WOW!!! Vegas represented this weekend. Lots of good stuff to talk about from San Dimas. Lets get to it!!!

Our tip of the week involves sag climbing. This is a little known technique used by fat riders like myself to try and get an edge on my fortunate teammates that have a little less girth around the mid section.

The idea is to start a climb right at the front so you can drift through the field at a more moderate pace in order to still be in contact with the field when you crest the climb. If you are really good at it you will lead your climber to the front so it looks like you are working for him when in reality you are just trying to survive over the top. If you do get dispatched you can always brag about how you helped your team leader make the final cut but you could not make it because you spent your wad helping him. This is the only way I have been able to save face for years. Try it in your next stage race.

TNW:

This week the break away artists had their revenge on the sprinters. With a little wind on the course to make things hard, Balch, the Fatman, Big Ryan, and Jeffon were able to get away and make it stick. Balch was an animal in the wind and took monster pulls with Ryan putting in tough efforts on the flat. With these two driving the break we managed to stay away. Ryan jumped Balch ealry for the win with Jeffon right behind. The Arcitic Squirrel took the field sprint with a nice acceleration out of the field. Looks like Team Penta is the team to beat right now.

San Dimas Stage Race:

The TT is a 3.8 mile pure climbers course. In the 45+ we had the Boss, Dr Bill, Magoo, Tailgunner Mark , and Don Armstrong. Louie set a scorching time of 14:55:59 for the TT win with Mark in 3rd with a 15:35:37. Don rounded out the top 10 with a 16:21:98. 3/5 in the top ten is impressive with Louie in Yellow.

In the 35+ we had myself, Chicken, Freeze and RS. Chicken had the best time for 19th. Alex had a fine time for 25th place. We did not make our goal of top 10 so stage wins were going to be our goal for the next two days.

Other Vegas notables are Bryan Bitter from Allegiant in the cat 3 with a

14:57:63 for 4th place and Jeremy Thatcher from Allegiant in 9th. In the Cat 4 race Thoman Michaud from Allegiant in 2nd with a 15:32:38 and Matt Shackley Team CES (he is a jr) with a 15:39:66 for third. In the woman 3/4 Stephanie Bissonette was 1st and Michelle King from PT was 8th. Two Vegas riders in yellow on the first day. NICE

The road race is a technical loop around Puddingstone lake with some rollers on one side and a 1 mile climb with some cobbles before the finish.

In the 45+ race Mark, Don and Gabe worked their booties off to defend Louie's lead. Louie was able to secure the KOM jersey and was able to defend his lead. He faced some serious attacks by second place of Amgen with Wayne Stetina. Mark ended up finishing the RR in 9th and Louie in 11th and he retained yellow.

In the 35+ RR, the pace was insane. WIth 8 laps and arguably one of the strongest fields of the weekend, the pace was hot from the gun. RS and Freeze had the best legs. Chicken covered some early moves that were brought back by various teams. RS was very active and tried a move with an Amgen rider that was brought back by Cynergy. Chris DeMarchi forced a split that Chicken had to bridge for the field that took some energy out of his legs. With two to go a break got away on the top of the climb that contained the leader. I assisted Cynergy with the chase but it ended up staying. RS did a good job to finishe 10th in the field which gave him 15th on the day with Alex right behind. The Penta gang finished in a group with me just behind the main field.

Other vegas notables were Danny Kam taking the W in the Cat 3 race with a nice sprint at the end. In the woman 3/4 race Stephanie was second on the day and maintained her race lead. Thom kept his second and Matt kept his third in the Cat 4 race with a finish in the field. Andy Bestwick was the bravest on the day contesting the Pro race. He was caught behind a crash and spent the day in a chase group off the back. It was a lonely day for Little Hurt but he kept on riding for training. He gets the award for a gutsy ride .

The last stage is a crit with a riser on the back side.

The 45+ team had to make sure that Louie did not lose any time bonuses that would cost him the W. The guys rode a smart race and easily defended the lead. He secured the win with his 9th place in the crit. Mark Henry was right behind in 11th. Louie was the overall champion and also won the KOM jersey. Mark ended up 5th. I am not sure where Don finished as the final GC was not posted at press time.

The 35+ team was hunting a stage win. Chicken rode out of his ass to try and lead me out for the sprint. Big Padgett from Penta tooka slide in one of the corners to lose some skin. His break looked strong when he went down. On the last twp laps RS and Chicken took the head of the field and kept me at the front. i got pinched in a corner and was not able to pull out a placing. Luna had a nice ride from Penta to finish 11th. Nothing notable on GC for the 35+ gang to report but Freeze had a very consistent ride and I believe finished in the top 20 against a top notch field.

Other Vegas notables were Danny Kam with a blistering sprint in the Cat 3 for the stage W. He was smoking fast and came flying out of the field.

