Cyclepaths/Wild Cherries Racing

Our biggest fan Elle, Allana Hughes niece, kicks it after the race with Ramsey and Matt. Elle was broadcasted with her CWC cowbell on television rooting for plaid and houdstooth team. Go Ramsey...Go Matt. We heard this twice per lap thanks to our great fans.

The short distance between placing in the finishing sprint.

Memorable Notations and Lessons

1. Sitting in near the front
2. Several peripheral crashes took place each with there own sound effects including "ohh, !@#$ that hurts"
3. Riding over and around a crash 300 meters out and sprinting into position
4. Watching Ramsey own the third spot in the pace line all day long
5. Don't eat warm milk on your cereal or warm Odwalla protein race morning
6. Conquer the zen like mind body disconnect and remain in focus
7. Thank god returning home does not consist of 100 plus degree temperatures, Chevron refineries, or port-o-poddies, Truckee is a nice place
8. The recovery ride following the race day was an epic 50 miler with some great friends

Watch a video of the first 10 minutes. Matt on the right, Ramsey on the left.

My first bike race was 6 years ago at Northstar. I was a freshman in college looking for something different, and felt like since it seemed I could go reasonably fast with my friends, I might as well give it a shot. The University of Nevada Reno hosted its collegiate mountain bike race at Northstar and my buddy Peter Graf and I decided to give this racing thing a shot. Pete took home the win in his race while I came in third place, but we were both instantly hooked. I had caught the cycling addiction.

My next 5 years of racing were spent moving up the mountain bike ranks from a young skinny kid with a camelback to a full on fire breathing skin suit wearing, gram and calorie counting training number maniac Semi Pro. With mixed results. I was lucky enough to be "taken under the wing" very early by some of the areas finest racers such as Jeff Angermann (former Webcor Pro and multiple time National Champion) and Kyle Dixon (Former Jamis MTB Pro whose collegiate parlames include multiple top 3 finishes at National Championships against the likes of Tyler Hamilton and Todd Wells). One of the somewhat difficult things both Jeff and Kyle have taught me is cycling is an extremely hard sport, which takes a long time to get good at. I started racing as soon as I really started riding bikes for anything besides running errands. A relative young pup as compaired to most in both years on the bike and age. So, in many senses I was ahead of the game, but like most competitive natured humanoids- I am very impatient. Taking your ass whippings in competition sucks, but is a necessary evil in order to ever be the administer of pain we all dream of.

As my training hours increased trying to run through the National Series as a Semi Pro, so did my time on the road bike. Trying to put in 15-20 hour training weeks all on the mountain bike just doesn't work. Going out on road group rides, entering the occasional local road events and hillclimbs I instantly found descent results. I also noticed and was told by my peers that I was somehow better suited, if not designed for the road. I am, after all, a skinny climber white boy. Let's get one thing straight here, I have never been a wheelie popin' fearless Mark Weir type bike handler, so the term "roadie" is nothing new to me, but I love mountain bikes. So, for a few years I fought the "Call of the road", vowing to never ever become a sissy arrogant crappy bike handling roadie. Then my back started hurting. Every mountain bike race was testing my pain threshold in terms of how much my back and brain could take. Some days were great, while other days I felt like a small child. Results were either really good or really mediocre and it was getting to me.

It was Conrad and the rest of my CWC squad who showed me the fun, less stereotypical side of road racing. Last year while racing for the awesome Northstar Mountain Bike team I finally broke my vows and began to embrace the road, entering a few more events and having a great time and good results. The FUN in cycling which brought me to this sport in the first place was back.

So, this year racing with CWC I have focused a bit more on the road side of things, while still staying true to my love for mountain biking. The most challenging aspect of road racing for me has been the learning curve. Mountain bike racing is more like a individual time trial- no sitting in, no drafting, no team tactics and hold nothing back- either you are in the front or chasing someone. When the opportunity to get in front of a mountain bike race, its like a Lion smelling blood, there's no second thought. Mountain biking is all about ditching your competitors in the singletrack- out of sight out of reach.

In road racing, especially in the Cat 4's- there is LOTS of sitting in, in fact, the most important skill is patience. I have witnessed guys win all of the Cat 4 races I've been in this year do NOTHING the entire race. Actually, I've rarely seen the winner until the final km's. This leads to the conclusion the overall strongest racer does not always win the road race (at least in Cat 4's). Generally in the 4's the victor is the smartest little shit who lurks in the pack, covers no breaks, and saves everything to come around everyone in the end.

