June 30
Bike Videos
A cool site with mtb vid from England. And here I thought there was no singletrack in Great Britton.
Tyler Tunes
The other big named American who I'll bet you'll see on the podium at this year's Tour keeps us up to date on the world of Tyler Hamilton. I think I've mentioned that I've gotten tickets to the live broadcast of Stage 13 in the Emeryville theater. Breakfast and a really big screen with a couple hundred cycling fans. The Tour starts Saturday. I really can't wait.
Meet the Devil
So, if this is going to be your first year of watching the Tour, you might see a guy in a devil costume on the mountain stages. Or maybe you've seen him before and just wondered "What's up with that?". Meet Didi.
More Tour Stuff
Pez Cycling news compares Anquetil and Armstrong as Lance goes for his 6th win. Both had great rivals that pushed them to win. Does history favor Armstrong?
June 28
So I start to upload my pictures onto my laptop and I notice that there were 79 pictures on the camera.... 79! I know I didn't take that many pictures. Well, after looking at some of the pics, I think I figured out who the culprit was. Can you identify this man!
Hell Ride
Read how Matt Klymsun tore it up on his new VPP-Free by riding 8 1/2 loops at Demo this Saturday. Twelve thousand feet of climbing and I don't know how many miles of riding on a 40lb bike. Enjoy the bike Matt, you da man.
Tyler
We all know he's the man, but did you know he's also the beer. Well, not really him but check out Tyler Hamilton's Clavicle. I guess you can't get it in a bottle, but if you're in Waltham Massachusetts then stop buy and drink a pint.
June 27
Ride Report
Hammel Canyon and Pinecrest Peak Downhill
We had a good showing. Roger, Dennis, Joe, Todd, Alex, Joseph, me and the new guy, Josh. Josh works at Fun Sports in Modesto and heard about the ride when someone came in to buy armor for the ride. We never did figure out who that someone was, because they never showed up.
Now, Joe and Roger had to be back early so we dropped them off at the gargoyles so they could start the climb to Pinecrest Peak. We continued our shuttle to the top of Hammel Canyon. The thing was, I expected Roger to go with us so I had left the maps at home, and everything I had heard and read told me the trail was a little hard to find. But due to my grand navigational skills we found the trial head. It was right next to a dry creek bead that had a large stone campfire ring that could easily be used as a trail marker for future rides.
Hammel Canyon was fun, technical in spots due to the hidden rocks. Plants managed to hide many of the rocks but it was a nice, not too tough trail. The trail ends at the Herring Creek campgrounds, very near where we had dropped off Joe and Roger.
The climb to Pinecrest peak was as I remembered it. A gradual gravel road. What was new was the dark clouds that had showed up. It had gotten cold and started to sprinkle. We even heard some rumbling of thunder clouds and I hoped we would not end up dodging lightening at the top. I'm not sure Josh knew about the climb since he had brought his bike that only had 1 ring up front. A 42 tooth ring wasn't the best thing to have on the climb, but he made it up.
The ride down was good solid Pinecrest peak technical singletrack. More sprinkles and a run in with a rattle snake added spice to the ride. There was a lot of dabbing but that's expected on this trail.
It was a good ride. Pictures tomorrow.
george
June 26
Funky Stuff
The things you find when surfing around the Net for random stuff. This looks like a good bookmark for supplies for the end of the year Xmas parade. Fred had the right idea last year and dressed up for the occasion.
More Funky Stuff
Check out the CRUD. Home made chopper riders ride the urban streets in style. You'll probably need a shirt from these folks to complete the look.
Miller is Out
David Millar, World Champion Time Trialist, has confessed to using EPO. He's out of the Tour and who knows what else will happen to him.
Tomorrow's ride
Expect plenty of pictures for tomorrows Pinecrest Peak Hammel Canyon ride. I've gotten a lot of feedback and we should have a good group of 6 or 7 guys. I hope you can make the ride.
June 24
Beginners MTB Clinic
I
going to lead another training ride. The pace will be slow and cover about
10 miles with some extra credit sections of time and
desire is there. New Melones consists of a series of single track loops with
one 350 foot optional climb..
Most of the trails are winding trough trees and low brushes
with no open exposure. There is no water immediately available at
the site so bring plenty. We will be
leaving Tracy Cyclery at 8:00 on Sunday June 27. Then meet up with any
Stanislus county group rides at the AM PM on F st and
Magg ave at about 9. There is more information and pictures available at
http://trogssite.tripod.com/trogs/id30.html
Any questions call me
John
Pimlott
209 815 7436
June 22
Downiville Gathering
The next local MTBR Gathering will hit Downiville July 8-11th. You need to reserve a shuttle through Yuba Expeditions or figure some other way to get up the mountain. There is some talk of some Trogs staying after the Gathering to do some more riding. John Miller has access to a cabin near Downiville. I'm not sure of all the details yet.
Countdown to the Tour
Ten more days until the prologue. US Postal has announced it's line up, T-Mobile has lost Vino to injury and has Cadel on reserve, Levi is leading Rabobank, Mayo is feeling the pressure, Tyler is looking strong. I can't wait.
Writers Step Up
Can you write? Can you write about mountain biking? Maybe you can get published in Dirt Rag.
