2012 U.S. National Cyclocross Championships (Elite Women) (by In The Crosshairs)
WORS BelGioioso Elite Champion Abby Strigel started 81st out of 85 racers and finished 28th!
Bike for sale - 2012 Cronus CX Ultimate size 50 (via Cronus CX Ultimate - Trek Bicycle) $1800. contact worswomen@gmail.com
Details: “I couldn’t pass this up this September - it was the last one in my size (50) and it’s oh so lovely. But I just don’t ride this bike enough, and it should get out more. It’s feather light, good for cross (or road), and spec’d like a mo-fo. Ridden (gently) three times (for real - don’t judge me).”
The coolest moment of the day. 19-year-old Kaitlin Kaitie Antonneau takes Katerina Nash (one of the top thee women in the world) at the line today. (via Dave McElwaine’s Photos)
Winner of the Pro Women’s race at Iceman. Nice job Heather, Chloe and all! (via Facebook)
We all know women like this - but, wow - this is a great read.
THE VILLAGES, Fla. — Betty Skelton Erde, an aviator and auto racing pioneer once called the fastest woman on Earth, has died. She was 85.
Erde set female speed records at Daytona Beach and Utah’s Bonneville salt flats half a century ago. In 2008, she was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in suburban Detroit.
Dozens of firsts are attached to her name: the auto industry’s first female test driver in 1954; set a land speed record for women in 1956 (145 mph at Daytona Beach); and the world land speed record for women in 1965, hitting 315.72 mph at Bonneville.
Erde began drawing attention as a female stunt pilot as a teenager in the 1940s.
“To me, there’s hardly any feeling in the world that can equal the feeling of an airplane when the wheels leave the ground,” Erde told The Associated Press in 2008.
She mastered dozens of tricks. Her signature move was cutting a ribbon strung between two fishing poles with her propeller, while flying upside down just 10 feet off the ground.
In 1948, she bought a rare Pitts Special — a lightweight, red-and-white biplane suited for aerobatics. But while Erde was soaring in popularity, she also was a rarity because she was a young, beautiful woman in a male-dominated world of death-defying stunts.
In 1953, the man who began the NASCAR race circuit asked Erde to fly some auto racers from Pennsylvania to North Carolina. She and Bill France became fast friends.
In February 1954, France invited Erde to Daytona. She climbed into a Dodge sedan, went 105.88 mph on the beach and set a stock car record. Erde became a Chevrolet employee and set records with Corvettes, owning 10 in all.
In the 50s, she raced across the South American Andes, down Mexico’s rugged Baja Peninsula and also set records at the Chrysler proving grounds in Michigan.
“I would venture to say there is no other woman in the world with all the attributes of this woman,” France once remarked. “The most impressive of them all is her surprising and outstanding ever-present femininity, even when tackling a man’s job.”
She flew planes until she was in her mid-70s; when she was 82, she drove around her retirement community in a red Corvette.
Said Erde in 2008: “It’s been quite a ride.”
She died Aug. 31 in The Villages, a retirement community in Central Florida, where she had lived with her husband, Allan Erde.
"
I was riding over a quiet road in upstate New York on a terrific summer day and thought, “This is a good time to be a female athlete.” (via London Calling — Five reasons it’s great to be a female athlete - espnW)
NEWS
Getty Images
Queen of the Mountain
Posted date_sunday, September 4, 2011 2:00 AM ET
Champéry, SUI – Canadian mountain biker Catharine Pendrel of Kamloops, British Columbia, who grew up in Harvey Station, New Brunswick was crowned World Champion on Saturday in the Olympic disciple of cross-country at the 2011 International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Championships in Champéry, Switzerland.
Pendrel (Team Luna Pro), the favourite entering the event as the top-ranked rider in the World, crossed the finish line after 31.8 kilometres of racing with a time of 1:46:14, and in doing so retains her status as the best in the World.
“It’s marvellous. I am so happy that I finally won a medal at World Championships. Not only it’s a medal, but it’s a Gold one. It was awesome, with lots of people cheering alongside the entire course,” said Pendrel, 31. “I really like this course, I really like the terrain. I think it’s a challenging course. I knew I could put it together here. The relay was really good confidence for me with the fastest lap for the women.”
