A big thank you from PRC to all of you who came out to Race Like A Girl #4 last night. Whether you raced, volunteered or just hung out and cheered, your presence was appreciated!

Also, big thanks to Elder Corp, Baby Boomers and all of our RLAG sponsors. Your prizes are always a hit and we really appreciate the cookies for the kids races too! Thank you much.

The results from last night are listed below. If you notice any errors, please contact us at punk@punkrockcycling. (We did the best we could, but some of the larger fields and “creative” number pinning made things a tad more challenging.)

Speaking of race numbers, bike thanks to Chad and All-9-Yds for lending us a few. We’ve already placed an order to ensure we’ll have enough for next month. Thanks again!

Men’s A Race #1: Scratch (15 laps)
1. Jared Osterlich
2. Jon Meyer
3. Jed Gammel

Men’s B Race #1: Scratch (10 laps)
1. Mike Blahut
2. Nathan Hicks
3. Steve Doughty

Women’s Race #1: Scratch (8 laps)
1. Sara Broek
2. Emily Schaapveld
3. Maria Ruhtenberg

Men’s A Race #2: Granny Gear (2 laps)
1. Nathan Bartels
2. Matt Gumm
3. Jed Gammel

Men’s B Race #2: Granny Gear (1 lap)
1. Kyle McKimpson
2. Jeff Osborn
3. Dave Hammer

Women’s Race #2: Granny Gear (1 lap)
1. Emily Schaapveld
2. Jane Collignon
3. Becky Fletcher

Kid’s Race: Under 8 (1 lap)
1. Grady Robinson
2. Noah Gumm
3. Sam Gumm

Kid’s Race : Over 8 (2 laps)
1. Preston Doerrfeld
2. Lance Maharry
3. Emily Smith

Men’s A Race #3; Missin’ Out
1. Lane Anderson
2. Jared Osterlich
3. Jed Gammel

Men’s B Race #3: Missin’ Out
1. Mike Blahut
2. Herb Hollwager
3. Ryan Williams

Women’ Race #3: Missin’ Out
1. Maria Ruhtenberg
2. Emily Schaapveld
3. Becky Fletcher

Finale Race: Rabbit Chase
Rabbit Jeff Osborn was able to stay off the field and recoup his entry fee! Nice work, Jeff!

Tomorrow, the women of PRC will be racing in the Iowa State Championship Road Race, starting in West Branch, Iowa. The women's Category 1/2/3 race will be heading out for 81 miles starting at 10:20, followed by the women's Category 4 race at 10:40, racing 54 miles. Click HERE for the race flier.

Punk Rock Cycling's RACE LIKE A GIRL, powered by Elder Corp, is TONIGHT!! Come to Union Park in Des Moines for registration at 4:45 and racing at 5:30.

It's Wednesday and therefore another beautiful night for the Papa John Ride. Join us in the parking lot just west of Rasmussen Bike Shop where we'll head south of town for either a 24 or 31 mile loop. Your choice!

I’m HEALING!

I was visiting family in good ol’ Atlantic, Iowa this past weekend after RAGBRAI. We were sitting around the kitchen, swapping stories, and laughing at my crazy 2-year-old cousin when my Grandpa turns to me and says, “Sara, do you have small pox? Why do you have pink spots all over your arms? You should have been vaccinated for that.” My response: “No, Gramps. No small pox. Remember. I crashed my bike.” And then I whipped out my knees to show him the bigger and deeper scrapes that have just started to scab. (Yes, I know I shouldn’t pick—but I do anyway.)

So things are on the up-and-up with the whole thing: My tush is no longer purple and that weird healing-yellowish color; I can bend my knees to a 90 degree angle; my handlebars are new and different (I thought blue would be a good choice for bar tape. I was wrong—please don’t remind me of this); and my elbows, shoulder, and wrists are healing nicely (and they’re pink, which apparently makes me look sick. Awesome.) Unfortunately, my tummy has expanded from having an entire week of being exercise-free and then RAGBRAI. Hmm.

So to get back in shape, I’m looking forward to dying on the TNWC starting from Grounds for Celebration, the Papa John PRC ride on Wednesday night starting from Rasmussen’s Bike Shop, and RACE LIKE A GIRL powered by Elder Corp. on Thursday at 5:30 at Union Park. We’ll see if I can bounce back by the state road race on August 1...

Also, I want to thank everyone for their help as I’ve been on the mend. Duffy, Dee, Erich, Cheryl, Teammates, Roomies, Co-workers, Rasmussen’s... You’ve all been wonderful. Thank you.

After PRC's been watching the Tour de France, we've decided we want to be faster, we want to be more like them so maybe we should even eat like them. This rice cake recipe we stole from Garmin-Slipstream definitely has our interest so we'd thought we'd share...

Punk Rock Cycling's RACE LIKE A GIRL, powered by Elder Corp, is coming up!! Come to Union Park in Des Moines on Thursday July 30, 2009. Registration opens at 4:45, racing begins at 5:30.

If you haven't raced this event, this is your month. It is perfect for beginner and veteran racers alike—so grab your non-racer, ragbrai biker friends and bring 'em out to experience what racing is all about. We, of course, will have the traditional men's A and B category races, women's races and a kids race.

