Tell the Governor to Support Mountain Biking by Vetoing Dangerous Bill
!
The California Legislature has sent Assembly Bill 2923 to Governor
Schwarzenegger's desk, with potentially disastrous results for popular
mountain biking destinations. The bill is the first step in possible
Wilderness designations that would eliminate classic mountain biking
trails at Henry Coe State Park, Robert Lewis Stevenson State Park and
Austin Creek State Recreation Area. State Wilderness may be
appropriate in some areas, but not these parks
. You must act now!
September 22, 2008
STERLING SPORTS GROUP ANNOUNCES ROSTER
Small Cyclocross Program Fires Off Surprisingly Strong Roster
SUNNYVALE, CA (September 22, 2008) – Sterling Sports Group is pleased to announce their 2008 Cyclocross Team roster. Built around a core group of 14 riders, the team is composed of an exciting combination of talent, experience, youth, enthusiasm, and attitude. The team scored a bit of a coup by landing Mike Sayers as it’s lead rider. Sayers is a long time stalwart of the US Professional road scene, and is eagerly embracing his first foray into the world of cyclocross. “I’m honored to have Mike on the team. His leadership and approachability will be great assets to our young team,” says team manager Matt McNamara. In addition to Mr. Sayers, the team boasts several top tier athletes including multiple State Champion Liza Rachetto, promising juniors Matt Valencia and Anthony Delivannis, several speedy Masters and a quartet of Elite B riders looking to move up.
Mike Sayers puts it all in perspective when he says “It’s going to be really nice to be a part of this program. I’m sure having fun is the name of the game.” That aura of fun is certainly be enhanced by the other members of the team. From Masters to Juniors this is a truly unique program. Chris Carroll is perhaps the most inspiring member of the team. Chris had a heart transplant in 2002 and is super motivated to race to his hearts content, to turn a phrase. Add to the mix experienced riders like Aaron Hunter, Matt Idler, Jason Sage and Bill Strachan, rookies like the junior terrors Matt Valencia and Anthony Delivannis; and masters like Ed Miszkiewicz and Justin Kromelow and you just know we’re in for a fun season!
The team is focused on rider development through an innovative program that provides each rider with a personalized coaching program, weekly training rides, event and equipment support, and camraderie. Events wise the team will focus on the Northern California calendar including the Bay Area Super Prestige Series, Central Coast and Sacramento Series’, with a couple of National level events likely. The team, officially known as SterlingWins.com presented by Leopard Bikes, will ride the brand new, 1100 gram, Carbon Fiber Leopard CX1 bike adorned with Ritchey WCS components, and SRAM drivetrains.
Riders:
Mike Sayers – UCI Pro / Elite A’s – 12 year professional for BMC, Health Net, Mercury
Liza Rachetto – Womens Elite A – 2008 Idaho State Criterium Champion
Matt McNamara – Elite A’s – Team Manager and USAC Level 1 Coach
Matt Valencia – Junior – multiple top 10’s at 2008 Junior Nationals
Anthony Delivannis – Junior
Aaron Hunter – Master 35+A
Bill Strachan – Masters 45+A
Jason Sage – Elite B’s
Matt Idler – Elite B’s, Team Coach
Justin Kromelow – Masters B35+
Chris Carroll – Elite C’s
Ed Miszkiewicz - Master 50+ C
Equipment:
Frames: Leopard CX1 1100g Carbon Fiber
Components: Ritchey WCS
Drivetrain: SRAM
ABOUT STERLING SPORTS GROUP
Sterling Sports Group (www.sterlingwins.com) is the result of over 20 years of passion for the sport of cycling. Launched in late 2003, Sterling Sports is a growing company focused on creating a seamless interface between athlete and coach, technology and personal attention.
