Rants and raves of a Curmudgeon in the making

Down, but not out

2007-11-30T13:47:00.000-08:00

Although I was going pretty slowly, I crashed pretty hard Thanksgiving Day morning on my cross bike. I had to get a ride back to my house from Aaron & Stella. I fell in my riding position going downhill and landed on my right side. Since I impacted in the riding position I never got my arm out to brace for the fall and my elbow punched my ribs fracturing one and bruising a lot more. In all of the years I’ve crashed, fallen off of things, been run over, lacerated, hit, punched, kicked or concussed I have never hurt my ribs. This is an entirely new experience for me. Eights days have gone by and I feel exactly the same as the day it happened. It only hurts if I laugh, sneeze, cough, hiccup, take large breaths, sit, lie down, stand up, fart or make any sudden movements! I normally sleep like the dead, but not this last week. I broke down and did something I loath to do; I started taking narcotic painkiller, but only at night because I just can’t stand the way they make me feel! I’m now very antsy and I’m just dying to go on a moto, road ride, a run or God forbid, even a hike!, but I find myself paralyzed by the fear of making my injury worse.
I feel like such a pussy!

CCCX #4

2007-11-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

After arriving late and driving around in circles as Rod Hernandez did his best Tom Simpson impersonation, David Gill and I found a place to park and set up our team compound. I have raced at Manzanita Park many times and simple love the place. I‘ve always enjoyed the courses here and today’s was no exception. With the rain we had the night before, the course was very soft and complete with a couple of small bogs. While I was out doing reconnaissance, I managed to flat my rear tubular clincher on my singlespeed. I dumped some sealant into the tire, but it would not seal. I wasn’t very upset about this as this tire was 2 seasons old and had certainly served me well. After swapping tires out I got on my geared bike and went back onto the course to warm up. While the upper section was drying out pretty quick, the lower portion particularly the grass was being chewed up pretty bad by the earlier classes. It was time for the Master 45+ A so I went to the grid.

After the first four pedal strokes I knew I was in big trouble! After running 2 laps at last week’s race, I kind of had an itch to go for a run so while I was at the gym on Thursday with Nancy, I hopped on the tread mill and ran 2 miles and then did a series of dead lifts, squats and clean and jerks. I’m an old gym rat and I’m quite familiar with these exercise, but I failed to take into account that I hadn’t practice them in a year and half and when I woke up on Friday, I could barely walk! I wasn’t much better on Saturday either. Sunday rolled around and I was still sore, but not nearly as bad. I warmed up and didn’t feel that bad, but as soon as the race started my legs screamed in pain and felt like to lifeless bags of cement!

During the race I did my best to bridge to Darrel Brokeshoulder and succeeded on the second lap, but almost immediately lost his wheel. The gap remained the same for the next couple laps, but Darrel and I were both catching Joe Miller. I knew I would have to re-bridge back to Darrel before he caught Joe because I knew as soon as they hooked up they would start working together. I just couldn’t get there as my legs refused to cooperate. As anticipated Joe and Darrel started working together and rode away from me. For the last half of the race, my back became progressively tighter to the point I could barely pick up the bike to go over the barriers. I was very glad when this race was over! My back and legs felt so bad afterwards I abandoned any thought of racing in the singlespeed race later and instead I enjoyed the last couple of races and what had become a beautiful day!

Photo by Steven Woo

Pilarcitos #3

2007-11-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

I purposely boycotted this race last year and I wish I would have this year! David Gill and I once again found ourselves driving to the city at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning, but at least we got an extra hour of sleep! Although the promoters of the Pilarcitos series refer to the venue as McLaren Park, it is actually Crocker Amazon Playground where the race takes place. Since I have raced at Crocker Amazon several times for the DFL Urban Outlaw Cross Dress series, I knew that there was massive elevation change if so wanted and that the parking would be tight.

We arrived early enough to get a good parking spot and hauled all of the equipment to the course and set up shop. I rode a lap to see what the course was like. There was one large run up followed by a moderate climb which was followed by a real nasty climb by cyclocross standards with one more little climb that featured a log to negotiate in the beginning. This combined with super loose, rutted and bumpy downhills, one corner that was un-rideable and a couple of low speed corners made for a course with little to no rest except for the pavement leading to and through the start finish straightaway. This course has the sharpest elevation change of any course around and this would explain why everybody in the earlier races looked so gassed riding by on the flat pavement in front of the team pits!

I change my gear ratio to the easiest one I brought and warmed up for 40 minutes. We were called to the line and teammate Erik T. was called to the front of singlespeed class for being in the top ten for the series, except Erik was no where to be seen? The whistle sounded and we were off. For the first couple laps I felt good, but on the third, my moral was being crushed with each successive climb and I really began to wonder what the hell I was doing on a stupid singlespeed! Even with my lowest gearing this course was just cracking me! Half way through the race I seriously contemplated dropping out, but I kept moving forth. I had just made it to the top of the run up and hopped onto to my bike only to discover my rear tire was going flat. Being that I was beyond the run up and pass the neutral bike pit, I would have to run and ride my flat when possible for almost a whole lap. My plan was to do the lap and then get one of my teammates to get Erik's singlespeed to the neutral pits for a bike swap and I would do the last lap on his bike. I finally made it to the flat paved section and I rode my flat. As I rode pass our pits I asked/yelled for Erik's bike and pointed at my flat rear tire. All of my teammates stood there like deer in the headlights and as I rode past them. I prayed somebody would figure it out and meet me at the neutral pits. When I rode pass the neutral pit, I noticed teammate Rita Leon running across the grass field towards me, but it was too late. I made a metal note not to fine her as I hit the run up.

I couldn't believe this was happening to me again! Two year's ago at the start of a DFL Race I flatted on the line and when they yelled go to start us, I shouldered my bike and ran the entire race. I drove 90 miles from my office in Gilroy for a work out and by God I was going to get one! So here I was again running laps around the Crocker Amazon Playground with a bike on my shoulder wishing that I was anywhere else. Well, at least it wasn't foggy and blowing 30 knots! I eventually finished the last lap and then walked back to our team pit and told my teammates how much I hated them, but then somebody handed me a beer and all was forgiven.

After unloading the van when we got home I pumped up my rear tire and discovered several holes no doubt made by the abundant glass that was lying on the ground. If I ever go to Crocker Amazon again it certainly will not be with nice race tires! Maybe I’m getting old, but I thought that the promoters could have been a little more benevolent in their course design given what they had to work with.

Photos stolen from Olaf Vanderpoop & AbbiOrca.com

2007-11-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

I arrived at the venue just before 07:00 and immediately tried to get the spot we had last year for our pit, but was promptly denied. This meant I had to park my van and hoof all of the equipment to the designated area. Luckily, Erik and Darik Thunstrom, Jason Cruz and David Gill arrived to give me a hand. I pre-road the course and discovered it to be the clock wise version which we have ran in previous years, but with a few minor teaks. Jason was racing in the C class, which was the first race of the day so I hung out to give him bottle feeds. When the C class hit the grass to go through the swirl on their way to the finish/pit area on the first lap, I watched in amazement as several riders slipped and fell on the damp grass. One rider took the 90 degree left turn that led to the finish/ pits straightaway to fast and just before he was about to t-bone the A frame holding the warm up sign, he corrected real hard and missed the sign, but ended up in a heap on the ground just passed it. He was then t-boned by another rider! As the C race progressed there was less crashing and sliding out, but I heard later that a bunch of the C riders complained the course was too technical. Jeez boys, Grunt up! What are you going to do if rains and or if it gets muddy?
45+ A
After a nice long warm up I hit the grid. The first lap was a real blur, but there was a big crash in front of me and one behind me. Unfortunately Erik was collect in one of these. After the first lap things settled down. I had former teammate and old friend Tom Sullivan breathing down my neck so I soft pedal for a couple of second and let Tom in front of me while I sucked his wheel and recovered a bit. A lap later after Tom and I had swapped places several times I got a gap on him and extended it. I was feeling very good at this point and thought I was rid of Tom for good. I was on the long downhill single track on the backside of the course when I noticed a rider approaching me from behind at a very rapid pace. The guy looked younger than me, but I knew it wasn't the leaders of the 35 A's race coming to lap me as it was too early for that. I pointed to my right and moved to the left to let him buy. He took a wide line into the little right hand turn and forced me into one of the sticks holding the tape which caused me to flip over the bars! I suffered no damage nor did my bike, but I did let this rider know what I thought of his move and from a distant he apologized.
Now I was back to where I started, Tom was breathing down my neck again! For the next couple laps we would open small gaps on each other only to have them closed back down. The bell ran for the last lap and about half the way through I got a tiny gap on Tom, maybe 2 or 3 seconds. I knew I had to beat Tom to the entry of the grass section at the beginning of the swirl because it would be impossible to pass there or through the 90 degree turn onto the very short straightaway the led to the finish line. At the bottom of the big run up Tom was right on my butt and suddenly there was a rider right on Tom's butt. Where this guy came from or who he was I didn't have a clue. I gave it everything I had and beat the both of them to the swirl. The unknown rider had passed Tom and was breathing down my neck. I hit the 90 degree turn at full pace and then sprinted with everything that I had left to the finish line and barely beat the unknown rider who as it turns out was in our class. What an incredible finish for 21 st spot!
Costume Race
Melanie brought a Tigger tiger suit for me to wear for the costume race. After taking one look at the suit I wanted nothing to do with it! Being that it was a warm day boarding lining on hot, the suit looked like a sure ticket to heat stroke! Melanie had a plan though; she bribed me into the suit with a promise of a six pack. I suited up and immediately started to sweat. I did a couple of practice mounts and discovered that the crotch of the suit was very low and I would have to jump very high to clear the crotch on my saddle. I also discovered that I needed to have my tail pinned up so it didn't get sucked into the rear wheel.
I went to the start line and grabbed a spot near the front. This race is the coolest because you are allowed to cheat!! The whistle sounded and I was holeshoted by a cheerleader (Stella), some guy wearing full body armor on a downhill bike and David Gill on a pink girl's stingray. David was amazingly quick on the little bike! As David and Stella took the left turn into gap between the classrooms, the downhiller and I took a right and cut underneath the tape and cut a substantial portion of the course out. This was a brilliant move! I was ahead of the downhiller as we approached the big log that would force me to dismount, but not the downhiller with 8 plus inches of travel, I hooked him and started to drive him off line to the left. He suddenly realized what I was doing and verbally expressed his displeasure, so let him off the hook. Just as I anticipated he hopped the log no sweat, but I was able to repass him on the run up afterwards as pushing a 40 pound bike up hill is not fast nor fun!
When I reached the steep decent to the lower section instead of turning left and dropping in, I hurled the tape with bike, remounted and rode next to the football field and then ducked back under the tape at the top of the run up chopping a big section of the course off. I was feeling very cheeky when I heard an all too familiar voice. "I'm right behind you Mike" It was Stella! I don't know where she came from, but suddenly my mission was clear, I had to beat her to the finish line! We both lit the burners and were off. I just managed to beat to the line and for the next lap we diced, cut the course and cheated and had a good old time! As I came towards the finish line for the beginning of the third lap I was done and completely over heated. I couldn't get the Tigger suit off fast enough. For the next 15 minutes while cooling off I watched the rest of the lunatics file by and laughed myself silly!
Tigger costume was a big hit with everybody, but especially the kids. I even won $20 and a six pack in the costume race. That including the six pack that Melanie bribed me with was a pretty good haul for a little case of heat stroke!
Singlespeed
I'll make this short. Ride very hard for 3 laps and then on the forth, blow sky high or bonk or both and then stagger around the course trying to stay out of other racers way while not harming myself as even the easiest maneuvers became impossible. I haven't DNF in a long time, but judging by the way I felt after the race and the next day I made the correct decision. I had about as much fun as you could have at a cross race! It was low key, the organizer didn’t freak about warming up on the course and the course itself was fun and very challenging.

