Bobby!

Way to go, Bob! All the hard work on the devil mountain is payin' off. Note that all three fellas on the podium had teams throwin it down and working together when it was needed. Props to all of them unsung heroes.

Anyone else notice....

The parallels between this movie and Geezer Cat 4 racin'?

Isabel Creek RR

Lots'o teammates, Bob, Mo, Rich, X-man, Jimmy V, and Randy.
The Plan- Bob and Mo in the top ten...
Result- Bob 3rd, Mo 6th, and the mule snagged 14th.
Great race, but those logistics are a bitch. Driving, parking cars, blah blah.
Loose plan was to markthe real contenders and make sure our chosen ones touched no air before the climb. We got the official to announce a neutral zone for the first 2 miles, trying to keep the sketchy descent cool. This worked to also cool the pace up the first hill, keeping some of our bigger fellas on. David Nader eased off the front and never looked back. Seeing how he was the strongest guy in the race, this soon caused concern. We commited a few guys to keeping him close, as did SJBC, then made a big effort to close it up after 15 miles, before the climb. I took a big pull, moved Mo up, and tried to get the HR down enough to recover before the climb out of the junction, but had to let the lead group of 15 go, happily with both our playas in it.
I waited at the top of the second climb and let a small gruppo form, Rich also made a hero effort to get back on. We then did no work for 15 miles, just rolling through, slowing things with a SJBC fella who had at least 2 up as well. We got some harrassment from a lone guy who couldn't understand why we didn't want to chase our teammates, when Rich's wheel got chopped, he immediately went on the shit list.
Really nice to see how much Rich has advanced in his cycling in a short time, we started attack and counter without any discussion before the descent, just having fun.
Rich did his best Il Falco impression with a attack on the descent that gave him a fat gap across the bridge, a couple of pulls I followed up , then swung a little out and blocked. Rude Unattached guy jumps for Rich, and I had to go, just to beat the wheel chopper. Even though it was for 14th, it was one of the best technical sprintys I've ever knocked out. Yeh, I even threw the wheel just for the hell of it .
Nader won the race, he'll have a sticker in the mail soon. Just a beast.
We ate, joked around, then rode back up to the truck, nice Zn 1-2 all the way. Realized I had packed NO FOOD for after, we had to stop at the Junction Cafe for frites with a little mayo, mmmmm.
Now for a easy day or two to let this soak in.
Teammates= badass

Roscoes it ain't....

But not a bad substitute- Albertson's Fried Chicken, Albertsons strawberry cake, and a cup of Folgers, at 7 a.m. Omigod, I swear I felt chest pains right then and there. I haven't been right since. People were passing out in the meeting by 8:15.
That's a whole different culture than the bikey world.When they cheer for chicken at the butt crack of dawn, we're dealin' from a different deck.
"THERE IS A LIMIT OF TWO PIECES'

And the limit was needed.

Open House

" You can eat 24 hours a day, mmmmm"Lucky-ass silkworms. Really, it seems like I eat leaves 24/7 now as well, and am still growing a cocoon.

Frustration

Ever have a race where chucking a water bottle at someone seems like a good idea?I don't know if I'm madder at myself for missing the winning break in race 1, taking a solo flyer with 4 to go in race 2, or the numbskulls on Team NamelessToNotGiveSatisfaction.
Chasing their own break in race 1 was bad, but attacking me with 5 to go for some armwarmers while we had a 300 meter gap?
Had to ride a few cooldown laps solo to, well, cooldown.
Sometimes I understand Scott, and that's all I'm gonna say about that.

To whom it may concern....

Dear Mr. Cheetah,
thank you for your recent correspondence regarding your 2004 Chorus Bottom Bracket. To answer your question, no, we have never seen a break and deflection of over one cm between these sections in a non-motorized application. Your riding partners are to be commended for their insistence that this was no (A- creaky seatpost) or (B- grimy chain).
Please be aware that
we are in constant communication with other manufacturers and have placed a red flag next to your name, as have Pearl Izumi shoes and Ritchey Products, for undue stress, claim falsification, and general gorilla mashing. We will look at all future warranty claims with a rather jaded eye from now on. Please feel free to try our clothing line, maybe you can find something relatively unbreakable there.
Ciao,
The Boys From Vincenza

Da Seal !

