Team Mates

Last Friday I was riding up Happy Valley Road (I call it Angry Valley) towards Lafayette. I flatted and was having a hell of a time getting the rear tire off the DT Swiss rim. It was not pretty. All of the sudden a white car comes racing down the hill towards me and stops. I was waiting for some inappropriate language and was not disappointed, it was Ken giving me a bad time. He was a real savior; he ripped the tire off the rim with his bare hands and then put a new tube in and got the tire back on! I had been trying to use a skewer to do it! That was real teamwork and I really appreciate it. I will do the same when the time comes. Of course the tire flatted again about 4 miles later and I had to use two skewers to get it off the rim; my follow vehicle never showed up! Thanks again Ken!

Mentor Profile: Rob Anderson

1. Place in your first race?
[Rob Anderson] It was a long time ago so my memory may be suspect but I think it was 58th place at a NORBA National in Mammoth in the late 1980's.

2. Ride alone or with friends?
[Rob Anderson] Always with friends!

3. Favorite subject in school?
[Rob Anderson] In grade school through high school it was PE. At University it was a finance class with a professor who later mentored me in the business world.

4. First bike ever?
[Rob Anderson] I think it was something like a Schwinn cruiser when I was about 8 years old.

5. Favorite post race meal?
[Rob Anderson] One of my wife's superb pasta dishes. I usually crave protein so it will likely include some seasoned tofu product.

6. Race you are most proud of and why?
[Rob Anderson] Winning the World Mountain Biking Championship in 2006 and not for the reason that might seem most obvious. What made me most proud was that my whole family was there to cheer me on and celebrate it with me. My mother, brothers, nieces, nephews and in-laws were there, but more importantly, my wife and daughters were at the finish line when I was the first to cross it.

7. Boxers or briefs?
[Rob Anderson] Have never worn boxers so it's briefs

8. What sport would you do if you weren't a cyclist?
[Rob Anderson] The injuries in hockey forced me off the ice otherwise I probably would never have taken up the sport of cycling. So if it wasn't cycling, I would still be playing hockey.

9. Biggest accomplishment ever?
[Rob Anderson] This one is real easy. I have two daughters, ages 12 and 9. They are kind, caring, loving, healthy and happy. I assume my wife and I contributed at least in some part to these characteristics and is therefore my biggest accomplishment ever.

10. Real food or the other stuff on rides?
[Rob Anderson] I am perhaps an anomaly on this front as I don't eat on rides (although I do when I race) only drink water. During races I eat energy blocks and drink energy drinks as opposed to real food like fruit or juices.

11. Razor, waxing, or electric?
[Rob Anderson] Hey, I am a old mountain biker so never have and never will shave my legs.

12. Green, polka dots, or the stage 20 TT?
[Rob Anderson] Climbing seems to be what I do best so definitely polka dots.

13. Celebrity you resemble the most?
[Rob Anderson] I've been told I look a little like Baryshinikov.

14. First job ever?
[Rob Anderson] When I was 11 years old I had a paper route, I was a paper boy.

15. Single most important piece of advice you give to your kids?
[Rob Anderson] Be a good person and be honest.

Overijse... that's a memory!

This coming Sunday I'll be logging onto www.cyclingnews.com to check out the cyclocross results from Vlaamse Druivenveldrit in Overijse, Belgium. Oh, how I wish I was there to see the action.

Back in 2001-2002 my family and I lived in Belgium for a year. It was a great experience. We found a Christian church within the first few days of arriving, it was close to where we lived and it was in Overijse. We felt welcomed and comfortable there and the locals talked about a big cycling event in town around Christmas.

I'm not much of a cyclocross racer but I had to give it a try. Dec. 23, 2001 ... it's not important how I did, but snow was falling when I raced and I had a smile on my face for 45 minutes! Fast forward to the Pro race and I was in awe that these guys were racing over terrain that I was walking only hours before. Amazing efforts. Amazing bike handling skills. Amazing camera work (he he) and a great memory.

Check out www.cyclingnews.com for details. You can bet that I will! Cheers, Larry

Turkey Day Ride

Every year in Marin there is an annual Thanksgiving mountain bike ride. This ride is known as the Turkey Day ride. It starts at a coffee shop in Fairfax, where the riders immediately start ascending up a long hill, go around a loop full of more hills, single-track, rocky sections, and winding hills -- Basically everything you can ask from a mountain bike ride. Given that this isn’t an organized ride, every rider has their own idea of what the actual loop is. There gets to a point in the ride where people start heading in different directions based on their preference and where they need to finish. 
 
One would think that this ride is small, given that it isn’t organized nor is there a planned start time. There isn’t even a designated route. However, it’s really quite the opposite. Not hundreds, but thousands of people show up for the event and it seems as if every rider in Marin is out on the trail. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a trail so full of bikes before. More amazing than the amount of riders that show up, is the variety of the riders. At any given time you might see a serious road racer that’s flying up a hill, or you might see a 70-year-old on a single speed that’s going even faster. On your left could be a soccer mom that only rides three times a year, and on your right could be a 10-year-old kid. Some people are on 29 inch wheels, while others are on cyclecross bikes. There was even a guy dressed in a turkey costume!
 
My favorite aspect of the ride is the comradeship that all the riders and volunteers share. No one dares to poach on this ride, and sheriffs help pass out food and water to the riders. There are also volunteers that stand at the top of the hills to cheer people on and pass out food. Since there are so many people that come out, there is almost a 100% chance that you will run into some one that you know. For the most part, everybody gets along. 
For me, the Turkey Day ride was more then I had hoped. I rode for half the day with Tyler Brandt, a cyclist I’ve known for years. After riding through Fairfax, we rode all the way to the top of Mt. Tam, then down to my house in Mill Valley where Thanksgiving dinner awaited me.

Davis Bentley

2008 Masters Track Natz in San Jose!

Posted by Warren Geissert- Nov. 10

Enthusiasm and perseverance gets rewarded.

In 2007 we enjoyed some great events and riding at the newly-remodeledHellyer Park Velodrome. The excitement and enthusiasm around the trackthis season has been great, the growth in rider numbers has surpassed expectations, we had some exceptional weekly racing and special events, and people are already excited about what is to come in 2008.

As most of you know, a team of us put together a bid package to host the 2008 Masters Track National Championships and it was submitted toUSA Cycling in mid-September.

It is with great pleasure that we can now announce that USA Cycling has awarded the event to the Hellyer Park Velodrome! The racing will begin on Tuesday, September 2 and conclude on Sunday, September 7. These dates were chosen to avoid conflict with the Olympics and the Masters Road Worlds. The new six-day format will allow for shorter racing sessions each day and will give each age group aday off from racing for rest and more free time to enjoy some of the country's most popular visitor attractions.

The team that put together our excellent bid package was Rick Adams, Joe Fineman, Warren Geissert, Robin Geissert, Rob Jensen, Larry Nolan, and Mark Rodamaker. We included input and suggestions from other people as well.

The successful bid proposal was a culmination of the efforts of many, many people who have built rider programs, put on races, helped our velodrome facility become what it is, and of course, the riders and racers who come out for the fun.

I have set up a website to help share information about the event andit will be updated as we go along.http://08masterstracknats.blogspot.com/

We expect to see 400+ riders from around the USA attending the event and this will be the biggest event in the history of the Hellyer ParkVelodrome.

We have the people and enthusiasm to do a great job, along with a nice facility. For all of us, it will be our goal to make the 2008 event the best Masters Track Nat's yet!

It's going to be a fun season of track racing at Hellyer Park in 2008!

Race Directors
Rick Adams
Warren Geissert

Damp

A year and a half ago my buddy Jason and I rode to work one morning. He split off north to get to Oracle, while I headed south to Duarte. Unfortunately Jason was smacked by a car and launched through the windshield. He's still healing up but wanted to take a time-out to thank some friends that were there for him during a tough spell, so he and his wife Kathleen invited a few of us to spend the weekend in Napa.

4 hours of riding in the rain on Saturday, finishing off the ride with a climb up Trinity Grade (1500 feet in 2-1/2 miles). Hot tub, massage, great food and great company followed. Garry summarized the ride best, so I used it in the title.

We awoke Sunday morning to crystal clear sunny skies, headed out for a 3 hour ride after another great meal and finished with a climb up the backside of Trinity Grade. Lunch, and we called it a perfect day.

Perfect until we arrived home and found a supena in the mail from that lunatic that ran into our 45+ pack at the Fremont Crit in June 2004. He re-opened his case and has nothing better to do with his life than to pursue another court case.

