April - PAA Cycling

April 2008
President
Matt Gunnell
Vice President
Eddie Ramirez
Secretary
Lisa L oeffler
Treasurer
Jim Small
Board Member
Rick Babington
Board Member
Lee Bird
Board Member
Cici Arenas
Board Member
Banner Moffat
Board Member
Fritx Bottger
Board Member
Parker Williams
Board Member
Aaron Tuchfield
PAA General Meetings are held the
second Wednesday of the month
starting at 7:00pm at
La Cabanita, 3447 N. Verdugo Rd,
Glendale, CA 91208
1
PAA Wins
4th SDSR
4
Bonelli MTB Race
5
PAA Colorado Spring
6
Orosi Road Race
7
Member Spotlight
8
Tech Review - Ridley Noah
9
Bike Week Pasadena
10 NOVA MTB Stage Race Report
11 What I Ride (and Have Ridden)
12 Team Times
13 Redlands Road Race Report
14 LiveStrong Day / Ride of Silence
15 PAA Sopnsors
PAA Wears Yellow for Fourth
Consecutive CAT 5 Title
by Wes Reutimann
Day 0: Jerry’s Office: Sierra Nevada
and home-style pizza greeted an
assortment of PAA Cat 4 and 5 riders,
as well as a lone Cat 3 rider, at Jerry’s
swank offices Tuesday evening for the
pre-race team meeting. After a quick
round of (re)introductions -- many
of the newbies, myself included, had
difficulty recognizing men without tights
-- the group got down to the business
of strategery. Jerry, as always, was
more than prepared in this regard. Not
only did his uber-smart board allow
him to pull up satellite images of the
three stages via some thing called the
internet, it had access to “spreadsheets”
that highlighted the rider numbers of
the other clubs. These numbers, when
compared with PAA’s contingent,
made one thing clear. With 12 riders
registered in the 5s, and history on our
side (PAA had won the 5s three years
running), the now endangered bull
would be a force to be reckoned with.
“No pressure.” Thanks guys!
Day One: GMR: Three restless
nights later (literally, i awoke
ridiculously early the following
three mornings), the decisive
GMR time trial arrived. A test
run up Chantry Tuesday morning
- roughly equivalent in duration
to the GMR time trial - left me
confident that I was capable of
riding a solid time. However,
in road racing, as in life, you
never know what to expect.
Like if you’ll get clotheslined
by a crazy homeless guy who
runs out on course. Fortunately the
hobo who nearly took out Dave Bianco
and I at this year’s Boulevard RR missed
his transfer to Glendora. And Philip and
Marc took care of the rest by arriving
at GMR at the crack of dawn to secure
a prime location for PAA headquarters
and then catering to the needs of every
racer. The efforts of these two, and
other PAA diehards like Jerry, truly
made everyone sporting the PAA kit feel
like a pro for a day.
At 9am 13 PAA riders were released at
30 seconds intervals from the start, each
embarking on his own personal battle
against better judgment and the throes
of gravity. Rather than take the risk
of a dropped chain - a danger that was
discussed at length at Tuesday’s meeting
- I opted to stay in the big ring. I figured
this way I’d either ride myself to a good
time, or blow up trying. Luckily I
managed the former, dragging myself
up the windy 3.8 mile course in 15:16,
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2
PAA in Yellow
Continued from page 1
faster than I had expected and 30 odd
seconds before than the second place
finisher. Also finishing in the top 25 for
PAA were Ryan Hopman (8th in 17:30),
Chris Schaper (13th, 18:03), Nor Oropez
(15th, 18:13), Dave Bianco (17th,
18:18), and Terry Traughbher (24th,
18:59). These riders were followed by
Abe Meltzer (32nd, 19:46), Greg Edler
(38th, 21:15), Stuart Michener, who
claims to have had the worst TT start
in recorded history, an understatement
he failed to follow up on, citing taxes
(you’ll have to ask him; 39th, 21:21),
Igor Antoschechkin (41st, 22:25),
James Busalacchi (42nd, 22:25), Rudy
Melendez (43rd, 22:46) and Tae Kim
(44th, 25:47). Several of these riders
registered big PRs up GMR. Chris
the 2 sprints, and reeling in any breaks.
Schaper, for one, shattered his old PR by This also assumed that our riders would
51 seconds in posting an 18:03!
stay out of trouble, something I wish I
could report. However, literally within
Day 2: Road Race: 5 laps and 35 miles 45 seconds of the start, Chris Schaper
around an unusually verdant Bonelli
found himself with nowhere to go but
Park were the reward for Friday’s effort. over the top of downed riders, and just
The game plan going in was to protect
like that we lost one of our strongest
the lead garnered the day before by
riders, who was competing in only his
sending PAA riders to the front during
third race, ever (Editors update: Chris
is already back on the trainer, and other
than a newly deformed shoulder, should
be no worse for wear after his crash).
Also falling victim to the early crash
was Greg “I eat nails for breakfast”
PAA would like to welcome Edler. Greg picked his bloodied self
the following New Members: off the pavement and went on to race
Alonzo Guerana
another 1.5 hours to the finish!
Welcome
David Andrews
Johanna Tokunaga
John Bianchi
John Canning
Kenneth Gray
Phil Lin
Razmig Harboyan
Stephen Starks
Steve Titus
Andrew Wacker
Tom Dubel
We are very excited to have you onboard the PAA family. Please introduce yourself on group rides or at
the next PAA Club Meeting!
up, and jumped between their third
man and Alan. As we neared the long
straight, the Kahala riders, who were
setting the pace, inexplicably slowed
down, allowing the peloton to bunch
up and boxing in their team leader. It
was a huge mistake on their part, as
it left Alan in no position to contend
when the inevitable attack finally came.
