PERIOD in the region. And on Sunday the overall fastest woman, out of 30 starters, at the Dismal Dash Time Trial. BJ covered the 40K+ course in 1:05:12. Again, BJ Samuel freakin rocks.

Not only do we have BJ on our team but a host of other incredibly talented women as well. At the time trial today, we had our newest addition, Jen Pope, representing Vanderkitten with a WIN in the women's cat 1/2 race. All the more impressive is the fact that she raced in two crits yesterday. Vanderkitten was also represented by Roberta, Karen and Lisa, all of whom improved upon their times from last year. The results show that the Vanderkittens have done their training over the winter and are ready to race.

On Saturday, four women represented Vanderkitten at the Sleepy Hole Smackdown Crit. Laura, Ali and our newest teammates Brittany and Jen, raced in the women's 1/2/3 race. We were incredibly fortunate to have Britt and Jen join our team this year. And this, our first crit of the season, confirmed for all of that this was a great decision. Amazing and selfless teamwork enabled us to finish 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th in a relatively small but strong group of women. Thanks to the ladies of Tradewinds and Fat Frogs for a great race. And thanks to the Wheelmen for successfully putting it on again this year!

The Vanderkittens want to thank Chatty Cathi for showing up at the time trial yesterday to cheer us on. We appreciate her giving up her morning ride to make sure we got ours on....