B Team

Livermore!

2010-05-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Chickens -

A week ago Saturday Bill McBride, Paul Wren and I raced in the Livermore Crit. This report is a bit late because I left on vacation immediately upon returning from the race. We flew “Air McBride” and landed at the airport 8 miles from the race site. Riding to the race would be a nice little warm-up, and it was, until my only reservation about riding city streets with race wheels was realized as I got a front flat 2 miles from the course. There was about 50 minutes til the start, all I had to do was ride a flat 6 miles into a headwind back to the airport and change the wheel then haul ass to the race. Good thing I brought an extra wheelset! Bill and I brought extra wheels just in case of such a mishap.

I made it to the airport with about 5 psi in my tire. Nice thing about tubulars, you can ride them flat if you have to – just don’t turn. There was a crowd gathered there to watch some WWII fighter planes take off. They were a bit confused when I rode past them out onto the tarmac to the only jet parked out there, changed the wheel, then rode away. The tailwind helped my time trial to the race course, but I was still a bit nervous. Bill tried to check me in and get my number, but they wouldn’t let him. No worries, with the numerous crashes in the race before ours, our start was quite delayed.

A decent sized field rolled out on the 1 mile course and I spent the first 15 minutes trying to figure out the good lines in the corners and also trying to understand how there was a headwind on every side of the loop. 2 guys tangled up on the front stretch on about the 5th lap. They were literally tangled up on the ground with one guy’s legs through the other’s frame. One of them got back in and raced with his bare ass hanging out of his shorts.

Half way through, Paul “Bunyan” Wren went straight to the front and did one of his trademark 700 watt pulls for a lap. We all dodged another pile-up late in the race and started to set up for the final laps. I had been eying the field for who I thought were the strong guys. Sure enough, with 3 to go, they were all at the front. Things were getting nervous as everyone jockeyed for positions, then Bill came to the rescue and went to the front with two laps remaining. In high winds, he drove it fast enough to keep the usual Cat 4 swarm from happening. He brought us through the start/finish at the bell and then stayed up there through turns 1 and 2 before pulling off. The charge was on down the back stretch, and I got through turn 3 in 7th and on some good wheels.

Turn 4 is a big double sweeper with the wind blowing hard from the right/front. I swung out to the left and moved up to the wheel of a big guy that was charging hard. We passed the others, then when he looked back, I jumped around him with only 100 meters to the line. There was a rider way to my right, I caught and passed him with the headwind hitting me hard. Just 20 meters to the line I saw a wheel come up on my left and we came down to a bike throw on the line. The guy patted me on the back and said that I got it. I told him that I wasn’t so sure. Video review showed him winning by about 2 friggin inches.

The photo below doesn’t show the guy that got me from my left side (good race photographer). You can see the big guy that lead me out and the third place finisher near the curb. I was a bit disappointed, but I know that I didn’t leave anything out on the track. Are 47 year olds supposed to still hit 200 bpm?

Additional props to Bill for carrying the giant tub of Cytomax in his backpack 8 miles back to the airport. Note to 3rd place finisher – no helmets on the podium...

Ken

Luke's Wild Ride!

2010-04-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

This just in, Luke enjoyed his weekend! See below

He's not just a pretty face!

For Ladies Only!

2010-04-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Save the date for a Cinco de Mayo Women’s Ride!

Hi Ladies--

Please join us on Wednesday, May 5 for a Women’s No-Drop Ride at Whole Foods on upper State St.(cross street is Hitchcock) at 5:00 pm. The ride will start at 5:30 pm. Whole Foods will be kindly providing some drinks and pocket snacks. We will gather on the patio area at 5:00 pm before we take off at 5:30 pm.

So pump up those road tires, lube your chain, and come have some clean healthy fun on your bike. The ride will be part of CycleMaynia — http://www.bicicentro.org/cyclemayniacs?eventId=152358

Also, we are thinking about moving our weekly women’s ride from Thursday evening to Wednesday evenings. Please let me know if this will affect you — and or course if you have any questions, please email me. Looking forward to rolling again!

Anne

Peter Rupert's Bike

2010-04-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Thanks for all of the kind words! It is great to be a part of such a great bike community. I have posted some pictures of the damage to my ex-bike. Front fork sheared off, bars snapped in two, rear triangle nearly completely separated.

http://picasaweb.google.com/peter.c.rupert/BikeCrash?feat=directlink

You Have to Love GOOGLE, I mean Topeka! April Fools

2010-04-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

Check out Google today and you will see something a bit strange. Click on the colorful logo and enjoy the April Fools moment! I wonder if the city of Topeka did anything in honor of Google's.

I did click on the Topeka website and it took forever to load. I'm sure this little google love is overwhelming their website.

Sagebrush 2010

2010-03-09T13:14:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of the day, and since I've had a couple questions about how it went, here's my belated report from the MTB XC season opener on Feb 28.

I've used a hybrid Fastrack/Ken bullet point style, with the patented Jurist style extended coverage for anyone who actually gives a darn:

Cliff Notes version:

-Super fun, fast, sloppy, clear, beautiful, crazy tough event with 3 Chickens racing: Alfredo finished an impressive 4th in Cat 3, Me a slightly disappointing 12th in Cat 2, and Gabe seemed happy with his 7th in Cat 1 (I think Gabe was mostly just happy to have finished his near epic 2Hrs, 43 Minutes on course, gnarly!!!!!) Let's get a bigger CR turn-out for Bonelli.

Extended Coverage:

- Alfredo wins the last minute planner award for making final decision and arrangements to race while still at work after 10PM night before

- 4-1/2 hour drive down under clear skies on Sunday morning rolling out of SB at 5AM on day of event with Alfredo, myself and Gabe carpooling as the only riders representing Team CR (Cats 3, 2, 1, respectively).

- Dirt entry road and parking lot were relatively firm, but scattered with deep mud puddles and temps were still in low 40's. Reports from overnight campers and locals was that it absolutely dumped rain Saturday evening with freezing temps overnight

- Racers were out in force, seemed like REALLY good numbers in the lot, registering and at the starting line. Lots of great energy and good buzz out there.

- Seems like about 1 in 4 riders is on a 29'er now and half of those are hardtails.

- All ages and classes went off with staggered start times beginning at 11AM, by which time it was warm with absolutely beautiful clear blue skies.

- Cat 2 & 3's both rode the same course ~18 miles, Cat 1 & Pros going a tough 22 miles

- First 1-1/2 miles or so was paved & mild. My Cat 2 group of 22 riders hung together in a tight peloton with quite a bit of joking about who was gonna try to organize a breakaway and/or win the next 'prime'. The pace did get lifted a good bit on the flat to put some pressure on the group leading up to "the hill"

- Course turned steep up hill for a 15 minute paved climb (7-10%?) which blew apart my group right away. I was able to hang with the top ten riders of my group on the climb but things did get a bit messy/confusing while overtaking slower riders from prior heats & simultaneously getting passed by 1 or 2 fast f'ers from the following heat. (no group numbers were written on legs at this race for some reason, so you could only ID someone actually in your age/cat if you recognized them form your starting group)

- At the top of this first big paved climb, less than 1/4 into the race I'd say the finishing positions were about 80% fixed.....

- Leaving pavement & dropping over the backside of the ridge, the course became an absolute never ending roller coaster super fun carve fest. Lots of excellent banked twisty single track and some super fast fire road descents made for one of the most fun course I've ever raced. The dirt withstood the water really well in general, not clumpy SB type clay, but just a little tacky in general. The multitude of puddles and a few granite rock carved single track sections and a couple mild drop offs really kept things interesting.

- For those of you gear hounds - although I did get passed by a very small number of full-boing riders who were absolutely bombing so fast through corners on the twisty fireroad downhills that they must've been locals, (IMHO), in general I really fell in love with my 26" hardtail during its first race. Even on the washboard descents and drop offs I felt like I could open it up and bomb just fine, and obviously it was super nice to be able to climb seated or standing on a lightweight hardtail on the uphills. On the flip-side, I did feel the fatigue factor just a little in my lower back having to stand for the duration on one of the longer downhills late in the race.......

-most puddles could be avoided carving slalom-style on the single tracks & open roads, but when you had to plow through a water hazard, it was a little scary. In order to not risk an endo you wanted to keep your weight back or try to unweight/bunny hop, but obviously that's easier said than done. Ask Gabe about his front wheel stand manuever at race pace sometime when you get a chance......

- one ginormous section of super steep hike a bike uphill at about 2/3 through the race was pretty hard on the psyche. It was a huge quarter mile long uphill slog conga line. I actaully did pass a couple "trudgers" by shouldering my bike lower down on the wall, but then I regained my senses and got into line just in time before I imploded.

- Final mile of the race included about 3 or 4 good water crossings, one maybe 24" deep in the middle and 25 yards wide which some riders rode and some carried their bike ( I rode through and got completely drenched with cold water while rinsing quite a bit of grime off me & my bike)

- Met up with some guys from Linked Cycles after I started chatting things up with them a bit after my race and one of them says, hey you're with Chicken Ranch, do you know Robert Higgins?...... Seems that this guy (Ryan) knew Big Rob via email but had never actually met him in person. So Rob: Ryan from Linked Cycles passes along good wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery.

- We all do miss you out on the rides and at the races Rob, hope your recovery is going well.

- Alfredo scored a super nice lazer engraved stainless steel plaque for his efforts

- After the race, a guy next to us mentioned that he was from San Diego and this was his ONE local San Diego race and he wasn't looking forward to having to make the hube drive for BOTH of the Santa Barbara races. (chalk one more up for living in SB)

- Team Chicken is now sitting in 5th place in the team competition after 1 race, sure would be nice to have a minimum of 8 Team Chicken Ranch riders register, race and score team points at Bonelli and beyond!

See you ALL at Bonelli.

Ride On!

Paul

Gabe Says!

2010-03-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

The Ventura Chapter of the SB Chicken Ranchers opt’ed for better weather in NorCal. John Vanmanekes and myself made a last minute decision and headed north on Sat evening to enter the Merco Foothills RR in Merced CA. Unlike our brothers who headed south, or stayed local, we endured perfect weather w/ the temps in the mid-60’s w/ patchy clouds.
The race was run on the back roads of Merced with complete road closures. I can’t remember ever being in a road race where we had no center line rule and access to the whole road….pretty cool! The course was basically 72 miles of rollers and flats, with the biggest hill being slightly steeper than our local Bates Rd and about the same length. We had roughly 90+ racers in our group. Considering that John has been going really well lately, it was agreed prior to the race start that I would work for John to either help bring back breaks, or get him into position for the sprint.
The race was difficult at times with attacks and small breaks that didn’t materialize, but going into the final lap it was pretty much certain that it was going to come down to a sprint finish. The last 2 miles included some big ring out of the saddle rollers, with the finish being about 500 meters from the top of the last roller. The original plan was to get to the top in the lead group and lead John out, but going into the final 2 miles, the Specialized Factory team formed an 8 man lead-out for their sprinter, who happened to have also won the previous day's crit. At this point, John got on my wheel and we made our move on the outside. Once on the front, I tried to wedge myself into the Specialized train, but they had it locked down pretty tight, so I just tried to keep the momentum up as high as I could and keep John near the front. Once we got near the top of the last roller, my legs were done and John went around in the top 10. I got swarmed by about 50 guys, but I managed to see John’s head bobbing near the front of the sprinting pack. He pulled off an impressive 7th place finish in a hard fought sprint, and his prize……$20 which covered the Starbucks bill on the way home.

There was also the Sage Brush MTB race last weekend. Paul Donahoe, Alfredo Gallegos, and myself headed down to San Diego early Sunday morning. Alfredo pulled off a 4th place in the Cat 3s, Paul turned in a 12th place in the Cat 2’s, and I finished in 7th in the Cat 1’s.

That’s it!

Gabriel

Island View, Susie Style

2010-03-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

Since there are so many fine race/ride reports coming through today, I thought I would give my two-cents for the ladies 3/4 crit on Saturday.

Although I had no official teammates, Avalon (of Kalyra) and Sommers (of Echelon juniors) were at the start with me and we know each other well from the morning rides. We had a pretty small group, 7 total in the race, mostly college racers.

The start and middle were tame with a few attacks, all chased down successfully. Avalon, Sommers and I were at the front for most of the 40 minutes sharing pulls and keeping things under control (haha).

Final two laps put the three of us going a bit harder and in final lap Sommers yells at Mom (Avalon) to "GO GO GO!!" which she does and I just stay on Sommers wheel. Av pulls off in the final turn and Somers took off like a bullet. I felt like I went into reverse, but instead took 2nd with Avi in 3rd. Other finishers were pretty far back, so I guess that meant we had a good final sprint. That's what counts, right?

BTW, Kimberly, a few of the men were asking "where's Kim? Did she move to Arizona? I sure do miss watching her race!" To which I replied, "ME TOO!"

Come on out sometime, would love to see you!
TTFN,

Susie

Island View Crit Race Report Cat 5

2010-03-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Not nearly as dramatic as San Diego, but this weekend was also the Island View Crit for anyone that stayed in town and wanted to race. The threat of rain held off for the Cat 5's and Cat 4's...I left during the Pro/1/2/3 race and it started POURING down rain when I was at lunch (at Chicken Ranch, natch) so they probably got deluged. Hecky or anyone, any report?

The Cat-5 race was very predictable - jumpy at the start, lots of sprinting off the corners but then braking into them. No significant strategy involved...my usual one 90-second attempt at a getaway was pulled back by a string of 20-year-old college kids with energy to burn. With about 8 laps to go the predictable big crash happened in the last turn, luckily I was in the inside lane near the front and just saw it out of the corner of my eye and heard the awful sound of wheels pretzeling, carbon shattering, and tires bursting. Everyone was off the road the next lap so I guess they were okay. There was a Chicken outfit in the crash I think but I never heard who it was? Anyone?

Anyway after the crash the race was much more manageable and Masters-like. Faster and more strung out, with a final lap push and sprint. Kent Luu got fifth for the Chickens, very strong showing, and I got my first top-10 in 9th after another little college kid got me at the line for 8th. At least everyone in front of me on the results was 20 years or more younger so that was fine for me. Bill McBride was in the race and got caught up in the back of pack I think for 24th, also Tucker in 30th and Alfredo in 32nd must have got caught behind the crash, but they can chime in with what happened back there if they want.
I hear people complain sometimes about the aggro group rides and "Sunday Worlds" but it is definitely the key quality training for a Cat 5 - the races are EASY compared to that.

In the Cat 4's I saw Ken Doyle doing a ton of work at the front pulling back various breaks but he was toasted by the finish and got something like 8th. Gene was off the front a few times but I think also ended up mid-front-pack. Ken, any bullet points? You were definitely the man in that race.

Great day, really, compared to the forecast, unless you were in the crash or that pro/1/2/3 race...those guys must have got doused.
Best regards,

-- Paul

Ken Is The Champ!

2010-03-08T11:52:00.000-08:00

Wow, I didn’t know people cared so much. OK, I will respond to the pressure to improve my race report. I just feared boring people with details. How about bullet points!

Missed 2 weeks of decent training leading up to race due to illness. Post-antibiotic funk and jacked up back left me questioning my abilities.
Flew over to Vegas with Mitch and Bill McBride in Bill’s jet (45 minute trip). That’s how we roll.
Kicked it with houseboatmates Paul Wren, Mitch, Avalon and her daughter Summersby.
Waited til 4:30 to race the uphill time trial.
Raced well, matched last year’s time, should have pushed harder.
Time that was good for 2nd last year was only good enough for 7th this year. Deeper talent pool damn it.
7:00am road race start time under threatening skies. 44 mile course with 3500 ft. of climbing.
Top GC guy is on the local Vegas team and has the most teammates – great!
Gene, Paul, Bill, Mitch and I make it through the course in the lead group and head towards home.
Gene jams up his drivetrain shifting gears and is off the back.
Bill moves up towards the front to stay out of trouble.
Paul launches and attack about 3 miles out and gets everyone out of the saddle.
Race settles in as everyone smells the finish line in a couple of miles.
With my crampy legs I move onto the front anticipating the local team driving it in to the finish.
I guessed right, and jumped into the 4th position of their train, riding it to the turn 1/4 mile from the finish.
Random guy behind me jumps around me and I get on him to get past the leaders.
Thanks for the leadout Beotch! I jumped him 100 meters out and got a road race victory.
Moved up to 5th in the GC.
Bill gets a top ten finish in the hilly road race!
Rain comes down within minutes of our finish. Later groups get hailed on out there.
Had to explain a dozen times that we are not sponsored by the Nevada version of a Chicken Ranch.
30 minute parking lot crit, no chance of getting away, try for another win.
Gene breaks away on 5th lap for a prime win of a Road ID.
Mitch drives a fruitless attack with 5 to go. Local team is marking everything closely.
Gene rolls up with 3 to go and tells me to get on his wheel – yes!
Could not advance in heavy traffic and settle for something around 10th (thanks for trying Gene).
Managed to move up to 4th in GC.

Overall a great time. Definitely an event to plan on next year. 45 houseboats full of racers (only 20 boats last year). Super cool having all races start right there in the marina. Stage races are the best team events – good times!

Cheers,
Ken

Gran Fondo San Diego

2010-03-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

Wow. What a ride, not race, but timed, with a winner just from the timed portion, which is in the middle of the ride and is a climb, but not a triple crown.....Whilst you and your loved ones were basking in a glorious Santa Barbara, sun-filled day, Steve Boelter (aka Platinum Chicken), Dave Lettieri and I ventured south to tackle the 101 mile Colnago San Diego Gran Fondo (Now and forever known as the Gran Flash Flood-o). Rain was the threat from weather.com for the last week with percentages dancing around the 50-70% range, which for our ilk means 50-30% chance of sun! PC and I left early on Saturday in order to retrieve numbers for ourselves and for Lettieri who was leaving late after Luke arm wrestled yet another customer for the chance to purchase a new bike (if I win, you buy a bike. If you win, you buy a bike). Saturday evening showed some signs of rain ranging from nostril blast while riding to genuine, that'll clean the car downpour. Again, optimistic that any rain the day before means less chance the next day. After dinner and a game of "where the hell does a helmet number go", it was all about the ride.

Up early Sunday and out the door with pockets full of rain jacket, zip lock of spare dry gloves and the anticipation of the "wild indian" start that is a Dave legend, we got to the start line with nary a drop falling from the sky. By 6:40, PC and I were standing under a bus shelter several blocks from the start watching water creep up over the curb. Some city workers offered to put sandbags around our location, but we replied that we would be riding our bikes 101 miles in just a few moments. You can imagine the looks. We watched straggling riders dutifully riding to the rear of the start queue in the monsoon and later heard from Lettieri's dad that it took 45 minutes to clear the start area in waves. Sweet. 75 minutes in sky dumping rain waiting to ride in it.

Our little plan to jump the start almost went of course when we realized we weren't on the right street, which meant having to roll down a few blocks and then sprint to catch on with the lead group. So cool! They had three Ferrari's and a motorcycle escort leading the pack through downtown SD, but the weather was so lousy no one saw it. We followed 950,000.00 worth of cars to the on ramp of the Coronado Bridge. Just as they made the turn they stopped and those crazy Italians started yelling that we had missed the turn and we were supposed to take and that everyone needed to turn around in the single lane of the on ramp. Easy! Just like Poor College Kids last year, eveyone chose their own little u-turn in a direction they felt expressed the level of hypothermia they would return with. Back down the street and a left turn put the group onto the exit of the bridge so that we rode up two dedicated lanes on the left side. Great, except for the metal expansion joints with the shark teeth shape that threatened to crash out anyone going over 15 MPH and the still blasting rain.
As we headed down the strand from Coronado, I hooked up with the first of my ride saviors, a guy from the Amgen Giant masters team who was happy to tap out 21 MPH in a head wind whilst I drank the gravel filled water from his back tire and didn't even whimper a complaint. He was also quite effective at organizing our group of twenty or so into a two abreast group ride. One not so fortunate tri athlete type was sent packing after he continually bolted ahead dropped back and then blew a stop light. Doyle, you would have loved this guy. Around that time I noticed that PC was no longer in our group, had flatted and decided the jacuzzi at the hotel was the more prudent activity for a rainy Sunday.

Around mile 40, we stopped at the Olympic Training facility in Chula Vista/Otay Lakes, grabbed sandwiches and then smaller groups headed out the 9 more miles to the start of the timed climb. I was feeling pretty good until I needed to shift and my chain hopped around the cassette like Shaun White in a half-pipe. OK, now I wasn't feellng so good with marginal gear management possibilities. The next sag was 1.5 miles from the top of the climb so I handed my bike off to the Campy support, who said, guess what? "Oh, I see the problem, you're running Shimano." Oh, wow, there's a new one! I grabbed some coffee and sandwich while the comedian worked on my bike. I don't remember who said that clothes make the man, but I can tell you that the right clothes keep the man from shivering like Chick Hearn Jell-O and the groups of team riders under the leaky tent. I was wearing leg warmers, arm warmers, vest, rain jacket, head warmer, long fingered gloves with a shell over the gloves and these knuckle heads looked like they were headed to a summer crit in Ontario. Much to their extreme discomfort, the descent was 15 degrees colder than the climb and it was still pissing rain.

I did the descent on my own, which was gnarly. Lots of water streaming across the road, some mud and all the while raining , foggy and cold and , oh yeah, not much braking power. Around mile 60, I hooked up with a guy from Canada who had caught me at a red light. He was chatty and wanted to ride back together. When the light changed and we started riding he slipped a pedal and crashed in the intersection. I would have really liked to have ridden away from him, but he turned out to be pretty strong and we eventually picked up 8 other riders, including an Eastern European riding a 29'er mountain bike with street tires, cross brakes and drop bars, for our bell miles back to SD. It should be noted that we stopped for every stinking stop light from Otay Lakes to downtown San Diego.

I'm not sure where we finished, but lots of folks came in after us. Subtracting stoppage time, the ride took just about as much time as the King Ridge Fondue. Lettieri's time was similar as well, although he is claiming 7th in the ride that's not a race.

While waiting for PC to pick me up (he had to check out of the hotel at 1:30, so no shower for you!), I decided to get some of the promised free food and wound up getting in to the VIP tent. Super bonus! Hot pasta, prosecco, ham, a Lavazza espresso and all the Italians congratulating me on doing the ride. Extra Super Bonus! Bill Walton was in the VIP tent. Why? Who knows! But the whole deal was a slam dunk!

David Jurist

Yes I know the journalist is a hard act to follow but I can add the following in the Ken style of a ride/race report:

- Woke up at 5:30 to dry roads. Great don't need to carry all that rain stuff.

- 6:15am go outside to get ready: raining, change of plans, put on everything I can

- 6:45 wait to last possible minute to get to the start line and see 3000 crazy people just standing a full downpour waiting for the start

- 7am Got a nice front row position on the start line, nice to be from Pennsylvania now and then. (the guy organizing the start area was an east coaster)

- Small start delay so the Ferraris could get warmed up and Olympic and World Champion Paolo Bettini could get out of his car.

- Within the first 10 miles we go over Cornado bridge like its a hill top finish and I look back to see only 10 riders in the group, fortunately since the ride marking were minimal, 20-30 riders caught up while the front group decided which way to go.

- The timed hill climb was like a 7 mile Casitas hill ( the fastest guy up was a pro mtn biker). Probably would have been an easier climb if the triathlete did TT it to the base.

- Not stopping at some rest stops is a good way to catch up when you get dropped on the climb

-Like the Santa Rosa Gran Fondo, it seems strange that with 3000 people you could be riding with only one other person for a while. At least she was a former World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist and good looking.

- In the rain, 50 miles seems like a 100, Temps were 42-49 degrees, You also can't really get food out of the pockets with big gloves.

- For the last 50, we had 5 riders chasing 3 (who we never saw after the climb) , a Triathlete, a cat 5, a 3 former Olympians

- At the 90mile rest area, a guys asks if we need anything, yes for the ride to be over :)

- 92miles, (on the bike path) flat tire, also hard to fix in the pouring rain and with big gloves.

- Finish in about the same 5:30 ish as the Santa Rosa ride with less climbing. Slow average speed with weather, lights, more stopping and small group in the early part of the ride. Charts showed 4500 ft, more like 5500 ft.

- The big city rides are a bit rough with the lights, unlike DJ, we did blow quite a few lights in the last 20 miles.

- Overall an epic hard core ride. I would say 65 miles really good roads, the rest standard big city stuff.

-Good gloves, real rain jacket, tons of Squirt chain lube, the flamingo fender and plastic bags in the shoes are key.

Dave L.

Newspress Task Force Update 3-4-10

2010-03-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the update from the newspress regarding the Trails Task Force Meeting this week.

Go Levi, Go!

2010-02-22T16:44:00.000-08:00

Levi Leipheimer on a Mountain bike from Roger Bartels on Vimeo.

Cantua and Dinuba Race Reports

2010-02-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

Made it up north to Cantua Creek on Saturday for the road race, and to Dinuba on Monday for the crit. I thought I'd give a short commentary in case anyone is interested for next year. There were a couple Chicken Ranchers at Cantua, and Hecky, but nobody I recognized at Dinuba.

Cantua was an out-and-back though farm country, 2 laps 26 miles each, with a course that was a lot like our Sunday group ride. The only real hill was a 1km rise to the finish pretty much identical to the climb up Bates from Rincon, so that came mid-race, and at the end. Otherwise it was flat or slightly rolling through farmland and the pack stayed together. That is, unless you made a suicidal, lone break-away, which I did on lap 2 for about the last 20 miles so Gene could sit in the pack, and also just for fun...they caught me at the 1k to go sign and I think Gene ended up winning the race (45+ cat 4/5) in the final hill sprint. Congrats, Gene. Hecky said the 2/3 race was just a pack, with a 2-man break that never got any ground and got swallowed up on the final hill sprint. The pro/1 race was dominated by the Yahoo team, who had 12 guys and just turned it into a team time trial when they got 5-6 guys off the front who walked away with it while the rest of the team blocked. (They did 3 laps for 78 miles). The course was pretty good pavement-wise, although if you're allergic to bees don't go there, because the cropland is dotted with hives brought in to pollinate the trees.

