New Shit

First new post in two months, how sweet is that?............Its my tri-monthly journal entry.

To start the ball rolling, Happy new year!.........and...........I've joined a new amateur cycling team called Marc Pro-Strava. I'm super excited to be racing with some new personalities and for once in my cycling career have a full team to work with. In the past I played the solo nomad I'm gonna dominate and crush like a barbarian role, but now I've found a full team of barbarians.

Hailing from the mountains of Truckee, none the less, these covert firefighting Mongols have been preparing a small army. To put it frankly, I am fearful for the riders that line up against us. These guys are hungry, unknown, and unpredictable. They remind me of fabled mystic animals from the mountains possessing a ragged and raw energy that can only be expressed as though it were legend. An unearthly energy as such cannot be contained. They are un-tapped engines and once ignited will combust like a volatile organic fuel swept down from the mountains obliterating and no doubt scaring the living shit out of the competition. Try to in-vision a bomb blowing to pieces any type of organized structure in the peloton. That is how I would present Marc Pro-Strava. Over the last weekend I witnessed in full force this destruction as they freak'n shredded me to bits and drug my remains over my home turf here in Marin.....Today I can barely walk.

On the roster we have two high altitude firefighters, an ex winner of the amateur adventure racing series, an organic vegetable grower, ex pro baseball player, a professional chef, a ton of unrefined talent, a collegiate football player, and my crazy ass self. The most important component of this team is the enthusiasm that it exudes and the support from the ground up. All of these guys purely love riding bikes and have no greater goal than to have fun. Its just too bad that they are a bunch of beasts and the rest of the field will suffer as the by-product of our fun.............I am sooooooo........stoked.

This brings me to my next obvious situation........and that is....I've left the Above Category Elite Racing Team of which I was the solo member. This makes me very sad, however I still greatly enjoy my occupation as a bicycle aesthetician at AC and the wonderful opportunity I have to share my love of bicycles with others. A Big thanks goes out on my behalf to Above Category for supplying a sweet Parlee TT bike, a set of Lighweight Ventoux's, Pinarello KHOB, Moots RSL, Parlee Z-5 and every other ounce of bad ass cycling gear that comes my way this season. (Chad, please review that list....hint, hint...especially the part about the Lighweights) ....Ha! Really I can't thank AC enough as none of this would be possible without their loyal support and passion for cycling. Also, I'm pretty sure, at the rate the AC junior squad is progressing there will be a new AC elite team next season..........so keep your eyes out.

The Vita-Mix

I Live in California.......I can't ski here
These are my Freshies.

I'm not one to Dweeb Out, but this is one contraption that I've gotta preach.
The Vita-Mix Variable speed blender.
Best $500.00 you will ever spend...........!


I think everyone would agree that fruits and vegetables are insanely beneficial. The vital nutrients they contain help ensure us a long, healthy, and prosperous life....
If you don't feel that way...go hang out at the feed lot with all your fast food friends and piss off! Or....get inspired and educate yourself!
If you like it fresh......consider throwing...4 large kale leaves, 1 banana, a handful of peach slices, a bunch of raspberries, two large cave man size handfuls of spinach, some mango, a chunk of ginger, an entire apple, and some grapes......on the table in front of you.


How would you go about eating all that.?
Chewing only gets you so far.
If you ate them uncooked, individually...how much of that would just pass through your gut as fiber and go straight down the drain as wasted goodness and hard earned cash?
Throw it all in the Vita-Mix and you'll get a pretty sweet raw green smoothie that tastes better than half the expensive shit that's been stagnantly rotting on the shelf at Whole Foods.
Better yet, its blended smoother than Yo pimp daddy peacock and goes down with all the pleasure of a freak'n milk shake, without the dairy gut bomb, gotta sit on the couch while this shit metastasizes for an eon feeling.
Get your moneys worth.........and get a Vita Mix.........If you feel the need to pack away food for end of the world, couple it with a dehydrator and seal that shit up for future consumption.
Also makes tree limbs into wood chips....just say'n.
stay fresh.

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Good Feelings.....Alpine Dam and my Pegoretti on a sweet late November afternoon.

Californina Farmers Market ...gotta love it.

How sweet is this?
November freshness.........
Kale, peppers, Dates, Serrano's, tomatoes three different kinds, spring mix, potatoes, shit ton of grapes, green been sprouts, Basil, onions, and apples.

And a green juice/smoothie....compliments of the Vita-Mix blender.
Kale, spinach, broccoli, green grapes, frozen strawberries, pomegranate seeds, lemon, apple, and pear......all in this glass......no freak'n waste.!
Throw away the corporate vitamins!
Alive and Raw.

