Hello, Hollywood!

Team Velo Girls members participated in last week's Sea Otter Classic in Monterey.  In addition to being one of the largest competitive and recreational bicycling events in the world, Sea Otter is also the largest consumer trade show.  That means we get to spend quality time with our sponsors from all over the United States.

Here are a couple of video spots of Team Velo Girls members with our sponsors Action Wipes and Pactimo.

Team Velo Girls members Annie, Tiina, and Pamela with Pactimo's Karl Heigden

Team Velo Girls member Tiina demonstrates proper Action Wipe technique after the Sea Otter Road Race

Sponsor Love: Your Next Frontier Awaits!

Team Velo Girls has a long history of supporting and promoting small businesses.  For 2013, Frontier Snacks joins our list of sponsors and we couldn't be happier to develop this relationship.

Headquartered in Mountain View, CA, Frontier Snacks is the brainchild of founder Matt Oscamou, an engineer who decided to use his skills to solve the problem of creating a healthy energy food that tastes good and is made with all-natural ingredients.  

Matt, along with his brother Nate, first came up with the idea for Frontier Bites, not with the idea of starting a business, but because they were simply tired of overly-processed snack bars and wanted to create something that was cleaner and tastier to enjoy throughout busy days and active off-hours. To do this, in true competitive-brotherly form, they had a baking competition to see who could come up with the best-tasting natural snack.

The rules were simple:

• Only 8 ingredients
• Crunchy texture, without feeling heavy
• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Dairy-free
• Only natural ingredients that every person can recognize

The competition had begun and on Easter Sunday of 2010, they held a taste-test showdown. While several great options were presented, Nate's Almond + Blueberry + Lemon flavor was ultimately the victor. The result was crunchy and flavorful and it wasn't long before they realized that this could be the start of something big.

Fast-forward to 2013, and Matt has perfected Frontier Bites with three amazing flavors:

• Almond + Blueberry + Lemon Bites
• Macadamia + Pineapple + Coconut Bites
• Pecan + Cherry + Cinnamon Bites

All flavors were designed to find a clear balance between great flavor and healthy energy. They're held together with a combination of honey and brown rice syrup, the perfect combination of glucose -- a simple sugar that your body takes up right away -- and polysaccharides that burn slowly and cleanly through your system. They're full of antioxidants and omega-3s because all ingredients are pure and natural. There's nothing fortified or added to them. You'll love crunching Frontier Bites one at a time and you'll feel satisfied without a dreaded sugar crash!

Frontier Bites are:

• Non-GMO
• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Dairy-free
• Preservative-free
• and include no Refined Sugars

We've had the opportunity to sample Frontier Bites on a handful of club rides and camps and the reviews are outstanding:

"OMG!  Could there be anything yummier?  I've found my new go-to snack for long rides."

Convinced? You'll find Frontier bites in single-serving sleeves and multi-serving pouches. You can order them directly on the Frontier Snacks website or find them in a growing list of bike shops and grocery stores.

Like many new products, Frontier Bites is growing in leaps and bounds!  Matt is ready to take this project to the next level and is offering you the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.    You can join the Frontier Snacks Kickstarter:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/290464381/frontier-bites-your-next-frontier-awaits

And, of course, "like: Frontier Snacks on Facebook for news and give-aways: https://www.facebook.com/frontiersnacks

Racing with Team Velo Girls: CCCX #4

Third time's a charm for Team Velo Girls member Simone Willett, as she learns the importance of the hole shot at the Central Coast XC Mountain Bike Race on March 30th.  After second-place finishes at her last two races, Simone scored that elusive WIN!

It was a great day at the races for Team Velo Girls.  Not only did Simone bring home the gold, but so did Cristina Mann (women's single speed).  Julie Kinder scored a silver (CAT3 women 35-44) and Jessica Uphoff also scored a silver (CAT3 women 19-34) in her very first mountain bike race ever!

Congratulations to all our racers!

Simone celebrates victory!

So it was 12PM and I looked at the weather for Tahoe this weekend and it was going to rain up at the mountain,  so I decided to go to the race in Ft. Ord. I knew I needed new brake pads, so I also changed those out after I  decided to go to the race, which by the time I got to bed, started just a couple hours later.

