Karlo pics!!!!

new podium boy - Karlo Gordon Hood

Arrived on Saturday night at 9:08pm. He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz. and
measured 19 1/4" long. He is healthy and doing well. Labor lasted
23 hours and was the hardest workout of my life. Had I not worked
out the entire pregnancy he definitely would have arrived via c-
section. We faced quite a few challenges during labor, but he
handled the stress beautifully. We are all now resting and getting
to know each other, which is quite wonderful. Chuck is having the
time of his life and is a very proud dad. He's especially proud of
the fact that he was able to stay upright and watch the delivery and
(a major shock to me) he even cut the umbilical cord.

What an amazing experience!

Stacia

Ice Race.

Yeah. even though ze bella blogger thought about it... the artic temperature prevented her from doing it. As I jokingly stated at the team meeting, "you are more likely to see me online than anywhere else..."

You don't know how TRUE this is when the temperatures drop below 25 degrees. And dammit. if anyone is tired of hearing me bitch about the weather comment here, and make my other teammatoes (SWEET TYPO!!!).. teammates post.

But anyways... what follows is Sheryl and Barb's race reports. :)

And a hella huge congrats to Stacia and Chuck!!! (read below for details...)

STUDS on ice

Huge KUDOS to you anyway- at least DFL is better than my pathetic DES (didn't even start) thanks to my lack of knowledge of studded tired. I did however win some schwag for my efforts... One of the fellas running the race had extra home made studded tires available and when he heard my sad story he let me keep the pair that had flatted me. (along with giving me a long description of how to correctly put a tube liner in..) I promised him I'd be back next year with properly prepared equipment.
Just for the record, for those of you who don't know me and I don't want to get a bad reputation for being a dum-dum- I had come down unprepared because Chuck Hood (stacia's hubby and the days' race promoter) was going to have two prepared wheels already for me. But wouldn't you know- the new Velo Fella, little Karlo Hood, decided to join the world on Saturday night! Congrats to the new family! Way to go, Stacia! So, needless to say, the Hood family were more occupied with diapers than studded tires for Sunday's race. I sure enjoyed Barb's race report though. Way to Represent! Woot woot! Let's hope for both our sakes that Maria is back next year!
-Sheryl-

With my scarf wrapped around me. Wind pants. Picture it.

Oh...well...Uh...this was definietely a race of skill and knowledge
of ice.

In the AM I went for a 'warm up', but by the time I packed up the
bike and drove out there I was chilled. Dear husband, who had put
Maria's lucky tires on my wheels, set up the bike for me out at Bush
Lake. I had on all my winter cycling gear AND my parka and wind
pants, and scarf. I 'warmed up' on the ice for about 15 mn. Back
out on the parking lot making a dash for warmer gloves, I saw Sheryl
and her dear husband frantically changing her tires. No one told her
about the necessary tire liners, so she had flatted on the warm up.
Annoyed and cold, Sheryl and crew pack up and go home.Rats. This
means I have to rep the Bella colors, but no way I'm taking off my
coat.

The race starts with a La Maz (in honor of Stacia and Chuck) start, I
am off the line near the back. I don't run well in sand. With a
parka. With my scarf wrapped around me. Wind pants. Picture it.

The course is constant turns. Really, it's a fun course, but even
with the serious studs, I know I don't have a feel for this and boy
am I s l o w. Fast forward. I started to get a bit more confident
and am catching up to a couple of women, one who is wearing a Santa
suit. Trying to be careful, and starting to have fun. Then my crit
cornering memory kicks in--bad idea. Even with studs, you can't brake
even medium hard on ice. Down I go and lose the two women.
I "chase" at about 2-3 miles an hour. Fortunely, I am now warm,
sweating even--can you imagine? I figure out to 'bank' off the snow
on the edge of the ice path and start to get the hang of cornering on
ice, 3/4 of the way through this adventure. Most of the 6 or so women
have dropped out, so that means I am DFL!!! Woot Woot!!

I really don't know how Maria does it. Go Maria!

OK, what's next--BMX? Get my butt kicked by a 10 year old.

Give 100 degrees in Milwaukee anyday.

Barb

Stupor Bowl X

*squee!*

8 more days until Stupor Bowl!!!!

Those of you who knows me, knows I don't squee often... but this is one of the funnest races of the year... and one of the best parts of winter in minneapolis...

As a cold weather pansy (ex-Oakland-er-- the Richmond district in SF is wicked cold to me), I'm hoping for the 30's and sunny... but.. who knows this time of year.

Come on out and play!!!! It's wicked fun 21+ scavenger hunt race on bikes... (alcohol optional)....

brrr.argh.

Friday I biked home from work without my lights on for the first time in, what has felt like forever. It was a balmy 35 degrees F and fabulous. Had I remembered it was Critical Mass Friday, I definitely would have ridden longer... but places to go... people to see... blah blah.

