One

2008 is shaping up to be a great year for bicycle racing. It’s a summer Olympic year, the Tour de France will definitely be interesting to watch, and the 3rd annual Tour of California passed right through our backyards in February.

The roads in Northern California are filling up with more and more cyclists, which is great to see, but the 2008 racing season started off a bit slow.

Back in January our team continued its involvement with the 21st annual Early Bird criterium training series, where we helped to mentor and teach skills to new racers. The weather was not ideal. The turnout, which we had expected to break records, was instead just average. Fortunately, in the weeks that followed, including the week of the Tour of California, rider and racer numbers jumped significantly.

As our team heads into its 21st year it is important that the sport continue to grow. We’re especially pleased to see the roads filled with all these new riders… kids that see a bicycle as their tool to their adventures and travels; drivers that made the decision to drive just one less time to save the gas money (and the environment), and all those folks that want to use cycling to improve their health. Consistency and persistency will lead you straight to fitness and your goals.

On the racing front, our junior program is going exactly as planned. Nine juniors make up this years squad and all have been matched up to a master or two to help guide them through their development. Along those lines, not only do our juniors get the benefit of the wealth of experience on this team, but all that visit our team website (www.teamSpecializedracing.com) can find tips and tricks to fill their mind as well as course descriptions and advice for the many Northern California races that have traditionally filled our racing calendar. (see upcoming races with a *)

For instance, the Berkeley Hills Road Race is the oldest race in California at 51 years old. The Nevada City Classic will celebrate its 48th running this year, while this weekends’ Santa Cruz Classic reaches 40 years. Los Gatos’ Cat’s Hill Classic and the Giro di San Francisco both will see their 34th anniversary in 2008. Our masters have competed in and have won races like these and all the others on our insanely rich calendar. Our juniors (and the visitors to our website) benefit from the experiences of our masters and the passing of knowledge. After all, in every race that we compete in we learn something new.

Personally, I have been bicycle racing for 20 years, competed in hundred of events and I can tell you that no two races have been alike. That’s exciting and I’m excited for this team and for 2008 in what it will bring. It’s also exciting to know that every event is a learning opportunity. We go in with a plan and learn to be flexible… just like we do in life and just like we did at last weekend’s race:

At the 2007 Ronde de Brisbane Chris Phipps (then w/ ZTeam and racing w/o teammates) embarrassed our team in the M35 race when he jumped away with 3 laps to go and held off a charging field. We had six teammates in the race.

For today’s race we agreed that a pre-race meeting just might be a good idea. Duh! Craig Roemer, Mike Audley, Steve Cassani, and Wyatt Weisel gathered near the start line as former USPS professional Dylan Casey laid out our plan. I was futzing with my wheels and extra layer of clothes so by the time I rolled over to the guys all I caught was “we’ll be on Phipps wheel when he goes”.

When I played basketball in high school I wasn’t very good but when the one good player on our team gave the signal I knew what to do. Play number one was simply to spread it out and let the guard go one on one, or one on five depending on who we played.

Basically, today’s race was play number one. Phipps went with three to go, Dylan saw it coming and followed, then rode away with him and outsprinted him for the win.

Behind the main action we scored 3rd, 6th and 8th. The coolest part is that Dylan has the best attitude any former professional rider could have. He’s just out there to have fun. I think he had fun today!