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April 28
Fred getting it on....
Picture by Steve Wolf, please go to his site to see more pictures.
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Long lost friends.
I went to a memorial service for Charles A. Lindner today. He is a long time Patterson resident and the father of high school friends of mine, Anjanette, Charles, and Tim. Now it's been years since I've seen any of them and when I read of Mr. Lindner's passing I knew I wanted to go to the service to pay my respects. I'm glad I did.
I was disapointed that Anjanette could not make it from Idaho, but it was a nice service with many kind words being expressed. After the service I left my email address with Tim and Charles and I learned that Charles was a cyclist. Not only that but a CAT 3 road racer. I was thouroughly impressed. Not only that, but AJ had recently taken up cycling also. So tentativly, we have a get togehter scheduled for July/August. I've agreed to try to ride a centruy with them somewhere near Lassen.
It's been years since I've ridden a century so it's going to hurt, but it just gives me more reason to ride. I should be able to get enough miles in by July, and Lassen is a beautiful part of California. I'm looking forward to it.
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Centuries as the goal
At Patterson High School one of the graduation requirements is that you must complete a senior project. The project is supposed to be something that challenges the student in some way. Well, one of my Algebra II juniors is thinking about next year and has decided to take up cycilng to try to ride a century.
I think it's great. I even agreed to be his mentor and will help him work his way up so that some time next year he can complete the 100 mile ride.
We all know that cycling is an expensive sport. So he asked me how much a 'good' bike would cost. I realized that this might be more difficult/expensive than I thought. I told him that he needed to buy the nices pair of shorts he could afford but to hold off on the other stuff.So I started to ask around.
One of the great things about being hooked up with some many great cyclists in the area is that people have extra stuff. I started asking around to see if people could lend some good stuff to a good kid.
Mark Diaz mentioned that he had some old stuff he could lend, maybe some golves, shoes and pedals, maybe a helmet and even a old bike. What a great start.
I then saw Mark Holmes at Cyclemasters today. Now he's a pricipal and works with kids so I took the shot and asked him if he had something... and he did. Mark has a nice old road bike that should probablly fit the kid. Another great turn of events.
So things are coming together and before to long I shoould be able to gt the kids started on a road ride. An easy one up the canyon or maybe just Diable Grande. Within 3 or 4 months of riding, the kid should be dropping me in the climbs easily.
April 24
Bush on a bike.
Bush's Bike
If you can't appreicate that the President is an mtb'er then you have problems. Seperate yourself from your politial BS and think about it for a sec. Most foam at the mout liberals can't. They're the ones that go off on forums and constantly bring politics into situations where no one is asking for them. They're the first ones to cry that their personal beliefs are being infringed on and the first ones to shove their beliefs in your face. Get a life.
But, but.... he lied and blah blah.................. shut the f' up.
The Prez rides a sweet bike, and that's good for cycling.
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Do you know what else is good for cycling?
I should tell some of those varsity riders to drop down to JV so that they have a better shot of winning. It's all about winning.
I'm sure Steve Wolf will have some pictures up soon.
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I'm worried.
I have to rant a little bit now. You see, cycling season is in full swing. Races are going on every weekend and soon it'll be time for the Giro, and then the Tour. That's great. But you see, I'm worried I won't be able to watch the Tour.
I have Dish Network and they DON'T HAVE OLN!!!
A couple months ago, flipping through channels, I discovered that OLN is no longer being carried by Dish. We called then and ask them what the hell was going on and they said they were 'discussing' it win OLN. WTF.
The only reason I picked satalite over cable was for the OLN channel. Frankly, most of the year I could care less about it. I'm not really interested in bull riding or bass fishing. But in the summer, it's time for cylcing and I want to watch those guys suffer up the mountains. I want to see if my boy Floyd has what it takes to stand on that podium after 3 weeks.
But I might miss it. AAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!
I don't know what to do.
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Well, I'm still riding and feeling stronger all the time.... I'm not losing any fricken weight, but I can live with that for now. I'm just focused on getting enough miles on the legs so that when summer gets hear, and the Sierra are opening themselves up for riding. I'll be able to survive. I could be doing more dirt riding now, but that's not my focus. It's the Sierra and the mountains.
April 18
April 17
Rain, Rain, Rain....