Fred's SS Ride Report
Dave
C. and I did a SS ride out to the Baths at Los Banos Creek Res. Sat. Thanks
to Mark D. for letting me know about some undiscovered single track that
follows the lake shore and creek up the canyon instead of the usual boring
fireroad. The "new " singletrack is narrow and twisty with enough
rocks here and there to keep on your toes. Plus, knowing of the abundant
wildlife in the area keeps your heart racing with anticipation that any
second something is more than likely to come busting out of the brush and
trees. In the past we seen lots of deer, eagles, hawks, a condor,
cottontails and hawks. Mark reported a bobcat sighting last week. This week
there was a new hatch of lizards scurrying everywhere. The terrain makes me
think of what the Dakotas must be like with wide open plateaus and deep
canyons for the water and animals to flourish. Dave said it best calling the
main canyon an oasis. You know that any living thing must come to this 100
yard wide by miles long strip if it is to survive. Dave and I crossed over
the creek and was riding on the Path of the Padres on the south side when we
observed a 4x4 truck entering the canyon from the north ridge. We stopped
and talked to them at the baths while their Labrador retriever played in the
pools. They had come from San Luis Res. Dave and I headed up another 1/2
mile and stopped for a food break before heading back. This area is so
unique. Along with the granite pools it looks like a dumping ground for left
over cement and aggregate but it's all natural. When we got back to the 4x4
truck, the people were catching the bass and trout that were landlocked and
starving there. They were using some sticks and line that was just lying
around and the lab was fetching the fish they released. They asked if we saw
the 10 wild pigs that came down the canyon right after our first meeting. I
amazed and disappointed we had missed them. Those of you that been here know
that it should have been easy to spot 10 pigs, but we both missed them. I
guess we had spooked them. We followed the new trail back out, so much nicer
than the loose rocky climb up from "the truck". On the last little
smooth fireroad down hill, just before the final singletrack climb out, I
bought big time. One stinking babyhead I failed to see, and down I went
sliding for what seemed an eternity. After taking bodily inventory, gash in
the elbow and hyper extended shoulder, we finished the climb. I really love
this place to come and smell the roses. Dave and I discussed returning to do
some trail work on the new section. A few short sections are rutted and need
a little TLC. Hope everyone had a great Father's Day. I was pampered to the
max while I licked my wounds. 'till the next best ride, Fred
June 21
Stage 13 Live on the Big Screen
I almost don't want to share this with you guys, since I don't' have tickets for it myself but there is giong to be a special live showing of Stage 13 of the Tour this year in Emeryville and other citys around the country. You can order tickets online, but I didn't want to order tickets online since it costs and extra $40 on top of the $25 for each ticket. So instead I tried to go to REI In Berkeley to get tickets. Well REI didn't know what I was talking about but after a few calls they were able to tell me the tickets would be in mid week. I left my name and number and I hope for the best. Anyway here are the details. Save me a ticket or two. I don't mind getting up early.
Bike Flix
If you like watching mountain biking flix, check out www.netflix.com. Along with their regular slew of movies, they have quite a few 'extreme' mountain bike DVD's. Big drops, crazy stunts, urban assaults, ladders, bridges, and teeter tooters, it's all in there.
Tinker Gets Robbed
June 20
Happy Father's Day
It's not to late to get your dad a really cool gift and support the Trogs all at one time.
Scattered
After last weeks epic group ride it seems like everyone is scattered this week. A few Trogs road riding in Redwood city, a few Trogs at Annandale, maybe Bear Valley, and other local corners of Central California. I hope the riding was good and you kept the rubber side down.
Thrills and Spills
Must be time to crash. I hear Crazy Andy was riding around China Camp during the Trails and Ales shindig and took a tumbler off an exposed piece of singletrack (he's OK). Crazy Andy is the fellow who rode the Sea Otter race on a fixed gear bike and spd sandals. It wasn't even a fixed gear mountain bike. It was a road frame with cross tires on it. The same fixed gear bike he road a century in a few months before. Crashed his brains out at the race too. Now you know why the call him Crazy Andy.
A little less crazy is bike shop Matt. I hear he took a day off work from Cyclemasters to go up to Northstar opening day with the SWD race team. I don't know if he crashed hard or what but I heard something about a messed up hand. I'll run by the shop this week to visit him and give him some crap.
Another Epic Ride
This is how you celebrate a birthday. 100k , 8000 ft and pictures.
The One Second Man
Jan bust out a win at the Tour de Suisse by winning the final ITT. He takes the overall win of the Tour de Suisse by one second. He looks lean and mean and ready for the Tour de France.
More Miles
Many of you have seen the Miles crash video, well here's the full story, with pics and explanations.
June 17
The Great Divide Race 2004
From Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide Trail. Eight competitors will race 2465 miles starting June 18th. Read the daily updates here.
Trips for Kids Bike Swap
Mark your calendar, June 26th is the 13th Annual Trip for Kids Bike Swap. There might be some really good deals at this fundraiser for Trips for Kids. Nothing like getting a deal and helping get more people on bikes. Here is the flyer, and here are directions on how to get there.
