Back home, back up front

Back home from college, Paul Ward schooled the pro 1-2 peleton in the 100-mile Tour de Moore road race in NC. The Fayetteville Observer reports that Paul and Rosebrock (Manulife Financial) rode away from the prestigious Hincapie Team during the last 20 miles, and then Paul edged out Rosebrock on the line by quarter wheel. Read the article.

Paul rides for Nature's Path Pro cycling team. He started as a junior on the local Conte's team, moved up in the categories while racing for local team Atlantic Velo, and raced on Team Snow Valley's elite squad for two years. This is Paul's first season as a category 1.

(Photo by David Smith, Fayetteville Observer, 4/30/06)


Read more about Paul.

If you have a Virginian Pilot password, read even more about Paul.

(photo source: teamnaturespath.com)

Times

Julie (left) and John (right) ran in the 110th Boston Marathon last week. What an experience that must have been, from the qualifying to the finish. They both finished several minutes slower than their best marathon times, so I promised Julie a poem:

So there they are pictured with John's cyclist (who is he anyway) and me (Julie's cyclist) on the relay teams at VA Duathlon earlier this month. Both these Running Etc teams won the men and women's relays, and what a great competition. John's team edged out 2nd place by 3 tenths of a second and Julie's team won by a mere 32 seconds. In both cases, their run times were key to the win since John's cyclist and I were both beat by 2nd place teams' cyclists. Julie's first leg 5k was a PR 20:41 for her.

1:27:32.30 Running Etc. 1:27:32.60 Running Frogs (Men's Relay)

1:37:59.85 Running Etc. 1:38:31.95 Two L’Fers (Women's Relay) Full Relay results

More publicity rides

Now ain't that the truth.
<<<<<
Kevin is front left center at CCC last weekend. >>>>>





(from "It's a day at the races" by Nicole Morgan. Photo by Gary C. Knapp, Virginian Pilot, 4/10/06)


What do you say to an Olympian?
<<<<<<<<<

If Michellie Jones was willing to ride in the rain among unfamiliar wheels, I could not miss the opportunity to attempt conversation. I went blank as I rode along side her, so I found a variant of weather small talk: "So, what type of weather do you compete best in?" thinking that she would start trash talking humidity or sub-freezing temps. Michellie said, "I like it all, I do well in anything." She sure told me. Certainly her resume would agree, I thought.

"Wow, great, so where is your next triathlon?" I asked, hoping to talk about the weather in whatever location that would be. "San Diego in May," she said. Weather in San Diego--hmm, obviously this conversation was finished.

I am grateful that Charles, David and Julie hosted Michellie. What a great ride.

(photo by Bill Tiernan, Virginian Pilot, 4/16/06)

Road Tripping

Top Left: No one on a bicycle who reaches this sign ever forgets this sign. (Wintergreen-Montebello-return loop)

Top Right: Low traffic, high UV. (Skyline Drive)

Bottom Left: Some things are better done up close. (Harrisonburg, VA)

Bottom Right: What on Earth? (Skyline Drive)

Banner Background

The race banner is finally back on display on Waterside Drive in Norfolk, VA. It has been impossible to reserve space on this catwalk over the past few years. Pro photographer Jonathan Devich designed and made the banner while he was still an amateur photographer here in town. The first version had a Ford logo, this one has our title sponsor Conte's logo.

This 30'x 8' dinosaur has been rolled up and taking up all the space in my spare room floor for the past 5 years. The vinyl-on-vinyl design is an antiquity in the banner world. They lasar on logos and lettering these days, and when revisions are made, they just lasar over the old text or logos. This one requires peel-cut-paste method.

The racer image on the banner is that of Fast Freddie Rodriguez, 3- time USPRO road race champion. There he is on the left where (I think) he is winning the 2001 USPRO race in Philly. On the right, the image on our banner is from a photo taken during Freddie's 2000 win at the Philly race. He also won in 2004.

(Photo source: fredrodriguez.com)

Photo Op

(l-r, Carol, Liz, Sue, Sally)

Pro Susan Haywood gave us visiting mountain bikers a nod

in Harrisonburg, VA back in January. Sally will not let me

rest until I show this picture. Come to think of it, Sue is

pretty much my hero. She is racing yet another year

on Trek/ Volkswagon Pro Mountain Bike Team.

