Sunday, December 30, 2012

AISHIT

As the rest of the world is moving forward in their support of women's cycling, it appears Australia is taking a different approach.

After one of their most successful years in quite a while (minus the Olympics), word on the street is that the women's AIS road program will make massive cuts for 2013. I guess the powers to be have their knickers in a twist after a poorer than expected showing at the Olympics, and the fact that girls they overlooked (think Rowney and Neylan), have been some of the breakthrough Aussie riders in 2012. Sour grapes anyone?

In another smart move, apparently all the national coaching contracts were renewed just before the Olympics. I wish my teachers gave me As and passed me to the next grade before I even sat the test! So it appears the boys club lives on, while the girls suffer the consequences. And we thought USUCK were bad! How bout AISHIT?!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Haters Gonna Hate.

While we’ve mostly had overwhelmingly positive feedback to our new blog site, we’d like to take the time to address the following email entitled, “What a Stupid F*king Idea”:

Folks complain about women's cycling not being taken seriously, then someone who is actively involved in the sport thinks something like this is actually a good idea? Good job of highlight the most irrelevant part of the sport and perpetuating the "cat fighting" mentality.
          Sincerely, JOD

Dear “JOD,”
     First of all, I would like to thank you for your suggestions to the site! We want this to be the people’s site, where one's voice can be heard, and all opinions are taken into account. While I, personally, will not be heeding your advice, I will address your lovely hate message. Though we, women racers, are primarily concerned with making money, being on the cover of Velonews, and plotting a full-on coup d'état of the good ole boys’ club (i.e. USUCK), we also enjoy a good laugh here and there. In fact, we think the peloton needs it as I’ve been lead to believe that people on the outside (i.e. non spandex-wearing folk) think we’re all lil’ cray cray, and quite frankly, we need to be able to have the adequate social skills to have relationships and get jobs after the cleats are hung up.
 
So, Joddy (mind if I call you Joddy?), do us a favor: don’t take it too seriously, enjoy a brewski, and for God’s sake, please lower that “holier than though” seatpost you’re currently ridin’ on. A free piece of dating advice: women might find it unattractive.

    Second of all, I’m curious… “JOD”… Jolly Ominous D-bag? Just [keep your mouths shut and leave it to us] Old Dude? or Just got Out Done [/chicked]?

    And lastly, JOD, as you might notice, I took the liberty to add the “Sincerely” before your name in your hate message to gift you with a little decency. Tis the Christmas season afterall! You're welcome.

With hugs and kisses,
Bike Gossip Girl

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Exergy2016 and Tibco roster release

Let's try this out!

Early 2013 roster release for Exergy2016 and Tibco!

Exergy2016 Roster:
Mara Abbott
Katy Antonneau
Rebecca Balboni
Jackie Crowell
Andrea Dvorak
Heather Fischer
Christa Ghent
Kristin McGrath
Greta Neimanas
Kayla Sterlin
Lauren Tamayo
Alison Tetrick
Jennifer Valente


Tibco Roster:
Anna Barrensfield
Chantal Blaak
Rushlee Buchanan
Jasmin Glaesser
Claudia Hausler
Nicole Justice
Joanne Kiesanowski
Amanda Miller
Meredith Miller
Lindsay Myers
Shelley Olds
Sam Schneider

How this site works

Hello!

Thanks for checking out bike gossip girl.  We recently received the below email from someone:

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Is this site real?

Is this site real and will any tips I offer truly be anonymous?

Boca Di Bici
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We'd like to take this opportunity to explain to you how this blog works.  Bike Gossip Girl is all of us.  This blog contains posts from multiple authors - some who submitted many posts, some who submitted just one.  If you have some gossip that you'd like to share anonymously, this is your venue!

Here is how it works:

Email your post to: bikegossipgirl.tips@blogger.com  You should write your email just as you would like the post to appear on the website.  Have the post title in the subject line of the email, and the post itself in the email body. Have your post written just as you would like it to appear on the website.  The admins of this website don't need to edit your work (although we might, if we feel like there is a good one liner that just needs to go in).

Also, no need for gossip to be long.  Of course, we love long funny posts with trite one-liners... but if you have some gossip that just needs to be out there, a sentence or two will do.

After you send an email, your post will display like this in the admin panel.