Trails and Ales
TRAILS
AND ALES MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE AND BBQ
Saturday, June 19, 9:30 AM, China Camp State Park
Lisa Luzzi of Access4Bikes writes:
A celebration of Bay Area mountain biking will be held at China Camp State Park on Sat. June 19, 2004, starting at 9:30 a.m. Attend and show your support for opening additional singletrack trails to mountain bikers.
Ales & Trails Mountain Bike Party and Ride, is sponsored by Access4Bikes (A4B), Bicycle Trails Council of Marin (BTCM), Bicycle Trails Council of East Bay (BTCEB) and Northern California Mountain Bike Association (NorCAMBA). The event is FREE, for current paid members of any of these organizations. If you are not a current member of any of these clubs, you will be able to join the day of the event for $20. If you join at the $50 level, or already have a membership at that level, you can bring one adult guest free of charge. Guests of members are $10, and children under 14 are free.
Group rides on the miles of singletrack will be offered for all levels, from hammerheads to beginners starting at 9:30 am. Following the rides, at 12:30 pm, will be a barbecue lunch, with free draft beer courtesy of Broken Drum Brewery.
Support bike legal singletrack, join a local advocacy club, and ride and party with us. Bring your friends!
Directions: The rides and picnic will be at Miwok Meadows, in China Camp State Park near San Rafael. From 101 Freeway take North San Pedro Road exit, going east for about 3 miles to the park. Continue on about 1/2 mile past the campground entrance to a dirt fire road on the right with signs for Miwok Meadows and Ales & Trails. Drive in the dirt road for 1/4 mile. Parking is free. For more information about China Camp, visit http://www.parks.ca.gov. For more information about Ales & Trails contact Danny Forer or call (510)528-8099.
June 16
Trog Down
After riding 30+ miles with over 7000ft of descending on Saturdays trip to Kernville, Mad Max got hurt at Dry Creek. Now, Dry Creek is not much to ride, but many of us, including me, have taken some pretty bad spills at the Creek. Off the top of my head, I can list, 2 broken hips, broken ribs, and tumbles down the cliff. Well, add Max's chipped bone and the doctor says he's out 8 weeks. The current pool says 4 weeks, we'll see how it goes.
Trog Gear
Some of you may or may have not noticed the Trog Gear link on the left. In honor of an awesome Kernville Trip I've added a new shirt that captures the moment. Also, the price has come down on the basic white "Best Ride Ever" shirt. If you have ideas or requests, send them to me and I'll see what I can do. All profits go to the Trogs.
June 15
LA Confidential
So there is a book coming out claiming that Lance is on drugs. Isn't just like the French. They've investigated him for 2 years and came up empty. He goes through countless random drug tests, even once while headed for the birth of his twins, and comes up clean. I just think they can't stand to have an American winning their race. I wonder what they'd do to Tyler if he won the Tour.
New Team Sponsor
The Discovery Channel is the big mystery sponsor that is going to take over for US Postal next year. Lance was at a news conference today for the announcement where he also had to discuss the LA Confidential doping allegations.
Vino is out
Speaking of the Tour, last year's third place finisher, Alexandre Vinokourov, is out of the Tour. He crashed at the Tour de Suisse and has to undergo some shoulder surgery. This is a big boost for Lance. Vino may not have won the tour, but with Vino and Jan taking turns attacking Lance, it would have been hard.
I can't wait for this years Tour.
June 14
More plunge reports and pictures... and videos.
Impy's Report
I
had been very nervous about this ride for a number of reasons I heard
there was a fair amount of exposure on the plunge, the ride is at altitude,
and I had been fighting a cold for about a week. I almost bailed but decided
that Id go because I had also heard so many great reports about the
ride especially from Steve Wolf, and I figured Id regret it if I
didnt go.
It was fantastic!
I went with the group that went straight down from the shuttle spot at 9200
ft we didnt do the extra credit climb to the tip top. Steve Wolf,
Uncle MTB, Bryan, Neil, J. Pimlott and Jrm were in our group. Despite the
weather being in the 70s at 8 am in the valley, it was a chilly 52 at
the starting place. The trail started out in a piney forest, with smooth
singletrack and lots of little moguls that were really fun to go over. It
was fast and smooth, with a few rocky sections and a creek tossed in for
good measure. This went on for a while. Next part I recall was the beginning
of the climbs. There were a couple of crazy steep sections that would have
been a challenge at sea level, but they were murder at 9000 feet. Most
people were pushing up the steepest part and gasping for air at that. There
were 2 big climbs like that. All in foresty terrain, with a fair amount of
loose dirt, pinecones and occasional rocks. There were maybe a dozen or so
small creek crossings. There
were also a few alpine meadows with rare patches of snow under the trees.
The mules ears were just coming up, no blooms yet, but there were some other
small flowers in bloom.
After those climbs the fun really began. The single track went down, and
turned into a sort of (dry) creek bed lots of babyheads and loose
rocks as well as embedded granite. What a charge! It was very fun and
challenging. There were also a lot of sandy sections, and loose dirt
sections. Eventually we ended up in a place called big meadow, where there
was a (duh) big meadow. It was gorgeous. Tim had a mechanical here his
rear derailleur got bent but he and Neil were able to get it sorted out
after tinkering with it for a while. We took off across the big meadow,
which was a bog in the middle. Feet got completely submerged in the muck and
we all squished for a while. We then climbed a fireroad for a mile or so,
then took a little singletrack that paralleled the road, and the the final
big climb awaited us. The grade wasnt all that steep but it was
technical with lots of rocks and obstacles to try and stop your front tire.