And while no PAA riders were able to
secure the time bonuses, the eventual
sprint winner, Team Bearclaw’s Jesse
Scarantino, was a non-threat for the GC.
An unremarkable fourth lap was
followed by the decisive final lap, when
the no longer secret word “boysenberry”
was uttered. This rather obscure word
choice sprung single-speed specialist
Other than for the early crash, the first
Nor into action at the front of the
lap was relatively uneventful, with the
peloton. Setting the pace with the help
pace easy enough to allow the number
of Ryan for half a lap, Nor strung out
4 GC, Hank Venazuela, to solo off the
the field while allowing me to sit on
front for 3/4 of a lap before being reeled his wheel and wait for the hill after the
in. On lap two there was some jockeying feed zone. It was at this point that the
up front as a few riders went for the first planned attack - formulated with the
KOM points. However the racing didn’t input of cycling gurus Lee Bird and
really start until lap three, when several Eddie Ramirez - was made. As Nor
Kahala riders formed a train in an
and Ryan blocked, I launched myself
attempt to get their man Alan Zarembo, off the front with Joseph Ainsworth,
#2 in the GC, a time bonus in the
the Bicycle Johns rider (#3GC) on my
intermediate sprint. Unfortunately for
wheel. According to Nor, when he fell
Kahala, I happened to be in a convenient back a La Grange rider -stated to his
position when they began grouping
teammate, “They’re making a break,
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Continued on page 3
3
PAA in Yellow
Continued from page 2
let’s go.” His teammate’s response, “I
can’t...” And just like that our objective
was achieved. Unable to work together,
the peloton allowed Joseph and I put 30
seconds on the field within a half-mile, a
gap we held until the final straight. Now
things got tactical; it was a two horse
race. Having pulled most of the break,
I was rather fatigued when we hit the
incredibly long straightaway, so I sat up
a bit. Shortly thereafter Joseph threw in
an attack I was able to counter. He sat
on again, and we were back to square
one. Then, with 100m to go, Joseph
went wide and stood up for the line.
Finding myself 10 feet to his right, I
stood up in the pedals as well. We raced
neck and neck, but he broke first, and i
rolled across the line with a comfortable
margin of victory.
in-race warmups have become his M.O.
-- in no man’s land between a front and
chase pack. For Dave, the only logical
thing to do at this point was to dig deep
into his signature duffel bag of courage.
And dig deep Big D did. As several
PAA onlookers shouted, “No Dave,
Noooo!. You’ll never make it!”, Dave
went into full time trial mode, riding
like a man possessed for the ensuing 25
minutes. Not only did the big man hold
off the chase pack, he even dropped the
sole rider who attempted to hold his
wheel. Put simply, the man has a hunger
so insatiable that Asian buffet owners
cringe every time he steps inside their
doors.
As Dave rode himself silly, the rest of
the team did its best to keep up with
Day 3: Rainy Crit/Disaster Averted
March showers welcomed the 5s
Sunday morning. With only a crash
keeping PAA from winning it’s fourth
consecutive Cat 5 title at SDSR, Coach
Rick instructed the team to keep things
fast and safe from the get-go of the now
wet 6 turn criterium course. And when
Coach Rick says drop the hammer, we
drop the hammer, right?
Well, most of us, anyway. When the
pace picked up right at the start, the
peloton split, leaving Dave Bianco, who
shunned doing a ‘real’ warmup again --
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the frenetic pace. We had hoped to get
Ryan Hopman, who was still 8th overall
and only a few seconds out of 6th place,
set up for the time bonus sprints, but
it just didn’t happen this morning. For
one, the horns signaling prims seemed
to be going off every lap, making it hard
to ascertain which was the time bonus
sprint. Also making things difficult
was a PAA crew of now diminished
size that was all spread out in the field,
and thus unable to work for Ryan. And
then I was preoccupied with not losing
my Time cleat, which had already
come loose during the first lap (I guess
changing gear mid race - even if one
tests it the day before, or it feels fine
during warm-up - still is not a good idea.
Needless to say, I finished with 1 of 3
bolts remaining.) So the race ended as
it had begun: Everyone stayed upright.
Ryan held onto a very impressive top 10
in the GC (8th overall) And the yellow
jersey remained in PAA’s hands for
another year.
On behalf of the entire Cat 5 squad at
SDSR, I’d like to thank everyone whose
support made this an unbelievably
fun weekend of racing: Marc, Jerry
and Philip (setup/photos), Rick and
Eddie (tactical feedback), Banner and
Kevin (photos), and Johana (new PAA
member) for the fabulous deli-style
sandwiches and snacks! We cannot
thank you enough!
4
Bonelli Mountain
Bike Race Report
by Lee Bird
March 9th was my first XC mountain
bike race of the year. It would also
turn out to be my..uhm…shortest
mountain bike race of my life.
Since October, I’ve re-dedicated
my training to try and become
competitive again in the Expert class
XC mountain bike field. It seems that
the racers keep getting faster, and I
keep getting slower. Bonelli was the
first race of the year for the Cal State
series, and I wanted to do well.
PAA was well represented. Eddie
Ramirez, Wesley Reutimann, Dale
Raymond, Nor Oropez, and myself
all toed the line in the Sport and
Expert classes. Many other PAA’ers
came out to cheer us on, including
Matt Gunnell, Banner Moffat, Rose
Ramirez, Cici Arenas, and Andres
Di Stefano. The weather was perfect
and we were all set for a fast day of
racing.
