Book of things that "are not"

24 Hour Racing for a cause

2009-05-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of postage, but looks like blogger may still have a usefulness.

We need your help!

Some of you may know that my cycling team is sending an Ace MTB team to the 24 Hours of Adrenalin at Laguna Seca where we plan to do some serious racing and defend our top step on the podium from last year.
In addition to racing hard, I will also personally be racing to support the foundation that my wife and I started up and are working to get up and running.
To date we have invested our own money, that being said start up is slow as we do not have a huge surplus of personal money to put into it at the moment, and we need help to get things underway.

The foundation's purpose is to assist families with disabled children like our son with education of how to navigate government services, advocacy and how to be an advocate for their child, acquisition of adaptive equipment through donations, and building a network of preferred service providers.

To aid in this process I have set up an Active donation site specifically for this event and hope that those who can contribute will partner with me in getting the foundation off the ground so that we can reach the families and children who need our help.
I have also invited our other 24 Hour Team members to join me in not just racing for ourselves and sponsors, but also for a greater good.

The donation website is:
http://www.active. com/donate/ InfoVista24hour

Please feel free to spread the word and most certainly to anyone you may know that has a child with special needs.
Thank you for reading and considering, it means a lot to us to see this work get underway.

Ron and Theresa Castia
Special Needs Family Resource Foundation
925-337-1219

Yeah, it's kind of like this....

2009-01-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

Training with a plan

2009-01-01T21:46:00.000-08:00

The first week of pain.

Big gear, seated power work.

Ouch!

On the fun side I have been using our Wii Fit for some cross training and core work.

It's fun and a nice change.

Happy New Year!!!!!!

Big 40

2008-12-14T15:27:00.000-08:00

We celebrated my 40th birthday last night...a week early, but what is a couple days after 40 years? (How the hell did that happen?)

T had a few surprises, lots of photos from our early years

good friends, and some live music from our friend Fariba.

T even invited an old friend who I have not seen in 17 years and was the best man at our wedding.
That was cool, he is still the mellowest and nicest guy around. Now a CHP in Modesto, if you are speeding and get pulled over, hope that you get Tom. Exude come positive energy and he'll probably let you off with a warning, that's just how he rolls.

The Cheetham and Parson families made it over, always good times when those two crews are around.

Lot's of wine was received as presents, and T picked me up a nice Ipod Shuffle with my named etched on it and the H.F.U. monicker.

I have been having a blast loading it up with some ass kickin music from the day. MSG, Chillipeppers, Dixie Dreggs, Steve Morse, Accept, Dokken, Ratt(only 1 song), B.O.C. doing Godzilla live (sweet!), Diamond Dave with Steve Vai, and classic called Hot Rod Lincoln.

Deception

2008-12-07T18:51:00.000-08:00

I am always curious about the motivation and rational behind a compulsive liar.
I am blown away by the gall some have when telling a lie that can so easily be found out with nothing more than a simple phone call.
Or a lie told that is so contrary to the circumstances that there is virtually no possible way it could be true unless it existed in some alternate universe or reality.

I do think that some times individuals are so driven to achieve a particular goal that they will manufacturer scenarios that they might later use to give a lie some prospect of credibility. Or at least give their lie just enough vale that it has certain possibilities. The recipient may be inclined to think or say "yeah, I could see how that can happen".

Whether artfully done, or blatant, and regardless of the motivation, I tend to believe that lying is the lowest and most disgusting human trait I can think of.
It's a little bit worthy.

Exciting News

2008-11-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to announce a kick off to a new career, something much more fun and hopefully long term.
I have been accepted as a coach with.

www.wenzelcoaching.com
This new career will give me the opportunity to work from home and be near Little Ronnie much more. He misses me when I work away from home and does so much better when I am around and happy.
Special thanks to Kendra Wenzel and Scott Saifer for this opportunity.

It begins...

2008-10-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last week Theresa and I set in motion the launch of a new foundation to assist families with Special Needs Children.

It's been a long time coming, and thanks to our son Ronnie we have 16 years of experience in dealing with government services, trusts, and countless doctors. Not to mention all the research into alternative health and medicine.

Our first draft of the Mission Statement:
"The Mission of our foundation is to provide, education, services, and equipment to families caring for their Special Needs children, primarily through consultation, a network of service providers, financial and mobility equipment donations, and advocacy for government services."

This also means I will be racing for a cause. One of the things we plan on doing is raising money to help low income families with special needs children acquire mobility equipment and or services that they cannot afford.
This will be done one family at a time, one pedal stroke at a time, and every race I attend will be a victory for the families we are working with.

My first step is to find our first family that needs our help.
I'll have a donation site up soon, the goal is to start now.

Please spread the word.

Sacramento CX

2008-10-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Time for a new post, not much to write but had some fun on the new Van Dessel Hole Shot today out at the Sacramento CX race.

Due to time constraints and a morning team ride I had to sand bag the Bs at 2:00.
I really just wanted to ride the new rig and loosen the legs up.
The bike felt great and the course was fun.
If you are looking for a new CX rig, you might want to call Joel at Cyclepath and order up the Hole Shot.
If money is no object, then go for the upgrade to the Gin and Trombones.
But honestly, I am really impressed with the handling and weight of the Hole Shot.

Oh, and built it up with SRAM Rival. Best hoods ever, shifting was flawless (on a Campy 10 speed cassette even).

As far as my racing: I had a good clean run, had to back off a little towards the end due to a loose cleat. Finished 3rd by a fair margin. Not bad for just wanting to play around and test the bike.

Oh Crap, I just became a Pro

2008-09-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

News from NORBA/USA Cycling says I and many other will get to upgrade and race Pro Mountain Bike by simply renewing the license.

"Members currently categorized as Semi-Pro may choose either Category 1 or Pro designation for the 2009 racing season. When renewing their license, Semi-Pro members will be offered an automatic upgrade to Pro throughout the 2009 licensing period which runs from December 1, 2008 to November 30, 2009. To take advantage of this upgrade, Semi-Pro members must purchase an annual license during this time as this automatic upgrade will only be offered during the 2009 season."

I was actually pretty happy in the Semi-Pro, but what the heck, I am used to jumping into things both feet so bring it. It might even give an opportunity to do some races not previously available. I may even get to rub shoulders at the start line with a few of my heroes (then get dropped like a bag of dirt 2 seconds later).

It's been a year of changes for sure, but I am hoping this is kind of the last one for a while. After all, I hit the big 40 in December and that's messing with my head a bit.

Even if I downgrade later, I will be able to say I am a Pro Mountain Bike Racer, or Ex-Pro.
(What a tool)

I just hope doing some P/1/2 races helps a bit with the speed. Pay it forward baby...pay it forward.

Deuce Baby

2008-09-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

After many years of trying, I finally got my Deuce upgrade.

Before my 40th birthday even.

Yeah, it will be painful and a whole new World of suffering, but passing it forward will make it all worth while.

Nome Out!

Eugene Celebration Stage Race

2008-09-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's all about the team.

Steve Vickery (aka Fabian Cancellara), John (Jens) Cheetham and myself rolled up to Eugene Oregon for a little stage racing and one final fling for our road season.

With the shrinking roster of riders (was 6) we were not sure what to expect and how to play it. Fortunately we recruited Wilson from Sierra Nevada as a pseudo teammate, we fed him well and he earned every morsel (big thanks).

Stage 1:

At the start we took inventory of who looked really fit and might be key to watch. I noted a guy wearing Hammer shorts who resembled Larry Hibbard. The first stage is a 50ish mile road race with very minor climbs, not enough to drop anyone.

Right from the gun the LH looking guy starts riding pretty aggressively so I marked his wheel along with an unattached rider from Idaho (Kai). I shirked some pulls and really just marked the move to see where it would go. Once Sal in the official’s car gave us 30+ second time split I decided to contribute and give it a run.

George from Portland (Nike) started bridging and the spideys let him across. Our 3-man break agreed 4 would be better and we eased up to let George on. Once there we worked a very smooth paceline and quickly brought the gap up to 1:30 with John, Steve and Wilson back in the bunch covering but not interrupting anything that was coordinated. We later received a lot of compliments for racing with class.

It was about 15 miles in and Hammer Dude went space cadet and drifted off of the break thinking it wouldn’t work. The 3 of us kept rolling and starting the second lap, a 25 mile loop, had our gap built up to 2 minutes. We were rolling smooth but not killing it, and it was starting to get VERY windy, a great deterrent for a chasing field. George was starting to look a little weak so Kai and I contemplated dispatching him on the next climb. About 5 minutes later George said he would be happy with 3^rd (smart man). I replied that we would keep him on and asked him to contribute when he could. He agreed.

Through the feedzone and about 4 miles from the finish we looked back and the field was at the bottom of the hill and only about 40 seconds back. Kai and I drilled it into the headwind to the finish with the hopeful idea that the strong wind would once again take the impetus out of the chase. John and Steve confirmed that it did. Kai out sprinted me for the stage win but we were given the same time, 1 minute 2 seconds ahead of the field.

I enjoyed watching the field sprint from the other side of the line and seeing John take 4^th in the sprint for a 7^th place finish. Two in the top 10 and GC contention…NICE!

Stage 2:

7 mile time trial. This was Steve (Cancellara) Vikery’s day. He handily won the TT and we celebrated later that night with much wine and food. I turned a fair time, but lost 6 seconds to my Stage 1 breakaway partner and moved into an official 2^nd place in the GC.

Stage 3:

45 minute business park (minus the buildings) windy criterium. At this point we were racing defensively while also taking some snap out of some of the other riders who looked they could climb. John covered many breaks while Steve and Wilson made sure I was always near the front. When John wasn't firmly attached to a move Wilson and Steve gave the rest of the field something to chase. I closed down a few moves but any acceleration sent alarm bells off with people yelling “GC Attack, GC”. (That was fun).

Steve kept it nicely under control on the last lap and I even managed a nice sprint for 7^th.

Stage 4, The Queen Stage:

84 mile hilly road race with an uphill finish into a winery.

The profile of the course is not too unlike Winters. Climbs are moderate with only a few short steeper sections (all big ringable). Descents are fast and twisty with a bit of pea gravel, but not really that bad. Roads are all very nice.

A joke we made on Friday is that Velo Bob would likely take a jackhammer to the roads because they are too nice.

Sunday nights dinner and celebration for Steve’s stage win had us cooking up some ideas of how to play this stage. With me as the only climber and the first 10 miles being slightly down hill we made our goal to get Steve off solo or with 1 other rider. Steve goes downhill and TTs like a freight train (lots-o-power). The idea was Cancellaraish in that we wanted him to have a head start and get far enough up the climb that he could be with me on the second lap. After a few tries Steve finally got loose and two riders made it across. One was a junior, probably about 15, on a bike that was way too small for him. Imagine Kenny riding Jasmine’s bike. (OK, not that extreme, but you have the visual, not pretty). The other rider was a would-be good climber. Steve played it perfect and made his two breakaway partners tow him around. He was sucking the life out of them. The junior biffed in a tight corner descending, a corner that the promoter told us to be careful in.

He was up and moving but seemed stunned, he was done.

Mean while John and Wilson kept me protected and we marked any other climby like guys who tried to make a move.

We started the first of two climbs and picked up Steve about 3/4s of the way up. The other rider was not too far ahead and did not seem to be going all that well (sucker).

I monitored the pace and set a false tempo on the climb when the field would let me. Our plan was to have Steve drop back on while descending and we felt he could probably close as much as a 4 minute gap. This was due in part to the style of the 3s, go really hard on the climb then ride slow and let everyone back on.

One local rider, a bit of a loon, drilled the descent with me tucked in nicely so I could see and read the road. Once we got down to the rolling part of the course the pace slowed and many chasing riders made it back. Just after the feed zone one rider in contention for a top 5 said he needed a nature break. I took control and yelled “nobody attack, just roll slow”. All were happy to oblige so we all stopped for a groupo al naturale. The little gentlemanly like break also let John, Steve and Wilson back onto the group.

We started rolling slowly and getting all chitty chatty and a rider that was dropped previously rolled away. Kai and I were not too worried about it since he was 2 minutes down and we knew he would not last on the climb. A De Salvo rider, again a little too heavy to be a climber, slipped away, then the local (Luke) made an attempt.

Luke was a little bit of a character, and had mentioned that he was going to snap my legs like sticks the next time up the climb. John and Steve started a moderate chase then Luke’s youngster teammate attempted to block and that’s when the spidey squad went all CSC 2008 Tour de France on their ass. The course had about 10 to 15 miles of flat to rolling smooth roads with a mild headwind. John, Steve, and Wilson drove the pace rotating 15 second pulls at 27 to 30 miles and hour for the next 30 minutes. I sat 4^th wheel giving each one of them just enough room to slot in while everyone behind me went bug eyed trying to stay on a wheel strung single file. At one point John looked back and saw the single file line and that just gave him more juice to tug and keep Steve and Wilson doing the same. Luke was brought back pretty quick then the boys closed down the other two who were riding solo. Man, there were some long faces back in the line. It was sweet!!!!!!

At this point I was smiling ear to ear as these three were distributing a severe ass whooping to the rest of the field. Later one rider mentioned to John about how intense that bit of riding was.

The boys brought us to the first short climb and took a short break while the rest of the field let me set false tempo. I eased and let a couple of riders set the pace on the short climb. We hit another 3 mile rolling section and John, Steve and Wilson all reappeared at the front and cranked the machine back up to full speed. I guess they weren’t quite done flogging these boys.

It was kind of like a bar fight where the large friends of the little guy hold everyone down while to little guy kicks everyone in the nuts.

At the crit the day before we had promised the field a full on California style bike fight for the last stage, and they got one.

The real climb came and I let one or two riders set the pace, I used the small ring on the first portion and just covered. Kai (6 seconds up on GC) was plenty strong and just shadowed my moves. We hit the transition flat section between the two climbs and the pace picked up. I kicked it into the big chain ring and rode the next climb putting in about 10 good surges, there was a lot of heavy breathing and gears shifting behind me. I drilled it over the top pulling Kai and 4 other riders with me. One rider decided to rip the descent and put in some big efforts to keep the pace fast. Once on the flats and less than 20 miles to go the 4 riders with Kai and I wanted to push the pace hard. Kai and I were sitting pretty and did not need to gain any more time so we let the 4 riders do their thing. We rotated through now and again when we didn’t have to put out too much of an effort, just to be nice.

Two riders cracked along the way leaving 4 of us to work out the finish. Again, Kai and I were solid in first and second for the GC, so it was the other two that were climbing up the overall behind us in the General Classification. We let them do most of the work.

At 4 miles to go I was feeling pretty good so I lifted the pace over a short rolling climb just see what would happen. The 3 hung on but seemed close to cracking and the first time I saw any sign of weakness in Kai. At this point I saw my chances of stage win increase exponentially, but with two other wanting the same victory I knew they would chase if I tried to get away solo. I weighed my options carefully and decided I really wanted a stage win.

