on track

Easter Sunday evening I was treated to a couple hours of World Championship track cycling on TV. Thanks Universal Sports TV. It is such a spectacle of performance, skill and drama. You gotta see it, it is easy to follow, a great spectator sport even. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, track cycling was immensely popular and lucrative for the racers and promoters. The USA's first worlds were in track cycling. The popularity of the sport and it's various disciplines rivaled the big sports of today. That is probably because the bike enjoyed such explosive growth as recreation as well. Paved roads were developed for bikes, the auto hadn't even been a factor. The step through frame so called ladies frame as we still see it, was to allow women in long skirts to ride!
Road racing was sort of the freak show. The road events were two or even three times the distance of the modern events we see now.
The social upheaval of WW1 paired with the acceptance of the automobile spelled doom to the bike as we well know in the US.
Anyway, track cycling is so cool, I don't understand why it can't come back here. Americans love measured observable sports. Standard fields of play and timing. Predictable conditions except for the athletes themselves. I think the lack of that predictability is a major reason more Americans can't embrace cycling personally or as a spectator. Track racing is still big
in Europe, where the auto is of much less importance. I know, shorter distances, more expensive gasoline ya, ya ,ya. But on so many levels, media friendliness not the least, track
racing ought to come back.
My parents lived in Southern CA for a while. A world class velodrome (track for cycling) was built for the 86(?) Olympics in LA. It was near their home and open for a invitational event to be a sort of test run for olympic athletes the year before. I wa sable to see several events that summer. It was amazing to experience these athletes so up close, it was the size of a small town football stadium, every seat is great. Watch some if you get the chance.
I hope your spring riding is going well, thanks for reading

another monument

Sunday, instead of watching a fantastic Paris-Roubaix, I joined a group doing a ride called The Geysers. this is a ridge climb to 2700' above the 120' valley floor. it is one of the classic climbs in Sonoma County that I have not done. It was a good set of climbs, but as is often the case here, the descent is an equal challenge. we climbed 2200' in about three miles descend some and then climb another 1000+. good pavement as it was installed in the modern era to provide access to a geothermal site. Waste water is pumped up and converted to steam to generate electricity. Some mysterious gravel sections but generally good, wide open road. the long descent down the other side could not be more different. Much is only a lane and a half (or less) wide and a quilt of potholes, patched surface and loose debris. The upper steeps are good, but there were several miles of rolling descent that required skill and courage, kind of like Paris-Roubaix. The final 25 miles into a headwind finished me off. but it was a fine day on the bike. Sorry no pics, I left the camera on the counter
I got home just in time to watch the rebroadcast of the mornings race. Excellent! I like Cancellara and all, he is a great and worthy champion, but it seems to me that favorites are going to have to come up with some fresh strategy to win, especially these "crap-shoot" spring classics. the second tier is now so talented that they can pull off a win while the Demi-gods mark each other.
molto bene, Johann

Racing returns in earnest

Ah, we are rolling into serious road racing now withParis-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico and racing on TV. I really enjoyed P-N in full HD the one day I was able to follow it. I am intrigued to see the new Vacansoleil team really showing their stuff. This is the outfit that for some reason decided to sign the just reinstated Ricardo Ricco. Fresh off drug bust he seems to have decided to try a little self transfusion of some kind and wound up in a hospital. The team really took it on the chin, but the boys have really made the best of it. These are a bunch of new pros that are all new to me. I am happy to see these guys digging the team out of a deep PR pit.
This time of year it is always a bit of a challenge to keep track of the riders, especially on TV, what with the rider transfers to new teams and new team outfits and even new teams such as the aforementioned Vacansoleil squad.
Had some nice road rides lately One in particular was a solo 50 miler. Solo rides lead to a much different flow of thoughts. This day I really fell in love with Sonoma County all over again. The scenery and terrain vary so much without even leaving the county. I rode over 5000 miles last year and don't think more than 200 were outside the county. Everything from ocean views, quiet Redwood groves, remote hilly pastureland and even some climbs that take up to an hour.