The Bonelli Park course is unique.
It is set in an urban park area that
is surrounded by rolling hills. This
makes for a fast course with some
obstacles that you don’t typically see
in other mountain bike races, like
curbs. At 11:30am, my race was off.
Over 20 riders in my class jockeyed
for position as we sprinted across the
park lawn heading towards the first
fire-road climb. I saw a gap on the
left-hand side and went for it, getting
myself up in a nice comfortable spot
near the front. Now came that curb
that I remembered from warm-ups. I
attempted to bunny-hop the curb, but
unfortunately, nailed my rear tire and
flatted 28 seconds into the race. How
could this be! Months of training,
and now I was watching everyone
else sprint away. I pulled over, began
to change my tube, and contemplated
dropping out. Banner happened to
be standing right there and provided
me with words of encouragement. In
2 ½ minutes I had my tube changed.
Banner told me “You have lots of
rabbits out there. Now go get them”!
I was back off, chasing two other
classes of riders that had gone by
while I was stopped. I felt good,
and was quickly picking off riders
attempting to re-join my group.
About 15 minutes later, I flatted
again. Yes…can you believe it? I was
the victim of another curb-bunnyhop gone bad. With the second flat,
Continued on page 5
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5
Bonelli
Continued from page 4
my day was officially over and I
began my long hike back to the car.
As I got close to my car, I decided to
swing through the feed-zone to see
how the other guys were doing. To
my dismay, Eddie was standing there
as well. He too also was victim to
the same curb. A flat at the same spot
as mine ended his day also. (It turns
out, many riders crashed and flatted
at this same spot). So, Eddie and I
became cheerleaders as we watched
the other PAA’ers race by.
Wes came by with one lap to go and
looked as strong as ever. In fact,
even though he had started 6 minutes
behind the Semi-Pro’s, he was now
racing amongst many of them. Wes
won his race with a time that would
have put him in 4th overall in the
Semi-Pro race!
Top Left: Lee Bird, Wesley Reutimann
& Eddie Ramirez
Top Right: Eddie fixing his FIRST flat!
Right: Lee finding his way to the
cheerleaders after his second flat
Bottom Left: PAA Cheerleaders!
Bottom Right: Norberto at the start!
Nor ended up 14th, and Dale ended
up with a very strong 3rd. Many
thanks to all of those that came out
to support us. Next up, a road trip
to Precott, AZ for an endurance
mountain bike race.
PAA Colorado “Spring Break”
by Elliot Skultin
Lilly white legs make an appearance in Deer Creek Canyon near
Denver. Riders John Sterner, Wade Morrison, Elliot Skultin, and
Brian Friend head up the canyon for the Tuesday “Trifecta of
Pain” a mid-week ride that includes three climbs totaling 4900’
gain. This time of year sunshine and 70F is often followed by snow
showers and 20F. Training rides schedules change to the whims of
weather. Lead rider John Sterner 44, a corporate jet pilot, is making the push for Cat 2 this year. John’s training regularly includes
pushing hotel exercise bikes to the limit in places like Oklahoma
City or Cabo San Lucas.. That’s dedication! Team planned races
include Fighting Falcons TT and RR, Tokyo Joe’s Spring Criterium , and Bisbee for the month of April.
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6
OROSI Road Race-Parking in the Red Zone
by Fritz Bottger
Orosi Road Race takes place just outside of the
Town of Orosi about 20miles north of Visalia
and consists of a 28mile loop with 2,000 feet of
climbing each lap. Most categories did 2 laps
except for the Pro/1/2’s and the Cat 3 races who
did 3 laps. There were a whopping 9 riders in
the Pro/1/2 race and we rolled out at a leisurely
pace for the 3.5 mile promenade to the actual
course and almost immediately we all decided
on a “natural” break in an orange grove. Then
we started to climb on small rural roads into
the scenic foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mtns.
There was no centerline on 75% of the roads,
so we did not have to abide the centerline
rule most of the time. The climbing was a bit
different than down here in So-Cal because you
could never see the top. In the Angles national
forest it is easy to look up the road at the next
ridge to get an idea of where the climb ends,
but here you never had a clear view because
the narrow twisty roads were lined with trees.
But there also really wasn’t a top because when
we completed the most significant portion of
the climbing there were still rollers that only
gradually went down hill Until we had a short
really steep decent out of the foothills back into
the flat valley. The roads had some technical
descents, were somewhat bumpy with small
patches of sand or gravel in the as well as a few
cattle guards. However, the roads were way
smoother than a cyclocross course or the cobbles
of northern Europe. Near the end of the 1st lap all
9 riders of the pro/1/2 peloton decided again to
take a “natural” break. From here, the bottom of
the decent, there was about 5miles of mostly flat
road to the finish which was slightly uphill. On the
second lap the pace picked up to moderately hard,
then to HARD and the group just kind of shattered.
Halfway up the climb I was in third about 30sec
back from 1st and 2nd, with two sucking my wheel,
Near top of the climb I was third about 15 seconds
back with nobody behind me in sight. I caught the
next two guys soon after a short downhill section
and we worked together for the rest of the lap, when
we were nearing the start finish, I stopped working
with them to rest because I knew they were stronger
than me on the climb, but apparently I didn’t stop
working soon enough because about a mile into the
climb I was dropped. I hoped that I could limit my
damage on the climb and catch them again on the
way down but it never happened. From the time I
started the climb through the next 28 miles I was in
my redzone, I was parked there for the rest of the
race and never let up until I got to the finish. I held
onto my 3rd place without catching the guys in front
of me or being caught by those behind. Several of
us were paced by a scooter through the headwind
from the finish back to the staging area. I then
celebrated with a double-double (animal style), fries
and a chocolate shake. Mmm good.
