Tuesday, June 21, 2011

PLT MADNESS!

Vanderkitten was well represented in each of the women’s categories on Sunday, for the first Peter Teeuwen time trial of the season, in Chesapeake, VA. Nearly 30 women pre-registered for the Senior State Championship TT, making for a relatively large and competitive field. Crosswinds were challenging, but the heat held off until the women's field had raced. The kittens pushed it to the max along the 23-mile lollipop course, with the finish line and hopes of illegally sweet victory nearing with each pedal stroke. When all was said and done, Cap’n Cook, BJ, and Brittany took first place in each of their respective categories (with BJ setting her PLT pr), as well as the top 3 spots for the women’s overall. Also representing VK, were Christy in the 40+, and Lisa in CAT 4, after having just ran the “CHKD RunWalk for the Kids” the day before and taking 4th place in her age group. Christy escaped before pictures were taken, probably a smart move...
(picture courtesy of Manderkitten Danbo)
And a big thanks to Donna for working as an official, and CONGRATS on her new grandmahood!


9 Lives and True Grit...
Three weeks ago, Jen was on the ground after a gnarly crash at Bike Jam/Kelly Cup with a broken jaw, fractured temple, and bleeding from the face. It seems that in order to cash in all 9 lives, ‘kittens are required to land on their faces. (Now is a great time to thank Frank of Celerity Cycling who spent 8 hours at Johns-Hopkins ER taking care of Jen and getting her home safely, as well as all the friends who stopped by, called, and/or texted to offer help, support, and dirty jokes to keep her light-hearted about having 2 black eyes, a strict diet of ice cream, and being off her bike for 5 days.)

Still a little broken but determined to get her racing mojo back, Jen entered the Tour of Washington County sponsored by SRAM and Antietam Velo Club this past weekend. Through much encouragement from team mates, friends, family, and jack russells, she finished 10th in the general classification (8th in prologue, 5th in road race, 10th in time trial, and 9th in criterium). Tour of Washington County was a great event and is now a staple on the Vanderkitten-Virginia Beach race calendar. A big thanks to Joe Jefferson, AVC, SRAM, and all the badass women who raced hard, fast, and fun all weekend!!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

First Race//First WIN!

Karen and Roberta are hooked. After worrying themselves silly about how they would perform in their first crit they both made Vanderkitten proud. They both spent more than enough time up front battling the wind but said it was safer there than in the pack. Karen decided to go for the GOLD on the last turn and never looked back. Roberta followed close behind. Watching them race made the rest of us remember what it was like as a newbie. We’re all glad that they’ve got the racing bug.

Karen decided that bad weather predictions for Bryan Park wasn’t going to keep her away from a race today. Still high from her win she stayed upright on a wet, technical course with two 90 degree turns and rough, bumpy sections.

She was super nervous because it was raining, the course was wet and said she had zero bike skills. She stepped in dog s--- right before she was getting on her bike, rode 3 laps in the small chain ring (Duh), legs were dead from yesterday, Garmin wasn't working, stayed up front almost the whole race (she didn't want anyone crashing in front of her) and did all the work, got out-sprinted in the end by almost everyone, came in 7th out of 9th.

Her impression of the race – AWESOME! She’s glad she did it because she now has more confidence because she rode a wet technical course, survived it, and felt pretty comfortable and learned a lot. This year is all about gaining experience and Karen said she got plenty today.