This month we are looking forward to all central Iowa teams showing up and bringing your kids to race (cookies from Baby Boomers for all kid racers!) Yes, we want to see pink, green, black, orange, blue, yellow, red, everyone! Lots of fun prizes for the big kids, too.

Hope to see you Thursday at Union Park!

PRC had a great time in Clear Lake this past weekend. Saturday was the big BBQ Crit down town by the lake. It was a beautiful day and the Cat 4 women went first, which was awesome for getting a good warm up in on the course. But starting at 1 p.m. was a new ordeal for Heather, Emily and Sara—usually we’ve finished the race, packed up the mommy van, and are relaxing by then.

We had a decent field with 8 or 9 girls. During the race, Sara and Emily stayed off the front with Cassandra from Team Skin. And they all worked together well. Dee from All 9 Yards slowly worked her way up to them. Sara took advantage of the sprinter’s hill and sped of the front to finish first and Em was right behind her to finish third. What a great race!

Keely and Kelli had a smaller field in the Cat 1/2/3 race. But the two of them hauled butt around the course and had a close finish. Keely had a great sprint and came in first place for the field sprint win. Big congrats to Keely!

The road race on Sunday started out well for the Cat 4s. The girls were riding pretty aggressively within the first 12 miles. Unfortunately, Sara caught Kim’s wheel on an attack and hit the pavement. Joann and Dee went tumbling down after. Poor Joann broke her collarbone, Dee had a minor scratch on her arm, and thankfully Sara left the scene with no broken bones and her face still intact. She only has some wicked scrapes. All over. Ouch. Sara’s bike is out of commission still, but the Rasmussen’s Bike Shop squad has been taking good care of her baby and getting it all fixed up for RAGBRAI!

Em and Heather stopped to make sure Sara was all good, and once they saw all body parts intact and no major injuries, they hopped back on and tried to catch the other riders. Ana, who rejoined the girls for the weekend, took first and Em couldn’t quite catch up and landed fourth and Heather took fifth.

Another small field for the Cat 1/2/3 road race Sunday kept the group together tight the entire race with Kelli and Keely taking third and fourth respectively in the final sprint.

It was a successful weekend of racing for PRC! Congrats to all!

Dear Steve & Cheryl Schurtz,

How do we begin to thank you for again hosting us for the Clear Lake race weekend? We love staying at the Outing Club and really appreciate your hospitality. The lake cottages are beautiful and we also appreciate your friends who let part of our team stay in their cottages. Thanks also for the delicious pre-race breakfast. You're lucky we ever leave!

Thanks again for a great weekend and congrats to the race committee for putting on a great weekend of racing! We truly appreciate it.

Sincerely,
The Women of Punk Rock Cycling

It's Wednesday... join us for our weekly Wednesday night ride from Rasmussen's at 5:30. Should be a great night for a ride!

We hope to see you there.

We are sad to post that our teammate Emily is moving to California this August, however we're quite happy and proud of her acceptance to a Cal-Poly grad program there. Very exciting!

With the move across the country, many sweet bike things must be sold so if you're in the market or even just enjoy shopping, check out Emily and Nathan's garage sale this Friday night. Please see details below.



What: Garage sale – all things bike related
When: FRIDAY, JULY 17 - ONE DAY ONLY!
Time: 5-8pmWhere: 422 E Locust Street– Old Panorama Casual Building (sign still in window)

You do not want to miss this one. Nathan and Emily are cleaning house, getting ready for their move to California, so now is your chance to get a great deal on all sorts of bike stuff… pedals, cleats, wheels, kits, clothing, saddles, stems, handlebars, sunglasses, helmets, bikes, trainers, and much, much, more!

RED HOT ITEMS:
2008 58 Specialized Langster Comp track frame and fork
2008 58 Specialized Tarmac SL S-Works complete road bike w/ full Dura Ace
2007 Transition Pro complete time trial bike w/ full Dura Ace
2008 Bare Knuckle track bike
2009 Orbea Ordu time trial bike
Schwinn home grown mountain bike - $300!
Cyclops Fluid 2 Trainer - Ridden less than 150 miles
Kreitler Challenger Rollers with fan

If you are interested in any of the items listed, but can’t make the sale, just shoot us an email.
Nathan – nbidlake@yahoo.com or Emily – schnem@hotmail.com

From Emily:

Trails are probably too wet tonight.. but we are going to ride gravel instead. Bring your mountain bike and meet us at Ashworth Pool at 5:30pm.

Big news for the PRC team! Keely, Heather and Kelli all raced Elkhart TT last night and we're happy to report, PRC now holds the Elkhart TT women's course record.

That's RIGHT! Lisa Vetterlein, Team Kenda, set the women's course record several years ago of 16:56 and last night, Kelli finished in a time of 16:51. This is an average of 26.5mph over the 12K course. Big time congrats to Kelli for the killer time in windy conditions! Awesome!

Also for PRC, Keely finished second in the women's open category with a time of 18:54. Heather had a PR last night and won the women's Eddy Merkx category with a time of 20:29.

