Redlands part 2 - Flying tortillas and Meercats

Who's team got into the top ten in GC at redlands? Who won the bet? The soda company bested the beer company on that one, but the tequila company won at dinner. See Anne, below.
After team Cheerwine threw one too many tortillas over the booth at Victory, Chrissy and her Brady bunch sisters are about to spew burrito all over us as retailiation, more for the fact that we placed higher on GC then them, I bet.
What do you call a little animal that pops up its head to check out what is happening above the surface? A Meercat. Here the team is perfecting our new team shake, wave, high five. more on this weirdness later in the season, especially footage of meercats as we spot them.
Anne sure as hell deserved the margarita, she had to kill Phil (of USCF) with kindness too many times. I think she was saving that bit of Guac for him, actually.
This is a shot of the team trying to find energy to smile, or having their face muscles seize up. (A rare yet striking image of the author as well)
Our amazing/cool hosts, Jim Bacca and Janey Cole. They were sleep standing here to say goodbye to us at 6am Monday morning. We will also miss you Willy, I mean Abby.

The stage race was tough as expected. The organizers implemented a time cut the first day which took Gina and 5 others out of the race. She put in a great effort but the antibiotics got the best of her. This was a weird way to start the race. Also, the times were off by 30 sec for many people, including Michelle. This was frustrating. If 5 k TT, then why time cut? Anyway, it was a hot day, especially for those of us from Norcal where it has rained and hailed for 49 of the past 50 days. If LA, then hot. If hot, then drink more sodium. Terry fashioned some sweeet aerobars for me out of a pair of metal sticks that were 3 sizes too long. He hacksawed in four spots, filed and polished them to be the stealthiest bars on the course.

Crit day was better, cooler. And good job everyone for not getting too anxious for the staging. People are remembering that the race is not won in staging. I had no idea comic books would get racers as amped as they were when the prime for one was called out. Charm was splendiferous as the only other sustained breakaway in the crit aside from Ina, and she took a time bonus as well. One tip for improved crit racing, not just for the mtbikers: move fluidly, diagonally. Jumping and sprinting whilst sitting tightly packed amid 65 women will not improve your position, among other things.

The circuit race turned into a silly paceline clinic for some victory, webcor and me, as we mentored the Mtn bikers on the benefits of pulling through. Then Amber won, by a long time. Apparently, she completed each of the 8 laps solo and with the same time down to the minute. Incredible. Also, the science of power to weight ratio was very apparent today. Will we see the peloton shrink over the next 6 weeks? Probably. Lastly, if you happen to find yourself in a group that is not even a chase group because you are sooooo far off the real chase group, don't attack each other. It is bad karma. Think gruppetto or autobus where typically the sprinters are working together to not get time cut on a hilly stage. Egos should be shelved sometimes.

Okay enough prostletyzing. Notable results:
Final general classification
1 Amber Neben (SC Velo) 4.01.08
2 Christine Thorburn (Webcor-Platinum Women's Cycling Team) 2.22
3 Kimberly Baldwin (T-Mobile) 2.40
4 Alisha Lion (Team Kenda Tire) 3.07
5 Dotsie Bausch (Colavita/Cooking Light Cycling Team) 3.18
6 Kristin Armstrong (Team Lipton) 3.54
7 Kimberly Anderson (T-Mobile) 4.49
8 Anne Samplonius (Team Biovail Pro Cycling) 4.58
9 Ina Teutenberg (T-Mobile) 5.00
10 Charm Breon (Cheerwine) 5.14
18 Kristin Sanders (Cheerwine) 5.31

Redlands part 1-Hot and Hectic

Van graphics actually DO make the team. I know I don't have to say too much about style points.
Anne and Charm are stunned by the heat that Darrell, the Team Car Parking Attendant, packs for the job.
There were a lot of budget cuts this year for the race.Here is an example of consolidating funds; get married while you register for the race. Bike racing is a bit of a meat market, here it is trying to justify itself.
Mike Boone from Magiccyles.com shipped the whole shop out to CA from NC, so he wouldn't have to use his pocket truing stand (Topeak-is this in the works?)
Upon arrival in Redlands, we took a spin through the famous citrus groves. The mountains in the back are topped off with snow. We got tan though. (forgive the blur, I couldn't stop riding to take the picture.)
Anne was spanking the monkey for good luck for our team. It worked. Charm got 16th w/o TT equipment.
The Highland Senior Center provided the backdrop for the Time Trial warmup for the Pro teams. This is when Rest homes and procycling overlap--both groups try not to let their heartrates get too high or else.... Our stable of Kanes wake up to 75 degrees and clear skies for the mostly uphill TT. The steeds rocked.
Abby, the fur covered sparkplug, does repeats for Terry.

