The CaliRado Cyclist

The notion of Karma has various interpretations but the most common understanding would probably be something along the lines of “What goes around, comes around.” To put it in the context of bike racing and the Tour, it could be considered a “cycle” of cause and effect, so to speak.

Even though Stefan Schumacher is rocking a slightly Buddhist look with the bald head, it might take a while to appreciate the Karmic justice of being taken down within sight of the finish and losing the leader’s jersey to the very guy he made contact with. The fact that the other rider was George Hincapie’s teammate is a twist of comedic irony worthy of Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. You never want to see someone deck it and lose the jersey but Stage 6 was right out of Hollywood. Only WAY better.

Again, he may not see the humor of this situation right now but perhaps Stoolmacher will be able to laugh about it in the future. Big George probably never thought he would look back on the Benelux experience and smile - but I am quite certain he had a chuckle or two after the finish in Super-Besse.

Speaking of the Republic of Columbia, General Hincapie and President Stapleton must be incredibly happy with Captain Kirchen and the rest of the fleet so far. Garmin-Chipotle may be more of a sentimental favorite for the public but the former High Roaders are giving CSC a run for the title of Best Pro Team. In fact, the inclusion of the Women’s program makes Columbia a clear leader in the world of professional cycling.

By the way, I wasn’t kidding when I said President Stapleton - I would vote for him in a second. Let’s start a write-in campaign. Who’s with me?

Alright, back to the Stage 6 -

I am rapidly trying to hang on to the Riccardo Riccobra Bandwagon as it collects summit finish victories, spewing out a dense cloud of inflammatory statements on the rest of the peloton the entire way. Seriously though, the guy is fun to watch and listen to. What more do you want? Except better shorts, of course.

The crashes and first week aggression will catch up with Valvoodoo. Among other things. He would have beaten Ricco a few weeks ago. Oscar Periero is riding really well though and Caisse d’Epargne is stronger than I thought but…my Cycling Spider Sense tingles whenever I see those yellow handlebars.

Cadel Evans was solid as usual but had some choice words for one of the Moto guys after having a mechanical and seems a bit tense. Like, borderline Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men tense. I imagine a lot of silence on the Silence bus.

I have been listening to the Eurosport audio in the morning and Sean Kelly completely calls him Cattle Evans. It’s not even close to Cuh-del. I’ve heard that Evans will correct people on the pronunciation from time to time but I wonder if he would have the stones to say anything to Kelly. Anyway, I recommend listening if you don’t have video for the morning coverage. Or can’t covertly watch it online at work.

Other Random Things That May Not Have Anything To Do With The Tour:

I crossed paths with Tom Danielson a couple of times this past week as he was in Boulder for a while prior to the Cascade Classic. He was doing some motorpacing and passed me going up Lefthand Canyon at what must have been at least 27mph. It was kind of humiliating. Okay - quite humiliating.

Then Tommy D showed up at the Niwot Criterium along with a solid group of domestic pros. When the local weekend crit has a start list that reads like an NRC event - you may want to consider sandbagging it in the lower Categories for a while. Being a Cat 2 in Colorado is kind of like being a Freshman at a Senior party - you may have some classes together from time to time but you always know where you stand in the pecking order.

For the record, Toyota United were the cool clique and swept the podium with Ben Day, Ivan Stevic and Jonny Clarke out of a break that consisted of Phil Zajicek, Colby Pierce and Jason Donald among others. Len Pettyjohn then mentioned that the TUP guys had done 5 hours before the race. Oh, okay…I guess that 6th hour is when you really start flying.

I wonder if Will Frischkorn and Danny Pate are sitting in their hotel rooms in France, thinking how far they are from Cascade right now.

Check out the podcast with Will from the Tour if you haven’t already. I’m new at the whole podcast deal so forgive the slow start but I think there is some interesting stuff in there once we got rolling. Nice. Nice.

Bend, Ore. — Team Type 1’s Ben Brooks is hospitalized in stable condition following a violent crash Wednesday during the opening stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Ore.

The 29-year-old Australian fell victim to one of a half dozen cattle guard crossings along the 83-mile (133.5 km) Prineville Road Race. A cattle guard is a series of parallel metal bars installed in the road to deter cattle and other hoofed animals from crossing. The gaps between the bars are wide enough for an animal’s legs to fall through.

Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said riders who witnessed the crash told him the cattle guard sent Brooks into a spin that catapulted him off his bicycle as the 150-rider field was traversing a mostly flat, but twisting, section before a descent about 50 miles (80 km) into the race.

“They had to be going about 60 kilometers and hour (37 mph) and it was single-file, full gas at the time,” Beamon said.