The picture above is to assure you that your submission is completely anonymous.  As you can see, when Boca Di Bici sent the above email to the bikegossipgirl.tips@blogger.com, it just populated as a draft post automatically the blog -- with "bike gossip girl" as the author.  The admins have absolutely no idea what email any post came from.

After posts are submitted as drafts, the admins of the site will hit publish, and they will go on the blog - with "bike gossip girl" as the author.  It could be made so that emails you send are automatically published as posts, but we are concerned about spam, so for now they will go as saved drafts first.

So, there you see, everyone can be bike gossip girl~ no one knows who said what, not even the blog creators - who may not even write one post.

Any more questions?  Please ask us.  But more importantly, please send gossip posts!  We need lots more dirt on the peloton.   

Post Deux


Hello all who’ve happened to miraculously stumble upon this little gem, do we have treats for you! A lot of  interest has been expressed since last week's very first post and we hope to continue to build our viewerbase even more! An aussie contingent? We'd love a good AIS-bashing. Make sure to keep the tips flowing (anonymously, of course) by emailing bikegossipgirl.tips@blogger.com and Retweet our sh*T.

To begin with, time to unofficially confirm the rumor that the 2013 USUCK National Team DS will be Jake Seehafer, which we think is a good step forward for the program but also makes us question if Kori plans to return to full-time racing. And why not?? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named came back at 38 also!

Continuing with USUCK… The governing body has just held a private track camp for five riders (Higgins, Crowell, MacGrath, Wilcoxson, and ???*) only two weeks prior to the scheduled 25-rider camp (i.e. for pan-am games selection). Thank gawd for a level playing field.

In other news, the Vanderkitty roster has been been released and apparently THIS year will BE NEXT LEVEL! (as with the last 6 or 7 years): http://pedalmag.com/?p=179618&c. Notable addition to the roster is Rhae “Once a triathlete, always a triathlete” Shaw. C'mon Vanderkitten, what happened to your poster girl? #BringHatchBack.
Also, apparently Exergy2020 still has a 14 pro-rider roster for next year but with all those bouncing checks, we'll believe it when we see it!

Two further corrections/additions to last week's round-up: Canada’s track youngster, Jasmine Glaesser, will be transferring from Colavita-espnW to TIBCO and Former Roller Derby Diva Jennifer Wheeler is yet another 2012 TIBCO casualty. Could it be that Wheeler's getting her cue to return to Pink Cheek Alley**? http://onesforwheeler.blogspot.com/2012/12/crash-course-in-pro-cycling.html. All we know for sure is that the peloton just got tad safer.


You know you love me.
XOXO,
bGG

???* unconfirmed but due to our supreme infer-via-association skills (also known as who gets the dolladollabillzyall), we’d have to bet on the fifth person being an Exergy rider.

**Derby lingo, you wouldn't get it.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Women's Teams Round-up

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Hey all bicycle racers, fans, and Freds, BikeGossipGirl here and I’m posting the first rendition of what will hopefully be a season full of the latest and greatest bicycling news that you won’t see anywhere else. To begin with, it seems like all the women’s teams are slow to post rosters for 2013 so we’ve decided to conduct a little of our own research:

Specialized-Lululemon: The epilepsy-inducing kits are back! Returning is the Wall Street banker turned superstar, Evie Stevens, who will likely try to win every stage race she enters this year. In addition to Evie, it looks like the team has strengthened their GC riders bringing on Tayler from Exergy. Notable exclusion is Amber Neben, who has transferred a Italia, perhaps annoyed with the aforementioned banker’s non Cav-like interviews after the world championships (not to mention, the suppos'ed Exergy Tour debacle). Likewise, with the retirement of Ina “I Eat Babies For Breakfast” Teutenberg, and the transfer of Aussie Chloe Hoskins to Hitec, Lulu lacks the sprinting prowess that it’s had in years past. Moral of the story: bunch sprint: okay, but don’t let these chicks get up the road or else we’re all screwed.

TIBCO: With Megan going to Rabo, and a score of girls quitting the sport outright, this team has just about shattered from last year and is going to be nearly unrecognizable. However, Tibco is certainly bringing on a wealth of talent including Claudia Haussler who joins the American-based UCI team from Europe and Shelley, California’s prodigal daughter, who is returning after a short stunt in Europe, bringing along her personal director.

