blue squirrel

Cascadia Crit Series: Fremont RACE REPORT

2010-06-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

[race report from from our new upstart in seattle, eric cockrell. who by the way we are all very proud of him representing the b+ colors in the northwest and his first outing in a crit.]

The course was super fast (less than 1k), wide and had 3 corners, one of them being a nasty u turn. There was a crash at that turn on every lap, and it was definitely on everyones mind everytime we came around. This totally could have been becasue it was a 4/5 race, but from what i heard, there were still a lot of bails in the womens, and the 1/2/3's. I took as much advice as I could retain through the butterflys. I showed up early (didn't pre reg) and warmed up on the course to get comfortable, I even started dead center very front with no trouble clipping in after the whistle. stayed pretty hydrated, but could have drank more during.

40 minute race, field of 75, and I was able to hold the 6th wheel for the first 15 or so minutes (missing the primes by inches, SO FRUSTRATING), then I really started to have trouble maintaining my speed out of the corners...slowly dropping back. I eventually found myself in a small group of 7 or 8, and nobody wanted to work together to catch up. One of the guys in our group was yelling at everyone trying to get a pace line going and it seemed like him and I were the only ones that cared at that point, and it showed. We started to make some progress on bridging the already too large of a gap when we were dropped out with about 6 laps left.

Overall, pleased for my first crit. I expect to do much better on Saturday, .8miles, 4 corners (one of them downhill) lots of brick, rain, and loud drunks.

VIA Polar:

Time- 29:46.0

AvgHR- 174bpm

MaxHR- 183bpm

Kcal- 575

Dist- 11.4miles

Avg Spd- 23mph

Max Spd- 29.1mph

MT HAMILTON WIN

2010-06-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

WIN WIN WIN, team becher+ takes the mt. hamilton road race.
kristopher tjernell, in true b+ fashion, won with a solo attack on the attacking front few. [race report to follow]

patrick piccolo having fun in the heat

benjamin barry looking strong as always

ONTARIO 1

2010-03-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

[wes nielson, aka capt'n: ontario race report]

Yesterday I contended in 2 races at Ontario, 30+ 4/5 and the 4/5. Both races were pretty uneventful. So I’ll start with the excuses. I have been pretty sick for the past 3 days leading up to the races, and have just returned from a vacation that had nothing to do with cycling and everything to do with eating and drinking.

In the 30+ 4/5 race I stayed in front for the majority of the race but my legs felt so sluggish and cob-webbed from not riding for a few days. With 2 to go I was sitting about 20th and knew it was now or never so I jumped outside the group to make a move to the front 10. Just as I did so the group slowed down and I slang-shot right to the front of the pack. “Fuck” I was thinking I was in no position to pull the group this late in the race but had no choice and figured it was a training race so I put my head down and drilled it on the false flat leading into the last 2 turns of the 7 turn course. After my pull I sat up when the surge came around me and latched onto the back of the group. I made one more move to the front during the last lap but again realized my legs and burning lungs from my cold were not going to allow me to contest the sprint so I just sat in and coasted in at the back of the pack. No biggie and really not a bad race for my first race of the season and feeling like complete shit.

Race 2 the 4/5 race I was accompanied by John. We had a good warm up and I could tell my legs were going to feel way better this race. At the gun I took off to take a short pull to wake my legs up (my signature move) and noticed I gaped the field. So I sat up and took 7th wheel or so. John and I were in contact for the majority of the race only to be separated every now and than but always finding each other again. My legs felt a lot better and therefore was able to race way more aggressive. I took a couple of pulls and maintained a position in the top 10 for most of the race except when I go boxed in and shuffled to the back from a surge that came up the side. When this happened John and I simply sat in the back for a lap while we coasted and recovered. With 4 to go I told John we need to get to the front. So I booked it and got in the top 20 and then jumped again 2 turns later in the head wind section to go to top 10. “Perfect” I am thinking sitting 10th wheel with 3 to go all I have to do is hold position and go with any surge that comes around. With one to go I was still in position and thats when it happened, some asshole crossed 3 lanes to chop my wheel in turn 5 causing me to have no other choice but to brake and loose 20 positions. At this point I had absolutely no momentum so I simply sat up and cruised in with the back of the pack. I was pissed and call the mother F’r out. I went looking for him on the warm down lap. I didn’t find him but found 2 of his teammates (SDBC) and asked if they were the ones I yelled at, they said no, I told them the story and they admitted they were sure they knew who it was. I told them tell him to cut that shit out and learn how to race safe or next time Ill put my bike up his ass.

Anyways, first two are done and although they are not the results I shot for I am happy with my second race. I was in good position the whole race and had the legs and lungs to finish top ten if it wasn’t for that SDBC shit head. Oh well that’s racing as much as I would hate to admit it.

John had a great race and was riding real strong. He pulled the group with me on his wheel with 3 to go which kept us in perfect position. Ill let him tell his story though. Sorry for the shitty and long race report my cold is still causing me to feel spacey in the head. Oh and sorry for the shitty results, at least in the first race I never crossed the finish line so they wouldn’t log me a 60th place! haha.

I’ll be at Long Beach next week and hopefully redeem myself.

look more

2010-02-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

more race reports and funny videos, enjoy.

brisbane criterium antics by the norcal team.

race reports:

[sean neilson / roger millikan / crit 14 feb 2010]
sean neilson 7th

The Milikan Crit is held in Brea. The race was to go off at 1:25 so it gave me plenty of time to sleep in and watch Rocky 5. Just for a little inspiration, cause Mickey loves ya! Ha ah!

Anywho, the course is a four corner course with a 2-3% climb from the exit of turn 3 into turn 1, a slight down hill out of turn 2 and into 3, and there are 2 fast ’s’ curves between 4-1 and 2-3. The sun was out, and it was an awesome day for racing. The field was full and it was gonna be fun. Race started fairly easily and I quickly slotted in right behind Mike. I stayed at the front of the field for a few laps and about 4-5 laps in I gave a little effort to test the waters and see how I felt. I rolled off the front a little and saw that no one wanted to come with so I just sat up as to not use too much so early. I blended back in and for the next few laps the field was not wanting to do too much until about halfway a couple of guys decided to attack. They would dangle out front for a few laps but with the help of a few other riders they were reeled in. With about 10 minutes left another attack came and nobody responded. The chase would finally form with only a lap or two to go and unfortunately it never came back. With 2 to go it was time to move forward and get ready for a sprint. I was able to move up into the top 15 or so going into turn 3 and went around the outside of turn 4 to move up to top 10. I was able to open up a sprint and moved up to 7th at the finish. Decent finish and cannot complain as it’s more socal cup points for the team and myself. Until next time keep those pedals turning.

image

look

2010-02-23T21:28:00.000-08:00

a lot has been going on with the team, namely we have gotten a lot of top 10 finishes recently. first off check out the following video of mike and john getting in some training miles in at the tour de palm springs.

and now for some team becher+ riders race reports:

[benjamin barry /   Cantua Creek RR (1 of 2 of the Fresno adventure weekend) race report]
benjamin barry 15th
patrick piccolo   20?

I woke up in Sacramento at 3:30am and picked up Pat at 4am. We were both very sleepy but my roommate who was racing CAT 5s didn’t mind driving. We fell asleep immediatley. When we woke up we were pulling into a gas station, not for gas but for coffee. Soon after we were wide awake and pulling off the freeway, our car puttered to a stop… we were out of gas. Unknowing how far race staging was from our car we hurriedly changed into our kits and decided it would have to be our warm up. Our iPhones estimated it was 10 miles. Pat was so angry at the whole ordeal he defecated in a Gofer hole and wiped with his left hand.
Staging turned out to be 0.56 miles from our car. We registered and got to the line. At this point I realized I needed to drop the Cosbys off at the pool. I sprinted back to registration to find a 30 person line waiting for the potties. I ended up getting back to the line a few seconds before the race went off, significantly more relieved.

As for the actual race (not the beginning of the Fresno County Curse). It was pretty boring for the first couple of hours. Pat and I had great spots at the front of the race. We sat in and chit chatted. The course was a 26 mile lap total of an out and back course with a small climb at the start/finish. The total elevation gain for the 71 mile race was 2,100ft. Several attacks were launched during the second lap but none were successful. I talked to two people I recognized from the early bird RR (they had got 2nd and 3rd at that race in a break together). They said they were breaking at the overpass and that I should come. After some thought and talking with Pat I didn’t think it was a good idea. It was a mostly flat race and there would still be 20 miles to go from where they wanted to break. The time came and they got away pretty easily. There were 6 strong guys in the break and I instantly wished I was in the break. After the turn around the break was becoming out of sight and no one seemed concerned with bringing them back. Team mates of the break members were setting the pace (very slow). At this point a few people started trying to increase the pace. Pat and I led this effort and took more pulls than any one else. It seemed silly to put so much effort into bringing the break back but there was less than 15 miles left and I knew the break was strong and capable. Team mates of the break did a really good job sitting up and not pulling through. Pat and I had to constantly sprint around them as to not leave each other hanging out to dry at the front. After quite some time of this my HR hit 199bpm and I started to fade. Suddenly I looked behind me and I was the second to last person in the pack, the last person was Pat. I snapped out of it and went to the middle, Pat followed. With less than 3 miles left to go the last 2 members of the break were pulled in. The pack had diminished to roughly 30 people by this time, a lot had been dropped while pulling in that break. More people went to the front and started jockeying for position. I stayed where I was and we soon hit the climb. People on the edge immediatley slowed. Moving around them as quickly as I could I caught the wheels of the leaders. I was about 10 people back and still going uphill to the finish. With 50 meters left I fell off the back going 30mph with a HR of 201bpm. A few seconds later I got a great view of the winner crossing the line. I got passed by a few people and finished 15th. Pat finished shortly behind me in the twenties.
Bummed I went to the potty to take a leak, some one had crapped in the urinal. I felt I had been doing the wrong thing in the wrong place most of this race so this urinal seems an appropriate way to end this report.

[patrick p. /   Pine Flat RR (2 of 2 of the Fresno adventure weekend) race report]
patrick piccolo 23rd
benjamin barry 28th
The Fresno adventure race weekend consisted of 2 races, the first being the Cantua Creek RR on Saturday the 13th (which Ben is writing up the race report), and Pine Flat RR on the 14th. Both of these races are located in the Fresno area, so Ben and I decided to make a weekend of it and stay in Fresno on Saturday in the choice motel of the city, the aptly named “Holiday Motel.” This was an adventure in of itself, however that is a totally different story. Saturday was a hard 70 RR so Sunday morning we awoke at 5:30 am feeling stiff, groggy, and travel weary. Our start time was an ungodly 7:40 am, and the race was a good hour plus drive from the hotel, so despite our attempts to be punctual, we arrived with only moments to spare. This meant no real warm up (not good, but not totally detrimental as this was a long race that had a mellow start and a neutral roll out up a ridiculously steep hill) and no real breakfast, only some banana and hand-fulls of cornflakes in the car. The latter of the two was definitely of consequence despite the fact that both Ben and I brought ample nutrition along with us. At the start of the race I knew very little about the course except that there were 2 climbs and that it was 62 miles long. The race began with a typical slow to moderate pace as we rolled along the hills surrounding the Pine Flat Reservoir. At about mile 5 the pace quickened and we continued to move up some short, easy climbs and down some rather quick and twisting descents until at about mile 15 we hit a turnaround at the top of small, gradual climb. At this point about four or five riders broke from the group and slowly, and rather unchecked by the peleton, got away. Up to this point both Ben and myself were able to maintain good positions in the front of the peleton and both thought it was silly to joint the break group or to chase it down as there were so many miles left to race. This may have been true, however, the next 30 miles or so were pretty much downhill and the brake ended up staying away almost to the bitter end. The descending was somewhat fast, my top speed was 42, fast enough to string the pack out in to a single file for a few miles. It probably slowed things down a bit when at the top the pace was neutralized as we went around a rider from a different group with his face smashed in, blood all over the road, and a few other injured riders laying on the shoulder. After the descent there were about 15 miles of straight, smooth, and fast flats to contend with, however the pack was working like a well oiled machine with a staggering 15 plus man rotation taking short and quick, yet seeming effortless pulls (myself and Ben included). Shortly before the main climb, as a result of some jittery juniors playing bumper bikes, there were 2 pointless crashes that took out a few people, both of which happened right next to me, the second one forcing me off the road but I was able to rejoin the field with almost no effort. As the climb started the pace was intense and I really began to feel the miles in my legs from both that day, as well at the day before. This is the point where things started to go wrong. By this time the field consisted of a solid 20 or so riders hammering up the climb myself towards the back, but holding my own. At what must have been only about 200 m from the summit Ben, who had been a few riders ahead of me most of the climb, hit his wall and dropped back. We briefly spoke, but at the same time I lost contact with the group and summited with a group of 4 in time to watch the main group descend around a bend. At this point I was hurting but was in a group that was working well, and working fast. This was the last 3 miles of the race and everyone know it. A few more people joined our group and we hammered towards the last mile of the race. this last mile was a grueling up hill to the finish but I continued on and finished just making contact again with the main group at the finish line for 23rd place. A few minutes later Ben crossed the line for 28th and then we pedaled another 10 miles to the the car at the staging area, tired and disappointed. There were a few things that I did wrong, but in the end I just didn’t have the legs… thankfully its only February and I can look it as a good weekend of race training and motivation to work a bit harder for next time.

[ben at pine flats RR]

MORE ACTION jackson

2010-02-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

sean wasn't the only team becher+ rider in action yesterday, tim 'action' jackson suited up and contested the mega fast 35+ amgen show at the red trolley crit. as most of you know tim has a harrowing bad crash on the track over a year ago and has been in the process of rebuilding his body and mind set ever since getting out of the hospital. he put all of that behind him sunday and zipped up his skin suit [XL, no less, he still has some big guns] for the first real crit of 2010. he kept it going strong for the first part of the race, but subcumped to the brutal amgen pace and retired to race another day. for tim, coming out unscratched is almost as good as contesting the sprint. we all know he expects more from himself, but all things considered, job well done tim. read more here

EXTRA EXTRA, read all about it

2010-02-08T11:06:00.000-08:00

first win of 2010
sean neilson ripped the field at the red trolley crit in san diego this past sunday [7 feb 2010] and took the first win of the season for team becher+. we are all on cloud 9.

not only did sean rip it up on sunday in the crit, he mounted a superb campaign on saturday at the epic boulevard road race, coming in 8th after a long cold, wet effort. any top 10 finish at boulevard is a huge achievement.

the team is looking forward to giving sean and others more support in the coming months, so look for more wins and plenty of top 10 finishes, as this is finally our year to dominate. our whole team this year is full of depth, strength, courage, discipline and all out desire by everyone to work for the team and attack the field, good results will only follow.

i have a few more posts coming, as we have had our first team camp a few weeks ago, which was a huge success and other team news. we would of course like to thank our sponsors for helping to make sean's win possible, becher+, enervit, bobo's hamburgers, masi, midnight oil creative, iMartin, and greg jarrett. we would also like to thank all of those companies that give us support, especially louis garneau.

[sean's race reports]

boulevard road race

Today was the boulevard road race and someone ordered a lot of rain.

