July 2004

Twenty-five college students cycling across the country pedaled through Stockton the other day.

What are you doing Saturday? There is a free concert and bike advocacy fundraiser tomorrow in Golden Gate Park. All proceeds from beer sales go to charity.

Say it isn't so! It's too soon for a Lance movie and I really don't think Matt Damon should be playing Lance.

Filip Meirhaeghe has tested positive for EPO. Sucks. Filip raced Cooperopolis earlier this year a couple weeks before he raced the Sea Otter. He won both. He's quitting cycling.

One of the people accusing Lance of drug use was an ex-US Postal doctor who left before Lance was a team member. Tyler is included in those accusations. Tyler addressed the issue in the latest Tyler Tunes.

Looks like Bush has caught the passion for mtbing. Since he hurt his knee, he's switched his physical activity to mountain biking. News today said he crashed again. He got right back on and keep riding. Keep riding.

Last time I was at Skeggs I was told it was a warm day "for Skeggs". Even still, I had long sleeves on and nearly froze. So I thought I'd get smart and bring long sleeved jerseys and arm warmers, and a vest. During the drive in, the thick fog and 60 degree temps proved my wisdom.

Then there were a few patches of clearing. By the time I parked, the fog was gone and settled in the valley below and it started to warm up! Warm? At Skeggs? I scrounged around in the car and luckily found a sleveless jersey. Our group of nine soon after converged on the lower parking area and we started riding. Trogs reprezent: Fred, Bob, Pimpbott(erich),Pimlott, Jrm (John) Mark, Bruce, Ogre, and Impy (Colette).

I can't tell you the names of all the trails, and truth be told, even the people who were supposed to know probably didn't know either :). The scenery was awesome and varied - from exposed rocky manzanita-lined sandstone (rocky technical fun) to swoopy fast redwood forested creekside trails. Personally I was disappointed as I was promised visions of Steaming Donkeys, Giant Salamanders, and a Blue Bonnet but none were found!!! However, the trails that those items were supposed to be on were fabulous. Fred, who kicked arse again on his SS, got delirious at one point from lack of oxygen and thought he saw a bear in the bushes. Bob got really friendly with the trees and started waxing poetic about needles and scent and also hallucinating about topless women. Erich decided to get any crashes over before the ride began in the parking area by deciding to stall on a root then tumbling about in the dirt a bit. Bruce still catches the best air off compressions and bumps that I've ever seen. Pimlott found out why the OH NO trail is named that. Mark was riding very strong and looked like he was having fun. Jrm spits the best of anyone I've seen, and he was observed rolling around in the dirt for awhile and got a bit bonky but toughed it out even when someone picked the Wrong way to go and ended up sending us on a hike a bike hell for a mile or so in the heat. Erich gets the awesome person of the day award for making sure noone got heat stroke. Cause it got hot!

What looked like a boring stage had some drama going on behind the scenes. Lance has been known to hold a grudge, and today he laid down the law. He's pretty much dominated the Tour this year, including that awesome finish yesterday but today he's graduated to Patron of the Tour. Some people have been calling him an a-hole for acting that way, but some of the riders agreed with him. I don't know where to put all this but it's making for a really good Tour.

Everyone go out and check out the Steve's interview in September's issue of Mountain Bike Action. Two pages with a cool pic of Steve with one of his bikes at the Sea Otter.

Did you see the crazy crowds on Alpe d'Huez? It was kind of scary. Beyond the loud boos thrown at Lance, people spat and flipped him off all the way up. Lance wasn't the only one. Jens Voit was called a 'traitor' by German fans for not helping Jan. Jan isn't even on his team. Robbie McEwen was given the treatment too.

Since OLN plays each stage over and over again, you get a good chance to read all the road graffiti. Christian Vande Velde has some interesting insight on the whole day. Including the giant phalli on the road. The copter cam has done a better job of missing those this year.

As you know, Tyler lost his pal Tugboat this year during the Tour. He had a lot to say about him today. I guess if you're not a dog owner, you may not understand.

The topica list is just too spammy. An ad at the top and bottom of every email we send out has just gotten old. We're in the process of switching to a Yahoo Groups email list. Yahoo Groups still have ads, but they're relegated to the bottom of the page where they are less obtrusive. As a plus, there are polls and a chat room that come with the Yahoo Group.

You can join the new Trogs email list by clicking on the Yahoo Groups image on the right.

Glory Hole is such a disturbing name for a Rec Area, but that's what it's called and that is where some Trogs are meeting up to ride Thursday evening.

If you're into it, here are some free fonts you can download. There special for the Tour.

Well, my back is feeling better. I can walk, but I'm still hobbling around. Then I get this from Bob.

Well, I'm glad you all had fun at Downieville.

I've been to Santa Cruz and here's yer report,..please forgive it's somewhat digressional nature.

