[singlepic id=57 w=320 h=240 float=right]I found it particularly rewarding to watch Chris Horner win the 2011 Amgen Tour of California.  Horner is one of my favorite riders in the peloton.  As anyone that has been reading my posts will have noticed, I’m primarily a Leopard-Trek fan.  Or, more precisely, I’m a Voigt, Schleck, Schleck and Cancellara fan, and they just happen to still be riding on the same team.

While my Leopard Trek fandom comes form watching the guys race, my appreciation of Chris Horner is much more personal.  I had the opportunity to both meet and ride with Chris Horner at last years Clark’s Corner Cycling Challenge.  That’s where I learned that, well, Chris is just a really cool guy.  There are few folks as down to earth, approachable and humble.  Oh – and the guy seems to have a perpetual smile on his face.

Horner even mentioned Clark’s Corner in one of his video diaries taken during the Tour of California:

[singlepic id=65 w=320 h=240 float=left]One of the things that struck me about standing next to the guy is how tiny he was last year – at least to me.  What is interesting about that is that Horner has stated that getting his weight down was key to winning the AToC.

Levi Leipheimer had made a couple of joking comments to the press about Horner “Getting the diet under control,” and Horner himself was quoted regarding his dieting efforts by VeloNews as saying:

We [Chris and grilfriend Megan Elliott] tried it the grocery route, preparing healthy meals at home, but I wasn’t losing weight. While cooking meals, I was snacking, too. Often you don’t start cooking dinner until you’re hungry, and dinner takes an hour to make. Next thing you know, you’re shredding cheese and cutting yourself an extra thick slice to nibble on, or taking a handful of almonds, or eating a piece of the bread that is supposed to go with your pasta, and even though your dinner is only supposed to be 1,000 calories, you’ve added an extra 700 just snacking while making dinner.

It looks like other folks might get the opportunity to rub elbows with Chris Horner in the same way I did.  Indications are that he will again be attending the Clark’s Corner Cycling Challenge on September 25th in Ione, CA.  I spoke with Kraig Clark regarding this second annual event, and it looks like things will be changing a little bit from last year’s format.  This time around it will be a bit more traditional, with set routes of varying lengths.  I would also highly recommend the VIP dinner – as the food last year was fantastic.

Family man, Sacramento area cyclist and friend, Matthew Wietrick, was seriously injured while riding his road bike in the early morning of February 5th, 2011.

His friends and fellow cyclists are putting together a charity ride on June 12, 2011 to help Matthew both emotionally and financially.

Matthew’s family and friends would like to invite you join the ride and support him in his journey back to health. The road to recovery is a long one, but with your support can be one filled with courage and hope.

The web site provides a lot more details.  We’re continuing to update the details on the website, so check back often.  But here are the basics:

• Date: June 12, 2011 (Save this date on your calendar now!)
• 3 Rides Distance Options: 10, 40, and 70 Miles
• $7 Lunch after the ride
• All donations gratefully accepted

Would you like to help? Volunteers are needed starting now and on the day of the ride.  There are many different tasks, so if you are interested, please send an email to [email protected].

Help Us Spread the Word About the Event.
You can follow the details on their Facebook page and Twitter, or download a flyer and post it at your business or favorite local restaurant.

This will be a fun and enjoyable event, so invite your friends and family.

Note: Both JustAnotherCyclist and VeloReviews are proud sponsors this event.

Yet another great ride with the Cycle Folsom Peloton group today.  80 miles didn’t discourage me, but cleaning the bike from all the damned road grime and debris is discouraging.  Nothing like getting home, still cold and wet, only to look at your frame and know you need to turn on the hose.  By the end of the ride what I thought was a well-oiled chain sounded more like a cheese grater on a chalkboard.  Still, I never walk away from a Peloton ride with anything but positive thoughts.

You can read the full details of the ride at the Cycle Folsom Ride Leaders blog.

Levi’s GranFondo spawned a significant crash before the riders even made it to the start line.  This wasn’t bicycles piling up, however.  Instead, the popularity of the ride apparently resulted in a significant outage on the first day of registration as folks rushed to ensure a place in the hugely successful event.  Despite having reportedly “planned for several times the traffic from 2010’s registration opening day” folks were unable to register, and the registration system was taken offline and postponed.