The day was filled with rain and cold. The highest temp I saw all day was 46 degrees. The course begins with a fair climb that leads into a long shallow descent then climbs back up to the start. Climbs are average 5 to 6% grade. We did roughly 50 miles, 2 laps.

100 people strarted in the rain and cold. But once we were rolling the temp wasn’t such an issue as the body heat rose. With the centerline rule in effect and a full field I knew position was most important. I got a good start and was never outside the top 10. The first half lap was fairly easy with a tempo pace. After that first half lap though legs and lungs were burning. Being at 4000 feet the air was thin. A group of us began to ride away from the group, about 15 of us. The pace was high and I was sucking air on the climb. I was shelled and in pain.

The rain didn’t let up and the chase began as I was beginning to feel better. I chased for a bit and caught up to a group of 4 guys and worked with them trading pulls and trying to close down the gap. On the last big climb I was feeling good and went to take my pull and just kept pulling until I realized I had some how ridden the whole group off my wheel leaving me to cross the line alone. Ended up 8th, unfortunately out of points and money.

Boulevard Road Race (Rank 2.0)
Category 4
Place	License	Name	Team	SoCal Points
1	270784	Brian Wilson	Moment Cycle Sport	28
2	256517	Henry Valenzuela lll	PAA / RE/MAX	22
3	294285	Marco Menchaca	TriSports Cycling/Eclipse Racing	20
4	269508	Nick Gillock	Herbalife LaGrange	18
5	292387	Brien Miller	Unattached	16
6	295278	Roman Gama	Citrus Valley Velo	14
7	288624	Jonathan Hornbeck	Team Ranchos	12
8	288949	Sean Neilson	Team Becher+	10
9	272524	Taylor Vaccari	Coates Cyclery Racing Team	8
10	20386	Jay LaRiviere	Peninsula Cycle Club	6

red trolley crit

Red Trolley Crit. Today was the exact opposite to yesterday. Nice blue skies with some clouds and a bit of wind.

The course is super fun with turns 1 and 2 flat and turn 3 being a fast sweeper downhill and a bit tighter but fast and fun! After turn 4 is a big ring climb that flattens to the start/finish line. Front straight had a bit of a head/cross wind and between 1 and 2 a cross wind. Rest of the course was tailwind and fast.

After yesterday having a good night relaxing and resting I felt good. From the start pace was high and the group was dropping riders every lap. I would consistently keep myself at the front being protected on the headwind and using the tailwind to my advantage to move forward. With about 20 minutes left I and another fella gave it a go and attacked the group on the climb. We would last for 1 lap as the group wasn’t going to let us go. So I would just make sure I wouldn’t let myself get swarmed and as soon as it would begin to get crowded at the front I would get up and push the pace a bit to keep position. Halfway through last lap attacks started to come so I pushed to keep with front group. Went so fast through last corner I drifted a bit before opening up a sprint on the climb probably about 8th wheel back. I went wide while everybody was wrestling for inside line and just put my head down and butt up. I was able to hold pace and come accross the line arms in the air and a loud ‘yeah!’

I couldn’t be any happier to deliever the first win of many for Team Becher+ in 2010!

BAD

2010-01-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

here is yet another story out of china, cheap IS apparently actually cheap.

LOS ANGELES — Moving swiftly, U.S. product safety authorities say they are launching an investigation into the presence of the toxic metal cadmium in children's jewelry imported from China after disclosure of lab tests showing that some pieces consisted primarily of the dangerous substance. The promise to "take action as quickly as possible to protect the safety of children" followed by hours the release Sunday of an Associated Press investigative report that documented how some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting cadmium for lead in cheap charm bracelets and pendants being sold throughout the United States. more here on the AP story

BETTER

2010-01-05T14:07:00.000-08:00

wow, what a difference a day makes. sunday was one of those days that would just never end. 60 miles in 5 hours [riding and fixing], 3 flats, multiple headaches, finally got home and tried to put the day behind me.

today was a completely different day, i got out for an early lunch ride for a little over an hour. it was a great spin, in great weather and i stuck to the only true bike path in the area out towards topanga [the length of the valley]. so now all is good in the universe and we are back on track. i think it just feels great to get in a good solid leg speed workout and feel super doing it.

in other news, i am really looking forward to our team's first camp of the season and it will be great to get a chance to properly gel with the 6 - 8 new teammates that will be there. the nor-cal contingent will be having one as well. so if you see us out on the road, give a wave and say hi [i throw that in for you tmgj, by the way i waved at every rider i saw today, i think i even said good morning to a few runners as well, weird]

[i think i am even going to crack a smile]

or was it this one?

but diffidently not this one.

[nice kit sky, almost another shameless knock-off of our design, although i am sure that boasson hagen'dazs will be rocking in it this season]

WIND

2010-01-02T17:55:00.000-08:00

today was a good 60 miles, in beautiful sunny +75 degree LA weather. that was until we hit the far north east corner of the valley coming out of sylmar. the wind kicked up and gusts were blowing at over+40mph. it seemed like more than that, but none of us got blown over today. which i am sure made my orthopedic surgeon happy, not to mention me.

team news
the new year brought our first top 10 finishes of the 2010 season with a 6th place by patrick piccolo and an 8th by benjamin barry in the san bruno hill climb. way to go guys, that is one b_tch of a climb and all your preseason work is already starting to pay off.

race report
[san bruno hill climb / patrick piccolo]
Bright and early this morning was the first race of the Northern California season, the epic 3.5 mile straight up San Bruno Hill Climb. Thankfully the race started at 10 am and is a 10 min. drive from the city, so I was able to get a little of sleep beforehand. That however, that didn’t seem to help me feel ready or at all well. Though the race is short, its pretty steep and fast. Ben and I had a good start and perhaps went a little too hard at first, but then again the higher up you go the steeper it gets so its hard to tell. The last 100m are the worst and I just didn’t have the legs (or the stomach as it turns out) that i needed. I ended up doing it 17 min. 55 sec. which was good enough for 6th. Ben came in about 20 seconds later for 8th. Aside from the fact that I felt like death for the few seconds before I puked up my banana just after the finish, I would have to say I was feeling good and had a good time. Ben was mad that I talked him in to doing it.

WEEKEND

2009-12-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

greg and i got [2] good days of riding in this weekend, totally over 11hrs. the weather in socal has been perfect for december. today we went up and over the hill to santa monica and down to manhattan beach. the weather was ideal and apparently there was a party i wasn't invited too, as the roads were almost vacant of raging auto drivers. all in all a great preseason training weekend, tons of miles and some good efforts here and there. but mostly hours of leg speed work at high cadence. before i forget and the espresso wears off, we ran into our good friends from the iMartin days, todd, mike, joel, josh, and [?], it was really great to see them out riding and i hope we can all get it together and ride longer together real soon.

[i found a stash of dutch training treats, it's better than finding a dollar in your pocket.]

[greg and i taking off the early morning cold weather gear and getting ready to turn around in the south bay and head home. you can see by the way greg's jersey fits, he has lost a few stones and is in race fighting shape. as i mentioned before, his daily core workouts and cross training on the rowing machine is turning him into one legendary figure. be fore warned you youngsters on the team, he's 53 and will make you cry.]

RIDE

2009-12-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

the weather has been great in socal the past week after the frigid temps during our fist true winter storm last week. everyone has been out training and exchanging quality banter.

greg update:
so greg wants to stay under the radar, but as an active team member he is to report training for all. he actually has an aversion to typing and sharing, being the man's man that he is. i will simply say that all the youngsters on the team had better step up and deliver as greg 'hard man' works long hours and usually is up by 4:30 - 5am each day. yet he still finds time to do 3 hours of training a day, and most days does 2 workouts. his cross training and core workouts are legendary. it will be sad if a 53 year old with bad knees, puts the rest of the team to shame. so if you are reading this, you had better be sitting on your saddle training or in between core workouts. because greg is. greg, your one of the teams inspirations and core medal.

[from blue and red blog]

michael and wes on the backside of GMR [?]

greg and i doing our civic duty and stopping at a red light during some afternoon LSD in the wind

these rouleur legs never run... from doing the work.

DIET

2009-12-17T09:42:00.000-08:00

continuing with the winter stag training theme, we move on to diet and or dieting. preseason goal, as it seems every year for this now 45+ racer is to lose 15 - 20lbs to get into race attacking weight.

my regimen is:
- to put in as many LSD [long slow distance] miles, working on leg speed and cadence.
- resume riding the powercrank equipe bike.
- cut calories
- eat more fiber
- consume CLA
- drink more espresso
- drink more water
- balance the carbs to protein [4:1]
- always consume recovery drink after rides
- colon cleanse
- make sure that the calories i do eat are healthy and happy
- drink more espresso

i think that is about it. miles miles miles

WINTER

2009-12-15T14:21:00.000-08:00

winter training in socal has been crisp and cold of late, but everyone on the team is out making it happen. hows your training going?

TEXT

2009-12-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

WEEKEND

2009-12-07T16:18:00.000-08:00

a great weekend of base training by the team. it was cool, well actually cold and crisp for the socal contingent of the team. i actually wore my team wind breaker both saturday and sunday. it was chilly to say the least. now i know what you are saying, 52F is not that cold, but the wind chill put it closer to 45F and lower.

greg has lost over 30 pounds, is super fit and trim, combined with blood pressure meds [he is 52 after all], he was bone cold. i thought my hand was frostbite after he said, 'hey, check this out', and shook my hand. i assume with all his new found uber fitness and weight loss that his doc will have him off meds soon, contrary to the prescription drug dealers incentives to keep us all medicated one way or another [and why are there prescription drug commercials on TV? its not like i can go out and buy them over the counter].

ok, on to team kit orders and sponsor'ship corralling.

TRAIN

2009-12-01T12:40:00.001-08:00

[wes out training with the team on GMR, thanks to team rider michael r. for the image]

CALM

2009-11-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

nuff said

SHAPE

2009-11-25T12:54:00.000-08:00

[tim 'masiguy' jackson / today at lunch]

update: tim is doing much better now, after some time since his horrific track crash. he has been back on [and off] the bike now for some time and we are all hoping that he will be crushing the competition during the 2010 track season, and who knows, maybe even see him on the road too.

tim's bills from the accident are far from paid off and i would like to give you advanced notice that we will be auctioning off a greg lemond autographed jersey soon on ebay to add to all the wonderful support tim got through our paypal medical funds drive [thank you so much to all that donated]. check back here, on the masiguy blog, @timjackson, and @bplusradsport, for more info on the upcoming auction.

update

i would like to add that the jersey was graciously given to help the tim jackson get well fund', by eric stobin of lemond fitness. next time you run into eric, tell him thanks from all of us on the team, especially tim.

ebay auction date to be announced soon, so check back here soon.

BEAUTIFUL

2009-11-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

the following is an excerpt from a rouleur feature in issue #9

A world away from these glorious ascents is the brutal torment of Paris-Roubaix: a single day in a Hell wrought by man. Riding in the Panasonic team car after abandoning the mudbath of the 1985 edition of the race, dazed and confused, drunk with pain, Theo de Rooy put it with typical Dutch directness: “It’s bollocks, this race, it’s a whole pile of shit. You’re working like an animal, you don’t have the time to piss and you wet your pants. You’re riding in mud like this and you’re slipping. It’s a pile of shit – you must clean yourself otherwise you will go mad.” Asked if he would ever ride it again, de Rooy instantly replied, “Sure, it’s the most beautiful race in the world!”

[the rest can be read here l'enfer du nord]

2 FUNNY

2009-11-19T19:54:00.000-08:00

i know this is off message, just a bit, since it has nothing to do about the team or myself racing, but hell, i haven't had time lately to keep you up to date about the great things going on with the team this off season, i will fill you soon enough, but this is just too funny to pass up.

Achtung

2009-11-17T15:25:00.001-08:00

Radfahrer – Achtung, originally uploaded by Blanka.co.uk.

did i mention to be safe out there?

Falschfahrer

2009-11-17T10:36:00.001-08:00

Falschfahrer, originally uploaded by berlintypes.

lets all be safe out there while i get new content ready, the 2010 season will see great things for team becher+. we will be building on our wins in 2009 and we have more than doubled the size of our team. GO RIDE

NL 2

2009-08-21T06:32:00.000-07:00

today i struck out on my own to explore the dutch countryside outside of r'dam, meaning i had no specific plan, map or destination, just me, my masi single speed, 4 hours and a countryside full of bike lanes. it has finally cooled off a bit here and it was quite windy. the clouds blew through all afternoon and luckily did not drench me as expected.

some observations:

1] scooters doing +55KMH on single lane bike paths suck going both directions.

2] using sheep to keep the vegetation under control along bike paths sucks for various reasons, i am sure you can do the math. [unfortunately blogger does not have a scratch and sniff function.]

3] farm land is nice to look at [unfortunately blogger does not have a scratch and sniff function.]

4] i don't know what gear most city bikes have here, but from my humble observation, they are way to low and hard to push, and consequently always in my way.

5] one actually has too hit the start button on a garmin 305 for it to start recording, unlike a cycleop's powertap that just starts like a normal bike computer.

6] a more advanced dutch road sign vocabulary might be good to have.

7] gail force headwinds more than make up for the fact that there is no climbing in NL.

[i should be smiling, as i was giddy with joy to be training in NL, were they give bikes their own road, that is removed from the auto lanes and there is no sheep manure on this section]

[bike lane art, putting those tax euros to work]

NL day 1

2009-08-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

[isn't she purdy, thanks masi]

so today was the first day back on the bike in NL, after a rest-bit fighting mosquitos in sweden. it felt great to get in some good flat miles on the masi single speed, ahead of the the six day season [throw that in to make tim jealous]. i put in about 50K today and should be ramping up to about 100K by weeks end.

the masi worked great and the single speed was a perfect choice to bring with me this time to train around rotterdam. the bike lanes in NL are great, although the speed of public traffic is a drag sometimes to deal with. the few K on the paving pave is also a good workout, especially when you throw in a good headwind. even with a strong bike culture here, it still amazes me how the drivers on a single lane road buzz bikes.

[all old school]

[the scenery was not bad ether]

[LA river or NL canal?]

weekend race reports [4 - 5 july 2009]

2009-07-07T08:57:00.001-07:00

[Davis Crit report]
Full Field, L shaped course.
Good and fast sustained pace. Had a bad start, it took a few laps to move to the front where I wanted to be. Sat up there fine until the pace grew towards the end. My legs were fried from Leesville the day before and mentally I don’t think I had much business being there. 20 guys or so got pulled from falling off the back and there was a good crash half way through which Ryan narrowly avoided. He finished about 10th (?) and I was somewhere behind him in the middle.
Lots of fun, not much suffering involved relative to the day before.
10 races done, I should move up to CAT 4’s here soon, time for cross season!!
[benjamin barry]

[Leesville Gap Road Race Report]
Leesville is hell, but hell is not nearly as bad when 15 degrees cooler and properly prepared. (although being prepared still isn’t good enough, as you will here later) First want to give a shout out to John and Sage because they were able to show up and race, john shook off a shift to make it and Sage came out and raced his first road race ever, although he is a natural and races in “A”s during cross season, so the most seasoned racer among us.