Dinuba was a classic downtown crit, although L-shaped so there was one left turn. Several harsh pavement joints in the turns and a big giant concrete rain-swale in the main straight made it a little nerve wracking. The Cat 5's had three big crashes on the final lap, but I did the 35+ Cat 4/5 race and there was only 1 crash, which I missed narrowly, and the usual last-lap weaving and thrashing around, but everyone stayed up. I tried the solo break-away technique with 3 to go but they were having none of it, so I got swarmed & swallowed up in the last lap. Fun race though, nice little town, no traffic problems, etc. Cheap hotels, too.

Both races were about a 4-hour drive from SB. Think about it for next year...especially at Cantua, if we could organize 4-5 Chickens for any one division, we could definitely dominate the Cat 4 or Masters, I think, especially with guys that are fast up Bates or Gube.

-- Paul

Paul's move at Cantua was amazing. He was pretty much on the attack for the second half of the race, most of it solo. I had a "free" ride to finish as the strong riders in the group had to burn matches to bring back Paul and his breakaway companion.

I was talking to a few of the riders after the race and one of the Webcor riders, a very tall German, said in his best German accent, "The Big Chicken (Paul), and the Little Chicken (me), worked very well together". I had a good laugh at being called the Little Chicken.

Well done Paul! I owe you one.

Gene

Ouch!!!!!!!

2010-02-13T16:37:00.000-08:00

Big Rob, better than ever!

Poor College Kids Race Report

2010-02-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

Hey guys & gals -

Four Chickens in the B section of Cat 5, unfortunately nobody made the top-20, at least not according to the results. I got dropped from the main bunch on the final climb and chased to get back with Big Rob but didn't make it back on. Of course after working my guts out in the last few miles Rob sprinted by me at the line and towed some hanger-on with him, dammit. Somehow Bill McBride got dropped from the results although he finished in front of me - strange actually that Rob and I show as the first two Chickens, I could have sworn I saw the kit ahead as I sunk into a red haze on the final climb...

One wicked crash on the fast downhill on the way out - some rocks on the side of the road, somebody twitched at 40mph and one guy's front wheel got taken out, so he's sliding down the road just in front of me and the next guy runs into him, tumbles over and lands VERY heavily on his shoulder & back. He howled the worst sound I've heard from a human in a long time. He was STILL ON THE GROUND when we came back through an hour later, that's some seriously poor medical service if you ask me. Rumor at the finish was it was a compound fracture, too.

At the finish line, got to watch Susie Willets WIN the women's 3/4 race, looked like Jane in 2nd, and Dave Letteiri won the sprint from the main bunch to get 3rd in the Men's 3. Sorry, no photos, I didn't have a decent camera. Attached is an iphone shot of the men's 5B results, just for anyone's interest. Apparently the winner was a professional BMX racer, some grumbling about his placement in Cat 5...

Best regards,

-- Paul

Home Depot Velodrome Invaded By Team Chicken Ranch!

2010-01-29T15:55:00.000-08:00

The Chickens took over Home Depot Velodrome in Los Angeles. Check out the photos and video. Good Times!

Gibralter Time Trial, Ouch!

2010-01-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

What a morning for a ride up the Gib! It was surprisingly warm this morning as we rode up to the start of the race. Thankfully Luke was there driving Dave's truck up to the summit so everyone could throw their extra clothes in at the bottom and get 'em back at the top. Pretty decent turnout for the race as well. Lots of Chickens that's for sure. Some new faces and a few guys I haven't seen for awhile. It was nice to see Ben Stefanski back out there again. He hasn't lost a step. The scenery was so awesome this morning it almost made me forget all the pain and suffering that's required to haul yourself up to 3,900ft on a bike.

I don't really know anyone's times but everyone looked pretty good and it wasn't long before the whole group was reassembled at the summit and we began a nice leisurely ride across East Camino and down Painted Cave. Hard to think of a better way to start your Saturday morning! Great job everyone!

Check out the results

Hope to see you all on MTB's tomorrow morning!

See ya,

Matt

Jan 2nd, Death March!

2010-01-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

What a day! We started out with about 10-12 brave souls heading out for the full monte. A surprise visit by multiple time National Cyclocross Champion Tim Johnson and his wife Lynn made all of us work a little harder than usual up Old San Marcos and 154 but we pretty much stuck together and got to the Armour Ranch turn-off as a group. There we were joined by a few reinforcements including Kim McD, David Jurist, Mike Abbott, Gene, and a few others. A little later we were also joined by a few of Mike Hecker's Coastal Tree care riders so we had a pretty good sized group as we approached the base of Figueroa Mtn. The climb was long and relentless but with some pretty spectacular scenery. As would be expected there were riders spread all over the mountain but everyone made it to the top in one piece. Except for Carson Blume. He ended up taking a little dip in one of the small creek crossings on the way up. Luckily the new white Chicken Ranch kit is "water safe". Near the top of Fig we were joined by Susie and Kimberly and we rode as a group into Los Olivos for a little lunch stop at the Country Market. I was feeling pretty worked at this point but a nice tri-tip sandwich and a coke brought me right back from the edge. At this point some there was some dissention in the ranks. Tim Johnson decided he was going to ride back home along 154 and back the way we came thus shortening the ride considerably. My guess is he was intimidated by the depth of talent within Team Chicken Ranch and the relentless pace that we maintain and he felt that to continue on would simply be too difficult. Afterall he has Cyclocross Worlds coming up in 3 weeks......Then again maybe he was just bored of riding around with a bunch of weekend warriors?....I'm going with my first guess. Several other riders also opted for the "shorter" loop leaving only 5 brave, hearty souls to continue on. Gabe Garcia, Dan Rudd, Carson, Blume, Randall Tinney, and myself. Fortunately we had a few Coastal Tree Care boys willing to escort us all the way to the end of Alisal and the 101. Thanks guys we owe you one!

We did a great job of working together and made great time down the 101 taking turns on the front. Once again I slightly over-estimated the distance of this ride and it only ended up being 104 miles (from In-N-Out) instead of the 117 I had originally thought. I took us just under 7 hours total time including the lunch stop and a few regroups....not too shabby. We have to do this ride again! It's a great loop and not as difficult as I intially thought it might be. Don't get me wrong...it's tough....but it's not a death march. The only real mishap on the whole ride was when I dropped my camera going about 30 mph down the back side of Figueroa. Thankfully, it survived. Looking forward to doing a few more big rides next weekend!

See ya,

Matt

Happy 2010

2010-01-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

What a great way to start out the new year! We had a fantastic ride up Little Pine and Camuesa Connector this morning. Great turnout! with about 20 riders starting out at 9:00am from Lower Oso. The fireroad had these sections of sticky mud that made the climb a little tougher but we all made it up without to many problems. It was good to see Greg Knowles out there ridin' like a champ. Angelo showed up for I believe his first Mountain Chicken ride and showed that he's been hiding some impressive MTB skills from all of us, but now the cat's outta the bag. Steve Boelter showed up in his new CR kit lookin' good! I've seen him plenty of times in his old Platinum kit and I always thought he was a nice guy, but until I saw him in a CR kit I never realized just how handsome he really is. Black and red are definitely his colors.....he must be a summer.

The Santa Cruz trail is world class, and in great condition. The ride down was a blast. I'd forgotten that Little Pine is higher than the front range and you can still see the ocean and the islands from the summit....stunning. When we got to the bottom a few of us decided to climb the 19 Oaks trail as a "shortcut" back over to the top of Camuesa Connector. Dave has appropriately renamed the 19 Oaks trail the "19 hikes" trail but it got us where we wanted to go. When we finally got back to the cars Luke, Jonathon, and Greg were already there drinking beers and hanging out. I was a little embarrassed for Luke 'cause he was drinking "girl" beer......bud light with lime. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I just pictured Luke being more of a Sam Adams, or Colt 45, kinda guy, but at least now I'll know what kinda beer to get for the Team Chicken Ranch end of the year party.

Well, time to rest up! I want to make sure I have plenty of energy to lay on the side of road with double leg cramps during tomorrows ride! Anyone who didn't ride today is going to have to do all the pulling at the front tomorrow.........Aaron Baker, Dan Rudd, Randy.....this means you!

See ya in the morning!

Matt

December Mountain Bike Fun!

2010-01-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

We had a nice little turnout of 6 Chickens for a great ride on Sunday.

It was a bit chilly early, my computer showed as low as 41 degrees early in the ride, but it warmed up quickly and the trails were in epic condition, very Nice! The Magnolia contingent registered about 40 miles and 4000’ feet of climbing in just over 4 hours, others probably came in a bit lower.

A couple high/low lights included Fastrack, Iron Mike and Platinum Nick cleaning the rock wall, then Big Rob pausing to take a bath trailside, and I got the chance to ride the final 25 miles or so with only one foot clipped in due to a pedal spring failure.

Hope to see a few more ‘smiling’ faces next time. It looks like the first Team Big Bear XC race event will be Sagebrush Safari on Feb 28, not too far away at all….

Ride On!

Paul

New Years Day 2010-Little Pine

2010-01-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

In case you missed all the muddy fun on New Years Day, you check it out by watching the video.

Chicken Ranch's Year In Review, Sort of!

2009-12-30T10:18:00.000-08:00

This is the time of year that all those year in review stories hit the airwaves.

Why should we be any different?

We celebrated a State Champion, enjoyed many a fun ride and the trash talk never stopped, but below were some of the highlights or maybe low lights of 09.

In 2008, our Team Leader used a very unusual form of cross training,

2009 wasn't any different. Mr. Chicken Ranch aka (The Mutant or LJ) used a strange secret training method.

He even forced his children in to doing this irrational form of training (notice the look of pain on young Benko)

Matt, if you are going to go for a secret training ride, make sure the papparazi aren't following you.

2009 also saw Blingerman and his cycling accessories become so hot he had to start moonlighting. I hope you all received your invitation to The Best of Bling!

In 2009, there was a rumor circulating that I did not do any racing. Below is photographic evidence that those rumors were false. Good Job Patrick!

Last but not least I have never received an answer to the question "What is Dave doing to Blingerman in this photo?" Inquiring minds want to know.

Thanks for the memories boys and girls and if anyone has anything to add, please email me or just share your 09 thoughts in the comment section.

Enjoy the Ride!

Nice Ride, Nice Kits!

2009-12-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I've probably seen the the sunrise from Gibralter Road well over 100 times but I'll tell ya it never fails to "wow" me. The views on our MTB ride today were absolutely spectacular. We're so spoiled to live in such a beautiful place and lucky that we're healthy enough to take advantage of the terrific riding opportunities that are right outside our doors. Too cool.

Little smaller turnout today but we had a solid group and had another great ride on the front country trails. I think a few people were tired from doing the Thacher loop on Saturday and opted to take it easy today. It's all good.

Hope you're all enjoying the new kits. I know I'm stoked. The new shorts are definitely a major upgrade and look great, and I think the White kits turned out really nice as well. When I first saw them in the bag I wasn't sure, but seeing them on the road I really like 'em! I know some people expressed concerns about sizing. If you feel like your kit just won't work, option 1 would be to try and exchange with Dave for a different size. We did buy extra kits. Option 2 would be to express your concerns to Dave in writing and if we have a number of people with sizing issues, he can forward those concerns to Garneau and they may be willing to replace some items if necessary. Option 3 would be to call Robert Ramirez's home phone and leave a really long and nasty message on his answering machine insulting his manhood and questioning his sexuality. It won't fix your problem, but it might make you feel a little better.

Please remember that noone is making money off of the kits. Dave puts a lot of time and effort into ordering, organizing and distributing the kits as well as fronting the $30,000.00 necessary to place this order and he doesn't make a dime. In addition, everyone of the sponsors on the jersey is also one of your teammates and they not only bought their kits just like you. But they also put in extra money just so that we can all do fun team events throughout the year and support local bike friendly organizations. Sometimes it's easy to forget that the names on the jerseys aren't just big companies, they're actually your friends and riding buddies. So here's a list of our 2010 sponsors and the riders attached to them.

Fastrack Bicycles Dave Lettieri
The Towbes Group Craig Zimmerman
SB Aircraft Management Bill McBride
COCOON Jeff Bermant
Howell, Moore, & Gough Joe Howell and Kim McDaniel
Jed Hirsch Construction Jed Hirsch
WORKSHOP Architecture Mark Wienke
David Jurist Construction David Jurist
TELEGRAPH Brewing Co. John Nygren
Meridian Group Robert Ramirez

Please support these companies when you can, and when you wear your jersey, which hopefully is often. Be a nice person...........have fun........ and smile a lot!

Thanks so much for joining this group and I look forward to riding with all of you in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Matt

Ride 12-06-09

2009-12-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hello,

I have to say that was one of the best rides we've ever done. We discovered new trails. Re-discovered old trails and had a blast while getting our butts kicked by some of the steepest climbs imaginable and, as Dave would say "tearing up some singletrack dude!"

West Fork was a total surprise. the trail is in fantastice shape and many sections have been re-worked to make it much less death-defying and more rideable. Riding up East Fork was a challenge but the scenery was top notch and well worth the effort. We discovered a great little trail that connects the Romero Catway with the lower part of the Romero singletrack trail....very cool. This was one of those rides where there's a lot of hooping and hollering and guys yelling "Yeah, this is awesome!" and "Wow, that was cool!" Of course that was on the descents. On the climbs there was also a lot of yelling but I'm unable to write some of the words that were used. Suffice it to say there were a lot of four letter descriptive adjectives and exclamations. But in the end everyone was happy and had that natural high going on that you can only get from working your ass off and accomplishing your goal. Speaking of accomplishing goals I hope all our marathon friends did well?......Robert, Gabe, Joe, Nikola....am I missing anyone? Waiting for race reports and results. Sorry I wasn't out there with ya.........but not that sorry.

Mike Abbott rode exceptionally well today. I think he may be part mountain goat. I've never seen his parents but I wouldn't be surprised if one of them has bucked teeth...... and horns. Dano is a new man on his brand new Ibis machine, and as he said he can "feel the money" when he rides it. Doyle was making excuses for not finishing as soon as the ride started but he ended up sticking it out and did the whole thing and still had a smile on his face at the end....nice work. Dave pretty much lives at the shop or on his bike and he's not used to walking or hiking. So the hike-a-bike sections really took their toll on him. It always fun to see Dave suffering. He almost opted out right at the end but he hung in there and discovered his new favorite section of trail. Luke also suffered his way through "almost" the whole ride. He did all the hard parts anyways. So if you need anything done to your bike, today is good day to bring it in. I have a feeling Luke is going to be very productive today. To everyone who rode today, great job! That was an epic!

Ride stats: 4 hours 20 minutes...........only 28 miles........5,025 ft. of "hard earned" climbing............10 tired but happy dudes.

See ya next weekend.....if the weather allows?

Matt

Thanksgiving Day Dirt Fun!

2009-12-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we had another 1st time for the Chicken Mtn bike group.
We thought it would be fun to try a little true downhilling. So the hardcore group pictured below (plus Luke who took the picture) decided to climb Romero and add the connector trail off to the left at the top of Romero that puts you out on Camino Cielo. As we headed over toward Cold Spring Trail I thought a few would decide at the last minute to drop down Gibralter and miss the run. All 10 said they would give it a go. Most started looking worried as I brought out the skin and arm
guards. Someone replied, we are riding, not playing hocky. I think
Luke and Jonathan were the only 2 who had been down the trail in the last 10 years. Luke wanted others to go first so he could get the action on the handlebar camera. We will have a little video up on youtube soon where you can see Ian flip over and Alfredo and Big Rob
tear it up. I was very happy to have the body armor as I tested them
out with a good flip over early on the decent. We all made it down in one piece. I think Alfredo has found his calling. Luke had a great time finally riding a CR ride where everyone didn't have to wait for
him :) I have to say doing a real downhill where you have to
concentrate for over 30 minutes kicks you butt, hampstrings, calfs, arms and hands. Not a great trail for 29ers, or bikes when you can't lower your seat. Next time Downhill Bike! More when we get the video.

Dave

Ride Report 11-22-09

2009-12-30T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Wow, that was awesome! Without a doubt Snyder Trail and Camuesa Connector are two of the best singletrack trails anywhere. We had a nice turnout again today with 8 riders finishing the whole enchilada but many more joining us for segments along the way. Luke and Jonathon drove to Paradise Road and rode up Snyder Trail to meet us at the top and they timed it perfectly. I was lucky that Luke's car was parked at the bottom 'cause one of my cleat bolts fell off my shoe and I would have been unable to unclip for the rest of the ride but Luke was decent enough to give me one of the bolts off of his shoe when he got back to his car and saved my butt...thanks Luke! A few riders skipped the Camuesa Loop and rode back up Arroyo Burro Rd. I like to hear from you guys how that worked out?...Bill, Philip? Brett Hall and Dave Jurist did the Camuesa Connector trail but then turned back and climbed Arroyo Burro as well. How did that go guys? I think that might have actually been the harder way to go from that point?........what did you guys think?

Both Snyder and Camuesa were in excellent condition. Pretty much perfect. We ran into Mark Mittermiller and Bob Nisbet on their way up Little Pine which was kinda funny. No flat tires and no crashes that I'm aware of so things couldn't really have gone much smoother. We got lots of laughs talking about that video that Pete Sproul sent out. "You're such a dick!"......."What?"........"I said I like your kit!"

The views and weather were spectacular. By the time we hit the base of Angostura everyone was just looking forward to getting to the top so the talking stopped and everyone went into their own little pain cave for an hour or so 'till we hit the summit. As Dano was lifting his bike over the barrier at the top of the road his hamstring locked-up and he was screaming in agony. Fortunately, I was quick enough with my camera this time and I got a couple good shots of him for your enjoyment. He rode like an animal today though, as did Matt Perry, Dave, and Blinger. I'm pooped but that ride is a classic that definitely leaves you with a big smile on your face......and a big red mark on your butt after 6 hours in the saddle!

Can't wait to do it again!

Matt

Solvang Ride 11-15-09

2009-12-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

We enjoyed a great ride around Solvang today. Having the group split at Painted Cave and then re-group at the bottom of Stage Coach worked great. Everyone was able to ride at their own pace and we got the whole group back together before turning on to 154 with minimal waiting. We lost Kim McDaniel to the wolves with a double puncture but fortunately he had a ride waiting for him in Buellton. The weather was pretty much perfect and the danish's in Solvang were delicious.

Aaron Baker is a beast and I spent a lot of time drafting behind him and taking advantage of his strong ( and hairy) legs. Pete Clements got himself up and over the climbs and rode well. Alfredo showed up even though he raced on Saturday. It was nice to see David Larsen and Brett Harrison....at least for the first half of the ride. Total ride time for me was a little over 5 hours, covering 89 miles, 5,900ft of climbing and 1 very tasty apple fritter. We definitely need to do that loop more often. Great views, great roads. Rest up this week, because we've got a big, challenging, and otherwise AWESOME mountain bike ride planned for next Sunday which will include arguably the two best singletrack trails in the area....and plenty of climbing as well. So secure your fun-pass now!

See ya soon,

Matt

Here are some fun videos!

2009-12-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

Update On The Thompson Case

2009-11-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

As some of you have no doubt heard, the jury has reached a verdict in the Thompson case. The jury found the defendant guilty on all seven counts charged:
- Count 1: Reckless Driving Causing Specified Injury (victim: Ron Peterson)
- Count 2: Battery with Serious Bodily Injury (victim: Ron Peterson)
- Count 3: Battery with Serious Bodily Injury (victim: Christian Stoehr)
- Count 4: Reckless Driving (victims: Patrick Watson and Josh Crosby)
- Count 5: Assault with a Deadly Weapon (victim: Ron Peterson)

NOTE: The jury also found that the defendant had committed a Special Allegation of "Causing Great Bodily Injury"

- Count 6: Assault with a Deadly Weapon (victim: Christian Stoehr)

NOTE: The jury also found that the defendant had committed a Special Allegation of "Causing Great Bodily Injury"

- Count 7: Mayhem

If you are unaware of this case and the verdict I copied some links below for you to review.
The range for the defendant is anywhere from probation to 10 years in prison and the District Attorney is anticipating that the defense will submit a boatload of letters to the judge and/or the probation department on his client's behalf. Please, if anyone from the community who has views on the sentencing you are also allowed to write the judge and/or probation officer.

As the defense will probably argue that no one else's opinion is relevant to this defendant, the District Attorney will indicate that we are offering letters toward the issue of general deterrence, in other words, simply because the defendant was in his car does not change the blunt nature of the unmitigated assault on the cyclists and that drivers everywhere must become aware that they have to share the road. To that end, anyone who would like to contribute a letter or an e-mail may send it to the District Attorney's office (below) or to the District Attorney herself, her e-mail address is also below. She will package all the letters and e-mails for us and submit them with her motion so the judge gets them all at once instead of a slow trickle. She plans to file the motion at the end of next week so it would be great if she had the letters/e-mails by then. And, yes, the more, the better.

Please address your letters appropriately, like we were able to touch on in court, which is that cyclists are not some alien breed of monsters that are claiming the streets, but regular people, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, police officers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers.... So, if anyone is writing a letter, it would be nice if you could begin with an identifying fact such as what your occupation is and that you are a motorist and a cyclist. I truly appreciate everyone's commitment to this request and I hope you all feel the same as I do in making sure the defendant serves his appropriate time in prison for all 7 counts the jury found him guilty on and not just a slap on the wrist and probation. Please make your voice heard as I spent a great deal of my own personal time throughout this entire process and because I'm passionate about trying to make our community a better place to ride our bikes. Also, please forward on to your cycling community and make your voice heard throughout your area. This has resulted in National attention and the more letters from across the country the louder our voice will be heard.

Thank you,
Patrick Watson
pawatson@verizon.net
310.463.1131
Mary Stone
E-mail Address:
mstone@da.lacounty.gov
District Attorney's Office
Attn. Mary Stone
11701 S. LaCienega
Los Angeles, CA 90045
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7096514
http://www.myfoxla.com/dpp/news/local/driver_convicted_in_bicyclist_collision_20091102
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=674b6ba3-5bff-405b-b986-e806303a3057&cat=bf8d86ad-07d4-46d7-a6d3-6ddeece6d891&src=front

http://cbs2.com/video/?id=118385@kcbs.dayport.com
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/11/jury-reaches-verdict-in-cycling-case.html
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Doctor-Guilty-Cyclists-Christopher-Thomas-Thompson-68750672.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/02/AR2009110203244.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyclist3-2009nov03,0,761131.story
http://bicycling.com/blogs/roadrights/2009/11/05/justice-served/
http://www.velonews.com/article/99827/the-explainer---doctor-behaving-badly
http://da.co.la.ca.us/mr/110209b.htm
http://redkiteprayer.com/?tag=christopher-thomas-thompson
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/11/03/Doctor-convicted-of-injuring-cyclists/UPI-62971257260121/
http://capistranoinsider.typepad.com/the_sheriffs_blogger/2009/11/jury-convicts-former-physician-in-mandeville-canyon-road-bicycle-crash.html

Divide Peak!

2009-11-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Here are a few shots from this mornings MTB ride. Another great turnout today! Seems like this Mountain Bike thing is catching on. Brian Bermudes and Brad Jellison came out of hibernation to join us for awhile which was nice, and Shaun Condon finally made a Chicken Ranch ride. Hopefully, we'll be seeing a lot more of all three of those guys. Chris Brown only flatted once today which is a vast improvement from his usual 6 or 7 flats. Of course nobody stops to help him anyways so it doesn't really affect the rest of us. Dave Lettieri actually crashed today which is an extremely rare occurrence, so I feel lucky that I got to witness it. Nothing too serious...just a front tire washout on the Divide Peak fireroad.....but very entertaining! It's good to see Dave with a little dirt on his jersey now and then. Matt Perry and "new guy" Aaron pretty much dusted everybody up the climbs but for the most part we kept the group pretty tight.

Great views of Jameson Reservoir and the coastline from up on the Ridge. Nick and his buddy Brom went to go check out Blue Canyon trail so I'm interested to hear how that trail looks for future adventures. Looking forward to seeing all you next Sunday for more off-road fun!

Matt

Mercury Mine Recap!

2009-11-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

Hello Eveyone,

We had a great ride this morning to the Gibralter Mercury Mine and back. Spectacular weather with breathtaking views and good company......that's hard to beat.

We had another fantastic turnout with I believe 24 riders starting out the ride at the base of Gibralter. I saw a lot of new faces and a few old faces making it out as well. Mitch Karno finally showed up on a dirt ride. John Bostwick came out of retirement and showed he's still got plenty of life left in his legs. Randy showed up, Susie Willett, Mark Weinke and David Jurist made it... as well as a bunch more. Paul Donohoe, Dave, Robert Ramirez, and Alfredo were all sporting brand new bikes too! Roberts new Trek Top Fuel with XX and 2X10 is a thing of beauty, and it gave him those "new bike legs" you see when someone rides better than they ever have just because they're all jacked-up about their new ride. Usually, that only lasts for a week or two. I'm hoping that's the case 'cause Ramirez is tough to be around when he's riding well. Paul D. broke in his new bike by crashing on the descent down Angostura and almost taking Dano with him. A bent brake lever and a few scratches is all it really cost him. A couple flat tires, and a broken chain rounded out the list of mishaps. As usual with a big group it's a little tuff to keep everyone together but we had most of the group intact as we began the final climb up Angostura. I can't really tell you how everyone else was feeling because by the time I got to the top I was so tired my field of vision had been reduced to about 3 feet in front of my face and all I could think about was an ice cold Coke and a sandwich. I hope everyone made it out and back home in one piece. The views coming back down Gib were incredible! Total ride time about 4:15:00 Distance 37 miles with around 5800 feet of climbing.

All in all a fantastic way jumpstart the new month. We'll have another fun route planned for next Sunday. So clear the calendar and tell your secretary to hold all calls. See you next Sunday!

Matt

Ride For The Roses 09

2009-10-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Ride Report: Ride for the Roses....
For those who don't know, the Ride for the Roses is an annual event
put on by the Lance Armstrong Foundation in Austin. This event has
turned into the season finally if you will to the Livestrong Challenge
ride series held throughout the year in a few select cities. The
event started as a group of Lances friends wanted to do a ride to
honor Lance's return to riding after cancer treatments.
Now 13 years later its a tradition that inspires people effected by
cancer to both fundraise and enjoy a weekend of festivities in Austin
hosted by Lance and his foundation. This was the 9th year for me.

Some observations:

We did ride 90 miles in under 4 hours. There are no mountains in Texas
but when the pace gets hard after 70 miles is still easy to get
dropped by Lance and the entire Trek/Livestrong under 23 team.

Just because I finished with Dave Weins (Leadville 100 mile Mountain bike winner 6 times), doesn't mean I could finish that event.