These new tactics are challenging to accept as a seasoned mountain bike racer. This is also quite different from racing our local training races- hammering out at Boca in the A group (P/1/2s or Masters bad-asses) where I don't make (or stay in) the winning break to the end if I'm not feeling 100% and aggressive. Having to hold all my fitness and training back until the final miles of these Cat 4 road races is like telling Tom Cruise he can't save the world in his next flick! Also, while my mountain biking technical skills do not rival Hans Rey by any means, I have found the Cat 4's to be damn near terrifying on descents and bumpy roads- read my Pescardero report. So, while my machismo side yells like William Wallace in Braveheart for me to take no prisoners, my wit tells me in order to get these last few points for a Cat 3 upgrade (where things will undoubtedly be more challenging) I'm going to have to suck up my pride, use a little patience, and save it for the end.

What about my back hurting? Have I stopped mountain bike racing? Hell no! In fact, mountain bike racing has been better than ever for me. Partially due to my roadie fitness, but also due to a top secret training non-traditional additive I will finally reveal in my next post.

I'm gonna go race my mtb tonight and try to win with some road tactics.... How tricky this cycling world is! Maybe part of this cycling addiction that grabbed me way back as a freshman in college is the fact none of us ever quite figure it out...

If you're in the area tomorrow evening, be sure to check out this SUPER FUN underground race series.

The second annual SIX PACK SUPER DEEZ series kicks off tomorrow @ 5 in the southwest corner of the Safeway parking lot in Truckee.

New management is bringing improved timing, new courses, and 30% more sunlight. That's right, 30% more sun hit the back of your eye ballz. Recession priced admission prices providing the best ratio of fun to dollar spent in the Sierras.

So save the date of Friday June 26th, and keep still waiting the further information coming at you soon!!!

I recently went to support Conrad and Nate as they raced the Nevada City Classic in the upper foot hills of California. Here are a few pictures I snapped of their competition. And I thought my races were hard.

Horner makes Scott Zwisanski all blurry.

Boom!!! It's the shoes.

Ben Jaques-Mayne on Levi's wheels.

Does Levi wear Levis?

Uhh. Yeah.

By Conrad Snover:
The Truckee downtown crit was SUPER fun. Andy, Rick and I formed a strategy to take turns covering the key breaks. I also suggested sacrificing ourselves with solo flyers off the front to get some sponsor air time, but we decided against it.

I was active at the front for the whole race, covering key moves and in each break for the first third of the race, but we got caught each time. The hometown crowd was great; it seemed like about every 10th person on the sidelines was yelling my name (I told them to look for the yellow shoes); afterwards Lisa said it seemed that way because it WAS that way. We also got a few mentions from announcer Dave Towle, what a fun experience!

As always happens, I slowly tired from covering, and when I drifted back to take a breather, Mike Sayers got away and would stay away for the win by 0:30, Im not sure I could have stayed with him if I covered, he was winning pro races last year.

In Rick's first 1/2/3 race, he hung strong for the first bit but wasn't feeling it, slowly drifting back then dropping out. Note: the last time Rick did this, he won the next day " so look out! On the last lap, the pace heated up and things got crazy. Through turns that were single file on previous laps the group swelled to 4-5 wide, which in many cases was too much- Andy got pinched and knocked down but survived with some cool red strips across his back and bright red circles on his elbows, knees and hips. His bike didn't fare so well " one fork blade sheared off completely, and the seat tube broke clean in one spot and was crushed in another. Im slowly realizing why my friends on crit teams (e.g. Clif) all ride aluminum frames.

The last lap was crazy, and I wasn't aggro enough to preserve the great position I held all race. I rounded the final corner in 10th and lost a spot or two by the line. By the time the 45+ and 35+ fields were sorted out, I got 9th. A little disappointing since upgrade points only go to 6th place, but the race was a blast.

Masters Race Sprint Finish. Photo courtesy: Alanna Hughes

I was sitting in the Truckee river soaking my legs and missed the pro women's race, but heard that Katerina rode strong at or near the front until the last corner when a Tibco rider who had been sitting in the entire race swung out and stole the win; that's road racing. Katerina finished 3rd and was a little frustrated at the field's general lack of bike handling skills through the corners and after the race was heard saying "road cyclists brake WAY too much".