Canada’s Alison Sydor was the last Canadian women to win the World Championships title in the cross-country discipline, back in 1996. Sydor is still Canada’s greatest women mountain biker with 10 World Championships medal, including three World titles.
“I was probably the most nervous I have ever been before a race. I knew I was ready, I knew I had done all my preparations. The support has been amazing from Team Luna, Team Canada, and Own the podium who helps out a lot of the athletes and the program. I was just tried to control the nerves, and my Canadian teammates were just awesome in keep me grounded.”
Cindy Devine won a World Title in the Elite downhill category in 1990, while Lauren Rosser won the World title in the women’s junior downhill race last season.
Pendrel was fourth at last year’s World Championships in Canada, and fourth at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Summer Games. This season, Pendrel finished second of the UCI World Cup Tour, posting three victories and two silver medals in seven races, as well as winning the Hadleigh Farm Invitational, in Essex, the 2012 Olympic test event.
Pendrel first took part in World Championships in 2004, where she finished 46th. Since then, she went on to the 2007 Pan-American Games, the 2008 Pan-American Championships and the 2010 UCI World Cup title.
Throughout her career, Pendrel has 16 World Cup podiums, including eight victories, as well as winning the last three Canadian Championships titles.
Emily Batty of Brooklin, ON (Team Subaru-Trek), was racing for the first time in the Elite category at World Championships, finishing in eighth position. Batty conlcudes an excellent season, progressing steadily race after race to finish in eighth position of the World Cup rankings.
Marie-Hélène Prémont of Chateau Richer, QC (Team Rocky Mountain-Maxxis) crossed the finish line in ninth position, 5:01 seconds behind Pendrel’s winning time. Prémont, a former UCI World Cup Champion, ranked fourth at the conclusion of the 2011 UCI World Cup Tour this year. Prémont, a pharmacist by profession in Mont-Sainte-Anne who is currently doing her apprenticeship, was happy with her performance.
“It was a difficult race as I was fighting a back injury. During training I crashed and a bottle of CO2 (used for tire inflation) exploded in my back pocket, and that incident almost made me miss this race. My legs felt really good throughout the entire race,” said the 2004 Olympic silver medallist and 2006 World Championships bronze medallist.
Canada’s women program is ranked #1 in the world, largely thanks to the World Cup performances from Pendrel, Prémont and Batty. Today, Canada posted three results in the Top 10, showcasing Canada’s strengths.
Jean-Ann Berkenpass finished 30th, followed by Catherine Vipond in 31st position. Amanda Sin finished the tough race in 38th position.
KABUSH STRONG PERFORMER ON THE BIG DAY
In the men’s race, Geoff Kabush of Courtenay, BC (Team Rocky Mountain-Maxxis), a seven-time Canadian Champion and Olympian, finished his race in tenth position, in a field that included 2008 Olympic champion and four-time World Champion Julien Absalon of France, the defending World Champion Jose Antonio Hermida-Ramos of Spain, the 2011 World Cup Champion Jaroslav Kuhalev and former World Champion Nino Schurter to name a few.
In doing so, Kabush, a long-time veteran of the sport and performer on the big day, posted his best result of the season. Last year at Worlds, Kabush had also posted his best finish of the season.
Canadian champion Max Plaxton of Victoria, BC (Team Specialized Factory) posted the second best Canadian performance, finishing in 22nd position with a time of 1:52:53. Last year, Plaxton finished 39th at the World Championships.
Derek Zandstra of Trenton, ON (3-Rox Racing) also posted a great result, crossing the line in the 26th position.
(via Queen of the Mountain)
Just found this Off The Couch article about Sarah Huang after her latest sweep of the National Championships - great read.
Sarah Huang loves competitive cycling: any discipline, anytime, anywhere.
The 16-year-old Kenosha native is just as likely to pedal on the road as she is on the track, trails or trainer. Passion and dedication fuel her success.
A teen veteran of the ISCorp team, Huang swept the USA Cycling Junior National Championships in June, claiming victories in the criterium, time trial and road races in the 15-16 age division. The wins expanded her stars-and-stripes jersey wardrobe to seven.
Subaru Pro Women 2011 (by rdboone100). Just for the record - SUPERFAN love for our local pro women at the Subaru Cup was OFF THE HOOK.
