Bakin In Bakersfield, or Bacon In Bakersfield Day 1

Hi all!

Just wanted to check in from the depths of h*ll (or wait, is that just
Bakersfield, CA) to report on the women Chickens representing here at
the Kern Co. Women's Stage race.
The good news is that I survived the first day of my second Kern.

I am kind of tired and still dehydrated (even after drinking 1 recovery
drink, 2 water bottles, 5 gatorades, about 5 glasses of water at dinner,
and 2 diet cokes (ok, so the diet coke didn't help, but it sure tasted
good...). It was the worst I have ever felt on a bike. The temperature
was well over 100, although I'm not sure how much! I didn't really want
to know. And it was windy, too. The wind was so hot, however, that it
felt like being in a convection oven (I can only assume that's what
being baked feels like). Although on a good note, I accomplished the
following:

1. Finished.
2. Didn't throw up (came mighty close though)
3. Didn't blow up/pass out/ride off the road
4. Achieved my max heart rate at the finish (201)
5. Ran a higher avg. heart rate than I thought previously possible
without blowing up... (189-my threshold is 167)
6. First time I felt like was racing in a sauna (devil's punchbowl last
year was close though)
7. Didn't drop my chain this year!
8. Got 4th.

And on a great note, Susie won the TT, and is sitting in 1st
place!!!! She remarked to me (before she found out she won, mind you),
"On a scale from one to ten, this race was a zero,"
to which I replied,
"Zero, you're being too nice, it's definitely a negative 10,"
to which she said "you WOULD say something like that, being the engineer,"
to which I think I actually started TALKING about negative numbers! I
really was beat.
Anyway...you get the idea.

She has a tad over a minute on me, and with us sitting in 1st and 4th,
we'll have our work cut out for us tomorrow. Tomorrow we have a 50 mile
RR in the morning (with 7 time bonus opportunities), and a 13 mile
Gibraltar-style hillclimb in the afternoon. We'll work hard to
represent Team Chicken Ranch, at least until we drop from heat exhaustion!

Good luck to all you chickens racing Mountain Bikes this weekend! I
hope the heat spares you a little...our forecast up here is not kind.

Ciao!
Kimberly

Bike To Work Week!

The tenth annual Bike Week is coming this May!
Since 1999, we have brought everybody an increasingly robust Bike Week of great bicycling events. This year many of our activities are returning —Bike to School Day, Bike to Work Day, a Ride of Silence, Bike Week Celebration, and two presentations at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Check out details below and mark your calendars. New 2008 events will be added, and they will appear here as they are finalized.

http://www.sbbike.org/BW/bw.html

Get Out And Enjoy The Ride!

New Monday Night Time Trial Course

We have chosen a new course for the Monday Night Time Trial which should be safer. This should alleviate some of the problems which include starting and finishing onCathedral Oaks Road and the difficult turn and quick U-turn on the south side of Glen Annie Road.The course is still 10 miles. It begins at the parking lot at Stow Canyon park on Los Caneros Road. We proceed north to Cathedral Oaks and turn right heading East for 1.3miles and do a turnaround in the lefthand turn lane at Santa Margarita Road. This is the last street just before Fairview where the median strip begins. We proceed West, then up and down Glen Annie Road . The top is 5.4 miles from the start. We then continue up the DosPueblos hill and proceed to the turnaround at the indicator for a “stop sign ahead”. This is the turnaround which is marked with a circle.It is approximately 20 meters short of the actual stop sign.We then proceed East for approximately 1.3 miles tothe finish. Make a right turn at the DosPueblos traffic light and finish one block further at the marked finish line. This is marked on the right and the left sideof the road. This is just at the entrance to the Dos Pueblos high school parking lot. We will then join together in the parking lot at Dos Pueblos.

Brett Does Bakersfield!

Hi Everyone

My first race as a cat 4 didn't turn out as I had planed. I got off to
a good start, the climb on the first lap was fast but I hung in the
with the lead group. On the descent I fell off for a bit (I need to
gain some weight) but I was able to get back on. Near the bottom of
the decent we were going about 38-40 mph. The guy in front / side of
me decided to cut to the right abruptly taking out my front wheel, and
down I went.

At first I thought I was dead, but when I gathered myself and saw a
second group of guys coming straight at me, I new I was probably still
alive. I got back on my bike and went at my own pace for a couple
minutes to assess the damage. Realizing I didn't have any broken
bones, I decided to finish off the next 10 mi and call it a day.

Then a group of 5 riders came up on me and told me to get on, so I did.
We kept up a good pace and before we knew it we had the lead group in
sight. We got into a pace line and managed to catch them right before
the start/finish. I told myself if we caught them I would stay on and
finish the race. My body had other idea's. After the feed zone the
pain really set in on my hip and knee. I started feeling a little
blurry in the head and decided to pull off for the safety of others.

Synopsis: Me, lots of road rash and a bruised rib. Bike minor scraps
and damage. Kit, completely destroyed, cracked helmet. And in the
tradition of race crash photos, my wife included the one below. (funny,
I don't look as happy as Druber did)

All in all, it could have been worse and I am very lucky. See you guys
out there soon.