Photo source: trekbikes.com

Net hair gain

Top Left: Hosang keeps his hair.

Top Right: Marks saved his life by saving Hosang's hair.

Bottom Left: Kev will do with his hair what he wants anyway.

Bottom Right: Cook keeps what she's got and then some.

This competition had so much meaning on so many levels. Never so much excitement at Suffolk's White Marsh Plaza. Great race.

Publicity Rides

Publicity wears me out. A WVEC-TV reporter and cameraman contacted John to do a story about our team featuring our recent award. John dispatched them to the Monday ride, giving me exactly 3 hours to gather a group of personalities who I knew would do the talking. I still ended up on camera, though, didn’t say anything too dopey. Done. Well, now it’s the calendar. The nude calendar idea. Janice managed to get Wes the photographer all excited about it and he has sent me links, ideas, his “vision” for the thing. Janice is pushing for this to be done before she returns home to England in May. 12 slots and 60 team members—I am pretty sure I can get out of this one.

As for the TV feature, it was quite well done. Brian Smith himself filmed from a car as we rode mountain bikes on Colley Ave. Of course the most colorful interview comments were cut from the broadcast. We were sure that Sally had said we were “socialists” (turned out to be “socialness”) and she named the Saturday ride “the testosterone ride” which raised our eyebrows, especially when she went on to say that the women have quite a bit of testosterone and win the Saturday “race” against the men. Very funny but not made for local TV.

Myth and the Familiar

(at right, Blue Ridge Parkway serves as pivot point for VA road loops, even in the winter.)

News to me. I have inflated road tires to 120-130 psi for years. I thought the risk of snake bites was too high otherwise, and I thought less surface area in contact with pavement added to speed. Myth apparently. Lawson (who reads everything) confirmed that this would only be true if riding on a wooden track. The only thing close to that around here is the walkway in front of Nauticus. 100 is plenty, wow.

Sweat corroding handlebars is not news to me. But how a person can ignore the corrosion for this long confuses me a bit. Glad this resulted in only a low-speed crash.

Speaking of Lawson, I watched him eat during a team ride weekend at Wintergreen. He is doing a brilliant job calculating calories according to wattage outputs and other factors. He eats all the time, which looked like fun, but I do not have much interest in some of his staples (Grapenuts) or in cutting out ice cream. The usual mediocrity with me.

Maybe I should pay better attention. I climbed our familiar Blue Ridge Parkway and Wintergreen loops in some pretty pathetic form. I was going up the Parkway so slowly that I had extra time to contemplate “Why do the Blue Ridge Mountains look blue” and “Would the Parkway ever have been built if not for the Great Depression” and “Is Reed’s Gap (both sides) among the top 10 steepest roads in America” and “Why am I here climbing on a bike and not descending on skies?” Time goes by—so slowly—one foot—other foot—time goes by—so slowly--

I was not even able to keep up with Susan (a pure climber who hates rollers and did more cold weather clothing changes than Madonna) on the Rt. 151 rollers in the valley below Wintergreen. By the time we headed back to climb up Wintergreen, she offered to climb up, then drive a car down to fetch me since there was little evidence I would make it to the top. I muscled it out though and reached the summit, perhaps because there was such a captive audience of skiers driving down the mountain who heckled and cast encouragement out frosty windows.

Silver Style

It's about being good enough to take a fall I think. Lindsey fell and still placed 2nd. Not too bad in a sport where it wouldn't have been true gold if she hadn't used her 3 second advantage to add style.

Take Shaun Palmer, a guy who pioneered snowboard cross. He was on the downhill mountain bike circuit for years, and I saw him up close in the 1997 World Cup downhill race at Massanutten, VA. Susan and I stood at this steep, narley part of the course watching the racers. Shaun barreled down that mountain at a ridiculous speed and crashed right at our feet. He tumbled and was battered between rocks and trees for probably 20 feet. He sprung up, remounted and proceeded down on a blown tire.

His 29th place was more impressive to me than first place--sure don't remember who won first. Maybe 1st place winner's speed was more conservative, but Shaun always pushed downhill mt biking (and all his sports) to new levels. That's what Lindsey just did. 2010 gold winner will have no choice but to add style.