According to a post on the event’s Facebook page:

When we designed the registration system for 2011, we built what we thought were strong systems to get all the information we need from you in order to put on what we believe is the best ride in the world. Unfortunately, we developed these systems for a load that was far surpassed by the actual traffic on our website and, later in the day, in our registration database. Based on past experience and statistics, we planned for several times the traffic from 2010’s registration opening day. Even with this large margin of safety built in, it wasn’t enough. The crush of people forced us to migrate our website to a new, massive server and that same crush brought a new problem at 4pm today, forcing us to rebuild our database structure to handle the load of people trying to register simultaneously.

Now I’m not going to say I know what it takes to run servers under heavy user loads (but if you ask me if I can I’ll answer yes) but I suspect there is a solution to this problem.  If you go just a little bit south of the event’s Santa Rosa host city, you’ll find this mythical place called Silicon Valley.  And guess what – there is a whole lot of road cycling that takes place in that area.  And a few of them may just know a thing or two about running a web service.  Just saying…

Registration is set to (re)open tomorrow, Tue Jan 18 at noon Pacific time.

Part of the lure of the group ride is the friendly (or sometimes not so friendly) competition.  Many groups have taken on the racing convention of having marked places along the route for sprint or KOM (King of the Mountain) points.

KOMs are, by definition, at the top of significant climbs.  Generally points are awarded for the “category” of the climb, which is determined not only by the steepness and length of the climb, but also where in the route the climb falls.  For example, if two climbs follow one right after the other, but are otherwise identical, it may be that the second climb is of a higher category, and thus worth more points.

Sprint points are a little easier to deal with.  There’s a line, and the first person to cross it takes the point.  Sprint points can also be a little more dynamic and exciting – at least in my opinion.  As the group approaches a sprint point, folks will begin to jockey for position within the group, trying to place themselves best.  The idea here is to hold of on starting the sprint until just the right time – optimizing the potential to get out in front before your fellow competitors can answer your challenge.

Cycle Folsom – and specifically Brian Acord – have again helped out the community and started putting together a map of key sprint and KOM points throughout the greater Folsom, CA area.

View Cycling Points; SAC, ELD, PLA in a larger map

Brian has a couple of caveats regarding this map, however:

Google’s StreetView is what I’ve used to locate most of the signs; some have been ground-truthed, but other have not. Also, in many cases its signed in both directions (county lines), but not always (city limits). So, you may be changing jurisdictions, but the sprint only counts if it’s signed. Also, the only non-jurisdiction sprint that is on the map is the Coffee Republic race training ride sprint on Auburn-Folsom. This sprint is marked on the pavement with a final line and hash marks every 100 meters from 400 meters out.

Also, as alluded to above, the number of points for a particular KOM is very subjective.  It also depends greatly on where in the particular day’s route that climb might fall.

A huge thanks to Brian for putting this together.  This is another great example of the benefits that a good club can provide.  While getting together to ride with others is obviously key to a cycling club, it is what the club gives to the community that counts most.  Cycle Folsom continues to provide services that help the entire cycling community – club members and non-members alike.

Based on the number of folks that are reading my previous STP 2011 story, a lot of folks are already interested in the 2011 ride.  And with the amount of interest, it looks like we’ll all need to stay on top of this to ensure we can register.

Cascade Bicycle Club has changed the dates slightly from their original announcement:

Online only event registration opens at noon on Monday, Jan. 10 exclusively for Cascade Bicycle Club members. Event registration opens at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1 to the general public.

It is interesting to note, however, that their website still doesn’t seem to list the STP ride on applicable calendars.  Last time was a blast – can’t wait for this year.

Yesterday I kicked off the year with Cycle Folsom and the “Chickens and a Bridge” ride.  As advertised, there were in fact chickens.  Many chickens in and around Fair Oaks.  And after the chickens?  Yup – a bridge.

