A Long Twisted Affair with Time Trials

I first started really riding a bike during the summer after seventh grade in Stockton CA, and when I say "riding", I mean like all-day, 100-mile outings with my friends Doug Stuart and Greg Traverso. Typically, we'd head off to some river crossing, splash around for an hour or two, then go eat pie at some remote truck stop, and return home by dinner time. Average speed during riding, not much more than 12-13 mph I'm sure. Good times.

Eventually we stumbled across the Stockton Bicycle Club (SBC), whose members seemed to be the absolute coolest folks we'd ever seen. They all had nice bikes and actual cycling clothes. I, on the other hand, rode in cut-off jeans and tennis shoes. Picture the character Moocher from Breaking Away, only much dorkier.

Most of the SBC members raced, which really intrigued us, but the thing they mostly all focused on were the weekly 10-mile time trials that went on for the duration of daylight-savings time. That is where I first dabbled into bike racing. I can't even begin to tell you how nervous I got before the first few time trials I did. I'd daydream about them in class. My entire riding life began to revolve around those time trials.

The course was a laser-straight, certified stretch of Comstock Rd. out east of town where the difference between the starting and ending elevation was about 10 ft. This road was so straight and flat that if you had good enough eyesight (or zoom power), you could see the turn around 5 miles out.


My Dad said he'd buy me a pair of sew-up wheels once I broke the 30:00 barrier twice. It took an entire summer of trying, but I did eventually do it. I even won the Novice category with a best time of 28:38 and received a nice little trophy that I still have today.

The picture at the left is me in the summer of 1974 finishing one of those Tuesday night 10-mile TTs. That summer would be the end of the cut-off jeans and tennis shoes, as the next year I started real racing.

I continued to do most of the Tuesday night time trials, but my focus had shifted toward mass-start USCF races. Like many juniors, I thought I was just too cool for school, and tt's were not cool. Instead, they hurt, and they were nowhere near as fun as crits and road races. I did TT's less and less often. I still did improve substantially, but leveled off in the low-to-mid 23:00 minute range. Keep in mind that this was well before aero equipment and skinsuits, so not too shabby for a 16-year-old kid. But there were other juniors I raced with that could go a minute faster or more. One was Greg LeMond, but that's another story.

Thus began my multi-decade approach to Time Trials that is pictured on the right. I convinced myself that they were not real bike races and that anybody who was good at them, or god-forbid actually liked tts, must be some kind of freak. Besides, everyone knows it's all about obsessing over equipment and such, right?!?

Well, in retrospect, that attitude cost me some decent results over the years. I once did a stage race that was attended by the Russian National team, along with a gaggle of good US guys. Evgeniy Berzin did ~30 mph, whereas I did a very-good-for-me 27 mph. Had I been able to go even 1.5 mph faster--half the difference--I could have been top-10 instead of 24th. I had good road-race results, but my tt'ing buried me. Last year in the 45+ Valencia Stage Race, KK started two minutes behind me in the 8-mile tt, and almost caught me!!! Sheesh!

So this year, in the twilight of my racing experiences, I have vowed to pull my head out of the sand and actually focus on improving this freakish aspect of bike racing. There, I said it... time trialing actually is a legitimate part of bike racing!

Recent results hold promise. Last week at the CVC race, I finished smack dab in the middle of the 2's field, which for me is pretty remarkable. Then two days later, at our local Monday night 10-mile TT, I miraculously posted the fastest time with a 22:39!

Today was yet another TT ...stage 1 of the San Dimas Stage Race. Unoffically, I pulled down an 11th out of 100 Cat 2s. Now this was not a typical TT because 3/4 of the race was at ~5% grade, but I found that a key TT skill still came into play, namely, pacing the effort in a manner to not blow up. I didn't do a very good job of that, but hey, that means there's still room to improve!

Page 1 of the 2's results fro the SDSR stage 1 TT...

Note that MarkZen and Cookie are up there too, and with the generous time bonuses and the opportunity for aggressive riding and breaks, we're all in striking distance.

Other results of note to locals and others perhaps...

Jason did a ~15:20 something which was 4th or 5th in the Cat 4 race. That's a bit scary!

Lindsay, as per usual, blew away the 45+ field with a 14:56. Next closest guy is ~:30 back. Watch out for those time bonuses!

Eric Forte rode a 15:01 and is top-10 in the 3's.

Walker rode a 14:2? and who knows where that puts him. Considering there were some Pros in the 13's, he may be buried.

Also, Greg Liebert rode a low 14 in the 35+!!! Dang, make that guy ride with the Pros.

I'll post another update tomorrow after the road race.

[Add edit: Here are the in-progress SDSR 2007 results.]

Training - Week 23

(Forgot to post last Sunday) Short rides during the week, with only two days of intensity plus three-day race weekend.

