Stuart, we'll miss you!

Any one who has spent any time in the Austin racing scene during the last 15 years probably knows Stuart Green. He's been a tough competitor, a friendly training partner, and a great friend for many of us. Now he's starting a new chapter in his life as he and Amy move to Hawaii.
Before he leaves, be sure and take him out for a drink and a few stories, and read this story that he wrote almost exactly five years ago:
Stuart's Excellent Adventure (Part 1)
Stuart's Excellent Adventure (Part 2)
Stuart's Excellent Adventure (Part 3)
Stuart's Excellent Adventure (Part 4)

How to Promote a Bike Race

As all racers know, there are never enough races or at least enough races close to home. We all enjoy our racing and appreciate the people who put the races on and work them, but we don't think much about what is involved in promoting a race unless a promoter makes a mess of things.
In an attempt to promote promoting and to take some of the mystery out of it we have gathered information from people who have already promoted races successfully. By using the strategies outlined here anyone, with the help of some friends, can put on a bike race. All it takes is a little time and effort on the part of a few willing folks for an event to be a big success for all involved. There is even a checklist to make sure you don't forget anything. Good luck and see you at the races.
Unfortunately, the bulk of these articles predate important new developments like TxBra, and widespread use of the internet. If you have promoted races and would like to contribute to this gathering of information - particularly if you can expand on issues like working within the TxBra framework, please e-mail us at Webmaster@violetcrown.org and we will add what you have learned to this list.

Promote! by Dave Henderson
10 Tips to Make Your Race a Success by Pam Udall
Thursday Niters: Promoting a Week-night Series by Jeff Austin
Promoter's Checklist by Renee Orr and Mike Beck
Trofeo de Walburg Overview by Pam Udall
Designing a Race Flyer by Dave Henderson

Recycling Dirty Laundry

Three prior articles from June, 2001:

Kristian talks about Drugs and the Great Britain U23 Championships.

Slim recounts his 35+ State Crit championship win.

Ken Rice thinks he's at the meeting when he writes these minutes.

July 2001 Meeting With The Past President Minutes

Our former Secretary, Ken Rice, made whoopee with our former President, Mike Beck, back in 2001. These are Ken's quasi-coherent remembrances of that visit, which he penned shortly afterwards.

As none of you may have noticed, I wasn't at the July meeting. Instead, I made a pilgrimage to Lakewood, Colorado to visit with the Past President, El Presidente. El is doing quite well in his new role as stay-at-home mom. (The breast-feeding thing is a little weird though. I guess that vacuum pump augmentation really works.)

We decided to go to the quaint little townlet of Golden to try out one of their famous malted beverages, and I ain't talkin Coors. At some point during our mass beverage consumption, it dawned on us that it was Monday. And 7:00 PM. Time for the meeting to commence.

7:00 El calls the meeting to order. The first item on the agenda was getting another pitcher of beer. The Secretary was tasked with this and accomplished it in a stellar manner.

7:05 El calls for new members to introduce themselves. Some petite chick El has been cycling with a lot lately was introduced as Fallon Beck. Shes very shy, as El had to speak for her. She also seemed to have trouble focusing on the meeting. The Secretary was starting to have trouble focusing also, attributable to excessive liquid in the malted beverage containers.

7:09 The Secretary motions for a vote on another pitcher of beer. The vote carries unanimously and Mrs. El decides its safer if she gets it. El and the Secretary concur.

7:12 El asks if theres any new business to discuss. A frenzied discussion ensues concerning who will get the remainder of the beer in the current pitcher. Mrs. El breaks the stalemate by returning to the table with a replacement.

7:16 The Seckertree doesn't want to take notes anymore. Somebody has to I guess. The chicks around here are gettin pretty cute. I wonder where they were earlier? HEY, YOU COME HERE OFTEN? CAN YOU TAKE DICTATION? What? It doesn't mean that? Huh,...oh yeah. The meeting. Where were we? Okay, I remember. El calls for a Treasurers report. The Seckerary checks and finds he has $20. A motion is made to invest the funds in a bladder growth fund. A pisher of beer mashikly appears.

7:22 A general consenuh, consensoo, uh, agreement is consensicated on to adjournicate. Mrs. El decides that WE AINT MEN ENOUGH TO DRIVE!! Oh yeah? Well, all Elron and the Seshetwee got to say is Thhhht. Did you hear that? Thhhht. Boy, that sounded funny!! Thhhht.

7:26 Its time for Fallon to start walkin on her own. The Secktie is takin a ride in the stroller. Elmo says the loud popping noise is normal when a macho, studley dude rides in the stroller. YEAH! I hope Mrs. Elmo didnt hear that. Shell make me walk to the car. WHEEE!

8:27 (AM) The Secretaries head hurts. El was feeding the child again. Wierd.

by Ken Rice

Kristian

Originally published in August 2002 at the British Cycling Web site

INTERVIEW: KRISTIAN HOUSE (GREAT BRITAIN)
by Larry Hickmott

Last week, a Great Britain rider called Kristian House was the winner of the Surrey League five day sponsored by Evans Cycles.

