NorCal Cycling News - Cycling and Racing in Northern California

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It’s Hernandito, and I’ve missed you all.

Before we begin, I should mention that I’ve been usurped. It seems Mr. Hernandez has hired some fantastic new writers, which (I assume) means that my style and content lacks a certain flair, or that I’m not writing often enough. It’s probably a combination of the two.

After a flurry of posts by the new guys, and even a few snippets by Mike Hernandez himself, the blog has lain fallow for a few days; now is as good a time as any for me to hastily scribble words for your entertainment.

But first, here is a photograph of Floyd Landis getting owned by Utah Jazz guard Deron Williams:

Courtesy of Bikerumor.com.

I’m sure you’ve all read about this Tour of Utah publicity stunt, but I just found this photograph the other day and found it quite amusing. I’m posting the photo here, not only to make fun of Floyd’s defense, but also because it just makes me feel better to see that Floyd Landis sucks at basketball as much as I do. (Technically, this photo was staged; perhaps Floyd is really good at basketball.)

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It’s been a while since I wrote last, and after a bit of reflection I’ve decided that the most inspiring bit of local cycling news from the past few weeks was Eric Kimbles’ victory in the P/1/2 Dunnigan Hills Road Race.

[Insert glorious victory salute photo here]

I was told (by a less than reputable source) that this was Kimbles’ first P/1/2 race; my own investigation reveals that Eric raced the Patterson Pass RR the previous week*. Nevertheless, this guy sprinted to victory in only his second P/1/2 race, in some of the most brutal conditions this year. I’d be interested to hear some first-hand accounts of his win, but I have heard through the grapevine that Kimbles fought his way into the final selection of five riders, worked hard to maintain the breakaway’s advantage, and then outsmarted his rivals in the high-speed downhill kick to the line. Well done, sir.

*I have no idea if this is true. For all I know, he didn’t actually race either event. He’s listed as Erik Kimbly at Patterson, and Eric Vimbles at Dunnigan.

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Justin England (CalGiant) must be the skinniest, fastest-climbing National Criterium Champion of all time. Typically a race dominated by the slightly insane, thick-thighed, muscle laden sprinters, this year’s edition of the Elite Men’s National Criterium Championship was claimed by a 5′9″, 137 pound climber.

Congratulations to Justin, as well as the rest of CalGiant team, for holding onto a Stars and Stripes jersey for another year!

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For those of you that like utter domination: check out the results from the W/1/2/3 race at the Suisun Harbor Criterium.

Kathryn Curi Mattis (Webcor Pro) won the race solo, while Karen Brems (Webcor Pro) and Lauren Hecht (Webcor/AltoVelo/Sportvelo) were unmatched in the field sprint. Winning is awesome. Finishing 1-2 is commanding. Finishing 1-2-3 (assuming Hecht was racing with, not against, her Pro-team colleagues) is just straight-up hardcore.

Of course, Jane Despas was probably just tired from crushing the field at Dunnigan Hills the day before…

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Let’s build a little suspense, shall we?

On September 5th, the Fremont Freewheelers will be holding the NCNCA District Championship Team Time Trial in Pleasanton. The best time-trialists in the district will don their armor of skinsuits and aero helmets and do battle on the hilly 40k course over Altamont Pass.

So far pre-registration for the event has been meager, but I hope that over the course of the next week, riders begin to assemble into four-man teams.

Some prognostication:

1) If the time-trial fiends of the Central Valley stop beating each other up every Wednesday night and work together, the District Championship will be theirs.

2) The Masters teams will be faster, on average, than the Elite teams. I don’t know what it is about time-trialing, but the old men seem to be better at it than the young whippersnappers.

3) Collegiate teams might steal the show. The 4-man TTT is a collegiate mainstay, and many of the local schools probably have well-practiced squads already assembled.

Regardless of what happens, I’m excited that the TTT seems to be gaining a little bit of momentum in the district; it’s a great discipline and makes it seem a little less ridiculous to own a bunch of expensive TT equipment.

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Since I haven’t been racing much these days, I need my results fix. As suggested by previous writers Hellyer, please start Twitter-tagging results with #calcup, or hell, #ncnca once Cal Cup is over. We all have cell phones with cameras, and is easy to use, so why not snap a quick photo of the results while you’re at it? Are you sitting in the feedzone, bored out of your mind? Give live updates via Twitter!

That’s all I have for now. So long!