NorCal Cycling News

Ruth Winder World’s fundraiser - August 5th, Sports Basement

The Winder family has a sizeable crew of youngsters to support - each of them incredibly gifted in their own unique and interesting pursuits and talents (personally, I think Fiona will be a rockstar one day, and Frederick a darkly comic writer).

The Winders have been ever-present in dirt, road, and track cycling - the entire family is a pleasure to see and cheer for at races.  Ruth has been selected for the World Championships this year - but the family has to fund the entirety of the trip to Italy.

Please consider joining with the East Bay community to send them off with a modest bit of help and encouragement at the low-key, but very fun Sports Basement event planned.  Cheers for any and all help to this good group of folks.
~

Please join us at Sports Basement, Walnut Creek on Thursday August 5, 2010 to celebrate Ruth Winder’s journey to the Junior Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy. 20% of all purchases made during the event will go directly to Ruth, and assist her in financing the trip and USA Cycling costs in order to represent the US (and our wonderful East Bay cycling community).

Additionally, there will be a raffle for two Sports Basement gift-certificates ($1 per ticket) and 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Ruth from the raffle. If you can’t make the event and would like to be included in the raffle, please contact me @ susannahbb@yahoo.com for details.

August 5th 6:30 - 9:00pm
Sportsbasement - Walnut Creek
1881 Ygnacio Valley Road
Walnut Creek

Host: Suzannah Breen
925 954-8085

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Score TIBCO Pro Team gear: complete LOOK bikes, team kits and more.

This Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the TIBCO Women’s Pro Cycling Team is holding its annual team gear garage sale in Los Altos. Get lightly used, professionally maintained, pro-level gear at better than pro-deal pricing.

• Awesome deals on LOOK frames and
  complete bikes, including Time Trial
  Frames/Bikes.
• All 2009 clothing is slashed 40%…pay in cash and receive 50% off!
• First come first served on limited edition
  2010 clothing!
• Amazing deals on all team issue clothing
  and equipment.. And it all supports a great
  cause!

Garage Sale Details:
Date: Saturday, July 17
Time: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Location: 1577 Fairway Drive, Los Altos, CA, 94024

For more info, contact: Patty@teamtibco.com or Linda Jackson actionlj@gmail.com

About Team TIBCO
The TIBCO Women’s Cycling Team is a professional cycling program devoted to fostering the success of elite women cyclists in national and international competition, with a focus on developing contenders for the Olympic Games through the team’s elite and development programs. The team also emphasizes joy in sport, fair play and dedication to excellence.

About Title Sponsor TIBCO Software Inc. www.TIBCO.com
TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX) provides enterprise software that helps companies achieve service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) success. With over 3,000 customers, TIBCO has given leading organizations around the world better awareness and agility – what TIBCO calls The Power of Now®. To learn more, contact TIBCO at +1 650-846-1000.

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This is going to be a quick one … so, let’s start out with some headlines:

San Rafael is gonna be packed!

If you’ve never been up to the northern territories to mix it up in this race … you’re really missing out on some fun. San Rafael puts on a pretty good show and the crowds are usually hip and deep into the scene ~ tossing out all kinds of love to the racers as they zoom up and down the overpriced hoochy town.

CalGiant is sending their freshly sprouted National Crit Champion, Steve Reaney.  He’s going to have to go against a few Bahati Foundation riders, as well as a very hungry and determined set of Yahooligans.  This is also the event that launched McGuire Cycling’s Randy Bramblett on to the map a couple years back … so look for Brambles and his teammate Sterling Magnell to be up there and doing their best to smash and dash to the line.

Another crew to look out for to grab the win will be the Williams Wheels contingent - Daniel Ramsey is back from injury and he’s going to be joined by a slew of quadrisauruses like the brothers Gritters, Wiscovitch & bigbadBobNewman.  These fellas are aching for a big NorCal win.

And who knows if the enigmatic Danny Holloway will be there … but if he is ~ place money on him for the big V.
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The women’s field will be contested with lighter than usual squads from PeanutButter&Co and TIBCO - but all the rest of the NorCal regulars will be there and very much in the action.  3rd Pillar’s Martina Patella has put together a string of top placings these past few weeks … so, she is a very strong darkhorse pick for the win.  Another rider to watch is Los Gatos’ Mary-Ellen Ash, as she’s been moving up in the rankings on each field sprint over the past month - and she always gets a big win during a season.