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Wesley Reutimann - 2008 SDSR Cat 5 Title Winner
Age: 28
City you reside in: Pasadena
What is your current profession? I
currently work as a Director of
Community Programs for Day One,
a small non-profit in Pasadena that
provides substance-abuse prevention
programming for youth and parents in
the communities of Pasadena, Altadena,
and Sierra Madre. In addition to
alcohol, tobacco and other drug policy
work, Day One helps organize a number
of annual programs with other local
non-profits, including Youth Month (a
month full of free activities for local
youth held every August) and Parenting
Awareness Month (a month-long series
of workshops for parents on topics like
Drugs 101: How to tell if your kids
are using” hosted every March). We
also have a group of local high school
students, or “Youth Advocates,” that
meet every week to plan communityservice projects to address needs/
problems in their communities. For
example, our group is currently in the
midst of planning a Teen Job Fair with
Congressman Schiff’s office, which
will give local youth the chance to
speak with representatives from local
businesses, participate in a resumewriting and youth employee rights
workshops, do mock interviews, and
watch a fashion show of interview attire
dos-and-don’ts.
What profession, other than your own
would you like to attempt? Obscure
Sports Commentator. With the advent
of cable television, i figure it’s only a
matter of time before there’s an OSN
- Obscure Sports Network. It’d be
fantastic to get to research completely
random sports (e.g. extreme ironing,
underwater hockey, manure shoveling,
chess boxing...etc) and get to blather on
about them to an audience of 52.
What bike(s) do you own? Mountain Niner EMD hardtail, Road - Cannondale
Six13, Tourer - Schwinn Fastback
w/ Burley trailer, Road/Commuter Specialized ES Aerotec w/ one bar end
shifter
If you could have one superhero power,
what would it be? No question, the
ability to shapeshift. Then I could
realize a life-long dream to morph into
Clifford.
What would you consider a defining
moment in your life (cycling or other):
My decision to take a teaching job in
Austria after college truly shaped my
life. Not only did i learn to live without
a car, but the bike became my primary
means of transport. I also picked up
Ultimate Frisbee after my move, a
sport i played competitively throughout
Europe until i hurt my meniscus in 2006.
This left cycling as one of the only
sports i could really pursue, which i why
i now find myself racing bikes for PAA
(Lee Bird also deserves some credit in
this regard), and writing this blurb!
What is your greatest strength? Not
taking anything too seriously. Life’s too
short.
Austria - dipped into a nutella chocolate
fondue is fantastic. Best thing is you
can now get them at CostPlus!
Favorite drink? I make a damn good
banana smoothie. The key is cutting
up almost over-ripe bananas, and
then freezing them. When you blend
ripe, frozen ones up, they’ll give your
smoothie an almost ice-cream-esque
thickness and sweetness. Add some
Trader Joes vanilla flavored whey
protein and you’ve got a great postworkout recovery drink.
What is your favorite tv show? I like
dry, bizarre and/or British humor (think
Blackadder, Fawlty Towers, MTV’s
The State, Da Ali G Show). Although i
don’t get the chance to watch much TV
(i don’t even own one right now), my
favorite recent series is without question
HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords” cause it’s business time! They’ve also
got a great rap music video with cyclists.
What is your all-time favorite movie?
What is your pet peeve? People who
It may be cliche, but i’ve always been a
leave the tops of cereal boxes open. And huge fan of The Big Lebowski. There’s
the single-use society we live in.
a lot to be said for the deadbeat lifestyle.
And any film that includes nihilists,
What is your favorite food? I hate
marmots, Nazis, and bowling is a winner
favorite questions, but if i must, I really in my book.
enjoy a good Raclette (melted cheese
traditionally served with potatoes), as
If you could travel anywhere in the
well as a quality Birchermuesli (think
world, where would you go (and
Swiss muesli mixed with fresh fruit and why)? Madagascar. I’d like to ride my
yogurt).
mountain bike through a lemur-filled
rainforest.
Favorite dessert? Manner Schnitten
- nutella infused wafer biscuits from
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8
Tech Review
Ridley Noah
in a Nutshell
by Duane Atiga
Ever since the advent of
integrated seatposts, I’ve been
curious of the ride quality compared
to frames with conventional
seatposts. So when I had a chance to
pursue a custom painted Ridley Noah
frameset at a price I couldn’t refuse I
jumped at the opportunity. After all,
I was long overdue to continue in my
neverending game of musical bikes
according to the local tifosi. So here
it is. In all it’s Belgian glory.
a powerful V-8 muscle car through
a 25 mph zone...you feel it’s power
At a MSRP of $2800, the Noah
just begging to be unleashed.
(named after the Ridley owner’s
first son) definitely gives you the
Aerodynamics also comes into play,
best bang for the buck. Compare
especially when Ridley does most of
in contrast to the many other high
their frame testing in a windtunnel.
end framesets that have priced
I had a chance to feel just how fast
themselves out of the market. The
the Noah can go a few weeks at a
best thing is that it’s a ProTour
breezy L.A. Circuit race. Matter of
caliber frameset. The ultimate
fact it was my first foray into Cat 3
testing ground for all things cycling. racing. It was the first real ride on
It also has a rich pedigree. Last
the Noah. Talk about going against
season Robbie McEwen powered
conventional wisdom. The pace
his way to victory in Stage 1 of
was high right from the whistle, but
the Tour de France from London
the Noah had me brimming with
to Canterbury as well as countless
confidence. More importantly, I felt
other victories aboard a Noah.
very comfortable despite building
Ridley is also well known in World
it a week prior to the race. There
Championship caliber cyclo-cross
would be two sides of this race.
races.