Tom and Matt both defended their lead in the cat 4 and ended up 2nd and third. Stephanie was able to defend her lead in the Cat 3/4 woman and also secured the win for the overall. She finally overcame her fear of crits to secure the biggest win of her career. GREAT JOB. Michelle King also did her best stage race to make the top 10.

Random Thoughts:

CES has a new up and comer. Matt Shackley rode a solid race and did it all on junior gears. Nice Job. Chek out the Allegiant team. They have been training as there cat 3 and cat 4 guys are improving rapidly. I predict it will not be long before they are in the upper ranks.

Somebody help Bitter with some advice that does not involve power meters and heart rate. He has that down, now we got to keep him upright in the road races. This guy has mad strength and his TT time was impressive.

WOW, Danny Kam is really starting to show some serious speed. His sprint in the crit was from the middle of the bunch and he was flying.

The Boss had incredible support all weekend and rode a very tactical race to defend his lead. He was also the fastest TT from vegas again.

OUTSTANDING>

Schaefer is just getting started on his training and he was third in the TT. How about Don with his 10th. Just wait until these two get some decent weather.

Team Penta was very active all weekend. Big Padgett did a nice job to get himself up and over those cobbles and stay in the field. Luna was very smooth in the crit. Somebody tell Padgett to let a little air out of those tires on wet roads. He had a nice case of baboon ass after his fall. Get better soon!

Stephanie has come into her own. I am sure she would agree that she has conquered some personal demons to become a better rider in the field and she did one hell of a job to finish strong in the crit to defend her lead.

Freeze and RS were easily the strongest riders from PT this weekend in the

35+ RR and did a great job.

The Chicken was a great team mate this weekend and did a hell of a lead out in the crit. I owe you!!

Somebody who speaks spanish needs to call Oscar and explain time bonus in crits. He lost the overall in the Pro race by one second. WHOOPS

Little Hurt took some lumps this weekend and did it all with panache. I can not imagine the hell it must have been riding on the course for ten laps by yourself. I am glad he attempted the finish and it is only a matter of time before he will be back to full strength.

Hey Gang,

I did not get out to race this weekend as most of us spent some time in Vegas training to get ready for San Dimas. I will not divulge the insane amount of mileage we were doing but lets hope the panic training will pay off.

Lesson of the Week:

In honor of TNW , this week we are going to talk about cornering. I noticed some good and bad examples this week. A good crit rider can make up two to three bike lengths on a corner if he takes the right line. Even more important is not braking too hard and than accelerating smoothly through the apex. Every time you hit your brakes and scrub speed you are costing yourself effort and speed. Watch the good riders and you will notice the clean lines and the smooth accelerations. Pick a good rider and follow his wheel for a couple of laps and see what I mean. This is a skill that can be practiced and will pay dividends later.

I failed to mention that Brandon Cunningham was 10th last week in the Pro

1-2 at LA. That was in the money against a quality field. GOOD JOB. Does Brandon have a nick name??

TNW:

This week the sprinters reigned supreme. The group stayed together and the field was still fresh on the last lap. Pokey from Penta started the last

lap fireworks with a early acceleration on the last lap. With the PT gang

drilling the front (mostly RS) the last lap was single file. Unknown to the front, The Arctic Squirrel flatted and the lead out effort by the PT riders directly benefitted the other riders. Lance took over at the bottom of the sprint and provided Luna with a nice launch pad to secure the win.

Team Penta is on the board.

I spent most of my weekend on the local training rides. On Saturday Balch and Opi were first up the loop with Dark Cloud and Bob the Bus right behind. Everyone was out to represent and the pace was good most of the day. We picked up the BIG BOSS after the loop and spent some miles doing tempo. Kircher, Chicken and me did another loop and than some time up Potosi just to make sure we got in some good climbing. Gebbia was riding well and showing some form. Kenny drilled the wall and everyone was looking fit

Sunday I got out to the Eastside ride. We did the new bike trail out at Lake Mead. If you get a chance, get out and ride this trail. Almost 20 miles of riding with no cars and traffic on a winding bike path. It was awesome. Spider Monkey was ripping up the hills and Mike Hileman on a single speed was showing why he is one of the best climbers in vegas.

Chicken was climbing well considering the miles in those pathetic sticks he calls legs. Good training and some nice attacks all day.

AZ Time Trial: As reported by the Boss

Jimmy for your news for the peleton we had 6 podiums at the Vulture TT -4 first places and two seconds. I won the 40K and the 20K and Gabe took 2nd in the 3s-40K and 1st in the 3s-20K, Bill Billota took 2nd in the 5s 40K and 1st in the 20K. The TT consisted of rolling terrain and had 1000 feet of climbing. I posted 55:48 and 28:10 beating the AZ champ both times-fastest times in the events out of 70. Out

I did not get any reports from Ontario

Random Thoughts:

I am a God when it comes to knowledge of the Pro Peloton. Once again I picked the winner of Milan San Remo. Did you see the attack. Now that was racing. Cancellara is bad ass!! I will go out on a limb and say that Karsten Kroon will win a spring classic. You heard it here first.

