SF T Mobile Race this Sunday!

[freshies]

Hey kids, Lance, Big George and the Posties come to town this Sat for the T Mobile Internantional bike race in SF. This is always super-fun, especially if ya get a spot on Filmore Street for the big ugly climb.....

I will be out there with a cooler cheering George on as Lance will revert to a domestique this weekend and try and help George win this one. Chris Horner is another US stud (that won this last year), as well as Bobby Julich, Levi L, etc......and there is also a good showing from the Euros in this race....should be fun.

http://www.procyclingtour.com/race_o...cfm/race_id/13

[Artie Fufkin]

Also look out for Fast Freddy Rodriguez, sort of an overlooked american cyclist, he did win a stage in the Giro this year. Chris Horner is a whiny bitch, he showed poor form when he bad mouthed the other racers after the Olympic trials. He felt the best rider(himself) did not win, if he was the best why was he 11th in the race? Regardless, there will be some great riders and some great racing. You should be able to put a dent in that cooler with 5 hours of racing.

[Viva]

Chris Horner is actually pretty cool, although he definitely had issues with other racer's tactics in that qualifier. I bet there's more to it than what hit the presses. But then again, he may have changed since I last saw him.

[freshies]

I just got the scoop on US Postals training rides tomorow and Sat! My GF is friends with a girl who is a good friend of Thomas Wisell. TW used to sponsor US Postal, and Lance stays at his crib in Ross when here. Sat @ 9am US Postal a long with Robin Williams and some others will leave from an "undiscolsed location" to do a loop that I know oh so well.........

I plan to be at a certain intersection around 9:30 or so when they should pass by and just "happen" to run into the blue train......

I plan to jump on George's rear wheel and start shouting Phil Liggit quotes "Big George is really looking strong today Paul, he is setting a blistering tempo for Lance and guiding him masterfully up this mountain"



this should be good....TR next week.

[Artie Fufkin]

Originally posted by Viva
Chris Horner is actually pretty cool, although he definitely had issues with other racer's tactics in that qualifier. I bet there's more to it than what hit the presses. But then again, he may have changed since I last saw him.

I don't know him personally, so he's probably not a bad guy. He came off as a sore loser after the Olympic inferring that Jason McCartney should not be headed to the Olympics even though he won the race. Though I would have liked to have seen Fast Freddy there instead of McCartney. I wonder if Horner will give Euro racing another shot?

[Viva]

No, things didn't work out too well for Horner in Europe. Too bad- he trained like a madman for a couple of years for the chance to ride in the Peloton. In any case, I hear that he's happier racing in the US.

At the qualifier, he was pissed that the other riders in his group wouldn't help chase and felt that that cost him the chance to catch the race leaders. This was his last shot at the Olympics, so maybe a bit frustrated.

[Artie Fufkin]

Lance has already dropped out of the race, due to Crowitis, er tendonitis of the knee. I don't think he would have been in top form anyway, and probably would not have been much of a factor in the race. Hopefully he skip the TdF next year and kick ass in some of the 1 day classics as well as the Giro, Vuelta, etc.

[Plakespear]

Originally posted by Artie Fufkin
Hopefully he skip the TdF next year

Yeah. Discovery would just LOVE that

[Viva]

Lance actually did pretty well in the classics back in the early/mid 90s, winning one or two.

[freshies]

OK, Here is the scoop. My buddy John and I knew Postal would be doing their training ride Sat afternoon in Marin, starting in Ross and heading out to Nicasio and back via a certain loop. We knew they were leaving Ross @ 9am (spies called in as they rolled out). We had left my casa @ 8am in Mill Valley, and were warmed up by the time we got to Fairfax, directly en route of Postal. We waited on Sir Francis Drake just past the golf course and before the turn to Nicasio.......

About 5 minutes later we see 2 CHP motorcycles screaming down the big hill outside Fairfax - lights flashing - and behind them the blue train hauling ass down the hill - holy shit! John and I looked @ ea. other in disbelief, and clipped in and started riding like we just happend to turn on to SFD @ that moment....."oh, look! its US Postal....wow....what timing....can we jump on the ride here?".....

We had about 1/4 mile on them when we started riding again, knowing that they would easily catch up and the plan was to jump on the peleton and see how far/long we could ride with them before being told to get lost or getting dropped by them.

So we are riding a long and the whistles start to come from behind, warning us that riders are approaching..."on your left" someone shouts out......the CHIPS cycles come flying by......my heart is pumping and I am amped....and on my left comes Viatcheslav Ekimov, George Hincapie, Jose Azevedo...."HOLY SHIT!!!!" I am thinking..."That's Big George"......"HOLY SHIT" right there, right next to me.......the three of them pass us and we jump on their wheel, now part of the pack, about 25-30 riders strong....mostly made up of USPS (no Lance) and some local Marin County cycling VIPs.....@ one point on the ride I look over to my right and see Gary Fisher crusing a long....whoa...this is nuts!

