Live (on tape delay) from Madison, WI

The newest adventure brought to you, by me, and to me by USA Cycling took the HB crew to Madison for the 2013 US Amateur Road Race Championships.

There was even a sign at the airport.

With a smaller crew (4 riders) and longer trip we travel a bit lighter than usual. This means once again the hotel parking lot is my workshop. Thankfully there was a nice breeze.

I had to trim the aero extensions on Colby's TT bike about 1.5 cm to make sure it was legal for the race. If you want to read more about why this was necessary please visit www.youtube.com and watch cats riding Roombas instead.

I promise it is much more interesting.

Jon and Alan had previously watched that very same video and are now texting each other about how great it was.

Breakfast early on day 1 before the U23 road race. The counter in our hotel kitchen was packed with stuff. Mainly the 3 aeropresses (2 pictured)

Coffee was much needed since the airline failed to load our bags onto the first plane in Seattle, so we got them in Madison at around midnight. But the stuff arrived in time for racing, which is really all that matters.

And this is serious US National racing, as you can tell by everything having that logo.

Shimano neutral service. They have nice blue cars.

Out in the fields of Wisconson, playing bike racing.

Riders got some encouragement from some junior riders pre riding the course. Silent encouragement.

Our hotel was nice, but it did objectify the guests slightly. We were stored in room 211.

Room 213 was reserved for people who are really bad at finding their room.

Day 2: time trial. Colby our only rider in the TT, so while he was warming up we got to watch the Tour.

Also a change to scope out the tinyest TT bike ever. I was told that many of the parts were custom including the electronic shifting. This must be a fast child's bike.

Colby ripping up the TT course.

and speeding. (Police were unable to catch him)

Bikes getting washed before the road race Friday. Our hotel had a bike wash area in their parking garage. It was very considerate.

Not to mention enough room in the fridge for some water.

Not to mention it was next to a liquor store.

That was also a coffee shop. True one stop shopping.

Road race plans getting laid out for a nice ride in the sun.

(sun)

Usually all the guys numbers are in sequence so I know when they are having issues (the numbers are read on the radio). Since we had a random assortment of numbers I had a cheat sheet going.

Midwest cycling fans lined the road course.

But much like any race, for me it ends the same way. Packing bikes to fly home.

Next stop: Canada.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood marked my return to working for Hagens after a pretty substantial break. It was nice to be back in the van, where life makes sense. For this trip we journeyed to Hood River once again for the final installment of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic.

This journey involved a quick stop. We opted not to get the 2 for 269 meats at AM/PM.

That was mostly there to illustrate it was raining. Hard enough that my t-shirt got mostly soaked walking in to get gum. I can't remember if you get wetter running or not. I'll have to watch that Mythbusters again.

Once we got to Hood River things were much nicer. Stage one threatened rain but delivered sun.

We were also fortunate enough to have some rider parents join us for the weekend. Here Ryan and Colby's fathers discuss, I assume, the challenges of having a cyclist as a child.

Wheels and barns.

and Hagens riding the front.

Friday was also Chris' birthday!! To show everyone what experience can do, he takes his turn at the front. Looking awesome.

The final time for this race. A bit sad rolling through the scenic finish of the first stage.

Afterwards we headed back home and I tried to get the attention of some host animals to take their picture. Apparently whatever was to my right was much more interesting.

And bottles go flying! Making sure everyone is well hydrated can be a tricky job.

 

That night I saw this at a brewery in town. I particularly like "The quantity is naturally indefinite". Medicine has changed a lot in 80 years.

 

Waking up next to this garden every day is fantastic. Our hosts were nice enough to let us sample some greens.

And they had Arugula!!

Our best outcome of Friday was that Steve was in the King of the Mountains jersey so he got to start Saturday (his birthday) rocking the red. (photo stolen from his twitter feed)

 

I failed in getting any more pictures of Saturday. There was a crit and a TT. I'd recommend checking out Hagensbermancycling.com and checking out Darcy Miller's excellent photos of the weekend.

 

Now: Sunday

Alan preparing Steve's KOM jersey ahead of the Sunday stage.

Sunday stack of food. Sitin sideways. The pizza on the top/right was my exciting caravan food. Not too much better than pizza during a long road stage.

The Miller parents also dropped off some after race italian sodas. So good.

Alan marks the car with the mighty #1.

This is where you want to be in the caravan.

Basically it meant we could almost see the race as it wound through some very narrow forest roads for most of the day.

The racers seemed to mostly ignore this sign, seeing as there were several breaks, and some very high speed descents.

The weekend ended with Steve winning the King of the Mountains and Ian 4th overall. Next we're headed to Nationals, BC Superweek, and Cascade. More posts/more often are coming. Stay tuned.

 

 

Ballard Crit 2013

2013 marked the 20th edition of the Ballard Crit. This is one of the more fun races of the year for a few reasons: it's in Seattle, it's in a part of Seattle where there are lots of non cycling (read: drinking) activities to for spectators to participate in, and because of the previous two reasons there are generally a lot of people in attendance. This makes for a good day.

The HSP team car arrived early, and was not sporting their usual high end bikes on the top. Time to start the rumor that now they are a commuter shop.

From left to right: Tre, John, and Kenny. While it is true that there are more people than the average bike race, these are the usual suspects.

Home sweet home in the pit.

The announcers in the middle of the first race. With 14 minutes to go, things were probably interesting. I don't exactly recall.

Key things to have in the pit (as pictured). Water, tools, wheels, energy drinks, and a positive relationship with the pit official. If you can have those things and a great parking spot for your logo van, everything will be well.

Had to get a shot of my toolbox in the mix. Even if it was accidentally photobombed by the Group Health team.

Action shot! Cat 4 men I think.

The sun was nice enough to come out for us and everything.

Large pizza for the pit crew. Bonus: as the only non-vegan in the pits, this pizza belongs to me. Ballard Pizza Company does the pizza right.

FSA gave us a bunch of these multi-purpose headwear pieces. Bobby was kind enough to model one.

Action for the day included the end of this Mad Fiber. RIP.

Also this rather large staple. Not good for your tires.

In the end it was nice to be back at a bike race.