Thursday, February 28, 2008

JAMfoto

So, I was reading all about the guy who lent Bobby Julich his rear wheel in the TOC (courtesy of Matt Hipp), and I started looking at all of the flickr photos of Bobby on the side. I came across this guy. His photos are ridiculous, not only from a compositional and stylistic standpoint, but also the pictures speak volumes. Very cool. There are also some photos in there of our very own Jamiel Danesh.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Topanga Tuesday

I finally got my butt out of bed in time to join Spencer and Matt for their (developing to be) legendary Topanga Tuesday ride. I couldn’t even tell you what the route is because half-way up Old Topanga, my chain snapped. I was having some issues with it on the ride out….it was skipping…but chose to ignore it and keep moving. Mistake! What to do now?

My first suggestion was to let Spencer and Matt continue on and I’d coast downhill to the PCH…then try to hitch a ride. Well, the great teammates they are, they had none of that idea and began to push me along….which was a good thing because that route is not as downhill as it seems; they both worked hard to get me down to the PCH, and then back to Santa Monica. It was also, despite how beautiful yesterday was, one of the coldest mornings I can remember in Topanga. They must have a different weather system there or something.

After our hike up to Ocean Ave and to my car, we agreed to meet at Peets so I could buy them a latte for their efforts. Unfortunately, Spencer had bike issues of his own and blew a spoke at 26th street. I was glad to return some of the favor and drive Spencer home.

So the day turned out to be a reminder of a couple things.

First…carefully check your equipment before you head out. I’m not sure if Spencer could have prevented his blown spoke, but I could have at least stopped the moment I discovered something was wrong. And, it’s also a good idea to carry some basic chain-repair tools…something I never do. Someone with more experience may want to provide a list of saddle-bag essentials based on their own experiences cycling in this area. That would be helpful.

Second…how lucky we are to have such great and caring teammates. I know we’ve all experienced this in various ways over the years. I was once again reminded of that yesterday. Matt and Spencer didn’t think for a second to leave me at Old Topanga and continue riding…a lot of folks might have. So thanks again fellas for your efforts to get me home safely.

Next Tuesday’s latte’s are definitely on me.

Z

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

TOC Stage 6 Descent

Blogger converts the audio to mono, so to see the original, and hear it in it's full splendor, go Here. Make sure you have the sound on, and are sitting between stereo speakers. If you share this Video, please make sure and credit Jason Tuttle.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

more Balcom video 2008

last year I had aspirations of dressing in a hairy big foot costume with marching band crash cymbals. I was planning to stand on top of a big boulder and slam the cymbals together as the riders went by. but I forgot all about those plans until today when I returned to Balcom Canyon. this year we had our usual pope, LG's Uncle Sam, our usual Superfan but we also had two people dressed up as the grim reaper. that's when a new brainstorm hit me!

what if everyone standing at the top of the KOM climb was wearing identical black robes with skeleton masks. I wonder what the peleton might think as it turned the corner to see hundreds of grim reapers staring them down as they tried to climb the mountain. it might feel a little creepy and riders might suddenly feel all alone. it might even earn that climb a special reputation as the scariest in the ProTour. maybe next year we'll make history.

silent protest?

in response to being denied from competition in this year's Tour of California the three banned riders have been riding the entire route about an hour ahead of the peleton's arrival. however I don't think the media has paid much attention to their protest so it might be falling on deaf ears and only lead to an extended training camp. here I counted four, maybe the extra one is MB's vision of himself.

tyler looks like such a hard-ass sans helmet and a goofy hat. pass him a pinch of chew why don't ya?

TOC Balcom Canyon


We started the morning with an expresso and chocolate donut



The SFV bike club and Manny provided an awesome route.



The beginning of Balcom - Hey, this isn't so bad...



Looking good, guys... looking good.



Close to the top... after 20% grades... not cool.



Looking back



The bandwagon was there too...



The crew... Rob, Gary, Manny, Marc, Jon, and Michael



And Neil!!!



And... that's right... the Big Hair Superfan. Awwwwesome...



And then this happened...



Ah... awkward?



Yes, this is the "Pope" sprinkling water on the cops.




It's JT!!! VIP, baby...




The break... 7 minutes ahead




The peleton...

Friday, February 22, 2008

Thursday, February 21, 2008

April Races - Different format

We are trying to make the Google Docs less of a pain, so this is a preview of the format we are going to use if we don't have a mutiny on our hands. Just a few reasons: links are active until you're ready to add your name, less navigating to sign up. ten less emails of shared docs, (5 that you may not use).
  • Multiple sheets with each race being on a seperate sheet.
  • At the very bottom right is the "edit this page" link where it takes you into google docs to edit like we do today. It always brings you to the first sheet of the file, but not to the correct sheet.
  • Navigate sheets at the bottom using the arrows
  • Ok enough already check it out, I'ld like your comments if it's better or worse. We'll go with the majority. Sea Otter is ready to view the rest of the races have not published details yet.