Number of rides: 7
Riding time: 12 hrs
Time in mid/high aerobic zone: 5 hrs
Best ride of the week: Raymond/Granite RR; 68 fairly hilly miles in 2:54
Other: none
Notes:
- 10 mile C.O. tt in 23:56 with junk wheels
- 16.5 mile Piedra TT in 40:44

CVC Crit and Wrap-up

Lots of stage races conclude with a crit--sometimes they are merely a formality, and minimal gc changes occur, and other times, well, let's just say they can be exciting. CVC put on a terrific race this weekend, and the concluding stage was a fun and exciting crit in the old Tower District of Fresno.

In the 2s, where three of us TGI/Hazardous-Waste old men were racing, the gc leader (Joe Wiley) had over a minute on 2nd place. However, there were three Davis Bike Club guys in the top six and two were within striking distance (1:13, 1:18). Cookie was our highest placed gc guy in 13th at ~2:30. Our basic pre-race plan was to ride at the front (always a good idea) and take advantage of the DBC boys racing the way one would expect they should, namely attack the heck out of the gc leader, over and over again, trying to get a gc guy away from him. DBC had six guys total, whereas Wiley had only one teammate, so it seemed like a reasonable strategy would be to alternate attacks in groups of three of them, making sure each time they had one of their gc guys in the move. We would try to cover every move with DBC in it, and help establish a gap and drive it.

Unfortunately, DBC didn't attack. Maybe it was because of the very fast early laps which were frequently being driven by the big motor of Sal Borrego-Crum of CalGiant Strawberries. I like his style--instead of wanking when guys don't pull through, he just puts his head down and ups the ante a couple of mph! Other guys were drilling it too--not attacking, just pulling at 28-30 mph. All this was perfect for gc leader Wiley. MarkZen and I stayed near the front and tried to go with anything promising, but nothing went.

Finally, with 6 or 7 laps to go, a little move got some time, maybe 10-15 seconds. We missed it, and so did DBC. After a lap or two, small groups were trying to jump across and those flurries brought the gap down and the break was just about to be reabsorbed when disaster struck. A DBC guy went first through a corner too fast and slid out and took down the next 10 guys. I was right behind this carnage and to avoid piling on, I had to hop up onto the curb, and come to a stop on the lawn. I then sprinted down the sidewalk and rejoined the other survivors. The gc leader Wiley went down hard and was unable to rejoin the race. Same with Grant Van Horn who was the first victim of the crash.

Meanwhile, the crash chaos provided the break with a more-than-adequate time cushion now with less than 5 to go. Also, since it was within the final 5 laps, gc leader Wiley was not penalized and thus wrapped up the win. Sort of like the Levi rule for Cat 2 hacks.

So now the field was sprinting for the remaining places (5th?) and going into bell lap I scooted up to two Webcor guys at the front who were starting to wind it up. About half way around, I heard Cookie yell out that he was on and for me to take him to the end, so things looked decent for our field sprint. I was hoping the first Webcor guy could go a bit further and faster, but by the corner before the chicane (~500m to go), I couldn't risk the swarm so I went by them and wound it up to the last corner. Unfortunately, it turned out that Cookie was a tad too cooked, so instead of him flying around me for the field-sprint win, four other guys came by. Cookie and I sputtered in for 9th and 10th, and MarkZen finished 13th.

On the cool-down lap, with minimal filter between my adrenalin-flooded brain and my mouth, I lashed into Cookie for what I felt was a mistake, namely asking for a leadout without having the legs to close the deal. I should have been more diplomatic--sorry dude. I think the lesson is that it is key for teammates to make a solid assessment of how they are doing in a race, and make decisions accordingly.

So, here's your Cat 2 crit podium. Congrats to them for strong and opportunistic racing. Interestingly, the guy on the top step (Adrian Gerrits) recently moved to Goleta after graduating from Penn. Let's get him out on our rides 'cause he's obviously a motor and a talented bike racer. Someone should offer him a job though, 'cause word is that he's flippin burgers at In-and-Out. (Of course, if a perk is free food there, maybe it's not so bad after all!)

So, summarizing the stage race, I think we all feel pretty good about the weekend. This was our first race together (other than stinky ol' Mothballs) and considering that, we did pretty well. We came home with eight checks for various stage and gc placings. There's always stuff to improve, e.g., we all need to work on our tt'ing--especially me--because in the end, that was the biggest factor in determining the outcome of this race.

From our vantage point--a restaurant right at the start/finish--the Pro Women's race looked to be very fast and exciting, with all the best teams in the country battling. Sprinting star Tina Pic took a close victory from T-Mobile who had lined up that last lap.

The Pro Men's race also didn't alter the gc outcome any, but it was similarly exciting with Henk Vogels pulling out the win. Sorry to report that the 100+ man field couldn't make it through the U-turn without a few crashes. Here's a pic of them just about to slam on the breaks for the turn...

Happy to report that Cody stayed upright in this crit and finished a strong 11th.

The 35+ crit was epic, and shows that the final crit stage can be a dramatic and significant way to end the stage race. AMD Master Marco Hellman ripped an incredible tt the day before and had the jersey with :18 over Mike Hutchinson, and 1:09 over 3rd place Mike Hernandez. Both Hellman and Hernando had solid teammates, and the final stage was set for the fireworks. Rather than scribe that race for you, I'll suggest you navigate over to Hernando's blog where I'm sure he'll eloquently recap the goings on.