At 9 am on Monday David Zollinger landed on his rump with a resounding thud, when the rope he was swinging from broke at Henry Cowell campsite # 18. As he then proceeded to yelp about how bad his back hurt (remember he landed on his rear) this earned him an ambulance ride to the ER.
On the way discussion between paramedic and David's Dad turned to, you guessed it, mountain biking. "My partner in the back is quite a biker, even welds frames he sells, you should ask him about the trails."
Well, in the interest of brevity, Greg the EMT, is a single speeder of tremendous grace, skill, and local knowledge. We went out twice that week and now I can say that I have gotten "Sick and Twisted", "Mad Hernitted" and bounced over so many log bridges on nameless single track that I need never ride a fireroad again, in the Cowell- UCSC area.
He even offered to take the TROGS out sometime,schedule permitting.He also hosts a ride in the winter with a BBQ and, everybody's favorite beverage served at the end. So let's hook up!

Oh yea, my son was treated and released from the ER and spent the remainder of Monday in Convalescence at New Brighton beach.

Later; Bob

As you know Stage 16 is the Uphill Time Trial, even though it looks like the Tour is pretty much settled at this point. Lot's of stuff could get shaken up. There will be a lot of people watching. Traditionally, tefosi write the names of their favorite riders on the road. This guy is doing the same thing, but to advertise his new logo. He's thinking about the millions of people that will be watching on Wed. Smart guy.

Forrest: “ Mama, what’s vacation?”
Mama: “That’s where you go away and never come back.”

Wow, what a mountain biker’s dream vacation I had. Seven straight days of high Sierra trails. Three days at the mtbr.com (Jedfest) gathering at Downieville., two days in Tahoe and two days in Bear Valley. It was tempting to be like Forrest Gump’s dad and never come back. D-ville was great. I see there are a gazillion pics already posted. Very cool. Ditto the great trme with a bunch of great folks on an outstanding trail system. I would like to return and explore deeper. Got to ride all the well known trails, with Pauly Creek being my favorite. Riding the same direction in a stream with drops and lush vegetation rubbing up against you from both sides was kinda like kayaking on a bike. Makes my heart race just remembering the first little waterfall drop that popped up out of nowhere, yee haa. After dinner Sunday with Bruce and Joseph, Jon Miller and I stayed at his Dad’s cabin in Grayeagle and then on to Tahoe on Monday.

Monday’s ride was to be the Flume Trail. We met some local riders who suggested we take their route to optimize the fireroad climbing and single track descending. How can you argue with that? We started at Spooner Lake(7,000 ft,) and went north up to Marlette Peak(8,780ft). It was pointed out later by a local we missed a bear that was just a few feet off the fire road climb. My excuse is lack of air and focusing on breathing. Jon’s excuse was he was busy counting the knobs on his front tire. At the peak was an outstanding view of Marlette and Tahoe. Silly me without a camera. Now the payback, sweet, sweet Sierra singletrack down to the north end of the Flume trail. We turned south on Flume to the gradual climb back to Marlette Lake and back to Spooner. With a little extra credit by parking outside the gate, we totaled 24 miles that day. We spent Monday night in Fallen Leaf campground near Emerald Bay.

Tuesday we decided we could be in Tahoe without at a visit to Mr. Toads. A stop at a sporting goods/ bike shop yielded an IMBA map and with Jon’s uncanny sense of remembering every detail of oral directions from locals, we decided to shuttle ourselves. Toads was everything everybody makes it out to be. Even for a weenie downhiller like me it was a blast. At the lower section, my trusted scout, Jonto, spotted some very nice and very fresh cat tracks that measured about 3” across with some smaller 1-1/2” tracks with them. Oh great, now I’m starting to feel like I’m wearing a Friskies jersey. I plead with Jon to please don’t leave me. Back at lower vehicle and lunch, Jonto talks me into a little cool down run out to Round Lake. The starting point is at the upper vehicle so sure, why not? I take a second look at the trusted IMBA map and realize Jonto has sucked me into a convenient little route which takes us directly to Christmas Valley trail, described by the locals as “Toads, but not as steep. You have to pedal faster to keep your speed up.“ I’m thinking, Great, there goes that gravity excuse. Can’t be this close and not at least take a look. You can turn back and ride out. It was not as bad as it was made out and was able to ride more of it than Toads. We made a loop out of it and road the highway back to the top. Jon and I came back towards home on Hwy 88. Knowing Jon’s an aviator and that one Deer Ridge Inn’s themes is planes, we stopped for a well deserved steak dinner. Here my trusted scout and I parted trails. I needed a little quiet time so solo I go to Bear Valley-o.

Wednesday and Thursday eat, sleep, ride. Bear Valley trails, had a beer. Best rides ever.

So after suffering with a jacked up back for 5 days I hobble to the doctors office and I find out there's nothing he can do. I figured as much. I'll be off the bike for a while. At least I have the Tour to watch and it's finally getting good.

What happened? Where was the battle? Lance put the hammer down and everyone else just caved. Tyler, Mayo, Heras, and especially Jan. Lance is now in second place, still 5 minutes down from Voeckler who put up a really good fight to keep from losing more. Tomorrow is supposed to be the hardest of the mountain stages. Let's see what happens.