Thanks to Jason, Kathleen and all the great friendships of the group. Good times! Larry

Nov. 4 Junior Ride

Today we had a junior ride at Joel's house. We did Old Lahonda then West on 84 to Alpine an back to Joel's house. After the ride we had a BBQ. We had a great time. All the juniors were there and some of the masters including Larry, Wyatt, Dylan, Fred, Steve. It was a great ride for meeting the new juniors on this year's roster.

Vic scores World title #11

As was previously posted Vic earned a 10th UCI masters world championship in the 500m time trial. By the end of the week he earned a 3rd in the 2km pursuit, a 2nd in the scratch, a 6th in the points, a 10th in the team sprint and his 11th UCI masters world championship in the match sprints (including the fastest qualifying 200 meter time). When you consider that all of these great results came against one of the most competitive and decorated masters athletes in the world in Australian Keith Oliver makes Vic's accomplishments even more special. Congrats Vic!

Also, Vic is currently flashing across the USA Cycling website. Check out: http://www.usacycling.org/

Larry

Tour of Marin

All of us who went to the Tour of Marin on Sunday had a great time. Davis Phinny and Levi were there. The group of riders was enormous. Here are some pictures from the ride.

Mick scores silver at Masters Track World's

Sydney, Australia... Mick sent this e-mail to the team (top 4 in the morning session move into Gold or Bronze rides at night so Mick was racing for the Gold medal)

3rd fastest master (all age groups) doing 3,000 meters; fastest American; personal record. Adds up to 2nd place in 45-49 age group, after Hilton McMurdo of Australia, who set the fastest time of the day for any age group by about 5 seconds with a 3:27!). Exceeded my own expectations for performance, but the hunt for the rainbow jersey continues (next year).

Vic wins his 10th Masters World Championship!

Sydney, Australia

Male - 65 to 69 500m Time Trial Final
1 Victor Copeland (USA) 0.37.03 (48.6 km/h)
2 Keith Oliver (Aus) 0.37.30
3 Brian Dew (Aus) 0.38.23
4 Martin Peeters (Aus) 0.38.24
5 John Lewis (Aus) 0.40.19
6 Ron Grant (Aus) 0.41.32
7 Guido Lupo (Ita) 0.41.55
8 Colin Rossiter (Aus) 0.41.92
9 Rod Wagner (Aus) 0.43.23
10 Barry Roberts (Aus) 0.44.88

This is the first event of the week... congratulations Vic!

and good luck to Mick and Vic! Lar

back in the day...

My daughter Aubrey works part-time at Happy Fish swim school when she's not in school herself (a senior @ UC Santa Cruz... go Banana Slugs!) so she came home this past weekend for the Happy Fish run for education. Aubrey and my wife Debbie did the 5km last year and had fun so I thought I'd give it a go this year. I started running two weeks ago because I want to try this duathlon in November. As a former runner during the "running boom" this should be easy. Basically, it was easy (avg. HR 105% of AT for 19:40) and it was rewarding (6th overall, 2nd master) but I am SO SORE!

Aubrey placed 2nd in her age group (19-29), Deb took her 3rd win in a row (50+) and we won the grand prize raffle... $500 at Sports Basement! Yippee! Lar

great news for juniors!

from www.cyclingnews.com

UCI Juniors Nations Cup

One year after introducing the successful UCI Under-23 Nations Cup, the UCI is launching the same system for Junior riders.

The UCI Juniors Nations Cup will kick off in the 2008 season. It will provide a new qualification system for the UCI Juniors Road World Championships. As with the Under-23 Nations Cup, the new system will be based on the ranking by nation on the Nations Cup circuit.

The UCI announced on its web site, www.uci.ch, that the Nations Cup will encourage the participation of national teams and guarantee a more equitable qualification system. The aim is to show up the true strength of each nation, without putting undue pressure on individual riders. Riders will not be able to ride more than five races on the Juniors Nations Cup calendar, excluding World Championship events. The individual ranking for Juniors will no longer exist with the beginning of the 2008 season.

The UCI Juniors Nations Cup will be open to national and mixed teams of six riders, of whom at least four must participate. In 2008 it will be made up of seven events, plus the UCI Juniors World Championships, in three continents.
The UCI Management Committee will determine the selection system each year. However for the transition year, the 2008 qualification system will be established according to the 2007 UCI ranking by nation.

The 2008 UCI Juniors Nations Cup calendar will be comprised of Paris – Roubaix Juniors, France, April 13; Course de la Paix Junior, Czech Republic, May 7–11; Trofeo Karlsberg, Germany, May 22-25; GP Général Patton, Luxembourg, July 12-13; UCI Juniors Road World Championships, South Africa, July 17-20; Nations Cup Abitibi, Canada, July 31 – August 3; Giro Ciclistico della Lunigiana, Italy, September 4-9 and Kroz Istru / Tour d'Istrie, Croatia, September 19-21.

Welcome to Katoomba!!

Nice place they've got here! Down in Australia for Masters Track Worlds, I'm staying in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney doing my race prep, which involves riding, sleeping, riding again, eating, and sleeping. Not a quarter kilometer of flat roads here for easy rides. Met some local guys yesterday for the most extensive sprint session I've ever done, probably 10 hard hill sprints in an hour. Don't tell Harvey.

Talk about Bicycle Racing! Clinic in Los Altos

It’s not too early to think about the 2008 USA Cycling Racing Season
Talk about bicycle racing!
At the Bicycle Outfitter, 963 Fremont Avenue, Los Altos
Just off Foothill Expressway, 2 miles off 280

Thursday’s October 25, November 1 and 8
Bicycle Outfitter open until 7:00pm
Talks start at 7:15pm
Lights off no later than 9:00pm

Presented by the:
AMD-Discovery Channel Juniors and Masters Cycling Team

Larry Nolan (10/25) - USA Cycling Level 2 coach, seven time UCI Track World Champion, Early Bird Criterium Training Series co-lead

Kevin Metcalfe (11/1) - 2007 NCNCA Masters Road Race and Time Trial Champion

Dylan Casey (11/8) - 2000 Olympian, Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, USA Time Trial National Champion (road and track)

Our Junior Teammates will be there too!

Gory details:
- In January 2008 the 5-week Early Bird Criterium Training Series will be back for its 21st year. All sorts of new riders come out to get their first taste of bicycle racing. Instead of standing in the chilly January weather listening to experienced riders that want to help you, we’re taking it indoors.
- You’re thinking about racing or have been racing and want to improve, then this 3-week series of talks is for you. Send your learning curve into the fast lane!
- Special door prizes for those that attend all three weeks
- Invite a friend, co-worker or loved one.
- Limited seats- pre-registration required 650.948.8092
- Questions? Contact the Bicycle Outfitter, Dave Prion- daveprion123@earthlink.net or, Larry Nolan, AMD-Discovery Channel Juniors and Masters – teamnolan@hotmail.com

Elite Track Nationals, Day 2

or, "How Not to Ride Pursuit, Lesson 14"

1. Get really amped up during the interminable wait for your start.
--Also, be cranky and obnoxious, if at all possible. Coffee helps.
2. While amped up, ride the first kilo 2.5 seconds faster than last time.
3. Scream "I am superman", thinking you are on a winning pace.
4. Realize that bar of kryptonite is hiding in your skinsuit.
5. Drool on aero bars.
6. Ride your noodle-legs the last 3 kilos at a painfully slow pace.
7. Blame your coach and mechanic for your own error in judgment.

Try it. It worked for me! 13th place out of 41.

Elite Track Nationals, Day 1

Team Pursuit for Mick, with Tom Fahey, Brian Peterson & Roger Rilling. We have spent months practicing for this, including a weekend with Roger Young at the LA Velodrome. Today was the real thing, and we exceeded our own expectations, with a 5th place finish in 4:37 (which would have gotten us 3rd place last year, by the way). Our technique was pretty outstanding, until we made a final kilometer bobble. Brian pulled off a heroic effort to pull us back together, and Roger drilled it for the last 1 1/2 laps to bring it home. Fortunately the podium went five deep!

Individual pursuit tomorrow.

let pain be your guide

... a few folks were giving me a hard time because I didn't break any bones in my fall at masters track nationals... well, the MRI shows that I fractured both the bankart and greater tuberosity bones. That's it, the season is over. I'm okay with that.

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Dr. Eric Heiden. That was cool. I had been talking to my buddy Warren Geissert about shoulder injuries, he's coached by Max Testa, and Max knew exactly what had happened in my fall. My question was about shoulder surgery or not. Eric works with Max in Park City so Eric took a look at the MRI and advised to wait on surgery. My Doc (Warren King) had advised the same so it was cool to get affirmation (and good news) from one of my heroes.

