Como Street This Sunday

Well it looks like a good weekend to get some miles in, so I propose a ride to Como Street... Here's the plan: we meet at the usual spot (the marina) at 6:25am - don't be late - the group will roll-out at 6:30am (on time) and head East on 2nd to Westminster. I will meet you at the corner of Westminster and Bolsa Chica. From there we will ride to Como for a fast and fun training ride. Once the ride is over we will regroup for coffee at the Tustin Marketplace and make our way home. Expect to be home around 12pm with 90 miles.

Here's some information about the ride:
Day: Sunday (all year)
Start Time: 8:00 am
Start: Tustin Market Place, off the 5 fwy at Jamboree in Tustin CA (In front of the Red Robin)Distance: 30-35 miles
Duration: 2-2.5 hours

If interested shot me an email, so we'll expect you.

See you on the road,

Ross
ross.gagnon@ca.rr.com

Crazy for Cyclocross

Here's a Blog about CX from Frank:

I'm really having a good time this Fall concentrating on 'doing it in the dirt'. Some members have been corresponding to arrange MTB rides and I have done a few fun ones. Since the start of cross season I have been racing the SoCal Cross Prestige Series as well as the Back On Track Urban Cross Series. My son Josh has also been doing some Junior races and seems to be getting into it more and more as the races go on...particularly because he is presently leading his category in points.

I come from a motocross background and it has never left my blood. I like braking late, picking fast lines and block passing my competitors. I have been a cross cheerleader within our club trying to get other members interested in doing some races. If you like riding in the dirt and on the road as well, what is not to like about cross? It incorporates off-road riding skills and you get the speed of a road bike. It is gratifying to see others jumping on the band wagon. We are starting to get a core group of cross enthusiasts within Velo Allegro. There is always room for more so come out and join the fun if you haven't tried it yet.

Another fun thing about cross is the differences in the courses that we race on. The Fullerton 'Muckenthaler Cross' had lots of grass. The Costa Mesa 'Psycho Cross' had lots of dirt single track, a big downhill and some BMX whoops thrown in for good measure. The Oceanside 'Storm the Beach' was sand, sand and more sand. You can be sure of one thing for each race....they are HARD. Full gas from the start until the finish. Zone 4 for 40 minutes. It is painful, but when it is all over it was a blast.

I also like the camaraderie of cross races. Everyone is low key and friendly. It is a group of people who like an unusual sport and find the bond in doing it together. Lots of cowbell ringing and "Go, go!", "Keep it up!", "You're going great!" I find a lot of motivation in my teammates and strangers cheering me on.

I look forward to our cyclocross group getting bigger and bigger. Come out and have some fun. It is a great way to stay fit in Fall. It is my favorite time of the year for riding my bike!

Frank

Stormin' the Beach

Storm the Beach Cyclocross Race Report

Tim Lewis 10-20-08

So I’ve got a problem. I like to race. Even when I don’t have a chance in Hell of being competitive, I like to get out and race. So, seeing as this is my weakness, I made a little trip down to Oceanside on Sunday.

My wife’s best friend was having a wedding shower in Fallbrook, and she was spending the night on Saturday at her house. That means I had the girls, Haley (4) and Olivia (20 months) for Saturday and Sunday. We arranged things so that Char (my wife) would meet me at the race. If she wasn’t feeling up to stay, I was just going to hit the road back home. I figured it was a good enough thing to take the girls out and let them see a real-life bike race. We got a couple bells so they could ring their little hearts out.

The girls and I watched a couple races after showing up about 10:45. Haley was ringing her bell and seemed to be having a good enough time. Olivia alternated between trying to run out on the course and sitting and filling her bell with rocks. By 11:30, the girls were getting hungry, so we were back to the car for our picnic. I think they ended up eating as much sand and dirt as food, but it seemed to fill them up. I guess chocolate milk will pretty much wash anything down. After lunch, Char showed up and we talked about whether or not I’d race. Why not? I’m here.

