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hats off to Velonews … i know i bag on the mag … but that’s only because i’m egalitarian to the bloodyredbone and want the grassroots pedaling bathed in as much glory as some of Lance’s shadows.
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well done, VN … and i want my cut of the IT royalties, delaney.
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• Mark Edwards (Bicycle Trip) took 9th in the 45-49 road race on Tuesday - top NorCal rider! Very close to podium. Got boxed in in the sprint.
• Time Trial was yesterday- my avg speed was 26mph, Mark’s was 29.8 - we finished mid group. I rode standard road bike w/clipon aero-bars
• Drafting controversy in my 55-59 TT could bump Kent Bostick and Tom Doughty (both Amgen-Giant) off their 1/2 podium spots.
• In the 50-54 TT, 2008 defending Champ and NorCal rider John Novitsky (VOS) won his second TT Nationals by 1/2 a second. Way to go, John!!
• Other great results from NorCal - Team Hammer riders Jack Kelso and Jim Fox podiumed in the 60-64 and 65-70 respectively.
• Also, in the 40-44 road race, Chris Phipps (Morgan Stanley) took 4th in a crazy finish where 3 guys rode off course. NorCal riders really rocked natz.

Ryan’s Ride 2009 from Luca Prasso on Vimeo.

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Jim Langley’s report on the men’s road race (55-59) is over at the Bike Tripper’s blog.

Langley’s nutshell summation of his road race:

 “I knew going in that I wasn’t going to be able to podium. The names are just too big. I’m a good cyclist not a great one. I could have raced smarter and tried to eek out a top 15 maybe, with a different attitude of not trying to race with the big boys. But, it was fun being out there on the Natz stage and I was clearly fitter and a better racer than about half the group, so that’s something to build on.”

 Congrats to Jim for giving it his best and representing the NorCal-hood.

First, let’s dispel some rumors, or at least alleviate some confusion. I am not Michael Hernandez, nor will I ever ascend to such lofty heights of style and speed. I am merely a guest-blogger, trying my best to stay true to the content that Mike would post, and to keep this blog updated frequently. Hernando = Mike, Hernandito = Me. An attempt to be subtle gone awry…

Now, whether you like it or not, I’ll be uploading a full-length post sometime in the next few days. However, I finally found a photograph of the inspirational handcyclist, courtesy of one of NorCal’s greatest (and most friendly) cycling photographers, Veronika Lenzi:

I figured I would post his photograph here, but I have also added him to the original post for the sake of completeness. Apparently his name is Matt Bailey, and I hope that somehow he finds out that he has inspired me. I also hope that he continues to light a fire in the hearts of other cyclists in the future. What a badass.

Anyway, I also highly recommend heading over to Ronnie Lenzi’s site. She snaps great photographs, and she just uploaded a gargantuan quantity of them to her website.

That’s all for now…but I’ll be back shortly.

“I just don’t understand where all these people come from? Why do they come? Just for this one guy? Just to see a superstar? Can they name one other cyclist? Do they care?”

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… heard in more than a few conversations ~ such questions acidically burping out of long-time cyclists not able to overcome their chamois-crusted cynicism enough to believe it was good that one person could or should …or IS … able to bring out all these maddeningly frenzied folks to watch a bike race.
… and party.
~
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At the startline, it was a pretty special moment. A mass of 130 young and old die-hards for the bike getting an evil little taste of racing under the most potent of performance enhancers … a frenzied mob ~ that massive wall of emotion flooding into you, willing you, hurtling you past every barrier you’ve ever built for yourself.
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it’s addictive.
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People in every balcony, people thronging up and down both sides of the street like agitated hives … thousands. It was a moment to sit back, take it all in ~ contemplate just what our sport might …
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And that’s when i happened to turn around and see that Lance Armstrong was riding right up, and if i stepped in front of him a bit ~ no place to end at but right in front of me. And … that’s when it thunderclapped down on me … hell with it ~
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I’m a fan.
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… a fan of Lance Armstrong ~ not because of who he is, or what he wins … but simply because he DOES bring all these people out … all these crazy, smiling people … to watch bike racing. I’m a fan of what Lance Armstrong DOES – last weekend at Nevada City … he gave the world another look at riders like Ben Jacques Maynes and Shelley Olds. He brought the world’s eyes to NorCal … and we got to show them a bit of what makes us love this sport, live this sport.
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Living strong, I suppose.
~ ~ ~
hernando-out