A rescue squad rushed Brooks to a local hospital.

“He is at an excellent facility with excellent care and his condition is stable,” Beamon said. “We are just reaching out now for good thoughts and prayers. We are fairly confident he will be OK.”

Brooks’s wife, Rachael, was en route to Bend Wednesday night, Beamon said.

Team Type 1 is a first-year professional squad that created in 2004 by two riders with Type 1 diabetes to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition. Brooks is not one of the four racers on Team Type 1’s pro team that has Type 1 diabetes.

Team Type 1’s Christopher Jones finished fourth in the stage that ended with a climb up to Pilot Butte State Park. Jones was joined by teammate Glen Chadwick in an 11-man break that was away most of the day. Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) won the stage.

Bend, Ore. — Team Type 1’s Ben Brooks is hospitalized in stable condition following a violent crash Wednesday during the opening stage of the Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Ore.

The 29-year-old Australian fell victim to one of a half dozen cattle guard crossings along the 83-mile (133.5 km) Prineville Road Race. A cattle guard is a series of parallel metal bars installed in the road to deter cattle and other hoofed animals from crossing. The gaps between the bars are wide enough for an animal’s legs to fall through.

Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said riders who witnessed the crash told him the cattle guard sent Brooks into a spin that catapulted him off his bicycle as the 150-rider field was traversing a mostly flat, but twisting, section before a descent about 50 miles (80 km) into the race.

“They had to be going about 60 kilometers and hour (37 mph) and it was single-file, full gas at the time,” Beamon said.

A rescue squad rushed Brooks to a local hospital.

“He is at an excellent facility with excellent care and his condition is stable,” Beamon said. “We are just reaching out now for good thoughts and prayers. We are fairly confident he will be OK.”

Brooks’s wife, Rachael, was en route to Bend Wednesday night, Beamon said.

Team Type 1 is a first-year professional squad that created in 2004 by two riders with Type 1 diabetes to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition. Brooks is not one of the four racers on Team Type 1’s pro team that has Type 1 diabetes.

Team Type 1’s Christopher Jones finished fourth in the stage that ended with a climb up to Pilot Butte State Park. Jones was joined by teammate Glen Chadwick in an 11-man break that was away most of the day. Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) won the stage.

The CaliRado Cyclist

First of all, check out the podcast interview I was fortunate enough to do with Tour de France rider Will Frischkorn of the Garmin-Chipotle team after the Stage 4 Time Trial on MissingSaddle.com. It’s fairly entertaining if you’re interested in hearing some Tour talk from one guy who is not used to doing such things and another one who is. I am not Larry King yet but Will is a good guy and played along nicely. Even got a question about the kits in at the end.

Actually, I’ve only listened to it once but I’m concerned that my style is a little more like the ladies from the “Delicious Dish” sketch on SNL. Good times. I’m glad it was Will and not Alec Baldwin (aka Pete Schweddy) on the other end of the line.

Hopefully we’ll be able to get some additional updates from France as the race progresses.

Okay, so now for the TT and yet another close call for both Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle:

Say what you want about Stefan Schumacher (such as…reputed amphetamine user and doper, self-proclaimed blood-value altering diarrhea sufferer, confirmed drunk driver and George Hincapie crasher for example), the guy rode one fast time trial in Cholet. So fast that he got himself a somewhat shocking yellow jersey over Kim Kirchen of Columbia and David Millar of Garmin-Chipotle.

Without getting into any of the things one could say about Valverde and Schumacher wearing yellow (cough), I have to say that it would have been exceedingly good for professional cycling to have either Captain Kirchen or Miller Time to get the jersey. Nothing against Gerolsteiner or Caisse d’Epargne, but it would have been nice to see a leader from an American team with a cutting-edge internal testing system. I’m just saying.

With that said, it was great to see Danny The Pate on top of the leaderboard for a while, even though dang Sylvia Chavanel knocked him off. Thankfully Jens Voigt beat the crap out of his bike like he was Chuck Norris (oh yeah) and took the lead for a while until Menchov lowered the bar. Christian Vandevelde put in a really solid performance and slotted in at 8th, one spot ahead of George Hincapie.

Ultimately, Cadel Evans gained time on everyone he needed to (Liggett: “He pulled out a big one and struck a psychological blow to his rivals” - ok), Valverde lost time to everyone he didn’t want to, Cancellara proved that he is mortal and Schumacher almost seemed not to be.

Anyway…we will see what happens later this week. The race is wide open and I have a feeling that Shoe Maker and the Water Boys will be under an incredible amount of pressure over the next few days. I can’t wait.

