Hello Gang,

Race season is upon us. This weekend was the underground TT. A chance for the locals to tune up those TT legs for the upcoming stage race. All the results are posted at the Luv2Bike web site and their were some noteworthy performances.

The boss had the best time of the day with a 28:18 in the Pro1-2 Cat. The sub 30 min finishers were the boss and Spider Monkey in the Pro 1-2, Patrick Gosse in the Cat 4 (who is this?? That is a good time for a Cat 4), and Magoo ripped up the course in the 35+ to come in under 30. The winners in each cat are:

Pro 1-2 Louie Amelburu time 28:18 from team Paul Tracy Cat 3 Noe Alcala time 30:24 from Allegiant Cat 4 Patrick Gosse time 28:36 from unknown team Cat 5 Jeff Strong time 30:06 from unknown team Master 35+ Gabe DeLeon time 29:56 from Paul Tracy Master 45+ Bruce Balch time 30:40 from Paul Tracy Woman 1/2 Hillary Crowley time 34:28 (not sure on the team this year) send me and update Woman 3/4 Julie Cutts time 32:08 from McGhies TeamTT Paul Tracy team with a time of 28:28

Congrats to all the participants.

I spent the weekend riding in Socal with Kenny and Opi (Nathan). The weather was awesome and we got in a sweet 100 miles on Saturday. Kenny was kickin my ass on all the rollers on the coast and Nathan got a great lesson in sucking wheels. The miles melted away and hopefully the lbs will also.

On Sunday we had to fight some wicked head winds going up the coast and the river trail in land. Kenny was pouring on the power on PCH and took a couple of group riders to task for passing him when he was doing tempo.

With a little anger in his legs he bumped the pace up to 29 and me and Opi were hanging on for dear life. I can not cram in enough miles right now to get caught up on my training so the long rides were definitely worth the drive.

The Souther Nevada Stage Race is just around the corner. I can see by some of the TT times that some of you have definitely been training this winter.

Check out the Luv2Bike boards for the latest smack talk. Boards

Kircher spent the week training in Hawaii. You know how he is about cold weather. When I taked to him on Friday he was at the end of a 120 miler on Oahu. Look for him to have some serious fitness going into next weekend.

Random Thoughts:

How did the Boss put up a better TT time than the Team TT. I think we are holding him back. Can we just attach some bicycles on a bungy cord to him and call that our Team TT??? Nice job BOSS!!!

What is Gabe eating??? That was some serious TT out there. Considering that put him in fourth for all the competitors and he is old as dirt!!

AWESOME

Watch Chris Hansel!! He was just above a sub 30 time. Good to see their team out to represent. Even Luna broke out his TT bike.

Anyone seen the Chicken??? I think he rode his TT bike to IHOP and got some pancakes Saturday morning.

I see the first results fo the new force in town LUV2Bike. Glad you guys came out for the TT. I am interested to see what the new kits will look like. It is always fun to see a new team in town with new faces and new gear.

Did the sea of yellow make an appearance this weekend?? I did not see anything noteworthy on the results.

Boss we need to shrink Opi's kit. It is a little baggy on those legs. Can you get him some rubber bands so his shorts are not flapping??

Kenny is laying down some serious power right now. I can not wait to see his TT time at the stage race.

WOW!! Was that our designated sprinter out on his TT bike on Saturday?? I think Jay would have preferred a flying 200M TT for a preem. Way to represent!!

Dr Bill with a fine second in the 45+ All that training with Gabe??

Somebody get a piss test.

See all of you out on the roads this weekend.

Hey Gang,

The weather has been awesome here in Vegas and I hope all of you are getting out for some quality miles before it turns cold this week. I will try to keep you enthralled with my silly tales of cycling over the winter.

Here is the latest.

Tour De Tucson:

This weekend was the big race down in Tucson. We had a special treat this time as the Boss decided to come on out and do the race. Let me set the scene for you. Tucson is 108 miles of pure adrenaline rush. The course had two dry river crossings at 13 miles and 50 miles. The approach to the crossings are all important and than you have rolling hills after the second crossing just to keep the unfit riders from making the cut. Many of the local and past pros showed up this year with Harm Janssen, Robbie Ventura, Wayne Stetina, the entire Succesful Living team, and Jonas Carney all coming out to show their strength. From the PT Team we had the Fat Man, Kenny Sweet Legs, The Boss, Magoo, M. Freeze, and Chicken. Collins had a strong showing with Padgett, Hansel, Luna, Ryan and Scott Miller.

The pace was hot and this was the fastest Tour on record. Mr. Freeze was dealt the black ace early and took a wrong turn early on to get detached from the field. Most of us made the first crossing with little mishap.

The approach to the second crossing was fast and furious with Hansel, chicken and the boss coming out with great position. Chicken and the Boss were able to make the front group with Hansel falling back to the second chase group on the road that contained Sweet Legs and Luna and Scott Miller. With Chicken and the Boss drilling the group and driving the break, they should have been gone. The group contained some riders that were not helping and with 13 miles to go the second group made the bridge and the sprint was on. I am not sure how but the Chicken was able to come out on top again in the hectic sprint between cars on the road for his 5th Fastest Man in Nevada title. Even better he finally finished in the top ten with a tenth spot in the race. Most of the Vegas riders finished in that first group which is a testament to how strong our small racing community is getting. Great Job Gang

A little bird advised me that there are some shake ups going on in the 5-star team. I guess Peter, Lance, Anthony Morrow, and Dan Vinson will not be returning to that team next year. Rumor on the street is they will be riding for Cal Pools. That would make Cal Pools a major player in the Masters venue. We will have to keep an eye on that.