So I did the quick change routine and grabbed my bike out of the trunk. I had seen Frank earlier, and he had his mountain bike. That’s all I have, so I was glad to see that someone who has the choice was on the same page. I got registered and had about 30 minutes before my race. Frank recommended that I take a recon lap to check things out and warm up. Char wanted to go back to her car and get her camera. While she did that, I took off.

Doing the recon lap was a good call. It let me have a little idea as to what was coming. The fire road time stuff wasn’t too bad. There were enough bumps and ruts that I could see having a front suspension was probably a good thing. There was a fair amount of sand everywhere. We’re on the beach, what do you expect? The hardest part for me was the run through the loose sand, ride down the beach, and then back through the loose sand again to the hard-pack. The climbs always suck, but I’m fine with them. At least I know that when I’m climbing, there will be a downhill where the gravity god will pay me back. The sand running and riding is just like being stuck in molasses. You’re pushing, but not going anywhere.

I didn’t see the girls before I lined up to race. I left a water bottle by where I told them to stand. I was hoping they’d be able to give me a hand-up when I needed it.

We lined up on the fire road. They blew a whistle and we took off. I learned at ‘The Muck’ it was no good to start in the back, but I’m an idiot, so I was starting in the back again. The guy right ahead of me can’t clip in. I pass him in the five feet of the race. Sweet. I’m not last. I put my head down and start to get with it. The wheel ruts are where you have to run. They have a good hard-pack line on them, but anywhere off the wheel ruts gets sandy in a hurry. A couple times I pull out to pass people only to slow down and have to tuck back in. It’s like trying to pass someone on the road with a 30 mph headwind. What I didn’t expect was the amount of dirt in the air. I was breathing in a bunch of sand and crap. I could feel my teeth and tongue get coated with the fine powder. Yum. We’re racin’ now.

I felt I could hold my own on the fire roads, but the sand was a different story. I couldn’t run through it very well and I was probably even worse at pedaling on it. I have plenty of low gears on my mountain bike, but I try to use the bigger ones to get some speed up. You feel like that if you can just get a little speed that you’ll get up on the top of the sand and you won’t have so much resistance. I don’t know if that’s reality or just a nice dream. Once off sand I figured out that my pedals don’t really clear themselves all that well. I could make the climb without too much trouble. Then there was a quick decent into another sandy area where you had to run. I rode the brakes on the way down too much and didn’t make to too far into the sand. Off the bike, run, on the bike and back up the other side of the climb. At the top I can see Char and the girls. I can also see the water bottle. What’re the chances of me actually getting a drink? I’m not going to stop, so I just point. Char’s holding Olivia, so she’s not going to be moving all that fast. Never the less, she calmly grabs the bottle and gives it to me just as I get to her. Perfect! I get a quick drink, and didn’t have to stop. OK, I’m ready for another lap.

Down a hill and into sand…..I think I can ride this. So I pedal and grind through it. There’s a guy in front of me running through the sand, but I go right by him. Riding is definitely the way to go. Head down and get some people, now. I can see a bunch up the road. Like I said, the fire road section is where I felt the best. I can see the guys ahead of me getting closer and closer. By the end of it, I’ve passed some and I’m riding with some others. The sand kills me again. Whatever, I live through it. At the top of the last climb Frank tells me I’ve only got one more lap. Down the hill I go and into the sand again. This time, no brakes and I go a lot further. Off, Run, On, going uphill. At the top, Haley is holding the bottle this time. She’s not the steadiest at the hand-up, but it works. It’s pretty nice to have your little girl help you in a race, to be honest.

I ride the next sand-pit again and catch a guy coming out of it. A couple hundred yards ahead of him is another clump of riders. He isn’t really going fast enough to catch them, though. I yell at him to let me by and we’ll work together to catch the group. He pulled over and as I passed I told him that we’d trade pulls. He seemed up for it. We went at a pretty good clip and caught that group ahead of us. We traded pulls a couple times and that worked well. I got bottled up behind the group that we caught and just couldn’t get by. I decided to sit in and get just a little rest. It was either that or do something really aggressive to get by, and I wasn’t feeling all that aggressive. Sitting in here was where I got to see my minimum heart rate for the race, 174. Cross is a hell of a work-out, you gotta give it that.

