With all the talk about playlists, such a bummer with this bands' early demise....
That pale winter sunlight gives the windmills a harsh appearance, especially when they're still.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Cheesy racey biker stuff
January 20th and all the old suspects are back at it.
As part of my "keep racing till I turn into a mass of jelly and start sobbing" program, myself and a few other sport team dudes headed to Sacramento today.
The migration to the Valley has officially begun.
After making a few pit stops for pecan pies and whatnot, we made it to Land PArk by 8:20 to find the 10 am 4/5 race had filled already.
After some quick rethinking, we threw our master plan of Cat 4 domination out the window and signed up for the open masters and the 3/4 elite.
The masters race was a blast, lots of attacks, counters, and covering.
All the sporties did a great job, racing way over our heads, and staying very aggressive in a very talented field with some strong teams.
With a lap or so to go Sierra made a strong push to pull it back together and that was all she wrote for me as the elastic snapped and I went backwards and out of the fray.
Spent the next ten minutes at the car moving numbers around and barely made it to the 3/4 race.
100 young dudes in this one and while relentlessly fast, the riding was in stark contrast to the smooth masters. Driving into the only corner of note 8 across, slamming on the brakes, then sprinting the corner back to thirty.
Seeing as I started the race with cramps in my calves, this was not enjoyable. While the masters stayed in a tight pack, these fellas were strewn everywhere, allowing me to slowly move up in the middle and try to avoid the whipsaw at the end. I had the Nome with me and he wanted to escape the madness as much as I, so we moved up and found ourselves at the front soon enough. I hear a bell coming from the starters' table and hear the Nome saying "move up a little more". In the lactic acid haze enveloping my brain, a slow, ponderous question arises, " could this be the last lap of this hell?" Awfully soon but time can move quickly when you have many twenty-somethings pushing you into a curb every lap and so I resolve to get to the evil corner first no matter how many squares per minute I must pedal to do so.
I roll around the corner and the body decides enough is enough for one day. As the field rushes by Rich asks- " isn't this a prime?"
Doh!
Hopefully the that was the bonehead move of the season and I can get a little smarter as the weeks go on, though I have the bonehead bike racer chip deeply implanted in my skull and must fight to not give in.....:-)
Nice to see all the folks out there in the bikey community, the weather was nice and the post-race burritos were the bomb. LA Favorita is my new favorita, Bob Marley is great after-race driving tunes, and I am going out today in the wind in a small ring to hopefully shake some of these knots out of my backside, so all is good.
As part of my "keep racing till I turn into a mass of jelly and start sobbing" program, myself and a few other sport team dudes headed to Sacramento today.
The migration to the Valley has officially begun.
After making a few pit stops for pecan pies and whatnot, we made it to Land PArk by 8:20 to find the 10 am 4/5 race had filled already.
After some quick rethinking, we threw our master plan of Cat 4 domination out the window and signed up for the open masters and the 3/4 elite.
The masters race was a blast, lots of attacks, counters, and covering.
All the sporties did a great job, racing way over our heads, and staying very aggressive in a very talented field with some strong teams.
With a lap or so to go Sierra made a strong push to pull it back together and that was all she wrote for me as the elastic snapped and I went backwards and out of the fray.
Spent the next ten minutes at the car moving numbers around and barely made it to the 3/4 race.
100 young dudes in this one and while relentlessly fast, the riding was in stark contrast to the smooth masters. Driving into the only corner of note 8 across, slamming on the brakes, then sprinting the corner back to thirty.
Seeing as I started the race with cramps in my calves, this was not enjoyable. While the masters stayed in a tight pack, these fellas were strewn everywhere, allowing me to slowly move up in the middle and try to avoid the whipsaw at the end. I had the Nome with me and he wanted to escape the madness as much as I, so we moved up and found ourselves at the front soon enough. I hear a bell coming from the starters' table and hear the Nome saying "move up a little more". In the lactic acid haze enveloping my brain, a slow, ponderous question arises, " could this be the last lap of this hell?" Awfully soon but time can move quickly when you have many twenty-somethings pushing you into a curb every lap and so I resolve to get to the evil corner first no matter how many squares per minute I must pedal to do so.