If you have any other transfer news, drop me a line. I have not heard on what the status of the various teams around the Valley.  I have not heard of who is riding for Pro Cyclery, or Allegiant. What is going on at Collins?? Drop me a note and let me know.

Horner has signed for Astana. We made him a strong offer over at PT but he decided that the US Masters circuit was not going to fit in with his program. I think he was a little worried that he would have to ride for Louie and was not going to get a chance to go for his own placings. Good Luck Chris!!

Dotsie is off to Australia for some worls cup track racing. I will let you know how she does. These world cup races are very important for her run to Beijing.

I was talking up our local stage race, Nelson's Landing to some of the Ride Clean guys in Tucson. I hope Rich gets the word out early so we have a good showing. I am doing my part. I invite the rest of you to talk up the race any chance you get. The more people we have turn out the better for all of us.

Random Thoughts:

Hey Hansel, nice job on the approach to the second wash. you held great position.

Collins had great representation in the second chase group. You guys got another year to kick it up to the next level. I love the battle.

The boss is the man. Chicken told me he was driving the break and laying the hurt down. Nice Job

Damn if the black ace did not strike again. No worries Alex, it got me too and hit Magoo. Magoo decided to go off course before the wash and try to ride with a sage brush stuck in his front wheel. Now that's racing.

I hear the Bully Balchesarus has been introducing Jay to some hard riding.

I also heard Jay showed Slow Tony a clean set of heals on Saturday. NICE!!

Long live the sprinters.

Good to see Little Hurt back on the bike. Hopefully I will be joining him soon on the comeback trail.

The Chicken scores the trophy again. He is a sneaky bastard.

Hello Gang,

This week in Vegas, all the hype was for the big showdown at the Silverman.

Some of the top time trialists in the area were out in force to contest the event and they did not disappoint. There were a lot of notable performances and that I will get in too later. I wanted to take a moment to say how impressed I was with the level of organization that it took to put this event on. I can not believe the amount of volunteers and support from the community as half of Henderson was shut down for the Road events. I have never been a big Tri fan but that was pretty cool. I hope that some day we can see that kind of support behind some local bike races. Nice job Silverman. I also wanted to high light Dave Ellis. His company was a notable sponsor and most of the team members of CES were out to either race in the event or volunteer as a worker. Lots of praise out to those guys for supporting a local event.

NEWS FLASH:

The Arctic Squirrel has arrived. He landed in Vegas via the Audi Turbo Express on Saturday. He looks fit but looks can be deceiving. Let me know if there are any Jay sightings on the road.

Silverman Report:

There were lots of Vegas notables involved with the race and I apologize that I did not see everyone or get your specific times. I did see the Wolfman in the half iron man looking pretty cool in a Air Force Kit. The big showdown in the Relay TT of 112 miles was a great event to watch. The boss was first on the road and maintained his position as the best Time Trialists in Vegas. We all take for granted his abilities in this event but he improved his time over last year by 14 minutes and had the fastest bike time of the day with a 5:08:03. Chicken was second in the Valley with a time of 5:33:30. Louie's team won the overall relay and the Mens relay.

Chicken team won the coed relay team. Nice job guys. Hansel had a great showing with a time of 5:52:37. I did not get the ladies time splits because I was not able to get their team names but I know Hilary was out on the road with a good effort as well. Big Ryan and Brandon Cunningham both had good times to support their relay teams as well. I was in the transition area and it was obvious, every one left it on the table. Dave Ellis looked pretty sharp on his X-lab TT bike.

Non PT Retrospective

As promised, I am sitting here at my desk and going over all the great performances of the past year by non-PT riders. It has been a long season so this is going to be from the best of my memory. If I forgot someone or did not quite get a fact right, I apologize now. It is much easier for me to remember races I was in so here we go.

I will start with one of the most impressive riders in the City, Little Hurt. Andy had an incredible year with many accolades to his credit. From getting his Cat I to taking on the Zoolander boys at LA College, he has been solid all year. I think one of his most impressive performances was taking out Kayle LeoGrand at West LA College. Even before that, the way he gutted out the finish in Boulevard this year against arguably the best field that race has ever seen. Not many of us would be willing to line up in crit against most of those riders, he did it in a tough ass road race and was one of the top non-pro finishers. Great season Andy.

How could we forget Greg Christian. Now most uf us know that Gregg checked out after the first part of the season, but before he did he was notching up some serious placings against some NRC caliber racers. His ride at Red Trolley was inspiring and he certainly got Lance excited. I recently spoke with him at Red Rock and he may start racing again. Lets hope so! We need somebody to give Jay some competition.

Spider Monkey has had a tough year. From going to school to getting plowed by a car, he was not able to salvage very much of his season. For that reason I will have to remember him as being a great antagonist at TNW. The one thing I love about Ryan is he is unafraid. From attacking Burke Swindlehurst in Utah to trying to disrupt the PT train at TNW, I can always count on Spider Monkey to mix it up. i know he is training for a big year next year so keep an eye on him.

Mr Dark Cloud (Tony Gebbia) had a good year in the early part of the season. He was getting some good placing in the early season crits in Socal. Again I do not have specifics as I was not at a lot of the CBR stuff. I will also say that between him and Luna, the two of them have the sweetest peddle stroke in Vegas. They pedal like glass. The guy just looks pro. Nice!!

Pitter Pat impressed the hell out of me at the Mt Charleston hill climb. I know what you are thinking, he is supposed to go uphill fast. He passed me like i was falling backwards off a ladder. Nice ride on the Mountain Pat!!

One of the biggest character's in the peloton, Troll, had an awesome year.

I love the way he gave it up for his teammates in Indio but his all time best achivement this year was taking the 4-up sprint at TNW. It looks like all those videos he had been watching of tactics paid off. Than he goes down to Socal the next week and wins a crit. That was a breakthrough ride.

Good luck with the new baby!!

Hansel made a great return to the Peloton this year. After a year in absence he rode strong all year with quite a few crit placings to his resume in masters races. He has steadily been improving his TT again to his former level. I am looking for some great battles on the road this year. He had one of his best rides at the St Valentine's day race. He was the power in a two up break. Nice job Chris.

Gagne has been improving his sprint all year and doing well at TNW. I have to say my best memory of Chris this year involved the Tour De Gap. I know he may not agree but he had a breakthrough ride in the first days road race. I know we always talk about placings, but sometimes it is the challenge of a hard event that will take you to a new level. Gutting out the finish on those climbs that day when your body was telling you to stop, changed you as a rider and I am sure it will pay off. If he keeps taking his game to that level, he will be one tough rider in the future. Nice job at Gap getting over those hills. Trust me when I tell you that you impressed me and my teammates that day.

I was not at this race but Ryan J had a great day down in Phoenix at the beginning of the year. He did a crit that had rain, snow and sleet. I talked to some of the people from that area that were at the race and very few people finished. Ryan had a good day to get a top 20 finish in the Pro

1-2 crit and tough out the weather. He also just stepped up and completed the 112 mile Silverman TT. Can you say tough guy!!

Little Nathan, what can we say. This kid is smoking hot this year with none other that a state title to his name. He has steadily been improving and it all culminated with a break away win at state. I thought that was impressive until Charleston. This kid smoked most of the elite field to have one of the best times in the city, and he does not even have muscles yet. Keep an eye on him and lets hope he gets picked up by a good development team for next year.

Hillary had the race of her life at Indio to win some big money. I watched her come out of the last corner and accelerate to the line for a well foughtout win. I was laughing all the way home that day thinking about how she won more money than any of the guys from vegas that placed that day including myself. here is another vegas athlete that had breakthrough year to become a threat in almost any race. Awesome!!

Alicia goes right along with that. You would think that she would only be a sprinter but she actually placed well in quite a few road races including San Luis Rey. She was also the best finisher in the Pro Crit here in Vegas at Mandalay Bay. Look for bigger things for her this year.

Last but not least, Big Lance. Always the sprinter, he spent most of the season working his ass off for members of his team. He stepped up and did an entire season with arguably one of the best local teams in Socal. Along the way he was able to win a masters crit and provide lead out after lead out for his sprinters. It was tough to hold his wheel and even tougher to beat him at his race, the local TNW. He was by far the dominate winner of the belt. I am hoping that the rumor of his retirement is just that and we will have many epic battle to come.

On that note, I am sorry if I forgot you. You are always welcome to add in your own memory.

Random Thoughts:

Happy Birthday Hileman. I am not gay and Chicken wrote the card!!

Again, special props out to CES for their sponsorship of the Silverman.

How about a Road Race next year??

Is it the training or the P3??? Nice job Boss!!

Tucson is this weekend. It is on!! I hope I can hang in for the finish.

See ya next week.

Hey Gang,

I am stuck here at my office working on a Sunday so I decided to kill some time by getting the newlsetter out. I have to say the weather this weekend has been awesome so I am sure you are all out riding and enjoying our mild temps. As i sit and ponder the season that we just finished, I thought I would go through and highlight some of the best moments from the year past and of course get your mind wandering to good things to come for the next season.

Special Announcement: Today is the Chickens 41st B-day. If you see him out on his TT bike today be sure and wish him a happy birthday and buy him some calf muscles. He will need them next weekend for the Silverman. By the way his bar age is now 31.

January:

The only racing in January was a TT put on by the gang at ProCyclery. That same weekend some of us PT Riders escaped the ass kicking cold and went dow to SoCal for a weekend of long miles. Our training camp consisted of a 110 mile day on Saturday from Papa's house to San Diego and back again the next day. I think the highlight of that trip was just spending time with my bro's and coming into San Diego right at sunset and checking out the

skyline after a long day in the saddle. That little trip showed me how

good we were going to be this year as you could just tell the team was clicking. OHHHH I forgot the TT. Louie smoked them like usual, but the real accomplishment was riding in those 17 degree temps. Damn that is cold. Mark is laughing in Utah at us desert dwellers but I am sure he wants to be here in Winter.

February:

The first race of the year was Boulevard. I have to say, that race set the tone for the season. The teamwork was awesome and with all the major teams there to show off, Louie showed why he is feared on any climb. With Chicken working like a whore, he set the boss up for a podium placing.

kircher was incedible in the beginning chase on lap one and the team worked hard. Valley of the Sun was next. Louie, Mark and Balch took on the 45+ race and won the overall. I will never forget how RS got his nickname that day. With myself, Chicken, and Kenny blocking like mothers he took a well deserved 4th in the road race and than did another lap just to show how bad ass he is. Than just to make sure we new the boss was the boss, he kicks ass in the Crit and takes another podium. I finally saw the Cuban sprint.

I will say the boss owned February, but RS gets the MVP for this month for making me laugh my ass off.

March:

March was jam packed with the lead up to San Dimas Stage Race. We all went down to McClane to race with the long lost squirrel. The crit was insane and the boss and Chicken were in a nasty pile up in the Pro Crit. The masters crit did not go as planned and we all were lucky to survive without major injy. The best moment of that weekend was Jay telling the Pro Woman's T--Mobile team how they need to win the race with his sweats pulled up around his chest and his skinny ankles sticking out underneath. TOO FUNNY. Murrietta was next and Kircher, RS and me tried like hell to get a break to stick. RS was an animal that weekend and worked his ass off to help me try and get a placing. Next was SanDimas and what a race we had.