It was a 1K climb to the finish up the Winery entrance. We made the right, saw the 1K to go flag and I marked accelerations. At 400 meters the rider 4^th wheel made a move, I followed while Kai and the 4^th riders cracked. At 200 meters I was stuck like glue and had plenty of juice. The rider made one more short surge then that wonderful sound came out of him. That sound that the body makes when the cracking happens and all energy is gone. With 100 meters left I punched it and then clicked an extra gear just for good measure showing my sprint opponent what a rear William’s 38 looks like as it crosses the finish line in first place.

http://app.obra.org/results/2008/Road/12997

As for Luke, 3:02 back on the final stage.

Thanks to the incredible work of my teammates and Wilson I had me a stage win on the hardest day of the weekend.

Kai and I finished 4 seconds apart in GC Kai first and myself in second.

http://app.obra.org/results/2008/Road/12994

Thanks for reading.

Single Speed Worlds

2008-08-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

Extremely short version...not so Worldly.

I started off well and got myself into the top 20 on the fire road climb and things were looking good on the first lap.

The bike worked fine other than being over geared, which would have
been fine if my shoes would have been functioning a little better when
running up steep rocky climbs. (Cyclocross Season...Bring IT!)

Wish I would have had time to set up the new Specialized shoes I picked up from Zimmer last night.

This is the first MTB race I have DNFed, I think ever.

Very extremely technical course, actually a full suspension course if
there ever was one. My Santa Cruz Chameleon is a wickedly stiff bike
that puts the power to the ground and corners on a dime. Unfortunately
it is extremely unforgiving when bouncing down this stuff http://www.petefagerlin.com/skyline.htm.

(Notice the guy in the photo has full suspension).

This bike...not so much.

Put together the extreme stiffness of the frame, and shoes that are jack hammering your big toes and what do you get?

Black and Blue toes and a loss of mental focus on dangerous terrain.

Now I am all about HFU when the going gets tough, but I am also long
enough in the tooth to know that continuing in a state of distracting
and debilitating pain will only lead to mistakes on terrain that will
end your cycling career.

A combination of skill, fast reflexes (had to put my hand out to push
off of a tree on a particularly gnarly section, instead of running into it), and knowing my limits
kept me from crashing.

I finished up lap 2 and called it quits while the only injuries I had were my mildly bruised toes and ego.

More importantly, I'll be ready to kill it up in Eugene Oregon next weekend at the stage race.

Nome out.

A New Chapter Begins

2008-08-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

After a very pleasant 8 weeks of unemployment, some substantial soul searching, and self-exploration new employment has found me.
I landed a position at Kier & Wright Civil Engineers as a draftsman.
K & W were one of my former employer's consistent clients and a couple people there knew my work.

I was not sure if this was the direction I should go in, so I put them through the tests in the meeting (some call it an interview). They accepted my terms and conditions and agreed to put up with my cycling shenanigans. (It's all about the bike!)

My time off aloud me to develop a better perspective, the job thingy is good and I am a Get-R-Done kind of worker, but I am also one that has to keep balance. A job that imposes is a job not needed.

What I like about the new gig is that it will expand my resume without the loss of the traffic design experience I have gained. I foresee in the near future them utilizing and capitalizing on what TJKM took for granted. There is definitely a learning curve while I get to know my way around the civil engineering daftology, but it won't be long. There a couple of really good guys running the department and willing to take the time to bring me up to speed quickly. It's a win/win for them, teach me right and I help them look good. Everyone is happy!

During my time off I finished up the coaching certification and invested in the level 2 clinic. I have a few people that have been asking me for coaching advice for a while, so may as well help them out and build up a little side business and something to fall back on.
H.F.U. Training Systems will be launched soon.

About having 8 weeks off...I got my taste and I like it. It will definitely be brought up when the time is right, no pay is fine, I'll put a bit away to cover. Self financed annual sabbatical...hmmm...has a nice ring to it. Life is just too damn short...savoring is where it's at.

Nome Out

Zucchini Blog Update

2008-08-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

It looks like the term "giant zucchini" has been redefined.
While checking on the watermelon plants today I stumbled across this monster hiding in the shade of it's plants leaves. The only thing I could say was "Oh My God!"

Yes, that is a normal size bottle of wine (Entropy Cellars by the way) that T is holding.
18" in length, and roughly 3" in diameter. Who knew that they could get that big?

We even let Ronnie touch it, he thought it was neat.

We knew what was for dinner, but the grilled zucchini thing was getting old. Off to Trader Joes we went looking for ideas. Ah, pizza zucchini! Brilliant!

First mix some salt, Italian seasonings, and garlic powder into some grape seed oil and brush on to all parts...

of the zucchini you sicko.

Then we put sun dried tomatoes, pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on three slices. The other three we did a pesto sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.
Bake on 400 for 18 minutes.

Absolutely fabulous! Extremely filling, and very low carb.

The Great Zucchini Blog

2008-07-24T19:50:00.000-07:00

This year Theresa planted a garden in the back yard. We have been told it was a little big for a family.
In the garden there are several zucchini plants that are major producers. We pretty much can't keep up and we are eating zucchini everyday.

Today we pulled this beast that was hiding and continuing to grow at an alarming rate.

It also had a brother of nearly equal size.

This image is becoming a regular scene here at the house.

Don't get me wrong, we fix them up right tasty like, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and lemon pepper, but seriously, how much zucchini can one stand?

We ate part of this one tonight (guess what is for lunch tomorrow?)
I suppose we will be slicing up it's brother tomorrow.

Want some? Please, help!

Cascade Classic day 1

2008-07-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

Quick post about the first day of Cascade Classic.

Stage 1 14 mile ITT, rolling up hill for the first half and return.

Some sections were steep just steep enough to spin out the 53 x 11.

The time was really all about the way out.

Thanks to an arrangement with Flavia from Vanderkitten racing this weekend for Touchstone Climbing I got to use some super blinged out Zipp TT wheels.

I provided the bike and she provided the wheels on loan from Mike Freeman.

Thanks Mike, and I took very very good care of the wheels while I was on them.

Flavia and I were both very happy with our times, and fortunately we did not have to any major modifications to my bike for her to fit.

The course was very Calaverisish in distance and effort. My time was good enough for 16^th in the Masters. Can’t complain.

Bob rode a great TT as well but suffered from not having a real TT bike. He hopes to fix that very soon.

Stage two: The criterium from hell.

This course was definitely not designed for 100+ field. Our goal, stay upright and save as much energy for the road race as possible. Despite several bad crashes, Bob and finishes with our skin. Bob got caught out behind one very large crash that broke the field in half and caused a lot of riders to get pulled. I was fortunate enough to find a bit of single track through the hoard of riders laying on the ground and tack onto the back of the remaining field.

A VOS rider went down very hard in a technical part of the course and hurt very bad. I don’t know who it was, probably can get some details on Hernando’s Nor Cal Racing blog. Best wishes to him for a fast recovery.

For the Sporties Corey burned a great TT and felt great during the crit. He is sitting in 7^th just 1:50ish off the lead. All of our 4s finished up the crit safe and moving forward in tomorrow’s RR.

That’s all for now, need rest.

Stage Race training...I figure

2008-06-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Two weeks out from Cascade so I figured I would pack on some big miles with ridiculous amounts of steep ass climbing.

Saturday: Climb to Kaiser, 155 miles and 13,500' of elevation with extended sections of 16 to 18% grades. At 8,000 feet.
Yeah, it's hard, no matter how you slice.
In the past I have ridden this thing like a race, as do most. Even finished second one year.
This year I needed to keep a little in the tank for Sunday (more later in the post).
Drove out with teammate Corey after we had been doing some smog training during the week.
I figured it was a lot like elevation training in that there has not been much oxygen in the air this last week.
This was Corey's first time at C2K. Corey has the history of endurance events being an Iron Man finisher and a pretty fair climber. This beast would test his metal, and did. We finished it up despite a few mechanical issues with broken spokes and a flat tubular. We weren't breaking any speed records, but no physical mishaps or cramping (like most).
After following the Sierra Pacific Bosch Express team leadout on the flats we learned that Corey popped a spoke on his rear William's 38 Carbon Tubular. It slowed us down as we nursed the wheel to the rest stop with a mechanic for some truing.
I was amazed out how straight the wheel ran with a spoke missing, and even more amazed at how true it stayed with the abuse dished out over the course.

In the end having to be ginger with his rear wheel kept me out of the red zone and 9 hours and 45 minutes of sub threshold riding kept me relatively fresh. Sort of.

Here is a video from a cam that Corey had with him. The sound track fits perfectly.

Sunday (today): CCCX Mountain Bike Race Series finally, Pro/Semi-Pro.
I figured running long on Saturday and then really hard on Sunday would simulate some hard stage like racing. I also figured I was just racing today to survive.
Turned out to be my best placing of the series with a third place finish.
No change to the overall, I had a good lock on 4th even if I hadn't done well today.
It was really cool biting off a big chunk of hard coreism and finishing the series in the money.

CCCX had some nice bling as usual.
A flat of California Giant Strawberries (I have never had them before, and DAMN they are good!)
CCCX T-Shirt (worn with pride)
CCCX Hat
Best of all, a very nice commemorative plaque showing the accomplishment.

Cheers!

Interesting week

2008-06-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Week two of my retirement/extended vacation/lay-off. OK, I am still trying to workout which one of those things it will be. This week has had some signs of interesting developments, but the big thing is I am getting clearer on the parameters of what I want out a revenue source.

Not so much as exactly what I want to do, I am open to that, but more so certain elements that must exist in order for the lifestyle I want. I am not talking lavish lifestyle, but quality of life.
Time for cycling, time for family, and flexibility. Money isn't my primary motivator, but it has to make sense.

Thanks VG for coming out for a social MTB ride in the heat and christening T's new bike. You guys were cute on your pink Yetis. Looking back and seeing two pink kits and bikes bombing down the hill was pretty cool.
Also thanks for sharing your experience of trial by fire in the transition from corporate world to creating what you have now. Very helpful.

Next time maybe we can go out on one of your routes.

Stay cool folks, it's going to be hot this weekend.

Deconditioning...

2008-06-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

The word of the day/week.

I guess that is the process Theresa and I are going through right now. The deconditioning of society and it's expectations on what we should be, or should do.
While we are trying to be open to different possibilities with our lives, specifically what I will do as far as work, not work, or start a business, there is always this little voice that says "you went to school to learn how to do X". Or "if you don't stay in the same field you will lose your skills".
"You have to have a job and contribute to society".
Of course, the whole contributing to society thing sort of requires society to interact in the process.

I suppose my expectations of people are a bit high. I am the type of person that is responsive, returns phone calls, emails, and tries to get things done...NOW! Letting things sit tends to haunt me. Relaxing is exhausting!

This week I will work on letting go of what may be an unrealistic expectation of others and try to have a little patience.
I am sure some of the things I am throwing against the wall will stick sooner or later.

Nome Out.

Need a Volunteer?

2008-06-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

If anyone in the Pro Cycling World sees this, I am available to offer my services as a volunteer.
Yes...VOLUNTEER!

As in you take care of my expenses and I'll help out with whatever needs to be done.

I can turn a wrench, hand up bottles, give massages, or whatever.

Lots of time on my hands.

Contact me at ron@ebcyclist.org

Mmmm...Lab Rat Burgers

2008-06-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

A Spidey's delicacy.

Out to the Lunch Ride with the Lab Rats to join Ed for little leg stretcher.
The Rats showed up with about 30 riders to our two Spideys.
Hmmm, this hardly seems fair...the Rats need to go back and get more riders.

Once out on the course and the Rats are done running into the back of large parked trucks (hope you are OK Ken) the race begins.
With a few early attacks the Spideys draw out the Rats to see who has game. A nice well timed counter attack by the tall lanky Spidey gave the diminutive but highly venomous Spidey a nice opportunity to hide near the front of a flailing pack of Rats. Watching, waiting, and poised to strike the diminutive one patiently plays the game of the hunter as the tall lanky Spider taunts the Rat pack's futile chase.

One Wells Fargo Lab Rat slips away and is quickly snared in the tall Spidey's trap, consumed for energy and spat out to have his remains reabsorbed by the yet flailing pack.

With no hope of catching the Tall Spidey before the final lunge for the line the cunning Rats decide to change the course and take a short cut. The diminutive Spidey was on to their treachery and began manipulating the chasing pack louring them into fighting the wicked crosswinds. Even forcing those who would not pull to come through and expend their life force energy. In the final 400 meters and a wailing cross wind the diminutive Spidey slipped back allowing 4 Rats to come through creating the perfect wind block for the final venomous bite as the short but powerful legs sprung the diminutive Spidey forward to pounce on it's prey.

A satisfying meal.

Starting a new chapter in life.

2008-06-03T20:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day!
As in "Really? This is the informed business decision your making?"

Blind sided I got called into the conference room and handed my walking papers and a small severance package. The explanation was restructuring and they don't have enough work to keep me busy.

So I close a relatively long chapter in my life, rather abruptly. I don't think it's the money issue that is getting to me, but more the emotional side, the feeling of betrayal and perhaps a bit of identity loss.
Of course, that is the short fall, using our jobs to define ourselves. Something Eckhart Tolle talks about quite a bit. Now I get the opportunity to practice the spiritual teachings I have been trying to grasp for the last 6 months while studying Tolle's work.

The thought of it makes it not appear so easy. As a traffic signal and roadway designer my work is everywhere. It will be a challenge to not roll through one of my signal or striping designs that I have done in the last 8 years. As a matter of fact we just raced our bikes around one of the projects this evening at the Tri-Valley Twilight Criterium Series.

There is a funny side to things with a twist of irony. The firm is on the eve of starting the largest project in the company's history. It is all design work and very fast track. The person responsible for my departure, the controller who knows nothing about traffic engineering, was a staunch believer that certain issues dealing with Right of Way would put the project on hold for about 5 months.
Ha! My supervisor (also blindsided) received a call from the client less than an hour after I left saying they got the go ahead on the project.
In his own words from an email this afternoon "I am still in shock and BTW we got the word 5-minutes after you left, from Blank Company that they got the 'notice to proceed' from the City. I cannot do 26 signals myself"
I guess that's what happens when you let someone who plays only by the numbers make business decisions. There is always going to be industry specific details that they don't understand.

The irony is that I was wearing my company logo shirt today. How is that for a kick in the nuts? To boot I was in the middle of resolving an important roadway geometry issue with a client when they called me in. I guess that one won't get solved. And I tossed my shirt in the trash when I got home.

In mist of being stunned I somehow acted completely out of character by remaining calm and not exploding in the meeting. I even worked at keeping the door cracked open by letting them know to call me if conditions changed.

While I start to put my feelers out for new job, I have some serious internal work to do. I have to work at not letting the job define who I am. I have to find a new routine for my daily life. I have to work on letting go of the feeling of betrayal.