###
SUNNYVALE, CA (September 22, 2008) – Sterling Sports Group is pleased to announce their 2008 Cyclocross Team roster. Built around a core group of 14 riders, the team is composed of an exciting combination of talent, experience, youth, enthusiasm, and attitude. The team scored a bit of a coup by landing Mike Sayers as it’s lead rider. Sayers is a long time stalwart of the US Professional road scene, and is eagerly embracing his first foray into the world of cyclocross. “I’m honored to have Mike on the team. His leadership and approachability will be great assets to our young team,” says team manager Matt McNamara. In addition to Mr. Sayers, the team boasts several top tier athletes including multiple State Champion Liza Rachetto, promising juniors Matt Valencia and Anthony Delivannis, several speedy Masters and a quartet of Elite B riders looking to move up.
Mike Sayers puts it all in perspective when he says “It’s going to be really nice to be a part of this program. I’m sure having fun is the name of the game.” That aura of fun is certainly be enhanced by the other members of the team. From Masters to Juniors this is a truly unique program. Chris Carroll is perhaps the most inspiring member of the team. Chris had a heart transplant in 2002 and is super motivated to race to his hearts content, to turn a phrase. Add to the mix experienced riders like Aaron Hunter, Matt Idler, Jason Sage and Bill Strachan, rookies like the junior terrors Matt Valencia and Anthony Delivannis; and masters like Ed Miszkiewicz and Justin Kromelow and you just know we’re in for a fun season!
The team is focused on rider development through an innovative program that provides each rider with a personalized coaching program, weekly training rides, event and equipment support, and camraderie. Events wise the team will focus on the Northern California calendar including the Bay Area Super Prestige Series, Central Coast and Sacramento Series’, with a couple of National level events likely. The team, officially known as SterlingWins.com presented by Leopard Bikes, will ride the brand new, 1100 gram, Carbon Fiber Leopard CX1 bike adorned with Ritchey WCS components, and SRAM drivetrains.
Riders:
Mike Sayers – UCI Pro / Elite A’s – 12 year professional for BMC, Health Net, Mercury
Liza Rachetto – Womens Elite A – 2008 Idaho State Criterium Champion
Matt McNamara – Elite A’s – Team Manager and USAC Level 1 Coach
Matt Valencia – Junior – multiple top 10’s at 2008 Junior Nationals
Anthony Delivannis – Junior
Aaron Hunter – Master 35+A
Bill Strachan – Masters 45+A
Jason Sage – Elite B’s
Matt Idler – Elite B’s, Team Coach
Justin Kromelow – Masters B35+
Chris Carroll – Elite C’s
Ed Miszkiewicz - Master 50+ C
Equipment:
Frames: Leopard CX1 1100g Carbon Fiber
Components: Ritchey WCS
Drivetrain: SRAM
ABOUT STERLING SPORTS GROUP
Sterling Sports Group (www.sterlingwins.com) is the result of over 20 years of passion for the sport of cycling. Launched in late 2003, Sterling Sports is a growing company focused on creating a seamless interface between athlete and coach, technology and personal attention.
###
September 16, 2008
Finally I'm A Category 1*
*Ok, so really I'm still an Expert off-road, but with USAC changing the categories for mountian biking in 2009, I'll be a legit Cat 1! Truth be told I haven't done a MTB race since probably 2000 or 2001, but the license still says EXPERT, err CAT 1 come January 1st! Of course this brings me to another point - Crits. Love 'em! Went up to the city and snookered my way into the SF Twilight race on Saturday so I could ride around with some fast guys, feel cool, and try to look competent. Race started and I was pretty far back...far enough that I couldn't see, much less get to, the front for the first 15minutes or so (I actually almost threw up - which has NEVER happened in a race..gotta be the coffee 30minutes before the start). Anyway, after those first arduous minutes I kinda settled in and started picking off guys on my way to the front. 