But if there’s a breakaway … you’ll likely see PB’s Olivia Dillon in it.  The woman is on a tear this year, a true breakout season for the Irish woman.  She raced very well at Fitchburg last week and if she has recovered from all her travel recently - look for her to crush away from the field late and cross the line solo.
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Lodi, Lodi, Lodi!

This town really turns out the style for their criterium.  It’s an incredibly pleasant downtown area … so, definitely check it out if you’ve never been there.  The Michael David Winery is putting on a great show for the racers and townfolk ~ you will not want to miss this event.

The Lodi Crit is a sufferfest that you actually enjoy putting yourself through.  Sick.
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Downieville calling

Oh … how I wish I could race this event.  Downieville is one of the classics of NorCal mountain biking and a better party on dirt you’ll never find. There’s so much to talk about with this event … that I reckon I’ll just shut my trap now ‘cuz I’m out of time and needing more of it to do the race any kind of justice.

Just check it out sometime soon … and remember you can ride those trails even if there’s no racing.  Make a weekend getaway memorable.
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Too much to do, not enough umpf to get ‘er done.  Hope to see ya’ll out there on bikes.  Soak it up, friends.  The world needs more people on bikes.  So, ambassador yo’selves out there and convert some masses.
~m

{a move this week brought about lacking access to the interwebs - so apologies for the break in transmission during what was … without doubt, one of the more fascinating weeks in American cycling history}

Let’s Start with the L’Aude

Tour De L’Aude … it’s French for hot women on bikes.  L’Aude is the premier sporting stage race for women in the world.  It’s the femme version of the Tour DAY France ~ with chamois cracking stages that charge break-neck through needle narrow Euro streets and launch hailmary up lung blowing climbs.  L’Aude is one of the oldest, most prestigious races in all the world and this year’s version is an excellent indication that American women’s cycling is not only on the rise, it’s rising to the top.

Both Katheryn Curi Mattis and Mara Abbot have won stages for the US National Team.  Brooke Miller, riding for the American-based professsional squad, Team TIBCO, has dominated the sprints competition and looks to secure the jersey in the final 90km stage taking place today.  Both the US National Team and TIBCO have proven themselves to be huge animators in the long stage race, throwing themselves off the front of the race with determined ferocity.  Beautiful racing.
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Moving on to the Mach … a Tour of California hero

Bissell Pro Cycling’s ToC was forged this year by breakaways and none was more important to the team than Paul Mach’s exploits off the front.  Jeremy Vennel was also in the high-profile breakaway on the final day … which was a fitting bookend to Mach’s opening day breakaway escapade.  Mach pulled on the Climber’s Jersey for a day … putting his name in the record books and splashing Bissell advertising around the world.

Well done, well done.

The nerdy-quirk PhD candidate even got himself in another hammer campaign during the week … putting up with HTC’s Renshaw for untold kilometers and forcing Garmin-Transitions to earn their paychecks.
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Olympia’s Tour … the new big thing is here

Taylor Phinney won 4 stages and the overall in one of the Netherland’s most prestigious races.  For those who have eyes only for Lance Armstrong … well, here’s your new prescription.

Taylor Phinney won 2 bunch sprints … in the Netherlands, btw.  Home of the 200lb meatburgers who love to hook bars and gnaw on each others’ necks like a deleted scene of Brokeback Mountain.

Taylor Phinney has won back to back World Championship titles in the pursuit.  To win a world championship in the pursuit on the velodrome is like 24 hours of waterboarding and having your nuggets zapped by Jack Bower … all super-concentrated into 3 minutes and 17 seconds.

Taylor Phinney is barely old enough to vote.
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If you’re looking for the next big thing in American Cycling … the name is Phinney.
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Speaking of Track Racing

The first Friday Night of the 2010 Hellyer season scorched the velodrome last week.  It was a cold, blustery night … and I’ll be pickled pink if the June 4th edition will be held under 70+ degree temperatures where all the jerseys are short sleeved and skin can be seen everywhere.

Beth Newell dominated the women’s omnium, Dave McCook edged it out for the elite men, and Mark Fairman won the category 3/4 omnium. Hugely notable was Megan Guarnier racing both the men’s and women’s elite events during the night.  Huge endurance displayed by the TIBCO pro … and can’t wait to see how Big Meg turns on the gas for the rest of the US road season.