Back onto the sand. Man, I suck at the sand thing. I don’t know what it was. I wasn’t feeling particularly powerful for one, but it also felt like I had a lot of drag. Whether it was my tires, my line, my whatever, I just wasn’t doing a good job. The group I gathered up easily on the fire road left me. I just couldn’t hang.

So on the last climb Frank yells some encouragement and tells me that there’s no one directly behind me. I still go into the sandpit without braking…just to see how far I can go. I felt OK on the last climb and relief as I crossed the finish. I turn around and see the family running over. Olivia is in the lead. She’s carrying the water bottle…which she’s just finished drinking. Oh well, there’s more in the car.

Spooky-Cross is in Irvine on Saturday afternoon/evening. I guess I’ll be there. The first part of beating an addiction is admitting there’s a problem.

Cyclocross Training & Racing

So a few of us have been getting together and training for Cyclocross. We've been meeting at The marina, typically on Tuesday and Thursday at 4:00. With Storm the Beach coming up on October 19 and Spooky Cross coming up on October 25 we need to get in CX shape!

If anyone is interested in training for CX let us know!

Club Meeting Monday!

It has been a couple of months since our last club meeting and it is time to get back together. Our next meeting is this Monday, September 8 at 7pm. An email will go out later today confirming the location. We look forward to seeing you there.

Mountain Biking is Alive and Well!!!!

A proposal has been made to ride El Moro this Sunday. I am told a new section of trails to the north of the park has been opened up to mountain bikes recently so there is now more single track and trails to explore. We plan to arrive at 7:45 (with a roll out time of 8 a.m.) at the dead end of Ridge Park Road, which is right off of Newport Coast. There is a trail head into El Moro from there and it is free parking.

So far, myself, Greg Burns and Daniel Rojas have expressed interest in going. If you would like to join us, please email me back so I know to expect you.

Thanks for your interest,

Frank Said

Manhole covers - Definitely call that out!

Hey, Here's a message from Frank:


Something to be aware of while riding our bikes in Long Beach.

"New Street Crime: Thieves Lift Manhole Covers"USA Today (06/29/08) ; Frith, Stefanie
Hundreds of manhole covers have been stolen in several states over the last three months. The 200-pound covers have been reported stolen in California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Law enforcement officials believe that the unusual thefts are tied to the weak economy and record-high scrap metal prices. The price of heavy melt steal, which is used in manhole covers, rose from $329 per metric ton in January to $519. A thief can get up to $15 for an individual manhole cover. Long Beach, Calif., has lost over 80 covers this year and faces lawsuits from people who damaged their cars driving over open manholes. In Philadelphia two children were injured when they fell into uncovered drains.

4th of July Road Rage

The following is a message from David Kramer, a racer from Cynergy Racing. Keep your eyes open out there!


From: David Kramer
To: cynergyracing@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 7/7/2008 11:44:01 AM
Subject: July 4th Road Rage

Report and pics are from my friend Chris Roberts. L. Ron and Christian had waited with me after I crashed near the top of the hill. They left when EMTs were loading me into the ambulance and then this happened. Thats L. Rons blood on the trunk of the Infinity. That driver (a doctor) needs to be put away for a long time. Ive heard he has had other incidents with cyclists.
Dave


Subject: July 4th Road Rage

This is a description of what happened.

The mood was great as we all had a great, safe and uneventful ride to the top of Mandeville Cyn. We then all left at different times down the Canyon. My friend Ed, was riding about 40 yards ahead of me. I was traveling at approximately 25 mph.

I was then passed by 2 cyclists, Ron and Christian, who I have seen many times before on our weekly rides in the South Bay and these Holiday rides. I would estimate their speed at probably 3 to 5 mph faster than myself. They slowly pulled ahead of me and when they were about 50 ft. in front of me, a car started approaching from my rear with it's horn blaring intermittently and passed me in a very aggressive way. The red Infinity, which was traveling at a speed that I would estimate to be between 40 to 45 mph, passed around to my left over the dividing line with it's right side tires still in the right lane. I would guess the car to have been about 3-4 ft. away from me on my left. My position was just to the right of center of the lane.

Ron and Christian were ahead of me and Ron was close to the center of the lane and Christian was to his right. The car continued on the same line and as it approached Ron and Christian, it passed them and then immediately cut in front of them in an intimidating deliberate, aggressive way.

The driver was about 3-5 ft in front of Ron and Christian, who then yelled out to the driver in startled amazement and the driver then abruptly and with no notification whatsoever, slammed the brakes of his car. Ron immediately slammed into the back end of the car impacting the trunk portion and shattering the rear windshield with his face. Christian, who at the moment just prior to impact was about 2 feet behind and to the right of Ron, attempted to stop and hit Ron's bike and flew over the trunk of the car to the left into the opposite lane of traffic.

I immediately applied my brakes to stop at the scene. The time lapse from the car veering into their path and the impact and crash was about 2-3 seconds. As I approached the car about 4 to 5 seconds later, Ron was leaning against the trunk motionless, bleeding profusely from the face, his hands over his face, clearly in shock. Christian was lying on the ground moaning in severe pain. As I was holding onto Ron, the driver got out of his car and approached towards us.

I yelled at him in utter amazement "Why did you do this? What are you doing, get the fuck away".

He was aggressive in his response saying, "Don't tell me what to do".

I said to him "Look what you've done, get away."

I then yelled at him to turn his car off.

He again said "don't tell me what to do."

I again ordered him in a very terse and commanding tone to turn his car off, which he then did.

I then sat Ron down and headed towards Christian who was lying on the ground in severe pain. I looked at his shoulder and it was protruding out which appeared to be either a dislocation or broken collar bone. Cars then approached and I went to the first car and the woman driver already had her cell phone out and ready to give me. I called 911 and told the operator that we need an ambulance, that there were severely injured cyclists and the police, as a blatant crime of assault with a car had just happened.

About 3 to 5 minutes had elapsed at this point when numerous drivers and neighbors had stopped and were assisting in the care of Ron and Christian. When I walked back to Ron, a gentleman named Bruce Rogan was tending to him. He was making a suggestion about his care when the road rage driver interjected something about what to do regarding Ron's care saying he was a Doctor. The man attending to Ron then stated that he was a Doctor also.

It was about 10 minutes later that Fire Department Paramedics personnel arrived and took over the care of Ron and Christian. I then walked over to Christian, who by this time was on the side of the road in a neighbor arms. She was comforting him until paramedics arrived. Her name was Wendy Lynch.

Christian was in obvious pain and I could see his shoulder bone protruding and he was stating that he felt like he was going to faint. Wendy stated that she and her husband were walking their dog when she heard the commotion of the "accident". She pointed out her husband about 50 to 100 yards away slowing traffic approaching the scene. About 5 minutes later, the first of many LAPD arrived.

I was subsequently asked by paramedics as I was walking around to assist in holding Ron's head stationary as the rescue personnel were concerned about possible neck injuries to him while they applied a body brace. I was also asked a few minutes later to assist in keeping Christian's arm still as the paramedics applied stabilizing straps to him. Shortly thereafter the police officer approached me for my statement.

Hill Repeats Saturday

Well this message might be a little late, but remember to join us for Bellflower repeats tomorrow morning 6:45am at the corner of Bellflower and Loynes - if you don't know this intersection - look up The Gaslamp in Long Beach and you'll be directed to our meeting location. Once we are done with the repeats we will meet the gang for the Hammer Zone ride. Hope to see you there.

My Three Schwinn’s

Tim Lewis, 6-13-08

OK, I’ve never written in a blog, but here it goes.

I’ve owned several bikes through the years, but I have an affinity for Schwinns. I’m not really sure why. Maybe they're sentimental to me because they were mostly built in Illinois and that’s where I grew up. Maybe because Dave’s Schwinn Shop was only a few blocks from home and I used to go in there and drool at all the shiny new bikes. Whatever the reason, I kind of gravitate to them and I’ve owned 3.

My 1998 S-20 mountain bike is presently on semi-permanent loan to my brother-in-law. It’s a full suspension bike, but it was built before they really had the full-suspension thing figured out. Even so, I’ve had plenty of good miles on the bike. It kept me sane when I was stuck on the East Coast with nothing to do. Solo miles around a lake on Saturday or Sunday were an easy high-point of the week. I would ride it to Blockbuster to get movies and the IGA store to get food. Both places looked at me like I was crazy for riding a bike when a car was so much easier. My co-workers seemed to have similar feelings when I showed up at work with funny shoes and shorts. It was OK, I never gave a damn about them anyway.

Two weeks ago I bought my latest Schwinn. It’s a Paramount road bike that was built in Waterford, Wisconsin in March of 1990. It’s not particularly flashy with its Campy triple drivetrain and standard sized tubing (the blingy ones had ‘oversized tubing’), but it’s nice enough that you’re not going to mistake it for a junkyard-salvaged Varsity. I bought it off Ebay, and when it showed up, the wheels needed some attention. That’s the one thing I don’t trust myself to do, yet, so they were off to Huntington Beach Bikes to be trued. Yesterday was my first day to ride the Paramount.

The first thing you notice is that it’s a little heavy. Nothing absurd, but compared to my Cannondale there’s definitely a heft to it. The second thing I notice is that it’s quiet. Sure the Campy hub will sing when you stop pedaling, but other than that the thing just doesn’t make much noise. Lastly, it’s smooth. Have you ever watched a film of a desert race truck busting it way over rocks and ditches but the cab doesn’t really seem to move? Well, that’s what this kinda feels like. It just feels very calm when riding. You know, my Cannondale is a nice riding bike, too, but it just isn’t as composed as the Paramount when the road gets a little rough, like that ugly patch on the River Road. I’m looking forward to putting a bunch of miles on this bike. It won’t be in any races, but I can see it being the one I grab for a fun ride or century.

The last Schwinn was my first. I had a hand-me-down Montgomery-Wards bike prior to this, but it was run-over in the driveway. I had learned to ride on a little bike with solid rubber tires. I don’t really count that either. This was the first bike that I really felt was mine and that I really loved.

At school we had a ‘Run-a-thon’ money making thing every year. You’d get pledges that was related to how many laps you’d run on race day. There were all sorts of prizes for raising this chunk of money or that. They didn’t matter. The top prize was a brand new Schwinn Tornado Jr. That was the carrot I needed. We didn’t have much money. My mother was raising me by herself and she was a teacher at my school. Her yearly salary was $8000. New bikes weren’t in the budget. I went to everyone I could all around town to get pledges for the Run-a-thon. Some people would give a buck or two outright. Some would promise a dime, quarter, or even a dollar per lap.

When the Saturday came to run, we went to a local park and saw the track that was set up to run. I was expecting a high-school running track. It was a smaller. All the better to turn laps on, I thought. The running time was 1 hour. I don’t remember stopping. I’m sure I had to slow down, but at the end of the hour I was spent. I do remember that. I think I ran 19 laps. In retrospect, that was probably about 3 miles. Not bad for an 8 year old.

The awards ceremony was about 2 weeks after the event. Pledges were one thing, but the awards were given out based on the actual money received. I went to everyone I could to get them to pay up. I know my Mom was doing the same. She worked her butt off to help me out with the deadbeats. On the Wednesday night before the awards, Mom set me down and had a ‘big boy’ talk. She said that she knew I had put a lot of work into the Run-a-thon, but other people had put a lot of work into it also. She told me that she didn’t know how it was going to turn out, but that it wasn’t good for me to have my heart too set on the bike. There just wasn’t much chance of me getting it and I needed to accept defeat well just as I need to accept winning graciously. It was a grim talk, but an important lesson.