To Podium at arguably one of the toughest stage races of the year in terms of competition was awesome. The team worked like a well oiled machine. I will never forget Louie after the TT at dinner. His quote of the night, "who the hell wants 9th, tomorrow we go for the win and this is how we are going to do it." Of course the strategy is a closely guarded secret but Kenny launched the Chicken with a blistering acceleration up the side of the field and that was the last we saw if him. That race, I was never more proud to be on this team. With Jay winning preems in the Crit to poor Mark, coughing up his lungs but fighting to stay in the race so he could help the team. I give the MVP for this month to Kenny for his unselfish riding and teamwork and Chicken for finally cracking that big podium.

Maybe you two should team up more often!!!!!

April:

For me this month had some highs and lows. On a high note, I went down to Indio and finally got to race in a true Pro Crit with a stacked field. I got 8th in the masters to win some cash and than busted my ass for 90 minutes just to say I raced Henk Vogels. FUN STUFF. San Diego Omnium was a blast for me, Chicken and Kircher. I am very proud of this race because we had to fight so hard to get a placing when all of us were arguably not on. Kircher was completely dominate in the crit and helped me lead out Chicken three times to make sure we could get bonus points and a finish to stay in the money. The boss, Kenny and Mr. Freeze went down to Tucson and completely dominated the AZ boys for another GC win. Mr Freeze and Kenny were a two man wrecking crew for the boss and I am sure that Mr Freeze absolutely gets the award for the MVP for that ride. I am sure Louie felt like he was on a Mack diesel riding behind that wind tunnel. The low was Conquer the Canyon. We did not ride well as a team but learned some valuable lessons. Louie came back strong on the last day road race but it was not the highlight of our calendar.

May:

Two big highlights in May. I went down an raced Bario Logan and tried to get in every break I could just so I could miss the winning attack by Bordine for the state championships. the next day was San Luis Rey RR.

The boss had some great form, but we let Kircher attack early and unfortunately he was not able to stick with the break. Not our best day but we took a shot on our long break away specialist and I have to say this was good training for what Kircher did later in the season. RS was bad ass in the 4 race and picked up 2nd to get the balance of his upgrade points.

Damn he is strong. I forgot to mention he won Punch Bowl in the 4s. All of this while he was actually a Cat 5. Go Figure. Summit Center was at the end of the month and what a battle. It was touch and go and man did the team work well. With Kircher kicking ass in the crit (he had a solid ride that day and spent more time off of the front), Louie taking the 100 preem, and getting the lead out of his life from his team, he was able to stay in first after the first day. The circuit race saw the whole team take teams protecting Louie and than launcing him in the break. The last day RR we had a narrow margin of victory and the Ride Clean team came out swinging. Louie put us all on the front and Kenny set a sweet tempo to keep anyone from attacking. We just rode any attacks down and set up our climbers on the last climb to go for the win. Chicken flew the coop to get a W and boss rode awesome to defend his lead. Freeze was incredibel in the cross winds and showed strength that I shall not soon challenge. Balch did the 45+ and one almost every stage including lapping the field in the Crit to put all GC hopes for his competitors out of sight. My MVP for May is the return of the Balchesaurus.

June:

I finally got up to race with Mark Schaefer up in Utah at the High Uintas.

I will just say that by far this was my best race of the year and Mark is the badest man in Utah. Enough said. I had a personal break through with my TT and Mark completely dominated the RR to put the GC out of sight. If you could have seen the cross winds he had to fight coming into Evanston, and he put 4 minutes on the field solo. DAMN!! Louie was riding well and unselfishly worked for Mark. Just to make sure he did not get bored, I led him out for the crit and he took another sprint win. Are you sure you are not a Crit Racer?? RS was an awesome teammate that weekend and he reallys et me and Louie up for a good placing in the crit. The week before that, the resurrection of Robo Cop was completed. He went to the state RR championships and with the most unselfish riding of the year by Louie, secured 3rd place for a bronze metal. Louie was awesome to patrol the front and Kircher started his own break and than powered it for the rest of the day to stay away for third. Kircher and Schafer are the MVP for June with an assist for Louie for his domestic duties.

July:

Of course July is the month for Nationals and Louie and Mark did not disappoint. They took a silver in the tandem TT and Gold in the RR.

Another National Championship and a hard fought battle to get it.

AWESOME!! The two of them went to Cascade with me after that. They were both exhausted and still had great rides with Mark getting 4th on GC in the

45+ race. OK again I will say that is a bad man. Louie got third in

45+ the

last day circuit race and rode a very solid stage race considering he was exhausted from Nats. Just when i thought the Squirrel had gone into hibernation, he calls me up to Carson for the NorCal Crit Champs. He laid out a plan and we gave it everyhing to try and win another championship.

He rode a very good race to secure a 5th against one of the toughest crit racing teams I have been up against this year. Nice way to end July squirel. MVP for July is the two National Champs Louie and Mark. Jay gets honorable mention for one awesome sprint in Carson.

August:

Apparently August is Kircher's favorite month. He started by going out to another state championship in Sisquoc and getting another bronze, his third of the year. Ohhh and just to show you he is bad ass, he did it by himself, no teammates with him on this trip. Tour De Gap was on tap and the 45+ guys stepped up with the return of Polocko to the peloton. Him, Balch, and Schaefer lit up the field to take the GC for the 45+. The boss whooped ass in the 35+ to take another stage race win with a lot of great riding by his team. The set up on the first days RR by his climbers, Polocko, Balch, Chicken, RS was incredible. The crit was te scene of the famous PT Team Time Trial and I have to sat it is harder getting a placing on this team because my team mates attack befoe I get a chance too. I am talking about RS taking off 8 miles in the last RR never to be seen again.

The TT was a true test and I am glad to say that I had another break through ride. After sweeping both categorys you would think that Utah was ready for us, but the next week Kircher, Chicken and I went down and did the San Pete RR and Kircher took another win. Chicken rode a good race to thwart any chasers and I busted my ass in the break to make sure we stayed away, It was a nice way to end the season.

I know that was long but damn, we race a lot. All in all we have had a great year. I would like to thank all the sponsors, significant others, and support staff that helped make this a great season. I hope this got all of you dreaming of big wins and good times for next year. Sorry this is PT specific for all of you that get this that are not on the team. I will highlight some other Vegas notable next week for not PT. Just too much too write in one letter.

Random Thoughts:

How does Chicken look so young??? I will tell you his major secret. He spend almost all of his free time lying around the house in his pajamas.

He will only leave the house to ride, work, or go to a party. He literally has no other activities beyond this. Truly amazing

Rock Racing is talking with Mario Cipollini to ride for them for next year.

WOW, can you imagine that CipoLilge may actually get to race Cipolini. I will lead you out Jay but you better start doing some intervals.

The Silverman is next weekend, come on down and watch local favorites Chicken, the Boss, Hansel, and Big Ryan battle it out for TT Supremecy

Working on a Sunday Sucks. Thank god I can do this so I do not go crazy.

The roster has not been finalised for PT for next year. I am told that several of us are on the bubble. I will be at Louie's house next week to atone for my sins by washing his RV. Chicken will be assigned to clean out the shit tank. Hopefully we make the cut.

There are some new races coming out on the national calendar. It appears that our sport is still healthy in the US. I am looking forward to our local stage race. Rumor has it that the Nelson's Landing RR is going to be back. I guess we can count out the various ALL Crit All Stars. You boys better start doing some climbing. I am sure there will be some no name crit in Phoenix you can do that weekend. Seriously, if we have a local race, lets get out and support it. If promoters do not get good turn out, they do not have an incentive to keep the race going or try and do more races. If we want a healthy race scene in Vegas, we need more races here.

See you out on the roads

Hello Gang,

Just a day late and a dollar short. Here is all the news, rumors, and cycling smack talk that is worth printing.

I wanted to start off with a little news that is fresh off the presses as this just happened this morning. On the local training ride this morning, Danny Kam from NuVision was tagged by a BMW in the round a bout on Town Center while riding with the group. The good news is he did not seem to sustain any serious injurys. The BMW did not see the large group of riders and swiped Danny. This is just another reminder to be careful out there.

This time of year a lot of us ride to work and nights to get in our training miles. Here are a few tips to avoid cars in traffic. I know all of you know these but just wanted to spark your memory.

1. Always look for driver's eyes. If you can not see there eyes, assume they have not seen you. This has saved my life several times.

2. Use lights, as many as possible. Being seen is the key to not getting tagged 3. Try to use roads that have wide bike lanes. The extra distance you ride to avoid a busy street is good for your training anyways.

4. Ride defensive. People are idiots.

Simo's 70th birthday party went very well and I would like to send a personal thank you to all of you that came out to participate and all of you that pitched in for his gift. I know he was touched and I am sure that I will be chasing those wheels soon. He is very excited to get out and try his new Zipp wheels. A special thanks go out to Rich and all the gang from Pro Cyclery for getting the wheels made and coming out to the party.

Baker to Death Valley race:

I was not able to make this race since Simo's party was the night before.

I understand the Collins Team was well represented. I did not get a detailed report but I understand the Masters category and the Cat 1-3 were combined. Chris Hansel picked up a third with Scott Miller 6th and Anthony Luna was 10th. Vampy picked up the win and the prize money to get him through the winter until his next race. Good Job Collins. I am glad you were out to support and picked up some placings.

I had to keep it low key this weekend as I am trying to rehab my knee so I can start training hard again. I hope to be able to report on some training rides next week.

Dotsie Bausch is well on her way to making the Olympic Team. She has two world cup events in November. I will keep you posted on her times and placings. It is going to be great to see her contest the Olympics if she gets the final nod to be on the team.

The Silverman is just around the corner. So far I have heard that Chicken, the Boss, Hansel, and Big Ryan will be doing the TT. I know the Chicken has been training hard and I am sure the Boss is doing secret training to get himself ready. Hansel looks like he is coming on some form. This should be a good show down for the TT masters.

Random Thoughts:

Louie showed his tru origins Friday night. The next time he tells me he is Cuban I will have to call bullshit. He is straight Jamaican. Pat would have been the lightest one in the room Friday night and I finally figured out the secret to Kenny's legs: BALCO RULES

I finally was able to crush Kircher this weekend. He was having some trouble with his IT Band and I am nursing the hurt knee. We had the wounded warrior 40 mile face off this weekend. I stomped him up broke back at the blistering pace of 5 mph and dominated him in the climb. I am the ruler of all handicapped riders!!!!

Got a message from Carlson up in Reno. He has a buddy up there that is moving to Vegas and is a Cat II on the road and is looking for a team for next year. He is 26 so he does not fit for a Masters team so I wanted to get the word out. If you are interested in taking with him drop me a line and I will forward it to Chris to pass it on.

The new kits have yet to be unveiled. I hacked into the Hincapie's company computer and was able to see a proof. I am not sure why we are using burlap for a material. Is this some new weird fabric that will make me faster?? Why do the arm warmers have feathers?? Did Chicken design the unis?? I thought he was off the team.

Team CES will have new kits next year. They will be equipped with bungy cords so when they are getting passed in a crit of a road race they can hook up to your bike and get a free ride in the break. This is being reviewed by the UCI rules comittee as we speak.

Rumor on the street is Big Lance Coburn has announced his retirement from serious racing. It appears he has a sponsorship deal to contest all the TNW next year. I am told he gets a ice cream bonus if he is able to win 70% of the races. Look for his new Ben & Jerry Kits to be unveiled soon.

The arctic squirrel has purchased a tree in Vegas. This guy will do anything to get free clothing. I am sure that this is just a rumor and I will be making a revision as soon as our burlap kits come in. As soon as he gets his gear there will be some kind of weird snafu that will make the sale of his house fall through and he will remain in California with enough clothing to last him through the season.

See all of you out on the roads

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Hey Gang,

I have been swamped at work and this nagging knee injury has kept me off the bike longer than I expected. That being said the official start of the winter off season started this last weekend with the Las Vegas Century.

The weather has chilled and is ideal for training. I am sure that the vegas gang will be super strong come December since the weather is so good for training right now. Here is the latest news and romors floating around the peloton.

Las Vegas Century:

The local 100 miler had most of the PT team in attendance except for the Fat Man, PT, and the Arctic Squirrel. The Big Boss was raong in Surfers Paradise and the Squirrel has yet to show his bushy tail in Vegas. I was sitting at home waiting for my *&^&^$#%&^& knee to stop hurting. As usual the local 100 miler was a chance fot the PT Team to show a little team strength. I was told that the attacks started at the 33 hole and all the guys regrouped at the top of Boulder and did a Team TT the rest of the day.

The Boss had the guys set a wicked pace in the cross winds and burned most of the field off of their wheels. I was told that some of the pace making done by Mr. Freeze, Balchesaurus, Polocko, and the boss made this "fun"

ride seem like a death march to anyone not ready for our usual pace.

Needless to say the team rode as a unit which meant they spent the day on the front with few riders holding the pace. Good Job Gang. Team cohesion will be a strong asset in the coming season. Sorry I could not be there.

Sunday Ride: Charity Ride for Brooke

Sunday I was able to get out and do a local charity ride. A woman who works in my building has a little girl that has a brain tumor and is undergoing chemo therapy. Her freinds and family organized a charity ride to raise money for the family. I attended as well as Ryan Jarrell, Chicken, and Mark from Pro Cyclery. I want to thank all those who attended as it meant a lot to her family and they were able to raise some money to help out with their expenses. Ryan went well above the call of duty and was able to bring a check from his team's sponsor for the family. Ryan, you and your team are a class act any many thanks go out to you. My knee is still bothering me but I was able to get in 40 miles and call it a day.

Random Thoughts:

Tour de Tucson is coming. Can you feel it?? News on the street is that Hansel is gunning for our title. Every year the first competitor to cross the line from each state gets a trophy as the fastest man from that state.

Team PT, spcifically the Chicken has four of these sitting at training house. Good luck Chris!! I am training hard to make sure we keep this in house. I would like the trophy room at training house (that is my

residence) to continue to be home to this title. I am told they are bringing a few guys to help him out. So far we have myself, Chicken, Sweet Legs, and Macgoo heading down. Anyone else???

What is with the Goof!! Just an FYI for those of you in the peloton.

Every member of Team PT that did the Century paid for the full 100 mile ride. I am not sure why he is monitoring us, but I really do not care.

Ohh, and that is not our team money. Yes, I am jealous of your big budget because it has obviously generated some incredible results for your team.

You are shining example of how a big budget race team spending money on slackers can turn bad riders into exceptional athletes. AWESOME JOB THIS YEAR!!

Big Ryan advised me that Collins secured a new title sponsor for next year and will remain with most of the same players. Glad you guys are still in the hunt. I am looking forward to some epic battles on the road next year.

I hope you guys step up your racing program next year so we have more chances to go head to head.

I was told that Mr. Freeze was his normal pleasant self this weekend and tried to rip every one's legs off. I love that guy!!

Jay, COME HOME

Spidermonkey, I heard about your strategy at the Century. You have learned well young one. You have proven yourself smarter and more savvy than most.

Good Job.

I checked my biological passport and it shows that I am inferior to most of you. I read Louie's and sanctions are coming. Balchesaurus is hiding from the testers and Chicken's blood is laced with Jagermeister and Capt Morgan.

Must be the off season.

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Just because race season ended, do not think for a minute that I would stop my weekly dose of self therapy. For most of us racing has ended and some are taking a break while the x-mas stars are gearing up for the all important Fun-ride season. God help us if we do not win the Las Vegas Century. I took a little vacation to Hawaii last week just to rest my tired bones and eat a lot of seafood. It was a little weird not having my bike for 5 days and I am paying for it now. When I came back I did a hard training ride and somehow injured my left knee. I am nursing myself through recovery and hopefully will be back up to full speed soon. Since we are now officially in the offseason, the local news and rumors will be the only thing to report on for a while. Keep in mind that these are my personal opinions and views so if you do not like it or get offended, feel freeto chime in.