Here are a couple 35+ crit pictures to whet your appetite...

A break with OV, teammate Dan Martin, and AMD's Larry Nolan sitting on.

Could they gain enough time on gc leader Hellman chasing with more AMD teammates?



Parting shots...

Cody and Cookie wondering "Do we really have to wait around for a coupla $15 checks???"



Let me wrap this post up with the sad news that I am no longer the King of Stink. Yes, after three days in Room 111 at the Quality Inn and Suites, the evidence is overwhelming and I am truly humbled. Therefore, I formally abdicate my throne to... it's a tie, both MarkZen and Cookie are deserving winners. I think these two dudes produced enough H2S and CH4 in one three-day weekend to pollute the Central Valley's air for months. That combined with the inevitable increase in global warming they caused will seriously harm the valley's agricultural industry and burn off the beautiful fruit blossoms we saw out at the tt course on Saturday.

CVC TT -- Ouch!!!

Quick report...

Cat 2: MarkZen 14th ~39:40, Cookie 16th ~39:50; me 25th-30th in ~40:45. Winner Joe Wiley was ~37:00 with over a minute advantage on second place. Assuming he's not a crit spaz, he should be able to take the g.c. with help from teammate(s) ...Not that we, and others won't be trying to prevent that. We'll have to wait to see the official g.c. before the crit, but I think we'll now be able to race full-aggro tomorrow. Make it interesting...

35+: Marco Hellman (AMD Masters?) won with a blazing 36:50, Mike Hutchinson 2nd (I think), and Hernando 3rd (I think... working from faulty memory here). Not sure what happened to Dave W., but he was down around 42: something. Hawk is out of it, but their crit should be very interesting with the Bagboys against AMD.

No info on P/1 or the Women.

Other notes from today...

Harvey Nitz is here supporting logistics for the AMD masters. He was a big-time track and road star in the 70's and 80's and lived in Sacramento when I was a junior. He was one of my idols and was always kind to me on Sacto group rides and the Wed. night Cal-Expo crit series. After the tt today, I went up to him and told him he was my childhood hero (god, I'm such a dork). He was very gracious and we chatted briefly about the old times and the Sacto guys we both knew ...Tim Imai, Mike Williams, Steve Uhler, etc. Apparently those guys all still hang out together after all these (30!) years. Very cool.

Also chit-chatted with Chilcott... He's happy with his new career owning and running the BMC team. He's looking at it as a long-term business and is building for a bigger and better future. He was pretty disappointed that his team got blasted by a flu virus during the ToC, which explains why they were a non-factor.

We're off to patronize race sponsor Bentley's for dinner.

CVC; Stage 1; Cat 2 -- Brief Report

Hmmm... Well, that didn't exactly go as expected. A lot of people talked about how hard this stage was going to be. Cat 2's, Women, and 35+ all did 2 laps (~68 miles), and Pros/1's did 3 laps. I'm sure the promoter expected that this stage would generate a lot of gc time separation. That's why most stage races start with some kind of tt, even a short prologue generates some separation.


I'm not sure how the other races turned out, but the 2's are barely separated at all after Stage 1.

Basically, the course had two climbs early in the lap. Our plan was to try to get some early separation--ideally a group of 10-20 with all three of us (Brian, MarkZen, and me)--so we could then drill it and get multiple minutes on the rest of the 75-man field, thus reducing the impact of tomorrow's tt. Mark and Brian set a good early tempo, and then I went at what I hoped was hard enough to get a smaller group. Maybe it hurt a few people, but the group was still too big at the top. Actually, Brian was an early casualty, but heroically battled back on!

Some half-hearted attacks for the next hour, but there were still at least 50 guys for the second go around. Once again, MarkZen set a hard tempo leading up to the hill, and he was followed by some red-zone climbing, but 30 or so were still together at the top. Now, with 25 miles of rollers remaining, and despite a few teams with 6-8 guys, there were no serious attack-counter-attack flurries. Brian and I stuck our noses in a few attempts, but nothing got more than a couple of seconds. The only way something would stick this far out would be to have some guys from each of the teams (Alto Velo, RH-Villa, CVC, and Davis were the big ones). None ever materialized. But, at some point within the last ~10 miles, a couple guys did roll away and they hung out 10-20 seconds. But it stuck because of negative racing (yes, by us too) and nobody wanted to bury themselves in the wind.

So, sprint time... 30 guys left, full road, lots of surges and braking and herky-jerky moves. I found the WasteManagement guy that MarkZen said won the field sprint at Merced and I locked on. A big Morgan Stanley/Specialized guy snaked me, so I sat on him instead and fought off all comers. Brian shouted out from behind me that he was on, and to move up. Hold on big fella, we got time, and most significantly, we're on the right wheels! After waiting patiently, WasteManagement jumped full gas and then Morgan Stanley tried to come around. Next Brian jumped to the left and I went to the right, but it was too late as the WM guy won another field sprint, this time for 3rd. Brian nipped the Specialized guy for 4th and I got 6th.