Dave just rocked em this weekend! Always bring a Dave with you to one of these things. Known him for almost 20 years, steady as a rock when the shiznit goes bad.

Mostly Dave swims SF bay in a speedo for shits and giggles now. Did pretty good at 24 hours as well on nothing but commuting to his blue collar job at 4 a.m. Guess he got good at riding with next to no light!

Rodney!

Chicocyclisto throwin it down out there. What a great bunch of guys we had out there. I like the look on the other fellas' face- "you again? Crap!"

The bad stuff first

Bad- hitting a utility razor blade sticking up in the bike lane and completely slicing a tire apart 4 miles from home on my TT bike.
Good- getting a ride for myself and Snowflake in a buddies truck who happened to be cruising Foothill on his MTB, waiting for the noon ride
Best- going back out to the TT course on the regular road bike and going a minute faster than 2 weeks ago with more wind.
Bestest- gator style in the tub afterwards with some chicken and veggies nuked up nicely.

24 Hours

What a great time. I love to camp and I love to ride my bike, so this was a blast. We got a great campsite with some shady trees in Can-Am Circle. The Seal and I got down there at about 4, went for a ride, ate some turkey burgers, and chilled. Watched The Matrix Reloaded while waiting for chico and Kareem, Dave slept while I worked on my Neo impressions. We had a visit from the real Mr. Anderson, who was racing on a corporate team.
The whole team downed mucho Peets the next morning and the race was on, that run was a little crazy! Being the captain, I had the dubious honor of going first. I just goofed off and tried not to get run over. The first lap was a long line till the big grind, with the occasional yahoo trying to kill himself(always a him, ever notice that?) and others with a stupid pass on 10 cm of extra singletrack going downhill.
Myself and the Seal were the only ones to pre-ride the course, so we stuck to our motto of"start easy and taper off from there".
I really wanted to ride my singlespeed the whole race, but mechanical difficulties were the hallmark of my race weekend. One lap, there were 4 stops for mechanicals, with the last 5 miles ridden with my seatpost about 3 inches too low and no tools to fix it. I had some help from the Roaring Mouse squad, very generous of them, who gave me a spare freewheel after my old one bit the dust, but I couldn't overcome the seatpost problem without a bike shop, and had to ride the backup bike, a old Dual suspension that bounced more than Richs' van.
I think mechanicals were the hall mark of the weekend, I kept breakin' crap left and right, and just about everybodys lights went south out on the course. When they say burn time 2 hours, just don't be surprised when the light goes out @ 1:57 into the double lap. Unfortunately for me, this happened with 100 meters of single track to go, more unfortunate was the tumble over the bars and requisite losing of one's jersey pockets contents that ensued. The worst part was going back out at midnight to find all that junk strewn along the trail.
Most of all, though, we had a awesome team. Everybody hunkered down and had a good time, not one cross word was said. Kicking back at camp, rapping with folks from other teams, making plans for future races, meeting new people was the order of the day. We all raced hard, pushing our limits while having fun, and I am very proud of this group of guys, all of whom were new at this game. Pretty cool that we got 15th while goofing around so much. Even cooler that as of last night we were over 1500.00 in donations to the ALS Society.
I had the priveledge of doing the last lap, with clear instructions NOT to return with 20 minutes to go. I had a blast, carving the sweet singletrack leisurely, climbing in the granny, chatting with the last solo guy and a Bella in go-go boots, just soaking it all in. I probably took it too far, stopping for 10 minutes to chat with the Mice who were camped on the finish lap, while my teammates waited for me at the finish line. It was just that kind of a race, though, just a celebration of goofiness and life.
Already thinking about next year........

AHHHHHH

After this weekend, So glad I filled this thing up on Thursday. 10 minutes in the morning with a cup o joe got me walking normal at least.
RR to follow soon, the brain is at about half speed right now.

Let the party begin!

Time to git bizzy down in Laguna Seca. Been loading up since last night with Red Bull, Peets, every damn supplement we have stashed in the outback. Whole sack of potatoes. 2 bikes, a old double boinger and my Redline. I plan to lay down some SS smackadoodle out there tommorrow, nothing like passing a 4,000 trick pony with my 4130 steel 30 pounder.
Great bunch of fellas going, Chico, Cool Ass Kareem, Dave The Seal, and the Big Volsansky.
Between Chico and myself we'll have pics till next year.
Burgers and a twilight lap are on the menu for tonight, then the real mess starts tommorrow.
Thanks everybody that donated, we will do you proud.

Tuesday Worlds Report

Oh my, the battle between EMC and Eye-triple-see raged on today, with about seven spidey-guys and 4 of the orange crush. Roughly 30 riders, nice turnout for a nooner.
So fun to have a end to my rest week and a little permission to let fly today , I wanted to punch it on the climbs and was very pleased at the progress from all those fookin intervals. Hung in and followed wheels while my teammates jumped away to freedom.
The tactical squeezing of another, a little pressure here, a little there. Had it done to me so many times I can't count,you can know it's happening and still be powerless to stop it, like a snake curling around you.The chess game went on for 35 miles, breaks, blocks, sprints, some brute force.
Love that noon ride, seeing all the buddies, chatting easy at the beginning and end. Fell in love with cycling again out here 3 years ago, trying to hang on through the flats.Folks out here talked me into racing, joining a team, doing all kinds of crazy stuff.
I ride with all kinds, printers, presidents, sales guys, artists, firemen. Nobody cares what you do off the bike, as long as you obey the rules of the gruppo.

Jimmy!

Great job yesterday, Jim! Kickass work for a new R.D. and a very nice podium. I hope to try it out someday.......
This pic is from the Patterson RR in 06- the first inkling of our collective allergy to hills. Jim left it all out there that day, though, and thats what it's all about.

Haybales and traffic cones

Great day yesterday, everything went off just about perfect- next year a few lists and a written plan for set-up would be nice.

A nice pic(for me- my pic skills are right behind ChicoCyclist on the meter) of Miz C. and the not-so-little tyke doing the kids race. Cammie hung out all day with me and was a trooper. Speaking of kids' racing, Petit Lutins' chile whupped the sweeper, completely dropping his ass on the second lap. Nice work, JoJo! I see a terror in the junior ranks in a couple more years!

Lot's o fun all day, doing what I love, hanging with some great people and watching some awesome racing. This guy put on a clinic in the break, the entire supergeezer race was excellent to watch.The teamwork shown by the top teams was fascinating to watch, guys just throwin' down left and right. I wish the 4's would get it on like that, instead of trying to kill each other in the corner of doom, get better soon, Miguel!

Race food leftovers= mmmmmmm

Evil little devil.....

Made it out to the club ride tonight on Diablo. Rollin' on about 5 hours of sleep, 14 cups of bad coffee and a grapefruit.
I missed the start and did this workout up the hill-BT: Hill sprints. Warm up well. Then do 5 x 20-30 second sprints up 5-8% hill out of saddle (3 minute recoveries). These are all out efforts. 90+ rpm. 3 sets. 5 minutes between sets. Otherwise, heart rate zones 1-2.
Ran into the Brother and his henchman, coming down from their moment in the sun on top. I wuz feelin' good and so were they, props to Bob for cracking the hour mark. We decided to turn uphill and finish me session together, with some supa-secret Brotha coaching in there as well. Still feeling O.K., drinking some cyto as we descend, then the hammer whomps me on the head. Never bonked going DOWN a hill before!The Kelly refused to groove with me, pounding every hole in sight, all over the road, brakes screeching.
The boys had to wait on the descent, this was ugly.
Big bowl of brown rice, veggies, and chicken + 9 hours snooze= good to go manana early, I'm borrowing my buddies full sus machina for the 24 hour race coming up soon. Untouched since I gave it back to him last year, I gotta get him back on the horse.

Movie Night

So we caught a goofy flick Saturday night- Rv. I would say so-so, unless you have experienced the complete madness that is strapping a whole family into a fiberglass box for 5 days. We actually like our little trailer, although since we got it, the rain hasn't stopped falling. Three trips so far, all in a biblical downpour. We have watched more movies and played more board games together than we have in a long time.
Priceless.