all photos stolen from Karen Kefauver

Pilarcitos #2

2007-10-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

I must say I have never cared for the course at Candlestick Point and I’ve even boycotted it in the past. It’s another featureless land fill that is extremely bumpy with only one racing line while on the grass and with tiny little mounds that they call run ups and there’s also more glass on the ground than you would fine at your local recycling center!

Fearless Team Leader and future Vice President David Gill and I arrived around 7:45 and sniffed around a bit looking for a location to set up camp. We found a location very near where the riders exited the dirt onto the long paved straight away because we figured the speed of the riders coming off of the dirt onto the pavement would be slow enough for a bottle feed. It was kind of remote, but it worked. Due to the new rules at the Pilarcitos Series we were not allowed to recon or warm up on the course during a race. This was done to help the scorers speed up the process by not counting people warming up by accident. Judging by the length of time it took to post some of the results yesterday, this had little to no effect. When I finally got to recon the course I found more glass than ever and it was even bumper than I remembered. I immediately knew that this course would be a compromise on tire pressures. You would want to run pretty low pressure to help with traction and take the bite out of the bumps, but in the same instance you would want to run a little higher pressure to prevent pinch flats. As for the glass, it just blind luck. I ended up loaning my spare wheels out to a bunch of riders I didn’t know. It’s hard to watch somebody pay $30.00 to race only to go out on the first lap with a flat!

Due to the new rules I sat on my trainer for 40 minutes and watch the master’s race. When their race ended I got one quick lap in before we lined up on the grid. It was fun hearing David being called up to the front because of his top ten finish in the race at Sierra Point. The elite men went first followed by us singlespeeder 30 seconds later. As we hit the first corner I could see David in second position! About two minutes into the race I came around a corner to discover David on the side of the course. He had dropped his chain! I briefly stopped to offer assistance, but there was nothing I could do. I also discovered to my shock that at the time I wasn’t last place, but I was close having let a bunch of riders by while I stopped. About a lap latter I noticed Erik Thunstrom behind me and I could also see off in the distant that David was back riding again and suddenly a plan came into my head. I slowed my pace and allowed Erik to catch me. I told him that we needed to slow down and allow David to catch on and then have the three of us work together and drag David back up the field as far as we could. David was higher in points than Eric or me. We slowed our pace considerable until David was with us.

We told David of our plan and got down to business. Erik and I were taking long pulls and for the first time all season I was feeling pretty damm good. I actually felt like had some form back. Our team work lasted about a lap and was really a lot of fun! We hit the pavement just past our pits and suddenly there was no more David Gill. It appeared that he simply vanished! With that, Erik said we couldn’t wait anymore and we were off. What we didn’t know is that David had broken a spoke. For the next lap Erik and I worked together, but by the sixth lap my back started to get really tight from all of the jack hammering it was receiving in the bumps. I told Erik this and when I made a bobble going over one of the mounds he was gone. I spent the rest of the race staying out of the way while being lapped and finished

I was pretty happy about this race as I showed big signs of improvement since the beginning of the season. After long drive we made it back to my house without my Vanagon bursting into flames and as I jumped out my right hamstring immediately locked up for about 4 minutes and I was in agony! Apparently my hamstring doesn’t like applying pressure to the accelerator after a cross race for an hour and a half straight and let me know it, but at least both legs didn’t lock and turn me into the human C clamp!

2007-10-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

From the end of September to the beginning of April I go on lunch rides where I work in Garlicroy. The reason I don’t ride during the other months that’s just too hot and we don’t have any employee showers. Most of my rides involve the flat as a board bike path that follows the Uvas Creek. There are a bunch of reasons for this:
Garlicroy has more glass and debris on the roads than any place I have every ridden. Even more glass than on the roads in and around Santa Cruz during the height of the tourist season!
There are no cars.
I use the path to connect to a series of short, but steep hills when necessary.
Did I mention it was flat as a pancake? This makes it an excellent choice for recovery rides.
It’s actually pretty scenic.
Most important, the path and Garlicroy lies in an orographic rain shadow. It can be pouring rain in S.C., while the roads here are dry!

So when the trails at home are un-rideable to due rain or mud or the thought of riding the trainer in garage is unbearable or it’s just to nasty to go for a night ride (we used to do night road rides, but this turned out to be one of the scariest things ever and after a couple of near death experiences, we blew it off), I can almost always get one hour in here at work.

15 foot skid mark courtesy of a unleashed 4 pound Chihuahua in what could have resulted in a very ugly physics experiment that was saved by the deft handling of the Chihuahua!

2007-10-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

CCCX # 3

I think we may have set a personal record for Blanca, my white VW vanagon this Saturday. Team leader David Gill and new teammate Patrick Lewis aka “Stinky” and I had six bikes, 4 sets of spare wheels, 3 tables, tool boxes and repair stands, coolers, water bottles, three tables, lots of chairs and three big sections of astro turf and two pop up tents. The van was so full that we had to place Patrick in the back van in his own little cocoon and pray that none of the contents inside of the van shifted and crushed him!

Just before we arrived at the new course, we passed the site of some of the first CCCX races held in and around the abandoned barracks of Fort Ord in 1997. The army had just pulled out and it was very eerie racing around what was essentially a ghost town. The old fort is going under a transformation judging by the new mall and all of the new housing development their building. We pulled up to the new venue and scored a nice spot next course and stepped out of the van into what was rapidly becoming a very nice day! The first thing I noticed while setting up the team compound was the small very sandy hill directly after finish line/scoring area and wondered to myself how long the sand would be rideable after it was trampled and rode to death. After assembling the team compound, David and Patrick and I took a lap to check out the course and discovered that this was about as much fun as you could have on a cross course! There were plenty of swooping corners and I particularly enjoyed the high speed singletrack through the oak tress. I wondered if I would have come to the same conclusion if it hadn’t rained for a couple days before the race and all of the firm sand was loose?

Master 45+ A
At this point I have little expectations due to my lack of fitness and have been trying to race myself into shape which by its nature is quite painful. I had a bit of a panic before the start of the race as my front brake cable let go and my lever went to the handlebar. The start line was about as far as you could get from the pits/finishing area and nobody at the starting line had any tool, but luckily Maryann Hunter rode back to the pits and grabbed an allen set for me and I was able to fix my problem or so I thought! The race started and was barely clinging to the back of the pack. We entered the twisting singletrack under the oak trees I grabbed the brakes for the first time since the start of the race and once again my lever went to the handlebar. This in turn made me over shoot the corner and I ended up in the forest where I was lucky not to come into contact with anything. Back on course I made my way to the pits for a bike change. I arrived and shouted to my teammates under the tent “Bike change! Please fix my front brake!” With that I ghost rode my geared bike into the sand and ran a few steps to my singlespeed and grabbed it and threw it over my shoulder and started running up the hill past the pits.

