Tim has left the building

Badge turned in... good bye's said... beers drank... thanks for the memories 3M Petaluma.

I bid you a very heartfelt good night.

Record attendance at WNWCWC

New folks showed up last night to the Wednesday Night West County World Championships. Gabe Cheese came out fully rigged for climbing with NO WATER BOTLES!!! Fritz Wisor came out and was Jones'ing for some sprints. But the big news was Nate from the Team Swift / Allsport, executing beautifully tactics to secure the Green jersey for next week by winning both the Pink Elephant and Guerneville sprints and a very close second place for the Santa Rosa sign sprint. Not bad for a guy with only a 52 / 14 gearing ;-) WELL DONE NATE!!! Giovanni and Devin also came out to play and did well mixing it up with the gang.

Daily Results

Sprints
Nate - 10
Tim - 8
Devin - 3

KOM
Tim - 12
Nate - 8
Gabe - 2

Same time same place next week!

-Timmo

New BISSELL Team Van

Jono just got a new van for the team. Check it out!

WNWCWC - 5:00PM Wednesday

Rotten Robbie @ 5:00
Occidental via green valley
Monte Rio via bohemian HWY
Guerneville via 116
SR via Mays Canyon & Green Valley

-Timmo

Random thoughts...

So as most of you know, my last day of work is next Thursday. So most of this last month I have been helping to shut down the plant here in Petaluma. Well, this week was "my area." Wednesday and Thursday a crew was packaging up all the equipment and today they are loading it on a truck heading for Guin Alabama. Kind of surreal.

Anyway, moving on to my next phase of life.... full time riding / racing. As much as I am looking forward to just focusing on riding, racing, and recovering, I cannot help but think back to all the good times I have had here at 3M Petaluma. One thing that is for sure is that I work(ed) with a bunch of good people. I really hope all of them find opportunities like I have. Hopefully the ones that don't find another job right away can have some fun getting out of the daily grind of the corporate 9-5.

Anyway, I should get back.

Great turnout at the Sonoma Velo Project Presentation

Special thanks goes out to all that showed up to the presentation of the bike park to the advisory Board of Community Services (BOCS) to the City of Santa Rosa. About a dozen people spoke from the public in favor of the park including bike shop owners, team swift, and other cycling types. John Piasta even got up to speak for Team Swift to help the members understand the positive impact cycling has on youth.

After the presentation and public forum, the board unanimously passed a measure to proceed with the investigation of the proposed bicycle park in Youth Park!

Now the project needs YOUR HELP! Below is an excerpt from www.sonomacountyvelo.com

What does the board need now?

• Expertise–The SCVP is looking for folks to offer up their in-kind services to get this thing rolling in style including architectural services, environmental impact assessment specialists, and fund-raising geniuses. We could use a good volunteer coordinator too. If you’re any of these then e-mail sonomaCountyVelo@gmail.com and step up to the plate.

So please, if you know somebody who can help with this (especially the environmental peice), tell them about the project and let them know we need their help.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - WNWCWC and Sonoma County Velo Project

CANNONBALL!!!!! SPLASH!!!!

Just kidding ;-)

However, there is something very important that I need to share with the world. As you may know, there is a movement growing within Santa Rosa to build a multi purpose cycling park in Santa Rosa. Ideas that are being floated around include a velodrome, BMX park, cyclocross track, and trails. However, more people are needed to voice their support during public meetings. (Apparently, there have been some empty rooms in previous city hall meetings pertaining to cycling friendly innitiatives, so let's not let this happen again!)

Here is a link for more information.

http://www.sonomacountyvelo.com/

So..... Wednesday, April 22nd there will be a public meeting held at the Finley Community Center.


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Due to the importance of this meeting, we will meet at Finley Community Center at 4:00 SHARP. We will show our support of this project to all who is there (no worries, Carlos Perez confirmed spandex is appropriate attire for the event). The meeting should be done at about 5:00 and we will then proceed with the WNWCWC ride on its normal route.


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When: 4:00PM, Wednesday, April 22nd
Where: Finley Community Center, Santa Rosa, CA
Who: All that care about Sonoma County Cycling
Why: Because we all care about the future of cycling in Santa Rosa

SEE YA!!!

