Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
On Deck
Another mtb race in Port Gamble via the good folks at Ridge Racing. I'm sure there is probably some road stuff somewhere. Possibly track. Anyone who attended last weeknends Whidbey Island Mudder can't complain about the tight twisty dirt that was to be had. Team DiamondBack Grassroots was in force and made our presence known. Adam, Matt and Paul were all there, rocking the DiamondBack Sortie, as was I.
Paul's Sortie built up to around 27 lbs with 5 inches of travel!!!!!!! Mine is a little heavier as I've focused on downhill + cross country. It's always a little bit of a "In your Face" when you roll by a carbon ulta light hard tail on a bike that you are downhilling the next day!
Anywhoo, I'll be in Whistler all weekend - on the Sortie - prepping for the Black Rock down hill the next weekend that is followed by the Ashland OR Super D (Nationals) the next weekend. Believe that I will see you at Colonnade next week figuring out that last kicker.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Seattle bicycling clubs for disadvantaged kids get rolling
Seattle's Cascade Bicycle Club launches biking clubs — named for African-American cycling champ and pioneer Marshall "Major" Taylor — for disadvantaged kids around King County to promote the activity as a form of fitness, recreation, alternate transportation and independence.
Before joining the after-school cycling club at SeaTac's Global Connections High, Oliyad Beyene had never heard of Marshall "Major" Taylor.
But after a ride through nearby Des Moines Park, the diminutive 15-year-old, three years removed from his native Ethiopia, could tell you one thing: He'd never ridden 10 miles before. Now, thanks to the Major Taylor Cycling Clubs, he had.
"We get to see other cities, and rivers. We exercise and we get to see the neighborhoods," said Oliyad, who joined at the urging of principal Rick Harwood.
"It makes me feel good that I can go somewhere by myself," he added.
Such independence is the driving force behind the Major Taylor Cycling Clubs, a project of Seattle's Cascade Bicycle Club that aims to launch such clubs in disadvantaged areas throughout King County.
"Before the Greg LeMonds, before the Lance Armstrongs, there was Major Taylor," said project director Ed Ewing. "If you grow up in the sport and you are African American, you know about Major Taylor, just like you know about Jack Johnson or Muhammad Ali."
Born in 1878 to African-American parents who'd left Kentucky around the time of the Civil War, Marshall Taylor grew up in the home of a well-to-do Indianapolis family who'd hired his dad as coachman.
Given a bicycle, he learned to ride and did stunts in front of a local bike shop while costumed in a soldier's uniform, earning the nickname "Major."
Eventually, he'd go on to become the first African-American cycling champ and the second African-American athlete — after bantamweight boxer George Dixon in 1890-91 — ever to win a world sports title.
He earned his laurels in the face of what he called "that dreadful monster prejudice" — being refused hotel lodging, banned from some tracks, impeded on others by white cyclists who ganged up to block his path, even attacked by one rider after a race.
But for a time, he was the fastest man in the world's most popular sport, setting seven world records in 1899 alone and setting the stage for other breakthrough African-American athletes such as Jackie Robinson and Althea Gibson.
One recent Friday afternoon, Oliyad wore a T-shirt bearing Taylor's image as he and a dozen fellow Global Connections students donned helmets and climbed aboard their racing bikes.
Oliyad, the youngest son of a single mom raising three kids, still struggles with English, his second language. He likes that Harwood and other school faculty members, including his math teacher, join in on the rides, taking the lead or trailing protectively behind.
"They tell us better ways to use stuff," he said. "They are giving me good tips."
Creating access
As a kid in Minneapolis, Ewing, director of the clubs' program, sometimes felt like the only African-American cyclist of his age around.
Every day, he'd watched his dad bicycle off to work, and weekends meant two-wheeled family day trips around town.
But cycling, he knows, can be cost-prohibitive. "Not all kids have access to it," he said. "It's like golf, or tennis. So this is all about creating access. ... A lot of people don't know how to take that first step."