I had traveled about twenty feet when I heard “Stop, Stop! There are no pedals on that bike!” It suddenly became clear to me. Patrick had forgotten his shoes this morning so he borrowed my pedals and Darik Thunstrom shoes so he could race, but hadn’t had the time to reinstall my pedals on my bike. Considering what had just happened I was amazingly calm. If I was in contention for a series I might have laid an egg, but instead I stood there and watched Patrick and some other guy I didn’t know run around like chicken with there heads cut off as they searched for my pedals and tools to install them! After watching Patrick display his amazing mechanical abilities, my singlespeed was ready and I was off. I came through the pits on the next lap and asked for a bike change as the gear on my singlespeed was too small and was told that my geared bike wasn’t fixed yet. Upon hearing that I punched it in order to get some speed up for the hill and hit the little bump in front of it to fast and caught a little air which sent me on a collision course with a big pile of sand to the right of the preferred line which caused me to crash. Luckily the landing was very soft and I did this in place were everybody could see and Harriet Riley was able to capture the moment with her camera! I rode around again and got my geared bike back and did my absolute best to stay out of the way when I got lapped.

Singlespeed A
I started the race and immediately blew sky high and then for the next hour and eighteen minutes I experienced pain, pain and more pain. On the last couple of laps I fought off cramping and the overwhelming desire to go somewhere to find some pie to eat all the while doing your best to keep your slow as molasses, bonking self out of the way. I thought seriously of dropping out of this one, but at least I rode the hill after finish line every time except for the last lap when both of my legs seized. On an entirely different note, it was amazing to see the speeds that the 5 leaders of the Men’s A race were going. It was truly impressive! Hopefully something resembling a little form will come my way soon!

Driver 8

2007-10-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

I just heard about this last night. Driver 8 is gone. I'm not a huge dog fan, but this dog was diffferent. He was very special.

Willie, my heart goes out to you!!

Here's a picture of Driver enjoying the 12 hours of 5th Ave a few years back as only Driver 8 could, very laid back!

Pilarcitos #1

2007-10-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

In the week leading up the first race of Bay Area Super Prestige Series (Pilarcitos) I became more and more apprehensive. Due to my move and the fact that I was gone every weekend in September, I rode a total of 4 times for the entire month! I got to ride few rides in the before the race and truly I realized just how out of shape I was and how painful this race was going to be. I decided to myself I had to start somewhere and this was race was going to be it. I would race to train.

It was the usual deal on Sunday morning: load the van, wait and load our fearless leader David Gill into the van and then search out a coffee shop that is open at 0:Dark:30 on Sunday morning and then drive my tired old van over the hill and up to Brisbane. Upon our arrival, the course didn’t seem like much, just your normal south of the city land fill. It was flat as a pancake except were somebody had dropped some piles of dirt on it. We disgorged the contains of the van and set up camp, but were immediately told by promoter Tom Simpson that yes, this was a great place for all of the teams to set up but no, we could park the van behind it. Every Pilarcitos race I have attended this always happens and like normal, by the end of the day, the parking lot that we were told we couldn’t park in was full of cars belonging to racers.

David and I immediately went on a recon lap before the C class start and I came to the realization that I was seriously lacking power and my tire pressure was way too high. The course was very bumpy with hidden rocks and crushed pavement lurking under the weeds and I knew there would be lots of flats today. Back in our pits I changed gear ratios to the easiest singlespeed gear that I have and lowered my tire pressure 30psi each. The lower tire pressure really worked quite well for bumps and traction and the easier gearing would help me survive for the whole hour. I had three hours to kill and spent it loaning tools to other races, watched teammates race and fixed a front wheel for some hapless racer who in his first ever cross race had completely taco’ed it. I enjoyed this as I got to beat the wheel repeatedly on the ground trying to straighten rim to the point that I could put it into the truing stand and get it close enough for the guy to ride 10 miles to his house. I was rewarded a beer for my effort and he rode off! I went on a warm up to the south of the venue along a paved path that followed the bay. I rode past one particular dead end channel and looked at the really old pilings and rusted iron fittings and pipes and wonder to myself what had gone on here in the past. As I backed tracked along the path to get to the start of my race I was rewarded with a plaque that stated that this was the former site of a Kaiser liberty ship shipyard and that at its peak in WWII there were 10,000 people working there and they produced 10 Liberty ships (freighters) a month, but since the channel was so narrow they had to launch the ships stern first instead of the normal side to launch that was preferred. Being that I’m a history buff I stood there pondering what it must have looked like 65 years ago?

The Men’s A and Singlespeed class was called to the line and I did my best to hide in the back of the grid. The cannon sounded and we were off and for the next 1:02 I was completely at my limit and any extra exertion would send me dangerously close to completely blowing. My lack of power was painfully obvious as the singlespeed herd rode over the horizon from me. I’m surprised that my heart didn’t blow out of my chest as I recorded my highest avg. heart rate for a cross rate ever (176avg/184 high) I guess my heart was well rested! The only positive I can report is it seemed that I was really going well in the corners by the fact I was actually making up ground on people. I was also thoroughly enjoying the big jump on the back of the course as I tried to get more and more air on every lap. By screwing around with the jump on the second to last lap, I dropped my chain on a particularly hard landing and lost my place to the only guy I was in front while I struggled to get my chain back onto my singlespeed which was no easy task! All in all this course was better than my initial expectations. The super loose corners allowed for two wheel drifts and slides which were heaps of fun! If you were a good bike handler this course would reward you. It was good to see everybody and now I’m looking forward to the next race!

DFL #1

2007-09-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday was the beginning of the 07/08 cyclocross season for me with the first Team DFL race of the year. Team Santa Cruz had a strong presence with team leader David Gill, Troy Boone, Erik and Darik Thunstrom, Philip Sims and Grant Stoner all making the trip up to Golden Gate Park for the race. Since the DFL is an underground series with none of the usual waivers and permits, it seems more like a guerilla operation. The entry fee is $5.00 or if you wear a dress the entry fee is free. The usual park goers (and in particular the homeless people living there), can’t really comprehend this invasion of bike racers, let alone when over half of the field is dressed in drag! By the way, Team DFL laid out a course which was even better than last year’s, which in my opinion was one of the funnest courses of the season. Tons of loose, tight sandy corners, high speed gravel corners, some pavement, two legitimate run ups and four natural barriers that forced you to dismount and two more that were rideable: this course simply rocked!!
I use this series as a wake call for my body because the shock of cyclocross racing can take a few races for the body to get used to. I was more apprehensive this year than normal as the month of August had been particularly unkind to me in cycling terms. The month of July had been good to me and I was building up to the cross season well. August rolled around and I went on a small vacation (not a bad thing!) and on my first ride back I crashed three blocks from house. I gave myself a small concussion and a righteous five day headache. On my first ride back after a week of recuperation, I promptly slammed myself to the ground. This, combined with the 12 hours of 5Th Ave and another small vacation, meant August was a wash in terms of training. Enough with the excuses!
I managed to get a good spot three rows back on the starting grid. I don’t know the exact numbers, but there appeared to be well over 100 riders. At the very last second I noticed David Gill popping out of the bushes and slotting himself on the front row! With little warning we were off! I was immediately hooked by teammate Troy Boone and in order to avoid crashing into the guy to my right I had to back off hard. I then had about 20 rider surge around me. I had little concern for this as I had told myself that I would go out easy and roll with the punches.
The usual first lap chaos ensued with big bottle necks at the obstacles and singletrack and the usual mix of very strong riders who couldn’t for the life of them ride on the dirt. People were flailing everywhere! The second lap began, things settled down and I was feeling pretty good. I was slowly picking off people in front of me. There were a couple sections on the course that double backed upon itself and this was a great gauge to see if you were advancing or not. I was certainly gaining on David and in fact he said I had a little smirk on my face every time we passed each other.
The third lap began and I had just re-passed Mary-Anne Hunter. I was feeling very good. About half way through this lap I absolutely blew sky high!!! I never felt this coming. Mary-Anne re-passed me and yelled to me “come on Mike,” but had nothing left. The remainder of the race just got worse and worse for me as I was struggling like never before. I actually stopped at one point and checked my rear tire which I was convinced was going flat, but wasn’t. For the last couple of laps I just concentrated on keeping out of the way. The race finally ended and I was put out of my misery! It was only then did I discover that my rear spring on my brake caliper had popped off of its perch allowing the brake pad to jam against the rim and in fact it was actually hard to push the bike on the ground after the race! Yeah, I have found another excuse! Even though this race put me into the hurt locker, I still had a blast! With the awesome cast of characters and superbly laid out course by DFL, who could not have fun? All photos blatantly ripped off from Scotty Paz

Golden Gate Park

2007-07-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Entering the food chain

2007-07-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

This photo is real. The kayak is 3.8 meters long. You do the math!

Forgive me Lord for I have bonked!

2007-07-10T15:12:00.000-07:00

I didn’t bonk during a race. I didn’t bonk on the 4.5 hour cross bike ride with Careyluk’s on Sunday. I didn’t bonk last night on a thoroughly enjoyable ride under the redwoods by myself. No tales of having to bum quarters off of UCSC students in order to by coke at the vending machine on campus so I could make it home (this really happened!). Nope, I bonked out of my mind while sitting at my desk at work! I didn’t recognize what was happening at first. I got very crabby and snappy even more than my normal curmudgeonly self. I started to wonder if I was getting sick because I was feeling flu like expect for the hunger that was rising in me. Lunch finally rolled around and mouth full by mouth full I slowly revived myself. I’ve been riding an awful lot recently and even though I had a little bigger breakfast than normal, I guess it wasn’t enough!