Originally published in August 2002 at the British Cycling Web site

INTERVIEW: KRISTIAN HOUSE (GREAT BRITAIN)
by Larry Hickmott

Last week, a Great Britain rider called Kristian House was the winner of the Surrey League five day sponsored by Evans Cycles. The Surrey Five Day is a series of road races (called a stage race or Tour) over five days in the counties of Surrey and Sussex and the rider with the quickest time over the five days being the winner. Stage races like this are also a great "training" events for the riders in the Great Britain endurance team and with the World Championships coming up in October, this was just one of a number of stage races the team will be doing to help build and maintain their endurance levels.

Most stage races the team do are in Europe simply because that is where the stage races are. In the UK, most races are either one or two days long which I expect do not give the training effect the Endurance coach Simon Jones is looking for. Because of this, the GB team do come in for some criticism from some quarters because many people would like to see them race here more often. So what better event than the Surrey League Five Day, the countries longest stage race for them to put in an appearance.

And what a lineup of GB riders there was in Surrey. In the two GB teams were Commonwealth Games medal winners such as Chris Newton, Paul Manning, Bryan Steel, Tony Gibb and Bradley Wiggins (FDJ.com) who was a late replacement for Kieran Page. Phil West, Tim Buckle, Ben Clarke, Owyn Wallace, Steve Cummings and the silver medallist from the national road race championship, Tom Southam was also there. It was a formidable line-up and up against them were a number of regulars from the Premier Calendar Series along with many other hopefuls getting a chance to pit themselves against the GB riders.

SURREY FIVE DAY
The race story was a good one providing you rode for Great Britain but then being full time riders, arguably the best in the country, you would expect them to do well. Chris Newton, a dual medallist in the Commonwealth Games with silver (Team Pursuit) and Bronze (Points) started off by winning stage 1, and then stage 2 was won by one of GB teams younger riders, Kristian House who also took the yellow jersey denoting the leader of the race on time.

Stage 3 and Chris Newton was yet again the victor beating team mate Kristian House and the rest of the field. Stage 3b, and yet another Great Britain victory when double silver medallist from the Games (Team Pursuit, Pursuit), Bradley Wiggins showed his undoubted class to cross the line first.

The GB team continued their winning ways on stage 4 when another of the young talented riders in the GB team, Steve Cummings won alone and on stage 5, the final stage, a rider who impressed many with his great ride in the National Road Race (silver medallist), Tom Southam, was the winner of the hilly stage where Kristian sealed a great victory for himself and the team. In the end, the GB team had won every stage, overall, and the classifications for the Points and the Mountains (latter two for Tom Southam). It had been a very good week for the GB camp but there were questions being asked?

WHO IS KRISTIAN HOUSE?
Like, who was Kristian House for example? All I could tell anyone was that he was a former winner of an Under 23 event here in the UK when he made a rare trip to these shores from Belgium and that he was part of the Endurance squad for GB. Of course, I had to find out more and so on Monday, still unable to drive to races because of an accident I'd had a week before, I made the most of my time and got on the phone to Kristian to find out more.

Talk to Kristian and you could be forgiven for thinking, is he really from Great Britain? This is because it isn't a GB accent you'll hear -- his American accent is still very evident despite a number of seasons abroad. His mum, Deborah, lives in Austin, Texas (USA) and at the start of the Havant International Grand Prix where he rode so well, there were two very proud grand parents at the start telling me how well they thought he was doing.

He isn't well known here because until now, he hasn't really raced here that much. So for all those curious to know more about him, lets start at the very beginning. He was born in Bournemouth in the UK but he wasn't there very long. In fact, a few hours is how Kristian described it (he has such a great memory for someone so young!) before he moved to where his grand parents were in Kent. He lived in that part of the country until he was "8ish" after which he went with his mum and her husband to America, going first to New Jersey and then the capital of Texas, Austin. This is apparently a large city where the computer industry is helping it to grow and become even bigger than it already is. Good for Austin, but perhaps not too good for those looking for a quiet place to train on their bicycles.

Kristian was in the USA until he was 18 but after finishing school, he packed his bags and moved to Belgium, the home of cycle racing. Well, home to part of the cycling world perhaps because the winner of four Tour de France's, a world championship and some classics as well, Lance Armstrong --- actually lives in Austin, the place Kristian was leaving behind.

Austin certainly sounds like a good place to be for a bike rider with Kristian casually talking about the times that he had been out training with Lance quickly clarifying that he wasn't "like a drinking buddy or anything". For most, one training ride would be enough to – he is after all a legend in the sport already having overcome cancer to win the worlds greatest bike race, not once, but four times!

Talking about his days training in Austin, Kristian casually and very innocently drops in the fact that he’d been out to the house that Lance was having built a few years ago and also having trained with other stars from the pro peloton such as Kevin Livingston and Chann Mcrae.

Having such illustrious training partners would obviously help in the motivation department but then Kristian doesn’t need any motivation. "Motivation is not normally my problem.” He explains.

“My problem would be more like over motivation where I want to go out a do too much but its great having people like that to ride with because it is a good feeling to ride with guys like that because if they're going to let you into their group to train with them then they obviously think something of you because not everybody gets invited to ride with them."

As Kristian explained, his riding days in Austin were as a junior where he rode for a number of teams with one, Violet Crown Cycling Team coming in for special praise for the help they gave him. He says "they were unbelievable as a junior team. They helped me out so much -- my first coach came from there and they helped me go all round the country and do all the national series races and all the regional camps."

