The Long View

This picture is an illustration of why the Sierra Nevada High School Cycling Organization is so important to the cycling community: for a sport - a  lifestyle- to continue to thrive it depends upon the interest and energy of the next generation. Quite simply the children that we get involved today could potentially grow to become the next Lance Armstrong or Jeannie Longo.

In a society rife with video games, television and a deluge of other passive entertainment options finding the child that is eager, even just willing, to put "Pleasure Island" aside and get sweaty, dirty and yes, sometimes even bloody, is rare and precious indeed. These exceptional youths need to be supported and nurtured by their community and families. By providing cycling venues like the Sierra Nevada Race Series in which children can participate we are securing a toe-hold not only for the future of cycling but a future of opportunities for the child who would unplug, clip in and ride like the wind.

Give a hand to our children, to help them climb those hills to reach their cycling dreams. In supporting the next generation of cyclists, it benefits us all. These children will grow to become our future advocates, they will fight for the preservation of trails, they will vote for cycling safety measures, they will clear the trails and push the envelope of cycling innovation even further than ever before. If you are a cyclist please consider volunteering for your local school's cycling club/team or even with the many non-profits that support cycling in our area.

See the Photo Gallery for the Sierra Nevada High School Race Series Race #4 held on March 11, 2011, click here. 

Cyclists Making a Difference: You Can Help Get One of Our Own Back on the Trail!

Two months ago we introduced you to Eric Taylor and told you his story; Eric was an avid mountain bike rider and ride leader for the Hammerin' Wheels Cycling Club who despite challenges of trying to find employment in a rotten economy (made even more challenging because he is deaf) had finally worked up to having a bike that he could race. Eric was looking forward to racing this spring and had signed up for his first event ever.  Then Eric got a nasty introduction to the New Year, his bike was stolen. Just as the cable was cut on his lock, so where his wings and to this day Eric remains flightless, something most cyclists would have nightmares about.

For the last two months the GroveTribe has been trying to find his bike – he filed police reports, we got the word out, craigslist and other sites were scoured to see if someone would try to sell it- and still nothing. We understand what it’s like to experience that loss and it can be so much more devastating than simply the loss of a bicycle. It can mean the loss of freedom, of joy and even sanity for those who use cycling as their lifeline in such a harsh world.

GroveTribe donates at MadCat and checks out some bikes.
Chris talks with MadCat owner Mike Upchurch (right).

We are asking our local cycling community to come together to help get one of our own back on the trail. The GroveTribe has been working setting up a way for folks to donate to help Eric get a replacement for his lost bike. Our goal is to raise $800 to help pay for a Specialized Rockhopper. Mike Upchurch of MadCat Bicycles has set up an account in Eric’s name and has facilitated several ways for folks to donate. MadCat will update us as to the progress of the fundraising and we will update our fancy “RockHopper-meter” on the homepage of our website so you can watch the progress and see your donation raise the temperature!

To donate you have many options:

You can rock on down to the MadCat Bicycle shop at 2645 Marconi Ave in Sacramento (Located in Town and Country Village) and tell them you would like to put a payment into Eric Taylor’s account. You can make the donation anonymously or include your name, if your name is included it will be published in our WE DID IT! Thank You! blog.

You can donate from the comfort of your own home via PayPal using the following address: madcatbicycles@sbcglobal.net.

You can purchase a MadCat gift card and present Eric your donation in person.

Donations can be in any amount; $5, $50, $500… anything helps and it all adds up! We at GroveTribe got the account opened and the ball rolling with our own $40 donation to the cause. Please join us and help get Eric back on the trail!

Performance Roseville Sneak Preview: Bike Shop Series #1

Well gang, we knew we had to get there. We had to start talking shop. Literally. So as we travel our blog journey together we will make stops at the local bike shops and give you a few nuggets, a few pics and maybe some new insight into your local bike shop scene. First stop, the brand spankin’ new Performance Bike in Roseville.

The GroveTribe managed to catch wind of the Roseville Performance shop’s preview night so we decided to go check it out.  As  we entered the door we were met with a table of snack trays and drinks and a second table with give-aways. Yes, we did enter the raffle, we have no shame and we always need another bike! *pause while we fill out entry forms* 

We barely had time to stuff our entries in the boxes when we were met with Sam Felts (Retail Operations Manager for Performance) and we got some highlights of the new format for the Performance shop. My first impression was it had a lot of REI-ish elements. The floorplan was more open (no more bikes down the center) and the colors departed from the blue we are used to and now we are met with soothing earthtones.  Of course, the “soothing” aspect is tempered with the multitude of huge halide lights hanging over-head -but that’s just nit-picking. Sam was pretty excited by the new shop but did say that he wished they could have scored another 1,500 sq. feet to include an interactive trainer and lounge. Well, maybe they can buy out the used book store next door….