Sunday Cross Bike Ride

2007-06-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

7 of us went for a cross bike ride last Sunday and it went like this: Nice warm up and then over to the tracks. KABLING! (the sound of a bad bunny hop over the rail), phsst, phsst, phsst. Flat number one. Back on the bikes we continue up tracks picking up the pace as we go. We're now flying when BANG, phsst, phsst, phsst. Flat number two. Back at it and we make 100 feet when KABOOM!, phssssssst! Flat number three. Riding once again we make it to the summer bridge, up a few run ups, up the fire road to the top of hill, do the long single track decent and finally back to the summer bridge and then back to the rail grade for the ride back to the U. KABLEWIE! Phsst, phsst, phsst. Flat tire number four. With all of the flats this ride is starting to take longer than some people’s hall passes will allow and they started bailing out. The fours of us left hit the little single track into the Pogonip and just as we exited flat number five hits. After fixing the last flat the rest of us threw in the towel, went back to Hwy 9 and rode home.
Two things were quite apparent after this ride: frame pumps absolutely rock and carry heaps of spare tubes until everybody remembers how to ride their cross bike again!

Alley Cat

2007-06-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

David Gill and I were debating what to do last weekend and had decided to hit up CCCX mountain bike race #8 on Saturday, but on Wednesday we saw the ad for the alley cat race in Santa Cruz on the How to Avoid the Bummer Life website http://www.howtoavoidthebummerlife.com/weblog/archives/2007/06/bikes_and_stuff_about_other_st.html#more

and decided to try it instead. We then made a plan that we would do the Saturday morning road ride and go to coffee afterwards and then race back to my house and switch to cross bike and then go to the alley cat race. It was going according to plan until David called me Friday night and said he couldn't’t make the Sat. morning road ride, but would instead meet at my house and then we would go to the alley cat race. Upon hearing the news, Nancy promised to make me pancakes if I wouldn’t get up at the crack of dawn to go riding. I took the hint and slept in. After a late breakfast of eggs and toast (no milk=no pancakes) I went to my house and to meet David. David shows up in his kit smelling like he had just ridden for 2 hours. So asked him what was up. He informed me that his plans had changed and he went on the Sat. ride and had sent me an email at 11:00 the previous night to inform me. By looks of David I thought I had got the better end of the deal!

We rode down to the Bicycle Church on the end of Pacific Ave. Upon arrival I notice two things: 1. David and I appear to be much older than the 50 or so riders milling about. 2. We are the only ones deck out head to toe in lycra. We pay up and sign the release and receive the instructions/map. In no particular order we are to retrieve something from the Boardwalk to prove we were there, go over to the church located in the center of the circles on the Westside and pick up a spoke sitting in a bucket somewhere on the premises, go to Café Pergolesi and have the barista sign our card, go to the Goodwill near Harvey West and by a cup and utensils so you can eat and drink after the race (note: carrying around a glass in my jersey pocket gave me more incentive than normal on not to crash!). After Goodwill we were then supposed to head up the railroad tracks (avoiding north bound tourist train), up Fcon, Ucon, Blair Witch, Chinquapin, through the twin gates, over and down the Woodcutters Trail to Smith Grade, up Smith, down Empire, back into Grey Whale/ Wilder, down to the Eucalyptus grove, over to the Enchanted loop and finally finishing somewhere on Baldwin Loop. As you may have noticed, there was a lot of dirt in this alley cat and this is what appealed to David and me the most!

At the start, half of the herd lined up pointing in one direction and the half the other. Someone yelled go and I was not prepared for what followed: utter disregard for any rules of traffic right of ways! It was a free for all! I was even called a “pussy” for slowing down at a stop sign. With absolutely zero warm up the next thing that happened were my legs turning to cement! I struggled to keep up with David. Apparently his two hour warm up had done wonders for him! The whole urban portion of this race was a complete blur of dodging pedestrians, turistas, car and other cyclist. By the time we hit the train tracks, David had about 25 bike lengths on me and I was pedaling perfect squares. Even though I was feeling terrible, I did manage to pass a few people on the tracks. By the time I got to the top of the Ucon, I was sure I was going to chunder! I had no idea where D. Gill was or where I sat in the race, But I never saw another rider until Smith Grade where I was passed by three other racers. By the time I got to the top of Smith I was starting to feel human again. The decent down into Wilder was very high speed and I over cooked one corner and almost ended up in the forest! I arrived at the finish and counted 7 other riders. David was in second place, but over cooked a corner just before the end and was passed finishing in third. The guy who won was a messenger from S.F. and the guy in second rode a fixed gear! David and I both enjoyed this race a lot and after 3 very foamy beers (yep, somebody hauled a keg up the hill to a remote location in Wilder, plus a very large cooler and food!) we split.

Stuff

2007-06-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

Stuff

Somewhere around Monday Miss Nancy and I decided we would have to have a sushi fix on Friday night after work. Friday finally rolled around and we hopped on our bikes and rode downtown to our favorite sushi bar. We were both very hungry and didn’t care whether we were seated at a table or at the bar. We waited 10 minutes outside on the sidewalk and people watched, this is Santa Cruz after all! The bar open first and we were seated right at the corner of it. Our order showed up in record time and we dug in. A new couple sat down 90 degrees to my right and in one glance I decided that their last name had to be Stickupthebutt. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but these two had I’m really up tight written all over them. From Mrs. Stickupthebutt prim and proper absolutely bolt upright appearance to his immaculate clothing, very taunt facial skin and bludging forehead veins, these two looked like stoke victims in the making. I was ignoring them and concentrating myself on wasabi overdosing when I overheard them ordering. It was tight quarters and I wasn’t trying to ease drop, but after hearing what Mrs. Stickupthebutt ordered I could now understand their current predicament. Mrs. Stickupthebutt didn’t like sushi and was only there to placate Mr. Stickupthebutt appetite for raw fish which of course made them both up tighter. I also knew that the kitchen would never get Mrs. S order right. Just about the time of my 7th wasabi overdose their orders shows up and sure as shit her order is wrong. This caused an instant reaction from Mr. S and by the time we paid the check and were heading out the door. Mr. S had 3 of the wait staff and the manager of the place running in circles to cure the problem.
“Oh, for _uck sacks!” I thought to myself. “Would you go to Mc Donald to order sushi? We you go to your local rib joint and order a veggie burger? Would you go to the Thai restaurant and try and get roast beef?” I think not! “Then why in the hell would you put yourself in this position?” The only answer I could come up with is that is what the Stickupthebutt’s like!

The traffic around town last weekend was monumental. It started building around Wednesday and just got worse everyday. It seems everybody and their dog was graduating from something. If you weren’t riding a bike across town you weren’t going to get there very fast. I could feel the tension mounting with the motorist as we rode to sushi on Friday night. A.K. and Hoppy and I were riding back from the Sat. ride and had a couple of people hanging out of their windows of their cars screaming at us. We weren’t doing any wrong or obnoxious, people were just frustrated and or jealous. We has decided we needed a little extracurricular activity after the morning ride and our plan was to ride our road bikes up through the dirt at UCSC, over to Smith Grade and then back down to the coast and home. We hit the first stop sign on High St. and stopped and waited our turn and then keep going. There was an endless parade of cars going to campus for graduation and apparently we had pissed off another driver who had to punch the accelerator behind us and missed A.K. with her mirror by about an inch. She got her car up to about 45 before she had to hit the brakes and stop for the next stop sign 100 yards in front of us. We all had the same thought at once which was to chase her down, but instead we shook our heads and flipped her off. It reminded me of the song Racing To The Red Light.

Riding road bikes in the dirt is excellent training for cyclocross!

The Continental Divide Race has completely enthralled me! I had absolutely no idea how tuff this race is. The more I read the check in reports, review the maps and look at the pictures the more it makes my jaw drop!!! I cannot believe Rick Hunter is doing this race on a rigid bike!

http://www.greatdividerace.com/

We had a great moto on Tuesday night. I felt very strong and could really push on the pedals. I also couldn’t put my wheels in the wrong place. That was until the end of the ride. I somehow managed to scrubbed most of my speed off at the end of this rock garden. This meant I lost the preferred high line and was shifted to the not so preferred low line. In a split second I realized it was going all wrong and ejected just as my bike stopped catapulting me over the bars. I was lucky enough to clear both of my feet over the handlebar and nailed the landing. Unfortunately the landing was sloped so my ass slammed into a rock. It didn’t really start hurting till a couple of days later and I got this really nice scab that runs from cheek to cheek. Just when you feel like superman the reality check hits!

Hey, I own a cross bike!

2007-06-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

Melinda and Cheeto at the S.C. crit.

I decided I needed a change. With the cyclocross season a mere 3 months away I changed my riding schedule. I blew off the Monday night road (race) ride in favor of something easier. The Monday night road ride was getting harder and harder to manage after a weekend of increased distances and work load. I decided I would go ride with the Bicycle Trip’s Monday night moto. Although mountain biking does beat you up more than road riding, I knew I could find someone in the group to ride mellow with. This seemed good in theory, except on this particular Monday the Bike Trip was having an all staff meeting after work. Bugger!