I hate my back. After a great weekend of riding around Downiville, I came home and got ready for a drive to LA to drop off Princess Kelley at her uncles house. I had just carried the laundry hamper to the bedroom, sat it down and then reached to grab a T-shirt off the top of the pile and BAM!!! A bolt of lightening struck me in my lower back. I instantly went down to the floor and have been there ever since..... no riding this weekend, I might not even be able to make it to the Live Wide Screen Stage 13 of the Tour on Saturday. I've been popping muscle relaxants and vicodin for 4 days and they don't work for crap.

Am I the only one who thinks the Tour sucks so far? Trust me, I'm not. Tomorrow, the sparks should start flying with the first mountain stage. I've got nothing else to do and I can't get off the couch. I'll be watching.

Then what's the crap with Greg Lemond? He's dead to me. I don't think it's a coincidence that LeMond and Le Monde are only off by one letter. Bitter, bitter, bitter.

From talking to Jed and Big Boulder it sounds like next year's big norcal gathering will not be a Downiville. Expect a big shindig at Tahoe next summer. Where ever it is, I'll be there....

As always, D'ville trials are a blast. I only rode Saturday where we managed to get 2 shuttle runs up to Packer Saddle. First we took Pauly Creek and then and the second run we did Butcher Ranch. Great trails, great weather, the pictures tell it all.

Saturday night, there was a party downtown. Burritos, Beer, a live band and....... SUMO!!! The sumo was the hit of the night. The locals and the gatherers really enjoyed it. There was some serious sumo and with some bloody collisions. Five stitches were needed to close the bloodiest sumo injury to date. There is video of the collision and the squrting blood. As soon as it's available I'll post it.

Steve Wolf has provided some great trail video of Downiville for you to download.

I heard about the new rules for the Team Time Trial months ago, but I didn't fully understand them. No one I knew fully understood them until today when USPS tore up the TTT and beat Phonak by over a minute.

I had heard how that the most a team could loose was two and half minutes. I assumed that meant that if you lost by more than 2 1/2 minutes, they'd just cut the losses. What I didn't understand was that each position had a specific maximum time loss. That means than from first to second place, the most you could loose was 20 seconds basically a 40 plus second gift to Tyler Hamilton, and over a minute gift to Jan. Now that just sucks. Why even have a TTT?

Looking back, it's amazing the Phonak was only back a minute seven seconds. With the four flats they had, and the mechanicals, a smooth run would have made the first place finish a lot closer. Then again, Postal may have just let up once they knew they were winning by such a large margin.

Did you watch the Stage 3 today? If so, you saw Mayo loose his chance to win today. He got caught in a crash right before the cobblestone sections. The peleton was already going flat out and once they realized that Mayo was down they never let up and he never caught back on. Four minutes back and it's only Stage 3. Tomorrow, after the Team Time Trail, Mayo will be even further back. It was ruthless, all the contender's teams just pulled hard. That's the Tour. Floyd Landis writes about in his Tour Diary.

Thank God for OLN, but do they really need Al Trautwig. There are a lot of recently retired pros that could do a hell of a job and actually know what they're talking about.

James Raia has a website and a daily email to keep you updated on Tour news. To subscribe go to his web page.

Check out this interview with Andrew Shandro. He's one of those crazy guys who hucks off of cliffs and stuffs.

MTB Bill comes out with some pictures and a video of some carnage. You may remember his previous work.. namely the Mile Crash Video. One of the pics is quite raw don't click if you're squeamish.

Can he stay upright? Day one, Tyler crashes on the wet roads. Tyler wasn't alone, Cipo to a spill too.

Well, Lance didn't win, but he came out ahead of his rivals. Some newcomer smoked everyone, the kid was crying. I think I would be too. Imagine if this kid did what Cunego did to Simone. I rode with François of www.mtbr.com today. As we pedaled up the climb at Demo we talked about the Tour. He said he's routing for Jan. I'm routing for Lance, but I wouldn't be upset if Jan won. I just want an exciting Tour. Maybe not as exciting as last year. That was just too hard to watch.

I guess Bissel is one of the US Postal sponsors. Expect a bunch of commercials from the this year. They've put up a really cheesy bike game up on their website. Check it out if you want.

Steve Wolf has a new video of his ride on the Tahoe Flume Trial with UnkleMTB (Tim). MTB
Bill has a video of riding in the Philippines.

Well, it starts tomorrow. I purposely picked a late start time for tomorrows ride so I can at least watch the prologue before I had to leave, but now it looks like the show doesn't start until 8am. I hope that's Eastern Time. How long do you think it will be before the first drug raid? We'll see what happens tomorrow. There are too many contenders this year. It should be great.

Well, half of NorCal and a bunch of Trogs are heading up to the Downiville Gathering next week. Some of us are leaving Thursday, some are leaving Friday. After the Gathering, a few Trogs are staying in Downiville at John Miller's cabin for a few more days of riding around the area and Tahoe.