Monday, February 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Hello Weekend!
So the old road team is headed up to Whidbey Island for the final training camp before the season begins. I just can't do it. Sunny Saturday will be spent with the posse riding at Mt. Galbraith while Soggy Sunday will be spent racing with the posse at South Seatac. First race of the season. Breaking out the Raleigh 29er for it. Like I did last night in Japanese Gulch. We didn't even lose a dog!
SINGLETRACK CYCLES
WEST SIDE MT. BIKE SERIES
Sundays -2/22, 3/1, 3/8, 3/29, 4/5
Saturday – 4/11
Please support the following sponsors of this series:
Pre-
Registration
Mail entry form (see page 2) with check payable to BuDu Racing to:
For online registration, go to
2/22 - http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7881
3/1 - http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7882
3/8 - http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7883
Seasons Pass - http://www.BikeReg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=7891
BuDu Racing
31405 47th Ave South
Auburn, WA 98001
Day of Race Day of Race registration opens at 7:00 AM the morning of the event at the race location.
One Day Entry fee Seasons Pass
All categories except U-18 $25 $120
Cost
U-18 $15 $85
Locations 2/22 and 4/11 - South SeaTac Park– (2151 S. 200th St., SeaTac) From I-5 take the 200th
St. exit and head West on 200th for about 1 mile. The course and parking are south of 200th
on 18th Ave.
3/8 - Black Diamond–(30741 3rd Ave Diamond Square, Black Diamond) Parking and
registration will be at Black Diamond Bike Shop, (across the street from CJ's Bakery), on the
west side of Highway 169, just north of Black Diamond.
3/1 and 3/29 - NEW-Soaring Eagle Park (25992 NE 8th St Sammamish)
4/5 - Cookin’ in the Kettles MT Bike Race–Go to Whidbey Island, follow Hwy 20 to Libbey
Road. Head west to Hill Valley Drive, turn left and follow signs to “gun battery” parking at Ft
Ebey State Park. (more info at www.SkagitCycleCenter.com)
Start Times
General
Beginners
Start time: 8:30 AM (40 Min.)
Open/Expert
Start time: 9:30 AM (1 hr)
Sport/Single Speed
Start time: 11:00 AM (50 Min.)
Cookin in
the Kettles
Sport, Single Speed (2 laps) 10am
Beginner (1 lap) 10am, (after Sport starts)
Experts, Open
(3 laps) 12 noon
Kids race: short course, starts
right after Experts' start
Divisions (includes Beginner, Sport and
Open/Expert categories, Single Speed is
one category)
Prizes(Awarded
at end of series)
U-18 (M/F) Awards 5 deep
19-29(M/F) Awards 5 deep
30-39(M/F) Awards 5 deep
Categories
40+(M/F) Awards 5 deep
We will be taking $1 from
each registration and
adding that to a pool for
the series ending
payout…the bigger the
numbers, the bigger the
payout.
Series
Information
Points are awarded to each finisher in each division and category at the completion of each
event and are carried over to the next event. At the end of the series (on April 11th)
prizes/awards will be given to the top 5 point finishers per division and category. See page 3
for more information on points.
Questions?? Contact Rory Muller at Rory@BuDuRacing.com or 253/334-4433
Other Notes The promoter reserves the right to change categories, places, and prize list based on
participation. While this is not a USCF/NORBA event, rules will be enforced. This
includes wearing a HELMET at ALL times when on your bike.
For more information on this and other events visit our website at www.BuDuRacing.com.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
TOC & TP
Leipheimer drove the train on the descent as Nibali caught and dropped Barredo. McCartney was having trouble matching the Astana captain’s pace through the mist — he fell back once, twice, and for good as the road briefly tipped upward once more before resuming its downhill plunge. But Peterson hung tough and was right on Leipheimer's wheel as the two closed in on the finish in Santa Cruz.
“I just sat on his wheel,” Peterson said. “Basically the whole way to the finish was pretty easy because I was on his wheel.”
Leipheimer wasn’t concerned. “I understand his position,” Leipheimer said. “He’s down on the GC. Zabriskie being the leader was behind. You can understand him not working. That’s just how cycling goes. He made it to the top, he made it with me where others did not. In a matter of respect you could say he deserves the win. You could say I deserve it as well, but that’s just how it goes. No hard feelings.”
Behind, a 20-man chase had formed up, strung out in a long line and closing fast. But race leader Mancebo was not with them, and with 1km to go Leipheimer was still at the front, intent on taking time.
When Peterson came around him for the stage win in 5:06:21, Leipheimer didn’t bother to react. He had bigger fish to fry.
So, the kid used to be on Recycled Cycles and his brother still is. Today we got the shameless plug in on Cycling News:
15:26 PST
The riders are passing a huge dam. Meanwhile one of our readers, Robert, has written in to give a shout out to Garmin's Tom Peterson, who came up the ranks through the Recycled Cycles program as a junior in Seattle. He showed early signs of his potential talent with a win at US Junior Nationals in Park City in 2004.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Canadian Rider Has Made Unorthodox Climb to the Top
This guy used to kill us at Padden Lake MTB race every year.
Svein Tuft, 31, was seventh in the time trial at Beijing.
Those who have heard the tale of Svein Tuft have wondered, could it possibly be true?
Tuft, above, is now a member of the Garmin-Slipstream team. At 18, he spent $40 on a thrift-shop bike and built a trailer to haul supplies and his 80-pound dog, Bear, and rode into the Canadian wilderness.
How he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, lured by the freedom of the outdoors. How he evolved into a barrel-chested woodsman with Paul Bunyan biceps. How he ventured, at 18, from his home in Canada into the wilderness on a $40 thrift-shop bike hooked to a homemade trailer.
They have learned of the way he traveled sparingly, towing only his camping gear, a sack of potatoes and his 80-pound dog, Bear. The way he drank from streams and ate beside an open fire. Or hopped trains across Canada, resting as the land flickered by.