Hileman needs to get some food. That boy is lean and flying!!! He was killing it up Boulder on Sunday on a single speed.

NEWSFLASH: Team Penta is doing a stage race. The boys are registered for San Dimas. Right on.

Balch is breathing out of his nose on the climbs. Nathan was marking him and the two were side by side at the top. Do you think he has been training for San Dimas? Louie, Mark, and Don may be domestiques this weekend.

Hey Boss, how about telling us about the TT. I know you are starting to get a little worried about me taking you out but come on!!! They don't even have an IHOP there so I probably would not have gone but jeez, cut us some slack.

Kircher, you have like 4 hours to register. I need to see that round ass on the start line for 35+ so I know where to go in the race. Get it done.

Jay, get some new tires!!!!! You are killing me.

Schaefer and Don will be at San Dimas. Looks like the 45+ gang is coming with some force. Should be fun to see Don rip up that crit.

Hey Gang,

Well I was supposed to take the week off from racing but the Silly Chicken talked me into going to SoCal for the LA Circuit race. More on that later.

Somebosy drop me a line and let me know how the local training rides went.

Lesson of the Week:

Beware the goofy rider in the peloton. Apparently you can actually make the National Team and still not have bike handling skills. No less than Ivan Dominguez pointed this guy out in the field this weekend as someone to avoid and sure as the sun rises he caused a crash at the end of the race.

GO FIGURE. This guy was overlapping wheels the entire race and I tried to stay the hell away from him. Going down the stretch he overlapped wheels and caused a nice pile up. Remember that a complete rider works on his technique as well as his legs and lungs. Smoothness in your pedal stroke can directly effect your fatigue level. Smooth riders do not waste power and power wins races. Downtime is no time and that extra bike length was not worth the damage he caused to himself and others. Just something to think about.

TNW

This week was the first edition. After some softening of the field the Chicken and Brandon from Penta got away. Soon to follow was a very strong balchesaurus with a little passenger named Lance. Balch nade the bridge and the four escapees quickly put time into the field. Keely and Steph decided to show the boys how to chase and started rocking off of the front.

Louie put the word out to chase as he was worried about the sprint at the end. The PT crew killed the front with Penta doing everything they could to hold off the chase. The four escapees made a pact to work together and almost helod off the field. Danny Kam had a nice jump to come around Bruce and take the sprint for the first W.

LA Circuit

I did the Pro race with Chicken this week. Ryan and Brandon from Penta were out to represent. The field was stacked with some NRC talent including Toyota United's sprint team of Hilton Clarke and Ivan Dominguez.

Rock had their crew including Hamilton out to get some speed work. The pace was hot from the gun with huge winds on the course keeping most break attempts in check. With two to go I took a digger when this clown from the National team overlapped wheels and took me and pat Caro out of the race.

Ryan caught a flat so for Vegas we had Brandon and Chicken in the field for the finish. Hilton Clarke won with Dominique Rollin taking second. They did a nice move to jump Rock's lead out train for the win.

I did not get to contest the 35+ because my bike was a mess from the crash.

Lance was out and finished in the field.

Vegas Notables: Alicia from Banning was out in the Pro woman but I did not get results as of press time.

Random Thoughts:

Meeker made his return to racing in the 45+ race flying Amgen colors. He won the 45+ race just ahead of break away partner Leibert from Cynergy. he will be racing 35+ at San Dimas. This is going to be some race. Amgen is bringing all their guns.

How about Dotsie. Her first race back from taking a break and she rolled away from the woman for a solo win. Nice.

Speaking of all around skills, did you see how Rebellin won Paris Nice. He dropped the hammer on Gesink at the top of the climb and smoked him on the descent for the overall win. That is why you have to work on all of your game. You never know when you are going to be the GC leader and you might have to defend your lead in an area that you are not strong in. I love the chess game. Notch one up for Rebellin

OK, I am not gay but damn Dominique Rollin has some legs. Those things look like tree trunks. That was some impressive power.

I am sure that Tyler about laughed his ass of when he broke away and the fat man was in full chase and bridged to sit on him. he actually waived me through to pull. I promptly laughed and said this aint the Pro Tour Bitch, I am not moving.

Michael Ball was wearing a kit with world champ stripes on it. Now I know he is not a racer but dude, respect the stripes. You got to earn those.

You can buy the cars, the team, the chicks, but you can not buy the stripes. I will talk to tyler next time I am in a break with him and let him know to gently tell Ball to not wear the stripes. Love the support for cycling but some traditions need to be respected regardless of the cash you put in.

Five Star has some mean green kits now with all Colnago bikes. Looked pretty sweet.

Did you see the results from the TT in Visalia. Thurlow was top ten in an NRC TT. That is impressive. He seems to get better with age. At 50 he is going to win the Tour.