Leesville is one large 62 mile loop, that starts in farm land, climbs 1500 feet to drop you into a valley, then climb out and back to farm land for the longest 15 mile homestretch ever.
The race started with a mile neutral start, which pretty lasted the first 10 miles as we approached the climb. But once we the road pitched up a little, the road when it wasn’t dirt was worse, Pot holes and bumps and lumps. After the required shouting at each other bike handling skills the group settled into the approach. No real moves as we constantly passed downed riders fixing flats or clutching shattered carbon rims. Sage’s front dérailleur malfunctioned and first one dropped off but made it back to the pack in time for the climb.
Then the climb which is about 6-7% for 5km, This was the big test. Becher was riding in the front as the climb started, but we got strung out as the rest of the peloton did. Me and Kris were up in front, with rest of crew not far behind. Half way up I am starting to over cook and Kris flats, (second to drop) so I know I need to keep with the leaders cause I am the only one repping “LG” at the front. When we crest the hill, it is myself and 4 other guys. who form up quick and start cruising and we never look back.
Kris has fixed the flat in record time, and joins up briefly with Ben, they split ben going to get Sage and then power it, and Kris charging forward. Ben has his work cut out, trying to keep his fellow cyclo crosser from trouble.
Kris and John join briefly, before parting ways and both powering it home.
Meanwhile in my group, we have dropped 1 kid and established that 1 other was not going to work, but was going to hard to drop. Once we got to the flat that what we eventually did. At that point it was me and two other guys, one got 3rd in Copperopolis and the other is a pro mountain biker. However we took a wrong turn and the non worker is able to re-attach, and stay attached till the end. We sprinted but I was just out of gas, and had already pushed through cramping to just make it there. I ended up in 4th, which I feel good about.
Kris ended up around 9th
John was a few back
Ben and Sage were a few back from that maybe 18th

Felt good, ready for some more racing.
[ryan drobek]

BROKE

2009-06-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

here is quick snippet on 'made in china'

The 13-story building is part of the Lotus Riverside complex in suburban Shanghai. The cause of this epic structural fail is under investigation, but first sources claim that an error on construction and unstable soil conditions are the probable causes.

full story here

[as most of you know i am quite verbal about my mistrust of anything made in china. as most major brands and best selling [read all] carbon framesets are being made in china these days, it goes without saying i am concerned for the state of craftsmanship in the industry. it is not that decent framesets not being made in china, there are some, i just have an inherent mistrust of the level of integrity and overall desire in china to excel and or lead in the area of craftsmanship. ]

BYE

2009-06-25T17:23:00.000-07:00

bye farrah, you always looked good in blue and you put up the good fight, we will miss you...

VALUE

2009-06-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

[photo: brad kaminski]

i am not sure how many people are following the velonews article "a shattering experience" about the failure of the mavic R-SYS front wheel. the article and incident happened to a seasoned velonews writer. today velonews published online the mavic response [gee i wonder what their going to say?].

i can not speak of what happened or if the mavic wheel was at fault, but this does bring me to a subject very dear to me about my beloved sport of cycling and the equipment we spend our hard earned money on. i am constantly amazed when people new to the sport lay out extremely large sums of money for a bike that is way beyond their means to ride the way it was intended to ride. think lightweight carbon bike, top of the line gruppo, race specific wheels with 18 spokes and lighter than a musset bag full of tiny pies. you know the kind of bike that would be standard issue if you were in contention for winning the alpe d'huez stage in the tour, but not for the overweight +185lb ego driven rider. they do countless hours of research on the web, view hours of tour videos, look at what the pro-tour guys are riding and than go to a local shop and get talked into a bike from one of the big name bike companies that probably forced out the other big name companies from the shop, and thus the selection is weak, ill fitted to the real task at hand and small car expensive.

i don't have space to write about carbon frames and why in the end we, non-protour team riders can't afford to ride them [i did not say afford to buy them] or why most component makers make their top of the line gruppos too light and in turn the key components bend under the weight of anything over 1000 watts [or why pro tour teams don't actually use them]. i will speak however of lightweight, over [or under] engineered wheels that cost more than a european vacation.

why do people insist on buying the latest, greatest, lightest wheels possible when they are not racing professionally and weigh more than 155lbs? first off if they do race professionally on a anything higher up the food chain than a local team, they get their wheels free and free often. the guys riding in a club or just starting out have to fork over all the money, even with a shop discount, they are expensive and in the end useless. thats right useless. a set of lightweight, top of the line wheels are useless to the average non-pro rider, for the simple fact that they will brake and will have to be replaced.

i am sure that the R-SYS is a marvel of design and engineering, but wether or not the wheel failed in said incident, it still has to be replaced, which is the simple point i am trying to make in this bloviated post. the rider has to replace the expensive wheelset and the expensive carbon frame that can not last through one crash or tumble. pro-tour guys talk about how great their frame [custom built for them] is and how great it rides, while in the background you can see a team mechanic building up another new bike for him after a race. in other words he gets a free bike and wheels every couple of races and the consumer gets to replace his or her carbon frame and wheels if they lay it down or hit a curb or knock it over or half wheel someone on a club ride and go down.

i am not amazed that the wheels exploded apart due to a tire failure or frame failure or whatever failure is not mavic's fault. the real question should be if a wheel can catastrophically fail due to a bad tire or broken carbon frame, is it a good value for the money? i don't personally ride mavic prebuilt wheels anymore, for the simple fact that every friend that has owned a pair of high-end mavic wheels, has been stranded due to the aluminum spokes braking and or rims cracking. they usually on average brake 10 - 30 miles from home or our local shop. i had a pair of steel spoked equipe's that latest a few years, but in the end did not ride well compared to other training [everyday] wheels. mavic's open-pro is still one of the standards for building quality custom wheels, although after years of using them i now build my everyday wheels with newer DTswiss rims and ether campy hubs or DTswiss hubs. i would also say that anyone riding CAT 5 - 3, a good pair of training wheels will be just as fast as a pair of expensive carbon hoops, especially if you lose 2 extra lbs. granted their is nothing like a great pair of tubular wheels, they feel better, roll better. but than again i dread the day i have to replace the tubulars on my carbon hoops, once a year i have nightmares of doing something to the carbon rim when i remove the old glue, that may cause it fail as i descend at 50mph in a group of 100. or is it the image of watching live when joseba beloki goes down in the tour in front of lance. oh, by the way ask christian vande velde why his tour may be in jeopardy.

so ask yourself before you handover your future to the cashier, are these wheels right for me, will they really make me a faster better rider and can i afford to replace them next week if i get a flat tire or someone half-wheels me. do yourself a favor, have a set of good quality 28 spoke everyday wheels built for you and enjoy your long rides with the knowledge that at least your wheels will make it home. want to go fast and be able to keep up with those old guys in your club that have 20+ years of base, than put in more miles each week, lose some weight, and more importantly just ride.

to recap, will expensive high-tech incredibly light wheels make you a faster better rider or are a custom built pair of 28 spoke, alloy rimed, steel spoked wheels more value for your money? i am going to stick to the wheels that day in and day out get me home and can put me in the lead group if i have the legs that day.

TRY

2009-06-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

well niki the giant killer gave it his best shot today in the 63rd criterium du dauphine libere stage 4 ITT [from bourg-les-valence to valence 42.4km], but his great effort came to no avail and he surrendered his yellow jersey [mellow johnny, for those in texas] to the math challenged silence lotto rider. oh, that would be cadel 'i seldom attack' evans. now don't get me wrong, i am a evans fan, but the dauphine was really exciting for 24 hours with the young upstart stealing the jersey away from the chiseled veteran.

of course few cycling journo's reported on niki's monster effort today, and instead focused on the boring creme de la creme of cycling pros. granted he lost about 5 minutes to the winner from colombia high road, the world ITT champ, bert grabsch, but it was probably his best ITT of his life, that counts as a true winner in my book, give all you got and lay your cards on the table. that is exactly what the new rider that has a soft spot in my heart did today.

on a side note, d. miller stepped up today and had a stellar ride, surprising since he has been uninspiring this season along with the entire garmin team who were so lack luster in the giro. hey tommy d. your not getting any younger, how about bunking with mr. 'soul' terpstra and digging a bit deeper into your talent pool and actually making something happen for yourself.

_______________________

becher+ radsport
local news, greg and i put in some good quality miles this morning and it feels good to be back to a regular weekly schedule of training, now that i am not bionic anymore. check out our club / team twitter feed to the left for a quick ride pic and for other updates.

and follow us on twitter

niki

2009-06-09T09:48:00.000-07:00

[image ©: AFP]

just a quick post about the potential upset in the making at the dauphiné. dutchman niki terpstra (milram), a relative unknown took the win and the yellow jersey today. he took it in grand fashion, from a group of 5 that attacked and stayed away. this is what the fans should be getting excited about, but i am sure it will get limited top flight coverage. this is type of win is the soul of bike racing, at least in my book. a guy who came in 101st in his last stage race, attacks, works with a small group, takes the sprint at the end and secures the win and the race lead. i think cadel's DS needs a new calculator or at minimum a new apple 3G/S iPhone [with that boss braun calculator]. and did i mention that the 3 french pro-tour teams had riders in the break, i guess the french just can't catch a break [oops].

this is exciting stuff, i can't wait to see if niki can defend his lead against the clock tomorrow. he says he is going to fight and i hope he finds the depth of character to sock it to the big salary guys.

[image by sirotti]

WEEKEND RACE REPORTS 23 -24 MAY 2009

2009-05-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Kristopher Tjernell

Team Becher + NorCal edition had back to back races this weekend, one in Folsom, the other in Auburn.

folsom crit was super fast around a business park course that had great pavement, easy turns, and zero elevation gain/loss. I again was rediculous and ended up pulling half the time at the front; of course blowing up on last lap and not contesting the sprint. Super fun though! Ben ended strong (around 15th?), and Ryan unfortunately had a mechanical and had to drop out midway through. Crappy, ‘cause this was HIS RACE.

Auburn crit was totally different: started on a 200m hill, had a slight uphill backside, then knarly downhill with three sketchy turns into the straight-away up to the start/finish. Last two laps around I decided to turn it up a notch, and it was clear only a few riders were still feeling strong. last lap, on the uphill, some guy gassed it…I caught his wheel with about 6 or 7 others on mine. group slowed on the backside stretch, so I hammered and got a 20m gap going into the downhill/turny section. I came out of the last turn fast, out of saddle sprinting, and actually, somehow, my lord, won. Apparently I had a look of complete distaste on my face as I crossed the finish line…all I remember is an intense interest in vomiting. It was a super hard course with solid competition for sure. Good job to all the Becher + bros, who, by the way, all mobbed up in our new team car, all four rigs strapped to the roof rack, pro-style. -kris

wes nielson

Don’t hold your breath… I’m going to spoil the ending right now. DNF! The second crit I ever quit. Hey that rhymes! To sum it up I am completed over trained and burnt-out. I got in a very early break (that became 4 riders) 3 laps into the race that stayed away for about 6-7 laps. I could feel the sting in my legs during and after every turn I took at the front and new early on this was NOT my day. It was the first race all season that I wasn’t strong enough to hold the exact position I wanted. This coupled with the fact that Barry Wolfe is the most dangerous crash infested race of the calendar made for a horrifying day. With 5 to go I decided it was now or never so fromDFL I charged to the top 6-8 towing a rider with me who wasn’t smart enough to fold back into the peloton before turn 2 and totally chopped my wheel sending me to ride into the off camber gutter. Luckily my bike handling skills were good enough to pull off the turn. Immediately following this maneuver I pulled out of the race. Knowing I didn’t have what it took to once again charge to the front, even if I did I didn’t have the legs to hold off the stronger riders. So instead of taking my chances at getting top 20 something in the crash fiesta that was sure to be the final 4 laps I decided to go home in one piece. Oh by the way did I mention there was 4-5 crashes in our race!! I hate that course and hereby vow to never ever race there again! PS Thanks to the 5 Becher + club/team members that came out to view the race. Sorry to not put on a better show for you but at least I was in that first break. Oh and I got a prime while in it, I won a tub of Prolong electrolyte energy drink mix! COOL!

benjamin barry

Field of 48, the course was almost a complete circle with only two very easy right turns. Because of the nature of the course the pace was fairly fast and sustained the whole time. I found Ryan on the second lap and he told me he had a mechanical issue and was a lap down he dropped out slightly afterward due to this. I knew my legs were burnt and tried to stay away from the front most of the race. I did see Kris and another rider on a break and tried to bridge the gap but once I had I realized I had brought another six riders with me. We were only able to maintain the gap for another half a lap until we got reeled in. I sat back and recovered while watching Kris take massive pulls and attempt a few more breaks. When the finish came I tried to turn on the gas but didn’t have much left (HR at 200bpm!), I finished somewhere in the middle and I believe Kris was feeling the effects of his massive pulls while he rolled through closer to the back. Disappointing day, tomorrow should be either better or substantially worse.

jacob margolis

Hey guys, I’m back with a little race report following yesterdays suffering. Well, the course profile was, 4500 ft in 20 miles to the top of Hamilton, then 43 more miles to finish in livermore with about 1800 more feet of climbing. It was gnarly to say the least. Went too hard in the beginning, as they attacked in the first half mile, as that’s when the climbing starts. I should have sat up and spun a bit more, but I was hoping that they would let up a little bit. They didn’t. I was pretty dead after the first part of the climb, which is 7 miles. After that you go down hill then back up right away to do 13 miles up hill to the top and over hamilton. After hamilton you go down for 6 miles, then climb again, doing more rollers. After mile 32, there are just rollers, and 1 more big climb, and I dropped everybody I was riding with on that one. It sucks, because I thought I would be able to keep up on the climb, but without warming up, going to hard in the beginning, and not pacing myself like I should have, I blew apart and sucked it up. I had one friend say go as hard as you can until the top of the first climb, but alas he is a pro, and thus has no problem doing such. My other friend told me to pace myself… oh well. I cramped up at about mile 40, as I had been drinking gatorade, and trying to consume as much as possible, with gels and 1 clif bar, but it wasn’t enough. I went through about 5 bottles the whole time. They were awesome bottle zones, and the people who organized the race did a great job. We got brand new bottles instead of mono infested recycled ones. After the climb, where I dropped many of my cohorts and passed others I picked up one guy and we hit it as hard as we could, and picked up another guy. It was with these two fellows that I finished with. They were nice guys and we had a good time in a rotating pace line. I sprinted with them at the end and completely cramped up! Anyway, I had a good time, as it was a beautiful 3:20:00 from San Jose to Livermore. I wish I had some teammates, because I imagine that you climby types would have loved this! I loved it regardless of suffering and can’t wait to race next weekend. The best part of the day though was going to the taqueria joint where they didn’t speak english and I had to employ my two years of highschool spanish to order myself a delicious chicken burrito. I love cycling.

GO

2009-05-27T22:28:00.000-07:00

hey everyone, i have quite a few race reports to post, not to mention team becher+'s first win of 2009. but first let me show you some those present for a fun ride with gerry 'go fast' platt. we have been having quite a few great club rides of late with a few new members coming on board.