Now 31, Tuft is out to prove that all the raw travel and personal drive can translate into something beyond his survival. Recruited by one of the world’s top cycling teams, he is about to begin a more disciplined journey. It starts next weekend with the Tour of California, where he will race with the Garmin-Slipstream squad, and is likely to continue this summer at the Tour de France.
“He’s a late, late bloomer who lived a lifestyle that has been completely incongruent with any professional cyclist out there,” Jonathan Vaughters, the team’s director, said. “In Europe, you are pressured to succeed by the time you are 18, and if you don’t do it by the time you are 21, then you’re done. But Svein? He’s somebody who has lived life according to how he wanted to live it.”
Tuft figured out he was a natural racer at 23. He was home from a cycling trip to Alaska when his father suggested he try racing. In his first event, a local road race, he was in the lead when he dropped out with a flat tire. Two races later, he won for the first time.
From there, he blossomed. But Tuft also felt trapped between a life in the outdoors and one in the structured world of professional competition.
Kevin and Mark Cunningham, owners of the Symmetrics Cycling team in Canada, found Tuft in 2004. He was mowing lawns. After racing in virtual anonymity for three professional teams, he had quit the sport because he said he did not want to be associated with its doping problems.
But the Cunninghams wanted him. They knew he had the potential to be one of the fastest cyclists in the world.
“At first, you have this idea that this guy’s a nut case,” Mark Cunningham said. “But he’s not. He’s super down to earth, kind and a straight shooter. I thought he was going to be this extreme sports, in-your-face guy. But he was the opposite.”
They coaxed Tuft onto their team with a promise that it would be clean and that he would be free to vanish into the mountains during the winter.
“We had to get used to saying, ‘Svein is missing,’ ” Kevin Cunningham said. “ ‘He’s AWOL again.’ ”
Last year, riding for Canada, Tuft surprised many by winning a silver medal at the world cycling championships in the time trial and also finishing seventh in that event at the Beijing Olympics. He won four gold medals at the Pan American Road and Track Championships.
Some say that was just a start.
A Long-Distance Pedigree
As a boy, Svein Tuft (pronounced Swayne) was known as Svein the Strong. He always knew he would not grow up to be a wimp.
His grandfather Arne Tuft, racing for Norway at the 1936 Winter Olympics, finished sixth in the grueling 50-kilometer cross-country skiing event.
His father, also named Arne, was drawn to Canada from Norway after reading Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild.” He started out in logging, then became a general contractor. Now, he camps in the Arizona desert for weeks without electricity or a phone.
Svein Tuft’s mother, Lesly Holness, is a fitness instructor. In Svein, she saw one determined boy. To her dismay, she said, he always enjoyed testing himself, with each challenge more extreme than the previous.
One Christmas, her son asked for an Army tent, which he pitched next to their house outside Langley, British Columbia. He spent the winter in it.
By 15, he had grown restless. His parents had separated, and he hated studying. He quit school.
“It wasn’t like I was into drugs or alcohol or anything,” Tuft said softly. “I wanted to explore, and I was searching for so many things. I just never felt right anywhere. At that age, you don’t know anything about yourself, and I was trying to find out who I was.”
For a few years, he was obsessed with mountain climbing. He rode a bike more than 50 miles from home into the mountains and stayed for weeks at a time, leaving his parents behind to worry. He said he and a friend once spent more than 24 hours hanging from a cliff face after their climbing rope snagged.
“He decided he was not going to do anything like the establishment,” Holness said. “It was very unsettling to all of us, but there was no stopping him.”
At 17, Tuft bought a used 10-speed. He welded together a trailer, using the frame of a heavy old BMX bike and the bottom of a plastic barrel.
And on one September day, after he had turned 18, he left with Bear, his German shepherd mix, and headed nearly 600 miles to the remote Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia. He said he rode 12 hours some days, pulling the trailer packed with about 200 pounds of gear and food — and his dog. When Tuft struggled to climb hills, Bear jumped out and sprinted along the roadside grass.
Tuft ate corn, beans or bannock, a flat bread. When there was a store around, he splurged on chocolate milk, which remains his favorite drink. He camped beneath spruce trees or open sky.
“A lot of people said, ‘Are you crazy, what are you doing?’ ” Tuft recalled. “But for me, it was all about being alive and learning how to get through a difficult situation. There were days that it was snowing and cold and you haven’t eaten enough that day to get the internal fire going. I really wanted to see how I’d react to that.”
But on that trip, he was ill equipped for the winter weather, which grew harsher as he climbed north. He wore only wool and brought no tent, just a bivouac sack and a blanket.
“When I was that age, I never thought I could die, but I thought, uh-oh, this is it,” he recalled. “I thought, how did you get yourself into this situation — what have you done?”
On a trip to Alaska in the spring, during which he covered more than 4,000 miles, he shared gravel roads with mining and oil trucks. People along the way asked about his journey and invited him to dinner, though he was obviously in need of a shower.
On one stretch of highway, his clothes were soaked, and he had a painful cough. In the distance, he spied an abandoned cabin. Inside, as if in a dream, he found kindling and a stove, jars of pasta and a bed. He slept there for four days.
Over time, bike touring became second nature. He worked odd jobs, like splitting wood, baling hay and painting fences. His hands grew rough.
“All of those wonderful adventurous stories of riding his bike to Alaska, the railroad-car jumping, yes, those are all true,” his mother said.
“But I want everybody to know that, no, Svein was not an orphan. He was raised by two loving parents. He had his own room, a trampoline, a motor scooter. But he was just looking for something else.”
A Racer Reborn
In 2001, within two years of his first bike race, Tuft was on the Canadian national team.
“I guess I really wanted to prove to people that I could do it,” he said. “You always don’t have to fit into one kind of mold.”
In 2003, he showed up for the Prime Alliance pro team’s training camp near Los Angeles. He had ridden there from Canada.
“He had this really long beard, and he smelled very bad,” said Vaughters, who was in his last season as a rider. “I remember thinking, O.K., this guy is completely different than the image of the typical European money-driven cyclist who buys Porsches in his spare time.”