Fortunately our finances are in relatively good shape. The house paid for, and all we really have is a car and trailer payment. It will be tight, and I'll be sucking on ketchup packets instead of Hammer Gel at the races, but I'll have time to get really really fit.
I plan on devoting a certain number of hours in the day to finding a new job, then I am on the roads to turn the pedals, burn off the emotion, and find myself spiritually and physically.

BTW: If you know of anyone who needs some help with something, let me know. I am very versatile and I can manage projects like you wouldn't believe. Look at the success the team has had as an organization.

Cheers!

Go Spark Plug...State Champ!

2008-05-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

Over on the team blog I posted race report and congratulations to Jasmin Parson (aka Spark Plug) for her victory and invite to Worlds Qualifier.

http://news.ebcyclist.org/

How awesome is that?!

About to be glue

2008-05-09T08:55:00.000-07:00

Race promotion.
Makes doing a 24 Hour Race seem easy.
Sure, it's only a little criterium.
Sure, I roped Jimmy V. into being the race director, and a damn fine job he is doing.

But there is still so much preparation that my mind is going numb.

Even with Jim at the helm, I worry about things going smoothly, people showing up to work, and everything getting done.

It's hard to let go, but I work steadily at having faith in the folks on the team handling things.
It's kind of funny though, the more I let go and leave it to them to find the solutions, the better they do and the more ownership they seem to take.

People are funny that way.

Everyone on the team with a critical pre-race job duty has been incredible.
These are some good people. If I had to start a business and needed staff, these folks would be my first pick.

We did it...

2008-05-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

This is just a little pre-report to get the news out.

The Spideys headed out to Laguna Seca this weekend and landed ourselves a nice team victory at the 24 Hours of Adrenalin in the 5 person co-ed.

We started well and focused on being clean, Shari our female team mate had a bad spill on her first lap. This lady is double tough and rode the whole climb out bleeding profusely just to make sure she finished her lap. Amazing! Committed! My Hero!
She took HFU to the next level and made sure we stayed in the game. The Women on the team have to complete at least 1 lap.

It was blow that made us get focused and race hard for her. The biggest thing we focused on was smooth clean laps and perfect transitions. We ran on schedule with not a single hiccup. We didn't have the absolute fastest laps, but the 4 of us ran extremely consistent.
That consistency was enough for the 4 of us to not only bring home the win, but turn the second most laps of the entire race.

In the end we could not have scripted it better. Ron Rel who works for our sponsor InfoVista and is big into Xterra events was our starter and as luck would have it got to do a Victory lap putting the cap on a great race.

Our two secrets?
1. Hired a mechanic to take care of our bikes. Worth every dime...and then some.
2. Had team mates not racing helping us stay on time, and drive Shari to the hospital for stitches.

I'll post a more complete report and hopefully some images on the team blog here:
http://news.ebcyclist.org/

Hybrids and Gas Mileage (failure)

2008-04-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well, here is something that definitely is "NOT"!

Here is why I say that:

For the last year or so I have been closely watching what the auto manufacturers are tossing out as solutions to high fuel prices. Everyone seems to be developing their hybrids in several of their models. GM has a full size SUV hybrid, and when I saw that news a fair bit of excitement came over me.
Imagine, full functionality and great gas mileage. That would be great. Then I saw the estimated mileage claims from GM, something like 20 in town and 22 highway.

Hold the phone! I get 20 to 22 in my 2001 Durango now, and it is almost paid for. Why would I want to spend another $45,000 on something that gets virtually the same mileage.
Once the D is paid off, I'll have an extra $380 a month to throw at the gas pump. WTF GM?!
Not to mention I tool around in a 1983 Toyota pick-up that I bought for $1,800 and it gets 25 to 28 MPG, with a net insurance cost of $5.00 a month.

Today in the newspaper there was a review of the Saturn Vue hybrid claiming a whopping 25 to 30 MPG on a 4 cylinder motor at around $25 to $30K.
Again FAILURE!
25 to 30 MPG is not good, we can get that without going hybrid and without the expenditure of more cash.

What are these companies thinking?

Why is America and it's citizens so impressed with mediocrity?
(That question applies to the Velo Promo issue too, sorry Alli, had to throw that in.)

Why as citizens are we so quick to give praise to substandard performance? Are our expectations so low that we are impressed with any effort even when it should be equated to failure?

I honestly think this issue is not about hybrids (or race promotion), it's about our society having greater expectations and requiring a level of excellence from those providing services and products.
I am not talking about lip service like we currently do, I mean the final product needs to be everything we have represented it to be in the literature. We tend to build things up as being all that and a bag of chips but what it turns out to be is a Cup of Noodles and Ho Ho.

Now I don't mind a Cup of Noodles and Ho Ho now and then, but what gets my goat is when you tell me you are selling a sandwich and a bag of chips and you give me the other. Even more is when people argue or proclaim how thankful they are for the Cup of Noodles and Ho Ho, forgetting the fact that they were supposed to have gotten a sandwich and chips.

This blatant lack of demand for excellence and extremely misguided exuberance for mediocrity and even failure is going to be the down fall of our economy and ultimately our country.

The craftsmanship, the love of producing a great product, the pride in ownership has been lost on cheap goods, services, and performance that fails to compare to it's pre-release literature.
Our culture is caught up in lip service and empty promises. No wonder we consume and waste at alarming rates. We don't demand anything of quality and everything is fleeting as we prepare ourselves for the next purchase or to consume the next cheap thrill.

It's just sad.

What can you do?
As far as the auto manufacturers are concerned, stop buying...just stop. If we all demand something better they will have no choice but to provide it. It's the law of supply and demand.
When you go car shopping ask the sale person, "do you have anything that doesn't run on gas"?
Listen carefully to their reply, chances are they didn't really grasp what you just said.
I had this experience just yesterday at the Dodge dealership.
Coming back from the parts department I walked by a young salesman that seemed quite bored.
I asked him "slow day?", he said "really slow". Then I popped the question "so what does Dodge have that doesn't run on gas?".
His reply was "we have some 6 and 4 cylinder engines".
See what I mean, he didn't really hear what my question was. I asked him what they used for fuel. He said gas.
I then said "I am looking for something that doesn't use gas at all".
"Oh, we don't have any thing like that."
I wished him a nice day and hopped in my $1,800 1983 Toyota with a $4,000 bicycle in the back and drove away.
Sale lost!

If only one of us do that the effort is nearly pointless, but if 3 or 4 people a day walked up and asked the same question and demanded the same type of result, someone is going to get the message.

So next time you are near a dealer ship with a couple of spare minutes, just walk up and ask them the question "what do you have that doesn't run on gas?".

New Race Annoucement

2008-04-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

Dog Crap Gran Prix.
Date: 5-11-08

Location: Somewhere in Livermore, same location as next year.
(Directions to race venue equal to VP)

Start Time: Some time after 8:00 AM

Course: Worst Gawdamn Roads we can find in Livermore. We will be sure to include rail crossings, or manufacture some if none available. Worse case scenario we will add some sand in the corners just so that the racers are in familiar surroundings.
Mostly we will have some dog owners wander around with their pets the day before and where ever the bombs land we will put up some cones to create a course.

Prize List: Recycled Velo Promo t-shirts and expired Taco Bell coupons (you should feel right at home, you do keep saying you don't care about prizes). Maybe we will through some Skittles at you too...if we can find some coupons for Skittles in time.

Race Fee: $15.00 (you want cheap, how is that?)
We could go less, but the coupons will be removed from the prize list.

To register: Show up, and look for the tent manned by the uninformed 13 year old who looks like he would rather be at the skate board park then dealing with you asking bunch of questions.

Don't give us any grief at registration, despite what any of the signs say, we reserve the right to interpret them differently every 5 minutes. We also reserve the right to yell at you in a demeaning way when you can't read our mind or our vague and barely discernible instructions.

Number Pinning: We know what side the number will go on, but we ain't tellin you. We certainly are not going to let the 13 year old at registration know. But damn it, you very well better show up to the line with your number on the correct side! If not, we hired the Chinese Nazi official to yell at you like your are some kind of idiot who barely deserves to be allowed to even start the race. We don't care that you work for NASA and are a PhD. in some form of scientific discipline that we can neither pronounce or spell. You are just bike racing scum when you show up to the start line...and you will like it.

Wheel Pit: Wheels in/Wheels out. As in you put the wheels in, and someone else will take them out (and sell them at their garage sale next week).

So there you have it, all the elements of the races that everyone seems to be so fond of.
I expect full fields, and plenty of ass kissing gratitude for putting on the race.

Added after comment posted:
If you are really seeing this post as a rant rather than a joke, you might want to back off on the coffee and switch to Vino.
I thought that would have been clear by the fact that I took things to the ridiculous extreme.

Well, maybe not that extreme.

I am victim of identity theft

2008-04-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true, my identity has been stolen, actually it has been under the control of others for most of my adult life.

Evidence points to this being an inside job perpetrated by two distinct suspects whose notorious use of deception distracts the consciousness of their host causing them to do things that are normally out of their nature.
These two insiders have caused me to sign for debt, make vain purchases, and even destroy relationships. If left unchecked these two can ruin entire lives and even cause severe health conditions.

Their names are Ego and Painbody. The E.P. Duo need to be apprehended immediately and held responsible for their heinous crimes.

There may be other victims, as matter of fact this duo's reign of emotional, mental, physical, and substantial financial destruction can quite possibly be into the millions, dare I say even billions of effected victims.

There is quite likely someone being perpetrated at this very moment. It could even be you.

For this reason, if any of you have ever been offended by anything that I may have said or done while not conscious and under the control of these two individuals, please know that it was not me and I cannot be held liable for reasons of temporary unconsciousness.

Nome Agusta

A great day to be on a bike.

2008-03-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

Photo of Mines Road today, taken by Roberta Gonzales.

These were the views we were treated to today on our Mt. Hamilton Ride. (When we took the time to look up from the wheel.)

I was joined by Nathan, Flavia, Harlan, and Diesel Dave Loogman.

It was a great ride with good company and plenty of challenge.

Cheers and Happy Easter,

Nome

Racing from a different perspective

2008-03-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend I found something new in racing, a new way of experiencing the race with a different meaning and purpose.
For me it's not about winning, or trying to win, it's about being engaged in the race. Being active, be a catalyst even if only minor.
For the first time in many years I enjoyed a flat criterium, and I did it without an attachment to the outcome. If I did well that was great, if I didn't that was fine too. The most important thing was being in the moment and allowing my riding to be expressed through my participation in the moment.

What may have seemed like a pointless effort to some was quite exhilarating and freeing to me. In that moment I was being a part of what was to come. Whether it gave someone a rest, or allowed for strategic maneuvering for the finish, I was a part of it. A contributor to some unseen or unpredictable out come.

It would have been very easy to just be a passenger and ride around, but to me that is not living.

So maybe I might not ever win a criterium, or a road race, or any race for that matter. At this point in my cycling, it does not matter, I have no attachment to the out come.
With no attachment to the outcome I can never be disappointed, the outlook of failure or success does not exist. Only in the expression of self and to the moment.

Listening, being aware of the game, and participating to the extent that I am capable.

For me that is how I will race.

Results are for those who desire the next level, those seeking a profession. If so inclined, if the moment calls for it, I can choose to help them. Either by creating resistance or opportunity, but it will be my choice...in the moment.

Eee eeee eeee!

2008-02-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

What what what?! TDF NOT!

2008-02-13T13:19:00.000-08:00

Just heard on the radio this morning...Astana DENIED!

No TDF for the defending champ or Levi.

I am sure some heads are gonna role.
But I am not feeling to sorry for them, one had to be aware that this could happen when signing on to the team with a fresh and deep scar. Damaged rep for sure.

Let the drama begin!

[Edit] P.S. I am going Pro War. I am going to rally against all the anti-war folks who think getting up in peoples faces and threatening violence is a any kind of way to promote peace.
"I wanna kill, kill, kill. I wanna see blood and gore and guts and vains in my teeth. I wanna kill. I am gonna jump up and down yellin kill kill kill. You can jump up and down with me and we will all jump up and down yellin kill kill kill."

Should be an ineresting journey.

2008-02-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

So we found this new junior with a heavy foot for the throttle and a love for the pain.

Monday evenings team meeting at the home stead (mind you it's roughly 35 degrees outside at 7:00 PM)
30 minutes into the meeting the doorbell rings, at the door is a teenager shivering something rotten from the cold.
It's our new junior.

Me: Dude, come in, are you OK?

Junior: Yeah, I just got back from Mt. Hamilton.

Me: Uh, you mean like riding it? (thinking that he did something logical and drove to the base and rode his bike up).

Junior: Yeah, I got out of school at noon and headed out Mines Road to the top of Hamilton, I did 100 miles today. There was still snow at the top.

Me: What were you wearing?

Junior: My jersey and shorts.

So the kid did 100 mile ride to the top of Hamilton, up the backside, in a jersey (no base layer), cycling shorts, and no gloves.

How is that for Hardening the F@%& Up?

The kid is setting the bar pretty high of us geezers.

Last Tuesday he went out to Tuesday Noon Worlds and stuck with Little John from ICCC, currently a Cat 2 and riding very strong, all the way up Calaveras.

The kid has yet to race, and with his motor it will be hard to get him to let off the gas and race smart. Who knows, he may not need to for a while.

Too bad he is moving out of state to go to college next year. I would love to see this kid in his second season with some experience under his belt.

Old Like a Principal or Something

2008-01-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I am officially feeling old, not physically, but Dyllan's friend came up to introduce himself referring to me as "Mr Castia" in a "your old like my principal" tone of voice. And Ronnie is 15 today, only a year younger then when Groovy T and I met. Oy, there is a reality check for you.

A season of learning, laughing, and finally some success.

2008-01-07T08:44:00.000-08:00

Photo Credit Rick Rasmussen

This cross season has been a special treat and a nice bit of fresh air to a stale road racing season.
Some of the highlights were having my wife really enjoy the bike and being together at the races. Being starving maniacs at the end of a race day and feasting after a hard day of racing.
The biggest enjoyment were the people. I think I met some new friends and enhanced friendships with teammates.

Yesterdays final CCCX race was an example of excellent sportsmanship, good times, and hard suffering. On my second race of the day doing the Single Speed As a pack of Roaring Meeses offered some good natured heckling with the kind of energy only Nor Cal cross racers can provide. I loved every second of it and looked forward to that section of the course each time around. Each lap the heckling and encouragement would waken the mind and get me focused for a another painful climb.
And there is nothing like Big Timmy S. jumping out from behind a tree to get the adrenalin pumping for a final slog through the trees of Fort Ord.