See ya this weekend.

Hey Gang,

WOW, the UCI and ASO need a good old fashion fight and get this thing hashed out. I am thinking three rounds in the UFC. This conflict is killing the sport and mark my words, it is really going to effect some of these teams in the long run when they start looking for sponsors.

This week our lesson in the peloton is about setting up a sprint. I am not sure what happened in the pro race in Murrietta but with four to go Kelly Benefits had 8 guys on the front running a train for their sprint. For an unknown reason these guys just slowed up coming down the finish straight into turn one which allowed a huge mushroom of riders to hit the corner at once. You can guess the outcome, Kablammo!!!! Looking at this develop it just reminded me about some good and bad lead out trains I have seen in the past. If you want to win races and put your sprinter in position to win, You have to keep the pace hot. Just your tip of the week. Most of us amateurs really do not know how to put together a good lead out but when it is done right it is a thing of beauty.

Tour De Murrietta

The Murrietta race is a two stage omnium with a really fast crit and a circuit race the next day. Every finish counts for points so the better you place the more chances you have to win. Time does not count, just placing.

In the 35+ race it was myself, Chicken, Arctic Squirrel, and RoboCop to represent PT. It was a stacked field with most of the major teams in Socal with good representation including Cynergy, Cal Pools, Schroeder, DeWalt and the all star Amgen Team. In the crit we were ready to give it up for jay if it stayed together and hunt breaks to make sure we were represented.

Chicken was covering early. Kircher was trying to get anything to go. At the midpoint I covered a move that had Leibert, Gustavo from Cynergy, Ferretti, and Weiss from Cal Pools. the five of us started working and we got a decent gap. At this point Chicken started doing everything he could to block and with 5 to go it looked like the break would make it. The CalPools rider took the last two laps off and I honestly thought he was fried. Leibert jumped early before the last corner and the Cal Pools guy covered with me and Gustavo chasing. The finish ended with CalPools first, Leibert second, Gustavo third, me 4th and Feretti 5th. Mark Scott and Thurlow were tops in the field sprint so besides Dewalt and Schroeder, all the teams were still in it for the omnium. Chicken did a find job to place 15th after doing all that work on the front. Kircher tried to come in a chase group but did not quite make it.

Other vegas notables were Jeff Squawk Box Edwards did a good ride in the Cat 4 crit to take 7th.

In the RR we knew Thurlow and Pat Caro would be the key. Cal Pools stacked the front for the first part of the race and did a good job of negating any early moves. The blew their wad a little early as later in the race they did not have the tickets to bring back the last break. I covered Thurlow three times with Chicken taking him on once. As usual, when the winning move went I was not close enough to get out of the tight field to cover and Thurlow, Mark Scott and pat Caro were up the road before I even saw they were gone. Cal Pools began to chase but they were not getting it done.

With two to go, Chicken and Kircher went straight to the front and showed how to chase. They were taking chunks of time and by the last few corners had almost brought back the break. I set myself yp to try and sprint for the best placing I could. I ended up 13th in large part to the work that kircher did to string out the field on the last section before the corner to I could move up. That put me in 7th overall for the omnium. Kircher and Chicken sheltered me like a baby bird in the nest and did a great job to set me up for the finish.

Other vegas notables would be Squawk Box took 5th in his cat 4 RR and ended up 4th in the omnium. I would think we should be announcing another cat III upgrade soon.

Random Thoughts:

Holy Shit Karl Bordine is a bad man. He crashed in the Pro crit and chased back on and took over the front on the last lap. He comes back the next day and wins the road race. I pay homage to Karl. AWESOME

Damn Thurlow. Not only is he strong but I can not even tell you how he got away. I was covering his every move and than he shook us. Sneaky old world champion. We hates him my precious.

Good advice from Simo in the break. He said dont pull too hard, you are not Kircher.

I will say it again. as a team we are strong, as an individual your just part of the crowd. Thanks again to my teammates this weekend.

Squawk Box is making his run for Cat III and beyond. Just remember the wise words of my Cat I gurus. Do not let your mind upgrade you to where your body is not ready to grow. You got to train like a Cat I to be a Cat I. Louie says you got to go to school and graduate before you can get to the next grade. Keep the faith and keep rocking.

Cynergy and Amgen have sick teams. Mark Scott did the deal with the devil to let Thurlow have the win so he could get the second and secure second overall. That is crafty riding. Very impressive riding by both teams to school Cal Pools and me. San Dimas is just around the corner and the stage is set for some epic battles.

Ben Day of Toyota United has been a guest of RS all weekend. I heard he took the boss for a nice ride up the Boulder climb and than promptly turned on the turbo switch. Look for RS to be strong in some upcoming races.

Nothing like training with a NRC pro to get you strong.

I am taking a week off from racing to train for San Dimas. Need to recharge and get ready for TNW. Look for the first report next week.

