Steve's - BIKE Racing - Riding / ROCK + ICE CLIMBING WORLD

Thursday night EXPO Time trail series

2010-05-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well three weeks ago I did my first ever TT . I don't have a fancy TT bike nor do I think I will ever buy one but I'm out doing my thing.

The cool thing about TT's are it's only you . You race against the clock.

My first week ( I'm told we had a tail wind ) -> time 15:47

Week 2 calm -> time 16:07

Week three ( last night ) Headwind -> 16:56

What I'm not getting better each week ????

This is still hard but different . More on these after I do some more ..

Bla Bla bla bla bla

2010-05-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

The East Hartford Crits started . Well sort of -> Week one rained out -> Week 2 we raced week 3 rained out.

As far as week 2 I wanted to go off the front and see how my legs would feel this night but our team was in a break away so I couldn't go play. So round & round we went, till late in the race and the break was way out front so I said screw it and took off on one of my test your legs & blow up flyers.

I went off the front getting yelled at from a team mate but till later did not know what the yelling was about. Hell I can't go the pace the fast guys go I just want to test myself. This is a training crit. But some folks take this stuff way serious. Any how I went off the front and then faded back happy I got to do my thing.

After the race I was scolded for my actions - Again opps - But I want to play too.

nuff on that

Take the time to read this

2010-05-14T10:06:00.001-07:00

If you have 5 minutes, take the time and read up.

http://fakeplasticfish.com/2010/05/brand-new-plastic-free-vegetarian/

Blue hills road race MAY 2/2010

2010-05-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Bla bla Bla I had a bad day.........

Quabbin 62.5 mile Road Race Sunday 4/25/2010

2010-04-26T09:55:00.003-07:00

Results :

Cat 3 winner 2:41

Cat 4 winner 2:43

Cat 5 winner 2:54

35+ winner 2:40

45+ winner 2:38

55+ winner 2:53

My class was 55+ - Last year I did not do as good as I wanted + got 21st, with a time of 3:13.

This year I had a bad day and got 31st with my time @ 3:26. Not one bit happy as I trained special for this race, and my main goal was to do better this year. Oh well with bike racing you just have bad days where the body / legs just are tired. I did what I thought was a good taper week with a few days off and two easy rides Thursday & Sat. but it did not work.

I will just change up my training and see what happens for my next road race. I’m going to miss Sterling 5/8 & Lake Sunapee 5/22 with family commitments. So it looks like my next road race is June 26 three village that will give me some time to adjust things.

I will start the EH Crit series & I may try another mtn Bike race late June. Time will tell on that.

Back to the drawing board.

Race reports : April 3 - April 10 & 11 - April 18

2010-04-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

Race reports: April 3 - April 10 & 11 - April 18

I have been so busy with yard work, racing, training & real work, to keep up with my race reports.

So I will do my best to try and remember some of the high points of the last 4 weekends and 6 different races.

April 3

I went to Plainville to see if I could help teammate Steven Youmatz with holding on to his series lead in the 39+ Cat 4-5 class. He had told several of us at a ride or team meeting he was going to miss the last two races and could use some help to maybe take some points away from the competition to help him save his series lead in his April 3 race & if anyone could race April 10 + 17 to try keep some points away from the competition.

I did the CAT-4 race as a warm up with full plans to jump out 5 laps before the end and stretch out my back and get ready for the main event. The 3-4 race was fast it was my first time ever racing with CAT 3’s so I was a little gun shy. The race started out OK it was a little fast but Plainville is flat so I was able to hang on and was having a lot of fun. About ½ way into the race I started to get tired so I just let the pack go and soft pedaled for 2-3 laps. When the group came past I jumped back on for about 10 laps then just pulled out like I planned. This was so many weeks ago I can’t remember many details.

Ok so on to the main event Cat 4-5 39+

I just don’t remember what happened ……….

April 10 - Cat 4-5 39+

I went to Plainville on April 11 with full intentions to bury myself and do whatever I could to get some points to help teammate Steven Youmatz keep his series lead. At the start of the race the guy in 3rd in the series, Jim the promoter & some other guy took of in a break away right at the start. I was like I should jump with these guys but I didn't I was saying we will pull them back no big deal. As the laps went off no one wanted to work, nothing was organized at all so I went to the front and buried myself for a few laps. Nothing happened, so I floated to the back and recovered for 3-4 laps. I did this Again & Again - 5 times total and could not get anyone to work and try to bring the break back. Finally near the end of the race the 3 guys lapped the field so we were all racing for 4th at this point. I was like OK I will just do what ever to get 4th. I think the W/H guys and some of the other guys knew what I was up to because when I would float up front & try to get a wheel these guys we blocking me so bad. I never had issues getting back in the group. Not this day things were different with 3 laps to go I think I fought for two laps out in the wind. I was finally on a wheel on the last lap and up front where I wanted to be the three guys who lapped the field were sticking out front so I just worked as hard as I could to get behind them. But I burned so many matches sitting out in the wind for close to two laps I was worried what I had left. On the final corner I was in 4th - 5th wheel where I wanted to be but two of the W/H guys I had been fighting for a wheel got past me in the last corner as I'm sprinting towards the finish line John K gets past me. He got 6th & I got 7th. . Not sure what this did to help Steve Y but that's my story . I never worked so hard in a race but I learned I had some reserves I did not know I ever had.

April 11 - Betel – Masters 45+ & Cat 3-4

Ok so my new plan for this weekend was to race my normal Masters 45+ class in Betel then help out Team Mate Aki in the 3-4 Class again. So off the Masters class goes. It seemed real fast this week not good as I was also doing the next race with no rest time. Ok maybe I will bail out with 5 to go like I did in Plainville two weeks ago. The race goes on and I’m having a lot of fun I was not out front with the real fast strong guys but I was having a blast. SO I decided to do the full race and not pull out.

Pis from Chris Adams BLOG ( SOC )

The race starts and on lap 3 or 4 of 30 I had a mechanical I was not sure if it was a bump going up the hill but all of a sudden my chain kept falling off to my small ring. So I soft pedaled around a lap kicking my front derailleur. Finally I got off the bike and kicked & bent, took off and it was still not working correct. I worked on it one more time and then attempted to get back on the train. No way - my tired worn out legs from the previous race were cooked. After working for two laps fixing the bike my legs just turned to LEAD & I could not ride. I was done I pulled over at the start finish line and just watched the race. Oh well next week I will have a different plan only one race.

April 18 - Betel –Cat 3-4

Add team Pic Again from SOC BLOG ( Chris Adams)

This was the last race of the series and Aki had to win or beat the series leader by a few places so we had a big group of 9 guys to work and chase down all the breaks. I did my best to hang on and did not help at all two laps from the end I was cooked and fell off the back. AKi got 2nd ans won the series so good stuff for sure.

2010 Bethel CDP Gold Race – Sunday March 28 2010

2010-03-31T08:56:00.000-07:00

Bethel CDP Gold Race – Sunday March 28 2010

CAT 3-4 race

The boys in the BAND ( Team Expo - Superior Energy / Manchester cycle)

This was my third week racing the Bethel Crit series and for my first time ever I was racing the CAT 3-4 class. This is no big deal for all the guys who do this race but for me I was a bit nervous to say the least. I had never intended on doing this race content with the Masters 45+ class with some safer older guys and me a relative new racer. I started racing in the fall of 2008 with two races and maybe 20 -25 races last year mostly training crits. I have more fun doing these races and will continue to focus on what’s fun for me. After reading one of my teammates ( SOC’s ) Blog last week - living the race as I read I decided I was going to join teammates supporting team Expo in the CAT 3-4 race.

To all the riders in this race it was no big deal they have all done this before so I line up near the front and off we go. The pace was not blistering as I assumed it was going to be and I ended up on the right side maybe ½ way into a pack of 60 ish guys & a few gals. I moved around a bit and then got on the right side for a few laps I was feeling good I only did 50 easy miles sat vs. the 70 harder miles I did the week before so in my square head I was going to be ok. One other thing I didn’t know about or plan for was this race was 30 laps vs. the 23 I had been doing. So those extra laps had me a bit concerned during the early part of the race.

When the group would slow up on the hill I would just ease off save my legs and keep rolling along testing what I was made of. Once during the race I ended up way up front and not wanting to take any hard pulls or needing to do any help at that time I eased back to the middle of the pack.

I was having a lot of fun my nervousness was way down, and I started thinking ok where is my teammate Aki. I moved up a few times so I could ride near him and pretend I was a real racer helping out my teammate like we watch on TV during the Tour de France. I was having the time of my life (OLD FART racing with a bunch of young guys) and I was still staying with the bunch and not my normal self…. You know off the back !!!

I need to find the WEB site for the photographer guy on the scooter as I think he got some pic’s of me when I was on the outside for quite a few laps.

OK back to the race – the race went along and I was feeling real good, I guess my training so far this winter + into race season is working this year. Several more laps then were getting to the point where the 45+ race ends 23 laps and I still have legs Cool. This is getting even better and it’s not a total suffer fest ( YET ) . A few more laps and I’m getting a bit tired then the pace ramps way up and I’m hanging on by a thread for a lap or so. As we go up the hill one more time I hear the bell ringing ( this tells us one lap to go). Wow that’s it last lap I look back to see how far from the end of the group I have slipped to and I am the end of the group. Damm and my legs are TOAST – Gotta keep with the group only one more lap. Well after the race talking with Jeff M from the ( IRS Medic team), I found out why all of a sudden I was not able to hang on. Jeff said the guys up front were drilling it hard and I popped . I still had ½ a LAP to go but the GAS tank was DRY. I was still very happy I raced with 7 team mates, I did my TINY part to help mostly just showing up , but it was a great day and I will race this class 4/11 & 4/18 the last two races in the series for sure.

RACE REPORT - March 21 2010 Tour de Kirche

2010-03-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

RACE REPORT - March 21 2010 BETHEL Tour de Kirche

This week’s race was nice / warm and dry; I did the Masters 45+ again ( 23 laps) , big field about 60-70 guys. Today was a test for my legs as I did 67 miles Saturday and I had no idea how I would feel. The race started out and the pace was A-OK, I was moving back and forth left to right as I could and even got deep in the center a few times. I’m still nervous being this tight going over 20 MPH. As the race progressed I did a few stand up sprints up the hill to see how I felt and all was going fine. I also did 20+ minutes on the trainer before the race to warm up, I normally just ride around prior to the race. My legs and all felt fine so far, so I start thinking time to move up in the group. I ended up front in the wind once and wasted a bit of energy maybe on LAP 10 give or take. Then I just was trying to stay out of the wind and out of trouble. Somewhere mid race a guy crashed in the corner right after the finish line, I heard a guy came up on the inside and did not hold his line and hit this GUY. That’s the stuff I don’t want to happen your doing everything right and you get taken out. But that racing anything can & will happen. OK so were getting down to maybe 5 laps to go and the PACE which was already quite fast was wicked up even more and the pack strung out to a single line. ( we averaged 25 MPH for the full race ) that’s fast for me!! All of a sudden I’m struggling to even hold a wheel and not get dropped, I look back and am still mid pack but loosing spots quite often as everyone is itching to get up front . I do a hard effort up the hill on the right side to attempt to get closer to the front and now I’m gasping for O2 and feel my legs are toast. I hang on the back section and the next climb up the hill I’m close to done. We still have 2 laps to go and I’m shot. Guess I should not do BIG SAT rides ??? I do everything I can to hang on and finish up MID pack maybe 30th.

So should I not do training rides on Sat before a crit ?? My worry is I have a Masters 55+ 65 mile road race in 5 weeks and I need to not only get back into racing ( hence the training crits), but also get in the BIG miles so I can go at race pace for 65 miles @ Quabbin 4/24..

Decisions decisions !!

Well whatever I end up doing is all good and hopefully make me stronger.

Race report - March 14 2010 - 2010 Ris Van Bethel

2010-03-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Race report - March 14 2010 - 2010 Ris Van Bethel

After an off week with travel Monday & Tuesday and working way too many hours the rest of the week and no time on the bike at all, I was not sure I was ready for my first EAST COAST race of the season.

I woke up Sat with that feeling of I’m getting a cold and it was crappy & rainy out side so that makes one who was expecting to get out and ride a bit unhappy. I sort of wrote of the Sunday race as it was forecasted for heavy rain all day. So I moped about all day not certain what do. I effectively wasted the complete day and I was OK with that as I was telling myself I’m sick and need to rest.

Later in the day I start reading E-mails and several teammates are still planning to race and others are also talking up the SUNDAY CRIT. So just in case I went down cellar and cleaned up the trusty Cannondale Crit bike. I don’t think I rode it for almost a month, it was dirty salty and a general mess. That’s what winter riding in Ct is all about, lots of work keeping the equipment in good working order. So I get Bike all ready to race then start getting all my clothes and other stuff ready.

