Tour of California

On Sunday I had the privilege of watching the final stage of the Tour of California. Being that close the world's best cyclists was a real treat.




Here they come...




Tommy D and Basso





Basso





There they go...





Bettini





The Discos





More Tom and Ivan




Bobby Julich





Jans Voight - Just another day at the office...





Bikes!





More Basso!





Chris Horner





Basso and race leader Levi




Team Toyota United and the Cuban Missile





Graeme Brown with Bettini not far behind...





Pronto, Bettini!





The only way to watch a bike race....

New Uniforms

Boulevard

So, last weekend I did my first criterium race, and this weekend was my first road race. As easy as last week seemed to be (putting aside the imminent danger of crashing) everything indicated that this would be a very tough race. First of all, every time I told any of the more experienced guys I was doing the race, they would just shake their heads and say "good luck". That didn't seem to be a good sign.

Then, my coach told me that this was the race to do so that every other race this season would seem easy. Again, bad sign.

The race itself was held in Boulevard, about 50 miles East of San Diego, near the Mexican border.



It was basically desert mountains - rocks coming up out of the ground. Elevation was 4000 feet, at the wind at the top of the mountain was so strong that the birds were just hovering motionless in the air. The staging are was at the top of the mountain, and we parked and began to warm up on the roads above the parking lot. Our group went off at about 9:40am. They had split the cat 5 group up into two, and I (and my teammate Manuel) was in the second group.

Here is a map of the course. It started at 4000 feet, descended to 2000, and then climbed back up to 4000, all in about 22 miles. We did this twice. The pros did it four times.





Our race got off to an odd start. Lining up two by two, I was in row 2 and Manuel was in row 3. As we started off, the first two guys decided they wanted to take a right turn out of the parking lot instead of a left. I, of course, went left. However, as I turned back to make sure everyone was behind me, I realized that they were behind alright, but they were about 100 feet behind me. Rather than put the brakes on and get gobbled up by the pack, I decided just to go with it and ride on.

This turned out to be a bit of a mistake - my friend (and Cat 1 captain) Mathias let me know that I should have been saved every single bit of energy possible.

These pictures are not my race (photos by USCD cycling club), but they show pretty much what it looked like...


The Landscape



The starting area



The race


So, there I was, solo through the first two right turns. When the pack did catch me at the very beginning of the descent, they were in single file and I was able to go straight into rotation with the front four. Letting them do most of the work, of course.

Going into the climb, I found myself right up there still until about halfway up when I tanked and slid off the back of the lead group. I thought it was over. All of a sudden, there was Manuel. Manuel, who was very strong, and two other guys and I all worked together to get the rest of the way up the climb.




Turning back onto 80, the wind hit like a freight train, but amazingly we were able to make it all the way back up to the lead group. I'm not sure what happened to Manuel, because I didn't see him again after that, but dude, I want to personally thank you for being so strong on that climb. I will work for you anytime...

The second descent was uneventful, and going into the second climb I knew that if I could stay with the leaders that I had a shot at this thing. As we really got into the climb, I found myself digging deeper and deeper to hold on. Thankfully, so did everyone else. Two thirds of the way up, I looked around and only saw nine or ten guys. Only two of them were on the same team.

I thought maybe I had a shot, but once we got up to highway 80 again, the wind hit and it pretty much finished me off. As much as I tried to use the other guys to shield me, it was useless. I couldn't hang. With about mile left, I was on my own, disappointed I wouldn't be sprinting for the finish. I was very honored to finish where I did. I placed 19th, though I could've sworn I was in top ten. Hard to assess how many guys are ahead of you when you can't see straight.

Next up, Costa Mesa crit Feb 18th. I will have my new kit, new wheels, and the bike will be overhauled. Will send pictures...

First Race

Today was the official start of the racing season, and so I raced for the first time ever. The event was the Dominguez Hills Criterium, a mostly flat mile-long circuit in an industrial park outside of Long Beach. It rained a lot last night, so I was really worried that the course would be wet, but this morning dawned sunny and dry, so it was all good.

The race itself lasted 30 minutes, and to be honest, I've been in much tougher group rides, but it was definitely more dangerous than any group ride I've been on, even the famous Mike's Ride back in lauderdale. 50 riders, mostly racing for the first time, all in a big pack going 25 miles per hour or so. At any given time I had about 15-20 riders around me, and it didn't seem to matter whether I was on the inside or outside. On the straights, everyone was moving either forward or back through the pack, and in the corners, even if you took the absolute inner line, someone was always cutting inside of you. So mostly I stuck to the outside, where I could move up freely, and be safer in the corners. The race was about 8 or 9 laps, and I was able to move my way up into the top fifteen or so in the last two laps. Easier said than done, because there were no organized pacelines, so if the pack slowed down, all of sudden you would have twenty riders at the front. The pack was at least 5 wide the entire time.

There was a one crash, right behind me, with about two laps to go. Apparently two guys locked handlebars (one was coming back, and one was going forward - the first riders left drop came back into the second riders right hood). It was weird - it sounded like a series of crashes, and it was very loud. Nobody got hurt, althouth the one guy broke his $4000 Madone 5.5 frame... an expensive mistake.

On the last lap, I sprinted from about twentieth to about tenth, although the final results will be more telling than my perception. I may be way off. All in all it was a good first race, nothing too crazy, and I stayed safe.

Next week I'm doing a road race, which will be a 45 mile race in the mountains. A little less crazy, I think, but much more physically demanding. I'm still kind of waiting to see how this all goes. If I'm really competitive, and I have chance at doing well, then I think this will be worth it. I'm still sorting out my place in the world of competitive bicycle racing.

