Due to popular demand, we've expanded our clinic offerings for summer and fall 2008. We introduced our new 4-hour "Bike Skills" modules earlier this spring and have experienced sell-out clinics each weekend. Whether you're a new rider trying to flatten the learning curve, or an old dog who wants to learn some new tricks, we guarantee that you'll ride away a safer, more efficient, and more confident rider.

Register today for these upcoming clinics:

Bike Skills 101 - Individual Bike Handling Skills: 8/17 (women), 8/17 (men), 10/26 (co-ed)
Bike Skills 102 - Mountain Bike Skills: 9/13 (co-ed)
Bike Skills 103 - Cyclocross Skills: 9/13 (co-ed)
Bike Skills 201 - Climbing & Descending: 9/21 (co-ed)
Bike Skills 301 - Group Riding Skills: 9/20 (co-ed)
Girls Got Skills - 2-day Women's Cycling Clinic: 9/6-7

More details and other registration options

Congratulations to Lisa Guevara and Lloyd Tepper on their recent marriage. They're one of three couples who have met on the Velo Girls Singles' Rides over the years! How cool is that?

Interested in leading our singles ride? Contact lorri@velogirls.com. Who knows, maybe you'll meet the love of your life, too!

Join Velo Girls at Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose this Friday, May 30th, for a special evening of track racing for the whole family! The theme for the night is the Hellyer Hoedown - a little country & western shindig (with some bike racing thrown in for kicks). We'll provide BBQ and beverages, some rockin country tunes, and the best track racing in CA! So thrown on your cowboy hat and come spectate a fun night of racing.

The party starts @ 6:00pm. Racing from 7:00 - 10:00pm

More details: ridethetrack.com

Click here to see the rest of the photos from the event.

Through rain and sun and wind, dozens of Velo Girls members trained together for 10 weeks, under the expert guidance of Team Velo Girls members Winnie Homer-Smith and Elizabeth Simmons. This past Sunday marked the graduation ride, followed by a lovely lunch at Winnie's Burlingame garden. Post-lunch, everyone made helmet decorations to adorn themselves on Saturday's ride.

We plan to ride out as a group on Saturday, so please meet at the Velo Girls tent in the expo area at 7:30am for a group photo. Leave yourself enough time to park and register (we recommend you arrive at 6:30am). Pace groups will depart after the photo.

For more information, contact winnie@velogirls.com

All that's left is the speed!

Saturday, March 8th marks the 3rd annual Tri-Flow Menlo Park Grand Prix. Velo Girls has been busy with all the finishing touches to ensure that the race is a HUGE success.

Pre-registration numbers almost 600 athletes. Many of the races are sold out and waiting lists have been started so if you plan to register at the race please arrive early.

A new addition for the 2008 races is Michael Hernandez as race announcer. Those in the northern California racing community know Michael as one of the most prolific racers in the district and he'll wax poetic on the mic throughout the day.

Menlo Park is the first race in the Bay Area Women's Cycling Association Series, so come out and watch the women mix it up at 8:00am and 10:00am.

Also new for 2008 is the addition of the Cycles Gladiators Uninhibited Racer Series -- rewarding the most animated racer in each race throughout the day -- guaranteeing that races will be fast and aggressive.

More details here.

Avogadro's Number: According to the great oracle, Tanyapedia, the volume of an ideal gas is directly proportional to the number of atoms or molecules it contains. When applied to cycling, Avogadro's number suggests that the volume of an ideal team for the Snelling Road Race is directly proportional to its members: Sarah, Lorri, Tanya, Lala, Kim, and Dana. I could say something here about gas, and perhaps laying off the Mexican food before a race, but I won't. Let it suffice to say that this is what I was thinking about (what it means to be a team, not Mexican bean fuel) as we drove away from the race course on a drizzly Friday afternoon discussing Avogadro's number, and why we, a group of women who clearly knows "things," sometimes remain silent out of fear of appearing dumb.

Read more...

Introduced in 2006, Velo Girls Tri-Flow Women's Development Racing Program is designed to help you bridge the gap from club rider to team racer. In a six-week series of workshops, clinics, and rides, you'll learn everything you need to know to begin road racing, and receive support you at your first race.

Click here for the story on USA Cycling.

Congratulations to TANYA MACNEIL for winning the most votes on the Velo Girls club jersey design contest.

Click here to see all the design submissions. And pre-order your jersey today!

Now is the time to prepare for your best cycling season ever and private coaching will help you get there in the most effective way possible. Both racers and recreational riders will benefit from focused, supervised training.

January 15th -- March 15th: for all new clients who sign up for a six-month coaching package, we'll waive the set-up fee ($150 value) and reduce the monthly coaching fee to $200/month (regularly $250).

Email coaching@velogirls.com for more information and to schedule your initial coaching consultation.

The 2008 club jersey design entries are in. Cast a vote for your favorite design. The poll closes on January 15, and the winning design (and the identity of the designer) will be revealed shortly afterwards.