I get back on E-mail and Face book read a bit then remembered we loose an hour sleep Sat night, so I rush around like a nut and try to get my 8 hours min sleep I attempt before a race. I think I got 7.5 hours not the best sleep but felt OK in the AM. I run down to computer and shoot off a few E-mails read that others are already in transit and AKI was going to have the race -> course in good shape. So that’s it I’m going to RACE !! Decision made now it’s time to get my collective shit together and get going in less than an hour.

I did good hit the road and figured out how to get to the industrial park in Betel where the race was going to be A-OK. I only forgot my trainer so I rode up and down the hill to try to loosen up my legs. I have not been on a bike since Sunday in Calif with Gary & the guys @ Training camp. So I was a bit worried but what the hell this is a training Crit and lets just see what happens and how I feel.

The RACE:

Masters 40+ guys all get 5 ish laps around the course to warm up, for me this was my first time @ Bethel so I have to figure out the course also. All looked great no real sharp corners after start a sweeping right hander down hill then it just sort of keeps sweeping to the right till the hill back to the start. I was very concerned with a hill in a crit as I have not done a lot of crits in my short tenure road racing. The hill turned out to be a non issue at least this week, let’s see what I say after next weekend.

So about 30-35 - MASTER 40+ guys all line up, I like this class as I see lots of gray hair and don’t feel out of place like I do racing the CAT 4 class with all the younger guys. We also had 2 junior riders in our class and they hung with the group just fine the whole race. The whistle blows and off we go I try the inside, the outside kinda like I did @ Plainville last year and just get comfortable with CRIT racing again after a long winter.

Training CAMP in Santa Barbra helped with this a lot as I did the Sunday Worlds and the Tuesday & Thursday same ride a total of 6 times in camp this year. This ride sometimes has a easy 50+ riders so I was getting in tight and in a race like group quite a few days already early in the season.

Back to the race, it’s raining a bit but with the lack of tight corners like Plainville or Hartford the wet road was not an issues or concern at all. We all went round and round and I look up and 15 laps out of 23 to go. I’m still feeling real good (Thanks Training Camp), some surges were a bit hard but I hung on moved around in the group. I always worry in a race I will do something stupid and get yelled at or worse cause a crash or just crash. Had a few bumps and guys passing on the right in the gutter real close but all A-OK so far. We get to 5 laps to go and I’m like where did the last 10 laps go, guess I was in the zone. So I’m still hanging in and we get to 3 laps to go the pack is getting nervous guys jockeying around for positions. I just try to get to the mid section of the front ½ of the group, I work up the right side on the down hill and the pace gets fast, I saying save some for the sprint … Going up the hill on the 2nd to last lap the whole group almost stopped brakes grinding and bumping on both sides what the heck, were going uphill why am I hitting the brakes. I thought I was going to get knocked over I lost a few spots and it was the last lap PANIC riders were wicking up the speed the stronger guys all up front I was not positioned as far up as I wanted but as we came around the final sweeper and up the hill it was an all out sprint for the finish line. Last year in the sprints I just did not have the GAS to keep pushing, not that I’m that much stronger this year but I could feel a difference. A few got past me & I passed a few guys and went over the line. Wow what a BLAST cool down lap and then it was over. I pull up to see my team mates all warming up for the next race get my rain coat ( Thanks DAVE ), and start violently shivering. Now It’s time to hit the Van & change out of this soaking wet gear and get dry clothes on. I was asked how I did and said I may have gotten about 15th when results went up shortly thereafter I was 15th. This was a good result for me and I will work to improve over the next 4-5 races in this series.

Training CAMP final update

2010-03-22T09:22:00.001-07:00

Training camp UPDATE # 7 - 2010- Santa Barbra

2010-03-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

Training camp UPDATE # 7 - 2010- Santa Barbra

Day # 10 Monday - 3/1/10
Easy solo recovery ride out along ocean to Carpentaria.

Day # 11 Tuesday - 3/2/10
Worlds loop & ride around Santa Barbra nice day !!! Then more work in Garden & guys showed up so another ride up in the lower hills.

Day # 12 Wed - 3/3/10
Figaro climb – Guys all rode I drove car to Los Lovias, I did not have legs for 10,000 feet of climbing and a plan of 110 miles. I ended up doing 4000’ climbing and 40 miles, that was more then enough. I froze my ass off and suffered most of the last ½ of the climb.

Day # 13 Thurs - 3/4/10
I planned to do worlds loop with guys swing home get food & water then hit Gibraltar for a killer climb. Legs too shot. Called it a day after worlds loop and worked in Garden some more.

Day # 14 Fri - 3/5/10
This was an EPIC day for me we rode up the mountains to Solvang for lunch then back another way sorta around the mountains riding on Pacific coast Highway.

How do I best describe the day -> FAST PACE & Suffering, Pain, Good Friends, Scared silly on Route 101 decent, Destroyed, But fun day.

Day # 15 Sat - 3/6/10
Recovery ride with Dave H & Cliff . Then off to watch Gary race in local Goleta CRIT. I was planning to do this but thurs PM showed sat as a total rain out so legs used up on Friday. No way I could race sat. Gary did real good got 2nd in P123 race. Right after race it poured .....

Day # 16 Sun - 3/6/10
Worlds loop and maybe one last big climb will have to see how legs feel. Then wine tasting & pack up.

Training camp UPDATE # 6 - 2010- Santa Barbra

2010-03-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Day # 9 Sunday - 2/28/10

KENDA CUP WEST SERIES – SAGEBRUSH SAFARI 2-28-2010 -

This race was 40 miles east of San Diego out in the desert very close to the USA border to Mexico.

Today was my first Mountain bike race since 1996, I’m out west with son Gary for 2 weeks and this was in his plans so he borrowed a Mtn Bike for me and we raced today.

I was all nervous this am for some reason but once the race started I was doing OK. The first two miles were tar sorta flat slightly uphill for a mile then the road kicked to steep uphill for about another mile. I was feeling good and stuck with my group of guys for the first mile then it was a row of riders all strung out up the hill. We were mixing with some of the classes ahead of us and all bets off keeping track of my group. I felt real good for climbing (this is not normal for me) Maybe the 10+ hours sleep last night? Anyhow I moved along real good and was passing people all the way to the top then the FUN began.

Wha hooooooo the trails were hard packed sand with some mud but not as bad as expected considering all the rain sat. The trails were quite a bit down hill remember the mile climb uphill. This was some fast stuff, banked berms swinging left & right over & over you could just rail these corners real fast. I was having so much fun every once in a while you would catch up to a pile of people going way slower and have to pick a spot to pass. My Mtn bike rock skills from Ct. were very helpful as I could tell a lot of these folks are not used to flying thru rocky steep trails ( this is what we ride in Ct) and I was having a good day so more passes in these sections . The punchy climbs were short so I could keep my speed up. About this time I was running at or over my threshold and I was wondering how long I could keep this fast but real fun pace going. I was breathing so hard sometimes I was scaring myself. I worked it out with short recoveries and hard efforts and got into a good rhythm. After quite a few miles the tight trail opened up to a Crazy fast downhill dirt road with very deep eroded ruts for the rain Sat. I went a bit faster than I should have but was having a lot of fun. The road flattened out then started climbing again, OK now I’m getting tired, I heard a few miles back from some guy we had gone 8 of the 18 miles. So I ate a GU (basically a 100 calorie pack of sugar syrup like stuff). This did nothing for the next 15 min’s of climbing but I keep up the pace of the riders around me. Then came the un-ride able wall ( OR as the promoters called it the HIKE a BIKE section). This was a HUGE traffic jam with 20 maybe 30 riders all struggling up this loose sandy rocky steep climb, good thing I had the GU earlier . I get to top & this younger guy goes flying past me so I say I’m going to let this guy be my rabbit and chase him. He was fast but I worked a bit harder than I was riding and hung with him for a few miles. It really worked out as the large group on the hike a bike section was never seen again.

The trail turned to TAR again and UP up we go again (time for the 2nd GU) . This section was not as steep as the first tar climb of the day and I picked off quite a few more riders ( again cool). All of a sudden some fast riders went past me (I saw Sid Tabelary one of the Pro's fly past) and I figured the Pros were doing another lap of what we just finished. So every so often a few guys would go past me like I was standing still. At the top of the tar section a bunch of folks were handing out water and telling us it was all down hill to the finish. Cool it was more of the fun fast stuff but a lot more mud & deep ruts and I was getting tired. Some more PRO’s passed me, you hear a bike getting close and the rider yelling Pro on you left. You get the hell out of the way fast and let them pass you. A few sketchy downhills a lot of whoops & rollers then three DEEP river crossings another mile in the sage brush and it was over.

I had no Idea how I did I looked for Gary talked to a few of his friends and he rolled in. He did about 8-9 more miles than me and finished only a few min’s after I did he was flying & also had a great time.

Gary won his class Cat 1 35-39 and I also won my Cat 3 55-59 class.

GOOD DAY for a father & son outing …….

Gary at start .

We got two of these !

Training Camp UPDATE # 5 - 2010 - Santa Barbra

2010-02-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

Day # 7 Friday - 2/25/10

Today was get used to the borrowed Mtn bike day . No road bike at all.

After my two hours of an easy noodle fest riding Mtn bike along Ocean - Gary shows up and the pace tripled. I kept hearing in the distance go faster ( BIG RING - BIG RING ). I just dripped sweat all over myself ... I did have a blast Mtn bike trails at local park up up then rip down thru switchbacks / repeat ...

Pic from Summerland south of Santa Barbra..

DAY #8 - SAT - 2/27/10

Wake up to grey skys & stiil raining, it started last night around 10:00. Sun pops out then back to rain plus all kinds od CRAZY weather warnings :

Tsunami :

Issued by The National Weather Service West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, AK 9:04 am PST, Sat., Feb. 27, 2010... A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA - OREGON - WASHINGTON - BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO ATTU ALASKA...

PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER... OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.
TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR WATER IS IMMINENT OF EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS IN AN ADVISORY. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF WAVES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INITIAL ARRIVAL TIME. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL FOR SELECTED SITES IN THE ADVISORY ARE PROVIDED BELOW.

FLASH FLOOD WATCH:

FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE RECENT BURN AREAS IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA INCLUDING THE JESUSITA... LA BREA... GAP... AND TEA BURN AREAS.
* THROUGH 9 PM PST THIS EVENING
* SHOWERS... HEAVY AT TIMES... WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR RAINFALL RATES TO AROUND ONE INCH PER HOUR... WITH INTENSE SHORT DURATION RATES OF A HALF INCH IN 20 MINUTES POSSIBLE WITH THUNDERSTORMS. THESE RATES ARE IN EXCESS OF THRESHOLDS DETERMINED BY THE USGS TO BE SUFFICIENT TO CAUSE FLASH FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOWS IN AND BELOW THE RECENT BURN AREAS.
FLASH FLOODING AND DEBRIS FLOW WILL BE A PARTICULAR THREAT IN ANS BELOW THE RECENTLY BURN AREAS OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTIES.

Coastal Flood Statement for Santa Barbara County South Coast, CA

... ABOVE NORMAL SURF FROM SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...
ALTHOUGH WIDESPREAD SURF OF 7 FEET IS NOT EXPECTED AT BEACHES ON THE SOUTH COAST OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY... BREAKERS OF 4 TO 6 FEET WITH MAX SETS TO 7 FEET ARE POSSIBLE FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. THIS INCREASING SURF WILL PRODUCE DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS WHICH CAN MAKE SWIMMING CONDITIONS HAZARDOUS FOR ANYONE.
More Information
... A HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR THE WEST AND NORTHWEST FACING BEACHES OF SAN LUIS OBISPO AND SANTA BARBARA COUNTIES...

Training CAMP UPDATE #4 - 2010 - SAnta BArbra

2010-02-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

DAY #6 Thursday 2-25/10

Today was a double ride day -- Whew......

First I started out doing the same ride as Sunday Worlds , It was like Tue meet @ the fountain near the warf @ 8:00. Gary & another Steve & I all went off with the group ( I'm thinking 30+ again ) unlike Tue I could not hang with the group today . Some Guy named Gary was off the front with a few other guys which in effect picked up the pace so the OLD Man could not hang on. I did the last few miles of the first half of the ride alone, then rejoined the group for the ride back. Gary was kind and gave me a few pushes so I could get up the small hills & hang with the group with my tired legs. I hung on for the rest of the ride and GAry did @ ITT to get to work and I went to the house to get ready for ride #2. ( ride #1 -40 miles, a little over 2 hours & 1850' of climbing .

Ride #2 I put on a dry set of riding stuff ate a apple , some nuts, and stuffed a few bars and a gu in my yersey. Up up and MORE up .....

This is where I'm going .. Into the clouds I head & it looks like these shots below...