San Dimas SR

I count 11 La Grange CAT 4s registered for this race. I switched from the 5s field over to the 4s yesterday. I've updated the spreadsheet to match what's on the registration page.

I think it'd be really cool if we had a cohesive plan for this race before we start pinning on numbers. Perhaps a preview of the course with all of us that are racing would be in order? Thoughts?

Monday, February 18, 2008

Anger Mgmt - CAT4 Finish

Anger Mgmt Crit: 6am, rollers & a CAT5 in street clothes. Something bad is bound to happen.


Anger Mgmt: official results

Great day for the Blue Team!!

Category V/Public, 64 racers
1st-Keith Chugg, Team Bearclaw
2nd-Justin Osborne, MotorTabs
3rd-Jason Hock, Celo Pacific
4th-Thad Silao, unattached
5th-Christopher Provato, Triathletix
6th-Craig Mitchell, unattached
7th-David Jacobson, SC Velo
8th-Mark Finn, Santa Clarita Velo
9th-Jason Barney, La Mesa Bicycle
10th-Brett Cook, unattached
11th-Michael Higgins, uanttached
12th-George Vargas, Sho-Air/Sonance
13th-Gary Kavanagh, unattached
14th-James Stamatis, Amgen
15th-Marc Thomas, Kahala/LaGrange
16th-Thad Jordan, Surf City Cyclery
17th-David Roy, unattached
18th-Byron Smith, Kahala/LaGrange
19th-Joseph Ainsworth, Bicycle Johns
20th-Roy Silver, Kahala/LaGrange

Masters 40+ IV/V , 67 racers
1st-Lee Ziff, Kahala/LaGrange
2nd-David Rucker, unattached
3rd-Greg Oakland, Kahala/LaGrange
4th-Gregory Freeman, Major Motion
5th-Kevin Okura, PAA/Merrill Lynch
6th-Keith Chugg, Team Bearclaw
7th-David Valero, Velocity
8th-Vincent Rowe, Major Motion
9th-Jeffrey Dinkin, Liquid Fitness
10th-Thomas Thompson, Cynergy
11th-Jim Miller, Cynergy
12th-Dan Ries, Kahala/LaGrange
13th-Jon Pabst, SD Cyclo-Vets
14th-Paul Hasenyager, Veloce Santiago
15th-Marc Thomas, Kahala/LaGrange

Category IV, 73 racers
1st-Chris Kilkus, Cynergy
2nd-Jeff Edwards, Luv 2 Bike
3rd-Robert Smith, Team Simple Green
4th-Lee Ziff, Kahala/LaGrange
5th-John Bailey, Celo Pacific
6th-Aaron Schneider, NOW-MS Society
7th-Andrew Parr, Swamis
8th-Paul Pagano, La Habra Cyclery
9th-Robert Langone, Kahala/LaGrange
10th-David Rucker, unattached
11th-Gregory Freeman, Major Motion
12th-Marco Cubillos, Kahala/LaGrange

Wurd, my brothas....

Gary's Awesome Photo

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Anger Mgmt Crit...my POV

These being my first races of the year, I went into the day just hoping to hang on the wheels of Lee and Marco. This course is completely flat with wide sweeping turns and lots of BOT DOTS. It made for an interesting experience for sure, especially the last lap of the 4 race.

The 40+ 4/5 race started off at a rather reasonable pace. Marc rolled up to the line right after finishing the 5's race. A few sips of the bottle and he was ready to roll. On the first prime lap Lee, Dan and myself were at the front and decide to make a go of it. Right before turn 3 I put the hammer down to lead one of the guys out and sure enough, Lee came stomping by after turn 4 to win a giant bag of Clif product uncontested. We were doing very well staying at the front, and effectively communicating. I heard Marc call out a few guys who were taking some sketchy lines, and at one point letting everyone know a 3rd guy bridged up to the 2 that were off the front.

The bots dots were definitely causing folks to change there lines. They were in turns, in the straightaway to the finish....pretty much everywhere. Your on your line and then all of a sudden you are feeling the steady pounding of the dreaded DOT. Kinda sucked but we all managed to stay upright.

The next prime lap I found myself right near the front again. Feelin frisky at turn 4, I go after the 2 guys that were off the front. I quickly catch on then decide to take off as I was feeling a lot left in the tank. As I go off, the guy in second position decided to make his move at the same moment. We bump shoulders a few times and then I was off to win a box of Simple Green bike cleaning products. Cool! (I actually wasn't even sure what the prime was at the time).

Sometime after that I realize I was WAY towards the back of the race. I never seemed to get close to the front again. I think the combination of the pace picking up on the last few laps and feeling the effects of 2 prime efforts got me. On the other hand, Greg and Lee got a great lead out from Major Motion dude Greg Freeman and rode it to 1st and 3rd place finishes. Nice job, fellas! Stupidly, I still sprinted thinking I could catch back some spots but it was effort wasted. I should have remembered I was to line up for the 4 race right away and to save my energy. Lesson learned. We do our recovery lap, congratulate Lee, and then lined up for the next race.

