Spring Classics Season!

No, I'm not talking about baseball, although, spring training for that is in full swing. My beloved Oakland A's have resigned our original greasy mullet MVP Jason Giambi so here's to hoping Billy Bean's genius is back!

But, what I am talking about are the spring classic bike races. As an American most people think there is one race per year, the Tour de France, but, in reality, the cycling season is sort of broken up into two parts, The Classics and the Grand Tours.

While Grand Tours cover 3 weeks of races where your overall time determines the winner, the classics are one day races of extreme length, conditions and mostly pain. These races are not for the faint of heart and champions that win a spring classic are thrust into a whole new league of names. It's almost impossible to describe just how hard these races are. And so, instead of trying I stole a few pictures from pezcyclingnews.com's preview of this weekends, Het-Volk, no, that's what it used to be called. Now it's something else that I can neither remember, spell or pronounce. I'm sure I'm not even saying Het-Volk correctly. But here's an idea of what these guys go through:



Cobbles! What would a spring classic without cobbles? Cobbles are tough enough but if it rains, forget it, these things basically turn into an ice rink. The mud they are set in expands with the water and ends up on top. It's nasty. Best case scenario for the racers, it stays dry and they just have to deal with bouncing over them as they ride. I don't think levels had been invented when these roads were laid down. Oh, and sometimes, the cobbles go up hills. Not always big mountains, but hills so steep that some of the greatest cyclist in history have to get off an run. That's some steep shit!



This could happen too! These races are in Northern France and Belgium and other parts of the world where it is still very winter. If it snow, they race. It doesn't get canceled for anything. And no, they won't quickly switch over to their 'cross bikes. Maybe they'll run some 700x25s instead.



He looks like he's enjoying himself! That's Juan Antonio Fleche, one of the best classics riders there are. If he looks like that during the race, imagine what the guys behind him must feel like!

Arguably the biggest classic of them all, Paris-Roubaix, nicknamed, "Hell of the North," is coming up a little later in the season. Take a look at the video below to get an idea of what it can be like if the weather turns nasty!

Party on Palomar

This slide show of photos shows what a circus Palomar Mountain was for the last day of the Tour of California. As I rode up that climb I remember seeing about 3/4s of the people in these pictures. Cycling fans are an interesting bunch. But you've got to admire the dedication of some of these groups who camped on the side of that mountain for 3 days to watch the guys go by in about 20 seconds.

Slide show of pictures from VeloNews.com

Chasing the Tour of California

I don't know where to start with writing some sort of recap of my weekend. I chased the Tour of California through the last three stages to the finish.

The time trial in Solvang was pretty cool as during TTs you get a chance to see every rider. Seeing Levi flash a 3 as a crossed the line made me think that maybe he as a personality after all and I decided I liked him a little bit. But, still not a fan. I was really hoping Tom Zirbels time would stand. What an awesome ride he threw down! And, the Captain America skin suit that DZ has is pretty rad! To top it off, but nothing but sheer lucky timing I was walking by the Columbia bus as George Hincapie and Mark Cavendish were coming back from the awards tent. I got both of their signatures on my cowbell and froze up like a little girl. I couldn't think of anything to say except, "Good luck in the classics." This would have been fine had Cavendish not been the one signing the cowbell. Luckily he just looked at my funny and gave me the bell back.

The following day I rode about 2.5 hours out on the course. Waited for the group at the first little bump in the road and then booked it back to my car to drive to Pasadena for the circuits. The timing worked out great and I got to see the lead break with Frank Schleck, George Hincapie, Christian Van de Velde and a bunch of others flying around the circuits. If you look at my pictures I don’t know if you can tell how steep the section of the circuit I was on, but it’s steep, and they were not soft pedaling! Best part, I got Steve Cozza, Rahsaan Bahati and Floyd Landis to sign the cowbell. Rahsaan wasn’t in the race, I just recognized him and he seemed pretty shocked that someone wanted his autograph at this race. But, he won the first pro race I ever watched so he’s always been one of my favorite sprinters after that!

