My chrome is shining just like an icicle...

..the Slovakian rides around California on his Cannondale bicycle-bicycle. Make sure to get out and support the city of Monterey for hosting stage 4 of the Tour of California on May 14th.

SW Trivia - Tour of Nevada City the Clinton years...

Question #1. Who is in the yellow jersey with the gold bling?

Question #2. Who is the guy on the far right (dark t-shirt) who announced the race and what movie was he in?

Hint: The race winner had a wicked sprint for being a skinny dude (I found that out the hard way) and he won on an incognito Bridgestone RB-1 with a orange Ritchey paint job. The race announcer had to learn some Italian for his movie bit...oh yea and be quick with a silca pump...

Steel WÜl Trivia - Cotopaxi hill repeats...who's in?

Question: Who is this lung-on-a-stick?

Answer: Esteban Fraga

You don't get get-away-sticks like those by cycling alone, he spent some time in the old gym at UC Davis. He was the original high cadence spin master and was named KOM in Philly even among all of the unethical cheaters...

Is it time for bed, because I'm starving...

As I write this post, I'm 24 hours into a 36 hour renegade fast. There's no rhyme or reason behind this particular haphazard calorie strike, I simply became intrigued after listening to a KSCO podcast discussing the topic and the arguable benefits to it. My only fasting experience has been the obligatory 12 hours mandated by a physician for a garden variety blood draw. Considering you usually sleep the majority of that time away, I don't think those count.

Mama WÜleur agreed to 24 hours of sans caloric intake and reported no "real" issues other than being a little "grumpy" and safely ended her version at 24 hours and 1 minuet with a plump salted cashew. It's safe to say that cashew along with a tasty concoction of sweet potatoes, onions, feta, and olive oil had been on her mind all day.

Being a lifelong cyclist who has experienced every iteration of being "bonked", I thought I would feel a bit more hypoglycemic and have delusional thoughts of food as the day unfolded. I felt surprisingly balanced even after a tandem mountain bike ride with Olive (on our blue Co-Motion thank you Craig). As usual, my tapeworm announced a couple of grumbles early in the day (10:15am) which made me kind of nervous because I historically fix that problem with a couple of bananas, a half a jar of almond butter, a handful of chocolate covered cashews and 2 yogurts.

Today was different though, I had to push through those moments of perfunctory hunger and remind myself that this dude has more than enough stored calories to sustain life on a typical weekday (or two or five). We read about the health benefits of intermittent fasting and blood pressure, blood sugar, and memory seemed to be the topic of discussion on the majority of sites.

The one benefit that was missing from all of the fasting sites is that your perception of time practically comes to a standstill (in a good way). Mama WÜleur and I both felt as though useless distractions seemed to melt away and take a back seat to everything present. We look forward to our next episode.

-Happy Hungry WÜleurs

Steel WÜl Trivia - "Hi, Cino it's me..."

Question: Who is this California cycling icon?

Answer: Spence Wolf

Peter Flanders deservedly owns this piece of trivia!

Cupertino Bike Shop

I would kill for a fig newton...you mean this one?

Babysitter Boogie: "Are babysitters entitled to FLSA overtime, if so, we better pick it up"

Steel WÜl Trivia - KÜbelwagon

Question: Who is this ex-pro?

Answer: Chris Bauman

Rumor has it he would warm up for crits listening to 'Attack'

From lace-up Duegi's to a modern Caletti...

AC (3rd generation Aptos hills) has been pedaling road bikes for almost 30 years and finally treated himself to a custom steel frame. He's one of those guys that will get a bike and simply ride it into the ground over a couple of decades. His first pair of road shoes had wooden soles with nail-on cleats. It's great to see him getting back to his roots with a custom ferrous frame. We were informed that it might be slightly stiffer than his 89' aluminum Univega. 

For the record: If Merckx was a little shorter, funnier, half Italian, had a bachelors degree from UC Davis in Molecular Biology and could fly fish, he would remind me of Andrew. You have to admit, there is a hint of resemblance there.

CARLISLE - the original hidden gravel boogie...

