Herein lies a collection of photographs of the team in the Marin Headlands.
Marin Ride
Lake Sonoma Series MTB Race #1
Pro Tune-Up & Setting Sun
Merced Month
Team Mike's Bikes spent three consecutive weekends racing, riding, and living east of Merced, CA earlier this month. Here are some pictures.
TEAM CAMP PLEASANTON
Team Mike's Bikes got together in Pleasanton for a weekend to ride our bikes: two hundred and thirty miles and seventeen thousand five hundred feet of climbing. Here are some pictures.
Winter Miles
Winter miles are always better with friends.
Portlandia
loaded and ready for flight
the cleanest these bikes will ever be
lithia water, phil's favorite
andy, forest park
hank, forest park
phil, forest park
andy, forest park. best cyclocross ride of my life.
i was out of my element in the mud at canby cx on saturday
but i learned about real cyclocross conditions
phil's mud butt. he got third. andy was second. out of eight.
everyone else was saving it for cross crusade in barton on sunday
here's andy, clearly thrilled for the first of two run ups
portland does pits right
portland cyclocross style: full kit and boots. i love it.
the day before in canby, this girl swerved in front of me on a short, steep, slippery mud jammer. i pushed her up, then she fell over in front of me and i fell on top of her. just saying. we're pretty much dating now.
seventh and eleventh place bikes. out of eighty single speed racers. eighty!
andy and i both came in too hot on different corners, inside knee out, and tagged immovable metal stakes. yeowch!
this is adrian, modeling perfect portland cx style
not pictured: phil's tenth place in the elite race, maple bacon donuts from voodoo (even though it's apparently not punk anymore. we ate about twelve between the four of us, and then brought home about sixteen more.), free bob's red mill steel cut oats at the venue, cooked to perfection and with all the fixins (what!!!), delicious home cooked breakfast and dinner from hank's parents (thanks bob and judy!), and the trip's team banger.
Smoke, Gravel, Lupine, and a Big Mountain
From Warner Valley, outside of Chester, CA, I turn onto an unmarked gravel road. I ride this road for nine miles and pass springs, streams, and Wilson Lake. The last time I took this route I was heading in the opposite direction three years ago, on a whim, in order to bypass a busy and longer stretch of road. I looked at a map the night before and felt confident enough that the gravel road cut through mountain valleys and pastures back to where I began riding that day.
Forest fire smoke had been stinging my lungs for hours, causing me to cough on the higher passes. I had already climbed hors categorie Mount Lassen and was dead tired when I passed two big dudes, one dressed head-to-toe in camouflage, and the other in high-visibility orange. They sat on ATVs in the middle of nowhere, without hunting equipment. One of them says something to me, but I don't understand and don't stop. I smile, wave, and ride on. It was getting dark and I was alone on a backcountry gravel road, let's just say I wasn't here to make friends. Five minutes later I come upon an intersection of five gravel roads. None of them had any signs, and of course I had no map. I was stumped, if I picked the wrong way I could be stuck out here in the Collins Almanor Forest all night! As I am deciding which road to take, I hear the distant drone of vehicles. Shortly, camo and high-vis pull up, look at my steel road bike and chuckle, "That's the wrong bike for out here." Three years later I know that my Tarmac SL4 is the perfect bike for this ride. They point me in the direction home.
Five miles later, near the North Fork of the Feather River, a pickup truck with a few dudes slowly approaches, heading in the opposite direction. I don't remember if it was the driver drinking a Budweiser or the man standing in the truckbed with a loaded crossbow who said, "You didn't scare all the bucks did you?!". Of course not sir. I hurry on.
Three years later, I expect to meet the same such characters, but I don't see a soul. I turn off the gravel, from there it is just a few miles of rolling hills to the base of Mount Lassen. Once inside the National Park, I pass Sulfur Works, where boiling mudpits spew sulfur into the air. I can still hear and smell gurgling mud after passing several bends in the road. Fifteen miles from the base I see alpine lakes and fields of lupine, signs that I'm near the summit. The last mile goes by reeaally slow. Once I make it to the top, I quickly turn around and head back to my unmarked gravel road.
Sierra de Montserrat Circuit Race
Rainier and I made a last minute audible to head north to the Sierra de Montserrat Circuit Race instead of the earlier morning road race down south. We arrived a little late but still had time for a quick warmup and to discover quite a bit of climbing on the course. About 500 ft per 1.3 mile lap with an average grade of 7% on the climbs, fun. Riggs laid down the plan for us to attack hard as numbers would mean less as it would become a race of attrition.
Several attacks went off but Local Pro Max Jenkins Competitive Cyclist Racing Team did a ton of work to bring everything back.
Towards the end of the race, Riggs and another rider made a move during a lull before a descent and got some daylight. I was unfortunately riding at my limit and could do little to assist. Luckily fresh off his win at Dunnigan Hills the previous weekend, Riggs is a monster and the break held to the finish. Riggs crested the climb first with both hands in the air.