Rows and rows of bikes! (There was more behind the camera.) 

This store marks the third location of Performance in our area (there is one in Sacramento on Howe and another in Fair Oaks off Madison) and one of many new locations opening for Performance across the country. I guess the low prices that many folks go to Performance for is why they are able to expand an empire in such a tough economy. I know there were times that we would love to go to our local shops but even with discounts they have a tough time matching the buying power of such a big chain. We were told that this is the first store of the “sixth incarnation” of Performance stores. Sounds like a movie series or something.

So brand spankin' new the paint is still wet! Now that's fresh!

We continued to peruse the store (okay, we could say that we were just there for the blog but you know we were shopping!) serenaded by the sounds of power tools and hammers as the finishing touches were being applied. Store Manager Bryan Stevinson took some time out to share his enthusiasm for the store and its relationship within the local cycling community (we talked a bit about the Hammerin’ Wheels group one we are happy to be members of). I was honestly surprised to hear a lot of mentions of the local cycling groups from the employees of this Performance, heck, even the Sales Manager Joey Larzelere is a SABA board member (more on them in a future blog).  Not sure why it surprised me, perhaps I had a bias thinking that only smaller shops were really community minded. You learn something new every day I guess.

 

Sales Manager Joey Larzelere makes sure Chris is legit. 

How will this store do in Roseville? Not sure. We have been trying to support more locally owned shops but in this economy it becomes harder and harder for folks to do so. This store has the advantage of being a large chain with large chain pricing. It helps that the folks seemed friendly (okay, but who isn’t friendly on a VIP preview night?) and the cool repair shop had my wife wistfully wishing it was in our garage. It makes me wonder, how do our readers feel about big chain stores vs. the “little guy” shops?

Hey! Look at that! There is a comments section down there! Scroll down just a bit… Ye-e-ep! There it is. You may have to log in to sound off but we would love to hear what you have to say. Do you shop big guy, little guy or somewhere in between?

"Release the Kraken!" : The Road to Snelling Part 2.

It seemed the gods had cursed the last week of February with dark skies, bitter storms and blackened clouds raining ice and sleet. It was only those with the stoutest of hearts who showed for the right to be named the Champion of Snelling (Cat 5 thirty-five+ champion that is).  It was on the day of the contest that the sun shone through her prison of clouds but her rays were empty and unable to warm us against the frigid winds that blew across the gray encrusted asphalt.

It was time to see if being gifted with a raven-winged Pegasus (Matt’s bike) and the blessings and trainings of a wizard (Rob Kopitzke) was enough for our intrepid band of warriors to win the day. The racers gathered, those who would be heroes, with the hollow-metallic scraping of cleats upon tarmac. There were legends of this country, with pools of water that would eat at your legs and pull your steed from under you. It was sparse and spare and some said that the land only existed as battlefield for riders and orchards of furiously blooming almonds.

By my side was my Body Concepts teammates Todd, Rob and Patrick. Or rather, Todd, Patrick and I gathered as shields to flank Rob, who would be our sword, our final death-stroke.  We gathered at the start line, my legs shivering in the bitter cold, but my resolve was steady: heed the wisdom of the wizard and deliver the sword-stroke.  In this race, we were instructed to have Patrick cover attacks and whether or not he could cover the attacks on his own, Todd and I would stay as shields and lead-out for Rob who would serve as our final sprinter.

As a sinuous mass the body of racers surged forward paced by a lone motorcycle rider. We were shepherded from the park twisting and undulating upon ourselves like a great, scaled serpent sliding through the sea depths. As we advanced en masse we each searched for our identity within the anonymous mob of the peloton. Some of us fought as heroes that day, some of us milled about with uncertainty and as ineffectually as the citizens of Argos, but the true star of the story was the emergent Kraken, the unstoppable monster, the uncatchable breakaway.

The Birth of the Kraken
The first breath of life for the Kraken was more like a gasp. The attempt lasted only about a quarter of a lap before being aborted by an uphill grade the lone rider could not crest on his own. He was reabsorbed into the mob and digested as food for the next attempt. The true birth of the great Kraken came upon the winged feet of the Lion of Davis: a lone rider who seemed brave but, to our eyes, too unsteady and frantic to maintain his beastly lead. Our complacency was to leak away when the lone rider was joined by three more competitors who leant their strength to the growing reputation of the Kraken. The three riders of the attacks caught up to the exhausted rider and drew him into their paceline. Together the four merged into a single, ever-escaping monster.  