WNWCWC

I will not be attending the WNWCWC tomorrow due to Sea Otter Thursday through Saturday. If others want to do it, please do. If not, oh well. Wee y'all next Wednesday.

-Timmo

Copperopolis Report

The race went well for the team, as Ben and Andy took 1st and 3rd. For the most parts, the race was slow on the flats and each time got faster up the climbs. Going up the main hill the 3rd time, Andy dropped his chain and I did what I could to get him back up to speed. Unfortunately for me, it was a bit too much with the climbers digging deep at the front. I then found myself in a pace line with good 'ol Sonoma County friends. Tyler and Ryan joined me to try to catch back on. Other folks came and went during the chase, too. But just before the climb on the 4th lap, we were told by the moto that we were within 60 seconds. This lifted the pace a little, but I cannot imagine they went any slower on the 4th time then the 3rd.

Anyway, it was good to do a long road race again. It seems like I have been doing a lot of crits recently so it was a nice change of pace.

See y'all at Sea Otter!

Copperopolis Tomorrow!!!

I am excited to race Copperopolis tomorrow. Not only is it one of the quintessential NorCal races, I'll have some friends in the pack as well.


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WNWCWC Results

Devin Masterson making his first appearance at the WNWCWC.

Alex on his TT bike AFTER doing TT LT intervals. Way to suffer!

Swift boat rookies!

Alex making sure he climbed at L2 while JP thinks about blueberry muffins.

Devin explaining the correct pronunciation of "BICI" to Alex. Apparently it is NOT pronounched like a "ch" but more of an "s." Apparently Alex and I are not English majors. Thanks Devin;-)

WNWCWC update for April 8th

Well, last week was a blast so let's do it again!!! With 5 riders in attendance, it was fast and fun. Let's try to make it bigger each week. Thanks to JP, Stroba, Nick, and Giovanni for showing.

Here is a map of the route.


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When: 5:00PM
Where: Corner of Fulton and Guerneville in Santa Rosa, CA
Who: Alex, Stroba, Glen "Bissell Boss" Mitchell, John, and YOU!!!
Why: Because it is a shame SR is the only cycling mecca that does not have a race ride!!! Heck, even Lincoln has one!!!

Santa Cruz Classic - Race Report

Just a few dudes chill'n in SC for a day.

BJM slamm'n it

I wonder who was marked? Andy followed by 3 berries... answer is...

Jono leading BJM safely through the hairpin turn.

It was a fine day in Santa Cruz. The weather was perfect, the crowd was loud, and the race was fast. The goal was to get one of the hometown boyz in a break and then see what happened. A few shenanigans here and there and a little full throttle action from the team Bissell and voila(!), we have ourselves a breakaway with AJM in control. BJM and I got to relax a little in the pack and cover bridge attempts. I am not sure what happened up in the front, as I was enjoying the ride in the peleton, but at about 5 laps to go, BJM was able to bridge up to a fragment of the original break to take 5th place. As for me, I placed 2nd in the bunch sprint for 17th overall. But hey, it was good enough for a VeloPromo tee shirt!

Napa Downtown Grand Prix - Race Report

Photo essay

It was good to see Jono in the pack today. Way to keep it real!

What you don't see is Dan Ramsey almost 30 seconds in front of us. There were quite a few guys there working to bring him back (Daniel Holloway, Roman Kilun, Tyler Wren...) but to no avail.

Still trying!

OK, I still need to work on my poker face!

Oh well, at least I got the field sprint. Tomorrow is another day ;-)

Looking forward to Santa Cruz this weekend

Oh Santa Cruz, how I miss thee.
It is a fine race and quite the place to be.

WNWCWC Update

JP met me at my place before heading over. He thought he was going to sprint me to the Rotten Robbie. Ask him how it went when you get the chance.

Other then his attack, it was a nice ride to the start of the ride.

The crew

JP finishing strong up Harrison Grade.

JP and Strobe-light

It is a good thing I was taking the pictures, since I was in agony too.

How this guy put on a massive clime and is still smiling is beyond me. Poker face maybe?!?

Somewhere on Mays Canyon Road.

After Stroba got him on Mays Canyon Road, JP made up his own sprint. Judging by his reaction I think he won.

Roll'n back into town.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun tonight. See y'all (plus a few more?) next week.