The bike rodeo on May 21st was a huge success. We had a good turnout of enthusiastic kids and helpers from Team Norcal Bike Sport, the Sheriffs Dept., and the Shop. TNCBS has more plans to participate in and eventually put on our own bike rodeos. This is our opportunity to give something back to our community and make a difference in these kids’ lives. The kids were pretty stoked to get their bikes tuned up and ride the course!

Big thanks to everyone for taking the time to help out -

• Shannon – registering/licensing kids’ bikes (You have a job at the DMV anytime you want)
• Keith Howell – kid wrangler
• Kelli – set up and kid wrangler
• Jim Whitford – set up and kid wrangler
• Jonathan – coaching the kids through the course, I know most of them were able to improve their peak power output thanks to you!
• Lauren – Kid wrangler and course guider
• Sal – assistant to the chief wrench
• Tim Desantis – kid safety orientator
• Mike Raasch- kid helmet fitter
• Jim Keene – chief wrench, very cool to see the owner of the shop taking the time to wrench kids’ bikes for free!!!

Thanks,

~Keith Flood

Race: 35+ Master’s

Teammates: Dave Wolbeck

Place: 1st out of 16

It’s been a long time since I have laced up the shoes (or velcro) for a mountain bike race. But in an effort to work on my skills I am entering a few this year…at least the ones where you don’t need a license. Enter the Bike Monkey series out at Lake Sonoma. Hot and dry can be the only way to describe this place, even with all the rain we have had. I had never ridden on the course before so I pre-rode it and it was pretty beat up. Horses had their way with the trails…and they say mountain bikes ruin trails…yeah right. There were a couple sections where I was less than confident riding, so I was banished to getting off my bike and running. Getting in a little cross training…that was my excuse.

The bell went off and waves of riders took off in 15 second intervals. Crazy thing about this is you never know who you are racing against. So my strategy was just to try and pass as many people as possible. It worked out pretty well. I must admit I didn’t even know Dave was in my group. There was a Labrador puppy at the start line and that got more of my attention than trying to size up the competition. So I was doing 3 laps, which was a little sandbaggerish (is that a word – yep!) but I didn’t want to kill myself, especially with Sac Gran Prix coming up.

The race was pretty uneventful. Lots of challenging single track and uphill climbing, mixed in with some bomber downhill single track. There was a mandatory dismount into a creek bed and on the second lap I got slammed on it. If there is one thing I know how to do is dismount, but the guy behind me thought I got off too early. He slammed into the back of my bike full speed. I let go of my bike and it rolled down into the creek bed. All the guy could say was,”I didn’t know you were getting off.” Ummm if you see me jump off my bike – that means I am getting off or it is a good hint. That made me a little mad and I took it out on him in the uphill.

Last lap I caught up with Dave near the end and passed him on the last hill. Like I said I didn’t even know he was in my age group until I saw the final results. Nice job Dave! I ended up with no poison oak and a juicy hamburger at the end. Carlos knows how to do it right. Thanks for reading.

Brian

Howdy Folks,

Below are videos of the local Racers who came out to the Airport Club this past April 22nd for a positional analysis and video session.

While we made mostly small tweaks to each position if at all, the one on one advice was mostly off camera. Each rider made improvements from when they first got on their TT rigs. Sorry for the poor lighting…we tried to make it better
Side Session #1

Side Session #2

Side Session # 3

Front Session #1

Front Session #2

The Borrego Double Ordeal – Garth Powell’s 207 mile race against sunlight.

Jonathan Lee recently encouraged me to share a report of one of my “crazy long distance rides” with the NorCal gang. Mostly that relationship has been one sided, I vicariously read his race and time-trial reports and dream of what it might be like to ever be that fast and skilled……it’s a good thing I enjoy endurance events!

My lesson for last Saturday was that all my meticulous pre-planning, strategizing, and technical hypothesis relating to the events distance (207 miles), or feet of climbing (15,000), even past performances in “similar” events, didn’t equate at all to a time goal I’d thought was perfectly reasonable.

That’s not likely the concern of those who race (at least not compared to winning or your position in the pack). However, for a fast double century, pacing is everything. I’ve seen many uber talented riders strutting out in front of the pack, mashing the first 120 miles like it “ain’t no thang,” and falling apart at 160 miles (I know, I pass many of them – and they’re MUCH better cyclists than I am).