Got some Starbucks and made the 1.5 hour drive down and it’s lightly raining. The start of the race I took off first (Note: put the bike in the big chain ring in the front), then kept the same pace along the road to get to the single track. I let this one girl pass me but wasn’t going to let anyone else. I sat on her wheel for a mile or two before she started braking down all the downhills. I excel at the light rain and mud, I love that traction it gives you, so I passed her and never saw her again.

Before the 3rd lap I thought it was over so I was racing this guy to what I thought was the finish then slowed down until I heard my boyfriend yell that there was another lap to go! Whoops. I caught up to the other guy and  sat behind him for a while until he died on one of the hills. After that I snuck down a gu-like thing from my pocket after spilling half of it and that gave me the little bit I needed to finish off the race.

I learned my lesson about being first to the single track after last weekend I let this mom and her daughter pass me and it took me so long to get by them that I never saw the first place person again. Really makes a difference to have that positioning. I’ll have to work harder on making it to be the first to the single track.

Fun race!

-Simone

Riding with Team Velo Girls: Hill Climb Series

As we wrap up our 10-week Cinderella Progressive Training Ride Series, we're excited to announce our next endurance training series for 2013.  Led by our billy goats, Lyn and Diane, this five-ride co-ed series will include the most popular climbs in the bay area.  Whether you're training for a hilly event like The Death Ride or simply want to summit these peaks with a cool group of riders, this series promises to challenge you in a fun, supportive way.

Details for this series and all our rides and events can be found on our calendar at http://www.velogirls.com/calendar.php

And if you're training for The Death Ride, make sure to check out Savvy Bike's 5th Annual Alpine Altitude Adventure (aka Death Ride) Camp.  This co-ed camp provides three days of climbing on the famous Death Ride passes with expert coaching and friendly SAG support, all with a group of super-fun folks who love to climb, too!

April 28th -- Mt. San Bruno from San Francisco

May 12th -- Mt. Tamalpais via Alpine Dam from Sausalito

May 26th -- Coastal Classic (Old La Honda, Pescadero, Tunitas Creek) from Woodside

June 9th -- Mt. Diablo from Oakland

June 23rd -- Mt. Hamilton from San Jose


Which is your favorite climb?  Is there another bay area climb not on this list that you'd like to bag this season?

Savvy Bike: Dirt Don't Hurt

While many of our clinics focus on road cycling skills, we also teach mountain bike and cyclocross clinics.  There's still time to register for this Sunday's Bike Skills 102 (fundamental mountain bike skills) clinic.

This clinic is ideal for anyone who rides dirt (or anyone who would like to).  We teach you lots of fundamentals about balance, weight distribution, and momentum.  We include information about gear selection, bike technology, tires, and other details that are unique to riding mixed terrain.  We teach you to start, stop, and brake effectively in a variety of situations.  You'll learn how to climb and descend, slow turn and fast turn, ride switchbacks (up and down) and how to ride over obstacles.  We teach you how to have FUN on your mountain or cyclocross bike and to embrace the dirt!

Mountain Biking is fun!

You'll find details on Bike Skills 102 and all our camps + clinics here:

http://savvybike.eventbrite.com

Just Added: Segway Skills 401 (pacelines and group riding)

Always on the cutting edge of rider skills instruction, Savvy Bike is thrilled to introduce a new clinic for 2013:  Segway Skills 401 (pacelines and group riding).  As much as we'd like to see everyone ride a bicycle, we know that there are those who just can't cut it, so rather than trying to beat them, we're joining them.  Heck, at least they're out + about and NOT in a car, right?

This clinic focuses on group dynamics, communication, and safety.  We'll cover paceline theory, how to read the wind, and (most importantly) how to time your snot rockets so you only hit the riders you don't like.  We'll teach you how ride a wheel, paceline, and echelon.  Unfortunately, we can't teach you hand signals because we understand your lack of coordination and know that if you take your hand off the bar you'll probably eat it.  But heck, hand signals are for weenies anyways, right?

You'll find details on Segway Skills 401 and all our 2013 camps and clinics at http://savvybike.eventbrite.com