Their backing certainly helped him and he soon found he was being invited to go to the Olympic training centre, and getting selected to represent the Southern region of the US doing a junior World Cup race as well as training camps with the national team. That is before they realised he wasn't American!

Kristian says of this “They only realised that when I was in Belgium. The national coach emailed me to ask if I wanted to do some racing with him and I said yes, but I'm English. I never heard from him again."

Moving On
After growing up in the States and doing all his junior racing there, as he entered the senior ranks, it was time to move on and go to Belgium. This major move started when he came to do the Tour of Wales as a junior which was the only time he had ever raced in the UK until then.

"I came over for a holiday to see some family and it was a good opportunity to race as well. I met John Barkley who is known for taking riders over to Belgium and he told me if ever I wanted to go, to give him a ring. So right before I flew over here, I gave him a ring. I only planned on coming over for two or three weeks and going to Belgium on the weekends, staying in Youth hotels and so on."

"But the first weekend I was over there, I got introduced to a team there and Jean-Marie the director of that team offered me a spot on the team and a place to live at his house. Kristian rode there for a couple of seasons but as he explained, “it took a while to get going. In fact, it took me over a year to really start to get the hang of the racing but once I got the hang of it, I started to do really well. I think I ended up winning 12 races over there.”

“In the big kermesses and classics, it was completely different to anything I had ever done before. "I didn't win any, but I was getting up there and got some top 10s which was quite good." All this success saw him offered a place on a team run by Michael Pollentier, a pro rider from the days of Freddy Maertens and so on. A team he stayed with until this season where he has been based in the UK -- that's when he's in the UK as the GB team spends much of its time racing abroad.

The switch from racing in Belgium to racing stage races around the world as well as events here in the UK has certainly been different to what he got used to in Belgium. “this year has been a bit weird” he says “since I'm racing here a lot more. I have got to see how different it is from Belgium where you go to a race and there are 20 people that can win it on their own. Where as here, there is a smaller number of people who can win the big races."

As for the riders here, when asked about those who have impressed him, he says “Julian Winn is one of the best guys in the country. I've raced with him a couple of times and he's real strong. Lovatt and Tanner are as well."

Team mate Chris Newton also comes in for some special praise with Kristian saying "he's a great rider. Someone I can definitely learn from. He's very professional about the way he does it. He doesn't jump around and waste energy like a lot of riders do."

His season though was almost wasted when he was run over by a truck in Austin three days before last Christmas. Asked about it he says “I got run over by a truck basically. Just before this, I’d been training with former US Postal and Telekom rider Kevin Livingston and current US Postal rider Chann Mcrae. The accident occurred a few days before Christmas and I broke some bones in my leg and ankle and half the side of my foot was gone but it could have been a lot worse and I'm just happy it be back where I am now."

Like any rider determined not to be beaten by anyone or anything including a wayward truck driver, Kristian was soon back on his bike. When asked when, Kristian politely asks me if I mind waiting while he brings up the info on his laptop. “January 7” he says. “I started by doing one legged sessions on the Computrainer for the aerobic work”.

It wasn’t until March though before the training managed to get back into serious mode on the road – he had lots well over a month and a half. After such a bad accident, it can take time to get the form back. Speaking about that after the Havant GP recently, he explained …

"Its getting better. Its not quite where I would like it to be but its going to come with more racing.”

"ITS GOOD TO WIN AGAIN"
The Surrey League Five Day was his first race after the Havant and although his form may not have improved much, winning a event like this showed that his form was still pretty special. It may not be a UCI ranked event like many of the races Kristian would do, but as he says "its a race like anything else and its good to win it and to get back into that feeling. It’s been a while since I have won a race so its good to have that winning feeling back. Whatever the race, you make it what it is. The course was definitely hard and the competition made it hard. I'm certainly happy to have won it."

With Great Britain finishing with the top four places on the overall, I asked if there was any competition within the team to take that yellow jersey home. Kristian explains that "on the last day we were told it was every man for himself due to the hilly nature of the course so we just raced it. I had a couple of minutes lead but if I'd missed the break then it would have been it Chris (Newton) or Tom (Southam) who could have won it."

Kristian though did win it but at no point was he ever over confident and when asked at what point he felt like he had the race won, he said “Not until I had crossed the line really. There were a few times when there was a break away of 15 or 20 guys up the road five with five or six minutes and I'd feel this could be it. Even on the last day, there was a group away and Chris and I had to cross the gap to it so until you've crossed the line, you haven't won it."

And what of the feeling towards the team. At least one person has gone public about how he felt when GB turned up with two teams, and yet others have spoken a many times about GB not being at races. So how did the riders feel?

“Some people are going to criticise us for putting two teams in but then again if we hadn't put a team in it at all, they would have criticised us. Some people are like that but then there are others like one in the changing room. A guy came up to me and said something like “I think its really good you guys are here because it gives us something to chase.” They can see what we do. I said we weren't doing much more work than if we'd been doing a race in France."

Overall though Kristian said he was “definitely pleased with the win and I'm pretty happy with my form.”

