Cyclocross is the perfect sport for both road cyclists and mountain bikers and a great way to get your feet wet (literally) with competitive cycling. Imagine riding a road bike with knobby tires on a course that might be comprised of grass, mud, sand, pavement, rocks, roots, and snow (well, not in California). And at points in the course, there are barriers that force you to dismount your bike, run over them, and remount - all at speed. Now, repeat this for 40 minutes, add in cheering fans shaking their cowbells, a crazy-fun vibe, a beer after the race, and you've got cyclocross!
Velo Girls™ have been racing cyclocross since 2002. Some of the women on the team were road racers. Some were mountain bike racers. But many of them had never considered themselves athletes. But they were drawn to the fun and challenge of the sport by the supportive atmosphere that Velo Girls™ has to offer!
In 2003, Velo Girls™ fielded our first real cyclocross team, with 9 women racing throughout the season. We scored an impressive 7 wins, with three team members, Anne Sylvester, Lori Cox, and Lis Warren, placing on the overall series podium in the Bay Area Super Prestige Series, including Anne, who won the series! That same year, Lori Cox became US Masters National Champion (in only her 4th cyclocross race ever).
In 2004, Velo Girls™ continued racing with 13 fabulous women winning 4 races, and placing two racers, Lorri Lee Lown and Mary Hoover, on the Bay Area Super Prestige Series podium. Mary Hoover travelled to Portland, OR and represented the girls in pink in the mud of the northwest at the US Masters National Championship.
2005 saw more consistency, with a core group of racers competing in not only the Bay Area Super Prestige Series but also the Sacramento, Central Coast, and Surf City series. Kim Natzel broke through as a standout finishing 3rd overall in the Surf City Series and 4th overall in the Bay Area Super Prestige Series. Lorri Lee Lown rounded out the podium finishing 4th in the Bay Area Super Prestige Series. Lori Cox and Lorri Lee Lown competed at a snowy US Masters National Championship in Providence, RI.
2006 has been another fun and fabulous year! Ten women have been out getting dirty, bruised, and bloody every weekend since September, racing in the Sacramento, Central Coast, Surf City, and the Bay Area Super Prestige series. The fun never ends with such a fabulous team and lots of supporters from the club coming out to spectate as well! Jen Jordan blew away the competition with an undefeated five-for-five wins in the Bay Area Super Prestige Series, winning the overall Women's C series. Also on the series podium was Lorri Lee Lown for the Masters Women (affectionately known as the really fast old broads). In addition to our regular team of racers, we also introduced a number of new women to the sport late in the season who we're certain will be out there mixing it up in 2007.
And 2007 promises to be ever more fun. We'll have racers in the Bs, Cs, and Masters, competing all over Northern California! Cyclocross is an awesome sport. There are so many elements to challenge you - fitness, running, sprinting and transitions, technical riding, mounting, dismounting, drooling. If you'd like to be part of the action, email coaching@velogirls.com