 “Clash of the Titans”
Within our place in the peloton I grew concerned that Todd, who was working as a shield against the punishing cold wind, was beginning to tire. As we were going up one of the hills on the course, I tried to go to the right of Todd to get around him in an attempt to keep Rob, our sword, within striking distance should our teammate Patrick launch an attack.  As I first tried to get around, it didn’t work as another rider from the back had started to charge past on the right. 

After the other cleared, I took a quick glance and thought it was clear to pass Todd.  As I went around him I felt an arm and handle bar come at me from behind and run into my handle bar and arm (go figure this was one of the few times in the race I wasn’t protecting my bars from locking with another bike by having my hands in the drop-outs).  This invading rider and I had several incursions, neither of us wanting to draw blood yet neither of us willing to give position.  I kept thinking that I needed to keep focused ahead, keep pedaling, and refuse to go down because I had a mission to complete.  Eventually the rider peeled off to the far right.  I couldn’t see if he had gone down or not.  Thankfully he re-emerged unscathed, not long after he came up and apologized for the contact.  I returned his sentiment and said that I was glad to see he was alright. We both tucked back in, our eyes ever focused on the Kraken trying to escape our grasp.

Folly of Argos
A sense of urgency spread through-out the peloton as the Kraken seemed to grow in its identity and solidify its supremacy of a lead.  Several times the peloton would make an attempt to rally its forces to chase down the monster before us. Our small team gamely rushed up to help the efforts to reel in the leviathan only to find that everyone that had been trying to get the chase going dropped back into the safety of the peloton and left our team out there to take all the wind.

At one point, after doing my pull, I signaled for the next rider to come around.  Nothing happened.  I pulled to the far right so that he could get around, nothing…  I look behind me and everyone is just following my wheel.  I slow down, nothing.  Everyone seemed content to race for 5^th unless someone else did the work to close the gap.

We may have been regarded as a strong team but we were not foolhardy. We realized that if we allowed ourselves to be exhausted as the sole driving engine of the pursuit, we would easily be discarded by those who hide in the safety of our wake.  In an effort to try to reserve a portion of our strength for the final clash we reined in our long-standing lead, slowing down until someone else would finally take their turn pulling the peloton.   

When it became apparent that we would not allow our team to be used and discarded some of the members of the peloton would make comments, repeatedly “encouraging us” to take the brunt of the work while they hid behind. When they realized that we expected aid from the other citizens of the peloton, these denizens of Argos instead fell to wringing their hands and calling out for heroes to sacrifice themselves to save them.

Andromeda Falls
It seemed there would be no special favors from the gods this day. No winged sandals, no golden shields, no mechanical owls to push the swing of the pendulum against the fury and power of the Kraken. It is true when they say, “It takes a village…” If the people of Argos had come together and gathered their arms to defend their princess there may never have been a need for a Perseus, Son of Zeus. On this day we were all just mortal men and without the combined strength of us all there would be no slaying of the beast. So in the end, the mythic beast proved uncatchable in truth and we learn that not every race can have a Hollywood blockbuster finish but I got one more race closer to Cat 4, a little more experience and a damn cold backside.

Off To See The Wizard: The Road to Snelling Part 1

Meet Rob "The Wizard" Kopitzke of Body Concepts (right). Meet "RavenWing" Matt's bike (right below me).

A couple of weeks ago, when I got the news that my frame was cracked, my brand new racing world was thrown to the asphalt. Before racing I was living in black and white, life was rich and textured like “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” or “Metropolis” and at the same time constrained to a monochrome existence.  But once I pinned the numbers to my side life exploded into techno-color and Toto was chasing me down the yellow-brick road towards the Emerald City. (Does anyone remember having to twist a dial on your TV to try and tune in a channel? Color wasn’t an option, just trying to get a clear signal was a victory, and then we had color TV and going back was out of the question.) The idea that I wasn’t going to be able to race in Snelling was a sentence of returning to a pallid life of a working stiff; go to work come home, eat dinner, pay bills, help with homework, change a diaper or two and off to bed to start the next work day: I felt as if I was returning to a life half lived.