Nate's P/1/2 race was unbelievable. He didnt get a good spot on the start line and paid the price. From the gun, the race was flat out single file. Every rider was biting their handlebar and sitting on the tip of their saddle, riding flat out with no breaks. Chad Gerlach was even more unbelievable, riding with his hands on the tops, barely breathing (Im not even sure he ever opened his mouth), lapping the field and almost winning the field sprint. Bissel tried to reel him in and burned up at least 2 riders without any luck. Gaps started to open in the single file line, which couldn't be closed, and riders started to get pulled. Nate closed gaps for 45 minutes before getting pulled. That effort earned him a mid-pack standing, which is VERY impressive. Imagine how he would have done if he had been near the front and not had to close gaps. Nate: "Looking at my power numbers last night, I hit 800+ watts 32 times in the race. Good sprint workout I guess!!??"

We all got mad props from the locals, it was great exposure for our team and our local sponsors: Cyclepaths, Wild Cherries, Start Haus and Oakley!

We're looking forward to the next two days: tonight's course is harder with a stair step power climb, and tomorrow's race is even harder with a big climb on each lap. A few of us are thinking of racing NV City on Sunday, which is even harder... hmmm.....

A view of the farm country on Old Stage Road

Pesky. Yes, what a cool race and course! Great organization, the staff handled the huge field gracefully, and it races over some super fun terrain. Some nice twisty, curvy one lane roads, and a climb that's just big enough to shed some of the bigger guys. I thought I might do OK but surprised myself on this one. Several teammates attended, and here's the tally:

McKenzie 55+ 1,2,3,4 3rd Place
Reynolds 45+ 4,5 2nd Place
Ragains E4 14th Place
Etchison E4 17th Place
Chappell E4 29th Place

The 55+ race starts mellow, with a sprint prime, and some good but manageable efforts on the first climbs over Old Stage Rd. What a beautiful area. I've ridden these roads before but never raced them. Low fog causes some wet surfaces, and there's newly chip sealed gravel sections so the descents are a bit technical. I love technical descents, but I'm not fond of wet roads. Too dangerous.

A 10 foot skeleton welded sculpture stands guard on Old Stage Rd

It all stays together on Old Stage, and the first of two times up the big climb the slower riders get gapped. I make the cut, but on the descent and flats after the climb, no-one wants to work so it re-groups. Up over the smaller climbs on Old Stage the second time, I push the pace a bit to try to reel in a breakaway of three riders. I take the lead on the descents wanting the pace to be pretty high so we don't lose any ground... I know one of the riders off the front can descend.

Two of the three riders are subsequently reeled in but there is still one rider away. We try to organize and eventually we get the pace up enough to just catch him at the base of the big climb to the finish. At that point, he blows spectacularly and lets everyone go to duke it out on the climb. Almost comical. I'm hanging at the front with a couple of riders slipping away from me. I know it's all I can do, so I just keep it up and cross the finish line in 3rd place. Peter Taylor won with Scott Duncan taking second. Great day on the bike!

Rick Reynolds celebrates his 2nd place with podium mates

A report from Ben Ragains:

Well I met my goal of staying on or very near the front the entire race. Went in a break over the big climb first lap and was 1st over the top. Got brought back on the descent full of other cat traffic.

2nd lap- Sort of dangled off the front on the shorter climbs not pushing too hard with a couple other dudes. I tell one guy who I've noticed being sckethy to watch out for the gravel on the descents- to which he sort of smirks. He bombs it, takes the turn into the gravel and grabs a handful of break and goes down almost taking me out. My bike jumps sideways and skips and my seat nose slams down. Get compliments for saving it. Back on the front. Smile and chat with Ramsey. Fireworks start on the drag up to the last climb, I try to stay calm. After about 6 dudes go I go. Tired from racing at the front all day. Takes just long enough to get some kick back in my legs to let the top ten who did nothing all day get by me. Damn! Learn, learn, learn!

Ben leads the pack. Photo courtesy Kurt Harvey

Felt strong all day and got quite a few comments for riding so strong all day but obviously in the end this made me 1. marked and 2. a tad less fresh than the other 13 dudes inches/feet ahead in the end. I will learn these damn road racing tricks yet!

Awesome racing with Matt and Rams! We will be a force to be reckoned with clearly. It's on like donkey kong!

This article was originally published in the Friday June 12th 2009 edition of the Lake Tahoe paper, the Sierra Sun.

The Tour de Nez is coming to Truckee and Northstar June 18 through 20, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to explain some cycling terms and make watching the races more fun.

The Tour de Nez (www.tourdenez.com) is an omnium and consists of three races " a criterium in Truckee, a criterium in Reno and a circuit race at Northstar.

A criterium " also called a crit " is a circuit race held on a short course, about one mile in length, and the riders race for a predetermined time. When the race officials have a feel for the lap times, they will start putting up lap cards that let the racers know how many laps they have left.

A circuit race is on a longer course with a specific mileage/lap count. Generally, crits are held on flat courses with mellow corners. In downtown Truckee the corners are technical and demanding, testing riders' bike-handling skills. This leads to hard accelerations out of the corners and is more taxing on the legs than a more typical crit.

During a crit, the race officials will offer primes. When a prime is announced, it could be for cash or merchandise. The announcer will let the racers and spectators know what's on the line. On the next lap, the first rider across the line wins the prime.

At any time during the race you may see a rider attack and go on a flyer. If the rider on the flyer is a threat, an opposing team will send someone to bridge up and cover the break.

During the race you will notice how the racers try to tuck in behind each other, called drafting. When a cyclist is drafting, he can save as much as 30 percent of his energy compared to the leader.

If a racer flats in a crit, he may be given a free lap. This allows him an opportunity to get a new wheel in the pits and rejoin the field. When the race nears the end, no more free laps will be allowed.

An omnium is a set of races where athletes compete for points in each event, and final placings are determined by total points in all the events. It is not required to finish each race.

In a stage race the riders are required to finish each stage, and the overall results are usually determined by cumulative time.

After each race the leaders will be awarded a leader's jersey to be worn in the next stage, thus identifying him to his competitors and spectators.

In a sanctioned USACycling event, each athlete needs to be licensed and must race in his category. Every racer starts off his career as a cat 5 (category 5), then moves up in categories by placing in races and gaining upgrade points.

One of the categories you will see locals racing in during the Tour de Nez is the Master 45+ 1, 2, 3. This means the racer is 45 years or older, in category 1, 2 or 3.

The Tour de Nez is open to professionals, cat 1-3 and masters 1-3.

I hope you enjoy this year's Tour de Nez.

Attached is the photo in question. This was along the final downhill turn before the finish in the Auburn Crit two weeks ago. 5 laps to go. I was leading the group through the corner, while Chad Gerlach was away solo. My front wheel found a little hole to sink into and my bike shot out from underneath me. My computer says we were going around 30-35mph.

I scraped up my arm, needed a stitch to hold it shut and I put a huge hole in my hip. I got up and finished for 15th. And I didn't break my bike.

Mike Magraf, the Safeway rider in the photo (who can apparently levitate his bike) crashed with me. He broke his sternum on the curb.

I managed to ride for a few days after the crash on a pain-killer high, but then my hip started seizing up. I haven't been able to ride for more than 20 minutes at a time before my hip starts to go on me. I guess I did quite a bit of intramuscular damage, but the bones are all OK.

I rode to Cisco Grove with Conrad yesterday, nice and easy. Afterwards I couldn't walk for the rest of the night. So I might be out of it for a while.

~Nick

Ross's Epic organizers came up with some cool "designer medals."

Today I was able to take a Win at Ross's Epic Hill Climb, which races up the Pine Flat Climb near Geyserville, CA. Sure, I was racing in M55+. Sure, there were only 7 racers in my field due to some event conflicts, but hey, I'll take it.

I arranged to carpool to the event with Nancy Farzan (Velo Bella). We meet in San Rafael, load her bike on my car and head to the event. In the car I give Nancy the download on the course and how to ride. "No need to warm up too much," I tell her, "There's 7 miles of flat before the climb and nobody will want to work, so its a perfect warm up."

I line up at the start, casually at the back of our larger group... they put the Elite 4's Master 35's, Master 45's and Master 55's together. The organizer, Carlos, releases us to race.

Some dude attacks immediately. I'm dangling off the back with a gap and old, cold legs, fighting to get back on. Wow, I think... so much for my advice to Nancy about not needing to warm up!

I kill myself to get back on, then it's relatively sane to the base of the climb. I move up toward the front as we start the climb with our large group. I'm third wheel for the first mile, then a few guys slip by and I'm sixth wheel for another mile of the 3100', 11-mile ascent.

At this point the pace gets a little hot for me so I let the group of younger racers go, but keep them in striking range. I don't see anyone in my age group in that group. I follow Jerry Roach (Fightin' Bobas) M45+, up the climb as he sets a good pace. I manage his pace with ease but know not to push harder. The "Meat Grinder" section, featuring grades of 22% is coming, and I dont want to get there with nothing in the tank.