The CaliRado Cyclist

Well, we’re three days into the TdF and I am already beginning to lose my resistance to the impending dementia caused by that infuriating “Take Back the Tour” commercial on Versus. I can only hope (with every fiber of my being) that the VS producers get as sick of it as I have and end the madness before someone (like me) gets committed to a mental institution. I’ll be on the stretcher mumbling “I’m gonna get myself straight” right before they put me into the straightjacket.

Specifically, the reverse-footage is exceedingly depressing, a little offensive and the song kind of makes me want to kill myself. Or start doing drugs to numb my ears and the resulting suicidal tendencies. Good job VS!! Only two and a half more weeks to go!! I hope we all make it. The riders might be clean but now the entire viewing public will be pill-popping alcoholics by the end of the month.

Okay, back to the race. Well, sort of…

Alejandro Valverde is obviously a great cyclist. After all, he’s been winning races since he was a kid and has continued a fairly steady rise to now challenge for the Tour de France. However, among a few other concerns, there is just something inherently cheesy about Valvoodoo which prevents me from enjoying many of his victories. I feel kind of bad saying it, but I call ‘em like I see ‘em and something about the Spaniard’s style bugs me. Okay, I actually don’t feel that bad.

From the historically low-cut socks (a little triathlon-weird looking but still better than Moreau’s white tube socks), to the prematurely balding, yet oddly Jheri-curlish hair (just shave it off dude, trust me), to the overly-coordinated yellow, black and red of his new Spanish National Champion’s kit (the yellow on the bike and helmet make it seem like he’s trying too hard), the man who may or may not be DIRECTLY linked to Operacion Puerto has track record of questionable style (and nickname) choices.

But considering he got his big break in those horrendous old green Kelme kits – maybe he was doomed from the start. Or maybe Fuentes should have been a fashion advisor too. He seemed pretty slick in all those Mafioso-style photographs.

Anyway, despite the relative ease with which he won Stage 1 and coasted to the finish of Stage 2, I am sticking to my prediction that bad things will surface for Valv.Piti and he will not be sporting those garish yellow-gold Oakleys in Paris. ASO cannot be happy that he is prowling the top of the GC right now. “Umm…can someone get that Spanish judge on the line? Patrice Clerc would like to speak with him.”

Scandinavian By Design…

I have said it for quite some time now and I’ll say it again – I like me some Scandinavians. Especially Norwegians. Or should I say “Noorveejins?”

This goes for just about everyone I’ve ever met but Thor Hushovd seems to reinforce this opinion. My guess is that the French like Thor quite a bit as well. Considering the publicity he has been able to generate for Credit Agricole over the last 5-6 years, he should be an honorary Frog at this point. I bet he’s more popular than Moreau.

These things I know: The sun will rise again and Thor Hushovd will win a stage of the Tour de France.

So Frisch and So Clean, Clean…

The Outkast song may not have been playing on the race radio but the title seemed apt after what our local Boulder representative Will Frischkorn did in Stage 3. After over 200k’s off the front, the Colorado Buffalo alum just missed grabbing what may have been the most surprising stage win for an American since Greg LeMond’s TT in 1989 and cemented the fact that Slipstream/Garmin/Chipotle are going to be able to do some good things over the next few weeks.

I hope to have more details about Stage 3 from the source in the near future. But in the meantime…Way to go Man!

Between Missouri, Milan-Sanremo and now the Tour, Willdren of the Frischkorn is making getting into day-long, race-making breakaways look remarkably easy. Come on…it’s only 200k’s off the front. Let’s go.

It’s probably nothing compared to the Bus Stop Ride though and I think the start in St. Malo must have reminded him of the chapel with the same name on Peak to Peak Highway.

Next Stop for Garmin-Chipotle: A Yellow Jersey for David Millar after the TT tomorrow. Cancellara can’t possibly win again, can he? We’ll see.

The CaliRado Cyclist

Twas the night before the Tour and I’m finally ready to declare my picks for the Overall, Points and Mountains Classifications of the 2008 event. And of course, I will also pick the Lantern Rouge to complete the spectrum. This is setting up to be a pretty interesting Tour and none of these choices was easy.

Mountains:

1) Ricardo Ricco

The Cobra won’t be looking at the GC so he will probably be given some extra leash. I anticipate a lot of great quotes and some post-Giro aggression from the fiery Italian. Not to mention a polka-dot jersey to go with those heinous “widows peak” shorts.

Points:

1) Erik Zabel

This is a bit of a sentimental pick but for some reason I think the Flat Top will finish in Green for the 7th time. Without Boonen in the mix I see the German veteran being able to make enough of the smaller group finishes to gather a 13th stage win and enough points to distance himself from the likes of McEwen, Hushovd and Cavendish. I see all of these guys getting stages though, in addition to Friere - who could win the Green if he wanted to, but who will focus on stages and then prepare for the Olympics.