It was great to get out with the club and thumb our collective noses at the weather.  Low 40’s and raining didn’t thwart the group here.  The group did get broken up due to a couple of flats though.  First one was me, at just a mile or two in, where a piece of green grass managed to work its way into my Continental Gatorskins.

The previous flooding of the trail has subsided, but the rain kept each low spot in the trail diligently stocked with standing water.  All that water made the hot coffee and good conversation at the end of the ride all the more enjoyable.

Cycle Folsom operates out of Folsom, CA, offering organized rides for road cyclists of practically any skill level.  You can find them online at http://cyclefolsom.com

I talked about it in the previous post titled “Chris Horner to ride the Sacramento Area.”  Well, I was finally able to spend a big part of my weekend at the festivities at Clark’s Corner.  It was a great experience to ride along with Chris Horner of Team Radio Shack, who was out to support the event before heading off to the US Pro National Road Race Championships.

The VIP dinner was fantastic – great food and a small group made for a very friendly evening.  I’ve actually got audio of a question and answer session with Chris Horner after dinner that is both humerus and informative.  Of everything about my experiences with Chris Horner, I walked away first and foremost with the impression of Chris Horner as a kind, friendly and approachable fellow.  Very down to earth and easy to talk to.  He also seems to have a great sense of humor.

After the dinner on Friday, I was lucky enough to ride about 40 miles from Sacramento to the Cafe in Ione, before joining others on the 10 mile ride around the city.  Again, great conversation and the relaxed atmosphere to the entire thing was incredible.  With a couple of blocks of Ione closed off, all things bikey had reign over the road in front of Clark’s Corner.  You can tell this is an event that is going to take off in the next couple of years.

Thanks to Clark’s Corner for hosting the event, and Chris Corner for coming out.  It was a great experience, and I’m very much looking forward to repeating it again next year.

Pro cyclist Chris Horner – currently riding for Team Radio Shack – will be in the Sacramento area this coming weekend (September 18) at Clark’s Corner Coffee House and Community Center in Ione, CA.  He will be there in conjunction with a cycling event – the Clark’s Corner Cycling Challenge – where participants can take part in a group ride with Mr Horner himself through Ione.  In addition, there will be a VIP dinner on Friday night, September 17.

The Clark’s Corner event is a little unique in that there is no “official” start line, but rather an end line in Ione.  The ride with Chris – beginning at 11:00am on the 18th – will begin and end in Ione, but it is the getting to Ione by 11:00 is the intriguing part.  According to Kraig Clark, owner of Clark’s Corner:

The concept of the Challenge is to ride from where you’re at with a group of friends for a common finish line with other cycling enthusiasts.  Then, you can meet your family and friends in downtown and hang out and share some great stories.  Visually, I can picture this tradition for years to come.  My wife had this concept and I jumped fully on board since it combines a great training day with some special family time.

Kraig himself is no stranger to cycling and sport – having competed in the Ironman France in Nice, among other events.

In addition to riding with Chris Horner, registered participants will also receive raffle tickets for a Cannondale SuperSix 3 bike.  Registration details are available at the Clark’s Corner website.

Chris Horner’s 14 year pro career includes a 10th in this year’s Tour de France, a fourth place finish in the Tour of California 2010, and several USA Cycling National championships.  His numerous top 10 placings include a first place finish in the Tour de Georgia in 2003.  He also achieved no small amount of fame when he stopped to give a ride (yes – give a ride) to a crashed rider and his broken bike.  He pedaled himself, the injured Billy Demong and Billy’s bike the final 2 kilometers across the finish line.

This was a ride that I’ve had on the schedule for most of the year – and one I’ve very much been looking forward to.  The Tour de Tahoe – presented by Bike the West –  is a clockwise loop around Lake Tahoe, covering over 70 miles of road and (depending on who’s data you look at) either 2,100, 3,700 or 6,000 feet of climbing.  I managed to bang it out with 4:42:15 of actual pedaling time (plus 32 minutes of time spent munching at rest stops) for a total elapsed time of about 5 hours and 15 minutes from start to finish.