Some other faces in the crowd:
Lauren and Morgan were at every race with smiles and words of encouragement, showing the true essence of sportsmanship and fun.
Gotta give a big thanks to Shane and family who worked like dogs to put on the LARPD Cross Series. It was very cool having races less than 2 miles from the front door.
Rod, Keith, and David from CCCX deserve a special applause for some of the best run racing and most creative course design, every race offered something unique and different.

Taking cross a little more seriously has offered a season of learning that will definitely help get me off to a good start next year. The seasoned crossers are always there with good advice and willingness to help for those eager to learn.
I learned a lot about tires, geometry of the bike, and some good stretching and massage techniques. Thanks to all.

Topping off this great season with wins at my last three events was a very nice way to finish what started of as a dismal season. Fitness and technique finally came around.

Now to get ready for road/mountain bike season and to train hard for Single Speed Worlds, I got word that I am in.
The training may mean doing some conversion to the Specialized and running the Single Speed in some road races and again at Nevada City like in 2003.

Nome Out (as in passed out from exhaustion)

It is "not"

2008-01-04T08:46:00.000-08:00

Ah, the first post of things that are "not".
What is it that is "not"?

This new office is most certainly NOT water tight. We sprung a leak about 20 minutes ago.

Something else that is "not".

This storm being gentle, oh no, definitely NOT!

My prediction is the electricity for the entire day may very well be NOT. As a matter of fact I may not even be able to finish this p

Oh Yes We Did...

2007-12-21T16:03:00.001-08:00

Let's see the Joneses top that!

Today, I am officially older and grumpier...

2007-12-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

December 19th, Day of the Hell Raiser.

Well with a title like that, how the hell can you expect me to not be grumpier?
As a matter of fact, maybe I enjoy it. It's an art form, a well developed skill, I am amusing myself.
How come you didn't get the joke? BAH!

And I am having Ice Cream tonight...Gawd Damn It!
Salad flavor with a nice raspberry vinaigrette.

When Cheap is just Cheap

2007-12-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

America,
There is some crazy nonsense going on at this place I work. The company is finally making money, become profitable, and yet has become so cheap in the process that it is now becoming a negative.

They have scaled back the office in recent move, everyone is in cubicles now. While I understand reducing overhead, do you do it at the expense of productivity and moral?
Everyone is on edge and extremely annoyed.
Is that good for efficiency?

That's not all, oh no, we have a whole serious of bad decisions based on being cheap.
For 7 years now this company has been leasing a piece of junk business copier. The last time the lease ended the old controller renewed with the same manufacturer and we got a second piece of crap. Well at the same time of our move that lease ended and the manufacturer swore and promised that all of their problems had been fixed with the new one. They wined and dined our current controller and gave him the "cheapest bid". So mister squeaky walk fell for it and not more than two days after installation was the thing jammed so bad that we had to send people to Kinko's in order make the bid proposals that were due to go out that day.
Effing Brilliant!

Finally, our department was told we were going to get a new plotter. Do you think they would consult the people who actually use the damn thing as to what our needs are? No, someone who knows nothing about AutoCAD or anything we do is making the choice.
For 7 years our department has been promised a large format copier, these days the plotters can be purchased with scanning and copying built in versus sending jobs out or purchasing two large pieces of equipment.
We made all arguments, did the research, and showed why it made sense financially, and even after all hoops had been jumped through...NADA.
All of our competitors and civil engineer clients have this capability in house.

Does buying inadequate equipment help the productivity, marketability, and overall profitability of the company?

Sometimes being cheap is just being cheap.

Nome out!

Lacking in Blogland part two

2007-12-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

Lots of ideas, but they don't seem to make it past the conceptual stage.

Racing, beating myself silly, trying to recover.
Life is good.

Looking forward to Christmas, a quiet one with my honey snoogling the kids, the kitties, and enjoying a nice bottle of vino.
Then of course there is some killin that needs to be done on the Wii (Scarface). Shoosh, D doesn't know we found one.

T's timing was spot on and followed the UPS driver into the mall with a fresh delivery to Game Stop. Sons-o-bitches been shorting the retail stores to create a false supply shortage and a frenzy. Folks been gettin mugged in parking lots for their Wii systems. That ought to be illegal.

Merry Christmas Bloggers.

Nome Out.

Family Night at Nome's

2007-11-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

Not exactly your "A" typical father and son...but I like it!

Here is a little bit of a song we are working on together, it's a work in progress. It's not perfect, and Dyllan is reaching for some of the cords still, but he is 12 and I am damn proud of him.

I am coming Biotch

2007-11-14T14:27:00.000-08:00

Reports have it that the SS cross weapon is in route.

Oh Cesar... I am coming Biotch! Army green and all!

A Little Parody

2007-11-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

There is unrest in the Masters,
There is trouble with the race attendees,
For the 4/5s want more prizes
And the Ones ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the 4/5s,
(And they're quite convinced the're right)
They say the Ones just ride too quickly
And they grab up all the spot light.
But the Ones can't help their feelings
If they like the way they ride.
And they wonder why the 4/5s
Can't be happy with their stride.

There is trouble in the Masters,
And the beginners all have fled,
As the 4/5s scream "Oppression"
And the Ones, just shake their heads

So the 4/5s formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
"The Ones are just too greedy;
We will make them give us some spot light."
Now there's no more Ones oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the Masters are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe, and saw.

Lunatics run amuck

2007-10-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

From Pink Hammer Nutrition Princesses to 6' 2" Giant Line Backer Chickens, the lunatics of all kinds were out in force (farce) at this weekend's Velo Bella Spooklecross race.

Probably more leg being shown then at the Exotic Erotic Ball, and some with some very strange tan lines. All completely out of their minds.

But I wouldn't have it any other way!

As for me, I am too damn serious to get involved, but I laughed and cheered watching the course cutting, the cheating, and just plain silliness.

Great weather, and I moved up another spot as I work my way up to the ever illusive top step.
2nd place in a very challenging 35 Bs race, with Charles Pockell-Wilson nipping at my heals for the third place spot. The ever powerful John Ford from Spine was making some good moves early on but is still suffering a string of bad luck and munching on more dirt than any one man should. The day he pulls it together for a clean crash free race will be the day we are all in trouble.

Soquel High. Wasn't sure how this course was going to suit me, not too many places to really open up the throttle, and no real climbs to speak of. Just one super steep run up that seemed to want to eat my shoes. Once rolling on the fire road I found a mouse hole to sneak through and charged it to get a hole shot on the first sharp right hand off camber drop off. I also wanted a clear shot to the first dismount and run up.

The log was hoppable, but you would have to dismount directly after for the run up anyway. Seemed like you would lose more momentum picking your way over it, than just doing a quick dismount at speed.

I managed OK on the runs, but really did the best in taking the technical sections without losing much speed. After about 3 laps with a Z Team rider slipping away I managed my own escape with just enough gap to watch the group behind splinter as the course double backed on itself. With two laps to go Charles had given the rest of the field the slip and Z Team was out of sight. From there I settled in and rode a steady pace just hard enough to keep Charles far enough behind to seal the second place.

As promised in an earlier post I signed up and even completed the Elite A's. It was fast, and I started out slow until I could find a rhythm, also until I got comfortable riding with my right shoe half off my foot (damn run-up). Once settled in after about 5 or 6 laps I started closing in on a few riders that seemed to be getting tired and moved myself a spot or two every lap. I some how managed to get faster towards the end of the As race. Not sure if everything was just going numb, or I was just getting stupid. Maybe a little of both.
None the less I wasn't last, and unlike the last time I raced the A something or other field, no crashes.

Lots of good vibes and words of encouragement to keep one going. The maid at the top of the run-up gave out some great coaching "swing the arm, swing the arm!", she yelled. Thank you, it really helped! I swung my arm...Yes Gianni, I swung it straight instead of out.
And Steve Giles heckling from his post at the course crossing kept me in smiles.
BTW: Thank you to all the course marshals who did an outstanding job of keeping the course clear during some challenging times.

Lot's of fun!

Photo credit: Lauren Haughey

Nome Out

New Team Meeting Location

2007-10-23T15:49:00.001-07:00

With what appears to be a bit of time on their hands and more than an average number of brain cells to rub together, John G. and Tom have extrapolated, cross coordinated, and triangulated a meeting spot location based on everyone's longitude, latitude, and level of participation.
(Actually, I think they just sat around last night drinking beer and throwing darts at a map of California).

The result is a small tree house in an orchard not far from the intersection of Highland/Manning and Morgan Territory Road.
The tree house will need some minor modifications in order to accommodate the meetings. We will probably have to take this sign down

and install something a little more politically correct.

We may need to car pool in order not to alert the property owner of our presence, I understand he has a shotgun and very mean dog.

Improvements, LARPD Cross,

2007-10-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Had to skip the Stick and opted to race in the back yard this weekend.
Groovy T opted out of the Stick so I decided to race Saturday and get a good 4 hours of pedaling in on Sunday.

LARPD, kind of a small turnout, but a good showing still. I have been working on my starts and getting the intensity up from the whistle. Today was a good as I looked for every mouse hole I could find until I had open real estate to launch. Insane Shane set up a very twisty longish course today and the Livermore winds provided a lot of challenge. I managed to lead the first lap in a group of 4 with me being the only 35 B. A bobble in the sand found me gapped off this group and two 35ers closing in as we started lap 2.

I worked on keeping a gap through the twisties in the outback but a missed turn (undershoot) which put me on the wrong side of the tape and mildly off course. Not wanting to take advantage I self relegated and merged back onto the course soft pedaling to let the two catch. Anther bobble in the sand pit gave the ultimate winner the gap he needed for victory, but after the second lap I figured out how to get myself through the sand and things smoothed out the rest of the race.
The 3rd Pillar rider was running close behind so I worked on repeated hard accelerations through the twisty outback to make sure he got a good taste of the wind.

The 40 stairs of doom didn't feel so bad today, and I managed to find pep in my step as I ran up them (lift the knees). I also figured out what Olaf meant about getting the back straight going over the barriers. I felt it once or twice during the race and it seemed to smooth me out. Still a lot of work and practice to do, but at least now I have a some type of feel for what the form is.

In the end I held 3rd Pillar off and managed my best placing of the season in 2nd. Improvements for sure, but lots of work to do yet.

On Sunday Gianni, a few other Spidies, and I met in Pleasanton and hi-jacked a group ride. Well, it wasn't hard to do, the ride is pretty beginnerish with a good number of riders that are not to sure what holding a wheel means. Give em lots of space.
We rolled off into our own groove since we had enough riders to make a faster group.
The more that accomplished riders come out to that one, the better quality the ride becomes.
Sometimes there is a diamond in the rough that shows up. Perhaps a women rider with potential or maybe a junior with a love for two wheeled speed, both with a need and desire for guidance. Both with the eagerness for competition.

You never know where you will find the next star, they could be hiding right under the nose.

CCCX #3, Wish I had a 12.

2007-10-14T21:08:00.001-07:00

Great course today, very fast and had mine and Greg G.'s names written all over it. (Should have been there G).
Groovy T and I did a little pre-ride and I was all smiles heading back to the van to get pinned up.

They started us on a road section used at the District RR, mild climb about 500 meters to just under a kilo, then a mild descent to wide left hander onto the dirt.
From there it was mostly all Return of the Jedi style single track. Fast and swooshing with a some sand traps you had to be mindful of.
Then a couple of short road sections that were great for opening up the throttle.

As we lined up for the 35 Bs I was joined by Charles Pockell-Wilson from Morgan Stanley and John Ford from Spine, both with sparkling new Specialized cross bikes. (Bike lust!) (Side note, the Specialized Cross Bikes are looking pretty sweet...I aunt one.)
I liked the wide open start and being on the road was thinking these two power houses might just open up the venturis and let the rubber fly from the gun.
The whistle blew and the accelaration was half hearted. I moved towards the front and gave Charles and John about 2 seconds to make a move, nothing.
So I punched it moved into second position and realized I still had more throttle and jumped around the leader, Tom Ryan(?) of East Bay Velo.

He quickly grabbed my wheel as I drove the pace down the hill and started getting some good separation. We hit the left hander without even thinking about brakes and drilled it to the first barrier.
It was nice to approach the first barrier with clean real estate for a change. After that we formed our alliance and kept the pace hard for the next lap, the gap was opening and I was getting pretty excited that I might have worked this one out right. Tom was rolling well, but his pace on the road climb was more like tempo and I wanted to hit it full throttle. He was happy to let me dictate the pace starting the second lap. Which ended up being a mistake for both of us, not as much for him.

We bombed through the Return of the Jedi single track and my overly ambitious pace managed to help me find one of those afore mentioned sand traps. The front tire washed out and down into the soft stuff I went. I must have went in really hot as there seemed to be a bit of a delay before Tom came crashing down too. Thankfully he had tried to get around instead of T-boning me and we were both physically alright. We still had our leads but when we got up and found our bikes tangle up a bit it delayed our remount. We got them apart and as I took off noticed the gear seemed really big. Hit the shifter...no response! I looked down and my rear dérailleur cable had come out of the stop near the head tube (no tension) (Double Fook!).
There is only one way to fix this on this bike. You have to put the chain in the top cog and release all the slack on the deraileur cable. Time consuming.
I had my single speed Mt. bike in the pit, but this course was too fast for the gearing.

Choices:
1. Stop and wrestle with this thing while everyone and their mother passes.
2. Deal with the bike being stuck in a 42 x 11 gear and salvage a placing.

Two guesses which one I chose. For those of you that have never seen me ride a single speed, you get a third guess.

I had seen the course and anything I needed a little gear for was through sand and I felt I could run it just as fast.

I jumped on the bike and proceeded to do a 40 minute power sprint workout. You never know how big of a gear you can turn until you have to.
The next few laps were spent making back some ground on riders that passed. The road sections was a double edge sword, I had to dig deep into the fast twitch muscle to get the bike rolling when coming off barriers or single track, but once I got on top of the gear I was able to wind it out enough to catch and pass small groups of riders each time through. It would have been nice to just get on a wheel and recover, but I could spare no loss of speed and just sprinted past like a lunatic...foaming at the mouth and all. As Dr. Richard says "Ouch Time!"

Out of all that I managed a 4th place finish and no more washouts, but I really wish I had a 12 instead of an 11.

It may also be time for a real pit bike.

Tom ended up winning and I gave him a congratulatory knuckle tap before collecting my trinket.

Dr. Richard has his work cutout for Monday's Chiropractic appointment. My low back is killing me.

Other lessons learned:
1. I can race harder than I thought.
2. I figured out how to take control of the start and really punch it.
3. Figured out how to lift my knees more when I run and really accelerate (ala Olaf).

Groovy T was feeling less than groovy so we bailed right after the 35 B race. Thank goodness, I was too beat up to do a second race today.
One of these day I am going to sign up for the As, not masters As, just As. If I am going to get my Ars handed to me, it may as well be from the baddest Mofos around.
My Kung Fu instructor once told me that if I really wanted to learn a new style go pick a fight with the guy who is the best at that style. I opted out of that, but took the lesson to apply it to other things.

