Madera Stage Race 2010

It's Friday afternoon and I found myself up in Auburn at Bicycle Emporium getting a 9th hour hookup from Bill "Bubba" Morengo on a TT rig for AJ. I'll save my PG-13 readers from posting his initial response to my asking if he'd be able to get it built and rolling in 2 hours. Funny though it may have been...it's the visual that would send it over the top. Bill, being the kinda guy that would send Sinatra back to wardrobe for an overcoat, gave me that disgusted "Uncle Vito" look, "Pshhhh" then hollered out to Nando, "Hey Nando, you wanna hook up your compadre here and build him a TT bike?" "Chure, no-prollem!" Nando says without skipping a beat. I've gotta tell you, without the help of a good hearted bike shop, those of us who race on a budget, would never be able to continue to do what we love to do.

Merco...uhm...Team Time Trial? :0/

"Crap! We forgot our water bottles bud!" We both stop pedaling and give each other that "oh shit" look. We coast, one hand on our bars and the other holding our spare wheels. I quickly surmise that the likelihood of us finding anyone willing to give us 4 bottles is slim. AJ's race starts 5 min. after mine. "We can come back and get them." I say, but figure there's no way we have enough time. I look over and see Chris Baker just mounting his rig, spares in hand and ask him how much time we have. "I think it's getting pretty close." He replies. Since he and I are in the same race, I ask if he can take my wheels to the sag car. "Yeah sure" so I hand them over and tell AJ to go on ahead and that I'd bring him his bottles. I turn and head back to the truck. "Now lets see, the last time I checked it was 8:38...that had to be about a half hour ago..." Whistle blows at 9:05..."SH!T!"

"E-PEE-EYE-SEE!?!"

"E-PEE-EYE-SEE!?!" What kind of race/ride "qualifies" as an "Epic" one? Well, I guess it depends on what side of the handle bars you're looking from. I tend to be picky when it comes to awarding a ride with this badge of honor. The ride out in Bodega Bay last month with mah boy and the UCD Aggie Elite squad, 97 miles, King Ridge, Cruz Ranch, oodles of quad ripping climbs, on some of the most beautiful roads in Nor Cal, wind, rain, mud, in 5 hours...definitely earned the badge...maybe. Worlds Toughest Mt. Bike Race in 2004...90 miles, +13,000' of climbing, dislocated shoulder, piano player in the middle of nowhere up at Rubicon Springs, great friends, family meeting us half way and only seeing us for 5 min in the parking lot at Loon Lake, mah boy running along side us for the first 100m cheering us on as we continued and me having to tell him to turn back, hitting 52 MPH on a fat tire rig, in ? hours, insane ride home, lifelong friends...definitely earns the badge. This weekends festivities down in Snelling Ca., especially the early morning events, wind, rain, no less than 3 water crossings, mud, manure, debris all over the road, dodging moto refs and emergency vehicles at high speed, and loosing almost half of the field by the 3rd lap? Pin it!