Congrats to the women of PRC! Click HERE for full Elkhart results.


And more racing this weekend. The PRC team is heading up to Clear Lake for the Bicycle, Blues & BBQ Festival. PRC will be racing the criterium on Saturday and then a 42 mile road race on Sunday morning.

Come over and compete or spectate if you're in the area. Weekend race details can be found HERE.

Why I love to Mountain Bike:

1. 1. When I fall, it doesn’t hurt like concrete
2. 2. My bike is called a “Yo Eddy”
3. 3. I don’t fear getting hit by a car…just getting poison ivy.
4. 4. I can play on the trails for hours and never get bored
5. 5. I can now successfully clear a (small) log without hitting it
6. Squirrel
7. The little dirt ramp in Denmans
8. I can get lost in the mountains in Colorado
9. Cam
10. When my bike is dirty, it looks tough…not just dirty

So, don't forget to join me at 5:30 on Mondays at Ashworth Pool!

Good news! It's Wednesday and therefore join the Papa John Ride from Rasmussen Bike Shop at 5:30pm, plus delicious Papa John's pizza when we return to the bike shop.

Join us and bring your friends along! We look forward to seeing you!

PRC's Sara, Keely and Kelli showed up to race the Iowa State Championship Criterium in Cedar Rapids this past Sunday and brought home three medals!

The Iowa State Championship Criterium takes place THIS SUNDAY in downtown Cedar Rapids. The course is flat, .6 mile in length per lap with 4 left hand corners and crossing 4 bridges per lap. Crazy.

Several of our women from PRC are making the road trip. Our awesome Category 4 women will be racing at 11:30am with our Category 3 riders ripping up the course at 1:15pm. GO PRC!

There's racing from 9am til 4pm so stop by if you're in the area!

I have been told for years by various people on two wheels that I ought to give this racing thing a try. And now, in the midst of my inaugural season, I am slowly beginning to learn that this racing thing is a lot like amassing knowledge in the real world: the more you learn, the less you realize you know.

I was always too tired from being a mama, too broke, too scared, and the whole idea of racing just seemed very untouchable for an infinite number of reasons. And yet, as a single mother, with a very active, athletic child, it has perhaps, never been more important for me as a parent to set an example for my son of what commitment to a team, dedication and hard work are all about.

As parents, and especially as single working parents, we constantly utter the inevitable; “but there isn’t enough time.”

And believe me, there have been weeks like the last couple that have tested and tried my notion of why I ever thought this was a good idea. You take in one week five baseball practices/games, track practices, school events, work, and promotional events, two races, rides and training, and wow….

But somehow, my son and I are managing all of this happily, dancing around our house in our spare minutes and loving each and every one of them; joking each morning as we rub sleep from our eyes, the happiest we’ve been in years.

Because of the loving support of my 9 year old son, my family, this great group of women, and more importantly, because of this great group of sponsors, I have been able to jump on a bike and foray into racing in a capacity that quite simply otherwise would not be possible. I am so very, very grateful.

A shout of very inadequate thanks to:
1. Rasmussen’s Bike Shop: Best bike shop in Iowa. Hands down. If you can leave this place without laughing, learning something, and buying something…well, there might be something wrong.

2. Elder Corporation: your contribution to our team and our success has been the glue that keeps this team going. You move dirt, AND change lives. Mine is testament.

3. Papa Johns: thank you for taking a chance on us, and specifically on me. Your pizza at our Wednesday night rides is also pretty darned good too.

4. Visionary Services: seeing your family on a bike at the Rally at the Capitol put your passion and drive all into perspective.

5. RBS Safety, Oakley Rob, Specialized, Maharry Photography, D.E. Smith Photography, SMASH, Harlot…y’all rock, and are patient and wonderful beyond measure.

6. My teammates: for answering my incessant questions, laughing at my awful jokes, putting up with my child stealing your stuffed animals, accepting him as your own and never, ever giving up on me. And especially Keri, for dragging me in to this in the first place, and never, ever seeing the cup half empty.

Thank you really seems inadequate.

I lay in bed with my son last night chatting before I put him to sleep. He said: “Mama, I want you to know that I am really proud of you for how you are riding your bike. I know it makes you happy, and that makes me happy. I want to be good at baseball and football and basketball, just like you are good at riding your bike.”

Without these sponsors, these people…I am laying in that bed with my kid, eating a candy bar….dreaming of racing, some day.

Just one day left in our auction!! HURRY!!

Alright fans, now is your chance to own a sweet custom pair of Oakley's...the same ones worn by the women of Punk Rock Cycling! We are auctioning off one pair of Flak Jackets and 1 pair of Oakley Radars. I am sure you have seen us sport them on our rides and at races....well, and anytime you see us as we wear them often. And of course, they are all over the website as well. We have gotten numerous compliments and we think they are the best sport glasses ever! So, if you would like to have a pair of these smokin' hot glasses, go to the Ebay listings below to place your bid! Oh, and did I mention that "PUNK ROCK" is etched in the lower left lens? It doesn't get much cooler than that.

Click HERE and HERE to view our 2 Ebay auctions. Auction ends on July 2...Happy Bidding!