He's my Dad....

He's 65, he wears whitey tighties under his chamois, and he adores his handlebar rear-view mirror, but the guy can ride farther than you: he's my dad. It was exactly this guy who invited me to join him in riding the Tour of Colorado this summer,which boasts over 30,000 feet of overall elevation gain in some of the most spectacular country in America. So, I bought the largest rear cluster I could find and slapped it on my pink Soulcraft road bike, lubed the chain and hoped for the best. The Tour of Colorado turned out to provide some of the most epic high altitude road riding I have ever done, and of course, the time with my dad one of the highlights of my life. In the sea of generic, mass-produced, overly gadgetized titanium and carbon fiber bikes, my steel bike was quite the anomaly. In fact, maybe it was the moment when I crested the top of my third 10,000 foot summit of the day and was greeted by a random cyclist with, "I love you woman of steel" that I realized how lucky I am to ride such a unique and beautifully crafted bike in a world where most bikes are stamped out in a factory overseas.

Late Sea Otter Pics

This was a really fun Sea Otter (and my first racing for Soulcraft). The pictures of the Chile Challenge
Mountain State Cup race in New Mexico (which was not quite as fun, due to altitude sickness and other factors)
will be up soon. Also, I took a trip to france to ride bikes with my brother. I'l put up pics from that as well.

My favorite trail

I've been so freaking busy this spring that it was only just last weekend that I made it up to my favorite trail, way up high on the edge of the wilderness boundary. This trail is amazing, tough rocks and roots with big log up-and-overs, snaking through aspens and old-growth pines. It takes you out to this spectacular overlook with views of town, Mount Elden, the Dry Lake Hills, etc. It was almost hard for me to ride my bike cause I was staring at the scenery, I had to stop a few times and just look around...

I've been busy for a bunch of reasons, so I guess I'll start at the beginning. I went over to Gallup, NM in April for a Dawn-to-Dusk 12 hour MTB race, which I raced singlespeed (Thanks to White Industries for the Eccentric wheel!). I wound up winning, but by only 2 minutes or so, since I bonked UNBELIEVABLY hard on the final lap! The trails in Gallup are surprisingly good, since Gallup is such a little town off the freeway, it's not exactly a destination-yet. There's a 25 mile loop that incorporates slickrock, cool hoodoo style rocks to wind around, and fast twisty buff singletrack. Yay! They also had really cool Native American art as prizes, I won an awesome Zuni totem. They did a great job, and if any of you all get out that way you should check it out.

In May, I spearheaded the AZ state championship MTB race. It hasn't been held in Flagstaff in 15+ years, so a group of us decided to try and make it happen. It was a TON of work, but we pulled it off! The expert/pro loop was a 27 mile long loop, with some shorter loops inside it for sports and beginners. I was so happy to be able to design a course that doesn't require lots of small loops, that gets pretty old after awhile. It was ultra-technical in places, so there were lots of spectators out there to watch the Phoenix folks flail on rocks at 8,000 feet ;) I took 3rd in that race and 2nd overall for the series...not bad considering I was out until 7:30 the night before re-marking the course!

The weekend after that was, if anything, even more crazy: I got married. I know, what was I thinking trying to organize a race one weekend and a wedding the next? It was super fun though, despite the fact that it SNOWED! On memorial day weekend! For my wedding! Agghhg. It was outdoors, and we rode a decorated tandem away from the ceremony to the reception.

Not a Soulcraft, sadly, but the Souly was there in spirit as well as in cake form. Our buddy Eric baked us an unbelievably cool bicycle-shaped cake that was colored Soulcraft blue ;) You can see a photo at https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpGYFevFCtTqdDy5yyzr4JqcB4M9KFlNMiPV1ehSyre8ProGPt5ZsWsiGhFEnPzQOFTJCB-OYujNuk38vbhG4-D4aOLGPXsED08UO7nr26I5BHUuATVFQZnXuAN70kEkSOqbsW3KvLGqVN/s1600-h/web.lane_0630.jpg

So it's been fun...Thanks to Our Grand Director for sending out the awesome care package, it was exactly what I needed! And damn, but do white glasses make me look fast.

"Hail" to the Grand Puba

I may not have known Sean that long but I the little that we did ride together, Sean never exposed his desire to race again. Until last week, that is. If you look deep into his eyes during last week's Dirt Crits, you'll notice the that the lion that once possessed this dude to race in his hey-day still lurks in the Soulcraft maker's spirit.

Here's to more appearances from the Grand Puba.

Photos are from Veronika Lenzi. Make sure you check out her web site.

Backroads are cleaner now... or are they?

I have to say that the Spring Tour de Trash rides were a huge success this year and seem to be getting progressively better the more we "cyclists" get out there. What a feeling of accomplishment as cyclists from all over the county pitched in to help with our community services. We were able to get excellent coverage throughout Sonoma and Marin county with the help of neighboring bike teams that continuously support our cause.

The swag from 53x11 Coffee was also well received and finally addressed our constant problem of giving away prizes during the ABC Rides.

One follow up email with the county public works reported that 90% of our waypoints were already sitting in land fills days after our rides were complete. But this year marked the first time that active environmentalist cyclists took it upon themselves to recycle the glass and metal findings along our paths.

Even your Director Sportif, the Grand Pubbha, took time out of his busy schedule to help out, Bob Trailer and all. The help we received was also rewarding as the number of kids that participated in collecting the litter from I-street made all the difference.

This year's ride continued to take us into Marin county again and the trash sites are still existant in the more desirable places to live in the world. What does that say about the people who partake in these criminal activities? Well, that not my cause. I'll leave that part to the politicians. At least the Redneck got the opportunity to clean out the bakery leftovers that fine morning after the sweltering hot Grasshopper the day before.

Having said all this, thanks to all the cyclists out there making a difference for our cherished back roads and giving back to the community that allows us to have the opportunity to ride on beautiful roads. So next time you see a milk truck or hay baler out there make sure you wave goodbye, chances are that they will wave back. You know, the Soulcraft way.

Oh and by the way, I rode up my secret little steep pitch training ride this morning. Guess what I found at the top of the mountain overlooking beautiful Petaluma? Another dump site with nothing less than 20 bicycles and 50 or so rims sitting in the ditch by the road. What are we going to do with these guys?

08 Howarth Park Dirt Crits

Once again it's time to put it all on the line for local bragging rights. The Wednesday Night Dirt Crits are returning to Howarth Park in Santa Rosa. Check it out y'all.

NorCal High School Season, etc.

I have just wrapped up the NorCal High School season, and now I'm ready to relax a bit before
I take off for France on June 11th. The results (as requested by Director Sporty)
are as follows: Race #1 - Fort Ord: 7th place
Race # 2 - Folsom Lake: 4th place
Race #3 - Grant's Ranch: 2nd place
Race #4 - Fort Ord #2: 1st place
Race #5 - Carrera Del Toro: 4th place
Race #6 - Bogg's Mountain State championships: 1st place

Its been a pretty successful season, and I'm hoping to continue racing as much as possible
during the summer. Unfortunately, with Sea Otter being what it was, expectations are a bit high, but I suppose that's
just life. And by the way, give me a call if you're riding in West Marin over the summer months, 'cause I'll be there
(as will George Hope), and both of us will pretty much ride anytime. Home: (415) 669-7652 or cell: (415) 233-3883