THANKS PANDA

hey … if you’re looking at this site

go to norcalcyclingnews.com for the real stuff.

this was just water testing with wordpress.

thanks,

~m

f’ing show off

yeah … you’ve probably already heard

BJM is on the cover of VsNewz.

whoever made the decision on this cover shot of the americans

deserves some ‘hey-hey …’
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so, send them word that you approve. and that they should give me an expense acct to write about women for them.

i mean, women cyclists.

the womens.
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you want inspiration?

then … here you go. The trailer for a film … that must be seen.

From NorCal Mtb High School Racing Leage Director Matt Fritzinger ~

The League plans to partner with the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (See
borp.org) and put on our biggest film screening tour yet (10 cities this fall).

just awesome. i now have morale.

thanks, bobby. (and thanks Matt).

check the NorCal HS graphic on the side of this site … clicky-click and buy some cool swag to support a program worth supporting.

the time is NOW.
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when VeloNewz gets it right

Frishkorn has a new piece out that is very much worth reading (clickthepic).

Do more than check it out … if you like how he taps it, send word to the VeloNerds that this is the type of stuff we like to see, like to read, like to support.

let them know what you think. they’ve got a “contact us” {{LINK}} form you can shoot a note through (can’t stand those forms, i must admit. makes me feel even less connected to the site … ah well).

I suppose i’m drawn to these types of articles because they’re 1) well written and engaging; and 2) they come from the racer’s perspective. I don’t want to say that some of the writers on the biking interwebs and print media have a bit of disconnect with the everyday bike racer ~ but, if the spandex fits…

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and Mionske’s article about the recent tragedy is worth a read, as well.

it hints at the idea that we need to bridge another disconnect … that between the motorist and the cyclist.

personally, i’m pretty appalled at some of the group riding i’ve been witness to in my day. and, i’ve been more than embarrassed to be of the same species to a few thousand drivers i’ve come across in my days of walkin’ the earth.

but i tell you … it’s not an US vs THEM mentality that will solve this seemingly growing antipathy betwixt and amongst us humans … biped, or bipedal, or buy’n a car to impress or just address the need for transpo.

no ~ it’s more of that bridging, that connecting, that … unifying spirit of … say, a certain presidential candidate.

yeah, we need more of that.

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the value of the interwebs

i’m just gonna float a few notes sent in from the world wild webs … it’ll be long, but you can just wait ’till the next post pushes it down. It’s the stuff that makes some barf, but me breathe.

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Mike,

Don’t get too down man. I know it’s hard sometimes, but every know and then a moment strikes you as beautiful and perfect, and life is good again. I sort of had one of those moments last night at the track.

It’s just such a cool vibe the past couple of Tuesdays. Lot’s of new riders, all happy and eager to learn. Larry, the excellent mentor teaching and spreading the track enthusiasm. It’s all so good. Shelley and I warmed up on our rollers in the parking lot (yes, we’re dorks, and the juniors were still on the track), saying hello to every unloading.

Moved from the parking lot to the track and saw a huge group of juniors finishing their workout and cooling down. Andrew Lanier was there, his usual cheerful self and we made some tentative plans for me to come down some Tuesday to help them with starts and things, very cool.

I got on the track and did some jumps and starts to warm up, so good to spin the legs.

Larry got us going with the first drill, doing some paceline work while Gio and I did Madison exchanges in the group to get people used to going over the exchange, and riders coming into and out of the group.

I was on the rail in turn 2 when that “perfect” moment hit. The sun was setting in a full on blaze of red, purple, pink, and orange clouds. That alone would have done it for me. But then I realized that there was a line of like 25 riders on the other side of the track, learning the basics of a Madison, and I was getting to do some exchanges and pedal my bike in good company. Life is good, that was the moment that solidified it for me. Just that fleeting 5-10 seconds that can do it, swing the pendulum, this time it was swinging up after having been so down last week.

The rest of the evening was fun, lots’ of going hard mixed in with infield joking and laughing and talk of the season to come. Everyone going home tired, and happy.

I know I did.

-brian

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CAT 3 BARIANI REPORT

The warm up for Bariani Cat 3 race was anything but warm. With day light savings, the sun was only just up, the temp was still well below 50 and the wind was already howling. Guys were pinning numbers on full
jackets and warming up in down vests. The dudes without leg warmers were hard men with hairy legs — the kind of guys who are still true to their mtb roots and scorn smooth skin and showing off muscle
definition.

The start was fairly punctual — masters rolled first and then the 3s. The start to the 3s race was bad ass: rolled down hill for a hundred yards with a tail wind, took a right and BAM the wind came on like a herd of rhinos from the right. Eschelons formed and guys were already crushing pedals to stay on. Another right, and the wind was straight in the teeth. For the first lap, the pace stayed high on this stretch, but people failed to inflict as much damage as they could bc they did not form echelons. Another right and more wind from the side and more high speeds. Guys are falling off the back the whole time. Things got really interesting again after the climb when an echelon formed at the front and a huge number of guys ended their race after less than a full lap.

