No regrets about moving to Colorado. But it is hard to leave good friends behind. One of those friends has been hounding me to do more regular blog entries -- apparently she misses me A LOT. So, in her honor, I'm doing a little retrospective here of the Fresno Bellas. After all, she and I met when we began riding together on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training inaugural cycling team in Fresno almost 9 years ago, then we did Climb to Kaiser together (twice! ouch!), we became assistant coaches for Team in Training, went to France for 2 1/2 weeks to follow the 2004 Tour de France together, and after begging for a year, she talked me into racing. So, Denise, just for you, here's a little walk down memory lane with the Fresno Bellas...
Me and Denise at our camp the last morning of Sea Otter 2007. Bittersweet, as I was quite aware I may not get back there in 2008...unless I can get VeloNews to assign me an article or two. This year, I worked on a feature on BPG, a pro men's team sponsored by a medical marijuana clinic while there (see Volume 36, Issue 8).
Lori and Pam get all flared-out at the 1st Annual Central Valley Women's Ride last year. 
This is why we all love being Bellas. This is the bike parking area at the 2007 Sea Otter Bella booth -- the hottest and sassy-est booth year after year.
And this, people, is a true friend. Denise really didn't want to do this, but she did it for me at Sea Otter this year -- I think she felt bad since we didn't know if I'd get to come back!
Ciao, Bellas!
This is my favorite pic of the Fresno Four....(front to back) Denise, Amy, Heidi, and me at the start of the Sea Otter road race in 2006. We swept the podium. Ok, that's a lie. We did all finish, however.
Me and Denise at our camp the last morning of Sea Otter 2007. Bittersweet, as I was quite aware I may not get back there in 2008...unless I can get VeloNews to assign me an article or two. This year, I worked on a feature on BPG, a pro men's team sponsored by a medical marijuana clinic while there (see Volume 36, Issue 8).
Lori and Pam get all flared-out at the 1st Annual Central Valley Women's Ride last year. Ok, Lisa Hunt and Felicia Gomez aren't Bellas, but they've got the spirit. Lisa is the director of ValueAct Capital, a smokin' hot pro women's team (see Little Yellow Bug's blog), and Felicia raced for Webcor, but now races for Aaron's, and is a good friend and fellow prof from Fresno State. We posed for the paparazzi at a rest stop at that Women's Ride here.
Mmmm....lovin' the margaritas after the 2006 Sea Otter road race back at the Bella Booth with Amy and 'Liz. Of course, Amy got violently ill after this and had to go to the hospital -- and not even from the margarita (honest, we only had one each).
A 2006 Fresno Bella Christmas get-together at The Cheesecake Factory: (l to r) me, Amy, Denise, Heidi, and Tracy. Heidi will be taking a little time off from racing, as she's pregnant with her first baby -- congrats, Heidi! And Tracy is recovering like a rock star from a terrible crash in a crit a few months back (see Tim Loper's blog).
Mmmm....lovin' the margaritas after the 2006 Sea Otter road race back at the Bella Booth with Amy and 'Liz. Of course, Amy got violently ill after this and had to go to the hospital -- and not even from the margarita (honest, we only had one each).
A 2006 Fresno Bella Christmas get-together at The Cheesecake Factory: (l to r) me, Amy, Denise, Heidi, and Tracy. Heidi will be taking a little time off from racing, as she's pregnant with her first baby -- congrats, Heidi! And Tracy is recovering like a rock star from a terrible crash in a crit a few months back (see Tim Loper's blog). 
This is why we all love being Bellas. This is the bike parking area at the 2007 Sea Otter Bella booth -- the hottest and sassy-est booth year after year.
And this, people, is a true friend. Denise really didn't want to do this, but she did it for me at Sea Otter this year -- I think she felt bad since we didn't know if I'd get to come back!
Ciao, Bellas!
2 comments:
Oh my gosh.....I'm going to find some computer savvy teen, who can hack into your blog and remove that chilipepper photo!
What you don't know folks, is that behind the chili pepper I'm flipping Kathie the bird.
Great post! Thanks for the nice memories! We sure miss you...
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