Lindsey can be sure the footage and the talk will propel her to a place that even gold can't touch. (photo source: nbcolympics.com)

Flagpole Knob

(at right, Beneline descends from Flagpole Knob on some of VA's best singletrack.)

Superbowl Sunday ride highlights:

1--Riding with Nick who was visiting from England.
2--Being in a slugfest with Sally and Carol to reach the top of the mountain. Sally crowned queen of mountain.
3--Heading down a black diamond descent with hands that couldn't feel brakes.
4--Alan's battery operated shoe heaters and Sally's everlasting hand warmers and Carol's ancient handwarming methods.
5--Photo op with Sue Haywood, professional mountain biker.
6--Finally meeting Mike, the guy who collided with a black bear last summer.
7--The sun, the wind, the trees and no ice!

(below l-r, Paul, Nick, Liz, Carol and Sally stay low at Flagpole Knob, highest point in Rockingham County, VA.)






Photos from Shenandoah Mt Bike Club

Broke Bolt Mountain Saddle

This post is inspired by John who has dissected several bikes on his blog. Here is my sheared mountain bike saddle bolt. I was JRA and BOOM! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I thought I had been shot but then I realized the back end was collapsing, so I figured the noise was an exploded rim. Instead the seat bolt had snapped. Robert used to own the bike (same saddle and seat post) so I told him most likely the years of his hind parts stressing it made it finally give up. He said it was never engineered to take the load I put on it. Not sure who is right but I will say I never knew a bolt breaking could be so LOUD.

Typical Week

Monday--Did Parker's spin class. Watched an inspirational video. Thought about pizza.

Tuesday--Don't even remember this day. Probably ate pizza.

Wednesday--Rode with Sally so early that the only thing I remember is her saying something about leaving me to move to VA Beach. Something about a good deal on a townhouse. All I could think is how this would mess up my early morning ride routine. Ate Cogan's pizza. Glad to have the half without artichokes.

Thursday--Spent considerable time in an email conversation about how fast (or not) winter rides should be. Went to a planning meeting for Conte's Classic, scheduled for April 9. Ate Red Dog Saloon pizza. Learned that "cheese pizza" is redundant.

Friday--Rode with Sally again, this time in wind chill that froze my hands and core. Saw a huge ice patch on Hampton Blvd but did nothing to avoid it. Fishtailed like crazy, somehow stayed upright, then felt like I had been jolted out of a complicated dream. Felt so grateful to not be on the ground, clipped into fixed gear rotation, that I congratulated Sally on her new home. Ate Dominio's pizza for lunch. Thought about how pepperoni is the same yesterday today and forever.

Saturday--Did nondescript 55 miles with the group. Ate plain pancakes.

Sunday--Practiced rotating paceline and hill repeats on training ride. Watched Carol's demo of team tactics in which magnetic checkers served as racers. Nice touch to stack checkers to indicate strong opponents. Made banana pancakes.

Cross is the new black

(at left Elite A men cross racers negotiate the spongy switchbacks. Photo by John)

Build it off road and they will come. Trashmore Cross race attracted a curious mix of racers yesterday. Of course there were the cross experts (Team CSK men). Also, mainstays for any racing genre like Pam and Dave showed. Josh split from marathon training for the day to reacquaint himself with the bike. There were pure mountain bikers like Mike and Dan who live in town but can only be spotted on backwoods trails 3 hours outside of town. I saw 2 single speed types, including Wes and some guy wearing a Shenandoah Bicycle Club jersey. Triathletes Eddie and Laura emerged back on the scene after hiding in UT and CA for the past few years working on PhD’s. Closest local racer: 3 minutes from event. Longest drive home: Washington DC.

Best part of the course was top of the first mountain (elevation 50 feet), where the temp was colder than below, where the wind was battering the course tape, and where spectators’ voices were carried off the same way it happens on plateaus thousands of feet higher. I rediscovered the joy of being atop Mt Trashmore, Va Beach’s much joked but much beloved landfill.

The season's first snowfall dusted the course later that night, entombing our collective tire tracks. (All race day photos by John Blaszczak.)