I decided on the way home that I would go for a cross bike ride by myself instead. After almost 5 months of racing and a Big Basin ride I had decided that I didn’t want to ride my cross bike ever again! So my cross bike hung in my garage for almost 4 months totally neglected and ignored. The mere fact that I wanted to ride my cross bike I took as a good sign!

Imagine to my surprise when I got home to find David Gill in my front yard feverishly working on his cross bike. I notice that he was installing one of my new road tire on his bike (remind me to change the combo to lock on my garage!).
Mike: “What are you doing?”
David: “I’m installing a road tires on my cross bike”
Mike: “Why?”
David: “So we can go road riding”
Mike: “Where’s your road bike?”
David: “At home; I couldn’t find my (road) shoes”
Mike: “But I’m not going road riding, I was going to ride my cross bike”

David then showed me his rear cross tire with a pinky sized hole in the side wall and the failed boot that had been jury rigged to get him home the last time he road the bike. I walked into the garage and grabbed a cross tire and handed it to David. I walked back into the garage and grabbed my cross bike from the rafters. It was then I noticed that I had a flat as well. I threw on my race spare wheel and we were off.

My cross bike which during the cyclocross season had become an extension of my body felt so wonderfully strange! It was almost like having a new bike. David and I headed up the train tracks, up Fcon and then up Ucon where at the top we ran into Mike Martin and Cheeto the wonder terrier. For those of you that don’t know Cheeto he has a wonderful life! He gets hauled up hill inside a backpack with his head poking out. Upon the arrival at the first single track or downhill, Cheeto is de-packed and set free. Cheeto is a single track machine! The twister it is the harder it is to keep up with him. When the trail straightens out and the mechanical advantages of gears overwhelm his 4” legs Cheeto will let you pass him if he is in the mood and If not, then it’s a fight to the next corner. Cheeto has done more drop/shuttle rides since he was a pup than most gravity junkies with 8” travel bikes will do in a life time!

So David, Mike, Cheeto and I wound and wove and zigzagged our way through loamy redwood forest singletrack behind the U. We then made our way down Mailboxes, bypassed over to Fence Line and then Down into the Poison Oak Forest. By the time we rode out of the ravine and onto Cow Pies, I was absolutely euphoric! I had truly forgotten how much fun it is to ride a drop bar cross bike in the dirt!!! This ride has got the fires burning again for the up coming cross season, but probably more important was having a kick ass ride with a couple of great friends appear out of nowhere!

Tunisian Doughnut

2007-06-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

I just got done reading Hernando’s Blog about donuts http://vanderhoot.blogspot.com/ I had decided that all donuts are truly evil. Big boxes of them would magically appear twice a month or more at the office and I would do my absolute best to avoid them. All was going well with donut avoidance program until I was forced to have a bite of a Tunisian donut one night from the Crepe Place in S.C. With a little Nutella and fresh berries I think I have found heaven on a plate. Now I have no defense against this particular species of the donut family. The Tunisian donut made me reconsider my original thought on donuts and I have now decided that not all donuts are evil, just most of them!

Melges 24 Sailing

2007-05-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

I spent all of last week racing sailboats in the Melges 24 World Championships here in Santa Cruz. We sucked! We had a terribly hard time with our setup and were pretty slow as compared to everyone else and didn’t really get it together until the last 2 days. On the last day of the event it was all on as the wind was gusting to 35mph. It was pure survival conditions! 19 of the 58 boats that started didn't finish. 5 boats dropped their mast and there were many other equipment failures as well. We had just set our spinnaker at the weather mark and had taken off on a wave when a massive gust of wind hit us from behind, popped our spin. halyard out of the cleat, released 10 to 15 feet of that halyard, re-cleated itself causing the core of the halyard to strip from the cover. What this all means is that we crashed in a most violent way. As we were lying on our sides with the mast in the water trying to recover, our mast and rig were being flogged unmercifully by the wind. I thought for sure we were going to lose our rig! After 2 or 3 minutes on our side, we were finally able to take the spinnaker down. All four of us really wanted to reset the spinnaker (there is no better way to drain your adrenal gland while planning at almost 20 knots in a 24 foot boat in 30 plus knots of wind and 10 foot seas), but we were afraid the spinnaker halyard had been damage to the point that we could reset the spinnaker, but it might be impossible to get it down. While we debated this fact we were still planning while going down wind with just the main and jib alone. There was a boat next to us when suddenly the driver does a back flip out of the boat and into the water. We without debate or hesitation went into rescue mode. We furled the jib sailed over to swimmer and did a text book rescue. It was like we had practice this maneuver for weeks. The guy who churned out to be French wasn’t in the water for more than 1 minute! When then tried to hail the Race Committee on our handheld VHF to inform them on what had happened, but our power must have been low as we could hear them, but they couldn’t hear us. To make a long story short, we were able to put the French fellow back on his boat after a hairy sailboat to sailboat transfer. We decided enough was enough and headed to the harbor. The conditions were so brutal that the Race Committee abandoned the last race and the regatta was over. We didn’t place that well in the overall results, but all four of us had a really great time!

2007-05-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

Bosco P. Manx

aka Bubba, aka Chubba Bubba, aka Chubbs, aka Mr. B., aka B Boy,

aka Bosco Boy, aka Boscotore

03/1992 - 05/15/2007

I have truly lost one of my best friends.

Birthday Moto

2007-04-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

I got old (#46) again and in honor of the occasion Shauna P. arranged a birthday moto for me. 16 of us hit trail and zigzagged up through the U to the Outback were Shauna pulled a bottle of champagne out of her camelback. Most of us had a big swig or two. David Gill and Simone suddenly appeared with a cooler filled with beer. We had a few more sips and swigs before we were forced to leave as we all started to freeze being it was a cool day and we were sweaty from the climb. On the little climb leaving the trials area at Outback, I suddenly realized that my motor skills had been jeopardized by the alcohol. It wasn’t that I consumed a lot, but rather the fact that I had just spent an hour climbing and my metabolism was rather cranked up. This became even more apparent once the trail pointed down. I was missing apexes, barely missing trees, sliding all over the place and generally on the verge of being completely out of control! By the time we reached Mailboxes most of my motor skills had returned. I must have been feeling a little braver than normal though as I launched everything that I came across my path and went faster down this trail that I ever has before! It was a great ride with a great bunch of friends and certainly makes getting older once a year worth it!

This is not Cytomax

Nice socks!

Barney from the U.K. listens while I tell lies to Juliana!

Your turn.

The crew.

10 hours

2007-03-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

I did a couple of rides this weekend that totaled 10 hours exactly with no pain! Well, actually no pain from my injured hamstring, but as I write this I’m very sore and tired!

The first ride on Saturday was a long road ride with the Rock Lobster team. We started a Toro Park across from Laguna Seca on Hwy 68 and then rode down the Salinas Valley on River Rd, rolled up and down on Arroyo Seco Rd., had a pit stop in the middle of nowhere at a tiny country store, up and over the first climb of the day (2400’), down the Carmel Valley into a head wind, stopped in Carmel Valley Village for another pit stop, up the dreaded Laureles Grade and finally down Hwy 68 back to El Toro Park. It was 87 miles long and almost 5000’ of climbing (almost the exact same numbers as a Flamingo ride). This was absolutely a fantastic ride with great bunch of people. I cramped pretty hard going Laureles Grade and had to get off of my bike to unlock, but other than that it was amazingly beautiful ride and roads that I had never ridden on.

The second ride on Sunday was a moto up to and around and down Ursula Mnt, up to the U and then down Mailboxes with Careyluks, X-Terra Matt, Margarita Dave, Gerry-Gerry and Gerry and Shauna P. I was super tired at the beginning of this ride, but about half of the way through, I started feeling much better. In fact, after 3 hours of fun I almost went for another lap with Careyluk and X-Terra Matt as I was in a large state of euphoria from the descent, but knew I had to get home to see Nancy. This was the smartest decision I made all weekend because by the time I got home and showered and feed myself it suddenly felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders and I realized just how tired and cranky I was!!

Here are some pictures of the fun:

Everybody was very chipper in the morning including young Max.

Our little peloton.

It was great to see David Gill back on the bike after a lengthy back injury

Herr Swiggboss in front of the little country store that saved our butts.

California in the spring time and top of the first climb.

The last pit stop around mile 70. Max is about to devour a whole bag of Goldfish crackers!

OTB

2007-03-15T22:35:00.000-07:00

OFF THE BACK

For the last month and a half i haven't blogged, so here's a random collection of events and thoughts

Last December while on a mountain bike ride with Team Careyluk, other friends and teammates I crashed going over a log that I have rode over 100 times before. It was near the end of the ride and I was fatigued. The split second while I was in the air, after going over the bars, my hamstring cramped and I landed awkwardly. It felt like I slightly pulled my hamstring, but it was nothing serious and I dusted myself off and keep riding; no worries. A week later while on a night moto, I felt a weird tinge where my hamstring connects to my ass. This "tinge" steadily became worse and after 4 more cross races, a Big Basin cross bike ride and the first Flamingo of the year I came to the realization that this constant pain was not going away and I decided to pull the plug; I would take the rest of the month off. It was a combination of this injury and complete burnout from the long cross season that made this decision easy to follow. It certainly wasn't because I suddenly learned to listen to my body! I went and got some stim, massage and manipulation. I made love to the dreaded ice bag and tried to hatch the heating pad. March rolled around and I started riding in earnest again. The pain was almost gone while riding, which is a huge improvement, but there is still something there. I promised myself that I wouldn't sprint or do all out efforts uphill while standing as this seems to agitate the injury. This has been particularly difficult during group road rides! It's very difficult not to join in the "reindeer games" that happen before the city limit and other sprint signs!! This business of growing older and taking forever for things to heal or recuperate is wearing thin on me because it makes me feel like a whiny baby!