I'm healing up fine and back to commuting by bike. All the doctors advise that I let pain be my guide. Makes sense to me ;-)

2007 has been a great year and I look forward to 2008. Larry

Peace Race Tales of the Czech Republic

12 Hour drive then when we got to Litomerice in the Czech Republic everything was closed so wehad a granola bar each for dinner. 

Tuesday:
Spin for about 90min through Litomerice in the rain.

Stage 1:

It was a 17k loop followed by 8 10k loops within the town. The larger loop was nothing big and nothing really got away I was just chillin at the front
of the group the entire time. There were two cobbled sections on the smaller loop and the first time through the second section was when my seatpost
busted and the saddle's nose went almost completely down. The small loop had about 10 corners, two downhills, a complete 180 degree turn, one flat
cobbled section and another cobbled climb. With 20k to go in the race the peloton got way to bunched up in one of the corners and the guy next to me
took me out. I got immediately back on my bike and started chasing, but somehow my rear tire was flat and the neutral support vehicle was across the
street where the entire caravan was driving. It took them about 45seconds to get to me and another 40seconds to change the wheel which my gears did not
work with. I spent the last 20k chasing off the back alone and in the rain.  Grant and Joey both went down on the flat cobbled section after it rained a little bit.  

Stage 2:

1800 feet of climbing over three KOMs. The first hill I stayed with the main group and we caught the leaders on the downhill. The second hill I was
gapped a little off the back of the main group and the third mountain was when I was shelled out of the back of the main group and could not chase
back on. After the third climb it was 25km to the finish which I did mainly alone, but caught one guy who I worked with to the finish. Grant crashed and
had to get a his bike replaced, but he eventually worked his way up.  Everyone else stayed up that day. 

Stage 3a:

12km with one medium sized hill climb. My legs were starting to feel better that day and I felt like I could put down a good TT. They started us at 1min intervals and I was third to go. With about 4km to go in the TT I caught my
one minute man and by the finish I was about 400m away from my two minute
man. I got 67th and the best placed guy on the team got 8th.  

Stage 3b: 

My legs still felt really good from the morning TT and I was looking forward
to the RR. I was waiting around the roll out about 20min from the start
waiting for them to do roll out and with about 10min to go everyone made a
mad dash to the start line and there was no roll out. I got stuck in the
back of the pack at the start and starting moving up the pack immediately
when at about 2km into the race there was a big crash that I went down in. I
got back up immediately and yanked the bike free from the pile up and
started to chase back on. The crash happened because the police did not
completely pull a semi off the road and the road went from two lanes plus to
3/4 of a lane instantly. Needless to say there definitely was not enough
room for everyone on the road and the guy two ahead of me went down and I
just kind of rolled over the top of him and hit the ground with no damage. I
spent the rest of the race chasing back on and eventually caught a group of
about 30 guys that had two of my teammates in it. When I caught the group Grant had just attacked on one
of the smaller climbs and gotten away. Then with about 10km to the finish my
team mate Zach and I rolled away on one of the climbs and just went with it.
We took one other guy with us and we worked nicely together until about 1km
to go when Zach and I attacked the dude we were with. The group of thirty
finished a little ways behind us.  

Stage 4:

This was one the decisive day. It was one 20km climb followed immediately by
a 4km climb with the course crossing into Germany at about 50km in. I got
shelled with 2km to go in the big climb and couldn't really rail the
downhill since it was pouring rain. I caught a group of 8 guys who were
intent on just pedalling easily to the finish. I attacked this group on the
second climb and got really far away from them. When on a flat section they
all pulled up along side me drafting off one of the follow cars which
needless to say made me very angry. I hopped on the back of this group which
had one of my teammates in it. I was on the back of the line when the guy in
the middle of the line couldn't take the pace anymore and just popped
leaving Joey (my teammate) and I screwed over behind him. I jumped around
but couldn't close the gap down to the car. I was so pissed at the guy that
I attacked him and did a solo 60km TT to the finish. BTW the course profile
says flat but it was not even close to flat. Near the finish I keep getting offers to stop and drink some
beer with those watching the race which put me into a much lighter mood and
I  laughed about it after the finish. We ate lunch in Germany and it was
really gorgeous out. One guy Polish guy broke his leg on the downhill. 

Stage 5:

101km long with with four 300m climbs and four 200m climbs to make a total
of 6000feet of vertical. My legs were dead from the day before and I lost
contact with the group over the third climb. Before the race the Team
Director told us if we weren't with the main group at 50km to go then we
should find Alex (sogneiur) and pull out of the race to get ready for the 12
car ride home. I pulled out at the fourth climb where Alex was and got to
laugh at those who came up the climb. I rode with one of the guys on the
German track worlds team and just enjoyed the beautiful day. I also snapped
some photos of the concentration camp in Terenice. Overall, two guys
finished and the top place guy was in 24th. (The ride home is a story onto
itself.)

2007 Jr Road Nationals

Junior Road Nationals 2007

Ben Barsi-Rhyne 17-18

Time Trial: The equipment I was using was a 2006 Trek TT bike with a Zipp rear disc and Hed-3 tri-spoke front wheel. My time was 27.29. The time trial started with the usual hour long warm up which was pretty uneventful I talked with some of the guys I spent time with in Europe. I was excited for the time trial because it would be the first time I would be riding my new TT bike and a disc not to mention the front tri-spoke. I was chasing Danny Summerhill which was good for me and ended up in 34^th place. I think I could have gone much faster because my cranks locked up trying to accelerate out the first turn around. My pedals also locked up a few more times throughout the race causing a loss of about a minute (would have put me in the top 10). Overall it made me excited to do time trials and wanting to work on that in the off season.

Road Race: The equipment I was using was a 2007 Trek 5.5 Madone with Cane Creek Aros 58 carbon wheels. The race was a very hilly course and was either up or down. There was a large crash supposedly involving upwards of 70 people including Justin Williams (deep lacerations to leg), David Talbot (broken collar bone), Alex Wick (broken collar bone), as well Andy Goessling (lacerations to face and danger of losing an eye). I was dropped on the last climb of the final circuit before the group reached the final stretch. I finished 67^th place soft pedaling the last 12 or so miles to save my legs for the upcoming week long stage race in Quebec. Still feeling kind of burnt from my stint in Europe.

SoCal Elite Track Champs: Read It & Weep. Really.

Sometimes the margin between victory and ..... , well whatever 2nd place is, is so small. Yet it has such a profound effect on one's psyche. Roger is an outstanding pursuit rider, and certainly deserved his win. He was 4th at Elite Nats last year, and it is great just to be this close to him. However, both of us need to do a lot better at 2007 Elite Nats in 2 weeks!

Photo credits go to Rob Evans. And congrats to Shelley Olds!

Out Witted and Out Gunned in Benicia

For various reasons I showed up in Benicia to race in the 45+ race only. With only one race for the day I was ready to cause some damage. Or so I thought.

The first hiccup was that Don Langley of Morgan Stanley showed up. The problem is that he's strong enough to at least follow most all attacks and then he'll smoke you in the sprint. The second hiccup was that after only a few laps the group split and I found myself in the front group of about 12. You'd think that was good and it might have been except that I was outnumbered 4 to 1 by Morgan Stanley.

Next (and this is the outwitted part) Dan Smith took off with over half of our 45 minutes still to go. Solo. On a windy course. Everybody knows that isn't going to stick. Which is of course exactly what happened. With our small group everybody wanted to attack and bridge across (myself included), but there weren't enough of us to attack repeatedly which would bring Dan back. So, I'd go and get caught a half lap later. Then after a lap of going slow, somebody else would go and get caught. Then slow. Then attack. You get the idea. Morgan Stanley was in the catbird seat. They had a guy up the road and they were thinking. "Sure. Go ahead and chase him down, then Don will win the sprint." I made a number of attacks but none of them were strong enough to open up a gap. One or two guys would always get on and we'd get caught in a half of a lap. (The out gunned part.)

At around 5 to go Mac Thompson of Team Spine attacked. I decided to let him go. I'll show those MS riders by letting somebody else beat me! :-) Seriously, I had to gamble. Chasing Mac wasn't going to help my placing. I could only hope that somebody else would take charge. But that didn't happen. Finally, on the last lap Chris Black of Morgan Stanley attacked on the hill and once again we flinched as nobody wanted to kill themselves right before the sprint. So we sprinted for 4th and guess who won the field sprint. Don of course. I was able to salvage something by placing 5th behind Don.

All in all though it was a fun race. It was a good, new course and it's nice to do a race that is only 20 minutes from my house.

