Date & Time: This 1-day intensive course is to be held on Saturday, October 16th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Cost: $199 ( includes a manual)

Short on time? This is an intensive, detailed anatomy class of the lower body and “core”.   You will learn detailed anatomy in a relaxed, yet focused environment.  Rob teaches anatomy in a way that anyone can understand and gives you tips on how to remember the muscles and grasp complicated biomechanical movements.  We will cover which muscles are used in specific Pilates exercises as well as every day movements (run, walk, lunge, squat, calf work, etc.).  We will discuss how an injury or dysfunction effects the entire lower chain. We will also cover how the lower body effects the ability of the core to function.  You will come away from this class with a greater understanding of the anatomy and function of the lower body, how to avoid injury, and how to train yourself or your client more effectively. 

 Who should attend:

Anyone who wants a greater understanding of how the knee, ankle and hip should function and how that function effects performance as well as quality of life:  Health professionals, recreational athletes, trainers, Pilates instructors, elite athletes, anyone curious about how their body functions.

Weather: Clear, sunny with a start temperature in the mid to upper 70’s

Course: 11 miles per lap, two 1/2 mile climbs of about 5 percent. Good pavement and scenic assuming you had time to notice such things.

Field Size: 40+/-

Race Statistics: 45.2 miles, avg speed of 23.5 mph and 1:55 hours of pedal time.

Todd, Randy Floyd and I all raced but in separate races, Todd in the 45-49yr group (55 miles), me in the 50-54 group (44 miles) and Randy F in the 55-59 group (44 miles).

Showed up a little before 7 AM, got my number, said hello to Randy and Todd and then warmed up on the trainer for 30 minutes. Filled water bottles, coordinated the water hand up with my wife and then went to the start line to get a good position. Lots of 2-3 person teams were there: VOS, Safeway, Symantics, Webcor, Paco’s, Bicycle Plus, Morgan Stanley and a few others. I felt a bit intimidated knowing that the majority of these guys were either Cat 2’s or 3’s. My game plan was to stay near the front and ride the wheels of the other teams when and if the attacks came.

Within the first mile of the start, a guy took a flyer down River Road and the group went nuts and worked quit hard to bring him back. Right then and there I wondered if this was going to be an indicator of things to come. During the first set of climbs on lap one everyone behaved themselves . A Paco guy touched the rear wheel of a VOS guy which in turn caused a VOS teammate to go off the pavement into the dirt. No one went down but some choice words of love were exchanged and then the focus on the race resumed. Best I could tell if anyone was dropped on the climbs, they quickly chased back on. On lap two the dynamics changed a bit. Safeway and VOS went to the front and started attacking right after the neutral feed. They opened up some small gaps and the other teams closed them. Every time the gap opened I waited for someone to chase it down and then followed their wheel. That worked ok however just before the beginning of the first climb on lap two I got boxed in and a gap opened off the front and the chasers were already covering it. I finally got around a few guys and had to hit it to chase back on. At that point I realized I had to get positioned well before the climbs otherwise my box of matches would soon be empty. At the beginning of the second climb of the second lap Safeway hit it and guys started falling off. Fortunately I was near the front and was able to hang on. The same attacks kept coming every so often and each time the “attackers” would look back to see how many “attackies” we still alive.  Lap three was pretty mellow to the base of the first climb. Four guys went off the front and opened up a 30 m gap. A group of about 10 guys including myself chased them down and had just enough time to recover for the second hill. Once again the pace quickened and folks were struggling to hang on. I was maybe 2-3 guys from the end but held on. As we headed back to start lap 4, I looked back and the road was naked of any riders for as far as I could see. I looked at our group and noted that most of Paco’s, Webcor and all of Morgan Stanley and Bicycle Plus were gone. We were a group of about 12.

