Vacation... Tahoe Style

I just returned from 8 days in Tahoe with the family. Every year, for the last 6 years, we have rented a little cabin at Camp Richardson and it's become a tradition that we can't seem to shake. We load up the bikes, hiking stuff, beach stuff and everything that you'd need to relax in Tahoe (including a good selection of beverages) and head to the hills. It's good "reset" time, but we also manage to get some runs and rides in throughout the week.

This year I decided to take advantage of "the passes" and invite some friends up to ride part of the Death Ride. We rode Monitor and Ebbets on Thursday and it worked us pretty good. I've still got a couple good rides coming up, so I don't feel intimidated, but DR is going to mame the body for a few days. Surprisingly, my muscles liked the climbing and I wasn't even stiff the next day, HOWEVER, my hands, feet, butt and neck were screaming big time during the ride. I just need to have more saddle time. My body is accustomed to MTB where you rarely do the same movement for more than 5 minutes (for the most part). Long road rides are a relatively new thing for me, but I like it and will continue to do so... but I'm a mountain biker at heart.

Glad to be home.

Papa Gato.

Birthday Mileage and Breakfast Club

Yesterday was Breakfast club... A few friends and I decided that once a month we will commit to a 5:00am breakfast and a 6am ride. It just so happens that yesterday was also my Birthday, so it was decided that I needed mileage to meet my age, which is becoming a tradition for our team. With my ripe old of 39, we set out to try and get about 40 miles in the Auburn area. The only way to effectively get that mileage without riding the same trail over and over again, is to ride all trails in the area.. Stagecoach-Manzanita-Flood-Clementine-Connector-Foresthill Divide and the quarry trail on the south side. We ended up with 44.9 in total, ending on the long climb back up Stagecoach in the sun with empty bottles, legs and souls. It was tough, but it felt good in the mind.

I ended the day with the Drive-in movies to see Ironman with the Team and a muscle relaxer that put me in a 10hour coma. Nice Birthday I'd say.

Northstar - Opening Day!

IT's true, Northstar is now open for bizz. We were first in line (within a person or two) and got a chance to check it out and ride the new stuff on lower mountain. The upper mountain won't open until late June, but the lower stuff is pretty fun. Count on finding me up there this summer.. I shot some vid from my GoPro helmet cam... enjoy!
MC

Holy Cow Time Flys!

I can't believe we're pushing into the end of May already! Damn! Cool24 came and went in a hurry but not without glamour and fortune (well, maybe a little less than that).. The MAd Cat Single-Speed A-Team (my Team consisting of Robert Ives, Ken Mederios, Rich Nielsen and myself) gave it our all. We had a super clean race, no mechanicals, no crashes, super fast laps and good collaboration and teamwork. We rallied for 24hrs straight, taking turns at bringing home the bacon. Rich pulled some 57 min. laps, I pulled a 58 and 59.. it was cool. In the end, we came in 2nd place against Dan Tebbs and the Victory Velo crew. Not bad considering they are some fast riders. I'm cool with second and completely happy with the results.

Since Cool, I've been doing some road rides, racing PC and working my ass off. As of today, I've commited to a ride schedule for the next 6 weeks to get me ready for Death Ride. Miles, rides, diet, you name it. I'm going to give it my all. After that... it's Cyclocross time.

The shop has been rocking with business, events, promotions and overall craziness. It never really stops being crazy, but sometimes it's a bit more in control. I feel like were sitting on the front of a magic carpet that is whizzing around Sac on autopilot sometimes. It hasn't crashed yet and it seems to know where to turn, but who knows what it's going to do next. It's fun.

The Team is rocking the PC races right now! We're are set up to have quite a few folks on the podium at the Series end. Exciting for them, exciting for me.

The Swap Meet this weekend was good. Lower turnout, maybe from the heat, but all the vendors had a good time and sold a ton of stuff. The team sold some stuff and the shop got rid of a few things in the back room. That's about all we needed to accomplish.

Rest time for the Papa. Peas out.

El Papa Gato.

Gear up for Gearing down?

Sea Otter, Boggs, Napa, they were all just training rides... for what? Cool24. Next weekend we put 7 months of training on the line for single-speed mayhem. 24 hours of non-stop, one-gear, lap after lap after lap! The Mad Cat A-Team is attempting to bring home the first place finish in the 3rd annual Coolest24 MTB Race Against Cancer. We're up against a few other teams and they too are throwing down to bring home the bacon. It'll all come down to laps times, efficiency and smooth sailing with regards to clean laps without "mechanicals" or "physicals". We're putting it on the line, but we're also looking forward to the fun, the community, and hanging out with the team at a race that raises money for a good cause.

After Cool..? hmm. havent' really thought that far ahead. We've got our Gear Swap coming up, family vacation in June, then Death Ride in July and CX training from there on out. I personally am looking forward to CX season. I'm going to train and attempt to do well this year. We'll see what happens. Worse case is that I start off winter in great shape which is never a bad thing.

Papa Gato

Sea Otter is always cold, wet and fun regardless. This year, no rain but extremely windy and not your best camping conditions. Luckily we opted for RV camping this year, and man I'm so glad... RV heaters work great and it's given me an opportunity to read 3 issues of Dirt Rag.

I raced this morning at the BCOD (that's butt crack of dawn in NAVY talk). Placed 12th out of 86 in SS Sport! Probably my best year on SS.

Posting a blog via treo is really just an experiment, and not ideal, but I thought I'd chime in from S.O. for the fun of it. I'll post all the pics upon my return to the cat lair.

Papa

(sent via TREO)

Shippin' Out to Sea (Otter)

IT's the time of year, and everyone is gearing up for the pilgrimage down to the Nation's largest MTB gathering. Fun, racing, product, exhibitions, people, beer and friends. This year, we're motorhoming it so that the kids can come and we can all relax and not have to work as hard.

This week, we also learned that one of our own is shipping out to the NAVY next fall. Having been in the "NAV" myself, I'm excited for him and the adventure he's about to embark upon. It changed my life for the better and I'm sure his experience will do the same. My hat is off to you shipmate!

I'll post a full report on Sea Otter along with pics from the event next week. I might even post remotely from down there if I have time.

Prairie City #3 was tonight and it was fast! 11 minute lap times! Erin (mama cat) took a spill and lost some skin. Bummer timing since we're leaving in the morning, but she'll be ok. I'll take good care of her and lick her wounds just like any old tom cat would. :-)

To Sea Otter with us...