Three miles from house and several hundred feet of climbing and I'm @ Gibraltar Road. Till I hit 4000 feet above sea level it's all uphill about 10 miles - Fun fun fun & some serious sweating.

So @ 1200 feet up I take another pic of the ocean .

Ok I had to smeel the flowers also ( I am on vacation).

Next stop 2100 feet, 7 miles up.. :

From the TOP looking East to the next Mtn ranges.

Me looking south west

Part of the road I came up is in this Pic I will be ripping down it shortly.

Oh Yea I did some hang - gliding today also ..

Training CAMP - UPDATE #3

2010-02-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

DAY 5 - WED - 2/24/2010 -

COLD RAIN today so I went to next town north to get the Mtn bike I'm borrowing for the race in San Diego Sunday. ( Thanks MARCO )

That's all I did bike related today ..........

But I did some EARTHY stuff ........

I started a GARDEN for GARY, I got some plant advise from Marco and went to buy plants and seeds for my ( Wait ) Gary's & my project. Do you read that GARY !!

Yes those tiny green thigs are brussle sprouts ...... Left side is Parsley....

The back rows with the mulch pushed back are a row of Garlic and yellow onions.

These will go in the ground tomorrow after the ride and my hour + relaxing in the sun post ride . Should be high of 66 NICE....

Snap peas, other pea variety, radishes and bush string beans are some of the seeds I also got.

It almost time for Peppers, Cucumbers + Tomatoes - Maybe in 2-3 weeks . Wow so far ahead of Conn ( short growing season ) .

.............................

Oh yea were going to the Banff Film Fest. tonight can't wait..........

Muddy shoes & dirty fingernails & I hope a sweaty KIT tomorrow . Should be dry for the 8:00 am Thursday Worlds ride..

Training CAMP - Update #2 - DAY #3&4

2010-02-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

DAY – 3 Monday – 2/22/10 - continued -> I checked my e-mails checked work e-mails and surfed for a while at local Santa Barbra Coffee shop Jitters ( What a cool name for a coffee shop ) .

State Street Santa Barbra just after leaving the coffee shop ..

A little history on the Santa Barbra wharf..

So I get back to house chill out in the sun for about a hour ( did I say vacation is good )then Gary shows up we get dressed up and get the bikes out my bike has a flat we fix it up and were off. Gary is going to show me around Santa Barbra a bit more, I need to know how to get to the OLD MISSION. From the old mission we take a few more roads – note it’s all up hill around hear unless you go down near the ocean. I wanted to learn how to get to one on the famous climbs called Gibralter Road, I think If I remember correctly it’s 8 or 12 miles of non stop climbing to the top of the beautiful Mountains just EAST of S.B. . So we get maybe ½ way up to the start of this road a few miles and I get another flat, we fix it and the tube was bad and blew . a HUGE hole. In goes the last tube and we decide to head back to house for more tubes, it’s down hill and fast . Some great roads out here I am having a blast. We get tubes and head down hill this ride to the ocean and ride along the beach, take a left and were climbing again. We wander here and there then get up on this ridge with what are some crazy expensive houses with killer PAcific Ocean views.

We have to get back to the house as I need to get Gary to the airport big work thing came up and he’s off for 48 hours. I drop him @ airport in Goleta then I hit bike shop for tubes & CO2’s. Then my favorite food store Trader Joes. With all this riding I need food I’m hungry.

DAY - 4 Tuesday 2/23/10 – Tuesdays in S. B they have a ride similar to the Sunday Worlds @ 8:00 so I got up @ 6:30 ( hey I’m on vacation what the heck) It’s Ok my body still is sorta on east coast time so it was like sleeping till 9:30 & I’m good with that. I wander down to the wharf where this ride starts and @ 7:57 no one is around Opps did I get something wrong ?? I wait a few min’s and riders start appearing cool … About 25 people show up, I guess no one works in SUNNY Southern Calif ???? Anyhow the ride starts and few more join in at various points along the way so we have 30+ The pace is way easier than the Sunday ride and I’m cool with that, I have been sick -still am & I’m a little beat so for day three after not riding for 12 days with being sick and the snow storms I needed a easy day. I actually stayed with the group , I skipped Gub ( a variation with a stiff climb) and hung with about ½ of the group that went the regular way I know. We got to the top of Bates and kept going for the extra loop around the highway. Out hear you can ride on the highways. So this loop goes down an entrance ramp rides on the highway for a ¼ mile then jumps off the next exit, and climbs back to the top of Bates . All the rides were hanging out some more showed up and off we went back to S.B. . About 5 miles from here I was in the back 1/3 of the group and no one yelled or pointed out a rather large long 2-3” deep and same wide POT-HOLE I hit it and double FLATTED. Good thing I chose to carry two tubes today I normally only carry one! END of my ride with this group as they keep going. I fix the two pinch flats and check my time and miles so far 25 miles out & I think I have about 15 miles with no more tubes. I get back to Gary’s house jump into a chair in the back yard and sit & enjoy the sun and remember this is what vacation is all about. No plans – no place to be for the rest of the day & it’s 11:00 am and I’m good with that.

I have no idea what kind of tree this is but it's sure different.

This house is across the street from Gary's House - Real nice - Lots of Mexican theme buildings around here.

Flower Pic’s from near the beach.

My Mom God rest her soul had this cool plant in Fla. at her house- Bird of Paridise

I have this in Andover in a pot in cellar ( waiting for warm weather) cause it will die if you leave it outside. I know I lost two of them 3 years ago.

Calla Lilies make mine look sick small.

Training CAMP 2010 - SAnta BArbra

2010-02-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

Training Camp - Feb 20 – March 9, 2010

DAY 1 –Sat. 2/29/10 - Alarm goes off @ 5:00 am just 5 hours after I went to bed. Man I did not want to get up I snoozed the alarm several times. Finally I get up do my stretches and we get off to the airport. The trip was not bad I made up for loss of sleep with two snoozes one to Chicago for an hour and a two hour nap on the way to LA. My son Gary picked me up and we drove to Santa Barbra. Gary just moved to a new place just a few blocks from State Street SB .

Gary & I unloaded my stuff he showed me my room for the 2+ weeks, then I got to see his new 2010 SL3 ( for most of you that have no idea it’s a real nice race bike). We then took a walk a few blocks to the Natural Café as we were starving. After some good grub we walked back to the house and started planning week #1.

DAY 2 – Sunday 2/21/10 - I wake up @ 7:30 for our 9:00 Famous Santa Barbra Sunday world’s road ride. 7:30 was 10:30 to my EAST COAST body JET LAG STUFF , I get some chow and get outside to adjust Gary’s 2009 S-Works race bike to fit me( change seat height, & seat for/aft dimensions ), this is very important so I don’t injure myself. You see your body gets used to certain settings so I needed this bike to be set up just like mine sitting back in COLD CT. Now the best part is it’s Feb 21’s ( WINTER ) and I have been doing my Group rides back east on Sundays in 10- 20 degree freezing weather – It’s sunny and warming up fast by 8:00 I have my coat off and I think it hit 55 before we left on the ride.

The ride was a blast as usual, this is my third year doing a vacation in southern Calif . Back to the ride when I first did this ride 3 years ago I was not much or a road rider and it was real hard these guys & gals rip your legs off. This is my report the first year I was so far off the back I had no idea where to go and just wandered along till I found GARY again. They were all ready to head back to SB , and I got dropped again maybe a ½ hour later he came back to rescue me. Last year after a year as a road rider, I stopped mountain bike riding and rock climbing cold turkey for 2008 and just road my road bike. So I was a bit stronger but still got dropped just not as early in the ride. Well so how did I do this year after racing for a season and riding over 7000 miles in 2009. I still got dropped just a little bit later than last year. It was and always is a great ride, for some sections before the fast guys took off I was going 30 MPH and thinking # 1 I have been sick and off the bike for 12 days, I have been doing only base training rides in Conn all winter and this is above race pace for me !!!!! I was just hanging on for dear life, also of note my MAX HR I have ever recorded over the last two years as a roadie is 170 BPM. Well today trying to keep up I hit 179 BPM - WOW.. Anyhow the ride was great some Pro’s were present Tim Johnson and a few others I can’t remember the names. So from what Gary said the pace out front was WAY FAST.. Dave - Cliff – Scott – Tom-- BEWARE………

After most of the ride was done Gary and a bunch of teammates went off to climb up several thousand feet more . So I opted to head back with the group to SB. I’m getting to know my way around SB it was so nice some where in the 60’s I just rode all over the place for about a hour. I took some pic’s of the ocean and some plants & flowers we will not see in CT. till mid summer. I think I could live hear………

OK time for ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………..

DAY – 3 Monday – 2/22/10 - Gary has to work ½ a day so I plan to walk to the local Coffee shop and Dump this word doc on my BLOG , and check my E-mails .. We have a ride planned for 12:30 who hooooooooooooooo..

Last Nights ( 2/11/2010) Dinner - SLOP

2010-02-12T09:03:00.001-08:00

I was a total experiment - ended up a bit bland Forgot something .....

It's a work in process - Will spice it upsome more tonight . Tofo chunks were browned up with lots of Cayenne pepper as were the veggies. Also added Oinion power Garlic chunks & Black pepper & salt to the whole mix .. Maybe the beans masked up all the spices ????

Thomaston Night climbing 2/3/2010

2010-02-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

Thomaston Night ICE..........

Look Ma no hands

JDW doing the stem thing .........

SAT & SUNDAY Jan 30-31 2010

2010-01-31T18:10:00.001-08:00

Close to BEST EVER Mtn bike riding weekend........

Did 3 hours SAT two seperate rides. First ride 10:00 Am 9 degrees Jeff M & I did 2.5 hours ( 11 degrees after ride- COLD ) . Then I did a 30 min Rail trail ride to check out some local ice. It was beat to hell from the rain..

Sunday 2 hours .. What a blast ........ DAve H + Jason + Jim on his 29'ed & I had a great ride .

Trails were icy and snowy so these keep me going forward - uphill & straight ......

After finishing the Sunday MTN BIKE ride with bike on the back of the CAR I went WEST to THOMASTON for some very fun ice climbing.

Steve doing the cool MIXED route after Frank did it....

Frank working another MIXED Route ........

Frank & Steve On BELAY DUTY.........

Steve doing Franks Crazy mixed route ( follow the sequence) ......

DAK's ICE CLIMBING TRIP DAY #3 1/24/2010

2010-01-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

Cascade we walked right down the middle of this lake to get to Three Flows.

The other way

Three Flows : Lots of ice for sure ..........

3 flows on the walk up.........

Same route from right below ... JDW did right side just left of BLUE column for 1st lead of the day ( It was steep ) .

2nd rappel line I did route in the corner left of ropes

Route across the street --- it was like 20 degees warmer in the sun snow all slushy and ICE snow cone like .

Desperate moves require desperate protection ..........

Overheard I don't like this screw ( the ICE is soft ) so I'm going to sling a tree........

Yah that will work for sure .............

RAP off and end of CLIMBING WEEKEND.............

Day # 2 Ice CLIMBING Trip Jan 22-23-24

2010-01-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

Weeping Winds From Pond below ( North Face of Pitchoff )

Weeoing winds @ sTART

My crappy Belay point pitch 2 TOP center

Rapel back down

Next on the Hit list Central PILLAR OF Pitchoff, Don has pictures I will get early next week & add..

Don & Kristina on BELAY
Top rope fun after our leads

ICE CLIMBING WEEKEND 1 Jan 22-23+24 2010

2010-01-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

Looking up 2nd pitch of White line fever

It's off to the Dak's @ 5:00 am again for three days of ICE climbing.. Hotel has WiFi so plan is to add Pic's Friday & Sat night from the days adventures.....

Chapel Pond From Above

From the middle of Chapel Pond First thing this am, walking to the climbs.

Crystaql ICE Tower First route we did

Only Climbers will get this one

SAme on this one

Crystal Ice Tower just be

fore we climbed it ...

Hey who slammed that Piton in ????????????? NOT ME........

Route on left DOG LEG we did as our 2nd climb today , after 3 pitches on the first climb about 500 feet up. After that we did two pitches on the right climb ( Choinards Right) sORTA CEHTER OF pic.

Thomaston Sunday JAN 10 2010

2010-01-10T18:01:00.000-08:00

Don having some fun

Steepest line we did today

On BELAY .............

up the road more ICE........

Wow that van is clean .. First time out of garage in a month . First time roads dry in a month >>>>>>>> Must be cause it was 5 degrees this AM ........

ICE ICE ICE Sst Jan 9-2010

2010-01-10T17:39:00.001-08:00

Did some local ICE Sat ---->>>> To get the BURN - Work out thing going ............

Nige Gully - could be lead - Steeper than it looks .....

Cool view

Another nice shot................

Looking left

Looking right .............