Apparently during the flurry of attacks 2 guys got off the front and had a 30 second lead. Some folks were trying to get a pace line going but no one wanted to participate. More attacks ensued but nothing came of it. The pace dropped off  and I guess we either caught the guys off the front or we as a group gave up. It’s hard to see these things from the caboose. Life was good once again up until the last climb. VOS and Safeway went to the front and hit it. Two more  guys fell off and then the pace slowed as everyone reloaded for the finish line sprint. By now my legs were almost jello. The sprint started about 300 m out and I did my best to hold the wheel in front of me but it speed away. As the finish line approached I sat up and right at the line another guy nipped me. The race was done and so was I.

Afterwords I hooked up with Randy to discuss his race and then Todd showed up looking rather fresh. I told him he looked more like he sat under a tree reading a book for a couple of hours than he did racing. Todd responded that he felt great and could have raced another couple of laps. Boy I wish we could all be so lucky!

Results haven’t been posted. I think I finished 10th overall or perhaps 12th if we didn’t pull back the two who escaped off the front.

Lessons learned:

Pay attention and anticipate changes along the course. Set yourself up for whatever the course throws at you. Racing is hard enough so no need to make it any tougher than you have to.

Don’t be intimated by others. Believe in yourself, don’t give up and hang on. Everyone is suffering. The ones who prevail know how to suffer just a little bit longer than the rest.

The race isn’t over until you cross the finish line; don’t let up until then.

Steve Cooke

http://www.eyefinityofficemateblog.com

Body Concepts Road Race 45+ Cat 4’s Team

Current leaders of both the BAR and BAT points for Northern California-Nevada Cycling Association!

Thanks to our sponsors:

Nike Vision, Western Health Advantage, Bicycles Plus, Eagle Vision Eye Care, Premier Access, Voler

Leesville Gap RR (Paris – Roubaix of Northern California) Report

Stats:

~61-miles (11-miles of major potholes and gravel roads)

2,664 ft elevation gain

Main climb ~15-miles into the race ~3-miles long, at average 6% grade, 1,500 ft elevation gain

Temp: 80’s

Wind: from the north east 10-15mph with gusts (25mph?) that were blowing me at nearly 200-lbs sideways

45+ Cat 4 field of ~50-riders

Body Concepts had 7-riders starting

35+ Cat 5 field of 4 riders

Body Concepts had 1-rider starting (John Depew just back from Team Will event…850 miles in 10-days…check out http://team-will.org/)

So we were very lucky and had great weather today for Leesville!  Our plan starting out was to put Rick and Todd in the lead group up the first climb to try to slow the overall pace while the rest of us attempted to chase back on with Randy F. as our designated sprinter for the day. If we were not able to chase back on, Rick and Todd were to win the race for us )

Davis attacked almost from the start into a head wind, but never got away. This resulted in us catching the 35+ 4’s category before the rough pavement began. The moto refs neutralized the 35’s and we went around them which was great because we now had a clean shot through the rough section less than ½ a mile ahead. Unfortunately, the moto ref’s did not keep the groups apart and 100-riders hit the dirt/potholes section at the same time with both groups vying for position as tires popped and water bottles flew out of cages as is typical of this section. Our team had at least 4-5 riders in the top 15 at all times…myself included. I did not want to be back in the melee that was behind. Randy V had a mechanical issue and his rear wheel stopped rotating causing the rider behind him to crash into him…both hit the ground, race over (bummer!! We didn’t find out until after the race was over)

We made the bottom of the climb with Rick and Todd perfectly positioned. Both groups were still mixed together and it was impossible to tell how many people from our category were ahead as things stretched out. I rode the climb with our designated rider for the day Randy F and came over the top of the climb with about 6 other riders (Randy put in a great effort with me to chase back on in the last 500 meters of the climb). We had been looking behind as we climbed the switchbacks checking for Carlos and Randy V, but they were nowhere to be seen. Randy and I decided to immediately push the pace and shortly caught up with Matt who had gone ahead on the climb. We now had about 10-riders in our little chase group…but only 3-4 of us were doing any work…the next time I rotated off the back I “asked” the guys sitting on the back to either take a pull or “get lost”. We finally started getting some cooperation and settled into a semi-functional rotation chasing riders ahead.

