Sunday Ride

Sunday ride will meet according to plan:

7:30 am at the Bagel Shop!

Skunked!

Yup, got to the truck this morning and was almost knocked over! All day meeting more info and complete ride report later.

LOtB

Withdrawls!

Here I am a few days out from the conclusion of the Tour de France and a month or so removed from the World Cup...what is a non-traditional sport fan to do at the end of the an epic summer of sport. I guess I will have to find a way to get excited about football season. No, wait, what am I saying? Cross season is right around the corner! I am good to go.

No ride report from Sunday. I was climbing out of a tent when folks would have been meeting and I have not heard yet if there was a ride or not.

As for today, make sure you are hydrating and eating well, because we have a "beauty" in store tonight!
When the ride starts to get hard and you question why you decided not to take up golf just remember the fine words of one of cyclings true heroes!

One
Mosquito at 5:45 (prompt) Exit 54?

Until we ride,
LOtB

A Trail With A View!

Tuesday's outing is now notched in my collective FT3 memory as one of the top five rides for me. Again the home situation was about to derail my attempt to ride. However, calmer heads prevailed and I was kicked out of the house and forced to go ride...I'll take it any way I can get it.

I joined NoCar, Cap'n, NoHandle, RG and Safety First at the Mosquito Lot for the roll up. B was doing his new routine of riding to the Knot Lot, and we received a late (as in suited up and ready to roll) call from Xteric and Keds asking to hold up, they were on their way. As a strong group of nine we finally hit the trails. Having some new members in the midst, we had no choice but to alter the original route and head for the qualifier. Contador's spirit was strong in the group as the pace was pegging it from the get go. I was further blamed of pulling a 'berto by rolling through an undesignated regroup location. Hey, rules are rules and tradition reigns supreme. The good news was that all qualified and we were able to head out on an exploration en mass. It is worth noting that The Park Creek pace was still high and folks were frisky!

A wee bit ago I had a chat with Taco Spawn regarding the climb atop Barnes Back. With the cryptic directions in hand we ventured into the unknown and were rewarded with an utterly fantastic find. A mostly dirt road section opened up before us with endless options present. The top of the trail offered some super Sierra views and has thus been dubbed Spawn Summit Trail. We did our best to keep to the directions offered and eventually made it back to Hazel Creek Rd for a ripping descent back to the trail junction on Park Creek. Giddy with the excitement of a new trail the pace stayed high as we headed back to the Wedding March and Tacos. Cap'n was not short on blog worthy terms near rides end trying to link Pollock and Pyrenees: The FT3 riders selected a Pollynees route for Tuesdays ride. Love it!

There may have been a swim in the lake but my eyes were closed so I cannot confirm.

At tacos the new handles were issued and accepted with honor. Tacos were a bit thin but I noticed they grew during the course of the night. Mother Rye is getting official Knot Hole uniforms out to all of us. I am still unsure of where I may wear said shirt outside of a Tuesday night???? The late roll and the leisurely dinner pace made for a late night. The drive home was equally marked with some odd CHP patrol of a crash site and a lost Corvette.

Until We Ride
LOtB

Attack, Attack, Attack!

I promised some new routes last week and was unable to deliver. I have thus made the promise, come hell or high water I am riding tonight! And possibly have some new trails hidden up my sleeve. As I am a confident rider, I am not afraid to publish my ride plan. Tonight, I plan on riding hard near the front of the group. I may yo-yo off the back for a bit, just to keep folks wondering. I plan on isolating B up front and when he has a mechanical, the attack is on! So watch out and keep your tires inflated and chain on!

Ah yes, my favorite trail in CdA. Thanks to Cappy for the Northern Idaho update and the great bike trail in Coeur d'Alene! The run route hit that trail for about 4 miles total over the course of the marathon, but I too spent some quality time on that trail in the days leading up to last years race.

So as CX season approaches, I am getting more and more excited about the bike. CX seems to be the most fan friendly form of racing out there. With the boy equally getting excited about his bike, I am hopeful that this year will be a more family friendly affair. However, I still don't think cycling in the US has caught up to our Euro counterparts...when this image is common place at the Tour of Cal we will have made the bridge up!
Mosquito at 5:45...Exit 54?