1959 ramble across Gazos Creek truck trail

We are all about their Merit Badge rules:

1. Ride 6 rides of 25 miles each during 3 months. 
2. Ride 50 miles in 10 hours
3. Repair a puncture
4. Take apart and clean a bicycle
5. Know and demonstrate safety precautions 
6. Read and follow a course on a map
7. Submit a report on an interesting route taken to a merit badge counselor

Jimmy - doing his best Cat.3 pack filler impression

If Fallon's audition for the Tonight Show was anything like his original SNL audition, I'm sure he nailed it.



You have to admit he was looking quite lean back then.

Steel WÜl Trivia - put another shrimp on the barby

Question: Who is this American?

Answer: Derek Bouchard Hall (2000 Sydney Games)

Might I use your rain-cape, I'm off for a hard-man ride...

For the record: The last time we saw Ray Manzarek he was knocking back a super burrito at Taqueria Vallarta station 1 in preparation for a gig at the Rio Theater, may he rest in peace. Steel WÜleur Chris Appleton happens to resemble a young Manzarek.

AC's Caletti - in the hopper, on-deck, next up...

Original WÜleur Andrew Carroll (91' CCX cyclocross champion) has finally decided to replace his lugged PUCH with a handsome steel Caletti. We were pushing him in the direction of extreme tire clearance but calmer heads prevailed and the spec sheet for his pure road machine looks toight as a tiger. If he can sneak in a ride once every 2 weeks, he can drop almost anyone in the county on the steep stuff.

Did we try this one yet?...I don't remember

Sir Silky & Doug E. Fresh finally found 'Santa Cruz St'. I'm curious if they were able to pedal the final pitch.

Steel WÜl Trivia - 50.191 KM

Question: Who is this road, track, cross, mtb racer?

Answer: Colby Pierce

For the record: Colby held the American hour record at 50.191 KM until Norm Alvis crushed it with a 51.505 KM. Colby was on a Lotus Super Bike, I pedaled Jim's Lotus TT bike from his house in Soquel to Aptos decades ago and I can see how one can easily ramp those up to 31 mph without trying, holding on for an hour is a completely different story. Colby was the original pocket rocket. Kluck and I discovered the difference between 28.0 MPH and 29.5 MPH at the National TT... 30 other guys going 28.5 MPH and Mary Holden going 29.0 MPH. 

Winter of 2014...I remember that Thursday

Thank you to the folks that heated up their rollers last night because we were in fact issued a few raindrops from our Celtic Goddess. Since there is precipitation in the air, lets pretend for a minuet that we are in the dead of winter and follow the training advise of  Federico Bahamontes (six time TdF KOM winner) and take some REST. Santa Cruz pedal pushers are known for over training, just ask Daryl Price who made a career of crushing folks who pedaled twice as much as he did. Rest is an underrated component to cycling and I often find myself off the bike due to work commitments for weeks on end and within a couple of rides you settle right back where you were with fresh legs and more important a fresh mind.

Bringing in the big guns...

I was listening to the Pig yesterday on my way home lamenting the fact that it no longer rains in California and I happened to catch the end of 'Sleepy Maggie' with Ashley MacIsaac lighting it up on the fiddle. Moments later, I saw my Irish buddy in his black and white patrolling the crime ridden streets of Capitola. Then I pulled into my driveway and spied Fitzpatrick next door rocking a set of rollers (could it be wishful thinking?... having to pedal indoors again). This impromptu Irish fest culminated with a phone call from Kevin Michael McGillicuddy from the Pacific Northwest and that's when I knew this was more than just happenstance, this was a sign from a Celtic deity possibly Icovellauna the Goddess of water delivering her message, 'rain drops are given, when rollers are ridden'.


enjoy this boogie from Ashley MacIsaac with Mary Jane LaMond vocals

For the record:
I held up my end of the deal and logged an hour (give or take 30 mins) listening to the Chieftains on vinyl.