Going through the feedzone one of the stronger riders took off. We grabbed water bottles from Linda (my wife…she successfully gave me two bottles at once as I rode by and got one each to Matt and Randy F right behind me as well, a pretty amazing feat)…nothing like cold beverage 35-miles into the race! On the downhill (47+mph) I kept wondering if my bars/fork/wheels were still intact after all the pounding from the miles of crap we had just ridden through…they apparently were because I stayed upright. (NOTE: my Nike Vision glasses successfully deflected all bugs in this agricultural region with deft aplomb even at close to 50-mph…thank you Nike Vision)

We had no idea at this time how far the lead group was away by, but after the end of the race, Linda said that Todd was so far ahead she thought he was another team member from an earlier group. We put our heads down and started reeling in the rider who attacked in the feed zone. With Matt and Randy F pulling on the downhill sections. I would take pulls though the flats and we soon caught our bait. Now we were after the lead group again…the wind was at our backs and we were cruising 26-30mph. On a turn we ended up in a quartering head wind and just like we planned, went into a 3-person echelon putting the group in the gutter…~3-miles later at 21+ mph there where only 5–riders left in our group as we turned into another down wind section. My lateral Hamstring was now starting to cramp on both legs so I put it into a really big gear and kept saying to myself Glutes and Quads…Glutes and Quads…the Hamstring cramps dissipated. We caught two more riders in this section then turned into the quartering head wind again heading for the little blue tent in the distance and finish line. We went into our echelon again Rob-Matt-Randy and ~3.5-miles later had not dropped anyone but were at the 200-meter sign and I was toast.

I had been talking with Matt who let Randy F know that I was going to pull to the 200-meter sign and then it was up to them. At the sign I pulled off and they went for the “win” in our little group. Randy took 3^rd in our 7-rider group sprint.

Data (Rob)

Average HR from climb to finish 173 (zone 4 for me is 167-178)

Overall race zone 4 = 62% zone 5 = 5%

Average bike speed entire event 19.1, Max of 47.2

Total time of race 3 hours 10 minutes

Final 3.6 miles average HR 182, Max of 190 (pulling into head wind section)

Final 3.6 miles average bike speed 21.8, max 24.7 at 200 meter sign

Results

45+   Todd 2^nd, Rick 11^th, Randy F 15^th, Matt 17^th, Rob 18^th, Carlos 28^th (coming back from long illness), Randy V dnf-mechanical

35+   John dnf-flatted twice after the really nasty sections

Lessons

1. NEVER forget you chamois lube…I’ve got the outline of my saddle tattooed on my buttocks and will not be on the bike again for a week while it heals

2. It is good to have two plans…options are great ) Awesome job Rick and Todd!!

3. Check all your bolts, screws and any other fastening devices on your bike before doing an event…ask Randy V for details )

4. You feel really good when you’ve ridden your best and laid it all out for your team mates.

5. Like I’ve noted before, you can do more than you think you can…all you have to do is be willing to risk defeat to find out what you are really capable of. If you are defeated, you get to learn something for the next time. Playing it safe teaches you less…you don’t find your limits to know what you need to work on for next time.

Next Race: Lodi Crit…next weekend

Have a great week!!!

Rob

Pescadero RR 6-19-10

Category:

45+ 4/5 (50 riders) and 55+ open (25 riders) field of 75 riders

Route:

~50 miles total, 2-laps of 25 miles

2×1-mile climbs, 1×2-mile climb to finish line

Plan:

Randy V, Randy F, Rob, Carlos and Matt attack the field and wear out the competition…

Todd, Steve and Rick to sit in and clean every ones clock on the final climb, 3 in top 10

Weather:

High fog/low clouds 55-degrees, light breeze

Race:

Never having raced this event before, I was a bit nervous getting started…what were the climbs going to be like?

