California's "First" City Boogie

Monterey City Flag

Confucious Says - avoid inactivity unless you like tan oaks

Fitz and I pedaled the canyon the other day and we were both feeling it in the old gams and then we saw this unique display and thought well.....at least we're not stuck in an 80' tan oak watching the world go by - so we pedaled on and on enjoying the freedom of life's tan oaks with tired legs and all.

Steel WÜl you find it- among the vinyards

Jedi found this local Monastery tucked back in the vineyards of Corralitos...someone get this man a ball cap!

3 hour mini boogie - Narnia style

 Caletti and company enjoying the many views of a mini boogie and never more than an hour from home.

a raccoon a lifeguard and a German walk into a bar..

Once again I passed a couple of German cycle tourist pedaling (hauling ass) south bound Highway 1 in the number 2 lane. I met up with them near Dear Park and I jokingly asked them if they were traveling without a map and they admitted to only having an I-Pad (dead battery). They were en-route to the tip of Baja from Anchorage.They were in need of some oatmeal as the local raccoons snagged all there calories at New Brighton camp ground. I told them that I had a buddy (state lifeguard) who could talk to the local shot-caller raccoon at New Brighton and maybe get some of there tasty morsels back but they were just as happy to check out what Delux Foods was all about. I pulled out another trusty (free) AAA map and sent them on their way. I asked them what they thought of Ullrich and they said that he is no longer "silly" referring to his mental status. As soon as we started chatting about Ullrich they immediately commented on Lance and gave me the international sign for doping (needle in the arm). Someone remind me that I need a couple more Monterey Bay and Central Coast maps for the give-a-way stash.

Flamingo Grande - September 29th

click the link below if you are interested in doing an epic Boogie with the ballmauler crew, they have an incredible route planned for Saturday, September 29th.

  http://theballmauler.com/fall-flamingo-grande/

give me the LeMond & she'll take the Dorothy Hamill

I remember as a teenager going to the barber and trying to describe my desired hair cut - short on the sides and fade the top please. You know - give me the Greg LeMond man! The one that looks like I am suffering up some European mountain top yet relaxed enough to appear stylish.  My sisters had it easy, all they had to do was mention the house hold name Dorthy Hamill and their cut was on. My buddies and I all sported the LeMond after all it was the only cut you could possibly get a way with while wearing a colnago head band for your freshman yearbook photo.

the original "LeMond cut"

aka the "Mottet"

aka the "JF Bernard"

aka the "Alcala"

aka the "Kelly"

aka the "Delgado"

aka the "freshman roadie"

The Dorothy Hamill

Steel WÜl Trivia - diesel engine vs lung on a stick...

photo by Jake Hess

I found this little gem at Grandma WÜleurs house the other day and I remember that ride like it was yesterday. That blue Serrota Colorado SL with 8sp STI was the sickest machine in the county. When these guys went to the front you would look behind you to find a battle buddy.


Question: Who are these fellows?

Answer: LeMond and Shapleigh

Highlander with the correct answer and a custom SW ball cap!

Hint: They both raced against a clean Armstrong, one of them had a thing for Swiss made childrens clothes and the other one worked his way up to the top of a major cycling company from the ground floor.

Steel WÜl Trivia - Santa Cruz Legend

Question: Who is this Santa Cruz Cycling Legend leading the Santa Cruz Crit circa 1991?

Answer: Hal Worthington 

Kev McGill was issued a SW cap for the correct answer.

A clean test means you beat the system...?

Vaughters confirms past doping by Danielson, others at Garmin

Jonathan Vaughters (Garmin-Sharp)

   

Addresses why he didn't hire Jaksche

Jonathan Vaughters of Garmin-Sharp has hired a number of ex-dopers to his team – and is one himself. He did not sign Jörg Jaksche when the German had served out his doping ban, but it had nothing to do with "omerta" or black-listing in the peloton – it was simply due to a personality conflict.

Writing openly in the Cyclingnews forum, Vaughters further said that Tom Danielson, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie had doped in the past, bluntly discussed personalities on the team and discussed his standards for hiring riders, all the while relating virtually all of it to doping.