One of my best friends became very sick. Bosco P. Manx, my faithful cat for the last 15 years became very ill. Bosco was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. Besides having it come out of both ends (much to the chagrin of my dress shoes!), Bosco dammed near withered away to nothing. It got to the point that I had to hand feed him turkey from the butcher as he would touch anything else, not even his beloved tuna! Bosco is on drugs now and is doing better, but I fear that he is on borrowed time.

My girlfriend Nancy bought a house and moved from a mega termite infested mansion next to the beach to a tiny little house in the Seabright area. I never knew one person could have so much stuff! I'm not much of a plant person so I never noticed that all of the outdoor plants at the termite mansion were in pots. Nancy knew she would eventually move and never put anything into the ground. After filling the tiny new house to the rafters, it was time to move the plants, lots of plants! Here's a picture of Nancy arranging the last of many loads. After the moving was done, then came the task of putting everything in it's place. Nancy soon realized how small her new house is as it became apparent that not everything would fit, but with typical Teutonic efficiency she arrange everything by there importance: used a lot, used sometimes and garage sale. Judging by the ever growing pile in the garage, there's going to be one hell of a garage sale this spring!

What in the world has this guy done to the media for them to completely ignore him during the Tour of California? Didn't Priority Health or Bissel buy enough air time? Ben has had a great run for the last couple of months. It proves that clean hard work can take you to the top!

For the last couple of months work has been very hectic. This picture sums it well, but unfortunately I'm the chicken!

I'm actually a much better sailor than I am a bike racer. I have been fortunate to sail with some of the best teams around and have won some very big regattas, long distant races, set course records and have won a couple of national championships along the way, but I must admit that my stoke for the local sailing scene had dwindled to the point that I hadn't step foot on a boat in several months. Along with daylight savings change came Wednesday night sailing (race) in Santa Cruz. The Wednesday night race is not officially sanctioned and it’s commonly referred to as a “beer can race” There is no race committee keeping track of the starts and finishes and certainly there are no results posted. It kind of like your local Saturday ride in that it's usually contested pretty hard and there certainly are rivalries that develop with your peers and maybe mentally you may keep track of who won the sprint and who dropped who. It’s the same deal with sailing in Santa Cruz on Wednesdays. I went sailing for the first two Wednesdays nights of the year and had a blast! For the last couple of months some friends have been trying to convince me to race in the Melges 24 World Championships in Santa Cruz in May. I kept telling them I didn’t want to sail, but they were very persistent. In light of the last couple of Wednesday night races the next time they asked me to race I agreed. I came to a couple conclusions before agreeing to go: 1. There’s a world championship happening in my backyard and I should stop being so grumpy and go. 2. We don’t have a snowball chance in hell to win and in fact a top 20 placing would be great and a top 10 placing would be a miracle! In sailing I’m hypercompetitive, so instead going out with super high expectations, I’m going to go racing with a bunch of good, old (avg. age on the boat is around 48) friends and enjoy the ride! The picture above is the boat I'll be racing on. If you say the name real fast you'll understand!

2007-02-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

Tom Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle is my favorite political cartoonist. I love his drawing style and I find him to be very funny and pointed. Here are a couple of my favorites:

FDA's new guideline for eating

just before the election

during last year's Tour de France

High stakes poker?

It makes sense now

for more got to: http://www.sfgate.com/comics/meyer/

Flamingo'ed

2007-02-05T18:14:00.000-08:00

I got “Flamingo'ed” yesterday. The first part of the ride went well, but after we left the fire station on Skyline my legs started to cramp and I was dropped before Alpine. I rode in the groupetto and until we reached Cloverdale Rd. While the rest of the group headed to Pescadero for lunch, I hung a left onto Cloverdale Rd. and continued on by myself. I ate a sandwich on the fly and prayed that my legs wouldn’t fully lock up. My prayer went unanswered as I hit the tiny hill where big wide open Cloverdale Rd. turns into narrow Cloverdale Rd., my legs completely cramped to the point that I could not pedal anymore. I got off the bike and hobbled to the top of the hill. After a couple of minutes my legs finally released and I plopped down into the dirt.
Good God, even though I was having a tuff time, it truly was a beautiful day! I sucked down some Cliff Shot and drank a bunch of water and enjoyed the vista. I hopped back onto my bike and continued on. Every hill I encounter put me on the verge of cramping and I was in my own personal world of hurt! I couldn’t pedal hard enough to make all of the little aches and pains go away! I swear time started to expand. By the time I reached Scotts Creek I was starting to feel a bit better, but I had to stop in Davenport for some water.
I’m back on the bike minding my own business when suddenly, right around the red white & blue mailbox, a car is pacing me. I look over and it’s Team Santa Cruz’s Commandant David Gill. David pulls ahead and then pulls over. I stop and we shoot the breeze. A couple of minutes later the rest of the ride flies buy! David and I pull out and David motor paces me almost back to the group, but traffic forces him away just before contact is made. For the next mile I give chase, but the gap hovers right around 50 meters and I just can’t close it. The group hits the Dimeo Lane hill and I can see Aaron Kereluk pull around and attach. I watch as the group splinters into 3 pieces before me. I stop chasing around Wilder and cruise in. I hear later that the sprint was chaotic as somebody flatted just as everybody started their kick for the city limit sign! I haven’t cramped like this in a long time and I hope it will be a long time before it happens again!

The Big Bonk

2007-01-30T16:22:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was the end of the 06/07 cyclocross season, a season that for me began on September 13th with first DFL race in Golden Gate Park (where David Gill beat me and the rest of the Team Santa Cruz crew). 20 races later the last Peak Season race was upon us and I greeted it with mixed feelings. On one hand it’s been a bloody long season! Getting up long before the sun comes up and loading the van with all of the team equipment, filling bottles (over 300 for the season), loading Tyrant JG, Supreme Justice, Race Director, Team Field Marshal and Dictator-for-Life David Gill into the van, driving to the venue and then setting up and breaking down the team compound had gotten old. The fact that our Team put on the last 3 races made for exceptionally long days/weekends and added to my fatigue.

loading Dave and the van.
On the other hand I love to race cyclocross and love to go to cyclocross races!! I will never be the fastest, probably never win a race, but I don’t think it’s about that. It’s the comeraderie and the relaxed atmosphere that permeates the venues that sets it apart. Where else but cyclocross race can you have total strangers cheering you on, offer you a bottle when you really need it and let you use their spare wheel? You can ask virtually any rider of higher skill a question about technique or setup and they will be more than happy to talk to you about it. What other form of racing will the pros say thank you on the way by for moving your sorry, slow-as-molasses, about-to-be-lapped butt off the good line to allow them an easy pass? For me personally this has never happened at a road race, crit or even a mountain bike race.

Not to say that all things are roses in the NorCal cross world. There were elbows and fists thrown at some of the beginning classes at the Pilarcitos Series, where the fields were very large, and even one incident of an older rider knocking down a junior on purpose (that guy should be keelhauled!!!), but generally, the Women & Men in the Elite & Master A & Singlespeeder categories show the utmost sportsmanship and set a fine example for everybody. If you race in the morning in the beginning classes and don’t hang out at the venue for the rest of the day, you are surely short-changing yourself an entertaining learning experience. It is perhaps this sportsmanship and spirit that will make the next seven months seem ever so long before the next cx season begins.

Race Report: Peak Season III, Relay Race and final race of the season.

Relay Race:

I was somehow conned into doing the relay race by some of my teammates at the last second. What this meant for me was no warm up! I started the beginning of the season at DFL #1 in Golden Gate Park without a warm up and might as well end it the same way. The usual chaos ensued for the relay, but by the time I was supposed to ride in the anchor position (4th), the race appeared to be running pretty smooth. Teammate Katie London completed her lap and we slapped hands like tag team wrestlers indicating it was my turn to do a lap. Everybody who was racing on a bike with gears had to remove their rear wheel and leave it on the ground. After high fiving their teammates for the exchange they would have to install the rear wheel before they could take off for their lap. Other people, including myself, on singlespeeds could not easily remove our rear wheels and consequently had to run 50 meters to a tree and back as a penalty. At the exact moment that Katie and I slapped hands, so did arch-rival and good friend Stella Carey slap hands with her teammate. Game On!! I beat her in the run to the tree and back and was on my bike first with Stella in hot pursuit! It didn’t take long for her to pass me as I just wasn’t feeling right. By the time I exited the long pig barn, Stella had a pretty big gap on me. As we hit the off camber side hill into the double off chamber chicane I was back on her butt, but when we hit the flat road she pulled away again. She had a bobble at the single barrier on top of the little hill and I again was right on her tail. As we hit the downhill grass section I seem to go into a fog and prepared to turn right toward the corral when suddenly, Stella turns left. Geez, I felt stupid! After all, I helped build this section of the course and put the gate in so we could shorten the course for the relay race. This would not be the last time that I would forget where I was going.

