Let's Play Fantasy Tour

Hey guys,

Let's do a fantasy Tour de France. Here's how it might work. There are 3 classifications. You would pick 5 riders for GC (Yellow), 2 for sprint (Green) and 2 for climbers (Polkadots). For GC, we would use the total time of the 5, for srints and climbers, we would use the total points. At the end, we would assign points for our relative placing in each of the three classifications. If your rider doesn't complete the race, they would get the time of the slowest rider for GC and no points for sprints or climbers. If we wanted, we could also have a reserve list to substitute if a rider gets injured of drops out. I would be the score keeper and would post updates every few days.

Let me know what you think. Since Sutt is out of town until Saturday, we could have a Sunday night deadline for team submission (you get the first two stages free). You have to come up with a team name as well. I think it would be fun.

I survived the White Rim Trail with my Teachers and Priests. It turned out to be a very good experience. We made in 3 days rather than the 4 we had planned. It was very hot and a real challenge for them. It was stressful for me, but pretty good overall. Tanner rode really well and had a great time.

I just about won a race at Sherwood Hills a week and a half ago. I battled with another guy the whole race. I lead the first lap and then he pulled away for two. On the last lap, I caught him at the base of the last climb and thought I had it. However, he put the hammer down and I blew. However, it was my second, 2nd place this year on the MTB. Doug and Robbie road up and it was great to have them there. Tanner raced and continues to improve.

I raced the RMR Crit last night in 100 degree heat. It was very fast and hard for me. My throat still hurts from being so hot and dry. I actually had a good race. I worked really hard in the last few laps to close down some gaps for my teammate Eric then hung on to the group for the sprint. Eric got boxed in a bit but still finished 5th.

Good job on the race, Bub. That's really cool to make the break.

Bub, how do you post pictures? Let me know and I'll put some up from our White Rim Trail trip.

Died trying

Well the old saying "Die trying" held true for the crit race last night. The crit race was 35 km this time and the temperature was 95 degrees (that's hot here). We started with around 35 riders, but five laps in there was a breakaway of 11 riders. The rest of the group dissolved and many riders quit. I pulled quite a bit to keep the pace up. With 3 laps to go I decided to try and pull away, because I can't sprint! With 3/4 of a lap left I got caught and I didn't have much left, but I finished 6th. Don't forget your tour predictions.

Bub

Tour Predictions!

Boys it is time to give your Tour de France predictions?

Here are my predictions:

Overall Winners:

1. Basso
2. Landis
3. Alejandro Valverde
4. Vinokourov
8. Leipheimer
12. Hincappie
Ullrich - Doesn't finish due to injury
24. Z-man - but does win a TT

Polka Dots:

1.Iban Mayo

Green Jersey:

1. Tom Boonen

Crits and Dirt

I took a break from the MTB and raced the Sugarhouse Crit last saturday. It is a really cool loop through the park with about 3 1/2 minute laps. Each lap has two brief climbs (stand and sprint for 15 seconds). I raced in the Cat. 3's with hopes of helping my teammate Eric R. win. I lent a hand a few times closing gaps (then blowing up and hanging on for a few laps) and got him to the front with two laps to go (he really doesn't need any help from me). I tried to stay at the front, but don't have the top end speed necessary to keep from drifting pack when it gets crasy fast. As a result, I took my customary place near the back of the bunch as the sprint wound up. Eric was in great position for the sprint but ended up 4th. I had a good time. We had a few slow laps but still managed to average 26.5 for 21 miles.

Tanner and I are racing at Sherwood Hills tomorrow. I really like the course, so it should be fun. I don't race until 1:30. Doug is thinking about riding up to see the race. Tanner has been riding a fair amount and is getting good. Our Teachers and Priests are going to ride the White Rim Trail in Moab next week over 4 days (Adam, by the way, I need your MTB. I keep calling and don't ever get an answer. Call me, I'd like to get it tomorrow). Tanner is the strongest rider of the boys, by far. He's at the point that we actually have fun riding together on the dirt.

