kill pussycat, kill kill

Cat 3 Dojo Warriors!

The Bakersfield Five

Other Pictures at http://www.kodakgallery.com/pstrauss/main/bakersfield_rr_2008

The Chicken

There are so many things wrong with this photo

cue the crickets...

Be gentle on my carbon frame!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wE4fvwTBtno

Bakersfield - Let's Rock It!

Hey,

We got spammed, how about that?

Anyway I mapped Bakersfield with elevation.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1878060

Looks like there'll be a warmup climb at the start. Not too bad. Then down to the base level. The real climb starts at about mile 12. 800ft over 3.5 miles, 230 ft/mile, slightly steeper than Mandeville. Then descend, wee!! Looks like some tight turns on the descent. Mostly flat until a little rise near the S/F.

--Giao

GILA Photos

Some photos at: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8805455@N05/sets/72157604920819078/

Power Training Stuff

Some of may be repetitive, but rather than spam the list, I posted it here. Some of it gets to be really scientific - analysis/paralysis.

Andy Coggan's article. Condensed version of "Training & Racing with a Power Meter."

Article by Charles Howe. This links to the triathletes section, but useful for road racing too.

Tornado Tom's Voodoo

Bakersfield RR course

from what I can find online. I'm fairly certain this is this year's course.

Riding or Hiding? Tan lines don't lie...

It's that time of year when the sun comes out and the armwarmers come off. So, we're going to have a contest!

I've got a couple of LaGrange water bottles for whoever sends me a photo of their best tan line. Cycling tan lines only, please... don't go there.

mattdmiami@yahoo.com

The winner and runner-ups will be posted on our exclusive team blog. You have until next Sunday (4/20) 3pm to submit.

Good luck in the most important competition of the season...

anthill

The weekend's racing action began mid-week with plenty of LGer's in the bike shop talking about crit bike projects. With a tax return in my future I dopped some bones and made good use of Ian's sticker project. But I wasn't the only one as I saw the Haus, MT and others all contemplating the inevitable.

While Lee-to-the-Z was putting on clinic after clinic in Redlands, our cameras were trained on an Anthill. The A-to-the-Z finished off a great cat 5 career throwing gasoline on a fire trying all he could to literally and figuratively leave the world of cat. 5's behind. It was his second race and second venue of the day. But if you can't out-race your friends, you can out race-report them.

Anthill brought out plenty of usual suspects. Plenty of the unexpected. Plenty of LGers racing two races. But a lot of what ended up happening was just a repeat of what happened last weekend. Stratton started his career as a 4 the same way he ended his legacy as a 5. Racing under a random alias and celebrating a win.

But it wasn't without drama. MT and the whole crew were putting up a strong fight working well on the front lap after lap. I decided I should run to my car and document their efforts but when I arrived back at turn one with camera in hand the atmosphere had changed and there was no longer a shark circling the anthill. 

Instead spectators rushing back to the final turn hoping for the best. What we found was a little bit of skin, but not in a good way. Luckily no LGers were hurt too badly, just bruised pride. Maybe MT was just following Cordero's line. In case you were wondering, yes there is paper work when you get caught up in a pavement dogpile. I guess four hay bails are all you need to stop a moving train.

The Landshark... a tribute

There's been a lot of talk about this bicycle and the man that rides it. The first time I saw it, I had the same reaction that most do. I began to tremble. Over the course of the season, the bike has seemed to assimilate parts from other bicycles, like something out of a Stephen King horror novel, or a Star Trek episode. I wouldn't be surprised if it comes to life at night and escapes out into the dark night to eat other bicycles.

So here it is... a glimpse into the legend that is... the Landshark.

The frame: Landshark. A Steel/Lead hybrid. Pure power. 

A predator, like a shark. But on land...

Mismatching front and rear Zipp wheels. Nothing says,

"I'm powerful and a little crazy" like mismatching carbon aero wheels.

It's the subtle touches that make this one of the best bikes on the road today. What worked for the guys in 1920's, works for us today. 

Stella Azzurra seatpost? Yes.

Deda. Pure metal.

Stella Azzurra. The more, the better.

Campy Chorus. The metal version. 

This bike wouldn't be complete without a half-pound of bottle cage.

This is the only bike in the entire world worthy enough 

to bear a "Ramrod" sticker. 

The Landshark. Love it. Hate it... Fear it.