More ICE climbing Jan 2 2010

2010-01-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

Did some more ICE climbing Sat 1/2/2010 @ Cannon CT.

Did the Bike route 2x rope less as a warm up ( forgot to take pic of old Mtn bike frozen into the flow near the top ) - then something to the left - Roped up for this one and last did the climb below with all the pics . One pitch high ( 2 nice headwalls) with ropes wandered up to base of 1st headwall then roped up.

MAIN DRAINAGE - NO IDEA NAME OF ROUTE

A bit closer

Even closer

First headwall - Started with rope & screws just below here ..

Final upper head wall steep and hollow

Fun route two raps and it was over . Cold day

DAks ICE trip DEC 2009

2009-12-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

Jon Webster & I did 3 days of Ice climbing in the Daks ( Upper State NY ) near Lake Placid - Sunday 12/27 - Tue 12/29.

We drove up Sunday Am in the pouring rain wondering what the hell we were doing. Jon got up @ 3:30 and my alarm failed & he woke me up banging on the front door @ 5:00 am. I think around 10:00 we were getting dressed to climb it was still raining. We huffed up to the cliff and the rain stopped and it was almost warm. at least for ice climbing). We climbed at the cascade practice wall and JDW did 3 leads and much to my surprise after 2 years off I did 2 leads. Felt real solid almost like i never took all the time off. First several Pics from Sunday @ Cascade.

Steve on lead Sunday

Sharp stuff

ICE climbing - Just some of the sharp & pointy stiff..

Steve - up above

Jed after the rain - sun's out now and cool reflectios on the ice

JDW heading up - Don't look up it may poke your eye out !!!

Monday it was snowing like crazy -->> Don was sick so Jed joined us - we hiked into The North Face of Pitchoff and JDW & I each lead one route -- Tendonitis & Arm and Hammer . Stuff got soaked then the temps dove and the ropes became frozen cables. Three days later they were still wet in my cellar with a fan drying them out.. I just coiled them today ( New years eve). Good thing we had two sets of ropes for this trip.

Monday @ NFPO

Tuesday -- COLD cold - Did I say COLD ..........

SIX below Zero and the wind whipping like crazy, wind shield musta been 20+ below . We all dressed with lots of layers and parked @ Chapel pond and hiked into the BEER WALL canyon. ICE looked a bit thin @ Lions so we went in deeper Don & Jed stopped @ ICE slot/ Shot what ever it was -- we went way back to Positive Reinforcement - It was HUGE FAT and some NASTY candled / chandeliered sections. JDW did first lead as he had never been here before & I have climbed here several times as far back as 1994 I think. Oh yea I forgot to the right of the ice we climbed at SIX below water was flowing down the cliff....... YES open flowing water at 6 below it had steam coming off the water - very cool .... Two other guys showed up so this guy Chris lead a route similar to what JDW just did and I did a line left and sorta straight up Both climbing at the same time -- ½ way up the ice got so rotten I had to hack away 12-18” Old candled blobs that would not hold my weight at all to get good sticks and get screws in. It was a lot of work on top of dead vert. After those two climbs we hiked out to ICE SLOT/ SHOT and JDW did the last lead of the trip . It was getting colder and we had a long drive home so off we went……………………

Last climb we did Tue .....

JDF on - Positive Reinforcement in very cold conditions

Positive Reinforcement - just before we climbed it.......-

It's getting to that time of year again - You know 2010 Cycle Goals

2009-12-08T12:32:00.001-08:00

So what will they be this year 2010 & how did I do on least years goals . I guess I better go see what I said I would do in 2009 first .. see comments I made today.....

2009 Goals : Blog post ( Jan 2009 ) :
Goal #1 get in the best shape of my life and try to hit 150 #'s. I have a week to go and I hit 151.8 yesterday so I'm wicked happy. OK I did hit 150 in FEB 2009 - even got to 147 late Feb, and I'm proud to say I'm currently bulking up for a cold winter -->> and almost all the Halloween candy is gone thanks to me. Current weight 157. PS: I did stay in ther low to mid 150's all summer. After race season ended early in August with my back injury diet went to hell.
Goal #2 Train like a crazy man all winter to get ready to have Gary + his friends School the old man. ( next Sunday @ Santa Barbra Worlds I will do my best to not get dropped). I got dropped but not as bad as 2008 - maybe I can hang even longer in 2010. That will be a 2010 goal for sure.
Goal #3 Get Jon to also travel out to Gary's for this trip - This is a plan . I will stay 16 days , Jon 13 days + two of Garys friends a week each we will have one hell of a blast . Fantastic Father & 2 son's week - could not ask for a better time .
Goal #4 Climb OSM in better time by 2 min's vs. last MAY. LAst may best time 22:00 I think. I can't find my time for 2009. I will keep looking.
Goal #5 See Lance Armstrong race in the Tour de California . We plan to watch the TT day Friday2/20/09 in Solvang Calif . Another cool day for sure. But Gary has a killer ride to get to the race from his house planned 70 mile ride out with Mt. Figaro .... Something about a 12 mile climb with 4000+ feet of climbing I'm worried.. Then watch race and ride 30 miles back home . Total change of plans - Gary and Brian a teammate were invited to ride the Solvang TT - and GARY Won . That was a cool day for sure . Oh yea we saw Lance but Gary's win was a way bigger deal.
Goal #6 no Heart Attack. Still kicking ( or should I say Ticking) ........
Goal #7 Ride 5000 miles in 2009 - still have 3 weeks so I think I will be OK ( I'm @ 7100 miles already )

Note Last years ( 2009) training camp Stats =
Total trip 16 days - I rode 14 of those days .......45 Hours - 690 Miles - 44,100 feet of climbing Who hooooooooo

Gary & Cross this FALL

2009-11-24T09:20:00.000-08:00

I have a few fantastis Pic's of Gary I wanted to post here:

New S-WORKS - cross bike MID season 2009

Calif State Championships 11/22/09 :

Monday, November 23rd, 2009
Southern California/Nevada Cyclocross Championships
Southern California/Nevada Cyclocross ChampionshipsSCPS #12: Convert Cross Photo: Kate Ybara

With clear skies, no winds, and a fantastic course Lake Casitas park was this year’s venue for the Southern California/Nevada Cyclocross Championships. The wonderful location and beautiful views made for an epic day. The course supplied one of the most consistently flowing raced this season. The combination of turns with loose dirt, fast sweeping grass sections, climbs, and the two flat road sections gave riders a lot of opportunities to race more tactically, which was evident all day.
We have to say congratulations to all the new champions who went out and worked so hard.

Elite Men:The long road start was taken by last weeks winner John Behrens (Bailey Bikes) who came out in the lead through the first loose turn and he continued his pace through the first half of lap one. Then it was series leader Brent Prenzlow (B&L/Celo Pacific) who commanded the front spot going up the long climb and through the triple barrier section. He had the lead position but the front group was not breaking up. All race it was a group of at least six to seven riders as they tactically watched each other, applying their efforts in their chosen sections but it would not crack the group. On the third lap going into the fast flat barrier section Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air/Specialized) went over the bars hard as he was hopping the barriers. It was a hard crash but not enough to put him out of contention because he has the power and pedaled back onto the front group within half a lap. Prenzlow was racing smart at this point with the other lead riders as the exchanged pulls through different sections continuing to pull away from the rest of the elite field. We saw Gary Douville (Platinum Performance) up front, and then Taberlay, Mountain Bike Legend Ned Overend and others as the group came through each lap. With four to go Prenzlow dropped off the front pack with his foot unclipped, maybe with a pedal issue, but by the fifth lap he was back in the group. Finally, with one to go pack of six came to the last turn before the barriers. Mark Noble (Nonstop Ciclismo) made a move in the tight corner to pass Overend but he lost traction and slid out which made Prenzlow run into the back of him. It was just what was needed for Taberlay, Douville, and Brandon Gritters (Rock N’ Road Cyclery) who monopolized on the two tangled riders. Taberlay instantly attacked leaving Douville and Gritters in the chase. Prenzlow and Noble were back in the chase quickly but it was close. Taberlay kept attacking through the final climb and onto the road for the final sprint for the win. However, while he did have an impressive race to take the win, his Australian citizenship does not allow him the Southern California/Nevada Championship so Gary Douville took the championship title and second on the day. And, behind sprinting up the road it was Brent Prenzlow who just passed Gritters before the line for third, with Gritters Fourth and Ned Overend to round out the top five.

Pro/Elite, Gary Douville (Platinum Performance)

One of the many 2nd place finishes this season

Braap

More Braap

Ned Overend - Mr. Mountain bike KING himself with Amanda + Gary

SUNDAY 11/22/09

This has to be the best ever pic . It looked crazy ..........

VW Eurovan Theme - It's been all around !!!

2009-11-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

Vail Co.......

Outside of VEGAS - Red Rocks

Death Valley Calif

T meadows

Yosemite - Just before the BEAR ............... Wadered thru camp....

Yosemite

I don't need to tell you where this is ...... Most stunning view of nature I have ever seen !

Alcatraz in background

San Fran - 2006

No CAMPING - N. Calif - we stayed 3 days -2006

BIG A$$ REDWOOD TREE

Stuck ...................

Calif / Oregon border

The Pacific South of Seattle Wa. - 2006

Mount St. Helens Washington - 2006

Mt. Rainier Washington State

Idah o - so where are all the potato 's

Tetons - WY

Almost @ Yellowstone National Park

Devils Tower WY................

Mt. Rushmore - South Dakota

Back side - Mount Rushmore 2006

Broken Eurovan - BAD LANDS S. Dakota - about to get several hours towing to Rapid City

Eurovan mirror - South Dakota saloon - you get thirsty driving all day.

Wisconsin Cheese place 2006 trip across the USA

Oct 2003 - Gary + I hiking weekend upper State New York ( DAK's)

Just loaded up for another trip somewhere.......... 2007

Wow never been that clean since.......

Day one - As Eurovan owner - 2/4/2003

VT. -- N/H - weekend fall 2007

Gary + The guys 24 Hours of Adrenalen Berkshires MASS - June 2004

Best camping spot on the South West trip - 2005 UTAH I think

Moon over Eurovan - 2005 Hite UTAH.

Monument Valley Utah / AZ line - 2005

On the way to North Rim Grand Canyon AZ. - 2005

Day 4 after visit to South rim Grand canyon Just north of Flagstaff AZ.- 2005

Eurovan Mirror - Day three - South West trip 2005 - Arizona line

May 2005 trip to the South West - Day One - Big traffic Jam in Pa.

Gary @ Barkhamstead race - CT 2007

Senaca Rocks - WV 2007

Yosemite 2006 - VW way way below

Cape Cod 2007

Chambridge NY - Ballon Fest 2009

Outer Banks North Carolina 2009

Andover Ct 2009

Monument Vally Utah 2005

Some Colorado Pass 2005 heading back home

DAKs NY - ICE climbing trip - North face of Pitchoff 2003

Cape COD again

Mount Washington NH - Cravase Training day - April 2005

Greece Summer 2009

2009-09-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

WORDS can't explain what it was like getting to visit Greece and see stuff so old it still boggles my mind.

I will leve some notes for now -- but I need to add way more to this post with time ..

PARTHENON up on the Acropolis just before sunset.

This was in the Ancient Agora section of Athens

Looking up @ Acropolis

Another view From Acropolis - Theater of Dynasis ( Spelling ??? )

Temple of Zeus - View from Acropolis above

Up TOP @ Acropolis

Theater is use today with Modern seats ( Cement ) and ruins in background . Very cool

OK - History of FINE ARTS TEST - What type of pillar top is this

Acropilos above some OLD church

Athens Fires from 20-30,000 feet : 8/22/09

Never ate or even saw fresh figs till this trip. They were real good wish I had some for lunch today !!!

Yea lots of grapes

One of the beaches we went to this was the best for sure . East side of Greece west of Volos ( Agean Sea).

East Hartford CRIT 6-19-09

2009-06-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

CRIT’s ( Aka – Criteriums )

2009-05-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

CRIT’s ( Aka – Criteriums )

A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course (usually less than 5 km), often run on closed-off city centre streets. ... Go round and round try to be the fastest and don’t fall down, Knock anybody else down - or in my case do something stupid as I’m new to this game. Also in my case have fun no one is paying me to do this !!!