Less said says more

Movie week. I saw a great film Gerry on Sundance Channel the other night. Two hikers lost in the desert search for water and the highway (not necessarily in that order) while having infrequent and alarmingly ordinary conversations. The gaps of silence may confound film critics, but all mountain bike viewers understand. Silence allows time to check out all the rideable desert landscapes in Death Valley and to imagine being lost with a bike and Camelback out there. As the film winds down, you just know not to expect a miracle, and during the dismal epilogue you get off the couch to start a 48-hour hydration ritual. Four. (Photo source: sundancechannel.com)


Us cross hostelers and guests gathered for opening night of Hostel at Pembroke Friday. From the second row I watched a movie that thankfully bore little resemblance to our own hostel experience. A Quentin T without the trademark clever twist, "Hostel" shows the mechanics of torture without inducing the fear or mystery found in good horror. It seems to point out sick greedy human nature but uses way too much stock dialogue among unlikable characters to do so. Hosang’s fantasies about what stood behind the forbidden doors at Ironmaster’s Hostel scare me more. One point five. (Photo source: bloody-disgusting.com)

Donate Bikes and Invites

You haven't ridden a bike until you have had to ride a bike. Wes Cheney, a local cyclist, donates his time every Saturday morning to fixing bikes for cyclists who are dependent on bikes for transportation. He writes about how he got started in this outreach on his travel blog. Currently, he is accepting donations of full bikes that so many of us have sitting around so that he can meet the demand of those who need them. You can contact him from his website.

If you have any ambition around here, you ride a bike rather than watch time pass dealing with HRT buses. It has been proven that it takes less time to bicycle from VB Oceanfront to downtown Norfolk than to travel by HRT. This is true of many 10-20 mile stretches.

It's a very different experience to depend on a bike for transportation. Everyone in cars appears to be inside incubators. The colder it gets, the more odd people think you are. People congratulate the spandex and balaclava types who willingly commute, but those forced to commute are often treated similar to how homeless are treated. Invite them to your parties--they won't mind riding to your house.

Team in Civies

Why do these folks have front row seating at Sally's MS graduation from ODU? Well, Sally was on a bike ride during the short window of time she was supposed to be reserving graduation seats for her parents and friends. By the time she called the seats were all gone. An unnamed someone had to tap some unnamed sources to get them front row VIP seating.

I wonder if the newspaper photographer knew he was capturing Melissa Rice (far right), a world class rower who competed in 2005 FISA World Championships in Japan and who is joining the 2008 US. Olympic team in Philly in just 2 weeks. No less significant, Janice in the photo will be cycling across the USA beginning this May, Jo-Anne just bought a hybrid Cannondale and Pete pulls my tail around on the Saturday rides. I am sure Sally planned all this. (Photo by Jason Hirschfeld, featured in Virginian Pilot, December 19, 2005)

Cross Coming to Town

Nothing beats getting permission to race a bike where bikes aren't allowed. The first Trashmore Cross race is coming Jan 14--the first cross race in Hampton Roads since mid-90's Freeze Your Butt Off (Crit and Cross). Mt. Trashmore in Va Beach has strict rules about no bike riding on the grassy, trashy hills. However, Hosang got approval for our club to stage the race on both hills, and he has designed a mile course with all the cross elements at this perfect venue.

Supposedly Eric has pics from a cross race he did in the early 80's that was held at none other than Trashmore. Hosang was quite dejected when he heard Jan 14 may not be the first of the first, so I tried to consol him by saying that it's the first in modern cross era. Silly as it sounds I do mean it--cross is experiencing a new life all over the country. Cross Nationals last wkend in Rhode Island had huge fields despite the blizzard. Wonder if we'll have snow here for Trashmore Cross!

Super Sally Part 2

I'm back. Been cold. No time to ride in the afternoon so I am glad Sally lives close by and rides with me at 0'dark hundred (5am). Roads are clear and the bike commuters are strange. At first none of them would say hi since I guess they thought we'd never keep this up. Now at least they grunt at us. I have arrived at home a few times with first stages of frost nip. Fun stuff.

Ditch Detour

(at left, Steve, Paul and unidentified Pilgrim grace the annual T-day ride. Photo by BJ Samuel)

Great 48-mile ride today without the usual T-day bluster. Brent took a little detour into a Pungo ditch where cool deep water, mud and Spartina cushioned the fall. Everyone around him stayed upright, and his bike opted not to go in ditch so it stayed dry. Conte's sag was right there to scoop up him and bike, so blowing heater dried him out. I am thankful he swam up so quickly and could laugh about it.