So, gc... two guys with ~20 seconds plus time bonuses. Another guy with a couple secs bonus, then a big mob (30 guys?) all s.t. gc. Dang. This whole stage race will come down to the tt tomorrow. Good thing Cookie, MarkZen, and I are all big bad TT monsters! :)

Other races...

35+ race: Hawk Worthington and Olaf Vanderhoot got away and put up some good time. OV won the sprint. Henry the K was in there somewhere too.

P/1... who cares!?! No seriously, I don't know the outcome. But I do know that Cody made the time cut easily. Maybe even a lot better??

Other stuff...

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!! ILY

Off to CVC...

Cookie, MarkZen, and I are off to the Central Valley Classic to race in the 2's with 70-80 upgrade-point-hungry guys. Raymond RR first, 16.5 mile tt next, downtown crit to finish it off. Fun, not-so-fun, and fun.

Not sure what the internet situation will be in Fresno. If I can connect, I'll give updates and perhaps even tell the self-aggrandizing tale of the time long ago when I won the Raymond RR in a p/1/2 stage race. Barely.

Jens is So Cool

What a likable guy! Can we come ride with you Jens?


NorCal hero BJM is pretty good too!


Check out all of Mark Shimahara's cycling-video diaries on Youtube.

Monday Morning Musings

When the boss is away, the bloggers will play... Actually, since I work at home (when I do work, that is) I can blog at will. The issue is usually more about what to say/write than it is about getting time to say/write it. This morning I've got some odds and ends rattling around my empty skull, so allow me to spew forth...


Group ride redux. For the first time in many months I was able to make both group rides this past weekend. What a treat! Back-to-back, it really put into focus how different the Saturday and Sunday rides are, even though it's mostly the same cast of characters.

Saturday's ride is usually more social, which was good because we had a nice couple from Fresno join us. Coby rides for Central Valley Cycling, the promoting club of next weekend's Central Valley Classic stage race, and Heidi, who I assume is his significant other, is a Velo Bella. That latter fact actually brought out Jen See (another Bella) and hubby John Parsons, the stealth couple we usually see out riding just about when we get back to town. It must be that they enjoy sleeping in late... it couldn't possibly be they don't like our company, right!?!

Anyway, to be completely accurate, Saturday wasn't entirely social thanks to Matt Dubberley's pulls out past the highschool, and then once we hit Casitas... well, you know some of us can't resist going hard there. I mean, there's still ToC KOM markings and fans' writings on the road. In fact, I swear I saw a "GO COREY!!!" chalked along the way. Anyway after regrouping at the top, 15 of us continued around the lake with a friendly and chatty two-abreast paceline for the next couple of hours. Rockwell flatted, and we all waited. We all shared the load in the headwind and soon enough we were back in town. I continued on home the long way to Goleta, ending up nicely bonked with 100 miles.

Satisfied...your basic group-hug ride!

Sunday is different. This ride--our version of the local "World's"--has been going consistently for thirty years. It's had some real cycling luminaries: Lance himself came out a few times during his recovery; also Phil Anderson, Trent Klasna, Malcolm Elliot, Hilton Clarke, Julian Dean have all ridden out there. Yesterday we had Lyne Bessette who is hanging out in SB while husband Tim Johnson does the California NRC races this month.

Yet it's not this collection of celebrities that give this ride its character. Rather, it's the decades' long rivalries; it's the smack talking between four or five different local teams; short leg-burner hills, and sprint locations steeped with rough-and-tumble histories--Javier's crash into the avo trees, Vinnie the Hack's wicked hooks of Ghengis Hahn and Christian and resulting crashes at 35 per, and of course the classic Brawl-in-the-Bushes betwix DK, Daniel Ramsey, and UCSB Nick. Just to name a few.

Thus I don't think it was just my imagination on the Goob-to-Bates portion that there was a bit of extra oomph and testosterone flowing. Guys were digging deep to hold on, others were pulling really hard, and still others were fighting for wheels to stay near but not at the front. No conversation. No group hugs. This fun stuff climaxed in a back-and-forth drag race up the Bates Rd. hill between Lindsay and me, in which I felt every muscle fiber pop and burn, yet still couldn't beat him. I know when Lindsay turns the pedals in anger (so to speak) and this was one of those times. Good stuff.

Next up, the Polo Fields sprint. A mile to go and Keith Horowitz had two of his trusty 2007 boys in front of him and everything looked as it should. I'm sitting on Keith and I thought Cookie was on me, only it turned out he got bumped off by Hecky who took a short-cut through the dirt and gravel. Enter Hans up the side--back out there after a fifteen year hiatus--and he thinks he wants Keith's seat, so he starts moving in on him. Huh?!? Didn't you get the memo Hans? Keith owns this sprint, besides which, if a team want's to line it up, then you should let them. It's better for all of us. I'm the one you should have been worming in on... the physics would be much more in your favor. So of course Keith body slams him a couple of times, and Hans quickly retreats. By now, at 300m to go, the only problem is that we're going just 30 mph which means the inevitable opportunists come up looking for glory, and this time it's Jacque Benny and Carlos, both Jedi Masters of sprinting chaos. One of them slammed the door on Keith resulting in much brakage, bumpage, and deceleration. Natch I backed out so I could report to you here today that nobody went down and it was just your typical SB Sunday ride Polo Fields sprint.