Until we Ride,
LOtB

Sunday Ride Report

Got in a good ride on Sunday. Green Fro was taking advantage of a weekend long hall pass and joined up. RG and I made up the heart of FT3 while we were also joined by "Safety First" (I forgot his name) and my neighbor Ron (insert handle). Ron and RG have been battling in the road series this summer and had many a race tale as we got started. We headed off to do the Bucks Bar Happy Valley cut off. Safety First fell behind on Cedar Ravine and I doubled back for him only to find Xterric in hot pursuit, pulling off a first and an impressive FT3 catch! It is worth noting that Safety First made a great recovery was never really that far off the back again. From the Holiday Market on E16 we headed up Clear Creek for some heat relief. At the junction at Starks, all players manned up and we headed for Pollock. RG was on form, whats new? I was able to give chase for a bit and even launched an attack. I fear I may have waited too long for the attack to have any sting. I think someone in a Hoveround would have been able to come around me. Needless to say RG cleaned up all the sprint points on the way down as well. Great ride for a hot Sunday. It was great to get back on the bike!

Until we ride,
LOtB

Sunday Ride: 7:30 @ Bagel Shop!!

Wheels

Prior to getting into last nights ride report, provided by B, I feel compelled to say a few words. Having only made 1 ride in the last 8 weeks has left me feeling the need to thrust myself upon the blade of the FT3 brotherhood or at least, in avoidance of death, explain the mea culpa of the last 8 weeks.

All I can say is that last night at 5:40 I was in and by 5:45 the wheels had completely come off the bus, oddly the DTI never suffered through this episode, probably because the truck never departed. I guess the good news is that by the time the family bedded down most of the wheels seemed to be reattached. However this begs the question of the place of Tuesday night in the importance of the weeks events. Friends, I fear, I have neglected my duties to properly insert the priority of the FT3 into the weekly calendar. Rest assured, I have chieseled the next several Tuesday's into the granite slab that serves as the "non-miss" events! I will return, promise!

Ride Report:
I know there is much more to share but I thought I'd capture these highlights, lest they be forgotten. Feel free to steal from the below if you are up for making a more elaborate ride report.

• Street Shorts made another appearance, joining Councilman, NoCar, B, Xteric and one totally new rider. The new rider's handle may be Street Shoes, Nike, or Sneakers, we are not sure at this point. One thing we do know is that he Qualified wearing said footwear.
• After Qualifier we made our way to the Flume then to the steep road pull up to Park Creek. From there we accessed and dropped Wedding March. The group split up at that point and either went straight back to the docks or added mileage by doing a clockwise classic lake loop. All riders met back at the docks for a swim.
• I did not see it, but Street Shorts took a fall that made him bleed. That's proper.
• Councilman again graciously provided an offering. This time it was a sauce with the Ghost Chili. Though not ridiculously hot, it packed a creeping punch and had a delicious, smoky flavor.
  
• While driving home I thought I heard a strange sound coming from the back of the vehicle. NoCar's Voodoo jumped ship on the way home and was dragging along US50 for a few miles, only half attached to the hitch rack. I think I loaded it on the Previa and therefore accept full responsibility. Luckily it does not appear to have suffered any damage.

Until we (I) Ride
LOtB

A Bunch of Sunday Club Cyclists

Can't write...Tour on...Climbing steep hills...Riders blowing up...

One

Mosquito 5:45....Exit 54

Until we Ride

LOtB

I will be turning myself "inside out!"

My Best Frank Schleck Impersonation

I did my best to "Be like Frank" yesterday on my solo version of Thursday's CX Adventure. Putting the bike down on an unnamed dirt road was less than desirable, however, finishing the CX adventure off with a trickle of blood off the elbow made me feel like are real cross racer. Speaking of which, I have ten races in on the calendar for this fall!!!!

Folsom Cyclebration CX Race: Sept 11

Sac CX: Oct 9 and 23

Sac CX: Nov 6 and 20

Bay Area Super Prestige - Golden Gate (the annual trip): Nov 28

Sac CX: Dec 4 and 18 (Birthday race with post race Barnes family party)

Sac CX: Jan 8 and 22

Other races of note:

We have often talked about making the Crank Bros Grand Prix in Portland which is Dec 4th this year. Followed closely by the US Nationals in Bend the following weekend. Any interest?