So I raced my first CVC East Hartford training Crit last Tue 5/19. I hung on in the main pack, did not fall down and I did not case any mishaps that I know about. Hit all my checks on the Goals + Objectives !! Good deal

Next on the agenda was the Downtown Hartford Crit Sunday MAY 24. I raced the Masters 50+ class @ 9:00 Am; this was my first real CRIT. I did maybe 8 or 9 of the Plainville training Crits in March + April and the one EH Crit last week so this was a big deal - The real thing. Well just like the road races these MASTER guys are real FAST ( NUFF said on that ) . I ended up working the inside and outside where I felt a bit safer and moved into the middle a few times just for kicks . I much prefer the outside but the inside is better if a rider goes down in a corner they tend to take out other riders sliding to the outside, But you work harder. All went well till the last lap where a rider went down mid pack on the final corner. Even us old guys all want to win and wick it up all we can. John K had to jump the guy’s bike to avoid a crash. He was saying later he was thinking this is it I’m going down. But he used his skills + luck to stay up. I was back a few riders and got to swerve around and actually gain places in the overall. I got 26th.

Then I helped do some corner marshaling – and decided to hang out for the full day and do the CAT 4 race @ 3:20 the last race of the day. So it starts raining during the 2nd to last race, and I prepare for a wet race. I did one wet race in Plainville on April 11 and found out you can go way faster than you think, you just need to lean the body not the bike. Race goes off I’m at the back and am fiddling with my computer and get gapped instantly. These guys took off like a rocket. I worked real hard to get on the back of the pack and it kept fracturing into smaller groups with I guess riders who did not want to go as fast as I was willing to go. So I passed several riders in the first 5 laps + quickly found out I was not going to get on the main pack and just sprinted where I could as hard as possible till the matches were all gone . Lap 11 I was pulled and watched the race from the side line a bit pissed I messed up my start as I know I could have hung. Lesson # 258 so far on my short racing season.

Next up is another East Hartford Training Crit last night 5/26/09. The “B” Race is what I do. The race goes off and I had already decided I was going to push my limits in this race more than past races to see what happens. It’s a training race and like I said earlier I’m not getting paid to do this so why not experiment. I line up one row from the front and worked to stay near the front , if a surge went past I would move to the outside and just surge around the pack when ever it slowed down. Things were going real well I was racing smooth and feeling real real good. So about 2/3’s of the way into the race I had been moving up the right side on the final sweeper and they yell Field Prime and I kill it and Bury myself to see what happens . At corner one I was maybe 25 yards off the pack and I ended up holding my break to take the prime. Cool a can of soda or water Whooo hooooo…. I back off my pace and the group catches me at the back corner and I jump back on some wheels to recover . In a few laps we get the 5 to go and I move up a bit each lap . On the final lap I pushed for all I had and got up near the front on the chase pack . Had fun pushed my limits – What else can you ask for…..

Sunday MAY 3 ( day after race easy ride ---- NOT )

2009-05-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

OK Sat night I decide I'm going to meet some guys and ride to Glast early . Well the ride was a bit longer than I expected . ( they always are) .. and My legs were totally cooked early - Then I started feeling good so I pushed a bit and payed for it later . All in all great time....

I missed turning back on Power Tap at one point so I'm not 100% sure on miles + time, but Keith had his unit going so I'm going to say 60 miles today ( with maybe 4500' of climbing)+ 60 miles/race yesterday . 120 mile weekend .. OK I need a rest Monday ......

BAD HAIR DAY !!! After 4.5 hours out in the wind Sunday this is what I looked like when I got home.

Jiminy Peak - ROAD RACE MAY 2 2009

2009-05-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

OK so the Masters 45+ and Masters 55+ are all merged together and this is my first race with a full field -- 125 Guys wow. That's a lot of bodies whipping down one half of the road at 25+ MPH. So we roll along and I sorta stick to the white line on the right side as I'm a bit nervous to get in the middle of this huge mass of energy all wanting to win 55 miles from now.

I do OK and after about 10 miles John K said hey get out from the side wind and get in the middle and the draft will just pull you along. So I move to the left a bit , But I still have to pedal !! Where is this big suction?? Actually you work about 30% less when you’re in a big peleton cranking along @ 20-25-30 MPH. It was fun and not to many squirrelly riders near me.

So we get close to the end of LAP #1 - we had to do this 19+ mile loop three times. We all turn onto the road up to Jiminy peak ( oh did I say up) so just prior to this point I noticed john K working his way up front so I attempted to get closer to the lead guys. AT this point were going real real fast as everybody else had the same idea. If your not the young 45 years old studs or some of the older super fast guys you want to get up in the group so if you slip back in the pack you can hang with the group for another lap. Well I should have moved up maybe two-three more rows as I just fell off the pack at the top of the climb I mean they were right there. THEN they were gone - Just like that instant no-mans land. I would say 80+ guys were now in the lead group and I could see John K in the 1st chase group just up 50 yards but working as a group they were going way faster then the 4-5 guys I was with. We worked together for a mile or so and it just blew up. All of a sudden I was all alone. NOT A GOOD DEAL AT ALL......

I look back and see 15-20 guys a solid 1/2 mile back and take the dumb approach keep working and I can catch chase group #1. That never happened and I was overtaken and joined in on Chase #2. This group had a bunch of 45+ guys ( # 600 range) and 7-8 from my class 55+ ( 700 range) so we roll along and start a nice pace line all working and taking nice short pulls . Then it all just stopped - no one but 3-4 of us would do any work. I'm told at this point some guys are just cooked, and they may fall off soon. We kept on going got on the section going south on route 7 and most of the riders were still hanging on. After the 2nd Climb up to Jiminy Peak we shed quite a few guys and now it like 5 ea. 55+ Guys a few 45+ and a few stragglers from the Cat 3 class.

One more Lap with this group again several not working at all. You would do your pull look back and no one was moving up so I would slow down -- say screw this sit up and the few of us working just kept getting on the front. This one guy attacked several times we he always came back.

On the final climb the attack guy took off again he had reserve for sure , another guy I remember from Quabbin just pulled away and I had nothing left in the tank, one other rider who was big but strong ( he was taking more time pulling all day than anyone) he also started pulling away. So I look back will my legs to get this race over and hold off a guy who pulled up next to me.

Finish line and that’s it - 16th in Masters 55+ group

More on Battenkill

2009-05-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

Tim Johnson + Steve @ Battenkill Race ( Talking about that day in Feb 2009) ..

Funny story with Tim + I...

Back in Feb on my first day riding with Gary on my 2 week California training vacation, as always he brings me out and kills me double over on HILLS a few times. Were on the end of the sat. ride instead of heading back to S. Barbra and semi flat roads back to the house Gary is like lets go this way .. So up + Up we proceed to go till I'm 110% shot -- so Gary gets onmy left side and Tim gets on my right side and these guys push me up this mile long climb.

Thanks Again Tim............

QUABBIN ROAD RACE - 4/26/09

2009-04-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

OK home RACE over - I placed 21 st. , I stayed with lead group till The New Salem climbs @ north end of 202 + a small break away took off, but we worked HARD ( I worked way too hard) + we pulled them back only to have them go again on Rt. 122. Fun day - HOT Hot hot..... This MASTERS 55+ class has some FAST dudes - Gary your right I can never use the AGE excuse again. I will suck it up and keep trying harder....

BATTENKILL - Road race 4/18/09

2009-04-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

BATTENKILL - 4/18/09

Friday the Day before the race - 8 of my CVC teammates + I all head north of Albany to Cambridge NY for the craziest road race in the USA. They say it’s the biggest RR in the country. I’m told 1700 racers are going to race Battenkill Saturday this will just be a blast.

Ok so we all arrive in Cambridge around noon – drop off bikes some folks check into the hotel, and then we stuff 9 racers into 2 cars and drive the 62 mile race course we all will be racing Saturday. This is just a nutty (in a very cool kinda way) course!! At mile 6.4 miles you hit the first dirt road with many more ( 8 to be exact) steep dirt climbs + descents along the 62 mile course. Oh yea don’t forget the steep tar climbs also, I mean steep – can you say/remember Joe Bean Road @ 27 miles -- One word SHATTERFEST ! If you did this race you will have vivid memories of PAIN …..

So it’s now Saturday @ 10:50 and my CAT 5 45+ plus race starts 50 guys all with dreams of winning …….. We roll along --- at 5.7 miles we take a left and the pace picks way up because we have a narrow covered bridge with a wooden floor and loose sand, and we all want to be near the front. We all get over OK at least the guys I could see in the front group. One guy attacks out of no where to be the first on the dirt section #1. We all follow – it was hard packed and just another road. Back to tar up a few rollers then some steeper climbs. At 11.7 miles is a 150ish degree left turn on Juniper Swamp road with a pile of loose dirt + gravel. This is the section they say will break the groups apart never to join again. So I made

it around this corner in the front group with maybe 2-5 guys. I never looked back as we rolled along -- the wall of DIRT was approaching fast. This is going to hurt. I dig deep and hope my hard work training for months will help keep me in the front group. As I start the climb we spread out --- it is not fun but I hear this yelling in my head ??? It’s KEITH and he is close to the top screaming STEVE STEVE - Go go Steve STEVE . KEITH you a nut but it was great having you run next to me screaming at the top of your lungs !!! It helps al LOT and I crest the top in maybe 7-8th place . Good deal…… WE roll along more dirt more -- it’s all a blurr now as I write this 36 + hours later. Some where along some rollers this Guy looks back and says Guys we got pick up the pace so they don’t catch us. I look around and we have a break away group of 11 Guys, WAY cool this is how it’s supposed to happen + I made the break. Funny thing was I was staying so close to the front and working so hard I had no idea we even had a break going. Any how these Guys start drilling it off the front – it was like the hardest pace I have ever ridden and I was just along for the crazy ride. At mile 27 we hit the next WALL this one is TAR – Joe Bean Road up up up we go the group stays together except me and another guy he quickly bridges back up and I’m in no mans land - Damm I did not want this to happen….. So now I’m working my hardest to catch back up. I have a plan the next dirt section I will use my Mtn bike skills I used in the last 2 dirt section to stay in the front of the pack and catch back up. It took a long time 5-7 miles but I did get back on the group but I was close to empty….. I hang on and we keep going at this crazy pace.

Our 11 man break away group

That's me in the back getting a bottle - yea I'm there you just can't see much of me besides my FOOT. Or just see next pic.

I come around a corner and see tons of cars up in this meadow on a hill look @ Speedo and were close to the 42 mile mark for the feed zone. I have one empty bottle and one 1/3 full. I kill it and toss both bottles - Keith hands me one and Andrew gets me bottle #2. Now my nice lighter bike with empty water bottles is 4-5#’s heavier . I could feel the difference right away. NOT GOOD ……. Some where in the section between mile 45-50 I get shelled off the break away group and ride out the rest of the race alone. It was hard - I suffered / cramped / talked to myself, what ever it takes to keep motivated and moving forward when you body is saying STOP…… I see some teammates – ( I think I saw some stars) get passed by the 60+ break of 6 guys they were flying. I hit the last dirt section and give it my best – the last section with the wicked loose rocks was (loose + hard as hell to ride ). I ride out the last TAR miles pass one guy we talk a bit + I say c y later and take off. I’m thinking 39 guys are behind me somewhere and I don’t want to get passed this late in the race. Finish line -- 3 hr. 20 mins - 11th place .

I’m tired + cold

BUT SO WICKED HAPPY

This should be my last CAT 5 race .. Sending in my upgrade request tonight .

APRIL 11 - Plainville CRIT # 8 this season

2009-04-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today was my 8th Crit in Plainville this spring and my 10th CAT 5 Race. So Battenkill next weekend will be my last CAT 5 race. I should be moving up to CAT 4 for the Quabbin Road Race 4/26.

Back to today - The 9:00 AM + 10:00 races went off as planned and were DRY....

Can't say that for the CAT 4-5 39+ 11:15 race. About 11:00 it started raining light but steady. We lined up for our race only 14 hardy guys. It was not 1/2 a lap after the whistle and it was flat out pouring. Glad I had my winter coat on with booties + neoprene gloves. The race lasted just seconds less than an hour and it got cold for parts of the race, and it was hard hanging on - sort of a twisted sufferfest. These guys did not let up just because it was raining, it's amazing how fast we went around the corners!!. We had more attacks today than ever in this class, I think it was just to keep us all warm and keep the heart rates high. All I know is riding behind 10+ guys going 25-30 MPH throws a lot of water into ones mouth. HUGE Rooster Tails -- was the way the hour race worked out. Get water in your face or take the wind. And it was windy on the front straight today. First time we had a head wind on the front straight in 6 weeks of racing every Sat. I some how ending up out front for close to a lap then just slowed down and boom I was back of the pack, funny how fast that happens. I think out of the 14 guys I got 7th.

Big KUDOS to Dave H - CVC CAT 3 teammate ………

Dave H stayed for the whole race and was giving verbal and moral support - just having a team mate on the side line in those nasty conditions was GREAT .. Oh yea Dave won his 10:oo Race good JOB DAVE .. you kick A$$ ...........

Thanks so much - DAVE !!

Bike ( CADD 9 ) is still in the VAN – as we had a family dinner today and I just had no time to clean it up or check it out. I hope to ride Sunday AM but will ride the S-works……

ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz……………………..

