A Blast From the Not So Distant Past

July 22nd, 2009

Hey all,

The blue-touch paper was burned in significant quantities last night. Meeting at the west side of Mercer Island, the groupetto rolled out under azure skies and tropic temperatures. An early pace line, driven by Boom-boom Langley, quickly rolled up the early solo break-away efforts. TJ and Jefe led the early rollout, then the Masi team rep rolled to the fore, cranking the pace as the south end of the island neared.

The first signs of weakness appeared at south end of the island.

Team Geriatric's BJ "Get me my walker, dammit" Kaehler attempted to climb the small rise only to learn a hard truth... You gotta bring money to the game. You can't shoot pool with a rope. Better to learn that on the bike than hear it in bed! Whoa Ho! Them sandals ain't for racing. Three lungs beats a pair any day.

As the selection was made, Doug, Nick and Jeff began their surgical dance of nip and tuck in and out of the drainages of Mercer Island. TJ and I rolled into the east side turnaround where an annoyingly well recovered Doug was already turned around and ready to head out.

Jeff took up the pace again on the reverse traverse of our course. As the pace increased on the west side of the island, Team G-ratic once again found out the commuter training program guide apparently was missing the "speed work" chapter...

It was not pretty...all this reporter can tell you is that "four guys finished ahead of me. Way ahead of me." I learned another lesson: You can't drown in your own sweat. But you can try. And at certain speeds, the sweat gets blown out of the brow pad and drips down your nose and glasses and into your eyes.

Thanks again, and hope to see you next week. Have a good weekend!

Brian

Cyclocross Now!

The Seattle cyclocross scene is in full swing and there are races almost every weekend from here on out. Its time to put the remaining SCX and MFG races on your calendar and start checking here for weekend rally points. Wait a minute... just check the team calendar on this site and keep checking back if you're not already hounded by emails. The NW/WA race schedule is posted on the SCX site, here.

It's time to drag out the RV, the tent, the beer and all the BBQ fixins for our first cyclocross rally of the season!

2-months to Nationals in Bend. Are you going, do you care? Think about it: Bend is a mere 6-hour drive whereas as KC was 67. If you want to race you need to register NOW... HERE!


A little nearer on the agenda is the Single-speed Cyclocross World Championships in Portland on November 7th. We're doin it! Read all about it and register HERE: Heffe did!

Latest Team News

Confirmed!
caffeinated by Small Cog Coffee
bike and ski equipped by Methow Cycle Sport
trained by Herriott Sports Performance
painted by Seattle Powdercoat
photohosted by Smugmug

And more coming soon!
Mama Melina's Italian Restaurant
Stevens Pass Nordic Center

Soulsport Velo: the teams...
1- Cyclocross, Road and Mountainbike squad.
2-Cross-country ski squad.
3-NW Masters Consortium All-star squad.

Jersey update: Jerseys are going to press soon. We'll be looking good by Natty's, maybe...

Some details: all teammates need at least 1-short sleeve jersey to be on the team (duhh), but team shorts/bibs and a longsleeve jersey are recommended. If you want to be on the Nordic squad, add a pair of nordic tights to your longsleeve cycling jersey for the full ski kit. You'll need it to qualify for ski team discounts with our sponsors.

Jersey design coming soon!

Questions, drop D-fresh a line.

Krebby & Jen Run Report

Cross-training for Cyclocross: Brent & Jen did this past weekends Rock n Roll Marathon in Seattle and here is Krebby's race report. This is how its done, boys and girls...

All I can say is I went into the run with a plan to run at an avg HR of maybe 165 at the very most because I thought I could keep that up for an hour and a half. Of course within the first mile, my HR was closer to 170 and once I got feedback on my pace, I figured my plan was out the window and I would have to hold a higher heart rate than I planned the whole time. I honestly didn’t think I could keep my pace up at 170 and of course in the last 5k I knew I was slowing down so I bumped it up into the mid 170’s. I was redlining and needless to say was hurting good. My pace through 9 miles was 6:48 and am tickled my final pace was 6:49 which means that even though I was hating life, I managed to push through the pain of the last 4 miles without really slowing down too much. My effort felt like a sprint, but that’s what happens when you peter out. Jenn was psyched. She ran with Lisa and they passed the 2 hr pacer at the end for a time of 1:59:01. But looking at the race pictures and seeing those smiles and waves tells me they could have gone even faster. The pictures of me made me look like a was taking a crap and in some serious constipation so I think I left it all out there on the course.

Soulsport Back Online: Summer is a Comin'

With the coming of Summer comes Spring, and with Spring in the air comes the Euro Classics. And the Giro*. There is only one thing that comes with that: dreams of soopa shmoove roads and big long rides!

Yes, road season is finally here as the snow melts and the calendar fills up with crits and stage races. Of course it all really revolves around cyclocross, so think of it is paying your dues to be fast in the Fall.

Tuesday @ Pacific Raceways.
Wednesday @ S-Seatac for MTB Worlds.
Thursday @ Seward Park.
And the weekend @ a venue near you!

Coming up is everyone's favorite brew festival that just so happens to have a mountain bike race attached: Leavenworth Bike n Brews.

Git out there and roll!

*Here's a pic of Andy during his infamous win on the Gavia in the '88 Giro... the '09 is happening NOW!

Nordic Ski Racing is Hot!

Jon & Lara, Jeff and Dougie have done some Nordic racing this year and the Wednesday night thing continues.

The Sirois' did the Race of the Methow just before the turn of the new year. Had good races considering it was one of their first days on snow, but regret what the thin snow did to their freshly ground bases. Dougie perhaps made a wise choice to ski in the Rendezvous instead.

Dougie did the Rendezvous Pass race and made the podium starting in the third row with bib number 9. You can read about his own personal sufferfest at the Nog.

Jeff and Dougie finally met for a Wednesday night headlamp series race and are they ever hooked, its a blast! They teamed up for the 2x 7.5km relay and hit the podium, 3rd overall.

Last week Doug soldiered up their alone (with friend Jim) and tied for 3rd in the 5km classic race. Over-klistered his bases and had tons-o-kick but zero glide, while the other competitor garnering a 15:54 on the clock double-poled the entire race on his skate skis. I'm pretty sure that Doug got the better work out.


Plenty more skiing to be had even though it feels like Spring has Sprung. Feb is usually a banner snow month. If not, its time to ride.