Having fun with Stella!
Stella ended up beating me by about 3 seconds, but afterwards I felt absolutely like _hit!!! “Going as hard as you can for 3.5minutes without a warm up was stupid” I kept telling myself. I was looking for excuses for feeling so bad. After riding around for a bit, I went back to the pits to get ready for my second lap, of which I cannot recall much.

Singlespeed race (21st cx race of the year):

I barely had time to get my singlespeed number pinned on and pop a Clif Shot before it was time to race. The whistle blew and I got the holeshot going into the first turn. Except for one major thing; I forgot the turn was there! _hit, _hit and triple _hit!!! By the time I realized my error it was to late to turn in and I ended up on the wrong side of the tape. I was told later, after the race, that this maneuver caused chaos behind me as riders were lining up on my wheel for the turn. The only thing I can remember for the next two laps was being passed and then re-passing and then being passed again by Dorothy Wong, Andi Mackie, Kathleen Bortolussi and teammates Katie London and Daniel Henderson. Believe it or not, I missed the corner at the end of the straight away again!!!!! Somewhere in there I bonked so hard that I left my body, and in retrospect I’m quite sure I was bonking long before the race started. For the next five laps I rode around in a semi catatonic state. About all I can recall is that I developed a fan club at the end of the start/finish straightaway and every time I would approach the corner they would yell in unison “RIGHT TURN” to ensure no more mishaps. What a swell bunch of folks!

After the race was over I staggered around a bit and then collapsed in van for 15 minutes or so. I made myself get up and popped a Clif Shot, drank two bottles of Cytomax, ate a Clif Bar and had a beer; in 20 minutes I feeling human again! We then broke down and cleaned the course and then dropped all of the equipment off at Jeff’s house. By the time I got home it was 19:00 and I had been going full speed for 15.5 hours. On the way to the shower I hopped on the scale and to my amazement I had dropped 5lbs. I then went over to Nancy’s house for dinner and, incredibly, she cooked marinated tri tip, potatoes au gratin and had made a huge salad. After consuming a huge portion of food and a couple of glasses of wine, I was one happy camper!!

The next morning I hit the scale on the way to the shower and much to my shock, I hadn’t gained an ounce from the night before! This caused me to give this predicament a good ponder while showering and I came to the conclusion that in the 3 chaotic days leading to the race I had basically stopped eating (enough) food. I guess I had allowed myself to get a little wound up about the last race of the season. All day Monday the only thing I could think of was food!

Singlespeed podium

2007-01-25T16:43:00.000-08:00

SUNDAY! SUNDAY!! SUNDAY!!! SUNDAY!!!! SUNDAY!!!!!!
Team cyclocross relay race this Sunday at the Watsonville Fairgrounds
BE THERE!!!!!

2007-01-24T09:38:00.001-08:00

The Day After
I had a grand cross bike ride on Sunday with a bunch of friendly boys and girls: 6.5 hour total time with 6000+ feet of climbing (sometimes walking) in 65 miles. The mellow mood of the crew and an awe inspiring view of Ano Nuevo Island from the top of Chalk Mnt. (I forgot my camera) made all of the pain and cramping on the way home well worth it! Consequently, the pull of gravity felt much stronger on Monday morning and I felt very lethargic! I was having a debate with myself on whether I wanted to go on a lunch ride or not. A visual inspection through the office window and a quick check on the outside temperature via the web confirmed it was the first nice weekday in awhile. So I girded my loins, suited up and stepped out the office door. It was indeed a beautiful day! I was riding along the bike path next to the Uvas Creek which is flat as a pancake and is great for spinning the old legs out. I also particularly like riding the path for 2 reasons: 1. I don’t entirely trust the drivers here in Garlic Town. 2. The rednecks out here haven’t chucked bottles of beer out the window onto the path (yet). I have never ridden in a town with so much glass and or debris on the side of the road (there is nothing more irritating than getting a flat during the lunch ride!). The sun is shining, the music in my ears is kicking and most of my friends may not believe this, but I have a big smile on my face! I come upon a 20 something couple walking on the path with a tiny grey puppy. Just as I swing to the left to pass them the girl kicks the puppy soccer style causing the puppy to somersault 4 or 5 times!!!! I think I audible moaned. I wanted to turn around and scream at them, but I kept on riding. As what I had just seen rewound over and over in my head, sun didn’t seem as bright anymore, the music in my ears was dull and my smile was gone. All I could think and or wish is that people like this don’t breed!

2007-01-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

Peak Season #2 01/14/07

I wasn’t feeling all that chipper before the start of my race. During my warm up I couldn’t tell if I was feeling good or bad, but I was feeling very lackadaisical. The Elite Men and Singlespeed classes would start together and managed to slot myself right in the middle of the first row. There was a very long paved straightaway that lead to a right turn onto the dirt. I managed to get the holeshot! I didn’t think this was possible on a singlespeed as the straightaway was so long I thought the geared riders would have smoked past me. I must have looked like a sewing machine at full rpm!

A couple of corners later I was passed by my own bike! Actually, a guy visiting from Ireland borrowed my geared bike to race on. As we hit the race car track I pulled to the right and let a gang of riders buy. I didn’t want to go so hard that I would immediately blow up. I could see teammates Mike Martin and Erik Thunstrom along with some other guy I didn’t recognize, who were all on singlespeeds behind me. I rode moderate tempo until they caught me, but by then, I felt recovered from my initial effort. The rest of the first lap was uneventful.

As we went pass the scoring area/finish line Mike M. who was at front sat up, so I threw an acceleration in to see what would happen. It had no real effect, but it did tell me that I was feeling exceptionally well! By the time we hit the zigzag through the barns, I was riding steady tempo at the front. The next thing I knew Mike M. throws down an attack and on the way buy throws me an elbow! My own teammate throwing me a bow!? His attack did nothing to shake us up. When we hit the climb out of the lower section of the fairgrounds to the top near the parking lot, I went to the front and set a hard tempo. When we reached the top of the climb I looked back and found only Erik on my wheel. The guy I didn’t recognize was long gone and Mike M. had popped. During the next lap I talked to Erik and told him since he was ahead on points, I would work for him and wouldn’t sprint him for the finish.

For the next couple laps we traded pulls, but we couldn’t bring the rider in front of us back. It was kind of bummer that Mike M. blew as I think the 3 of us working together could have brought the rider in front back. The cool thing about this course was it had plenty of places to take visual checks on the riders in front and behind. We kept gaining on Mike M. until we couldn’t see him any more, but suddenly a new rider appeared behind us! I was convinced it was the singlespeeder we had dropped earlier. I started getting paranoid about getting caught from behind as this usually seems to happen to me when a race! Erik and I made a plan on what to do if it happened. Suddenly Pat Schott appeared behind us. He rapidly passed the rider behind us and was making large gains on us.

Going into the last lap Pat had almost closed the gap to us and was ready to lap us and the guy behind him had taken a huge chunk out of us. This certainly increased my paranoia, so I went to the front and started to give it all I had left! Pat caught us half way through zigzag in the barn and I hoped onto his wheel. We started up the hill on Pat’s wheel and about half the way up Pat slowed a bit so I came around to take a pull. In the process I gaped Pat and dropped Erik. Dooh! Pat came back around me and I soft pedaled behind him while waiting for Erik. Pat rode away and Erik finally caught up to me on the finish line straightaway and I let him pass so he could score extra points. All of the paranoia I suffered on the last to laps was unfounded as the rider in question behind us was in the Elite Men class and not the Singlespeed class.

This was most certainly my best race of the year. I felt very strong and didn’t blow once. I have absolutely no idea why I felt so good. I did nothing unusual in the days leading up to the race. I had a lot of fun riding with Erik and he was very stoked to have someone work for him. 17 races down and one to go!

2007-01-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

The Preface:

Usual morning drill: Get up at the crack of darkness, load van, wait for Supreme Justice, Race Director, Team Field Marshal and Dictator-for-Life David Gill, load David into the van and drive to Coffeetopia for liquid stimulates. The drive was very pleasant, but not because of David’s company; it just happen to be a very beautiful morning!

The Course:

Instead of racing in the usual spot at the East Garrison of the old Fort Ord, we were racing at the old campground section where they usually hold the CCCX mountain bike series. This could only mean one thing, lots of elevation change! This certainly was not your typical cross course. There was heaps of high speed singletrack, a blazing fast paved downhill section, and lots of low speed turns, barriers, and two little logs that you could bunny hop and one big one that you could not. The big story though was the climbing. I can’t ever remember racing a cross course that climbed so much. The climb started before the finish line and was broken up by a little run up with a rideable steep climb directly afterwards that led to a false flat double track to a set of double barriers at the very top of the hill.