[stef, blue, bob, hard man jarrett, go fast

see

2009-05-14T00:58:00.000-07:00

what do we see in this picture?

you know that your in trouble when basso has that look on his face.
or he is wondering why Charles Wegelius is not wearing green this year.
da killer is on great form and making it happen for pro-conti LPR, just image a pro-conti team winning the giro. that would wreak the new new pro tour. oops, lost my train of thought there.
is the columbia rider looking to the devil for directions or is he wondering where rogers is?
you know horner is having fun when his jersey is un-zipped or it is a sign you better bring your A game, cause chris'y boy is.
levi is still underrated and hopefully take his first grand tour this may.
i don't care what lance says, he has to be pissed at losing 3 minutes today.
did i mention this is going to be a great few weeks of racing???

[this photo was from cyclingnews and taken by none other than roberto bettini]

riders to watch

[ie, will be super stars in years to come if they don't get caught and or don't get caught]

- fredrik kessiakoff (swe) fuji-servetto

- laurens ten dam (ned) rabobank [a dutchman that can climb, hmm...]

EXTRA

2009-05-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

extra extra, read all about it, In an eleventh-hour deal, Universal Sports secured rights to the Giro d’Italia and will be airing live, start-to-finish coverage of each stage of the 2009 race.

thats right, start to finish cycling coverage on american tv and online. hell must be really cold right about now. sit back and enjoy the giro. by far the most contested, passionately raced, all around great grand tour, not to mention my favorite the past few years.

universal sports

WENTE

2009-04-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

[report from the nocal team]

Norcal Squad Wente Vineyards Race Report

[journal account from john, with some ED. review for family viewing, ie no bike racer words]

i was way more excited to post about this race before i heard wes went down with such great position yesterday. what a f_ckin drag!

wente vineyards was 3×15 mile laps that started with a sharp climb. a promenade lap to start meant we had to climb it 4 times. Ryan fell off the lead pack midway through but continued to work hard and finished well. commendable considering his preference for the flats.

benjamin (now of “beer” racing) fared a little better, and also had the distinction of throwing up in his mouth twice.

with one lap to go, kris and i were both in the mix and feeling pretty good. we were tired of yo-yoing and picking up stragglers due to riders reluctance to take pulls. kris put his head down and basically towed the top 15 riders the entire way, only allowing me to take short pulls for a little bit of rest. no one else even tried to come around. we were really hauling though.

kris slingshotted me into first as we reached the final climb but i didnt quite have the legs to get it done and ended up getting passed by 5 riders with fresher legs.

props and thanks to kris for the attempt. he rounded out the top 15 with the entire packs respect (especially mine).

OUT

2009-04-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

good news the Ti plate is finally came out of my left shoulder this past wednesday and the bone that was in many pieces is now one solid bone [thanks God for small miracles]. i am finally on the mend to a full recovery from my 2007 crash and looking forward to getting back on the bike full time.

other BIG news is that tim finally got back on the track after his tragic crash last year on the velodrome in san diego, be sure to get the full story on his masiguy blog

[tim doing what tim does best, laying down the pain at warp speed]

giro del trentino 2009 immagini 3 tappa

[and for your weekend viewing pleasure some pre-giro action in italy]

EXTRA

2009-04-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

[updated 2009.04.29]

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT

wes scores team becher+'s first podium of the 2009 season at the torrance crit.
2nd place, elite cat 4

pictures and full race report to following from wes.

in other news, i get my Ti plate on my left collarbone finally taken out this wednesday (22 apr 2009). than i can officially start riding again. it has been a long long road back and i hope the surgery goes well and it is not re-fractured during the removal process. all your prays and well wishes are truly welcome. see you all on the road again soon, officially...

(heres a little teaser of wes in action at long beach, we hope to have some torrance finish photos soon.)

update

[here is wes's journal account for his 1st place, oops i mean 2nd place]

In the Cat 4 crit in Torrance we had a small field of about 50 riders due to Chuck Pontius being held on the same day. I looked around when we lined up and saw some of the heavy hitters made it out to Torrance and knew it the small field would only make the race faster. Two laps and a break of 6 riders go off the front. I reacted too slow and finally decided I need to be in every break in this race because of the small field so I jumped and spent 2 laps in no man’s land finally bridging the gap to join the break. We held off the peloton for about 5 laps and than were reeled in. My legs where feeling really good and I knew I would be aggressive all race. About 2 laps later I got in a break of 4 that stayed away for about 4 laps or so before getting caught. 2 laps later the pace slowed so I decided to jump knowing someone would come with me and indeed I got one more rider to go with me and this one stuck for awhile but again we chased down. Later a solo rider went away and I was too tired to bridge and seeing no one went with him knew he wasn’t going to be a threat not to mention we had 20 minutes left in the race and it was windy. I helped reel him back in after letting him dangle for 5 or 6 laps (Torrance is a really short course only ½ mile long). The very next lap my friend James took a flyer so I joined him. He exhausted himself on the initial effort, so I came around to pull and ended up dropping him. I held up let him catch back on and take a turn than came around again for my turn and dropped him again. Realizing he wasn’t going to be strong enough to make it stick I sat up and waited to be caught by the peloton.

At this point we went to lap cards with 6 to go. A rider from Ironfly went to the front and set a nice pace that no one willing to come around him, I was sitting second wheel. The rider from Ironfly continued to pull and knowing he had 4 other teammates in the race I refused to come around to pull since that would have to be the job of his teammates. I sat in staying uber vigilant watching over my shoulder for the possible attack up the side. Nothing happened until the last lap. The Ironfly rider still pulling he lifted the pace stringing out the group which made me happy. Just out of turn 3 just what I expected a rider sitting 5 wheel or so jumped from the outside so I jumped and grabbed his wheel and followed him hauling ass right into the super windy section for the course. I knew I had to jump before the last turn seeing it is only about a 250meter sprint to the line out of turn 4. So I did, I jumped and sailed to the outside taking turn 4 super HOT jammed passed the rider and stood and gave everything I had to hold off the peloton. I saw one rider creep up to my right and we sprinted it out for the remaining 100 meters. He beat me by a rim! A stinking rim! Leaving me to finish 2nd. First podium of the season for yours truly and I got pictures to prove it! Oh and a copy of the check I deposited today!
So there it is a perfect time for me to find my form with Dana Point, which is a National Race Calendar race coming up next weekend were the points are doubled. The second place awarded me 11 points, which skyrocketed me to 70th place in the socal cup standings!
With that said I just wanted to take a second to thank Jim for all the support he has provided me throughout the past two seasons. He shows up or calls me before every race to prepare me and does the same after every race to hear the stories of both victory and defeat, always supporting me regardless of the outcome. Thanks again Jim I am honored to have you as my Director Sportif and as my friend! The next one will be a win buddy!

PS. I told you team my money was on me! haha.

GLAMOUR

2009-03-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

oh the sights, the poggio, via roma, the glamour that is milan - san remo.
[nooooo, i can't believe cav won.]

* the boys are flying the team becher+ colors this weekend at the san dimas stage race, they are off to a good start, more details later, right here.

BABY

2009-02-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

quick update:

baby makes 3, welcome our latest team member and all around cutie.

KIT LOVE

2009-01-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

here is some kit love courtesy of team member wes, aka 'bad ass'.
[and yes wes lives in socal]

side note: it is becoming a common occurrence of late, that when riding in the company of a rock racing rider, they comment on how much they like the kits. many days later and after a few recovery drinks, naps and many more espressos, it finally dawned on me that maybe they were alluding to the fact that they may need a job soon. [don't get me started on what a shyster m. ball is and how he is in the process of screwing up a lot of talent's 2009 season. not to mention what a coward and lowlife he and rock racing were when they let some of their support staff go a few months ago. i wonder who they got to drive the truck / trailer?]

TRUE

2009-01-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

“men no longer know how to dress well or properly groom themselves. Men no longer know how to dance. Men no longer win races to impress women, which is the only True Inspiration.” Giovanni Turci

pezcyclingnews

MOTOR PACE

2008-12-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

here is some footage of my last motor pace session, enjoy

HAPPY

2008-11-27T09:15:00.001-08:00

happy thanksgiving to everyone.

i hope this marks my return to blogging and more importantly to riding. i have been so busy with my design and architecture projects that i have foregone some of my blogging and riding. i have gained 5.5 kilos and need to get back out there during the week to do what i also love, riding. to say that i have been a touch depressed about it is an understatement. after crushing my collarbone last year and coming back to strong form and TT'ing better than ever, i have let it slip away again.

but in a bright note, i have a few surprises to unveil in the coming weeks regarding a new bike / caffe venture, exciting prospects for the team next year and a few boring stories about what has been going on.

see you all soon and please start checking back for more blue ramblings.

[did i mention that i got married?]

2008-09-30T20:09:00.001-07:00

wow, the new team bike at interbike
(yep, still here and ready to ride)

RIIS

2008-07-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

[ENJOY]

STATE

2008-06-24T21:25:00.000-07:00

[post by wes]

So last Sunday I raced with the cat 4’s at San Pedro which was the State Criterium Championship. WOW!! what a challenging and great course with two chicanes, the first led to an uphill and the second one which was a banked downhill, both made the course really interesting. Anyhow to cut to the chase my legs felt really good and with two laps to go I was in the top 7 riders. On the last lap I was still in great position but due to a handful of guys dive bombing the last corner I found my self getting shuffled back a little. With about a 500 meter false flat finish with the course narrowing due to the announcing booth and the registration table I had no where to make my move and felt my legs raring to go but with no lane to pass riders, how frustrating this was. So I finished 15th not making my season beginning goal of top 5 (bummer).

I always walk away from these races realizing what a tough sport this is, it would be so much easier if you only had to deal with the pain of riding hard but you throw 100 guys jocking for position, cutting you off, and blocking you for their teammate and you have a very technical and grueling sport. Anyways, it was a really fun race and I seem to be getting a lot of respect from the strong guys in my category which is great for our team. Thanks to Jim and Steffan for coming out and providing great support. Next week is Manhattan beach which is a NRC event so the points are doubled. My goal for this race is again top 5. I think I will be a little more aggressive and save a little less for the sprint and put more into getting to top 5 before the last turn. Wish me luck.

thanks for reading.
Wes

WEEKEND 2

2008-06-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

[JACOB POST]

Ok, now that I can finally sit down at the computer and dedicate
some time to writing about what happened.

In the San Fernando race Stefan and I ventured out onto the
horribly `P' shaped course amongst a field of 40 to compete for
about 30 minutes. It was a fairly uneventful race, and the 180
degree turn at the bottom of the course made for a big slow down
and then a fast acceleration in which a lot of power was used
and people seemed to be set up to crash. Although no one did
crash, many cranks hit the ground upon first circling the poorly
chosen route. Nothing really happened other than a few standard
accelerations. There was a bit of a false flat downhill before
the 180 degree turn, and a bit of a false flat uphill for the
way back up towards the finish line. I stayed in the middle for
most of the race, relaxing and having a good time, as my main
goal was to get out of cat 5 alive, but this ended up working
out very well, as in the last few laps I moved to the front and
on the last lap positioned myself correctly, switched into the
perfect gear for the acceleration, and jumped on the lag
following the turn. If I had someone pull my up, it would have
been infinitely better, but the guy that I was drafting behind
slowed down significantly during the 700 meter jaunt towards the
line, so I had to battle the wind and try and catch up with the
3 main guys who podium-d. I almost beat the 4th guy, as he got
lazy, but it was a bit too little, too late, and I came in 5 out
of 29 that finished. It was a crappy course, but a decent race,
as everyone was just out to have fun it seemed, rather than that
usual worthless cat 5 acceleration at random times bullshit that
just mixes up the field, not really tiring anyone out, but the
solo breakaway who doesn't get more than a few yards up before
being consumed by the rampaging organism that is the group of
angsty old men who need the points to upgrade again after not
racing for years. Oh, and stefan and I were the only ones who
were under 25 in the race (I believe). Hey man, those angsty old
guys can haul sometimes.
The average speed for the race was 20mph.
5/40

Bicycle Johns was a bit of a different story, as it was a crit.
Four corners of hellacious hell-dom raining down upon my
confidence. In this one I placed 14 out of 50, but it wasn't as
much fun. I need to regain my confidence in crits following the
woodland hills crash, because while I walked away almost
completely unscathed, I realize how lucky I am, and how much I'd
rather do a road race or GP, even though crits are fun, as there
is less of a chance of me being injured, and thus no longer
being able to ride. So, the race started off fast with a
fair amount of wind, so when I got pushed out into the wind, it
caused me to work a lot harder than I should have been working.
I stayed on the outside, because I was too afraid to be on the
inside of such an agro crit. I just wanted to survive until I
got the upgrade, as I mentioned earlier. It was basically a
battle for the front the entire time with several almost crashes
occurring in the pack throughout the race. The big crash
happened when the back half of the group got stuck behind a
group of riders who went down (I don't know what happened,
because I was moving into position in the front out of the
middle and subsequently harms way when the carnage ensued). I
was up front, and slowed down to look (hey man, I'm still new
and my instincts of wanting to help injured people kicked in)
and realized that that was a stupid move, so I accelerated to
catch up with the group, but others had taken the opportunity
right at that time to break away, so it was pretty much a futile
attempt... until the last lap! So I was near the front, coming
around the last half of the lap, and I again got stuck behind a
guy who slowed up significantly, slowing me down, and making me
go around him in an attempt to catch the front by myself. I came
around the final turn, a bit separated, but was able to sprint
past a few guys to make up for my slowness. It was an ok race,
and I was just not as cold hearted and solid spine-d as I had
hoped to be. It's there, I promise.
The Average speed was 25mph
14/50

Shazaam, that was a weekend of racing as described by Jacob
Margolis.

Oh, and I upgraded to Cat 4, so wes, becher, and brian, here I
come! I look forward to being able to work with all of you guys.

WEEKEND

2008-06-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

[wes post]
images will be posted soon.

Saturday Brian and I contested the Cat 4 at San Fernando. After controlling the entire race i.e. bringing back breaks and setting tempo along with Chester and Seth of Platinum Racing we were set to go with two to go. On the Bell lap Brian moved into the lead-out position taking the lead of the peleton and ramping the pace like he does so well. The guys from Platinum let me in to take Brian’s wheel (Becher + gets respect). Through the S-Turn and down to the final turn Brian let a few through setting me up taking 3rd wheel. After the Big U turn I ended up in front, not where I would like to be at all,especially with 700 meters or so to the finish. After looking back and seeing a small gap on the peleton I jumped and put my head down and hammered. Obviously an amature move, with about 200 meters to go a huge group of guys go my me leaving me to finish a lousy 27th. What an upsetting finish for me, especially with such a great move from Brian I felt that I really let him down. I had top 5 at least cinched and blew it. Live and learn I guess. Brian finished in 33rd.