But Tuft was not pleased with the lifestyle. During his career, he had seen performance-enhancing drugs ruin lives. He decided there was no future for him in the sport, so he quit.
But the Cunninghams soon came calling, convinced that this mountain man was worth the trouble. Eventually, Tuft the bike racer was reborn, though he still considered himself an outsider.
In 2006, after winning his third consecutive Canadian road time trial championship, he moved into a trailer on Kevin Cunningham’s property. It was the perfect combination of old life and new.
If the sport’s drug testers needed to find him, he would sometimes provide only vague directions, like “end of the logging road, up the trail head at the top of the ridge.”
Though upper-body weight is taboo for bike racers, he worked out so hard in the off-season that he would thicken to 190 pounds, from 170.
Kevin Cunningham warned him: “Do not do another push-up. You gain muscle so quickly, you will look as big as a grizzly.”
Teams offered him more money to leave Symmetrics, but he stayed out of loyalty.
Yet when his team folded last year under financial strain, Tuft spoke with Vaughters once again. They focused on the Garmin team’s antidoping stance and its relatively laid-back approach. They agreed that Tuft’s talents were well suited to certain parts of stage races like the Tour de France and to relatively flat races like Paris-Roubaix.
Kevin Cunningham reassured him: “Just be yourself. It will be more corporate, but you will be fine.”
At a training camp in December in Boulder, Colo., Tuft stopped to see a reflection of himself in a store window. He saw a cleanshaven face and cleanshaven head, a dress shirt tucked into dark pants and a gleaming BlackBerry in his hand.
He shuddered.
“I said to myself, ‘Whoa, who is that guy?’ ” he recalled. “No way is that me. No way.”
Most of his teammates were used to a transient life in hotel rooms, not on forest floors. They lived in Europe and liked designer clothing and French wine. Tuft knows he will soon move with his girlfriend to Girona, Spain, the team’s training base.
When this new life unnerves him, he said, he looks at a tattoo on his right forearm: We will never be here again. It was his mantra while on trips with Bear, who died seven years ago.
“It was by far the most content I’ve ever been,” he said. “My bike was a piece of junk. I had nowhere to go, no place to be. Didn’t have anyone telling me what to do. If I felt like lying on the side of the road, I did.”
At that moment, Tuft’s BlackBerry buzzed. It was someone from his new team.
He had to take the call.
Svein Tuft, 31, was seventh in the time trial at Beijing.
Those who have heard the tale of Svein Tuft have wondered, could it possibly be true?
Tuft, above, is now a member of the Garmin-Slipstream team. At 18, he spent $40 on a thrift-shop bike and built a trailer to haul supplies and his 80-pound dog, Bear, and rode into the Canadian wilderness.
How he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, lured by the freedom of the outdoors. How he evolved into a barrel-chested woodsman with Paul Bunyan biceps. How he ventured, at 18, from his home in Canada into the wilderness on a $40 thrift-shop bike hooked to a homemade trailer.
They have learned of the way he traveled sparingly, towing only his camping gear, a sack of potatoes and his 80-pound dog, Bear. The way he drank from streams and ate beside an open fire. Or hopped trains across Canada, resting as the land flickered by.
Now 31, Tuft is out to prove that all the raw travel and personal drive can translate into something beyond his survival. Recruited by one of the world’s top cycling teams, he is about to begin a more disciplined journey. It starts next weekend with the Tour of California, where he will race with the Garmin-Slipstream squad, and is likely to continue this summer at the Tour de France.
“He’s a late, late bloomer who lived a lifestyle that has been completely incongruent with any professional cyclist out there,” Jonathan Vaughters, the team’s director, said. “In Europe, you are pressured to succeed by the time you are 18, and if you don’t do it by the time you are 21, then you’re done. But Svein? He’s somebody who has lived life according to how he wanted to live it.”
Tuft figured out he was a natural racer at 23. He was home from a cycling trip to Alaska when his father suggested he try racing. In his first event, a local road race, he was in the lead when he dropped out with a flat tire. Two races later, he won for the first time.
From there, he blossomed. But Tuft also felt trapped between a life in the outdoors and one in the structured world of professional competition.
Kevin and Mark Cunningham, owners of the Symmetrics Cycling team in Canada, found Tuft in 2004. He was mowing lawns. After racing in virtual anonymity for three professional teams, he had quit the sport because he said he did not want to be associated with its doping problems.
But the Cunninghams wanted him. They knew he had the potential to be one of the fastest cyclists in the world.
“At first, you have this idea that this guy’s a nut case,” Mark Cunningham said. “But he’s not. He’s super down to earth, kind and a straight shooter. I thought he was going to be this extreme sports, in-your-face guy. But he was the opposite.”
They coaxed Tuft onto their team with a promise that it would be clean and that he would be free to vanish into the mountains during the winter.
“We had to get used to saying, ‘Svein is missing,’ ” Kevin Cunningham said. “ ‘He’s AWOL again.’ ”
Last year, riding for Canada, Tuft surprised many by winning a silver medal at the world cycling championships in the time trial and also finishing seventh in that event at the Beijing Olympics. He won four gold medals at the Pan American Road and Track Championships.
Some say that was just a start.
A Long-Distance Pedigree
As a boy, Svein Tuft (pronounced Swayne) was known as Svein the Strong. He always knew he would not grow up to be a wimp.
His grandfather Arne Tuft, racing for Norway at the 1936 Winter Olympics, finished sixth in the grueling 50-kilometer cross-country skiing event.
His father, also named Arne, was drawn to Canada from Norway after reading Jack London’s “The Call of the Wild.” He started out in logging, then became a general contractor. Now, he camps in the Arizona desert for weeks without electricity or a phone.
Svein Tuft’s mother, Lesly Holness, is a fitness instructor. In Svein, she saw one determined boy. To her dismay, she said, he always enjoyed testing himself, with each challenge more extreme than the previous.