The 4 race...I spent 90% of this race hanging at the back, the very edge of the pack, just trying to recover. I was really feeling terrible. I could see Lee and Marco close to the front, as usual, but I couldn't get up there. Fast forward to the last lap, where the chatter picked up ("Hold your line!" "Hey, watch it!" "You asshole!"), along with the pace. From the last race, I remembered that the move needed to be made between turns 2 and 3. I dug in and made the effort to get up closer and somehow found myself in a decent position on the outside, right before the last turn. I put my head down and gassed it. Surprisingly, I start picking off guys left and right ending up in 9th, squeaking by on the left side. Once again, Lee rocks it for a 4th place finish.

There should be some decent pics too as Gary was there bright and early to cheer us on. I think he even got a movie of the finish of the 4 race. Who is cooler than Gary?!

Observations:
--Lee Ziff is an animal. EVERYONE on this team should utilize his experience while he is still with us...as I am sure he will be a 3 soon at the pace he is on. The dude is motivational and inspirational!
--I think the 11/23 I put on before this race was the right call since it was a pancake flat course. I am guessing it is what helped me gain about 10-15 spots in the final sprint.
--Marc's communication is great. Alert and not afraid to let others know whats up. And being 6' 8" helps keep track of the breaks. ;-)
--Primes are fun
--a trainer or rollers make for a much more effective pre-race warm up.

See ya'll at Tour of Murrietta Circuit Race on 3/9....

yow

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Matt's March Races

I propose that we work a month in advance following Matt's General Calendar -Team 4/5 Meeting 12/19/07. Perhaps Matt will highlight the ones we need to plan for farther in advance, like Sea Otter and ...

3/01 Baker Road Race
3/02 Dominguez Hills Crit
3/09 Tour de Murrieta - 08 is the Crit.
Matt suggests only the tour. The Crit. is sketchy. Matt may have the insight here.
3/16 LA Circuit
For LA circuit, the 5's should use our strength in numbers to all get into one heat, 5a or 5b; we can team & control the cat 5 race. Before you sign up, let's all get on the same page.
3/23 Ontario Crit

3/28-30 San Dimas Stage Race

  • Tip -Google docs, and hyperlinks ....

  • Tip -Posting to the 4/5Blog by email. You just set up your "Mail-to-Blogger Address" in Blogger.
    When you want to post, email your post (BCC your "Blogger adress", so if someone replies to all, they are not posting here)

Linked Races -Suggested sheets use

What to do: Sign up, fill in the racing page. After you race, fill in the results columns. -History only
All Races

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Baker RR

From Thomas Richter:

Baker-Death Valley sounds like a cool road race to me. Due to the logistics (as in: we need a driver/support person) a few of us were talking about renting a passenger van and trying to get a person - maybe for a little bit of cash - to do the driving/feeding.

Who's interested in doing the race?

Ontario Crit. Cat 4/5 -Only 25 seats left.

Feb 24th Ontario CA Our page on shared docs - put your name in once you're registered

Registration

Get to sleep in (and still race)
Get to watch the pros start while you're still out a breath
One more notch on the race gun
Car pooling is cool
Reaffirms why you live on the west side
Cat 5 isn't a 20 min race
Cat 5 purse is $200
Only 25 seats left.

Come on guys let's not get closed out on this I'm workin' on my lead out perhaps, I'll get it right for one of you.

Marc

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Welcome to the Blog

Team,

In an effort to solve the problem of our inboxes getting stuffed with hundreds of emails every week, Marc Thomas and I have set up this blog to be a home for most non-essential communication that goes out to the whole group. If you have race reports, pictures, stories, cycling news, fun stuff, general announcements, etc, you will be able to post it here. For a lot of stuff, email will still be the best way to communicate. Race strategy, organization, who's doing what race, if you need stuff, things for sale, etc, should all still go through email.

It should be pretty simple, and you all are invited to contribute. The format will be that if I post a race-report, for example, Marco can reply "rocked it" to the post by commenting at the bottom.

You can subscribe to the RSS, and then see new posts in your browser bar automatically. When you click from RSS, you'll see the post and all the comments.

Notice the links on the side of the page, and the calendar at the bottom. The "Who's Racing?" links to the Google spreadsheet so you can see how's signed up for what. Have fun, and lets all be honest about how this is working out after a month or so.

See you out on the road,
Matt

Reference Files

Cat. 4-5 Reimbursement Program - 2008 from Tom FitzGibbon
Program PTFDOCS-#26934-v1-Cat_4_Program_Outline_-_April_2008.PDF
Form PTFDOCS-#26937-v1-Cat_4_Reimbursement_Form_2008.XLS

4/5 Goals '08
Team meeting 12/19/07
LG Logo
Team Roster - Thank you Lee Ziff
this file is only on Google docs. -not published (perhaps someone doesn't want all their personal data shared. Please DO NOT mess with the publishing of this file.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Editing the calendar.


Do you want to add or change the calendar? I think you need to sign in. Click on the button to login and add or make changes.

Twitter / teamlg