Smithers MINNEAPOLIS

Big Changes a comin'

OK. I am going to make the attempt to switch from Blogger to Wordpress now.

Site might be down for a bit and won’t look the same when it comes back up.

I apologize for any down time, but things should be even more awesome on smithersmpls.com real soon.

Play the game.

www.lost.eu/f430

h/t: jim r

Your Best Race

It’s between Courtenay and Jared for the final.

Poll stays open until 10pm Central time tonight.

Read them here:

Strats • Courtenay • Mikey • Gilby • Super Rookie • Skibby • Jared

Vote one per day through December 11!

MCF Banquet

I wish they would publicize more details regarding this event. I am very excited for this years banquet.

I have been working on my acceptance speech for the Category 3 Track Rider of the Year trophy.

FRED

Flashing Rear End Device.

That's what they put on trains now days instead of using a caboose.

(sent wireless via Treo 650)

Steven Gray, regarding my comment about the MCF’s efforts at attracting new bike racers:

If it shouldn't be the MCF's job, and promoters don't want to bother, then who's going to do it and what's going to prevent the sport from dying?

Skibby points out that a local club can not only bother with it, but be profitable in doing so. I really think this kind of thing should by done by clubs rather than the MCF. But, since it is in the MCF mission I guess it’s going to continue regardless of what I think.

While encouraging novice riders to take up racing is a noble task, this is not going to be what prevents the sport from dying. More and better bike races is what is going to keep the sport alive. You could have thousands of people ready and willing to start racing but if there is an insufficient amount of races, and poor quality races at that, those people will soon look for something else to do with their time.

This is not to say that we have poor quality races here in Minnesota, far from it. I think we have one of the best racing calendars in the country. But, if the focus of the MCF continues to further support racers at the cost of supporting races , I think our high quality racing calendar could indeed be put in jeopardy.

Blogger problems today...sometimes life just sucks ass.

December 7

Sheesh, I almost let this day go by without comment on the importance of this date.

For someone who really prides himself on his extensive study and knowledge of history I would have really been remiss if I let this day slip by without acknowledging it somehow.

Let us not forget the significance of this day.

Most of you need no reminder. But for the rest, on this day, 100 years ago, the Germans invaded Pearl Harbor.

MCF Meeting Wrap Up

December MCF meeting minutes have been published by Skibby. My comments:

• MCF banquet will be held at QBP on 1/27/07. No guest speaker has been found yet. I nominate Hollywood Henderson.

• Tour of 10K Lakes looks to be back on the schedule for 2007. That’s awesome news. Same format as 2005, criterium, 2 road races and a final TT.

• Super Rookie proposed a grant/loan program to help with the promotion of races. $500–1000 will be available to clubs in 2007 as a loan for race promotion. This loan has to be paid back to the MCF within 10 following the event. I would like to see this loan turn into a grant someday but it is a great idea and is exactly the kind of thing the MCF should be doing.

• An USA Cycling official is coming to conduct a moto-ref clinic. So now we will have a bunch of moto-refs, which is fine. So long as these refs do not become an added expense for amateur race promoters I see no problem. I just hope that because a resource will now be available it will not become an additional critical requirement for road race promotion.

• The State Crit will be at the Capitol instead of Northfield for 2007.

• Kenwood’s bid to host the official USA Cycling Minnesota State Cyclocross Championships was spiked because Kenwood is not an MCF club. I don’t have a problem with that. The rules are now set and everyone knows them. Kenwood can still host their race at Bassett Creek, it just won’t be the state champs unless they play by MCF rules.

• The MCF is going to loan the velodrome money to buy another storage container for racers to store they bikes in. This loan will be paid back within two years by income raised in renting out storage spots. After that the income is all surplus for the track. This is another great idea.

• StartBikeRacing.com/Beginners Racing Clinics/Youth Recruitment – I still debate whether this should be an objective of the MCF but I have covered that in previous posts.

