Great weather, a bit chilly at 8:00 a.m. But it was a fun ride :)
Wednesday Ride from Mike's Bikes Berkeley
TMB 2012 - SuperBad
Wed Ride from MB Berkeley
Team Ride from Mike's Bikes, fast pace, beautiful weather
Sat Morning Ride
50 Miles, 5100ft of climbing, mix of flat roads and climbs Start: Mike's Bikes Berkeley
Alberto Contador at Mike's Bikes Sausalito
It was a wickedly fast pace around paradise as you'll see 1:15 Roundtrip with lights. I really had to go full gas to stay in front of Contador. He's always revving to go fast. Amazing!
MB definitely lives up to the slogan "For the ride of your life." Many of the best rides I've done this year have mostly been MB sponsored rides - Ted King, Col du Pantol CHP Escorted, Levi GP, and now ripping paradise with Contador.
Levi's GranFondo 2011
Tour de France-Italy-Spain
A friend and I took a couple weeks off of racing and and flew to Milan, Italy where we commenced a 650 mile ride to Barcelona, Spain through four stages of the Tour de France. I loaded up my panniers on last year's racing bike via an Old Man Mountain Sherpa front rack. This set up, in addition to a Garmin 800, could not have been more essential!
California on Sestiere:
Assisting straggling riders on the way to the Galibier summit:
Alpe d'Huez:
Dudes were RIPPING the TT course:
Arriving on the Barcelona coast:
Carefully wrapped cargo:
More HERE.
Team Mikes Bikes - Moto Sprint Session in Golden Gate Park SF
Tunitas Creek Road
While I don't really ride my bike in many other places, it sure seems like we're spoiled here in the Bay Area. Four out of five out-of-towners will confirm this. Nowadays, most of the hills I ride are in Marin county. Before this, I lived a few miles down south on the peninsula. I would regularly train on Old la Honda and King's Mountain and all of the gorgeous roads between the bay and the ocean, pretty much all of which lead up to Skyline.
A couple weeks ago I had a weekend day off with no race on tap (whoa!), so I decided to drive down and ride my favorite roads. Yes, I drove a truck somewhere to ride my bike. It was worth it.
First, I buried myself up my absolute favorite climb ever, Old la Honda. I set a personal record and finally managed sub-eighteen minutes. I then flew down 84, took a detour over Pescadero Creek Rd. and Stage Rd. (the same route of a certain state championship road race), and rode up 1. I hit the best pre-Tunitas road, Lobitos Creek, and then settled into a (slow) rhythm up Tunitas Creek Rd. Here's a video of about .75% of that climb. Try to spot the red flowers on the right.
-Ryan
Col du Pantoll Ride
It's our very own Col du Pantoll, because the term 'hammerfest' is just so overused these days. Join Team Mike's Bikes for this challenging and fast-paced group ride. We leave the Sausalito shop at six, roll out to Muir Beach, head North to Stinson, climb up the ridge to Pantoll, head South on Shoreline to Mill Valley and back to Sausalito.
This ride will be CHP escorted on May 26th and on the first Thursday of every month.
Last Thursday had a great turnout featuring a police escort with perfect weather.
For more Team Mike's Bikes led and other group rides, check out Mike's Bikes group ride directory: http://mikesbikes.com/articles/group-ride-directory-pg108.htm
Birthday Ride
Earlier this week I was asked what I was doing for my birthday this weekend. I usually don't do much of anything for my birthday but thought it would be sweet to do what I love, ride my bike.
This morning at 9am I rode to the bridge and was greeted by most of my teammates, a bunch of guys from Team Roaring Mouse, along with several friends from the race scene. With a group this studly, the advertised pace of medium to mellow quickly went to medium to hammerfest after I jumped for the first city limit sign into tiburon. We continued on Paradise drive in a fast double paceline fashion until Travis from Metromint decided it was time to see who was paying attention and pushed on the pedals. We sliced through tiburon to the end of paradise where I snuck around Ranier for the last city limit sign. I looked behind to see I had opened a tiny gap on Nole so waved at Ranier to jump on my wheel for a leadout into the electric box sprint. However that crafty cowboy caught the train and pipped Ranier.
We regrouped at the coffee shop and had a nice mellow ride back to Mill Valley where Shawn convinced me that if I hired him as a coach I would no long crush but mutilate my competition.
Thanks to everyone who showed up for the ride!
-Hank
Out of the Storm - Fresno Weekend - Cantua Creek & Pine Flat Road Race
Quote of the weekend:
"Are you trying to kill us? There's gasoline on the ground."- Gas station attendant reacting to Ben's camping trip meal at the gas station.
Well, who would have thought that a 4am wakeup call would lead me to beautiful weather. In the right place and at the right time.
Ben Stern and I headed out of Berkeley running water off with the wipers. When we hit Coalinga, the sun came up and we were treated to a 4 hour window of blue skies. It was still 40 degrees… burrr.
For Cantua Creek Ben mentored the Cat 5 field. I mentored the Cat 5 Masters Field. For Pine Flat, we switched groups.