I miss Larry too!

More track

P.S. I miss Larry

Schooled!!

District Elite Track Championships this last weekend.

I thought I knew what fast was. Look like I will have to repeat kindergarten. In individual pursuit (4k) I rode a decent time of 4:57. Not spectacular, but solid. Then Roman Kilun rolled up a very nice 4:53. While Roman and I rolled around the infield, Ben Jacques-Maynes put down a blistering 4:41. This dude belongs in Beijing Velodrome, August 2008. No kidding, he's the real thing. If you see him, be sure to remind him of that.

In team pursuit, the "Dangerous Camels" (Brian Peterson, Tom Fahey, Michael Hutchinson and me) rolled up a nice 4:51, with a few bobbles here and there, and came second to Ben's team.

I love track. SoCal next weekend.

Before and After (Masters Nationals)

I don't mean to gross anyone out. I just found it interesting to see the difference. I'm thankful that more damage wasn't done and I'm okay with ending my season a bit early. Next year is going to be even more fun!

x-rays courtesy VSAS Orthopaedics (thanks again Neil Stansbury for setting me straight!)- Larry Nolan, AMD-Discovery Channel Cycling

Masters Track Nats: Parting Comments

1. Watching Rich Meeker and Larry Nolan tactically pick apart the 45+ points race was incredible. Rich gets in a 5-man break with Shawn Wallace, plays it conservatively in the chase for early points. Larry bridges across to the break. Rich attacks the break, while Larry goes to the front to block. Rich rides between the break and the back of the field, rolling up sprint points. Then Rich closes down the gap with the field, getting 20 more points and securing his win. Amazing.
2. Larry, with a dislocated shoulder, mounting his bike for the Team Pursuit start with Rich and others and riding the mandatory 1/2 lap so that the team is not DQ'ed. Courage defined.
   
3. Rich and teammates riding to silver in Team Pursuit with only 3 riders. Tenacity and heart. Photo above is Rich et al.
   

can you get my number out of the garbage?

or, I never planned for Masters Track Nationals to go this way.

You've read about Mick winning the M45 3km on Tuesday and hopefully you heard about teammate Rich Meeker winning the M45 Points Race last night so that set up today, the final day of masters track nationals for me to strike gold. This is my 13th journey to track nationals in the past 15 years and the first time I didn't bring home gold.

Boy, will my wife be pissed when I tell her...

No, she won't be upset that I didn't win (in fact, with Rich's win, WE WON). No, she'll be upset that I'm hurt and won't be able to hug and kiss her like enjoy so much. Oh, wait, the drugs are talking.

The short of it is this. We finished the Points Race last night around 8pm but my legs felt great at the 7am warm-up cuz that's the way I train! Fast forward to the 1st event the M40 team sprint with Warren Geissert leading off, Rich in 2nd and me finishing it off. Warren does his usual great start, and Rich and I are tucked in behind his 6 foot 4 mass as he drops us off at 39mph. Rich is flying and we're looking good until we are coming out of turn 1 and Rich hits a couple of sponges, slowing his speed and then coming up track into my wheel. Down I go.

Season ending separated shoulder. In twenty years of racing I've not broken a collarbone or clavicle. Plenty of others have and NO ONE told me it was this painful!

Choices are to suck it up, go to the ER, or wait until Dr. Neal Stansbury is finished racing and he'll see me. 5 hours of pain like I have not experienced before (even when flattened by a triple trailer truck in 1990) BUT this tale has a happy ending. Rich's brother Tony, the savior that he is, drove me to see Dr. Neal who took X-Rays, popped my shoulder back in and sent me on my way. 100% relief. So, dislocated shoulder is a whole lot less painful than a separated shoulder! I'm typing with both hands.

End of the season? You bet. Debbie will be happy with that ;-) Peace out, Larry

Epilogue- the next event for me was the team pursuit. Too late to sub in a rider, I climbed aboard a bike and rode a 1/2 lap just in case we won gold. Why not, I paid for the entry. Anyway, I had tossed my skinsuit and numbers earlier and had Leo fish the number out of the trash so that I could start the race. Rich, Steven Hill and Dan Vogt lost the gold by 3 seconds. A great effort for 3 riders.

No Longer a Stars & Stripes Virgin!

Larry's positive thoughts flowed through the aether, and helped me overcome some wicked jet lag and race burnout to win the 45+ 3k Pursuit today at Masters Track Nationals, and to set fast time for all the 40+ 3k riders (30+ ride tomorrow). Thanks, Larry, and everyone else who was thinking positive thoughts!

Two false starts ramped the tension and anxiety before we even got underway (my opponent pulled a wheel, and I struggled with my bike holder). We finally got a clean start, and I rode my usual slow start lap, then ramped my pace up to a nice steady 23.5-23.8 seconds per lap. My recent 2nd place at Masters Worlds TT by 6 seconds was very much on my mind. By 5 laps to go I was literally cross-eyed with oxygen-debt, but held the pace to the end. Time was 3:41.1, which is not my fastest at 3k, but everyone said it was a slow day. Then I sat to wait for 9 more heats to see if I could hang on to 1st. My pulse was probably about 125 bpm just sitting on a bench watching the final heat!

So my 1st Stars & Bars!! Thanks are owed to so many, but Harvey Nitz got me started in this timed event stuff and has brought me a long way. Rob Spear has been such a reliable wrench, gluing tires at midnight, humping all the equipment into the infield at the crack of dawn. Sabrina puts up with more of this racing stuff than is reasonable, always has a kind thing to say when I don't make the podium, and cheers loudest of all when I'm on my game. And Rob Anderson, my reliable training partner, whose dedication is inspirational.

Next up: Team Pursuit on Friday in the 30+ division.

Good luck Mick

Teammate Mick Hellman is racing for his first National Championship today in Trexlertown, PA. Heck, he may have finished already. He's going for the 3km win and I'm doubly interested in his results because I'm the defending champion, and because Mick is so good at this event. I want to send out some good luck his way.

I also wanted to write this note because our team has such a rich history with time trialing. Here are some highlights:
- Mike McCarthy won the UCI World Championships in the pursuit.
- Kent Bostick won the National Championships and went to the 1996 Olympics at the age of 43.
- Tom Doughty was the king of team time trialing, including National Championships and Pan Am Games Gold.
- Wayne Stetina was Tom's teammate for the Pan Am Gold. That's good power for a climber!
- Dylan Casey is the only American to have won both the elite road time trial National Championships and the elite track National Championships.
- Vic Copeland, Glen Hinshaw, Kent Bostick and I have won UCI Masters World Championships in timed events.
- and finally, Leonard Harvey Nitz was a four time Olympian and Pan Am Games Gold medalist. More importantly, he's Mick's coach and I know that he'll bring out the best in Mick.

As best as I can recall Mick has only raced the pursuit 5 times. His first was at the Nor Cal track championships last summer where he was 2nd to a Pro in the elite event and then beat me in the M45 event. He's a natural at this event. Mick has since raced elite track nationals and the Nor Cal track championships again this year. I think he's ready to bring home his first National Championship and I wich him luck!

Lar (flying tomorrow to PA)

UCI Masters World Road Race Championships- 45-49

Here's the scoop on worlds. It was a fast and nervous race. More so than nationals. It was substantially more work to get up to and stay at the front here than nationals. More depth I guess. Lots of fun though. We are seriously thinking of coming back next year.
----------
Mick and I went for a short ride into St. Johann in the morning to get our numbers and check out the last km as the 2nd to last corner had an traffic island to avoid.

Since there were 170!! pre-registered for our race we left at noon to ride into St. Johann for our 1pm start. How civilized! :-) Kitty and Cees followed us in the car to make sure we didn't get stuck out there with a flat. Once we got there we waited... With so many riders we felt that it would be important to lineup at the front so we could hit the first climb up front as it was only about 3 or 4 km from the start. BTW, notice how I've gone all Euro by using kilometers. :-)

We ended up standing around for 40 minutes or so getting more and more nervous. But it paid off as we were in the front row at the start.

The climb consisted of about 5 short "punchy" pitches that were around 8-10% for a total of about 300 vertical feet. We hit this hard each time. It required putting out about 1.5 times my threshold power on each pitch. Luckily they were short, less than 1 minute each, but it all adds up. Next was adescending and flat section leading to the second climb. This climb would be a good place to attack over the top except that it is immediately followed by a long descent which makes it nearly impossible to stay away. Next comes some flat stuff followed by another short climb which again would be a good place to attack except that it's followed by a descent. Now you're on the TT course which is mostly flat and takes you back towards the climb.