The day was absolutely beautiful for the ride.  OK, well, it was actually cold as hell at the 6:45am start.  Fingers were stinging by the time I hit the first significant climb – the “switchbacks” that lead up the Emerald Bay.  However, I warmed up nicely climbing the roughly 500 feet that can approach 20% grade in some short sections.  Truth be told, though, this actually turned out to be a heck of a lot easier than I anticipated.  When I crested the top and saw the Emerald Bay rest stop in the distance – after a downgrade – I was very surprised that that part of the ride was already completed.

I dropped off the leg warmers and the long fingered gloves with the staff at the first rest stop.  The provided plastic bags to package stuff you didn’t want to take with you on the rest of the trip that they transported to the finish line.  A nice touch – and my first experience with the logistics of what turned out to be a very very organized ride.  And I’ve got high standards from previous rides I’ve taken.

For any folks planning on doing this ride in the future – I’ll give you a little tip.  If you are someone prone to getting cold, or that would rather be slightly warm instead of slightly cold, think carefully about shedding layers at the Emerald Bay rest stop! As you move down along the lake over the next 15-20 miles, you’ll go through a couple of areas that are out of the sun and seem to hold the cold air.  Or, said another way, I found myself freezing my arse off between the first and second rest stop.  I probably would have been fine had I held onto the leg warmers just one rest stop longer.  On the other hand, the areas in the sun were warming up nicely, so I might have been too hot too.  Kinda hard to know for sure after the fact.

You follow some rollers (and some neat descents!) around the rest of the west and north side of the lake.  I’m guessing there was something of a tail wind through there, as it was a really fast section for me, and I was all alone without someone to share pulls with.  And that brings me to my next tip for future rides – beware of the third rest stop!

The problem is, it is in a great place to take a little extra time at a rest stop, grab lunch and hang out of a few.  What I found out though is that there is a steep climb just a couple of blocks distance from the rest stop.  It is not terribly long, but it is enough that it cause my muscles to really tighten up – having cooled down too much after hanging out at the rest stop.  So my advice is to not spend too terribly long at the third rest stop.  Or, just accept that you might be a little tight and uncomfortable on that first climb after the stop.

More rollers and you’ll find yourself through Incline Village.  This is the approach to the final set of climbs – and in my opinion the hardest part of the ride – the climb to Spooner Lake.

You’re looking at about 1,000 feet of climbing, with about 400 feet of descent mixed in there.  It is a long, grinding climb.  According to RideWithGPS, the average gradient over the whole climb is 7.2%, with max gradients over 28%.  To be honest, I don’t remember anything (even very short patches) anywhere near that steep.  The good news, however, is that once you make it up you’re treated to about 4 miles of pure downhill, followed by some “mostly downhill” rollers to the finish line.  This part of the ride is a little bit sketchy for those not accustomed to being amongst cars.  You’re riding on highway 50, and there is absolutely no shoulder.  There are, however, two lanes and I never felt particularly threatened by the traffic.  This probably has a lot to do with the fantastic job of putting up ample signage alerting drivers of all of the cyclists.

And my final tip: you will approach a tunnel, and just before that tunnel is a sign with lights that says “Cyclists in the tunnel.”  If you pause for just a second at this sign, you’ll see there is a button not unlike what is on crosswalks for pedestrians to trigger lights.  This switch will activate the flashing lights on the “Cyclists in tunnel” sign.  I highly recommend hitting it.  The tunnel is extremely narrow with no shoulder, and drivers may not see you as the move from bright sunlight to the darkness of the tunnel.  The tunnel is short, but I definitely felt better with the lights flashing.

And there you have it.  It really was an amazing ride.  I’ve driven this route in a car a couple of times and marveled at the scenery.  Seeing it from the saddle of a bike is completely different, however.  The reduced speed and lack of a glass and steel cage surrounding you puts you in the scenery instead of looking out at it.  My only regret from this ride is that I didn’t capture more photos and perhaps some video.  Next time!

And I have a theory regarding the large discrepancy in the different elevation gain numbers.  The 2100 feet advertised by Bike the West seems to be about the difference between the lowest and highest of the major climbs, while the 6000+ reported by RideWithGPS seems to take into account each and every couple of feet of elevation gain through the rollers.  The practicaly “what does it feel like” is probably something like 3000-3500.