-ShawnWord of the Day: Inexorable
Or, why I hate the wind. For me, there are a few things that make riding a bicycle unenjoyable: 1) knee pain, but the BG Fit has taken care of that, 2) saddle sores, 3) wind. Rain does not make this list (but sometimes makes the "reasons I enjoy riding" and "how to make a good ride epic" lists).
Not a whole lot of cyclists enjoy riding in the rain, and this is actually one of the reasons I love it. While everyone else is sitting at home on the couch or in mental toil on the stationary trainer, I'm getting in some solid training miles - made all the more sweet knowing that few other people are doing the same. It's also great for mental toughness. Going into robot mode and chugging through a downpour makes suffering in the heat, off the front, up a hill, or in the cold much more bearable. (See last year's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne 2010 as an example of robot mode, when all the glamourists dropped out and only the hardmen (Stannard, Flens, and my favorite, Bobbie Traksel) were left). I'm also most prepared when the rainy races come around. I even look forward to misty and cold races. Finally, it makes many common post-ride activities, such as coffee drinking, a warm shower, and eating a burrito under a blanket while zoning out in front of the television so much greater.
On the other hand, there's wind. Wind is relentless. Around here, it blows in all directions at once. Instead of making a ride epic, it makes it suck. Unlike rain, you can't commiserate with fellow riders about it, as the words are muted by it's deafening howl. A forty mile ride in the wind keeps you out there for four hours. In the rain, you can still hammer out a solid pace; in the wind, you white-knuckle grip the drops and, despite your cross-eyed chugging, you're crawling along at 12 miles per hour. Descending in the rain is alright if you play it smart and take it slow (I know, I wiped out descending in the wet at team camp...), but going downhill with crosswinds leaves you subject to mother nature's gusts.
Anyway, this rant was brought about by a rather windy ride that Hank and I went on today. I got as far as the bridge before I found myself wishing it was raining.
-Ryan
Rainier's Photo Journal - Training Camp
Day Two - Team Mike's Bikes Training Camp
Today was the second day of team camp. The morning started a little later than Saturday and a whole lot slower. The one-two punch of Morgan Territory-Mt. Diablo had us all clambering for coffee and breakfast. Much to our delight, the was plenty of both to go around as Ryan "Master Cook" Johnson was preparing a spread fit for a king. There was everything from bacon and eggs to a delicious oatmeal concoction, and, of course, lots and lots of coffee.
After stuffing ourselves with delicious food, it was time to think about riding. Unfortunately, the July-like weather that had recently descended on NorCal had left, leaving in its wake an onslaught of wind and rain. Naturally, some moaning and groaning ensued, but eventually we donned our Capo kits and prepared to ride.
With much grumbling, we eventually set out on our ride. After just a few minutes, the sky opened up, dishing out what was to be the worst weather of the ride in the first 30 minutes. After a few flats in the opening miles, we settled in for a beautiful ride through green rolling hills and mostly fair weather.
The second day of training camp is always interesting. The riders who pushed themselves hard the day before are showing it, their stiff pedaling and slow accelerations giving them away. It is also a day when those who have arrived with god fitness come to the fore. There were several riders who rode impressively, despite the previous day in their legs. Paul Ngo put in an impressive ride, finishing the climb up Patterson Pass first after a hard fought contest. He also managed to contest the sprint at the end of the day!
Ride data from Ryan's Garmin:
Team Mike's Bikes had a great start to the season with its inaugural training camp. With the start of the NCNCA Road calendar right around the corner, we can't wait to get out and show you, in person, the new team. Come on out to Cherry Pit in Napa next Sunday, February 6th (Super Bowl Sunday!) to see us start the season right.
Until next time.
-Tyler<iframe width='465' height='548' frameborder='0' src='http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/65988574'></iframe>
Team Camp - Day 1
Greetings from the close of day 1 of team camp!
Today's ride can be described as nothing short of epic. Team member Ben Stern's knowledge of East Bay rides led to a trek from Discovery Bay, where we are making our home for the weekend, through Morgan Territory, over the Diablo saddle and back again. All 13 of us made it out for camp and we were joined by Mike’s Bikes co-wner Matt Adams for 90+ miles of climbs, descents, and attacks through sun, fog, and, towards the end, rain. Below is Hank's ride data: While my extreme exhaustion prevents a detailed account of all the impressive, strong riding I witnessed today, I can tell you succinctly that this team is coming to race this year. The attitude around the house this evening is unbelievably positive. Somewhere, between the smell of Matt Talbott’s coffee and Maurice Monge’s piano overtures, we are definitely coming together as a team and are ready to wreck house!
A bit of a plug here....one of the most impressive points of today happened before we even had turned a pedal on the street. Matt Adams gave a short overview of the Mike’s organization and he went over in particular detail the Mike’s Bikes Africa Project which is focused on setting up self sustaining bike shops in African countries (so far Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe), largely through donations from folks here in the States. If you haven’t perused the Mike’s Bikes website, jump over there and take a look at the link for this project. I, for one, was really impressed by what I found out and am very proud to be involved with an group that puts such value on reaching out in this way.
Ok, I have to put my legs up if I’m supposed to follow anybody tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures and I hope you’re having as much fun riding this weekend as I am!
-John