One Christmas, her son asked for an Army tent, which he pitched next to their house outside Langley, British Columbia. He spent the winter in it.
By 15, he had grown restless. His parents had separated, and he hated studying. He quit school.
“It wasn’t like I was into drugs or alcohol or anything,” Tuft said softly. “I wanted to explore, and I was searching for so many things. I just never felt right anywhere. At that age, you don’t know anything about yourself, and I was trying to find out who I was.”
For a few years, he was obsessed with mountain climbing. He rode a bike more than 50 miles from home into the mountains and stayed for weeks at a time, leaving his parents behind to worry. He said he and a friend once spent more than 24 hours hanging from a cliff face after their climbing rope snagged.
“He decided he was not going to do anything like the establishment,” Holness said. “It was very unsettling to all of us, but there was no stopping him.”
At 17, Tuft bought a used 10-speed. He welded together a trailer, using the frame of a heavy old BMX bike and the bottom of a plastic barrel.
And on one September day, after he had turned 18, he left with Bear, his German shepherd mix, and headed nearly 600 miles to the remote Bella Coola Valley in British Columbia. He said he rode 12 hours some days, pulling the trailer packed with about 200 pounds of gear and food — and his dog. When Tuft struggled to climb hills, Bear jumped out and sprinted along the roadside grass.
Tuft ate corn, beans or bannock, a flat bread. When there was a store around, he splurged on chocolate milk, which remains his favorite drink. He camped beneath spruce trees or open sky.
“A lot of people said, ‘Are you crazy, what are you doing?’ ” Tuft recalled. “But for me, it was all about being alive and learning how to get through a difficult situation. There were days that it was snowing and cold and you haven’t eaten enough that day to get the internal fire going. I really wanted to see how I’d react to that.”
But on that trip, he was ill equipped for the winter weather, which grew harsher as he climbed north. He wore only wool and brought no tent, just a bivouac sack and a blanket.
“When I was that age, I never thought I could die, but I thought, uh-oh, this is it,” he recalled. “I thought, how did you get yourself into this situation — what have you done?”
On a trip to Alaska in the spring, during which he covered more than 4,000 miles, he shared gravel roads with mining and oil trucks. People along the way asked about his journey and invited him to dinner, though he was obviously in need of a shower.
On one stretch of highway, his clothes were soaked, and he had a painful cough. In the distance, he spied an abandoned cabin. Inside, as if in a dream, he found kindling and a stove, jars of pasta and a bed. He slept there for four days.
Over time, bike touring became second nature. He worked odd jobs, like splitting wood, baling hay and painting fences. His hands grew rough.
“All of those wonderful adventurous stories of riding his bike to Alaska, the railroad-car jumping, yes, those are all true,” his mother said.
“But I want everybody to know that, no, Svein was not an orphan. He was raised by two loving parents. He had his own room, a trampoline, a motor scooter. But he was just looking for something else.”
A Racer Reborn
In 2001, within two years of his first bike race, Tuft was on the Canadian national team.
“I guess I really wanted to prove to people that I could do it,” he said. “You always don’t have to fit into one kind of mold.”
In 2003, he showed up for the Prime Alliance pro team’s training camp near Los Angeles. He had ridden there from Canada.
“He had this really long beard, and he smelled very bad,” said Vaughters, who was in his last season as a rider. “I remember thinking, O.K., this guy is completely different than the image of the typical European money-driven cyclist who buys Porsches in his spare time.”
But Tuft was not pleased with the lifestyle. During his career, he had seen performance-enhancing drugs ruin lives. He decided there was no future for him in the sport, so he quit.
But the Cunninghams soon came calling, convinced that this mountain man was worth the trouble. Eventually, Tuft the bike racer was reborn, though he still considered himself an outsider.
In 2006, after winning his third consecutive Canadian road time trial championship, he moved into a trailer on Kevin Cunningham’s property. It was the perfect combination of old life and new.
If the sport’s drug testers needed to find him, he would sometimes provide only vague directions, like “end of the logging road, up the trail head at the top of the ridge.”
Though upper-body weight is taboo for bike racers, he worked out so hard in the off-season that he would thicken to 190 pounds, from 170.
Kevin Cunningham warned him: “Do not do another push-up. You gain muscle so quickly, you will look as big as a grizzly.”
Teams offered him more money to leave Symmetrics, but he stayed out of loyalty.
Yet when his team folded last year under financial strain, Tuft spoke with Vaughters once again. They focused on the Garmin team’s antidoping stance and its relatively laid-back approach. They agreed that Tuft’s talents were well suited to certain parts of stage races like the Tour de France and to relatively flat races like Paris-Roubaix.
Kevin Cunningham reassured him: “Just be yourself. It will be more corporate, but you will be fine.”
At a training camp in December in Boulder, Colo., Tuft stopped to see a reflection of himself in a store window. He saw a cleanshaven face and cleanshaven head, a dress shirt tucked into dark pants and a gleaming BlackBerry in his hand.
He shuddered.
“I said to myself, ‘Whoa, who is that guy?’ ” he recalled. “No way is that me. No way.”
Most of his teammates were used to a transient life in hotel rooms, not on forest floors. They lived in Europe and liked designer clothing and French wine. Tuft knows he will soon move with his girlfriend to Girona, Spain, the team’s training base.
When this new life unnerves him, he said, he looks at a tattoo on his right forearm: We will never be here again. It was his mantra while on trips with Bear, who died seven years ago.
“It was by far the most content I’ve ever been,” he said. “My bike was a piece of junk. I had nowhere to go, no place to be. Didn’t have anyone telling me what to do. If I felt like lying on the side of the road, I did.”
At that moment, Tuft’s BlackBerry buzzed. It was someone from his new team.
He had to take the call.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Dupouey dead
Former world mountain bike champion Christophe Dupouey committed suicide Wednesday, French cycling officials confirmed.
Dupouey, 40, was reportedly despondent ever since he was sentenced to three months in jail in 2006 for his role in Belgium’s “pot belge” doping scandal. More than 40 people were arrested in 2003 as part of an alleged distribution network.
