Infamous T-town Crash Last Week

Thanks to Erik Saunders for posting this on his website. In Erik's words, "J-Me gets took out"

Bacon Alarm Clock

this is what I'm talking about! ...technology at it's finest. Nicoll, I expect you to have a copy rigged up by noon.

Bacon Alarm Clock and Other Gadgets: Clocks and Watches Stories : Gizmodo

Burlingame Criterium: Pack Fodder

Well I hung in there and helped the team out a bit, but that's about all I can say. Rolled across the line in the main bunch in 54th place. I did a brief stint at the front and then later helped move one of our sprinters Ryan Wong up to the front for the sprint, but basically spent the race trying to survive. It was good though, I'm thankful I was able to do that much given my current fitness level. Max HR-211, AVG HR-199, so yea I was working! 114 starters, maybe 70 finishers.

UPDATE: Check out the pics from Garrett Lau here.

Looking forward to Bend

Outdoor adventure: Let's hammer!

Check out this article about MTBing in Bend. With paragraph headers like "Single-track paradise" and "Outdoor-lovers' mecca" it's easy to understand why I'm excited to live there!

Nevada City Photos

smugmug - Garrett Lau (garrettlau) : Nevada City 2005 Pro/1/2 : John Knotts

Garrett's got a bunch of great pictures of Nevada City up. Check 'em out.

One-Five-Three

So in March of this year, I was training like a madman and watching what I ate and everything and was down to a fit and fast (BNG!) 143 lbs. This morning I weighed myself (granted I had a beautiful In N Out chocolate shake last night at about 9pm after our last childbirth class)... 153! Yea, no wonder I'm getting dropped like a rock. Enough sympathy weight, I'm going on a diet, it's time to get back in shape!

2005 Nevada City Classic

www.cyclingnews.com: 2005 Nevada City Classic

Earlier I posted that given my current form it was probably suicide to go do this race... so was it? Yup. Totally. Within 10 laps the mostly professional field was down to just 24 riders. And yes, I was one of the many that went out the back before the race even got going. I kept riding and hung on to finish after getting lapped... twice! I'm consoling myself with the fact that in previous years riders have been lapped 5+ times! If you couldn't tell, it's a really hard race. But it's also a classic race with a lot of history and a great crowd. The crowd kept encouraging even the stragglers the whole race... it was much appreciated and definitely helped me get to the finish! I needed the training anyway, so I rode hard and did my best.

The Fatty Report

Fatty's at it again... almost getting that Cat. 2 upgrade on the track. Stay tuned as we follow his progress.

I showed up Tuesday night planning to cause some damage. Only 3 points to cat 2 means just one 1st or 2nd place, a 3rd and 4th, etc. EASY!

1st Event: 1-mile scratch race - These are FAST from the gun. Basically a 4.75 lap sprint. 3 guys broke away quickly and nobody wanted to chase. Unbelievable. 18 riders who don't want to win. I went to the front to chase. Pedal pedal pedal. I looked back and only 2 guys dragging their tongues off my rear hub. I caught the break with 1/2 lap to go and just kept sprinting. 4 of us spread across the line from the apron to the boards. I was 3rd by a tire from 1st. Only 1 more point to go!

2nd Event: Miss-and-Out - Last guy gets pulled each lap. I sat comfortably at the front. With 6 guys remaining I looked back. Shit! Only 5 guys and I'm last by about 2 inches. No upgrade points for 5th. I don't like this one bit. Fatty was angry for sure. Stupid. I should have won this one.

3rd Event: 15-lap Points Race - 3 sprints, first 4 places score points each sprint toward the overall. My plan was to sit in for the early sprint, then take the rest. I easily took 4th on the first time around and geared up for my big move. Just then some idiot looked down the track and drifted up into another rider. CRASH SMASH. I jumped a bike, jumped a rider, was hit hard by a bike coming down the 4th corner bank and slammed into another crashing rider. Somehow I kept the bike upright, balancing my chest on the stem, feet out of the pedals, riding the corner of the apron and bank. The race was neutralized, riders were carted away, and those who could continue restarted. I was not on that list. My rear wheel took a big hit and now doesn't fit through the chainstays. I later noticed a big chunk out of my knee with blood all over, a pulled hammy and did I break my finger?

I left early with 1 stinking point still needed toward cat 2, a nearly trashed rear wheel, a very nervous wife who never saw me race on the track until this night, and some bloody parts.

Now after hanging out in Minneapolis for work all week, eating walleye and drinking lots of beer, I feel better, wounds closing and NO broken finger. See you at Cargas Sunday.

Horner's in the Tour!