• It’s not on the minutes but the Excelsior Crit is coming back for 2007. You can thank Excel Cycle for that one! 5/13/07

• The Birchwoods are promoting a new road race on 8/11/07. No word if this is on the old State Championship road course or a new course.

• State Road race is on 8/25/07 on the Avon MN course.

• LGR is promoting a cross race in Blaine on 11/4/07

I am going to wait and see how the rest of the racing calendar fills out before I announce the 2007 RADIUS track racing series.

I am using CoComment now. It seems to be a great way to track comment section discussions, if you are into that sort of thing.

Jared is walking away with the lead in the Best Race poll.

The rest of you need to crank up your propaganda campaign.

Novice Bike Racers

I have been thinking about taking on a particular project for a while. The recent discussion about the MCF and its goals got me thinking about it again.

As Strats has stated, Bike racing is a very intimidating sport. It costs a lot of money to take up the sport, it takes a lot of time to train for the sport, there is a lot of intrinsic knowledge regarding bike racing that a novice racer is simply not going to be able to pick up on their own.

But reality is that the money and the training are the “easy” part. These are things that a novice racer will have already taken care of if they wish to start racing. The hard part is acquiring the knowledge that is needed in order to effectively participate in a bike race.

How do you in a group? How do you ride in a paceline? How do you pull through without destroying the paceline? How do you need to ride when you are in a road race versus a criterium? What are race tactics and how can you use them to your advantage?

A novice bike racer, with no other alternatives, is going to eventually figure out all these things on their own if they keep at the sport long enough. But it will take a good long time and, in the mean time, could result in getting dropped a lot or crashing or getting yelled at by their fellow race competitors. Not much fun for someone just getting into an already intimidating sport.

When I first started riding I was working at a bike shop and I would go out and ride with the manager of the shop each evening after the shop closed. He was my mentor for the first couple of years that I got into the sport and he basically taught me how to ride. He yelled at me when I did something stupid and he told me when I was doing a good job and he taught me how to be a safe and smart bike racer.

Back in the day, before the internet and before ProCycling and Cycle Sport magazine and before OLN and before World Cycling Videos, the only way to learn about bike racing is to find your own mentor that would show you the ropes and teach you the sport.

Now days you can pick up a Joel Friel book or check out the internet and get all the information you need on training by heart rate or watts, what is the super light equipment to ride and even get some advice on race techniques and tactics. But reading something and having someone tell and show you something are very different things.

So I have been thinking about the idea of starting a new bike race mentor coaching business. I think it’s great for those who have done some group coaching but, in order to really be effective, I think it needs to be more of a one on one coach/client relationship. The focus would not be on training or equipment as it is very easy to find this information on your own. The focus would instead be on technique and tactics and the practical aspects of being a “better” bike racer.

My hesitation to actually starting this business is:

• Am I really qualified to teach anybody anything?
• Would anyone really be interested in this service?
• Do I have the time to take on a project like this?

So, for now, I am still just thinking about it.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.):

"Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Representative Kingston has been in the habit of flying from Washington D.C. to his home in Georgia on Thursdays, returning on the following Tuesday. That would give him exactly one full day of work each week while he has been in Congress.

Kingston’s statement was in reaction to incoming Democrat House majority leader Steny Hoyer’s proposed five day Congressional work week.

Democrats could care less about families? It appears Republicans have cared less about working.

Reality sucks I guess.

1996 Tour de France - Stage 11

Little Chepe Gonzalez!

Still got some tapes left!

Are you bored with riding the trainer yet?

This just in:

When Super Rookie blogs during the day he does not do so at his work site. He actually runs down the block to the local Dunn Brothers coffee shop, writes and posts, then runs back to work.

I find the mental image of that hilarious.

In answering keepaustinweird, yes we all do get this cranky in December.

Minnesota nice only applies between April and October.

Between November and March you warm climate types would be best served avoiding Minnesota or, at most, not venturing out past the confines of the Mall of America. Should you happen to run into a real Minnesotan you might find yourself torn limb from limb.