Sunday I represented Becher+ in the Cat 4 at Bicycle Johns Grand Prix. A new course from last years and a great one at that. A really fast 3 1/2 turn really really fast course. About 20 minutes of really fast paced racing a group of 7 went up the road. I scanned the group from the peleton to see who was in it. It was both Seth and Chester from Platinum racing, and a few other big hitters that have been racing really well lately. Therefore I knew that it was the winning break with that line up in it. So I planned my attack and launched out of the peleton and bridged the gap solo to enter the break. What started as a 10 second gap from the field we ramped up the pace all working really really hard to put time on the peleton which we did. When a crash in the peleton occured on turn one it enabled us to increase our split on the field. With five to go the peleton were closing in but it was too late to catch us because we were flying. On the last lap in turn three our paceline got split up when one of our break away riders flated and caused our group to split into two paceline. After the final turn we all hammered but my group of 4 got behind, but I sprinted past one rider and finished 6th overall. Seriously without a doubt one of the hardest efforts I ever put into a race. It was murder just hanging on to that break let alone after taking my pull when it was my turn. What a great way to finish the weekend!! Some great racing and workout for the up and coming state championships next week.

Thanks for all the hollering and cheering and yelling of split times from Jim, John, Greg, and of course my girlfriend Kristine!!

Thanks for reading

Wes

140KM BOS

2008-06-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

[now some fun for tim while he lays on the couch dreaming of gold]

Wielrennen - Theo Bos met 140 km per uur op Mallorca

ed. always wear a helmet and don't be a euro-pro nob

MOTIVATION

2008-06-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

some motivation, dutch style.

ONTARIO CRIT REPORT

2008-06-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

[the following is the ontario [1 jun] CAT4 race report from wesly neilson, team rider and all around bad ass]

Yesterday Brian and I contested the Cat 4 race at the Ontario Airport Crit. The field was smaller than usual (due to the Dana Pointe Race). Anyhow Brian me and our friend Eddie lined up together with a plan to stick together and help set a good pace throughout the race and more importantly to really drive the pace on the last lap with a goal to position me in the third wheel to launch me for the sprint. The pace started really slow and so Brian went to the front and really ramped it up to tire out those who couldn’t hang. A few breaks got away and were reeled in without any problem. Later in the race another 2 man break went up the road. When it was time to reel that one it Brian took his turn first, Eddie did his job after that, then it was my turn. We closed the gap significantly but couldn’t get the group back without help. Therefore not wanting to race for fourth we basically called out the peleton for lacking the will to do work. Finally with 3 laps to go someone other than us three took a pull and finished the job bringing the break back. On the bell lap it was time to make our move. After turn 1 Brian took command of the peleton setting a blistering speed that no one could get around. Eddie was sitting 2nd wheel and I third. When Brian pulled slowed just before turn 2 Eddie took his turn, once again setting a great pace. Eddie popped a little early and the pace slowed. Luckily a rider for Team Bearclaw jumped around Eddie and created a gap. Therefore I jumped on his wheel and we set up for the final turn (3). Two riders beat us into the turn taking the inside lanes. Sitting in fourth I stood and sprinted passing one rider and finally just nipping the other at the line to finish 2nd! It was a great race and I felt good going into it. But I must admit I could not have pulled it off without the help of my Teammate Brian BW’s and our good friend Eddie who both did a lot of work chasing breaks, setting awesome tempo, and positioning me perfectly for the sprint. So mark it 11 points for Team Becher +. After the race we continued to be complimented from the may riders on our hard efforts and being the controlling squad of race. Hope you enjoyed, and hope to see you all at the next race which will be San Fernando Sat. June 14.

BETTER

2008-05-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

i could have not said it better about how i am feeling of late and now it is time to refill the well. especially after my pathetic performance at the barry wolfe crit yesterday. the highlights for the team was jacobs complete command and control of the cat5 race, up until the 2nd to last corner, when a knob took his front wheel out and caused a 6+ pile up, ending jacobs stellar performance and possible podium place. wes made up for my lack of performance in the cat4 race and had us on our feet at the beginning of the last lap as he moved into second place and eventually finished in the front bunch. the whole team is proud of stefan, jacob and wes yesterday, they made the colors known and really made a go of it. i could not be happier as DS of my boys efforts yesterday.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY.

ROUND 2

2008-05-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

tim is back in the hospital today for round 2, he has one or more blood clots in his injured knee / leg and will be in the hospital for a few days on an anti-clot drip to try and open them up without surgery. once again please keep tim in your prayers and i will keep you posted here as to his progress and eventual release from the hospital.

[i have been taking it easy since tim's accident and hospital stay, it really wore me out and now i am back to riding and racing. this weekend the boys in blue will be contesting the barry wolfe crit in woodland hills at various levels, so come on out and say hi. this past weekend paul did his first race ever at ontario, he held his own for awhile, but the heat stroke from the day before and the 100 degree weather finally did him in and he reluctantly pulled out towards the end. i am very proud of him for his effort and for even doing the race and i know that soon enough, we all will be seeing his back side at the finish once he gets a few more races under his belt.]

UPDATE 1

[even in the hospital tim represents for the sponsors]

his blood clot status, albeit a very serious condition in his leg, do to one of them being above his knee, is holding steady and the treatment is not complete yet.

UPDATE 2
tim is now back home, getting shots in the stomach and we are all praying that the regimen works and his clots are gone for good.

NOT COOL

2008-04-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

.
tim jackson get well fund

.
unfortunately i have some bad news to report concerning one of our star riders, tim, aka masiguy, action jackson, maggie.
apparently someone slowed down in front of him at the SD velodrome last night and tim tried to go high and ended up hitting the boards at 30mph +. he sustained a concussion [he was out for 5 minutes], broken ribs, a few fractured neck bones and a mangled thumb that will have surgery done on it today. please keep tim in your prays and i will update his legions of fans here as soon as i know more.

[UPDATE]
tim is at mercy hospital in SD. he will be there till tomorrow?

[UPDATE 2]
down in SD now, tim is in surgery for his thumb and i will be going there around 6pm pacific time to see how he is doing and if he ruined his new long sleeve skinsuit. the latest i got from his parents is that he is doing fine and talking prior to surgery.

[UPDATE 3]
tim's surgery on his thumb went well and is now in his own room [1024 / mercy hospital], i'm on my way over there now.

[UPDATE 4]
back now from the hospital and tim is doing well. he looked a lot better than i had thought, after hearing about the accident from various people. his eye has improved almost 100% from what it looked like at the track [it was about the size of a baseball, now it is swollen like one would expect]. his head is fine, with frequent headaches. i saw a picture of his catlike helmet, and it was like a open calm shell, with the hinge at the front and back gone. the news about his right knee is not looking so good as of this evening, we are still waiting on the direct news from the doctor, but he had a CT scan and it showed that it was fractured, but that is all we know right now, other than it is completely swollen. they keep finding new road rash. one rib is fractured and one lung bruised, but not deflated and he is breathing fine. the right thumb is the real question mark along with the right kneecap. the surgery on the thumb to reattach it was a success, but it will take a few days to really find out. the thumb was not completely severed because of the accident, but it was not fully attached. the surgeon said that every looks towards a full recovery. in fact he is in good spirits and really appears to be on the road to recovery and should be out of the hospital by friday. as far as i can tell is that he should be fine. tim sends his regards to everyone and to thank everyone for their kind remarks and wishes. sorry if this post is a bit here and there, but i am completely exhausted, both emotionally and physically. check out some of the blog love at unbreakable bonds, kk [caution it contains pictures of tim after surgery, daddy iggy was there to see tim tonight,

i am starting a tim 'masiguy' jackson get well fund to cover some of the costs that his insurance may not cover. i am not looking to raise a huge amount of money for him, but enough to help him get through this unfortunate accident and the time lost away from work and to cover some of the uncovered medical / medicine costs. i will be setting up a paypal account for the fund and if you would like to send a check in the name of tim jackson, send me an email to blue_squirrelATearthlinkDOTnet and i will forward you my mailing address. if we could all give $1, $5, or $10, we should be able generate enough to get tim through this with a little less stress.

[UPDATE 5]
tim 'masiguy' jackson get well fund
i have set up a paypal fund for tim or if you prefer you can send a gift card for tim to me [email me and i will send you a mailing address]
- donate to tim via paypal using [blue_squirrelATearthlinkDOTnet]
- trader joes gift card
- starbucks gift card [don't get me started on espresso, this is a no brainer and convenient for tim]
- prepaid gas card [google]
- prepaid mastercard

[UPDATE 6]
the paypal link has been fixed, it now simply goes to the paypal homepage, use [blue_squirrelATearthlinkDOTnet] as the send to email. thanks in advance from tim, he is very proud and some what shy [don't laugh], but i know he is overwhelmed by the well wishes and support. it is almost enough to make a 200lb sprinter tear up. oh, i need to adjust the speed at which tim banged the boards, his estimate is 35 - 38mph, my thought is that is slow for tim when he starts winding up his sprint on the last lap of a track sprint.

[UPDATE 7]
back from the hospital again and tim seems to be getting better all the time. his eye is still nasty looking, but should make a full recovery. his thumb is still a [?], but should be fine. we will not know about his knee / kneecap till later today as to whether he needs surgery on it or not. head and neck hurt enough to warrant pressing the morphine button from time to time. he wants to thank everyone who has called, blogged, donated and simply sent well wishes. we all really appreciate it.
- tim wanted me to clarify that from his point of view, the rider that cracked on the bell lap [after 24 laps] pulled out high and thus with tim carrying a speed of +38mph, he had no were to go but higher and then into the boards, as such i have removed the moniker of 'nob' from my original post.

[UPDATE 8]
a few more links to blogs about tim's accident, there has been a huge outpouring of blog love, i don't have time to list all of them, feel free to leave a comment with your link.
avenue Z
bike biz
iggy racing

[UPDATE 9]
i am back in smelLA for a day and apologize for the delay in the updates. first off the prognosis for the knee is dissent, he fractured the tip of his femur at the knee [not that bad] and the tibula [sp], which is the more serious of two. the treatment now for the right knee is to have it in a brace for 10+ weeks and NO surgery at this time. tim is definitely looking better and had much better color. i will post a smiling picture of him once i download them. KKs pictures were great, but i want everyone to know that he is doing better and looks a bit more like the tim we all know. i will continue to thank all those that have been sending their well wishes and helping with the get well fund, we all really appreciate it. tim's mom is on the job and has the hospital staff on their toes. shes great, just so you know were tim gets it from. also tim has his personal nurse ann, at his bed side, i hope she doesn't spoil him too much, cause it has taken me years to get him to this point ;-)

[UPDATE 10]
the latest is that tim has already started physical therapy and mapping out how he is going to win that masters title on the track next year, since this year is a wash [ie evil conspiracy to get him out of contention this year]. he said that the physical therapy was not nice and of course went into how the crutch and or walker felt a bit soft in the corners and how they could strengthen the frame and change the angles a bit to make it handle better. so as i was saying, the cracks in his skull were there all along and he is back to talking bike frame designs. i almost forgot to mention that yesterday he got a call from one of his hero's, none other than bob roll'ske. he was totally jazzed like a little school boy to get the call and to talk with bob, it really lifted his spirits, kudos bob. tim did say he forgot to remind bob that at the sinclair party last year, he promised to come ride with the team some time, just saying. tim should be in the hospital for another day or so of physical therapy. rumor has it that i will be getting some photos of tim on his full scandium walker with carbon pursuit bars.

[UPDATE 11]
as i promised, a smiling picture of herr jackson and one of him with his new favorite knee brace. the picture of the knee brace was after the physical therapy torture [if it was any thing like mine, i am sure his neighbors heard]

[ohhh, ain't that there a smile?]

[i went to the SD velodrome and all i won was this nifty leg brace, well, ok and a neck brace, a pin in my thumb, really cool self inflating leg massagers, some really cool road rash, and a stunner of a black eye, oh, did i mention the cracked rib and skull?]

[UPDATE 12]
tim is still in the hospital as of this morning and could quite possibly go home this evening, or not. home for now for all of those that want to send him flowers or fat-free donuts, will have to hold off as he will be staying with his sister for a few weeks once he is released, as she has 10 less steps to get up. we can always arrange something, as i will be down there next weekend for the fiesta island TT and mothers day. ok, back to tim, he is doing physical therapy daily and has been up and using the walker as best his 200lb sprinter frame can handle. its a good thing tim started out as a young tall skinny climber, so he is not whining like an A-typical prima donna sprinter type. he is off the morphine drip and on to percocet [my favorite go to post surgery, hit your head pain med]. the headaches come fast and hard but are tempered by the percocet. he sounds so much better and alert [duh, he's not on morphine anymore]. he is going to go nuts having to be off the leg for up to 12 weeks, i foresee a bit of a contentious situation come 8 weeks with his doctor regarding why he tried to get on the trainer. so everyone can breath a bit easier as tim is doing fine this beautiful soCal sunday. oh, on a personal note, this week of drama has taken its toll on me and i feel like i have been floored by a bad case of the flu, just the feeling of having zero energy left, and thus i wussed out of racing today at san luis rey [love that race], but wes and brian are representing the colors today and trying to make something happen for tim.

[UPDATE 14]
good news everyone, tim is on his way home today. tim should be released from the hospital later today or this evening after his consultation with his doctors. he actually has been practicing going up and down stairs with his crutches and could quite possibly end up going home to his place. the walker just was not working out for him, balance wise, and so he moved to some modified crutches that work fairly well. he can't put pressure on his right hand, due to his thumb, so they modified a crutch to put pressure on his forearm. the GREAT news is that he can wiggle his right thumb and can feel the tip, that is awesome news for a full recovery. ok, more updates as i get the news.

[UPDATE 15]
TIM IS HOME tim confirmed this evening that he is home, climbed the stairs like a sprinter with a fractured knee and looking forward to getting online [ED. he already posted]. this has been a long week and we can all breath a sigh of relief that tim is on to the next phase of his recovery. check back here for any developments in tim's get well fund [which is growing daily, thanks to the generosity of friends, bloggers, and strangers, all of you rock more than you know], recovery updates, and other fun tim news. rumor has it, and this is just a rumor, that a famous american grand tour winner may be signing a jersey soon, to be ether raffled or ebay'd to add to tim's get well fund, so sit tight, come back soon and GO RIDE [if only because you can]. oh and before i forget, buy a MASI [how could i resist, i had your attention]

tim jackson get well fund

RIDE sunday

2008-04-29T13:07:00.001-07:00

[27 apr 2008]

sundays ride was still hot or is that hotter. i drove this time to tim's place and we headed out to point loma to hit some beautiful rollers. it was a fairly good tempo day with a few attacks out on the rollers, at the navy base on the way to the light house. other than a few nobs / freds riding treks, the day was great. we headed back at a good clip through fashion valley and up the HILL to hillcrest through the UCSD hospital. this hill is a good 8 - 15% grunter and we both surprisingly felt fresh going up it. all in all a great weekend of riding with my brother from another mother. with in a year i may even be able to stay with tim when he decides he is tired of going fast and goes faster.

RIDE saturday

2008-04-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

[25 april 2008]

ok, i've recovered from the heat and my rides with tim.
on saturday i started out from la mesa and headed west to meet up with tim in fashion valley, than on to fiesta island to do a few laps with manuel. after that tim i headed toward mt. soledad and i proceeded to wreak myself up it, in what was one of the first rides of the year in 100 degree weather, i swear i saw confederate soldiers on mt. soledad when i reached the top. from there we proceeded down the backside, on a decent i would rather forget [really bad concrete pads, that were raised up in every direction, usually pointing you straight into a pot hole at a grade of +15%] we then cruised over to UCSD and turned back towards the bike trail along the 5 freeway. out of no where as tim and i are doing a good clip and talking BS, a few riders from dewalt, ucc, etc. grab our tail and of course tim and i were having none of that, so tim put the hammer down, i followed and the boys behind, stayed behind. it seems that they couldn't muster enough strength to overcome tim's dieseling at 30+ into a headwind. i dropped tim off again in fashion valley and i proceed to climb my way back to la mesa in 100+ weather, uuugggg.

