Now that the Des Moines weather is getting colder, I’ve jumped off the road racing circuit and my riding has consisted of leisurely pedaling to and from work. Now that I live in the East Village, it’s not a long jaunt to my lovely cube at Meredith but you know what would be nice? Having this schnazzy cup holder on my handlebars to hold my coffee from the Village Bean. Just a reminder, my birthday is coming up...

So... we here the rumors are flying so we want to get an answer out.

Will PRC be a team next year?!?

YES, we still love our bikes and YES, we all want to be teammates again and YES, PRC will be back for more next year!

And we plan to continue our Wednesday night ride and we plan to host our 'Race Like A Girl' races at Union Park. We might try new social media next year though... stay tuned for further details!

Maria just got the upgrade to be a Category 3 racer! This is definitely well deserved as Maria has had great success and puts so much effort and time into the bike.

Congrats Maria and special thanks for all that you do for our team!

A group gravel ride will be biking west from West Des Moines at 5 pm tonight. Bring your mountain or cross bike. Leave from Bike World West Bike Shop located at 5970 Ashworth Rd.

Just a reminder that tonight is New Belgium RENEGADE CYCLOCROSS #1. Get yourself down to UNION PARK where 'racing' starts at 5:30(ish) and will last for 45 minutes or so.

Below are the small details:
*Race LOCATION will change each week, and will be posted each monday at www.bikeiowa.com/cross. Tell your friends!
*So we're all clear....this is NOT a 'superPRO' showdown. If you're looking for some uber-serious UCI cross race you'll be disappointed.
*What this IS is a 'bike practice' for all skill levels. First-timers can come for experience and tips. Beginners can come to gain fitness and hone their technique. Fast guys can come get a good, honest to goodness cross workout each week.
*Most importantly, this is FUN. Keep that in mind, and pass it on!

Hope to see you all tonight and each Tuesday through October!!

The East Village Criterium on Sunday was a great race for many reasons – awesome location, challenging course, great payouts, very organized, view of entire course, loud speakers throughout, great competition, many spectators, Iowa Cup double point finale and you certainly can’t beat a local race with minimal travel. Thanks to all that organized and helped us make this race happen!

For the women’s Cat 1/2/3 race, Keely, myself and 5 other women took to the start line. Just as expected, the race was a challenging “time trial” from the start line. Sydney Brown started the charge will all of us following. The race quickly wound down to 4 of us - Sydney, Robin Williams, Jane Riessen (it was great to have her back in DSM) and myself. Pretty much the entire course is either downhill or uphill with little in between so it got quite tiring for the 45 minute race. About ¾ of the way through, I got lazy, tired and got gapped so I worked very hard to finally catch back on. My legs were screaming! Shortly after I was on, there was a charge up the big hill by Sydney that broke the race down to Sydney, Jane and myself but on the last lap, I found myself a ½ block back from the two of them and trying to catch back on but never did. Sydney won the race, followed by Jane and then myself. Congrats to all - we had a strong and determined group!

This “Iowa” victory for me gave myself the Cat 1/2/3 Iowa Cup 1st place prize along with our Punk Rock Cycling team winning the Cat 1/2/3 traveling trophy with a 1 point win over the Mercy Specialized team for the 2009 year. Pretty cool for PRC! Thanks to All9Yards for their continued Iowa Cup sponsorship. - it certainly makes the season interesting.

It's sad to see the end of a successful road season but stay tuned for photos from the race!

Big Creek Road Race and East Village Crit

What a great way to end the season. These two races were a ton of fun and full of support for the world of women cyclists. On Saturday, the Big Creek Road Race, put on by the women of All9Yards, had big fields and great weather. We had 7 women for the women’s open race and there were more for the women’s beginners. During the open, we stuck together until I crashed on lap 6 of 8. I wasn’t riding very smart and snagged a wheel as we were going uphill and I was grabbing for a waterbottle… The crash wasn’t such a bad thing, though. I may have cracked my helmet, but I was able to get right back up, no damage was done to my bike, face, or bones. And my head…well, I think we might all agree that was a little off before! Hehe. AND because I finished the race dead last, I won an hour massage to take care of all my aches and pains. I now LOVE races that are put on by other women. They know what it takes to get girls out of bed and go for a 48 mile ride.

And because I just moved down to the East Village, the EVC on Sunday was a blast. I was able to sleep in, ride my bike to the race, ride as best I could up that dang hill, hang out, watch the fourth corner and celebrate with my teammates when the event was all said and done; all without leaving my neighborhood! The women’s cat 4 race was a great one. Rebecca sped off the front as she crossed the start line and never looked back. We all chased her down but I couldn’t catch her. I wound up with a strong fifth and third in the Iowa Cup. Not a bad way to finish my first season.

Last week was our last Papa John Ride of the season but the weather is still nice and we still have daylight so why not ride gravel?

A group gravel ride will be biking west from West Des Moines at 5:30pm. Bring your mountain or cross bike. Leave from Bike World West Bike Shop located at 5970 Ashworth Rd.

(And Greg, we promise we're not cheating on you, just cutting down on the amount of town traffic to start our ride!)

Hope to see you there!

If so, tonight is your night! A few guys from DMOS will be holding a Cyclocross clinic for beginners at Cottonwood Park near Saylorville Lake, tonight, September 1st, at 5:30 pm.