If you do venture out into the natural environment of the average winter Minnesotan you should avoid making yourself conspicuous:

• Don’t smile or laugh in public
• Don’t show off your sun tan
• Don’t use a credit card to scrape your car windows
• Don’t complain about the cold when it is above 20°F
• Don’t ask “what do you people do all winter?”
• Don’t ask “where is the sun?”

Failure to heed these suggestions could result in a savage mauling.

More MCF

OK, ok.

So some took my questions and comments about the Minnesota Cycling Federation to be an attack on the MCF. This was not the case.

I was simply asking some questions about the MCF and its goals. I know that volunteering is a thankless job and those who are on the MCF board are doing a favor for our cycling community. So there is no reason to get defensive when someone asks questions about what’s going on. Just state the facts and be proud of the work you have done.

In addition, I do believe that the MCF needs to do a better job of explaining and promoting its worth to the cycling community. You can work your ass off all year but if no one knows about it then what difference does it make? That’s what I meant when I wrote “The real problem here is that the MCF is not showing that it provides an invaluable service to local clubs and racers.”

A good start would be putting a link on the MCF website that shows the minutes from all past MCF meetings so it would not be necessary to slog through the MCF message board looking for them. The everyone would easily be able to see what is going on at the MCF meetings and get involved if and when they see fit.

Finally, I do think that the MCF is making a mistake by trying to focus on racers, via youth cycling programs and new racer programs, as opposed to races. I strongly believe that individual cyclist introduction and development should be occurring in clubs and the MCF should work towards the goal of race and promoter support at the exclusion of rider development. More races, better races, and more support for race promoters will do more to grow the sport in Minnesota then attempting to develop riders outside the club level.

Think about what got you interested and involved in bicycle racing.

That’s my opinion.

MCF

Homme:

My main question is, what value does the MCF provide to a club? Kenwood puts on a really good event and I’m guessing it will still be just as popular even if it isn’t on the MCF calendar next year. This points back to the NVGP issue, with a different twist. For popular races, the MCF calendar adds little to no value to a promoter. Most races already have a website that users can find, there are viral e-mail threads that make their way around the community, and there are countless other message boards and blogs that overlap much of the racers here. If the MCF Calendar is the only thing of real value to a promoter, I would argue the cost of the bureaucracy outweighs the value it provides. And furthermore, without change, more clubs will follow Kenwood model (unless the promoters are pacifists or MCF Patriots).

So maybe we should be having the debate of what value the Minnesota Cycling Federation actually provides to racers and clubs?

Is the MCF getting more youth involved in the sport of cycling? I remember all the hub bub made out of the Youth Cycling League a few years ago and I understand that the YCL still have a fairly sizable amount of MCF cash. But the YCL website has not been updated since 2004 and I don’t recall a YCL event being held in the last few years.

Is the MCF getting more riders in general into the sport of cycling? I know that they have made a push with Start Bike Racing and the Midwest Women’s Cycling Made Real. Are these programs really getting more riders into the sport or are they providing a service to those that are already involved in the sport?

Is the MCF providing officials for local races? My understanding is that when a USA Cycling race permit is approved then USA Cycling has to provide the officials. So the officials have to be provided whether the MCF exists or not. I know that the MCF funds official training so that there is always a readily available pool of officials available for races. But Timmer raises an issue in regards to official training. It appears that the MCF is going to fund a trip out to Colorado Springs so that some local officials can be qualified as motorcycle officials (moto-ref’s). While I think this is a valuable skill to have as an official, I question the value of this skill for MCF races. In looking at the draft MCF calendar for 2007 I see less than 6 races that a moto-ref would even be used, much less being necessary. So why are local racers paying for an official qualification that is not necessary for MCF races? Additionally, will the fact that a local official is qualified to be a moto-ref now require that a moto-ref be present at every road race? How will this affect the bottom line expense to promote a road race?

The real problem here is that the MCF is not showing that it provides an invaluable service to local clubs and racers. If the only real argument that the MCF can make is the organization of the racing calendar then I think they need to do more.

