First off, I’ve just got to put something out there:  Friends was a damn fine television program. (more…)

Some recent shop shots…

and since I’m not racing I decided I needed a training goal. A bunch of buddies do this thing called “ManTour”. Essentially we fly up to San Jose, ride north for a day and then come down via San Francisco until we hit the Southbay of Los Angeles. I’d love to say its an easy roll…. but the truth is… if you get dropped you’re left for dead. The long day is 140 miles and its an ego fest. We leave the last week of October. One car with one backpack each to see us through. I’ve had 10 weeks in total to lose ten lbs and adapt to consecutive long days in the saddle when I’m riding like an effete coffee addict, and trying bibs out for their spanx-effect. All I can do is overload and hope in the next few weeks something sparks. It’s not pretty. At least I’ll be fit in November…

Fatass!

Underneath downtown LA on a day that hit everything from Griffith Park to Dodger Stadium.

Mystical forces.

The playground.

Some of the fellas seeking refuge and waiting for the food trucks on Abbot Kinney.

ThisThursday, after 5 or 6 hours of climbing I was so sore I couldn't even nap. I just lay there and burned.

Everybody needs a good spot (or three) to practice ‘cross between races.  I know of two courses, Tabor and Creston Park, that are just so awesome I want to do them all the time.  And I mean do do them.  They’re that good. However, the problem with those spots is, there doesn’t seem to be a time of day you can go work out when you won’t almost immediately get yelled at by people with off-leash dogs or off-leash children or both, no matter how respectfully you ride, or how much you alter the course from lap to lap to leave a huge margin between yourself and their hairy little monsters.  Everybody’s a friggin’ park-cop when they see a bike on their turf…

I kid.  I actually totally understand people getting a little worked up over us riding fast through the parks, on trajectories that are likely quite hard for them to predict.  Sure, they can come off as a little rude occasionally, but I get it, and the last thing I want to do is ruin somebody’s good time.  It’s tough to enjoy myself when I know I’m bumming other people out.

There is hope, though!  In a lovely place called St. Johns there exists a park culture that’s just a little more laid back, where people care less about their safety and the safety of their dogs and children, and where there is much more of an anything-goes-even-smoking-drugs-in-public type attitude.  At the center of this place sits Cathedral Park, and if shredding hard without being scolded is your game, then this is your place.

A few years back, Moho and Veed mapped this course out (or something very similar), and I still get down to business about once per week on it.  It’s too fun to not share, so follow along and learn something new! (more…)

A box of goodies, including new Speedvagen Team kits from Castelli, are off to greet our Japanese Speedvagen Team riders: Daisuke Yano, Kohey Maeda. Good luck this season boys!

I was holding off on this post, with the hope that some of the photographers I saw out at the various stages would release pics that I could borrow, but it looks like I’ll have no such luck, and you’ll be stuck looking through my collection of cell phone shots.  But first, let’s talk about the race! (more…)