"CVV, Zabriskie, Danielson, while all clearly have a past, and from an ethical standpoint are no different from JJ, there is a very pragmatic difference," wrote Vaughters. "That difference is performance based. Basically, I knew from what my time at USPS, how "inside" or not those riders were. Based on this, I knew their transgressions, while ethically the same as JJ's, were much less in terms of enhancing performance. Therefore, I knew they could perform close to their enhanced level, clean."

He was specific about Danielson, and how he looked to solve the rider's problem. "So, Tommy D... Here's a guy that has used o2 vector doping, and with some success [Oxygen vector doping refers to increasing oxygen delivery to the muscles via increased hemoglobin, ed.]. But when you test him, without o2 vector doping, you quickly see this guy has massive aerobic ability. O2 transport isn't the limiting factor with his body/mind. However, he is not a mentally strong athlete. He succumbs to nerves and pressure very easily.

"So, in looking at his physiology and psychology, the rate limiting factor is the latter, not the former. So, working on that makes huge strides. Giving him o2 vector doping is akin to putting a bigger engine in a car with a flat tire, because you want it to go faster. yes, it will make the car with the flat tire go faster, but you could just go ahead and fix the flat tire instead?"

What are his requirements for hiring someone? Ex-doper or clean rider, "I treat them the same. With one condition: That they will ride clean on my team.

"How do I pick? Talent, work ethic, and personality. the above things aren't part of my consideration, because quite frankly taking the Sky/new suisse team stance on "we're hiring no one with a known history in doping" is just stupid in cycling today. It's just glorifying those who managed to slip by and damning those who got caught, even though the crime is exactly the same. It's ethically untenable for me.

"So, I do it in a way that i get some **** for hiring Millar and Dekker, and I get some **** for not hiring Jackshe [sic, ed.], but I can sleep knowing that I'm not choosing based on public perception or some BS PR strategy. Just on how they will ride, clean."

And when accused of writing specifically about some of his own riders while being vague about his own past, he wrote:

"I didn't go into any details about anyone. No names. Nothing. Same as me. All that will be public, eventually. That's been an inevitability for almost 3 yrs now. Just wait."

Why Jaksche didn't ride for Vaughters

Jaksche told Cyclingnews this week that he was unable to get a new contract after his ban expired due to hypocrisy within the sport. Vaughters, however, strongly denied that.

"Have any of you ever met Jackshe [sic, ed.]? Sorry, but his confession, level of transparency has nothing to do with my decision on him. Good for him to come clean!" he wrote. "I still would not hire the guy! I had my original $10M investor telling me I should hire hire him. And? Still I said NO! Why? Because he won't fit in and he won't perform well. That's my subjective judgement. Period."

Going into more detail, he said, "Jorge loved to gossip gossip gossip during his time in the peloton. He loved calling anyone and everyone else a doper. He was always intent on figuring out the new, next best method. He's a very smart guy.

"So, quite simply, I don't want that personality on my team.

"As for non-performance, Jorge didn't think of himself as a worker, he wanted to be a leader. I didn't think he had the physiological or social qualities to be a leader. Nor did I think he'd accept being a worker."

Vaughters also explained his reasons for signing David Millar and Thomas Dekker after they had returned from their doping bans. Millar had "physiological qualities to perform clean. Not as good as before, but damn good."

Dekker had the those same possibilities, but it "remains to be seen if he can handle the role shift now that he isn't quite as fast."

In fact, he was quite blunt in his assessment of the Dutch rider. "Thomas is an arrogant prick. Or was. hugely insecure guy. It's been a lot of work with him. A lot...."

Live Oak Living...

 While selling apples and pears on the street corner we snapped a few pics of the local cycle commuters.

 Mama & Olive pushing the fruit

  Barefoot Bandit

 No Lid Sid

 One Hander Zander

The Rivendell Reader

Cruiser King

 Wrong Way Jay

 Down Tube Jude

Crank Crusher Chris

Got-To-Go Moe

Ex-Pro Joe

D. Price look a like

Guitar Gus

Pecaboo Puch

Lugged Lennon

Surfing Sally

Big B, Little B - that's where I want to Be...

 Sir Silky

T-Bone

Knibbs Knob - easy on the eyes, hard on the hands

In the spirit of heroes and scenery...