It was tough especially with the altitude and I
certainly had to push some sections but it was a fun challenge. After that
was some more awesome rocky downhill. I think this is where J.Pimlott and I
took off ahead. Jrm had already gone ahead, and the rest of us were
scattered here and there. We rode through yet more gorgeous meadows, and
then the trail turned into this very fun rocky creekside trail
technical in spots as there were a lot of boulder and rocks that you had to
negotiate over/around. I started to get nervous that we might be on the
wrong trail as neither one of us had a map and we didnt see a soul (we
had been leapfrogging with another group all day but they were suddenly
nowhere in sight) and there we not a lot of tire tracks. We
stopped at an intersection and waited about 25 minutes. Uncle MTB, Steve,
and Neil showed up. Then Alex and shows up! And Max, Phil, and the rest of
the A crew were not far behind. We soon thereafter encountered the Plunge.
I followed Max, Todd,Phil, Alex, Dave, and John P. down of course they
took off pretty fast. I took the trail fairly slowly. The Plunge is downhill
for 8 miles and you lose something like 5000 feet. Your hands definitely get
crampy holding those brakes! The terrain at the top was loose and sandy,
with occasional granite rocks on the trail. The exposure was not as bad as I
had feared as the trail itself is definitely wide enough and there was only
one kind of washed out section. The big challenge was sand no matter
what speed you were at the sand posed steering challenges so you had to be
careful. There was a surprise climb (hike a bike for me) for a short bit
that was very loose and steep and darned hard to even walk on. I almost
thought again that I was on the wrong trail, but then I saw someone hike a
biking wayyy up ahead so I knew I was going the right way. Eventually the
sandy loose part turned into more embedded rock and packed down dirt and
this is where there
were a series of switchbacks. I kept hearing this brake squeal I look
back and George is behind me! I let him pass, and then Joseph and Bruce went
by as well. Ogre and Bryan show up soon thereafter and I finished the ride
with them. I discovered Ogre had eaten the cookie he promised for me so I
tried to impale him on a fallen tree by stopping suddenly. The trail kept
going down, with more rocky sections, and eventually it widened and the
ending was wicked fast with no exposure and a lot of fun rocks to launch off
of at speed.
THANKS to George for putting it together. Thanks Ogre, Joseph, and Bryan for
being awesome road trip buddies and for not snoring. Extra thanks to Bryan
for doing just about all of the driving. Thanks to whoever brought the chips
and beer. Definitely the Best Ride Ever!
And now for something completely different
Crazy Jogger at the Fremont Crit
I got this from the AltoVelo email list. This was taken from a race report posted by Mark Rodamaker
Saturday was the Fremont crit. We were the 1st race. 45's and 55's racing together but picked separately at the end. At the start one of the FFBC guys in our race mentioned there was a runner who would not get off the course and was belligerent. We waited for a little while and then started. He was running on the course opposite the direction we were going and on the inside of the road. He yelled an obscenity at us the first time we went by him. About 15 minutes into the 40 minute race, he ran into our path and reportedly held an arm straight out. I did not have a good view of this but heard it from a number of other racers. This created a lot of panic and swerving in the pack. Bob Parker apparently hit him straight on at about 25 mph. Bob hurt his shoulder pretty severely and his bike may be totaled. There were a lot of riders on the ground. I was right behind it but managed to ride between crash victims and stayed upright. The race was neutralized for at least a half hour. It was eventually restarted with 9 laps to go. 3 45's ( Larry Nolan, Stan Urban and Peter Allen got away and held on for the top 3 spots. Our Warren Giessert got 7th. I won the 55's and Leo was 2nd.
I read in following reports that the jogger was hurling racial slurs when he was initially told to get off the course. He also was hurt really bad in the crash........ good.
Custom Cruiser SS
This guy really likes his girlfriend. He built her a special bike for her birthday. Read all about it.
Northstar Opens up Friday!
I've never been, but I hear the SWD team is going up for the opening day special.. $10. I can't take the day off work, but it's very tempting.
My Favorite Cannel Pic
I've been working on timing with the digital shutter and composition and I think this one just came out right.
Plunge (my
pictures) (Steve's
Cannel Vid)
There is too much to tell, but the
weekend started with some freaky locals in Lake Isabella, then lead us to an
epic ride down the Plunge, and ended with a long long drive back
home.
Friday night got off to an interesting
start when a psycho woman started yelling at Fred in the pizza parlor.
She explained the uniqueness of the local traffic laws and then felt the
need to show us how big (or small) she thought Fred's shock pump was.
We then had a psycho motel guest who didn't like where/how Tim parked the
Glomar so he decide to park behind Tim and refused to move...... for
hours. He just sat there and smoked. We watched as cars would
pull up behind him unable to pass, he would then move so they could pass,
then he'd back up and block Tim's truck again. He finally took some
meds and went inside the motel never to be seen again.