+++++++++++++++++++++

As far as I know, Cody and MarkZen were the only two locals up in Merced at the Merco Classic this weekend. I heard from each, and it doesn't sound pretty. In the Pro/1 crit, Cody was top-ten with a lap to go, sitting comfortably on a teammate or two, when he was taken out from behind. Dang! With his sprint, he might have made the podium in his first NRC event as a pro. The 2's race that Mark did also had a big last-lap crash that ruined Mark's chances but fortunately he didn't hit the deck. Same story in the RR apparently. Judging by the names at the top of the board, most races ended in big field sprints.

[add edit: read Hernando's reportage about Merced. Especially the comments.]

+++++++++++++++++++++

Speaking of big field sprints, Dave Lettieri rode the Long Beach Circuit Race last weekend which was probably his first race outside of SB county in ten years. Despite not really training--yes, I'd call what Dave does as just riding, not training--his incredible depth of experience allows him to work his way up to finishing high in crazy field sprints. He got 4th (see photo) in a sprint which also unfortunately claimed SB's Mondo in a crash. BTW, the winner Mark-Paul Gosselar, is once again looking back at the field. Hmmm.



A few other local folks--Ron, Blinger, Boelter, Choo-Choo, MarkZen--raced down there but nothing too noteworthy to report. Blinger won a couple $100 primes. Choo-Choo crashed but is basically ok.

++++++++++++++++++++

Darn if Eric Forte is not only a phenomenal climber, but it turns out he's also a pretty fast runner! He did a local fund-raising 5K this weekend and ripped out a 17:00! And that was with absolutely nobody around to push him. Tell Todd Booth to watch out if Eric actually puts some focus on running. The irony is Todd was expressing some worry about Eric as a MTB competitor a few months back. You go Eric! Take him on in all disciplines!

++++++++++++++++++++

Some things are too funny to go unreported, even if it involves a slight bit of embarrassment. Not mine of course, but at others' expense. Yesterday was another installment of the Fillmore-regionally-famous Piru Time Trial and a few locals made the trek down there. One of them was big Steve Boeltero. TT's are worse than real bike races from many standpoints, one of which is all the weird crap you have to bring... multiple wheels, goofy bike, space-invader helmets and assorted strectchy clothing and shoe covers. Oh yeah, shoes too... Steve? You got that Steve? Oops... big Steve Boeltero forgot to bring his bikie shoes.


But he did have his flip-flops. So he raced wearing them. That in itself is mildy amusing, to me anyway.


But here's the better part. Pops Larsen was also down there to race. And race he did! So fast in fact, that he put a whopping 25 seconds into the flip-flop-clad Boelter!


But it gets better still! Dano and Bermant were also there ...oh stop me please... AND BOELTER BEAT THEM WEARING HIS FLIP_FLOPS!!


Now I know I will never go to Piru, lest such a thing happen to me...

Training - Week 22

This week was kind of like cramming for finals. You know the drill... going over everything that might be on the tests. I've always felt the best racing here in CA is March through June, and we're looking at doing four stage races in the next 1.5 months. In other words, it's time to start the tests! So this week had a lot of climbing, hard pacelining in the wind, some short high-power intervals, some tt'ing, and a bonk-inducing endurance ride. Good stuff... time to recover.

Number of rides: 7
Riding time: 17 hrs
Time in mid/high aerobic zone: 8 hrs
Best ride of the week: Monday, 6X OSM in the cold and blustery wind
Other: none
Notes:
- 6X OSM climbing time 1:49
- Thursday OSM 15:30
- Friday C.O. 10 mile tt 23:19
(all the above in windy conditions)

It's Got To Be Mental

I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.
I love the wind. I love the wind.

If I say it enought times, will it be true?
Could I ever relish it like I do the hills?
Slice through it like an arrow?
Use it to my advantage? ...to hurt my competitors?

Will She Ever Play Again??

Unlike many parents, Gina and I never pushed our kids to play team sports. Perhaps it's because neither of us played organized sports when we were young. It was different back then. Most kids just hung around the neighborhood, rode bikes, skated, played tag, swam... basically just happy-go-lucky goofing around.

Not so anymore! Many of today's kids are booked solid throughout the year: AYSO or YFL in the fall, rec basketball in the winter, Little League or softball in the spring.

Both our kids have or had friends on this program, and with peer pressure being a dominant force in their lives, eventually they both wanted to play too. So we signed them up.