As weather is in MN, that was a huge -tease-. It is all of 3 degrees right now, with a windchill of -13 degrees. I had to be outside for a little while today, and I felt my face freeze off. So, I gotta giggle in ENVY at the Californian perception of cold....and surf on over to craigslist to see if there's any web or flash dev jobs... (oh. damn...)

and for the record... it's gotta be in the low 20's for snot to freeze on your face.

BUT... i'm betting this is gonna make the 2007 Chilly Chili Ice Race super fast....

Best of luck and stay warm to all those racing...

Thursday Now Trainer Night

Nikki, Leslie and I enjoyed riding together last night at Now. We did
the Spinervals "Sweating Buckets" workout.

As always, the Now folks were supportive and helpful, helping Nikki
replace a dropped chain, Leslie to get her chain moving up to the big
cookie easier, and even adjusting Nikki's cleat placement for a more
efficient and comfy time on the bike.

We were all glad we made it over to Now for the ride. It was much
more fun to pant, sweat AND heckle Troy Jacobson in a group. BTW,
Leslie deserves MAJOR kudos - she hoofed it alllll the way to Arden
Hills from Hopkins in rush hour traffic to ride with us!!!

Cheers!
Marjie

winter == skiing ?

It hasn't been all too snowy around here, which is great for biking... but it bums our bella skiiers out. And -of course- the bellas rawk on snow. Maria Stewart placed 2nd at the Capitol Square Sprints.

She's got a race report over on skinnyski.

BMX action!

Sarah went bmx-ing.. she even posted to ze email list about it.

Anyways... here it is...

Last night I got talked into going up to Rehbein's BMX Arena (aka The
Barn) to ride on the BMX track. Apparently not having a bike, helmet,
or money isn't an issue or excuse. It was much more difficult and
intimidating than I expected. I went up there last weekend to just
watch and see what it is all about. It's mostly kids, so I thought if
they could do it, I could do it too, right? A friend loaned me his BMX
bike, fully loaded with Spokey Dokes and a seat that was much too
high, but beggars can't be choosers. I figured if a kid made fun of my
Spokey Dokes I would just tell him/her that no one likes them.

I lined up to the gate and the first thing I noticed is that the track
is a lot steeper than I thought it was. The gate went down and off I
went, eating the dust of children. I was really awkward on my bike
since I haven't ridden a BMX bike since I was a kid, and it really
didn't fit. I went up and down the hills, went around the burms
(banked corners) and finished out of breath. The second burm was the
hardest part of the course since it is a clock-wise turn which felt
really strange to me.

For the first hour I was really frustrated and discouraged and ready
to quit. Thankfully the guys I was with were really encouraging, gave
me helpful pointers and cheered me on throughout. Most importantly
they made me keep going around and not give up.

When I finally hit the second burm smoothly I knew I was improving and
actually wanted to keep going! I had a big smile on my face and only
stopped once to get a corn dog. I kept saying "one more time and I'm
done," but I kept lining up to go again. Towards the end I even
started to get some air off the hills and beat a kid to the finish
(I'm a bully, I know).

I'm starting to look for a bike that fits me and plan to keep going
and hopefully improving as significantly as I did over the two hours
last night. I'm even planning on racing one of these weekends (they
award trophies)!

Let me know if you want to come out, it's super fun and the more the
merrier!

ooooo... shiney..

Yeah... the trainer ride was part baby shower... and that was full of "ooooo! cute!" as expected. But... let's not forget... "oooo... SHINEY!... and cool..!" See.. in the back of the Arden Hills Now Fitness location, they've got Tacx trainer system, complete with big screen TV and virtual reality (haven't heard that term since 1999, eh?) simulator hooked up. All of us got to try both the Real Life Video and the Virtual Reality Terrains. Both were wicked fun. The Real Life video definitely had the better graphics.. but it lacked the steering function that the Virtual Reality Terrain had.

I'm even pondering trying to sneak in early next trainer ride, so I can set -my- bike up on the trainer and hog it the WHOLE time.

Seriously, this could be a DDR-like addiction for bike geeks...

....The most fun you can have on a trainer...

First of all - I didn't want to get my bike out, find my shoes (which
have been hibernating for weeks) pack up the car and drive in the
cold on Saturday morning, when I could be snuggly on the couch. But I
DID want to catch up with my Bella Friends, and work off some of that
icecream from the night before.

So with that said - it was well worth the little bit of effort that
it took to get to the trainer site. I think the girls would all
agree that we had a great time!!

The trainer session itself was kind of self-paced. At least for me
it was. You could sit and pedal and chat - like me. Or you could
really work it hard (like Barb, or Marjie, or Jen or just about
everyone - even Stacia!)

By the way, Stacia and her "Precious Cargo" looked great on the bike,
no complaints from either - she fared much MUCH better than I did
when I was preggo. Great Job Stacia!

And further - the young good looking staff at NOW were very helpful
getting us set up, directing us to the ladies room, etc. All the
pleasantries we Bellas deserve.

I would rate the trainer ride an A+!

--- written by Sara(n)