Sunny in Spain

Sarah recently enjoyed a week off work, riding in the warm sunshine in Spain. The highlight of the holiday was "competing" in a local sportive. You can find a full report here.

Rumour has it that Iona and Vicky will soon be riding the same Spanish roads...

Wet and muddy at Crowthorne Woods!

Well done to Stephania Magri on finishing first in the Gorrick Autumn Classic round 2 with a four minute lead. 

"After finishing second in the first round of the Gorrick Autumn Classic, I was determined to go one better in the final round" explained Steph. 


"As always, with Gorrick events, the course was fun and challenging. The heavy rain in the afternoon made it even more challenging for later races. Sport and expert women started together so keeping Natasha Barry in sight, who won the expert category, was a good motivation for me". 

"Special thanks to my coach Steve Wright for standing in the feedzone handing clean Bike Food energy bottles and words of wisdom on a cold wet afternoon" !

Next race is the winter enduro series organised by Brass Monkeys.

Photography © Joolze Dymond www.joolzedymond.com

Two new riders for Squadra Donne!

Naomi Anderson has joined the team after guesting for us at the Ras na mBan in September. Having previously ridden for Team Zappis, she has decided that she will be racing in blue next season. We are all very pleased to have her on board.

Top class rider and sprinter Alice Monger Godfrey will also be joining Squadra Donne, having moved back to the UK after 3 seasons racing for a team based in Belgium.

We certainly have a cracking team and we are really looking forward to the 2011 season.

Squadra Donne at the Earls Court Cycle Show

Jon: "Went to the Bike Show at Earls Court on the last day purely to check in with the Shutt Velo Rapide stand and to meet not only Peter and the rest of the guys but also Simon, whom I had not met before. Good to see our team jersey on the stand. Steve, Iona and Stephania were also there, so it was good to have a chat.

Apart from the Shutt VR guys, a personal highlight for me was when I was sitting having a coffee with Peter and our lot, when casually strolling through the cafe and towards our table was Antique Roadshow regular Geoffrey Munn, who is a personal favourite of mine. Geoffrey, who is the jewellery expert on the long running BBC show was kind enough to stop and exchange a few words with me. I am now a happy chappy!"

Steve was also pleased to have met some personal favourites: Mario Chippolini and Eddy Merckx.

Iona enjoyed hanging out with the guys from Shutt, including Simon, who had recognised her from the winter track league at Manchester velodrome. Sarah's race jersey from Ras na mBan was hung up on the stand, all ripped with a tag attached. There was a debate about the colour of the Squadra Donne kit and pizza... in abundance!

Autumn days

The nights are drawing in and there's a real chill in the air. The road-racing season is over but we're still riding.

Photography © Joolze Dymond www.joolzedymond.com

Steph has hit the trails again. Last weekend she competed in the first round of the Gorrick Autumn Series at Swinley Forest and finished second in her age-group.

Meanwhile, Iona has been taking part in the winter track league at Manchester Velodrome.

Having recently moved house and started a new job, Sarah has been trying to work out how to juggle crazy shifts with long winter rides. She's found a great group of guys to ride with and has enjoyed discovering some great routes in the Chiltern Hills (as well as the best places to stop for coffee and cake!)

Gallery updated

 
Many thanks to the Sewell family for some great shots of us racing in Ireland. These can now be found on the gallery page of our website.

Squadra Donne Gallery
Ireland slideshow

Squadra Donne at the Earls Court Cycle Show

We'll be hanging out with our sponsors (Shutt Velo Rapide) this weekend at the Earls Court Cycle Show. Come and find us on stand D27b!

Cycle Show 2010