Mellow Johnny's (Lances Bike shop) is really a clothing store that disguises itself as a bike shop.

I finally met someone who could leave an event and get home faster than me..

Dave L

Sunday Urban Assault

2009-10-28T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hello,

We had another great ride today! I hadn't been up Powerlines since the fire.....It was like being on another Planet! Didn't recognize a thing. Our ride today had it all.....climbs, flats, singletrack, fireroad, fancy houses, cardboard boxes, oceans, creeks, lakes, you name it..we saw it. Check out the pictures.

Aaron Olsen (the pro) was kind enough to make an appearance. When we were finished he didn't have a speck of dirt on him and he looked fresh as a daisy. The rest of us, who had hung in there for 4+ hours were covered in mud and sweat and near death. We came to the conclusion that when you turn pro you must be given a secret "repellent spray" that keeps you looking fresh and clean on long rides....there's no other way to explain it.

Ken Doyle made another appearance on his mountain bike and performed well....outlasting some of the "mountain men" on the team. David Jurist crashed before we even got started but then redeemed himself by not crashing again and completing the entire ride. Randall Tinney showed us that he may have actually earned his Leadville Belt Buckles instead of just buying them......but I'm still no 100% convinced. Blingerman showed off his new impossibly light hardtail 29er and kept pushing the pace just to show us how fast it is....and yet a good time was had by all!

Looking forward to seeing you all next Sunday for the "Mercury Mine" ride. Should be an epic!

Matt

Enjoying the Front Country Trails!

2009-10-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Great ride today! Awesome turnout...more riders than some of the races I've done! A couple new faces, Alfredo did his first MTB ride ever and did great. Heather showed up and impressed everyone with her skills. Luke's pal Jonathan made his first appearance as well and is clearly a skilled rider.....I think it was Fastrack Greg"s first time on one of our MTB rides as well. Plus a lot of the old regulars were back on their bikes......great group.

No major injuries to report that I'm aware of so that alone makes the ride a success. Trails were in great shape and the weather was beautiful....not a bad way to start the day!

I attached a few photos to make the rest of you jealous

See ya next Sunday for sure!

Matt

Dave Says!

2009-10-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Check out the tire change

One night only...
...it will be at the Arlington on Thursday night

Don't Try This!

2009-10-12T10:27:00.001-07:00

Gran Fondo- Fun With Levi!

2009-10-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Images are here
Just a quick GranFondo update,

Think of a century ride that has the Gibraltar loop in it with the
Camino Cielo section twice as long. Amazing roads, amazing views with
the best paved decent you have ever seen followed by a 30 mph tailwind
along the coast. If that's not enough at 75+ miles throw in a shorter
version of Old San Marcos climb. I was happy riding in my 34-28 on
alot of climbs... The pros finished under 5 hours. After Levi pulled
for the first 50 miles, he pulled off to socialize in a couple of the
rest areas. It was one of the most organized and well attended "fun
rides" we all ever attended. The Chickens finished from 5:12
(Craig), 5:26 (me) and everyone else was close behind. More from the
others..

Dave

fastrack@mindspring.com
http://www.fastrackbicycles.com/

http://granfondo.smugmug.com/2009/Carson-Blume/9744543_eqGpz#669502585_48VP7

Thank you,
Carson Blume
Carson Blume Photography, Owner
Digital Capture Systems, Owner Digital Production
Women's Cycling Magazine, Co-Founder / Photo Editor
Cat4Pro.com, Coming soon
888.680.2276

It was long.

The highlight for me was watching Lettreri try to pump up Bob Roll's
rear tire at the start and another guy walks up and says, "I can help.
I'm a bike mechanic." He then proceeds to try to pump the tire up and
stops and says, "He needs a new tube." At which point Lettreri gets to
say, "It's a tubular." Priceless.

Other highlights:

1. Levi seemed stronger than most of the other riders.

2. I felt a bit gypped. It turned out it was only 102 miles but they
advertised 103 miles. Maybe they made up for it by advertising 6,500
feet of climbing when it was really 8,900 feet of climbing.

3. The course was perfectly marked. You knew right where to go. All
hazards were marked including steep downhills.

4. Levi's wife is 18 inches taller than he is. She also descends into
oncoming traffic. It must be a Euro thing.

5. Axel Merckx couldn't try hard enough to avoid me. In our little
pack I kept sneaking up next to him trying to start a conversation. I
now hate him also.

6. Bob Roll was the best. A pick-up truck honked at us and he yelled
back, "Bunch of retards".

7. I've never seen so many people walking their bikes up a hill. The
hill from Highway 1 back to Santa Rosa was unbelievably steep. It's
used in the AMGEN Tour. The street was still painted with "Basso
Cheat". My group got a big chuckle out of that one.

8. Lettreri has mellowed in his old age. We were supposed to meet
outside of the hotel at 7:20. At 7:23, Mitch and Nikola still were not
out with us and Lettreri was actually calmly waiting for them.

9. We at breakfast at 6:15 am two hours before the ride. The majority
of the other riders were already in their chamois. Assuming they
finished their ride around 3 pm, that would be a 9 hour chamois day.
That can't be healthy.

10. Thanks to Carson for getting lots of pictures of me coming out of
the port-o-potty.

11. At the end of the ride there was no water or food.

12. Friden arrived back at the hotel after the ride to shower. No more
than 5 minutes later Lettreri's truck jams out of the parking lot to go
home with Friden in it. We imagined Friden was still in his towel with
shampoo in his hair sitting in the back of the truck. Maybe Lettreri
hasn't mellowed with age.

13. Lettreri has his name written all over his jersey and I still don't
know how to spell it.

14. No fewer than 5 people asked me if we are sponsored by a brothel.

15. I suck at descending. My deep dish carbon wheels really helped in
the strong cross winds. Great equipment choice. Next time I think I
might bring my disc wheel.

16. Jurist is the best to travel with.

17. Dano, Jurist and I had dinner with my old LA riding buddies. Back
in the day they used to dominate bike racing. They finished this ride
in 7 hours. I guess some things change.

18. Everyone wearing a Levi Gran Fondo jersey walked their bike up at
least one hill. Don't buy the ride jersey! It slows you down.

19. Who won the polo field sprint on Sunday?

20. At mile 95, they had you turn off the well paved road onto a gravel
bike path. True story. The sign said don't worry, it's only 1 mile
long. Only 1 mile? Try riding on rocky gravel for 1 mile after already
being in the saddle for 5 hours. Two of the local pros who had been
pulling my group for oh, about 2 hours straight, flatted on the gravel.
Sweet. I beat them.

21. I suck at descending. I was so bad I needed to say it twice.

Thanks to Lettreri for getting me my entry. I'd like to do more of
these rides.

Bling.

1. No Problem on the porta pot shot!
2. I think I would have been less wiped if I had done the ride than shot it.
3. Welcome to NORCAL!
4. Levi's wife beat Dave, and kicked Allison Sterns but down the hills and most of the guys, that is hot!
5. Could we get sponsored by a brothel?
6. We, David Walls and my self, on the moto also got waived onto the dirt path, that was "fun"
7. tubular! that is priceless!

Thank you,
Carson Blume
Carson Blume Photography, Owner
Digital Capture Systems, Owner Digital Production
Women's Cycling Magazine, Co-Founder / Photo Editor
Cat4Pro.com, Coming soon
888.680.2276

The list has gotten exhaustive, but let me add:
Great photo #158 Paul next to Levi. Great job just to get that close to him, let alone timing it with Carson to be there. Dave seemed to be more preoccupied with riding next to Levi’s wife and the other blond pro. Other reports:

1. Bling, the people you saw walking up the final climb were the medio fondo riders who had ridden only about 25 miles up to that point. By the time I got to there, it was all gran fondo riders, and to my amazement no one was walking even though that seemed to me to be the more sensible thing.
2. I was just lucky that I was able to shower and get a towel around me. Last one back rides home in a wet towel.
3. Mitch spent most of the ride taking in the amenities at the rest stops and he still beat me in.

-Friden

Hats off to Dave for orchestrating the "Great Train Robbery" start strategy. After getting the distinct feeling that the 2 by 2 start of the ride might take several hours to accomplish, Lettieri gets our group to stage around the corner from the start in front of a fire station. There was already a large group there and we figured they were interested in the same "drop in". Turns out they were the marshals for the ride, but were cool enough to recognize the incredible athleticism and riding savvy that a whore house cycling team represents (not to mention that Blinger had already built a reputation as a Santa Rosa bar fighter) and allowed us to stay put. Dave went back to the start, glad handed his way to the front of the pack and as they came around the corner starts yelling for us to jump in. Thusly, we were excused from the mayhem, shouting and carbon crunching sounds heard a ways back in the field.

As far as the best to travel with, it's an old story: easy trumps pretty.

David

Here is a little video from my Fondo experience... it's on You tube.
(shot on my iPod Nano, produced on iMovie)
------ look for Dave's cattle call: "go go go" - Priceless.

Mark

Cross Season Has Begun, Go Kimberly!

2009-10-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

So where are the reports from the GranFondo?????????? Please let those of us who couldn't go know how it went!

This chickenette went down south for another day of crossin'. It was a really fun day. The course was awesome, having grass, sand, turns beyond belief, dirt, stairs, barriers, gravel runups, etc. It was the largest women's field in a so-cal CX race to date, with over 40 starters in the combined 3/4 and 35+ fields. I had a bad start, and spent most of the day chasin. I was a good little chaser, picking off rider after rider, and by the end of the 2nd lap, only 3 were in front of me. I even caught the stragglers of the M45+/55+ who started a minute or 2 in front of us. However, I never did catch the top 2, and ended up in 3rd. I felt great about my fitness and the course, although I did manage to pull a quad while running, and I was too sore to double up and do the 1/2/3 race.

It was a good day for Santa Barbara 'crossers. I carpooled down with local Echelon junior, Somersby Jenkins and her mom, Avalon. Somer won the 3/4 race (yes, I was beaten by a 16 year old girl) and Avalon was 2nd in the 35+!!!! So we floated on home afterwards.

Cross is really really fun...do try it!

And I can't wait to hear about the Gran Fondo!

kimberly

Labor Day Fun!

2009-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

I've attached a couple photos from the OSM/Knapps MTB outing with myself, Matt Perry and Mike Abbott on Labor Day.

We enjoyed 5000' of climbing, AND descending :-), doing 26 miles in just under 4 hours, which is an interesting contrast to a typical lake ride with 3000' of climbing over 65 miles in just about the same chunk of time.

Ride On!

Paul

My Last Race Report of 2009 (I think!)!!! from Sept 9th

2009-09-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

I know you were all wondering why I was absent from the weekend and holiday rides...but at least I was riding my bike! I went to the Bay area for the weekend to do some visiting and riding, and a little bit o racing, too. Saturday was dirt (mountain, on a retro NO suspension mountain bike...), Sunday was a little warm up ride, and today was il Giro di San Francisco, a fun little crit held near fisherman's wharf.

And contrary to most San Francisco weather, today was beautiful, with not a cloud in the sky, and warm temps! It was a great day for a bike race.

About 18 people toed the line for my race, which was a straight W3. I recognized some of the folks from various races of the past, and knew there were some strong girls in attendance. I was the only so-cal
representative. The course was a 6 corner L-shaped course. The pavement was a bit bumpy, but it was a fun course, one little power bump, 2 downhill turns, and a wide safe course.

My race started pretty mellow, but there were lots of primes so things went crazy early. Having no teammates, I was just patrolling the race, sitting around and not doing too much. I went for the Rudy Project
glasses prime....but alas some girl decided to nearly take me out, and I had to sit up. It had the effect of making me angry...and I continued to be angry every time I had to brake in those downhill turns!

People were getting too excited about sprinting, and there was some sketchy behavior. I ended up not really worrying about the primes, just about not getting taken out. Anyway, partway through a girl got a little gap
but no one seemed to be worried so I just sat. Sure enough, she couldn't hang, and got swooped up 2 laps later. With 3 to go, a few people tried some attacks, and it was easy to cover everything.

Then the NorCal series leader attacked, and she looked strong. I went, and quickly got her back. I sat on with 2 to go, and when the pace got high, I noticed people hurting. Surprisingly, my legs were just waking
up and I felt really good. I decided to go for it. I was third wheel around the 1st downhill corner, and then on the last corner, I opened it up and took the inside line hard. Second wheel attacked, but since I was inside, I had a clear line, and I just stood up and went around her and never looked back. Just like SLO, I was still accelerating over the line (only this one was slightly uphill).... I kept it on full gas, waiting to see someone challenging, but it never happened, and I won!

After the race, I was chatting with some of the racers, who I must say were all very friendly and nice. I asked one girl how she did and she said she finished third. Then she quickly added, "but I was WAY behind you....when you went it was like I was standing still". I guess I won by 3-4 bike lengths. I would have done the 1-2-3 race, but I had a 5.5 hour drive ahead of me, and I needed to get on the road.

Anyway, I am now declaring my road season OVER! I didn't race too much this year, but I am thrilled with the way things have ended up. A couple easy weeks, and then it's on to CYCLOCROSS!!!!!! Bring it on!

Happy Labor Day! I saw a couple of Echelon riders up there, as well as

Aaron Long. I left before his race so I don't know how he ended up.

Jeannette Candau of Echelon (who just started racing this year, and bought my old race bike...) won the W4 race in grand style as well, so the locals showed those NorCal folks we are strong!

Cheers,

Kimberly

Ironman Canada (Aug 31st)

2009-09-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Team Chicken:

Congrats on what sounds like a good day of racing in extreem conditions.

Here is my "late" race report from Ironman Canada - conditions were not much better here: 33 degrees (let's see that's 33 x 9/5 + 32 = about 92 degrees), 112 mile time trial in about 5:50, slow marathon in about 4:20, 11:46 overall (that's a long time to be out in the heat), good enough for top 15% of my age group.

Thanks to Chicken Ranch and Fastrack for all the support and help this year. I am looking forward to another good year to come. May be I will get brave enough to try a bike race again?

Keep riding and stay safe!

Lee "Tri Geek" Carter

Sis-f'in-hot (Aug 30th)

2009-09-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

So... you know you have been blindsided by the "curse of the oily chain" when even your reading material focuses you on the obscenity and obsession generated by riding and racing (albeit feebly in my case) bicycles. A friend who has cycled various continents and worked as a bicycle messenger suggested a book to me recently titled "Need for the Bike" by Paul Fournel. The book is a retrospection and confessional of sorts which takes a cyclocentric view of the world from atop the saddle. It doesn't hurt that the author is a member of a French avant garde writing group and cultural attache to the Egyptian embassy, which is to say that it is no sentimental journey, but a philosophical and economically written piece of literature. Where my knowledge and experience of biketopia is narrow and recently convened, he has the advantage of springing from the womb with a chainring mark on his leg and a silver down tube shifter in his mouth, following his cycling father on long rides out from their village in France as a boy, which brazes his fate to the spinning pedals. Heroes of his childhood are now cycling legends and his years are marked by frames and groupsets, each recalled as mile posts on the path of an exquisite journey to a "self" shaped by riding a bike for its simple, profound pleasure. But I digress. I had been struggling to come up with an appropriate way to describe the experience of "Sis-scorch" on Saturday and, of course, this book had it in spades. How else to describe the unconscionably brutal meeting of 110 degree heat, asphalt and a bike race than to say I met the "Witch with Green Teeth" (le bonk) up close and personal. Some from our fool hardy group fared well: Nick "Platinum No More" Davis broke away in a group of 6 (down to three at the finish) to get second in the 5A group, Matt "Soon to be Platinum" Perry charged out from the 4's in a break to get 3rd, Paul "my bike is gold so there is no Platinum joke here" Donahoe sashayed his way to 12th. Mike Abbott clocked his first road race at 19th and I was 20th, although I am really not sure any of it happened as much of the 2d lap seemed like a mirage/dream, nearly puking, heart attack inducing slog through gelatin thick air on concrete tires or, to be economical, like I met the Witch with Green Teeth......

David Jurist

Stumpgrinder Update! (from August 25th)

2009-09-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

With all due respect to Kimberly and Chicken, I must say that there might
have been a more enjoyable way to spend your Saturday....... You could have
made the short trip to enjoy Mike Hecker's Stump Grinder Dirt Club XC race
in Los Olivos.

Since Hecker is still working on perfecting his marketing techniques, the
numbers were low enough to allow all cats and ages to go off in one mass
start. Yes, Pro through beginners of all ages went off at once, staged in
descending order of Cat. This led to the only real downside of the event,
because the dry conditions and big field size meant things were crazy dusty
for the first mile or so. There was a long stretch where I couldn't see
anything except Fastrack's back tire and I was just hammering ahead on faith
(thanks for not running us off into a ditch or a bull by the way, Dave).

Other than the pig-pen effect on the start, the event and weather were
nearly perfect. The laps went opposite direction on much of the usual
Firestone course, with each loop being just over 8 miles and 900 feet of
climbing. It was about 50/50 fireroad vs really fun well groomed single
track. There were a few fun new sections thrown in that I had not ridden at
previous events, but it all seemed new in a way, due to the backwards
effect. Beginners did 2 laps, sport class 3 and Experts/Pros 4 laps.

We had 4 + 1 Chickens all racing Sport. We made a show of force hanging
pretty well together for much of the first lap before Fastrack and Nick
Davis eventually dropped Iron Mike Abbott, Big Rob Higgins and myself like a bad habit toward the end of lap 1. (BTW - Nick Davis, the +1 Chicken, was looking good in CR colors now that his signing by Chicken has been approved by the league commissioner)
Not far into lap 2, Iron Mike did his best Alberto Contador impression,
leaving his embittered domestiques, Rob & I, in the dust to fend for
ourselves half-way up a wind-swept Col.....

In the end, after 24+ miles and 2700 feet of climbing, the Chickens put up
some respectable results. Two of us even came away with prize money (at
least enough, or maybe nearly enough, to cover a Tri-Tip Ranch Burrito).
Rob, Mike and I did cap off the race-day with lunch and refreshments back at
Cody's in town by about noon, priceless!

RESULTS (from memory)
Sport 40+
------------
Big Rob Higgins - 8th
Iron Mike Abbot - 5th
Fastrack Lettieri - 4th
Nick (don't call me Platinum) Davis - 3rd - prize $

Sport - under 40
-------------------
Paul (Formerly Freeride) Donohoe - 2nd - BIG prize $, see attached

I strongly encourage anyone who can possibly make it (even if you've never
raced MTB before) to come out to represent Team CR at the Stumpgrinder
Summer Race Series Final on Sept 12. ( www.ridesb.com )
A cool $35 entry fee and no racing license required. I'm not trying to be a
shill for Hecky, but rather this is the type of low-key event that I'd
really love to see thriving here locally. The racing was tough, fun,
cheap, near-by, on-time, good humored (and nobody got DQ'd, not even Rob).

Ride On!
Paul

What do you think?

2009-09-09T10:56:00.001-07:00

One of the local blogs posted a picture of a cyclist hogging the road. Check it out! I personally know the corner and it is a tough right turn that if traffic is clear I usually ride in the middle a bit to make a good turn. This is a ridiculous attempt to incite a bit of road rage if you ask me.

http://santabarbarasblog.com/?p=3884

San Ardo, or How Not To Race!

2009-08-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

While Matt was getting himself DQ'd from the triathlon for violating an unknown rule....Sarah and I went up to San Ardo to try our hand at the road race. Let's just say the highlight was visiting friends in Pismo on Friday night :-).

The weather was cooler than usual for San Ardo, which was a welcome surprise! My first negative was not sleeping much on Friday night because I was feeling poorly. The second was getting to the race to find only 7 people in my field. Those of you who know me know that I like to race in BIG fields, not so much in small ones. I guess I just don't see the point.... But I was already there, so I toed the line with the other SIX girls. They all knew each other, they were all from the norcal district. I didn't know any of them. Three were from Los Gatos BRC, 2 from Dolce Vita, and me and one other girl. The race was long. The published length was 63 miles, but in reality, the laps were longer than published, and the total distance was closer to 69....

The first 2 laps were uneventful. I did way too much work, as I just couldn't get my mind around tactics with only 6 others, and no one wanted to do any work.... if they had their way, we would still be out there racing today! On the third lap, two of the girls did a great job of blocking while the other attacked. I had to jump hard to get around the blockers on a narrow section of the course, but caught on, just in time for another one to go. I walked right into all their traps, and they did me in. I blew up and missed the break. I had 18 miles to go to mentally beat myself up over it, and I did. I put my head down into TT mode and motored. I dragged the other los gatos girl with me most of the way around. We caught up to one other girl who was shelled from the break of 3, and then I dragged both of them around. At this point, I just wanted it to be over. I thought hard about giving up the race and jumping into one of the mens races when they passed by....

Right after we passed the town, maybe 1/4 mile from the finish, one of the girls attacked, and I just sat up and let them go. I didn't feel like sprinting for 4th place out of 7, and they knew I had done most of the work. I didn't have anything left to prove, or at least my mind decided I didn't. At least I got a good workout.

I am skipping Sisquoc in the hopes of saving what little ego I have left, and going for broke at the downtown crit in San Francisco on Labor
day! :-) I really am a crit rider.....

See you out on the road,
Kimberly

S B Tri Race Report/Where's Waldo?

2009-08-25T16:47:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,

A few of you may have noticed that I'd been riding my TT bike a lot lately. In fact I rode it exclusively for two weeks straight in preparation for last weekends Santa Barbara Triathlon. I had done the long course once before and was anxious to see if I could better my time. I'd done a little swimming and fooled around with some running so I figured I was about as prepared as I was ever gonna be.

THE SWIM: My swimming is not very impressive and I always approach the swim with a "just get me outta here and put me on my bike" mentality. But I actually felt pretty good out there. Amazingly I caught a few people from the wave in front of me, and the fast guys from the wave behind me didn't catch me 'till I was past the halfway point. Goal accomplished. Confidence...High. Time: 31:54

THE BIKE: Usually, this is my favorite part. I'm so slow on the swim that there are already hundreds of people in front of me when I start the bike. It just feels good to fly by dozens of people all along the route. Even if half of them are on hybrids. Right outta the gate I knew this wasn't going to be my day. I hadn't gone a hundred yards yet and I was trying to get up to speed and put my shoes on at the same time. Apparently, I forgot to practice that step in my training and it showed. My shoe fell off...I had to turn around and ride back to pick up my shoe. I was a little embarrassed so I just kept my head down and tried to act like I meant for that to happen and get going again as quickly as possible. Once I got up to speed I settled down and was feeling OK until I tried to shift from my little front chainring to the big one and I realized my front derailleur wasn't working. I quickly realized it would be foolish to try and ride the whole course in the little ring so I got off at the top of Toro and used my fingers to put the chain back on the big ring. I was able to stay in the big ring all the way until I had to climb Toro again so I down shifted for the climb and then when I got to the top stopped again and used my greasy fingers to get back in the big ring for few remaining miles. I tried to stay upbeat but the mishaps were starting to rattle my confidence. I would work so hard to put time on someone up the climb, only to have them pass me again as I fumbled with my cave-man style shifting. "Stay calm Matt! You've still got a long ways to go!" Confidence...Low. Time: 1:28:46

THE RUN: Not much to talk about here. I ran nice and steady felt fine till about mile 6 and then realized my feet were not very happy with me for trying to run 10 miles with no socks on. I tried to block out the discomfort but then guys from my age group started passing me. They'd say things like "good job!" or "lookin' good!" but I knew what they really meant was "GOTCHA! You slow son of a bitch!" My illusions of winning my age group were now destroyed. I almost felt relief when the second guy passed me because I knew I wasn't gonna get 2nd place again! I told myself "It doesn't matter what place you get...all that matters is that you try your hardest big guy!" that worked for a little bit until the pain in my feet was impossible to ignore and I just wanted to be done. I put in a last ditch effort to catch a guy in my age group who had passed me earlier but ended up about 30 seconds behind him at the finish. I was 7th in my age group. 31st overall. Confidence...a little lower then it was when I started. Time: 1:07:24 Total Time: 3:10:15

THE AFTERMATH: I didn't bother checking the results since I knew I wasn't in the top 3 so I went home and took a nap. I figured I'd check the splits online later that night. Well, when I checked the results, my name was missing. No big deal. I figured I'd just inform them of their oversight and they could straighten it out later. My son did the short course on Sunday so after he was done I went over to the timing tent and said " Hey, when you get a chance can you check my results? I seem to have been misplaced." They asked me my number and then to my surprise informed me that I had been disqualified for a "traffic violation". What????? DQ'd!!! I was dumbfounded. I felt like I'd just been convicted of indecent exposure... or like I had just farted at a really fancy dinner and everyone heard. I asked what I did and they said "it just says traffic violation...DQ....sorry" So just like that I disappeared from the results. It's like I wasn't even there...nothing to show for my efforts...except black and blue toenails. I've sent out a few emails but still nobody can tell me exactly what I got DQ'd for. Maybe for turning around on the course to pickup my shoe? Maybe for crossing the centerline while passing? Not stopping at the intersections? Hell, maybe they got the number wrong and it wasn't me! I don't know, At least I got them to give me my time splits so my $150 bucks wasn't a total loss. The cold hard truth is I still had a blast. And I'll do it again next year once my toes forgive me. Joe Coito puts on a first class event and it's worth every penny to get out there and battle with 900 of your closest friends. Rules are rules, and I have to accept that. I just wish I knew which one I broke!

See you all soon,

Matt

NEXT!

2009-08-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

'Cross Peeps-

Training starts earlier this year!! Why? For starters, deep down we are all cross freaks at heart and suffer through the monotonous, predictable, and unfulfillingly long road season in anticipation of the real fun to begin. And let's face it, we want to hit the ground running (no pun intended) when the cross season starts so we don't get lapped by Mark Noble (God bless him).

So, with our easily quantified and pansy a$$ goals in mind, we are going to hit up the training over a month before the season starts! We will start with sessions for the first two weeks on Tuesday nights at 5:15PM (Ellwood parking lot) and will then kick it up to two sessions per week in mid August.

The plan is to start off easy for the first two weeks with a focus on basic leg work (how does this monkey motion barrier hopping thing work again?) and bike handling (what is this pesky two wheel drift action in the corners?). We will then kick in the hot laps and Ferren Road suffervals. I will be the drill sergeant and Chief PIA and Steve Bertrand will be my trusted back up when I am in Greece for two weeks working out my wimpy biceps while recollecting the art of excessive beer drinking.