Carlos covered the first break of the day that was going after a sprint prime before the first climb. Randy F and I were covering the front on the first two climbs which ended up being hard efforts but manageable. Steve was bombing the downhills “having fun”. Once over the first two climbs we did several attacks…I think at least 6 prior to the third climb…I know I did three. Morgan Stanley’s 55+ team kept chasing us back down but it stretched the group out and made a few people hurt ). I got a bottle from Linda, my wife, in the feed zone with a perfect hand off and got rid of my vest. Going up the third climb things started  s t r e t c h i n g  out with Todd, Rick and Steve doing well in the lead group, Randy V and myself followed by Randy F, Matt and Carlos strung out behind. Randy V and I went over the top together and had a great time bombing the downhill getting back on the lead group after about 10-minutes of hard work with 4 other guys. We immediately went up to the front, rested about 5-minutes and then decided to take another stab at going off the front. We got a good gap this time with a chase group of about 10-riders catching us after a while but not willing to work to stay off the front…we were all back together before town and settled into a tempo effort.

Starting the second lap, I thought about going for the second prime but decided to save the energy for later (good thing I did). Getting over the first two climbs was harder this time with the accumulated fatigue building in the legs but the team was present on the front all the way through. In the ~10-miles of rolling terrain before the feedzone/final climb I worked with 3-4 other guys on the front setting a good tempo…there were two 55+ guys supposedly off the front but I wasn’t sure they were not 45+, so I put in the remaining energy that I had left chasing them down. At the feed zone, I pretty much sat up and was done for the day, watching the lead group, which was down to ~30-35 riders, go up the road into the final turn heading up the last climb…Todd, Rick, Steve, Randy F, Randy V and Matt were still in the lead group…not bad for a days work. I kept rolling up the last climb at about 85% effort just to keep in front of anyone coming up from behind and enjoying some of the scenery of the amazing Redwoods. As I came across the finish line I got to wave at Linda and Todd’s wife Janine who were video taping the finish…they were not sure who won. I had a more relaxed descent back down and caught up with both Randy’s and Matt, they didn’t know who had won either. We got back to the school (start line) and met up with Todd, Steve and Rick. Todd thought he had won and Steve/Rick thought they had placed in the top 5 but were not sure since the 55+ guys were in the group as well. 2.5 hours later we finally got the official results:

Todd 1^st, Steve 3^rd, Rick 4^th, Matt 18^th, Randy V 19^th, Randy F 20^th, Rob 23^rd, Carlos 34^th

Note: I used my Nike Vision Glasses with Max Speed lenses which were awesome in their ability to adapt to changing light of open rolling hills to dense redwood forest shade…I was a little concerned going into the race with these lenses and almost switched to my MaxVisability lenses but they were great!

Lessons:

I love it when a plan comes together!

We can all contribute to a successful team result J

Rob

Dunlap TT

35+ 4/5’s

30-k

Light wind from the SW

94-degrees

Dead flat course with ~6-turns

30-second intervals between riders

Goal was to finish around 45-min

Caught 8-riders in front of me

Finished 46’03”

10^th place out of 40 registered

Winning time: a little over 42 minutes (would have placed top 10 in the pros) next fastest rider was over 43 min and was the rider off just in front of me

Interesting…they had a start ramp set up, never used one before…I liked it.

Promised myself not to do this again at the end…my hip rotators are not used to going hard in the TT position and were VERY painful and stiff after the ride…could hardly walk over to registration and just about fell over getting my clothes changed…hip rotators not really cramping…just extremely painful and not wanting to work anymore.

Feeling better now…still stiff and sore but will live to play another day.

Thanks for loaning your TT helmet Brad…it helped!

Lessons:

Practice longer TT efforts for at least 6-weeks leading into an event like this…those 1-min power intervals Matt and I have been doing are not enough )

You can dig deeper than you think…

Ice in a camel back bladder stuffed down your skin suit lasts about 15k on a day this hot….hot water is better than no water on your first 90+ ride of the year )

They had a TTT this year that we definitely need to do as a team next year!!

John Depew and I thought we would “represent” at Saturday’s Golden State Crit, participating in the Masters 35+ Cat 4/5 group (photos courtesy of Zach Hamm).  The race didn’t start until 3:50 which makes for an unusual start time.  I think we both agree mornings would be a better time to race.  The good news about local crits is you take a total of 2 hours out of your day to travel, prep, race, then head home.