So long story short, my buddy John and I rode 27 miles w/USPS and their gang on Sat...working hard to just hang w/this training ride....a few short but steep climbs, mostly rolling terrain, and a screaming descent back into Fairfax off SFD.....highlights of the ride: chatting w/Azevedo for about 10 minutes ona flat stage, asking him about the season, how he likes Marin and SF,, yadda yadda....John and I at one point mid-ride stalking Hincapie by working to get up near him, and John asking George if he feels good for tomorrow, etc.......Geroge saying it would be nice to win tomorrow, etc......having a CHP escort that zoomed ahead to every intersection and blocked traffic while we crusied through...the shouts of people on the road as we all flew by...IT WAS CRAZY!......locking in on Eki's rear wheel for the descent into Fairfax at the end...just screaming down SFD in the drops.....thinking "oh my God, don't stray from your line and cause a massive crash that takes out 1/2 of USPS"...

In short, was one of the cooler things I have experienced.....I am a cycling geek, so to me, this was like XMAS...sooo cool to ride with those guys!......

[Plakespear]

FKNA!!! That's great!

[tywhy]

freshies that sounds like an awesome ride!!! it must have been incredible riding side by dide with those dudes. good work!

[Artie Fufkin]

Originally posted by freshies

We had about 1/4 mile on them when we started riding again, knowing that they would easily catch up and the plan was to jump on the peleton and see how far/long we could ride with them before being told to get lost or getting dropped by them.

Once you caught up to them you should have started throwing down some attacks. Cool story.

[freshies]

Originally posted by Artie Fufkin
Once you caught up to them you should have started throwing down some attacks. Cool story.

shit, it was all I could do to simply hang.....we were moving on the flats...and this was a training ride, they weren't even breaking a sweat.....

[Viva]

COOL!!!

I used to see the Posties a lot when they were based in Romona (San Diego), but never rode with them. Nice job of hanging.

I guess you didn't ask everyone to stop for a group photo?

[freshies]

[i] I guess you didn't ask everyone to stop for a group photo? [/B]

I wish....I didn't want to be "that guy"

Honestly, we rode with them and while they seemed cool with it, they weren't super-friendly either, ya know....I am sure this happens all the time, but didn't want to bug them once the ride was over. We said "thanks!", they waved, and we kept peddling on home from there....

[Lunch]

Originally posted by freshies
OK, Here is the scoop. My buddy John and I knew Postal would be doing their training ride Sat afternoon in Marin, starting in Ross and heading out to Nicasio and back via a certain loop. We knew they were leaving Ross @ 9am (spies called in as they rolled out). We had left my casa @ 8am in Mill Valley, and were warmed up by the time we got to Fairfax, directly en route of Postal. We waited on Sir Francis Drake just past the golf course and before the turn to Nicasio.......

That was a great ride report (RR). Got my heart pumping. Interesting how you were able to just jump in. Given their sponsor obligations, it seems like they are extremely tolerant. Like you point out, one errant poseur could do a lot of physical and financial damage (not in any way suggesting you were jeopardizing anything). Those guys all have pretty fat contracts. On the other hand, they probably feel obligated to be somewhat nice on behalf of their sponsors.

Thanks for the report.

[Artie Fufkin]

No, things didn't work out too well for Horner in Europe. Too bad- he trained like a madman for a couple of years for the chance to ride in the Peloton. In any case, I hear that he's happier racing in the US.

At the qualifier, he was pissed that the other riders in his group wouldn't help chase and felt that that cost him the chance to catch the race leaders. This was his last shot at the Olympics, so maybe a bit frustrated.

Nice showing by Horner today in the World Road Race championships in Italy. He finished in 8th, there are some big names in the top 10, only one other American finished the race. There was a group of 15-18 that was ahead for the last portion of the race. Horner was there at 1K when the group sprint began to wind up. Maybe he'll give Euro racing another try.

1 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spain) 6.57.15 (38.179 km/h)
2 Erik Zabel (Germany)
3 Luca Paolini (Italy)
4 Stuart O'Grady (Australia)
5 Allan Davis (Australia)
6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spain)
7 Michael Boogerd (Netherlands)
8 Chris Horner (USA)
9 Damiano Cunego (Italy)
10 Frank Schleck (Luxembourg)

Edit: It look's like Horner is going back to Europe: From CyclingNews "Now in the prime of his cycling career, Horner is likely to sign a contract with Saunier Duval-Prodir for 2005; the freckle-face rider told Cyclingnews that "I've been trying to get on a Division One team again for a long time and finally Gianetti (Horner's former Francaise de Jeux teammate Mauro Gianetti, now Saunier Duval-Prodir manager) offered me a contract."

[Crinkle]

Nice work freshies. Very cool report.

[GT40]

freshies, wow, that is really an amazing TR. That is a dream ride, if I've ever heard one. Way to make it happen!!