Later than evening, a sheriff showed up
and we had a chat with him. He basically punctuated the moment when
Tim asked if he should bring his camper next time and the Sheriff said,
"No, bring a gun." At this point we could do nothing else
but laugh (cry) and wait for the latecomers.
We got up early the next morning, packed,
had a good breakfast and loaded up the shuttle. This is where Phil
showed up. He introduced himself and said, "Is there room for
me?" There was and we welcomed him on the ride. Phil had been
planning on going on the Plunge and was looking on the internet and found
our trip on Trogspace. He left Idllwild, got 5 hours sleep and showed
up at the park. He then came to the grand realization that he had
forgot his gear bag. No helmet, no shoes, no shorts. Guess what,
we had him covered. Tim had brought a spare set of shoes, he bought
some new shorts and rented a helmet from the bike shop and he was good to
go. So we had 16, and our new friend Phil for a total of 17.
It's a long shuttle, and at the top we
slit into A and B groups. B group went straight down the trail while 9
of us added an extra 6 miles and climbed to the top of Sherman. I'm
not sure if I can do the trail justice but we ended up riding 30 plus miles,
the highest point was almost 10000 ft and the bottom was around 2300
ft. It wasn't all downhill, there were some good climbs on the way.
Max and Phil tore up the trail uphill and downhill.
After the ride we gathered in the park,
drank beers, talked smack, eat chips, met an Olympian, talked more smack,
told lies, and relaxed.
Next time let's see if we can get someone
to drop us off at the top. Thanks to all those who shuttled and drove
to pick up the shuttles after the ride. The Trogs owe you.
george Leaving for the Plunge
The Trogs are leaving for the Plunge
tomorrow. Most of us are heading out in the afternoon and taking the
long 4 hour drive to Bakersfield then heading to Lake Isabella for some
hoteling and an early morning wake-up and shuttling for the big ride.
Watch for pictures Sunday, let's hope for a great ride and that no one gets
hurt. I just found out that Joseph is taking his 'new' Amp that he
previously broke at Dodge. Well, he's a welder, let's hope it holds.
In the last few days, a couple people
have added to the list of those heading to the Plunge. We're going to
have close to 20 people. The shuttle situation looks like it's
covered.
Ride Reports
Don provides a weekend report from his
trip to Cowell.
This
reminded me a lot of Demo, without the fire road climb back to the top. We
ended up driving past Cowell into Felton and then back towards the coast on
Graham Hill Road on the other side of the park so we could ride across the
park towards Wilder. Our intent was to do all we could in Cowell and then
connect with Wilder and do Enchanted and Old Cabin and then back. Cowell has
no 'Legal' singletrack. All of the legal trails are Fire Road. This is not
normal fire road though, it's more like doubletrack and most a lot of it is
REALLY nice. Armstrong takes 5th?
The ITT at stage
4 has shown the Mayo
is the man, Hamilton
is right there and Lance
is 2 minutes back on the stage. Has Lance lost it or is he holding
back and playing mind games? Tyler or Lance, either would be great.
Red Hills Pictures
I only got 3 good pics from Red Hills,
the light was going down so many pics turned out a little blury.
June 9
SSing Red Hills Hey,
I'm glad I showed up. At the last minute, I threw the BaSS in the
minivan and decided to meet Alex, John, and Bruce at Red Hills.
That's right, I brought the Bad ass Single Speed to red rock hell.
We
got there a little late but we managed 10 miles, chasing the light the
whole way around. We did a small loop on the parking lot side and a
small loop across the street.
As
for SSing Red Hills, I'd ridden with Doug Vreling and George Starter years
ago and I'd never thought I'd be brave enough to go for it myself.
You know what, it's not the gearing, it's the lack of suspension... but
I'd do it again.
george
ITT You need to watch
Mayo, Hamilton and Armstrong are 2
seconds apart from each other in the Dauphiné
Libéré, in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place respectivly. Tomorrow is stage
4, the ITT up Mont Ventoux. OLN is not going to broadcast the
race. What's up with that? Try www.cyclingnews.com
for some live online reporting. I'm stuck at work with no internet
access. I guess I'll read about it when I get home.
June 7
Lance is King
A couple of weeks ago I Greg sent me an
email with the "Lance is King" mp3 attached. I ended
up hosting it on trogspace as an easy way to share it. Well, since
then, it's floated around the internet a few million times and it seems like
trogspace is the main source for its distribution. I've been contacted
by The Lance Armstrong Foundation
concerning the song and most recently by James
Raia. Well, I still don't know where the song came from, but it's
still up for you listening pleasure over on the left column of the page.
LAF
Speaking of the Lance
Armstrong Foundation, as some of you know, I had a little issue with
throat cancer a couple years ago. I wasn't at the edge of death or
anything but it was scary none the less. LAF has come out with the
"Livestrong"
yellow wristbands. They're only a dollar each and the funds go toward
cancer research. You don't have to order them through the website, you
can go down to our local Cyclemasters and buy one for the cause. It's
only a dollar.
Dodge Ride Pic
Here's my two favorite pics from the entire
set.