The Friday came and that afternoon before school let out was the awards banquet. They called third place up in front of the auditorium for the special prize. It wasn’t me. Then they called second place up. It wasn’t me. At this point, the tension was just about too much for me. I knew it was either the bike or nothing and that loathsome Principal seemed to enjoy stretching out the suspense.

Then he said my name.

My feet didn't touch the ground as I ran up on the stage. Then they let me ride my new bike around in front of everyone. There aren’t too many times in a kid’s life where he gets to experience a joy as pure as that. I had worked my tail off, but more importantly, my Mom had worked hers off. Later, she told me that on that Wednesday the secretary had taken her into the office and told her that I had nearly a 2-to-1 lead on the next kid. There was no way I wasn’t going to win the bike. The win wasn’t just for me. It was for us. Mom really made it happen for me.

I rode that little bike all over town. At some point it was just too small and being a fickle kid I sold it at a garage sale to help buy my new Diamondback Viper BMX (layed away all summer at Dave’s Schwinn, of course). A Predator was just too much on my lawn-mowing budget. The Viper was a good bike and served me well for probably 5 years delivering ump-teen million newspapers in the process. It was my last bike before getting a car and saw untold abuse. The Viper was always a little more of a utilitarian relationship, though. The Tornado was love.

CBR State Crit Championships

So the CBR State Crits happened this past Sunday in Chula Vista. I heard it was a technical course...

Congratulations to the following Velo Allegrians (Allegranos? Allegristas?):

Pro/1/2: Tommy Robles - 3rd Place (I know he races under Sho-Air but I'm gonna claim him anyway.)

Masters 50+: Don Denegal - 7th Place, Ricky Shorts - 10th Place

Masters 55+: Al Shorts - 3rd Place

Women III/IV: Alisha Lopez - 11th Place

Great Job representin' in the Yellow & Blue! Velo Allegro Por Vida!

Rat Bastard Mugger Caught in River Bed Near El Do

Hi!

As many of you remember there was a bike jacking back in November on the river bed by El Dorado Park. Well, a bike jacker struck again but, this time, with the help of an alert Mountain Biker, the assailant was caught. Herewith, is an email message from the cyclist who was attacked:


Friday June 6, 2008 I was jumped by a gang bang looking guy on the San Gabriel River bike trail, it was around 7:15pm with sun still up. I was on the East side going North in the underpass at Carson St. near El Dorado Park and the Long Beach TownCenter. It is narrow through there and he push me down as I road by him going around 18mph. I went down, hit my head but the helmet saved me big time. He got on top of me and went through my jersey pockets and took my wallet and punched me in the helmet a few times because I didn't have a cell phone. He got up and grabbed my Eddy Merckx so I got up and walked toward him, yelling at him to leave the bike and then a mountain biker coming South showed up and I yelled to him that I was mugged and my bike was being stolen. This great guy on the mountain bike staired him down and told him to leave the bike and he did!!! The mugger ran away North up the trail. More people showed up and we got a call to 911 with a cellphone. After being transfered 3 times, LA Sherrifs that work Lakewood area showed up and also a helicopter. With the help of other bikers, runners and walkers who showed up, the mugger was spotted in the area of the Lakewood Equestrian Center and he was caught!!! With statements made, my wallet was returned to me. My forehead is bruised from the helmet impact and my neck is pretty jacked but could have been much worse. All I can say is, if someone looks suspicious on the trail, better to play it safe.

In addition, here is an article in the LB Report:
http://www.lbreport.com/news/jun08/bikesgr.htm

Please, stay alert and on your guard out there!

-cjr-

Ecce Blogo!

Okay Kids,

I've done it. You can release your nervous pent up blogging energy because the Velo Allegro Blog is born.