Anyway, from history and from others who we talked to this year, this course is a hard course to form a break away on. The course isn't hard enough to form aselection and with over 140 strong riders starting there are more than enough guys to chase you down. Did I mention that there were 45 Germans and 31 Italians on the start list? And two American's, me and Mick...

So, to get away required strength, luck, timing and just the right combination of riders. Riders who you don't know anything about I might add. On the first lap I attacked to bridge up to a rider who had been off alone for a bit. When I caught him, he was at the end of his rope so I ended up out there alone hoping for a group to form. No cigar.

On the end of the second lap I attacked again late in the lap. Once again hoping for a group to form. I ended up alone so I just set a steady, but hard tempo and an Italian guy Germano Gaggioli bridged up to me. He yelled at me because I didn't wait for him. Oh well. Right after he caught me we hit the hill and he was VERY strong. I had a fairly hard time following him, but we crested the top with a reasonable gap. Agroup of four came up and things looked good. We got 20 seconds, but then were quickly brought back.

That burned a lot of my matches and I mostly sat on until we got back to the TT course for the final time. I followed a few moves to no avail and then with about 4 miles to go (okay 6.5km...) I went again after an Italian guy who was off the front alone. I caught him, pulled for a while and gave him the elbow wag. He yelled out "You win. You win." Which basically meant that if I pulled us in he would give me the win. I took him at his word (though I would watch him like a hawk) and things were looking pretty peachy. I tried again to get him to pull and he said the same thing, but when I looked back I noticed that we had been joined by four others. Still fairly okay, but guys came up bit by bit and we were more or less all together with 3km to go. It was very hard at that point. My HR AVERAGED 189 for the last 8:30 of the race. Somehow two guys snuck away and managed to hold off the field by 5 seconds. I was pretty gassed but tried to surf the group as best I could and held on for 33rd.

BTW, Mick was also very active and was in a number of breaks so I think we did well, but just couldn't get the right move to work. In retrospect we probably should have kept our "powder dry" and not done much until late in the second lap or even the last lap. But in the 40-44 race yesterday the break went on thefirst lap so you've got to at least be attentive.

Anyway, it was a very fast, very aggressive, very hard and fun race. Honestly, this race is a tough nut to crack. Under the right scenario I could win this race. But that scenario is SO HARD to come by. The odds are pretty low... I guess that's why they callit bike racing!

Kevin Metcalfe

Worlds TT or The Gravel Patch, St. Johan Style

We came, we saw, we didn't win... Cutting to the chase.

45-49
Mick was 2nd in 25:14 I believe. I was 6th in 25:40. The winner rode 25:08. Mick was faster than Thurlow's winning time from last year, but unfortunately not quite fast enough. I was happy with my ride, but not quite as happy with the placing. I think I gave everything I could have and didn't make any mistakes, but just didn't have as much to give as the five guys in front of me. I knew that since I started 10th that I needed to take the lead when I finished if I was to have any chance of a medal, but was only 2nd at that time. At that point I knew I most likely would get bumped out of the medals and that's what happened. What can you do. You ride hard and either you win or you don't. It was a fabulous experience and the TT course is spectacular.

Mick was the highest placing 45 year old from last year so he started last. Mick looked good coming in and based on the clock we though he was going to win, but alas it was not to be. Still, it was a hell of a ride and from talking to him, he didn't leave anything out there on the road.

Podium shot.




50-54
Rob rode a low 26 minute time for 12th place after finishing 3rd in the World Master's MTB championships last week in France. (Despite a couple of crashes!)

Tomorrow Rob will do his road race while Mick and I will road race on Saturday.

It looks like Michael Hutchinson from Team Spine placed 3rd in the 40 plus group. They must have some really strong guys as Mike is riding really well right now.

BTW, Austria is SPECTACULAR!

Patterson Pass

Patterson Pass is one of the coolest road races I've done. The climb is really hard and very windy. It has a mix of steep pitches and flatter gradients, but it's a long enough climb to get rid of the bigger guys. The interesting thing about it is it's super windy, so it almost neutralizes the race going up it.
I raced it in the cat 3's and we crawled up that thing the first 2 laps. The finish of the climb on the steep part was fast and guys would attack, but everything came back together going down the other side. The first time up I was too far back, so on the down hill I was at the back. Super scary. I'm used to big crowds after Nats and l'Abitibi, but still, that descent is really fast. Not very technical but fast, and with 3's not very fun. So the next 2 laps I was at the front for the climb and therefore at the front for the descending.
With 2 to go I didn't grab a bottle and I think that's what cooked me for the finish. By the 3rd lap I was really thirsty with no water. I got another bottle from dad, but I think I was screwed at that point.
Going up Patterson the last time I felt really strong. It was weird cause the first part of the race I was not in good shape but as the race progressed I seemed to come alive. The last lap was pretty chill till half way up, then a guy from AC put in some fierce attacks which split things up to about 8 in the leading group. It came back cause no one pulled through and kept the pace high. There was still a good 10 minutes left till the really steep section at the top so everybody calmed out.
Same thing happened at the top. AC man went and 2 guys grabbed his wheel. I was the 4th dude and only one to stick with him. Counter attacks came after he sat down and I was with those. Only three made it over the top in the lead, but with 5 seconds, so back to square 1 all over again.
The climb up the Wente decent was the one that really hurt. No wind and only slight gradient. Right at the bottom I was second wheel when here comes Ace again with another killer move. I was there but he didn't stop the pressure. All the way to the top he drilled it and popped dudes right and left.
I actually got dropped myself right when you hit the last steep part before the top. I just couldn't climb all of a sudden. The same thing happened at Nationals RR going up the last climb to the finish. There were still at least 25 guys left and I had to ride my own pace. I ended up catching dropped riders and passing them to end up in the lead chase group at the top where you make the left hander. That's what happened all over again. I couldn't ride that fast and had to slow down. I passed 3 guys and ended up getting on the group with only one of the 3 on my wheel.
So going down to the finish with that horrible tail wind there where 10 riders in the lead group, 3 of them juniors. Spin, spin, spin your gears gently down the road! Ya, it sucked. I normally have really good recovery time on descents and am ready to rock on the next climb, but I was hurting all the way till our last uno k climb right before the finish. When we hit it an attack was in store for us from Ace. ICCCCCCC was on his wheel and everybody else except the juniors and one guy from Easton. A slow crawl over the top and down to the finish. I out sprinted the boys I was with for 7th. Not bad, but I was getting 7th at Coperopolis, and Wente back in April so I should be winning 3's races right now. I guess time will tell.
micah

Tilting at Windmills - Patterson Pass Road Race

Using the theory that what does not kill you makes you stronger, I once again stepped into the deep end of the pool and rode the pro/1/2 race at Patterson Pass. With worlds just eleven days away (who's counting...) this seemed like a sensible thing to do. Nothing like a good hard road race to finish off my overload and then taper. I came prepared, with a 36x26 low gear and a 50x11 top end. I would use both. A lot.

At the start line there were many Giant Strawberries including pro triathlete Chris Lieto. Also on the line was one of my old Sacramento team mates Mike Sayers and two of his BMC guys. And the usual crowd of mutants bent on making me suffer.

The first time of the climb was actually pretty easy due to the hefty headwind coming from Livermore. Those windmills really are there for a reason I guess... With the twists and turns in the road though there was some joking about the need to form echelons at 10mph on the climb. Down towards Livermore, up over Flynn road and then to the fun section on Altamont Pass. Top speed on Altamont this lap was 50.6, max cadence 142. Just so you know, this is not some steep descent, this is a shallow pedaling descent with a serious tail wind.

Lap two, same story. The wind was my friend as it kept the climbers from causing as much pain as they might otherwise. Still, there were some digs and going over the top kind of hurt. Over Flynn, back on Altamont and things got interesting. Lieto made the unfortunate choice of bringing a 11x23 freewheel which left him over geared on the climb. Since he knew his days were numbered he thought that he'd have a little fun over Altamont Pass. Max speed 52.9!!!, max cadence 147. That was actually worse than the climb up Patterson.

Lap three, and life in general was harder. Again, the wind was my friend on Patterson Pass. But this one wasn't too pretty. "Tourette's Kevin" was lurking just underneath the happy go lucky Kevin veneer. Not quite getting close to the edge yet, but I know it is out there lurking. And of course now things are starting to happen. Sayers was out on a grand aventure with one of the Straberries I think and the natives were restless. Flynn was also getting to be much less fun but at least Altamont Pass was a bit more civilized. Max speed 48.7, max cadence 137.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the cross and head wind section leading back to the start finish. Because Patterson Pass, Flynn Road, and Altamont Pass aren't hard enough I guess? Of course it was always just a bit of a cross wind and we were always riding in the gutter looking for protection. After one particularly ugly stretch I found myself at the back as we turned into a cross wind and somebody attacked. Bad time to lose situational awareness! I got gapped and didn't have the gas to chase back on.