First session: Next Tuesday August 11th at 5:15pm in the Ellwood parking lot. Invite your friends, enemies, frenemies, despised competitors, next door neighbors, girlfriends, boyfriends, heckling spectators, etc.. Most importantly recruit others ASAP. Suffering as much as we are going to suffer together is no fun alone....or without beer.

Pass on the word.

Yours Truly, Gary

Rick's Lost Video

2009-07-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Gang, I was just going through and cleaning out some emails when I ran across this from Rick Martz. No reason not to share it. After the Tour, I'm jonesing for more!

Hey Greg,

I have a semi-epic video of Amgen from a road-side perspective. The surroundings, the fans, some riders, me, the day as it was J And some groovy people who were across the street playing 60’s music but had a jumper cable meltdown that was hilarious when it went down … after a day of libations … it is @ 8.5 MB and a .wmv format. I had a great day but missed The Seinfeld Show go by, damm!

Best regards,

Rick

Lance's Tweets

2009-07-29T10:57:00.001-07:00

I was just looking at some of Lance's recent tweets and ran accross this.

RT @LIVESTRONG: For those that dont know about @fatcyclist story. Go to http://www.fatcyclist.com If you feel moved, write a note of sup ...

It's a pretty touching story, if you get the chance to read it.

Big Rob = Champion!

2009-07-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

Chickens and Chickenettes-

This past Sunday was the finale of the So. Cal. Series and as usual, Big Bear was beautiful. Temps in the high 70s and clear.

The course was the same as the first race but we went around it backwards. Racer turnout was moderate as I believe alot of the divisions were decided at the previous 7 races.

Chicken Ranch was represented by 1 (me) and Fastrack was there (Mark Rusin, my radiologist) and we were in the same race.

We even had strategy. I told Mark to just go as fast as he could to the top of the climb and then we would just work over any body that was left.

30 minutes of climbing later there was no body in the same zip code. We ended up finishing 1-2 in the race. After the free taco's and beer (not free), the state series results were posted and what do you know, there was Big Rob winning the whole shebang and Mark Rusin in second.

Now all I want to do is be like my hero, Dr. Kim Turner and win the State Championships so I too can wear the Bear.

Thanks to Chicken and Dave for helping me win the first thing I have ever won in my life, and to ALL the Chickens and Chickenettes. What a team we have. Thanks to God too.

Jane Says Thanks!

2009-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a message from Jane (Heal Quickly Jane)

Dear Chickens,
I'm not on everyone's CR mailing list so I've missed a lot of the messages that have come through these past couple days, but Kim's been keeping me posted. I am so touched by all your sweet comments and your wonderful words of support and encouragement. Talk about getting choked up! I was a late and tentative addition to the Chickenettes this year, but it only took one race and a few rides with you before I felt absolutely included, and it's been a ridiculous amount of fun to be part of this team. Even with my generic black shorts and my one too-small CR jersey, I definitely felt like a member of the team. Kimberly and Susie have been awesome mentors and great new friends. And it's been crazy-fun to scream "Go Chickens!" at all the races! I guess I won't be doing the Everest Challenge this year, but I hope to be all healed up and ready to race next season.

It may not be the greatest race strategy, but I've learned how fun it is to be out front in a crit so that I can hear "Jane Faulkner of Chicken Ranch" over and over on the loud speaker. It's probably some vestige of a childhood need for attention that was never met, but if hearing my name amplified and winning a few races meets that old need, then I say it's all good. I was just unlucky on Sunday.

I just got home from the hospital and am doing really well. My concussion was worse than they originally thought, but I'll go in for a few more checks and I see the ortho tomorrow about the broken bones. I'm hoping to get by without any surgery. Kim has been nothing short of amazing: besides being a stellar massage therapist and a great coach, it turns out he can also deal with a sobbing, puking woman while driving one-handed and rubbing my neck. He also does a better ponytail than I can do. I'm in good hands.

Thanks again for all your lovely messages and kind words. I love you guys.
~jane

SLO Crit, A State Champ is Crowned!

2009-07-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Hi all!

Today was the SLO crit, which was really not slo(w) at all... I got my still-coughing-but-feeling-slightly-better self up at 5:30am to drive there this morning and race the crit. Chicken Ranch had a full women's squad out there, with 5 of us toeing the line. Susie, Jane, Sarah, myself, and our newest member, Edina (Eddy), were all up for this race.

We actually had strategy, and team tactics to play, and play we did.

Unfortunately the field was more than a bit sketchy, and there were THREE crashes during the race! Things started off well, with Jane winning the first prime. The 3 of us cat 3s decided to use the 2nd prime as a practice leadout, and Susie and Jane delivered me to the line first in perfect form :-). That in hand, I was feeling pretty good for most of the race. We tried to tire people out with some attacks, and I'm happy to report that Chicken Ranch got some serious airtime!

With 2 to go, I was too far back and getting nervous about positioning, but yet again a teammate came through in the form of Sarah Patz! Sarah had raced yesterday, too, and yet still had the energy to try and help me get up where I needed to be. I found a hole, and went up front. I saw some people coming over on the outside, and Jane was 2nd wheel.

Perfect. I latched onto that train, and around the final turn we went.

With about 1.5 blocks to go I launched, and came around them both, and never looked back. Finally a victory!!!!!!! Unfortunately, the sprinting pack got a little squirrelly, however, and behind me a couple of people got together, and Jane was caught up in a crash, which took a few riders right into the barriers (this is what I heard...I didn't even know it happened until I came back around...I guess when you're sprinting for the win you lose your hearing???). So that dampened things a bit. Susie and I went to see Jane at the ER on our way home.

She was being really brave, although she has a broken wrist and cracked scapula... ouch. Please send her your good thoughts, as she raced a really awesome race today (and yesterday, too where she claimed a 4th place).

I must say, that the womens CR team really came together today, and I am really happy to have been able to deliver us a V. :-) And since it was the So-Cal State Championship, even better!

I don't know how the other Races went today, as Susie and I left rather early to go check on Jane, but I hope all was well!

As always, I'm proud to be a part of this team.

Kimberly

Way to go Kimberly and to the rest of the girls!!

We were in the staging area waiting for the 3's race when the womens race was coming through on their final lap. It was an awesome site seeing all the CR girls drilling it near the front, then seeing Kimberly driving it w/ no one being able to get around her. Kimberly "State Crit Champ" Turner :-) sounds pretty good! As for for Jane, hoping for a quick recovery. Jane's crash looked really bad.

The men's 3's race was going really good.....until the final corner. The race had a full field of 75 riders and was fast w/ constant attacks. After dodging a number of mid-race crashes, all the CR'ers found themselves in the top 10 w/ only 2 corners to go. We were all sitting in good position when the rider sitting 3rd wheel overcooked one of the final corners and took out Matt, Ben, and myself. Most of the top 10 riders got taken out. Matt was shoved into the barriers, but managed to stay upright, Ben took a flyer over the hay bails and the fence, and I went down suffering minor scratches to the body and bike. On a good note, John VanMan managed to get through the mess for a top 10 finish. We're all OK, but bummed that we were all there, but couldn't finish it off.

I saw a bunch Ranchers riding around and racing, so hopefully we'll get more race reports.

Gabriel

July 4, 2009. A small field of 20 or slightly more 55, 60+ took off shortly after 800 AM under overcast skies and cool weather at Camp San Luis. It was a bit unclear to me, but I believe 3 riders broke away individually over the first couple of laps, including our own local, Karl (or Carl?) Weber. I heard later from Karl, these three eventually joined up at some point, but at the sprint finish, Karl emerged the winner. Note; Karl is 59, top of the

55 group and will be a formidable 60+ next year.

I managed to hang with the chase group of 6-7 riders through 5 laps of the 6 lap race, but unfortunately got dropped near the top of the final hill.

Riding alone, I maintained my position until the final few yards when someone passed me, possibly a 55+, but I’m not sure.

Final result, 11th over all; 4th 60+ against some of the top 60’s. If there had been a 65+, I would have won that, but believe there was only one rider older than me. See, eventually everyone dies off ;), so the longer you can last your odds of eventually winning increase.

All in all a good day, and I liked the course very much in spite of a few well marked pot holes and ruts. No one crashed in my race to my knowledge.

Note: I had an excellent pre race breakfast at Denny’s which included two poached eggs, Oatmeal, brown sugar and milk, a large bowl of fresh fruit and a cup of yogurt for $5.99 as I recall. Needless to say, I didn’t run out of gas during the race.

Steve

Rim Nordic, Big Rob Style

2009-07-07T16:28:00.001-07:00

Hello Chickens and Chickenettes. This is the Big Rob version of the Nordic race report. First, I would like to say how nice it was to see some fellow team mates at the signup table. We were well represented and made a fine showing of true grit racing. The cat 3 race started in the cool of the morning and stayed that way for about 2 minutes then got hot. Our group strung out immidiately and after a mile it was just me and another guy.I was the better climber (no upper body, right Dano) and he would catch me descending. It was Elings Park all over again. I crashed on the last down hill and had to chase the guy down. I needed about 2 more feet of race course as the posted time was measured in 10ths of a second betweeen 1st and 2nd. After some food and oxygen, we enjoyed watching Gabe take the cat 2 to school. Congrats Gabe, it was fun chatting while we waited for the rest of the group. We saw every one come in except for Paul and thought maybe he flattted when around the final corner he came and didnt stop till he reached the medical tent. It was all macho talk until the "it might sting a little" stuff was poured over his wounds. Its been a while since i have seen that much blood on some one who was still moving. I was glad to see him walking around later but i'm bettin he did'nt work today.Mark Rusin and Mike Roberts ( both from Ojai but Chickens at heart till next year) both had podium finishes and it was traffic free on the way home. All in all it was a great experience. I am now putting out a challenge to ALL Chicken Ranchers. The 12th of next month is the last race at Big Bear before the State Championships. This is the time to get some racing in on the course. Its a very fast and beautiful race and they really put it together nicely. Lets make a great showing and show them the CR Team is not to be messed with. Lets go and get some.

Rim Nordic Part Deux

2009-07-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Awesome race Gabe! Props to Big Rob who pulled off a second place, missing the top spot by inches. And congrats to Bob, Paul and myself for ... well ... for surviving (barely).

Though Gabe's win was mighty impressive, it was rivaled only by his all-out 100 yard sprint to hand me my dropped water bottle on my second lap!

It was a tough course, probably the only course all year which required the "granny gear" to make it up the climbs. It was a lot of singletrack, very narrow, sandy terrain, just technical enough to keep you on your toes and steep. There were precious few sections of fireroad where you could grab some water or pass. And with temps near 90, lots of dust and the sun blazing through the thin 7000 ft air, the conditions were tough.

By the time the Cat 1 30-34 lined up, it was way too hot out and I was already feeling the sun and altitude. The field was small but super-competitive. Looking around at the start I realized that we had all been trading spots all season.. there was no clear winner and I could just as easily get first or last depending on my luck. About 1 hour into it, I found myself battling with the top four who were all bunched together within a few seconds (a pretty rare occurrence in MTB races). The brutally steep climbs got the better of me and the smaller riders pulled away but I kept 4th place and was satisfied that I left it all on the course after finishing 3 laps in 2:12. Bob was close behind.

After the race, I was surprised to see Gabe and Paul hanging around waiting in vain for their results to get posted. There were all sorts of screwups with the results from all categories - supposedly they gave the win in one Cat 1 race to a DNF. How hard can it be to keep track of results and post them in a timely manner? Pretty hard apparently.

As always a great time with great people. It was a lot of fun despite the "bad and ugly".

And one final note: The announcer (don't recall his name) must really love Chicken Ranch since every time we walked by, he commented "How 'bout those santa barbara chicken ranch riders and their carbon weave jerseys". Apparently we have big fans all over socal.

Some photos attached.

- matt

Rim Nordic

2009-07-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today's race had its "good, bad, and ugly". The "good" went my way with a win in the 35-39 Cat 2 race. Unfortunately, "bad and ugly" went to Paul...see the attached pics.

The race course was great. It had a lot of fun single track rollers, some steep power climbs, and some of the funniest semi-technical descents of any of the race venues. The 2 lap race started, and right from the gun, I found myself chasing after the 2 leaders that got away. Once I caught up to them, I sat 3rd wheel and followed for 1/2 a lap. We came up to a steep rocky technical climb and both riders in front of me took the wrong line up the climb had to dismount. They saw me coming up and cleared a path to let me get through. After that, I never saw them again. I felt great for most of the race, but w/ a 1/2 lap to go to the finish, my legs and body started to feel really fatigued. At that point, I was in survival mode and just tried to hold on to the finish. I came across the line w/ a few minutes on second place.

Paul's race was going good until he went over the bars and down a steep ravine on the final lap. When he came across the finish line, he was a bloody mess. After some time in the medical tent, some tears, and a few bandages, he was all better.

The most painful part of the day was waiting for the results. I knew I won, I just wanted to get my medal. We hung around waaaaay too long, but I finally got my medal, which happened to be made of plastic.

A few pics have been attached

Gabriel

A Few Elings Photos! Thanks Paul

2009-07-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

2009-06-26T17:04:00.000-07:00

Chickens – I just got off the phone with team member Bill McBride. He is up in Portland for 3 weeks, and representing the team by racing in the weekly racing series at Portland International Raceway. How cool is this – they have licensed racing every Monday and Tuesday night all summer long. Monday is Master’s racing in all Cats and Tuesday is open Cat racing. The course is 1.9 miles long and has 12 turns of perfect pavement. Bill said that the races had about 50 guys in them and he got a 6th in his first outing. Way to go Bill!

Ken

Team Ride Report 6-19

2009-06-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

What a great turnout! We started out with 40 or 50 riders. The pace to Ventura was brisk but friendly. Unbelievably, we made it down the freeway with that many riders and not a single flat tire! In fact we made it the entire 95 miles without a flat! That's a miracle! Although the ride did have it's share of mishaps.

After the lake group split off we were left with about 20 riders doin' the full monty. The Ventura boys showed us the bike friendly way to get thru town and then got us out onto some nice flat farmland. Right at the base of the Santa Paula climb we had our first "incident". Brett Harrison and Blinger crossed wheels at a stoplight and suffered a low speed crash. More of a fall over on top of each other than a crash. They both emerged unscathed and were able to continue to our first regrouping spot at the Summit Store.

I was kind of expecting sunny skies and high temperatures on the Ojai side of the mountain instead we got rained on! It wasn't heavy rain but it was rain...on Summer Solstice...go figure. Climbing up Denison grade into Ojai we had our 2nd "incident". Bob Wilcher was mashing a big gear up the climb as usual when his left pedal snaps off! Instead of crashing or falling over like a normal person he decides to be a dare devil and plays chicken with a car heading in the opposite direction! He won, but it scared the crap out of me...figuratively of course....not literally. Luckily we were close to the Testrider.com international headquarters... (Ben's house) so I offered to push Big Bob over the rest of the climb and the two miles or so along the flats to get there and switch out his pedal.......which I would have done........if I had been able to catch up to him!

So after Bob drops half the group with one leg, Ben saves the day and replaces his pedal and we're back in business. We make our way over the Casitas climbs and back into town at a nice steady tempo and we arrive back at Rusty's at 12:05 and since we left at 7:05 our ride time ends up at exactly the predicted time of 5 hours! That' a first.
95 miles, no flats, free pizza, good friends...that's a great day!
See ya soon,
Matt Benko

Support BMX @ Elings!

2009-06-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

The Meeting has been postponed but if you are in support of BMX at Elings it looks like there is a group in opposition forming. Check out their comments below.

Attention
A special village hall meeting
Wed. June 17 from 7-9 p.m.
Steen Hudson, executive director and Bruce Giffin, immediate board vice-president will present on the development plans of Elings Park. It is open to the public.

The meeting is in connection with the SAVE THE ELINGS PARK SOUTH campaign headed by Theo Kracke, our vigilant neighbor on Calle Almonte. Following is the premise of the group campaign:

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Save Elings Park South

Why the campaign?

At present, the unspoiled beauty of Elings Park south, where one still enjoys starlit night skies. is the last natural area under protection of the City of Santa Barbara.

Elings Park Foundation, however, has a huge development plan for this park area:

-a 55,000 sq. ft. BMX track with starting gates covering 1.57 acres of currently natural land;

-four 8-feet tall spectator bleachers, amplified PA system, and lights for night racing events;

-1,350 sq. ft. park office building (16-feet high);

-Individual picnic areas;

-frisbee golf course area; and

-re-zoning from “undeveloped parkland” to “regional park”

Concerned citizens are opposed to the following:

The proposed major constructions violates the S.B. County “Covenant Restricting Use” agreed to by the Park Foundation in 1999.

That year, the Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF) and the community agreed to save this part of Elings Park from any form of development for thirty years, with the Elings Foundation as steward of the land. Today, the Foundation has apparent intentions of pressing the County Board of Supervisors to extinguish this “Covenant Restricting Use” - and to develop the land. (A recorded Memorandum of Understanding between Elings Park Foundation and the City of S.Bb confirms this.)

The proposed BMX track night time operations will cause light pollution.

The current light pollution problem caused by the night time softball games at Elings north has deprived neighbors seeing stars in the sky. The proposed BMX track activity, couoled with the night security lights in the proposed park offices and parking facilities will contribute to this pollution.

The proposed amplified PA system at the BMX track will cause noise pollution.

Residents of Allan Road on the other side of Las Positas have voiced their complaints about the amplified PA system of the BMX track in its current location at Elings North. A biking event in June 2008 on Elings South reverberated trhought the Westwood Hills and Mesa Lane area of the Mesa neighborhood.

Increased use in Elings South will necessarily increase traffic in the area.

There are major safety issues at the Cliff Drive gate of Elings South.

A negative impact on its wildlife

Elings South is host to native species, such as burrowing owls, red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, songbirds, foxes, coyotes, raccoons, rabbits, skunks, reptiles, and riparian fauna. Major disturbance in their habitat will significantly reduce these wildlife.

The above proposed developments can conveniently “pave the way” for other future developments, particularly with re-zoning of the area.

Concerned citizens are in support of :

The construction of individual picnic areas

Individual picnic areas without outdoor lighting offer a nice place for families to enjoy the natural surroundings of Elings Park South

The construction of a frisbee golf course

Without outdoor lighting, a frisbee golf course is an excellent use of the natural land of Elings Park South.

Contact: Theo Kracke – HYPERLINK "mailto:theokracke@gmail.com" theokracke@gmail.com or 805-701-4221 (cell)

Joe Howell, Bringin It!

2009-06-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Originally sent 6-14-09

Following the lead of a couple of weeks ago from fellow Chicken Rancher Rookie and tri-geek Lee Carter, thought I would give my first (and perhaps last) race report. Proud to announce that I was the top SB finisher and #1 Chicken Ranch finisher at Escape from Alcatraz this morning in San Francisco. (OK, so I was one of only two SB guys who did the race this year, and I was the solo Rancher, but that is not the point is it?) One cool feature of the race is that you are racing “with” (you are on the same course, at the same time…..) with 5-10 of the top male and female triathletes in the world…..

I have done Escape from Alcatraz 7 or 8 times- different each time, in large part because the ocean and currents are wildly different each year. You get on a boat with about 2000 folks from all over the US (and world), the boat goes around Alcatraz a couple of times for effect, then you jump out- all 2000 racers probably exit within 10 minutes-bodies everywhere. At the pre-race meeting on Saturday, the swimming experts (two guys who have each done the Alcatraz to SF swim 500 times-no wetsuit!) give you suggestions on where to “aim” for the 1.5 mile swim in the Bay. This year, there suggestion would be as follows in Santa Barbara--imagine going straight out 1.5 miles from the Yacht Club, , then “aiming” at Stearns Wharf in order to end up at East Beach- that is what the current does to you. The swim leg was “slow” this year as very rough water and slower than average current.

When you get out of the water (assuming you don’t cramp up and fall down like several), you next run ½ mile to the bike transition and then do a very cool 18 mile bike course-real technical, lots of climbs and gnarly descents- had my best bike time in a while and was top 2 or 3 in my age group.

The 8 mile run is mostly off road, with lots of stairs, a low tunnel and single track climbs, then you run on soft sand out/back and up the famous “sand ladder” (which is railroad ties covered in sand, straight up a bluff).

I was 7th in my age group (30 signed up, looks like 24 finished), which I was happy with considering the big timers in my age group who came in from Colorado, Texas, etc. Fortunately, my numerous sessions of swimming “secret training” at the Tennis Club with B-Rad Jellison served me well. (Talk to him about his unique swim training techniques; the man is brilliant.)

OK, that’s it. Talk to me about signing up for the lottery for next year’s race.

Calling All Mountain Bikers

2009-06-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Originally sent 6-13-09

Matt Perry, Big Rob and I hit up the SGDC Summer series #1 today. About the opposite turnout of the PreOtter with only 15 people across all classes.

Weather was great, course was new (no middle climb/downhill); faster with more laps and there wasn’t much competition. In the Pro/Expert Field, Matt Perry rode away from the competition (me) on the first switchback climb and never looked back. I finished in about 2:28 for four laps/30 miles and Matt was probably 5-10 minutes in front of me. Smokin! Big Rob – gotta let us know how you ended up. Last I saw you were being eased into your van, holding your wrist/shoulder. Hope you are OK!

Come on out for the other SGDC races this summer. Support one of the best racing venues in all of CA (where else do you get a cash payback for sport/expert/pro classes??!). I’ve been racing MTBs for 20+ years and isn’t this what we all ask for – local venue, lots of races, varied courses and great people to race with?

The other Summer Series races are; 7/25, 8/22 and TBD.

VERY IMPORTANT (one of my favorite kinds of racing) – Wednesday Night Dirt Crit Series starting 7/1 and running weekly through 8/5. Cash payback, short, spectator friendly and a great mid-week workout.

See you all out there!
Pete

Which Kim Was It?

2009-06-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

Originally sent 6-5-09

Hi all!

So in a last minute rush, I snuck out of a reception at work, and rode over to the Sandpiper Prologue bike race. No warmup (just the 10 minute ride over), and I got there only to be told that I was too late to sign up. But thanks to my ChickenRanch connections, some serious strings were pulled, and I was allowed to start, the only catch was I had to

pretend to be Kim McDaniel, who had signed up but was not there! And

it just so happened that Kim McDaniel's start time was within a minute of this discussion....so I was called up to the line immediately. As I am waiting for my countdown, Jurist remarks "watch the gravel section and the off-camber turns" and the guy next to him said "oh, you didn't preride? Ouch." Then it was time to start. Lovely. Anyway, it was fun, but I didn't know what was coming, and therefore did not ride with my usual fearless TT spirit. The dead squirrel in the trail didn't help matters any, either! Anyway, I completed the course in due time (albeit slower than many) passing 1 guy and getting passed by David Jurist about halfway through, and almost did a good job of blocking Bart at the end (because I didn't know where the course went...) but alas he got by me anyway :-).

Anyway, my ride was good enough for first place in the women's division. I won...a round of golf at Sandpiper. Too bad I don't really know how to golf!

It was a good chicken ranch turnout, and everyone had fun. The race was really efficiently run. I hope they do it again! A lot of Ranchers did really well, so they should brag! This was sponsored by ChickenRanch and Fastrack, so thanks!

Kimberly

Chickens On The Run

2009-06-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sent 5-3-09

Hey Chickens, Here's a race report of a slightly different variety. A couple of weeks ago my team won the "Are You Tough Enough" relay race. It is a 65-mile race that starts at Toro Canyon Park in Carpinteria, goes up via Gibraltar to Camino Cielo, which it follows to Refugio Canyon, and then descends into the Santa Ynez valley where it ends at Nojoqui Falls park. Here is a picture of four of us at the top of Gibraltar waiting for our fifth runner to arrive at the handoff spot. I'm in the chicken ranch jacket. Second from the right is Eric Reynolds, who is a former high-school cross country National Champion and ran for UCLA. Scott Ingram, second from the left and Dave Saunders, far right, both ran for UCSB. It was quite interesting running a race on the course we all so often ride. Our winning time was around 7 1/2 hours. We beat the second place team by under 2 minutes. I am proud to add that everyone on my team was over 40.

See you all out on the roads, with or without a bike!

Rod

Come One Come All, Race Around Sandpiper Golf Course!

2009-05-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

So, you want to do a race?

Here is a new one that is being put on by the good ole Team Chicken Ranch, sometimes known as the B Team.

Check out the details here. GOOD LUCK!

Piru Time Trial

2009-05-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Gabe, John VanMannekessssss and I went and did the Piru Time Trial
yesterday. The Platinum Team was also represented as Jurist and Steve
Boelter showed up.

Bottom line, I will never do this race again for the following reasons:

1. They start on time. They post the results quickly. They hold the
awards ceremony shortly after posting the results. What the hell is up
with that? Having done USCF races for so many years, I am not used to
this efficiency and I refuse to capitulate to it.

2. The pre-registration line is quicker than the day of registration
line. Again, what idiot promoter treats his pre-paying customers better
than the lazy ones who wait until the last minute?

3. They time you. This is a horrible format for a time trial. The
self timed races are much better. In this format you can't deduct time
for car traffic, leg soreness, or errant wind.

4. They encourage participation, particularly from juniors and women.
As if they are trying to "grow" the sport.

5. The race staff is polite and helpful. Enough said.

6. They charge $20 and post the results on a website typed out. Utter
crap. I'd much rather pay $40 for a mountain bike race and have the
results posted in unreadable scribble weeks later.
7. When calling you to the line, they use your name. I was so
offended. I simply wanted to be referred to as #149.

Take my advice, don't do this race
Blinger.

Firestone Race Reports

2009-05-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up a bit on the reports, but these are worth the read. I enjoy sarcasm!

Race was great. They had special up close parking for locals. We all huddled in the morning cold and it was nice to have so many Chickens out there. Barney wore a wonderful Italian loafer to registration. Jelly raced Clydesdale but I will tell you there's no way in hell he's 200 lbs. I demanded a weigh in. Boxers weigh in wearing underwear. I'd like to see Jelly do the same...

Race started on-time versus Sea Otter which starts 1 hour late. I was ill-prepared for an on-time start.
Up the first climb I was in the top 10 and already we were immersed in the 35-39 class. I just don't get it. A lap takes 45 minutes so why do they start everyone in only 1 minute increments. I felt OK and tried to push it a bit without blowing up. The fast guys were gone so I settled into a pace that I could maintain.

