Redlands, Ca

Redlands, CA - After Fresno headed to Redlands for their 4 day stage race. Stayed with the same hosts as always except Jim and I were at the Good Nite Inn. Sometimes it's fun to stay at the hotel where other teams are staying but this year many teams opted for the new hotel across the street. Can't blame them since the Good Nite Inn isn't the best place. In fact our room was too hot and the air cooling didn't function right. The race had it's good and not so good but to me everything was good in the end. No bike problems!


Random picture of the van because it looks good!


Picture from the Redlands caravan (my office so if you will). No crashes that day for us but did have one rider flat. Riders are supposed to be serviced on the right side of the road but she had a momentary flash back to New Zealand where they service on the left. We could have be fined for that but I think it was overlooked. Besides the fine, it's really meant to be for the safety of the rider and the mechanic so the mechanic doesn't get run over by the other caravan vehicles. Please think of the mechanic ladies!


Elite athletes make things look easy. That's one reason why the general public doesn't really get the attraction to bike racing. I can tell you Dotsie is suffering at this moment on the Oak Glen climb. She'd probably say her lung was about to pop out of her mouth but from the picture you can't tell.


Bikes are race ready in the rack (another one of my offices if you will).


In the pit for the crit (yet another one of the offices).


Hey there Tim! Tim is another pal from Lake Placid that is involved in this profession. He is working a bit with the Advil/Chapstick Team. He is a jack of all trades. He is the mechanic and is a licensed massage therapist too. That sounds like a lot of work to me. Good on ya Tim! By the way Tim is 6 foot 2 inches. That makes me what..? Really, really tall. So tall that I hardly fit in the picture. I hate that!


Before I left Redlands I had a chance to get in a good long ride into the mountains. This is the road that heads to Big Bear Resort. I started in Redlands at 1300 feet and climbed for about 3 hours to close to 7000 feet (I guessing on the final elevation since my GPS stopped working during the ride but at least I saw this sign). It took about 1:20 to get back home and that was pretty much all down hill.




Here is what lunch on the bike looks like. Those sport beans were particularly good that day. Good chewyness.

Cheers!

Visalia,CA

I think there is a bike race around here if I can only get off the sidewalk!


Hi, so what do you do around here?
Oh, I'm the mayor of this town.
Hmmm? Are you sure?
No really! I am the mayor!


I went for a 5 hour ride today. This is the view from Tollhouse Road. Quite a long climb up but you know what happens at the top? You can come down!

Exeter TT

Here are some pictures from todays race which was a 30km time trial. In a time trial there is no doubting who is the strongest. Alison won today. She is always pretty happy so I'm sure she was extremely happy today.


The podium for Alison

Sarah T.


Andrea D.

A cool mural in Exeter, CA


This is the shelf I fashioned the other day. I think it's quite handy. Simple things can make the job easier.

Cheers,
DJB

76 degrees

It is 76 degrees this evening. I'm sitting on the back patio. Sometimes things aren't so bad.




Here's what I'm pondering. Who came up with "the law" that says men have to put the toilet seat down? There should be a meeting of said law makers to require that the seat in the van, car, truck, hot rod etc.be put back instead of jammed all the way into the steering wheel. Come on let's have some decency here. I'm just wondering!

Even though I've been sucked into watching American Idol with my host family, I have a strong feeling these contestants are not our most talented people out there. I don't claim to know much about the music industry but there are plenty of talented people out there that didn't show up for the contest. What about the hundreds of bands that are out there in some garage. Bob Dylan doesn't sing that good to some yet he has been hugely influential amongst musicians. They out to highlight the band that plays all the music on American Idol. There is more talent there.

I've been hanging around the house the last two days waiting for the 30 bike frames to arrive. Got a call this afternoon that they are coming tomorrow. MAN! Even though that prevented me from riding, I did help a few girls with some time trial position and worked on the trailer a bit. Mounted some t-nuts in the floor to bolt fork mounts so a few more bikes can be carried inside the trailer. Also designed a little exterior work shelf that attaches above the trailer fender and can be removed. It's perfect for a few tools and things when I don't really need to get my folding table out.

