Catchin' Up

So, school is out and I'm supposed to have more time... supposed to anyway. But, a lot has been happening.

I left some teary eyed soon-to-be-sixth graders last Wednesday, got all checked out with my principal and began packing for Elkhorn. Before I go into all the gory details about 10 hours in the car there is a little catching up to do...

There was that little old Sierra Nevada Crit two weekends ago where PtotheArker, Todd Stone and Ian McPherson spun with the 4's... all finishing respectably with the pack. El Gigante rode a solid 3's race but got stuck in the wrong surge on the last lap. And, AwfoSho found the watts to be slightly lacking in the prosey race. He read the race perfectly, tried to follow Mike Hernandez as he made the winning selection but came up just shy on the watt-o-meter, and, instead, drifted back to the pack that was eventually lapped by big Mikey and his break.

Same weekend different day, several of the boys--TK, Staz, Davitamon, and the Tapinator--toured Nevada City. Not much to report 'cepting for some tactical mistakes that maybe cost us a W.

Then there was the Gold Nugget Stage Race where Laundry won what sounds like a barn burner on the last stage. Way to go Laundry!

I'm sitting here tonight looking at ice baths, green snot, and tired boys...

The down and dirty from Oregon... TK stormed Elkhorn, finishing 14th on the GC out of 107 in the prosey race. Davitamon, AWfoSho, and TK rode a blistering fast prosey race... on the first stage the kidlets were spun out in junior gears as they headed UP the Powder River Canyon during the 85 mile first stage. El Gigante stayed with the 3's til the finishing climb and Staz was the lucky recipient of a flat tire and a slow wheel change leaving him to ride 40+ miles on his own in the 4's... The second stage TT was a downhill out and an uphill back. TK did his thing, riding well enough to finish 15th. The stage three crit was another fast one in the proseys... rumor has it that they averaged 29 mph for 6o minutes. AWfoSho moved up with 5 to go in a bid for glory, but wasn't ready to play pinball for the bigger stronger sprinter types so drifted back to watch the finish. Safeway's Dan Martin said that the last couple laps were about as scary as any crit he'd been in. El Gigante rode in the front 15 of the 3's race for the entire shindig until it slowed down with three to go. He came out of the ensuing melee in about the thirtieth spot and could only fight his way back up to around twenty or so in the last two laps. Staz was left still searching for those elusive upgrade points in the 4's crit. The final stage was the queen with four solid climbs, 105 miles and a mountain top finish. AWfoSho and El Gigante called it quits at the feed zone after 40 miles, Davitamon, TK and Staz soldiered on to the finish. TK nailed the final climb to solidify his 14th place on the GC. Got some pics from Jan that I'll try to get up soon...

Yesterday saw the kidlets sitting on a computrainer with coach Jesse... the watts keep climbing as the kiddos get older and stronger. The big surprise was El Gigante who produced more watts in the Conconi than all but TK... when that kidlet turns all the babyfat into muscle he'll be a force. His climbing is already improving. Look out! Bummer is that the load from Elkhorn has caused a little tendonitis to flare up in his knee... hence the ice baths. He looks a little silly on his hands and knees in his joe boxers with one knee completely submerged in a huge bucket of ice water. Looks like a couple days off the bike.

TK may be off the bike for a few days as well... He took it to the limit at Elkhorn and it seems as tho some nasty bugger has taken advantage of a suppressed immune system to take up residence in his sinuses.

And to catch you up to today... Jesse took the kids up Ralston Ridge, let them meander through the remains of last summer's forest fire and spun them down Mosquito Ridge... just 75 miles with 13,000 feet of climbing. I'm glad I was following in the car for this one... you should have seen all the water bottles, banana peels and PB&J crusts on the floor of my car by the time we got back to Forest Hill...

yackety yack... I'll try to put the pics up with something a little more coherent soon.