Photo credit: Harriet Riley

Office Move...Yippy Skippy, I have tourettes.

2007-10-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

I am so looking forward to our company's move. It is going to be soooo much fun. For 7.5 years they have had me stuffed back in a little cave hidden away from all.
This was smart.

Now, they want to put me in a cubicle in the middle of the room with people within 10 feet of me and 3/4 walls separating us.

Now they will get to hear my clacking and slamming when I am in a design frenzy using keyboard shortcuts and computer induced tourettes F-Bombs when my flow gets disrupted.

Welcome to the design department, I hope you left your sensitivity at home.

This is going to be fooking fun.

(insert evil laughter)

Oblivious is, is oblivious does.

2007-10-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

I swear, you can expose all the situational landmines in the World, and still some folks will manage to step right on them.

A Tout le Monde

2007-10-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Cycling news gave us a nice spot down below the news about the World Champion.

It's a truncated version, but we are very thankful for the exposure and it was very kind of them to throw us a bone in the location they did. Here is the complete version for the Blog World.

East Bay Cyclists to become InfoVista Cycling Team

East Bay Cyclists (currently known as EMC²/Vellum Cycles), a Northern California bicycle racing club in it’s 5^th year is proud to announce a new title sponsor for the 2008 cycling season. InfoVista has signed on as the club’s primary sponsor taking top bill on the club’s jersey and promotional material. InfoVista first supported East Bay Cyclists in 2007 as a second tier sponsor. The team for 2008 will be known as InfoVista Cycling Team.

InfoVista is the global leader in Service Centric Performance Management and Reporting. 80% of the world's largest service providers as ranked by Fortune®, as well as leading Global 2000 enterprises, rely on InfoVista to enhance the business value of their technology assets. Customers include ATT, VISA, T-Mobile, Wells Fargo, Verizon, Bell Canada, Citigroup, BNP Paribas, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, SingTel, Telmex, Brazil Telecom, Telefonica, Telstra and NTT. InfoVista stock is traded on the Eurolist by Euronext (FR0004031649). For more information about the company, please visit www.infovista.com.

As InfoVista Cycling Team the club will continue to organize, develop, and seek out talent for the Road, Mountain, Cyclocross, XTERRA, and Triathlon bike community. While maintaining a balance of athleticism, technical expertise and the basic love for cycling, we endeavor to help each team member seek a higher level of their sport. The team provides shared knowledge, training, and support, enabling each member to achieve their goals. The true basis of this organization is to enhance the cycling enthusiast lifestyle, help the environment, the community, and promote healthy lifestyles while achieving high levels of competition and excellence.

By partnering with corporate sponsors like InfoVista, the club, made up of business professionals, engineers, and even medical professionals seek to promote business development within the diverse and high-tech influenced cycling community in Northern California.

Building on the success of the 2007 season the now InfoVista Cycling Team will work to send Juniors, Women, and Masters Men to National and International competitions, stage races, Xterra Worlds, and USA Cycling development programs.

For their generous support the team would also like to thank;

Eden Bicycles located in Castro Valley http://www.edenbicycles.com

Joseph Mendes Real Estate http://www.josephmendes.com

William’s Cycling Wheels Systems http://www.williamscycling.com/

Kenda Tires and Tubes http://www.kendausa.com

Back in Motion Chiropractic http://www.getbackinmotion.com

Hyperbolts.com http://www.hyperbolts.com

Odwalla Products http://www.odwalla.com

Entropy Cellars Handcrafted Wines http://www.entropycellars.com

All of InfoVista Cycling Team’s sponsors receive mature, responsible representation and product evangelism throughout Northern California.

For more information about the team and its sponsors please visit www.ebcyclist.org

On personal note, Infovista is a French company, I think it's very cool that a company from such a cycling enthusiastic country is willing to support some grass roots (even weeds) in Northern California.

No Soup For You!

2007-09-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

4th at the Lion in the 35 Bs but found out it was pointless (as in NCNCA for that CAT). T and I are a little bummed. Did lot's of planning with nurses and all that now has to be redone.
Rethinking the schedule now and will be hitting the CCCX from here out.
I'll hit the 35Bs at CCCX and then double up in the SS A's with Gianni.

Lot's of unsupervised little ones crossing the course in real bad places. Not the cause of mine, but almost the cause of one that would have killed the kid and made 3 of us eat it into chain link cheese grater.

Was doing OK in the 35 A's, as in I wasn't last, but started making mistakes not seen in previous mentioned race then laid it down in a fast dangerous corner that went from dirt to gravel to asphalt.
Add that to the above news and one kind of says to one's self (Double Fook).
Not the end of the World, but a bit disappointing. Don't like loosing skin either.

On the upside, the now usable double ported extrusion on the front of my face was a treat. With the dry starts and dust flying it was a first in my life that I didn't have to eat the dust. Close mouth breath through nose.

NICE!

Of course, a better start would help, but starts on a hill tend to suit my abilities a little better. Everyone starts fast on the flats.
The course was dangerous, as previously mentioned, but for the most part played to my off road skills and I managed to pick riders off as the race went on.

Next year I'll just send the school a donation and keep my skin.

[edit] As I was writing this I heard my son teaching himself YYZ from Rush on his guitar. DAMN the kid learns fast. He has only had the guitar since Christmas. Guess I'll be the rhythm guitarist, or start working on the singing. La la la la.

Two steps beyond infinity...rambling rant

2007-09-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

What did you say? I can't here you over the dull infinite noise of the machine called society.
The mindless droning and solving of problems that are only the symptoms.
Forever chasing the perfection without resolving the underlying issues.
Engineering, building for the sake of re-engineering. Put it here, no that's wrong it should have been over there.

We need more lanes, we need more jobs. So let's put the jobs in places where there is no housing, then we can stack people up on top of each other and not offer solutions to the environment...the chaos of humanity...or the mindless consumption of everything.

You create solutions? Solutions to what? Everybody has a magic bag full of solutions to the symptoms. Each solution creates a need for a new solution, it's and endless supply of problem creating and problem solving. It's a spiral of over thought, over priced, and under needed intangible solutions.

When did being part of the problem become the solution?

I need more...he has more than me...mine broke, I need a new one.
I liked the old one better.

Pay very little for manufacturing, then let every leach from China to California stick their slimy hand in the cookie jar. What really cost $3.00 is sold to the end consumer for $100.00...plus tax and shipping.

These things are a dime dozen, yet you want a dime for one. All while you pay a child a $1.00 a day to produce thousands and yell at him to work faster, all the while his mother gives you a glory hole job with a happy ending for an extra bowl of rice. Scum Bag!

No worries, because on Sunday you will pull out that special suit and sit in a pew for redemption of your evils. How very Christian of you.

For five minutes you will think of no evil, and sit in judgment of those who choose not to warm the seats made out of rain forest wood in your upscale ministry.

Sin, oh yeah, sin. That very thing so many religious folks think they are being cleansed from. The one thing that makes that boring little futile life of yours remotely interesting. Yes, let's not be interesting, let's not have different ways of thinking.
Oh. you think too much, we need to put you on medication. Numb you down a bit and keep you in the gray.

This is not reality.

"All I want is the same as everyone,
Why am I here, and for how long?
And I raise my head and stair into the eyes of a stranger"

What is it all for anyway?

A New Cause

2007-09-23T19:45:00.000-07:00

Next spring I am going to ride my bike across the U.S. to raise money for highway and bridge repairs and widening.

It's my way of helping to relieve congestion.

Who is with me?

Nome

Maybe I am Dreaming

2007-09-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

I have been envisioning for a while a few features of the "Perfect" bike shop.
Maybe I am dreaming on some of these things, but as a cyclist and a person with enough bikes to ride a different one each day of the week with spares, here are the features I think would make the ideal shop.

1. Service.
Not just the ability to repair a bike, but also responsiveness for parts ordering and completion. The big point here is in timely execution. Calling the customer back when promised and making sure parts that were ordered actually got ordered.
This might have to be a dedicated position and even set to a schedule.
Follow up and execution are the key.

2. Top certified (if that exists) mechanics. Yeah, bicycles are not that complicated and most things are pretty easy to fix on road or mt. bikes, but there are important details here and there that the average mechanic doesn't seem to know about.
I want to know that the person wrenching on my bike is more knowledgeable than I. Unfortunately this is not always the case. "Dude, aren't you supposed to use a torque wrench on that stem and carbon bar?".

3. A high level of expertise and product knowledge. New products are constantly coming out, and the bicycle industry constantly pushes the envelope on engineering and design. The ideal bike shop would be up on these innovations, even excited about them, and be able to explain them to even the more advanced avid cyclists.
The folks that own and work at the shop better be on better bikes than I ride. They don't have to better riders, but they need to have the bling.

4. High end parts in stock.
One of the things I have seen on a consistent basis is riders needing parts right away and hearing from the shop "we can order that for you". As I have heard my teammates say "um, I can order it myself, there are a bazillion online resource for me to order it from". The rider came into the store because they need the part today. Maybe it just broke, maybe they have an event in the next day or two, but the bottom line...they need it now.
Mostly, having the things that break in stock are critical.

5. A nice selection of tires and different brands...at decent prices.
Tires might be an area where the shop just has to take a wash. But if riders know that there is a good selection at good prices, they will come in and they will likely buy other things.

6. Tubes: I am going to be very clear here. BUY a SHIT LOAD of TUBES! Buy so many that you can blow them out at under $4.00 and still make money. Maybe even make your own brand and go direct to the factory. As our team found out, tubes are to riders like cigarettes are to inmates at a jail.

7. Environment: The store needs to be inviting, impressive, and it needs to flow. If I opened a shop I would definitely consult a Feng Shui expert.

8. Link it to a coffee house. Cyclists drink coffee, why not get in on that action? Get the thing opened up before the morning rides on the weekend, then be ready to serve some smoothies for after ride recovery. It would also be a place where riders could hang out and BS about the rides, races, or any of the other stupid things we occupy ourselves with.

9. Training room/meeting room:
Having a room that could accommodate a good number of trainers during the winter could bring more traffic into the shop. It could be a bring your own, or rent a shop trainer situation. It could be a situation where spin like classes could be lead by local fitness trainers or coaches.
Have a big screen TV in place, show movies or cycling videos to ride to. There could even be designated sessions where the feature is a specific Spinnerval video. Perhaps a different one each week, or run in a series.
As a team president making sure I have a location for team meetings is critical. This room could double as a meeting room for local clubs and even local cycling advocacy groups.
(make sure the coffee house is open).

10. High-end race wheels available for rent:
Mostly I am talking about time trial wheels. Disks are hugely expensive and yet see very little use on a per rider basis. A shop could rent these out to the riders at a pretty decent penny. Heck, I would pay $100 to use a really nice disk wheel for a weekend versus spending a $1000+ to have it sit in my bike garage collecting dust 360 days a year.
Considering the value of these wheels, a shop could easily rent it out for a year then sell it on Ebay for probably close to the shop's cost. That makes the rental money pure profit.

As I said, I am probably dreaming, but it is my dream and I have exclusive license to dream anything I want.
You never know though, reality sometimes starts with a dream.

I am sure I will have people tell me I am crazy, or give me all their justifications for why these ideas won't work. But you know what? People told me my ideas for how a bike racing team/club should be run wouldn't work, and well, 5 years later...no regrets.

Maybe some folks are just afraid to try. Perhaps comfortable in their current state of existence.

No Jail for me Gianni!

2007-09-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

I went back to court for the final hearing on my bicycle red light ticket (see earlier post about court) (the second court date), today was the third and final hearing.
Yeah, baby, the checks in the mail, all of the research and screaming "Objection" like raving lunatic paid off.
See, the deal was I had to remain bicycle violation free until the hearing and the judge would dismiss it. DONE!

In the previous hearing It was his way of playing both sides of the fence. He didn't want to hand me a victory in front of the officer, but he also didn't agree with the officer (back it down a notch Kojak). Thanks to CB from MS, his advice gave me the tools I needed to win that thing.
It would be nice if it sent a message to officer Thichead, but probably not.

But at the end of the day it is a nice "TAKE THAT BEOCH!".

So Gianni, no jail for me, I am getting my money back. So not only did this stupid ticket cost the courts who knows how many thousands of dollars to deal with a trial by declaration and 3 court dates, but they have to give me my $361.00 back as well.
Brilliant!

So I thought I might toss my hat (or leg) into the ring since everyone is measuring their quads.

19 inches

But the photo below shows why the limb in the above is rendered useless when it comes to making a bike go fast. You try dragging these damn 15" mutant calves around. This has got to be some kind of cruel joke.

Advocacy, it's a funny bunch

2007-09-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

I have recently started to get involved with local advocacy in Pleasanton, where I work.
It's strange because I really find most of the people involved in these groups to have more time to complain about things they don't understand then to try and take the time to learn about why things are done a certain way and make viable changes from an informed position. I find that they tend to be very good at politics and getting their voices heard, the problem is they tend to not really know what they are talking about because they are too busy with the politics to learn or immerse themselves deep enough into cycling to understand the lifestyle.
However, they usually know just enough to toss out a couple of buzz words that would make them appear knowledgeable to the non-cyclist. In other words they know just enough to really cause a lot of problems for the rest of us.

A part of me would like to leave well enough alone because it is a big headache and my teammates will tell you I have enough on the plate. At the same time I can't stand idly by and watch bad decisions be made that effect our little community. So the passion consumes me, even if some what reluctantly.

The reason I am becoming passionate about advocacy and continue trying to make an impact and bring folks up to speed is for a couple of reasons:
1. As a signal and roadway designer I have seen uninformed bicycle advocacy groups causing cities to incorporate dangerous and just plain wrong design standards. (I don't want to see that happen here in my community). A bit of NIMBYism I guess.

2. I don't want to see my cycling friends and teammates get hurt from poor or misguided design decisions being made by people who just don't understand how the avid cyclist thinks or functions on a bike.

My intent is :

To make things better for those who are already on their bikes (these numbers are in the 100s round these parts)
Grow the sport by making our community more cycling friendly
Put attention into education and development for those who are just getting started or those that would like to reach new levels. (I would like to reach new levels)

I don't know though, I am not sure it's worth the stress, but I don't see anyone picking up the torch. Well, those of you who know me know that I am too damn neurotic to just let the torch sit on the ground and burn out. It shows in my racing too, I always tend to do too much work...so I have been told.

Anyway, some feedback from the blogger world might help me move forward or let the torch go.
Cheers,
-Nome

P.S. GroovyT picked up second place yesterday at LARPD Cross #3. OK, so there were only two of them, but she improved big time on her dismounts and she seems to be having a blast. I am just so damn proud and enjoy watching and cheering her on.

Today's Cyclocross Lesson

2007-09-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have a great skill coach, he teaches his lessons very literally to show his students exactly what will happen if you do certain things you shouldn't do.

Today's lesson:
Commit to your hand position when entering a section of the course that requires your attention.

Today's second lesson:
Even at slow speeds the ground will still hurt your face more than you will hurt the ground.

I should have told my skills coach that I already knew the second lesson from previous mountain bike face plants.

Heal up buddy!

Itching

2007-09-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

The itch to ride is getting hard to contain. But I am following doctor's orders and holding off a few more days.

Looking forward to Gianni's little interclub cross clinic this week. Fitness will suck, but it will be nice to ride again.

Looks like I'll be chewing bubble gum

2007-09-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well I went and saw the Doc. He says I blew a gasket (blood vessel) and packed my nose on the right side. LOTOJA will have to wait until next year. I am pretty bummed, and so is the fam. We were really looking forward to the trip.

Dr. Zeme believes it was from the bit of racing I did the last two weeks, but I don't think so. I didn't tell him about our Hyperbaric chamber and that I did a treatment Sunday and Monday night. I am pretty positive that the pressure did the damage. Stupid on my part as it was too early in my recovery to use the chamber.

However, Dr. Zeme mentioned that the elevation in Utah and Wyoming could have cause this to happen as well. So it is better that it happened here at home than out in the middle of nowhere away from my doctor.

So I'll take a couple of weekends off the bike and get the healing going again and focus on Cross in October. That's life, you take what you are given and make the best of it.
Next year, I'll go get me some of that, and I won't be bringing any bubble gum.

Bloody Friggen Mess!

2007-09-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

4 days to LOTOJA, we leave tomorrow night, and I am stuck at home with random nose bleeds that ensue with only warning being that feeling of liquid running down the throat.

Things opened up last night and I was breathing really clear. Then about 30 minutes later a steady stream of red stuff started flowing. (WHAT THE F^%^$#@#!).

I got a little scared when it wouldn't stop. T looked at the post surgery instructions and we called the doc. "Sit back relax and apply pressure". Did that, been doing that, and after about 15 minutes it started to work.

It started up again at 4:00 AM but only lasted 10 minutes. "OK, maybe I'll be OK, there is no pain".

Got up, did my normal morning thing and it started again during stretches. Only lasted 5 minutes...OK, it's getting shorter and maybe if I just take it easy today and skip the Noon ride everything will be fine.

I am almost to work and I feel it open up again...NOT GOOD! I pull in to the parking lot nose stuffed with TP and am hoping it stops.
It doesn't and is actually getting worse. SHIT!
Now I am spitting it out and not very well. Beige pants with blood spots are probably not going to go over well at the office. I jump back in the truck (still bleeding) and drive home...quickly.
Hope I don't get pulled over cuz I sort of look like I just murdered someone.

Hopefully this is just a today thing. I really want to do a good ride on Saturday, but if this doesn't stop there is no point of even getting on the bike.

I see the Doc at 3:30.

Fingers crossed.

It's all good

2007-09-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick thanks to all the folks who gave me some solid set up advice for the Ridley CX rig.

(Not in any certain order)

Olaf, Gianni, and teamie Greg Phipps (also rides for Black Market).

Thanks to the advice by these 3 the bike worked flawlessly at the first Cross race of the season.

I had intended to run two races for some practice and to get a feel for where I fit in, the Elite Bs, and the Masters As.

I started the Bs nice and easy and worked my way up. It was a short race so the youngens were set on killing it out of the gate. No worries, I wanted something in the tank for the later race in the heat and it would be my first dismount on the new rig. Better to do it with a little oxygen to spare and work things out. Lots of season for killing it later.

Ended up 5th and had a nice clean ride that got smoother as the race went on.

Started up in the Masters As making sure I didn't get in the way of the more experienced riders. 2nd lap I started getting into a nice groove and picking off stragglers 1 at a time when the race came to an end with a flat. T and I ridden to the race so no spare wheels today, but it was cool, the rig past all tests and I am looking forward to more racing when we return from Wyoming.

Thanks again to all that shared set up advice.

Nome

The Nose Knows

2007-08-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I guess this might be the turn-around week, it feels like things are starting to heal up and clear up.

Yesterday there was a lot of tingly feeling, kind of like a sensitive tooth. Today, and specifically right now both sides feel very open.
Mostly I can tell because of the cooling sensation I get when breathing in through my nose, and the feeling like I just drank a bunch of coffee.
Who knew that oxygen had so much energy giving properties?

Even if I don't get any faster on the bike, I have already experienced quality of life improvements...and it's only been two weeks since the removal of the splints. Dr. Zeme said it would continue to get better for several months.
Holy Crap! If this is only the beginning, I may not even need to sleep ever again.

Double post day.

2007-08-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

You know that feeling you get when you lean back too far in a chair and you are about to fall?

That's how I feel for several hours after a race.
Too tired to focus, too wired to sleep.

Two 1st places for the Spideys

2007-08-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

Nathan wins both road races this weekend.

I had the pleasure of witnessing both the deciding move and the victory solute today at University.

For my first race back after going under the knife I was very happy to have made 5 or 6 laps (to tired to remember) with the main field. On my last lap with what was already a pretty small group I witnessed Super Dave Loogman and Harlan at the front shredding the field with Nathan in tow. It was all red and black at the front, and fireworks at the back as riders exploded one by one.
It was about 3/4s up the climb on this lap when I had put in my last effort to stay in contact. But what a site to see. Amazing team effort, and with three road race wins and a 3rd, Nathan has a nice lead for the Cal Cup.

With 2 to go I called it a day for the pleasure of watching the finally with Nathan putting about 5 bike lengths on Chris Phipps in the last 150 - 200 meters.

With all the hard work of building this team for the last 4 years, it brings great pleasure to see our colors fly the Victory solute, and to see it done as a team effort is even better.

Ready to Rock!

2007-08-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here it is fresh off the bike stand and ready for it's first ride.

Groovy T and I went our to Shadow Cliffs and the BMX park for our first practices and to try the new ride. T got some Cross upgrades for her mountain bike. We found a very nice rigid carbon fork and canned the suspension seat post. Add in my old SPOX wheel set and her ride is super light.

We had such a blast, and this bike is so fun that it's probably illegal.
I always love the look on the kids faces at the BMX park when you show up and ride the whoopty doos on a rig like this.
I can't wait to race this thing, and I can actually even shoulder it...but not for very long. I must have bony shoulders because even with the flat top tube, it still hurts.

Maybe Gianni will have some tips at his cross clinic in a few weeks, until then there are some trails up at Pleasanton Ridge that need some tearing up, and this is the go anywhere bike to do it.
Again, so much fun, it's probably illegal!

It's being built

2007-08-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Postage is lacking due to the building of the new Cross Bike.
It's almost done, postage and pictures to follow.

It's looking bad ass!

"It kicks more ass than anything has ever kicked ass before"
-Beavis and Butthead

I can breath!!!!!

2007-08-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Yippee Skippee, Dr. Zeme pulled out the splints this morning.

The ports are open now!

Doc says it will continue to get clearer over the next couple of months.

I am getting brain freeze from all the oxygen!

More Tired than Ti-erd

2007-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Tried to ride yesterday. Got beat up by the whole bunch and never even really pulled.
Getting through work the rest of the day was the biggest endurance event I have participated in this year.

Today, I am taking a nap at lunch.

DO NOT DISTURB!

Dunnigan? Not likely at this point.

Day 5 ater the Roto Rooter treatment

2007-08-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and I am back at work...sort of.
The nose is healing but it does actually feel like day 5 after a roto-rooter treatment. Everything is a bit raw and I a little plugged from the scabbing.

I giving today a try without the pain meds, it's not bad other than the slight spinning sensation.

Started using Airborne, it seems to help clear things up a little. At the very least I want my immune system to be strong so that I don't get an infection.

Never underestimate how much your sinuses effect your whole body. About every 2 to 3 hours I hit a wall and have to just stop everything I am doing to take a cat nap.

Ooh, here comes the wall...gotta go.

Relief

2007-08-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

Today the Doc pulled the packing out of my nose. Man was that a weird sensation, a lot like having a 3" long bugger [edit] booger (Pab says two Gs, but I am not so sure, it seems more like bug ger than booger. But than again I am no expert in 5th grade humor.) being yanked out with giant tweezers. It sort of felt like they were pulling part of my brain out.

The passages are clear, but there is still a little bleeding. The stints come out next Friday.

The doctor doesn't recommend me doing LOTOJA and said that I could end up with some nose bleeds. That ship has already sailed and I am committed.
If I have to bail, so be it, but I will start.

Reh ra reh...It's a boy...reh ra reh

2007-08-09T09:24:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday Dr. Zeme with the aid of Dremel tools, drills, files, and other emblements of destruction proceed up my nose to fix a deviated septum and shrink my turbinates.
Once up there it was reported that the deviation was much worse than found during the initial inspection.
My nose gave birth to 3 pound baby boy.

Chimera?
Well at least that is what it feels like right now with the 8 lbs of gauze shoved up there.
When the pain meds ware off it starts to feel like someone took a cheese grader to my nose.

Why do all this? I have never been able to breath through my nose, and my sense of smell is very weak. (You mean my shit really does stink?)
If it helps my cycling, great, if there is no change, that's OK too. The improvement to the life experience is what it is all about.

But, just using the Flonaise for the last month and learning to breath through my nose has improved my on the bike experience. I was out of Flonaise for a week and noticed a change or drop in performance.

Admittedly there is a little anticipation for when I am fully healed.

Moving it down and Shasta.

2007-08-06T11:34:00.000-07:00

The Mt. Shasta ride with Gianni was kick-ass. It's my first time up it on a bike, and I want more.

135 miles, 16K of climbing, and 9 hours in the saddle.

But the ride didn't kick my ass, it was the friggen drive home.

Made it to Alamo, almost home, and the tread on one of the trailer tires gives out...at 1:30 in the morning...after 9 hours in the saddle and a 5 hour drive.

Changed tire and creped home arriving at the door at 2:30. Straight to bed. At work by 9:00, but not much here.

I am so tired that my brain can't even comprehend it's own stupidity.

Ufah!

Warning Label

2007-08-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

Contents under pressure may explode.

Yeah, that would about explain the feeling this morning. Hope it settles down. Maybe I'll skip the coffee this morning.

Strange Vibe Today

2007-07-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

As of recent I have been feeling sort of Zin, until today.

Nothing has happened, there is no apparent catalyst, the day just has a strange vibe. A vibe like some changes are about to happen. It's that feeling like someone just gave you some disappointing news, yet there has been no news. Or has there? Maybe it is old news bubbling to the emotional surface as if to say "remember me, you haven't really released me yet and I am here to remind you of that thing or situation you don't like"... so when are you going to get over it?"

Perhaps my Pain Body is hungry, perhaps my egoic self needs conflict or needs to feel special by resolving some conflict that presented itself with the choice to deal with or ignore.

I have news for my Pain Body...I am going to rip your friggen legs off and feed them to you on the lunch ride today. Pop up to give me shit will you? That does it, I am attacking and you won't get no say in the matter. TAKE THAT EGO!

Bastard!

[Post Lunch Ride Entry]
I officially ripped my legs off and fed them to myself on Calaveras. At the top I puked them back out and reattached them with enough recovery time to hit the sprint and feed them to myself again. At the last and final sprint I puked them out one more time and left them laying on Foothill Road at Castlewood. If someone should happen to see them can you scoop them up in a bag and send them to me?

-Nome Out

SPAM Magnet/Gate Keeper

2007-07-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

I guess USA Cycling sells the email addresses of all the people registered as Team/Club contacts.
I get so much friggen cycling related SPAM that it's ridiculous.

At this point I tell them in an eloquent as possible manner "send that shit for free or go the hell away". No free trial, no access to my network (team). That's how it works.
Here is a response I sent to a company that wants me to fork over some bucks for some crap they are pushing.

"You guys SPAMMED me, I didn't contact you.
I am the contact for a large and very active racing team here in Northern California. Northern California is the home of the largest number of licensed bicycles racers in the entire United States.
Of those licensed riders, more than 70% are over the age of 35 and are business professionals (lawyers, doctors, software engineers...etc) making an annual household income of well over $100,000 a year.

In other words, this is your target market.

I get SPAM like this all the time as companies get my email address off of the USA Cycling website. If I purchased every product that I received these emails for I would be broke and have so much stuff in my system that I would make Michael Rasmussen seem like Mr. Clean (that's a joke). Most emails I just delete. If you want me to forward information about your product to my team and friends, send a bottle. I will evaluate it, provide feedback, and if it works tell 50 of my best friends.

That's how it works."

-Nome Out (aka East Bay Cyclists Guinea Pig)

Local Cycling Nooze

2007-07-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

In the shadow of the Astana fiasco, local riders in the Northern California cycling scene have been with similar accusations and findings. These recent revelations in the unexplained speed of the Masters fields as of recent have lead to intense under cover investigations.

In a recent leak to the lesser known media outlets it was discovered that a certain rider with exceptional talent has been auctioning off his blood for the use of transfusions into other riders of wanting talent. When confronted Olaf simply said "Have you seen my house? I have a mother load of cats to feed...I have to do something for some extra money...shit I can't even afford to get my bike upgraded to 10 speed. Besides, I am just a blood donor, thats not illegal."

A current team leader from a local East Bay team dawning spiderman like costumes has refused interviews and also been spotted wearing long sleeve jerseys and clothing on very hot days. Speculation is that the team leader himself has made very high bids for the oxygen rich Olaf red elixir.
One question from the media is why this racer has been absent from the local scene since returning from a team trip to Iowa. Our sources have recently spotted him doing secret training in the coastal mountains of the Bay Area, but even on the bike this rider of slight build has refused to stop to talk with our sources.

I need you to fail.

2007-07-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

My ego needs an identity, it needs someone to help so that I can feel I have purpose in life. I need you to fail so that I can help you and say "look what I did, it is part of my purpose for being" even if only spoken to myself.

I need you to fail so that I can win, and then I will feel important...for a moment. Then I need you to fail again, perhaps next Saturday.

When you proceed not to fail, I will change categories so that I can find some new people to fail and help me feel important. Perhaps I will race an older category.

I need you to be starving so that I can give my life purpose and collect food for the hungry. I need to fill my soul with small achievements of helping those who have failed.

Your failure gives me identity in the World. Your failure helps me to be perceived as compassionate and giving. Please fall down so that I can assist you in getting up, or even carry you to the hospital.

Your failure helps me to feel good about myself. I shall appear to sacrifice my happiness in order to assist you after your failure. Because I am just giving like that. I am a giver.

Rest is good.

2007-07-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Never underestimate the power of taking a break from racing.

I am fresh, I am lighter, and I am enjoying riding again. It is a very freeing experience.

Can't wait to ride Shasta with Gianni. I have always wanted to ride it, so one more new experience in the books.

I may be back this season for Done Again and University if the roto-rooter nose treatment goes well.