Coming into the finish of the first lap, I thought I got lost as they had us go round and round near the pit area. What a bore. It added 1/4 mile to the course of blah. Anyhow I was riding with 1 guy from my class and the leader of the 45-49 class. I might add that the guy leading the 45-49 class who had already made up a minute on me and was beating the entire field was: (i) overweight; (ii) wearing a neoprene knee brace; (iii) riding an old piece of crap that probably weighed 28 lbs; and (iv) had the driest and rustiest chain I've ever seen. You gotta love mountain biking.

Next was the best part of the day for me. I came through the feed zone where my 13 year old son Charlie (also known as Winger) handed me a bottle and said, "Dad, way to go. I love you." As I write this, a tear literally comes to my eye. I am blessed. The rest is just boring.
I attacked the two guys I was riding with (including the overweight guy with the knee brace) and rode away. Thrilling. I didn't stick around for the results but I figure I'm somewhere in 7th. I achieved my life long goal of finally beating the crafty Spaniard, but in fairness he hasn't been training.

Also the times were very fast. I did 1:28 and each lap was the same, 44 minutes. That's faster than I did at the pre-Otter 2 weeks ago and this is a slightly longer course.

Hope everyone had fun.

Bling.

Ditto for me except please make note of the following edits:

1. Add: Cramping in the last 15 minutes of the race and watching 3 guys blow past me like I was standing still - this is not fun.

2. Replace: Blingerman's 6th with 20th for me (when he races with the kids next time, I will be joining Women's 55+. BTW - anyone know a good plastic surgeon?).

3. Insert: Speaking of underwear, why does Ramirez insist on wearing underwear beneath his bibshorts? That's just flipping wrong.
4. Insert additional highlights:

a) For a brief moment, actually thinking I was close to Blinger, then realizing it was Donoho - we had a nice chat and then I proceeded with my race.

b) Not having to lend Ramirez any chamois cream.

c) Being passed by Barney right before an off-camber decent, wondering to myself, "what the heck is he doing racing a MTB after his accident and not having ridden a MTB for 5 years?, I sure hope he doesn't crash", then watching Barney ride right off the trail and crash.

d) Coming through the feed zone and getting a hand up from Doyle who made the long haul to SY just to cheer the team on - a tear came to my eye as well but it was actually from some dust that got kicked up.

e) "Attacking" my PB&J sandwich on the way home.

f) "Racing" immediately back to SB in time for 3 hours of match play tennis with my daughter and some other parent/kid teams...yes I am a mess today!!!!

All kidding aside, a great weekend and great times on the MTB. Glad to be healthy and looking forward to upcoming Ventura SR and Elings Park MTB events.

Bill

More shots from Jesusita Fire

2009-05-10T08:38:00.001-07:00

Steve Otero and Geoff Rockwell are Crazy!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Knowles, Greg" <Greg.Knowles@fnf.com>
Date: Sun, 10 May 2009 10:28:13 -0500
Subject: Fw: More shots from Jesusita Fire
To: gregmknowles@gmail.com

Greg Knowles
V. P. Sales/Marketing
FNTG-Santa Barbara
805 259-6435

________________________________

From: Stephen Otero <stephen.m.otero@gmail.com>
To: Stephen Otero <stephen.m.otero@gmail.com>
Sent: Fri May 08 14:00:34 2009
Subject: More shots from Jesusita Fire

In case you're not aware, this fire has gotten completely out of
control. Where we live on the Mesa, it's fine but many areas in the
foothills are either threatened or burning.

I'm happy to report that our friend Geoff's house has made it so far.
There is still a threat and helicopters are flying above him now
dropping water, but the worst is most likely over.

I was able to shoot videos (at Geoff's request) while he attempted to
fight the embers from landing on his home. I hope you can get a feel
for the intensity of the situation.

More still shots have been added here: http://picasaweb.google.com/steveoinsb

Videos can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/steveoinsb

steve

Jesusita Fire!

2009-05-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Chicken Rancher Steve Otero took some photos and posted them for people to see. Check them out and I hope all the Chicken Ranchers are safe and not in any danger. Let us know if there is something we can do for any of you. Thank Steve!

Some Ventura Updates!

2009-04-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you interested in doing the Ventura SR in a few weeks, you might want to know that they changed the TT course. It was originally slated to end on a steep, out of the saddle climb, where the use of a TT bike was not beneficial.

Its my guess that they changed it in order to keep the spectators in downtown Ventura and to make the race more competitive. The course now wraps around the streets of downtown w/ 2 short climbs and some straightaways. It no longer has the long steep climb. The time gaps will now be closer after the TT.

http://www.bikestyleusa.com/ventura_county_stage_race.html

http://www.mapmyride.com/edit_route?r=883123869389998202

Gabriel

For anybody not riding the Ventura Stage Race, Sea to Summit is also that weekend, the 16th. It's 88 epic miles, lots of climbing, that starts in Ventura and ends at Mnt. Pinos. Typically has a fairly small turn out of 100 or so riders, but there is always a group of 15 or 20 that are racing it with full support vehicles. It is a lot of fun and a real accomplishment to just finish. Here is our own Danny Rudd's excellent blog about last years event....
http://onthebteam.blogspot.com/2008/05/sea-to-summit.html

Here is a map of the course: http://home1.gte.net/res19999/sea2sum.jpg

Here is some info, mainly for volunteers but it has ride contact stuff as well. I have a flyer I can email to anyone interested. It is run by some Quasi Cult Religious Rehab program, but hey, if you expire at the summit your soul will be taken care of.

Best,

Ben

http://www.testrider.com/

A Mountain Biker Is Born!

2009-04-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hi fellow chickens and chickenettes,

(warning, this is a long one, so if you want the bottom line, skip to the bottom)

So today I did my first mountain bike race. So many of you made it seem like so much fun, I just had to try it! As expected there were some hiccups, but all in all a spectacular time, and I can't wait for the next one!

So I borrowed a bike, graciously loaned by fellow chickenette Kim Lyons. The only problem was, the bike was in Santa Ynez, and I wouldn't be able to get it until the morning of the race. Not a problem, I thought, I could just get there early and figure it out then. I would jsut swap out the pedals, adjust the seat, and go. Which is pretty much what happened, although not without the help of Barney, because I wasn't strong enough to get Kim's pedals OFF the bike! (note to self--must build upper body strength a tad...). Then the rear tire was flat!

While holding the bike while Kim took the wheel off, I did what I guess anyone who has disk brakes knows you should NEVER do, somehow I pulled the brake lever. Oops. Then the wheel wouldnt go back on. NOthing like last minute mechanic work-- I got to learn how disk brakes worked, and got the brake working again (thanks to Mark Luke and David Larsen and Blinger). Then I got to preride a little, and get everyone's last minute advice. Some of it included...pedal up the hills, just use your granny gear, it's all in your head, get in front before the climbs, etc. Sounds easy enough, I thought!

At the start, I was with the other 15 or so beginner women. I got a good start and passed all but 1 person before the first hill. I had a good gap on the rest of the field, but that was soon thwarted when I realized I didn't know how to climb the hill! I got in my granny gear and spun happily, until the front wheel started coming off the ground...I shifted my weight forward, but with no prior practice....alas I lost so much momentum I had to get off and run. A girl passed me and

then I was mad. I got to the top of the hill and soon there was an

off-camber downhill. I love to go downhill, but alas, when you have never done something, it might not be the time to pull out all the stops! I was flying along happily, and then hit a little bump and flew in the air. Came down fine, but scared myself a bit and decided I should slow down. Unfortuantely that didn't happen in time before i hit another bump and didn't land so well that time. I flew in the air and landed on my elbow. Ouch. I layed there a minute or 2 and let a few guys pass me, and 2 girls. The guys asked me if I was ok, and I"m pretty sure I said "I'm not sure". Good answer...

Anyway, I decided I was fine, and that I needed to keep racing. I got back on my bike and off I went. I was feeling ok, but there was a lot of blood. I didn't really like that thought, so I forgot about it. I passed the guys again, to which they said "I guess you're ok" and kept going. I passed one girl and then saw the other. I kept going...by this time the course got a LOT easier (or I started figuring out how to ride this fat tire thing). I finally got to open it up and use my cardio fitness a little, and then I noticed that the race was almost over. Oops. Nothing like hitting your groove at mile 10 of an 11 mile

race! I passed the final girl on the run into the finish in a

crit-worthy sprint. Aside from a horrible bruise and an abrasion/laceration worse than I've ever had in a road race, I'm good to go.

The bottom line: I got 2nd place in my age group...and more importantly had a great time! I think I'll be partaking in more dirt rides in the future!

It was really fun seeing all the chickens there! I saw lots of chickens on the podium! It was very fun and I really appreciated all the comraderie and fun. Congrats to you all--I won't mention you by name since there were so many and I'm sure you want to brag on your own!

Thanks for making my first mountain bike race fun.

Cheers,

Kimberly

Multiuse Trails Coalition Updates & Opportunities

2009-04-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Trail Users,

This past Thursday, April 16th the City, County, and USFS sponsored a "stakeholder group" meeting to review ongoings of our front country trails before the May 6th Task Force public hearing. Groups represented were ourselves, SBMTV, Sierra Club, and Santa Barbara Trails Council.

The agenda of the meeting consisted of review of current trail maintenance projects, trail leader training and IMBA Trail Care Crew visit, upcoming State and National Trail Days, and current recommendations by the staff.

As for current front country projects: a USFS crew just finished working on a large part of Rattlesnake Cyn. They are now focusing on fire burned areas in the back country. Our own Front Country Trail Crew will be hosting Happy Hour on the trail next Tuesday to do a little debrushing on Jesusita towards Inspiration Point. Contact us if interested in attending.

A review of trail crew leaders training and the IMBA Care Crew was discussed in some detail. Both events had excellent attendance and show that many people are willing to become involved in local trail maintenance.

State Trail Day is this Saturday! Join the USFS and LPFA to help clean up North Tunnel/Matias Trail in Devils Canyon. Click HERE for more info.... Mark your calendars now! Although National Trail Day is 6/6, locally we will be celebrating it on 6/13 by cleaning up Romero Canyon Trail. This event is going to be old school Chris King style huge! Plan on an after party at Manning Park just like in the old days, check our volunteer calendar for the details of this event.

As for the recommendations, they are slowly coming into shape. Budgets by the agencies are being made to hire a part time Trails Coordinator. Other topics included the ongoing debate of the UTAP Trail Condition Survey Method and how to go about surveying our trails. More to come on this topic.. Next Public Hearing is on 5/6 and if you would like to comment about any of the above topics please attend this meeting to do so.

And Other Upcoming Events...

Bicicentro needs volunteers for Earth Day, Sunday 4/19. Bicicentro is expecting to help valet up to 500 bikes throughout the day. Needless to say they need help to make this happen. Contact Ed France if you can help out edfrance@gmail.com.

Santa Ynez Mountain Bike Classic Needs You! Kim Lyons and Hecker are looking for volunteers to help out with the SYMBC happening on the 24th-26th of April. They are in need of all types of positions and are offering a prize raffle for all that help out. Contact Kim for more info kimlyons@myway.com.

--
Thank you,

The Multiuse Trails Coalition,

http://www.multiuse.org/

Aprils Fools Retro Ride!

2009-03-31T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
Good weather, good riding and baaad clothing...this is what the retro ride is all about.

Thanks to all who didn't take themselves too serious and managed to find some old stuff at the very bottom of the drawer.

Smiles all around today...Gene taking Bates by storm and Letteri getting the sprint at the Polo fields.

Again, Thanks for making the Peleton colorful

Best, Aaron

p.s. I have a new found respect for Carlos' 30 mph photography skills

Thanks Very Much To Groups Like These!

2009-03-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

I will take the bullet for this one. These organizations should have been front and center on this blog a long time ago. Check them out and check out their sites often. (links on the right, for easy access) Most importantly get involved when you can! THANKS!!!!!

March 26th - 29th: Visiting Trail Experts Will Inspire Local Sustainable Trail Maintenance. Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Coming to SANTA BARBARA

The International Mountain Bicycling Association's (IMBA) Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew will be in SANTA BARBARA, March 26th through March 29th to talk trails, teach people sustainable trail building technique, and spend quality time on trail with volunteers.

March 26th, Presentation “Club Care – Reinvigorating Your Club”: 6:30pm - 8:30pm, Faulkner Gallery - Santa Barbara Central Library, 40 East Anapamu Street. Open to the public.
This presentation focuses on techniques that advocacy groups across the country have used to reach goals, overcome, challenges, and build up their community. Any trails, outdoor, environmental, or sports based organization will benefit from this workshop. Included will be ideas on sustaining boards of directors, recruiting members, and making sure that everyone has a great time participating in their organization. No cost and no registration required.

March 28th, IMBA Trail Building School and trail work.
8:30am - 5:00pm, Louise Lowery Davis Center 1232 De La Vina St Santa Barbara, CA: Pre-registration is required.

Registration: http://go.imba.com/santabarbara or register by email to chris.orr@sbmtv.org or ray@sbtrails.org.

Supporting Santa Barbara County Trails
Since 1969, the Santa Barbara County Trails Council has dedicated itself to working with local government agencies and other organizations on the development of a safe and sustainable trail network, acquisition of new trails and support for volunteer trail maintenance programs. SBTC plays a key role in bridging the differences among trail user groups as we work towards building a network of trails that serve the entire community.

SBTC IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONThat raises funds through membership dues, grants and private donations to keep our local trails open to the public. Our members include hikers, equestrian groups, mountain bikers, trail runners who are dedicated to building a multi-use trail network that works for everyone.
Please join with SBTC to support the development of new trails and the maintenance of our existing ones. Members receive a copy of the Santa Barbara Front Country Trail map, a quarterly newletter as well as updates on the trails.

Join now and support our local trails.
Santa Barbara Trails CouncilPO Box 22352, Santa Barbara, CA 93121

Phone: 805-886-5776 • sbtc@sbtrails.org

Keyesville, Podiums and Good Times!

2009-03-19T21:55:00.001-07:00

Last year, I made the trip w/ the CR'ers to the Keysville Classic MTB race to test the early season MTB legs on the 16 mile Sport Class race (8 mile loops). The race started and right from the gun I had a good lead on my group. A few looks over the shoulder and I could see my lead increasing. About a 1/3 of the way through the first lap and I'm feeling great...catching and passing the racers from the groups ahead. Then, somewhere along the course, I took a wrong turn and ended up going through the Start/Finish line only 4 miles into the race on what was supposed to be an 8 mile loop. I had no idea where I turned off. I rolled into the feed zone where Matt asked, "what happened?" I took a wrong turn when leading the race and was forced to DNF. That race bothered me all last season.

Well this Saturday, I made the trip again. I put no pressure on myself and just thought of doing my best. The 30-44 Sport Class had a good turn out and I was just hoping for a good showing. This time, I wasn't going to go off the front and get lost again. I planned on following a wheel through the first lap and put in a hard effort on the second lap. The race starts and I find myself off the front 1/4 of the way through the first lap. One look back and I have a huge gap. I decide to hit it hard and hope for the best. Going into the second lap, I take a quick look back and second place is nowhere in site. At this point I'm feeling good and thinking that I might pull off my first MTB win. Going into the finish, I pass some spectators and they yell, "no one in site, you got it." I come through and got the win, incuding the best time of the day for the Sport classes. It was a feeling of relief and satisfaction. I redeemed last year's screw up and my poor performance 2 weeks ago at the Nevada Stage Race. Today, I had the legs and the lungs.

As a team, we also had some other great performances, including another win by a CR'er. I'll let them give their reports, but I'll give you a hint. The winner of the 44+ Sport Class owns a bike shop in town :-) We got a bunch of top ten's and a lot of good times. As always, racing with the Rancher's is awesome.

Since we all like pics, I've attached a bunch from the trip.

Gabriel

Hello everyone,

The Keyesville Classic has been goin' on for twenty years, and is the first Mountain Bike race I ever did. It's definitely got an "Old School" feel to it and there are many people that always fit Keyesville into their race calendar. The course is one of the best anywhere with enough climbing to make your legs burn and enough fast technical descending to keep it interesting, and the scenery is pretty awesome as well.

They moved the Cross Country event to Saturday this year so me and a few other Chickens left Friday night to make the 4 hour drive to our chosen resting spot the Paradise Cove Lodge. It was kinda weird how we arrived around 11pm, went straight to our rooms, and left at 7:30am in the morning without ever seeing anybody. We never checked in. Never signed anything. There was no front desk. We just walked in, slept and left. Awesome! The rooms were actually better than expected. Mine and Roberts even had a TV but it took us 15 minutes to figure out how to turn it on, and another 30 minutes to figure out how to turn it off. We had the same problem with one of the lights so we just un-screwed the lightbulb....like I said..."Old School."

We awoke to a beautiful clear morning with frost on the ground but no clouds in the sky. When we arrived at the venue we found a perfect spot for the Chicken Rig right on the course. So we could basically sit on the tailgate and hand out water bottles. During the Sport race Matt Perry, Pete Sproul and I hung out and watched the action waiting to give the guys their feeds. Gabe was on fire, and at the end of the first lap he already had a huge lead and we knew he was gonna win barring catastrophe. Dave came through in 2nd place in his race but he didn't even take a bottle 'cause his eyes were so focused on the guy right in front of him who was leading at that point. I said to Perry "It's over. Nobody smells the finish line like Lettieri!" and I was right. He wasn't gonna let this chance to win his first MTB race slip thru his fingers. Rob Ramirez and Brian Bermudes had a good little battle going on with Bermudes coming out on top at the end. Normally it's Lettieri battling with Ramirez...or Zimmerman....or Gabe...or Jellison...or Cuttler. It's funny how everyone wants to beat Ramirez. I mean sure, he is a little annoying sometimes, but way down deep inside somewhere he's actually a really nice guy. The battle between Rod Garrat and Philip Friden never materialized because Philip adheres to the Robert Ramirez approach to bike maintenance. Which means....don't do any. As a result he had multiple mechanical issues and was unable to finish. We'll have to let them duke it out at the next race. Which for Rod will be next years Keyesville Classic.

After we handed out the bottles it was time for me to eat my normal pre-race meal. A peanutbutter and jelly sandwich. I went to my cooler and to my surprise found that I had remembered the loaf of bread, but forgot the peanutbutter and the Jelly. Instead of eating dry bread I went down to the expo area and ordered two breakfast burritos from the local food vendor. Not the smartest decision I've ever made. While I doubt it affected my performance in the race. It did have a profound affect on the flavor and texture of my burps for the next 2 hours. Our class was a combined 30 to 44 age group so I got to race with some of the younger guys for a change. Which I thoroughly enjoyed for the first lap and the third lap. I didn't enjoy it so much on the second lap mainly because they all rode away from me and I couldn't seem to do anything about it. I kept pluggin along and according to the other Chickens I finished in 6th place or so. I'm not really sure since we didn't stick around for the results. In fact when I came across the line, Dave grabbed my bike and began loading it in the car. Bermudes washed me off with a bottle of water, and Ramirez gave me a Coke and a smile and said "Let's go!" We were in the car and ready to go literally 10 minutes after I finished the race. Bermudes's water bottle shower was easily the most enjoyable part of my day.

The drive home was relaxing. Mostly because Dave was in a good mood and wasn't trying as hard to get back to the shop to sell bikes. Paul Donahoe was driving the other car and they also had a race winner in their vehicle as well so they seemed to be in good spirits. We stopped at local restaurant in Bakersfield to fill up our stomachs for the drive home. I can't remember the name of the place....something like "Kebobs R Us" or something like that. It wasn't too bad, and it fit our criteria for a post meal as outlined by Dave and Robert....."No shitholes!" That was Robert's request when asked where we should go to eat. We first attempted to go to some Hawaiian Bar-B-Que joint but Dave walked in then turned around and walked out and declared..."It's a shithole!" so we opted for Kebobs R Us instead.

During the drive home Paul Donohoe kept "drafting" or "sitting on the wheel" of the Chicken Rig all the way from Bakersfield to Ventura. We were using walkie-talkies to communicate between vehicles and when they pulled abruptly around us and proclaimed "We're gonna win the sprint!" before taking their exit to drop off Gabe, we used the oldest trick in the book to teach them a lesson about etiquette. We informed them that since we were on the same team we would not contest the sprint for the win and congratulated them on a job well done. As soon as they backed off the gas I punched it and the Chicken Rig accelerated like Cavendish in the last 500 meters. They tried to cover our move but alas it was too late and we crossed the finish line at the Victoria off ramp with our hands in the air and a comfortable "half-car-length" margin of victory! They'll try to tell you a different story, but in their heart of hearts I think they know.

Great weekend Chickens! Let's do it again!

Matt

Kimberly reports from Madera!

2009-03-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

Well stage one of madera is behind me. It was the crit. Not much to report other than I narrowly missed winning the prime and was top 10 at the finish. The race started 45 minutes late...so much for a well timed warmup!! Race was slow...I took a couple of flyers and tried to make it more fun. Picked a wheel at the end but there were too many teams and the girl I was on wasn't fast enough. I came around about 10 people but it wasn't enough to win. At least I showed them that even though I have no teammates, chicken ranch is hardcore :) and now I am fresh for the tt.

I saw Aaron long...his crit was later so I don't have a result. His tt is later too. I think we are the only 2 chicken ranchers here...

Tt is in a few hours.

Ok...so the TT is behind me...and it only took 4.5 hours for the results to come out.

The actual TT was hard, as all TT's are...however, I felt pretty fast!

In the 10.5 mile course, I manged to pass 6 people! I was feeling pretty good about it, but of course you never know until the results come out....

So...it turns out I got 3rd place in the TT (out of second by ONE SECOND), and therefore am 3rd overall in GC. 1st place claims to have a TT time over 1 minute faster...bummer! Oh well...we'll have to see how things shake out tomorrow. There are a couple people not so far back, so the Road race is going to be hard tomorrow.

So think fast thoughts tomorrow as I attempt the 68 mile road race. I don't know where I'm going to find the energy for it!

Thanks for all the good luck vibes...madera is now behind me! The road race today was long. Not particularly hard, just long. I tried to win on a solo flyer on the last climb...but alas it was not to be and I got caught. I managed to grab a wheel and finish with the leaders though...so I thought I had 3rd locked up...only to find put I got 4th cause they had forgotten to give the girl who got 4th in the tt a bonus from the crit. So I got 4th by 2 seconds. Damn... Oh well the prize was identical- a velobob t shirt and $10.

It was fun, and at least I finished strong!!

Kimberly

Sent from my iPhone

Bonelli Race Reports

2009-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Bonelli Park was a big success.. that is for the race organizer Over 700 riders showed up, double last year.It was a fast course completely different for other years. Perfect warm temp with snow capted mountain in the distance.

For team Chicken, there was a VICTORY for big Rob in the 45 beginner! I was about 10th in the Sport. Matt Perry was 2nd in the expert. Others racing were Bill Cutler, Rob Ramirez, Bob Whilcher, Rod Garrett, Kim Lyons, Mike

Abbott. Lets here some reports :))
More soon,
Dave

Now Dave is just toying with me. I ALMOST got second in the Cat1 30-34 race but was beat out by a few seconds. But I did get on the podium and had some good racing.

This was the first day in recent memory that I rode without arm and leg warmers. The heat was kind of a shock to my system. Didn't get a chance to pre-ride the course but the word from some of the other chickens was "easy" .. I'm not sure what they were comparing it to. It wasn't technical at all but had a few sketchy fast, loose corners. And the climbing was killer.. there were 2 miles of exposed fireroad climbs to start the lap, then a series of really steep little punchy climbs intermixed with some singletrack and short sections of pavement. A really fun course!

Before the race, I realized I had forgotten to bring any food with me

- Ramirez and Cuttler saved the day by donating some Gu packets. Bob W and I started out pretty conservatively and tried to just work our way up through the race. But Bob got a flat half-way through lap 2 and had some issues with his CO2 which set him back 10 minutes. Without that mishap, I'm convinced we would have 2 chickens on the podium! I kept motoring and was able to put a lot of time on those steep short climbs in the middle of the course. Everyone else was shifting down into their granny gear but you just had to keep it in the middle ring, crank up it for 30 sec, quickly recover, repeat. At the end of lap three I had no idea where I was compared to everyone else in my age group and I burnt my last match chasing down a group of three riders in the last 1/2 mile. Turns out one of those guys was the eventual 2nd place but my brain was not functioning properly and I convinced myself that he wasn't in my age group so I didn't need to out-sprint him. The way the finish was set up really discouraged a sprint finish; a 180 degree paved turn about 50 feet before the finish line with a narrow roped-off shoot leading into it so there was basically no way to do it safely. At least thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Next stop Keyesville.. hope to see everyone there!

Matt

I'm calling this race the "Bonelli Park Hair Club For Men's race".

Billy C. and I drove down together and we are hairy. Not as hairy as DanO, but gaining fast...

Also, there were some hairy climbs and some fast hairy descents on this course. The descents were so fast they made the hair on the back of your back stand up. Then we met up with Mike Abbott and he has hairy legs and rides the hairy Super D in addition to the XC. Plus, to cap it off, some guy commented to us on the pre-ride about our hairy legs!

Oh yea, and the race...it was beautiful weather with warm temps and clear air. Billy and I got to race some platinum dudes (Aaron Transky and John Reveles) which made it fun. Right out of the gate there is a big hill. I started out on the front row with my furry friend Billy for this race but ended up at the back of the pack by the time we reached the top of the first hill. From there it was racing through traffic which made it fun. Dave Lettieri started in the group behind us but by the second lap he was right behind me. Not sure where I finished, but it was well worth the trip down there. The race organizers really put in a big effort to make this a good event. They had shwag bags, free T-shirts, vendor demo areas, free In-N-Out, a motorcycle show, and good race organization.