3 or 4 each lap, maybe 10 on a good one (there were 118 at the start) and slowly but surely I was into the top 20 with about 30minutes left. It was fun! It also pointed out something that seems both odd and strangely euphoric - cornering. You'd think that Pro/1/2 riders would be very adept at handling high speed corners in tight quarters - and they are for the most part. The interesting thing on Saturday was the willingness to simply follow the wheel in front, even if it meant slowing down precipitously, then having to jump hard out of the corner - every time. Now, I'm not very fit so I can't afford to be surging too much - I gotta keep as much momentum into corners as I can! Don't think I 'dive' corners - I'm old and have a family so that sort of reckless riding is in my past. But, and here's where the strange euphoria came in, it seemed that every time I came into a corner a natural lane would open up. Didn't matter if I was outside, inside, or stuck in the middle - a couple of inches (or feet) would suddenly appear between the riders in front of me and I'd have room to maneuver. It was great! Especially the uphill-into-turn-4...I rolled through in an easy gear (53x19 or 21) with lots of momentum and a lane to exploit - that's where and how I picked up those 3-10 spots each lap. For whatever reason it just seemed that everyone else was over-geared and riding slow. As evidence I'll point to Fred Rodriguez - for the last five laps or so I followed him around. Time and again he'd shoot up the outside of the road into turn 4 and it was wide open each time...easy path forward. Which is the point late in fast crits - defending your position and rotating forward!! Anyway, I finished 27th....but was happy with that considering my relative lack of riding, fitness, or muscle endurance. A few numbers for those that care - 1h15min, 26.4mph avg (yea, slow eh?!), but my Normalized Power was 313 for the whole race - pretty high considering the speed. Interestingly the race was more 'surgy' than normal - I was either at 0 watts or over 400....like each lap. |
September 09, 2008
Masters Track Nationals
This past week Hellyer Park hosted the 2008 Masters National Track Championships. Run over the better part of the week (tuesday - sunday) it was a veritable cornucopia of speed. Events ranged from 200m to 30Km, and ages ranged from 30 to over 70! There were over 900 event registrations, and something like 450 athletes present...wow. i don't know if that's a record, but it certainly made for some busy lanes on the cement during warm-ups. Nor Cal really made a good show with hometown athletes taking over 25 golds, and better than 50 podiums for the week. As for me...well, let's use my race performance as an affirmation that one should really train for an event of this stature! You can look at my 'performance mgmt chart' below to see that the last couple of months have not been very productive on the training side. Being ever optimistic i still set goals for the events that I thought would put me in the mix for a top 5 result. My goals: 1:10 kilo, 3:40 3k, sub 12s 200m, and 25 points in the points race. My performances...1:14.9 kilo, 3:56 3k, 12.4s 200m, and a DNP in the points race (with 2 points). Overall fairly mediocre (best place 11th in 3k pursuit). On the plus side i really enjoyed the atmosphere, saw a few friends from long ago, and got to play 'bike racer' for the week. It also affirmed that I need to focus my training a bit more and get out of my 'pack fill' slump. So, as i look to cyclocross and 2009's race season, i feel a renewed sense of desire and purpose to train hard, race smart and get some flipping results! ok, enough speech'n
August 26, 2008
Why I Hate Cycling
I Hate Cycling
Yea, weird huh....me being a coach and all....
so, why do I hate cycling....
it's too damn expensive, too hard, too dangerous, too sweaty, too many posers, too many slackers...
Expensive - ok, I COULD just race crits, or track, or 'cross, or mountain bikes, but nooooooo...i gotta try it all - D'oh!
Hard - I was pacing Peter Bohl today at the track. he was dong points race practice with JA Mendonca so I sat about 10m behind them and rode tempo at ~30. It wasn't hard. Taking that pace up about 2 or 3 mph without any draft after firing a ballistic start..then holding it for about 3minutes and 40 seconds - hoping it's enough to get top 5 in MASTERS pursuit.....danngit that's hard! 1:13 kilo's at Hellyer, 3 of them....that's hard
Danger - ok, that's just a place holder. I'm pretty safe, don't take stupid chances, and don't like to fall off my bike.
Sweaty - this is an article in itself...think about how much of your life is spent sweating if you ride. How many showers do you take each day? How many times a week are you sitting in your house with sweat in every crevice - waiting to go to sleep and do it again!
Posers - ok, another place holder...most everyone I know in cycling is ok. Most posers...not all, but most...are just newbies looking for some help or feedback..so get off your 'i'm a real cyclist' kick and say hi to each other out there...I've met more people just riding easily along foothill and saying hi at the lights....it's not all about rushing around everywhere...