I roll around the corner and the body decides enough is enough for one day. As the field rushes by Rich asks- " isn't this a prime?"
Doh!
Hopefully the that was the bonehead move of the season and I can get a little smarter as the weeks go on, though I have the bonehead bike racer chip deeply implanted in my skull and must fight to not give in.....:-)
Nice to see all the folks out there in the bikey community, the weather was nice and the post-race burritos were the bomb. LA Favorita is my new favorita, Bob Marley is great after-race driving tunes, and I am going out today in the wind in a small ring to hopefully shake some of these knots out of my backside, so all is good.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
The glass half full
One of those sublime moments today...
Rolling down Tassajara , Peets coursing through my veins.
The sun is bright and the road is clear
easy recovery ride after rolling with the Ice Kings yesterday
spinning the 39 x 17 with a tailwind
and Tower Of Power blasting through the player
horn section in the right ear, guitars on the left
just worth it all.
Rolling down Tassajara , Peets coursing through my veins.
The sun is bright and the road is clear
easy recovery ride after rolling with the Ice Kings yesterday
spinning the 39 x 17 with a tailwind
and Tower Of Power blasting through the player
horn section in the right ear, guitars on the left
just worth it all.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Ice Kings
So,
Seven of us ventured to the cold hinterlands of the Valley today to ride with the Modesto bunch, and it was quite the adventure.
Riding out there and seeing 28 degrees on the thermometer didn't exactly excite us, but hey, it was a smokin' 33 in the bustling burg of sendling.
Fortunately, we all wore lot's of ski clothes and had a great time.
I really wish I brought my camera, but the trees that were covered with ice in the orchards were gorgeous, like sculptures
The pools of ice water on the road, however, were not. But we all stayed upright and got in some great skills work with the pacelines, very few cars and the ones we saw were patient, even the moto racers that are usually complete morons when being inconvenienced for 30 seconds on their way to do their thing.
Lunch was great and I was given a tour of the Loop Of Doom around the Merced courthouse.Can they give some kind of driving/ mental acuity test before they let folks race on that thing? Never mind, I wouldn't pass.
Anyhow, great cruising out there with friends and talking nonstop bike racing for a few hours, which can be the best part of the day.
Stay warm and train smart...
Seven of us ventured to the cold hinterlands of the Valley today to ride with the Modesto bunch, and it was quite the adventure.
Riding out there and seeing 28 degrees on the thermometer didn't exactly excite us, but hey, it was a smokin' 33 in the bustling burg of sendling.
Fortunately, we all wore lot's of ski clothes and had a great time.
I really wish I brought my camera, but the trees that were covered with ice in the orchards were gorgeous, like sculptures
The pools of ice water on the road, however, were not. But we all stayed upright and got in some great skills work with the pacelines, very few cars and the ones we saw were patient, even the moto racers that are usually complete morons when being inconvenienced for 30 seconds on their way to do their thing.
Lunch was great and I was given a tour of the Loop Of Doom around the Merced courthouse.Can they give some kind of driving/ mental acuity test before they let folks race on that thing? Never mind, I wouldn't pass.
Anyhow, great cruising out there with friends and talking nonstop bike racing for a few hours, which can be the best part of the day.
Stay warm and train smart...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Skinsuit
Photo credit: VBWell, a long season of cross is in the bag and a few thoughts are in order..
It started out good up in the caldron of Sacramento in September, hot, rocky, and dusty, but very promising.
Doing a progression of plyo and short runs really helped my running for 3 months or so, even though most of our courses especially early don't require any real running.Even so, it was definitely a big confidence builder for me, knowing this big fella could move a little.
I learned a proper dismount this year, then flipped the brakes to even do it better. I learned a lot about equipment this year, what works, what doesnt. I finally ditched the crappy Avids on the last race of the year and ponied up for some froggleggs and I can't believe the difference.
The boys at Montano Velo turned me on to some sweet tires, PAnaracer Crossblasters, that worked exceptionally well all year. With some special tubes, not one flat and I ran them relatively soft.
My handling skills got better and better, funny, after taking our skills clinic and refreshing the road skills, more of that transferred over to the dirt than I expected. I found myself countersteering a whole lot on dirt roads with no evil aftereffects.
Races I liked- Surf City rocked. I wish I could have made more of them.