Even with the chills, the folks from Bay Area Women’s Cycling put on a huge show ~ free food, free drinks (always drink responsibly … burp), and loads of cool people to hang out with and watch sprint after sprint.  Jonathan Racine is the 2010 promoter and the show was all kinds of fun as DJ Chris Panella spun music to keep toes tapping as thighs burned from spinning.  I’m looking forward to announcing for the June 4th race … and then remember ~ June 11-12 is the American Velodrome Challenge!

The AVC is where all the pros come out to shine and mix it up for the first major event of the 2010 track season.  It’s always a party at the AVC.
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Sacramento Grand Prix and the Kern County Women’s Stage Race

Coryn Rivera won the field sprint for the Tour of California associated Sacramento Grand Prix last weekend.  Her Peanut Butter team did an exceptional leadout for the teenage sensation during the final laps, and the little assassin turned the daggers deep to kick away from the field ~ displaying legspeed and bike handling skills of a bike-ninja.

Touchstone Climbing rode bravely, with rider after rider launching away from the pack, and it must be noted that Metromint Cycling also put in their digs to split the field. But it was a field of women that had all eyes on a bunch sprint … and the crowds were not disappointed.

Rivera was delivered to the finish in good position, but she still had to flash out a long, powerful sprint to win it over the Lithuanian star, Modesta Vzesniauskaite of Colavita/Baci Pro Cycling.

The day before was the Scotts Valley Grand Prix … a first year event worthy of note for it’s high prize purse and effort to produce a big show.  Nichole Wangsgard took the win out of a break in a much more animated, hotly contested race than the SGP.  The Scotts Valley race has potential and here’s hoping the folks at Third Pillar see the value in continuing it.
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But … all eyes were for the Tour of California

To say that Floyd Landis’ revelations were shocking would be … an understatement of European proportions.  Unfortunately, I’ve run out of time and have to jet ~ but, would be very interested in opinions on the subject.  Hopefully, I’ll be able throw up some pics tonite, do a bit of editing, and start gossiping proper tomorrow.

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Shelley Evans wins Gold and Bronze @ Pan Am Games

… and she’s not done yet.

With track events still remaining on her schedule at the Pan Am Games … we could see Shelley Evans taking another couple medals home.  That’s huge for her, and huge for her program.  Evans is taking a serious shot at making the Olympics road racing team for the London 2012 games … and the selection committee for USAC is going to have a hard time picking out anyone with a more rounded out set of abilities.

With a gold in the road race and a bronze in the time trial … what each of these past 3 seasons has shown the world is that this is a woman who can win at all levels on all terrains.  She is becoming seasoned to the best levels of competition and adapts to any obstacle put before her.

Peanut Butter & Co. should be joined by another high level sponsor next year … and will need to be if that program is going to keep both Evans and Mara Abbott in their midst.  PB& Co truly is pushing themselves forward as the best current homegrown women’s racing program in America.  And if they can continue to develop, continue to find advertisers with the vision to join with them ~ they’ll become the best American program ever.
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Joe Martin … NorCal continues to shine

With a young rider jersey at the horrifyingly difficult Tour of the Gila and a stunning opening TT win at the Joe Martin Stage Race by Andrew Talansky … Cal Giant Berries gave the nation a sweet reminder that they are THE premier amateur racing program in the nation.  They were valiant in the defense of the Joe Martin jersey on Stage 2, but a powerful break led by Bissell proved enough to dislodge Talansky from the leaderboard and put Ben Jacques-Maynes into second overall.

Bissell has Ben and Andy JM, Daniel Holloway, and Paul Mach leading much of their efforts in this early 2010 NRC romp … and it will be very interesting to see how they all burn it up at the Tour of California in a couple weeks time.

Joe Martin also showed us more women of NorCal dancing on pedals and getting down on podiums.  Webcor’s Kathryn Curi Mattis was a crowd pleasing winner of the opening TT … and TIBCO’s Alison Starnes has joined her in the top 3 for the overall.  But it’s Lisa Hunt’s NorCal  led program of Team Vera Bradley Foundation that has taken the leaders jersey with Alison Powers.

The now and the future

These are heady-times, indeed, friends.  NorCal has developed, heroic powerhouses out there competing against the best in the world … showing the globe that American cycling is continuing to rise ~ in both men’s and women’s racing.

And, we have many communities of generous, passionate people donating time, energy, and resources to creating the next generations of racers to follow in these clear and beautiful footsteps.