Slackers - I go to races and continually see guys that don't do anything in races...I mean they don't ever see the front, the don't attack, they don't chase...they just ride around. Slackers. Same for those guys that go out to 'train' and end up just doing half assed efforts for no real purpose. By the way - i felt like a slacker today at the track...
So, I hate cycling....but it's still pretty fun, so i'll keep doing it...
Here is the link to the Livermore Cyclocross Series Race #2 Course Map. We'll try to add more courses as we get the info...
August 25, 2008
Game On - where in the world is Sterling?
Our first entry in the 'where in the world is Sterling' contest - Steven on top of Mt Wilson!! - Send your entry to me and we'll get it up pronto...do I hear Canada in our future? Italy?
Team Bike Update
We've been working with Leopard to refine and finalize the look of our team bike - so, here it is. Classic black carbon weave, silver logo's mixed with the burnished red of the Sterling Logo. Pro!
'Cross Calendar Coming Along
The clock is ticking - only a month or so til the first CX race in nor-cal...
if you haven't seen the schedule check it out - online!.
There are great events from Pilarcitos, including a NIGHT RACE!! I love those....
The venerable Central Coast Series is back this year with a FULL schedule...I mean events til January '09!!!!
Who can forget the Sacramento CX Series....certainly not our Sacto contingent...
The Velo Bellas are throwing down an event or two - specifically the Surf City Halloween Spectacular (yea, yea spooktacular...whatever)...just check their site/blog to get the details.
There are several other series that are yet to be webinized...but we'll keep looking - Lion of Fairfax, Livermore Series, and more..
so check back for updates and more....
if you haven't seen the schedule check it out - online!.
There are great events from Pilarcitos, including a NIGHT RACE!! I love those....
The venerable Central Coast Series is back this year with a FULL schedule...I mean events til January '09!!!!
Who can forget the Sacramento CX Series....certainly not our Sacto contingent...
The Velo Bellas are throwing down an event or two - specifically the Surf City Halloween Spectacular (yea, yea spooktacular...whatever)...just check their site/blog to get the details.
There are several other series that are yet to be webinized...but we'll keep looking - Lion of Fairfax, Livermore Series, and more..
so check back for updates and more....
August 10, 2008
The Valley Ride
those of you living in the Palo Alto, peninsula area are certainly aware of the Wednesday night Valley Ride. Wednesday worlds, good training ride, or waste of time - this ride is a staple of many a riders week. Like most group rides you get out what you put in - sorta. This past week I thought I'd try a little experiment on the valley ride and see how LITTLE work I could do on the ride...as measured by average watts, normalized watts, and maximum watts. So to make it somewhat reasonable I had the following criteria - I had to ride the whole time at/near the top 10% of the field, I had to finish in the top 20 up the Huddert Park climb, and I had to at least position well for each of the three sprints on the ride. So off I went...
The ride started easily enough - I averaged 160'ish watts til the turn onto Arastradero, for point of clarity my LT Power is about 315W so this wasn't too tough. I admit being a bit worried about the climb over Arastradero and up Alpine to Portola Valley. It seems, however, that my ability to not work very hard was pretty good! I hit the turn to Portola at approximately 170W (now this is average, not normalized, but we'll get to that), so it wasn't going too badly. True to my 'rules' i'd stayed in the front 10% most of the ride - although to be truthful I was probably a bit farther back on the Arastradero climb. Into the first sprint and I rolled to the front, but let the hard chargers go ahead...still I was not more than maybe 5-10 riders from the winner. Over Mountain Home and I found myself feeling pretty good, riding at the front and even taking a couple of hard pulls. From there I took it easy to the base of Huddert - quite a different feeling to hit the base of the climb feeling somewhat fresh. Knowing peak watts was a criteria of my ride, just like average watts - I started the climb slowly but managed to hit the top in about 7th - averaging just over 300W for the 6 minutes of the climb. On the return to Los Altos I took a couple of pulls, including over the two small bumps that preceed the third sprint. Anyway - the long and short is that I averaged 202 Watts and 267W normalized for the ride. My Max Wattage was just over 1000W (My 5 Peak is about 1300W). I'll post the power file shortly with a few more details...but in the end...the ride was pretty easy for about 90% - and kinda tough for 10%.
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