Before

After

Chip off the ol block

2007-07-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

The kid can rock! Only 7 months ago was he asking for a guitar, but the kid is learning fast and able to pick songs up by ear.

Dyllan went to a week long Summer program and in that week learned about playing in a band and with other musicians. This is a brief video of the recital they had at the end of the program.

Warning: This isn't like the recital your Mom made you do when Grandma was in town. These kids can rock!

Dyllan is the one with the hat on and the black and white guitar.

Heavy Listening

2007-07-10T13:10:00.000-07:00

I am currently listen to a book on CD by Eckart Tolle "A New Earth". (My wife is reading it, but I don't have that kind of free time)

He covers a substantial amount about the Ego, and of course the general insanity of all man kind.
As he points out, insanity is the norm, sanity the obscure.

Here is reflection of one concept, the Pain-Body, by Saleem Rana:

"First, there is the field of complete consciousness.

This then expresses itself in an organic form.

From here it loses itself in organizing the physical environment around it.

It begins to split into mind, and mind then splits into ego, and ego then believes itself the origin of consciousness.

As ego, arising from thoughts of limitations, fractures itself against obstacles, it develops what Eckhart Tolle calls the pain-body.

The pain-body then becomes an unconscious entity within. It seeks to feed on pain to survive. It makes a person feel pain and it causes this person to inflict pain on others.

After the pain-body strikes out, it tends to propagate. Soon armies are formed and war propagated. Mind itself now works in service to the pain-body.

The past two world wars are an expression of the pain-body in complete domination.

Release from the pain-body comes from observing the mind; observing how it takes a feeling, becomes identified completely with it, and thinks and acts out that feeling.

This witnessing is separation from the pain-body, disidentifying from it. When this happens, the light of awareness begins to dissolve the pain. One sees this shadow entity for what it is, an accumulation of past hurts, an expression of renegade life-force particles.

Witnessing is recognizing the self to be other than egoic mental and emotional turbulence. It is a return to recognition of the awareness that propagates thinking, which is a small part of consciousness.

Witnessing is placing the conscious in the moment and observing it express itself through mentation.

Recognizing oneself as the author of mind and not the outcome of mind removes the automation that goes along with a belief in determinism, which in turn arises because of the belief that mind arises out of matter.

This is the movement referred to as spirituality, and it is a movement toward wholeness.

Spirituality itself can be confusing because of the elaborate expressions on what it is; but, in its essence, it is an attempt to return to wholeness.

Wholeness, it will be discovered, canâ€™t be fragmented.

Wholeness is a return to identification with the origin of creation; a return to contemplation of the field of consciousness itself; a return to what is referred to as God, Beingness, or Spirit.

Our journey in life is a journey toward freedom, identifying with what it real, which arises from pure subjectivity, the implicate order. Our entrapment in the explicate order is by virtue of unconsciousness about the pain-body."

They say that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I guess I am ready for this information. The trick will be in application. I grew up with some challenges that this book illustrates very clearly. Hopefully I will gain some insight to overcome those challenges.
We shall see.

Nome out.

Breaking News: Zabel to join the Spidey Crew

2007-07-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

Just shortly after today's crash in the Tour de France Erik Zabel announced his retirement from the Professional side of the sport upon the completion of the Tour.
Following the announcement was the news that Zabel has been in talks with the California based EMC/Vellum Cycles Masters Team for the 08' season and to continue cycling for fun and racing on a Nor Cal Masters team.
Zabel had stated what a great place California would be to raise his family and enjoy year around cycling.

Zabel has decided to prepare himself for the 2008 U. S. Masters Nationals. As it turns out the German was actually born in San Fransisco when his parents worked as house servants for a German business man, Baron von Schnitzelstein, giving Zabel dual citizenship and making him eligible to hold a U. S. Championship title.

More news on this topic later.

By the way, check this out: http://groovy-t.blogspot.com/

Kaiser Wrap Up, no frills...

2007-07-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to stick to my plan of making this a build ride for later events.
You have two choices at Kaiser, kill it and spend a couple of weeks recovering...and maybe not enjoy the ride. Or, keep in below threshold and use it to build.

Having this be my 4th time I chose the latter.

Gianni and I had a little fun at the start and did some pace setting, and keeping the bike upright.
300+ riders and most of them tourists in a mass start, you definitely want to be at the front.

After Sasser and Jonathan started hitting the early climbs pretty hard I decided to back off and cruise and let them have at it (swords drawn). Get out of the way, or you might get cut.

Gianni pulled into the first rest stop as I was leaving and thought, ah screw it, I drug him out her to this thing so I wait and we will enjoy the company. Gianni's front derailuer was trying to opt out of the ride, but the mechanics fixed him up. 20 minutes later we were rolling again.
Nice and easy, keeping the HR round 155 up Toll House. Nice steady spin with lots of breath to chat it up. Even did some coaching along the way and help some poor soles out.
One kid had the build of climber, but he was wrestling with his bike, and the bike was winning.
"Relax, keep the upper body stable, and don't pogo up and down".
I chatted with this rider later, he mentioned it helped and he was having a much better ride.

Gianni and I split up just after the Shaver Lake stop, and I decided to punch it for awhile.
I turned on the MP3 player and let Iron Maiden, Accept, and Rainbow drive me up the Big Creek climb. Easily one of the hardest sections of road in California. With the music blaring, and the new 27 spinning I pounded up this section faster and easier than I had done on any of the other 3 times at this event. Even the 20% section seemed to go by pretty quickly.

Same same up Kaiser Pass.

It was nice to finish this brute of a ride (155 Miles, 13,500' of climbing) feeling pretty fresh and having enjoyed the hospitality along route. The melon ROCKED, now I am craving cantaloupe big time. Looks like it's pretty good for you, check that link.

It brings a bit of a smile to face to think of all those riders who think they are racing this thing and blow all the rest stops just so they can finish 30th something and finish 2 minutes earlier than last year.
Got news for you dude...you didn't ride any faster, and you didn't do yourself or your fitness any favors.
If you aren't in it to win it, relax and have some fun...it's a beautiful ride and oh so much more enjoyable to feel good on the bike...the next day!

Not having destroyed myself, the wife and I went for a nice ride Sunday morning with a slow group out of Ptown. It was fun and good for the recovery.

Today, I feel great!

So Stinkin Proud

2007-07-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

EMC/Vellum's own Jasmin Parsons at the West Coast Jr. Development Camp.

After winning the Jr. District Crit she received an invite.

We are all so proud of her!

-Nome

Gettin ready for the Climb to Kaiser ER

2007-06-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Been on a very nice break from the racing scene and getting in the long miles. It's been nice and missed. I love the long days in the saddle at sub earbleed heart rates.

In preparation I made some mods to the steed.

With much resistance I have shortened my cranks to the suggested 170s from the 172.5s that I am used to.
Went and had a fitting session with Rick over at Eden Bikes in Castro Valley. He dropped me down and back and worked some voodoo on my cleat position. Rick says I have a good sweep through the bottom and need to back a little in order to use it. Result= faster cadence...much faster.

Training:
Death march like training with Nate Dawg, 3 times to the summit of Diablo last week for an even 100 round trip, followed by 2.5 hours on the tandem including the Wente course backwards (and we don't run a triple). Practiced the Diablo TT course on Wednesday, and hit the hills of Oakland/Moraga followed by a trip to the Diablo summit yesterday. Today, a 45 mile cruise in the morning up Calaveras Road with a detour up Welch (bitch) Creek Road.
On lower intensity periods (sub 145 HR) I have been forcing myself to breath through the nose. Not an easy task considering intake is 50% of what it should be. Kind of like riding with a restrictor plate, but it is forcing me to really expand the chest cavity and breath slow and really deep. Should help when I go in for the Taz roto-rooter treatment.

The weight is coming down (135), lowest it's been this year, and the RPMs are way up. I have lost my leverage, but I am getting used to the 100+ rpms.

C2K is all about riding within yourself, it would be nice if I can summit with The Shark, but I am not going to kill it to do so. If I am there we will have a good time running back to Fresberg, but if I am not I will sit at the top lounging and waiting for Gianni. Good times either way!

This week will be an easy week of commuting to work by bike with a hard effort on the Diablo TT course on Wednesday to make sure no cobwebs settle in. Rest is the order of the week.

Congratulations to Petite Pedals on a long overdue win this weekend. I hope to see more of that type of riding.

Official Spidey Crew casual shoe

2007-06-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yippy Skippy! My Father's Day gift finally arrived!
Custom made Vans to match the Team Kit. SWEEET!

Iowa and Snake Alley Photos

2007-06-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

(The Boys are back in town) (I like Thin Lizzy)

(and they are hangin down at Moto's)
(Mr. Moto's, a very cool pub and Coffee House)

(Carbon wheels on pre-ride only...too stiff for the bricks)

(Harlan aka Hdiddy dances up the Snake in his chrome Nalini shoes)

(Don't dance in the rain...too slippy)
(look at the size of the rain drops)

I have few more uploaded to Flickr, with more coming this weekend...
Click the link for more great images.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8951136@N06/

Shiny Happy People Holding Hands

2007-06-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks Xbunny...

This photo is one of the best days cycling has ever given me. A day of truth and discovery, of friendship and teamwork.
I would have never thought in a million years that Groovy T and I would be standing on a podium at a bike race together. Talk about a new adventure... and it is really just beginning.

More than 1 way to sandbag

2007-06-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

There is more than one way to be a sandbagger.

Often people think of the term "sandbagging" and relate it to a rider that won't move up just so that he can win more races.

I think the truest nature of the term is more in the essence of racing in a field where you can win more races just so that you can win more races. Forget the category of the rider for a moment and think about how this applies in racing in all fields...masters included.

Casey Kerrigan from the NCNCA has often said that your category should reflect your level of ability, it should not be seen as a trophy that you hold onto. Meaning if you are a Category 1 rider you should be competitive in a Pro/1/2 field. The flip side of this is, if you are competitive in a Pro/1/2 field, maybe you should be racing Pro/1/2 events.

Based on the above statements I would like to present a thought for your consideration:
If you are a Category 1 or Ex-Pro or even Ex Euro-Pro rider isn't it, under the same concept as above, quite possibly sandbagging by racing amateur masters fields?

As Casey has said, if you can't be competitive in a Pro/1/2 event, you should downgrade.
On that same note, if you are competitive in that field, shouldn't you be racing in that field.

My impression of this sport is that one should challenge one's self. If you are winning more often than not, how are you challenging yourself?
If you are riding away from a fields over and over again...solo...how are you challenging yourself?

Take out the semantics of the word and how can one see this different than sandbagging, cheating, or even worse...doping?

At the end of the day, who are you really cheating? I would say you are cheating Yourself.

Hats off to those aging riders who are challenging themselves and racing against a field that presents challenge...you know who you are.

Wag of the finger to those racing in a field that does not challenge you just so that you can win more... you know who you are too.

Honor is a hard thing to come by these days. Niceness and pleasantry aside, honor is different. Even an asshole can have honor.

Are you honorable?

-Nome out

Oh It's On baby...It is On!

2007-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

Damn it PAB and XBunny, you just had to go and sign up for Tandem Mixed 70+ didn't you?
Here I wanted to put in a good ride on the single then have some fun with Groovy T, but NO you gotta go and make it EMC Vs. Safeway/Velo Bella.

So now I gotta just use the solo ride as a warm up and not kill it.

Actually, it should be fun, not a fair match, but it will be fun trying to hold you two off as long as we can.

323 11:14:00 Tandem Mixed 70+ Castia Ron 144264 EMC/Vellum Cycles
11:14:30
324 11:15:00 Tandem Mixed 70+ poulsen jeff 28533 safeway/ga communications

I am gonna get spanked by Vandershark, Hickman, The Boschanator, and Angerhoot anyway. May as well soften the blow.

(bitches)

A word from Iowa

2007-05-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Photos and other what not later, but a quick update on the Spidey Boys in Iowa.
Today was Snake Alley and the Iowans found the Spidey Crew crawling all over the podium.

40 + Harlan (aka Hdiddy) and Joey O take the field by storm for a 1-2 finish. Very fitting for this silver anniversary of the race, they were both wearing their snazzy chrome Nalini shoes.

30+ and pissing rain, Super Dave Loogman gave a clinic and schooled the field raw by soloing away on the first lap. Yours truly had a fair ride picking up 3rd (again) and just missing second by half a wheel.
Hdiddy picked up 5th.

A real report and photos, lots of them, to follow when we return to California.

-Nome out

Traffic Court Update

2007-05-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay.

I went back to court for the continence of the trial this last Tuesday. My first objective was to make a verbal Motion to Dismiss due to the destruction of the audio tape previously mentioned. I had the subpoena as evidence to this fact, but the judge stated that the audio recording was after the fact of the violation and did not have any relevance to the case. I argued that it did, mostly just so that I could throw it back in his face later in the trial...and I did.

I wasn't extremely worried if the Motion was denied, I was fully ready to argue the case. After review of the officers statements responding to my declaration I drafted up in AutoCAD the diagrams (to scale) of the entire intersection and locations of vehicles and my bike.
The officer stated that as I cleared the Southbound lane two cars enter the intersection. Using the formulas for distance traveled per second (speed x 1.4666) and the 85th percentile of Foothill Road I calculated with extreme accuracy the amount time I had before the cars reached the location where I had crossed. It turns out that the vehicles still had to travel 116' before they would even reach that location.
Note; I was already clear by 11'.
It would have taken the vehicle 1.7 seconds to reach the location where I had crossed which at the speed I was traveling (18MPH) would have put me an addition 45' clear of the Southbound lanes and virtually clear of the Northbound lanes.
I made copies of this diagram for everyone.

The trial quickly moved from facts to opinions and a comically became a bickering match between the officer and myself. I explained to the judge that the signal was malfunctioning and the volume of traffic on the street I was on was extremely low. I explained that the road I was on was a usual training route and that I had been through this intersection hundreds of times and had never seen a vehicle traveling in my direction. This was to point out that waiting for a vehicle to trigger the signal was not reasonable under the circumstances.

The officer at one point pleaded that we need to understand his perspective as he just dealt with a incident where a 3 year old child was hit by a car. I objected with vigor and explained "I am not a 3 year old". I then explained to the judge that I had been racing and training for over 10 years and was an accomplished cyclist, that not only raced and rode but built up my own bikes. In addition I explained to the judge that I have been designing traffic signals and roadway geometry for nearly 7 years and had a certain expertise.

Towards the end the officer admitted to not know how long I had waited before crossing. I explained that I waited for the apposing left turn movement to complete and that based on the phase diagram for the intersection I would have been next in the cue for a green indication had the detectors sensed me.

After a bit more bickering the judge appeared to have a good grasp of what really happened that day on the road. He stated that he would not grant the Motion to Dismiss, but due to the complexity and quantity of detailed facts to consider that he would take the case under submission and set a hearing for September 11. He stated that if I could avoid another violation on my bicycle he would dismiss the case.

