Hail Ya!

Surprise!

Well.... it is still February, around 9pm tonight I was working away in the kitchen when I hear a mighty BOOM.. BOOM..
I turned down the stereo when I realized it was thunder and man it was loud. I didn't have to wait too long and all of a sudden I can hear the hail. So I poke my head out of the doorway here and Flash, BOOM. It starts coming down really hard. Shoot.... hail like this only happens every couple of years here in the city so I grabbed my camera and snapped a few pic's. Stuff was pretty big about the size of green peas. Last Thursday it hailed on me as I was almost home from work too. Crazy weather we've been having for sure. I got soaked on the Sat ride and cut it short because I didn't think it was going to rain that early in the day and didn't have the right gear. Sunday I was planning on going to Merced for the Crits but it was looking soggy and 2 hours in the car, each way, to race in the rain, didn't seem like a great idea, so I hopped on the SS and got in 2 hours w/ about 40 min of that, hard 40-50 rpm climbing (can you say gym workout). This weekend didn't quite pan out how I wanted it to but even the best laid out plans can go to shit.... Mother nature was not to kind, I hope things turn around for the Merco weekend. I'm going there rain or shine and the forecast looks good so far.

Right outside my front door the stuff was piling up quick, extreme "lite" weather is always kind of cool.

TOC

Neutral Start in Sausalito lap 1

O.K I need a new camara, 1.3 megapix is just not cutting it. I decided to ride over to Sausalito with my buddy Dan and scope out the race. Well, I am not one to get star struck by any means, but I have to say I was impressed with the sights and sounds at the start area. I used to race motorcycles and like bike racing, there is a lot of "behind the scenes" stuff you don't get to see on TV. It's interesting to see the pro's in person. Guy's you think are short or tall, big or small never look like you think, in person. There are a lot more guys my size or bigger in the pelaton then I really thought. I always had the impression that 6 foot was a bit on the big side for a Pro cyclist but apparently not....

After watching the promenade laps Dan and I rode over to Mill Valley and had a nice breakfast ie: eggs/bacon/hash browns and happiness! We then rode up to 4 corners, down Hwy 1 and got to see a bunch of names drawn on the road.

All in all a good day and I put in 2.5 hours to wrap up the 3 day weekend with a total of 10.5 hours. No racing for me this weekend, but next week I'm planning to do the Merced crit, jezz I hope it doesn't frek'in rain.....

~From La California to Tour of California~

Cool Beans........

Let there be mud.....

Well.......

I wussed out on Martinez but I got in 4 hours on the SS with lots of climbing. I got rained on and it was windy at the top of Tam but I had a pretty good ride. Out to Mill Valley, up 4 corners, over to RR Grade. Threshold effort for 30 min. up to the top. Then down the other side (Eldridge Grade) to Phoenix Lake and back home on the road. On the way down my grips started to slip and slide from the rain, so I had to take it easy, I didn't want to have one pop off, ya... that would have been bad.

I like doing this ride, especially with the SS and MP3 player, tunes for days! I look forward to doing this ride in summer and adding some headlands action after for a 5.5 hr ride? Hopefully 3 more hrs. Sunday and that will wrap up 10.5 hrs this week. I'm 2 weeks into starting lunchervals and things seem to be coming along well....

The Rita is coming together nicely. I have made an effort to dial it in numbers wise, as close to my road bike as possible and it is working. I changed the gears to a 33 X 19 and while the flat top speed is only 24-25 kph it works great for climbing. I need a new seat post with a non-indexed adjuster and a bit more set back, some (gasp) bar ends to go with the new flat bar (rockin) and things should be golden :)

Napa Valley Dirt Classic here I come!

Stats for the ride: 5 climbs/ *82 km/ Avg Spd. 20.5km/

*4 hrs/ Avg HR 134/ Max176

Here we go again......

Alright.... new year, new season, new post.

This weekend will be the first Crit of the new road season for me. The Martinez Crit looked like a lot of fun last year. I went as cheerleader for the team cuz I had been pretty sick and hadn't ridden much leading up to the race. The course is technical in nature and I guess they moved the finish to the end of the long straight, ya baby. Long sprint, big speed. My preferred type of finish.

I don't have issues riding in the rain or wet ground, just riding with other guys that do, is an issue. So, seeing how it's still quite early in the season. I might.... might, not go if the rain is falling but I will wait until the last minute to make that call. I am signed up for the Elite2/3 race and the Masters 1/2/3/4 so it will be a great weekend of training for sure. I hope the wet weather holds out for race day!