I would like to shake the hand of the individual who does this for a living. When they first started this operation what was that conversation like? So you want me to do what with my passenger DC-10 Jet? Oh...we would like you to fly it 50' off the deck of a vegetation fire and drop thousands of gallons of retardant subsequently changing the handling characteristics of your plane. Ok, what the hell!

Gran Stupido! Amateur Dopers get it all wrong.

Folks please tell me that some knucklehead did not get caught using EPO at the freaking Gran Fondo New York. From here on out the term Gran Fondo is officially banned from this blog! That news makes me want to take up fly fishing. Seriously, we need to take back this incredibly fun sport we call cycling. 

When I read that two amateur weekend worriers tested positive for EPO at the GF New York to help them win prize money, I about died (laughing). David Anthony of New York admitted to doping while competing in the mens 45 to 49 category. Mr. Anthony said, "This was something that I alone did, and I take responsibility for it. My team, coaches and friends had absolutely no knowledge or participation in this.” Did he say team and coaches? I thought we learned our lesson here. 

Isn't it ironic that an upper middle class american is mimicking a starving bicycle racer. What is a GF doing offering over $100,000 in prize money anyway? I predict a  GF France that snakes through the countryside for 21 days and has a race leader, team cars, feed zones, fans, mechanics and a television network will pick up on it and sell the shit out of it. Certain things in this world are sacred and winning money for pedaling your bike should be limited to professional cyclists only not an insurance agent from Wichita on a SL5 with deep dish wheels and shaved arms. 

David Anthony is not even a good doper. Dopers are like inmates, even they have a hierarchy of class. Let me see if I can get this straight, David Anthony paid for the EPO, paid the GF fee, paid for his expenses only to try to recoup the cost of his GF by doping? A true Doper would never have to pay for the drugs, travel expenses, or bikes and any and all doping is directly related to a UCI title or salary increase. Come on, If you are going to dope you have to dope with honor. Can't you just see the headlines - Local Disease Ride Fund Raiser Disqualifies Seven For Doping, Pledges Returned. Didn't David Anthony win the Spina Bifida Ride and place 2nd at the Flesh Eating Disease Ride? 

It is stories like this that make me even more motivated to organize some fun Boogies for  Steel WÜleurs looking for a good time, a silky tempo, no prize money, and the occasional "Dave, you are only hurting your friends".

Keep the faith, engage your neighbor, ride with friends, don't spend money.



For the record: Mr. Anthony's cycling team was sponsored by Comedy Central and the USADA spent $17,000 on anti doping controls at the 2012 Gran Fondo New York alone. That is almost as sick as giving Olympic Medalists a tax break.



Get your Boogie on!

"when fires burn, rollers heat up"

This is the extent of my recent emergency training and the music playlist is always courtesy of Andrew Carroll. When you have logged as many hours as Mr. Carroll has on rollers, you too would find songs like this perfectly acceptable to get you through an hour roller session. Enjoy...

Steel WÜleur and running guru Jay Dicharry

Running expert Jay Dicharry details injury-free running in 'Anatomy for Runners'

• INJURY-FREE RUNNING
• JULY 9, 2012
• BY: SAMANTHA CHANG
Email

Unfortunately, many people get injured because they don't train properly, which is why running expert Jay Dicharry is sharing his tips for effective running in his new book, "Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention."5 photosView the full slideshow »

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View slideshow: Jay Dicharry discusses injury-free running in 'Anatomy for Runners'

Jay, who has competed in triathlons, swimming, cycling and running events, is the director of the SPEED (Strength, Power, Endurance,Education, and Development) Clinic at the University of Virginia.

Dicharry, MPT, CSCSA, has researched the biomechanics of proper running form, and is also a board-certified sports clinical specialist through the American Physical Therapy Association and a certified coach through both the U.S. Track and Field Association and the U.S. Cycling Federation.

Running expert Jay Dicharry has researched the biomechanics of proper running form and written a book on injury-free running, 'Anatomyfor Runners.'

Photo credit:  

Skyhorse Publishing 

Video: Developing Better Runners: A Focus on Biomechanics

In this exclusive interview, Jay shares tips on how to prevent common running injuries, his thoughts on barefoot running, and discusses how we can all get the most out of our runs.

Samantha Chang: You have a ton of knowledge and personal experience with endurance sports. After doing research for your book "Anatomy for Runners," what's your advice on the best way to run?