Chris Horner's Tour de France debut

Well he did it... congrats to Chris! and yea for us to have another American to cheer for at Le Tour this year!

Nevada City this weekend

Lord willing, and assuming the baby doesn't show up super early(!!), I'll be doing The Nevada City Classic this weekend. Below is a brief course description:

The 1.66km (1.1-mile) circuit makes it easy to follow the race, and boy, what a race to watch! With 100m (300+ft) of brutal climbing each lap, the pro men will have to complete a total of 1,3701m (4,500ft by the race's end. And at the top of each climb it is time to forget the speed limit as Broad Street, in this 150 year old Gold Rush town, once again becomes a frantic blur of color and noise as the peloton hurtles down at speeds over 100kph (50mph). Then it is time to test brakes and tires at the hard off-camber left-hander at the bottom.

Given my fitness right now, it's probably suicide for me to go to this race, but it's too cool of a race for me to pass up. I did it last year as a Cat. 3 and totally loved it. This year I'll be racing the big boys, pray that I last more than 10 laps!

Horner gets a stage!

the 69th Tour de Suisse - stage 6

Finally back in Europe, Horner gets a huge win over there! Woo-hoo! Maybe he got that spot for the Tour now. Let's hope so, it'll be fun to have another American to watch.

Ugh! So sick of this!

Galletti dies at Subida al Naranco

So many "healthy" cyclists having heart attacks before the age of 40... you think these guys are clean? or are they so juiced up that their heart gets tired of pumping that thick pudding-like blood through their vains? How many have to die before people start paying attention?

Chris Horner - 69th Tour de Suisse

www.cyclingnews.com presents the 69th Tour de Suisse

Is anyone else watching Chris Horner in his desparate bid to make the team for the Tour de France this year?! The Crazy-intense-love-the-sport guy said in an interview, "I NEED TO DO THE TOUR!" It looks like he's doing everything he can to impress his team enough to get a spot. 11th today and up to 26th overall. It's fun to watch.

Go Fatty Go!

Fresh off his win at the legendary Five-Points Road Race in Indiana, PA, Fatty has notched up another win! This time at the track. Woo-hoo, go Fatty go! Here's his take on it:

As I pulled into the track last night I noticed LOTS of cars and bikes.
"What is going on here tonight?" I wondered. I was looking forward to the published schedule that included all of my favorite races and figured the perfect weather brought out a big crowd. Well, it did. Including all the friday night guys that had their race canceled due to rain last week.
Turned out the track made a last minute schedule change and tuesday night became the National Championship 60-lap Points Race qualifying race. Great.
That means the lowly cat 3's only got to race 2 events instead of 4 before the big boys came out to play.

Of course the 2 events picked were my least favorite. Win-Out and Miss-Out.
Great. Maybe I should have stayed home...

Win-Out: I figured I better come up with a plan quick if I wanted a chance.
We had 25 fast cat 3's lined up on the boards. I put on a big gear as my plan was to let the big fat guys kill each other for the first sprint win and I would counter hard for a solo 3 lap move and carry it to the next 2nd place sprint lap. So, I did just that. Held on and took 2nd place a half lap ahead of my chasers. Sweet.

Miss-Out: Always a bit stressful making sure to NOT be the last to cross the line each lap. I hovered about 5-6th wheel for the first half of the laps, just keeping out of trouble. On one non-descript lap I suddenly found myself at the back of the 8 or so riders left and all boxed out. But wait, the seas parted and I quickly shot a gap at the line. Still safe. The announcer was jazzed about that move and the crowd cheered. Fast forward a couple more laps and I made it to the final 3. We get 1 neutral lap to set up for the final sprint. Remaining were a 230 lb pure sprinter, a TT/pursuit guy and me. I jumped the 2nd wheel behind the sprinter and we took off for the line. As I started to come around his wheel in the 4th turn he throttled the gas and left me in the dust. 2nd place again.

2 second places gave me the overall cat 3 omnium WIN for the night. Not bad for my (formerly) 2 least favorite events. Now I only need 3 more upgrade points. Barring disaster I should be a cat 2 after next week. I shouldn't talk about disasters though. The cat 2's had a big crash last night.

Go USA!

www.cyclingnews.com presents the 57th Criterium du Dauphine Libere

4 of the top 5 places in the prologue at the Dauphine were American... go USA!

Lotz admits EPO use

www.cyclingnews.com: Lotz admits EPO use

another one down... sucks to see, but at least he admitted it rather than appealing it into eternity. it sucks that there is so much doping in cycling, but I'm glad more is coming out. the more this happens, the better. well it sucks because it makes things look ugly in the short term, but hopefully it'll make the sport cleaner in the long run. at least that's my hope.

race clean. have fun. love the sport.