April 4 Plainville Crits

2009-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

OK race #1- Cat 4-5 open ( my 8th race)

Windy as all hell - DID I SAY IT WAS WINDY..

Ok I don't want to forget that it was WICKED windy..

Moving on to the race it was REAL Real real WINDY.

Attacks often and hard the first 6-8 laps + we were racing at a very fast pace ( for me ) pace almost all 25 MPH +++. A woman in the group kept causing gaps then we would have to fight back to the front group which was fighting to catch the breaks. Soooo for the first time I got dropped and lapped right near the end of the race. It hurt riding laps alone out in the 30+ MPH wind.

Race #2 Cat 4-5 39+ ( my 9th race towards cat 4)

Still WINDY as hell ………………….

Race goes off group just not pushing real hard then ……… The attacks start - One after another and the group responded to each one for laps + laps of this pain… Then a few guys got way AWAY and that was it the group sorta sat up and we went round + round. Some counters attempted but none stuck. It ended up with one lone break away guy and two more followers, then the group…

No Idea how I did way back in the pack.. I’m sore as all get out more then normal ! Must have been the WIND….

DID I say it was WINDY ???

MARCH 28 2009 Plainville CRIT # 4+5

2009-03-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Left side I guess near front on this lap.. we did maybe 30+ laps .

In the front workin hard

Off the back

More crash pic's - Lucky at this point I was up front.

Note Rider in background about to hit the tar...

Today I raced two classes, I did the 9:00 CAT 4-5 open with all the young guys , and the 11:15 CAT 4-5 39 Plus older guys race.

Now have 7 CAT 5 races, 3 left and I can upgrade to CAT 4. If we have dry race days the next two Sat's I may have 12 races as a CAT 5 including Battenkill which I will race as a CAt 5 45 +. I will upgrade after that race.

Some very serious crashes and injuries today - both classes NOT GOOD !!!! . Not a fun day for some unlucky guys .......

Plainville CRIT #3 3/21/09

2009-03-21T17:28:00.000-07:00

Today was my third week doing the Plainville Crit series .. So far lot's of fun. I have been arriving in time to watch the CAT 4-5 race @ 9:00 and the CAT 3-4 race @ 10:00. Plus some of the CAT 1-2-3 race around 12:30

My race is the CAT 4-5 39+ @ 11:15 ...

This week we had 31 riders , I went off semi hard working my way round + round. I found today I was able to hit the corners and not let off so I was not fighting to fill the gap twice every lap on the 90 degree corners. So I used less energy and seemed to be able to work a bit less overall.

My issue this week was a few riders who seemed to just move where ever the hell they wanted to go with no regard for any other riders + and not looking back or to the side . This was not some new guy off the back but some of the guys who are up front and winning . Not good but no crashes , guess cause we have less riders we have more room to move about. I had to swerve several times when this same rider just swung in front of me or other riders.

So what is a Crit rider to do in these situations ????

As far as my personel race like I said it was good I'm getting more comfortable and on the 2nd prime I pushed real hard ( hit my MAx watts of 780 at this point) - This may not have been a good idea as I used a lot of reserve but I was 5th so that was COOL. In a short time I saw 4 laps to go and started moving up front. BUT on the back straight on the last two Laps I was pushed out in the wind and could not get a wheel.. So come the final sprint I was Semi - Toast I came around the last corner in mabye 8-10th ish and a few guys got past me before the line .. I think I got 12-14 ish.

Some Stats:

21 miles
53 min's
Av speed 24
Mx speed 31.25
Av Watts 198
Max Watts 780 ( #2 Prime ) 11.13 watts /kg
Final sprint could barly get to 350 Watts
30 sec - 456 watts - 6.7 watts /kg
1 min - 317 watts - 4.66 watts /kg
5 min - 237 watts - 3.48 watts /kg

PS: I was cold not as bad as the 9+10:00 races but cold .....

Come on Summer

BREAK THRU RIDE 3/10/09

2009-03-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

TODAY was the two week mark since I was sick and John K + I went + did hills for training today ( 3 hours ) .

I felt better than EVER climbing today I actually enjoyed it and I was strong ??? What the Hell went wrong ?? .. I guess all my work this winter and Calif for sure helped. Now I just need to see if today was a freak day or if my fitness really jumped up a few notches.

Gary you should know Hebron Ave from the Glast side . It starts climbing near a small church. - anyhow I cruised it today in I think 9 min's, and best of all I did it all in the big ring.

Holy Shite me climbing in the big ring COOL!!

Then John and I went all over that area climbing and decending I was strong all day and near the end of the ride when I'm usally shot I was doing stand up sprints out of corners getting ready for the SAT CRIT !!

Oh yea I'm back to my normal weight around 150. 147 was way too light + was just a result of being sick for 5 days I think.

OK nuff said -

Race # 1 CRIT 2/7/09

2009-03-07T15:51:00.000-08:00

First CRIT of 2009 was a HUGE success ..........

I DID NOT fall DOWN - I had FUN and felt very FIT ..

So it goes like this RACE = 45 min's plus 5 laps Course has start straight - maybe 100 meters then right 90 degree corner with back section consisting of gradual right trending turns till the final corner another 90 degree right back to the start/finish - 200 meters ....

On the start I just get off and start going round + round the LAP time is about 1:10 -1:20 give or take.. My class was Cat 4+5's 39+ ( about 35 riders ) - So some way younger faster guys for sure . After the first bell the FAST Dudes ramped up the pace and they did not pull away as much as string out the group to a single line. I was somewhere out there not sure where when I went over the line for the first preem but back 1/2 of the pack for sure.

I'm like OK some fast surges were all still together no breakaways COOL !!!

So I keep riding trying some laps on the inside some laps in the thick of things and some laps on the outside. I did notice a few guys that were squirrelly ( speeds erratic up + down so hard to follow wheel ) my team mate at one point said stay away from that guy + that guy which I did for the rest of the race. All going OK so far another bell and off they go again I shot over to the right on the back straight thinking I would move up - BUT now I'm out in the wind and not thinking this is smart so I cruise along and fold back in the pack. No idea where I was for the preem nor did I care...

Several laps later on the 90 after the start finish a guy sorta cut me off right on the inside Apex and I had to move a bit . My teammate saw the incident and said it was the only bad move I made in race but if I did not move/slow down he would have taken me out.

All in all it was a great race. Half way around the final lap I see my two CAT 4 team mates starting a move off the front so I shoot up the open right side + jump on John's wheel we come up on the final 90 and the lead out guy was done so John + I were out front for a brief moment........

Then the surge from both sides started I dug for all I had --stood up for a few seconds, sat back down dug deep and got 9th or 10th.

I'm very HAPPY......

DAY # 16 Sunday 2/22/09

2009-02-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

Final Training camp comments - I fly home in the AM....

WOW WHAT A TRIP - * = + ! ~ --> Thanks Gary..................

Words can't say how much special fun I had with the time spent with Gary + Jon . Three of my kids live in Ct and Gary in Calif so the fact we got to hang out for 16 days was special time that is hard to find in the hustle + bustle of normal day to day life. We pulled off a great father + 2 son's vacation that I will not forget for years .....

I hope when I get back to COLD and snowy Ct. I can find a way to keep the fitness I have worked so hard to get. I will be calling John K + Jon D to keep the weekday rides going for sure. Plus I hope we get weather for weekend rides and we need to do some EPIC's.. After this week a 30-40 mile ride just won't seem right....

Todays ride was a lot of climbing ( 6800') 48.5 miles and almost 4 hours with some crazy water crossings way out in the back country. Yes water crossings instead of bridges you just ride thru the water.. Pic's in a day or two.....

Our tour leader ....

Gary on the first of 7 of these water crossings out in the back country.

Steve going in ..........

Scotts turn ......

The road riding in Calif is just fantastic only a few impatient Car/Truck driving nuckleheads all week and some roads I will never forget and can't wait to ride again if I can do this again next year..... Plus some VERY biker friendly people all over the place!!!!

Final CAMP STAT's ;

Total trip 16 days - I rode 14 of those days .......

45 Hours - 690 Miles - 44,100 feet of climbing

Who hooooooooo

Day #15 SAT 2/21/09

2009-02-21T16:39:00.000-08:00

Today's spin was to SB for coffee and to meet Gary around 11:00 am he already did 2 + hours and 30-40 miles before we all met him.

We made the decision to ride up past the old Mission and climb up on Mtn road - then Gibralter road where 350 homes were lost several months ago in the BIG wild fires .

Short day - 40 Miles - 3:20 - 6400' of climbing. Best part was I felt great + climbed well.

Training camp STAT's :

After 15 Days ----- Rode 641 miles - 41 hours and about - 35,000 ft of climbing. Man I don't want to go back to work Tue.

Dad + Jon + Gary starting up Gibralter Road......

Steve way up top around 4000 feet above sea leval, Pacific in background.

Missed from Solvang yesterday - Pic's still coming in.

Plus read this :

http://platinummtb.com/news.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29313191/

http://www.bicicorsa.com/blog/2009/02/local-riders-dominate-race-of-truth.html

http://www.independent.com/news/2009/feb/20/leipheimer-goes-3--3-solvang-time-trial/

http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2009/02/21/news/featurednews/news01.txt

Gary + Brian

Sevilla

Chris HornerLance

Dave Z

Day # 14 Friday 2/20/09

2009-02-20T17:55:00.001-08:00

SOLVANG TT Day for the Pro's but first :

Gary raced the amateur TT same course just before the pro's

And Won -- Time -- 33:45 COOL

BIG KISS

More Podium Girls

More Girls + Gary

Girls + Jon

The D's after the race

Oh yea we saw saome PRO's also :

Levi

Lance

Chris Horner

My Man George

Marc C

These guys

And these guys

Day #13 Thurs

2009-02-20T17:54:00.001-08:00

REST day 20 ish easy miles

Day #12 Wed 2/18/09

2009-02-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Big climbing day ride to Solvang so Gary could pre ride TT course for the BIG race FRIDAY ..

Ride today 67 miles 6200' climbing 4+ hours..

Weather perfect !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve looking west just about 5 miles from Solvang

Day # 11 Tuesday

2009-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

Worlds loop with GUB climb Scott + GAry went + did MEGA more climbing Jon +I went back via SB got soaked again in the rain.

Getting sick of the cold + rain - we have this in the east WTF..........

4 hours 22 min riding -- 71 miles

Day #10 Monday 2/16/09

2009-02-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

REST DAY ......... I rode for the last 9 days ( 434 miles so far this trip) and today was cold and wet, plus I needed to get this cold better.

Did 90 min's of YOGA after dinner ( with Gary, Scott + Jon) plus my Core / Stretch yoga stuff I do every AM . Nice relaxing day.....

Gary and Scott went off and did some sick EPIC ride in rain. Hell 10 min's after they left it was hailing . WTF this is southern Calif....

These pic's do no Justic to the EPIC mountain ride Gary + Scott did....... But note the dirt of Garys clothes....

NEWS FLASH - Change in plans ****

Gary is going to do the TT before the Tour of Calif PRO's Friday @ Solvang sometime around 11:15 -12:00..

This will be one very cool day I will get to drive Garys car behind him with spare road bike on roof he will race his Cervello P3. We will all be yelling and going nuts inside car.

Maybe we will make local news footage as the biggest nuckelheads..

Friday February 20, 2008 starting at 11:15 am

Your unique adventure starts at the official Time Trial Chute on the starting line of the Stage 6 Amgen Tour of California where you'll be sent off the ramp by the ATOC starters, wearing your Official ATOC bib number, racing against the clock to the finish line on Copenhagen Drive.
Top 3 finishers will receive recognition on the Awards Stage at the conclusion of the Amgen Tour of California Stage 6 Pro Race.

Tell me this isn't f'n cool...........

http://www.tourofcalifornia-solvang.com/
http://www.tourofcalifornia-solvang.com/raceoftruth.php

DAY #9 Sunday - 2/15/09

2009-02-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday is worlds day so Gary Jon + I headed down to SB for the 9:15 start. I was very worried about my legs with the HUGE riding day we did SAT. The ride started out with a nice easy pace for the first several miles. At the polo fields area were the speeds always seem to ramp up - OFF they went and my protesting legs would not let me hang -- POP I went ..

I rode the next several miles to the 1/2 way re-grouping point alone. On the way back I held on a bit longrer but was spit off the back again and rode back to SB with a guy I met on the ride from Boston who was in town on business.. ( 54 miles 195 min's).

Scott another training camp member showed up this afternoon so after the bike was built up we had to go for a ride . I was shot but we all suited up, Gary decided we needed a ride with great views at the end of the day so UP UP we went....

We did Old San Marco + Painted Cave roads just 18 miles of riding but 2750' of climbing .... Now my legs ate 100% SHOT.