Hello Gang,

We are going to start off today talking about RESPECT. I witnessed a nice display of respect this weekend that I thought I would share with you. As I was killing myself to ride with the big boys in the Pro 1-2 Crit in Ontario, I was flying through one of the corners at about 30 MPH with Karl Bordine from 5-Star on one side and David Clinger from Rock Racing on the other. Right in the middle of the corner I hear David tell Karl "Hey, nice job at VOS, that was a good win". Karl replied with a thanks and nice job to you for the tough ride in the road race. Nothing more was said and nothing more needed. They went on about their business of killing each other to set up for the sprint. All of this going on with me hanging on for dear life not to get my wheel chopped. It made me think about what kind of performance warrants mutual respect. Just a thought to keep you sharp. In the business of bike racing you can not earn respect with you mouth, or my silly e-mails, or cool kits, or new bikes. It is your legs that earn you the admiration of your peers.

Ontario Crit

I made it down to test my speed on the 7 corner grand prix course in Ontario. The weather sucked on Sunday but lucky for me the skies cleared in the afternoon so both my races were run in dry conditions. In the masters 30+ race I was hunting breaks since I was racing on my own. Cal Pools and 5-Star had the most guys in the race. I was in a couple of breaks and had a nice one going with Peter Anderson from Cal Pools. The break fell apart when a couple of stragglers bridged up. The field made the catch and away went Karl Bordine and Chris DeMarchi. Me and Peter tried to bridge but did not make it and I was stuck in no placing land. I punished myself for not making the break by pulling the field around until we finished.

The Pro 1-2 had about 100 riders. Rock Racing showed up so it was a battle between Rock, 5-Star, and SDBC. There was a break that was destined to fail as Rashan was keen to win the sprint. There was a crash in the middle of the race with a Rock guy hitting the turf. Towards the end Clinger and Sergio from Rock made a huge effort to bring back the break and set up Rashan for another sprint win. I finished safe in the field after taking a flyer off the front of the field with 3 to go just for fun. I did see Jeremy the New Zealander from Allegiant in the field as well as Eric Brouchard. Nothing notable to report on placings for the Vegas crowd.

Other Vegas notables were Alicia Boland looked like she had 6th in the Pro

1-2 woman. Chuck from Allegiant is hunting upgrade points and looked like he was in the top 10 in the Cat 4 race. Results were not posted as of press time.

Several Vegas guys went to Scottsdale this weekend for the Scottsdale Grand Prix. Little Hurt was 9th on the Pro 1-2 crit with Dark Cloud right behind in 13th. Nice job for Allegiant. Big Ryan from Penta and Chris Gagne from Luv2Bike was safe in the field.

Random Thoughts

The Tour of California rocks. This had to be the best addition yet. Great racing, great drama and Mario returns to the peloton. I love it. Keep the sport growing. That kind of TV coverage can only help our sport.

Who do you think has the best kits?? I vote for Bissell. They look great and Burke and Aaron are class riders.

Horner was bad ass. He had the flu and still rode out of his mind to support Levi, and placed 7th overall.

Where are my crit riders??? I do your road races, stage races and TT's.

Come on out and join me for some good old fashion speed work in Yuma and Murrieta.

Chicken is still leading the SoCal Cup. If he is going to keep the lead he is going to need some points in Murrietta. Louie is still close in the 45+. I know you don't care Lou but it is fun to watch you not care and lead it anyways.

The Amgen 45+ team is sick. Rumor on the street is they signed Meeker to go along with Strickler and Thurlow. Thurlow was racing the Pro 1-2 crit this weekend complete in skin suit with World Champ bands on the sleeve. I am not sure what cat they are doing but I was told they are gunning for San Dimas. I hope they race with us. I like good competition.

TNW is just around the corner. I can not wait to see who is going to win the first belt. Rumor has it that Richard Craig is looking for an alternate location that would be safer. If I hear anything else on this I will let you know.

Remember to support your sponsors. They pay the bills and keep the sport alive.

See you guys after Yuma.

Hey Gang,

WOW!!! Team PT went down to Phoenix and had a great weekend of racing.

Lot more on that in a minute. I was going to take a second and reflect for a minute. As I watched SoCal local Karl Bordine take on the Pro 1-2 field and some assorted NRC teams and come out with a well deserved overall win, I wondered what makes us do this sport. Karl and his band of local guys that work 8-5 jobs killed themselves to defend his lead and take the overall win. I was impressed. Than I remembered that feeling of crossing the line with your arms raised, that feeling of helping a team mate do the best ride of his life to post his first win, that feeling that all those lonely nights doing intervals on Villa Ridge in the dead of winter finally paid off, once again my spirit is renewed. Hear is an electronic toast to all the weekend warriors that go out and do it, just for the hell of it.

Keep pushing hard guys and gals because the fun of the long season has just begun.