Ciolek may make it interesting if he can manage to keep his head still when he sprints. Seriously, keep an eye on that. It’s pretty crazy.

General Classification:

1) Denis Menchov

What can I say? I don’t really WANT to pick the Russian but I think he has the best resume and will be the most consistent rider over the next three weeks. He knows what it takes to win a Grand Tour (even though he only knew about one of the two Vuelta wins at the time) and his performance in Spain last year was more impressive than anything I have seen Cadel Evans do. I always thought Menchov was the scariest rider in 2006 when Floyd won and I see 2008 shaping up similarly.

2) Cadel Evans

He’s got all the tools and has been perhaps exceedingly vocal about his total dedication to improving on last year’s 2nd place. But I just don’t see it happening. I envision a very close race between Evans and Menchov but the Australian’s lack of experience when truly fighting for the lead (he was out of it last year until the final time trial after Rasmussen got canned) will cause him to lose more time in the mountains than he can get back in the time trials.

I just don’t see Cadel in yellow when they finish in Paris.

3) Carlos Sastre

The little Spanish climber knows that he is running out of time and will be uncontrollable in the final mountain stages. With the Schleck Brothers waiting to pounce, CSC will likely have some serious cards to play when the groups start to thin out. Somehow I don’t see Bjarne letting his new Sexy Back sponsors down and expect to see the red and black off the front a lot over the next three weeks. Jens Voigt presented by Chuck Norris will be getting much camera time.

4) Kim Kirchen

He claimed that he wanted to win the Tour de Suisse but I think his failure to do so may indicate that he will be peaking for the Tour de France. I’m sure Bob Stapleton and the Columbia people hope this is the case. I am also certain the former High Roaders will take their fair share of stages and General Hincapie will be savvy enough to help get Kirchen to Paris among the leaders.

5) Stijn Devolder

This may sound silly but Lance said Devolder could do well - and I think Kate Hudson’s current boyfriend may know a thing or two about the Tour de France. Additionally, the Belgian’s performances in Flanders, Roubaix and Switzerland were enough to get me on the Stijn bandwagon. I think he will fly under the radar for much of the race and have good enough time trials to jump over the better climbers. I’m bummed that he won’t be rocking the Belgian National Champ kit anymore though. That has to be one of the coolest jerseys ever.

- You may have noticed that there are some prominent names left off this list. Without getting too much like the little weird lady in Poltergeist…I see some problems for Valverde which prevent his arrival in Paris (he can’t hang for three weeks and bad things will take place), Cunego will crack at least once (and really regret that stupid tattoo eventually), Zubeldia will finish Top 10 (and be invisible) and Christophe Moreau will continue to annoy me (although I could see him challenging for the Mountains Classification…and losing).

Lantern Rouge:

The last place finisher of the 2008 Tour de France will be a battle between Wim Vansevenant and Jimmy Casper, both of whom have been manning the caboose on two previous editions into Paris. I see Vansevenant winning/losing this battle, primarily because I don’t like the name Casper and I can’t really think of much else to guage them on.

Well, those are the picks. If I am right, I will take all the glory. If I am wrong, somebody else messed things up.

There is a powerful concept in business (as well as cycling and life, for that matter) that can be loosely described as “managing expectations.” Understanding that there are often sizable gaps between Expectations, Delivered Value and Perceived Value, the ability to avoid or at least minimize potential dissatisfaction can greatly influence the Outcome of virtually all business and personal interaction.

Patrice Clerc, President of Tour de France organizer ASO, does not seem to be familiar with this concept. In fact, many of the most influential people in Professional Cycling do not seem to fully grasp this principle. And the sport is setting itself up for failure as a result.

Often, a key element in effectively managing expectations is clearly acknowledging that uncontrollable events may occur which affect the desired Outcome. No matter the extent of due diligence, things happen from time to time which cannot be anticipated or avoided. Understanding this fact and being prepared to deal with the consequences of unforeseen events generally creates an environment in which the gaps between Expectations, Delivered Value and Perceived Value can be minimized, often resulting in a greater sense of satisfaction for the parties involved.

Specifically, the Tour de France is setting itself up for failure by instilling an Expectation that it will be an “incident-free” event. Not to be too pessimistic, but a precedent has been set for this race which is not likely to disappear in 2008. And the reality is that, despite all anti-doping efforts, the riders and the testers are human and prone to errors in both judgment and action. As such, it is historically unwise to create an environment in which there is an Expectation that no riders will test positive at some point during the next three weeks, either as a result of cheating or lab error.