Unfortunately the lap cards were a bit screwed up (as was my brain), and I let the remaining peloton get away from me with only half a lap to go. I rolled across the line 14th and another half a lap later realized that the race was over. Rainier finished a few places ahead and Travis a few behind.
Thanks to Alex Chiu for more rad photos. To see more photos of the race, check out his SmugMug.
-Hank
Serious Training at BC Superweek
We thought our adoring fans would like to know the secret to Team Mike's Bikes riders' glorious physiques...Here's a few videos from the team's top secret cross training regimen during the season. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZTsP9qyxzs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE6r1MtEStQ&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Tny6evfwU&feature=channel&list=UL
TDF Stage 16 - Pau to Bagnere Luchon (Amateur Race - Etape 2)
Here's a quick recap of my race of the amateur version of Stage 16 - Pau - Luchon. It is the queen stage of this year's tour. 198K, 5 Cols (Aubisque, Sulor, Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde). And if that wasn't tough enough, the heavens decided to open up and pour cold rain on us all day. This race was not just harder than I imagined. It is harder than anything I could have imagined. I have a renewed respect to all the Tour riders. Even more so to the gruppettos and domestiques.
I started in Group 6 - Number 6K-7K. There were 10K participants. But it didn't feel like a lot once you were on the road because everyone was spread out along the full road closure roads.
Quickly, i worked my way to different fast groups and kept bridging from one group to the other. I was so excited, I thought it was a crit and sprinted from the gun. Mistake # 1.
Eventually, I made my way to the 1000 and under group number and rode up with some fast riders up the Aubisque. I had to ride the climb at threshold and tapped out the KMs feeling good. I was riding above my level for 1.5 hrs up the 1st HC climb. Mistake# 2.
On the descent of the Aubisque, it was raining sideways, so descending was treacherous at best. Luckily, I was riding my crossbike and felt super comfortable sliding it around. I bombed the Aubisque descent, Rainier style. I eventually caught a moto to lead me down and followed his lines and dropped my group. It was such an adrenaline rush to descend faster than I ever have and not crash while doing it.
However, I was having so much fun the first 3 hours, I forgot to eat and drink. Then at the base of the Tourmalet, I bonked. I was shivering from the cold and dreaming of steaks and a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. But I still had 2+ hrs of climbing to do up the might Col du Tourmalet. I was just going backwards and could not put any power on the pedals. So I stopped at a cafe to get a ham sandwich, but I couldn't speak french so they only gave me a baguet. An hour later - halfway up the climb, I made it to a food stop and devoured anything I could get hold off. Yet another mistake, because minutes later, I had to go # 2. There was nothing but cliffside around me. My stomach was ready to explode. The idea of a stained chamois was not appealing at all. I was shit out of luck. So I kept climbing slower and slower, nursing the eventual eruption of Mt. Steveius. An hour later, I made it to the top of the Tourmalet and dashed to the rest room. It was filled with many riders doing nasty things too. I was just ready to blow when a door opened. I was in such a rush to get in I almost knocked over an old french man. That would be really bad especially since I was obviously an American since I decided to wear my stars and stripes jersey.
Anyhow, after I survived that 2 hr+ crisis, I ate some more and felt ready for the next 2 cols - the Col d Aspin and the Col de Peyressourde. Lots of the riders were saying that the worst was over since we only had 50K left and only 2 Cat 1 climbs (15K climbs). Hour long climbs are a piece of cake after the Tourmalet. It's all perspective, right.
But the worst part was not over yet. The descent of the Tourmalet was FREEZING rain. I was shivering so badly the bike felt like it was broken. My teeth were being grounded to powder. 45 mins. later I got to the base of the Tourmalet descent and the medics were handing out medical blankets. Got mine, and went straight to a cafe to order a boiling hot cafe au lait.
You know that saying, the darkest hr is just before dawn? Well, it is so true! I was sitting at the bar surrounded hypothermic surrounded by other freezing cyclist. And we were all drinking our cafe's like we had convulsions. I was shaking so badly, I think I spilled most of my hot drink on my hands and didn't even notice since they were so numb. Anyhow, it was such a ridiculous sight to see that I started laughing hysterically. I was speaking to a french guy and we both didn't understand each other but were laughing and shaking together. It is the key memory I will take from the ride. Cycling is suffering, and you have to laugh at it and enjoy the pain.
This image carried me to the finish. I even managed to have the 3rd fastest descent out of the many thousands into Luchon.
The things that matter most are not materialistic or grand, they are moments when you are in the moment, when you are present in every single way. This was how I felt during the Etape #2. I hope to do it again but next time, I hope to do it with some of you.
Au revoir!
QUICK STEP and TEAM MIKE'S BIKES
Quick Step, Boonen, Vader, and Team Mike's Bikes went for a ride to discuss the Tour de France and, more importantly, the Modesto Road Race.