The lanky Frenchman switched from road racing into the booming mountain bike scene in the mid-1990s and quickly became a force, becoming the first French rider to win a World Cup race with a win in Houffalize, Belgium in 1996.
Always a consistent performer on the World Cup circuit, his career highlight came with victory in the 1998 world championships in Mont-Saint-Anne, Canada. He also won the French and European titles each twice.
Christophe Dupouey, pictured with Jerome Chiotti and Filip Meirhaeghe, was world champion in 1998. Dupouey, also a top cyclocross rider, twice went to the Summer Olympic Games, competing in Atlanta in 1996, where he just missing out on a medal with a fourth-place finish, and again to Sydney in 2000.
He rode as part of the dominant Sunn-Nike team and then with Giant before retiring in 2002.
Since last year, Dupouey was working in Tarbes, France, as a coordinator of a free bike system in his hometown.
Everyone of the cyclists in the above picture were busted for doping. Prior to that time, the US had lead the international mountain bike competitions but lost it's dominance when the Euro road washouts from the 90's took to the dirt. You know, guys like Rasmussen.
Bon Voyage Dupouey.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Breaking News!
With great disappointment, ODS must postpone the Super-D race scheduled for Feb 22nd. I went up this morning to survey the snow situation, and it wasn’t good. We’re really bummed because we were stoked to turn people on to some other trails Port Angeles has to offer. Additionally, I went up to our back-up venue (the top of Dry Hill), and it was also impassable for any type of shuttle truck we could think of. The slight good news is that we will have more time to potential incorporate our race with Capitol Forest, which was talked about, but not set-up. Please keep an eye out for one in the future.
Still a nice cross country race in South Seatac. And by nice I mean same old shit.
Still a nice cross country race in South Seatac. And by nice I mean same old shit.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
If you've ever seen me staggering around late at night with a hockey jersey on here is the reason why. Genetics, pure and simple.
Sexy
Sooooooooooooo............ The Stranger has been kind enough to give us the top ten sexiest in Seattle. Before you dip your acid pen into the comments section please remember that this is Seattle. Not L.A., not Miami, not New York or London.Seattle.
Previously known for plaid and fishing.
In viewing these top ten, much to my surprise, a previous teammate showed up as #10.
Unfortunately, in bike kit.
He has drawn such compliments as:
hi galen. *blush* gay? bi? please?
Mmmmm...Number 10 looks like a really hot butch girl.
Ladies! STAY AWAY FROM #10! He messes girls up BIG TIME! And those bike shorts? NOT HOT!
#10 is not hot. Girl or a boy? He looks like a 14 year older, with bulging quads. Weird hair cut, weird face.
But hey, it's Valentine's Day. We shouldn't be dragged down by that type of vitriolic drool. Now get out there and fuck something.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
SDOT Creates On-Street Bicycle Parking
New bike parking a first for Seattle
SEATTLE – Working to support the city’s growing number of bicyclists, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will create on-street bicycle parking in neighborhoods around Seattle. With a goal of having one to two per neighborhood, the department will install these unique bike facilities at three locations starting next week.
Taking the place of one to two motor vehicle parking spaces, on-street bike parking will be filled with bicycle racks and surrounded by a raised curb. Bicyclists can enter the parking area from the sidewalk and each car-sized space will accommodate up to eight bikes.
This new program addresses the expanding need for bicycle parking and is part of the ongoing implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan, which seeks to triple the number of people bicycling in Seattle over ten years.
By mid February the new bike facilities will be installed:
· Mid block of Broadway E between E Harrison Street and E Republican Street (by Broadway Market)
· At the corner of 12th Avenue and E Spring Street (by Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Café Presse)
· At the corner of Woodlawn Avenue NE and NE 70th Street (by the Greenlake Condominium)
SDOT is planning additional on-street bicycle parking locations for 2009. For more information or to request bicycle parking in a neighborhood, please contact the Seattle Department of Transportation at (206) 684-7583 or bikeracks@seattle.gov.
The Seattle Department of Transportation builds, maintains and operates Seattle's $8 billion transportation infrastructure. To further Mayor Nickels’ goal to get Seattle moving, the department manages short- and long-term investments in streets, bridges, pavement and trees, that better connect the city with the region.
New bike parking a first for Seattle
SEATTLE – Working to support the city’s growing number of bicyclists, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will create on-street bicycle parking in neighborhoods around Seattle. With a goal of having one to two per neighborhood, the department will install these unique bike facilities at three locations starting next week.
Taking the place of one to two motor vehicle parking spaces, on-street bike parking will be filled with bicycle racks and surrounded by a raised curb. Bicyclists can enter the parking area from the sidewalk and each car-sized space will accommodate up to eight bikes.
This new program addresses the expanding need for bicycle parking and is part of the ongoing implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan, which seeks to triple the number of people bicycling in Seattle over ten years.
By mid February the new bike facilities will be installed:
· Mid block of Broadway E between E Harrison Street and E Republican Street (by Broadway Market)
· At the corner of 12th Avenue and E Spring Street (by Stumptown Coffee Roasters and Café Presse)
· At the corner of Woodlawn Avenue NE and NE 70th Street (by the Greenlake Condominium)
SDOT is planning additional on-street bicycle parking locations for 2009. For more information or to request bicycle parking in a neighborhood, please contact the Seattle Department of Transportation at (206) 684-7583 or bikeracks@seattle.gov.