TRACK WORK
Next up for him though is the National Track Titles starting today (Tuesday). Zooming around the Manchester Velodrome is a bit different to the Surrey Five Day. He says of the track titles, “I'm pretty nervous about this week at the nationals (Track Titles). I'm doing the pursuit, the points and the scratch. I think I'll be doing all three but I'm not 100 per cent sure. Definitely the pursuit. I've just never raced on the track before to tell you the truth and its going to be a bit nerve wracking."

Staying with Paul Manning who is recovering from illness, Kristian has been doing some track work but as he says, “its difficult to fit it in with the racing because you need to be fresh to do it. I've just finished my recovery block (after the Surrey Five Day) and now I have got the Nationals so there hasn’t been that much time to do some training."

That will come later because as he says, “the more time you spend on the track, the better you're going to get technique wise and that's where I'm lacking really. I have the power and I need to transfer that to the track."

After the track titles, there’ll be a little time for some recovery work which he describes as “basically its just a few hours easy.” His program does allow for days off but if he feels like riding, he goes for an easy ride which you get the feeling is what he’ll do given the option.

And then after the National Track Titles looms a major stage race in Germany. “I'd like to really do well in that because as far as I know that’s going to be my last race of the year. I might try and go to Belgium and do some kermesses and finish out the year that way but whether I'll be able to do that I don't know."

Despite being 22, he is to old for the Under 23 worlds as his birthday falls in October, the month of the worlds so the goals for this year are running out fast. As for whether he is making a switch to the track, he says "Not a switch -- I'd like to do both to tell you the truth. I really like the pursuit and team pursuit. I like the idea of them. I haven't got involved in the team pursuit yet but sometime I'd like to try. And of course I'll try the Scratch and Points at the nationals."

A WINTER IN ENGLAND
Come the winter, and he’s not sure about returning to Austin although a winter in England may change his mind! “I've been going back very winter because my mother lives there, all my friends from school, and all that kind of stuff but this will be my first year that I don't go back. I don't really feel comfortable going back there after being hit because the traffic has just got so bad.”

Talking about the time after his accident, he says “When I first got on the road again I couldn't tell my mum I was going out on the road because she would have flipped out. I had to go out behind her back and find these small little cycle paths and ride like that."

It’s obviously had an effect on him as these things do. I remember going back to the Gold Coast in Australia and finding that it had changed out of all proportion since I had been there 10 years earlier and it was not a good place to ride a bike. I didn’t fall off but came close thanks to the offensive nature of a small number of motorists. Perhaps I had been spoiled with the lanes in England.

Kristain and I got to talking about the lanes here and in Belgium. When I said that America is probably more like Australia in that it doesn't have the network of lanes that you get in Great Britain and Belgium, Kristian agreed saying they (the lanes) were perfect for cycling. As for what training was like around Stockport where he is now staying, he says, "to tell you the truth, we don't do a lot of training. You're recovering a lot from whatever race you have been to so its not very often that you go out and do a five or six hour ride.”

“Once you're out into the lanes, its really nice although riding down the A6 isn't exactly a lot of fun..."

But life away from Austin isn’t all about riding the bike. Part of his time is spent working on a website as well and when I rang, he was doing more work on it as the planes came in overhead on their way to Manchester. So despite a very poor start to the year, Kristian has managed to salvage some good results from 2002 and 2003 will hopefully, see him take another leap forward to success on the road and the track, in the UK and in Europe. Who knows, he may even end up riding for another team that race Trek bikes… And why not, his connection to Austin Texas demands it. Just don’t forget -- he is British!

END

Minutes of the June 2001 meeting

by Ken Rice

Okay, it's really not my fault this time. Dave Henderson didn't send me enough annoying reminders, so I procrastinated longer than usual. I finally had to take responsibility for my own actions and write the minutes up on my own. I feel so mature and adult-like. I hope it passes. Anyway, here's what happened at the June Meeting of the Violet Crown Sports Association, as best I can recall:

7:07 Jonathan has apparently decided that 7:07 will be the official start time as this is the second month in a row it's happened. This follows the tradition of starting the DDDDR (Dave's something something something Ride) from Freewheeling on Sunday at some undisclosed period of time after the announced 8:00 start. I'm not complaining, as I'm a serial procrastinator. Jonathan, in an effort to further confuse the confused, starts the meeting at the wrong end of the room. I think this is because Jonathan thought that people couldn't tell that he wasn't actually a projection on the big screen TV.

7:08 Greg Hall waits until Jonathan has finished saying "Well, Let's get starte-oooph..." before he broadsides him off center stage. Greg seems excited about winning some little local race. Let's see if I can find where I wrote it down... oh, yeah, here it is. He's the State Criterium Champion. I think John Schreffler and David Orr helped by buying Guinness after the Tuesday night hill climbs.

7:12 Jonathan manages to distract Greg by hypnotizing him with his medal. (Actually, I think Greg hypnotized himself, but it still worked.) He announces that the Tuesday night crits are over, which is news to me. That explains why I did so well last week. I did think the field was kinda small.

7:13 Lee Rusk, looking blonder than usual (or ever), says we still have juniors. The little buggers are trying to grow up, but he's keeping them reigned in. (I'm a natural blonde, by the way. That's why I'm ditzy and can't find my way around the block without getting lost.)

7:14 Edward Tasch mentions the Luckenbach ride and gives directions. Once again, he's giving away free Trek 5900 bicycles to the first 30 people who show up. These were left over from the party at his house before the Ride For The Roses. Of course the Luckenbach ride was almost 2 weeks ago, so once again I hope some people made it to get those great door prizes. Edward really knows how to throw a party.