TORRANCE CRIT 2008

2008-04-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

ok, finally some form and redemption, albeit stymied by a huge pile up in front of me on the last lap.

the torrance crit went off very successfully for noah, wes and i. no one crashed and we all put in a good hard effort. the torrance crit is 4 corners of pure speed and some good ol fashioned bumping and skidding. noah was first off the mark and held his own up front for most of the race, while wes and i yo yo'd through the group. it was wes's first race of the season and even though he is getting a late start on things, he held his own and got stronger through the race. i too held my own and got some confidence back that had been lacking since coming back after surgery. i felt stronger and more comfortable as the race went on. i would say that every flat and or crash was due to a carbon rim blowing up, some guys keep their bikes upright, others did not. going into the first corner of the last lap at full rivet, about 10 guys went sliding across the lane as i was deep into my corner and as my back wheel went sideways and said hi to the front wheel, i finagled my way through the carnage and got on it to finish as best i could after going from 30+ to 3+ and still in my 53/11. all in all a good day, i am proud of the efforts that noah and wes put out, as far as i am concerned they did the colors proud and i walked away with a big smile after i caught my breath and could talk again.

[never start at the back of the field at torrance, oops, as passing is pure grit]

[wes getting his game on]

[am i really smiling?]

[chester and blue moving up]

[i will be able to talk in a few minutes]

SATURDAY RIDE 19 apr

2008-04-19T22:31:00.000-07:00

a good solid ride with wes, brian, john, stefan, peter, and the soon to be racing paul [well actually peter L should be racing too, but i don't know if i have that much mojo to get him out try again after all these years] we did a good pace out to descanso gardens, rose bowl, lida, and back to HQ. all in all a great ride with a few big ring power intervals.

[wes is one bad ass vegan]

[saturday gang minus a few]

[team pride]

QUOTE OF THE DAY SDCVO

2008-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

" a group of riders huddled together, trying not to blow over is NOT racing"
anon 35+ 4/5 racer, going home before the start of stage 2

STAGE 2 AND 3 / SDSCO

2008-04-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

STAGE 2
this image pretty much sums up stage 2. the winds were gusting +35 mph and after stefan returned a few minutes after starting his stage, i called the plug on our stage 2 antics. the wind conditions put the race organization into serious disarray, with start times starting 1 hour later than on time, i personally didn't even have time to get ready after helping the organizer tape down my groups sign in sheet, she said that our race would start on time, that gave me 7 minutes to get dressed and on the bike, instead of the previous stated 1 hour. needless to say i was highly caffeinated and not happy. the CHP even rumored to close highway 8 to traffic because of the wind. so stefan and i loaded his bike on the roof [not easy when you are blowing over] and headed back to la mesa and a consolation ride out to the coast and del mar.

[stefan smiling cause he knows that he is going to get to go UP torrey pines on the way back from del mar]

STAGE 3
well, the crit did not go much better for me and quite frankly was pathetic and i don't really want to go into it, i felt good, i got some sleep, i eat well, warmed up and proceeded to fall victim to 3 large teams on the hunt for omnium points and places, nuff said.

stefan on the other hand had some fun attacking and bridging all day. he really did very well considering it was a flat course and his average speed is faster up hill. all props go to stefan for great first 3 straight days of racing. he really made me and the whole team proud.

[stefan warming up]

[stefan getting his race on]

STAGE 1

2008-04-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

[quick update]
SAN DIEGO CYCLO-VETS OMNIUM TT [20K]

17 BECHER, JAMES TEAM BECHER+ 20:20.63 [masters 35+ 4/5]
14 WEBSTER, STEFAN TEAM BECHER+ 22:15.29 [cat5]

-now for the rest of the story, we had 6 hours of sleep, got up at 5am, had 20min of warmup, started at 7:10am.

HELL

2008-04-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

[the pain of second]

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder: One of the four beasts saying: "Come and see." And I saw. And behold, a white horse. There's a man goin' 'round takin' names. An' he decides who to free and who to blame. Everybody won't be treated all the same. There'll be a golden ladder reaching down. When the man comes around.

The hairs on your arm will stand up. At the terror in each sip and in each sup. For you partake of that last offered cup, Or disappear into the potter's ground. When the man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers. One hundred million angels singin'. Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum. Voices callin', voices cryin'. Some are born an' some are dyin'. It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom come.

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. The virgins are all trimming their wicks. The whirlwind is in the thorn tree. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Till Armageddon, no Shalam, no Shalom. Then the father hen will call his chickens home. The wise men will bow down before the throne. And at his feet they'll cast their golden crown. When the man comes around.

Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still. Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still. Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still. Listen to the words long written down, When the man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers. One hundred million angels singin'. Multitudes are marchin' to the big kettle drum. Voices callin', voices cryin'. Some are born an' some are dyin'. It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom come.

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree. The virgins are all trimming their wicks. The whirlwind is in the thorn tree. It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

In measured hundredweight and penny pound. When the man comes around.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts, And I looked and behold: a pale horse. And his name, that sat on him, was Death. And Hell followed with him.

HELL IS COMING
[sunday brings the hell of the north / paris roubaix will be taking no prisoners, may the best man win. thanks mr. cash for the lyrics]

QUOTE OF THE DAY

2008-04-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

"I came close. You have to fight and when you do, you have to be happy."
Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank)

TUESDAY TRACK 1

2008-04-09T11:12:00.001-07:00

tim let it all hang out last night at the tuesday night track races at the san diego velodrome, testing his form in various events. just starting to gain some form and after multiple out of country trips, he did very well, actually showed some spark, i feel sorry for the competition when that spark turns into a fire and those guns really start spinning.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
'i like your bike, it's sparkly'
9 year old track racing girl

[racers to the line]

[the really cool thing about the evening was the graduation of the juniors track class, which was sponsored by squadra [?] these kids that would otherwise not have access to bikes and the track, got a chance to learn the ropes and race. they all seemed really jazzed about racing on the track and i hope will continue racing for both the good of them and cycling.]

[warming up with masidaughter]

[this is not tim walking up to the rail]

[but tim did finally make it to the rail]

[tim cooling down]

[tim making his move]

[tim off the front]

WEEKEND RIG

2008-04-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

so heres my weekend story, first i start off saturday putting in a great 2 loops of la tuna / verdugo / kenneth loop, a total of 68 miles of grinding rollers, la tuna, team TT speedwork with noah and paul. it was a truly great hard threshold workout, the boys really impressed. we did some speed work and team TT work on the downside from la tuna backside, on honolulu to verdugo, at a respectable 28mph + average [with stop lights]. noah and paul really let it fly. than after all that on saturday and a nap, i of course had to finish sizing my TT rig before a 6:45am sign-in in san diego sunday morning. needless to say in true blue fashion i got to our southern HQ in la mesa around midnight, stayed positive and set the alarm, it went off at 5am, than again at 5:20am and again at 5:30am, i felt like crap and blow off the fiesta island TT prep race [SDCV omnium next friday - sunday] and slept in for another few hours, woke up with the start of a bad i need sleep headache. i proceeded to arrange a ride on fiesta island to test the rig and sizing with big boy action masiguy jackson. the bike went great, it is really smooth and the position i believe is spot on, so not everything was a complete lose. after a few too many laps and an hour or so later, getting pushed around by the crosswinds, stupid drivers and trying to finagle tim into using his massive maggie size to block the ever changing winds lost its charm right about the time my head said 'enough, you can do what ever you want TT boy, but i am shutting down until i get some sleep and aspirin'. so that was my weekend. positive- TT rig is sized and ready to dominate [ie, i have to hang on], my head no longer feels like it did when i was in the andes the first time, and is back to normal [shutup].

[paul refueling for another lap over to the frontside of la tuna from glendale college, sporting his snazzy red shoes[ed. ok, so you can't see them, but trust me they are snaaazzzyy]

[paul striking a dominate pose or wondering why the hell he is doing the loop again]

[hi my name is tim, yes i am a dork. hi i'm jim, yes my head hurts and yes the wind is blowing]

[tim showing his disapproval of me being in front on him]

[proof i was in front of him]

[tim put his pride aside long enough to snap this great shot]

[finally where i should be, that is having tim's, huh, should we say large frameset, protecting me and setting quite the drafting precedent for the rest of the peloton]

HIGH TIM

2008-04-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

[news flash, masiguy seen training with big-foot in local mountains]

tim went to a top secret masi brand camp in big bear lake this past week and got in some good ol' fashion high altitude training. it was suppose to snow, which it didn't, but he did get to put some of the extra weight in the freezer, as it was hovering around 32 [that would be 0 for all you euro types]. i will have tim explain his make shift thermal booties himself or how to turn team aero booties into thermal booties. it reminds me of the time a few years back while i was in arizona training and got caught un-aware's that it would be 32 degrees at 6am, so i found myself in a 24hr wal-mart buying gardening gloves so i could get some feeling back in my hands. apparently i can only fit one hand in my mouth at time to warm them up.

[looking good in the over challenged team wind jacket, yet not cold enough for the cap]

[there you go, now it is cold enough for the cap, but just a wind vest]

[one sweet looking team bike with a very special red grouppo]

TEAM MATES

2008-03-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

[back log of images]

[we will start off with the big guy himself in the NEW 2008 team kit, tim 'action' 'masiguy' jackson and his tremendous guns]

[coming up the inside at LA circuit race, and i didn't break my collarbone this time]

[that's right i said i didn't break my collarbone this year, and yes i am very excited about that fact]

[and noah is happy, but for his own reasons, cause he rocked it at the windy LA circuit race]

[team becher+ representing at LA circuit, not to mention a fine collection of masi's, note that noah aka hapy and i are trying to block the wind so andy doesn't blow away]

[up close and looking good in the 2007 edition of the team kit, by the way the wind was blowing in from noah's, aka hapy's side]

[stefan, aka andy and some guy trying to look like him, both sporting the new awesome 2008 mod kit]

[andy and his new 2008 masi team gran crit, in purple people eater purple, say that fast 5 times while climbing glendora mountain]

[big boy action jackson, doing what he does best, going fast in place with no hands]

[another U23 2008 portrait, this time it is crash happy jake, who remains nicknameless, although after today's altercation with a garbage truck, soon he will have run out of things to hit, maybe we should settle on crash or garbage as a nickname, any who, here he is with is stellar looking 2008 kit and even better looking 2008 team U23 masi, prior to chipping his collarbone, while trying to impress the ladies at santa cruz high, oops college]

[getting ready for the SDSR TT up glendora mountain road]

[you would think that those guns would get me up the TT climb faster, alas to no avail, only a measly 4 seconds faster than last year]

[you can never be too warm before your appointment with miss glendora mountain road]

QUOTE OF THE DAY

2008-03-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

"by the third lap i was ready to sale everything"
mike c.

SDSR / stefan

2008-03-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

today in stage 2 stefan showed what he was made of and gave us a glimmer of what is to come for this natural talent. in only his 2nd race [1st road race], he flatted on the first lap at the bottom of the KOM climb, kept his cool, got serviced [it was wheels in, wheels out, he had no wheels in, yet somehow he got neutral service to give him a sram wheel, nice work andy], and proceeded to do the next 5 laps on his own. he did pick up a few groups here and there, yet ate them up and spit them out the back like a bad habit. i can not tell you the amount of pride i feel as his director for what he accomplished today, he stood his ground and fought the good fight. everyone on the team should be honored that stefan was flying our colors today, he made us all proud.

MY SDSR

2008-03-29T19:28:00.001-07:00

[stage 2, other posts to follow, as stefan is holding his own and making the team proud]

today was not my day. i started at the rear and paid the price, my nerve was weak, my heart was strong, i battled on.

my group grew, my legs battled from behind, my determination did not fail me, my nerve was silenced, my heart was strong, we battled on.

we collected more and more, my legs grew quicker, KOM climb eased it's grip on my legs, my determination strengthened, our pace quickened, my nerve nearly back, but alas my group of soldiers were pulled, today was not my day, that is bike racing.

i will strengthen my nerve, i will erase the pain of cracking bones, i will move to the front, i will set the pace.

i will hold my head up high, as i did not quit the conflict today. i will battle on, i will train harder, i will go faster, i will make them pay with my hard efforts. that is bike racing.

MEANTIME

2008-03-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

i have a lot of team news to post, so many pictures of our smashingly NEW cool kit, new team whole bean espresso for sale [proceeds go straight to team], and continued march to the podium. but in the meantime, watch the following...

QUICK NOTE

2008-03-15T19:47:00.001-07:00

i have been falling behind a bit, i have lots of news about the tour of murrieta, photos, U23 new team bikes, and so on. but i was forwarded this tre cool video from my good friend, one of my weekend riding partners, peter, aka lagartija. don't miss a chance to view and do the quick test, trust me it has more to do about cycling than you first realize. pass it on to the lady on the phone driving the escalade or the jerkoff on the phone in the new prius [new prius drivers are now in the top 3 of worst cycling drivers, aka arseholes, aka silent death driving, holier than now anti cyclist]

VIDEO

ESPRESSO WEDNESDAY

2008-03-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

[early afternoon shot]
machine: built in miele automatic
beans: espresso paradiso [papua new guinea]

it is almost fika time here in soCal, so i thought i would post the espresso image of the day from my very good friend grzegorz in a'dam. note the good light colored medium thick creama on top, the tell tell signs of an automatic machine are the larger froth bubbles at the edges. although i prefer a manuel or semi-auto machine, i value a good automatic machine from time to time and miele has a great one [and a good nespresso machine]. greg's miele treated me well on my last trip to a'dam.

PRO: so it looks like the ASO and UCI are in for a train wreak this weekend with the un-professional actions surrounding paris / nice. how do i explain this to my U23 riders? see it through their eyes, what a mess. it is so frustrating, i am glad all i have to do is ride my bike and earn my living doing design.

ESPRESSO THURSDAY

2008-02-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

we could live only on espresso andrea illy

LM100 [andrea illy for le meridien hotels]

For Andrea Illy, a cup of espresso is not a beverage. It’s a creative way of life. “It’s a total experience. And it’s poly-sensual. It involves the sight, the smell, the taste, the touch. Everything,” Illy says. As Chairman of illycaffè, the international coffee company, he sees himself as more than a businessman. He’s a chemist, a philosopher, an innovator.

Coffee culture—the café, the cup, the espresso itself—not only provides a milieu for creativity, but making and drinking espresso are creative acts in and of themselves. Using a coffee machine, smelling and grinding the beans, pouring the espresso into the right cup—for Illy, “It’s a whole ritual.” Drinking espresso integrates the cultivation of pleasure, the cultivation of creativity, and the cultivation of contemplation into one small cup.