At the bottom of the steep section Jerry gaps me a bit but I recover and chase him up the steeps. He's amazingly strong, pushing big gears out of the saddle, but I finally pass him near the top of the "Meat Grinder" and continue to push toward the finish. I glance back and see only empty road. My goal of 1:15 for the 18.4 mile course is bettered with a time of 1:13, and although I don't realize it at the time, it's good enough for the win in 55+ and 8th overall in the combined Elite 4, M35+ 4, M45+ 4 and M55+ 4.

Just a half mile to go. Photo courtesy Veronika Lenzi

On a hill climb such as Ross's Epic, the crazy light Scott Addict bike and lightweight Mavic racing shoes gave me a clear advantage over the competition. I'm glad I had those weapons as they definitely made a difference.

Paul and Nancy at the Summit with "Pinky" (Nancy's bike)

Nancy took second in Women's 3. Small field, but you know what they say; showing up is 80% of the game.

Showing off our cool medals

And like I said, a W is a W. I'll take it.

This article was originally published in the Friday June 4th 2009 edition of the Lake Tahoe paper, the Sierra Sun.

One of the most beautiful aspects of cycling is that you are never too old to participate, and even compete at a very high level. Sure, the window where one might compete as a professional is realistically the 20s through mid-30s " Lance Armstrong just took 12th in the Giro d'Italia at the age of 37 " but compared to other extremely active sports, you don't necessarily have the same restrictions.

I'm in my late 30s and starting to feel the effects and more random aches and pains than in my 20s. But I look around me and am inspired to know that if I want to, I can keep riding and racing at a very high level for 10 to 20 years, and even longer.

I could even stop racing, and start again in 10 years. By contrast, I don't think my window-to-nail big lines at Squaw or Alaska or in the backcountry are nearly as large.

Meanwhile, guys 10 to 20 years older than me are crushing it on my team and in the local peleton. I've been racing less than a year, and when I started my mindset was along the lines of, I need to try this before I'm 40 because then I'll be too old to be any good.

Right. Maybe if I keep improving I can be as good as the 40-somethings when I get there!

Why is this? Well, the most obvious answer is that cycling is less jarring and physiologically demanding on your body. Sure, you'll lose some strength as you age, but it's not like an NBA player who loses his hops or an NFL player who loses half a step and then, bam, the window is slammed shut.

You don't need a young back and knees to stick 50-foot airs in cycling or bounce back from violent crashes or collisions (well, sometimes the crashes!).

I also think in amateur cycling age can be an ally. Years of endurance training can start to make up for the lost explosiveness and top-end power. And, the structure and experience that comes from decades in the real world pays off. My nutrition, sleep and time management are all far more advanced and well suited to a training regimen than in my 20s.

I may not race for 20-plus more years " or even five more years. But it is awesome to know that I can. And even better to know that I can ride with my kids, wife, parents, friends, siblings (grandkids someday?) " in theory for as long as we all stay in at least reasonable condition.

Will I ever climb and ski big mountains with my wife and/or my kids (ages 3 and 1)? Probably not. Can we dream about and plan on big European cross-generational cycling vacations from now until the sun goes down on us? Yes! Beautiful.

Team rider Andy Scott is the author of this week's Cyclepaths/Wild Cherries Racing column. Cyclepaths/Wild Cherries Racing (www.cwcracing.org) is a Truckee-based cycling team focused on racing and local bike advocacy.

Las calles de un norte desocupado del parque de negocio apenas de Sacramento donde rojo pintado este ltimo sbado por tres leyendas de ciclo de Truckee. La polica dice al ciclista conocido como pantera azul, perro de la nieve y Shell suave tard cerca de cuarenta minutos para dividir a un grupo de ciclistas recreacionales. El tro mortal se fue detrs de lo que est llamando la polica la milla macabra. Un lazo de una milla de la calle derramado con las piezas del cuerpo y de la bici. Un testigo del ojo cont de nuevo una escena catica del trueno de coincidencia, del calliope y de buitres dirigidos rojos. No se sabe porqu actuaba el tro pero la polica est advirtiendo a todo el ciclista en California nortea ejercitar con la precaucin. La polica tambin recomienda que todo el desgaste del ciclista un collar mgico de la varita de la burbuja. Animan al ciclista a parar y a soplar burbujas en la primera muestra del peligro.