7:18 Jonathan brings up the issue of clothing. Some artwork was left off as evidenced by the .2 square inch area just under the left armpit which was left blank. I didn't realize until recently that this is the most valuable advertising area as it's visible in all the pictures when the winner streaks across the finish line with his arms thrust high in the air. Greg Hall's winning photos will only sell armpit hair, which is fine if we're getting sponsorship dollars for it. Sounds like Greg owes us some money. The club is also going to get a permit for Women's Development, which receives a standing ovation from the male members of the club.

7:24 Dave Henderson, frustrated by the fact that people keep running into him, decides to have a clinic to teach people how to only turn their bikes when they WANT to, and how to continue in a straight line otherwise. A lot of people nod at the novelty of this. I think it's going to be a big hit. (Pun)

7:26 Jonathan, again feeling self-conscious at having lost his copy of the membership directory, asks people who they are and what in God's name are they doing eating his pizza. Since I don't have my copy of the membership directory either, and I probably misspelled the names in my notes, I won't try to decipher what actually was said. (Who the heck is 'Slum' and what's his association with 'Greg Hurl'? My handwriting sucks.)

7:32 Jonathan, in a rare moment of generosity, offer the use of a Junior's house and television to watch the Tour De France. His parents are gonna be thrilled when we show up.

7:33 Greg Hall, now wearing his medal, and with tears streaming down his cheeks, again mentions his race win, and the fact that David Orr discovered that you don't have to actually win a prime, you can just steal wheels from someone in Houston. Racing can be profitable. I'm not sure if Greg was bragging about how easy it was to steal wheels from Houstonians, or was wondering if anyone knew how to get them back to the foreigner. (Ha! Yeah right.)

7:34 Missy Burk, now fully into her role as Treasurer and wanting to generate money any way she can, mentions finding venues for money generating criteriums. Greg mentions that more criteriums will mean more out of town racers, i.e. more wheels for David. (I think Greg was also fantasizing about winning a championship every week. He was looking a little glassy eyed by then.) Jonathan suddenly realized that Greg is still in a hypnotic state and told him to go lie down in the corner like a good dog. (It was a little embarrassing when he started licking himself.)

7:38 Teresa Ritter, who is now obligated to membership because her name's in print, says the Danskin needs help. Most people think she say's "Dan's kin need help", and since Dan Connelly's in California, didn't want to be bothered with his family. She also offers to help Missy generate insane amounts of money, David to get more wheels, and Greg to stop licking himself by looking for empty parking lots. We need more members like her.

7:39 Before Jonathan can regain control of the meeting, someone motions to adjourn, then everyone leaves like trees. (Makes like a tree and leaves? Whatever.)

Once again, I have fully and accurately documented the happenings and occurrences of the meeting as well as my notes and memory permit. I'm glad this isn't a real job .

Kristian House writes...

Well first of all I would like to apologize for not writing more. Both emails and race reports. A lot of things have been going on over here and I haven't been that motivated to tell people about it. I really appreciate all the emails I've been getting for most of you telling me to kick butt in the races and wishing me the best. The support I've got from all of you is really awesome, it means a lot. Anyway. Ill get on with what ya'll wanna hear.

I've done about a million races since that first report back in March. Seem like forever since then but I guess its really only been 3 month. My new team, De Lombarden, is really great. All the guys are good really cool, the management is awesome too. Michel Polleinter is a great guy, he's always calling to make sure everything is ok and never puts any pressure on you. My racing has been going ok, well it was going ok until the end of March, and then I kind of went into a slump and it seems like I'm just now crawling out of it. Michel kept putting me into the races, and I would finish them, but not they way I did before. I feel now that my form is coming back, so hopefully I'll get some more results and will be more motivated to tell ya'll about them. Hopefully.

I guess while I was in my "slump" I got to thinking about why I'm doing this and if I really want to continue with it. I love racing and living over here, but I sometimes just think I could go to UT and get my degree and do whatever I like. I don't like what's going on in this sport, although I'm sure it's similar in most other sports, as far as the drugs go. Before it was IF I could go pro or not, now its whether or not I WANT to go pro or not. When you look at what has happened in the Giro D'Italia, it kind of makes me sick. I've heard stories (I don't know if they are true or not) of Syringes being thrown out the windows, and riders crawling out the hotel rooms at 3 in the morning, when the police decided that they were going to do a raid. It just makes me think about why I'm doing this if when I get to the pros it seems like you're going to have to be doping. I know that there are people that I'm racing against now that are taking things that they shouldn't be and sometimes that's hard just knowing that. From what I know at least Pro teams do look at your blood to see if you are already taking things, but I think that's cause if you are they can't really do anything more with you. I know, or at least I think, that there are people out there not doing anything wrong, so that's what's keeping me motivated to keep trying. I have decided to keep focused on my goal of going pro by the way.

