Memorial Day Ride?

Any plans for a Memorial Day ride? I'm going to do something "longish", maybe about three hours, at a very moderate pace...please respond or email me if you have something planned.

Also, don't forget about the omnium in Flagstaff on June 12-13. Great opportunity to get some high-altitude racing in before Bike the Bluff. We've got a few TWJ racers signed up but we need some more.

Volunteer Meeting

Sorry for the confusion, but the meeting is for volunteers not the riders who are racing. So if you are racing Bike the Bluff, no need to come, only if you want to.

Volunteer meeting for Bike The Bluff

We will be having our volunteer meeting for Bike the Bluff after the ride (9:00) on Saturday, June 12th. We will have it at Starbucks right by the shop. The meeting won't be long. If you can't make it, we can reschedule with you during the week. Otherwise, see you then!
Thanks!

I dedicate this one to...myself and you know who you are

MBAA 2010 season final results

Nate and Garrett finished the season strong for Two Wheel Jones. Garrett ended up taking 1st in the Flagstaff Finale but Nate walked away with the season championship in Cat 2 15-18, with Garrett taking the number two place for the season - the announcer even noticed that Two Wheel Jones had both top spots. The top photo is the season podium and the second photo is the podium for the Flagstaff Finale.

The finale course was modified from it's original version which went up Mt. Elden due to too much snow on the course. Instead it was run on the south facing lower slopes of Elden where the trails were dry already.

Bike the Bluff Pre-Ride May 29th

If you can make it up to Show Low on May 29th please join me for a pre-ride of the Bike the Bluff course. I'll be doing the race distance at a moderate pace. Let me know if you plan to be there so that we can ride as a group.

Steve

Flagstaff Finale Mountain bike race info

This is an e-mail from 'The Mountain Bike Association of Arizona' Message:

To all Racers,

I'm very excited for this weekend and also sorry for all the changes to the series. The MBAA has been very busy finding the best solutions for the weather and the loss of a race.

Here's the List of Changes:
1. The series only has six races now and to be fair YOU ARE STILL ALLOWED 2 DROPS. The series is now your best 4 out of 6 races.

2.The intended course for the Flagstaff race has changed to only using lower elevation trails so this means no Mt Elden climb, no Catwalk, no Sunset and no Little bear trails. This course is now a combination of Rocky Ridge and Oldham trails. This includes an outer loop of 10.2 miles and an inner loop of 4.6 miles.

3. Start Times for waves 3 (women) and wave 4 (cat 3 men) have changed. Wave 3 will leave at 9:30am (2 minute intervals) and wave 4 at 11:30am (2 minute intervals).

4.We will be having a catered awards banquet on site at Buffalo Park from 2-5pm. All the proceeds will go to FBO. The banquet will be catered by Bigfoot BBQ. Plates will be $10 a head which covers a full meal and drink.

5. Stick around Sunday for a SUPER D "tell your friends".

More info can be found online at mbaa.net. I hope to see you all there.
See you soon, Chris "SCOOBY" Capages
MBAA President

Results Posted

I was just advised and verified that results from the AZ RR Championships are posted at the link below. Good job everyone! Thanks again Travis for the support at the feed zone!

http://proconcyclingaz.com/proconblog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/staterr_results.pdf

Tour of California started yesterday

Yeah! I can't wait to sit down and watch Versus tonight, it's Tour of California time!!!! Yippee! Who's gonna take the win? My bets are on Levi (depending if he got set back from yesterday's crash). My second is Fabien. You?

Mt Lemon TT

Is anyone interested in doing the Mt Lemon TT this Sunday in Tucson? It's a 12.5 mi climb with 3000 feet elevation gain. First in 5 part series. Registration Sunday before race. more info @ http://www.saguarovelo.org/infolemmon.htm?permit=2009-879

Tortilla Flat!!!!!!!!!

This Tuesday is the first Tortilla Flats race, lets go get it before the weather gets miserable!!!!!
This is a good training race.

Arizona State Road Race Championships

The results are not posted yet but I have a ball park on how we did. Next year lets all be out there racing!
Joe H.- pretty sure in top 10
Simon Z.- mid pack
Shawna- 3rd, Kathy C. 10th, Kathy E. 15th, and me, well I finished safely, at a speedy 21st place! Yeah!
Travis did not race as the Cat 5's filled up. (note to self, sign up sooner)
Great Job to all of you!