I heard a rumor that McGhies will not have a team next year. I do not know the reason but I was told it had something to do with sponsors. Again, this is a rumor and I am not an investigative reporter, but it got me thinking. I just wanted to say remember your sponsors and all the sponsors in your everyday choices. I have T-mobile because they sponsor cycling, if they did not I would change. I try to go to local shops that sponsor rides and racers. I can not afford a Porsche but if I could I would buy one from Gaudin because they sponsor the sea of yellow. I drink Monster because it is the best shit on earth. Money in this sport is hard to come by so make sure you thank all of those people that make racing possible. On another note, if you ever get some tech support at a race, make sure you drop a 20 on the mechanic and let him know you care. It kills me to see guys at races that get free service and parts and than bitch because it took them too long or it did not work right. You would be surprised at how much a little gratitude will get you the next time you are in need. I have seen Shimano work on Louie's bike for hours because they know that he cares and is one hell of a spokesperson for them.

THE CHICKEN REPORT

Detective Michael Anderson of the Las Vegas Metro Police Department participated in the Western States Fire and Police Games in Phoenix AZ last week. In true Paul Tracy fashion, he dominated the event. He won all of the stages as well as the overall for his category and the overall for the whole competition. I know he was very proud of hit TT performance as he took out Mike Williams from Cal Pools. If you are not sure who Mike is, he was part of their state championship TT team. Gret Job Chicky.

Mike and I went to Socal this weekend to train. On Saturday we headed out for 85 miles of tempo work. As we were rolling down PCH, a fit looking female rider passed us in Laguna. Now most of the time this would not register on my radar as we were just out doing tempo work, but both of us noticed the Flexpoint Jersey right away. We were very surprised to see none other than Amber Neben out doing some spinning. Now if you have not heard of Amber she is one of the few American Woman actually making a decent living as a Euro Pro. She is one of the best riders in the world and the smooth spin gave her away. We rolled down PCH talking about her outstanding season. I think she was more surprised that we knew her and recognized her as she rarely races in the US and not many of us follow the woman's pro scene in Europe. Chicken asked her the usual training questions about what she was doing this time of year and than she left us on PCH to go do the canyon. We looped back around to Newport and than back to Papa's house for dinner.

Sunday was spinning with Papa to try and loosen up my knee. We kept the ride easy and had a good time letting Papa pull us around so he could go home and tell mama that he stretched our necks. I have to say that for a 70 year old man, he can still get the legs rolling pretty good. on the way home me and Chicken had to push a little to stay with his old ass as he kept upping the pace on us. I do not think he liked our jokes about him being gay!!

I did not hear much about any of the local training rides but I am sure I will have plenty to report on once the Las Vegas Century is completed.

Hope to see all of you out at the Century. Hopefully my knee will be better and i will be out to the ride.

Random Thoughts:

WOW, what a week Horner had. He was 5th in the Copa Sabatini and than he goes podium with a third a couple of days later in the Emillia. I guess the Paul Tracy spirit wore off on him. I sure hope that Cadel lets him have some freedom to go for the win in Lombardy. Cadel is only a few points behind Di Luca in the Pro Tour standings and could win if he places higher than Di Luca. That might not be good news for Horner as he may have to be team bitch. I know the feeling my brother but soldier on. Some of you probably have no ides who I am talking about because it does not involve Tuesday Night Worlds. Do not worry, you are better than these riders and the Pro tour can not hold a candle to TNW. Keep the faith.

Mrs Diamond has been out training with some of the riders from Rock Racing over the weekend. She has also gotten the services of a very good coach.

Look for big things from her this year.

Got a rumor down in Socal that Thurlow and Strickler left Sonance to do their own masters team with Giant. Of course this is a rumor but it was from a pretty good source. Those of you in the 45+ category, pay attention. There may be some different teams to battle with next year.

Tour de Tucson is right around the corner. I heard that Collins was taking a large group of guys to take the title. Fastest man in Nevada up for grabs. Hey jay, are you going to come out and play??

Did you see the lay out for the Tour of Utah. This could be the toughest race in America next year and Burke got the nod to be the tech advisor.

Mark, let him know we need a masters stage race to go with the Pros like Cascade so we can come up and play.

Boss says the new Uni's are going to be sweet. hey Boss, can you send out a preview so we can check them out???

Anyone know when Jay is supposed to get here and pretend like he lives in Vegas so he can get all that freee swag from the team??

Keep training and I will see you on the roads.

Hello Gang,

I have lots to talk about this week with news from the show, Everest Challenge, the UCI Cyclocross race, and the US Crit Finals here in Vegas, as well as some local news on teams and rides and all kinds of stuff. It is that time of year for the Christmas Stars to start searching for teams for next year and the rumor mill is just beginning.

Everest Challenge:

Once again the boss and Schafer proved that they are two of the best climbers on the West Coast. This year's event was epic with the weather and cold being as much of a factor as the course and the racers. In the

35+ race we had the Fatman and the Boss to go for the win. In the 45+

35+ race

we were well represented with Magoo, Balchesaurus, and the Desciple Mark Schaefer. The first day saw scattered storms with rain and hail as well as cold temps on the peak. Louie took off on the first climb with a skinny guy from Team Spine never to be seen again the rest of the day. The two of them crested each of the peaks together until the last climb where the Boss put on the gas to put two minutes into his opponent to take the W. Mark was caught up in an epic battle with Zimbleman from Team Z. The Z launched an attack on the first climb with Mark in hot pusuit. In typical PT style, Mark let him fry and than put a ton of minutes on him when he cracked on the last climb to take the win. Balch and Magoo both had strong rides to finish not far behind and I dragged in dead last just to make sure our team did not look too dominating.

The second day was exceptionaly hard with the promoter adding in some extra distance to make up for having to shorten the first climb on the first day.