So, the last race I did was Great Britain Under 23 national champs this past weekend. I woke up that morning and for the first time in 2 months (that I can remember) I felt good. The race was a pretty hilly one, rolling in the beginning then a few pretty long hills one was like 8km or so. When we hit the base of the first big hill the race was already all split up, I was in a group that was about 5 sec behind the first and the next group behind me was about 20sec. It was pretty broken up already. I jumped to go with another guy to the first, and my chain snapped. I pulled to the side and waited for the car, but because it was all broken up the cars were still behind the last rider. The car came to me and gave me a bike, but because someone had already crashed they gave me a 55cm bike. I jumped on it and got to chasing. I think I passed about 50 racers on the hill I kept progressing my way closer and closer to the front. The car came up to me again and said that they would give me my bike back at the top of the hill with a chain of course. I made it to the top, I don't know how far I was behind the first group at this point, switched bikes, and started descending. Then I got a flat. I got a new wheel and got into a group that I had passed on the way up. From this point on everything went ok. I raced well and would drop a group on the decent or on a climb and catch the next and do the same again. I worked my way all the way back up to 18th place. The first group was a group of 17 that kind of splintered up in the finishing laps. So there I was, knowing that I had a good day, but couldn't do anything about it. Now you start thinking about the "what ifs". I know I could of won that race, and should have but that's bike racing. Right? I'll be doing the senior national champs with the pros on the 1st, so maybe I can get a good result there. We'll see.

Ok well I'm going to leave it at this, I'm going to try and write more often hopefully ill have more exciting news to tell too. Again thanks for all the emails giving support. I really appreciate it. Talk to ya'll later.

Greg Hall, 2001 35+ State Criterium Champion

Teammates: David Orr, John Schreffler

The 9:25 start time made for an early departure. Picked up David at 5am and rendezvoused with John on the way out Hwy 71. A new personal best of 2 hours, 45 minutes, including one stop, was set along the way. We arrived in time for the first of several brief rain showers that luckily abated before the start.

Alvin has hosted the Tour de Braz weekend for some time now and knows how to put on a great event including lots of cash prizes, free food, showers, etc. The course is basically flat with 4 corners plus an added chicane and dogleg leading to the finishing straight. Wind is always a factor on this open course and definitely had an effect this year as well. Two sides were crosswind gutter. The other two sides were a brutal headwind and a ripping tailwind.

Our team strategy was pretty simple in that we had to be present in any early breaks and then, if necessary, be prepared to set John up for a finishing sprint. Staging revealed the usual suspects and a few unknowns. Quannah was down on numbers as only Jeff and Rodney were there. Southern Elite had a full complement including Lamb, Chandler, A. Whaley, Quinn. Flying solo were L. Whaley (Hybrid), Bain (Matrix), Fisk (HnH), Erickson (Matrix), Seghi (Velocity) and some miscellaneous Altra, GCCA, NWCC. I'd estimate the field size around 30-35.

Our 40 minutes plus 5 lap race began with a neutral lap led by a sponsor's Hummer. The rolling start afforded us an immediate jump to race pace and soon the typical Jeff Austin gutter lining action commenced. The pressure continued with the first break of 6, including David, launching off the front. John rode a fast moving train up to the break and the rest of the pack merged soon thereafter. The attacks continued and when there was no response to a solo move by Brad Fisk, I popped off the front in pursuit and the two of us were out front just long enough to split a cash prime. Our recapture instigated an instant response and surprisingly it came from yours truly. Though not fully realized until later, it was a moment where opportunity met preparation (some would say, luck). A lap later there appeared a solo rider. And when Quinn came up he didn't sit on but actually pulled through. HalleluJAH! We set about to working a gap that steadily grew from 10 to 25 seconds thanks to our respective teammates. At long last, the lap cards came out and showed 5-to-go. Salvation was at hand if we could hang on. 4-to-go and word comes that the gap is closing. 3-to-go and I can see the Jeff lead pack is lined out and only a few seconds back. A fight and flight instinct takes hold and I bolt across the backstretch trying to reopen the gap. Quinn gets gapped in the process but claws back on the downwind. Approaching the start/finish and horror of horrors, 2-to-go is shown as 3-to-go. Deja vu disaster like the Stick crit? No! The official flips the lap card just as we pass. Only after negotiating the headwind stretch do I dare look back and joyously discover that we've distanced the pack again and barring a mishap, we'll be on the podium. The bell tolled for Quinn and the rest when the coup de gras was delivered on the backstretch. Coming down the finish straight, the required zip up was affected and very soon afterwards, there was much Violet Crown rejoicing.

Thank you David, John and the Paterson family for the race support. Also a big up to Phil for keeping the old bike in the game.

"Golden boy" Slim

PS. A partial finishing order:

1. Greg Hall (Violet Crown)
2. Jim Quinn (Southern Elite)
3. Richard Lamb (Southern Elite)
4. Paul Chandler (Southern Elite)
5. Tom Bain (Matrix)
6. Al Whaley (Southern Elite)
8. John Schreffler (Violet Crown)

In the words of the Mystery Writer (or was it the Myster Rider?), "We beat all ya'll".

Rosedale Ride

by Dave Henderson

Jim Spencer said we had a fifty percent chance of rain on Saturday. There was a front that was supposed to come through about mid-day or so and there would be a some rain showers generated by its close proximity to the underlying Gulf moisture. I trust Jim Spencer. He's been my weatherman for years now and he has a feel for the patterns around here and explains it in such a way that I can understand how he came to his conclusions. So you can understand my shock when I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of approaching thunder. I snapped on the TV and flipped the channel to forty-one to see the radar. A large green blob with an ominously yellow center filled the screen and obliterated Austin from our view. Rosedale Ride 2001 would be wet.