The Seattle Department of Transportation builds, maintains and operates Seattle's $8 billion transportation infrastructure. To further Mayor Nickels’ goal to get Seattle moving, the department manages short- and long-term investments in streets, bridges, pavement and trees, that better connect the city with the region.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Call it Training if you must
This is going to be a lot of fun. The prizes are looking great- And there will be a 7pm FREE showing of Council of Doom as well as some film shorts that recently played at the NYC Bike Film Short Fest. You should really be there. If you don't know where the I-5 Colonnade is yet (the Monument Race started there, as well as the ill-fated Christmas Race)- it's under I-5, the google-able address being: 1816 Lakeview Blvd E As the flyer says: Bring a bag, a lock, a pen (or other writing utensil) The Council of Doom Screening and Film Shorts will be at the Boxcar Alehouse, which is all ages until 11pm. The screening will start at 7pm. The Boxcar serves food and drink, and has lots of bike parking. It can be found here: 3407 Gilman Ave W, Seattle, WA Black out with your bike out as opposed to Rock out with your Cock out.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Fluid Ride Cup Announced and other nonsense
Here's Kevin for no other reason than he climbs like a scalded monkey. I hate that.2009 Race Schedule - Fluid Ride Cup
*this schedule is subject to change due to weather and other considerations.
*this schedule is subject to change due to weather and other considerations.
FR Cup 1
Port Angeles, WA.
April 3rd - 5th
FR Cup 2
Port Angeles, WA.
May 1st - 3rd
FR Cup 3
Silver Mt, Kellogg, Idaho
June 12th - 14th
FR Cup 4
Mt Hood, OR.
June 26th - 28th
FR Cup 5
Mt Hood, OR.
July 10th - 12th
FR Cup 6
Port Angeles, WA.
August 21st - 23rd
FR Cup 7
Mt Hood, OR.
September 25th - 27th
If you want to get your little "season" off to an early start, The Olympic Dirt Society will be hosting the Port Townsend Super D
PORT ANGELES SUPER-D ANOTHER Olympicdirtsociety PRODUCTIONDATE: FEB. 22ND: TIME: Practice @ 9AM, Racing @ 11AM(approx.)COST: $30, Includes practice, racing, and lunch.LOCATION/DIRECTIONS: This will be on the Foothills trails, south of Port Angeles. Follow Hwy 101 into town, go L on Lincoln St., past Albertsons take a R at the next light. At stop sign go L onto Black Diamond Rd. Follow for about 3-4 miles to Lake Dawn Rd., go L (turns into a dirt road). Follow about ½ mile and take your first road to the left.COURSE: The course will be mostly downhill (as you might expect), with couple of mellow climbs and one steep one. It ends with about 1.5 mile fast downhill. Approx 4 miles long, and very fast and flowy. This is a cross-country trail system that you can access anytime to practice as well, but shuttles will be limited to Sunday morning at this point. Course prep help on Saturday might(?) include a run or two, but only if you contact us prior to the weekend. This is the epitome of grass-roots racing, so, no license required, just sign a waiver, and if you are under 18, you must have a guardian to sign your waiver as well. Volunteers will be needed, so if you have any interest or know someone, please contact us via olympicdirtsociety@yahoo.com Special Thanks to the WA Dept. of Natural Resources for the use of these killer trails.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
20 years of BBTC
BBTC is not one of those acronyms that you can't figure out in the personals, it's the largest mountain bike organization in the Pac NW. And they are going on 20. And they're having a party at Golden Gardens. Now go get drunk.
& now from the "No Dope, No Hope" posse:
The acceptance of drug-taking in the Tour de France was so complete by 1930, when the race changed to national teams that were to be paid for by the organisers, that the rule book distributed to riders by the organiser, Henri Desgrange, reminded them that drugs were not among items with which they would be provided.
& now from the "No Dope, No Hope" posse:
The acceptance of drug-taking in the Tour de France was so complete by 1930, when the race changed to national teams that were to be paid for by the organisers, that the rule book distributed to riders by the organiser, Henri Desgrange, reminded them that drugs were not among items with which they would be provided.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Carpet Fibers
Giant has issued a voluntary recall in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for 2009 model year TCR Advanced SL and TCR Advanced SL ISP bikes and frames. According to the official recall notice, the carbon steerer tubes may crack or fail completely although Giant reports just a single cracked fork reported to date with no associated injuries.
About 1000 bikes and frames are affected by the recall, all of which were sold in the U.S. between August 2008 and December 2008. Specific models recalled are the 2009 TCR Advanced SL Team, SL 1, SL 2, and SL (ISP) bikes and frames. Fork steerer tubes are directly stamped with the serial number and “B”, “N”, and “P” suffixes are not included in the recall. Other TCR models are also not included in the notice.
Consumers are advised to discontinue use of the affected bikes and frames immediately and to contact their local Giant dealer for an inspection and replacement fork, which will provided free of charge.
Giant has also set up a recall hotline at (866) 458-2555.
About 1000 bikes and frames are affected by the recall, all of which were sold in the U.S. between August 2008 and December 2008. Specific models recalled are the 2009 TCR Advanced SL Team, SL 1, SL 2, and SL (ISP) bikes and frames. Fork steerer tubes are directly stamped with the serial number and “B”, “N”, and “P” suffixes are not included in the recall. Other TCR models are also not included in the notice.
Consumers are advised to discontinue use of the affected bikes and frames immediately and to contact their local Giant dealer for an inspection and replacement fork, which will provided free of charge.
Giant has also set up a recall hotline at (866) 458-2555.
Train Like a Dog
we are actually alternating between the hilly and flat courses Wednesday nights and you recieve one extra free race if you sign up in January for any 2 races you do between now and March 27th. Schedule:
5pm is 2 x 5 mile flat
6pm is long 10 mile hilly
7pm 2 x 5 mile flat
8pm long 10 mile hilly
Even if there is low turn out we will run these the next two weeks and dropping in last minute is fine and will count toward the 2 race special. Try to get there 15 minutes early to get set up.
To get the special you will have to sign up for the 2 races in January for any races until March 27 and we will schedule your free race via e-mail or when you come in. Go here to sign up: http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ws.asp?studioid=3476&stype=-7&sDate=1/14/2009
Cycle U has a new location, 5440 Sand Point Way NE in the City People's building. Park between City People's and WaMu but not in the City People's designated parking stalls.
The Friday Night 6.2 mile race series at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and the same special applies. This is a series with series prizes.