My guess is he didn't want to rule against the officer, but he also didn't want to rule against me. This was likely the best way to give both sides what they wanted with out directly offending anyone.

Provided Officer Jones doesn't stalk me and trump up more frivolous traffic citations, I should get my $361.00 back in September.

-Nome Out

Kenda review (Small Block Eight)

2007-05-01T08:11:00.000-07:00

America,

Kenda has a few new tires out and I picked up a set of ATB tires this weekend.

The conditions out at Firestone were dry and hard pack, a lot like Pleasanton Ridge in the summer.
The Karma has been a great tire and I have had my share of podiums on them, but they just weren't biting in the fast corners and I felt slow on the hard pack.

Enter the Small Block Eight (like me), it has smaller knobs offering more knobs per square inch. That means more bite and fast rolling. The course was long so I wanted to conserve as much energy as I could.
They felt fast, efficient, and solid in the fast off camber turns. Even when I over cooked a couple of turns, they bit in and saved my hide from going off the cliff.
It's my opinion that you need to have several options for tread pattern and pick the right tire for the course and conditions. These tires will definitely be added to my arsenal for dry fast conditions.

--Nome Out

My Cousin Ronnie (Traffic Court)

2007-04-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

America,
Back in November out on a little mid week recovery ride I come up to an intersection that I have been through on my bike well over 100 times. It's a particular signalized intersection that is notorious for not detecting bicycles. I know this not only from experience, but also from the design stand point since my company provided the design services for this signal to City of Pleasanton.
The type of detector loops that the city used at that time are not the type that are typically sensitive enough for bicycles to activate.

Naturally, I waited until the intersection was clear and proceeded through the red light with caution.

Enter officer Knowit Awl, who happened to be approaching the intersection several hundred feet behind me as I rolled through. I was 200' beyond the intersection and safely off on my merry way when I hear "you on the bike, stop I want to talk to you" from a loud speaker.
I looked back and saw a black and white stopped at the far side of the intersection. My first thought was to punch it and ditch him through the housing neighborhood, but I was wearing my team kit, and after all it was a recovery day. So I waited for him to arrive and we began a nice chat about bicycle safety.

Officer Knowit Awl felt it pertinent to explain to me from the depth of an unfit belly and Sempre Fi hair cut, the reason he pulled me over. Like I couldn't have figured this out on my own.
After listening to his rant about red lights and bicycle accidents (all of which involved pedestrians on toy bicycles, not actual cyclists), I proceeded to explain my position and the reason for my action. I also proceeded to provide him with the some basics of traffic signal design, operation, and the subtleties of vehicle detection devices.
Note: This is the same officer that at an earlier date and unrelated incident I had to educate on the subtleties of pack riding and why a group of over 40 cyclist might be inclined to not ride single file in a bike lane that is full of glass and construction debris. Another topic covered previously was the stopping distance required for a tandem bike verses and single bike. Officer Knowit Awl was absent the day his physics class covered the topic of The Behavior of Momentum and Mass in Motion and thought it was a good idea to stand directly in front of my wife and I short of the distance we needed to stop without crashing. A CHP friend suggested that we should have just ran into him, but that may have caused severe injury to my wife.

Officer Knowit Awl in a show of appreciation for the service I was attempting to provide rewarded my well delivered lecture on the design and function of traffic signals with a yellow piece of paper and a copy of my autograph. He also informed me that the stop was being audio recorded. Which I responded "good, because I want a copy". You see, Officer Knowit Awl doesn't hear so well and his responses tend to be off topic and not exactly in line with the linear progression of the conversation.

This is where is gets fun:
Following some advice of a long time racer and CHP officer that I know, I filed a Trial by Declaration. I also attempted several times, unsuccessfully, to get my hands on the audio tape of the stop. I was so ready that I had my declaration, complete with 5 x 7 color glossy photographs, pages copied from the Caltrans 2006 Standard Plans, a copy of the City approved traffic signal design for the intersection, and a copy of a City of Dublin traffic signal design illustrating bike loops prepared before the courtesy notice even arrived.
I sent in my Declaration and all items mentioned above, and received a brief letter 30 days later stating "Guilty" with no supporting documentation or explanation.

Now you might be thinking that it's over, but Trial by Declaration does not remove your right to go in front of a judge. So I sent in my request for a Trial De Novo. A court date was granted, and yesterday was that day.

Armed with a little more advice from above mentioned bike racing CHP officer, I went to my court date. What was the advice, you ask? "When the officer starts reading from his green document of the facts of the incident, call out "Objection! The officer is reading from a document that I have not had the chance to examine. I move for a continuance"". You see, as it turns out, that little green piece paper is considered "evidence". Evidence that the defendant has not had the opportunity to examine and do proper discovery on.

Locked, cocked and ready to rock, I had practice yelling "objection" in the mirror. Even visualized myself doing it in court. I went to court early to get a feel for the arena in which I was about to take on this behemoth and watched a few cases and got a good sense of timing for my display. You don't want to yell out "objection" too early, that would be bad.
My case was called and I bit down hard on my tongue waiting for the right moment, I think I even mumbled it a few times but was able to play it off. The moment came, the officer start presenting photos, photo I had not seen. I moved up close to the microphone and in my best Perry Mason meets Cousin Vinny exclaimed "OBJECTION!!!!" "I have never seen these photos before and have not had a chance to examine the photos or the documents the officer is reading from!". My heart pounded, it was beating so hard that I think the whole court room could see my body tremor from each beat. There was a long pause of silence in the court room, I glanced at the officer, his face in shock as he tried to take in the curve ball I had just launched.
The judge awoke from his droning and now had to deal with something unexpected, he had to think for a change.
The judge ordered the bailiff to collect the photos and hand them too me. After some discussion the judge ordered the officer to make copies for me and started to actually look at the case.
He asked "what are all these other photos and documents in this file?". I explained that those were mine and I had provided them when I filed a Trial by Declaration. "Can he do that?", the judge asked completely bewildered and searching the court room for someone who knew what was going on. The officer begrudgingly answered "yes, in traffic court defendants can file a Trial by Declaration". The judge then asked looking at Officer Knowit Awl "what are these other documents, are these your responses and statements to the Declaration?" "Yes they are", the officer answered. Having recovered from my first burst into the court I screamed "OBJECTION!!!" once again and explained that I had no knowledge that those responses existed and had not been provided an opportunity to examine them.
The judge even more bewildered asked the clerk "can he look at these or are they confidential?", the clerk informed the judge that I had the right to copies, but normal procedure is to just send a letter stating "guilty" or "not guilty".
The judge approved my continuance based on all that had happened.

I then informed the judge that I wanted a copy of the audio recording from the traffic stop. "There is an audio recording?" the judge questioned the officer. The officer explained to the judge that Pleasanton PD audio record all of there traffic stops in case of complaints on the officer. I quickly brought to the judges attention that I had requested a copy and was not provided a mechanism in which to attain this evidence. The judge then asked, the now red with frustration, officer if he could provide a copy. The officer promptly explained that they only keep them for 2 weeks then erase the recording if there is no complaint. I quickly interjected stating that the recording was a critical piece of evidence and would validate or invalidate the officer's statements and accuracy of the officer's recollection of the stop. The judge reluctantly agreed.
I then asked, so what do we do the audio if they destroyed it. He suggested that I could file a Motion to Dismiss.
"Great, can we do that now?". The judge stated that it would have to be done in a courtroom in front of the trial judge.
This is the point in which I was confused and asked "isn't this a courtroom?" The judge repeated his previous statement (wanting to just go home as this case was becoming a bit difficult for a red light violation). I looked around to make sure I was where I thought I was and stated "I don't really get into trouble so I may be mistaken, but isn't this a court room and isn't this a trial, and aren't you a judge?".

He told me he was granting the continuance and I would have to make my motion at the next trial. "Understood."

I won the battle, but the war wages on and I know what my next move is.
The fine/bail for the ticket (which has to paid up front under Trial by Declaration) is $361.00.
How much money do you think this has cost the County and City by this point?

I am guessing a lot more than $361.00.

How much Advil do you think that the officer has downed in order to deal with this stress?

Me? Even if I don't get my money back, I have learned a lot about traffic court and how to be the one pulling the strings. Priceless!

Gianni thinks I am going to jail, but I reminded him that there are no laws against being difficult.

Gianni's enlightened post (and the Butterfly Effect)

2007-04-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

America,
I just read Gianni's post about winners and losers.
I found the timing quite interesting as I am in a state of evaluating many things in my cycling life.
I also found the timing interesting as I just watched The Seven Decisions, a lecture on PBS by Andy Andrews.

The things I am evaluating;
The team and the organization's level of success. I don't mean how many times we get to throw our hands up in victory at some low budget race in Bum Phuck Egypt because we just won a $5.00 T-Shirt (lame!). I am talking about as an organization. Have we created the best possible entity we can create? Is this year the best that can be achieved, or are there changes that can be made to make it better?
You see, I set out to start a team 4 seasons ago because I didn't like the options that were available. Oh, I had plenty of suggestions and ideas, but they were always met with "oh, things don't work that way" kind of resistance. My response is "really? have you tried?". So with the help of a few good folks I wanted to try.
I knew things could be done differently and somehow I found myself reluctantly at the helm of a Borg ship that would soon take on a life of it's own.
So here we are 4 years later and I am questioning how much more there is. Has my vision played out? If not, some new enthusiasm is needed, a catalyst if you will.
Interestingly enough, the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek word enthousiasmos, loosely translated as "God's Breath moving through you".

Other questions include that of what I personally want to get out of cycling, and when I am racing am I making the decisions that positively effect that out come for our team.
You see, I realize I have certain predetermined genetic ability. I am not the fastest sprinter, nor the the best climber, nor the best time trialist. If anything I am extremely mediocre at any of these skills and every once in a great while have a decent day.
I work very hard at it, I suffer like a dog, but the one thing I hate is showing up to a race and watching everything happen and doing nothing. Mostly because I realize that every action we take puts into motion a series of events that are all linked to each other. While I may not win the race, I want to go home knowing I had an effect on, even in some small way, the outcome. I want to go home knowing that had I not been there the result would have been different.
In many things in my life I struggle (by my own demented need for perfection) to achieve greater than mediocrity. Even as guitarist I felt I was mediocre. I can play, and those who are not musicians would be impressed, but I am no Michael Schenker, or Randy Rhoads.

I certainly do not know by Gianni's post if that makes me a winner or a loser, but it certainly gives me something to think about. Perhaps my racing contribution is nothing more than The Butterfly Effect, if so, just maybe if so, that is enough to fulfill my own needs and what I seek out of the sport.

One of the things Andy Andrews says in that lecture mentioned above is "persists without exception" "find a way when there is no way". As these statements apply to my internal question about the team, I ask myself if I have persisted without exception to create something that is exceptional...by my own standards. If not, do I want to persist without exception? If I do, what is the next scene in this play and where does it lead.
The success of the team, and service to it's members is an extremely personal endeavor. One that has me up late at night, and always searching for ways to make things happen or fix problems. It's a rabbit hole I have chosen to go down, and the question now exists "how far down the rabbit hole do I want to go?"

So I leave you with this thought:
The Butterfly Effect states that the movement of a butterfly's wings sets air molecules into motion that in turn set other air molecules into motion and eventually have the potential of causing a tornado on the opposite side of the planet.
Conclusion:
Kill the butterflies and Japan lives.

Nome Agusta (pronounced No me Gusta)

P.S. 18 years married, and 22 years together as of today and we are very much in love, probably because we are both equally twisted (together). But after all these years I find her pretty Groovy...and our relationship is the one thing that is beyond mediocre.

Returning to my roots.

2007-04-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

America,

This year I have joyously decided to skip Madera Stage Race, if you can call that a stage race.

Instead I am headed for some new adventures and to give the Semi-Slow category a go out at Firestone Mountain Bike race.

With all the road racing I have been committed too the last season and a half, I have missed a part of cycling that I really enjoy.
The thing that gets me going on the Mt. Bike (ever notice I always capitalize Mountain Bike?) is to me it is the purest discipline of the sport. You can bring every aspect of the other disciplines into play. It can be like a time trial where efforts have to be perfectly dosed, there is climbing, handling skills required, and yes in many situations tactics like in road racing must be played out.
Emphasis on skills! You can be the strongest rider by medical numbers, but if you can't corner at speed you will give up a lot of that strength trying to catch back up.

Not so much in the lower categories, but in Expert and above, you have to bring some smarts to the game.

I want me another win at a 24 Hour race, they are epic defined, and those wins are a lasting sweetness.

In 08' I think the road will return to being the training ground for some ass kicking in the dirt. The way it should be.

Nome Out!

Over doing it.

2007-04-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

America,
I am think I might be over cooking it a bit. I am tired beyond comprehension, and training today would be pointless. I doubt I am even at 60%.
Perhaps just a good rest week with a little leg stretcher on Thursday.

I am looking forward to this summer though, bike racing here in Nor Cal is getting old, and the courses just don't seem to excite me. The road races are all multi-laps and I am sort of bored with it already. So this summer I am hanging up the silly racing for stupid T-shirts nonsense and going after some new challenges, and a couple of old ones.

1. Climb to Kaiser
2. Mt. Shasta Century

Both of these will be training for LOTOJA, something completely new and challenging for my history book.
The wife and I will be planning a nice 3 or 4 days of rest in Jackson Hole after this beast.
Then it's return to CA for some cross racing action.
Looks like we will be having a couple of Lobsters built up custom. Matching perhaps, his and hers like.

Nome out

Lacking in Blogland

2007-03-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I have been busy in this new class I am taking at
The Napoleon Dynamite School of Dance.

Seriously?

2007-03-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

DDude, that ringing in your head is reality calling...PICK UP!

Something Completely Different (Time/Weather Change)

2007-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

America,
I have been depriving the blogger World of the spiritual/philosophical content I once promised early on, I have some thoughts I would like to share for you consideration.

Something that has me wondering about is the affect as a mass we have on our environment. I don't mean directly in physical manner, that stuff science has already shown us. I am talking about on a consciousness level.

This year was the implementation of the new Day Light Savings time starting a month earlier. What I am questioning is that our bodies and subconscious have been programmed to expect certain weather patterns that very likely coincides with when we change our clocks.

Since this is a consensus reality, meaning that things are what they are because we all agree, on a subconscious level, that they are the things we believe them to be. The wall is solid because we all believe it is solid.

Based on that, I have to wonder if we as a very large group are responsible for the unseasonably warm temperatures we are experiencing. After all, these temperatures are much more April like than they are March. In other words they are a month early, just like our time change.

Let me get this straight...

2007-03-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

here at work we can't use the word "Christmas" for our Holiday party because it isn't politically correct, but we can post this clipping out of a Christian magazine on the Employee Bulletin Board?

Am I missing something?