Group Ride Tidbits

Yesterday was my first weekend group ride in about a month and it was a fun time seeing the gang and catching up. From a purely selfish training perspective, the Sat/Sun group rides in SB are not optimal because it takes time to get down there, with a lot stopping at lights and signs. And then the ride itself is only ~2 hours, with less than an hour at training intensities (although you could consider the other hour as LSD training). But I think doing the group rides is an important part of belonging to the local cycling/racing community. People bond on group rides. We're all passionate about the sport and we share many common experiences.

But that's not what this post is about...

It's an annual offseason ritual to gossip about who will be riding for which team in the upcoming season. Also, every year some new teams are born and a few old ones die. Two situations that I learned about recently are pretty interesting:

Cody says he'll be riding for the Sierra-Nevada pro team next year. That's a great opportunity if it comes true. Cody is the real deal and is on a steep upward trajectory. The kid got 2nd in the elite natz 15 km scratch race on the track a couple weeks ago ...as a junior!! Plus, he's been at the front of some pretty good p/1/2 field sprints this year too. Cody will continue to improve a lot with advice from guys like Jonas Carney and Kurt Stockton (who owns the team). Part of why Cody has become so good is that he is very dedicated and serious about his training, which is not common with juniors. There were a lot of times this last year when Cody would add on a couple of solo hours beyond the group rides. It takes discipline to pass right by your house (with its frig and comfy couch) after already getting in three hours and continue on for a few more. That's the difference between guys that get results and the rest of us ...we go home or sit at the coffee shop. Anyway, I didn't get to talk to Cody much about the team situation but I'm guessing it helped that Kurt has SB connections from the old days.

Now we transition to the older end of the bike-racer-age spectrum, and (awkwardly) from KS to Doug K. After being courted for at least a year, Chris Walker is making the jump from Labor Power to the Time Factory Team. Doug has always been a fan of CW because he respects his gritty style and that he races a lot. Plus he thinks CW and Jock Boyer will be a good combo when they race together. Maybe the two of them can take on Lindsay ...or not! I think it's a good move for Chris. MKA was great to CW the last couple of years with Labor, but Chris doesn't fit the whole SoCal masters ego scene and he didn't like being pressured to race 35+ and 45+.