Monday looks like 90% rain so maybe a full REST DAY........

DAY # 8 Sat 2/14/09

2009-02-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

Up early leave house 7:20 - ROCO for 8:00 am - Sat loop - Worlds ( or most of it) +big killer climb - ride around the lake to Ventura then back along coast - Unbelievable route .

I want to be a bum and live here and ride every day all year long.

We skipped race as weather did not look good when we checked last night and very cold in the mountains.

87.5 Miles for today - 5 hours 5 min ( first 77 miles 17.8 MPH) I have been in town for 8 days rode every day 370 miles so far . My legs are protesting off + on, I will keep riding/training till they won't WORK........ More later and Pic's gotta go...............

Jon + Steve after ride SAT .

DAY # 7 Fri. - 2/13/09

2009-02-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

FRIDAY the 13th.........

I don't worry or care about that stuff........

Today we met Kim for a easy recovery ride out + about , we started out with very light rain off + on and kept pushing out towards Mountain Road , but we never made it the rain got woorse and we turned around.

I took a 4 hour NAP - working to get my COLD better . Rain did not help either.

Plans to race Sat SCRUBBED with lousy weather predicted, AND MY LOUSY COLD.

Pic's of Mountains up above Goleta from Gary's house with snow today

DAY # 6 Thurs. - 2/12/09

2009-02-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

Tues WORLDS loop again - w Gary + Jon + a bunch of other locals 8:00 am start @ ROCO ,

So normal routine leave Gary's house @ 7:20 ride to Santa Barbra meet @ S. B. Roasting Coffee company - do worlds loop return.

59.5 miles almost 4 hours saddle time today for Jon + I today with some cruising around downtown SB after the ride. Gary had to scoot into work, so we just rode all over the place. - no rush - no worries - no plan - Vacation is great

3 hour NAP after ride . I can get used to this.........

DAY #5 WED - 2/11/09

2009-02-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

OK where was I ??

Got behind so much fun, plus I have been sick and sleeping every afternoon away attempting to get better.........

Today was raining in the AM so we went to meet Gary @ lunch for the HOPE RANCH sufferfest Ride he does every Wed. We got to Gary's work and it started raining. Went anyhow - I bailed and went back to house -- Jon GAry + 3 others went + Climbed .

I SLEPT.........

Day #4 Tuesday - 2/10/09

2009-02-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

Today Gary got up at some early awful hour like 5:50-6:00 -Hells it's vacation . Oh yea he still has to work this week..

Anyhow he went off to climb up to the sky - OSM + P Cave - 2600' in 6 miles.. I slept for a hour longer then got my tired bones up and met him at the botton of the climb. We then headed to Santa Barbra for another group ride ( same route as Sunday worlds) Gary was going to be late for work hanging out with DAD.. Todays group was smaller maybe 25 fast west coasters + me. I held on to the multi colored train way longer almost to the 1/2 way point. I was HAPPY on the way back I stayed with the group all the way. After the ride I was told this group was not pushing at the Sunday speeds . Bubble buster .........

Later other son Jon showed up and I did the Airport run to pick him up. Just like when I showed up Sat Jon wanted to go for a ride --- So off we went.................

Jon was due @ 3:05 I took this Pic from Garys porch @ 3:06 - see right side of Pic that his plane.

Jon Doing his thing.........

Jon + DAD @ UCSB

Phase one of our dinner - Pasta was cooking and I was just about to add spag. sauce.

It was Good. EATS .......

DAY #3 Monday 2-9-09

2009-02-10T18:33:00.000-08:00

Woke up to a rainy day so I gave Gary a lift to work and then did some errands ( Trader Joe's - Etc) .

Later in the am the clouds cleared out and the roads dried up .. I did not come all the way across the USA to sit on my Ass so off I went on a nice easy recovery ride .

Local Beach ( Sea) @ Goleta

University near the Sea

Sea of bikes

Rainbow + Nucklehead near the Sea

Another sea
Art near the sea

Fruit tree near the sea
At the sea again

Also near the Sea

Red Tail HAWK near the Sea

No more stuff to SEE near the sea................................

DAY 2 - Sunday 2/8/09

2009-02-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

Sundays in Santa Barbra - is WORLDS. It's one of the local sunday group rides . But it's a hammer fest to say the least ...........

I did this event with Gary last May after I had been only seriously road riding a few months and it was a fast lesson that the FAST GUYS RIDE - REAL FAST - I did most of the ride alone.

Well 9 months later I'm back and wanted to see how I would do after lots of work training and just tons of riding in 2008.

Pre ride pose- from Garys Porch 2 steps from the kitchen - Nice view ....

It was real nice ( dry + 55-60) - 50+ riders - PRO + all CAT HAMMER heads and I was Schooled / Dropped again. I met up with a few stragglers and we made our way to the 1/2 way point . To watch son Gary and a few pro's ( Tim Johnson + wife also PRO, Cody O'Riely + a few of Gary's teammates + other Hammer heads) whipping past on an extra loop they did. On the way back I was spit off the back when they picked up the pace to over 30 MPH .......... I hung as long as I could till I popped....

After the ride we road this fantastic Road - Mountain Road we were up high in the foothiils over looking the Pacific ocean, It was unbielieable. We also went past the Place JFK stayed for his honneymoon. Plus past all the burnt out houses from last years BIG fires...... I need to go back some time this week and take some pic's of the devastation.

Oh Yea Gary picked up his new race Mtn bike for the 2009 season. Sweet 20#'s with pedals .

Day one Calif TRIP - Sat 2/7/09

2009-02-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

I arrived in GOLETA CALIF Sat 3/7 :

Fitst thing I put my Bike together and GAry and I went for a 45 min ride to get the travel cobwebs out of my head. Then we went off to see BOB ROLL ( BOBKI) + David Zabriskie.

MY MUG and BOB Roll - AKA MR. TOUR de FRANCE tv personality on VERSES - TFD coverage every summer. Very funny a$$ guy

Funny BOB Roll picture

David Zabriskie Mr. Time trial.

The whole purpose of this night was for a KICK off to AMGEN's support for the very soon upcoming Tour de Calif next week ..........

What to look forward too -> ->

2009-01-30T18:38:00.000-08:00

I have been planning a bike riding vacation with my oldest Son Gary + my other son Jon in Calif for 10 months.

Well I leave in a week- cool !!!!

What did I plan for this trip :

Goal #1 get in the best shape of my life and try to hit 150 #'s. I have a week to go and I hit 151.8 yesterday so I'm wicked happy.

Goal #2 Train like a crazy man all winter to get ready to have Gary + his friends School the old man. ( next Sunday @ Santa Barbra Worlds I will do my best to not get dropped).

Goal #3 Get Jon to also travel out to Gary's for this trip - This is a plan . I will stay 16 days , Jon 13 days + two of Garys friends a week each we will have one hell of a blast .

Goal #4 Climb OSM in better time by 2 min's vs. last MAY. LAst may best time 22:00 I think.

Goal #5 See Lance Armstrong race in the Tour de California . We plan to watch the TT day Friday2/20/09 in Solvang Calif . Another cool da for sure. But Gary has a killer ride to get to the race from his house planned 70 mile ride out with Mt. Figaro .... Something about a 12 mile climb with 4000+ feet of climbing I'm worried.. Then watch race and ride 30 miles back home .

Goal #6 no Heart Attack

more later........

Training week ending 2/1/09

2009-01-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

7 hours core work outs + stretching
1 hour walking
2x Gym legs
1 hour X/C ski
2 hours night time snow shoe adventure
8 hours road rides outside ( 3 different days)
4 hours ICE Climbing

BIG FUN week......

Training week ending 1/25/09

2009-01-30T18:29:00.000-08:00

7 hours core work outs + stretching
2 hours walking
3x Gym legs
2.5 hours X/C ski
1 hour inside on Rollers
7.5 hours road rides outside ( 3 different days)

Training week ending 1/18/09

2009-01-30T18:21:00.000-08:00

Rotten Cold this week :

7 hours core work outs + stretching
2.5 hours walking
1 hour X/C ski
1 hour inside on Rollers ( only ride in a week)

Busy times 12/24 - 1/11/09

2009-01-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

I did not have to work 12/25/08 - 1/11/09 -- so lots of play/exercise time - I focused on a lot of outside road riding !

Week ending - 12/21/08: ( 18.5 hrs total )
7 hours core + stretching
2 hrs walking
1 outside road rides - 2 hrs
2 trainer road bike sessions 3 hrs
XC ski two times - 4.5 hours

Week ending - 12/28/08: ( 20.25 hrs total )
7 hours core + stretching
1.5 hr walk
3 outside road rides - 10.50 hrs
XC ski once - 1.25 hours

Sunday 12/28 - 4.5 hour ride on wet salty Ct. + Mass roads - Muddy FACE!!

This was worse than it looks, it took over an hour to Wash, Clean + Re-lube to get machine ready for the next ride. What A MESS....

Week ending - 1/4/09: ( 22.25 hrs total )
7 hours core + stretching
5 outside road rides - 13.25 hrs
XC ski once - 2 hours

Week ending - 1/11/09:( 20.5+ XC ? - hrs total )
7 hours core + stretching
2.5 hr walk
3 outside road rides - 11 hrs
XC ski one hour sunday

Sunday 1/11/09 - XC ski day it snowed last night so no road ride today.

Ghost house

2008-12-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

I have not been posting much lately........

2008-12-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

So you ask why.........

I guess it's off season + I have been working way too much and no good pictures ..

OK lousy excuse........

Riding records -- week of .....

8/25 - 132 miles
9/1 - 107
9/8 - 129
9/15 - 183
9/22 - 78
9/29 - 157
10/6 - 170
10/13 - 157
10/20 - 140
10/27 - 141
11/10 - 104
11/17 - 135
11/24 - 173
12/1 - 66
12/8 - Still gotta ride tomorrow.......................................

New - Bike TODAY 10/25/08

2008-10-25T18:18:00.001-07:00

I Picked up this very SWEET Cannondale Ultragra CADD 9 Today for my off season / winter practice bike to save the S- Works for racing next season.

Bike wall in the MAN room with new addition ..............

CVC Team base camp for 2009 race season.......

33rd Annual Jamestown Classic Road Race 10/13/08

2008-10-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Jon + I are going to do this race as teammates we both are now menbers of CVC ( Capitol Velo Club) /Subaru of New England .

View from START - FINISH line .

JON'S RACE START - Jon is MID pack #13

Steve Before the race - still having fun !!

Steve Finish line SPRINT for 3rd.......

Whoooo Hooooooooo

3rd ANNUAL THREE VILLAGE TOUR ROAD RACE

2008-10-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Report a BIT late .........

Jon + I did our first ever bicycle road race - Saturday, September 20, 2008..

Jon's group Cat 5 18-39 -- went off 5 min in front of my group Cat 5 40+. We both meet our goals of not crashing and having a great time.

We both popped off the pack on the 2nd climb and ended up riding the last 7 miles with out a wheel + learned a lesson do not loose the main group.

Bike room in Cellar re-organized

2008-09-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

Training Data - short version

2008-08-27T13:47:00.001-07:00

Training week of :

7/21-7/27 – 110 miles
7/28-8/3 - 131.5
8/4 – 8/10 – 197.0
8/11 – 8/17 - 117.0
8/18-8/24 – 151.5

Lunch after Sunday ride 8/10/08

2008-08-11T10:01:00.001-07:00

I made these for lunch for Keith, Jon _ I after our Sunday ride 8/10/08 Yummmmmm

Keiths House pre-ride nuckle heads 8-9-08

2008-08-11T09:56:00.001-07:00

Steve D, Don P , Steve V + Keith - Pre-ride Photo opt. Sat 8/9/08

Ride #2 to the beach 7/27/08

2008-08-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

Training week - 7/14/08 - 7/20/08

2008-07-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 5 Road bike rides
Riding time: 9.5 hours / 140 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Jon + I 40 mile ride southern Vermont
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 10 this week - I est. 4 hours this week.
Notes: 0 Walks this week - Too Hot @ Lunch + lots of RAIN
Weight: Low for this week -157#
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 9.5 Hours Bike, Walks 0 hour, , Stretch 4 hours -Total Hours: = 13.5

Training week 7/7/08 - 7/13/08

2008-07-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 2 Road bike rides + 1 mtn bike ride
Riding time: 6 hours / 65 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Monday Vernon Cycle Group ride can you say attacks - Good fun !!
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 6 this week - I est. 2 hours this week.
Notes: 2 Walks this week - 1 hours - SURGERY WEEK !!
Weight: Low for this week -157#
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 6 Hours Bike, Walks 1 hour, , Stretch 2 hours -
Total Hours: = 9

Training week 6/30/08 - 7/6/08

2008-07-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 4 Road bike rides + 1 mtn bike ride
Riding time: 10 hours / 141 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Sunday ride with Jon to beach
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 10 this week - I est. 4 hours this week.
Notes: 5 Walks this week - 3.5 hours
Weight: Low for this week -156#
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 10 Hours Bike, Walks 3.5 hours, , Stretch 4 hours -
Total Hours: = 17.5

Gary and teammates Todd + Bobby @ Mt. Snow 7/19/08

2008-07-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

MAVIC - Hub disassembly fun @ the Mt. Snow Nationals 7/27/08

2008-07-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

I visited the Mavic Tent at the Mt. Snow mountain bike national races in Vt this past weekend.