In my opinion, the number one goal of the MCF should be the further expansion of bicycle race promotion in Minnesota. Anything and everything that could be done in order to make a race promoters life easier should be considered. Maybe MCF funds should be used to pay all official expenses in order to remove this burden from race promoters. Maybe funds should be used as a grant to local clubs who put on a certain number of races in order to offset some of the clubs promotion expense.

I am sure that there is a number of things that the MCF can do to facilitate more bike racing. More bike races will mean more bike racers. The sport will grow and, in turn, the MCF will grow along with it. It is not going to do our sport any good to have a group of very highly trained officials and a number of new rider development programs if we do not have sufficient races to participate in.

Feel free to educate me if I asking for something that is already being put into place. If this is the case then the MCF is still not doing a very good job at promoting their value.

Super Rookie reports on the MCF meeting last night:

Kenwood was denied its request of hosting the State Cross Championships. This is because Kenwood refused to pay the MCF surcharge of $1 per rider. For a total of +/- $225. This is complete crap and I have lost all respect for Kenwood. The race was listed on the MCF calendar and the MCF sanctioned it as the State Championships through the USAC.
The fact that Kenwood has the gall to promote a race and utilize the MCF calendar and not pay the surcharge! Says a lot if you ask me.

What he fails to point out is the fact that all of the proceeds for races held at Bassett Creek park go to help pay for youth activities in the City of Crystal. This donation is the only way a course like Bassett Creek can be utilized.

In this situation the MCF rider surcharge is not just a portion of the proceeds of the race, it is an additional expense that is put on the back of already over worked race promoters. In addition, Kenwood Cycling, the promoting club, has a small membership as compared to many other clubs in the area and has no club sponsorship.

As far as I am concerned, Kenwood is doing more for the racing community than the MCF was doing for Kenwood in putting the State Championship event on their calendar.

I think some accommodation needs to be considered on the part of the MCF for small clubs that are hosting events where any race proceeds are appropriated as a condition for permitting the event to take place. Especially if those race proceeds are going to a good cause.

The alternative will be the same clubs hosting the same events on the same courses year after year after year. I acknowledge that Bassett Creek is one of those “same courses” but it seems like this is a pretty popular event.

It’s too bad that a hard line taken by the MCF may do nothing but punish local racers.

Your Best Race Entry

Jared:

Frisco Cross: You never know how you are going to feel on day 2. I was awoken at 2:00am with the recurring back pain. Ever since cross started, my lower back has been acting up. It does every once in awhile during the road season, but not every night like it has for the past month. I have an appt with a doc in a couple weeks to see what’s up. It hurts so bad that I can’t sleep and having sleeping issues in the 1st place plus the back pain…. It’s not a healthy sleep environment Course Description: Start on a slight road climb left into a steep drop to single track, to double track to a single with a nasty run-up back to a climb to pavement, drop into single track to double track twistys, to a double barrier, into double track twistys to a slight climb drop to grass to a single and back to the road through the finish line. Big field, 40 or so guys on the line. Race time was 1:20 and I rolled to the line at 1:10 thinking that would be early enough to get the front row start position. 4 rows deep greeted me as I rolled up. I went to the front row and “found” a spot. Nobody said anything. Gun goes out and I get the hole-shot for the 1st half of the road section and 3 guys roll by. We hit the drop into single track and a 4th guy makes a move and cuts me off before the drop and the next thing I know I’m over the bars with pedals engaged. Right there I thought the race was over. I got up and the front brake lever was parallel with my bars. I hit it a couple times and got it straight and settled in mid-pack. I have not been mid-pack for awhile and it was not pretty. The adrenaline kicked in and we hit the run up and I gave it full gas and passed 6 guys. We hit flat section before the double and I dropped a few more. Hit the double with serious speed and made up a couple more spots. Got to the road and finally was sitting top 10. The next lap I made it up to a group of 3 that were in 3rd, 4th, 5th place. I sat and recovered a little and when we hit the road section I closed the gap to 1st and 2nd. Good thing that adrenaline. We instantly opened a gap and the race for the W was on. Moots guy pulled most of the laps and I just “rode smart” and waited. This is not my style but after trying a couple moves on the road section, they were not letting me get away. 3 laps to go we are still together, 2 laps to go we are still together, 1 lap to go a wise man told me last week that you need to lead out the last lap in cross. I went to the front and drilled it on the road and popped 1 guy and I stayed on the gas and we hit the run-up and I again drilled it but couldn’t pop the guy. I stayed at the front until the double barrier and he went by. All I could think of was “get in front of him”. We hit the final little climb and I gave it everything I had and got to the front and heard Tim and Single Life yelling and I kept the hammer down and got a bike length on him – we hit the single barrier and I wasn’t looking back anymore. It was game on.. we rounded the final corner and I don’t think I’ve sprinted that hard all year and came in for the Win. Crossniac Tim rocked the 35+ and Single Life was top 5? In the 4’s? Vitamin Cottage Marty continues his domination in the 4s and I think he as 3rd or 4th. A good weekend for the Breck Wellington Neighborhood boys. Two Wins in 2 days.