There are also some early season So Cal races that are in the UCI calendar and could draw the big names. I think the ten races listed above will about do it for the DTI so I will stick with those. One quick something to get the juices flowing!

U.S. gran prix of cyclocross from Jim Fryer/BrakeThrough Media on Vimeo.

Until we Ride (or race Cross)

LOtB - Frankified

PS: I have re-embedded the link to Cappy's movie, don't know why it came up as a hotlink, but its fixed now!

Let the Mountain Decide

The first edition of the 2010 CX Seasons SS/CXFT3 ride went off without a hitch, although the rock garden did take it's toll on several riders. To tie this to current events, the section of rock garden was not unlike the cobbles of the TDF on the same day.

In typical SS/CXFT3 fashion, we hydrated with Pre-BR's. For NoCar and B who rode up, that was a post pre-ride Pre-BR. Since I was fortunate enough to get a hold of Xteric and hitch a ride, we met NoHandle and newbie Rich (insert taco handle - for now we'll call him street shorts) at the Knott Lot. The pithy core of FT3 in attendance rode cross bikes and the newbie Street Shorts was on an FT3 approved and pre-owned MTB chick bike. Since he was a baller on the Pville Bombastic Roster, we were confident from the start that he would hang tough. Of course we were headed for the qualifier, but to keep riders guessing default ride leader Cappy lead the group down the steep decent to lake level then back up to the qualifier. As we crossed the road we passed two urban teenagers, one on a BMX, the other on a Wal Mart FS, they kindly let us pass as we railed cross bikes up the super steep single track. I believe they watched in dismay as we climbed then descended the horse trail and dropped back down to road level where they watched and waited. Either they were impressed by what we were doing on 'ten speeds' or they were astonished by our gay outfits. Street Shorts made all qualifier checkpoints in reasonable time. We pressed on and descended wedding march. Wedding march was sweet on cross bikes, someone said likeStar Wars, and indeed is in need of trail mainenance which could earn an FT3 rider Knighthood. There was funny discussion about heading to Barnes Back, as Xteric had informed Streets Shorts that it was the only other hard climb out there and that it was unlikely we would go there anyway. Of course we had every intention of going there but default ride leader cappy missed the turn in a impromptu visit to the man-made water fall. We continued around the lake and ended up climbing the left lip. There we got eaten by mosquitos while the lip took its toll on Street Shorts, but it was 'all good' as the collective riders were pleased with his strong effort and good showing. Therefore we rode along MET, on trails - not asphalt to decend the rufus rage DH zone. We cleared a few gap jumps then headed to the dock for a swim. From there it was on to the Knott. We spent a lot of time there and Cappy had 8 tacos. B and NoCar were mumbling 'Pino' and ended up making the big decision to stay at the Knott for an eventful cycle home with a possible Pino stop along the way. I wonder how they are feeling this morning...

Co-opting, back channeling coup!

It happened again, the back channel discussion leaps up earlier and earlier these days. As this is a big birthday day in our house this will be brief and get to the point:

1) Only three days in and this years Tour de France is fantastic!

2) How is it that the World Cup Final is appearing to be a Euro match-up again?

3) It is the first Tuesday of July...and as discussed for the run up to CX season we will define SSFT3 as Freestyle FT3...Bring your CX your SS your Cruiser or Fixie...whatever you think will get you ready for CX!

Out for birthday and dad duties.

Mosquito at 5:45...Exit 54?

Until we Ride:

LOtB

Thursday's CX Adventure Delivers

NoCar and I got off to slow start but in the end the this Thursday's edition of the CX adventure proved to be yet another outing worthy of the name "Adventure".

Having forgotten my spare tire at home, we headed back up Big Cut for the pick up. We did tickle Gold Bug prior to the return home, and immediately checked the CX necessary box. From the top of Big Cut we were on pavement for a bit until we headed down Hanks Exchange off Pleasant Valley. From here we dipped off on to Nashville Trail and then started winding our way on dirt roads and the like to hook up with Oak Hill Road. From Oak Hill we swung by the chateau of he without handle for the next set of directions. NoHandle delivered in spades! He set us off on his super secret back door trails back up to Diamond Springs. This route took us by a pond that I could have gone my whole life without ever knowing it was back there, awesome!

Saturday's early roll out appears to be on with at least B, Cap'n and me rolling out at 5! Any other takers?

Until we Ride:

LOtB