The next day the race was going over Palomar Mtn which is an HC (HC = above category = hard) climb. I wanted to climb it so the plan was to park about 10 miles from the summit and ride up and wait. I realized as I was driving that I was going to get there way too early and end up on top of this 5,000 ft mountain waiting on the race for about an hour. This did not seem appealing because there is snow up there, which means it’s cold. I altered my plans a little bit and drove to the finish instead and started riding from there and it also meant I went over a cat 3 mountain on the way to Palomar, which was sort of cool too.

If you’ve ever seen a mountain stage of a big race on Television then you’ve seen how insanely close all the fans get to the riders as they come through. Totally by accident I got to experience this first hand. About 5k from the top of Palomar I blew and was left to do nothing but slog my way up the rest of it. As I was about 1k out the first set of police motorcycles passed me indicating the riders were on their way. As the motorcycles went through a big group one guy looked back, spotted me and screams, “FIRST GUY” as loudly as he could. Everybody on both sides of the road immediately collapsed into the road, screaming, shouting, ringing cow bells as if I was really the first guy. One kid even ran the rest of the way beside me screaming so loudly in my ear that it actually made me forget that my legs had exploded about 4k down the mountain. It was insane and an experience that I’m not likely to ever get again. I wish there had been some way to get it on video or have someone take a picture of me going through this crowd. I don’t know how fast I rode that last 500m or so but it had to have been about 3xs faster than I was going heading into the group. I can’t imagine what it must be like for the riders to have that kind of energy around them for the last 5 or 10k of a big climb. By the time the race came by and I was able to descend down the mountain I was able to make it back to the finish in time to see Frank Shleck win a 1 up sprint. But, I got an awesome 4 hours of riding in with an HC climb in the middle for good measure with my own personal crazed cheering section for the last bit of the climb.

After I got back to my car I changed on the street while people were staring at me like I was a crazy person. I guess the other people who come to the races aren’t used to changing in parking lots after races themselves. I headed down to the expo to see if I could find a Tour of California t-shirt on sale but they were all boring. Instead I talked the guy at the Rock Racing booth to sell me one of their trucker hats for $10. Then, I drove back to Oakland.

If you look at the numbers it is probably the most insane thing that anyone can ever do. I drove over 1,100 miles to go watch guys race bikes. And, it’s not like they were on a track in front of me where I got to see them multiple times. I’d drive for an hour to watch them go by in less than 10 seconds. On the finishing circuit in Pasadena I got to see them 4 times before I went down the finish line and watched it on a Jumbo-Tron because I couldn’t get close enough to the finish line. All in all this was probably one of the best weekends I’ve ever had.

For pictures go here: http://community.webshots.com/user/Ridearoundamerica
Although, I’m adding captions. That seems like too much work. I might do that to the albums I put on facebook.

SF thieves are thoughtful!

When I opened my drivers side door this morning I noticed a lot of glass in my passenger seat. At first it didn't dawn on me what had happened because let's face it, my car isn't that nice. But, after about another second it was confirmed that some fools roaming the streets of California wanted to give me the opportunity to replace my passenger side window and take advantage of some of the deals on new cd players that I've seen on web ads. Not only that, but they were nice enough to unhook the cd player instead of just yanking it out and destroying the wires. Class acts really! My Garmin GPS was in the center console and luckily they didn't bother to look in there. But, to show just how focused they were they didn't bother to take the two boxes of jelly belly's that I had in the glove box in preparation for the long drive this weekend. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate these guys consideration!

It didn't dawn on me to take a picture with my cell phone until after I scooped 90% of the glass into the gutter. By then it seemed too late to capture the full artful-ness of the moment.

Oh well. In all reality I'm not really that upset by this. I mean it certainly sucks, but I guess when you live in the city and always park on the street it's bound to happen. I'm sort of surprised it took this long!

Bike Geek Mode, Ready, Go!

For those of you that don't like it when I write about cycling, stop reading now. And, I should probably warn you. For the next couple days, that's more than likely all I'll be talking about.