For the next few laps, the wind continued to carve the weak off the pack. At some point, one of the bright new lights of norcal cycling — Nate English — rolled off the front with one other rider. They built their lead up to 3 minutes after a lap, and as is often the case, people just were not riding like Belgian pros — the echelons were messy and short lived. They stayed away, with English taking 1st in what sounded like a hell of a close finish.

Last lap was fun. Guys continued to ride hard, and shortly before the last climb a webcore rider rolled off the front to nab the KOM points. At the foot of the hill, a fusion rider went hard and caught up with webcor at the top. They took the right hander into the wind and fought like dogs to stay away. A hundred or so yards from the left hander to the finish, wells fargo dragged a few riders up to fusion and webcore. Fusion jumped again, made the final turn alone, and stayed away until the final hundred meters. wells fargo and another came around for 3 and 4, fusion took 5, and olympic club took 6.

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MFranklin tole’ me to head over to BIKESNOB {{LINK}} … which i don’t EVER do enough of.

East Coast Genius is quite palatable …

when you don’t have to actually meet them.

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From the KINTZ

Better than kitties … kids on bikes?

Three 15 year olds who couldn’t ride 2 easy hours in September, are pushing their heart-rates up near the 190’s Wednesday’s in the dark with empty biketrail suffervals.

That should make you smile!
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and another Bariani report was sent through {{LINK}} Hardy ... thanks bud.
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Hernandez,

What’s going on man? Life is good. Life is what you make of it, so make it good. Smile my friend.

You should have come out to the track last night. Tuesday nights have been awesome with lots of good people. Last night there was so much testosterone out there though, it was ridiculous. Larry is running a great session. One more training night and then the racing starts.

Seriously, you should go mountain biking. I have been going every weekend and loving it. It’s so refreshing. We did a huge ride in Marin last Sunday. Lloyd was dropping my ass on every downhill, although much of the ride was uphill.

This weekend is still in the works, but it looks like Sunday in Santa Cruz with Hutchinson, Rob, Reaney, and Jesse/Andy (who is a newbie to the mtb), and myself. I am working on Rachel, Josie, Melodie, and Niki.

You should come out and play with us.
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i think i just might

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connections

This is just a casual line tossed down from one of my favorites, the {{LINK}} Baldwin ~

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, the baby-seal clubbers to the shores of Greenland, or the sleeping drunks to Moscow’s metro stations, spring is the season of return.

or another, just laying around like some luxuriously lost addict,

February is just terrible and ought to be banned, postponed or transplanted to the middle of July.

He’s in Russia, doing his reuters/ap/newsyflash thing. and i say right on, write on.

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it’s gloomy out today, and i haven’t been on my bike in earnest since … Merco. yup, i’ve got injuries and work is SHIT and about now is when i decide whether i’m going to take up water ballet ~ because, somehow, nothing seems right in the world except my exceptional woman and the everything that she is to me.

so … somebody send me a link of something with kittens, or kids laughing, or flowers blooming, or some such fluff and nonsense.

or maybe, send me a race report about a bike event that DOESN’T bitch about who can hold a line, or who didn’t chase or who yell’d at whom at someother such silly race.

pick a brother up before weakness is succumbed to and the unrighteous smack the unthinking down.

it’s one of those weeks, folks.

~m

Giant Strawberry Updates

Can you believe it?

big Anthony at CalGiantStrawberries has been advertising through cycling for 7 years in a row now.

7 frickin’ years.

and, the brother is still going strong. talk about the love of suffering … who the hell wants to put up with spandex pretty-boys for that long?

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Tour of Pennsylvanier

in case anyone hasn’t noticed, the TofPA is going to have something in the realm of $150K in prize monies available for the racins. And guess what kids ~ it’s a U25 event. That’s right … somebody over in HersheyAmish-ville has decided to put cycling yutes in za’ mamma-jamma spotlight by throwing big cash and big press at them.

hell yeah.

and, i just read on the veloSnewz live-wires that the TofPA organizers have announced a few international squads flying over to compete … check the list, and tell me what sticks out in yer mind:

Argentina (ARG) Esco-Telefonicos
Australia (AUS) Praties Cycling Team
Belgium (BEL) Johann Bruyneel Cycling Academy
Canada (CN) Team RACE
Ireland (IRE) Pezula Racing
Netherlands (NED) Global Cycling
South Africa (RSA) Konica Minolta Cycling Team

Bruyneel has a cycling academy? sheeeeeee-oooot, that’s gotta be killer to put on a resume, eh?