So each kid came late to their respective sports (Alicia soccer; Brian baseball) and to some extent, each felt a bit behind in the beginning. Crazy, huh!?! Starting soccer at 9 and you're behind because all the other girls started at 6! But they stuck with it and soon enough their skills were right there with the other players. More importantly, they were having fun! Neither kid is driven by competition, but each really loved being part of a team. They made new friends from other neighborhoods and schools. They got exercise!!! And, significantly in my opinion, they were exposed to a new kind of authority figure... a coach. That was not always a positive experience--there has been occassional friction--but dealing with it will prove to be a key lesson growing up.

I'm writing all this in the past tense because, for Alicia, this chapter in life is now over.

Her AYSO U-14 soccer team had a very successful year. They won the SB region, and then won the Area 10W playoffs against the best teams from the coastal area from here down to Camarillo. Then this last weekend they played in the Sectional Tournament in Bakersfield. The sixteen best teams from Central California, divided into four pools. Alicia's team, The Stingrays, won their pool with a tie and two close wins. But the next day they lost in the semi-finals to a powerful team from Turlock, and also in the consolation match. That was a brutally tiring game that went to two overtimes and wasn't decided until the ninth penalty kick in a shoot-out. The girls were exhausted but still proud of their accomplishment--finishing 4th in Central California.


But Alicia had already decided this was to be the end for her. She perceived soccer this year as inconvenience and agitation. The practices were long and difficult, and usually interfered with her busy social calendar. The Stingrays' success was a mixed blessing--while many of her friends were done in November, her team continued on with playoffs. She missed parties to play soccer ...in Oxnard and Bakersfield! And the coach was pretty volatile and loud. Not abusive, but much more serious about winning than Alicia had experienced in her first four years.

So this all leaves Gina and me a bit somber and ambivalent. We'll miss the Saturdays at the soccer fields, gossiping with the other parents, and watching kids play. We won't miss the driving all over town to practices. But really we just hope that these five years of AYSO were a positive experience for Alicia, and one that she looks back upon fondly. I will be absolutely ecstatic if she calls up four years from now in college to tell us that she's playing intramural soccer!

Training - Week 21

Shortened week because of rain and travel.

Number of rides: 4
Riding time: 6 hrs
Time in mid/high aerobic zones: 3 hrs
Best ride of the week: Wed, 5 kft climbing then Hope Ranch intervals
Other: walked a few miles at soccer tournament
Notes:
- C.O. tt course in 37:15

ToC TT

Gina and I hung out on the Ballard Canyon hill for the Tour of California TT today. The weather was crisp and windy, with beautiful views of a fresh snow dusting on Figueroa Mountain. Here's the view from the hill...

I've got a couple hundred pictures, but for now let's just see a few notables and the top gc contenders...

Cancellara...

Horner...

Jens...

Levi...

And another Levi...

Pine Flat Pics

I stumbled across a huge gallery of nice pictures from Pine Flat. These are by Peter Lanik of CVC. I found a few of our SB boys and am posting them here, with brief annotation. Another version of the race story is in the previous post.

P/1/2:

The Wohlberg-powered break (note how blurry the background is... a sign of how fast they are going!):

Once we returned to the hills, John Hunt and Kevin Klein took off in pursuit...

Meanwhile, five of us struggled about 30 seconds behind...

Wohlberg wins and Jesse Moore gets 2nd...

Hunt drops Klein and gets 3rd, while Klein and Andres sprint for 4th and 5th...

Finally, eight of us sprint for the last tee-shirt (6th place) and tenacious junior Grant Van Horn gets it after jumping from 1 km out. As per usual, I get the first non-prize place (in other words, the one nobody goes for).

The 3's finish.

The winner...

Followed closely by Eric, Corey, and Matt...

Note Matt's flat front tire!!

The chase group sprints in...

With Blinger and HeyRon right in there...

The 4's (or 35+ 4/5?).

Doyle getting a strong 2nd, making Simply Fit cry, and Pops back there at 4th...

Pine Flat (!) RR Report

First of all Mr. Leibold, you must do something about the name of this race. Does this look "flat" to you???

This is Pine Flat reservoir in the foothills east of Fresno, which is the backdrop to the Pine Flat RR. All groups do the same course, riding ten miles up the canyon, then all the way back down into the San Joaquin valley, before returning rudely back up into the mountains for a hill-top finish. It's only 62 miles, but it always feels more like 80 or 90. At least it's not like the old days when it started and finished in Wonder Valley Resort and did a lap around the course (two for the pros!) Despite having done it six or seven times in the last 20 years, I still can't remember the intricacies of the finishing hills. When you're suffering, it sure is nice to know where the tops are! And by the way Mark Be-Lukie, if you think that hill is comparable to Casitas, you're nuts. I don't need no stinkin 23 for Casitas, but I sure used it today!

OK, a quick summary of this 27-hour trip, starting (where else) at the beginning...

We departed SB in a caravan of four vehicles carrying 13 guys (average age: ~44; average weight: too much). A quick dinner in a Paso Robles Mex hole-in-the-wall treated by Brad (thanks again man!) and before we knew it we were in Fresno. Judging by the aroma, they're feeding the cows a tad too much corn. Our hotel was some no-name, rent-by-the-hour, highway 99 dump that I'd never stay in with Gina, but seemed oddly appropriate for 13 middle-aged dork bike racers. What the hell... we were gonna be out by 5:30 AM anyway.