I am killing a few minutes before I head to Sacramento for the prologue of this years Tour of California. To say I'm excited about seeing the pros I've only previously been able to watch on TV wouldn't quite cover it. I feel about the same way I did as a 4th grader when there was an awesome field trip lined up. No need to shake me twice to get me out of bed. I have been pacing around my apartment for the last hour trying to think of things to do so I don't show up at the course 4 hours early. YEAH, 4! I'm going to settle with 2 because in my brain that seems sensible.

I've been to pro bike races before. I was at the CSC Invitational when Rashaan Bahati got his first big win as a pro for Rock Racing. I've worked the feed zone of a pro race passing up bottles to my buddy's who race for Richmond Pro Cycling. But I can't think of another single sporting event that I am more excited to get to take in. Every cyclist I have looked up to for the past 4 years is in a hotel room less than 2 hours from my apartment. The list of guys I want to get a picture of, with or have them sign my big Texas cow bell are:

1) Floyd Landis
2) Lance Armstrong
3) George Hincapie
4) Chris Horner
5) Dave Zabriskie
6) Christian Van de Velde
7) Tyler Hamilton
8) Freddy Rodriguez
(those are just the Americans!)

Also in attendance, Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Carlos Sastre, The Schleck brothers, Thor Hushovd!

I know I'm forgetting people. The field is so deep its hard to keep track of who all is here. Ok, I gotta go. I'm getting more antsy by the minute.

Oh yeah, and I guess it's Valentines Day. Which means you should spend it with the one you love most. For me, that's bikes, perfect!

Lance being Lance

I found this video on velonews and thought it was a great indicator that Lance is still himself. In a lot of other videos and interviews from previous races he seemed like a much nicer guy, way more laid back and the fan in me was concerned that maybe he lost that desire to crush people that try to beat him, one up him, or say bad things about him.

I was unaware of the article that he references in this clip, but I think it's safe to say that he's still got a bit of fire left in him. And, I also think it's awesome when athletes or any one for that matter take control of the situation when journalists try to be shady.

Why Am I Excited that Armstrong Came Back?

Because I'm hoping there's a bit of this!



Team infighting and an Armstrong vs. Contador throw down just like Hinault and Lemond had back in 1986. However, lets just hope that whoever loses the Armstrong vs. Contador battle doesn't cry about it for years like Lemond does.

This keeps me from typing...

H.W. Bush is funny?

Clinton's response is terrible. Just ignore that.

Rubbing is Racing, Pt. 2

No one ever asks me how close people get in bike races. If they did, the answer would be very hard to quantify because it really depends on lots of different factors. However, it's not really that uncommon for the group to get bunched up and people start touching. This really isn't that much more dangerous than when it's lined up as long as people are comfortable and don't freak out. Some pros can't stand to be in the middle of groups like this while others are so comfortable they'll tell stories using hand gestures. I'm probably somewhere in between. I don't mind being there, but I gotta concentrate to take a drink. Note the two guys in the Skill kit (nothing like being sponsored by a power tool company!) and the red. They are probably touching a little, but not so much that they're actually holding each other up. But, that can happen too.

In general I really just thought this was a cool picture and needed some excuse to post it. Well, besides my daily prayer to Eddy Merckx (the guy standing in the car for those of you not in the know.).

The Grass is Always Greener

Most people would kill to be Michael Phelps. Young, insanely talented, insanely rich, immensely famous and walking example of how if you win a bunch of gold medals, actually being attractive has very little to do with how many girls want to do it to you.

However, it seems pretty obvious that Michael Phelps just wants to be a normal 20 something. After the Athens games his star seemed like it couldn't get higher and he gets pulled over for a DUI. Not really the biggest deal, except for the fact that he was now this role model for young little swimmers everywhere. He apologized publicly and after a few weeks of press attention the world spun again on it's normal axis. Now, after the Beijing games pictures have apparently surfaced of young Mr. Phelps smoking marijuana at a party. And one can only assume the saga will continue.