The beauty of the cup itself, then, is elemental, and fifteen years ago, the company began to work with contemporary artists to make the cup into a canvas. “The coffee is the body, the cup is the dress. And the dress must be beautiful,” Illy says. Commissioning a series of signature, limited edition espresso and cappuccino cups, illycaffè has incorporated the work of artists such as Louise Bourgeois, David Byrne, Francis Ford Coppola, Federico Fellini, Jeff Koons, Michael Lin, Nam June Paik, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, and many others.

Illy’s role within LM100 is to provide this coffee experience for Le Méridien’s guests. In Illy’s native Italy, “Everybody goes to the café, and many times per day. It is the cathedral of coffee,” he says. Illy has helped Le Méridien bring this café culture into its hotels through Le Méridien Coffee Bars and Le Méridien’s “Creative Hour” coffee tastings.

GP SOPRAZOCCO / 24 FEB 2008

2008-02-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

italian elite U23 action at the GP SOPRAZOCCO, won by Cristian Benenati of Lucchini Neri Comauto.

VIDEO

ESPRESSO TUESDAY

2008-02-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

news update: say what you will about starbucks, we all like to knock the giant down, but i personally respect what starbucks has done for the espresso [not cafe] culture in the us of a. i can remember back in the early 80's, when if you wanted an espresso in san diego, you had 3 choices. if you were in the middle of no where michigan, you had none. now i can get a quality macchiato when i need one. which is as you know, often. starbucks is not the best espresso in town, but it is consistent, that my friend is indeed a good friend.

SEATTLE — Starbucks is closing the doors at its 7,100 stores across America for a brief barista re-education. CEO Howard Schultz announced the 3-hour closure starting at 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday to energize 135,000 employees. He wants baristas to share their passion for making espresso, or as he says, "to pull the perfect shot, steam milk to order and customize their favorite beverage." Schultz says it's part of his refocusing on the coffee customer experience. Since the chairman returned as CEO in January he has been making changes to revive Starbucks' growth

that can only mean one thing, better espresso for all of us.
[the word and correct definition of a macchiato is actually in the apple dictionary, it truly is a better world]

TOUR OF CALIFORNIA STAGE 7 - LA CANADA

2008-02-25T15:49:00.000-08:00

let me just start by saying what a new found deeper respect i have for this years tour of cali riders, what a miserable day to race. it was COLD [high 40F 5C], WET and just down right awful. so i had the brilliant idea to go STAND in this weather for an hour, catching cold waiting for the break to hold on and pass us first. all in all it was actually a lot of fun, i found a great spot on berkshire, plenty of parking [hugh deal in LA] and a corner that the riders would have to slow down ever so much for us to see a little more of them. the promotions caravan came by first, ok, so it was not as big as the TdeF, as it was actually only the toyota guys passing out tre cool cow bells [sorry to the lady i knocked down to get one, just kidding] and whats-u-ma-call'em noise maker sticks. by now i am starting to get really cold and the cow bells, as much as i love them are starting to give me a migraine [really my body just wanted to ride yesterday and i didn't get out]. the announcer truck came by blearing the race news and telling us when they would be coming by. various police, race marshals [they must have 50 for this race] cars, photographers looking really COLD on the back of the motorcycles, went by long before the peloton. then all of a sudden the cow bells went to 11 and break went flying by, than a few minutes later the cowbells went to 11 again and the very meager and depleted peloton went by with levi's boys leading the way. and then it was all over.

observation one observation i had besides the fact that i actually had fun being on this side of a race, was the truly enjoyable time the locals in the neighborhood were having. the race seemed to bring the kid out in everyone and a place a genuine smile on everyones face. which under the weather conditions was extraordinary. i even heard a middle age house wife just blurt out "wow, i really had a good time, watching this race was so much fun". now you have to understand that this was coming from a non-cyclist, just joanne public. this is the real story of the day and the incredible draw this sport has compared to others. we can whine all we want about the drug use stories and astana not in the tour and blah blah blah, but this is the story that the press will never tell. why they don't tell the story i don't know, but is is what we all feel inside and what keeps this sport going. viva la peloton.

[announcer truck pre-break race info]

[the break]

MORE TO COME

MASI UPDATE

2008-02-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

i got an email from don the owner of the sweet 70's MASI gran crit in the previous post. he updated me on the history of the bike, sent the picture of the sweet MASI branded frame pump and has a few questions for us. so if any one can help him narrow down the background on the bike, he would be very grateful.

don's gran crit's history and question:
I'd love to know if mine was actually built by Mario Confente. It does not have a serial number, merely "58" stamped on the bottom bracket. One of the guys on the Vintage Bikes ride thought that it might have been an early demo for bike shops; I bought it from John's Bike Shop in Pasadena in the late 70's, and it had been there a while. They had the new models with braze-ons and six-speed freewheels-mine is a 10-speed!

[PRO]

PRI'S / RIDE 02.23

2008-02-23T15:53:00.000-08:00

training this week has been good. i don't usually give much details on my current training as it is top secret. my spanish coach, we will call him F and my italian coach, we will call him F, really aren't suppose to have contact with riders right now, so i am on the down low [fresh espresso humor]. since it was on again off again rain and freezing temps this mid week, and since i missed my ride w/ TCBF on thursday due to working late on wednesday, i hit the trainer [which i probably spend about 6 hours a year on] to do some ultra top secret, uber hard punk rock intervals. let me explain, the pain comes from the randomness of the iPod playlist on shuffle. the intervals consist of high cadence workouts at beyond threshold for the duration of any punk rock song played. more background, my iPod has 2/3 [out of 8 hours] punk songs on it for motivation while riding alone. so due too the random song selection, i can do an all out interval for 2 minutes [usual punk attention span] or 5 back to back intervals or 30 minutes straight or rest for 20 minutes than do more. totally random and totally exhausting after 1.5 hours of no where to hide on the trainer.

[take note of the espresso machine within easy arm's length, these intervals require multi-able refuelings]

now on to todays ride w/ peter l., noah [hapy], stefan [andy], paul v.. we went out and did the course around the crazy rose bowl today. could there be anymore pedestrians pretending to be exercising? than hit lida canyon road a few times before andy and i broke off to head back to HQ [the kid had an appointment, wtf]. it was a good fairly easy solid ride.

[i had to get my big head in at least one shot]

[hapy and andy just chillin' lik villains]

the piece de la resistance was scoping out and talking the owner of an original circa 80'ish masi gran crit [SWEET], with the original gruppo and pump, into letting me take some pictures of his very cool ride. the images speak for themselves. the owners name was don and once i get more info on the bike from tim or don i will let you know. ok, time for my rub down before hitting the gym again for the 3rd time today.

[the proud owner don and his sweet blue masi gran crit]

[dig the paint detail]

SUMS

2008-02-23T07:53:00.000-08:00

[i think this photo pretty much sums up stage 4 of the TOC into SLO. 2 world camps, 1 race leader, all using the CSC team car for shelter. as they say, brains usually wins races.]

STYLE

2008-02-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

DIG HIS STYLE

[while BKW has stepped into the political fray, probably inadvertently, as some responders took PADRAIG's very observant critique, as an opportunity to bash our great country, you know, the one that provides the best roads in the world to ride a bike on, i so wanted to put fuel on the fire, but instead i will try and stir the subject back to what we love most, and that is passion in racing, so dig sebastien turgot's style in all its glory, cap on, tongue out, burning whatever matches he has left, off the front during stage 2 of the TOC. now this is something to get excited about. oh, and props to bouygues telecom for being scrappy and taking more than one early season win.]

photo credit graham 'that master' watson

3 DAYS OFF TO WORK

2008-02-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

ok, so, it was a long weekend, and thus it was a mini camp for our U23 rider stefan to get in some quality miles. which in laymen's terms, means that he floated up the climbs as i was cursing the day i went over 156lbs [hmm, 15 years ago]. we put in some good rides and had some good company along the way.

[peter l. and stefan relaxing at descanso gardens waiting on fed ex, saturday]

saturday saw noah, stefan, peter l., paul v. and paul hit the road up to the lido canyon loop a few times and then up to the highest point of the area above chevy chase to the 'girls school'. it was a good day of speed and climbing through the twisting roads that crisscross pasadena and glendale.

[everyone at the top]

sunday saw a more leisurely stroll up nichols to mulholland and down to the ocean. it was good tempo on mulholland and the rest of the day was an up and down pace. with a few 'this is not right' from the older set, as i directed stefan to go to the front, pick up the pace and do some work.

[no pic's from sunday, as it was so slow i forgot to take any]

monday being a holiday, i thought it special to take stefan up big tujunga and let him spread his wings. he really put the hurt on the old guy, but i made up for it on verdugo with some good ol' fashion TT speed work at 30+ for a few miles. needless to say, stefan slept well on monday night. ok, this is a brief post, put i am tired too and i have lot of work to do. so i will try and wax poetic in a future post. oh, and ras if you are reading this, yes stefan is skinner than you.

[stefan 'andy' flying up]

[stefan 'andy' flying by]

[stefan 'andy' flying past]

[dig the smirk 'andy' is giving the master, no respect for the old i tell ya']

SUNDAY VIDEO

2008-02-10T07:50:00.001-08:00

i should be getting ready for my ride, but i thought i would post this for your sunday viewing pleasure [those funny italians do know how to pick songs {?] ].

GP Costa degli Etruschi, Ita (1.1)

[click on link above to play video, courtesy of italiaciclismo]

BADASS

2008-02-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

[UPDATED 2008.02.08]
here is a good interview with maggie about pain, it starts off about the reporter in iraq, so bear with it.
PAIN INTERVIEW

[ORIGINAL POST]
i told him to quit copying my look [haircut] and not to break his collarbone. so, maggie goes and breaks his collar bone after i told him not too. i told him it hurts like hell and the surgery sucks for someone who is not use to drugs. my in form fit body said no way to the drugs and anesthesia, and i too had to spend more time in recovery because of it. what a sucky night. but back to the badass that is maggie backstedt. while i was out of commission for a good few weeks, he is already back on the trainer, just days after surgery. than again i can earn money sitting behind a drawing table and he actually has to ride his bike to earn a living. still, he is one badass individual in my blue book. way to go maggie, we will be rooting for you come spring and summer and fall.

Ta en kopp fika

[maggie doing what he does best, being a badass.]

[note the cool, i assume custom, double bracket shoes, tre chic and very trackish]

2007 TDF WINNER UPDATE

2008-02-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

[story: cyclingnews.com]

Van Heeswijk: Rabo riders knew Rasmussen wasn't in Mexico

Former Rabobank rider Max van Heeswijk claims that the riders on the team knew that Michael Rasmussen was not in Mexico training for the Tour de France in June of last year. Van Heeswijk made the statements on a show broadcast Sunday night on Netherlands 2 television. "It was no news to us that Rasmussen was not in Mexico," said Van Heeswijk. "Around the sixth of July I heard that when I was in a training camp with a large group of non-Tour riders."

Rasmussen was famously kicked off the Rabobank team and sent home while wearing the yellow jersey and being on the verge of winning the Tour de France. Rasmussen had filed his whereabouts to the UCI, saying he was training in Mexico at the same time he was seen training in the Dolomites in Italy by television commentator Davide Cassani. When Cassani made this knowledge public, it led to the Dane's removal from the Tour. Rasmussen later admitted to lying, but said it was for personal reasons.

On the same program where Van Heeswijk made his claims, Rasmussen met Cassani again for the first time since last year's fallout. Cassani expressed his remorse for revealing Rasmussen's lie to the public, "I cried that evening that they sent you home. I felt terrible. I felt as if I had stabbed you in the back," the Italian said. Rasmussen didn't blame him, saying, "I know who sent me home. You told your story in good faith."

According to telesport.nl, the UCI closed its investigation of Rasmussen and sent it off to the Monaco cycling federation on January 10. It is said to claim that Rasmussen lied about his whereabouts and received three recorded warnings, which would give him a suspension of three to 12 months. On Thursday, the Monaco federation told Danish television that it had still not received the UCI report.

[rbs: like i said last year, he was not caught d_ping, he was warned by the UCI prior to the TDF, and should never of been kicked out of the TDF by his teams manager. you may of stretched the rules in you favor ras, and thus by the rules should of had a disciplinary hearing BEFORE the TDF. but this issue should have been dealt with before the TDF, not during. rasmussen put in a passionate performance in the 2007 version of the tour and as a pure climber, it was a performance not very common in these modern cycling times.]

NEWS FLASH: RED TROLLEY

2008-02-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

UPDATED [2008.02.05]

[hard day at the office]

[jake at the head of affairs, seeing red]

[noah putting the hurt on]

[red trolley 2008.02.03]

quick news today about the red trolley crit, images to be posted soon.

today in the middle of a very cold and rainy red trolley crit, team becher+ rider jacob margolis scored an impressive 14th [out of 50], in his first crit of his young racing career. he stuck to the plan and keep himself in the top half of the main pack for the entire race, with a few obligatory pulls at the front. for his fist attempt at the cycling equivalent of stock car racing, it was a superb race and effort. noah made a valiant and admirable effort for such a miserable day [even for flemish standards], and for someone who has had limited time to train and puts in 10 hour days at a creative firm in hollywood. team becher+ would like to extend congratulations to both noah and jake for such awesome efforts today.

do to events [and weather] beyond the team's control, tim jackson was unable to contest the red trolley 35+ master's race. we all hope to see him back to racing and winning soon.

team becher+

SOON

2008-02-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE

racer blue squirrel will be back to posting about the team, racing, and odd bike things. very soon. he will be missing this weekends boulevard race that he was preparing for diligently, so he can attend the memorial for his dear friend christopher o'leary. on saturday team riders jacob and noah [aka hapy] will be contesting the boulevard course and on sunday along with tim [aka action jackson / masiguy] will be contesting the red trolly crit in san diego. the whole team wish rbs, jacob, noah and tim all the best this weekend.

[blue contesting the uphill finish at the 2007 edition of boulevard]

TRAGIC

2008-01-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

Anyone with information about the incident can call (213) 847-4261.

[UPDATE 2010.03.19]
finally justice for my good friend chris and loving wife michele. we all miss you chris, you can't be replaced. READ HERE

[UPDATE 2008.02.01]
Random violence kills a man who saved lives
L.A. police have a suspect, but they have no idea why anyone would have killed Christopher O'Leary.
article LA times

[UPDATE 2008.01.30]
from the LA times

Christopher O'Leary, 34, a white man, was fatally shot near the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Avenue 46 in Highland Park on Sunday, Jan. 20. O'Leary was on his way to the store when a man or youth approached him and shot him. A passerby discovered the body and reported it to police. The motive is still unclear, said homicide Det. Lewis Lenchuk of LAPD's Northeast Division. O'Leary was transported to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, where he was pronounced dead at 9:11 p.m.

O'Leary was an employee at the Department of Public Health in the Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Program. Having a doctorate in medical anthropology, O'Leary assisted in launching two STD prevention campaigns, according to Harlan Ortabalatt, a colleague. The first, "Check Yourself," was aimed at preventing the spread of syphilis among gay men. The second, "I Know," attempted to prevent the spread of chlamydia and gonorrhea among women of color. He was scheduled to give a presentation about the campaigns at the National STD Prevention Conference in Chicago and the International AIDS Prevention Conference in Mexico City later this year.