The program employs several former pro cyclists as instructors and a six-week curriculum that includes safety, mechanics, parking-lot drills and, eventually, field trips to sites such as Marymoor Park's Velodrome.
Once they've provided know-how, project leaders say the focus is on instilling cycling in kids' minds as a real option for exercise, recreation and transportation.
At Global Connections, where more than half the students are on free or reduced lunch, the club's 15 members represent European, Ethiopian, Syrian, Somali and Latino backgrounds. Some were prodded to join by teachers but now energetically show up every Friday. One girl had never ridden a bike at all.
"For them, a bike symbolizes a chance to get out and have fun and to not worry about all the other things they have going on," said Danielle Rose, the project's curriculum chief and fundraiser.
"Are we ready to roll?" asked instructor Dan Harm, a retired pro cyclist, as the group began its third weekly session. "Has everyone done their A-B-C quick-check? Does everyone remember what that is?"
Oliyad and friend Raj Singh, a 17-year-old senior, signal completion of their pre-ride maintenance checks, a list that includes air, brakes, chains and wheel quick-release mechanisms. Harm reviews hand signals and gear ratios for climbing "super-gnarly hills," and soon they're on their way to Des Moines Park.
Two hours later, after a 10-mile ride through the park and a stop to enjoy the Puget Sound view, the riders return. "To end up on a bike trail, at a place where they've gotten to only by car, was pretty cool," principal Harwood said.
Already, even as he traded playful helmet swats with classmate Raj, Oliyad was anticipating the following week's field trip to Marymoor Park, where the two planned to race. He enjoys being part of a group, he said, where half the cyclists on a ride stay behind to help someone with a flat tire.
"We stick for each other," he said. "We're like a team."
Before joining the after-school cycling club at SeaTac's Global Connections High, Oliyad Beyene had never heard of Marshall "Major" Taylor.
But after a ride through nearby Des Moines Park, the diminutive 15-year-old, three years removed from his native Ethiopia, could tell you one thing: He'd never ridden 10 miles before. Now, thanks to the Major Taylor Cycling Clubs, he had.
"We get to see other cities, and rivers. We exercise and we get to see the neighborhoods," said Oliyad, who joined at the urging of principal Rick Harwood.
"It makes me feel good that I can go somewhere by myself," he added.
Such independence is the driving force behind the Major Taylor Cycling Clubs, a project of Seattle's Cascade Bicycle Club that aims to launch such clubs in disadvantaged areas throughout King County.
"Before the Greg LeMonds, before the Lance Armstrongs, there was Major Taylor," said project director Ed Ewing. "If you grow up in the sport and you are African American, you know about Major Taylor, just like you know about Jack Johnson or Muhammad Ali."
Born in 1878 to African-American parents who'd left Kentucky around the time of the Civil War, Marshall Taylor grew up in the home of a well-to-do Indianapolis family who'd hired his dad as coachman.
Given a bicycle, he learned to ride and did stunts in front of a local bike shop while costumed in a soldier's uniform, earning the nickname "Major."
Eventually, he'd go on to become the first African-American cycling champ and the second African-American athlete — after bantamweight boxer George Dixon in 1890-91 — ever to win a world sports title.
He earned his laurels in the face of what he called "that dreadful monster prejudice" — being refused hotel lodging, banned from some tracks, impeded on others by white cyclists who ganged up to block his path, even attacked by one rider after a race.
But for a time, he was the fastest man in the world's most popular sport, setting seven world records in 1899 alone and setting the stage for other breakthrough African-American athletes such as Jackie Robinson and Althea Gibson.
One recent Friday afternoon, Oliyad wore a T-shirt bearing Taylor's image as he and a dozen fellow Global Connections students donned helmets and climbed aboard their racing bikes.
Oliyad, the youngest son of a single mom raising three kids, still struggles with English, his second language. He likes that Harwood and other school faculty members, including his math teacher, join in on the rides, taking the lead or trailing protectively behind.