Check out Eric Rasmussen's blog http://teamrico.blogspot.com/
He talks about the lunch ride. Go to the archives and read about the cast of characters. See if you can figure out who is who. It's pretty funny.

Later,

Daren

Eugene Crit

Well, I finally got a chance to race in my first crit of the year. It was a cold, cloudy, and windy day, but it was fun to be out there. The group stayed together for most of the race, without anyone breaking away. The course is a 1 km loop and the cat 4/5’s do 25 laps. I tried to stay up in the front without having to work to hard pulling. Overall I finished 9th out of 30+ people. I finished with the time of just over 39 minutes. My average speed was 25.5 mph and I had an average heart rate of 164. Maybe someday I will get some power and pull away on the sprint – I doubt it! But it’s still fun to go out and ride.

Bub

Stem?

I need to get a smaller stem for my bike. I have a 130 mm stem and my back has been hurting because I am stretching to much. Does anyone have a smaller stem (110-120) that they would be willing to sell? Let me know.

Bubba

Racing in the trees

Hey guys,

I haven't written for a while, but the racing continues. Tanner and I raced at Sundance yesterday and it was spectacular. The race course is nearly all classic Utah single track with great views of Timp. 23 miles, 3200 vertical and dead legs made it a challenge. However, I hung in there and road a solid last lap to finish 5th in a tough field of 40 + experts. I was very spent and had to spin the last climbs to keep from cramping. I've finally ridden my MTB enough to feel comfortable letting it fly on the downhill again. Railing corners at speed on a MTB is more fun than you should be allowed to have. The only bad thing about the course is that it is very difficult to pass because of all the single track. For some reason, they started the women pros in front of our group. We caught them about 5 minutes in and had a hard time getting around them. It caused some gaps that shouldn't have happened. In the end, it probably didn't change the outcome.

Tanner did well and made it around the course in an hour (he did 1 lap, the experts did 3). He was 5th out of 6 in the 13 - 15 beginner. There are a couple of young guys in his group that motor. Tanner beat 2 of the 3 16 - 18 year old beginners and many of the adult beginners. He's having fun and getting better each race.

Last week's MTB race at Thanksgiving Point was not much fun. It was 10 miles of winding single track in flat open fields. It was cold and very windy. It was more like a road TT than a MTB race. It was really strange racing around in a field by the freeway. Probably don't have to do this race again in the future.

The night before, I raced a road race at the new Larry Miller Motorsports Park. It was a blast riding on the new 4.5 mile loop built for motorcycles and cars. The race was fast and fun and I ended up 14th in the 40 + group. It came down to a group sprint and I wasn't aggressive enough in the last corner.

Thanks for the picture of your house Bub. Looks good. One of these days, I'll put up some race pictures.

Not sure if I'll race this week, we'll see how the legs feel. I've raced a bunch the last 2 months and need a break soon. The White Rim Trail with my Teachers and Priests is coming in 3 weeks. Adam, I might need to borrow your MTB. Also, I put a really cool small MTB back together with some new wheels. It is a 13" S-works hardtail that Tanner used to ride. After the White Rim Trail, I'm going to sell it to pay for the wheels. Let me know if anyone is interested. It is a very cool kid's or women's MTB for very little money.

Later,

Daren

GC Connection

GC Connection
Russ needs to remember his own pass word and not use mine, because I can spell.
I'm out every sat until the MS 150. Don't worry I'll get my miles in.

GC Connection

Adam really needs to use spell check. What he meant to say was that we will not be able to ride on this Saturday or the next. We are still getting our miles in so be afraid, be very afraid.

GC Connection: May 2006

GC Connection: May 2006
Russ and I will not be able on this Saturday or the next. Since we will be chillin' at the Dodgers game in Colorado. But don't worry we are still getting out miles in.