I can't really blame the kid for wanting some semblance of a normal life. To do the same dumb shit that every other 20 something does. But, I think in his case he needs to realize he isn't a normal 20 something. He's got millions upon millions of dollars tied up in endorsement deals that rely heavily on his ability to be a spic and span image for the company that is paying him to appear in their advertisements. He is after all just a swimmer. And, like all other athletes of sports that the masses don't care about, endorsements are really the only way to make a living out of calling a pool your office.

I'm sure this will all blow over and Mr. Phelps will show up in London to win a few more golds. These repeat episodes do lend a bit of reality to what it's probably like to be him. Living in an alternate reality that most of us think would be extremely glamorous, but he clearly just wants to exist amongst the little people. Everybody wants what they can't have. But if I were Michael Phelps I'd take a long look in the custom installed mirror in your giant penthouse bathroom and remember that you live there because all those companies want you associated with their product because so many people look up to you. There are plenty of celebrities walking out of rehab who they could pay a lot less to do what you do for them. Maybe next time smoke weed in your penthouse and pay Jeeves to drive you home from the party. Just an idea.

Early Bird #5: Rubbing is Racing?

Rubbing is racing is a great quote from an even better movie, Days of Thunder. If you haven't seen it, stop reading this, go watch it, and then post a comment about how I just changed your life after.

The obvious difference between Tom Cruise and his Mountain Dew Chevy and how this quote applies to my races is that I'm not inside of a Mountain Dew Chevy. Sure rubbing is a part of racing and there are certain times in a bike race where two competent riders actually keep themselves from falling by leaning on each other. Notice the word competent used in the previous sentence.

The race was going as most 5 races due. Everybody confusing cornering on your bike to the same as in a go-kart where you try and hug the inside as closely as possible so nobody can pass you. This makes for some very interesting lines going both in and out of the corners. At one point a guy to my left was touched by someone else. He freaked out, screamed and then dove his right shifter directly into my hip. I casually gave him a polite, get the f-bomb off of me nudge back into the group. He didn't go down, but I have no idea how. This was the first of 3 times I was assaulted. And not because someone was trying to fit into a spot they couldn't, but because they wigged out and I happened to the be the closest guy for them to try and kill.

The Men's 5 race was delayed due to some crash in the Women's 4. They didn't tell us that due to this delay our race would be cut short so they could stay on schedule. We didn't learn this nifty bit of info until we came through the start finish about 20 minutes after starting and they were ringing a bell so I looked over and saw a lap card with a 1 on it. I sort of freaked out and over reacted because I was nowhere near the front. I knew I needed to be at the front because I was going to try and sprint. Instead of doing the smart thing and waiting for some wheels to follow that would deposit me at the front, I just decided to move up myself. This turned out to be genius because there was a huge pile up in turn 1, which my over reaction put me in front of. Coming out of turn three there were two more crashes. One of them was directly beside me. I still can't figure out why this guy fell down. I heard a crash a few spots behind us and then all of the sudden homeboy to my right just flails out and is sliding across the pavement. My best guess is that it was basically the equivalent of a sympathy puker; someone else crashed so he thought he had to as well.

While I wasn't behind this crash it did disrupt my ability to follow some wheels close to the front for the sprint. The front 5 guys put their heads down and drove hard. The next 3-4 guys behind them couldn't match the effort and I had to get myself around them to try and rejoin the front. I never really got myself into a good position to sprint but I did take back some spots and ended up 7th out of what started as 35-40. Who knows how many official finishers there were with all the crashing on the last lap.

Top 10 is ok I guess but what's really important is that my ass did not end up on the pavement. I made it through all the Early Birds with out a single crash. I was pretty sure that it was bound to happen at least once. Luckily I avoided them. The upgrade request is in and so next I'll be racing as a 4. I'm not sure it's really going to be that much safer, but in theory the people should have some experience.

And the only person that will be sad about this is my mom, but all the Feb. races filled up so I won't race again until a stage race the 2nd weekend in March. I'm pretty stoked about it so we'll see what happens. I'm going to use Feb to get in some good smart training and go super long on the weekends.

Here's to keeping the rubber side down!