Headwind. Tailwind. After each
of the 180 degree turns, I was able
As Ridley’s flagship road frameset,
to maintain my position thanks to
the Noah builds on the legacy of
the Noah’s superior responsiveness
the classy Damocles model. Where and handling. There would be
the Damocles was considered a stiff no squishy feeling like I feel on
frame, the Noah takes it to another
my Pinarello Paris robbing me
level with their version of a frame
of precious wattage. Against the
with integrated seatmast. It’s tubing strong headwind, I noticed the
is thick, if not thicker than it’s little
Noah carving it up like a ginsu
brother. It just jumps with each
knife. Ultimately the winds would
pedal stroke. Just imagine driving
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prove nothing versus the Noah’s
sinewy lines and jagged tubing. In
fact, there is nothing that suggests
the Noah is a traditional frame. It is
just a pure racing machine. Perhaps
not for everyone. But something
Ridley takes pride in.
Take a quick glance down their road
line and you can sense just how race
worthy all their models are. This
includes their entry level aluminum
Aeron model. And in case you
didn’t know, the lighter Helium
model is the bigger brother to the
Excalibur. Both are the Yin, to
the Yang of the Noah and Damocles.
Climbing machines versus sprint
machines. You can catch ProTour
champ Cadel Evans on a Helium as
he’s been tearing up the circuit this
season. Perhaps on his way to a
Tour de France title. McEwen will
continue to challenge for the Green
jersey on a Noah.
So there you have it. The fastest
bike I’ve ridden to date. It might
not be a valid statement to pundits
like Mason “The Asian Sensation”
Continued on page 9
9
Tech Review
Continued from page 8
Fong who always reminds me that
it’s always about the rider, not the
bike. I must also remind him that
it was a 7 times TdF winner who
put Trek on the map from relative
obscurity - Mr. Fong’s current bike
of choice. At any rate, if you like
to put the hammer down and go
fast, the Ridley Noah is an excellent
choice. Great value, sharp looks,
expert craftsmanship, and a
championship pedigree. For more
info on the Noah and other models
go here www.sinclairimports.com.
Pros: Pricepoint, aerodynamics,
stiffness, ProTour caliber frame,
titanium rear dropouts.
Cons: Weight, resale value due to
integrated seatmast, ride quality not
for everyone.
Bike Week Pasadena See the City in a Whole New Way
Bike Week Pasadena 2008 encompasses a week of festivities, workshops, pit stops, bike-related films and rides that
celebrate and encourage bicycling as a healthy alternative to the automobile, May 12 through 17, 2008. All Bike Week
Pasadena activities are free and open to the public.
Highlights of the six day event include:
Three guided discovery tours that begin and end at One Colorado in Old Pasadena, themed to appeal to cyclists of
every category. Ladies Night (Tuesday, May 13, 6:00 P.M.) is a women’s-only road ride that winds through the streets
of Pasadena to the Rose Bowl, and returns to the One Colorado Courtyard for mini clinics, food and refreshment. Road
Ride (Wednesday, May 14, 6:00 P.M.) is co-ed ride that explores the city’s charming neighborhoods, and the Friday Night
Social Ride (Friday, May 16, 6:00 P.M.) is geared toward leisurely and scenic riding.
The Urban Bicycle Commuter Expo on Saturday, May 17 (10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.), will boast a wealth of exhibitors
focused on encouraging cycling with PAA representing this year as well with our own booth this year! Bike shops, bike
manufacturers, accessory manufacturers and local advocacy groups will come together to present the latest bicycles,
fashion, and gear emerging from the ultra-hot urban bike commuter scene. Attendees can experience how-to workshops
on bike maintenance, bike commuting, and apparel clinics. Entertainment will include live-music, DJs, and the BIKE
chic fashion show--a showcase of apparel suitable for cycling featuring the “most beautiful” bikes. The Expo will be
followed by an outdoor Film Screening under the stars in the One Colorado Courtyard (at dusk.)
Bike Week Pasadena is a citywide effort to highlight the benefits of bicycling. Riding a bicycle is an easy way to exercise,
reduce traffic congestion, minimize air pollution, cut fuel costs -- and a wonderful way to meet your neighbors. This weeklong
salute is presented by city of Pasadena Department of Transportation, One Colorado, Cyclists Inciting Change through
Live Exchange (C.I.C.L.E.) and METRO. For further information, please visit www.BikeNow.org or call 323.478.0060.
www.paacycling.org
10
NOVA Mountain Bike Stage Race Report
by Wesley Reutimann
In the small world of PAA MTBing, which i hope will soon
grow after the weekend’s large turnout (good idea, Nor -- how
about another round this Sunday?), I ended up being the lone
participant at the NOVA nationals in Fountain Hills, Arizona
this weekend. Fortunately there were a few other local faces
in attendance (Gary Fisher riders Lyle Warner and Alex
Boone), who provided much needed support and really were
the reason i was there in the first place. Had i known before
Alex talked me into it that i was signing up for another 3 day
stage race, i might have passed.
So yeah, i’m pretty beat right now, but it was worth it; NOVA
provided a perfect weekend of tactical racing experience for
a MTB newbie. It also turned out to be a weekend of firsts:
first super D, first short track, first flat during an XC race...
I managed to get off to a good start on Friday with a win in
the Exp. 20-29 Super D by 2 seconds. This placed me on
the top of GC -- calculated by points rather than total time,
omnium format -- going into Saturday’s Short Track race, a
20min + 4 lap affair around an approximately 3minute stretch
of fire road and singletrack that included a 10 foot section
so steep most riders cycle-crossed it, myself included, and a
sketchy high speed turn into deep sand with a 5 foot cactus
unconveniently placed on the far side. Not wanting to deal
with that sucker in traffic, and getting stuck in the 3 row at
the start, i ended up bringing up the rear on the first lap. As
expected, the uphill section and singletrack strung things out
quickly, leaving me much further behind than i wanted. For
the next 15minutes i did my best to work myself up to the
leaders, finally catching them with 1.5 laps to go. At this
point i tried to catch my breath, and sat in. I figured my best
shot to win the thing would be to attack like a bat out of hell
once we hit the 2percent uphill fire road climb bout 300m
from the finish. However, without Nor to lead me out, i got
bogged down in traffic. My attack came late, and i barely
squeezed by both riders as we reached 180 degree turn 40m
from the line. I came in to the turn too hot, unwisely clipped
out of a pedal, struggled to clip back in, and got beat to the
line by both riders....#@#[email protected] place for Short Track.
Sunday morning was the big show, the XC race, an approx
2 hr, 3 lap affair around a 97.3% windy singletrack course
through the Arizona desert. My plan going in was 1) to
get a decent start this time (singletrack starts after only
100m of the start, after which passing is difficult, w/o the
cooperation of the rider in front), 2) to not flat, 3) to not
run into a cactus.
Well, 2 out of 3 isn’t bad. With a GC callup, my front
row placing on the line helped me get to the singletrack in
10th or so. THe race stuck together the first lap, mainly
because this course has no real climbs -- longest must
have been 20 seconds. The fastest riders tended to be
those who were smoothest on this rollercoaster of a race;
it literally winds and weaves up and down non-stop for
7miles. I wish i could say i’m a smooth operator. Not
quite, but a long winter of training, a hat box of courage,
a lot of unnecessary work kept me in contention. After
lap 1 I was about 45 seconds back of the leaders, riding
my own, steady pace. By the end of the second lap the
#2 rider -- one of the guys who outsprinted me yesterday)
-- was only 10seconds up, and i reeled him in shortly after
the feed. We then worked together to catch the first place
rider, the short track winner, who was not happy to see us
when we came up on him. With both riders hurting more
from the fast early pace than i, i was feeling good about
my chances of paying these two lads back in spades for
the day prior.
Alas, it was not to be. No sooner did we hit the super
rocky portion of the course than i felt rock on front rim,
and that horrible, horrible hissing. My race was over. So I
bid my two competitors and would be retribution goodbye
(condolences. the bums won.), and went about the slowest
tire change in the history of PAA MTB cycling. Not only
was this my first ever race flat, it was my first time using a
CO2 cartridge, and then promptly another -- i overinflated
my first botched attempt, almost popping my tube and
pushing the rim wall out. My second go was a bit more
successful, and only 5min later i was back in the saddle
and riding. Of course my race was over at this point. I
wasn’t sure how many guys had gone by (i watched plenty
go by, but didn’t bother checking numbers). Turns out no
one. Another 3rd place.
Next up, Sea Otter in two weeks time!
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11
What I Ride (and Have Ridden)
by Banner Moffat
Mountain Bikes:
I’ll skip telling you about my beloved
Raleigh 3 speed when I was a kid or the
Specialized that was too big for me which I
rode from New Orleans to Boston - and will
skip forward to recent history after I really
caught the bicycling bug. My first mountain
bike was an aluminum Caloi, made in
Brazil, with early era Rockshox front
suspension. I’d gotten interested enough in
biking to fork over $650 for it, and at the
time I couldn’t believe I’d actually spent that
much money on a bicycle. Little did I know
it was the first of many times I would feel
shell shocked at how much I’d just shelled
out on bicycling stuff.
The Caloi was actually a very
serviceable bike with decent handling and
the Shimano LX group worked reliably.
The trouble was that I eventually got good
enough at mountain biking that I cracked the
frame on rugged downhill trails. Caloi was
very good about replacing the frame free of
charge, but I cracked it again. Then after I
cracked the third replacement, I decided to
get a better frame.
Because I was racing and used to be a
weight weenie, I splurged on a Trek OCLV
carbon hardtail frame and built it up myself
into a 21.5 pound bike which I still have
(photo 1). I have been through so much on
that bike, I can’t imagine ever selling it. The
first time I rode it I was 45 seconds faster
than my fastest time up Brown Mt. and it
fit me perfectly. I put Chris King hubs and
headset on it and they are still working
perfectly after over 11 years of hard use.
Of all the bikes I have owned, the ones
which fit me perfectly the moment I first
threw a leg over them are the ones I ended
up loving the most. I have owned other bikes
that took some getting used to which have
served me well, but if that
first ride is a revelation, it’s
a good predictor of a long,
successful relationship.
Because mountain
biking tends to be hard on
equipment, it is good if you
can train on a separate bike
than what you race so that
your race bike is always in
tip top shape - so I bought
a second bike. After the
Caloi, I wanted something
that wouldn’t crack so I
bought a Merlin hardtail. I liked the springy
feel of the titanium and especially liked it’s
indestructibleness, but on the rough stuff
or when I had to pound on the pedals on
technical uphills, I thought it was too flexy
compared to the Trek. The Merlin also had
what I call “East Coast Geometry”. The
trails on the east coast tend to be tighter and
twistier, and the Merlin was quick handling
but at the sacrifice of some downhill
stability.