We'll see...


The staging area


The course


The pack crossing the start-finish line mid race

The LA Homeless Count

Tonight was an evening that I won't soon forget. I had volunteered to take part in a county-wide census of the homeless population here in LA, and tonight was the first part of that census.

I was paired up with a gentleman by the name of Joey, and we canvassed the central downtown part of Santa Monica, crisscrossing streets by car. In three hours, we counted over a hundred homeless people. As tough as it was to see them, it was nice knowing that even though they didn’t know we were there, we were doing something to help them.

The really amazing part of this evening was the time I got to spend with Joey. He seemed to be in his fifties, though it was a little hard to tell. Very intelligent guy, and super nice. He had been formerly homeless, formerly incarcerated, but one one of those special people that was able to pull himself out. He spent time in a shelter, and was able to move to temporary housing, and then just recently into a small apartment, all in the Skid Row area. I think he said he pays $52 a month, which was a lot for him. He is set up with a job as a street cleaner, and he has been substance-free for about eight months now.

At the end of the night, I asked him how he was getting home, and he said he had a bike which he used in conjunction with the buses. I offered him a ride home, telling him my car was made to transport people and bicycles. On the way home, we had a chance to talk a little about God. He seemed very spiritual, making small comments throughout the evening, so told him that I wanted to pray for him. This began a conversation that we started with Jesus and took us through Christianity and Islam (he had converted to Islam many years ago from Christianity) and ended up with a very simple parting message: You can read as much as you want, study as much as you want, talk to the scholars, the priests, whatever you want, but in the end it comes down to a matter of faith. If God wanted us to have all of the answers, they would be written across the sky for everyone to read and understand. Instead they are written across our hearts, and it is up to us to accept or reject.

This seemed to have a profound affect on him. I got his number and told him maybe we could meet for coffee next week and keep talking. He was very excited about that, and told me "I knew something special would happen tonight". A couple of hugs and handshakes later, I was on my way.

I've never seen someone so excited about just a couple of simple revelations. We'll see where it leads. Either way, he's a good man and I was very honored to meet him, and be a part of a greater cause to help people in need. Stay tuned for more on Joey and on the homeless.

Brrrr....

So what does it take to ride in the upper 30's low 40's? Here's what it takes:

-A cold-weather cap, none of this baclava/bank robber stuff.
-helmet (of course)
-eyewear, otherwise you can't open your eyes
-base layer
-wind-blocking base layer
-arm warmers
-leg warmers
-a long sleeve jersey
-another long sleeve something
-a wind vest
-wool socks
-toe covers
-shoe covers
-insulating gloves
-full finger gloves
last, but not least...
-a good snot shooting technique, and proper etiquette so that none of hits the guy behind you.

Wheels

My new car, better fit for cycling-related activities, and off-road driving, a.k.a the streets of LA. But also pretty much better in every single way possible. I thought I was making a practical decision getting a Honda and getting a 4WD. But the thing is a spaceship, and seriously nice inside. And fast. And the heated seats keep my butt warm. Which is nice considering the temperatures in LA the last week have been in the thirties in the AM. Yikes!

Holy Mountain!

First weekend in January I went on a retreat with my church group. The mountain was about 65 miles east of los angeles, out at the edge of nowhere... It was about as desolate as the pictures show, and also cold and very windy. But as spiritual places go, it was right up there. Most of us were fasting, drinking water mixed with some lemon juice and maple syrup. No, I'm not making this up, and no, I'm not crazy either. The idea was to get rid of as much of the physical world as possible, thereby getting closer to God. Our revalation of the weekend was the more you have cell reception, the less you have spiritual reception.

I won't say a lot about the weekend, other than it was mostly spent in quiet prayer. The only thing I will say is just how alien it was coming back into the city. It wasn't like coming back from a vacation. It was like getting inserted back into the Matrix. Wild.

The greatest of these

What comes to mind when you think of church?

Old ladies in dresses? Donuts and stale coffee? Or is it rock music and slick mega-churches? I challenge anyone reading this to throw away their pre-conceived notions or prior experiences and consider this: Church is not a building. It's not a service, and it's certainly not a ritual. The church is you. And me. And any one else that comes together to worship God. A super strong church is made up of super strong people, even if there are only two, or three or ten of them. A strong chuch has nothing to do with wealth, or education, or race, or even the past histories of its members. A strong church is strong because it is faithful and committed to constant spiritual growth.

I had the honor of visiting one of the strongest churches I've even been to this past weekend. It is a small, one room storefront church in a very bad section of Inglewood, smack in the middle of Los Angeles. My friend Ron (one of the members of my men's group) and a pastor have been in the area for over a year now, bringing kids in the area to church and ultimately to Christ. After the last building they were in was hit by a car and condemned, they moved to this building. A man they call the Bishop lives there, and has allowed them to continue their ministry from his building.

Friday night Ron did the service and I went along. Two white guys rolling in a honda civic through a neighborhood where guys are selling drugs on the corner, going to pick up a bunch of kids and take them to church. You really can't get any crazier than that.

We sang Christmas carols off key and misprounced almost every word we read out of the bible, but it was one of the strongest church services I'd been to in a long time. Ron had recieved over a hundred and fifty toys to give out, and the day after this service over a hundred kids came to church and sang and danced and got the only gifts many would receive this holiday season.

Stay tuned for more from this little church. You can expect good things to happen here.

Pictures:

It's official

Analog Photos

I have an old russian camera that takes really moody photos. I took about three rolls when I was in Italy, but they've been sitting at home (undeveloped) ever since I got back. I really wish I could have the ease of digital with the mood of my Lomo. I guess there are some things that technology just can't make better....