Tuesday, November 27, 2007

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

Monday, November 12, 2007

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

Sunday, November 4, 2007

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.