Daylight savings time returns, it sure makes me happy. I really like daylight lingering into the afterwork time. I will miss the morning light for the next month or so but that will change.
Let's ride!
Thanks for reading

My reflection

A little reflection on cycling and frustration. Not that cycling and frustration are collaborators or anything, but on this weeks trail ride I did encounter some frustration. I am an experienced, though hardly expert trail rider, and riding on rocky terrain is probably were I am the least expert. The park in my local is quite rocky. I was exploring another section I had not been on before, its called Rough Go on the trail map, need I say more? Trail riding requires a tripod of skill, power and confidence. Any week leg on this stool, shows up quick. You can hide some shortcomings for a while on a road ride, but trail riding brings the truth out quick. But I did have to grapple with frustration as I found shortcomings in my cycling that day, trail riding also can give rewarding flashes of satisfying achievment. A rider has to make split second decisions to clear a rough technical section requiring all three aspects of skill. Often this happens on a instinctive level, and of course this is where time/experience come into play. The rider has to bring all three aspects to play. A shortcoming brings a stall, a bail or worse a crash. On a demanding road ride the state of affairs is more pliable or fluid moving stightly from one corner of the metaphorical stool the the other and back. It make take covering several attacks befor lack of power finally overwhelms me and I am left witha dull sense of frustration. Conversly the rewards tend not to have that quick deep satisfaction either. That is one thing I like about trail riding and why I generally like to do it alone on my own terms. The following shot is a rather calm section.

This region is of ancient volcanic origin, which contributes to good vineyard soils. The mountain I'm on has very porous "boiled" looking rock on on side and hard and even glassy rock on th other side. It was quarryied for cobblestone in the early twentieth century. One can still see remnants of that work in blast holes and rock piles.
We had a snow shower today!! A cold front blew in from Alaska on the tail end of a rain event. Tonight is going down to 28 degrees brrr

Spring?

How's the winter been treating you? For those of you back East, the weather hasn't been conducive for cycling until just recently. In norcal land the bulk of Jan/Feb. have been great. Sunny, warm even into low 80's.Until this past week that is, now heavy rain even hail and highs struggle to hit 50. the other night we had snow at about 2500' ele.,the ridge that separates us from Napa had lots of white. Oh well this is needed for the dry six months ahead. So many rides are scheduled for the area. Every organization seems to try and tap into the money making potential of the regions cyclists and great riding.I just wonder if there will be a push back from the non cycling public at large.
I am not riding quite as much as last year, working more it seems, it is a long season, so that is fine.I try to get out on the mountain bike once a week. Some new pics

Been doing some bike maintenance on our fleet of bikes, but I tend to not take stuff apart that isn't acting up, if it ain't broke don't fix it. One does run a certain risk of a cable going out during an event, I've been there. Chains I am pretty good on twice a year. Between several wheels I've never had to replace a Campagnolo cassette. Of course I also have systematically transitioned from 8 to 9 to 10 speed drives too. Somehow I am not really compelled to jump to 11 speed, but I am sure time will come.
How about the likely arrival of electronic Ultegra from Shimano? Are any of you putting off a 2011 purchase to get it? I have ridden the Dura-Ace group on demo, it is very impressive, especially the front shift.
My only purchases for new stuff this year have been in the apparel side and general upkeep tires hb tape and such. Except my Giant Anthem full-suspension bike. It has been a lot of fun. I am very interested in going into a new 29r format bike, but since off road is not rely my main deal I will put that off. Working in a bike shop it is hard to not keep daydreaming about "the next bike" and the Giant TCR Advanced SL sure seems to be calling my name. Stop it right now! It's bad enough just with clothes and shoes and, and.......

Spoiled

Yikes, after a cold, dark, wet December, the last two weeks have been amazing, mild to warm and SUNNY!! Mustard is blooming in the vineyards, frogs are doing their thing, Loudly. The shop is enjoying a respite from quiet January days?! Registration opened for Levi's Gran Fondo. It has a cap at 7500 riders this year, see my post from Oct. 09 for a comparison. It is a century that covers some amazing Sonoma County territory, remote and hilly, often steep but with breathtaking views. We'll have to see how it compares to B2B and other NC events of my past. I have ridden all of the course but not all together. A significant portion of the profits go to Santa Rosa's Tour of CA financial obligations, with several other non-profits also benefiting. I better get some riding done, even indoors I hope you can too, HH

Big cycling news in Santa Rosa

Just announced in this mornings local paper, the Press Democrat, my new hometown will indeed be hosting the start of the 2012 Tour of California. This is big economic news because it means a week of buildup and gala events with officials,staff, athletes and tourists. The 2011 Tour will bypass Santa Rosa for the first time, but it was hinted that we would trade that for the start of the event in May 2012 We had to commit $190,000 for previous years stages, now we have to pony up three times that amount to host the race start. Levi's King Ridge Gran Fondo has committed $120,000. Registration opens Monday for this Octobers event You heard it here first I guess. If you're not a local. Oh, and come on springtime