The ABC game

The ABC Game - Object to complete the alphabet first. When on your next trainig ride, as you see the letters on billboards & license plates you shout out your letter and point. Once a letter has been claimed other riders cannot use the same letter. Make it harder by limiting to only license plates or billboard signs.

Epic Video

Courtesy of our man from Amsterdam, 'Epic Editor' Byron Smith.

Epic hwy 39 - our man from Amsterdam from Marc Thomas on Vimeo.

boonen moment

this is what happens when you become a cat 2...

bad service at races suck

another great freakin' quote from steve tilford...

"Anyway, when I checked the results driving home, they had left myself and a Nick Coil out of the results. Had us down as DNF’s. I don’t care, but I do have an issue with bad officiating. Nature Valley two years ago they said I DNF’d and I was in the top 20 overall. On a hilly criterium. I had a photo of the finish with the finish time on it. Then Cyclo-X Nationals in Kansas City last year there were officiating screw ups in lots of catagories. Including the Elite men. Now again. I think that in events of this caliber, the best officials should be there and the errors shouldn’t occur. It is more common than not. These stage races cost around $200 to enter. This money is to pay for a service. The service is to provide the venue and infrastructure to compete in a bicycle race. But this service hasn’t been performed with they don’t have correct results. Even worse, when they say you didn’t finish the race when you obviously did. Maybe a good remedy would be for the race to have to refund the entry fee of the riders that haven’t been given the results they deserve. For alot of the Pro riders, it doesn’t matter. But, for the weekend warrior, it is very important and something that needs to be addressed. That’s my 2 cents worth."

Tour of Turkey Final Spint

What is Theo Bos doing? Somebody should have been penalized. Don't take your hands off the handlebars. Leave that to the other guys at the Rose Bowl.

LA Circuit Pics, circa 08 (via Rob)

The classic Bubba Fist pump:

Ian 2nd place finish:

Stratton:

Cat 4 boys:

More:

LA Circuit, circa 07

The Pack -- out in the wind

It's a looong backstretch...

Pulling the field to keep the pace high into the wind -- don't do this

My favorite photo of all time -- courtesy of Josh Horowitz's article in pez on what not to do in a race.

What the finish looks like -- one big mess

Crit tactics

Gentlemen,

As I sit here thawing from a 28º, 30 mile ride (that's all I can do before the water in my bottles freezes solid), I'm thinking of all the racing that's yet to start for me here on the East Coast. One of the things I do regularly is check up on Rashan Bahati's blog. Of special interest to me is the 2nd to last paragraph. Give it a shot, let me know how it goes. Meanwhile, I'll be flying the LG colors starting in late March at Milport RR in Eastern Pennsylvania. Blow their logs off kids, particularly this weekend in Nevada.

Andres

Who says the new shorts aren't transparent?

Last year...
The new "and improved" kit...

NoCal

Pine Flat Road Race is Feb 15th this year, kids. Best race I've ever done. Stunningly beautiful, and it has an uphill finish (Alan). If someone has a spare 58cm bike, I'll hop a plane from Philly to Fresno. 

Happy Holidays from the chilly East Coast!

Andres

Spooky Cross

Santa Barbara 'Cross

Elings Park, Santa Barbara... end of last week.

It's a big park with all these trails wrapped around it. A little too technical for cross, but mighty fun at the top, with intersecting trails and whoop-di-doos. I ran into some Platinum dudes riding full carbon mountain rigs. Awesome.

rush hour

Two Blue Trains leave different Santa Monica trailheads heading toward each other. When and where do they meet?

Train Mountain Bike starts from Bayliss and travels 70 mph up the 16% max grade of Westridge Road. Then LG kits look great on dirt as they hit all the notable singletrack spurs and are amazed by the views and open space inside LA.

At the same time Train Cyclocross, traveling 66 mph, starts up Sullivan Fire Road. They spin to win and practice run-ups when a good embankment reveals itself. Sullivan Ridge tests their climbing prowess on their narrow tires but they reach the top with ease.

When do the two trains meet? How far from each trailhead do they meet? More importantly, how surprised are they when the two run into each other? And who was holding the camera?

To solve this problem, we'll use the distance formula:
rate x time = distance,

and then look in the back of the book for the answers...

Train Blue Cross approx. 5.6 miles
Train Blue MTB approx. 6.4 miles
Time of picture: 7:32AM

Thanks to Matty D for holding the camera.
He'd like to remind you that if you aren't on the AM dirt ride, you don't know what you're missing no matter what flavor your knobbies are.

We could all use a little more of this kind of morning traffic.

.

Vuelta Ex-Pat

In my opinion, the best highlight of the '08 Vuelta... but since it is not televised and I haven't seen any other highlights I would not rely on my objectivity.