Now came the dilemma. Do I really want to go another lap? Can we catch back on? Is this really helping me? I've got a TT tomorrow... What would Kent Bostick Do? (WWKD) We'll he'd probably ride at 30mph until he got back on so I guess I better think of something else. A few of us grouped up and chased through the start finish where one of my friends who had just finished the 45+ race yelled some encouragement. Tourette's Kevin had a choice reply, but luckily he wasn't in control yet.

And again, the wind was my friend as the lead group rode at a civilized pace and we caught up just after the feed zone. John Hunt saved my life by giving me a bottle when the neutral guys had run out. Thanks John! Of course my joy was short lived as things were really starting to happen on this lap. I was spending more time with my new BFF, the 36x26, but the natives were restless and the attacks started. A couple of guys got away over the top and I was in the second half of the main group. We caught back on the descent, but on Flynn Ted Huang decided he wanted to go at a speed that most of us couldn't and he rode away with another guy.

Over Altamont another rider got away on the descent which I guess makes sense as we were "only" going 49 mph, max cadence 137. Tourette's Kevin made a grand appearance. Something to do with morons and riding in the "F'ing gutter" I think. But I digress. On the head and cross wind leading to the finish Dominic from AV attacked and Chris Dilusio countered with Kevin Klein. That was the end for me and I rolled in alone, pretty much wrecked, for 14th.

88 miles
4:19:00
8600' of climbing says my Garmin
4189 Kilojoules burned. Time for a "crack bar".

Fun

20, going on 21... AMD-Discovery Channel update

While you may have read the news today about the Professional squad disbanding, we wanted to let you know that we plan to roll into our 21st year as an organization even stronger than in the past. That’s right, this team has been around for 20 years and we plan to continue the support for our juniors and masters teams. It’s what they have come to expect in return for their efforts to grow the sport, helping to mentor new and upcoming riders and for continuing to put the team in the most positive light. 2008 details to follow. Thanks again for your assistance with this great program.

Larry, on behalf of the whole AMD-Discovery Channel team

Final Race in Belgium

On saturday, eight USA team riders road out to our final race. The race was a criterium in the town of Ruislede with 1.7km laps. There were seven turns on the course and one really cool funnel where the road went from being a wide two-laned road to a bike path. The field was very small (maybe 40 riders) so the funnel was never really a problem. The entire team was tired going into this race after nationals and three weeks of hard racing, so our goal was to mostly just try and have a good time. Since the race was so short (37km) I decided to try something early and maybe rack up a couple of primes. I attacked on the first back stretch into the wind and got away solo with a 30 second gap. I held it for five laps before the pack caught me so I had already won 50 euros before the real racing even started. I must admit I was a little tired after that effort so I relaxed in the pack and tried to stay towards the front. I was in high spirits until Joel came up next to me and told me that my USA teammate had been at the front reeling me in those first five laps. I was wearing different clothes (I was in AMD and he in USA), but I still thought that we would be working as one team. AJ Meyer went up the road a couple of laps later and I jumped onto the wheel of a rider trying to bridge. A.J. had really helped me in my win last week so I wanted to help him out. I went to the front and hammered to try and open up a big enough gap for him to stay away. The course was twisty enough that if a break got 45 seconds, they would be out of sight and out of mind. We worked hard for two laps or so and then I looked back to see the same teammate who chased me down on the front bringing the entire race up to AJ and I. After the race we talked about it and he said he was trying to bridge but accidentally brought the field with him too. Maybe that was the case, but it happened not once, but twice. I was fried after those two efforts in front of the pack and there were still eight or so laps left. The peloton split into two and I was in the second half so that was even more energy to get back up to the front pack. With four laps to go I could see Cody out front, but little did I know that Jacob was even farther up the road with a lock on the top step of the podium. I thought I would just try and lead out or sprinters for fourth place, but some crazy instinct in me urged me to attack so I did and built up a lead with four other riders. With two laps to go I was dying and the riders I was with wouldn't pull through and just attacked me so I went to the front and set tempo just to try and stop the attacks. I thought I was crazy for pulling for so long but going into the last corner I was found the third wheel and was in perfect position for the sprint. I was pipped at the line as one rider swerved into me with 50 meters to go and ended up 5th on the day. Jake won and Cody was 2nd so it was yet another successful day for the USA. Supposedly the Belgians were getting sick of our domination so I think we left at just the right time. It was an amazing trip and hopefully something I will be able to repeat in the future.

Riding in the Strawberry Patch (Elite district RR)

Even as we age, the dreams of glory will not fade. 20 years ago, in 1987 I won * this race and here I was again wondering if lightning could strike again after all these years. The short answer was, NO!. For the long answer read on...

Racing with the Pro/1/2 guys is much different than racing with masters. With the races being so much longer you must be VERY patient. I told myself that I would do nothing but sit in for the first half (5 laps) of the race. After that I would look for "the break away". "The break away" tends to go not much after half way at this race, so generally it's not like you and sit in until 10 miles to go. Generally... This can make the race somewhat boring, but you must be VERY careful that you don't get lulled into not paying attention. Master's racing on the other hand tends to be more ballistic early on since the races are so short. But the suffering at the end of a long pro/1/2 road race more than makes up for the early "easy" part!

Anyway, an early break went and there was a Giant Strawberry (Salvador Borrego Crum) and a BPC rider in it. The The BPC and GS riders (and there were many of them) sat up and left it to everybody else. Spine chased for a while, but mostly it was status quo. Then not much after half way Jared from Metro Mint and fellow Geezer Nathan Parks of EMC went up the road. They quickly joined the break and after a lap or so dropped the other guys. This put a wrench into the GS plans and on about the 8th lap they started a team chase. I liked that. Steady, hard is something I can do. And steady hard meant that nobody would go ballistic on the Hennekens Ranch climb. So far it hadn't been any trouble, but I was waiting for one of the GS guys (like Mattis, 3rd at elite nationals or Max Jenkins, looking cool in his U-23 national champion jersey) to cause a great deal of suffering on that climb. But instead if was "steady hard" for the last couple of laps. (Steady hard still meant 400+ Watts for 3 minutes on Hennekens though, but at least it wasn't 500 for 2:30!) Life was good.

The pressure of the GS chase sent a lot of riders out the back until at the bell there were 20 or less of us in the main pack with two guys up the road. Going through the feed zone Ted Huang of Webcor attacked. I was in okay position, but probably not as close as I should have been. But I knew that was "the move" so I went after him. Mattis and Andres Gill (Delta Velo) went also. Unfortunately my acceleration was not strong enough and they went by and linked up while I dangled oh so close. I could not close the gap. For this I have much regret... I dangled for a while in no mans land, but I wasn't closing and ended up back in the pack. Thank you, have a nice day, but the race has left the station with out you.

On the last half lap a couple of guys went off alone and stayed away. At the end Mattis and Huang caught and dropped Jared and Nathan on Hennekens Ranch with Mattis nipping Ted in the sprint. We went hard and I had to dig pretty deep on the last climb but made it over and we were sprinting for 8th I think. I had good position and when the time came, I stood up to start sprinting. At that point my legs said "What the HELL do you think you are doing?!?! SIT YOUR ASS BACK DOWN OR WE'RE GOING ON STRIKE!" So I hobbled across the line for 14th place.

Vital stats.
110 miles in 4:58:00
9,100' of climbing according to my Garmin.
4400 Kilo Joules burned so it was a festive day of eating afterwards!


* Okay, I actually got 2nd but the winner got DQ'd for an illegal feed. Oh yeah, and he was my team mate!

July 2007 diary- Nolan

July 2007 recap- I’ve been remiss in my race write-ups so here’s the happenings

First off, teammate Billy Innes had a rough July http://whydecaf.blogspot.com/ so that helps me to keep my month in perspective. He went out and raced the San Jose track last night and it looks like his August is off to a much better start!

July 1st- M35 crit in Vacaville with teammates Kevin Metcalfe and Craig Roemer. Vast attempts to break things up but it’s a field sprint. Unfortunately, they both looked to me to close and I wasn’t in a great position to do that but I salvaged 3rd place, Kevin in 12th and Craig in 20th.

July 4th- flew to Philly with Deb (and no kids!) to celebrate America’s birthday in style… pouring rain! In honor of teammate Scott McKinley I snapped this shot.