CCCX has that great Crooze vibe, Rod on the mike, no frills, but real cool courses.
Sac-town has some cool stuff, and I hear next year a new promoter is going to take over. I'm going to do more of their stuff next year.
Pilarcitos I am cursed at. Maybe I need to learn how to ride bumps better. I definitely need to ride sand better. The deal with the kids in the 35bs and the asinine behavior in general of one or two individuals really turned me away. There's a good chance with my new program of only doing races I like I may not be back.
Moving up to the a's mid-season has been a hard kick in the stomach. Groveling in the back after the first lap is hard hard hard on the ego. Now I see why so many guys stay in the B's for years, it's a big jump in all areas, at least it has been for me.
Groveling and gut-kicking are what bike racin' is all about, so don't think it's all a ploy for some cry-towels here.. The b's used to lap me when I was a C. One day I got tired of dodging the pile of loons on the run-up and moved to the B's. The racing never gets easier, just faster. Thats what my fast friends say, anyway.
I'm already looking forward to next year. A little road racing with my roadie-bastard buddies in the Valley for a couple of months or until complete fatigue and burnout set in,then some rest and strength work in April and May, and a nice resetting of the schedule to focus on the dirt.
I hear the rollers calling me.....
Monday, January 01, 2007
Little Yosemite
So after thrashing the begeezus out of myself Saturday, a little low-key time with the family was in order.
A hike out in Sunol was on order, nice and slow was the preferred pace, between me(sore legs), and Miz C.- (tweaked hammie from weights).
The old pup banged herself up getting into the Subaru and had to miss it, instead spending the day on her bed with an aspirin. She was not happy-
But young Zig was in heaven, flushing birds, following trails, and even takng a dip in the 40-some degree water. A Labs' life can be pretty good at times.
We hiked up the old road to Little Yosemite, which really looks nothing like Yosemite, but it is a oasis in the California oaks.
The rocks are nicely carved and smooth and look nothing like most of the brown lichen covered variety.
I always like this area, I used to run out this way quite a bit, even doing this race one time, where I got snowed on in May.
Even with all the suburban sprawl, this area from here south to Henry Coe is basically unchanged since the 20's , ranches and rugged territory. I always like the smell of the sage on the southern slopes after a rain.
We hiked up a bit and followed a singletrack back, too bad the EBRP trail nazis don't allow any singletrack riding, the best stuff in the park and basically the only routes that follow the contour lines rather than bl;asting straight up and down are all on the no-fly list.
We found ourselves out on a nice rock outcropping and attempted another christmas card photo, but I look pissed in one and like a candidate for the short bus in the next, so I think we'll get those cards out around July.Maybe we'll send one out from the kid and the dog, they look good here, and who the hell wants to look at my mug anyhow?
Happy holidays to all, whatever you celebrate!
A hike out in Sunol was on order, nice and slow was the preferred pace, between me(sore legs), and Miz C.- (tweaked hammie from weights).
The old pup banged herself up getting into the Subaru and had to miss it, instead spending the day on her bed with an aspirin. She was not happy-
But young Zig was in heaven, flushing birds, following trails, and even takng a dip in the 40-some degree water. A Labs' life can be pretty good at times.
We hiked up the old road to Little Yosemite, which really looks nothing like Yosemite, but it is a oasis in the California oaks.
The rocks are nicely carved and smooth and look nothing like most of the brown lichen covered variety.
I always like this area, I used to run out this way quite a bit, even doing this race one time, where I got snowed on in May.
Even with all the suburban sprawl, this area from here south to Henry Coe is basically unchanged since the 20's , ranches and rugged territory. I always like the smell of the sage on the southern slopes after a rain.
We hiked up a bit and followed a singletrack back, too bad the EBRP trail nazis don't allow any singletrack riding, the best stuff in the park and basically the only routes that follow the contour lines rather than bl;asting straight up and down are all on the no-fly list.
We found ourselves out on a nice rock outcropping and attempted another christmas card photo, but I look pissed in one and like a candidate for the short bus in the next, so I think we'll get those cards out around July.Maybe we'll send one out from the kid and the dog, they look good here, and who the hell wants to look at my mug anyhow?
Happy holidays to all, whatever you celebrate!
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