Those who knew and worked with O'Leary described him as an astute and vibrant person. "He would make you come alive," Ortabalatt said. "It would heighten your level about life." Unanimously, friends and colleagues have taken comfort in the idea that O'Leary was his usual self that Sunday; he was happy and enjoying life. Read O'Leary's obituary in the Sacramento Bee for more. Anyone with information about the incident can call (213) 847-4261.

[UPDATE 2008.01.30]
from the sacramento bee

O'LEARY, Christopher M.
Born on June 1, 1973, and taken from us tragically on January 20, 2008. Survived by his wife, Michele Rose O'Leary, mother Regina Cresci Southard, stepfather Michael J. Southard, father Michael I. O'Leary, brother, Sean M. Southard, sister, Catherine C. Southard, aunts, Catherine and Maureen, friend, Helen Degen, grandparents, Gerald and Nellie Cresci, uncles, Rob Burness, Damien and aunt Susan, Guy, and Gerry Cresci, and his beautiful dogs, Flora and Spike. Christopher was a National Merit Honor Student, who graduated Suma Cum Laude (1995) in Anthropology from UCLA, completed his PhD from the University of Michigan (2002) in Medical Anthropology and thereafter pursued his passion for public health advocacy as a GS14 government employee for the federal Center for Disease Control to the date of his death. In addition to his tremendous talent and work ethic, Christopher, fluent in four languages, loved traveling, running, cooking, arts, and being around the house with his wife and animals. His loss is greatly felt but his love and enthusiasm for life will be remembered by all. A memorial to celebrate Christopher's life will take place on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 10am, at St. Philomene's Church, 2428 Bell St., Sacramento. Remembrances can be made to Sacramento SPCA, Sacramento Children's Receiving Home or Sund/Carrington.

UPDATE 2008.01.30
memorial / service for chris will be saturday feb 2 at 1pm.
location: hollywood forever cemetery, 6000 santa monica blvd., hollywood, ca 90038
after the service there will be light refreshments at chris and michele's house [call or email michele for info].

[original entry]
i am sorry to relay the tragic news that one of my best friends, dr. christopher o'leary phd., was killed this past sunday in a senseless act of violence, in los angeles. i don't have many details and i am still in a bit of shock [denial] over the whole thing. i received an email earlier this morning from his sister relaying the news. we had just had dinner with chris and his lovely wife michele on saturday night. they had bought and moved into a home in the eagle rock / occidental college area [the house use to belong to the college and was used by the dean], and it was our first visit to see the house and we all walked down to a new restaurant / bar in the neighborhood for dinner. i was impressed with the number of new art galleries, restaurants, cafes, bars in that part of eagle rock [eagle rock blvd.], as i am usually in carb deficit while suffering home with my head down, from a hard training ride. the neighborhood was always known as rough and had a bit of gang activity over the years.

chris worked for the CDC in los angeles and had traveled, worked and done research in remote areas around the world. chris was one of those guys you always wanted to hang around with and was also a huge dodgers fan like me. he and michele were my neighbors for a while and we would always meet up in some local dive bar for a few rounds and a few good laughs. our 4 dogs would raise hell in the neighborhood together and berlin [my little killa] has a soft spot for chris's dog spike. she would always let spike know that she was in charge and take him down and stand on top of him. chris and i also shared a fondness for hot peppers and his habanero plant is still growing in my court yard, a constant reminder of what a cool guy chris was. i will never forget the time he invited me to dine with him at the professors club at cal tech, while he was teaching there, nor any of the great cards he and michele would send when one of my dogs was sick.

chris will be missed by more people than i know and i surely will miss his wacky diatribe and laugh. chris did so many good things for mankind, it is tragic to know that one of mankind's weakest links took his life. this glass of chimay is for you my friend.

chris leaves behind his wife and friend michele, flor and spike.

[michele, chris's wife, wacky in her own right]

[chris and me hanging, chris is the good looking chap on the left]

[chris hamming it up]

[you know who]

RULES

2008-01-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

[the following is an excerpt from a good interview on velonews w/ floyd landis, he basicly says what i was trying to say a while back about rules, "if you have rules, enforce them, don't make them up as you go along or ignore them when they aren't convenient" he also makes good points about rock racing [hard for me to admit[, and who represents the cyclist [it should be our olympic committee, usacyling, but it is not]

---
NR: You don't think there can be a bottoming out, a purging of the old mentality and a new beginning?

FL: That's not what I am saying. That's fair. I'm not saying there can't be less crime because the rules are enforced in a better way. All I am saying is that there is always going to be the argument that our team is clean, so we don't have to focus on winning. And that always accuses everyone else, and it's always ambiguous, it's always vague, and you never really know. Cycling is a very small version of the way the country works - you have rules, you have a government, you have people enforcing them, you have a police force.

It's a good system, but everyone has to follow the rules. Everyone. The cyclists, the police (in this case USADA), the government (in this case USA Cycling), everybody has to adhere to the same standard. You can't say, well because we had a bunch of cheating before, let's just convict everyone and clean this thing out. That's no way to fix anything. That will never work. First of all it's an irrational way to deal with it. It is completely nonsensical if you talk to anyone in the real world, they'll say that can't possibly be the way things are supposed to be. You have to have a set of rules, and the people enforcing the rules and the people following the rules all have to follow them. Of course, I'm not saying it's going to be perfect. Sometimes an innocent guy is going to be convicted, sometimes the guilty guy is going to be exonerated, but you have to make sure that both sides follow the rules to the same standard. You can't just say, well, we just know everyone is cheating so f--k it, we're just going to do what we want because we don't care.

READ THE REST HERE

BACK

2007-12-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

yes, back to posting about bikes and riding.

wow, today was one of those days that everything went well. i hammered well, i climbed with a snap in my stroke, i didn't fade. it was one of those days and what a beautiful day it was. it started out cold about 36 [yes, winter has hit LA] and progressed to a clear, bright, beautiful 60'ish. noah and i headed out for a good steady ride, as he has been resting his knee and working hard, so really has not been on the bike for a few weeks. he was of course really strong for awhile and stuck me like a bad habit on the 3 lil' big ring bitches on wilshire, heading out to malibu from hollywood. the cold really hit us hard, or i should say our lungs, as we were going hard and fast through westwood. i have never liked the feeling of cold air in my lungs, during a hard effort. it really hurt and felt like heavy phlegm in you upper lungs, as if we had been smoking for years. we than made our way down and onto PCH [really nice drivers, not]. everyone on PCH is always buzzing you and never feel the need to share the road as they speed to their ever important early saturday morning engagement. i realize that their schedule is far more important than my life and that i don't have bumpers or airbags, but come on, share a little. it was so beautiful along the coast at 25 mph plus, i wanted to snap a picture for you, but my iPhone was running low on juice [oops, power].

so back to my great day in the saddle, after watching the 2006 tour and floyd's exploits during stage 17, it finally dawned on me after all these years, 'hey, maybe you should really gel up every 15 minutes and see what happens. well today i found out, i rocked it all day and really felt great. the one gel i can tolerate, is hammer's espresso gel, hmm imagine that, espresso flavor. well it really keep me going and i felt no fade all day, i even had snap going up ocean blvd, to santa monica. it is not an especially hard or long climb, albeit a bit steep, but after a long day in the saddle, it can be a b-hatch.

so, gel up and stay fadeless, boy is my head a bit hard and stubborn, but i learned today. so i hope you had a great ride today no matter where you are and have a merry christmas.

- blue'

RAIN

2007-12-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

and now for your thursday afternoon video watching pleasure [yes some blue]

MY KILLA

2007-12-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

ok, so i don't usually post about my personal life, cause my posts are boring enough for most, you don't need to be subjected to my even more boring life, design, ride, design, ride, eat, design, ride, you get the picture. but today there was an incredibly moving and momentous event, my little berlin [all killa non filla] walked on her own for the first time in 3 months, albeit like a tourist at oktoberfest. a little history on the situation, she had surgery for a spinal disk that was putting pressure on her spine, and thus her back half, including her back legs were paralyzed, all of this happened while i was on vacation with my beautiful fiancé in holland / sweden. josephine has been taking such good care of my lil' killa since our return, and today it paid off. it really brought me to tears, it was like a dream, as if i finally woke up from the nightmare of the past 3 months. it broke our hearts to see her paralyzed, as before she was a very active lean mean killing machine. she could catch birds in mid-flight, chase squirrels up trees, dismember mice in a split second and pounce on crickets and spiders as if they were standing still. i hope this is the big break through we have all been hoping for. i have spent my new record grouppo savings on her surgery [$$$] and acupuncture, and i would do it again at the drop of a dime. all i can say is that all of the squirrels that have been teasing her [not me, i only tease tim], better watch out, cause the killa from brandenburg is back and ready to rumble.

[some iPhone images as it was happening]

BLUE ERGO

2007-12-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

[yea, baby more blue]

Campagnolo will offer its own 'blue' shifter for 2008, although these will officially only be available to team becher+. While Shimano continues to champion its 'Light Action' concept, Campagnolo insists that requests from its masters racers have dictated a harder shift effort and more tactile feedback. According to Campagnolo, this is more appropriate for when minds are more heavily focused on the throes of racing.

Those changes come about courtesy of "very extra extra stiff special springs", which will make it like riding a single speed, since the springs are so stiff you can't change gears. we can only assume will include both the lever return springs and the characteristic Ergopower 'g' springs that are so familiar to well-versed shop and team mechanics. Other than those springs and the shifters' telltale blue markings, though, Campagnolo says that consumer versions will be identical. What's the big deal, you ask? hello, did you see the image, the lettering is blue, duh.

VIDEO TRACK SUNDAY

2007-12-02T23:08:00.000-08:00

and now a few videos in honor of tim's return to the track, some old videos of him i found laying around.

[boring track stand stuff]

[and now some kilo action of tim in majorca]

NEVER GETS OLD

2007-12-01T19:10:00.000-08:00

[the following story from pez about andy never gets old]

As part of our series on the Giro climbs, we asked Andy Hampsten to recount his epic day on the Passo Gavia in 1988. A day of unquestioned cycling history, Andy started the 17th stage of that Giro in second place, and despite the Italians pleading with him to ride “piano piano” over the last climb, he went on an epic attack that earned him the maglia rosa, and the only American win of Italy’s grand tour. Pull on your woolies – it’s gonna be a cold one…

Andy began the day in the blue “overall points” leaders jersey, a combined “best score” in all disciplines of the race, which was cool, because as Andy tells us “it was wool. All the leaders’ jerseys were wool in those days.” As Andy recounts the story, you can hear in his voice that he’s back in 1988, only this time feeling pride and joy – but also remembering the fear that gripped the peloton as they climbed into the unknown that gray, sleeting morning… June 5, 1988.

Andy begins the story…
We were about 400-500 meters above sea level, in this big valley in Lombardy… and it was snowing. Most of us on the 7-Eleven team were from Colorado, and were pretty good at math, and if it’s snowing and you go up… and it’s SNOWING… it’s slushy, it’s coming down and then melting, it’s belting in…

There’s no hint of anything changing, looking at the weather forecast. So the Giro organizers held an emergency meeting with all the team managers, telling them “hey, we’re doing the race, the roads open, snowplows are keeping it clear. It’s not icy on the Gavia, but it is snowing.”

When we left it was just raining… kind of sleet-rain, but bucketing down. We went over the Aprica pass, a category 2 with a pretty short descent, but even on that descent I was wearing ALL the warm clothes I could possibly put on. I was shaking uncontrollably on that silly little descent. Then we were up at about 800 meters (altitude) climbing on a long false flat. A break went away and my team was chasing it but we weren’t going too hard, there wasn’t anyone really dangerous up there.

[read the rest here]

OTHER NEWS

2007-11-30T14:43:00.000-08:00

other news
i am busy building my design brand and my team blogging has been suffering because of it. i'm sure all 8 of you that read the blog are severely devastated, i will try to post more, but i can't promise anything. my training is going full steam ahead for next year, the extra weight of the Ti in my shoulder doesn't seem to be weighing me down much. the plate had its first strength impact test last saturday as i ran in to the back of a mack truck that thought it would be cool to stop abruptly at a yellow light, oh.. no wait... that was tim 'action / masiguy' jackson's big 60+ frame i ran into, felt like a mack truck, since he is on his way back to being a brick sh_t house sprinter, again. we survived and went about our beautiful sunny 60 miler up the coast in san diego. tim is whining a bit about his tail bone hurting, but what do you expect from a prima donna track sprinter. but really tim kicks ass, including mine up torry pines, if only the ride was 185k i may have a chance.

[damn thats a purdy masi TEAM 3VC]

b+ radsport / team becher+ sponsor hunt
on the sponsor hunt for next year we have a few new uber sponsors in lagraphico and midnight oil creative. we all really appreciate their support and help. we will do our best to represent and promote both company's in the coming 08 season. we would also like to thank all of the great sponsors we have had in 07 season year and those that are carrying over to 08.

2007 sponsored team riders
tim 'action' jackson
gerry 'go fast' platt
james 'blue' becher
noah 'hapy' witlin
casey debold [junior]

club team riders:
greg jarrett
david jarrett
tennyson hulcy

club junior riders:
jacob margolis
stefan webster
trevor baird

2007 sponsors
becher+
masi
GP tv
bobos hamburgers
peroni beer
ritchey
kenda
iMartin bicycles or here
brave soldier
david jarrett, pe
canari

support
louis garneau
saris / cycleops
hammer nutrition
sock guy
xxcycle
john moshay
carolyn and harry tackett [starbucks cards]

MORE WHITE OUT

2007-11-30T11:57:00.001-08:00

stop it already....

WHITE OUT

2007-11-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

WHITE WAS THE NEW BLACK, until the bradster had to go and ruin the new trend for all of us, ok, maybe just me, but i was so looking forward to pimping my ride [much to the horror of detestari NYCsnob]out in some sweet ritchey white bars and stems, and maybe even a white seatpost. but not now, black is now once again the new black, thanks bradley.... [but i will still do the PRO white tape come race season]

SMOKEY AND TEST THE B AGAIN AND AGAIN

2007-10-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

- too much smoke again today so no ride, but this whole iban mayo second B sample test fishing expediton by the UCI has chapped my hide, urgh, any way, read on and also check out the article on BKW about iban.

riders have doped in cycling for years, the UCI looked the other way for years, now that same system is trying to combat doping [cheating], than we all wonder why it is not working. how difficult is it to too write a solid, clear, simple set of rules [laws] and than operate by those procedures? i guess you can not expect much from an organization that is with in the EUSSR auspices. it is simple, are you listening UCI / WADA, all we want is to know the rules so we can follow them and we expect you to follow them also. a A/B positive should be positive and an A/B negitive should be negitive and than get on with it.

right now the UCI operates like a bad step-mom, i don't trust you, cause your not mine, we will find the cheats and if we can't find the cheats, we will make up something so you are a cheat, and we will not support any of the clean members or try to advocate for the sport in the public eye, why you ask, cause you are all a dirty cheat no matter what and finding cheats sells papers, so shut up and give me fluid so we can find something.

control the cheats and support the others, cause this is the worlds greatest sport, should be the UCI motto.