July 6th- I made a last minute decision to race the time trial because it was only 24km… I borrowed teammate Tom Doughty’s TTX (shortly after teammate Jeff Angerman finished his ride) and ended up 7th in the 45’s. Thanks for lending me the bike Tom. 45's Teammates Mick Hellman (4th) and Kevin Metcalfe (5th) earned those coveted double and triple bronze medals. Here’s a shot of Kevin and Mick focused on the awards ceremony.

July 8th- “Never take the outside line” was teammate Harvey Nitz’ advise after I told him of my breaking into the final corner. Drats. Kevin, Mick and I had fun with our attacks but this race was destined for a field sprint so that’s when former-teammate Thurlow Rogers led out his Sonnance-Specialized teammate for the sprint. Steve was the first to the corner, Thurlow peeled off into my shot, but former Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Skip Foley sprinted to the win. I hung on for 4th. Kevin and Mick did a great job loosening up the field and getting me into good position. I just didn’t close the finish like I had dreamed of ;-)

July 15th- Masters District Track- 1st M45 kilo, 1st M30+ team sprint, 1st M40+ team sprint… I’m totally stoked since I spent 11 days of site-seeing in PA, NY and DC and had only been on my new Trek track frame 1 other time this year.

July 20 & 21st- American Velodrome Challenge- I stunk up the masters races (7th, 4th, 7th) and held my own against the elite’s (3rd, 6th and 12th). New to the track racers Michael Hernandez (Safeway) rolled through the masters and helped Ben-Jacques Mayne (Priority Health) win 2 of 3 endurance races. Jennie Reed (Momentum) tore through the women’s sprints, Joshiah Ng (Momentum) ripped through the men’s sprints and Shelly Olds (Proman, and regular Thursday Night points racer) won both of the women’s endurance races. Loads of fun!

These two pictures (Larry Rosa) crack me up... Ben (far left) caught and passed me in one lap, not in 20 meters (he he)

July 29th- District Crit Championship in Minden, Nevada. Mick and Kevin teamed up to launch Kevin to the road race win the day before, so I was both inspired and nervous with the team pressure. Teammates Steve Cassani, Wyatt Weisel, Billy Innes, and Craig Roemer helped to lead out Jeff Angerman and Dean Laberge for the team one-two finish in the 35’s crit about an hour before the start of the 45’s race. In my 20 years of bicycle racing I’ve never been so relaxed before. With no teammates, a lame warm-up and racing at 5000 feet I should have been very nervous but I wasn’t. Maybe I finally realized that a crit is a lottery… since I was in Nevada I might as well gamble a little, eh? To line up with 50 guys in a 5 year age group is an impressive reflection on our sport. Assessing the field, everyone was there. Key competition looked to come from former teammate Peter Allen and his Sierra Nevada teammates, Steve Gile and his VOS teammates (Steve beat me to the line at the Wente Crit), Bubba Melcher and Ted O’Neil (Clover), Don Langley and Dan Smith (Morgan Stanley), Greg Betonte and his gaggle of Reno Wheelmen teammates (Greg had just beaten Kevin Metcalfe at Lafayette 2 week earlier). Typically races have one defining moment but this race had three. First of all, Bubba’s teammate shot out to an early lead so I gambled that the pack would not let him go. I won, he was caught. Then, Don Langley, a very strong finisher, soloed off with 12 laps to go so I gambled that the pack would not let him go. I won, he was caught. Then, with 2 to go Bubba attacked with Steve Gile on his wheel so I gambled that the pack still had some chase left in it and they brought me close enough so that I could launch across to Bubba, snag his wheel and beat him to the line. Bubba is such a great competitor and he helps me to raise my game.

Track Nationals in 4 weeks. Yippee! Larry

Putah Creek Smack Down (PCSD) #4

Smackee's: Craig Roemer and Kevin Metcalfe

Smackee in absentia: Mick Hellman who called in sick

Smacker: Dave "Peg Boy" Bailey



Last weekend in Woodfords and Minden the team came away with four district championship jersey’s. Two in the road race and two in the crit. But who really cares about that when it’s time for the Putah Creek Smack Down? Who cares if you are or aren’t district champion. How did you do at the PCSD? Now that’s an important question…

When I got there, I only saw one car. Dave’s. He was out doing a recon ride. He got back as Craig and I went out to warm up and he informed us that the wind, though light, was the opposite of the usual. The return trip would be the headwind stretch.

I started right before Craig and Dave went about 10 minutes after that. With worlds coming up I wanted to go out full gas to see what I could get away with. I hit the turn around in about 10:10 while averaging 15 watts more than my usual. Unfortunately on the return trip I would pay for it. No matter though, I learned something and my time was still pretty good at 21:21. Craig came in just after me with a 21:27 and we settled in to wait for Dave.

It is tomato season in the farm lands west of Davis. On the way back, about 1 mile from the finish both Craig and I went through a cloud of dust thrown up by a tomato truck coming onto the road. Craig actually had to slow down a bit because of a car that pulled out after. While watching for Dave we saw two tomato trucks heading out. With the riders milling around at the start/finish the trucks took the middle of the road. Dave was forced to slow down in the last 200 meters because he was catching somebody and there wasn’t room to pass with the trucks in the road. I felt kind of bad for him. Until he told me his time. 20:17!!! He took about 27 seconds out of the course record that Mick set a couple of months ago and reclaimed it for his own.

With our trip to worlds, my next shot at the Putah Creek Smack Down will be Sept. 5th. Though the PCSD seems ever elusive, perhaps I can claim a consolation prize at worlds? Hey, Dave’s not going, so at least I’ve got a chance right?

Ben is back from l'Bitibi and rolling at the track!

San Jose Wednesday Night Track Racing

GROUP A OMNIUM (12 Riders) 1) Ben Barsi-Rhyne AMD - Discovery 27 pts 2) Steve Pelaez Adobe/Schwalbe 17 pts 3) James Bandia Webcor 12 pts 4) John Foster Form Fitness 11 pts 5) George Meilahn ICCC 5 pts 6) Dory Selinger Cliff Bar 5 pts 7) Jim Ryan Easton / Specialized 2 pts 8) Alden Tanaka Cyfac 2 pts 9) John Simmons Shaws 2 pts 10) Matt Martinez Garden City 1 pts

Track Race/Hooglede Kermesse

Track racing in Oostende is quiet different from racing in the US. Racing on road bikes on a track with less than 20% banking in the corners compared to fixed gears and an 86 inch gear. We had 3 races: a 10 lap scratch race, a 5 lap win and out and a 16 lap points. As I waited in the cold weather for the commissaires to call up our group I looked around and saw a small field and was very hopeful. When we started our race I put in a few efforts and didn't get much of a gap. Coming into the final sprint I didn't quiet have the legs and came in at third. My next race was the win and out, which I also got third in. Having just missed the win I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold on for second, so I conserved and settled for third. Going into my last race I wasn't so confident, but I was hoping for a second place. With about three laps to go I got a gap. I soloed off the front and got the last sprint. I ended up with third in the omnium.
-Joel S.

On Saturday, those who did not race at the track went to the nearby town of Hooglede to do a 12 x 5km kermesse. The course was dead flat, half on big wide open roads and half on super narrow and twisty farm roads. The four USA national team members who raced were A.J. Meyer, Ian Boswell, Cody Foster, and me. Expectations were high going into the race because the four of us were expected to extend our winning streak to four races. The plan was to try and form a break with as many USA guys as possible and try to keep that break away until the finish. The first break to get a significant gap (usually 20-30 seconds) tends to stay away for the remainder of the race because teams are not allowed to organize a chase. Cody basically attacked from the start and after he was caught, I attacked, and then Ian attacked, and so on for the first couple laps. Four laps into the race, AJ went for a prime and his acceleration created a gap in the field. AJ and Cody rolled off the front together and the pack hesitated. That hesitation is always a sign that the break might stick because no one is really willing to chase. I let their gap open to about 20 seconds and I punched it into a corner and bridged up to them. The three of us worked well together and half a lap later, Ian Boswell pulled himself and two other riders up to us. One of the riders who bridged up with Ian was dropped immediately as Ian went to the front and opened the gap to the field to 40 seconds. We were out of sight from the peloton and started to work well together. We took most of the primes, but we did let the other rider in our break kill himself to sprint for one or two. With the two laps to go, the four USA riders were still working smoothly, but our opponent had stopped taking pulls, as one should if he is up against four national team members. Somehow, we convinced him to keep pulling. With a lap and a half left in the race, we decided to do the textbook attack and sit-on tactic. I attacked first and held about a five second gap while my three teammates sat on the other rider. The other rider started to fade and Cody attacked and bridged up to me. Cody and I hammered to get away at went through the finishing area with one to go and a 10 second lead. Ian and AJ tried hard to attack and bridge up to Cody and I, but the opponent would have nothing of it and found new legs to stick to them. Cody and I pushed very hard for the rest of the lap and turned onto the finishing straight with no one behind us. I wanted to roll across the line together but Cody was more fond of a mano-a-mano sprint. So we sprinted and I pipped him at the line for the win. AJ and Ian beat the other rider in the sprint and the USA national team went 1, 2, 3, 4, a feat never before done by Americans in Europe (or so we like to think). Any one of the four of us was strong enough to win, but it just so turned out that I was in the right place at the right time. The team made 240 euros in the race and the four of us split it evenly. It was a great day of racing and I look forward to watching the other half of my team race tomorrow in our hometown of Izegem.

