it's on this type of unpredictable wind and downpour that one is tempted to "ride on" to reminisce the rain-drenched, wind-howling amgen seaside to san luis obispo stage 4, but even those supermen riders succumbed to the cold and wet, with a casualty of more than a dozen riders falling ill to hypothermia and/or a stomach bug, and for the rest that stayed, they battled the pacific winds which hampered and delayed this stage completion by an additional two hours compared to last year's completion time when it was sunny as it normally was(?) in caleeforneeah ...then there's that all-out sprint near the finish in yesterday's stage six with stage4 winner dominique rollin taking on a much too early jump, and was soon eclipsed by bettini, jj, pagliarini and cavendish, but yesterday's stage race had an unfamiliar and unfolding twist where first place finisher sir cavendish was relegated to last place, and pagliarini took on the first place slot..no free ride say the ride officials when they yelled foul with cavendish hanging on to a team car to recoup time loss after the crash (cavendish was said to have swerved into cipo, and fast freddie absorbed the brunt of the collision, as he crashed head first after plowing into cipo - what a mess and i hope freddie's ok).
let's see who wins today's final stage and of course the overall win - any guesses?? i'll start off with gesink for the stage (7) win, and mr. levi for the overall.. ride safely gents of the toc!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
March 2nd - ride with Francis and RBR
I'm planning to crash Francis' ride on March 2nd. Anybody want to join me? We can add miles to their proposed ride if necessary or we can meet by Newark Java around 7:30 and roll by 7:45AM towards the VA staging area.
**************************************************************************
1st RBR group ride
Meeting place is the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital parking lot. Park closest to Foothill road.
staging area
suggestion to go up Canada to 92 and back. That jumps the distance up to 35.7 (fine by me) and makes the total climbing 1765 feet.
Here is an abbreviated version of the cue sheet (with elevations):
0mi start at Palo Alto Veterans Hospital, 3801 Miranda Ave 85.3ft
0.06mi R Miranda 105ft
0.58mi merge onto Foothill 111.5ft
0.91mi L Page Mill 154.2ft
2.61mi R Arastradero 255.9ft
4.57mi L Alpine 410.1ft
5.66mi R Portola 557.7ft
9.1mi L to stay on Portola 374ft
9.91mi R 84 (Woodside Rd) 462.6ft
11.05mi L Tripp 518.4ft
11.89mi R Kings Mountain 452.8ft
12.3mi L Manuella 433.1ft
12.74mi L Albion 462.6ft
13.25mi R Olive Hill 498.7ft
13.63mi L Canada 429.8ft
20.08mi U turn on Canada at 92 351ft
27.44mi L 84 387.1ft
27.7mi R Whiskey Hill 406.8ft
29.06mi L Sand Hill 292ft
32.17mi R Alpine 157.5ft
32.29mi L Junipero Serra 167.3ft
34.67mi S cross Page Mill, becomes Foothill 160.8ft
35.26mi L on Page Mill, immediate right onto Miranda 105ft
35.54mi L into PA Vets 91.9ft
35.62mi finish 85.3ft
It's that big lot and building you see from Foothill between Page Mill and Arastadero. It has a lot of room. You can park there or ride there. I'll attach a photo to this post.
Time will be: 9 am
Route will be: Foothill North > Page Mill left> Arastradero right> Alpine left > Portola right > Portola left > 84 right > Tripp right > Kings Mountain right > Manuella left > Albion left > Olive Hill right > Canada right > 84 right > Whiskey Hill right > Sand Hill left > right to Alpine and Foothill.
**************************************************************************
1st RBR group ride
Meeting place is the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital parking lot. Park closest to Foothill road.
staging area
suggestion to go up Canada to 92 and back. That jumps the distance up to 35.7 (fine by me) and makes the total climbing 1765 feet.
Here is an abbreviated version of the cue sheet (with elevations):
0mi start at Palo Alto Veterans Hospital, 3801 Miranda Ave 85.3ft
0.06mi R Miranda 105ft
0.58mi merge onto Foothill 111.5ft
0.91mi L Page Mill 154.2ft
2.61mi R Arastradero 255.9ft
4.57mi L Alpine 410.1ft
5.66mi R Portola 557.7ft
9.1mi L to stay on Portola 374ft
9.91mi R 84 (Woodside Rd) 462.6ft
11.05mi L Tripp 518.4ft
11.89mi R Kings Mountain 452.8ft
12.3mi L Manuella 433.1ft
12.74mi L Albion 462.6ft
13.25mi R Olive Hill 498.7ft
13.63mi L Canada 429.8ft
20.08mi U turn on Canada at 92 351ft
27.44mi L 84 387.1ft
27.7mi R Whiskey Hill 406.8ft
29.06mi L Sand Hill 292ft
32.17mi R Alpine 157.5ft
32.29mi L Junipero Serra 167.3ft
34.67mi S cross Page Mill, becomes Foothill 160.8ft
35.26mi L on Page Mill, immediate right onto Miranda 105ft
35.54mi L into PA Vets 91.9ft
35.62mi finish 85.3ft
It's that big lot and building you see from Foothill between Page Mill and Arastadero. It has a lot of room. You can park there or ride there. I'll attach a photo to this post.