Race # 1
Master A 45+:

What a disaster! I had a bad start and was pinched off twice causing me to lose a lot of places and all of my momentum. I then somehow managed to kick my left side rear brake arm on the remount at the top of the course and knocked the retaining spring off of its perch. I stopped and tried to fix it, but to no avail. It never occurred to me to in my anaerobic state unhook my brake cable; instead I rode 2/3 of a lap with the left side brake pad jammed against the rim. UGH! I saw teammate Karen Kefauver and asked her to have my singlespeed ready for a bike change. She made it to the pits before I did and the exchange was made. I rode my singlespeed for half of a lap and was meet by Supreme Justice, Race Director, Team Field Marshal and Dictator-for-Life David Gill in the feed zone where we did another change back to my original bike. After a couple of laps on my geared bike I was feeling very sloth like. I figured I was having a really bad day and put it on cruise control and finished the race. It wasn’t until I loaded the bike into the van at the end of the day that I realized that with even the retaining spring in the proper position, the brake pad was still rubbing the rim. I finished the race in last place and ended 7th overall for the series (I tied for 6th, but lost the tie breaker).

Race #2
Singlespeed:

After the long uphill at the start of the race, I ended up behind a rider who I will call “the Kid”. The Kid and I were the tail end of a lone pack of riders as we snaked down the singletrack. The Kid was having a very hard time staying on course. By the time we reentered the dirt after the long paved section, there was a small gap between us and teammate Eric Thunstrom and Tim of Buy-Cell. The Kid was sliding all over the place and buy the time we hit the dirt straight away next to the parking lot I got pass him. As I passed the Kid he made some discouraging remark (smack) to me. The Kid re-passed me in the next corner, but I was not concerned being that we hadn’t even completed one lap yet. I was taking the old bull vs. the young bull approach. We hit the double small log section and the Kid made an error and I got a gap on him. There were sections of this course that doubled back upon itself and you could tell if you were gaining or losing on the riders in front or behind you. For the next couple of laps the gap to Eric and the Buy Cell guy held steady while the gap on the Kid increased.
By the third lap I couldn’t see the Kid anymore and Eric and Tim were slowly pulling away. The climb on this course was taking its toll on me. Except for being lapped, I rode the rest of the race by myself. I got a nice tow from Pat Schott for half of a lap. It was a pleasure to follow Pat in the singletrack section. This was in stark contrast to following Olaf Vanderhoot who almost missed a couple of corners and carved large divots into the dirt with his tires. I’m not sure the word finesse is Olaf vocabulary when it comes to riding on the dirt. I ended up finishing 6th overall in the singlespeed class. 4 cyclocross series down and one to go!

2007-01-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

According to an article I read in the Santa Cruz Senile yesterday, entitled “New purpose for overlooked fat”. Chicken fat is the next big thing for biodiesel. Besides being cheaper than soybean oil, there appears to be a large abundance of it. Tyson Food Inc. alone produces 4.3 billion pounds of chicken fat annually which if converted could produce 300 million gallons of biodiesel. Mother of god! How many chickens does it take to produce 4,300,000,000lbs of fat?

2007-01-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

I didn't get to ride between X-mas and New Years. I went on the Saturday road ride and my legs felt stiff. On Sunday I moto'd with A.K., Stella the Hun, P.S. and others . I was ruined afterwards. I never made it to ring in the New Year. I passed out at 11:00 and although there was alcohol involved, it was not the contributing factor. Miss Nancy wanted to go on a hike on Monday and I obliged. I like hiking trails I would normally have rode. I always see thing I have never seen before. We hiked up behind Cabrillo College on the trail I affectionately refer to as Heart Attack Jr. & Heart Attack which connects to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This is what we saw.

Last but not least a mountain lion scratching post!

2007-01-02T10:42:00.000-08:00

PEAK SEASON #1

The Race

Singlespeed:
I had a pretty clean start. After the finish line, leaving the pavement on the first little up hill, I bogged down a bit and was passed by several people including Stella. I still had an overlap on Stella going into the next left hand turn, but I knew what was coming and back off just in time as Stella chopped the apex into the corner. Stella would rather eat her first born than concede a corner to me! I passed her back when she bobbled the little log crossing. As we exited the muddy path on the perimeter of grass field I was forced to dismount for the tiny little up onto the grass and Stella passed me for good.

There were three tiny up hill sections on the course that were giving me problems because I was running the biggest possible gear combination that I on my have on my singlespeed; being that the rest of the course was so flat. The one after the S/F line was doable because I could carry a lot of momentum up from the pavement, but I would still have to grind over the top. The other two, up onto the grass and up from the service road, I couldn’t ride consistently during practice and decided to dismount and run during the race. I figured riding the two sections and then bogging down and being forced to dismount and run was slower than just dismounting and running both.

For the next two laps Stella slowly pulled away from me while my teammate Erik Thunstrom slowly reeled me in. After remounting from running up from the service road, Erik caught me. I didn’t think to ill of this as I thought we could work together and try and bring Stella back. Erik went immediately to the front to take a pull and on the way by he gave me grief for not riding the hill up from the service road! We hit the double barriers before the finish line side by side when I heard a Ka-Whack-Thud and I knew immediately that Erik had tripped and crashed over the barriers. I asked the spectators after the barrier if he was all right and they replied in the affirmative.

I rode the almost the whole next lap alone while Erik slowly reeled me in again. By the time we reached the service road he was right behind me. I dismounted and ran up the little hill, remounted and look back over my shoulder to watch Erik ride it. He bogged out at the top and was force to dismount and run it! Erik eventually passed me on the grassy section and I clamped onto his rear wheel and held on for dear life for the next lap.

My body was giving me the signal that I was about to blow. I figured I would throw one last move at Erik before he dropped me. Just before the drop in to the service road I sprinted past Erik. I figured I would be in better shape if I hit the little hill first. Eric, once again gave me grief for dismounting and running. 30 seconds later I blew sky high and Erik rode away from me. I rode the next couple of laps solo and enjoyed the course and the day. With most of the course being so wide open, I could see I was in no danger of being caught from behind. I even got to smile and say “hi” to David Crum, who was a spectator at the little hill after the service road whom I haven’t seen in a while.

2007-01-02T09:27:00.000-08:00

Went on a walk with Miss Nancy at 4 mile. I was amazed by the lack of trash at this beach. I used surf here a lot in my teens and 20's and people used to trash the living _hit out of it; keggers and bonfires. I guess since it became part of Wilder State Park things have cleaned up.

Instead, we saw this

and some of these

and watch this

2006-12-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

I'm glad I'm not sailing on the Monterey Bay right now!

2006-12-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't define myself as a tree hugging environmentalists, but the sights of trash on the beach and redwood trees on the back of logging trucks does sadden my heart. The GF said she wanted to go to a secluded beach up north on Christmas day. We drove up Hwy 1 to Little Laguna, a place I used to surf when I was much younger. In fact, I hadn't set foot on this beach in 20+ years. It still looked remarkable the same, but I was staggered by the amount of trash we saw. There was plastic bits of every type scattered about the high tide mark. It then dawned on me that this refuse had washed up onto the beach from the sea. The trash picture above took us 10 minutes to collect and was a very tiny portion of what was there, but this is all that we could carry. No matter where you are, take a little time out and pick a bit of trash up! Eventually everything ends up in the ocean sooner or later.

2006-12-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

Preface:
Yet another race over the hill, which means getting up at the ungodly hour
of 4:30. This particular morning was more difficult than the others as my
girlfriend's company Christmas party was the night before. I ended up
playing bartender for four hours, but in the process I managed not to pour
myself it oblivion and only consumed two glasses of wine. Just when I
thought we were about to make our escape I heard the rallying cry "let's go
to Brady's Yacht Club," which is the neighborhood dive bar. Bugger! To make
a long story short, I managed not to over indulge but we didn't get home
until 01:00. When the alarm went off I was convinced it was a terrible
mistake!
Field General and Dictator for life David Gill arrived on time and we were
off to Coyote Pt, San Mateo for the 5th and final round of the Pilarcitos
BASP that also doubled as Nor. Cal. district championships. Upon arrival we
disemboweled the van and set up camp next to the water front.

The Course:
It had been a couple of years since I have raced here and I had forgotten
how hard this course is. From the beach section, to the grass filled with S
turns, to the uphill section under the eucalyptus, this course just sucks
the life out of you! I can't possibly imagine what it would be like if it
rained!
The Race (Singlespeed):
This race was absolutely brutal. If it hadn't have been for the sight of
Brent Chapman dangling in front of me, I think I would have quit. Needless
to say this was not one of my best races, but I did finish. Afterwards my
body felt like I had been run over by a cement truck.

The Epilogue:
All in all, this was a great event and venue, but two days later I still
feel like I was hit by a cement truck!

2006-11-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

After a very exhilarating and yet in the same breath terrifying experience on the track at Hellyer Park, I purchased a cheap track bike. This has nothing to do with the fix gear rage going on right now. It was an impulse buy. I could never see myself charging around town on a fix gear. Although I admire my friends that do, the recent trend of kids riding around on fix gear bikes with their pant legs rolled up, cycling cap ever so slightly askew on their head and handle bars only 16” wide has completely cracked me up! My track bike now resides at work at we go on lunch rides together. I have a nice little route that evolves very light and or no traffic. I really enjoy riding this bike, but I have one really bad habit that has been ingrained into my head since I started riding road bikes 34 years ago: coasting! Coasting, that blessed act of release your momentum that requires virtually no energy at all. I learned on the track that coasting on a track bike can be a near fatal experience! The unconscious act of coasting after finishing a sprint left me riding a nose wheel at 30mph twice and although I managed not to crash, I did leave stains in my shorts! My lunch rides have been eventful free until yesterday when I tried to coast over a set of train tracks. How I managed not to auger mystifies me. It was all blind luck. I must get rid of this unconscious urge to coast!