Team Laser Cats

Folks in Philadelphia who love bikes, cats, and snacks.


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Crossasaurus Awesome: Philly Girls Don’t Give Up

Lindsay Hall races for Laser Cats from her homebase in Central PA. On Sunday, she joined teammates at Crossasaurus Awesome. Read more of her writing at http://trainingonaprayer.blogspot.com/

N-now th-that that don’t kill me
Can only make me stronger
I need you to hurry up now
Cause I can’t wait much longer
I know I got to be right now
Cause I can’t get much wronger
Man I’ve been waiting all night now
That’s how long I been on ya

Continue reading →


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Photos from West Chester CX #1

As the women of Team Laser Cats prepare for a weekend at Whirlybird, Crossasaurus Awesome, and DCCX, here’s a look at photos from last Sunday’s race at West Chester. Photos by Willem Heydendael, Elisabeth Reinkordt, and Sam Orskog.

Taylor lining up in the 1/2/3s
Elisabeth stays warm at the start
Sam on the start line
Taryn on the start grid at West Chester #1 2015
Taylor up the run up
Elisabeth keeping Taylor in sight
Taryn runs up
Guest junior rider Tamia in her first cx race
Sam on the run up
Tamia brought her crit racing strength to the grass
Elisabeth bridges up to Taylor in the 1/2/3s
Cati, Taylor, and Elisabeth in the battle for 3rd on the last lap
All smiles at the finish!
1/2/3 podium saw Taylor in 3rd, Elisabeth in 5th
‘Cross makes you hungry. Good thing Michaela brought a pup
Tamia on the junior podium!
Taylor’s amazing parents brought a whole tailgate
PUPPY


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Caffeinated Cross: A Lesson in Self Acceptance

Awhile ago I (Krista) watched the women’s field at a local cyclocross race, straddling a friend’s cyclocross bike so I could bike from spot to spot along the winding course. At one straight away, in which the women zipped by with speed, an older man who was spectating beside me turned to me, gave me a quick once over and asked, “Hey, how come you’re not in this race?” His big smile pressed down the corners of his eyes with grandfatherly glee and I responded, “Oh, I don’t want to race,” a half-truth that I let hesitantly slip out. I cringed for the ensuing, well-worn conversation that I knew was about to take place.

“C’mon! You scared? You can do it, it’s easy!” he said and chuckled. I let out a little laugh.

“I’ve raced before, I know what it’s like,” I said, a smile gripping my face.

“Well, what’s your excuse then!?” he said, shrugging his shoulders. Continue reading →


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Vermont 50 as skills training!

Last Sunday, I (Taryn) took on the Vermont 50 as my sixth time on a mountain bike.  I am new to cycling in general, and have realized that the only way to learn and improve your skills is to spend time in your saddle.  A 50 mile mountain bike race is exactly what I needed to figure out the sport and improve my skills, but it wasn’t easy. Continue reading →


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Nittany lets cats play in the mud

A couple weekends ago, I (Elisabeth) broke out my pro camera and headed to Trexlertown, Saturday as just a spectator, and Sunday to hop in and race as well as take some photos during the rest of the races. Here’s a little recap, including contributions from Yung TayTay and photos of the Laser Cats in Sunday’s race taken by Willem.

Nittany was the first big race of the region, and the Laser Cats Feline All-Stars were ready to rock. Roz held it down Saturday, crushing for the holeshot on her patriotic single speed. Then our good buddy Rachel Rubino tore through the whole field and took the win! Continue reading →


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Hot Cross Granogue

Cyclocross hill climb

Grinding up the hill to stay ahead of Shauna, hoping for a spray of water from Taylor. Photo: Matty Bee

True story: Cyclocross appealed to me because it was a fall/winter sport. A cold weather sport. A sport where there might be snow. I am a snow baby. I was born in the frigid cold of Nebraska in January. A year ago, I said I refused to race ‘cross in months that didn’t end in “ber” (which when you say it out loud is funny because it sounds like “brr”). I should probably revise that to “no ‘cross before Labor Day.” Sunday was hot, dry, and very dusty. But with a course as fun as Granogue, I’m nothing but happy to be back in the cyclocross game for another season. Continue reading →


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Hampshire 100: Taylor is a Laser Cat in a Lion’s Race

Taylor takes the start line of the Women's Open with 9 other tough ladies

Taylor takes the start line of the Women’s Open with 9 other tough ladies

I may have knocked out more “firsts” on this day than any day of my life prior. So, as you read on, keep in mind while I may be describing an experience that is common place for bike racers, I am likely engulfing you in details because it was a magnificently (or repulsively) fresh sensation to this Cat 4 everything. Continue reading →


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We #bikePHLdirt

The women of Team Laser Cats were proud to REPRESENT and WIN the Lone Wolf Cycling/Bicycle Coalition #bikePHLdirt photo contest. We love to shred off-road, and feel so lucky to have so many great mountain bike trails right within our city! Most of all, though, we were happy to show our community that women love getting out on the trails and have a blast doing it. So appropriate that a great photo by Michaela of Roz riding in the Belmont was picked as the winner! Continue reading →


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A Very Soggy Brownstown Road Race Report

I find myself to be a stronger rider when it comes to longer distances, hence why I have previously mentioned that crits aren’t ususally my best events, so when my teammate Roz sent us a BikeReg page to a road/circuit race that happened to be on a day I had off from work, I was pretty stoked. For those of you not familiar with types of racing, crits are short quick laps, usually between 30mins to an hour long for women, while circuit races are also laps they are much larger laps, and therefore longer overall races. This particular one was five laps, for a total of 40 kilometers (25-ish miles). Continue reading →