Thank you,

Rob Ramirez

I met Dave at 6:15 and off we we went. First I would like to say that Dave could double as a stock car driver if he ever decides to hang up his cleats. He saved the day with his lightning quick reflexes to avoid your typical idioit driver. No warmups were necessary as my heart rate was 195 after that. 550 people signed up and it was about 85 degrees at the start time. We pre road the course to kill of the time we had to wait till start time as we made it down to San Dimas in about 7 minutes.. I asked Dave how to race MTBs and his sage advice was "don't crash."Start times were staggered at 1 minute intervals. At my start time I just went as hard as I up the first hill and was just hoping that I would be in the mix after that. At the top I was all by my self (bonus !!!!) so I thanked God and just tried to keep catching the riders who started in front of me. .it was all over I had won my Cat 3 old guy catagory. It was and awesome trip and CR was well represented. Riding in the dirt is alot of fun and I cant wait for the next one. Thanks Dave and all CR.z

Big Rob

sounds like a great vegas trip, as for the mountain chickens i think we had 8 riders all did well, i think we had 3 podium finishers we will get their stories as they report, it was nice to meet and see what a great job kim lyons did with her race(hope you got that first aid) beer. matt pulled off a 3rd what a great effort, and big rob first place in his first race!. good job in the largest class for rob ramerez and bill cutler. not sure how the others did, let us know. as for my races i finished 6th in xc and 5 th super d, my legs were gone by the time the super d went off, it was still a great event, the new us cup program seems to be a great draw for larger classes.

mike abbott

We had a great day of racing at Bonelli indeed. It turns out that Dave "The Clock" Lettieri got on the podium after all - 5th according to the results posted a little while ago. Congrats to Dave and everyone else who went down. Matt P is a feekin' stud and won that race in my book (yes the 50-foot finish was pretty lame) and I know he will pick one off as the season goes on. Big Rob got the sweet taste of success with his win and believe it or not, the Clock even let him pick up his award ("go, go go", I heard him say to Rob). No kidding, Ramirez finished within a minute of Dave and then went directly to the car to change after the race - Dave had already mounted his bike and was changed, ready to leave. Wow! Others who raced and were not mentioned were Rod Garratt and Mike Abbott who fared well in their respective categories. Also, Ramirez got an awesome time in the top 10 - hey you beat Reveles after all but missed Transki (recently downgraded from Expert...har-umph!) by 20 seconds. Speaking of the "other guys", they had some good results as well but as you might imagine did not have as much fun as we did. I know this because due to the heat, Rob and myself were proud to keep our jerseys unzipped, proudly flaunting our Sasquachlike rugs in the blazing San Dimas heat while the other guys...well, let's just say I don't think the sponsors allow them to unzip their jerseys, no matter how hot it gets. Anyway, Dano, we thought of you and know you would have appreciated this. Anyway, I had an OK race finishing in typical Cuttler style for a MTB race; that is at the bottom third of the group. The first lap felt great and then, again, in typical Cuttler fashion, proceeded die and go backwards on the second lap. I must say that I am looking forward to the flatter lands this weekend. The highlight of my trip was of course off the trail. If you guys think Benko goes out of his way to make sure his teammates are well taken care of and have a good time, well you guys need to hang out with Ramirez. After our race, we bummed around a little while and then the hunger started to creep in. Rob kept going on about how he didn't eat after the last race and really didn't need to eat after a race. Of course, I was telling Rob how I needed to eat within 10 minutes of finishing a race or else I get headaches and can be a real prick. After Rob decided it was time for us to go, he agreed to take me to In and Out. "Phew", I thought, "I can hang in another 10 minutes or so, I know there is an In 'n Out somewhere close by". Well, we proceeded to In N Out alright but this was not any 'ol In N Out. No, I was to be taken on a detour to a special In N Out...the In N Out that he and Carol had their first date at. No kidding. "How sweet, now get me something to eat dammit!" I thought to myself gritting a fake smile for my fellow marmut-like friend (after all, he did drive...even though I paid for the parking). It gets better...unfortunately we did not go directly to In N Out. Rob actually took the time to give me a tour of Arcadia where he grew up while I sat patiently starving to death. Yes, I got to see the street Rob lived on, Rob's High School (where he and Carol met), the 7-11 that had Rob's favorite Slurpy(tm) flavor, and of course Rob and Carol's first apartment. Now you can't do that in Vegas my friends! Anyway, about an hour after my race, the hair on Rob's leg was starting to look mighty tasty when fortunately we pulled into In N Out. It was indeed a romantic spot. Needless to say, thinking about Rob and Carol and that first date made me feel extremely closer to Rob and I became slightly jealous of Carol. It was a weird feeling and I'm pretty sure in my weakened hungry state Rob and I had "a moment". It was at that point that I officially decided to leave Gabe for Rob. Call it a double-double if you will but racing a mountain bike in the extreme heat and then being deprived of calories for too long will do that to you. Good times...good times...

Bill Cuttler

What a blast! This was my big comeback to mtb racing after 3 years of loafing around. I planned to win but came up a bit short with a 2nd place finish. The good news is that the girl who beat me is trying to get pregnant and doesn't plan on racing much of the season. Yeah, good for Kim, good for Chicken Ranch! I am excited about racing with an actual team this year and look forward to meeting more of you.

Perhaps a little more team time at the next race? Coolers full of beer or something? I'll hook it up.

Cheers!!

Kim

The Easy Button

2009-03-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Enjoy the ride, this one in from one Mr. Jurist, it's pure humor.

Some observations on Callville and a race report:

In response to Mr. Benko’s assertion that I can cast an “evil” spell: Evil spelled backwards is “live” and as Mr. Lance Armstrong has encouraged all of us, “live strong.” My interpretation is “make mine a double.”

If you have only ridden your TT bike three times around Goleta, don’t use it for an uphill time trial at your first stage race, no matter what some bike genius says.

Houseboat toilets need descriptive lines printed in the bowl to achieve proper water volume levels for the projected fill rate. From bottom to top: “just passin’ through,” “midday snack” and at the top perhaps “3 plates of pasta at the free spaghetti dinner.” (We did not have venison on our boat or perhaps a fourth line would be necessary.)
People who race bicycles are always cold when not on their bikes. Again, this could be solved with “make mine a double.”
So now that I have almost as many road events under my belt as the number of wheel sets shoved into Dan Rudd’s and Blinger’s car for the race (oh wait, I’ve only done 4 races), it would be fitting that I preface any bad race results with excuses. Sooooo, Tuesday prior to the Callville Classic, I chaperoned a bus load of kids to the Long Beach Aquarium and scored a classic case of elementary school dysentery. Wednesday was sleepless and Thursday was only slightly better. It was obvious that my expectations for the weekend would need to go from yellow jersey to perhaps a single five minutes of glory within a race. I was thinking maybe a prime in the Sunday crit, but unlike the adult races, THERE ARE NO PRIMES for Cat 5 (never mind that I got yanked before the race finished.) So I had to leave with only the Thurston Howell III award for dedication to cocktail hour (a Gilligan’s Island reference for those under 35) and my bike pump tucked between my legs with the only solid thing my body produced for the weekend being a personal worst in the time trial.

Fast forward to the departure of myself and “nameless” (sometimes known for his bladderific spontaneity) from Callville on Sunday. Of course, we missed the little cut off for the 15, and stayed on the 215, passing dangerously close to the south end of the strip (talk about casting an evil spell) before steeling ourselves and heading onto the 15 southbound. Nameless and I started talking about what a shame it would be to have driven within a mile of the magic and not have been able to breathe in just a quick bit of the rancid smoke filled air, stale alcohol charm and slot machine chiming of the sanctuary of sin. We decided to feed our jones and stomach’s at Whiskey Pete’s at the state line.

I’ve been to Vegas a time or two and I can tell you now, Whiskey Pete’s is no Vegas. It is to the Bellagio what influenza is to the Bubonic Plague. No matter, if you close your eyes it’s all the same. And in this case, tightly shut.

When we walked in, I felt changed. The disappointments of the weekend started to fade and I could almost feel my appetite returning. There would be one last chance for redemption! Our plan for the fourth and final stage of Callville was a big sizzling platter of beef to celebrate nameless’ top 11 finish in the un-incentivized Cat. 5 melees. Drat, strike one, the Silver Spur Steakhouse course had been closed down, probably by SPCS (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Steak). We sought out the race director who pointed his soda gun at the new venue, The Trail’s End Coffee Shop. A long line of racers was already staging behind the stanchions and we jockeyed for good position in front of two female racers who looked bleary and hung over (for the life of me I couldn’t remember them from our houseboat). We chatted a bit with the two ladies who revealed they had come to town from Bakersfield supporting Big Head Todd and the Monsters for an event at the House of Blues.

They were sending racers off in groups from the front when all of a sudden we were chosen out of the middle of the pack. The official looked at our group, “We’ve got a spot for four near the front…” The Bakersfield team eyed us and asked if we were up to the challenge. Little did she know that I still had my smelly kit on under my clothes and was ready for anything they could throw down!

We were shown “race bibles” for the stage and there were some tense moments of strategizing before each racer showed their cards. Shelly, who was in desperate need of a cigarette, went with milk, orange juice and after being denied oatmeal, went all in with scrambled eggs. Looked like a lightweight climbing strategy to me. Diane showed she was in it for the field sprint, steak and eggs with coffee. I was dying to sneak a peak at her power meter to see what she had in the tank. Nameless, who had faced the brunt of a full crit went mega calorie with the “steak” dinner. Knowing that my heart rate had exceeded maximum for all three events previously, I went full deep-fried to slow it and make sure I stayed under max, so nameless and I could make a move if it presented itself.

I should mention that our opponents had chosen their positions in the four top formation before we could get a wheel in. They were aligned opposite each other, which forced us to do the same. I believe this is the same start position that Matteus Chickarino and his wingerman, Cragio Zipperholder, found themselves in at the start of the Tour de les Cafes in the air raid shortened 1943 race in Nice, France. Of course, they had chocolates and nylons in their back pockets and soloed to, um, victory. Phil Liggett could confirm.

Our task would be much tougher as we felt like we were on their turf with no pre-ride. There was some early consternation with nameless’ order that caused a restart, but after being quickly handled by the neutral feed we were ready for battle. And off we went. Nameless and I paced ourselves with the group, but because of the positioning at the four top we were limited to eye rolls and spoon Morse code to signal strategy. Shelly and Diane went chatty after the first few kilometers and we stayed right on their wheels with Chicken Ranch lore. The group settled into a rhythm for the next twenty. I sensed trouble when we reached the climb leading to the finish. With only small portions left, nameless was trying to list country bands he liked and I could hear the lead in his voice. Desperate, I shoved the last fried bits in my mouth and felt my heart rate slow to defibrillator levels. Cresting the final climb (the first time during the weekend I managed to stay with the lead group) I jumped in with a blizzard of fluff. I smelled bad decaf coffee and knew that nameless had managed to get on my wheel. Bam, the finish check hit the racecourse and nameless and I dived into our pockets. Diane graciously picked up the check despite our objections, she and Shelly thanking us for the company. Bingo, I mean Keno, I mean Blackjack….. a prime in Cat 5.

Calville Bay Classic Race Reports

2009-03-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

Good morning, all!

I just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to our fearless leader for organizing such a spectacular race weekend! Team Chicken Ranch had a great showing this weekend, and more importantly, I think we showed all those other teams how to race hard, support each other, and HAVE FUN!
It's what bike racing is all about. The houseboat lodging was nicer than any hotel, and the courses were challenging and fun. Aside from a few issues (like making the W3/4 race with the 45+, and 35+4/5 men), things were great, and I hope that the team goes to this race again! If you didn't go, you missed out. If you did go, you probably had a great time.

I didn't have a great race weekend, but did manage to culminate it with a decent field sprint for 2nd in the crit :-). I flatted in the RR and rode it for miles so that I could race the crit. It was worth the suffering. Teammie Jane had a spectacular weekend for a 6th in the GC (and 3rd in the crit right behind me...she raced so strong)!

I'm sure you'll get to hear about everyone else's triumphs and tragedies, so I won't spoil it for them. So let the reports commence!
And I will end with one more THANK YOU to Matt for making this mega road trip possible!

I just wish rest days had less of the 'real job' work!

Cheers,
kimberly

Houseboat, The "Marmot" and venison......
Hello everyone,

What an excellent weekend that was! I think every Chicken who attended the Calville Bay Classic had a blast. We even had some stellar results to back-up all the fun we had! The houseboat situation ended up being even better than expected. The boats were big and comfortable with plenty of room to just lounge around and relax between races. Not having to drive to each stage was such a huge bonus I can't even tell you! All three courses were challenging and really fun to race on. First year organizer Mike Olsen did a great job overall and I think this race is only going to get better over the years, the venue is absolutely top-notch. Please go to vegasbikeracing.com and give Mike your feedback, good and bad so he can improve the event in future years.

Having the houseboats made it much easier for all of us to hang out together and socialize when we weren't racing. I got to know a few of the Ranchers better and made a few keen observations. When we arrived late Thursday night only David Larsen, Dano, and Kimberly Turner were already there. I was kind of concerned for Kimberly having been stuck alone with Larsen and Dano for many hours. I was afraid of what kind of mental state she would be in when I boarded their houseboat. What I found astounded me. Kimberly had turned into somewhat of a female"Hugh Hefner". She had Larsen slaving away in the kitchen cleaning-up from dinner and Dano was sweeping and
dusting wearing nothing but his stretchy-pants and a tight "sexually-questionable" T-shirt. All while Kimberly layed down on the couch in her smoking jacket. It was like that all weekend! Larsen was like the camp chef, preparing venison sausage, venison meatballs, venison sandwiches, venison coffee, and venison pasta at various times throughout the day. Kim Bleth and Jane ended up joining them on boat number four and the next time I cruised over to say hi I walked in to find Dano on his back (still with his stretchy pants on) and Jane and Kim are assisting him in some sort of new-age-hippie-partner stretching routine. Larsen was working in the kitchen of course, and Kimberly is still on the couch in her smoking jacket. Whatever they were doing in there it worked! 'cuz Kim Bleth went on to a beautiful breakaway victory in the 45+ crit, Kimberly snagged a 2nd and Jane a 3rd in the womens crit and their whole boat rode great all weekend. I know who I'm rooming with next time! And I'm running to the
store to buy some venison right now!

Ben Edwards and I both had our "little chickens" there doing their first stage race. Brennan and Sean are both 12 years old and they had a full weekend with the 4 mile TT, 27 mile Road Race,and 30 minute crit. They both did great and the highlight of the weekend for me was towards the end of my cat 3 road race..we've let a breakaway get away and I'm feeling pretty discouraged but then we pass the little chickens going the other way,still working together and going strong and that gave me the boost I needed to keep hangin' in there to the finish. They had a good time racing and hanging-out, and the "Big Chickens" were very supportive. Right after passing the little chickens I saw something else I will never forget. As we were heading towards the turn-around we passed the 35+4,5's going the other way. Dano was on the front of his group dancing up the climb with his jersey zipped wide open. For those of you who don't know Dano's chest hair is so impressive it has it's own nickname. It's known as the "Marmot". As we were riding towards them I could tell it was Dano but I'd never seen the "Marmot" so exposed before. It almost looked like he had kidnapped Burt Reynolds and stuffed him down the front of his jersey and only his moustache was hanging out.

After a lot of Chickens posted really strong TT times Saturday morning including Ken Doyle who was in 2nd after the first stage. Saturday afternoons Road Race was a different story. A lot of us struggled. We had at least 3 flats, a few bonks, and some less then stellar performances. But we also had a few bright spots. Dan Rudd rode to an impressive 2nd place finish. In my cat 3 race Ray Turon and Tory Gillett put in excellent rides and Blinger won the field sprint for 7th place. I'm not sure of all the results and we'll have to wait 'till they're all posted on the website but I know John Comunale also finshed well in the cat 4's. John's wife Sara was also out there racing after just attaining her PHD. Once again proving that women are not only smarter then men they are also......much better looking.

On Sunday's crit the Chickens redeemed themselves. Seans Edwards started it off with a great race for 3rd in the jr's race and the momentum kept going all day. I heard that on Saturday night a few Chickens fell under David Jurist's evil spell and began drinking cheap vodka and telling bad jokes. I'm not sure who all was involved but I do know that Mitch Karno, Gene Raphaelian, and Ray Turon all missed the start of their races on Sunday by a lap or two but jumped in anyways and ended up riding pretty well Gene actually got 5th or 6th but then turned himself in to the officials and got DQ'd. That's OK, it was well worth it. I think the crit course was the best one I've ever ridden. I really liked it. I liked so much I won.......for a minute or two. Then I got 2nd again. Let me explain. In the cat 3's tha Chickens were riding really well. Lots of attacks, really forcing the pace. As we come around the last corner I'm in pretty good position and I start sprinting for the line I'm closing on the guy in front of me really quickly and as we cross the line....it's too close to call!...neither one of us raises our arms because we're not sure who won. We continue on our cool down lap and as we approach the finish I see all the Chickens staring at the officials waiting for the decision. Then they start cheering and they tell me I won! For a moment I'm in heaven. I hug Kim Bleth and Jane (Jane hugs better) I high five Jose Murrillo and Dano, I'm getting ready to tell my son all about perseverence and stick-with-it-ness and then the race director says.....Oh no it wasn't Chicken Ranch it was the other guy! I see the finish photo and sure enough I lost by about 2 inches. Ben Edwards starts laughing and says I've discovered the only thing worse than 2nd place......thinking you got 1st.....and then getting 2nd! But you know what for about 60 seconds I got to feel what it's gonna feel like when I finally win one and I liked it! So I'm gonna keep on trying.

I had a great time this weekend and was so proud to be a part of this Team and be associated with such a great group of people. Keep up the good work and thanks for the great memories. I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's race reports as well. Great job everyone!

Sincerely,

Matt

Here are a few pics I took of the trip. A couple of the boats, the marina fish, Jose Murrillo and Dano Racing, Larsen and Blinger watching the 45+ race, out to dinner, and Bleth’s breakaway w/ his sprint win.

One of the most exciting races of the weekend had to be the 45+ crit. Not only did Kim Bleth start the winning break, but he finished it off w/ a sprint win. It was very cool is see a CR’er in a winning break.

The last pic is not of a CR’er, but of a Cat 4 having a temper tantrum in the middle of the race. Ray Turon and I were watching the Cat 4’s when this guys pulls out of the race and starts throwing and kicking his bike around and yelling, “I was feeling good too.” Then his girlfriend runs over and picks up his bike for him while he’s still yelling. I was hoping to get a shot of him kicking the bike, but apparently one kick was enough. Ray and I couldn’t stop laughing. BTW, I didn’t notice until I downloaded the pic that Dano was in the background! So it is a CR related pic after all

Gabriel

cr's
wow! what a weekend of racing! just a little race report..first off, a big thanks to matt for organizing all of us to attend this great event...racing, houseboats, etc..thanks matt.

saturday morn time trial..the only way i can explain it is 11mins of pure self-inflicted pain..but some great times by you cr's..

after a couple hours of recovery, we're off to the road race..i was surprised we made it through the chaotic sign in..but once on the road it pretty much went like this...ascend, descend, ascend, descend, ascend, descend, nature break???, ascend, descend, ascend, major descend, major ascend, nuetral feed zone???, descend..and so on and so forth..with 1km to go i felt the surge as mavic cozmic carbone's (of mr.benko) and to my surprise a rainbow-colored bike (of mr.bling) on his wheel fly by me..i must say it was an awesome feeling, after suffering for almost 70 miles on the road, to see my 2 teammates blow-off the front of the group..as craig put it "it was a tour de france lead out" by matt when craig took the field sprint..good work guys.....and yes, saturday evening, i had the privilege to partake in some team bonding..i was only kidding w/gabe on the way up when i declined to stay on his boat w/he, matt, and ben edwards saying i'd be a bad influence on the "little chickens", that my boat would be the party boat.. when little did i know my boat-mate david jurist slipped a bottle of vodka in the freezer..it was nice to sip on vodka cocktails and watch the classic "breaking away", and listen to some of carson blumes' life adventures after a long day on the saddle..thanks david.

sunday morn crit..so everyone was skeptical about this so called "crash-course" criterium..thanks to a handful of chickens that took the initiative of preparing the course, it turned out really fun..by-far the most impressive race of the day was that of kim bleth..wow! that is how it is done! initiate the break and win the damn race..great work by you "lady chickens" too!..the start of my race however...i wouldn't know cuz like mitch and gene, i wasn't there..i was off on a warmup when i realized the time..i got to the far end of the course and saw the field going by on their 1st or 2nd lap..earlier in the day craig labeled jumping in on a race as "pulling a gene", and i couldn't help but laugh to myself as i was about to "pull a gene" cuz i was not going to miss my 1st crit as a cat 3..i hid behind a honda crv and as the group approached i readied myself..i flew through the cones and settled in the pack..when the group got comfortable, just for kicks, i threw an attack..i was off and eventually a guy bridged up to me..i was blown from the attack and he was blown from bridging the gap, so we weren't much help to each other..that stupid little incline on the backside hurt ridiculously when you're on your own (more props to kim bleth for sustaining the break for what?..half the race)..we did last a couple laps when another rider bridged up and as he went by he yelled "lets go!! the chickens are blocking!!"..all i thought was shit!, my teamates are helping me out..and i got no more LEGS!..so before we knew we were back in the group, but fun while it lasted..i do wish we coulda gave matt a leadout so he coulda secured the victory..instead we got punk'd.."chickens win!!"...celebration!!..hugs and kisses...wait......no, other guy won....what??..but racing w/6 teammates and all of us being so involved...probably the best crit i ever raced in..great work guys.

by-far, we were the best represented team at the event and i'm so proud to have been a part of it....thanks again to matt and thanks to all you other cr's for sharing the weekend and racing hard!!...

cheers,

ray

Seinfeld & The Chicken Rig!

2009-02-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

On Friday Craig and I did the amateur version of the Solvang TT for the 2nd year in a row. And for the 2nd year in a row it was an incredible experience. I will do that race every year that they offer it as long as I can still ride a two wheeler! There's nothing else like it! This year due to the Lance factor and the favorable weather, the crowds were 10 times the size and the overall vibe and energy was off the charts. I think I saw every single person I know from the cycling community somewhere out on the course. Whether it was David Jurist holding up a big sign that said "Go Chickens!" on the first climb..(that made me laugh)... Greg Leach and company whoopin' it up in front of his house in Los Olivos...Jason Hannon and the Platinum crowd just a few houses down... Randall Tinney doin' his Red Devil impersonation on Ballard...Mark Fennell taking pictures in two places at once...Dave Lettieri and company yellin' at me from the follow car tellin' me my "ass looked big in those shorts" and laughin' when I almost went wide on a corner going 30+ miles and hour in the aero bars...I was soakin' it all in, and lovin' every minute of it!

Once you get over the embarrassment of being a poser ( I got over that a long time ago) the experience of riding on the same course, on the same day, literally just minutes before the best riders in the world is unbelievable! Imagine getting to play flag football with your buddies on the field during Superbowl halftime...that's the closest thing I can think of. As a cycling fan it gives you such a unique perspective on what it would be like to be one of the top riders in the world. Except that they do it every weekend...and we get to do it maybe once a year.

Craig and I both got up there early to get good parking spots and set up our trainers for the warm-up. The competition was much stiffer this year with the addition of two local hammers Gary Douville, and Brian"The Cookie Monster" Cook. Last year when I did this race I felt like I rode as well as I could have on that day. This year I felt like I was struggling the whole time and could never get on top of the gear and yet I rode almost the exact same time. Last year I rode a 36:27 and this year a 36:29. Two seconds difference... You have to marvel at the consistency of my mediocrity. Blinger on the other hand was almost two minutes faster than last year. He's getting older and wiser and I'm just getting older. We both got our doors blown off by Gary and Cookie. Gary won with a 33:47 and Cookie got 2nd with a 34:47. Floyd Landis's buddy and owner of the OUCH Cycling Team Dr. Brent Kay was 3rd and beat me by 15 seconds.....ouch! It's kind of surreal doing the race in the morning and then a few minutes later your standing in one of the VIP tents watching the pros on TV thinking "I was just right there!" and then you see them fly by you in real life. Too cool!

I'm always amazed when I see the photos that guys like Fennell and John Goodman, and Carson get. Fennell somehow got pictures of every local rider starting and finishing, as well as pictures of all the top pros. I got one picture of some blurry guy that I think was Levi but I'm not sure. By the time you realize they're coming they're already past... plus there are 100 other people all trying to take one step closer to the action getting in the way. Check out Fennells' blog to get his take on the days activities.

There were a couple funny things that happened that I thought you'd enjoy reading. Dave, Gabe, John V, Kim McD, and Barney were all gonna drive behind me in the Big Ol' Chicken Ranch truck. The amateurs aren't supposed to get follow vehicles but Dave knows everyone and was able to swing it last year. So they roll up to the course officials and one of the guys says " There's no way in hell you're taking that big rig out the course!" Dave says' " We already talked to Chuck and he said it was OK"
The guy says "Who talked to Chuck?" and Dave says " Barney did." to which the guy replies " Well I'm Chuck, and all Barney said was Hi, and there's no way in hell you're taking that big rig out on the course!" So being the quick thinkin' guys that they are, Gabe runs half a mile and gets his BMW wagon. They all pile in and drive back to the course officials. This time Chuck just laughs and waves 'em through! It's always good to hang out with Dave at pro races.

After my race John VanManakkes comes up me and says "Hey you got any jumper cables?" It seems the Rock Racing Team car, a Pimped out black Escalade had a dead battery. So we trek over to my truck grab some cables and then go hang out with the Rock Racing guys like Tyler Hamilton and Fast Freddy while they get the Escalade going again. While we're there some lady asks Tyler if she can take a picture of him......with her dogs. Being a dog lover he obliges and she proceeds to arrange her 5 dogs in the perfect position and then gets Tyler to crouch down and pose... with her dogs. She wasn't even in the picture. Just Tyler with her dogs. I thought it was funny.

The last funny story was hearing a rumor that before the race Lance Armstrong had been spotted riding the course with Jerry Seinfeld and some other guy. Upon further investigation we discovered that it was a case of mistaken identity. Lance did pre-ride the course in the morning. But not with Jerry Seinfeld and "some other guy". It was our own Dave Lettieri and Levi Leipheimer. They thought Dave was Jerry Seinfeld! And poor Levi, when he rides with Lance and Dave he gets relegated to "some other guy" status.

What great day! I look forward to doing it again next year if the opportunity arises. And if not.....well, I've already got memories that will last a lifetime. Thanks to all of you who were out there cheering us on. It really does give you an extra boost and help you go faster......except for David Jurist's "Go Chickens" sign. When I laughed it caused me to lose my breath and I never recovered. I think it cost me at least 3 minutes.....maybe more.

See ya,

Matt

Esquire, thanks for the photos!

The Killer B Fitness Report

2009-02-17T17:13:00.001-08:00

I'm not known for my writing other than in the Daily Sound so hopefully I can entertain you guys on this one. I'll keep it short.