Jared put his entry in first and I forgot about it. So I will start the voting tomorrow now.

More Landis

LaSalle Street pointed me to the Landis Case Wiki in regards to the blood doping theory I posted about earlier:

Any blood that was stored for that period of time would have to be stored frozen, and since whole blood can not be stored frozen, the plasma and red blood cells would be separated. In this case, the plasma (where most of the free testosterone could be expected) would not be kept for re-infusion, only the red blood cells would be kept.

Why would only the red blood cells be kept if the goal would be not to increase the haematocrit level? Is it not possible that both the red blood cells and the serum (plasma) would have been stored frozen, all be it separately, to be reinjected later?

Pure testosterone has a half-life in the blood of 10 to 30 minutes. Within just a few hours, the testosterone has almost completely disappeared from the blood. Some have said that because of this, testosterone will only be detected in a urine sample for a few hours (or a few urination cycles) after the doping. Others have said that it is not this simple, and while it leaves the bloodstream immediately, metabolites (by-products) would still be found in the urine as much as a day or two later.

OK, if this is true then it sounds like any testosterone used to boost the beneficial effect of EPO would have been degraded fairly quickly. I need to read more about this issue. The next paragraph has a fairly interesting nugget:

Affecting this is also the unusually high metabolism of athletes competing in the Tour. It seems likely that they would eliminate testosterone more quickly than your average person. Further, Landis was seen to be drinking quite a lot of fluid during his stage win, which would also tend to eliminate any detectable metabolites. (bold and italics mine)

Yea, he was drinking quite a lot of fluid during that stage wasn’t he?

In the first place, it seems to me that it was quite an unfair advantage that Landis had his team car there right next to him handing off bottle after bottle after bottle while he was off on his epic Stage 17 break. But, at the time, I thought “whatever”, it probably did not matter in the end because the strong guy won.

But what if Landis really was making a hail mary pass to win the Tour? How would it work?

• Engage in some kind of post-Stage 16/pre-Stage 17 boosting
• Attack off the front early in the stage in some kind of crazy suicide move
• Keep the pressure on until you have dropped every last competitor and are riding solo
• Start pounding down the liquids to dilute and/or eliminate any detectable metabolites
• Keep riding and keep drinking in a desperate attempt to pull back as much time as possible while also desperately trying to clear your system of as much of what ever you put into it
• Win the stage, take over the lead, pray that you pass the drug test

OK, so I ain’t no scientist and I don’t even know if this would even be possible. But this is what flashed through my mind when I read that paragraph on Landis Case.

All you guys that are waaaaay more into this case than me can feel free to shoot down this theory.

Your Best Race 2006 Winner!
	Strats
	Courtenay
	Mikey
	Gilby
	Super Rookie
	Skibby
	Jared

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