Lessons from the groupeto - the puncture

There are hundreds of unwritten rules to the road and unfortunately some of the most important and fundamental ones are no longer being passed on to folks via word of mouth. As a teenager, I relied upon these simple yet crucial lessons that were offered up to me by my elders and I accepted them as gospel to gain the confidence of the group. You can only learn so much from a magazine or inter-web, its all about hands on experience. Velominati has established a fun set of rules here, but I want to get back to the basics and share what was passed on to me from some of California's finest pedal pushers

The puncture

• To avoid most flats, always ride Continental 4 season 25c tires. They ride like garden hoses, but they rarely puncture. Do this unless you get paid to ride your bike.

• On planned group rides, always carry 2 tubes with appropriate length valves and a patch kit of your choice. (glue or sticky)

• When you realize you have a flat, calmly announce it to the group

• Once a puncture is determined, everyone in the group immediately inspects both tires. There is nothing worse than a clueless bystander with a slow leak aka 'late for dinner'.

• He or she with the puncture identifies a logical location in which the repairs are to take place, then confidently states,"front", "back" or the dreaded "both". This will allow for the rest of the group to judge how long they might be waiting for the repair (don't worry, this happens to all of us)

• In the interest of time, someone in the group, typically a veteran with a working knowledge of different group sets will secure the bike, place the chain in the smallest cog, loosen the appropriate brake levers, and settle in for a few minutes of holding the bike (this is honorable). Balancing the saddle on your bars is a pro move and under no circumstance will the bicycle ever be placed upside down aka 'the inverted train wreck'.

• The rider with the flat always provides and prepares the new tube using lung power. The punctured tube is to be immediately quarantined and passed on to one of the green horns on the ride to be rolled up with the stem on the outside indicating a blown tube. This will ensure that the tubes do not get mixed up aka 'tube vertigo'. Green horn identification is easy - they are on their "smart" phone checking FB not stretching the legs or helping out. 

• Someone else in the group with strong hands will then remove the wheel in question from the frame, unhook one side of the tire bead from the rim, remove the tube, note the orientation of the tube in relationship to the rim (this should always be placed in which the valve stem lines up with the main tire moniker) the reason for this allows for a quick inspection of the tire once the location of the hole in the tube is identified. There is nothing worse than a secondary blow out from an overlooked sidewall cut aka 'peek a boo'

• The inspector will then announce one of the following tire reports "all clear", "boot required", or "you're done"

• The person with the flat properly inserts the tube ensuring the tire moniker is lined up perfectly. Once the tire is seated back on the rim, double checking for tube exposure is absolutely crucial.

• The person with the flat should be gathering and stowing all tube related paraphernalia while someone else initiates the tire inflation. This is to be done slowly and methodically stopping periodically for inspection. 

• Never use Co2 unless you have 3% BMI, otherwise lose the .25lbs of fat and carry a pump. If riding with cycling legends like Craig & Harry always place the wheel on first prior to pumping up - they claim that if done properly not only is this quicker but it happens to be ergonomically superior. You don't want them to ask you if you need a football while you're "wrestling" your wheel. If you're up for the challenge you can go for the Kluck method -straight arm pump operation ensuring valve preservation aka 'the straight arm'.

• Once properly inflated always ask Doug E. Fresh for a pressure check. We have documentation that he can pinch read tire pressure within 2 bars. 

For the record:
Keep in mind that this nuanced cycling tradition should take 3 mins 40 seconds for a front tire, 4.5 mins for rear and 7 mins for both. If you puncture on a solo boogie - find a stable mailbox or fence post and start your stopwatch. For tubeless punctures pack some latex glooves and advil.

For you folks sporting tubeless go here to view our handsome friends at Easton. They have captured the essence of simplicity with this super clean video. Ladies keep your eyes on the wheel...

Can you pedal after school? Let me ask my mom...

AC and I have been pedaling together for 26 years and every once in a while we discover a new road. Our latest find had two dogs, one very friendly homeowner, some barely walk-able pitches and lots and lots of sand. I wish I had his ability to stamp out a 7 hour boogie after not touching a bike in weeks. He calls it "fresh-leg syndrome".

It's not Paris Brest Paris but it still packs a punch...

Super Dave enjoying a well deserved respite on the Hey Laddies Boogie