Well, CalGiant is also one of the few, the mighty who have been accepted on the short list of entrants to the race. GAAAAWD, i’d love to go cover that thing ~ but that’s about as likely as me getting into the RockRacing after-party at next year’s interbike (hmmm, actually – i could prolly sneak in as a bus-boy now that i think on it …).

With U-23 Champ, Maximus Jenkins on the roster, and that boy firing bigger and bigger each week i see him pedaling, i think the TofPA might just be the launch pad needed for pushing the young BerryBoys into major league marketeers of CalGiant Starberries.

right on, right on.
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short on time?

Revert to Randoms ~

Cipo drops the Ball

it’s true, the honeymoon may be over. After the Tour of Cali … we haven’t heard much from the RockRacing crew. I’ve seen AdamSwitters out there every week, pushing his buck-10 body mach11 in chase of the PROcrit beasts. And i’ve even seen Bahati and his SoCalPosse churning a few chainrings at the regional events … for 12th.

but all the rest? where will Tugboat and the columbian connection race next? What about babyface Sevilla and his cleaned up climbing prowess? awww, poor kids. Looks like maybe Ball took his and went home, eh?

But, not Cipo. Nope, he’s reported to be swinging one last pitch at Tinkoff to get him on the start line for MilanSanRemo. bully for him and here’s hoping all the drama continues on and on … and on.

yay.
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CycleTo and IBN Sports

People think i’m all up and knowledgy about cycling on the interwebs … but, i’ve got to tell you – if i’m not scrambling for time to toss some slop up on this site, i just rarely get to scour the screens for news of the cool in our little sport. But, thankfully, some will forward me the odd item or i’ll get to nip it off somebody’s website that i’ve bookmarked for must-reads.

Found this CycleTo site from the VanderkittenLiz {{LINK}} website … pretty cool stuff. I haven’t had time to explore it much, but the vid section is pretty hip … you can see anything from TFarrar’s TT-crash at T-A, to more innerviews of cycle-doofusi than you’d ever want.

cool.

And, i’ve no idea who these IBN cats are, but holeee shyte, you can watch the Visalia crits in COMPLETE VIDEO on their site. That’s just nutzo.

but if you’ve an ear for REAL doofusi talk, i get on the mic about 3/4 way thru the Women’s Pro race and act the fool.

More interesting might be the footage of a few crashes … oh sweet hayzooz, these chicks are tough. With a few laps remaining, there’s wicked coverage of Asplund’s slide out in turn 2. She’s hauling ASS around that corner and just hits a bump the wrong way, sending her sliding across the cheesegrater at skin-flint speeds.

Towle and i didn’t realize how bad her crash was because when we saw her in the pits getting her self together to re-enter the race, she had nothing but smiles and thumbs up of “put me back in coach!”

f’ing freak of nature.

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bio-mechanics and elder idiotry

yup, it’s true … it’s not a decade ago and i can’t just hop on the bike with no warmup and expect to be healthy and happy the rest of my days.

i don’t mind getting old, but i really need to tie a rubberband around an appendage to remind me of that fact.

stupid geezer.

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shyte, gotta scoot. time ran out, and then ~ so do i.

~m

place holder

very fast, very long, very much cash on line for the racers this weekend in Visalia.

i’ll get on the hyperbole train soon enough.

but, you know how time has it’s own agenda…
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all cool.

InaT overtook BrookeMiller in the long, headwind drag to the finish. The TIBCO leadout was pretty intense with 3 of their women in HelenKelly, AmbertheRais, and LaFranges going ballistic just past the start finish on the final lap. Miller had her arms out protecting her spot, with what looked like Samplonius of Cheerwine looking to bump into the train. Somehow, Tutenberg blasted up onto Miller’s wheel and was given the full-on sleigh ride up to the finish.

Experience is one thing, but … there are few riders who come around Miller in that sprint.

Clash of the Titans.
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One of the photographers grabbed this shot of the final lap slide out when VanGilder lost a bit of traction. Sometimes, crashes just happen. VanGilder and Hatch (Vanderkitten) both lost their front wheels in separate spills and had a lot of riders pile down on and around them. Neither was in error … it’s just what happens in bike racing.

We risk, folks. That’s why it’s so sweet, and so bitter at the same time.
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but, when you see this kind of stuff at bike races in America … it’s all sweet.