This weekend was the Valley of the Sun Stage race in Phoenix. Vegas was well represented in several categories. The race consists of three stages with a 22k TT, a road race, and a final crit. Here is how it went down

TT

In the 40+ TT we had Balch, The Boss, Robocop, Kenny, Mark Schafer and Mr.

Freeze. Louie posted a smoking time of 31:40 to put him in second only 18 seconds down on first place Todd Darley from Cynergy. Robocop is getting that P3 dialed in and posted a 32:16 for 5th place. To put that in perspective, Louie would have been first in the 30+ field also. Mark had a nice time to put him in 9th. Three guys in the top ten is pretty good.

Louie was on fire.

In the 30+ TT Chicken and I were there to represent PT. Chicken posted a nice time of 33:05 for 9th place and I was a distant 33:48 for 11th. We were not in contention for the money yet but more to come.

In the Junior 15-16 Opi (Nathan Williams) did a great time of 35:30 to put him in second. In the 50+ race gabe did a 34:49 to place 13th. Michelle King was 13th in her Cat 4 TT.

Other Vegas notables were Bryan Bitter from Allegiant in the Cat 3 posted a smoking 31:52 for 2nd place. Jeff Strong from NuVision posted a 34:07 in the Cat 5 for 2nd place. In the woman pro 1-2 Colleen from Pro Cyclery was 4th. Julie Cutts from the same team was 2nd in the Cat 3 Woman.

Road Race

The 40+ road race was all about getting Louie time bonus to move into 1st place. Kircher gave Lou a sweet lead out for the KOM bonus. With Kenny setting tempo on early climbs and Mark, Bruce and Balch monitoring dangerous moves they did a great job to set Lou up for the finish. Louie sprinted up the false flat at the finish to get 3rd in the final to get an additional time bonus to put him in 1st overall. Kircher finished 12th with Mark right behind in 15th.

The 30+ race, me and Chicken were resolved to try and set up a break that would allow him to get some time to move into the money. I started to attack early with various riders to soften the field before the climb and Chicken and Peter Andersen attacked on the first climb to get a break going. All the top 5 GC guys were in the break and they built up to 2 minutes lead. On the last lap Colavita and the Excell team organized a chase but they were no able to clse the deal as they fell apart in the headwind on the last straightaway. Chicken had some pop to score second in the RR and get some additional time bonus on top of the split to move into 6th overall. I did well to finish in the field for 10th.

In the Junior race Opi killed his little legs to get 4th in the road race and stay comfortably in second overall. Gabe finished 8th in the 50+ race.

Other Vegas notables were Ashley Diamond in the Pro 1-2 woman was 4th with Hillary Crowley from Banning Bikes in 11th. Alicia from Banning was 4th in the Woman cat 3. Chuck from Allegiant had the biggest Win of his career so far to score the W in the Cat 4 mens road race. NICE JOB CHUCK!!!! Jeff Strong in the Cat 5 got 2nd in his race.

Crit and overall

In the 40+ race the plan was to defend Louie's very slight advantage to keep him in first place. Kircher was able to cover a danger man in the crit when Biaggi attacked on lap one. Rick Cimiglia from Ride Clean bridged and away they went. Kircher in usual steam roller fashion was taking 4-5 seconds a lap with the PT boys content to monitor the front.

Unknown to Kirch, he actually put enough time with the time bonus to leap frog into the overall lead. Biaggi had some pop at the end to take the sprint for the win but Kircher held a long sprint to secure second and the time bonus. This move put Kircher into first and Louie into second on GC.

A one two for the overall podium for Team Paul Tracy. Nice job boys. Not many teams can bost of that kind of fire power.

In the 30+ crit myself and chicken made a pact to get a break away. We covered every move for 20 minutes until one stuck. I got the lucky card and was in a 5 man break at the end of the race with a 16 second gap.

Chicken with his usual race savvy was able to cover Peter Andersen knowing that he had to make time up on the overall leader to jump into first. On the last lap the Chicken and Peter bridged up to me as we started the sprint. I took third and Chicken took 5th in the crit. That little time gap moved him into 4th overall with me finsihing 10th.

Michelle King kicked some ass to finish 4th in her Cat 4 crit. Opi was on fire to finish 3rd in the crit and secure his second place for the overall.

Other Vegas notables were Jeff Strong in the cat 5 race finished 4th in his crit and secured the overall win on GC for NuVision. Hillary was 10th in the Pro 1-2 Womans crit and Colleen Knutson stayed tough all weekend to get 4th overall for Pro Cyclery in the GC. Alicia won the womans Cat 3 crit and Julie Cutts finished 3rd. That put Julie in second overall and Alicia in 8th on GC.

Vegas was well represented this weekend and great job in all the categories.

Bestwick and Gebbia went down to contest the CBR 30+ crit and finished 7th and 10th. Nice job you guys.

Sorry that was long but there was a lot of racing this weekend.