John gave an excellent report, but there are a few things that I need to add.

Saturday at Cantua
After Matt and I warmed up for 30 minutes pulling the pack at an easy pace we decided to fire things up a bit. Nobody wanted to do any work, and I guess my mentality right was that I'd rather get a good workout than win. So Matt and I led out a couple break attempts. We may have dropped a few, but pretty much everyone stayed together. I wasn't sure if it was doing anything to tire out the field, but no one seemed to pull through even at the end except for Freddy, the bandit. To recap the ending: I was fairly spent when Matt decided it was time to punch it with about 1.5 km to go. I sucked wheel at that point like I've never sucked before. I tried to make my 6'4" frame turn into a 4'6" frame. I'm glad nobody took any photos at that point. Matt is one strong frickin dude is all I have to say. I could see John and Freddy ahead about 15 feet as they broke away for the finish. Matt was pulling me up the last little riser and I had 1 guy on my tail. We got to the so called flat spot just before the finish and I decided it was time to reach a new max heart rate. I sprinted to John's wheel who was just behind Freddy. The guy riding my wheel was nowhere in sight. Then with about 20 feet to go I attacked Freddy hard. I was coming up on him quickly. I just ran out of real estate and he got me by a 1/4 wheel. It was a photo finish in my book even though I clearly knew he got me. I was proud to race with John and Matt who are exceptionally strong and fun to ride with.

Sunday at Pine Flats
About 20 miles into the race after a solo break had been away for about 5 miles I was trying to get everyone to work together. It turned out that only Matt and John heard me. Everyone else would draft and then when it was their turn to pull they would slow down. So I just said screw it and took off. Maybe not the smartest thing to do with 35 miles left in the race, but Freddy sprinted onto my wheel and said "vamos." Luckily I knew enough spanish to understand what he was saying, and I said "andale andale." We took turns pulling and caught the solo guy in about 15 minutes with the main pack nowhere to be seen. At the climb I was feeling it so I slowed down a bit. With less than a mile to go up the climb here comes John pulling a train of 3 riders. I couldn't hold that pace so I dropped back. Matt soon caught me and he made me suffer once again. The 5 riders ahead must have been 45 seconds ahead, but 45 seconds is nothing when you've got Matt's downhill skills. We caught the lead group on the decent in about 1 minute. That was awesome. I felt like Team Astana as Matt and I took the front and pulled John to the last climb. We did all we could to give him a nice lead out. It wasn't much on my part, but Matt was paving a nice path for our climbing contingent. All 5 riders rode past us as Matt and I sat up and said "our job is done" and cruised in. The only thing I was pissed about was that this guy who rode upright like he was on a beach cruiser ended up coming in 5th.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. We would have won both races if Freddy wouldn't have been there. He did deserve both victories though, and it was fun riding with a really smart rider. I just want to know how the hell he pisses and rides.

Congrats to Dan for an outstanding weekend as well.

It's also great to hear about Matt, Craig, John and Gabe's victory down south. Way to go!

See you all on the road.

Bob Wilcher
Killer B Fitness

UCLA Team Time Trial, Chicken Style!

2009-02-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

Hello,

While John, Bob, Dan, and Matt were kickin' some butt up north. A few other Chickens headed into the beautiful desert community of Lancaster for some good old fashioned Time Trial Racing!

They had two races on Sunday as part of the UCLA road race weekend. First was the Team TT. I personally have never done one, so I was excited and nervous to see how we would do. Our four person Team consisted of Craig Zimmerman, John VanMannekes, Gabe Garcia, and me.

After standing in 40 degree weather for 30 minutes to register we were informed that our start time was 9:18am it was currently 8:50am and we were still in pajamas and all our bikes and wheels and trainers were still in the truck. We scrambled like I've never scrambled before, got dressed, pinned on numbers, pumped up tires, rode one mile to the start line and got there with 30 seconds to spare...I'm not kidding. The starter yelled go and after two hours in the car and literally no warm-up we were on the rivet within 45 seconds. I can honestly say the first 5 minutes were about as painful and uncomfortable as any I can remember. When you're doing a Team Time Trial you can't just say "well I'm gonna take it easy for the first 5k" cuz you have to stay with the other 3 guys. The no warm-up and cold start hit Gabe the hardest and he lost contact about 5 miles in to the 12 mile race. So now we were just 3 and we had to stick together because the 3rd rider across the line is the one that stops the clock so you can afford to lose 1 teammate but not 2. After getting over the initial shock of the lactic acid overload and the traces of vomit climbing up our throats we settled into a nice rhythm. After the turn-around we really hit our stride and we were flying on the way back! On one downhill section John was on the front I was 2nd wheel about 3 inches off his back tire in the aero position when I look at my speedo (that's short for speedometer Robert) and we're going 42 miles an hour! It was awesome! Then a little further down the road we caught and passed a 4 woman team from Cal Poly. Blingerman was on the front and I was 3rd wheel, as we passed them I heard the girl on the front mutter "Holy S@*t!". I'm assuming she said that because our speed was so impressive... but she might have said it because of the massive amount of drool hanging out of the corner of my mouth. Either way it gave me an adrenaline rush and we hammered all the way to the line in 28:06. Good enough for 1st place in the cat 3 division and the 2nd fastest time of the day! Only the UCLA "A" team beat us by 15 seconds. But that doesn't really count because we're all old and have kids and they were all young and have nothing to do all day besides train... and recover from drunken Frat parties...and study to be doctors and engineers and easy stuff like that.

We were pretty stoked, and as soon as it was over we wanted to do it again 'cause we know we could've gone faster. Gabe was a little bummed but we were all right on the edge those first few minutes and any one of us could've popped. Besides he would redeem himself in the days 2nd race.

The individual TT took place on the same 20k course a few hours later. This time we had plenty of time to properly prepare and our start sequence was less dramatic. We all rode well and posted strong times in Cat 3 with me in....no surprise here... 2nd place with a 29:29, John in 3rd with a 29:42, Blinger in 5th with a 30:09 and Gabe in 6th with a 30:39.

We checked the collegiate times cuz we wanted to see how the UCLA boys did as individuals. All four of them rode better than a 28:30 which shows how well we rode as a team. As individuals they were all much faster than us, but as a team they only got us by 15 seconds. And with a little practice and better preparation we can go even faster. I'm definitely excited to try a Team TT again in the near future.

The funniest part of the trip was when after the individual TT Blingerman's zipper got stuck on his skin suit. All three of us were trying to unzip the thing so we didn't have to cut it off of him. I had one hand on the collar and the other hand on the zipper pulling as hard as I could when suddenly my hand slips off the collar and I give Blinger a perfect uppercut right to the chin... He wobbled for a moment but like Muhammad Ali he refused to go down! Not only is Craig an excellent Time Trialist I think he would also make a great UFC fighter because clearly he can take a punch. Next time I'm gonna sucker punch him in the gut to see if he can handle body shots.

All in all a great day of racing. Congrats to Dan Rudd on a huge win at Pineflat. He's gonna have to give us the blow by blow. If there are any more race stories out there we'd all like to hear 'em. Win, lose, or draw... it's all good motivational material.

Great job Chickens!

Matt

Cantua & Pine Flats-Cat 5

2009-02-16T15:52:00.000-08:00

Chickens,

Nothing like a weekend of racing! Matt Perry, Big Bob, and I started the weekend trip off on the right foot by hitting up the Chicken Ranch on the way out of town for some burritos for the road. Where else would we go? Next stop, the Motel 6 in beautiful East Coalinga, where the sheets made me more nervous than a 50 mph descent.

Day 1 - Cantua

Matt and Big Bob being the mountain bikers that they are were determined to make sure that they made the race hard. I'm pretty sure they just wanted to hurt people, which they did and will continue to do on every ride or race they ever take part in. Let's all just be glad we wear the same jersey as them. Each of them took turns attacking the field, which resulted in too many quick chases to mention. At the beginning of the second lap Matt went to the front and drilled the short descent and Bob looked at me and said, "Let's make it really hard." We formed a paceline at the front and after a few pulls I looked back and there was no one on our wheels, so we rejoined the pack, but we made it hurt enough to drop some people. After the last turnaround, Matt and Bob had already put the fear of god into the field, but they were still grumbling about the race not being hard enough. So, they did what they came to do and attacked a few more times. The last few miles everyone was looking at us saying, "Watch those guys." Matt took the lead and stared drilling it with me on his wheel into the 1k finishing climb. I saw the k to go sign and jumped, a mystery rider hopped right on my wheel. We got a nice gap and then he attacked me and I was saying to myself, "Damn this guy is fast." We were riding side-by-side and with 200 to go he hopped on my wheel as I was trying to jam my shifter into the big gear. With 150 to go the guy jumps hard and flew around me as I'm stil playing games with my shifter, 100 to go, Bob and Matt fly by! We cross the line with the Chickens in 2-3-4. Good stuff!

This mystery attacker was none other than our new friend Fredy Prado who we would get to know well over the weekend, but not too well because he only speaks a few words of English.

Dan road like the powerhouse he is and scored a podium (3rd) in the 45+ 4/5.

We had a little lunch at the local Red Robin and headed to the next great tourist destination California has to offer, the outskirts of Fresno!

Day 2- Pine Flat (the one with the hill)

We lined up at a chilly start and our new friend Fredy pointed at me and said, "Climb good, you try win, how many years you?" "Yes, I try win, I'm 27 years" I responded.

Needless to say we were on Fredy's radar screen. Maybe 15 miles in, Matt rolled off the front to take a tinkle and Fredy jumped around the group, sprinting like a mad man in the drops to get Matt's wheel. We were screaming, "Hey Freddy, he's gonna take a piss!" When Matt pulled off the road, Fredy was maybe 3 inches from his wheel and almost crashed into him. The scene was priceless as he realized what was going on and rolled back to the pack. Shortly after, a rider from Salinas attacked hard off the front before the descent and once we got on the roller section it was time to do some chasing. We tried to organize everyone and to reel in the rider, but it was just the three of us trading pulls. Everyone in the field was scared of the wind and had no interest in helping us bring the rider back. After Chicken Ranch train pulled, Bob was bored and wanted to make it interesting, so he attacked, HARD! Once again, Freddy shot out of the pack and bridged to a Chicken wheel, which was a few 100 meters down the road. Communication was a bit tough between them, so Bob yelled, "Fredy, VAMOS," and pointed up the road. They were off, awesome, Big Bob finally had his break.

Matt and I sat on high fiving each other and road 4th & 5th wheel as three guys chased, while everyone else just looked. On the rollers before the climb, one of the guys decided to really start racing and dropped the hammer, shelling all but a few of us out the back. When the climb started I just road tempo with a strong climber from team Vapor with a few others in tow. Maybe a mile and a half from the top we caught the break, which had become three and I shifted my mindset to racing! We crested the climb in a group of 5 and started the 5-6 mile rolling descent to the final climb. I was sitting second wheel and all of a sudden I hear Matt scream, "Are you read for the Chicken Ranch 1, 2, 3!" He and Bob had bridged and went right to the front. I came around the guy in front of me and said, "That's my ride!" That section was hands down one of the coolest experiences I've ever had on a bike, getting to follow my two buddies, flying down a cool descent with the adrenaline pumping. When the road flattened or popped up a bit I was yelling like a maniac, GO, GO, GO, RIDE, F*CKING HIT BOB. Bob would look back with his face redder than a tomato nodding his head.

Finally, the shallow rise before the steep final climb. Matt takes off as hard as he can, it's not going to stick and our small climber group is going full gas at the climb. Fredy attacks hard on the 1st section of the steep climb, the Salinas rider couldn't keep the pace as a whipped around him. It was just me and Fredy throwing down all we had, riding side-by-side, slugging it out. The final steep section had a sharp switch back and I thought now or never and attacked the hell out of it and got a small gap. I crested the final climb on to the shallow rise to the finish and made it about halfway to the line before sitting down and backing off a bit (it hurt). Fredy smelled my weakness and threw the final attack and went to the line. I rolled to the line in 2nd behind Fredy pounding on my bars disappointed I couldn't finish what I came to do.

Bob and Matt rolled in for 6 & 7, so there were some good results for the Chicken Ranch boys and more importantly a whole lot of fun. Getting back to the parking lot we hooked back up with Dan who soloed to a win! Nice!

Driving back we were all overcome with the riding our new friend Fredy through down. Matt told us how at the beginning of the race Fredy was taking a piss, while he was still riding his bike, mad skills that guys has. Bob and I were completely dismayed and couldn't imagine how a cat 5 racer could race so well, let alone piss and pedal at the same time. A quick google search of Fredy Prado popped up a bunch of race results for pro Mexican stage races from a few years back. Huh! What was he doing in the 5's?

John A. Comunale

Weekend Race Reports

2009-02-09T11:57:00.001-08:00

Chickens,

I made the incredibly smart decision to drive down to San Diego Friday night to try and do the two races schedule in the area. After five hours of traffic accidents every few miles and rain so hard the wipers didn't work fast enough, we made it to San Diego. We got up early Saturday to head east to the booming metropolis of Boulevard, CA. When we were getting out of the car to register it was 38 degrees and pouring down rain. I was trying to keep come enthusiasm going as the weather was a bit demoralizing, but I definitely wanted to get out there and leave it on the road.

We started the 1st lap with a cold fast descent and at the base of the descent the rain started coming down a little harder. I was just cruising 6-10th wheel on the roller section until I dropped my chain and had to get of my bike before chasing back on to the lead group. We crested the climb for the 1st time and the lead group was about 20.

Fast forward to the bottom of the descent on the second lap it started SNOWING and snowing hard! When the snow started coming down after being soaking wetting and freezing, I definitely wanted to light up the climb and get a good result. We were all drilling the rollers hard and when the big climb started about 5 of us road away from the field, then 4, then 3.
Myself and two others were hammering through the snow alone the last few miles. The other two guys were definitely strong, but all I could think about was how I'd get across the finish line 1st. One of my friends told to remember that when it hurts really bad on the climb that everyone is feeling the same pain, so keep pushing, which was some good advice. With a 1k to go I was ready to attack, but our group of 3 was flying, so I held off.
Finally, 200 meters to go and I got a rush of adrenaline and knew it was time to hit it. Click, click, click on the shifter and I stood up sprinting as hard as I could and gave a look back with about 150 to go and saw I had a nice gap, they couldn't respond! I was telling myself to just keep going as hard as I could to the line, so there was no way I'd get caught. I crossed the line, still sprinting as I heard one of the two snow bound spectators yell, "Way to go Chicken Ranch!"

I was so psyched, I won the race! It was really satisfying to ride through the rain, snow, and the climbing induced pain cave to a win.

Riding back to the car the 2nd place finisher was pulled off of the road standing there shaking with the snow coming down. I stopped and gave him my left over Cytomax and realized that my hands and feet were totally numb as well.

Getting back to the car, the pro and cat 3 races were getting ready to roll as the snow continued to fall and they were all definitely not happy to be out in those conditions. Then a very excited Ken Hanson rolls up screaming about how he's in his element and is ready to race. The numbers in the pro field dwindled really quick as all of the Jelly Belly, Team Type 1 (besides Ken), and most of the cat 1/2 riders dropped out during the 1st lap. 3 laps in I went to the feed zone with Ken's girlfriend and next thing you know Ken and this guy named Floyd ride by with no knee warmers.... Crazy!

Now I'm off to a crit. In the rain..... Sweet!

John

yo matt..just got in from san diego..wanna give you a weekend update..raced red trolley down in sd..got 3rd..now just 2 pts from cat 3..fun course, short w/a nice drop into the final turn and then a little kicker up to the final stretch..i latched onto some guy on the drop and he powered me up the hill, 2 guys were able to make it around us on the stretch then i was able to dig in enough to move around my leadout sucker into 3rd...kinda suffered in the middle of the race cuz my dumb ass feeling fresh at the start tried to go in a break..i composed and tried to relax the rest of the way then moved up w/3 laps to go..so i was happy w/my finish...last 2 weekends of racing have been my only high-intensity riding all winter but my legs are starting to feel stronger..some good training the next 3 weeks then nevada..i saw a chicken riding cat 5 but didnt get to talk to him...you guys get some wet rides in this weekend?....ray.

Message from the USFS and City about Front Country Trails

2009-02-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

This just in from Dave @ the Multi Use Trails Coalition.

Dear leaders of our cycling community,

I spoke with Kerry Kellogg of the USFS this AM about some maintenance related trail stuff and up came the topic of the recently plowed ridge/trail that is just south/east to and parallel to 154. He informed me that he was receiving complaints from landowners of mountain bikers trespassing on private property which makes up the lower part of this trail. Most likely the property owners are calling the police and the USFS is then getting the message. Currently to exit this trail in most cases you will need to trespass lower or head back up the way you came in. He made it clear to me that cyclists were the only reported users on this trail that were trespassing. This was not a threatening conversation instead he was just informing me.

Last week Jill Zachary from City Parks informed me that cyclists were using Parma Park while it still closed to the public on the fire roads and trails. She wanted me to help remind everyone that the single track in Parma is off limits to cyclists and to please only use the park when it reopens.

This email isn't me trying to tell people how and where to ride their bikes. Instead I just want to remind everyone that mountain bikers have been and will continue to be under a microscope in the eyes of the agencies and public. As leaders in the community I believe we are obligated to try and do what we can to improve the image of mountain bikers. Hopefully getting the message about these two areas to the masses can prevent any future consequences that may impact our access.

Thanks,

Dave

Mothballs Race Reports

2009-02-01T21:26:00.001-08:00

I sure am glad these race reports keep coming in. I enjoy getting a feel for the action. Thanks!

Early report form the Mothball's

Bill Cutler 3rd in the 5's (1st podium for Bill)!
I was 4th in the 45+
Pete Clements was 5th

Cat 3 Matt was you guessed it 2nd!!!!!!

Ken and Dano were between 4 and 7th in the 4's

Aaron Long was tape 5 ish in the 3's..

Fun racing today.. More soon,

Dave

Hi all!

It was so great to see so many Chicken Ranchers out all day...well, all
Morning, anyway. My race was not until 3pm, and by then most of you
were all probably at Super Bowl parties....but some (one) of us were
(was) still out there for 50 minutes of fun/pain.

I lined up with about 55 (!) women in the 1/2/3/4 race. It was an
impressive field....one of the largest to date, and I'm sure the largest
Mothballs has seen in awhile! There were some fast girls there, lots of
1s and 2s. I was flying solo for this one, being the only girl Rancher
to race, and so my strategy was simple: Don't let anything get too far
away, and try my hardest to be in any break that goes.

After a few laps of sketchyness....and a few halfhearted attacks by the
NOW girls, a break went about 1/3 of the way into our 50 minute race. I
was on the outside, about halfway back, and I saw my friend Heather on
the inside also thinking about bridging, and I went for it. I had so
much momentum, that when I caught up I actually sort of went by them!
Anyway, it was good, and there were 7 of us. We organized quickly and
got a good gap on the field. I didn't know how much time we had on
them...but at one point i heard someone on the field say 30 seconds. I
knew there was some horsepower we had left behind, so it wouldnt be
easy. We dropped Heather after a couple laps, and then there were 6. I
was pushing the envelope, but feeling ok. I managed to sprint for a
prime ,my first ever ,and won! I also lost one by a nose... oops. We
all worked hard in the break, managed to keep everyone motivated, and
hanging on. I could tell everyone was getting tired. THe problem was,
I didn't know how far the main field was. WE lapped probably 15-20
people, but I knew there was a strong field chasing. So when we had 3
to go I know I had to bury myself. I ended up dragging the field around
the last lap so they could all sprint around me at the end. Smart move
(not!!!). oops. My thinking, however, was that if the break stuck, I
would at least get top 6, but I didn't want to have done all that work
only to get swallowed up in the end... Turns out we had a HUGE gap and
it was a non-issue... I guess it is a learning experience. :-)

Bottom line: I got 6th in a 1/2/3/4 race. All the others in the break
were 1s and 2s, and the next highest 3 finisher was 12th. I won a
prime, and I earned some respect. Everyone in the break seemed to know
each other, and afterwards they were all asking me who I was! I know it
was the magic of the Chicken Ranch Skinsuit...oh, and just maybe it is
from hammering with you guys all the time! It was the hardest I think
I have ever pushed in a race. On the last 3 laps, my heart rate didn't
go under 200(!) and I didn't even know I had a 203 in me! I do...

Anyway, so I know you were not there to see it...but the long girl
Rancher today worked hard. And got a good result for the team. And she
is severly jet lagged and going to bed now.

G'night all! I watched most of you today, and I've gotta say, this team
is awesome! Not only do we have SO MANY PEOPLE in nearly ever race, but
we get the results, and have a lot of fun.

Congrats! When's the next one?

Kimberly

Just a few quick observations:

1. Why do so many people in slings and on crutches show up to watch Crits (not counting Barney)? Nothing freaks me out more before going out to do a crit than seeing someone hobble up with pins in their legs.

2. In the porta potties, what are these people eating? If someone in my household had that kind of action going on in their digestive tracks, we'd be at the hospital right now.

3. There's nothing cooler than seeing moms and dads cheer on their kids racing, no matter what age.

4. There's nothing cooler than having your own kids cheer you on (thanks Charlie and Maisie)!

5. Is it just me, or does everyone except for the Chicken Ranchers seem so serious?

6. How come they don't do podium ceremonies? Here you bust your ass for a top 6 placing so that you can go pick up $15 from Angie Bell (who by the way does an awesome job and even includes a nice note about seeing you at Mothballs again next year). No bash on the organizers, but it sure would be nice to see who beat who (or is that whom?).

7. Do aero wheels really work? It's tough to tell as there are some really fast guys out there using 32 spokes.

8. Is it better to warm up on a wind trainer or ride around? I saw way fewer wind trainers in the parking lot this year. Is that fad over? If so, I can't wait to sell mine.

9. The more I see last year's Chicken Ranch kit, the more I realize how ugly that thing was (Druber, I still love ya).

10. Why are the officials so angry? Someone asked if the lap cards could be raised a bit so that you didn't have to look down to see how many freakin' laps are left. You would have thought the official was asked to strip naked and run on hot coals by the tone of his response.

Anyhow, I sucked in the 3's. I was in good position in the final corner and then got pushed outside (way outside, like to Hollister). As usual, Matt killed it and Aaron got a high placing. I freewheeled in to save my sprint for the 30+ 3/4 Worlds. By the way, it's always fun to race with Aaron, Matt, Dave, and Gabe, but adding in John and Tory has been awesome. Those guys like to attack.

The 30+ 3/4 was immediately after the finish of the 3's. I don't think I've ever done back to back crits before. Bill Cutler (who heroed earlier in the day for a 3rd place) dutifully delivered my bag to me in between races with a fresh bottle, Red Bull, a Gu, and a nice rub down. Well not really a rub down, but the way he held my bag out towards me, you would have thought he was the ring bearer at a wedding.

The 30+ 3/4 was pretty smooth, not too fast until Larsen got in a break with 3 other guys. They killed it out there. With 3 to go, I thought it would stick. With 1 to go I wasn't sure. I was a total spectator until the back stretch when I realized this thing might end in a sprint. Dano did a great pull to get me near the front and then Gabe was up there going good. I wasn't sure what I had left but I sprinted to 2nd place. Really fun to race with Coach, Mitch, Brett, and all the Ranchers. Finally, Larsen's effort was amazing. My prediction is pops is about to peak again and nail it.

Bling.

The First Road Race of The Year!

2009-02-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry gang, if I'm a little slow on the posting right now. My email has changed. Here are the latest race reports from Saturday's races.

Hello Everyone,

Well I thought I'd take a stab at the first race report. But by no means does that excuse the rest of you from telling your stories!

The Cat 3 race started about as friendly as any race I can remember. We were comfortably conversational all the way to the first turn-around about 17 miles in. It was kind of embarrassing 'cause the Cat 5 group that started 5 minutes behind us came flying by us like we were standing still.

Things picked up after the turn-around and as we hit the return climb towards the end of the first lap an attack went off the front. I decided to go with it 'cause Dave had warned me to "race aggressive! We have enough sprinters!". Oh, by the way Dave broke his chain on the first climb about 6 miles into the race and had to abandon, so we were without our "Patron". I ended up in a break of about 12 riders with one other Chicken Rancher, Tory "The Razor" Gillett. Meanwhile the big gun sprinters on our team like Blinger, Gabe, John "The Van-Man" Van Mannekes, and Aaron were content to sit back and save their legs and to wait and see if the field would bring us back.

Our breakaway group worked well together and basically pace-lined it for 50 miles and they never caught us. So it was left up to me to deliver the goods at the finish line. Unfortunately, when I wasn't looking someone strapped two logs to my legs and when I went to sprint it felt like I was wearing stilts! Needless to say my pathetic 25 mph "stilt- sprint" did not seal the deal and I ended up 4th. I think we would've had a better chance of a Rancher winning if the sprinter group had caught us. We had a lot of horse-power sittin' in back there. But we all raced well together, we had a good strategy and didn't make fools out of ourselves, the weather was outstanding, and nobody crashed! All in all a pretty successful day!

The only other riders I knew in the break were two Platinum boys. Chester Gillmore and Ron Tekada. The rest of the guys I'm sure were all doping......Well, OK I'm not 100% sure they were doping but it felt like they must be doping and it makes me feel better to imagine that they were...at least the 3 guys who beat me.

I know we had at least a couple other Chicken Ranchers finish in the top two in a couple other races but I'll let them tell their own stories. Even if we didn't win we were by far the best looking Team out there on the road and in the end that's probably way more important.....at least for pictures. Speaking of which, I took exactly zero pictures, so if anyone has any pictures to share please send them to Greg. I think we also won the "Miss Congeniality" award for being the nicest guys at the race so that gives us some momentum going into tomorrow's Mothballs showdown.

Great job everyone!

See you tomorrow,

Matt

Hi there!

My race report isn't that interesting, but at least the women ranchers
put up a good result in the form of ultra-speedy-climber Susie Willett!
As most of you know, I spent over 24 of the last 40 hours on a train or
plane or sitting in an airport, not really the best way to get your legs
ready for a race! And since my circadian rhythm is telling me that it
is 9 hours later than it really is...let's just say it might not have
been an ideal day for a road race. But I did it anyway, and it was
actually pretty fun!