Mork from Ork
As most of you know, Robin Williams is a
big cycling fan and a friend of Lance. Here's a cool interview
from last year's Tour.
Don't forget Fast Freddie
It's good to see Freddie in the red,
white and blue. Good job.
June 6
Kernville Update (check
here)
It's been a good riding weekend. A
few Canyon Classic ride reports and lots of pictures from another trip to
Dodge Ridge.
Dodge Ridge Report (pictures)
A
good old fashion Trogs ride will a few Trogs I haven't seen in a good long
while. Roger, Augie, John M, Mark Gee, Kevin King, Joseph, and me.
Joseph
had stayed up late building his 'new' Amp for the ride. He knew he'd
need all the travel he could muster. We climbed up the Gooseberry
fireroad and a lot of the snow was gone. I had remembered it being a
whole lot flatter at the top, not that it was bad, but at one point I told
the crew that it doesn't get any steeper. Then the next bend got
steeper. The road looks a whole lot different when the snow is
mostly gone.
From
gooseberry we took the "knob" trail to the ski patrol
shack. It's a bit downhill so I went ahead and took off, figuring
they'd all be along soon enough. I could see the top of the lifts
and I stopped to wait for the rest.... and waited.... and waited...... I
turned back expecting someone to have a flat... but NOOOOOOOO. From
the turn on to "Knob" trail, there is a short climb then a
downhill. At the first bump of the downhill, Joseph's 'new' Amp
broke. By the time I had got there, there was some attempt to fix
the broken chain stay with tie straps and good wishes. You can
guess, that didn't get him very far so I gave him my car keys and Joseph's
ride was done for the day. He couldn't even ride it back down the
fireroad, he had to walk the 4 miles back. The rest of us went ahead
to finish our ass kicking ride.
And
it kicked our asses. From the top, there is a short fire road
section that starts behind the blue ski patrol shack and then a left turn
onto single track marked by a large rock pile. For the next 14 miles
or so, it's solid sierra single track. Check out the pictures for
the details, but by the end, everyone was tired good and tired. I
don't think Kevin King will ever ride with me again and Roger called me
names through most of the ride but I had fun.
george
Canyon Classic Ride Reports
Alex,
John P, myself and a friend of mine, Mike, showed up this morning at about 7
a.m. for the North Modesto Rotary 100 mile Road Ride in Patterson. I don't
do too much road riding but was itching to take my new road bike for a
longer ride...especially since Joseph and I couldn't get an extra rider for
the Lake Sonoma 8 hour race so we cancelled. Hey
all, Later,
Alex
I
had a good time too. I think i improved on my times from last year. Wanna Bet
You can now bet online for the US Pro
Championships. Even if you don't want to bet, there is a contest
online through www.sportsbook.com,
to pick the teams of the first three finishers. I've made my picks, I
don't hold out a lot of hope of winning, but you just never know.
Wanna Play
Check out this video game called Cycling
Manager 3. I didn't even know there was a one or a two. You
can download a demo of the game.
Wanna Rant
O'Grady goes
off on Gagiolli's 2 by 4 altercation and the following year long
suspension. This is still big news among the locals who have dealt
with Gagiolli's antics in the past. No one around here feels sorry for
him.
Wanna Ride
Yup, see you out there this weekend....
george
Hell Ride
Santa Cruz's Hell Ride with Mark Weir has
picked it's Cars vs Bikes
A roadside
shrine with a purpose.
More Single Speed opinion
A few weeks ago a few loose comments
on Velonews got a bunch of SS riders in an uproar. It even spilled
over onto a second
article. Looks like it's even continued on to the Boulder
Report, about half way down.
Socal Trail Access
There are some upcoming
meetings in Socal concerning wilderness access. Locals should do
their best to attend and make let their voices be heard. For more
info, contact www.warriorssociety.org.
100 Miles
The Canyon
Classic Century is Saturday. There are a few Trogs planning on
riding, and then maybe a few ghosts too. I'm skipping this year due to
a planned hangover.
June Rides
Looking for a long
ride in June, the riders at bonc have
some rides planned.
June 2
May by the Bay The wrap up. People have been posting there pics
and stories on mtbr. Lot's of Trogs in the mix. Ogre on his own Ok,
I missed the whole MTBR thing. I'm kind of bummed about it but my bike was
having some issues with a loose BB and stretched chain. So on Saturday I got
the parts, fixed it Sunday AM and then took the wife/ kids for about 8 miles
of torture at Redhills. I thought I was taking them on a fairly tame ride
but they were all in way over their heads and suffering. Redhills has been
officially blacklisted for the Baker Family. I will of course sneak out
there and ride it myself but if I ever mention it on a family outing I will
probably get lynched. Monday in a last minute sort of thing I hooked up with
Kevin, and some of his road racing teamates (Jason and James) for a little
personalized humiliation and a small point of pride. On the Manzanita/
Stagecoach downhill I was able to hang with the group, then of coarse they
punted me on the Clementine Lake climb. I think I finished that climb with a
personal best time though. Without taking a break we hit the connector trail
and they chased me for a change. I fired my afterburners and ripped down the
connector trail at a pace that was pushing way beyond any previous effort
there. James and Jason were right with me but James was having trouble
keeping his rear tire on the trail. By the time we finished the one big
climb on the connector trail I was about out of gas. While I was having a
blast I also had pretty much squeezed the nitros bottom for a little to long
and was beat. So much for pacing your self, we were at mile 9 of 30. James
and Jason turned around after the connector because of time constraints. So
the rest of the ride it was just Kevin and I. We took things at a lower pace
from that point because I wasn't able to drum up much steam at all for the
climbs. Although my climbing legs and lungs were shot my descending was on
fire. I was flying down descents at a breakneck pace (fortunately not).