Random Thoughts:

Team CES, in case you could not find it, you can check for upcoming races at SOCALCYCLING.COM. Just thought I would pass that on as I have not seen much of you guys lately.

Louie was solid this weekend and by far that was one of his best TT's yet.

Awesome job as you once again had the best time of anyone in Nevada.

Lance, thanks for the donation to the 30+ race. Next time, just give the money to me and Chicken instead of the promoter. We will make sure it goes too a good cause.

The 40+ team rode a solid race. Much respect was earned and given this weekend.

Karl Bordine is just simply bad ass. That was a great performance. How silly did Rock Racing look getting beat by the non-pro 5-Star team. My hats off to the weekend warriors of Five Star that did a great job defending his lead.

Bitter had a great TT. He crashed out in his road race. Keep the faith man, good things on the horizon for this strong guy.

Kircher has more power than should be allowed in one human. I found his secret, the Four Peaks Brewery. He is straight racing on Oatmeal Stout.

That is why he has a horses ass.

Special note to Chicken and Kircher: I do not give a rats ass where you want to eat, what time you want to get up, where you want to sleep, who is better looking, and all the other stupid stuff you want me to tell each other. Use that stupid phone and text each other and leave me out of it.

LOL :)

The Chicken was scratching for time and did a great job of getting that break to stick. He moved from ninth to 4th virtually on his own. Good racing bro.

Freeze had some serious improvement on his TT. Look for him to get some placing later this year.

Chuck scored a huge win with that RR. He has been training hard this winter and it is nice to see it pay. GREAT JOB

Michelle King was very consistent this weekend on very little training.

Nice Job

Have a great training week and I will see you in Ontario or Yuma.

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Hey gang,

Another week and another race. I love race season. The weather in SoCal this weekend was awesome and the racing was just as good. Here is the latest from the Vegas Scene

Saturday I was down in SoCal to get in some double secret TT Training with the Drunken Sailor and Chicken. The Chicken was laying down some serious power in his prep to take on some very serious TT masters in the Cal Pools Team next weekend in Valley. Dialing in the final positioning and doing some good speed work was just what we needed. I heard that Peter Anderson from Cal Pools came out to the group ride to recon the team and hang out with the Vegas crew. He will be our competition next weekend so I hope all of you got a good look. That boy can TT. I heard JB was out on the local rides in SoCal bumping wheels and generally causing a stir when he showed up in his new PT kit. Due to some time constraints we will probably not see him at a race for a while, but when he shows up be ready. That guy is fast.

Sunday was the Roger Millikan Crit in Brea. Roger was a very good friend of mine so this is not a race that I will skip and I needed the speed work.

In the Pro 1-2 race we had Chicken and myself. Other Vegas notables was Gagne, Hansel, Luna, and Big Ryan Jarrell. The pace was hot from the gun.

Several NRC pros showed up including Tony Cruz, All of the Rock Racing B Team (the guys not in TOC), Hilton and Johnny Clark with Caleb Manion from Toyota, a couple of Jelly Belly dudes, and Kyle Gritters from Health Net.

I covered a couple of breaks with a Jelly Belly and Caleb but the Pros are really good at recognizing who they want in a break and apparently my enourmously large legs and butt scares them. Weird. That being said, a break did develop with Kyle and Hilton in it and only one Rock Racing (Morris). Rock new Hilton would smoke this break in a sprint so they went to the front and chased hard to bring it back and set up Rashan for the win. Chicken spent a good amount of time on the front in the last 5 laps but ultimately we all finished in the field and let the pros have their day in the sun.

The Masters 35+ race was after the pro race so we were a little tired but ready to race hard none the less. Covering breaks was the order of the day but with all the teams having a good sprinter in the field, nothing was getting away. We of course did not have our sprinter so getting a break to stay away was our best chance of getting a placing. Cal Pools and Cynergy were taking turns attacking each other with Hector from Cynergy taking over the last two laps to string out the field. Chicken was sitting second wheel until the next to last corner when the inevitable surge happened. He still did well to hold onto 10th (unofficialy, results were not posted yet). Cynergy did a great job to set up Mark Scott for the win.

Pat from NuVision took a spill in the Cat 4 race. Chicken said he looked OK but I have not heard from him. Pat, send a note out and let us know you are allright.

There was a crit in Imperial Valley on Saturday. I did not see any Vegas names I recognized so it looks like most of you took the weekend off from racing.

Newsflash: Big Lance Coburn has decided he is coming to Vallley of the Sun to race the 30+ race. WOW, an actual non PT rider doing a road race???

Look for him in a CAL Pools Kit. He will be gunning for that crit. Lets hope he does not get time cut in the TT. We can hang the Flavor Flave clock around his neck so he can check his times on the course.

Random Thoughts:

Team Penta had their new kits out at Brea. They looked sharp and the good news is they do not have the same look as ours so it was easy to pick them out from us.