Caravaned to the race and arrived pleasantly early. It's so much nicer to be early and have almost no reg line, and more importantly, get to the potty before the masses when there is no waiting and TP aplenty. BTW, for those not so early, how do ya like the pressure of using a one-holer in front of a line of 15 people who all watched you go into the stall, and half of whom checked their watches when you entered and probably again when you flushed.

The races:

p/1/2 -- A small turnout unfortunately--someone said 17 guys--but one Eric Wohlberg's presence guaranteed it wouldn't be social. Actually, small fields often make for harder races, but not as motivating and/or satisfying. This one was weird and frustrating. Wohlberg attacked about ten times in the first five miles, always causing a flurry of activity, and then his eleventh attempt stuck with both Andres Gil (homeboy from Stockton who works with my highschool good bud Steve Merideth) and Jesse Moore of CalGiant Strawberries. That sucked because we had two more Strawberries in the group (inc. John Hunt, a well-known motor) who now got a free ride. For the next 4o miles we had them within a minute or so, but the chase was never consistent enough to close it down. It's amazing how little it takes to poison a chase. We had ten guys who all *should* have been putting in turns, at least token turns, but some never did, and others would start skipping pulls and sitting on. Once you're down to only three or four guys coming through, who can blame them for turning it down after a couple rotations. I confess to being one of those that stopped trying hard after the first hour or so. I don't know Kevin Klein, but I vaguely remember respecting him when he was in SoCal, but dang if he didn't sit on the entire time. He doesn't strike me as a guy who would race for 4th in a 17-man field. Maybe he's not feeling hot--I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Anyway, once the race headed back into the hills after the valley, Wohlberg shed his barnacles and motored away for a solo win. Both of the other two guys said he did 90% of the work anyway! Our group started attacking each other and it got pretty uncomfortable for a bit. In a moment of group apathy, Hunt rolled off and then Klein came to life and jumped across and they started motoring. Five of us crested the big hill about 30 seconds behind them but again we had a Strawberry hanging on and a pretty uncoordinated rotation. Five of six places were up the road for good, and by now eight of us were together going for that last tee-shirt. Down in the valley, Leibold came charging past us in his van, screeched to the side of the road, and quickly put out the 1 KM sign. Thanks, I was wondering when that finishing hill would appear! Junior stud Grant Van Horn jumped right away and got a nice gap and was soon followed by a Strawberry and a Lombardy's dude. I slowly mowed them down but couldn't quite reach Grant before the line. I'm glad Grant got the last place because he worked his butt off in the rotation, and even chased back on after stopping to pee. He earned that 6th-place tee-shirt! Not sure about 2nd through 5th, but I think Strawberries got 2nd and 3rd, and Andres and KK got 4th and 5th. Your reporter was 7th.

The 3's -- SB was represented strongly here, with Chicken Ranch, Corey, Eric Forte, Blinger, Ron Takeda, and Steve Smith in a field of 40-50. In an uncharacteristic and bold move, Eric attacked early in the race and was away with one other guy for the next 50 miles. The two of them went over the steep hill together but another group was slowly catching, and in that group were Matt and Corey, and surprisingly they were doing the work. Not sure what was up here, unless Matt was feeling like superman and was worried Eric would get outsprinted. And just behind was a third group coming up strong with Blinger and Ron. From what I could tell, they all just about came together at the bottom of the finishing hill (1 KM to go) at which point Matt realized his front tire was low, so he said F-it and attacked. Three guys came past--in order, an Australian, Eric, and of course, Corey. So, SB nets 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Blinger, Steve, and Ron were up there too, probably between 10th and 20th. Not sure I have the details right--I'm especially curious about the intra-team chase--so if anyone can clarify for posterity, please do.

[add edit: I just read Matt's race report and better understand the decision to motor up to Eric. He was solo by the time they started the descent into the last valley, and a bigger group was coming up from behind. Odds are that Eric, Corey, and Matt would all have been caught by the bigger group if Matt and Corey hadn't bridged up to him. Bringing two guys up to Eric still had the better odds: 3 Chicken Ranchers & only 2 competitors. How could they have known the Australian dude would uncork such a kick at the end? That's one of the myriad things so cool about bike racing--all the variables and on-the-fly decisions, and you never know for sure which is right!]

35+ 4/5--A few of our crew in this one too. Not sure how the race unfolded but Coach Doyle snagged a 2nd, Pops got 4th, and Dano was top-10 too (I think). Good work boys!

The mini-van race home -- We established beyond any doubt that the Sienna has the superior motor and is much more studly when it comes to pulling, but the Odyssey is like your typical crit rider who cheats and slices-and-dices in the last-lap traffic to pull out the win.

Training - Week 20

Man, this was a hard week--not a ton of time, but a lot of intensity. Tough call whether to keep hitting it hard for another week, or recover now. hmmm... maybe the rain will decide!