As an aside, one thing I have learned
- especially with mountain bikes - is that
there are a lot of variables that go into how
a bike feels, and the design and geometry
may not be the biggest variable. For several
years at the Interbike Trade Show I have
ridden dozens of different bikes, all brand
new, on the same trail on the same day. From
those bike “Demo Days” I have decided
that, at least with full suspension, how the
suspension is adjusted has more to do with
how the bike will feel than anything else.
The next biggest factor may be the tires. The
same bike with different tires or different tire
pressure can feel like a completely different
animal. Things like the handle bar width or
even the grips, and of course the seat, can
make a big change
in how a bike feels
and handles.
My next
mountain bike
was for fun, not
for racing: a
full suspension
Canondale Jekyl
with a lefty front
fork. That was a
good sturdy, all
around bike. The
lefty front fork
may look a little
strange, but it
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worked great as a low maintenance fork
with very low maintenance hub. The worst
thing about it was not fitting on many bike
racks. Interestingly, Canondale changed the
geometry of the Jekyl the year after I got
mine and I guess some people didn’t like the
change. Twice I had people offer to buy my
bike just so they could get their hands on
one of the old Jekyl frames.
Sometimes when you have been
riding the same bike for years, you get an
uncontrollable urge to buy a new bike even
though the bike you have might be good
as new with a few new parts. That’s how
I came to buy my Santa Cruz Blur (photo
2). At the time it was justifiably the latest
and greatest of the 25 pound 4 inch travel
full suspension trail bikes. I built it up with
Shimano XT rather than XTR because
nowadays durability is more important to
me than weight. I have always preferred grip
shifting so I used Sram XO shifters which
work great. Of course I put Chris King hubs
on it; they last forever. The Blur is another
excellent all around full suspension trail bike
which handles a lot like the Jekyl but has
better suspension. At first I had a Manitou
Minute front fork and liked it well enough,
but not until later, when I put a Rockshox
Reba with handlebar lockout on it, did the
Blur become a true favorite bike.
Road Bikes:
I haven’t had much experience with
different road bikes. As a teenager I had a
steel Raleigh International which I loved.
It weighed an incredibly light 24 pounds
with 1974 Campy Record, and I could ride
with no hands for miles. In the early 90’s
some mountain biking friends told me about
a Tuesday/Thursday road ride around the
Rose Bowl that was supposed to be very
challenging. My naive reaction was, “How
hard can it be? It’s road riding!” The first
time I got dropped on lap 2 and each time I
Continued on page 13
12
Team Times
by Banner Moffat
Here are the rules:
1) Define a specific route precisely if it’s a new location.
2) Send me your time.
3) Send me your name (or pseudonym if you prefer)
4) Send me your age and your race category.
5) You can include a BRIEF list of excuses or explanations such as “strong tail wind” or “drank too much last night”.
6) Honor System; no cheating. If you post a time that’s off the chart, you better have a reputation or witnesses!
Format: (Route) Time - Name - age - category - date - comment
Send your times to me at [email protected] I will keep track and post them periodically
on Yahoo and hopefully we will have an exciting list to include in next month’s newsletter.
ROUTE: Up Angeles Crest from the second
(uphill) light at the freeway to the entrance
to the Clear Creek information booth
parking area.
Fritz Bottger
Armin Rahm
Jason Lowetz
Scott Powell
Brian Provost
Daniel Lowetz
Kevin Martin
Banner Moffat
Stuart Michner
Chris Keller
Abe Meltzer
39:10
40:45
41:08
41:10
41:42
43:40
44:08
44:40
48:21
49:30
51:43
ROUTE: One Lap of the Rose Bowl
Time Trail Solo
Chris Keller
Allen Lin
Jeff Moreton
George Korn
7:06
7:10
7:12
7:45
Sep-07
Sep-07
Jun-07
Mar-07
Jul-07
Mar-07
Jul-06
Mar-07
Nov-07
May-07
Sep-07
4:47
5:34
May-07
Jan-08
Feb-07
Jan-08
25:24
Oct-06
ROUTE: Down El Prieto Trail. From the start
of the single track to the big rock where
the trail joins the fire road. Classic “old” El
Prieto route.
Lyle Warner
Bryan Martinez
Banner Moffat
Scott Powell
9:02
12:07
13:30
35:05
Feb-07
Sep-07
Sep-07
Feb-07
ROUTE: Backbone Trail in Malibu from
Encinal to Corrall and back.
2:36:00
Aug-07
ROUTE: Piru Officail CBR Time Trail Course
Chris Keller
28:16
Jun-07
ROUTE: Big Tujunga to Angeles Crest,
from Oro Vista and Big T to the stop sign at
Angeles Forest Hwy.
Abe Meltzer
Nov-07
Mar-07
ROUTE: Chantry Flats climb from the top
of Santa Anita Blvd. to the Chantry Flats
parking lot (gate to gate) 3.25 miles.
Scott Powell
Wesley
Reutimann
Oscar Guzman
Rick de la Mora
Duane Atiga
Brian Provost
Kevin Martin
ROUTE: Corner of Lida and Vista (dotted
line) up to “No Stopping Anytime” sign on
top of Lida. Same route used for uphill TT
at the PAA training camp
Michael Hall
Duane Atiga
ROUTE: Up Lower Sam Merrill Trail, from
the water fountain to the trail junction at
Echo Mtn.
