Introducing New Harlots for 2014!

It’s almost March already, how in the heck did that happen? Longer, sunnier days mean it’s time to start training for race season!

We’ve got some exciting changes for the 2014 season. We have added four new super awesome shredders to the team.

We welcome with open arms Amy Esnard, Jaimie Didier, Nikki Hollatz and Laura Whiting (bios coming soon!).

The Oregon Super-D Series is now called the Oregon Enduro Series. There are some pretty big changes to the race format, and one more venue has been added–one of my favorites, Ashland! Check out the website for details.

We are also looking for new sponsors to help make this race season a success! We’ll proudly represent your company while we ride, train, and race–just contact us to learn how to sponsor the Dirty Harlots!

See you on the trail and happy shredding!

We Love Our Sponsors!

It’s high time for the Harlots to give props and thanks to our sponsors–a list that only keeps getting longer! For 2014, we have the following companies on board, helping us out with product and monies that we are putting toward our race jerseys, a team banner, etc:

Harlot Clothing Co.

Dirty Fingers Bikes

Five Ten

Shimano

Ten Speed Coffee

Double Mountain Brewery

Fox

Dare 2b

I can’t say enough about how amazing it has been to watch the Gorge community’s support for cycling grow over the past few years. With sweet riding in every cardinal direction–both mountain and road–Hood River is poised to become a world-class cycling destination, right up there with Fruita and perhaps one day, even Moab. Factor in all of the other outdoor and cultural activities, from kiteboarding to kayaking, fabulous restaurants, breweries, and wineries, and beautiful scenery, and we’ve got a veritable mecca for adventure and fun!

The Harlots are so stoked to be a part of this supportive and wonderful community, during such an exciting time in the evolution of cycling both as an industry on the whole, and within our little corner of the world. We are also proud to be involved as a team with the newly formed Hood River Area Trail Stewards (HRATS), a locally-managed IMBA chapter dedicated to maintaining, building, and saving our trail networks, and with Post and Pinot, the Gorge’s only dedicated weekly women’s mountain bike ride (first ride of the year is tonight!), complete with post-ride wine and raffle prizes.

A big, huge, heart-felt THANK YOU to all of our sponsors for 2014. We will do our best to represent and make you proud!

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September Sabbatical

September was a quiet month for the Harlots. Super-D season is pretty much over, a couple of us are taking care of injuries from the series final in Sandy Ridge, and it’s just been a good time to slow down a bit. A little sabbatical can be good for the shredder’s soul (…and lower back…and hip flexor…and ribs…and shoulder).

We bade a sad farewell to our dear teammate Jessica Robinson a couple of weeks ago, wishing her the best as she migrated north to Bellingham, Washington for a year of higher education. We already miss her, on and off the bike. The good news is, she lives all that much closer to Whistler. I see an early season Canada trip in the Harlots’ future next spring…

Hood River lady rippers just wrapped up a great first season of the weekly Post and Pinot ride, sponsored by Dirty Fingers Bicycle Repair and Naked Winery. What a fun summer it was, meeting new women who are stoked to ride, laughing until our guts hurt, eating popcorn popped just for us by Gary at Dirty Fingers, and drinking enough wine and beer on a Wednesday evening to make it feel like a Friday. Good times, ladies! I already can’t wait until next season.

Stoked to be Shredding -- Post and Pinot

Thanks to Heather Pola for all of the fabulous schwag she scored for our raffles!

Ocean Frog/Heather Pola Rides!

The fall riding season in the Gorge is something I’ve been looking forward to for a couple of months. The trails are tacky, the temps are perfect, all bathed in that gorgeous fall light that is the stuff of dreams. I am personally very excited to ride the Syncline again, after the typical hiatus from the dust, heat, and poison oak it’s famous for  during the summer months.Post and Pinot might be over, but I do see potential for Syncline and Solstice on Wednesday evenings, shredding followed by all-you-can-eat pizza at Solstice Cafe in Bingen. Hells yeah!

Fall riding in the Gorge.

As far as the team goes, we are in the process of planning for the 2012 season. It may seem a little early to be thinking about it, but it’s never too early, really, to start looking for more sponsors. We hope to expand the team to six or eight lady rippers, all based in Hood River. I see potential for good exposure for sponsors, as we all did very well in the Oregon Super-D series this year, with Hood River ladies taking top podium spots for each race, and for the series overall. Besides looking for more sponsors, we plan to attend more races–ideally all of the Super-D races in the Northwest, an XC race or two, and maybe even some DH. We’ll keep you posted as things evolve — and we’ll be introducing new team members very soon!

Happy Fall Riding!

Next Up: Races in Black Rock, Moab, AND Bend on Halloween weekend — How to decide?