The sky was dark on the drive to the start at Samsung and about two miles away the clouds opened up again just to show us it was for real. I followed the trail of cars past well placed volunteers waiving their arms to direct the flow of traffic and in no time at all I was parked and had my bike out. The rain started coming down harder so I got dressed the rest of the way in the car while cold wet drops thrummed an uneven rhythm on my roof. This was to be the first big group ride for my new bike. I'd had it a few weeks but I'd only had it out for about five rides. Just on the weekends. It rained on all but one of those rides so this wouldn't be the first time the new bike had been wet. I know some people wouldn't be caught dead riding their new bike in the rain but I figure bikes are made for riding and its going to get wet sometime so I may as well enjoy it. Very few of my friends had seen my new bike so this would be a first.

By the time I had gotten dressed the rain had stopped so I rolled over to registration to pick up my packet and see who I was riding for that year. Each rider gets a brief bio of one of the students and a sticker with that students name to wear during the ride. Its one of those personal touches that this ride has always had. The line was long so I went to the back and before long was carrying on the first of many conversations that day. Eric Middleton stopped by to ask if I was riding my new bike so I pointed it out to him. He told me "It looks nice".

I said "Thank you".

I took my ride packet back to the car, found the sticker with my student's name on it and stuck it to my wind vest. I was riding for Layla, Kenny Lloyd's daughter. It was getting late so I rolled over to the start and stood around talking with friends and catching up with some folks I hadn't seen in a while. Joe Moore noticed my new bike and told me it looked good.

I said "Thank you".

The announcer thanked all the sponsors and Samsung, our gracious host, and soon the starting gun fired and we were off. I hadn't gotten myself at the front on the line so once we exited the parking lot and started rolling down Parmer lane I found myself about seventy or more riders from the head of the pack. I rolled the big chainring and weaved my way through the flowing mass of cyclists with differing degrees of skill and pack riding abilities. I soon had a small train behind me and we successfully reached the front just in time to turn our backs to the south wind and roll the pace up a bit as others upped the ante to see who stayed and who didn't. I bumped in to Robert Thoreson who I hadn't seen since my mountain bike season ended a couple of months before. Robert told me he liked the shade of blue I had chosen for the panels on the seat tube and down tube of my new bike.

I said "Thank you".

The pace stayed at what I would consider a moderate speed. Not so fast it hurt but fast enough to prevent anyone from slipping away easily. My legs weren't feeling as good as I felt they should but I had no trouble staying at the front or bridging gaps. From time to time someone would push the pace to something resembling a race pace but it never went on long enough to break the group apart. All the real racers were in Fayetteville and it seemed everybody here just wanted a nice training ride. What a concept. Some guy in a red jersey rolled up and told me my bike looked really nice.

I told him it was new and I said "Thank you".

We rolled along like that for the first half or so of the ride until we came upon one of the rest stops. I asked if we wanted to stop here or go the next one. Kenny Lloyd said the next stop was quite a way off and so by unspoken consensus we stopped to refuel. The man who looked to be in charge of that rest stop walked over and mentioned that he thought my new bike was real pretty.

I said "Thank you".

We got back on the road in dribs and drabs and as the group was waiting for chasers, two riders jumped up the road. When we had regrouped we organized a paceline to keep the two in sight. Things went smoothly and at one point we had ten or so of the group of twenty working like a well oiled machine, clicking off the miles in relative comfort. The two dangled about thirty seconds in front of us until interest declined, strength left the legs, or both, and a lull in our pace allowed the two to escape and "win" the Rosedale Ride. We rode the rest of the ride at a reasonable pace and before we knew it the headwind was a sidewind and we were back at Samsung where I ran into James Ezell and Jill Ackerman who both told me my new bike was very attractive if a bit muddy from the road spray.

I said "Thank you".

I changed clothes, grabbed some fajitas and soda, and spent the next couple of hours trading stories and eating free Amy's ice cream with real Mexican vanilla and listening to the live music. I bumped into Bob Whitford who said my new bike looked really good and he liked my choice of blue on the panels on the down tube and seat tube.

I said "Thank you".

Stuart Green's Excellent Adventure (Part 4)

6.25.99

It's been so long since we heard from him that most of us had assumed that Stuart Green must have forgot to turn North when he got to California... and disappeared into the Pacific Ocean. But this report has just surfaced so apparently he managed to swim back to shore and get the salt water and sand out of his bottom bracket.
Frank

As I climb slowly out of camp, the morning air has a cool bite to it as I labor with the exertion of the ascent. The mountain stream careens drunkenly off of rocks and other obstacles as it rushes hurriedly past on my right. On my left, the morning sun is sending it's first questing tendrils of sunlight into the narrow canyon which lends a surreal effect to the cotton from the cottonwood trees floating in and out of the beams, falling softly on and about me like snow. What a way to start a morning!! A beautiful 10 mile climb up a narrow river canyon with a 7% grade! When I crest the top, the wind is whipping. With the downhill grade and aided by the wind, I quickly run out of gears as I speed toward the town of Cambridge and brunch. Okay, I know long time no hear. Sorry about that. It seems that without a house to stay in, I am less likely to run down a library to get internet access. I am in Missoula Montana at the public library and my time is limited. I am sorry that I do not have enough time to personally answer all the neat e-mails that I have received. Thanks for all of your well wishes! Well, a lot has happened since my last e-mail. So many thoughts are running through my head and so many experiences since the last "road report". I have found that it is not so much the beauty of a particular place, but the experience of being immersed in the natural environment for a long period of time. It impacts you slowly, building so that you unconsciously find it difficult to sleep indoors or uncomfortable to be inside a building for a long period of time. I've had some really neat experiences since my last e-mail and I will try to share some of them now.