Feb-07
17:45
20:25
21:25
24:40
Jul-07
Apr-07
Jun-07
Jul-07
Sep-07
ROUTE: Las Flores Fire Road in the
Verdugos, from the gate at the bottom to
the intersection with Verdugo Motor Fire
Road.
Abe Meltzer
16:36
1:27:57
29:14
Aug-07
ROUTE: Brown Mtn. climb from the
pavement gate at Windsor Ventura stop
sign up the fireroad to the gate at the
Browm Mtn. saddle.
Mike Sobray
Bryan
MartinezRoute
www.paacycling.org
29:34
Sep-07
31:34
Sep-07
13
What I Ride
Continued from page 11
tried I kept getting dropped. I decided my too-big-for-me steel Specialized
was not helping so I bought a Kestrel EMS.
The Kestrel with 9 speed DuraAce served me very well for 10 years
but shortly after I replaced the entire drivetrain with new 10 speed, it
got stolen. Luckily, my homeowners insurance covered it, and because
I had saved every receipt I’d ever spent on it, they agreed to pay for a
replacement bike up to $5000. Save your receipts!
After shopping around and test riding several bikes in bike shop
parking lots, I bought my current bike (photo 3) a Trek Madone SL. The
Kestrel was good, but after riding the Madone I realized how much better
a bike could be. It has 10 speed DuraAce and Bontrager Race X Lite
wheels and fits me as well as a bike can. My only complaint about the
Madone is that Trek went and improved it and made it a pound lighter
only 2 years after I bought it!
Being enough of a bicycle fanatic that I feel more secure with a second
bike to ride in case the first one is out of commission, I bought a second
road bike. I wanted something I could race if necessary, but couldn’t
really afford a second Madone. Plus my girlfriend is exactly my size on
a bike so I wanted something she could ride any time the mood hit her.
I decided on a Canondale Synapse (photo 4) which was Canondale’s
first full carbon bike. It feels a little like a full suspension road bike as it is designed to be comfortable and to absorb road shock and it
handles very predictably. It has Ultegra 10 speed which is almost
indistinguishable from DuraAce, and I put Mavic Krysrium SL
wheels on it so I could mix and match the wheels on the Madone.
The Synapse has compact carbon cranks which work well, but
unless I am riding somewhere that needs an extra low gear - in
other words significantly greater than 10% - I prefer my regular
cranks which have a slightly higher high gear. I don’t need any
extra low gears on Angeles Crest, etc., but often I do like being
able to push on the pedals while going down the Crest without
having to spin like a banshee.
I would love to buy a time trial bike and a tandem road bike
and a tandem mountain bike and I probably would have done so by
now if I lived somewhere that had the storage space. But I already
have one room of the house devoted to bicycles and that’s the limit
- for now.
Redlands Road Race Report
by Kevin Okura
Wow, so the Redlands classic is pretty
cool. Because it’s also an NRC race for
the pros they’ve got all the cool stuff
like start/finish scaffolding, lots of
barriers, podium presentations, jerseys
for the race winner and seriously hot
podium girls that could fill Pezcycling’s
Daily Distractions for a month.
Community support is awesome with
plenty of spectators (I’m sure it helped
that there was a pro 1/2 race right after
the IV’s) and a nice expo area.
Representing PAA was me...We did have
one racer in the III’s also. I wanted to
race this week and do well, hoping for a
little redemption after the ignominious
result (or should I say non-result) last
weekend. So I figured something nice
and flat would be good. Fifteen minutes
into the race and I was suckin’ a little
wind. Guys were just drilling it on
that incline. This was not as flat as I
had hoped. I just tried to keep telling
myself that if I was hurting this bad
then everyone else probably was too.
The course is 5 corners and short at just Of course that was not the case last
over a kilometer. From turn 5 to one is
weekend but I tried not to think about
a little grade, just a bit steeper then the
that. About that time the pace eased a
Rose Bowl. The distance between 4 and little bit, just in time for a nasty crash
5 is really short making it almost like
just ahead and to the right of me. I
one big very fast sweeper. The finish line think about 6 guys went down. Luckily
is only 150m after turn 5.
it didn’t spread too far left and I got
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through but had to chase a bit. With
about a third of a lap to go I was well
positioned sitting about 6th on Lee
Ziff ’s usually dependable wheel. Right
then the guy in 3rd attacked hard and
the guy behind him was slow to react so
the guy got a good gap that he took to
the line. Into the last turn I was fourth
and coming off Lee’s wheel I just pipped
him at the line to get second.
So medals to the podium finishers and a
jersey for the winner (damn that would
have been cool!) and I actually got to
make out with the podium girl. It was
a french kiss, you know the kind where
you touch cheeks and kiss the air, not
the good kind.
14
Save the Dates & Participate
On May 21, 2008, at 7:00 PM, the Ride of Silence will once again be
held at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Last year’s ride had a total of 112
riders participate. Let’s beat that number this year.
Cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession to honor cyclists
who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways.
Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists,
the motoring public often isn’t aware of these rights, and sometimes
not aware of the cyclists themselves.
In 2003, Chris Phelan organized the first Ride Of Silence in Dallas after endurance cyclist Larry Schwartz was hit by the mirror of a passing
bus and was killed.
The Ride Of Silence is a free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster
than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. The ride, which is held
during Bike Safety month, aims to raise the awareness of motorists,
police and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public
roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have
been killed or injured.
For more information please contact Coach Rick Babington at
[email protected] or visit the website at www.rideofsilence.org
Continued on page 13
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15
Our PAA Sponsors
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