John and I had quite a ride. When we got to Oakdale, it was little drizzly so we stopped at a diner and had a little breakfast.
By the time breakfast was over, it was still overcast, but no more drizzle. We rode up to Knights ferry with out much rain, maybe an occasional sprinkle but nothing enough to put on the rain cape.
We started our climb up 108 with a feirce crosswind, John didn't like riding along 108 but there was usually a huge (10ft) shoulder, but it did narrow down to a few feet at one point. The road climbs for quite a few miles and then peaks with a cool roll down and flattens out as we reach the Green Springs turn off.
At Green Springs, the rain was getting hard enough that we decided to put on the rain capes. It's only a short way down Green Springs before you turn onto Rock River Dr.
I had never been on rock creek so I had no idea of what to expect. I had to figure it was mostly down hill to Wilms. The sign at the turn off said.... "Rough Road"
It really started to rain hard as we started rolling down Rock River.
Rock River is not THAT rough, but it is in really bad shape. Lots of pot holes and broken sections, but inbetween that, it's OK road. In fact, it's a really twisty swoopy road that rolls up and down, in and out and does go downhill over all. And then about 1/2 way down..... it turns to dirt.
Yup, the last 3 or 4 miles we rode in the pouring rain on dirt, sand, gravel and rocks. I could do nothing but laugh and pedal. But we had NO flats or any other mechanicals.
Once on Wilms, the rain had stopped and we rolled along back to Knights Ferry. Wilms is a good rolling road and hits 108 right at the Knights Ferry turn off.
By the time we hit town, it had started raining again. We stopped at the store to get out of the rain, buy a few snacks and relax a bit before riding the last 14 miles back to the car. While we ate, the rain finally stopped and left us alone for the rest of the ride.
For some reason, I told John about the short Cemetary Hill climb on the way out of town, so we had to do it... crap. The last bit of life I had in my legs was let on that hill. That last miles back to the car were spent pedaling along at half ass speed.
We hit the car, and pealed off all our wet gear, turned the heater on full blast and tried to unwind.
It was a really fricken good ride. I would go back down Rock River Dr any time. Even with the last part being dirt road, the top part was so swoopy that it was worth it. It's not for everyone, but I've done longer dirt sections on a road bike and I'm not one of those people who are afraid to beat up a road bike. It can take it.
Good ride.
george
From Steve at SWD Racing,
Hello Everyone, Well, as all of you know, the 2006 Mountain Bike season is well underway. Again, it looks like all of the growing group of SWD riders are off to a fast start and are up for the challenge to carry on the winning tradition! Year after year it is amazing to me to see just how much faster the people racing in Downhill Mountain Biking are becoming. As everyone knows, since about the 1999/2000 seasons, the DH courses on the NORBA National level have gotten very technical. The old, but still fun, fire-road style runs are a thing of the past for the top-level DH events. In fact, I can remember the time back in 1996-98 when all you read about was how much more technical and demanding the World Cup/European courses were. Well, now it has pretty much flip-flopped. One of the reasons our many SWD riders excel on the steep and technical terrain type courses, is because that is where we do most all of our DH riding/testing. From the beginning's of SWD bikes, back in 1999/2000, when I first began to fiddle-around with fabricating things for my bikes, we have ridden tons of steep, technical places. Riding and racing spots like Northstar-at-Tahoe, Auburn, Mammoth Mtn, Santa Cruz, etc and have had riders/SWD bikes travel to ALL of the NORBA National race venues. In this tradition we race on into the new 2006 season. The winter Pirate DH Ride Series up in the Arcata/Hoopa area got things going early, with SWD warriors Hank Matheson, Brian Hapgood, Jason Reiman, Christina Reiman, Ray Williams and Robbie Rhall, all putting in early season races. SWD Racing again sponsored the Pirate winter series finals and gave away another new 2006 custom-built frame. The winner of the race and also the frame, was super-fast, soon-to-be Pro Dher, Scott Fellers from Chico Ca. We are stoked to soon have Scott be able to give us some feedback on what we are doing and hopefully do some runs with us as well. If you are wondering where you have heard the name Scott Fellers, he just won the Sea Otter Classic, Semi-Pro DH race last Sunday! So, yeah, he's fast. So