First off, I need to thank Heather at the Bicycle Sport Shop for the advice on the shoes. I purchased some Sidi shoes for the trip and they have been great. Thanks Heather!! At the time of my last road report, I was in San Jose with my friend Dee Kinsey. Thanks Dee for a great lay-over! The highpoint of that period was kayaking on the Elkhorn Slough. We saw seal, water birds, and sea otter. One otter was really cool. It would come up to our kayak and use the side of the boat to break the shell on the clams and other edibles it pulled off the bottom! It tried to climb up onto the boat (too slippery) and swam with us for over 30 minutes. It would swim under my arm so close that it would have been possible for the otter to reach over and touch me! They are so cute! and playful. What really got me was their nose. It looked just like a dog's nose. Seemed kind of out of place in the ocean. On the way out of San Jose, it was Saturday and I saw many other cyclists. I hooked up with Deb and Bruce and enjoyed and great day of cycling with them over the mountains and back to the beach where I continued toward Oregon. One morning in the Marin Headlands (just past the Golden Gate) I woke to a skunk only 3 feet from my face! Talk about a rude awakening! Thankfully he was not interested in spraying me, just in digging for grubs. I shooed him away and continued my morning routine uninterrupted. On evening on the Northern California coast, I ran into a Valhalla Tour group. They invited me to dine with them and it was great! (Note: stay away from the red wine if you plan on riding the next day! :-)) The next morning they invited me over for breakfast, so needless to say, I ate much better than I would have normally. Jorg Becker and his wife Ulrike are the owners and at least one of them accompany each trip. Looked pretty first class to me and I can certainly vouch for the food. Those guys eat great! Their e-mail address for more information is valhaljb@netidea.com. I met a guy named Michael in a Taco Bell. We started talking and he is also on a trip. He is car camping and making lots of miles and seeing lots of things. One funny story that he told was rappelling (sp?) off the Grand Canyon. He is ex-military and evidently still has his rappelling gear. As he was preparing to jump backwards into the canyon, a family with two small girls came walking up. Michael said that he waved, said "goodbye" and jumped backwards without looking back. The woman screamed and the man came crawling up to the edge to see what had happened to Michael. I asked Michael if they could see his harness or his rope. "Nope" he said. "It is all camy green, they probably thought I was a jumper." I am surprised that he didn't give anyone a heart attack!

I got to see another long-lost cousin in Eugene. Thanks for the great meal and superb company John!! For those of you who have never been to Eugene OR, it is even more bike-friendly than Austin! Pretty cool town and everybody rides bikes there. I had breakfast in this really laid-back cafe one morning. There were tie-dyed (sp?) shirts, cut-off blue jeans, a man loudly talking philosophy and the meaning of the universe, dyed hair, do-rags in the guys' hair, and a women breast feeding her baby at the next table. Ruth Riffe came back out for some more fun in Oregon. I met her at the airport in Eugene and we enjoyed great weather and beautiful scenery for 6 days then she caught a cab from Baker City to Boise where she flew back to Texas. Great time Ruth! I am glad you could come out. Anyone else need a vacation? Drop me a line and I will let you know where you can meet me. The only kicker is that you will be expected to keep up! The people that you meet on the road is what really makes the experience. The other day in Baker City as I was eating breakfast, I started a conversation with a man and his son at the next table (not hard to do when you are wearing full cycling stuff and everyone is trying not to stare) Anyway, when the older man comes back from paying his bill, he taps me on the shoulder and says "I took care of your bill, even got the tip. You're a nice guy and I wanted to do something nice for you." Pretty cool, huh? Lots of experiences like that. This trip has really strengthened my faith in people. Ruth and I were rolling through the town of Sisters OR when we started talking to a man on the street. Before we knew it Dale and Paula Atwood had invited us back to their place to share their grill and camp in their backyard. Dale and Paula have built a lovely house where their backyard is the National Forest. I was taking lots of mental notes on the construction of the house. Dale has done a splendid job of using lots of unpainted wood, vaulted ceilings, lots of windows, beautiful. Thanks Dale and Paula for your hospitality and great company!! Another big highlight of my trip was running into Elise and Laura. I met these two bicycle tourists when we shared a hiker-biker site in Humbug Mountain State Park. Due to a mix-up, they decided to turn back North instead of continuing South. That allowed me to ride with them for two days until their ride was able to pick them up in Florence OR. That was a great time with the three of us hitting it off immediately.

Thanks Laura and Elise for a great time and I look forward to seeing you both again! Sorry if this e-mail
seems disjointed, but they are ready to kick me off the computer. Gotta run, bye for now.

God bless, Stu

Back to Part 1
Back to Part 2
Back to Part 3