Special thanks out to Diana for the post race meal Sunday. I do not think we earned such special treatment but it was an awesome way to end a good day of racing.

Have any of you ever met Ryan Jarrells brother. OH MY GOD that is a big dude. He made his bike look like one of those midget bikes that clowns ride at the circus. Apparently he is a collegiate shot putter.

Hector from Cynergy had one hell of a pull on Sunday to lead out Mark Scott. That was impressive. We need to do that for Jay!!

Chicken rode out of his ass this weekend. Lets hope he can TT like that on Friday. Kircher, you need to step up. Cal Pools is gunning for this race so we have a serious brawl on our hands. You need to TT like you are on pursuit.

I noticed a lot of all crit all stars at the back of the field this weekend doing their best impression of a world war II tailgunner. The race is at the front boys. Lets shake off that winter fat and get in some of those sprints.

Papa and Mama were great this weekend. Thanks for the home away from home and the bottles of wine. I will put them to good use to celebrate our next W.

Talk at you after Valley of the Sun.

What a cold dreary weekend with some wind and rain to get you motivated to race and train. Here is all the latest on the race season that I can get info on.

Boulevard:

The PT Team took a full house down to contest one of the best road races we do every year. The field was stacked in the 35+ and it was actually sold out. All the usual suspects were there including Biaggi from AZ as well as some new faces for Cynergy. More on that later. PT had the Boss, Magoo, Dr Bill, Balchesaurus, RS, Chicken, Sweet Legs Kenny, MR. Freeze, Arcitic Squirrel, Chicken, and me. The plan was to hunt good breaks and than light up the last climb for Chicken and Boss to get placings. Kircher attacked shortly after the first turn and that was the last we saw of him for the rest of the day. He was pounding off of the front with a rider from Cynergy. PT patrolled the front and covered attacks for the better part of

2 1/2 laps with Balch and Freeze doing a great job covering moves. Kenny did a good job to set some early tempo on the first lap rollers and help bring back Pat Caro's first attack. With Chicken and the Boss sitting comfortably in the front out of the wind, the worker bees of the PT team tried to cover every move possible. Numerous attacks were launched from Pat Caro and Peter Anderson. A group of three guys did get away towards the end and passed Kircher to move up the road in podium position. Not knowing that Kircher was not with them the PT Climbers of Chicken and Boss caught Kircher on the climb and sprinted for the best placings still left.

An Amgen rider took first solo up the road. Boss ended up 5th with Chicken in 7th and Kircher in 11th. Special Note: Everyone on the team rode well and finished with Jay riding his best RR of the year so far. Balch and Alex finished with the main field.

Vegas Notables: Ashley Diamond took 5th in the woman Pro 1-2 field.

Thomas Michaud of Allegiant took a well deserved 2nd in the Cat 4 race.

Zach took a 2nd in the Junior race flying PT Colors. Spider Monkey contested the Pro 1-2 field and was with the main field until lap 3. Good Job Ryan. That was a stacked field.

Boulevard Notes:

WOW, did we piss off Pat Caro. He did not like us not letting him get up the road. Peter Anderson attacked his ass off, look for him to be strong at Valley. Baker from GST did a good ride in the 45+ race. I am sure that him and Biaggi came down to get some training in to get ready for Valley.

Cynergy has added some horsepower to an already stacked team. Leibert looked fit already and they have some new faces that are already going good. We are going to have some good battles this year. The Amgen team took this win and they did not have the full team their. The masters field looks super competitive already and we are only in the first two races.

Lance and Dark Cloud went to Santa Barbara to race the crit on Saturday.

Lance said he placed around 15th in the masters race and just finished in the field in the Pro 1-2.

No notes on Red Trolley as results were not posted and I did not hear from anybody that went to the race.

Random Thoughts:

No team Penta or CES this weekend. Are you guys allergic to road races??

Hope to see you at Valley.

Kircher soloed against a stacked Masters field for the better part of 3 hours. He is not even in shape yet. Nice job Steve. That was impressive.

Cynergy has some sick riders this year. We match up against them really well. I can not wait for some of the stage races to come. When we show up with the whole team like this weekend, it is a battle royal.

Jay and Magoo were climbing like goats on lap 2. Nice job you two to make up some time.

Balch and Freeze were solid worker bees this weekend and contributed heavily to the efforts to keep Steve off the front. Nice Teamwork.

Bingleheimer and Bill get the Iron Man award this week for gutting out the finish. i know how tough it is to keep plodding along to get that finish.

Those miles will make you stronger and I know kenny has not been able to get much time on the bike lately. GOOD JOB

Cal Pools is bringing their entire team to Valley and they have some serious TT Threats on that Team. We are going to have to bring our A game.

Lets keep training and step up to the plate.

Tom from Allegiant is well on his way to Cat 3. Keep it up.

I did not see Ashley over the weekend. I know you are Joe Pro now but stop by and say HI. Good Job on the 5th place.

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??

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