MTB in GGP
Part of my rehab from tendonitis has been a few doses of mountain biking. I find the easier gears require a bit less power and higher cadence with a lot more out of the saddle maneuvering takes some of the stress of my quad tendon. A few people commented that they thought the impact and shock absorption the tendon would encounter would make things worse. It actually seems that while on my road bike pushing a bigger gear at a higher power and lower cadence, the repetitive motion of engaging the muscle to drive the pedal down and propel the bike forward tends to stress and irritate it more. Anyways jealous that all my teammates were getting sweet footage of crushing in the races, I decided to clamp on my GoPro HD Hero2 and shred the dirt with my coworkers from Mike's in Sausalito, Ben and Daood. I threw a quick video together with windows movie maker showing some of the awesome trails Golden Gate Park in San Francisco has to offer. Enjoy.
-Hank
Veronika Lenzi - Through My Eyes Photography
For the Team Mike's Bikes 2012 Training Camp we had the honor of being hosted by the mother of Bay Area cycling (and beyond), Veronika "Ronnie" Lenzi. For those of you that haven't met, been photographed by, gotten a massage from, or stayed at her chateau in Petaluma, Ronnie is the ultimate soigneur. She has hosted the likes of several professional cycling teams, massaged some of the bigger cyclists we see winning races, and captured some of the most breathtaking photos we see in cycling magazines. Ronnie can be found at most every NCNCA race with a camera in each hand.
Prior to our arrival at her beautiful home, Ronnie had our housing arrangement for the camp all taken care of with borrowed tables, chairs, and air mattress from around the neighborhood and even went as far as having our beds made. She proceeded to help cook and do dishes, give massages, and photograph the team of 18 riders each and everyday of camp. This was all while editing her other photos and getting ready for a business trip to the Tour of Qatar.
On behalf of the team, I would like to personally thank Ronnie for best cycling camp I have ever had the likes of attending and probably will. I feel fortunate to have spent a brief period of time in her care.
Thank you Ronnie!
Visit Ronnies site www.veronikalenzi.com or click on the any of photos below to check out more of the beautiful photos she captured of the team. Enjoy.
-Hank
Rainier's Team Camp Pictures
Check out the slideshow below with for few photos from during the rides, paintball, and photoshoot:
Team Camp - The Rides
Team camp was a one of a kind of camp! We had three great rides and shared many thoughts about the upcoming season. We started out with a ride from Ronnie Lenzi’s house (amazing hospitality!!) out to the coast, to Dillon Beach and back inland to Petaluma. The next day we had major climbing and sprint workout/lead outs going on all day! This was a must for the team and it paid off very good! Look out for the big black/white train of Mike’s Bikes! We then climbed over Sonoma Mountain, into Sonoma Valley and then up the 2,000+ ft climb up Cavedale Road! I’ve done this climb many times before and it has never been so beautiful while you climb up to the top! It was an amazing scene during the intense climbing. We then descended back down Trinity Road back down to on valley floors of Sonoma Valley, back over Sonoma Mountain and back to Petaluma.
We then had a photo shoot and did a late afternoon ride with the photographers. They were amazing– having to deal with us for over 10 hours!
Overall, it was an amazing weekend of hospitality from the Lenzi’s and so much positive attitude and teamwork! Thank you all to all of our sponsors that make this all happen– Mike’s Bikes, Specialized, Zipp, Sram, Bike Smart, Go Pro, Capo, Garmin, Clif Bar, and Look!!
First race of the year is this Sunday in Napa with the Cherry Pie Criterium! See you there!
-James
Diablo Ride
Great Ride this past Wednesday to the top of Diablo. Started out with some tempo riding with Shawn Rosenthal and Travis Lyons and ended up climbing both sides of Diablo. California winter's are the best.
Wednesday Tempo Ride from Berkeley Mike's Bikes
Awesome first Wednesday ride of 2012! Met with Shawn Rosenthal and Tyler Brandt at Mike's Bikes of Berkeley at 9am and started our loop up Tunnel. Unfortunately, Tunnel was partially closed... So we had no choice but to take the detour up Hiller, and back down onto Tunnel. Tyler peeled off to do his own plan over to Diablo, while Shawn and I rode into Lafayette with him and then into Orinda towards Wildcat Canyon. We finished our ride back in Berkeley and got in our recovery meal. Awesome ride, Great times. Already looking forward to next Wednesday's ride!
9am Wednesday Tempo Ride from Berkeley MB
Great ride today with Shawn Rosenthal, Taylor Cody, and James Wingert (who impressively hung with the group the whole ride until he hopped onto some dirt at the East Ridge Trail entrance to the Redwood Regional Park entrance on Pinehurst... ALL ON HIS FULL SUSPENSION EPIC MOUNTAIN BIKE!). Solid tempo through Moraga/Orinda and up Wildcat.