Community.
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Community. you dig?
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white lies in the race of truth

Exeter Time Trial

(NRC for the femmes, BigBragFest for the fellas)

Even though i’ve only been on my bike a grand total of 75 minutes this week, since some consider me a “personality of the sport” (read as, “jeezus, there is he again…), i was given a late start time at the TT today. Yup, started around the 15 spot … which meant 14 riders all were able to swing a little jollies in my face as they passed my suffering, slobering, knights-in-white-satin ass (and yes, the VOS skinsuit is on the way … but, sometimes you’ve got to rock the dead with a bit of ghost riding, you dig?). Now, i don’t want to say i cracked out there today … but, they should prolly rename one of the San Andreas fault-lines after me.

yeah, it was ugly out there on my end … but i tell you what ~ if there’s ever been a more beautiful time trial course ridden in the history of the cyclo-verse .. i’ve never heard of it.

When BennyJackMaynes thundered past me … it was like watching a roman sculpture given life. Those perfectly symmetrical calves, each delicately split down the middle by a jauntily etched vein, naturally complimented the idyllic scene of soft blossoming hills and delightfully disappearing central valley roads.

It was such a pleasure to be in the same race … well, er … on the same course as such a world class time trialist. Watching Ben roll over that terrain like the jolly green giant on an afternoon stroll … well, if you ever needed inspiration to get out there on the bike and just make the training happen … there it is.

Ben Jaques-Maynes is the man.

But I tell you what ~ there are some up and comers in this sport. The Giant Strawberry crew got a big boost from their young stallions … Ozzie Olmos, Max the Jenkins, TDibble. You can’t expect them to push themselves to the level of those top-10 guys … but, you know it’s on the horizon for those guys. And speaking of a top-10 guy … Zwizza stormed to a 7th place and signals to me that the Bissell squad could very well put on a show at this year’s TourDayGeorgia TEAMTIMETRIAL. That is gonna be so damn hot to watch.

And, i think a nice mirror to those young manlies were the rockstar performances of Hutch (x2) and Thurlowtheglow. They are badass. ’nuff said.
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But, we’re really here for the women .. NRC, baby.

To run out of superlatives … is only to be expected when attempting to describe the show put in today by the REAL Armstrong.

Kirsten, plain and simple, is one of those once in an epoc spikes of genetic mutation … an other-worldy combination of preternatural beastly spirit and contained cogitative discipline of the mind. She’s an invading visigoth with a Phd.

just awesome to watch.

But there are other stories to tell…

Alexis the HighRhodes took 2nd in the competition between the rest of the mortals (and, we rightfully call it a “win” for that young rider … ‘cuz Armstrong is THE class in the world when it comes to racing against the clock. i mean, let’s face it ~ if there are a ton more women who can actually compete on an even plain with Kirsten … we should round them all up and breed them like super-soldiers. i mean, we could probably take over a few galaxies with them femmes at the forefront…).

Stomping herself onto the final coveted podium spot, with all the spit and vinegar we’ve come to expect, was none other than that micro-scientest of the sport … Felicia Gomez (Aaron’s ProCycling). What I’ve been impressed with in Felicia over these past two seasons is her ability to balance a healthy, steaming plate of ambition, with a nodding, grudging acceptance that at her level (the top of the American circuit), all improvements are incremental and coated with patient, never-ending discipline. She keeps moving forward, and that is greatness in the making.

For the NorCal ~

Van Houweling (MetroMint) showed she is, once again, one of the best time trialists in our talent heavy region. She has a solid position on the bike and can pace herself in a controlled, yet impassioned manner. She gives it all out there and always has a smile to share about it. She makes me want to have fun on the bike.

The face that rises next in impression has to be the EmZell of PROMAN. Her 11th against that field shows how much her inner fire has been stoked and kindled by the PROMAN outfit. They’re sending riders over to Europe, free and clear and wanting them to push their own boundaries of what can be done. Hell yeah, people.

To say that Martina Patella’s (ValueActCapital) ride today was a breakthrough is almost as big of an understatment as saying KatCarroll’s (Aaron’s ProCycling) was in her amazing fistfull of 5th. Patella and Carroll are actually 2 riders in which i see a lot of similarities. Both are fast finishing hardwomen. They each have a flashing intelligence behind the eyes, even if Carroll is a bit more introverted than the media-savvy YellowBug.

In this and next season, I can see Patella growing into the rider that Carroll is becoming. The powerful Aaron’s rider is an interesting phenomenon – she’s shown she can bang it out in UCI stage races for sprinter’s jersey’s, but also pound away at the horrid, horrid silence of suffering that is the long, solo breakaway … OR, the unforgiving, unrelenting race of truth. Carroll has just become a GC threat.

There are yet more stories to tell, but desert is being called upon and me and the woman are having more fun this weekend then Spitzer spending bonus miles.

more soon,
~m

beauty was in bloom today

Flavia Oliveira embodies VanderKitten

There was no reason VanGilder needed to push 100% today …

but that’s the kind of Professional she is. One of the best US athletes … ever.

oh my Amber … mayhaps a bit too deep in the aero-file?