Click here to see the designs and to vote.

Happy 2008. To help you meet your goals and keep your resolutions, Velo Girls Coaching Services is pleased to announce a full schedule of cycling clinics.

The new year marks the return of the Tri-Flow Women's Development Racing program in three Girls Got Race™ series of programs, and an all-new Women's Duathlon development racing program as well (take your pick from four series!). Men and women alike will benefit from the new series of Bike Skills Modules, each designed to train new racers and non-competitive riders in safe riding technique. Non-competitive riders seeking general skills and technique improvement will enjoy the return of our always-popular Girls Got Skills™ clinic.

Online registration is available and now easier. $20 instant savings are available just for registering before each clinic's signup deadline. Click here to learn more about the specific programs, schedules and registration.

For the second year in a row, Velo Girls (and some of our favorite Velo Boys), joined other northern California cycling clubs and corporations to help build bikes for at-need children. The Turning Wheels for Kids Bike Build has become a fun holiday tradition for us.

Each year, Turning Wheels for Kids receives donations to purchase bikes for various groups of at-need children. Last year was the third year of this program and they delivered 1,000 bikes to children. This year, they outdid themselves again, providing 1,800 bikes!!!

Read more...

Coach Lorri Lee Lown was recently invited to be one of a handful of presenters at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in January 2008 for the three-day Enhancing Leadership in Womens' Cycling Conference presented by USA Cycling. Lorri jokes that this is a great honor since she's only an MBA (and most USAC presenters are PhDs). However, she has successfully charmed Sam Callan (Sport Science and Coaching Education Manager) over the years during her many visits to the Olympic Training Center as a participant in other coinferences. Lown, founder of Velo Girls, who also happens to have an MBA in Gender Relations, will be presenting on the topic of gender differences in cycling and how to develop a successful women's cycling organization.

The conference is open to coaches and non-coaches alike. If you'd like more information about registration, contact Sam Callan.

Winter is the ideal time to perfect your bike fit. Proper fit will allow you to ride comfortably and efficiently. Do you want to complete longer events in 2008? Maximize your power and speed? Then now is the time to dial in your fit and to incent you to do this, we've reduced the price of our bike fit to just $100!

USA Cycling Elite Coach Lorri Lee Lown has performed bike fit on women (and men) since 2001. She utilizes a CompuTrainer to help you optimize your pedal stroke and efficiency. She understands the unique demands of racing (road and mtn bike), touring, and multi-day events. She guarantees that you'll love your bike again!

To schedule your fit appointment, email Lorri@velogirls.com.

It's that time again: your chance to be immortalized as the designer of our 2008 club jersey. So get your fashion groove on and start drawing! We'll run the contest through December 31st so you've got plenty of time to submit your entries.

Click here to see details of the contest: prizes, deadlines, design templates, etc.

We woke Sunday morning, packed the car with the kids, the bikes, the food, the bbq and the beer and headed out to Brisbane. It seemed awfully luxurious to only have to drive 20 minutes to get to the race location, having driven a few hours each way the past month of Sundays for other cross races.

This time I was going to try something different than usual, something called "warming up". Read more...

Velo Girls Coaching Services announces it's fall coaching special. From September 15 to November 15, 2007 receive two hours of on-the-bike coaching for just $150 (a $170 value).

On-the-bike coaching can be invaluable in improving your skills as a cyclist. As a client, you pick the aspects of your cycling you'd like to work on - climbing, descending, general cycling skills, etc. Or you can receive an on-the-bike evaluation by USA Cycling Expert Coach, Lorri Lee Lown. You can even participate in a coached work-out! The sky's the limit.

Learn more...

Velo Girls scored a pair of wins - one to end the road season and one to begin the cyclocross season.

At the San Ardo Road Race on August 25th, the Tri-Flow Women's Development Racing Program (part of Velo Girls Coaching Services) was out in full force, with 9 women competing in their first road races. And September 1st marked the first cyclocross race on the Northern California racing calendar - a hot and dusty affair held in Livermore with strong representation from the Velo Girls. Read more...

If you join or renew your Velo Girls membership now, your membership is valid not only for 2008, but also for the rest of 2007! For the first 100 members who join or renew, you'll receive a limited edition, nylon Velo Girls tote bag -- perfect to carry all the essentials for your ride or whatever else you'd like!

And... Sign up or renew your Velo Girls membership early, and you can win one of several fabulous prizes to be announced later.

More info...

Beginning August 27th, our favorite mountain bike ride welcomes cyclocross riders for the fall! Meet At the parking lot at Arastradero OSP in Palo Alto for a fun, casual, all-levels dirt bike ride with some cyclocross skills practice at the end of the ride.

Beginners, experienced, slow, fast, mountain bike, cyclocross bike--all are welcome!

We'll convene at the Alpine Inn for post-ride food, libations, and girl-talk! RSVP to Janet at lafleur@earthlink.net.