After the Confluence section we jumped in the river for a cooldown which
felt great on tired legs and I soaked my shirt to help cool me on the final
climb. This dunk was a huge help on the climb but not quite enough. The
Stagecoach climb was living hell. My leg cramped up on the first steep
section and I wound up walking up to the switchback which I haven't done in
a long time. I wound up walking 3 more times up the climb and stopping to
sit down twice. Then to add insult to injury I ran out of water. After much
more suffering I managed to make it to the top. Kevin had of course been
waiting for me for the last 20-30 minutes. The cool part was that even with
the hellish climb where I totally bonked and dried up I managed to finish
the ride with a personal best time of 4 hours 40 minutes. Absolutely
incredible day of riding. I was totally shot and was happy Kevin was riding
back with me. I made him drive and then crashed at his place for a couple
hours before driving the last hour home. --
Ogre The Political Bike Race Most of you heard about the spill that Bush took on
his mtb last week. We've come to find out that W rides a Trek Fuel
90. Kerry also rides bikes, a Serrota. Here
is a look at both our bike riding political choices. May 31 We're back from May by the Bay.
Here are george's pictures. MBTB Reports TROGS
roll call; JP, Impy, Aosty, Pimpbot and me. Perfect sunny 75 Fred I
had a blast , rode about 25 miles ,but is unknown now that the squirrels I
was trying to hang with the 'A' group, but for some odd reason I stop erich May by the Bay Day 1 (Rockville): Friday's section of MBTB was kind of a bust.
Three of us showed up. That's it. Well, we rode around anyway,
Joseph and I did the single speed thing and as always, we found some new
trails in Rockville. Maybe it was the traffic, maybe it was too early
on a Friday, but Saturday and Sunday should provide a larger crew. As for Rockville, the Manzanita Loop area had a closed
sign across the gate to that section of the park. Looks like there is
a goat grazing program going on to clear up some of the vegetation.
I'm not sure what they'll do to the trails but if they eat up a bunch of
poison oak, it can be a very good thing.
June 13
June 10
So we head down through Cowell towards the river and what do you know, it's
A RIVER. We waded knee to thigh deep across and climbed up to Hwy 9. This
took us to the Rincon parking area. For future reference, this is where you
want to park. If you take 9 up from Santa Cruz it's a parking area on the
right just inside the H. Cowell park boundary. This was our mistake, we
should have parked here.
Anyway, a cool local set us straight.
From the Rincon parking area just a short distance (200+ yards) back towards
SC and across 9 there is a trail head, Rincon connector to Uconn. He says to
take Uconn to the top (1800 feet) and then go along the ridge there are like
14 ways back down to 9.
Rincon to Uconn to the top is all Coastal Redwood type singletrack, at the
top there is a gravel road but the trail breaks right into the trees, go
there. This is still Uconn and it just gets better from here, There are
miles of trails in here (Is this Magic Carpet??). I can't even tell
you what trails we took but it was killer. You could probably do 4 or 5
loops and never ride the same trails twice. NICE!! To bad our car was all
the way on the other side of cowell. We rode up 9 to the campground (to
avoid the river crossing) and then into the park and up the other side. A
wrong decision and a 1.2 mile, 8 inch deep SAND hike-a-bike (SUCKED!)
section and we were back at the vehicle.
If you go, park at the Rincon parking area, climb Rincon connector to Uconn
and then pick your way back down. Much like Soquel this is probably at least
a 2 loop ride, maybe 3, all singletrack and for all you savages out there a
SS would probably be fun here.
1 crash, no mechs, 1 river runs through it and gobs of singletrack.
-Don
and
Mike and I paid for the supported ride. Alex and John P. decided to do their
own support and to do most of the 100 mile course..but to leave out the last
30 miles or so by parking a car at the Arco outside of
Tracy.
I elected to do the 100k since my friend was not in the best of shape. The
weather was sunny and just a little wind going up Del Puerto Canyon. (the
wind situation changed big time later) I took off with Mike first (after
getting lots of goodies at the checkin) and Alex and John P. quickly caught
us and later passed us. At the park, we met up again and chowed down on the
food. Alex and John P. took off to keep going up the canyon. Mike and I were
going to go back down but decided to go ahead and do the remaining climb up
the Canyon or at least make a stab at it.
The Canyon gets pretty steep about 2 to 3 miles past the park and it was
slow going with Mike. Luckily he had a 3 ringer up front so he made it. We
stopped at the top of a hill which had a sign saying Santa Clara County
which looked like the top...but since this was my first time up that high
I'm not sure. Anyway, we put in about 12 extra miles over the 62 mile 100 k.
and the ride back down the steep part was fun...weeeeeeeeee.
