Milan-San Remo

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It is the eve of one of the greatest traditional classics and spring season opener, Milan-San Remo. I just read that Lance Armstrong will be riding in this the 100th version, traditionally he has not done well...always in his preparations for a Tour de France.

My cycling mentor Jacques Emplaincourt once explained the different strategic points in the race where it was won or lost. Turchino, La Manie, Cipressa and the infamous Poggio. Eddy Merckx on every one of his seven victories made the same attack on the La Manie. Each one of these points in the race are small climbs compared to the passes of the Grand Tours but are raced at speeds exceeding 40 km/hr. Survival is making it to the Poggio and the run to the finish after the screws have been tightened on all the tests.

I was San Remo a few years ago and fortunate to ride the last 50k of the race course, I had heard so much about he Poggio and actually was disappointed until I thought about hitting It after 292 km of racing.

Below are a few pictures from our week of training in Cullman. There were several flats this week and a little night riding.

Austin Oliver and Chandler Mountain

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Cullman's Austin Oliver competed this past weekend at Sumatanga Training Race #3. What makes this race special is the treat of climbing to the top of Chandler Mountain after a 45 mile road race. Its mountain top finish is a brutal climb of close to two miles which ranks among North Alabama toughest.

The weather was perfect so this years race had a strong field of 65 riders. Austin made the selection only to see 15 guys make an attack on the last lap. He reeled in all but eight on the climb up Chandler Mountain. Very impressive for a 16 year old. The next stop for Austin will be the Tour de Tuscaloosa, March 28th and 29th.

Team BikeWork's "SuperDave" trying to absorb some wattage in Austin's wake.

Spring Training

The weather was here over the past couple of days, perfect for cycling. With the time changing to Daylight Savings Time its time to be back in the saddle. I think everyones in the same mode its time to put up the rollers and hit the roads. I rode with a couple of Madones Sunday on the Hanceville loop.

The "Tunnel" near Hanceville, Alabama.

Cayce and Mandy sporting their new Trek Madones.

The Spring Classics

This post probably belongs on another blog. This is how I have been spending my off season in preparation for the Spring Classics. As you can probably tell from the video my wattage may warrant a new powermeter. I am optomistic that I will gain some form over the next couple of months, March has been traditionally my month to turn the corner on fitness.

I have learned alot about guitars. They are kinda like bicycles. You can pay alot for a bike or guitar but its all about the motor. Whether its Eddie Van Halen or Eddy Merckx they can ride or play anything and its still on top.

Not bad for eighth graders!

New Years Day Ride

Cullman Cycling Club had a great New Years ride lead by Billy Faulk. It was a little nippy but the sun came out so it ended up being a nice ride. We met at East Elementary and headed south into the headwind, we knew the ride home would be nice with a tailwind. Originally we intended to ride the "Most Beautiful" loop but decided to ride the "Carolina" loop which was a little better at dissecting the wind. The group ended up with 40 miles which was more than I think all of us intended for our first ride of the year. What a way to kick off the new year.

The leader of Cullman Cycling Club....Mr. Faulk

Sonja Robertson took time out from her Mercedes Marathon training to go ride with us New Years. She will be riding a new Specialized in 2009.

Shangri-La

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I wanted to actually call this the Authors Ride, we were honored to have a well known writer ride with us Sunday. Having read about him and known of him and his works it was great to talk and ride bikes.

"Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley, synonymous with any earthly paradise. We did a group ride with a couple of out of towners and rode through Cullman's version of Shangri-La. We started at the St. John Farm and rode through Hanceville and on towards Blount County. The route is pretty cool because you leave one of the most beautiful roads around and head into the forest, which the rocky dirt road takes you straight up a small mountain. Its a brutal climb and the only thing that saved us was the rain the night before made the road packed so it wasn't very slippery.

The photo shows "The Shocker" cresting the wall coming out of the forest. He is one of the toughest guys around, this was his first ride since the Tour de Cullman. "The Shocker" is know for being game for anything.

Once in the valley on top of the mountain we passed some horseback riders. They wanted to race but I think we all were temporarily out of gas.

This picture was actually made from the day before. I am struggling with my new camera to get all the settings right. I switched from a Nikon to Olympus digital camera and cant believe the difference in the photos. Its hard to say one is better than the other one but noticeably different.

Cullman Cyclocross 2008

. ........................."The Hardest of Hard Men" Sean Kelly