The first one is tonight. Hope to see you,
Craig Undem
www.CycleU.com
Cycle University
1-800-476-0681
5pm is 2 x 5 mile flat
6pm is long 10 mile hilly
7pm 2 x 5 mile flat
8pm long 10 mile hilly
Even if there is low turn out we will run these the next two weeks and dropping in last minute is fine and will count toward the 2 race special. Try to get there 15 minutes early to get set up.
To get the special you will have to sign up for the 2 races in January for any races until March 27 and we will schedule your free race via e-mail or when you come in. Go here to sign up: http://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ws.asp?studioid=3476&stype=-7&sDate=1/14/2009
Cycle U has a new location, 5440 Sand Point Way NE in the City People's building. Park between City People's and WaMu but not in the City People's designated parking stalls.
The Friday Night 6.2 mile race series at 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and the same special applies. This is a series with series prizes.
The first one is tonight. Hope to see you,
Craig Undem
www.CycleU.com
Cycle University
1-800-476-0681
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Gin, a razor and misplaced love......
Amongst other news I may have mentioned in the past that a certain "acquaintance of mine" has gained fame or perhaps notoriety by running alongside pelotons of professional cyclist with longhorns mounted to a football helmet. Not a racer or anyone who's been around racing. Never pedaled in anger. A complete athletic supporter. You may recognize him.........
I will refrain from any subjective commentary and leave it to the masses
Monday, January 12, 2009
Beard and Stache Fest
Part of the month long Beard & Stache Fest, the Beard & Stache Dash is a 2 wheeled dash around Seattle on Sunday, Feb 8. A combination of alley cat race and scavenger hunt, the Dash will start with a wholesome brunch at Linda's Tavern at 11am. The Dash is about 20 miles long, is man versus machine themed, and is open to bicycles, mopeds and scooters. Awards for both motorized and non-motorized participants. Facial hair not required to participate in the fun! Costumes are encouraged! Dash packs will be distributed at 12:30pm and the Dash begins at 1pm promptly. Registration fee is $5 and all of the proceeds benefit Treehouse. Anyone that registers will also get free admission into the show later that evening at The High Dive.
More info here.
More info here.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Who do these Children think they are playing with?
INVITE '09
Roll in the new year with an off - bike team bowling challenge of oily lanes and beer frames. Plenty of fun, suds, and surprises.
~assemble three of your strongest rollers for a single elimination smack - down of sweaty ball hole glory.
(if ya got six people, we can organize two teams)
Friday January 30th
AMF Pro 3oo Lanes
3031 se Powell Blvd.
$10 plus beer $$!
7:4o sign in - 8:oo we roll
~Team Beer~Super Relax~Grundelbruisers~Hup United~Iron Clad~Gentle Lovers~S&M~Veloshop~Bike Central~River City Recycled Cycles Racing!!!
Roll in the new year with an off - bike team bowling challenge of oily lanes and beer frames. Plenty of fun, suds, and surprises.
~assemble three of your strongest rollers for a single elimination smack - down of sweaty ball hole glory.
(if ya got six people, we can organize two teams)
Friday January 30th
AMF Pro 3oo Lanes
3031 se Powell Blvd.
$10 plus beer $$!
7:4o sign in - 8:oo we roll
~Team Beer~Super Relax~Grundelbruisers~Hup United~Iron Clad~Gentle Lovers~S&M~Veloshop~Bike Central~River City Recycled Cycles Racing!!!
In other news:
Bike Swap on Feb 21 is down to 10 spots left for hawking your cracked aluminum frames and 3 season old carbon fiber bars. Check it out:
2009 Seattle Bike Swap
Saturday, February 21, 20099 AM to 2 PM
Same Location - Magnuson Park Hangar #30
The Seattle Bike Swap, now in its 13th year, is a bike bargain hunter's paradise with up to 100 vendors under the same roof! Expect great deals on new and used bike related goods of all types and sizes. Don't miss this one-day only sale!
Admission
General Adult Admission is on a sliding time scale:
9 AM to 1 PM - $51 PM to 2 PM - FREEKids under age 15 are FREE all day!
Best to arrive early because the really good stuff goes fast!
Note: the Bicycle Expo has moved to March 14 - 15 to Magnuson park Hanger #30 – plus more rooms.
Sellers
Anyone with a surplus of road, mountain or track bike stuff (components, frames, clothing and complete bikes) can rent a seller's space at the Seattle Bike Swap. Due to the high demand, only pre-paying confirms your vendor space.
Selling space options:
Before January 23, $40 for a floor spaceAfter January 23, spaces increase to $50. So book early and save!
10' x 10' area, includes two vendor passes. Space is limited and is available on a first come first serve basis so reserve early! Space does NOT include a table. Tables can be rented for $10.
Vendor Registration
Again this year sellers can reserve a selling space online with a credit card via Active.com (service fee of 7% applies).
Saturday, February 21, 20099 AM to 2 PM
Same Location - Magnuson Park Hangar #30
The Seattle Bike Swap, now in its 13th year, is a bike bargain hunter's paradise with up to 100 vendors under the same roof! Expect great deals on new and used bike related goods of all types and sizes. Don't miss this one-day only sale!
Admission
General Adult Admission is on a sliding time scale:
9 AM to 1 PM - $51 PM to 2 PM - FREEKids under age 15 are FREE all day!
Best to arrive early because the really good stuff goes fast!
Note: the Bicycle Expo has moved to March 14 - 15 to Magnuson park Hanger #30 – plus more rooms.
Sellers
Anyone with a surplus of road, mountain or track bike stuff (components, frames, clothing and complete bikes) can rent a seller's space at the Seattle Bike Swap. Due to the high demand, only pre-paying confirms your vendor space.
Selling space options:
Before January 23, $40 for a floor spaceAfter January 23, spaces increase to $50. So book early and save!
10' x 10' area, includes two vendor passes. Space is limited and is available on a first come first serve basis so reserve early! Space does NOT include a table. Tables can be rented for $10.
Vendor Registration
Again this year sellers can reserve a selling space online with a credit card via Active.com (service fee of 7% applies).
Speaking of shit that is ready to fail at the worst possible moment:
Magura safety recall (Yes, that's my fork)
IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL
MAGURA Durin Race 80/100
Magura USA today announced that long term product testing has revealed a structural flaw in the lower leg assembly of the Durin Race 80 and 100mm suspension forks. The recall only affects early production runs of the fork. If your fork is found to be within the recall serial numbers please do not use it from this point forward. Further use of this product may result in failure and pose a possible risk of danger to the user.
Durin Race forks affected by the recall will be identified by their serial numbers. Durin Race serial numbers can be entered and checked on a specific web page dedicated to the recall. Follow the recall link on magurausa.com home page.
Once a fork is identified as a recalled product, it must be sent to Magura USA headquarters in Olney, Illinois for repair. Not all Durin Race forks are affected by this recall so it is essential to check your serial number on the site.
IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL
MAGURA Durin Race 80/100
Magura USA today announced that long term product testing has revealed a structural flaw in the lower leg assembly of the Durin Race 80 and 100mm suspension forks. The recall only affects early production runs of the fork. If your fork is found to be within the recall serial numbers please do not use it from this point forward. Further use of this product may result in failure and pose a possible risk of danger to the user.
Durin Race forks affected by the recall will be identified by their serial numbers. Durin Race serial numbers can be entered and checked on a specific web page dedicated to the recall. Follow the recall link on magurausa.com home page.
Once a fork is identified as a recalled product, it must be sent to Magura USA headquarters in Olney, Illinois for repair. Not all Durin Race forks are affected by this recall so it is essential to check your serial number on the site.
and:
Mavic announces R-SYS recall
Mavic has determined its R-SYS front wheels are at risk of spoke failure.
Mavic has issued a voluntary recall of its R-SYS front wheels, the company announced this week.
Mavic is advising consumers not to use the front wheels from any of its R-SYS wheelsets (R-SYS, R-SYS Test and R-SYS Premium) because of the possible risk of spoke failure.
The system relies on a unique set of tubular carbon spokes. While front wheels rely solely on the tubular carbon spoke, the rears combine those with Zicral spokes and the risk of failure is, therefore, lessened.
According to Mavic, consumers should immediately cease use of the front wheels and return those to a Mavic dealer. The company has promised to deliver “a new upgraded R-SYS front wheel” at no charge beginning on March 31. Until the replacements become available, the company will also provide consumers with a set of Aksiums wheels that they can keep even after they have received the replacement R-SYS front wheel.
The company advises anyone with further questions to contact their Mavic dealer or call 800-664-9228 for further information.
Mavic has determined its R-SYS front wheels are at risk of spoke failure.
Mavic has issued a voluntary recall of its R-SYS front wheels, the company announced this week.
Mavic is advising consumers not to use the front wheels from any of its R-SYS wheelsets (R-SYS, R-SYS Test and R-SYS Premium) because of the possible risk of spoke failure.
The system relies on a unique set of tubular carbon spokes. While front wheels rely solely on the tubular carbon spoke, the rears combine those with Zicral spokes and the risk of failure is, therefore, lessened.
According to Mavic, consumers should immediately cease use of the front wheels and return those to a Mavic dealer. The company has promised to deliver “a new upgraded R-SYS front wheel” at no charge beginning on March 31. Until the replacements become available, the company will also provide consumers with a set of Aksiums wheels that they can keep even after they have received the replacement R-SYS front wheel.
The company advises anyone with further questions to contact their Mavic dealer or call 800-664-9228 for further information.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The King is Dead
He would have been 74 today if the booze, barbiturates, twinkies, broads, guns, peanut butter - bacon - and banana fried sandwiches, demerol and coke wouldn't have stolen this angel from us.
At least he kept good company:
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
RIDER ALERT
Bicyclists - Please Note :
Repair work on the Burke Gilman Trail & Jose Rizal (12th Ave) Bridge
Starting today, Tuesday, January 6, a Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crew will begin two weeks of repair work on the Burke Gilman Trail in the 6900 block of Seaview Avenue NW. During the work, bicyclists will be diverted into the adjacent northbound curb lane of Seaview Avenue NW and pedestrians will be sent across the street to the western sidewalk. While the right northbound curb lane is temporarily in use by the bicyclists, the lane will be closed to motor vehicles. Signage will clarify the brief detour; the work hours will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. SDOT expects to complete this work by the week of January 19.
SDOT will be closing the southbound right lane of the Jose Rizal (12th Avenue) Bridge on Friday, January 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m in order to pour the new concrete sidewalk on the SW corner of the bridge.
Please share this notice with others who may be interested in this information.
Repair work on the Burke Gilman Trail & Jose Rizal (12th Ave) Bridge
Starting today, Tuesday, January 6, a Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) crew will begin two weeks of repair work on the Burke Gilman Trail in the 6900 block of Seaview Avenue NW. During the work, bicyclists will be diverted into the adjacent northbound curb lane of Seaview Avenue NW and pedestrians will be sent across the street to the western sidewalk. While the right northbound curb lane is temporarily in use by the bicyclists, the lane will be closed to motor vehicles. Signage will clarify the brief detour; the work hours will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. SDOT expects to complete this work by the week of January 19.
SDOT will be closing the southbound right lane of the Jose Rizal (12th Avenue) Bridge on Friday, January 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m in order to pour the new concrete sidewalk on the SW corner of the bridge.
Please share this notice with others who may be interested in this information.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy New Year
All's well that ends well. I hadn't seen this before but the Aerotryke is hilarious! It has inspired me to train for next year. The jackass who runs along side the peloton and wears the horns? A guy I knew before he thought shit like that was a good idea. It's scary because he builds
airplanes. Big ones. I'll take the bus.
Also, the question came up about Life Before Segway or LBS as the historians will reference. Whatever did we do?
Also, the question came up about Life Before Segway or LBS as the historians will reference. Whatever did we do?
And of course, New Year festivities were as joyous and jubilant as ever-
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