Number of rides: 7
Riding time: 15 hrs
Time in mid/high aerobic zone: 9 hrs! (*)
Best ride of the week: A tie... Wed Solvang w/ Cookie and Ben, and Pine Flat RR. A lot of time pulling hard in both.
Other: some baseball
Notes:
- (*) What I roughly mean by "mid aerobic zone" is an effort level at which it's difficult to breath through my nose, but not impossible. "high" means full-on mouth breathing. Pretty unscientific I know, but still meaningful imho. This week had a lot of mouth breathing!
- Rode tt bike twice on C.O. course: 37:30 and 38:30 both w/ stoplight at Glen Annie.
- OSM in 15:24 Thursday.

Sunny Santa Barbara Saturday!

This post has nothing to do with the title, other than it is 82 degrees outside without a cloud anywhere to be seen. Mostly I just like using alliterations with the day of the week...


Carnac the Magnificent???


What do the following nine people have in common?

Cody O'Reilly, Tom Anhalt, Lindsay Blount, Craig Zimmerman, Aram Dellalian, Michael Johnson, Steve Strickler, Ivan Dominguez, and Ken Hansen.

The've all been mentioned on the pages of this blog and subsequently gone on to win a race in the first few weeks of the 2007 bike-racing season!

Who will be next???




Pro Team Spotting

In the last two months, riders from all the following teams spent at least some time riding the roads of Santa Barbara:

Discovery Channel, Credit Agricole, Gerolsteiner, Healthnet, Slipstream/Chipotle, and BMC. Last year we also had CSC, but this year they're up in NorCal before the ToC.

Pretty cool, eh!?


Aching Erker

Send positive thoughts about healing up toward Portland where Jake's been struggling with a knee problem that has kept him off the bike for nearly a month! I suggested he try running, which would either: (A) balance out his leg muscles and pull everything back in order; or (B) give him so many new aches and pains that he won't even notice the knee trouble.


TT Torture

I swear it seems like I go slower on my TT bike than on my road bike. Is that possible? Will spending enough time on the thing help? Is my position just terrible? Or, most likely of all, is it a huge mental weakness?

This is my current position:

Please let me know if something looks horribly wrong!

Pine Flat RR

Heading out the door now to meet up with a motley crew heading over to Fresno for the Pine Flat RR. It would have been nice to hit Cantua Creek RR on the way, but the logistics just didn't seem sensible. Choices were, leave SB at 3:30 in the AM, or spend the night in Coalinga.

White and Nerdy (Lego Style)

I'm a proud daddy.

Like a lot of boys, my 11-year-old still loves playing with his legos. He also loves computers and video games. From what I can tell, that's pretty normal for kids his age. A few months back he started learning how to use movie-making software (Adobe Premier Elements) and GIMP, which is a free, open-source tool like Photoshop. He's become quite a whiz at both these.

But lately he's become the world's Number One fan of Weird Al Yankovic. Surely everyone knows of Weird Al, right? But just in case you don't, he's really clever at writing and recording parodies of popular songs. Classics like "Yoda" for The Kinks' "Lola", "Another One Rides the Bus" for Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust", and "Eat It" for Michael Jackson's "Beat It".

So my boy combined all these interests (legos, computers, movie-making, and Weird Al) and produced the video linked below, which I think is really cool and is the result of a lot of patience and work. It's a lego version of Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" which is a parody of "Ridin' Dirty".

White and Nerdy, lego style


The real White and Nerdy


...and finally, here's Ridin' Dirty

Score: Taggers 978, Neighborhood Wall Painters 977

It seems that every week or so I see some man or woman out with a bucket of paint and roller attempting to cover up the latest "artwork" of our local youth.

I admit that I'm making an assumption the graffiti is the doing of the younger folks in our community. I never actually see them so I don't really know. Maybe the taggers are actually middle aged soccer moms out for a good time after a few margaritas.

I do know that the people painting over the graffiti are not young--they're in their 60's and 70's, retired, and probably pretty mad. What do you supposed they did when they were bored teenagers?

Not sure why, but the graffiti doesn't really bother me that much. I do wish it were more artistic, like some of the work you see along a few LA freeways. Those are so good, they're probably legal, and nobody would dare cover them up with gray paint. What we have along the bike path is probably sprayed on in 60 seconds or less.

Two things that do bother me when I ride are broken bottles and dog poop. Even sitting here with my glass of Syrah as I type this, my heart rate goes up just thinking about some moron who tosses a bottle out of his car or the inconsiderate jerks who let their dogs poop and pretend not to see. Sorry for such negativity... I'll try not to make a habit out of it.

Training -- Week 19

The rains never came, so got in good rides all week. Climbed five days.

Number of rides: 7
Riding time: 14 hrs
Time in mid/high aerobic zone: 6 hrs
Best ride of the week: Wed., Solvang loop; like the old days!
Other: none
Notes:
- OSM in 15:14 Thursday
- Rode tt bike twice; Sat. did C.O. course in 39:00