Off for Giant Weekend!

This year, the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world is flying its dealers out to Park City Utah for an all expenses paid weekend and 2009 product review. Giant is finally stepping up to give dealers a pre-release prior to interbike and floating the entire bill as well. We'll be riding 2009 bikes in the mountains of Park City, while wining and dining with the entire staff of Giant Bicycles USA.
For those that don't know, Giant is THE largest manufacturer of bicycles in the world. They build bikes for many of the large companies, including Trek and Specialized. Apparently Santa Cruz also outsources the manufacturing of the most the Blur models to Giant now as well. Giant has been building bikes for quite some time (40+ years) and it's no secret that they are the leaders and pioneers in the carbon frame technology and many other new development in the industry, for instance "Compact Geometry". I will be posting to my blog during the weekend, with pics of 2009 bikes and information on the early release. Stay tuned.

Cross-Dressed and ready to rock

I shut down my computer around 5pm yesterday, grabbed my clothes from the car, hopped into the restroom and emerged ready to rock! Despite the customers that were still in the shop, I pranced through and headed to my car with bike in hand. It was a CX training ride.

At 6pm I met up with a few of my fellow "cross-dressed", knobby-tired, friends and we hit the parkway for a warm-up. 4 of us rolled down the trail, in the dirt and on the pavement before crossing the the Guy West bridge and beginning an hour of super-fun, high intensity, knobby-tired goodness we call CX training.

We ran up stairs, across parkbenches, up levees, down levees, through gravel, around obstacles and whatever else we could find that would force us on and off the bike. IT was a blast!

With CX season drawing near, I'm focusing on shorter workouts at a higher intensity in an attempt to get my butt in shape and be ready for a successful CX race season. I just want to go out and have fun without feeling like I've moved pianos upstairs for an hour. How cool would it be to hammer the big ring for a race and not feel winded at the end. That's what I'm shooting for. That's what I call ready.

Papa Cat.

Coming up: Cyclocross Season!

Mountain bike races have started to taper, road events are still going strong, but soon cyclocross season will be here. Our team is gearing up for a CX season to remember. With over 12 of our teammates commiting to the season, we'll have an awesome showing at both the local and bay area races. I'm extremely excited about the season and am starting to ramp up the training. I've enjoyed all the road riding and obviously all the MTB racing so far this season, and now it's time to put the two together into one really fun sport. We'll be down in Vegas for one of the big pro CX races, just as our local series takes off. It'll be a great way to get us all jazzed and ready. There's only a small handful of folks on the team that are podium ringers, but a great deal of hopefulls including myself. I don't think I'm podium quality for CX, but who knows. I'll give it my best. LAst year I struggled in the B's and then for kicks raced in the C's and did pretty well. I think I belong in B's because I typically race Expert single-speed, but I'm still new to CX. Maybe I should be a new category called BC. :-)

Papa Gato

Clear in Sac?

I saw blue skies today! I thought it was a mirage until it included a aircraft at about 30k'. nice.

Today is the Death Ride. Woulda, shoulda, coulda, but didn't. Planned to do a fun MTB ride instead and it looks like that one got smoked out just like a dude driving '63 bus with tye-dye curtains. We've opted to head west and go spin around Tamarancho tomorrow in Fairfax. We're praying that the bay area coastal winds has kept the "Fire Fog" at bay (or away from bay).

I picked up my new CX bike this week and I'm pretty stoked about the season coming up. I'm no pro at CX, but it sure is fun and it's a great sport for spectators. The family can come out and watch you race and not have to stand around twiddling their thumbs for 2 hours while you're somewhere "out on the course". The Sac CX series all takes place in and around Sacramento. I highly encourage anyone to try it out. It's also a way to keep in shape between seasons. Check out http://www.sacramentocx.com/ to learn more. 2008 dates will be posted soon.

We'll be stocking CX supplies as well, so feel free to stop by and pick our brains. We carry Giant, Salsa and Kona CX bikes. We can also get Redline, Masi and a few others.

-The Mad Cat

Waitin' for the Fog to Clear...

So, I got lost driving to work the other day because I couldn't see the street signs. Yeah, I was driving, like I usually do. I drop the kids off each morning, so riding isn't in the cards. At any rate, IT'S WAY TOO SMOKEY! I've lived in Sac nearly all my life and this is the most smoke I've ever inhaled! All my rides and training rides have been cancelled and I feel fat and lazy. I could go to the gym, but that means... going to the gym.

I bailed out on doing Death Ride this year. I want to know more about the heart palpitations (PVC's) before committing to a day of lung busting climbs and long fast descents in poor air quality. With all the smoke, my training got thrown off and I didn't get the mileage under my belt that I needed to complete DR. For me, it's all or nothing and I'd rather not waste a day up there and not complete it. The air quality and the heat played huge into my decision as well. Oh well, there's next year.

The next big idea of the year is the Tahoe-Sierra 100 MTB ride. It's only an idea at this point because I want to wait until after I see the Doc next week to make a decision on whether or not I should be training hard over the next month or so. We'll see. For now, I'm focusing on fun rides.
This weekend, "Sweet Cheeks" and I are hitting the road at 4am to get on the Hole in the Ground trail early so we can be at the top of the climb around sunrise. We all refer to those early rides as "Dawn Patrols". It'll be nice to get home before most people wake up!

PC

Sick in the Alps...?

Sunday we did another Death Ride training. Nine of us rode Monitor Pass up and over the other side and the planned to take a break at the base of Ebbets before the next 2. Upon climbing the backside of Monitor, I started getting dizzy, lightheaded and having heart palpitations. I figured it was the heat and altitude. We reached the summit again and descended down. The dizziness got worse and to the point where I felt sick to my stomach. I had done this ride a week prior with not problems, so it baffled me a bit. A few miles later, I had to pull over and scream at the pine needles (throw up). My day was done.

The next day, back home, I woke to the same feeling of lightheadedness and a sense of something was just not right. I scored a late afternoon appt. with the Doc and had him check me out. After an EKG, I learned that I'm having PVC's (Premature Ventricular Contractions) where my heart is firing prematurely and pumping blood at an irregular rate. It explains a great deal, but I won't know why or how until after I wear a Holter monitor for a day. Doesn't sound like it's serious in my case, but at least I know it wasn't just a normal "bad day of riding".

For now, I wait to find out what's next. I hear pacemakers are fun. Maybe I can wire one into my Garmin for that extra training tool.. get that cadence DIALED! :-)

-Papa Cat

Gas Bad - Pedals Good

The shop has been overwhelmed with folks looking to save gas and start pedaling. We are regularly hearing requests for bikes to get from A-B and y-Z. Function over form seems to be the trend, but yes we're still selling tons of FS MTB's and road bikes for the enthusiasts out there.

Intrinsic satisfaction seems to be happening regularly (at least on my end) while helping someone find the right bike and all the associated gear. Yeah, selling bikes pays the bills, but selling cycling and the sport is more rewarding. I love it when customers stop in after a day of "hitting the shops" and searching for that special bike to suit their needs. We do our regular presentation, ask them some questions, get to know their needs and make some suggestions. Somewhere in the process, the customer usually begins to appreciate what we do... they're not always looking for the "best deal", but the best service and relationship. We're not a huge shop that carries every bike for every person, but I feel that we care and will do our best to meet their needs. Having someone thank you for the wonderful service at the end of a sale is worth more than anything I sell.

I think that's my greatest reward for being a business owner.

-M