Jay Dicharry: Safely! OK - want a more serious answer, the best way to run is to use as little energy as possible so that you are efficient, and put minimum stress on your body. How do we do this? It's actually pretty simple. For a given pace, you want to land as close to your body as possible.

Imagine climbing up a flight of stairs one step at a time, and then 2 steps at a time. Which is easier? The single step at a time puts your foot close to your body which is more efficient and places less load on your body.

Sure, you can do two at a time, but it's going to tire you out quickly, and can place more stress on your body that you must control. If more runners took time to learn to run better, a lot less of them would get hurt!

SC: Do runners need to stretch?

JD: The age-old question is actually very simple. You need enough mobility in your joints for the sports and daily activities that you do, and nothing more. For example, a lot of runners have overly tight hip flexors. If you are in this camp, stretching this muscle group is tremendously beneficial since opening up the hips is critical to running.

However, if you already have enough mobility in your hips, stretching your hips won't really provide any advantages at all. It's best to assess yourself, identify your limits, and work on the things you specifically need to improve.

SC: What causes injuries such as fractures, pulled muscles and tendinitis, and how can we prevent them?

JD: Training breaks the body down. Following a proper training schedule ensures that you can recover between workouts, not just day to day but month to month as well. If you load the body faster than it can recover, with too much volume or intensity, muscles, tendons, and bones become overwhelmed and break down. So a proper training schedule is essential.

However, this doesn't explain the biggest reason people get hurt. Even though we run essentially straight ahead, the body must be able stabilize itself in the lateral and rotational planes. Since most runners don't complement their run training to work on this these specific out-of-plane skills, a number of imbalances creep up. The best way to prevent these imbalances is to identify and target your individual weaknesses, and improve them!

SC: Barefoot running is extremely popular right now, and a topic you cover extensively in your book "Anatomy For Runners." What are your thoughts on barefoot running?

JD: Barefoot running is great drill to learn proper run technique. We've been raised to think that the cushioning and stabilizing elements in traditional running shoes are good for us even though there is no body of research to show that this is true. Taking away all the stuff between your foot and the ground takes you from a passenger to a driver. Without cushioned shoes, the body figures out a way to cushion itself. You contact closer to your body, and land a bit softer. And these are two beneficial attributes no matter if you wear shoes or not!

SC: What type of diet do you follow? What type of diet is optimal for running (is there one)?

JD: The diet pendulum has swung far and wide. No one magical solution has ever appeared. All athletes should eat a wide variety of foods focusing heavily on fruits and vegetables, and unrefined sugars. The most critical aspect of sports nutrition actually should focus on the timing and amounts of foods you ingest in relation to your training. The timing of your meals and snacks is much more powerful than most runners realize.

SC: What are your thoughts on ultra-runners/marathoners? It seems logical to conclude they probably get injured more than recreational runners. What's your opinion?

JD: This is a great question, and one that requires more clarification. A lot of ultra-runners and marathoners follow well rounded training programs, and have trained for years to get where they are. This group is knowledgeable and in it for the long haul.

Conversely, there has been a recent surge in everyday people challenging themselves to tackle their first marathon. I wholeheartedly cheer and admire their mental focus to take on an event like this. Unfortunately, the mind is often willing to take on more than the body is ready to tackle. A lot of runners in their first 5K download a marathon training program off the Internet. Instead of going to the finish line, they typically are calling for a medical appointment. Running long distances in the right amount of volume is doable and even healthy. But we must be sure that gradual increases in our activity match those that our body can handle.

SC: There's a common belief that people shouldn't continue running into middle age and beyond because of knee and joint injuries. What are your thoughts on this?

JD: You hear this every day, don't you? And guess what? There just isn't any real proof. This highest incidence of osteoarthritis is in athletes and factory workers who do a lot of heavy lifting and pivoting under load - the stress of a heavy laborer in a factory are quite similar to those of an NFL player. Taking a critical look at all the research shows that no running is actually bad for joint health.

Some running is good for our joints, and more than that is better still. Somewhere after that, more running is worse for us. We just don't know exactly what amount this is, and if it evenly applies to all runners. Like general health, this all comes back to "everything is good in moderation." Running ten 50-100 mile ultramarathons a year likely isn't best for most folks. But sitting on the couch isn't best for most folks either. Go outside, and go for a run!