Random Local Bike-Racing Gossip

Before these little tidbits drift out of my feeble brain...

SB may soon be getting another top racer for some winter-time training. Bobby Lea, an up-and-coming domestic rider with Toyota-United, will be riding here during January and February. No doubt he's heard of our famous, highly-prestigious group rides and needs to fill out his resume with a victory in the Polo Fields sprint. Of course, he has no chance to win Bates Rd. as that is the domain of the climbers who would never allow themselves to be beaten by a trackie.

Speaking of trackies, former world-record holder Rory O'Reilly is starting to put in big miles again. I think he's trying to keep up with his kid--no easy task. Despite being over 50 years old, I'm quite sure Rory could still be competitive in P/1/2 SoCal crits if he puts his mind to it.

From the rising to the falling... Local team Fastrack/BDC is folding. They've been a good presence in the local riding scene for the last few years, but never seemed to go to races much beyond our immediate area. Maybe they're still shell-shocked from Black Sunday at Mothballs this year, where their top sprinter ChickenRanch got spanked by Blingerman. Or maybe it's just that leader Dave Lettieri is tired of the road scene after nearly 30 years of involvement and wants to put his energy into MTB racing. Who knows... I'm just banging on the keyboard to procrastinate returning to my work.

Finally, it's my sad duty to report that after ten years of Fighting the Man in SoCal and poking fun at $12k Dreamers everywhere, Roger Worthington (aka Max Kash Agro) is ending his Labor Power team and scaling back his own racing. Although I personally won't miss the team and its stable of high-paid mercenaries, I will miss Roger's and Dave's presence in the races. A grittier pair of Masters you'll never find. Actually, it may be too soon to write Hawk's obit... word is that he'll be starting his own little team. I think he should call it "The Management".