With this in mind, I can’t help but recall what happened to Phil Zajicek and Scott Moninger a few years ago as examples of what constitutes a “positive result” and how there are many shades of grey in the world of Doping. Does anyone really think those two were evil cheaters? Or, more likely, do you view them as unfortunate individuals who fell victim to unforeseen and somewhat uncontrollable events – but were branded with a scarlet D nonetheless?

Again, is it rational to fear that an unforeseen and uncontrollable event, isolated to one individual, will make all prior and existing efforts of everyone else involved in the sport less valid?

The CaliRado Cyclist

Hello Friends,

The 2008 USA Cycling U.S. Elite, U-23, and Junior National Championships of Road Cycling will host over 1500 participants in the disciplines of the Time Trial, Road Cycling and the Criterium, August 5 – 10, 2008hr. This event will bring together the top cycling talent from coast to coast, as well as the nation’s best future prospects. Additionally, we are proud to showcase Orange County for our event, and invite you to be a part of this exciting cycling adventure that will attract more than 10,000 spectators and participants.

The city of Anaheim will serve as the backdrop for this championship, with Irvine, Tustin, and Orange playing host to our race venues. In Anaheim, Disney World Wide of Sports® is helping with the Criterium event at Angel Stadium of Anaheim as well as with the awards ceremony in Downtown Disney®, while Irvine, Tustin and Orange will help in hosting the Time Trial and Road Racing events. Orange County is one of the most bicycle friendly cities in the nation, and boasts the highest count of registered cyclists with USA Cycling; hence we are very proud that our hometowns will play host to such a high-profile, national event.

Additionally, proceeds for this event will help the US Women’s Cycling Development Program. The US Women’s Cycling Development Program is a Non-Profit Organization, dedicated to finding the best females for our sport, providing comprehensive coaching, training and support, mentoring, fundraising and financial assistance, career management, sponsor development, and event team services. To learn more visit them at http://www.uswcdp.com
Registration is at https://www.sportsbaseonline.com

If you are looking for help with travel accommodations, have no fear! We are working with Disney and GET Travel (Disney Travel) for all your accommodations needs, and requests. With our partnership with Disney, we are asking for everyone to help in making sure we use their travel arrangements, and also, we require each participant to purchase a two day park hopper pass. When you purchase the park hopper pass as a participant, you automatically qualify to ride your bike, in your kit, in the new California Adventure Parade. That’s right, you get to be in the parade at Disney, on your bike, in your kit!
In addition to the parade, all awards ceremonies will be held at Downtown Disney, adjacent to Disneyland and California Adventure. The awards will be held next to the ESPN zone, and will be a festival type atmosphere.
Need any equipment at a discounted price? Let us know. Rock-n-Road Cyclery is your one stop shop for purchasing equipment prior to, during, and after our event. Not only that, but there will be mechanics available to put your bike together when you arrive. Please visit http://www.rocknroadcyclery.net to view locations, and or contact us for help

Are you curious about Sponsorship for the National Championships? Email us at jet@jetcycling.com and ask how you can market your products to a national audience. We have a variety of levels for you to chose from. For those of you looking for EXPO Space, we are having our EXPO during our Crit Event at Angels Stadium, Thursday August 7th from 8 am to 5 pm. Call us to reserve your spot! Be part of the group that wants to give back to the sport that we love. Participate as a sponsor, and give back to cycling.
Thanks to all the support we’re getting from the U.S. Women’s Cycling Development Program http://www.uswdp.org, USA Cycling “http://www.usacycling.org, Rock-n-Road Cyclery, Disney/GET Travel and many more.
Here’s a schedule of all the Races and Events-
Tuesday August 5th Participants in the Disney’s California Adventure at 4pm
Registration and riders meetings
Wednesday August 6th Time Trial through Santiago Canyon
Thursday August 7th Criterium at Angels Stadium
Friday August 8th Junior 10-16 Road Races in Irvine
Saturday August 9th Women 17-18, U23, and Elite Road Races, Mens 17-18, U23
Sunday August 10th Men 17-18, U23, and Elite Road Race in Irvine

Awards at Downtown Disney 4pm to 6pm Wednesday to Sunday.

Cycling in California has been growing rapidly and not just with recreational cyclists and local races, but with high-profile events such as the Tour de California that are attended by a worldwide audience. Additionally, this area has hosted many national and international track races. Hence, we welcome the opportunity to put on this National Event in 2008 and 2009! We want to encourage all Elites, U23, and junior riders to come out, have fun, and enjoy the warm weather and beautiful environment in Southern California.