State Road Race Champs tomorrow!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL RACING TOMORROW IN GLOBE FOR THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS! NOW GO AND ROCK THE WORLD!!!

SoMoTT Team Results

Thanks to Jim, Jeff, Charlie, Doug, Garrett and Shawna (and our supporting team members who were there as well)...Two Wheel Jones Racing placed 10th overall in the team competition. Outstanding performances by Shawna (2nd place), Charlie (3rd place)and Garrett(3rd place) helped us score so high.

http://www.teamvitesse.com/SoMo2010TeamRankings.html

Steve Banta

I want to thank the team for all the support and generosity in getting me back on the bike. road this morning and it felt great to be back out there. you don't really know how much you miss it until you cant ride. good luck to those doing the state RR I know you will all do great .wish I could be there but my form is lacking between the back and then the crash. looking forward to showlow . darrall

AZ Road Race Pre-ride

Howdy All!
Tomorrow May 10th let's pre-ride the AZ road race course! Meet at the shop at 5:45 and drive up to the Start area. Here are the directions: Take US 60 - 90 miles. Park at the Cobre Valley Country Club on HWY 188. HWY 188 is 1/4 North of US 60. Address is 4877 W. Cypress Way. This ride is open to all, anyone can join us- I plan on riding it, not racing it. IF you'd like to do some team tactics that is great, I am totally on board for that. I don't know what to expect from the course so I am not sure I will be able to hang with you strong guy's and gals. See you bright and early!

Both Kathy's- Podium finish at State Crit Championships!

Sout Mtn TT

Hey team, for those of you doing the South Mtn TT tomorrow, I will be there about 6:30- 6:45am and will have a cooler with water, propel, bagels & cream cheese and some donuts. If you have anything you would like me to put in the cooler for you to have at the top, I will gladly take it. I plan to meet you all at the bottom but go up to the top at the start of the TT. I will be wearing my 2wheel jersey and shorts (not my full kit). See you in the morming.

Kathy Connolly

South Mountain TT

Registration ends tomorrow...no day-of registration for this one. We only have three TWJ racers registered (that I know of)...Jim Chott, Jeff Dupuis and myself...and we are the big guys, not the "climbers"!! If you've got some anxiety keeping you from trying this race, set it aside and come out and do it. All any of us can do is ride at threshold until we get near the finish and then just blast it. The fact that it is uphill makes no difference; threshold is threshold. I'm no expert but if you want to try it and want to know where to be HR-wise, send me an email at sbanta@sbantalaw.com and I'll give you some tips.

BTW - I Hate 2nd Place

To clarify that statement, I absolutely have no problem with 2nd place, 3rd place, 4th place or any place for that matter as long as my teammates are the ones who have beaten me. Grrrr!! I am so mad but I will use that anger in future races. Like Trish said, Live and Learn...and I am.

SMTT and Weight Loss

Like Jim Chott, I want to encourage you to come out Saturday and do the South Mountain Time Trial.

And now for something totally different...as we all know, most cyclists and endurance athletes are trying to lose weight. I found this question and answer advice on the cyclingnews website. It's nothing you probably haven't heard before, but it's a helpful reminder...especially the tidbit at the bottom concerning the importance of avoiding high-glycemic index foods if you are trying to drop a few pounds.

Hello,

I am a fairly serious cyclist. I commute to work every day which is about 25 miles. I do two 1.5 hour interval sessions a week and I go out for approximately 120km rides on the weekend averaging 30km/h. I am healthy during the week and on most weekend and I don't drink a lot.

I currently weigh 98kg and for some reason cannot drop anymore weight. I am quite muscular but still think I should be able to lose at least 5kg of fat. I am starting to run more but I was wondering what is the best cycling to do to lose weight. What heart rate zones should I be in?

Ross

Scott Saifer says

Ross,

Your volume of riding is adequate to support weight loss. You are right to focus on choosing an appropriate intensity. Many people erroneously assume that the more calories they can "burn" on the bike, the more weight they'll lose. The error comes from the fact that when we exercise hard (near LT) we metabolize almost exclusively carbohydrate and very little fat, while at lower intensity, the fuel mix includes a lot more fat.

Any carbohydrate you metabolize has to be replaced before you can ride strongly again, so hard rides do very little for weight loss. Fat metabolized during exercise does not need to be replaced, so riding at an intensity that actually uses fat is the way to go if you are using exercise for weight loss.

That means you want to ride relatively lower intensity to lose weight. Luckily for riders who want to be fast, the "fat burning zone" and the aerobic base development zone overlap a lot, so doing your base riding, combined with sensible diet, is a good way to lean out.

There's another common misconception related to exercise intensity and weight loss that comes from the sloppy way some research has been reported in the media: After an exercise session the body continues to metabolize more fat, even after you are no longer exercising, than it would if you had not exercised.

The research that showed this found that the exercise had to be "intense" to get the effect, but remember that when we are talking about sedentary research subjects, "intense exercise" might not be exactly what a trained cyclist would think of as intense. To provide this benefit, the exercise has to be intense enough to boost body temperature and mobilize fatty acids from fat tissue. Again, the aerobic base zone is quite adequate.

There are two dietary adjustments that seem to help a lot of riders lose weight: One is to cut out high-glycemic index foods other than while exercising, and only starting to use them 20 minutes or more into exercise sessions. High glycemic foods include your sugars, sweets, white bread and all athletic energy foods and drinks.

The other is increase consumption of fruits and vegetables. When you see a barrel shaped, soft all over man or woman walking down the street, you can be pretty sure you're looking at someone who doesn't like vegetables.

Flagstaff mountain bike race on 5/9 cancelled

The Flagstaff mountain bike race scheduled for 5/9, Mother's Day, has been moved into the slot that was going to be for the Williams race on 5/22. Please see http://www.mbaa.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145&Itemid=35 for details.

Jim

South Mountain Time Trial info

The registration deadline for the 2010 Team Vitesse South Mountain Time Trial is Thursday May 6th at midnight. Please follow this link to reserve your place in this popular race https://www.sportsbaseonline.com/events/index.xhtml?categoryId=22340&conversationId=131675 Join us for the best bike race in Phoenix, and challenge yourself to become "King of the Mountain" on this tough, but beautiful course. This year - we're making the race even more fun: * The SoMo Team Climbing World Championships. This is your team's chance to become World Champions! Each team member gets a point for reaching the finish line, and the top three in each category win extra points. The team with the most points becomes the South Mountain Climbing World Champions for 2010. * Awards. We've got "King of the Mountain" Trophies for the overall Male and Female winners as well as medals for winners of each category. * Raffle Prizes. Your race entry could win you a new cruiser bike or one of the many prizes in our raffle. If you have any questions about the South Mountain Time Trial please contact our Race Director at race@teamvitesse.com. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday May 8th and, until then, good luck training! Team Vitesse

Live and Learn? I can't stand that saying sometimes!!

MAN! What a damn day of racing! As always, I have been replaying our Cat 3/4 race over in my head getting more irritated with myself for not knowing to take the free lap that I was entitled too. Total rookie mistake however when I saw the crash happen and was embracing for impact into the barricades I was feeling super good, sticking to my strategy and looking to finish somewhere up near the front, with or near the Kathy's (wishful thinking from the get- go). And then BAM! Right into the damn barricades! I knew I was ok and my bike was fine but I was tangled up with the other chicks and was stuck watching the pack race away. So it took me a few seconds (felt like forever, being a bit in shock and had total tunnel vision) to get myself free from the chaos..... but then I was OFF and RACING! While I was riding I was thinking, "ok, I just crashed but I am going to finish this race but how the hell am I gonna catch them?" So I continued to go around and around the course in last position (way off the back) and then getting yanked at the last lap because the gals were just coming up from behind me. So I stopped my bike, right where the two corner marshalls were sitting on hay bails covered in black trash bags. They told me, "Great job and effort you put in!" Which was nice of them but didn't put a dent into helping my frustration. So of course I told them that I crashed and I needed to finish the race. That is when they asked me, "Well, didn't you get your free lap in ?" And I said in a sarcastic yet disappointed way, "ahhh naw, I figured I was out of the race anyway so I just wanted to at least get a good workout in for thirty @#$!% dollars!" They laughed and I went off my marry way back to our pit area. I glanced over to the BR pit and I saw the gal that was also involved in the crash and I went over to her and asked her, "did you finish the race?" And she said "yes, they brought me back to the start and let me have a free lap because I crashed." That was all I needed to hear! "You mean to tell me I could have went back to the finish and started back in? Oh boy! I wanted to go up to the announcer and pull his vocal cords out of his throat for not saying anything to me while I was going around and around and around in no mans land all by myself for 15 minutes! HOW DARE HIM AND THE ORGANIZERS TO LET ME DO THAT.... and that's what those marshalls were talking about! Later, I was informed that they did disclose the free lap rule at the beginning of the race. Oops! my bad for not listening to the rules huh? I wonder if anyone really absorbs that information before a race anyway. I also realize that the announcer may not have known that I was involved with that messy crashy thingy. Maybe or maybe not they would have said something if they knew, who knows. WE LIVE AND LEARN RIGHT? I still can't stand that saying even though it's true. It was an interesting race to say the least, the best part was hanging out with the team and their families in the pit area.

Congratulations to both Kathy's for riding another strong and successful race. Yeah, we gave those girls a run for their money today for sure, and we will continue to dominate. At the Focus Crit there was only one TWJ up at the podium, today there was two! Next time there will be three TWJ GALS standing together!

My crash is nothing compared to what we witnessed with Darralls crash which happened right in front of our pit. That totally shook me up as well as it did others. Last time I checked he did not have any broken bones (per his wife) and he was resting well. Many of you have his number and will check in on him, but I will update the blog too. Let's pray for a speedy recovery and get him back on the bike so he'll be ready to race the State RR in Globe, the one race he was really looking forward too!
-Trish

Sometimes it's OK to break the rules

After the race today, someone asked me if I had planned to work as much as I did during the race. Hell no! The first commandment of bicycle racing is:

Thou shalt conserve thy energy for the winning move.

First, you should notice there isn't a period after the word energy. If you're in a breakaway you probably aren't conserving energy, but hopefully it was the winning move.

Second, it's OK to break this commandment if you're already losing. Today at the State Criterium Championships I found myself in the back of the pack before the race even started. I took a lap to scout the course and guys were already lining up at the start. I ended up in just about the last row. That was a monumental error on a course that provided very little opportunity to move up.

The result was that I wasn't anywhere near the front when a group of riders opened up a gap on the rest of the field. Cat 5 racers are notorious for letting a bike length open up between them and the guy in front. If you're in a fast paced race with any significant amount of wind and you're a bike length (some would say two feet) or more back, panic! You must close that gap immediately.

It was a hellafast pace today from the start and the wind was brutal. The pack started to string out and moving up became slightly easier. I finally found a rhythm and I spent the next hour (OK, it only felt like an hour) closing gaps between riders and spending a little time on the front of the chase group myself. We lost time. We lost more time. We got lapped. We finally got the shepherd's hook and were pulled from the race. A heart pounding 25 minutes was all I lasted. Congrats to the winner. Well done.

So no, I didn't plan to work as hard as I did. At this stage in my cycling career, I never plan to work. I'm an opportunist. But when you miss the winning move, you have to resign yourself to losing or dig deep. I still lost, but I gave it my best.

-Jim Vidler

AZ Crit Champs

I loved having 2 Two wheel jones females on the podium today! Way to go Kathy E. awesome job today with a 3rd place finish and hopefully some Cat 4 points!! I know we could have had 3 on the podium if Tribe didn't take our girl Trish out!

My hat goes off to Travis, Sean, Steve G., Craig and Darrall for attempting to race with the masters. (I hope I didn't miss anyone) Although every time I think about Darrall's crash and his mangled bike, my heart sinks into my chest. I know the wound will heal Darrall and the bike is your biggest worry, but it is just a machine and can be replaced...YOU are not replaceable and WE love you more than your bike!

Last week when I signed myself up, I tried to sign Sean up and he said, "no, I need to talk to Travis, I think we're racing in the Masters!" And I said, "WHAT? Are you crazy, they are all ex-pros and they race as fast as the Cat 2's!" And he said, "No, that's not what I heard!"

Need I say more? You guys are probably gonna stick to the cat 5's from now on aren't u?

Congrats to everyone else as well! AZ RR Champs in 2 weeks. We need to get out there and ride the course at least twice before that race! Wed rides...who's in?

Kathy C.