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.