-Charlie Avis

Yesterday, the US national team drove to the town of Orroir to race in the "Mont d'Enclus" kermesse. "Mont d'Enclus" is French for the "Kluisberg", which is one of the paved climbs in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The course was 9 laps of a short (3.7km) loop and then 4 laps of the longer loop (6.6 km), which included the Kluisberg. The Kluisberg is about 1.5k at 10% grade, similar to the climb on the lollipop course at nationals.
The team's strategy going into the race was to send the non-climbers up the road early and have the good climbers sit-in until the hill. Since I was considered a "climber", I just relaxed in the front third of the peloton for the 9 flat laps. My teammate, Cody Foster, rolled off the front one lap into the race and caught up with a rider already up the road. Joel Shaffer put in a huge effort to bridge up to Cody, but was reeled in as the peloton significantly increased their speed. With a brutal cross wind on two sections of the flat course, the peloton was shattering before we even reached the climb. Four laps into the race, two more of my teammates, Ian Boswell and Jacob Rathe, attacked and bridged up to Cody. The peloton sat up and the four riders up the road built up a two and a half minute lead by the time the pack hit the first climb. Since there is technically no "teamwork" in junior kermesses, no one was chasing the break so for the third time in three races, the peloton was racing for a top five position. I set a tempo up the first climb that only one guy could follow and the two of us sat up after the descent and joined a group of maybe ten riders. We rolled around the rest of the flat loop and were eventually caught by another group of ten. The second time up the climb was a lot easier, but we still had just fifteen guys at the top. We pacelined around the flatter loop and then on a small rise in the crosswind section, I attacked and took two guys with me. The pack did not chase and so I quickly built up a lead. We hit the climb with a 30 second advantage and kept a smooth tempo to the top and then worked well together on the flat part of the course. There was no one in sight behind us but we still worked hard just in case. The last time up the climb, the Flemish rider attacked. The French rider sat on my wheel and made me chase. I kept the tempo and caught him before the top of the climb. At the bottom of the descent, the French rider attacked and the Flemish rider sat on my wheel. I guess the Belgians really wanted to beat the Americans because these two riders were definitely teaming up against me. The Flemish rider attacked one more time and I had a struggled to bring him back. I caught at 500 meters to go and just didn't stop and attacked the two of them. The French rider almost came around me at the end, but I held him off for a 5th place finish. My teammates up the road finished 1,2,3. The US national team had another dominant performance with four riders in teh top five. Joel's hard effort unfortunately came right before the peloton split and Joel was in the second group on the road. He gets another chance today, however, because all of those who ride the track get to do a track race this afternoon. I will have fun watching Joel and the US national team tear up the track.

l'Abitibi update

Today's race was in the evening, so we got to sleep in today. I did some shopping early on then got ready and we rode the race course. It was an 8k course that we did 10 times with a finishing hill that definately would split things up. There were two other hills as well, one was the feed hill and the other was the climb leading up to the finish.
We started the race, and the first 8 laps I was on the back. I don't know what it was but I just didn't have my head in the game. I just didn't feel like getting up there, which is stupid because you spend way more energy at the back with sprinting out of the corners and such than you do at the front with the consistency.
The race just might have been the easiest one of the tour because everyone was trashed from the crit the day before. We were going fast, but it wasn't crazy. There were 3 crashes on the first lap because the pace was pretty slow and everybody was riding stupid. After that though it was cool.
I finally decided to move up with two laps to go. I was chilling with Grant and Carter from US National who were keeping everything in check and the breaks close.
With 3 k to go Taylor attacked and bridged up to a Japan kid who was chilling out there by himself. I was third in line and we slowed way down. I was secretly hoping that they would stay away because I knew taylor could out sprint the japan man. But trains started coming up on either side and it got harder and harder to stay at the front. With 1 k to go I was probably 20 riders back and we hit the hill. It wasn't steep enough to really break up. We were going up it in our 52x21 at the steepest part. At the top we turned right and it kicks up a little more and it's 200 meters to go. All the sprinters took of and I tryed to hang on for a good finish.
I ended up getting 18th, so far my best result of the tour. My other goal is to get top 50 overall but I sitting in 63rd and with 2 mostly flat days left not likely. But you never know.

First Weekend in Belgium

After four days of anticipation, we had our first race yesterday (saturday) in the town of Bury. The course was a 5.3km loop done 12 times with two "hills" that were really just highway overpasses. The pre-race routine is very different from the US because sign-in, or inscription, is in a bar full of old men smoking and drinking wine. We never had to fill out a form or anything, all we had to do was sign our name and write down the number we received. Our team of 8 rolled around for awhile and then 20 minutes before the start, the commissaires call us up to the line. No junior roll-out or anything. From the start, the US national team controlled the race. We attacked and attacked like it was a crit, which every single one of us regretted in the end. The difference betweeen a 40 minute crit and a 40 mile kermesse is amazing. After a couple of laps, a break of four with two US national guys rolled away. In junior kermesses, it is illegal to use "team tactics", which basically means don't bunch up as a team (organized chases, blocking, etc.). This rule makes it very hard to chase down breaks so the four guys up the road just rolled away. Riders kept attacking and attempting to bridge but nothing would stick. I attempted to get into a chase group but the field was not letting anything go. With one lap to go the national team tried to get a couple guys into a break but once again the field brought it back. With about 3k to go, my teammate, Adam, rolled away with another group and he finished 7th while the other five of us finished in the pack. Jacob and Cody, who were in the break finished second and fourth respectively. I rolled in at 23rd. It was a good day but not quite as good as today.
After Bury the team talked about what we learned and it obviously paid off. The course was dead flat with a little hill after the finish. The wind was blowing hard too. We did not attack from the gun like yesterday but just conserved energy for the first of nine laps. AJ sprinted for the prime on the first lap (each 6.3k lap has a prime) and ended up launching Adam up the road with one other guy. Adam and the other racer quickly built a lead and no one in the pack wanted to chase. Adam was soon out of sight and so the attacks started to come again. I got into a chase group of the front of the peloton and we worked together for 2km but then the pack caught up and my teammate Jacob attacked with one guy on his wheel. Jacob ended up catching Adam, but we never saw them again. Three more of my teammates went up the road in chase groups and I soon found myself at the back of a 30 rider peloton. The top 20 riders win money so I decided that I needed to get out of this pack and chase down one of the groups up the road. I attacked and quickly built up a lead and just my head down and hammered. At this point there were 3 laps to go and I was worried that I would not last that long by myself. luckily a teammate of mine had also attacked and was yelling at me to wait for him so we joined up and worked together to catch the group in front of us. On long straight aways we could see a group of 8-10 riders dangling up ahead and Cody and I slowly started to gain on them. With one lap to go they were maybe 45 seconds ahead and so Cody and I worked harder and harder and then with 3k to go, the group sat up so we gained on them quickly. We caught them with maybe 1.5k to go and I knew I wouldn't be able to match their sprints so Cody and I just didn't stop and attacked them right away. My teammates in that group said that they were too tired so there was no response to our attack and we held it all the way to the finish. Unfortunately Cody dropped his chain going around the last corner and was caught by one guy at the line. AJ and Ian Moir finished in the group that Cody and I passed and Ian Boswell was solo for the last 2 laps to take 4th. Jacob and Adam went 1-2 with Adam winning the race. I finished 7th while Cody finished 9th and AJ 10th. Ian Moir finished 13th and Joel came in with the peloton at 20th. The USA national team put 6 guys in the top 10, much to the dismay of the commissaires, who got mad at us for "using hand signals to communicate". Whatever. Anyways I am learning so much over here and just after two races I feel accustomed to the style of racing, which tends to be just balls to the walls for an hour and a half. These kermesses are basically criteriums, just 40 miles instead of 40 minutes. It's a blast.

-Charlie