Time will be: 9 am
Route will be: Foothill North > Page Mill left> Arastradero right> Alpine left > Portola right > Portola left > 84 right > Tripp right > Kings Mountain right > Manuella left > Albion left > Olive Hill right > Canada right > 84 right > Whiskey Hill right > Sand Hill left > right to Alpine and Foothill.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Planned meeting place for tomorrow
We'll meet somewhere in Sierra Road and San Moritz Dr near Morrill Ave. between 10-10:30AM.
We will decide when we get together if we'll ride up Sierra and down Felter Road-Calaveras-Piedmont back to Sierra to watch Stage 3 of the AToC. Bring your warmers and wind breakers since it's going to be cold.
Plan is to watch the stage near the bottom of Sierra Road, possibly the first or second hump, so we can get down quickly and ride towards downtown San Jose where we will watch the "finishing line". Who's line is that by the way? Was it Phil Ligget or Bobke?
This will be an all day event folks so be ready to stay as late as possible. There's a big possibility that we'll stay until about five in the afternoon, or later which is part of the reason why we'll drive and meet in San Jose. Another option for folks who are on a time leash is to head back straight to the cars and drive home after the second pass of the tour at the corner of Sierra and Piedmont.
Cipo - Bobke - Phil Ligget - Paul Sherwin - Justin Spinelli - Chuck Reed
SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN by the Bee Gees
Casualties while waiting for the peloton.
We will decide when we get together if we'll ride up Sierra and down Felter Road-Calaveras-Piedmont back to Sierra to watch Stage 3 of the AToC. Bring your warmers and wind breakers since it's going to be cold.
Plan is to watch the stage near the bottom of Sierra Road, possibly the first or second hump, so we can get down quickly and ride towards downtown San Jose where we will watch the "finishing line". Who's line is that by the way? Was it Phil Ligget or Bobke?
This will be an all day event folks so be ready to stay as late as possible. There's a big possibility that we'll stay until about five in the afternoon, or later which is part of the reason why we'll drive and meet in San Jose. Another option for folks who are on a time leash is to head back straight to the cars and drive home after the second pass of the tour at the corner of Sierra and Piedmont.
Cipo - Bobke - Phil Ligget - Paul Sherwin - Justin Spinelli - Chuck Reed
SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN by the Bee Gees
Casualties while waiting for the peloton.
Media Frenzy - by CeasarG
2008 AToC Prologue race report by CeasarG
After his individual time trial 4th place finish, Levi Liepheimer dons team Astana's white long-sleeve jersey. Thereafter, he rolls toward my direction. As he closes to about 4 feet, news reporters halt him for an interview. There I am caught in the middle of a media frenzy. Around me, I see reporters & camera men alike with their dangling "Tour of Amgen media passes."
As they pursue with their interrogation, snap shots with their foot-long, lensed S.L.R. & aim with their sophisticated video cams, I face a dilema. I am perplexed whether to dash out to the curbside where I belong as a spectator or hold my ground and blend in with the newscasters. I opt for the latter. Dwarfed by its gigantic counterparts, I unzip my miniature Cannon Power Shot from its protective pouch. Momentarily, I aim from its built-in liquid crystal display & start clicking.
After his individual time trial 4th place finish, Levi Liepheimer dons team Astana's white long-sleeve jersey. Thereafter, he rolls toward my direction. As he closes to about 4 feet, news reporters halt him for an interview. There I am caught in the middle of a media frenzy. Around me, I see reporters & camera men alike with their dangling "Tour of Amgen media passes."
As they pursue with their interrogation, snap shots with their foot-long, lensed S.L.R. & aim with their sophisticated video cams, I face a dilema. I am perplexed whether to dash out to the curbside where I belong as a spectator or hold my ground and blend in with the newscasters. I opt for the latter. Dwarfed by its gigantic counterparts, I unzip my miniature Cannon Power Shot from its protective pouch. Momentarily, I aim from its built-in liquid crystal display & start clicking.
Specialized Angel - By CeasarG
Hear no evil; see no evil, just pure temptations. This angel begs to have her picture taken with Benjie. Her wish is my command, so I did just that.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Pinoy joins iconic rock group Journey as lead singer (wow!!)
Hello there...couldn't believe this at first but a visit to Jolly Bee yesterday (after Bong and I did a quick flat ride with chicharon deliveries:-) I stumbled on a Filipino news article that one of my favorite (all-time) bands Journey picked Arnel Pineda (from the Philippines) as their new lead vocalist. Apparently, Neal Schon founder of Journey spotted video clips of Arnel and his group (Zoo) while surfing the ever self-showcasing website youtube...here's some links including two of my favorite songs, "Open Arms", "Faithfully". p.s. some of the video is grainy but the sound production is good, album with pineda i heard is coming up mid-year..CNN Report
"Faithfully" rendition by Arnel & his band
"Open Arms"
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