"They tell us better ways to use stuff," he said. "They are giving me good tips."
Creating access
As a kid in Minneapolis, Ewing, director of the clubs' program, sometimes felt like the only African-American cyclist of his age around.
Every day, he'd watched his dad bicycle off to work, and weekends meant two-wheeled family day trips around town.
But cycling, he knows, can be cost-prohibitive. "Not all kids have access to it," he said. "It's like golf, or tennis. So this is all about creating access. ... A lot of people don't know how to take that first step."
The program employs several former pro cyclists as instructors and a six-week curriculum that includes safety, mechanics, parking-lot drills and, eventually, field trips to sites such as Marymoor Park's Velodrome.
Once they've provided know-how, project leaders say the focus is on instilling cycling in kids' minds as a real option for exercise, recreation and transportation.
At Global Connections, where more than half the students are on free or reduced lunch, the club's 15 members represent European, Ethiopian, Syrian, Somali and Latino backgrounds. Some were prodded to join by teachers but now energetically show up every Friday. One girl had never ridden a bike at all.
"For them, a bike symbolizes a chance to get out and have fun and to not worry about all the other things they have going on," said Danielle Rose, the project's curriculum chief and fundraiser.
"Are we ready to roll?" asked instructor Dan Harm, a retired pro cyclist, as the group began its third weekly session. "Has everyone done their A-B-C quick-check? Does everyone remember what that is?"
Oliyad and friend Raj Singh, a 17-year-old senior, signal completion of their pre-ride maintenance checks, a list that includes air, brakes, chains and wheel quick-release mechanisms. Harm reviews hand signals and gear ratios for climbing "super-gnarly hills," and soon they're on their way to Des Moines Park.
Two hours later, after a 10-mile ride through the park and a stop to enjoy the Puget Sound view, the riders return. "To end up on a bike trail, at a place where they've gotten to only by car, was pretty cool," principal Harwood said.
Already, even as he traded playful helmet swats with classmate Raj, Oliyad was anticipating the following week's field trip to Marymoor Park, where the two planned to race. He enjoys being part of a group, he said, where half the cyclists on a ride stay behind to help someone with a flat tire.
"We stick for each other," he said. "We're like a team."
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A Man after my own heart
Quick Step’s management said Sunday that it would not beg the Tour de France to include Tom Boonen in this year's race.
Boonen, a 28-year-old one-day specialist who was crowned world champion in 2005, is facing up to what could be a premature end to his impressive career after testing positive a second time for cocaine.
He tested positive for cocaine two weeks ago, after winning his third Paris-Roubaix. It was barely a year after he first tested positive for the drug, in May 2008.
That incident did not lead to criminal or sporting sanctions. But Tour organizers, despite Quick Step's pleas, gave Boonen's presence the thumbs-down over concerns of negative publicity.
This time, Quick Step company chief Frank De Cocksaid said the team would not ask the Tour to allow Boonen to race.
"Last year we went to the Tour de France organizers to plead Tom's case. This year there is no question of us doing that. We will not embarrass ourselves again," De Cock told the Sporza television channel.
Boonen, one of the biggest cycling stars of the past decade, was in such demand in Belgium that he fled the country to live in Monaco several years ago. He only recently returned home.
As well as winning notable races like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, Boonen has also won the Tour de France green jersey, for the sprinters' points competition, in 2007.
News of his latest positive test led prosecutors on Friday to order a raid on his home.
Boonen has since faced questioning and despite the unlikelihood of a sporting ban — cocaine is not forbidden outside official competition by the sports authorities — he could now face criminal charges.
He avoided charges last year only on the condition there would be no repeat of similar incidents inside three years.
De Cock said Boonen's future with the team was uncertain, but he admitted it would be hard to see the former world champion end his career on such a note.
"I put all my weight behind Tom last year, and told him I would forgive him, on the condition it did not happen again," said De Cock. "Now, he's gone and done it again.