Optum: With a new UCI license, Optum is back on a vengeance with the signing of Lauren Hall (first loser of both the USA National Criterium and Road Race titles). Notables missing from the 2013 roster are Anna Barensfield (to TIBCO?) and Lex Albrecht (to NOW?). Lex won a stage of Cascade Classic as well as the QOM and Best Young Rider’s jersey, making it quite strange that Optum didn’t do everything in their power to keep this young climbing sensation on board. Also, I would’ve thought that Amanda Miller would be included on the roster as she’s been racing for them this Cyclocross season, but alas, she is not.

NOW: Is this team still living? Their social media is despicable. Srsly. Despite this, from the best our abilities, it looks like Robin, Alison, Olivia, Devon, and Beth are returning and our sources tell us that the addition of a couple of “strong no-names” (oxymoron?) is sure to make this team a powerhouse. One notable exclusion from the roster is Addy, i.e. “Baby Pro,” who is rumored to have jumped across the Atlantic and joined the UCI “Big Leagues” in Europe. That’s a hell of a jump but In bocca al lupo!

Colavita-espn: While the team did nothing much to note of this past season, they’ll likely get a boost in palmares in 2013 as Team Director Tina Pic returns after getting the big middle finger from USUCK to be the National Team’s DS. Good for Colavita, Bad for the future of the Stars & Stripes.

Exergy 2016: Will this team ever see the light of day in 2013? With the men’s team recently cut and Team sponsor, Exergy, overpromising and underdelivering in the cycling world, rumor has it that this team has been reduced from 14 riders to 7. No doubt the dynamics of the team will change with Olympic superstar Kristen Armstrong retiring for the second time (Comeback 3.0 in 2015?). However, the addition of one the finest billygoats this nation has ever produced, Mara Abbott, will likely make this team a force on the climbs. I’m shaking in my boots just thinking about it. No time cut puhlease!!! DS-wise, Michael Englemen looks like he’s on board to direct Exergy. Funny how despite being someone who has always been outspoken against USUCK cycling policies, he’s now directing it’s biggest insider team. I guess you can’t stick it to the man forever…

Primal/MapMyRide: RIP. Looks like California-based elite team Vanderkitten is going to be Primal 2.0 with the additions of Liza Rachetto and Emily Kachorek. With Liza’s husband being the director of VK, what will this mean for the team’s racing dynamics next year? Time will tell but all we know is that we love a good catfight. Meow.

FCS/ Rouse: RIP. Le Shitshow du Peloton is no longer.

USUCK Cycling National Team: With Jackson Stewart finally getting his call to “step up” to direct the pro men’s team, who will be the next Women’s National Team DS? We’ve heard a few proposals on the table, and all we have to say is that we hope it’s someone who actually gives a shit.


Have something to add?
email me at
bikegossipgirl.tips@blogger.com

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Summary:
TEAM
Staying
Leaving
New
Who knows?
Colavita-espn



bertin, bookwalter, caron, glaesser, guloien, macgregor, zider
Exergy2016
crowell, dvorak, mcgrath, starnes, tamayo
amstrong (retiring) wiles (lulu)
mara abbott
antonneau, cliff-ryan, logan-sprenger, rivera, schneider, shaw
Now-novartis
dillon, gorry, farina, newell, powers
albershardt, james, gokey-smith, samplonious (retiring)
albrecht, donnovan, kinsella, ryan

Optum
ewart, holcomb, kirchmann, lowe, numainville, ramsden, wilcoxson
albrecht (now), barresfiled (tibco), small (lulu), grant, sanders (retired)
alexander, gaffney, hall, walle


Primal-mapmyride

clark, crowley, cutler (vk), kachorek (vk), kurth, rachetto (vk), wangsgard (retired), wienbrecht, welsh


Rideclean
allar


hayduck
Fcs-Rouse

donnovan (now), mcguire, sanders, stephens, warner


Tibco
kiesenowski, m. miller

hall, wheeler
barrensfield, blaak, hausler, justice, olds
fortin, a. miller, myers, purcell, ryan, schneider, whitten
Vanderkitten
chilcott, mattis, winder
collins (wiggle-honda), hurikino, kinsella (now)
cutler, rachetto, kachorek
billington, dimple, drigo, o'donnell, reither, teddergreen

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