Some pics from team training camp

We had to stop to sort out a few things with our new team bikes...Kristin couldn't remember which way her bars should go, May Britt was contemplating with Allie the best track set up and the Yoga studio we stopped in front of inspired Clara to show off her new Floyd TT position.

Once we got rolling again, we practiced leadouts. We even had a moto and support car!

Next item of business, Redlands Classic. 3/24-3/26

Look out for the Undercover TT-ists coming to a stage race near you....
Photos courtesy of Dr. Alan Birnbaum.

Back to the valley-where the Cows rule.

We headed back to the central valley for a flat 17 mile TT course, a flat 73 mile circuit race, and a crit with a 180 degree turn. While the east coast was racing in 75 deg weather, we were getting snowed on at the TT course, hailed on at the Circuit race, and sat on at the crit. Charm was freakishly consistant with 28th, 25th and 25th places, while I was further down the results. But we laughed a lot about the amount of cow patties we ingested while riding in the rainy farmlands. It is so Belgian here. We are coming to an end to our Club Med training camp, but will pick up in a couple weeks in Sunny Los Angeles.


This is so typical-Christine is crushing me-literally. Then she took fourth in the crit. Mean.
www.ronaldmariano.com

Here is a toast with the real Cheerwine. It was very monumental as our Hostess Cathy grew up with family that worked for Coca Cola their whole lives. She has since converted to Cheerwine.


A big Ole pasta dinner complete with Local Cycling club guests and an example of how Alan's third arm comes in handy when he is riding the bike and taking pics.

Our hosts were Bed&Breakfast wannabes, in a good way. Cathy and Alan are cycling fans, as well a Ballet instructor and Neurologist. And then Alan is also a photographer, and both of them survived the insane weather for the 3 day race by marshalling and photographing. Amazing.
Andy never does cross races cuz he doesn't want to have frostbitten fingers while trying to swap flat wheels...but that white stuff in front of him is snow, in Fresno. Or is it Freesno?

What is left of the team after 5 race days in California....only 5 to go.

McLane Racing Points

We arrived with cow poo wafting through the air. This should have warned me. Our first NRC race was a crit, with a lot of corners. There was an explosion in one corner, caused by a flat front tire for one racer and resulting in many bruises, gashed elbows, torn skinsuits and scraped carbon fiber for other racers. My teammates pulled through for a 9th place finish by Gina Voci.

The next day's road race started with a wintry wind wafting through our clothes. We expected rain but got super winds. On an exposed course, riding in echelons was the text book thing to do. It was more like riding in the gutter and trying to draft off of shadows. Once our teammate, Kristin Sanders bridged up to the break, the rest of us just tried to stay out of trouble. We accomplished an 8th place on day 2.

In-n-Out Burger was blessed by our visit on the way home.

McLane Racing and Bay Area Cruising

Gina spanks Kristin to get her race-ready. Charm supervises.

Post crash at McLane Crit- the cops question whether strong body odor could cause one to lose balance and fall off a bike.

Typical offerings for a Central Valley breakfast of champions. Note the BBQ flavored sausages.

Remember back when you could buy generic chips and beer and cereal? Here is the bike team version.
These fans were trying to figure out which famous Pros were inside the *Deathstar* van.

Charm just bought a home on the hill in Tiburon, the tan one.

The Cherries are here!

After many weeks of riding from Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona, teammates arrive.
Kristin on the TT bike, where she was born, Charm in black and Gina in piggytails. (Gina is single, boys)









A view of my teammates from my office window...the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge.