Sunday Sunday Sunday

Hey Boys-- the ride is at 8 or at least those that I spoken with have agreed that is when we roll. Sounds like Bill and David are back. Dan is coming too. Should be fun and cold. Looking forward to seeing you.
Don't forget about the beer brats brauts beans and boys party at Veloloco world HQ at 2pm.
See Ya.

Muddy Cross

This just in from Matt B. A buddy of his who I am told is a lost member of the velo loco tribe sent it to him. It is a great example of cyclo-cross at its finest. Thanks Matt.

Click Here to view but give it a second to load. Slow connection... Fughedaboudit.

Matt is on the injured list with a bulging something-or-other... Sounds nasty. Hang in there brother.

Ray has been on the injured list for a while he said it had something to do with a bunny hop and the lack of bike shorts. Click here for more info.

Jerry is just glad no one is poking fun at him today.

Hope you can make it to the Beer, Brats and Brauts party on Sunday at Veloloco world headquarters. Let me know if you need info.

What happened to Jerry a Sunday Ride Report

The thermometer at my house read 4o at 7:50 when I rolled out to the bakery. I knew I had at least one buddy to ride with because Jerry had called last night to see if I was gonna be there. He told me Dan might be there as well. Well there was Dan in the parking lot but I couldn't help but think, "Where oh where is Barton." Dan and I fiddled with our cold weather gear for a few minutes figuring to give Jerry some time to get there and didn't roll out 'til at least quarter after.

Danny was kind and we set a nice slow base building pace out to Cool then up 193 to G town. With only the two of us it was nice chatting and cruising. With no major events to report except when I saw the pickup truck that had tried to hit me with their open door yesterday. I dove for the shoulder, yelling at Dan to pull over. Stopped my wheels, planted my feet and smiled knowingly at the two female mullety looking beeyaches smiling back at me as they drove by. They must have been more drunk yesterday when the honked, flipped the bird and tried to take me out with their open door. Georgetown's finest.

Anyhow, thanks for the ride Fast Dan.

I went and saw Kelley the other day. First time since she got sick. She said the pain is much more in control than it used to be. She was having a good day and her attitude was better than could be expected.

That's it for the update. I am hoping to have news on Ray Fortner's "accident" posted soon. Perhaps there will be an excuse coming form Jerry's way soon as well.

Next Year's Calendar

Sometime between Thanksgiving and New Years Day I usually start thinking about my goals for next year. As it relates to riding, I like to work out a calendar. I wonder what all you other Loco riders hope to do with your year. I know for many of us The Death Ride is the center piece of our annual training. What else is on your calendar? Use the comments below to talk about what is on your mind.

I've got a couple of things I'd like to do and I am already working toward them. (i'll need too work since I am in pretty bad shape right now):

• Death Ride in 9 hours ride time.
• Party Pardee
• Race in Prarie City MTB series or at least support the chickenhawk again
• Chico Wildflower
• Race in the Sac Cyclocross series
• Napa Century

Some maybes on my list are:

• 24 hours of Cool
• Solevang Century
• Mt Diablo Challenge

As for challenges, I'm calling out all of the Dads that have kids under 10. The Prairie City MTB race series is waaay to fun to miss and very family freindly. The challenge: get your wife to race! And if you cant get your wife to race, then you have to take her place. That's right JB, MB, PL, KD and Curtis Hincapie come join Randy, Jen, Tanner The Chickenhawk and I on Wednesday nights. There are even kids races. My kids are faster than your kids!!!!

Thanksgiving

We are all thankful for the group. Here is picture from the velo loco annual meeting.

Where or where did Barton go?

The smell of Belgium was in the air for Sundays Sacramento Cyclocross Race #4 at Granite Beach. Or maybe that was just the stench coming off the ever shrinking Folsom Lake, who knows. With no lake in sight, they assured me it was down there somewhere, we were blessed with a perfect day for a road race and a terrible day for a Cross race. Sunny and 70, what the hell, this is November correct. I was hoping for low 40’s and driving rain. With inclement weather I would have had a good excuse for my lack luster performance. With such pleasant weather, I must accept my mediocrity whole heartedly. The race started off well, I dusted most of the Jr.’s within the first ¼ mile. There were a handful of pretty spectacular wipeouts during the first lap. When you line up for the Men’s C race anything can happen and does. After weaving through a pretty gnarly crash, I came to the first barrier on the course. After a very tight right hander and a steep whooptiy doo the course veered back left for the double barriers. I made the turn smoothly and coasted over the bump, setting up for the flying dismount and graceful leaps over the barriers. Right foot out, swing leg, left foot, left foot, left foot, man I haven’t done this in a while, left foot, too late…CRASH. For the rest of the day the first barrier had a nice lean to it and I had a slow leak of some red fluid running down my shin (very cool for a Cross race). After epically running into the first barrier the rest of the day was pretty smooth. I made up time on the sand pit and lost time during the more technical sections. I finished somewhere in front of the Jr.’s and behind the guy who won (he was sandbagging anyway). It was a perfect day for a ride regardless which bike you were on, or where you where riding. My only complaint was the apparent lack of cow bells along the course!

Cheers and Happy Turkey Day to All
Matt

Excuses

Tom called me Sunday about noon. He asks, "where were you, did you have a hang nail."

"No," I told him, "my pussy was sore." Only Dan, Patrick and Tom were there. They did the Kelsey loop. My apologies to Tom for not being there to keep him company in the back.

Truth be told I am getting pissed with my lack of riding and Tylenol habit. I was really looking forward to racing cross this year but that is going to have to wait a year.

Meanwhile Ray is representin' down in the Bay on the cross courses. Check this out. You think you are tough look at this guy runnin' the frickin stairs with a bike on his back.

Terry is in Surgery today say a little prayer, think a good thought or drink a beer for her or whatever you do. She'll be back on the trainer in no time. I'm looking forward to having her pull me up Carson Pass again next July.

Bike Handling 101

I was out riding with David a week or two ago and spoke with him about half wheeling. The annoying habit of riding half a wheel ahead of the person next to you when riding doubled up. It forces the person behind to keep speeding up. David had never heard the term before and suggested I put some educational pack riding stuff up on the website.

I am just a puddin'. I am no expert rider but I try to learn as much as I can. So here is a great link on group riding skills. On any one of our rides, I see us breaking all the rules. Still fun though.
Enjoy.

A Classic

This is the Kelsey Loop or Chilibar loop.







This is what the crew did on Sunday with wet ground and a blue skies. Welcome to new guy Brian. Hey, I remembered a name this time. I pooped out early with the continuing hip pain issues. Thanks for sitting up and waiting for me Danny.



It is a great ride in either direction, one of my local favorites. If you do it clockwise you've got to start by climbing prospector road. At 2 miles of 13% ave gradient it is not the best warm up but it sure is a great climb. The payoff for going clockwise is that you get to descend hwy 193 from Kelsey to Chili Bar. That is one of the best quality descents around. It features good pavement and really fun curves and S turns. Then after climbing out of the South Fork Canyon you get to drop 49 into Coloma which is also a really good descent.



If you are not in the mood to climb steep climbs and want to practice descending on junky roads then counterclockwise is your direction for this one. The drop from Placerville city limits to Chili Bar is crappy, beat up and in need of new pavement. I am biased because I came really close to doing a Joseba Beloki there. Now I just sit up and hold the brakes real tight. The good side of counter clock is that you get to climb that sweet section from Chili Bar up to Kelsey. I frickin love that climb and it beats the heck out of climbing prospector most days.



Which Direction is your favorite. Post a vote by clicking comment below.

Are we Riding?

Weather forecast says chance of showers late on Saturday and partly cloudy Sunday. Should we meet at 8 if it isnt raining or if the gound is dry. Comment below to give your 2 cents.

Ride Report

It was a beautiful day to ride Sunday. The time change made the meeting time feel like 9AM which was fine with my lazy self. Pat had a buddy in from out of town whose name I forget (sorry) and Jerry brought along another friend who is a recent immigrant to Camino from Monterey county, also forgot his name (I am an equal opportunity name forgetter). Dan was there as were KD, Curtis, and Tom. It has been a long time for me but even longer for Tom. I was happy to have someone to keep me company on the long sections I did while dropped.

We did the Greenwood loop out 49 to cool up 193 to Greenwood road and then some of us went down to Coloma Via Marshall and Jerry pat and their buddies went up to Gtown and points beyond (I wonder how far they made it).

It was a bit chilly rolling out. When Curtis and I were trying to talk to each other I was having trouble forming certain words because my lower lip was numb. I think I had some drool spill out at one point. But as always it warmed up as we rolled.

After we passed Pedro Hill the hammer dropped in anticipation of Cool city limits. From my vantage point waaaay off the back it looked like two groups fromed pretty quickly. The report that I got when I arrived in Cool was that Jerry took the sprint. Curtis was sitting on a wall with his head between his knees looking a little green. I think we were all a little nervous when he said he was going back home. After a minute of collecting himself, he changed his mind joined us after all. I guess the GU brought him back. We rode a calm pace out 193 to Greenwood until we got to the sprint and I was gone again.

By the time we got to the fire station in Garden Valley it was time to take off the leg warmers etc. I had to be a couple minutes behind the train after the Greenwood climb but I didn't care. It is so damn good to be back on the bike and riding with minimal pain.

Sunday Ride

It has been a while since I have been able to join the ride so I went out and took pictures. My camera is pretty limited but here are a few for your viewing enjoyment.

Velo Loco: Community

Velo Loco is a community effort that works because we are all get something out of it. One of things that I love about Road Riding with the group is the power of the pack. It is still amazing to me that we can roll along at 23 MPH with relatively little effort. Drafting and team work make it possible and it is one of those small miracles that I feel a lot of gratitude for.

We make time in our schedule forsaking family, home duties and other obligations so that we can be there at the same time; the bakery at 8:00. Then we go out and beat each other up on the climbs and power along together in the flats. Working together. Suffering together. Growing stronger together. Building community.

There are a couple of riders who are going to be putting in some really hard effort in the future. I know we are going to be there for them. Lets surround them and pull for them when we can.