Saturday’s Borrego Double Ordeal is a course that starts in the desert of Anza Borrego Springs, climbs up over 4,000 feet then descends into hill country, then climbs more and more again until your reach the Pacific at Oceanside (then you turn back and climb some more).

It was a terrific ride with phenomenal scenery (even by our somewhat jaded standards). However, there were two little sneaky challenges to that course that the BDO web site never discussed!

One was that once we got towards the mid-way mark (San Marcos, and then neighboring Oceanside), we were in for at least 20 looooonng…..again – loooong traffic lights, followed by two quaint bike paths where we weaved around families and their pets (adorable, but a frustrating bottleneck for those riding against the clock). The Pacific ocean was a drop dead gorgeous saphire blue, and that was the reason the ride organizer (Anny Beck – one of USA’s premier distance cyclists) created that particular route.

What I realized once I was in the midst of all this was that like many randoneurs she’s not really concerned with speed! We all lost at least 30 minutes there.

There was a flurry of local road racers in small groups and packs, getting in their Saturday work-out along the coast route. The NorCal tradition seems to be the spint to the city limits signs, but theirs is another culture all together. It was amusing to mix it up in the 1/4 mile sprints – you guessed it – to the very next traffic light (and don’t think your going to weave around mid-morning city traffic in Oceanside unless you have a death wish – most of our motorist like cyclists)!

This could continue for 3 to 4 miles with some rocking their wheels to stay clipped in while others preferred throwing their leg up and surging through a high gear (I don’t think one of us hit a green light ever).

The other “speed impediment” we weren’t warned about was the winds from the final descent into the desert floor of Borrego Springs (followed by about 6.5 miles of relative flats to the finish).

35 to 50MPH wind gusts and a blast furnace of 50 MPH head wind!

Thankfully, this was only the very end of the ride (the rest was virtualy wind free). Still, the final descent from Yaqui Pass into Borrego was terrifiying. Either tapping or dragging my brakes made things far worse, because if a sideways gust hit as I braked, I gave up traction. The best was tucking in, and becoming as aero as humanly possible, zooming down at 45MPH, getting scooted an inch to either side, (and praying a lot).

Then, finally FLATS! About 7 miles to go, no problem! I had enough in the bank to go at least 22mph. Damn, I’m as good as home!

Not so fast….. One final left turn on the exposed desert road that leads to the finish and there’s a 30 to 40 MPH head wind! (with intermittent 50MPH cross wind gusts just to keep it interesting). All you could do was get in a middle spinning gear and try desperately to balance. The terrain was mostly flat, but it felt more like the hardest climb of the day (and my heart rate monitor showed that as well).

So, my dreams of a 13′-59″ finish blew away like so much sand across the desserts of Anza Borrego.

However, I was actually quite pleased with myself upon reflection! My time of 14′-37″ was fifth in, and those four riders were all far better riders than me! By the third rest stops the top three or four riders had about 30 minutes on me, and by the end of the day I was within 8 minutes or less of 3rd and 4th place. Thanks to my coach and my Norcal Club Team mates (Kevin, Juliet, Sal, Javier) I’m gradually learning to ride with more intensity and speed.

Speaking of which, my good friend and new fellow club team member Matthew Wilson rode as well. He would have beat everyone by well over an hour if not for an unfortunate missed turned (you live or die by the route sheet on these events). Amazingly, I saw him 17 miles shy of the finish and he looked fresh as daisy!!! He just may put the hurt on some folks at this years Terrible Two.

Lest you think this was all an exercize in misery – FAR FROM IT! The day had its highlights as well.

The morning climb up the Montezuma Pass (12.5 miles, 8 to 10% plus) was amazing. High desert cliffs with the sun breaking out over and highlighting the peaks! As I approached the summit a golden eagle with a 5 foot wing span swooped down from a cliff above me and scooped up a squirrel dashing a meter from my front wheel for it’s breakfast.

On the way back from the ocean to the desert was the kind of descent most of us dream of. From the summit of the “wild west” tourist town of Julian down the Banner Grade was a 45 to 50mph drop with smooth roads, easy turns, perfect cambers, and it lasts for several miles – Huge FUN!!!

I was solo virtually all day as there weren’t that many riders on this double, but there wasn’t one second of poor scenery the entire way and I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.

Though I must confess……as great as the ride was with its extreme challenge, attentive friendly staff volunteers, and breath taking scenery, my favorite part of the ride was rest stop two in Santa Ysabel, where they served us warm Julian apple pie with butter crumble topping……

I’d go back next year just for that.

~Garth Powell