Callville Bay Stage Race Report
Ruth Clemence and Cara Gillis headed to Las Vegas for the always exciting Callville Bay Stage Race.  The race is comprised of a 3.5 mile hill-ish climbing tt, a 55 mile road race, and a 45 minute crit.  Several teams showed up with decently sized squads including Colavita Las Vegas, SC Velo, Bannings, and Herbalife LaGrange.  Alisha Welsh of PB&Co Twenty12 also showed up to defend her title from last year.

Ruth had a great first tt of the season and finish 3 seconds back from Alisha and Katie Donovan of SC Velo who were tied for first.  Cara finished mid-pack.

The road race started with rain and very cold conditions.  Ruth rode very smart and stayed tucked-in and out of trouble, while Cara stayed at the front and made sure nothing got away that would jeopardize Ruth’s position.  On the approach to the finish line, an official started yelling that the finish line had moved because of a horrific crash at the original line.  A few minutes passed and then all of a sudden some guy was yelling that finish was 400 meters away.  Cara moved up, but jumped far too early to come around Nicole Evans.  Nichole Wansgard, riding on her own, had a much smarter sprint and took the win, foiling the leadouts of several teams.

The crit dawned sunny and warm.  There were some attacks, but nothing too exciting.  With 4 laps to go Cara attacked, after a lap away Ruth bridged up, sat on for a moment and then jumped again.  She managed to stay away until the last lap (we were trying to get the win).  Both Cara and Ruth finished mid-pack, but managed to collect $200 in primes.  Ruth held on for 3rd in GC.  Excellent work!

Please enjoy this guest post by one of our readers – Gaylen Hasson – about the Little Red Riding Hood ride, which takes place in Utah and helps raise money for women’s cancer research.  Gaylen was kind enough to share her experience on the ride with us, and we hope that the LRRH ride this year is another great experience for Gaylen and all of the other participants.  Thanks for sharing, Gaylen!

Little Red Riding Hood is an all women’s ride that takes place in the beautiful Cache Valley north of Salt Lake City.  Women of all ages and abilities can choose from 5 distances, and the feeling surrounding this event is hard to describe.  “Girls Ride” with lots of love!! The past several years LRRH has become involved in raising funds for women’s cancer research.

There is a wonderful sense on camaraderie that starts Friday afternoon on the drive from SLC to Logan – cars with bikes and women all heading north to Logan, UT. The anticipation and fun for me begins each year when the jersey design is posted. [Read more →]

Check out another great piece in our Doctor’s Corner series by by Dr. Salvatore Tirrito of Pima Heart and XOOD Endurance Drink.

How Healthy is Your Sports Drink?

Remember the old adage: “treat your body well and it will treat you well.”  As an athlete, you should be even more concerned about what goes in your body.  It never ceases to amaze me; many athletes will pound their bodies into the ground day after day, eat highly specialized diets, and abstain from many of the common pleasures of life, all in the hopes of achieving supreme fitness.  However, if it comes in a pill, powder, or gel form, they do not discriminate and will put just about anything in their body.

Since the introduction of Gatorade, the sports drink industry has come a long way.  There is an almost dizzying array of products to choose from, with each one stating to be better than the other.  Although, it appears clear that they can enhance your performance (at least when compared to water), the question is: Are they really healthy? [Read more →]

The Specialized Designs for Women presented by Bicycle Haus team started the season off right this past weekend at the 4th Annual UA Criterium in Tucson, AZ, with a win in the Pro 1, 2, 3 women’s field by Chloe Forsman!

The race was exciting from the start with a lot of attacks by riders from TriSports.com/Eclipse Racing, Specialized, and more.  Finally, a break went and stuck with Chloe and Cara Bussell of TriSports.com/Eclipse Racing.  Meanwhile, in the pack, there were 2 more Specialized riders (Melanie Meyers and Judy Jenkins), another TriSports.com/Eclipse Racing rider (Chloe Black), and 2 other riders who were racing without teams.  Chloe Forsman won the sprint out of the breakaway against Cara Bussell for 1st place, and Melanie got 2nd in the pack sprint for 4th place overall to Chloe Black of TriSports, who was 3rd overall.  Judy rounded out the bunch in 8th.

It was a great day of racing, and the 2010 Arizona road season is shaping up to be a great one with some strong women’s teams around the state!

Please join the University of Arizona cycling team for the 4th Annual UA Criterium, to be held this Saturday, January 30, 2010, in Tucson, Arizona.  The UA Crit was voted the Best One-Day Race in Arizona by Velocity Group Cycling in 2009!

To register, please visit Sportsbase Online or you can register the day of the event.  Some of the great sponsors providing support and prizes for the race also happen to sponsor the Specialized Designs for Women Cycling Team, including Athlete Octane, XOOD Endurance Drink, and Genuine Innovations!

Additionally, the UA Cycling Team has organized a cruiser ride in benefit of Haiti.  All proceeds from the event will go to Partners in Health for their work in Haiti in response to the earthquake there in early January.  Entry to the cruiser ride is $10, and donations for Partners in Health are also accepted.  The ride is USAC sanctioned which means all participants must wear a helmet, purchase a USAC license (annual or $5 day of) and must have a mechanical brake on their bike (coaster, rim or hydraulic–no legs). Otherwise, ride any bike you like and enjoy the cruise!

The Specialized Designs for Women Team has many members who are also members of the University of Arizona cycling team, so come out and join the fun in Tucson!

Melanie and I went to Recovery Sock, an awesome sponsor of our team for 2010, and picked up some compression socks for the Specialized Women’s team.

Recovery Socks are made in Italy but it is great to have a division of the company here in Tucson. I have been wearing my pair of Recovery Socks and they are great! I have been fortunate enough to have three weeks in Tucson to train hard before heading back to the snow and ice currently inhabiting the East coast. While I’m enjoying some sun shine I have been putting in some serious miles and with only three weeks to train recovery is an important component when trying to get the most out of my time. Recovery socks are great because the end result of compression socks are the aided delivery of oxygen to working muscles which allowing for better training. After my rides I put on a pair of Recovery Socks, try my hand cooking, and enjoy the Arizona sun shine!

Ez

I’ll be honest; I’m pretty biased on this one.

Nine years ago I lost a dear friend in a drunk driving accident.  I, like anyone who has lost a loved-one, realize that nothing can bring my friend back to life.  It sucks, it’s tragic, and it’s final.  My friend’s sudden and early death caused untold amounts of pain in the lives of those who knew him, especially in his family.  We all have choices in handling this sort of grief—anger, self-pity, despair, etc.  However, as I’ve watched his family, I’ve learned a lot about productive mourning.  For years his mother has traveled to schools, telling future drivers the story of her son’s death in hopes of sparing other families from similar tragedy.  It’s undoubtedly painful to relive the experience over and over again, but she’s chosen to selflessly use her anguish.  Though her son’s unnecessary death was the result of someone else’s poor choices, she’s chosen to use his memory for the benefit others.  I will never forget her example.

[Read more →]

One of our great sponsors – Bike Shop Hub – is currently hiring!  The position is for a person with great writing skills and a passion for cycling.  To learn more, check out the listing – http://www.biketrailershop.com/catalog/about.php.  It’s a great company and a great place to work!

We would like to wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year from all of us at Women’s Bike Talk and the Specialized Designs for Women p/b Bicycle Haus Cycling Team!  May the new year bring good luck, good health, and good riding!  Check out this awesome video from our sponsor Specialized!

Found this at Austin on Two Wheels.

And if you are looking for some great blogs about bicycling written by and for women, in addition to this one, of course, check out this list over at Eco Velo!