Cali - Finally
The Arrival:
I made it to California in one piece. This might get longish – so I won’t be offended if you don’t read. But most of you are probably at work and have already read the other blogs you frequent, so you may as well just suck it up.
My bike didn’t make it in one piece. The wheel decided to depart my car roof in the middle of Denver, on a 3-lane freeway with cement barriers. There was no way I was getting it back. So I stopped into a friendly local bike shop upon my arrival in Palo Alto (where I had a place to stay during my apartment search) and got lucky. I have to recommend Palo Alto Bicycles – one of the mechanics biked home to grab me a lonely wheel that he’d had in his garage for a while and that got me back on the road (with a dura-ace hub!)
(As an aside – I spent an awesome day in Denver skiing and enjoying with sun + snow that they have there. Now that’s a nice winter. The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful.)
The Cycling:
The riding and the weather is phenomenal. I won’t go on and on, but wow. And I’ve never seen so many guys decked out on sick $5K carbon and/or custom frames with hairy legs. There seem to be a ton of recreational riders with extremely enviable gear. Oh well. I rode with the Webcor club on Saturday (club, not pro-team) – met some really nice people, and also realized that there is as much testosterone on group rides here as anywhere else. Geez – I don’t think anyone has ever told them about taking it easy up a climb. Or maybe I'm just bitter because I finished the ride feeling pretty out of shape.
Then, yesterday, there was a “Meet the Teams” day at a nearby training crit, so I headed over to check out the scene. HOLY CRAP! There were hundreds and hundreds of people. For a training crit! So I chatted with some teams, checked out their programs. And I finally got to meet some of the CA Velo Bellas, Miss Mary and Mo! They were awesome ladies, very welcoming, and it was so good to finally put a couple faces with names on the internet. All in all, though, “meeting the teams” just made me miss my team Grumpy’s/LGR. Awwww. But word on the street is that the clothing is coming soon, and I’ll be bringing Little Guy Racing to the West Coast.
More to come on housing, biking in the city of San Fran, and having a job.
I made it to California in one piece. This might get longish – so I won’t be offended if you don’t read. But most of you are probably at work and have already read the other blogs you frequent, so you may as well just suck it up.
My bike didn’t make it in one piece. The wheel decided to depart my car roof in the middle of Denver, on a 3-lane freeway with cement barriers. There was no way I was getting it back. So I stopped into a friendly local bike shop upon my arrival in Palo Alto (where I had a place to stay during my apartment search) and got lucky. I have to recommend Palo Alto Bicycles – one of the mechanics biked home to grab me a lonely wheel that he’d had in his garage for a while and that got me back on the road (with a dura-ace hub!)
(As an aside – I spent an awesome day in Denver skiing and enjoying with sun + snow that they have there. Now that’s a nice winter. The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful.)
The Cycling:
The riding and the weather is phenomenal. I won’t go on and on, but wow. And I’ve never seen so many guys decked out on sick $5K carbon and/or custom frames with hairy legs. There seem to be a ton of recreational riders with extremely enviable gear. Oh well. I rode with the Webcor club on Saturday (club, not pro-team) – met some really nice people, and also realized that there is as much testosterone on group rides here as anywhere else. Geez – I don’t think anyone has ever told them about taking it easy up a climb. Or maybe I'm just bitter because I finished the ride feeling pretty out of shape.
Then, yesterday, there was a “Meet the Teams” day at a nearby training crit, so I headed over to check out the scene. HOLY CRAP! There were hundreds and hundreds of people. For a training crit! So I chatted with some teams, checked out their programs. And I finally got to meet some of the CA Velo Bellas, Miss Mary and Mo! They were awesome ladies, very welcoming, and it was so good to finally put a couple faces with names on the internet. All in all, though, “meeting the teams” just made me miss my team Grumpy’s/LGR. Awwww. But word on the street is that the clothing is coming soon, and I’ll be bringing Little Guy Racing to the West Coast.
More to come on housing, biking in the city of San Fran, and having a job.
posted by karla at 11:19 AM
4 Comments:
I can't wait to see LGR on the west coast.
It is going to be sick...perhaps a big road trip to rock some road races will come into play someday with an entire LGR club showing up.
You're going to get so spoiled by the west coast cycling scene - enjoy! Remember us little people!
did missmary offer you cheese?
I'm sorry to hear about your loss...of a wheel. But hopefully the DA wheel is a step up anyhow?
I want to pick your brain about the Meet the Teams day. Hopefully CMR can incorporate something of the sort. We'll have to hook you up with your LGR teammate in Sacramento, too!
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