Thanks for the show, folks!

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Women on top

… whoa, just have to take a moment for that to settle in.

The PeanutButterTwentyDozen team brought out their local stars to shine bright at the Wente Road Race.  The temperatures and conditions turned out perfect for them, with only just enough wind to slightly bruise the nose when stuck it out … while not strong enough to really break or turn anything ugly during the race.  PB had all-world Shelley Evans teamed up with the elegant Kat Carroll, the iron-willed Olivia Dillon, and the up-and-coming Ruth Winder.  They would go against a quality field of NorCal regulars from the Touchstone, Metromint, Wells Fargo, and Los Gatos squads - as well as a host of hardcore individuals, not the least of whom being TIBCO’s powerhouse Alison Starnes.

Lap 2 was when the shredding occurred for the women’s field.  Dillon and Carroll drilled it strong up the steep, initial surge of the Wente climb - and then it was Evans putting in a detonation of an attack as the field frazzled up the kilometer+ false flat section that always seem to last forever.  It was a true grenade lobbed, and the survivors were Evans, Carroll, Dillon and Starnes off the front in a quartet of some of America’s best talent, with a quality group of 10 Norcal regulars chasing from behind.

Beginning lap 3, Carroll would drill it again at the base of the Wente climb just as the chasing group was hoping to make contact with the leaders.  Wells Fargo’s Cody Graf had done strong work in the chase group and Susannah Breen’s lean figure shot out of the pack to try and make it across for their squad.  With Breen would be the ever improving road racer, Molly Van Houweling of Metromint.  These two bravehearts would bleed buckets to keep the leaders in site, with Dillon eventually falling into their group under the undue pressures up front and from behind.  In the lead, it would be a small reshuffling as the final lap would be contested between the battlehorse from TIBCO, Ali Starnes and the two PB&Juggernaut talents, Evans and Carroll.

Late in the final lap, Evans would launch away solo in a bid for the win.  She would start the final climb with a small gap, and have to hit the accelerator with determination up the agonizingly long finishing slope to get her first Wente Road Race win.  Carroll would wait  behind the incredibly resilient Starnes, waiting like the patient and ferocious feline she is, and only until just after the steeps of the finishing climb would Carroll then lithely spring away and accelerate cleanly to the line for a PB 1-2 finish.  Starnes would continue to stomp on her pedals up the hill and claim an incredibly well deserved bronze for the day.  Ms. Olivia Dillon would glide away from MVH and Breen to finish out the top 6 places.

It’s off to the Tour of the Gila for most of these top finishers … the 16 mile time trial awaits them and I won’t be surprised to see any of these women rocking the select placings in the results.  Also a rider to watch is Heather Pryor of Touchstone. She’ll be on a composite team for Gila and after watching her fierce acceleration on the climb at Wente, and after seeing her improve with each week’s racing thus far in 2010 … Gila will be an excellent experience builder for her and she’ll be much the stronger for it.

Luck to you all, ladies!
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For the Mens

Ryan Parnes of Yahoo would be the first man up the climb as their racing began in earnest for the pro 1,2 field.  The men would rattle off the 5 laps in a bit over 3 and a quarter hours … that’s quick pedaling.  Off the front in most the initial moves and representing Cal Giant Berries once again as the class of Norcal climbers and stage race men was Jesse Moore.  By late in the race, it would be Moore joined by Bissell Pro’s Andy Jacques-Maynes and Yahoo’s Evan Huffman.  These three would trade savage pulls mile after mile and launch into the final climb with a significant gap over the dwindled field.

Moore would leap away from the two, with Huffman doing a brave chase after AJM launched a massive bridging effort.  It would be Moore throwing the sink and every other kitchen appliance at AJM on the final climb to try and crack the Bissell strongman … but, if there’s a finish line and 200meters to it ~ chances are low to naught that anyone is going to be first to it other than AJM.

Bissell would get another solid win in Norcal with AJM, Moore second for CalGiant and Huffman a brave 3rd for Yahoo.  Good representation from our homegrown talent.

(to be cont’d when there’s time … )

Hey there, NorCal Cyclists. It’s me, Hernandito.

Remember me? I’m that “guest blogger” who talked all sorts of big game about the plethora of blogging that he had in store for the 2010 season, then disappeared from the face of the interweb. Yes, I’ve failed the greater blog-reading community, but it’s not for lack of trying; you see, now that the originator of this website (the great Michael Hernandez himself) has begun writing again, I’m out of a job.