The W3/4 race was slow from the get-go. There was one rider making
things *interesting* in the form of pass the peloton over the centerline
and then attack. Then sit up, then repeat. This was how the whole race
went--I think my brakes got more workout than my legs for awhile there!
Anyway, things got a bit speedier on the way back, and sure enough, the
climbers went on that final long climb, which alas was too long for my
airplane-legs. I got gapped, and then the chase was on. I worked with
one other girl, and we tried and tried to catch back up. I thought we
were going to do it...but then lost a few precious seconds trying to get
the follow car to notice us so I could get by... I rounded the final
corner by the feedzone and realized I wasn't quite gonna make it.....I
gunned it and crossed the finish line in 14th, right behind Lauren
(UCSB) who had led out Jen (UCSB) for the win. So close.....

Susie, however, rocked the climb, and ended up 2nd!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

Maybe tomorrow will be more my thing. I just need to convince my legs
that they can climb just a LITTLE better so I can use that sprinting
power for something more useful and exciting than 14th!

See you all tomorrow!!! And good job to everyone today! I saw so many
Ranchers out there--got tons of comments on how awesome the kit looks,
and I think we are off to a great start! I'm happy to be a part of this
team.

Kimberly Turner (so jet lagged she is going to sleep now).

In the 1st cat 5 group we had Dan, Brian, Bill, Dave J, Matt Perry and myself. The 1st half of the lap was a pretty reserved pace, but we could have been a part of a bloopers video when we got to the turnaround. I think we were the 1st group to go through the turnaround area, so the UCSB course marshals (they must be cat 5 marshals) didn’t tell us to go right until some riders were already turning left. It was pretty comical as only about half of the field actually went around to the right and the others to the left, so we were all turning into each other, which was complete chaos.

The second half of the lap was faster with Matt and a few others mixing it up at the front. I road about 10th wheel waiting for the climb to come, so I could try and thin the field to a small group that could hopefully get to the finish. I rode the 1st half of the climb pretty hard and looked around and there was only one rider within a couple of bike lengths. I slowed up and offered some encouragement, hoping I’d have a few people to get organized with for the flats. As we got to the top, three of us came together and not too long after Dan & Matt bridged up with a few others, with another couple riders joining a few miles down the road. The last couple of k’s there were probably 10 of us as Dan and I sat on for a bit as two Fast Friday riders did all of the work. Going into the sprint, I was kicking myself for not attacking before we fanned out taking up every inch of road and I’m no Eric Zabel. As I sat up, Dan saw a gap and started moving like a freight train through it, but the riders on each side must have not liked his speed as they tried to make a sandwich out of him. Matt Perry the bike handling maestro moved effortlessly to the front and took 2nd!

Every person I saw in a Chicken Ranch jersey crossed the line with a smile, so it’s probably safe to say that we definitely had the most fun…!

John

A brief follow up on John's E mail from one of the Cat 5 guys who was gapped before the first turn. It was a scary but funny , watching you guys make that first turn with no direction from anyone of the race organizers and watching them run around and try to reset the cones before we got there. Thankfully no one got hurt.
But the highlight of my day even more than passing the cat 3s on the way out was the support I saw among the Chicken ranch team for all its members (including newbies like me). I did not see that kind of verbal encouragement coming to members of other groups If I didn't respond with more than a smile and nod it was only because I was gasping for air at the time but it felt great. Dave thanks for yelling to catch and stay with those Cat 4 guys at the top of the hill ,I did and stayed with them the rest of the way. (I was kind of discouraged at the time thinking that you had already finished 2 laps and ridden out to watch).
When I was considering becoming part of the team and a sponsor, Matt talked with me about the philosophy of being inclusive and supportive to all team members and it was sure evident today.
Good luck tomorrow for those racing and I will be out to root you on .

Bill M

After begging for a spot in the 5 A group to race with my fellow Chicken Ranchers I had to settle for 5 Bs. I think my grandma could have stayed with the 5 Bs for the first 17 miles until the turn around.

When we hit the climb the pack thinned out a bit. I suffered up it, but managed to cling onto the 3rd group and we quickly joined the 2nd group. I helped bridge us up to the first group and if someone would have moved the finish line 200m closer I would have won, but I had to settle for 6th I think. I think I was doing a little too much work in the last 5 km to have anything left for the sprint.

I talked with Big Rob, the only other Rancher in 5 Bs that I saw, about strategy before the race and he quickly said "Hey man, this is my first race," so I forgot about the strategy and just road.

If I had to do it again I would have liked to work with a few guys earlier on to thin the pack out before the big climb. I think we could have stayed away. This is all hypothetical of course, but maybe next time.

I had a lot of fun, and can't wait to regroup tomorrow.

Congrats to everyone.

Bob Wilcher
Killer B Fitness
126 Powers Ave, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
robert.wilcher@gmail.com
805-448-2222

As Matt mentioned, he was able to get to the front at the base of the long climb and stay w/ the lead group, which ended up being the move of the day. I made what turned out to be the dumb move of the day and take a nature break a couple of miles before the base of the climb, which left me at the back of the group. I figured that Iʼd have enough time to work my way up towards the front before the start of the climb. Unfortunately, the group wasnʼt going very fast leading up to the climb, so we were 5 wide w/ no room to maneuver through the pack. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to work the edges of the yellow line and the right side of the road trying to move up. The next thing I know we were hitting the climb and Iʼm still ½ way back in the pack. By the time we get to the top, I see Matt and Toryʼs group of 13 off the front. They had a good gap, and we were left w/ about 10 riders trying to bridge.

Coming to the turnaround under the Start/Finish line for the start of the second lap, I could see we were within striking distance of the lead group. Shortly after, Tory backed off the lead group and joined our chase group. It was when we picked up Tory that I decided to put in some hard efforts to bridge the gap. My reasoning was that the lead group of 12 only contained 1 Rancher, Matt. Our group of 10 contained 4 Ranchers, thus weʼd have the numbers to help Matt if we bridged. A few La Grange guys helped w/ the chase since they didnʼt have anyone in the break. At one point we were close enough that the follow vehicle was backing off from the leaders and got ready to get behind the chase group. I was at the front and pulled off thinking someone would pull through and finish bridging. Unfortunately that wasnʼt the case and no one pulled though. I think that those of us that were doing the work were too gassed to finish the job. It was then that the front group gapped us even more and the chase group backed off. We cruised back and at the base of the final climb, Steve Smith from Platinum and Blinger picked up the pace. Over the top, the pace picked up and a rider from Bishops Peak took a hard pull, but no one followed his wheel. I jumped out of the saddle and got on his wheel. One quick look back and I could see the two of us had a gap. Another look back and I could see Toryʼs CR jersey at the front blocking . At this point it was 2 of us working together, we picked up another rider who tried to bridge the gap to the leaders earlier, making us 3 working together to the finish. Going into the finish I decided to try my legs for a long downhill sprint. I took off early, and got caught at the line. I ended up finishing in 14th place. I wish I would have made the lead group, but that being said, I was happy w/ my fitness and my result.

Sorry if it was a little long winded :-)

Gabriel

Long Beach Crit

2009-01-26T08:11:00.000-08:00

Photos

Thanks for the pics Carson. Good to see you out there representin’ in the 4’s field.

Dano, Mitch and I did what we came to do – get our feet wet for next weekend. I had nearly forgotten what it was like to go hard for 45 minutes straight. The 30+ 3/4 race was 100 strong. There was a pile-up on lap 5, but after that everyone stayed upright. We all moved around the pack, sometimes on the front, and got the blood lactate elevated. The bell lap was a typical Nascar hustle, especially with a backstretch headwind slowing things up. I opted to finish with all of my skin and race on the home course next weekend.

Hope everyone got some good training on this clear day. Next weekend should be fun.

Ken

Chicken Ranch Goes Exploring (The Helmet Cam Lives!)

2009-01-19T18:18:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday's mountain bike ride took the group on a frontside trail adventure. Most of these trails nobody in the group had ever been on. Complete with the first visit to a grave site. Matt suspects some wealthy lady buried her cat there. Enjoy the audio visuals.

Happy Birthday Esquire!

2009-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

Where was the cake? I showed up rode up the freeway and turned around and obviously missed a bit of action. Good seeing everyone today for a short while, I'll get in better shape and try and keep up soon. Those of you healing up, heal quickly!

Hello Everyone,
This ride certainly lived up to it's billing. It was an Epic!

We had more mishaps than expected but that just adds to the "epic-ness" of the ride. I'm happy to report that Rick Martz is OK with no broken bones. Just major bumps and bruises. Robert Ramirez is in the market for a new 2009 kit since he left most of his old one on the Jalama Beach Rd. pavement. There's more to the Ramirez drama but I'll get to that later. David Jurist was able to saddle back up and finish strong after his little meeting with the street.

I'll bet we could do that ride fifty more times and never get weather that nice again. Perfect temperatures, no wind, courteous drivers... that was awesome!

Without Randy in the Chicken Rig, today could've been a disaster. We might still be out there! Randy you have officially fulfilled your team community service requirements for the rest of your life. You were absolutely phenomenal! Thank you so much!

We have to thank the Pros who came out and throttled us today. Reminding us all why they are Pros and we're.....not Pros. Tim Johnson, Jesse Anthony, Kim Anderson, Ken Hansen, Phil Southerland, and Joe ? (I can't remember your last name). You guys we're great. Thanks for putting up with a bunch of amateurs for the day. You pushed us all to the limit, and pulled us all the way home.

We covered 111 miles in 6 hours with 6500ft of climbing. Not too shabby for a days work! Dave Lettieri thought he was the official "Winner" of today's ride after his crafty late ride attack on Cathedral Oaks got him through the Fairview traffic light just as it was turning yellow. But there was a protest and video review shows that he left Jalama Beach 30 minutes ahead of the group so he was unceremoniously DQ'd and the victory was given to.....Kim McDaniel. Even though he did technically "cheat" by having his wife pick him up at the intersection of the 101 and hwy 1. and drive him to the Chicken Ranch. But since today was his birthday that small discrepancy was overlooked and the victory is his. Congrats Kim!

Great to see Jose Murillo, Ray Turon, and Gabe Garcia all of the "Ventura Chapter" make the drive to ride with us. You guys did great! Except for Gabe he just did OK.

So as Kate Meehan is riding back along the 101 she happens upon a CHP on the side of the road with a mangled road bike with blood on it and a confused look on his face. He said, "We can't find the body to go with this bike?" Kate made a quick call to Randy in the truck and was able to confirm that it was indeed Robert Ramirez's bike that had fallen off the roof rack! It had blood on it from Robert's earlier crash. The officer was relieved at having solved the mystery with relatively little investigative effort and proceeded on his way. Randy and Robert on the other hand had to turn around and drive back to pick up Robert's bike.

I had a blast today riding and suffering with all of you. I can't wait 'till we do it again! I'll send all the pictures to Knowles so he can post them on the blog. I didn't get that many so if you have a few please send them to Greg or I when you get a chance.
More adventures tomorrow! See all you MTB'rs bright and early at 7:00am at ROCO.

Thanks for a great day!

Matt

Congratulations Super Susie & The Rest of The Gibralter Chickens

2009-01-17T19:00:00.001-08:00

Hey Chickens,

I have to say that this was the best best first race to start to the season

yet. The scenery was unbelievable (the ocean that is), the CR team did a

fabulous job representin" the local race scene and the roads were smoothe.

I had a good race and was pleased with the results and want give kudos to

Luke and Randy for getting' all my various layers of shtuff to the top! :)

Thanks also to Carson for hangin' out at the finish and bringin' swag for us

girls back to the shop. It's nice that he's willing to hang with and shoot

the amateurs every once in a while!

Also, for those of you who left to go home, the highlight of the race was

when a rider from the SLO Wheelmen team finished on his single speed. His

chain broke on his road bike within 100 yards of the start wherein he ran 1

mile to his car to get his single speed and running shoes on to finish the

next 5 miles in. Now that's effort! He said he only had to run around a

couple of the switchbacks, but otherwise it was good for him.

Congrats to all who raced, congrats to Kim who won her age group (we know

how much she loves the hills) and let's not forget to welcome the new kid,

Scott Hicks!

Susie

Support Mountain Biking In The National Parks

2009-01-08T09:34:00.000-08:00

Below is a copy of an email that is going around. I thought it important to post so it gets maximum exposure. I hope you join in on the cause.

Call for support of National Park Service Proposal

Please support this proposal..

Today, you have the opportunity to change the world!!! Yes You!!!! The National Parks are an absolute gem and yet in most National Parks you cannot ride your bicycle. Please take 4 minutes and read the following on how you can send a note to the National Park Service to support this rule change.

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has proposed an important rule change that will make it easier for parks to open trails to mountain biking. IMBA has been asking the NPS to make this change since the 1990s We now enter a 60-day commentary period to make the change official.

I ask that you register comments in support of the new rule. IMBA has made it easy for you to lend support by filling out an online letter.

http://go.imba.com/site/R?i=ALR4eHw-Dr6IIAPDVrED6A

We know that several groups are working hard to defeat this proposal. It will take thousands of comments supporting the NPS to ensure the rule is approved. Please lend your voice to the discussion today. For a more detailed outline and a white paper analysis of the proposed change go to IMBA.com or

http://www.imba.com/news/action_alerts/12_08/12_18_nps.html

Why am I asking this of you?
1 . This proposal achieves a more manageable and efficient system for adopting mountain bike trails in National Parks.
2. Cycling in National Parks is a way to connect people with the natural world. Something you cannot do from the seat of your car.
3. Shared-use trails have proven successful in thousands of locations, including many federally managed parks.
4. This proposal will make history. Your children and grandchildren will read about it and enjoy the benefits for years to come.

So many people have helped get this proposal this far in the process. Now it's your opportunity to lend a hand and make a historic difference. Please ask your family members and friends to sign the proposal as well. The more support we give, the better our change of passing the new proposal.

Let's make history.

More Catch Up

2009-01-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

OMS had this report from his New Years Day exploits. Pretty cool!

New Year’s Day Ride at Long Beach Marina.

By tradition, hundreds of riders meet at Long Beach Marina for 800 AM start of an unsanctioned ride from LB to Dana Point and return. Ride and course description: http://www.veloallegro.org/content/rides-races/rides/ride-nyd.html

Weather was calm, chilly and foggy. Pace was fast from the start; 25+MPH the norm. Most stop lights were blown by the 1.5 lane wide, quarter mile long peleton. Car traffic was light. Course on 101 is fairly flat and fast with the exception of a few small hills in Laguna. Distance from start to Dana Point about 34 miles. Approximate time to DP 1:20 = 25 MPH average. It was not especially difficult to maintain high rate of speed among this large bulk of riders. Though eventually, over 90 miles, along with many surges, the effort was substantial. Due to the high number of riders of widely varying abilities and fast pace, this ride is chancier than most. That said, I only saw one rider take a minor fall. I was also bumped slightly by an overtaking rider when I moved over a few inches to position myself behind the rider ahead. No harm done, but a reminder how quickly it can go wrong. Most riders seemed relatively capable. In summary, the ride to DP was very fast. At Dana Point some riders, including me, rode an additional approximately 20 mile loop. The loop was somewhat slower and there were quite a few stop lights which our now smaller group (100 or so) obeyed. However, once we hit 101 in Newport Beach, approximately 17 miles to home, it was “on”. I hung on about ten miles to Bolsa Chica when my legs finally blew. About 10 other riders were also dropped and we regrouped for the final 6 miles. Total miles 91.5; average speed 21.5 (including many stops; slow ride to and from start). Off at 800, home just after 1200. Similar rides: Ride For Roses with Fastrack in 2005.

Side note: my Long Beach, 1970’s era, Handball player friend, Bruce, showed me a turn of the century Columbia Model One Chainless bicycle he acquired by chance through a real estate transaction. Pix attached.

Columbia History: http://www.columbiamfginc.com/columbia_history.html

Columbia Ad and picture: http://www.jimlangley.net/brake/columbia02.html

Likely forgotten for decades in storage, it was in excellent rideable condition.

Steve

I'm Catching Up!

2009-01-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

I have some catching up to do. The holidays and this job thing have been keeping me from what should be my biggest priority, The B Team Blog. I apologize to the 1 faithful reader I have, whoever you are.

So here is a ride report from before Christmas!

Hello,

If you were sleepin' in you missed a good one! We started out with about 18 riders. 8 of us did the Solvang Loop and the rest did the Paradise road loop. The climb up Old SM was actually enjoyable and Dano and Larsen did a good job of setting a nice steady pace and we were able to keep almost the entire group together. The ride down Stage Coach was a little on the chilly side and I heard from Dave that Paradise Rd. was even colder. Those of us on the Solvang loop were pleasantly surprised with nice temperatures and lots of sunshine. The ride ended up being 90 miles with 5,700ft of climbing and took us 5 hours and 30 minutes to complete with one flat tire. It's so nice to ride on some different roads and mix-up the scenery now and then. The riding in the Valley is hard to beat. We did run in to a pretty substantial side wind on the section from Gaviota to Refugio. I wish I could've taken a picture of how far we had to lean over to keep our bikes upright but I needed both hands on the bars to wrestle with my deep-dish wheels. Other than that little section it was smooth sailing. Check out the blog for the rest of the photos. Hopefully seeing pictures of your friends out there doing epic rides is gonna motivate you to get out there next weekend! The more the merrier!

See ya,

Matt

Fat Tire Sunday 12-14-08

2008-12-14T19:09:00.001-08:00

Hello,

Views, ice, crashes, laughs, climbing......this mornings MTB ride had it all. We were expecting the threat of rain but there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the air was crisp and crystal clear. It was a bit on the chilly side though. Fortunately, everyone brought backpacks with enough room for 20lbs of extra clothes. Everyone except Mike Abbott. The only thing I don't like about Mike is that he makes everyone else around him look like a big sissy. At the top of Gibralter before we dropped Angostura I was wearing leg warmers, booties, an undershirt, shortsleeve jersey, arm warmers, skull cap, a wind vest, a thermal vest, a wind jacket, a rain jacket, a face mask, and two pairs of gloves and I was still freezing my ass off on the descent. Mike was wearing a jersey and shorts..........and he couldn't stop talking about what a beautiful day it was. I think he's part Eskimo or polar bear or something. John Comunal provided some excitement by crashing in a corner on Angostura. He was fine, and more importantly his new kit was fine as well. He provided some eloquent words on what it feels like to crash. I believe his exact words were "The thing that sucks about crashing is you hit the ground......and the ground hurts". I don't think truer words have ever been spoken. Well said John!

We ended up with 34 miles, 5,600 ft. of climbing and 4 hours of riding. Of course 45 minutes of those 4 hours were spent putting on and taking off clothes for the different portions of the ride, except Mike of course. He spent those 45 minutes eating nails and killing mountain lions with his bare hands. All in all a great ride. Looking forward to seeing all of you out there next weekend.

See ya,

Matt

It's Saturday, So It Must Be Ojai

2008-12-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Well we had a great ride this morning. Our first real Team ride since the new kits came in. It was cool to see everyone out there with their matching kits on (except Dave). To the untrained eye I'm sure we looked like a pro squad out for a winter training ride. And fortunately for us we had two actual pros pull us around for the first half of the ride which made us look legit to any "trained eyes" out there on the road. The weather was cooperative for the most part with no rain, and no wind until the very end of the ride. Unfortunately Dave's sense of direction was not as cooperative and we missed our turn and ended up adding 5 or so extra miles to the ride. But the president of the Ojai chapter of the club, Ben Edwards came to the rescue and got us back on the right track. All in all a great ride. we stuck together on the climbs and rode a nice steady tempo with no real stops or delays. It was nice to finally see Ray Turon out on an early morning ride. I hadn't seen Susie Willett or Greg Knowles out for awhile so that was a pleasant surprise as well. Looking forward to many more Team rides in the future. I was impressed with how strong everyone was. For a Team that doesn't recruit riders we actually have quite a few hammers in our ranks! I realize I'm gonna have to work harder if I want to keep up! But then again, that's sort of the whole idea. To inspire us all to work a little harder and have fun!

See ya out there,

Matt

It's Christmas Time At Fastrack!

2008-12-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

Great Job Beau!!!!!

Sales will be booming!

I Feel It Important To Warn The World!

2008-12-12T13:04:00.000-08:00

There has been some talk going on around the B Team email chain about the powers of our kits, so I feel it honorable to at least let everyone else in on the power of THE CHICKEN KIT!

The first report comes from one Mr. Matt Benko, or superhero Benko!

Hello everyone,

Well, the response to the new kits has been overwhelmingly positive which is cool. But I'm gonna tell you a true story that may make you like the kits even more. It turns out the new kits give you Super Powers when you wear them. How do I know this you ask? Let me explain.

On Tuesday morning I was riding to meet the 7:00am group at ROCO when I witnessed a crime being committed right on State St. at the corner of State and Victoria. Two kids, perhaps Jr High age were using paint pens to "tag" a couple of the store fronts. Now if I had been wearing any other kit I probably would've just ridden by thinking "What a couple of punks" but because I was wearing a brand new 2009 Team Chicken Ranch kit I felt empowered. So I did what any self-respecting Super Hero would do when placed in a similar situation......I called the police. Now I could have tried to be stealthy and whisper into my cell phone but I felt invincible at the moment so I rolled right up to the juvenile delinquents and spoke loudly into my phone "Hello police?...yeah I'm watching two kids tag a building on State and Victoria. You may want to come check it out." The criminals were startled by my boldness and the chase was on. I followed them on my bike as they ran into the City Lot and then into Victoria Court all the while steering with one hand and holding my cell phone with the other. I lost sight of the "perps" somewhere in Victoria Court so I finished describing what they were wearing to the dispatcher and then proceeded to meet the 7:00 group. But lo and behold the new kit has tracking powers as well and I spotted them again at the corner of Chapala and Figueroa. They didn't see me until I was about 15 feet away and this is when the new kit really showed the value of having your entire body encased in "faux-carbon fiber feathers". The taggers became enraged and like a wild animal when it's cornered, they attacked! They threw their orange colored paint pens right at me. This could've been a devastating blow. Thankfully I was wearing my new 2009 Team Chicken Ranch kit and the weapons bounced off of me and fell harmlessly to the floor. At the sight of this the two young thugs again ran for their lives and I continued on to Roco just catching the 7:00 group in the nick of time at 7:05!

Now I doubt the police ever caught these two vandals but that doesn't really matter. Because now they have the fear of "Chicken Justice" embedded deep in their hearts. I'm sure these two young boys will turn their lives around as a result of this encounter. They'll realize the error of their ways and look for more positive ways to express themselves. Perhaps they will go on to graduate from Harvard or Yale or UCSB and change the world. Just as we Chicken Ranchers will do in 2009. That's right...."Team Chicken Ranch....making the world a better place...one ride at a time!"

See ya out there!

Matt

Then we got this amazing report from our down under correspondent Joel Groberg, aka "Snake Charmer".

G'day Everyone,

Matt's story reminded me of something that happened to me on a ride last week, that also demonstrated the amazing powers of the Chicken Ranch Kit...
I was doing a night training ride, and for a brief section of it I was alongside a 6-lane highway. I came up on a large stick that was across the bike lane, and sticking partially into the slow lane of the highway, and stopped to drag it off the road. When I got up to I realized (besides the fact that CR kits don't improve my night vision) that the stick was really an enormous python, about 13 ft. long. I immediately shifted into Steve Irwin/SPCA/Superhero mode and tried to get it off the road and headed back into the forest beside the road...I have seen too many big pythons struck dead on the roads here.

I knew that if I dragged such a heavy snake (70lbs?) off the road backwards that I would damage it's belly scales, which here during the wet season is nearly a death sentence for a snake. I could not go out in the road to get at the head. I decided to grab it by the back of the tail and annoy it so it turned around to see what was going on. It proved to be a very good decision in the short term, because it worked!

The down side to this strategy is that by the time snake came back to see what's happening at it's tail end it was a little pissed off. It struck at me a couple of times so I did the what seemed even more logical at the time, which was try and grab it by the neck. I only missed by 2 feet, that's how far behind the head I grabbed. If you want to have a big snake bite you, grab it a couple of feet behind the head, that brings it up close to your arms, face and torso. Given those biting options I am glad the snake chose to bite me on the arm....which was protected by my Chicken Ranch Jersey!

I figured as long is it had me by the jersey that I also had it, so I quickly backed off the road, into the forest and somehow managed to separate myself from the snake, and shooed it off into the forest. The jersey now has four small cuts in the left sleeve, which no doubt would have been in my arm if I had been wearing a lesser jersey.

I actually only have the retro 04 05 and 06 kits, so If anyone has an extra kit or if Dave still has them for sale let me know, I figure if the old kits are python-proof, what must the new ones be like?

Oh, and here's another recent snake story from our local paper, this one involving a python and a..... chicken! http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2008/12/10/19271_local-news.html

All the best,
Joel in Cairns, Australia

Some have even thought this superhero is a Chicken Rancher, based on the similarities between our kit and his. Hmmmmmm!

We have even had one Chicken Rancher report he is so confident in the super powers his kit has he is going to wear it Elk Hunting. I'm not quite sure how that will help, but I'm waiting to hear.

The world should consider themselves warned.

Just a few tidbits, Happy Holidays Everyone!

2008-12-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

I guess the racing season is never over; or maybe Iron Mike just never stops!

I hope everyone had great holidays, I just got back from the hecker race. It was a perfect 75 deg and a field of 13 racers set out on a perfect course"fast and tacky" the race went well finished second, with the third place guy 20 seconds behind. This is the editorial part: if anyone has any ideas to get more racers to the charberlin ranch, fire all the thoughts and ideas to hecker, he holds the key to the best place to race and only 30 minutes away. that's the soap box for today, that's a lot of words for someone who normally doesn't talk much!! see ya

mike abbott

Congrats to one of our newest members, we are going to have to teach him to write a race report. This came in from Gabe!

Congrats to John Van Mannekes from the Ventura chapter of the CR team for taking the win in the Piru TT today in the Cat 3's, and the 4th fastest time of the day!
Proof that the new 2009 kits are FAST.
Gabriel

I know there are tons of folks with all kinds of backgrounds on this team, but if you want to really feel like an underachiever check out this article about Kimberly Turner, or should I say Doc. ;O0 WOW! Kimberly congrats from your biking buddies and thanks for getting us some recognition in the intellectual world.

Hey Rich, nice legs! I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with white hairy legs. ;o)

Painted Cave Update

2008-12-06T16:59:00.001-08:00

For those of you who have been missing the ability to fill up your water bottles at the faucet at the painted cave sign your prayers have been answered. There is a new handle