far in the 2006 season, our own SWD Semi-Pro racers have been riding fast and have been in the upper-half of the field in very competitive races. Our 2005 Whistler Joyride DH Pro-podium finisher Justin Frey is again up to his usual standards, "Sending-It" nearly everyday on DH trails all across North America, literally! You might find Justin riding/racing anywhere from California to Whistler BC, the pacific northwest, Colorado and just possibly any event in between. Watch for Justin on our all-new 2006 SWD 6-Gun bike as well, he has been getting in some testing on it recently. For all of the early season race results/reports and some photos of the new 6-Gun and other newly built up Crazy 8 DH bikes, check out the website. Look for our all-new Laser-Cut upper & lower shock mounts, as well as disc-brake-brackets and beautiful TIG-Welding by Dan Woodall, on all the new-generation 2006 SWD frames! Also, we are scheduled to do a sit-down interview here in our home-base of Modesto, Ca. in the coming months with Bike Magazine, www.bikemag.com ! They are really interested in how this growing tribe of SWD bikes/racers/riders began and would like to feature us in their "Hand-Built" section. They are planning for the November issue, which would come out probably in September? Also, look for some photos of SWD bikes and possibly some shots of our Semi-Pro racer Ryan Cornilsen in Mountain Bike Action soon, www.mbaction.com ! This will be the third-year in-a-row that SWD has gotten some huge magazine coverage, to go along with our now-huge results at the races. People just can't figure it out? Lastly, I would like to welcome more new SWD racers for 2006, Nolan Cox - podium at Sea Otter, Joel Pitra, David Widmer - from Quebec, JT Strickland - from North Carolina and suggested the name "6-Gun" for our new shorter-travel design, Tony Estrada, fast-guy Jerry Vines and this list goes on... Thanks for all your support and see you at NORBA National Rd. #1 in Fontana, Ca. in 3 weeks!
Steve DeLay
Fred Cracks his Frame
So the week before the Sea Otter, Fred cracked his 29'er Fisher. The replacement frame showed up right before race day and Gary offered to build it up really quickly and have it delievered to Fred in Monterey in time for the race. Fred decided that the SS would be a better choice for the race so he told Gary to not rush the swap.
So last week I was hanging around Cyclemasters, and there is Freds cracked frame.
There wasn't much metal left holding that seat tube on.
April 10
The Sea Otter is over...
My pictures.... mostly just pictures of us drinking with some DH race pictures at the end.
Looks like there were multiple podium finishes. I'll try to complie a list in the next few days. There was a lot of drinking and socializing Friday night, mostly at the Crown and Anchor. I MC'd the www.mtbr.com raffle Friday and Sunday, both times in the rain. This year, no Trogs came away with an really big prizes, but I picked up a few good things here and there. Incluidng a set of Jagwire for my derailer.
I spent most of Sunday on the DH course watching the SWD boys and girls doing their thing.
From Al
More later......
April 3
The Sea Otter is Coming
I know Fred will be camping up there somewhere. I'll be wandering around somewhere, I know I'll be working the MTBR booth from 2-4pm on Saturday. Come by and say, "Hi." Especailly since I'll most likely be tossing stuff out for the raffel.
Every year some Trog has scored will at the raffel. I've won cranks, Fred walked away with a Fox Fork, Bruce won a SRAM group, and mostly a bunch of Trogs get other stuff like socks and hats and DVD's.
This Saturday, John M, Scott and I pre rode the course with a large mtbr crew and then grilled up some grub afterwards. (pics)
The XC race course is very different this year. A lot of new trails, and a lot more climbing. I rode all the new stuff and I'm glad I'm not racing..... not that I'd put up much of a race.
I did get to try out my new 1X9 set up. I've been meaning to get ride of some rings on the front for a while and I finally had Gary order me the parts I needed.
I'm not really strong enough to ride 1X9, but if I have to drop to the granny ring, I'd rather just walk. I did a bit of walking on Saturday. The mud and sand played havoc with most people's drive train but I had no problems with the sand and mud.
Expect a lot of sand and mud for the race. Try to get a pre-race ride in before Sunday.
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Bring on the Wednesday Rides.
The time has changed. Everyone one has been asking about the Wednesday Cycles Masters Ride. Everyone says they're going to show up.... so I guess it's on.
I'll be there. Hell, I'll even show up Wednesday if it's raining.