The cool thing was the guys took apart my wheel set from the S-Works road bike and showed me how to do maintenence.

To start with on the rear hub - use a 5mm + a way bigger 8-12 MM wrench and take the hub apart.

Note - be very careful the 5mm part on the drive side is Titanium so do not over torque ( it will strip /break)!!

Check how the bearings look and replace if needed . Mine were OK so I will not worry - or check again till winter when I plan to clean up the hubs again + replace the bearings.

Slide the cassette off and you will see the 2 pauls in the below picture. Clean everything up and use mineral oil ( ONLY ) in re-assembly - better to order a bottle of MAVIC specific oil . I must do this !!!

When putting the cassette back on - Make sure the washer is on like in the below picture.

Again don't forget this machined part below is made of titainium - so only torque snug.

As far as the front hub I did not take pictures but need to do that and add to this post !!

The front hub needs a special tool which the MAVIC guy hooked me up with . To take the front hub apart you need -a 5mm hex wrench and the special tool.

To start with pop off the small black spacer +Take apart - clean up - check bearings ( Front ones were OK also), and re-assemble . When you have the 5mm hex + plactic tool in place snug up then back off 1/8 turn , slide the spacer back on and go RIDE !!!!

My GARDEN is rocking - picked 7/21/08

2008-07-22T09:15:00.001-07:00

Fresh from the Garden for dinner

2008-07-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Green beans, Tomato's, Chives, Onions, + Parsley - steamed Yummmmmm..

1/2 a tomato, olive oil, Fresh basil, Dry parn cheese, Some ground up Garlic + Chives - Grill low for 20+ min's

Chill out after dinner

Sun set in the trees

Flower Power.......

More garden Pic's 7/9/09

2008-07-09T22:14:00.001-07:00

Tomatoes rocking - been picking for a few weeks

Peppers SAD looking

Zuchini left - Summer squash right

Cucumbers in Pot on patio doing way better then one's in garden next picture ???????

More GArden Pic's 7/2/08

2008-07-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

Training week - 6/23/08 -- 6/29/08

2008-07-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 3 Road bike rides
Riding time: 5 hours / 76 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Sunday ride with Keith and getting caught in thunder storm - It was like riding in a pinball machine.
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 12 this week - I est. 5 hours this week.
Notes: 4 Walks this week - 3 hours
Weight: Low for this week -156#
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 5 Hours Bike, Walks 3 hours, , Stretch 5 hours - Total Hours: = 13

Garden Update 6/26/08

2008-06-26T12:39:00.001-07:00

Fathers Day

2008-06-23T10:07:00.001-07:00

Training Week 6/16/08 -- 6/22/08

2008-06-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 3 road bike rides + 1 Mtn bike ride
Riding time: 12.5 hours / 157 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Big Sat ride with Bob Mazz 82 miles
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 12 this week - I est. 5 hours this week.
Notes: 4 Walks this week - 3 hours
Weight: Low for this week - 155
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK:12.5 Hours Bike, Walks 3 hours, , Stretch 3 hours - Total Hours: = 18.5

Training Week 6/9/08 -- 6/15/08

2008-06-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 3 road bike rides + 3 mtn Bike rides
Riding time: 13.75 hours / 165 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Two Arcadia Mtn bike days - One with Jonathan W + Greg + Gary - the other day just Gary + I - Great place !!
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 12 this week - I est. 5 hours this week.
Notes: 2 Walks this week - 1.5 hours
Weight: Low for this week - 154
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 13.75 Hours Bike, Walks 1.5 hours, , Stretch 5 hours - Total Hours: = 20.25

Training Week 6/2/08 -- 6/8/08

2008-06-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 3 road bike rides + 2 Mtn bike rides
Riding time: 7 hours / 91 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Ride to work Tue then Blast home + get Mtn bike and ride Grayville - YES I was BEAT
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 10 this week - I est. 4.5 hours this week.
Notes: 3 Walks this week - 2 hours
Weight: Low for this week - 154
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 7 Hours Bike, Walks 2 hours, , Stretch 4.5 hours - Total Hours: =13.5

Training week 5/26 - 6/1/08

2008-06-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 7 road bike rides outside
Riding time: 11 hours / 154 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: OSM - Painted Cave to Girbralta loop with Gary
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 10x this week - I est. 3 hours this week.
Notes: Walks this week - San Fran Day - 4 hours
Weight: Low for this week - 154
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 11 Hours Bike, Walks 4 hours, , Stretch 3 hours - Total Hours: = 18

Training week 5/19 - 5/25/08

2008-06-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 6 road bike rides outside
Riding time: 7.5 hours / 94 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Worlds with Gary in Santa Barbra - First ever big group ride.
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 4x this week - I est. 2 hours this week.
Notes: Walks this week - LOTS- San Diego zoo day - Mexico day + San Fran Day - 12 hours
Weight: Low for this week - 154
OTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 7.5 Hours Bike, Walks 12 hours, , Stretch 2 hours - Total Hours: = 21.5

Training week 5/12/08 - 5/18/08

2008-06-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 3 road bike rides outside
Riding time: 4.75 hours / 79 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Worlds with Gary in Santa Barbra - First ever big group ride.
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 7x this week - I est. 3 hours this week.
Notes: 2 lunchtime walks this week 1.50 Hours Total - Travel to Calif. Friday
Weight: Low for this week - 155
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 4.75 Hours Bike, Walks 1.5 hours, , Stretch 3 hours - Total Hours: = 9.25

Training week 5/5/08 - 5/11/08

2008-06-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 5 road bike rides outside

Riding time: 6.25 hours / 90 miles .........

Best ride(s) of the week: First Mtn Bike ride in Months - I rode strong and had a blast.

Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 9x this week - I est. 5 hours this week.

Notes: 5 lunchtime walks this week 3.75 Hours Total -

Weight: Low for this week - 155

TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 6.25 Hours Bike, Walks 3.75 hours, , Stretch 5 hours - Total Hours: = 15

Training week 4/28/08 - 5/5/08

2008-06-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 4 road bike rides outside
Riding time: 5 hours / 77 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Very Wet cold week
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 13x this week - I est. 5 hours this week.
Notes: 3 lunchtime walks this week 2.25 Hours Total -
Weight: Low for this week - 154.6
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 5 Hours Bike, Walks 2.25 hours, , Stretch 5 hours - Total Hours: = 12.25

Calif - Vacation 6/16/08-6/29/08 Pic's + Info

2008-06-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Second day out west Gary had a mtn Bike race - It was Hot about 95. This was before the suffer fest.

Gary said I don't need any water - Later in that LAP it was so HOT he ran out - it was Smokin HOT + Dusty .

Gary + I looking down from Painted cave road to Goleta where he lives.

Sat Afternoon - just before our first of many Father / Son road rides over the two weeks.

Gary + I after Sunday road ride - This is downtown Santa Barbra. Ocean just to our left.

Santa Barbra standing near Ocean looking East .

San Diego Zoo Day Tuesday

That's it for the Zoo day

Tijuana Mexico Day Trip:

MORE to Follow soon ....................

Training week : 4/21/08 - 4/27/08

2008-04-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

Number of Bike rides: 10 road bike rides outside
Riding time: 14.75 hours / 227 miles .........
Best ride(s) of the week: Sat + Sunday Keith + I did 50 miles each day . I did not think I could do this nor keep up with Keith's killer pace. I spent about 95 miles motorpacing Keith. Legs feel OK today, also every BIG ride I have done with Keith - he said my fitness has improved noticiably - Cool ....
Other: Stretched + Core strenght workouts 13x this week ( shorter sessions - so much riding last week)- I est. 4 hours this week.
Notes: 5 lunchtime walks this week 4 Hours Total -
Weight: Low for this week - 154.6#
TOTAL EXERCISE THIS WEEK: 14.75 Hours Bike, Walks 4.0 hours, , Stretch 4 hours - Total Hours: = 22.75

RED Rocks - Re-cap for the week

2008-04-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

Red Rocks climbing trip – April 2008

Sat - Tuna + Chips wall – First Pull out - ( Steve + Don) :
1. SD – lead Tuna + Chips 5.7 trad start to bolted route, rounded holds good attention getter for first climb of week.
2. Don – same climb
3. SD – 5.5 ( Route name?) easy gully to hanging belay
4. Don P2 same route to top – rappel off

Sunday - Group Therapy - 5.7 – ( Don + Steve) :
1. SD - Easy first pitch
2. Don - Fun off width pitch
3. SD - Up more
4. Don Pitch 4+5 Across to Huge right end of roofs
5. Steve- Up scary – crazy roof - chimney – CRUX of route for sure – then run out sections above to belay
6. Don traverse – walk left to final corner. Walk off

Monday – Olive Oil - 5.7 – (JDW + SD) :
1. JDW – Tricky bulge to sandy alcove
2. SD – Steep juggy crack up wall – Fantastic Pitch combined pitch 2 +3
3. JDW – face across right to groove system to Big belay ledge
4. SD – Traverse across face a bit more to corner system. Best pitch of the week for me. Thin crack to cool moves up HUGE corner system with chimney, off width + more cool moves up Steep corner to top. Wait for Ben + Don + all walk off.

Tuesday - Birdland –5.7 - ( Don – Bob + SD ) :
1. Bob – Pitch one just right of line I did in 2007
2. SD - Face / chimney pitch very interesting
3. Don – Left traverse ( BOLT PITCH) then steep moves thru notch
4. SD – Traverse to right run- out fun easy climbing,
5. Don - $$$$ pitch up FANTASTIC HAND crack. RAP off

Wed – Cat in the Hat – 5.7 – (Steve + Don ) :
1. SD – Start had very difficult move section maybe 20-30 feet up, I would say 5.8 move, No left feet and rounded holds leaning the wrong way. At least I did not fall. Nice big ledge above but bolts on 2nd tier and I missed and made natural anchor.
2. Don – P 2+3 short to upper great wall
3. SD – Fantastic steep long (did I say steep), may have been my 2nd best lead of the week.
4. Don Swing around corner for final crack pitch. Don, Steve Bob + Natasha all Rap together.

Thurs – Jonny Vegas + Solar Slab – 5.7 + 5.6 – ( JDW, Olga + SD ) :
1. J. Vegas – JDW – steep nice climbing.
2. SD more steep fun climbing + a bit run out w / solid 5.7 moves.
3. JDW – (P 3+4) combined - swing around right side of roof + up steep wall + skip P3 anchor + go to top.
4. Solar Slab – SD - Run out slab start to tricky pro on steep wall.
5. JDW out left on ramp to tricky / slab corner,
6. SD – Crack system
7. JDW - Left facing corner with tough moves
8. SD - Hand crack – Hanger missing on @ Belay
9. JDW – (P 6+7) combined – RAP off to TOP Jonny Vegas. My stupid decision to Rap with a party of 3 also going down, then two other climbers asked to join – because they only had one rope. Turned into Rap from Hell 2-3 hours for 3 raps

Friday – Geronimo – ( Natasha + SD - Bob + Don) – 5.6:
1. SD – Steep + Fun, BIG holds – great gear.
2. Natasha – Nice route
3. SD – Great pitch
4. Natasha Final pitch – all RAP off + work ropes – RAPS are bad – one double rap + 4 single raps. I do not recommend this route because of RAPS.

Sat – Purline Pillar - 5.8 – ( JDW + SD) :
1. SD – Chimney Grovel
2. JDW 1st 5.8 pitch exciting moves but too short.
3. SD – COOL traverse out and moves up steep wall with 2 bolts, then more Chimney HELL. Very rough hanging belay
4. JDW more chimney to BIG ledge
5. SD – 2nd 5.8 pitch - nice stuff (watch those Ball – maypops). Move right for belay.
6. JDW – final pitch to TOP with bolts on face left of corner nice, but finish in more chimney stuff. WALK off

Last Day RED ROCKS

2008-04-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

Last Day Purblind Tower 5.8 - Pitch 3

Purblind Tower - 2nd 5.8 pitch

Purblind Tower 5.8 - Pitch 3

MORE RED ROCKS EXCITMENT

2008-04-18T23:15:00.001-07:00

Top Solar Slab

Just before top Solar slab

One of the many belays on Solar slab

Up - Up + Away Solar Slab

Birdland belay I think