It was a nice day to race, sunny with some wind but really didn’t feel it during the race.  Since this was sponsored by Rio Strada, they were well represented.  Throughout the race, they kept throwing guys out for breakaways where a couple of other teams like SN/Bike Plus would hunt them down.   I think they got 1^st/2^nd overall,  so the tactic worked.
Overall, a straightforward crit with no real danger as everyone kept their line.  There were a couple of times where a rider would try to sneak past the group by hugging the curb and running over the grates but were quickly “reprimanded” by the peloton as they didn’t need a hot-dogger to take out ½ the group.  My the f-bombs were thrown at that guy!

For some unknown reason, we hit the back part of the lap about 13 minutes in and seemed everyone pulled up considerably.  I figured I had good inertia heading out the corner and proceeded to take the pull at the front.  We will mark that at as my “young bull” move as I burned a couple of matches doing that which proceeded to hurt me at the end.

Last two laps heated up and John was right in the mix with overall placement of 24^th.  He did fantastic as it was his first crit!  I ended up in 40^th because of said previous pull move and I sat up.  Dumb idea as at least 5 people passed me, including the only girl in the race!
KEY LESSONS:

1. Don’t take a pull unless we have 6 riders in the peloton, we want to push the pace,  and Rob tells me to.
2. Don’t sit up at the end, no matter what place you’re at.
3. John and I should have worked together more.  I think I should have shielded him the whole race until the last lap then let him go nuts.  Need to get educated on that more.

Golden State Race Series presented by Rio Strada

Saturday Criterium:  Boy it’s nice not to have to travel 3 hours to a race venue, a 30 minute drive had us located in a nice venue off Hwy 50.  It was a modern business park setting with wide roads and oddly shaped turns, temperatures a chilly ~50 degrees at 9am but perfect once racing started.  We rolled out right on schedule with 45, 45+ racers.  A pretty standard Criterium, with a couple of primes to keep the pace up; Paul Diaz from Colavita (3^rd at Livermore) took both the primes and looked to be my primary antagonist.   We had a couple of minor flyers, but nothing was going to stick on this wide open course.  I positioned my self well on the back stretch opting for an inside final corner position since the road pinched down on the outside; better to have control of my own line, or so I thought.  I rolled through the corner clean about 4^th wheel, and started my sprint, where I then proceeded to pull my foot out of my pedal.  I did not panic, re-clipped started my sprint again, over geared and off balance, I then pulled a wheelie.  I finally got it together and made a run for the line;  I salvaged a 5^th place.  There is something to be said for being near the front on that final corner.  I was pretty frustrated and felt I had a better placing in my legs.  I was really bummed that I more than likely let the nice custom signed overall winners jersey slip away.  I promptly went to Bicycles Plus and bought a new pair of pedals; blame it on the equipment. :-0

Sunday for the Circuit Race, it was the same venue, stretched into a good course with quite a few more turns and a pretty strong wind in spots.  The field was smaller, only about 30 guys in the field.  We had two primes, I took one mainly to match Paul’s hard earned chase for a prime earlier, there were a couple other flyers that kept the pace reasonable; we did 6 or 7 laps in all.  Going into the last lap we had two guys go off the front, we reeled them in a bit a couple times but backed off and ultimately waited too long.  We were ripping down the back stretch getting closer to the break when Paul made the right move going into the final ‘chicane’ before the finish.  That created an opening and I got on his wheel to thread the final two corners single file.  We both started our sprint and caught the 2nd guy in the break and I nipped Paul at the line for 2nd. A guy from Truckee took the well deserved solo win.   Since yesterday’s winner did not race, Paul and I ended up tied for first with 7 ‘points’ (the sum of both race places, him 4-3, me 5-2).  Since I placed better in the second race, that was the tie breaker, and I won the overall and the cool jersey signed by George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer.  A pretty good outing given my mishap in the finish yesterday.