That initial wave of despair washed over me and I admit that I wallowed in it for a day or two. Then it was time to shake it off and figure something out. My wife always says that, “We’ll figure something out.” So I dusted off my old Allez and hit the trails training on it for the next week. God, it was miserable week. Cold, gray and pretty darn near colorless were those days trying to train for a race on a piece of equipment I knew just wouldn’t cut it. I shared my pain with the few intrepid souls who would hear my mewling cries and Matt –one of my Body Concepts teammates- came to my rescue offering his raven-wing carbon beauty as a loaner for me to use while I figured out how to replace my own steed.  Yes, it was black, but have you ever seen a raven’s wing in the sunlight, it shimmers with a rainbow of colors. Glenda the Good Witch had arrived in the form of a tall, lean insurance guru from Gold River.

The joy in having a carbon-embodied splash of color return to my world was tempered by the knowledge that I had less than a week to accustom myself to the new (to me) bike and it felt awkward and strange. This is where the wizard comes in. (When you are not sure how to get where you’re going, you always have to visit the wizard.) In this case, the Wizard was Rob Kopitzke from Body Concepts and the magic he wielded was in the form of a bike fitting.

I’ve never had a bike fitting before and my primitive idea of fitting a bike was making sure the seat and handle bars didn’t make me look like I was riding a low-riding bmx. What happened within the glass enclosed confines of the Body Concepts headquarters was something much more than I had ever imagined.  The effortless flow and efficient movement as Rob took me through the paces of fitting Matt’s bike to my optimal use was like watching a sorcerer weave a graceful, powerful spell. I surrendered myself to the cadence of Rob’s guidance, mystified by it all and yet feeling like something really good was taking form. If you want to truly know what happened during the fitting, you would have to ask Rob -or schedule a fitting for yourself, you will never see your bike or even yourself the same again- what I can tell you is yet another layer of color had returned to my world and Snelling was once again in my sites.

To Be Continued...

Jax trying for an internship at Body Concepts.

Put a lid on it!

Keeping the lid on.

Like many families in Folsom, our household is dealing with a nasty bout of the flu. I was lucky enough to be able to race at Snelling over the weekend but since then I had to focus on taking care of family and work so the blog has been on the back burner for a couple of days. Not to mention that I know I have a lot to post about the race and all the events leading up to it and these will be longer and more involved posts. In the meantime I do have mention a disturbing trend I have seen the past few days of riding.  There have been a large number of what I would call "serious cyclists" riding along without helmets.

Yesterday I thought it was a fluke.  Since it was Sunday, there were a lot of people on the bike trail to begin with.  So the eight riders I saw going without helmets may have not been that many compared to the total number of riders.  Then I saw another five more cyclists (all geared up in riding gear) going without helmets today. Most had some sort of cycling cap on instead.  I find this hard to believe because anyone who is seriously into cycling know that freak accidents can happen to anyone at anytime.  It doesn't matter how long you have been riding, how skilled you are, or how careful you are; squirrels happen, unseen road hazards happen, rapid joggers happen. You can be the most experienced, observant cyclist out there and the road could rise up to meet in a way not meant be the friendly Irish blessing. We are all vulnerable and all of us has *someone* that would be hurt if we were injured with a cracked skull. I am not sure what is behind this trend but I wish it would stop because I have little desire to see someone's unprotected melon after it has met asphalt at any speed.  Be safe and keep that helmet strapped on.  

Next blog stop... The Road to Snelling....

THUD!!!

What's that sound? The sound of me (Dawn) falling off of the Livestrong.com tracking wagon. The past week for some reason I just have not been tracking like I should. Okay, I do know why; because I started messing up and going over my calorie goals. I think the break down came from unrealistic goals. I selected the "2 pounds per week" option and it had me at 1,334 calories per day. After about a week of that -in combination with my beloved 16 month old going back to his schedule of waking up every few hours during the night- I think my body went into crisis mode. Lack of sleep, lack of calories, baking all kinds of treats for a potluck and a birthday party and smelling all that awesome stuff I could not eat in combination with the return of winter cold just threw me into a tail-spin and I was adding 200 to 400 calories per day over what my goal was.

Watching the calorie bar go over the red a few days in a row is not pleasant in the least and so I have failed to log on for the past couple of days. I have by no means binged, I know I am staying well under 1,800 calories. My naughtiness being having an extra bowl of corn flakes and milk after I finished my calories for the day. I have re-adjusted the calorie goals to 1,550 and I am about to log in again today.

I am forcing myself out into the open with my mis-step to make myself accountable and to hopefully get back on track (and tracking). So, I'm dusting my tush off and getting it back in gear (hopefully not the granny one.)