Day 1 of Season 3 starts tomorrow

Lately I've been embracing the introvert within myself.
Haven't clipped in for a month
talk about withdrawals
got sick 3 days after I hung it up and lasted 2 1/2 weeks
Coughed up a lung and then some.
Time to put the wheels in motion.
And feel human again.
Escape the mundane, wasteful, consumeristic, mind numbing bull-shit that surrounds me.
and just pedal my bike
more to come
someday.

Mt Tam hill climb

The only local race of the year and what a better way to arrive at the start line than by riding your own bicycle. At 7:00 am I rendezvoused at Peets in Mill Valley with Spence and Alex from the AC junior team.
45 min and '1500 of climbing later.....the three of us pull off at the pantol ranger station on the shoulder of Mt Tamalpais, contemplating the slew of automobiles driving by with cycles and passengers warm and toasty inside. Moments later we dove into the redwoods and carved the drizzly, rain soaked, descent to the coast.

I arrived at the Stinson Beach registration soaking wet....White socks blackened with road grime, toes swimming in shoes masquerading as aquatic sanctuaries, bikes that want to be boats and two junior racers looking like they just swam out of the ocean with their bikes.
So Began the ill timed cool down as I headed toward the start line.
Through chattering teeth I heard the whistle blow, and we were off, but all I could think about was my bladder about to burst and how warm it would be if I just pissed myself. I was planning on peeing off the bike, but by the time I was warm enough to do so, we were at the base of the climb and I was fish tailing across the cattle guard trying to keep it upright. I guess no urinating for me.
The bottom of Bo-Fax is a steep twisty kick in the face. I ride it a lot and these guys don't...so when they hit it at 500 watts I was just fine letting myself dangle off the back. About 6 min later the entire field simultaneously imploded and dropped off the face of the planet, leaving only six of us still able to ride a decent tempo...out of which I was last.....The two leaders were about 20 meters ahead and pulling away gradually.... Behind them were three riders, the heaviest being maybe 140 lbs and that was before his pre-ride morning 3lb miracle plastic porta john-weigh loss program, were attacking each other while I rode steady. I was gaining ground biding my time, waiting for one of them to crack. When one of them fell off the pace...I picked it up, and by the time we crested the 6km climb to the ridge I was hot on his heels only about 3 seconds back....then he had a mechanical or forgot how to shift. ...... poor timing, but hey Ive been there myself on more than one occasion this season and it sucks. That was pretty much the end of him as I was sure to keep chasing the riders in front of me....

The chase was on but with visibility low and legs whimpering...I fell into the trap of having no one to push me but, well.......me! It ended up being a lonely and painful ride for fifth, up and over the sisters, into the mist...Pretty sure I was going fast.....but Its hard to chase people you can't see...I ended up losing a little over a minute to the winner and a lot less to the rest.
Congrats to Jesse Moore, of Cal Giant, on the win.............super ride.
Thanks to Chad at Above Category for letting me rock the Moots RSL and Lightweight Ventoux's. The Moots was an obviously choice for my 168 lb mountain ape figure to bash on while still remaining the most supple and comfortable bike on the planet up the rough and tumble famed B0-Fax climb. This sub 15lb masterpiece is constructed entirely out of earthly metal and as far from China's resin filled cookie cutter molds as you can imagine...It comes in any color you like and looks best nude.
And thanks for the sweet photos.....Anthony Little gets the photo credits.

The AC Juniors represented as well, I think they all had top 10 finishes in their respective categories.
Spence
Jack
Alex
Skyler
Bjorn

test blog

I'm just testing this blogger....crap out.
for the last two months, I have not been able to post.
either I was too smoked from work and racing
or
my computer was being eat'n from the inside out by a self cannibalizing virus.
the girlfriend must have been looking at to much porn....er...something.
or
I was climbing out of my truck window after being locked inside when all the door handles simultaneously quit working....for real.
or
I was to busy bumming rides to races, cause my old rig was beyond my comfort zone for driving on the freeway.......and I don't need much.
but mostly
Every time I tried to log into, or post on my account this disposable HP dv2000 computer would freeze.
How's that for an excuse?

Seriously.

Or, ya know, maybe I was taking my time scraping my ass off the pavement after getting tag teamed by the entire Yahoo cycling team....I beleive they keyed into me as the perfect launchpad before I became aware of it...

Any rate I've got a bunch of pics and race reports from cal cup that I need to post soon......
should provide some form of entertainment in the off season

cheers.