Cheers

Brett Harrison

May 13th City Council Meeting, BE THERE!

Dear Trail Users.

Some of questions we have been hearing are; what is the status of our trails and what effect will the recommendations have. The rec's, in a nutshell will help establish a trail management program that includes: at least one trail management position, establish better trail conditions, more education and signage, and very importantly no restriction of trail use for cyclists or others unless future surveys and studies prove necessary.

How to make the rec's a reality- Staff tells us that the City Council and Board of Supervisors will only fund this if they feel there is support from the community. That is why you need to attend and let them know that you are willing to make the rec's a reality. With a small budget they know that it is going to be the trail users themselves that bring this to life.

The Santa Barbara City Council will hold a special hearing to hear a presentation from the Task Force next Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm. There will be public comment at the beginning of this meeting and following the presentation- probably 1/2 hour long. What we are afraid of is if this fails, aside from loss of a good management plan is these same hearings about eliminating cyclists taking place in another 5 years or so.

*Although there has been a date set for the Board of Supervisors to act on these recommendations, because of the format, comment from the public may have little or no effect on the outcome. We have sent a letter of support for the Rec's to the Supervisors, more about the BOS as that time approaches.


Pass the word- Pass the attached flyer,

The Multiuse Trails Coalition Board,

Dave Everett, Dorothy Littlejohn, Cort Flinchbaugh

www.multiusetc.org

The Commute Challenge!

Rick Martz is throwing down a challenge to all you cyclists out there;

So in doing my part for Earth's health, I decided one Thursday (the boss gave us a half-day) to commute home on the ole mtn bike ... and I mean old, a good old circa 80's USA steel bike, Fat Chance, built in Mass (all 30 lbs of her). ... well, enjoy the view (the Cachuma shot is now my desktop for this week!), it was 4 hrs and 20 minutes with a nice stop at the somethin' somethin' market on HWY 246 ... I was WAY happy to see Refugio Canyon Road backside after some supper-duper SWEET downhill from Broadcast Peak, seriously! Go ride it!



I hope y'all will do a commute this month, no matter how far! I am!

PEACE ALL!
Rickydude

Volunteer Or Help At The Santa Ynez Valley Classic

The biggest Mountain Bike Race of the year is coming up in just 2 weeks. Tons of help is needed, so please read below and if you can help it would be greatly appreciated

Two weeks and counting until the largest celebration of mountain biking on the Central Coast, the 9th Annual Santa Ynez Valley Classic presented by Platinum Performance starts on May 15th, and we need your continued help and support. All the action takes place at the newly formed Stump Grinder Dirt Club, or the SGDC, off Zaca Station Rd., just north of Los Olivos.

We have plenty of opportunities for you to help, starting (continuing) this weekend with the continued work on our ever expanding trail network (even tomorrow, Friday if anyone can make it). We need to complete the addition of over a dozen new “features” to the new DH run, rake cut weeds and grass from the 11.47 mile SGDC XC course, and tackle the building of a new Pump Track within the confines of Charlotte’s Meadow. We will be there the following weekend as well. Remember after we work in the morning you’re free to ride in the afternoon. Please consider joining us, and if you do decide to show up please bring your own tools, as while the SGDC has some tools if we get a great turnout we’ll run out. Also bring your bike and lunch. Hours both Saturday and Sunday are 8 AM to 12 PM to work (please be prompt) and from Noon to 4 PM to ride.

This a great way for all of you racers that have been asking me to let you pre-ride to do it.

Another opportunity will be Thursday the 8th with our annual Moto Day, if you have a 4 stroke motorcycle please join in on the fun of breaking in the XC and new Super D courses. Hours are from 8 AM to 4 PM, only responsible riders please. We have a cap of 15 riders.

Then the week of the race our staff will be there Monday through Wednesday setting up the courses, we’ll need help with that as well.

But the big question mark every year is how many event volunteers will make it come race weekend? We need a lot of people to run this event smoothly. This year we’ll have a special volunteer raffle that will dole out some awesome schwag like a Nite Rider Light, Kenda tires and dinner for two at the Vineyard House in Santa Ynez, in addition to the norms of shirts and food to every race weekend volunteer. Free camping for volunteers and their families too.

So while I know that most of you receiving this email pay the SGDC staff and myself props “for all you do” and I appreciate that, I can’t do this by myself. So if you or someone you know can spare some time in the next three weeks (we need people to help with clean up too) please forward this email or use the Volunteer Button on the home page and let us know that you want to help us be of service to this awesome sport. You can also contact our Volunteer Director Kim Lyons at volcorsyc@gmail.com.

To tie this up, I just want you all to know that it is truly my pleasure to provide this great event to all of you, and I hope that you continue to attend and have a great time!

Enjoy the ride,

Mike Hecker – Owner
SG Productions – www.ridesb.com
Santa Ynez Valley Classic presented by Platinum Performance – May 15th - 18th, 2008
220 Arden Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105

(805) 896-0673

hecktone1@cox.net



PS. NO HALF LAPS THIS YEAR! Also, Pro Women XC racer Krista Park of Team Kenda will be hosting a Women’s XC Clinic at no charge on Saturday the 10th @ the SGDC! To sign up please email gt_park@yahoo.com.