I’ve tried to write a few snippets about races thus far, but by the time I manage to scrawl a few illegible paragraphs, Mike has already written a three-part novel about the very same race in iambic pentameter, and has included hundreds of candid photographs. I’m like an old set of 9-speed Dura-Ace shifters compared to 2010 Super Record: I can get the job done, but not as smoothly, elegantly or rapidly as others.

That said, I have returned from today’s Wente Vineyards Criterium with an unusually potent desire to throw some words into the digital void.

Does everyone remember the old Land Park course? Yeah, that’s right, the never-ending mobius strip of doom. That race was renowned for its crashes, and more than one armchair pundit of the NorCal scene attributed the frequent wrecks to the lack of corners on the course. After many years — and countless collarbones, no doubt — the organizers made an attempt to fix the problem. They added a chicane to the course, and I think it’s crystal clear that this simple modification has made the Land Park criterium a much safer experience for all categories.

What does this have to do with today’s crit?

(Photo Credit: Jeanine Bates)

I’ve attended the Wente Criterium several times, and each time I’ve witnessed some harrowing spills. It seems as if nary a year has gone by where a race hasn’t been neutralized due to some horrific dismemberment or chainring-between-the ribs action.

I say the experiment has gone on long enough, and I implore the organizers of this race to try a different course.

Now, the naysayers and better-than-thous will inevitably tell me to “HTFU,” or they’ll claim that people simply need to learn how to ride, but I don’t buy it; in fact, I’m of the opinion that the racers with that attitude are the most likely culprits in the “who started the crash” game. Statistics don’t lie, and while I’m not exactly filling out an Excel spreadsheet here, I think it’s obvious that more crashes happen at Wente than most other criteriums, even though the composition of the fields is the same from week to week.

Is it the botts dots? Is it the lack of hard corners? Is it the width? Is it the large fields? I don’t know. What I do know is that people are getting hurt, and they’re doing so with frightening regularity.

I’ll conclude by saying that I abhor complainers, and I hope I don’t come off as one. In addition, I’ve promoted my share of races, so I know the headaches associated with procuring a new course. However, operating under the assumption that safety and quality racing are of the utmost importance, I believe a course change — even a minor one — would be prudent. Look to the Land Park course for guidance.

For the record, I did not crash in today’s race. I simply hate to see others get hurt.

P.S. Jane Despas won the W/1/2/3 and Sterling Magnell won the P/1/2. That’s all I’ve got for you in terms of race reporting…I bet Hernando can fill you in on the “deets.”

Read-up and follow along with the next generation of superstars:

I am Peter Taylor and I raced Paris-Roubaix juniors today. This is probably the most prestigious one day race for juniors in the world: 122k and the last 80 miles of the pro course against the best juniors in the world. Before the race the U.S team junior team director gave us our battle orders. Stay up front, protect Lawson Craddock and Nor Cal’s very own Ryan Eastman and hit the first cobbled section in the front.

The race started with all its craziness. Junior races in Europe are sketchy, every rider wants to be at the front and most will do anything to get there.

Coming into the first cobbled section I was near the back, due to a string of bad lack and near crashes for 5k. Over the first few cobbled sections riders in front of me got gapped off and I spent much of the first half of the race chasing back to the ever diminishing pack. Fortunately this put me in good position to tow back team leader and one of the best juniors in the world, Lawson Cradock, to the lead group.

Many riders opted to ride in the gutter. Many of them got flats or crashed when they got their tires stuck. I opted to ride every cobbled section to avoid crashes and move up. The race split up quickly over cobbled sections 6,5,4,3 and 2. I found myself in a small group with teammates Ryan Eastman and Jaun Carmona entering the city of Roubaix while teammate Lawson Cradock was up the road in a four man break with the World Champion Jasper Stuyvens. We entered the stadium and Ryan sprinted to take the group win for 13th and I took 17th. Lawson Cradock took 3rd behind the World Champion Jasper Stuyvens. The entire team including David Kessler and Mathew Lisbscomb finished, a feat that only 66 of the 120 or so starters managed. This is an amazing improvement on the last time the U.S raced with only 1 finisher.

After the race we got to see Cancellara come into the velodrome solo. What a perfect way to finish a wonderful day au Enfer du Nord.

[thanks, Lyman!]