Mark and Louie both won their respective races as well as the overall for both categories for the stage race. Balch and Magoo had solid rides to get in the finish. I cracked like humpty dumpty with three miles left on the last climb to take home a very rare DNF for the Fatman. It looks like I will be going back again next year cause I can not end on that note. DAMN

Other Vegas notables were Dave Ellis from CES. He had a very good first day to get in the finish but was unable to complete the second day. He rode hard but the mountain was not kind to those of us with that did not prepare well. There was a guy from Allegiant in the Cat 4 field. I know he completed the first day but I did not see if he finished the second day.

if anyone knows who this guy is, drop me a line and give him a pat on the back for accepting the challenge.

Cyclocross race:

The UCI put on a bad ass cyclocross race here in Vegas with some of the best riders in the world coming down to Vegas during the show to contest this first race for UCI points. I have never been to a cyclocross race but i am now truly a fan. THAT WAS AWESOME TO WATCH!!! Our own Little Hurt, Andy B, was able to secure a spot in the race. He did an awesome job to stay in that stacked field. The elite group at the front applied a ton of pressure to the group and Little Hurt got caught behind an initial crash that split the field. He hung in as long as possible and lasted much longer than some of his competition. GREAT JOB ANDY. The race was won by Ryan Trebon and I think I speak for everyone when I say props go out to Little Hurt for a great effort against this top field.

US Crit Finals:

The US Crit finals were here in vegas on Thursday night. It was a tight course set up in the parking lot of the Mandalay Bay and held at night under the lights. Vegas locals in the womans race included Ashley Diamond, Alicia Boland, and Hillary Crowley. Top sprinter Laura Van Gilder was in the field with her Cheerwine team fully stacked to go for the win. Alicia did a great job of moving up during the race on the tight course and ended up around 25th place for the best placing out of the local girls. NICE JOB. I am sure that is the best field she has been up against and their pace was hot. Hillary and Ashley both finished in the main field and had a good race to come in without a mishap and to finish with the group. Laura Van Gilder took the win behind a solid lead out train by her team.

The mens race had Little Hurt, Lance Coburn, the Boss, and Chicken all representing Vegas. The call up was a who's who in the crit world with some of the top sprinters in the Nation here to go for the win and the Title. The men had to do 60 laps and the pace was insane from the beginning. Lance must have floated some bling bling to the promoter to get a call up and start on the front so he had the best position at the start.

With a crash on lap one to shuffle any stragglers to the back the PT boys were tailgunning the rear of the field with Little Hurt holding great position in the middle of the field. About 30 minutes into the race Little Hurt had an unfortunate crash on corner two to get taken out of the race.

Lance exited a little before that which left Chicken and the Boss to fight to the finish. The pace was insane and they both did an incredible job to avoid crashes and stay in for a much deserved 44th place for the Chicken and Louie in 55th. Amazing that these two hard core climbers were able to knock boots with some of the best crit riders in the country. GOOD JOB BOYS!! I guess all that road racing must be good training for crits. Go Figure

Saturday Ride.

WOW what a day. I am still a little smitten. The PT gang ended up doing

80 miles of tempo climbing with arguably one of the best stage race riders in the US, Mr Chris Horner. He could not have been more gracious as we did mile after mile swapping stories, talking tactics and laughing the morning away. We ended up doing loop Potosi loop. Horner was very cool to ride at our pace and no question was off limits. He got a good look into why our team is so tight and I am sure he enjoyed hearing all the stories about how everyone got their nick names. Talking tactics and getting the inside scoop on how to ride as a team was awesome and I know I walked away from the ride, just a little more savvy than when I started. I am not sure if chris will end up racing on the domestic scene or back in Europe fighting it out in big stage races, but I am glad that he took the time to make our ride just that much better on Saturday. I have tons of stories from that day, but the most interesting was the pride he took in being Cadel's lieutenant in the Tour. You can tell that he takes his job seriously and how important his role is. That is what builds team character and helps put W's on the books.

Sunday Ride

Myself, Chicken, and Robocop rode out to Green Valley to check out the Treadmill ride to Jean and Goodsprings. I saw some new faces as well as some of the old crew out for the ride. It was a good group and the pace was moderate until Spider Monkey started pushing the pace on the road to Jean. As the group split, we had a small group pushing the pace with most of the field content to spin easy behind us. On the rise to the railroad crossing the Chicken decided to attack with me and Jefon in tow. The pace to Goodsprings was hot with Chicken putting up a killer tempo. We all regrouped at the gas station and than had a nice leisure ride back to Vegas in a stiff headwind.

Random Thoughts:

The show was exhausting as usual but the team did a good job of securing our sponsors for next year and it looks like we should be able to build on the foundation already started.

How bad ass did Cipo look in the Industry Cup race. I swear he was smiling the whole time, right up until he got clipped and went down. I am sure he could have used some of the alcohol he had the night before to clean up the road rash.

Mark Schafer and Louie are insane climbers. Everest was epic and as usual, it tests your mental strength more than your physical. I failed the test this year so I will be going back again next year.

best wishes out to Little Hurt on a speedy recovery. He had the best position of all the vegas gang in the race and really looked good before his crash. The Cat I status that you earned was confirmed this weekend.

GREAT JOB ANDY. Can not wait to see you back on the bike.

Chuck from Allegiant had a lot of veins popping out of those skinny legs.

Somebody has been training. Look forward to big things from this kid if he can get some good training.

It was nice to see Terry out on his retro rider on Sunday. Viva Steel bikes baby!!

Spider Monkey is starting to look good again. Good to have you back to training boy.

Mrs. Diamond has secured a spot on the Rock Racing womans team for next year. Not quite pro but a damn good ride with a lot more perks than most of us get. Wish her the best of luck as she makes the attempt to go pro.

Jonathan, how did you like that 16 hours on the trainer??? RS rules.