When we came back down the Canyon and passed the park, the wind started
blowing hard into us. I left Mike for awhile and raced this guy to the
bottom. Waited for Mike and then a few more miles to lunch. At the lunch
stop they had an overhead canvas cover with 4 supporting legs and the wind
was blowing so hard by then that 2 volunteers had to hold the front 2 legs
down to keep it up. Another volunteer cut some fresh tomatoes for the
sandwiches, put a paper plate down with a small weight...but a big gush of
wind threw the plate and tomatoes into the air right into another rider's
lap.
The ride then heads to the golf course, another stop, and back down again,
this time heading to the right a short distance from the the freeway. To get
the 62 mile they head you south after going under the highway going towards
the Crows Landing Hwy 5 exit...no problem until we turned back north into
the wind. The wind was very bad directly into our faces and it was harder
than climbing the hills. Mike had trouble but we eventually made it back.
Well supported ride, several volunteer trucks came by while we were riding
to check on us, and the volunteers were nice. I expected to see George, Matt
or Joseph since it's their home town but I'm sure they have done this ride
many times before.
I assume that Alex and John P. made it back fine but didn't see them again
after the park.
Curtis Colaw
Hey the ride was cool with the exception of what felt like a gale force
wind! after the junction that climbs out towards Livermore man the wind was
relentless but all was good the people at the rest stops were very friendly
and anxious to provide water and such even though I had explained to them
that we were self supported and did not require food and such but they
insisted and got my bottles toped off. We headed back and over
Patterson Pass rd and we coasted at least 5 miles without pedaling at speeds
that barley fell under 30 mph what a way to finish and got a couple of tall
cans at the Am/Pm and slammed them down. Good ass ride! Looking forward to
the Canal Plunge to do it up TROGS style!
The wind was wild to say the least, We would go around a courner and go
from no wind to be blasted with a 20 mph headwind,
The 70 miles and 5000 feet of climbing was not enough this weekend, so
rode the Knights Ferry breakfast ride (52 miles) today,
john p
June 4
June 3
victim winner.
This guy Matt gets to see if he can ride a 40lb bike with Mark Weir.
If he finish the ride, he gets to keep the new Santa Cruz VPP Free.
Mark Weir gave in interview
where he talked about the contest and the planned ride. There is a
Trogs back story in there but you'd never know if you didn't know..... huh?
maybe 80 degree weather.Had around 24 riders, split up into "A"(30
miles) and "B"(15 miles) groups. So many new names, I'm sure I
would
mess up trying to recall. It was fun meeting and putting faces to the
screen names from mtbr.com. It was my first outing the new single speed
with seasoned single speeders. I was really nervous. But everything
worked out fine and had an outstanding day. Everyone was very friendly.
Really enjoyed Finch Platte, kept me laughng all day. It had been 4 yrs
or so since I had ridden here, and it was just as sweet as I remembered.
Lotsa single track and rockier than I recalled. It shook JP's
bling-bling computer off and was never found. Total bummer. Annadel is
300 round trip miles. Sure wish it was closer. Most of the group went to
Lepe's for Mexican food and cervesas after the ride and then on to Boggs
for the remainder of May by the Bay. Sorry to hear not too many showed
for Fri. at Rockville.
Met up with Scott one the ride leaders from the 1st Bear Valley Bike
Fest last fall and he says another one is in the works for mid-Sept.
Mark your calenders. Last year TROGS did our own Cape Horn downhill the
day before,Fri, and was a nice warm up and acclamation for the climbing
on Sat and Sun. I think we should do that again this year.
or jack rabbits have my cool computer. I hope they like it.
Nobody fell hard, one hugged a tree real good and another ate a little dirt.
one mechical so he had to bail. Great day for 23 riders or so. The b group
became
a real social event and fun to ride with if a hammer fest is not your style.
john p
and give an offering of my breakfast back to the spirits of the forrest
about 15 minutes into the ride. It was weird, that has never happened
to me before. I wasn't hammering that hard, but on the first two quarry
climb, where it starts getting steep, my heart rate shot up to 195
(which is the highest I have ever seen), I pulled off the trail to
catch my breath, and boom, as it were. I think I may have pushed too
hard too soon without a proper warm up, but like I said, I wasn't
pushing that hard. So much for the 'A' group, so I joined the 'B'
group. Fast Eddy was nice enough to hang back with me until I
recovered.
So I felt like krapp for about the first 20 minutes, and seriously
considered a trip back to the car, but I stuck with it. By the time I
got to Ridge, I was feeling pretty good.
So we did Ridge, upper Steve's (I may have the names wrong here, so
please correct me if I get them messed up), over to the beer bench, and
down to the lake for (some of us) a swim. then we dropped down some
trail I can't remember down to the fire road, where we met up with the
'A' group, did a little technical loop, and went up Rough Go. Dang,
that was a brutal climb, mostly because I couldn't go 5 feet without
negotiating some rock hop or loose stuff. It was granny all the way.
Then it was on to Cobblestone and back to the car.
Total for the 'B ride:
20.6 miles
8.6 MPH average speed (for me)
2:24 of actual riding time (for me)
4:15 total time on the trail
May 29
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