I hope to have good races next weekend for Folsom and Auburn, did I mention it’s nice to only drive 30 minutes to races?

Rick Kile

Modesto RR…6-laps of a 9-mile course…elevation change of ~3-feet )

Racing Masters 35+ 4/5 ‘b’  50-riders, no centerline rule

Dave B and I pre-road about ¾ of the course as a warm up at a nice easy pace discussing strategy (1. keep upright, 2. have some fun, 3. stay near the front and out of trouble, 4. go into the last corner in 3&4^th place…win the race).

Lap 1

In spectacular fashion, the guy leading the pack sits up at the 1k sign and looks back over his shoulder and dumps his bike on the ground causing other riders to crash and the front half of the peloton to head for the dirt on the sides of the road. I was riding about 10^th at the time and managed to get through the gravel/dirt shoulder and back on the road with what was now the lead riders. I was looking back to see if Dave was still upright and he also successfully managed the detour and yelled for me to keep going.

Lap 2

Group of 4-5 riders gets off the front

Lap 3

Dave and I participate in a chase with about 15-other guys on the front and bring the breakaway back from a >1-min lead to <9-seconds…at that point one of the breakaway riders sits up and drifts back into the group, everyone stops chasing and the breakaway starts opening up a gap again. Two riders from the pack attack and bridge up to the break and the gap opens up to >1-min again. I tell Dave not to participate in any chase and that I will help chase if anything organized gets going.

Lap 4

No one wants to chase and for some reason… the Talaeo team (the largest in our group with 5-riders) has apparently decided to practice their blocking drills for the day and are executing a perfect example on how to shut down any and all attempts to chase the break…No, they don’t have a rider in the break, their just Yahoos.

Lap 5

More of the same…

Lap 6

More disorganized “chasing” at 20-mph…give me a break, getting frustrated…

At the 2.5 mile to go point, a group of 8-Masters 1-3’s go by. A guy riding for Rio Strada in our race that I have been marking through the race…very strong… takes off and I immediately go with him

(David Hassleman who lives right behind Steve Baker). I look back and we have a gap and go by the Masters 1-3 group. I pull past and tell him we have a break and do my pull. As I rotate off and Dave H takes a pull, I see that Dave B has bridged up to us…three off the front of the pack trying to bridge up to the 4-riders off the front.

I take the next pull before going through the last right hander ~1k before the 1-k sign…I see the breakaway group ahead and bury myself chasing (~27mph) knowing that Dave is on behind me. I get about 50-feet off the break and am not closing anymore so look back at Dave B and tell him to close the gap if he can. Dave B rockets up behind the break, leaving Dave H and me still riding about 50-feet off the break.

At this point we are now at the 1-k to go sign and pass the Masters 35+ 4/5 ‘a’ group. Dave H jumps out of the saddle and closes to Dave B and the break…at some point one of the break riders has attacked the break and I am still creeeeeping my way onto the back of the break. We go through the last corner and I’m on the back of the break (6-riders in the last turn ~350-meters to finish line, one rider off the front). 2^nd place finisher jumps immediately after the corner, Dave H jumps with 300-meters to go and I yell at Dave B to gogogogogogo! Both of them are now chasing 2 of the original break down the last 200-meters. I’m trying to figure out if the funny little lights in my vision are real or not and what will happen if I try to get out of the saddle. With 100-meters to go I pass the last 2-riders in the original break and about fall off my bike crossing the line.

Dave finished 4th, I finished 5th

Last 1.5 miles: avg 24.9mph, max 30.5mph, 27.6mph at finish line

Lessons:

1. Plans change…heard that one before )
2. Never give up…be ready and take the opportunity if it presents itself, you never know
3. Communicate with your teammate if your tapped out…let them go for it
4. Riding a race with multiple team mates opens a lot of doors
5. Dave is a savvy, smart rider who has some gas in that tank!! Great job of racing!!!
6. Don’t expect the biggest team to do any work and to actively block for no one ) …it just happened

Rob

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