"He needs help. It would be a real pity for the sport of cycling to lose Boonen like this."
Boonen, a 28-year-old one-day specialist who was crowned world champion in 2005, is facing up to what could be a premature end to his impressive career after testing positive a second time for cocaine.
He tested positive for cocaine two weeks ago, after winning his third Paris-Roubaix. It was barely a year after he first tested positive for the drug, in May 2008.
That incident did not lead to criminal or sporting sanctions. But Tour organizers, despite Quick Step's pleas, gave Boonen's presence the thumbs-down over concerns of negative publicity.
This time, Quick Step company chief Frank De Cocksaid said the team would not ask the Tour to allow Boonen to race.
"Last year we went to the Tour de France organizers to plead Tom's case. This year there is no question of us doing that. We will not embarrass ourselves again," De Cock told the Sporza television channel.
Boonen, one of the biggest cycling stars of the past decade, was in such demand in Belgium that he fled the country to live in Monaco several years ago. He only recently returned home.
As well as winning notable races like Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, Boonen has also won the Tour de France green jersey, for the sprinters' points competition, in 2007.
News of his latest positive test led prosecutors on Friday to order a raid on his home.
Boonen has since faced questioning and despite the unlikelihood of a sporting ban — cocaine is not forbidden outside official competition by the sports authorities — he could now face criminal charges.
He avoided charges last year only on the condition there would be no repeat of similar incidents inside three years.
De Cock said Boonen's future with the team was uncertain, but he admitted it would be hard to see the former world champion end his career on such a note.
"I put all my weight behind Tom last year, and told him I would forgive him, on the condition it did not happen again," said De Cock. "Now, he's gone and done it again.
"He needs help. It would be a real pity for the sport of cycling to lose Boonen like this."
Friday, May 8, 2009
track, track, trackitty track!!!
First night of the year. Pre-season but racing is racing bitches! Beers won the scratch race which i dont think i did to much to help with. The we had a snowball....mathematics is the name of the game....7, 8, 9 and you can't lose. And I didn't. Then we did the new "wheel" race. essentially a n Australian pursuit. Yeah won that shit too. Points race was good. I felt really well in the sprints. Was trying to set Suggle Puss up for th first sprint but ended up riding him of my wheel to the line. I ended up second in the race and Beers got 4th. I got me some good form right now and using it while I can. gonna do some down time and get ready for crits and the regular track season. that shit got cold tonight though. My nipples were rattlin and shit. chilly, damn cold.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Mini Super D @ Colonnade!!!!!!!!
Hey all - We here at the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance were thinking it would be fun to have Mini Super D races every once in a while at Colonnade........entry would be 10 bucks and proceeds would go toward the all mighty Alliance.Winners would gain street cred and could design the course for the next race.We could follow it up with a "pub ride" or urban assault on Seattle.We also plan on having a BBQ on hand to cook up hot dogs,burgers,veggie burgers,fish....whatever you want.I'm using this as a poll of sorts to gauge interest.Basically it would be a cool way to meet other riders, hang out and tell tall tales.Let me know what you think and I'll set it up. Get your race on!
__________________
-- Joshua King
Hey all - We here at the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance were thinking it would be fun to have Mini Super D races every once in a while at Colonnade........entry would be 10 bucks and proceeds would go toward the all mighty Alliance.Winners would gain street cred and could design the course for the next race.We could follow it up with a "pub ride" or urban assault on Seattle.We also plan on having a BBQ on hand to cook up hot dogs,burgers,veggie burgers,fish....whatever you want.I'm using this as a poll of sorts to gauge interest.Basically it would be a cool way to meet other riders, hang out and tell tall tales.Let me know what you think and I'll set it up. Get your race on!
__________________
-- Joshua King
Trail Crew Chief
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance
Monday, May 4, 2009
RCR wins Cat 3 State RR
Luke St. Clair! He had a kid, took 4th in a tt then won the State RR. Next Day finished 6th at Longbranch to win the Omnium.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
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