Went for a ride a couple days ago with some of the ladies. With riders on different agendas, those who start together usually don't end of together. Had a good ride with Andrea. My knees are feeling broken in and it was in the 80's. Andrea had looked at a map before we left and suggested we take "White something road". When we got to the road it was a dirt road. Inside I was thinking AWESOME! Luckily Andrea was up for it too. (Me and Athena once did an unexpected dirt road and it was one of the most memorable rides). This particular dirt road unfortunately did not go all the way through the valley. It was posted private about two miles down the road so Andrea and I had to turn around. UPS drivers are the best to ask directions and one happened to drive up as we were deciding which way to go. What can BROWN do for me? Tell me where to ride my bike that's what.



Nice roads with hardly any cars. Andrea is officially a lawyer. She wanted to go to Med School but then realized she didn't like blood and guts. If she had become a doctor, would people have called her DR. DRE?


Same ride. I'm always amazed that I can get myself in the frame when doing the self photo thing. I've been trying to shave for weeks now. To me winter is over. (I just looked and it is 20 degrees in Lake Placid. My pal Randy said he skied Porter Mtn the other morning in 49 degrees and perfect snow. I miss those spring klister days. Perfect corn snow and perfect wax).

For yucks I'm using a new blogger version. I think this video is amusing. It's a guy thing. I'm seeing if the link will work here when I copy and paste. See if it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zxlFoZhOC4&NR



SEE YA!

Fresno again

After the Tour of California. I drove 7 hours back to northern Cali to get my trailer and then headed to Fresno the next day. I've been in Fresno for about a week now and it's nice to be back staying with the Eopkins again. This is the the 3rd year I've stayed with this particular host family. Nick and Rebecca and the rest of the family are so generous with their hospitality that it is like being at home.

I've been busy (when am I not) but have found some moments to get in some riding. The weather has been vety nice lately. Cool mornings and warm days. T-shirt and shorts weather. It's hard to imagine it's only March. The east coast blood in me thinks it feels like June in Lake Placid.

The girls who were in Australia have returned so now we are a full team again. Last weekend at the Merced race it was just me and 3 riders. For this weekend's race we have 7 riders. We should have eight but another rider has found out she is pregnant and will have to put this season on hold. CONGRATULATIONS!

Since this weekend is the first time trial race of the year there is always a mad dash to get TT bikes set up. For the last few days I've been helping the girls get their position dialed in. Some are easy and some require taking bars off and on and off and on. Different saddles and so on. One thing has always boggled my mind in regards to woman's cycling. Even if a woman is on a top tier team it doesn't mean that they have been at it that long. Maybe only a few years. For men to be on a team of such a high caliber usually means they've gone through many years of rising through the ranks and getting all that knowledge about equipment along the way. Women can rise pretty drastically in this sport and not get all that education. I have to remind myself of this fact when working with the ladies.


Rode to Millerton Lake today (the other day I was on the other side of the dam. Looks like the water is low. All that brown color must be the water line when it's full.


Here is the dam from below.


Hey Keith! After the dam tour, I went to the dam gift shop for a dam bumper sticker. I got hungry so I got a bite to eat at the dam diner. (Anyone remember what movie I'm refering to?)


I've been riding by this person's house and noticed that the garage area is bigger than the house. THAT IS AWESOME!!


And here we are back at my little spot getting bikes ready for tomorrow's road race.

To my loyal followers who have been requesting an update I hope this is good enough. Keep checking back too!

Cheers,
DOUG

Jamming on the triangle

I’ve often said, “at least I’m not sitting at a desk for my job.” That also means that I don’t even get to sit down sometimes. If you are a fan of cycling you would know that the cycling world has been focused the last week right here in California where the best pro teams have gathered to compete. The daily life working a major weeklong tour is non-stop from 6:30am to 10pm. One good thing about a race of this caliber is that all the housing and meals are provided for so I can honestly say haven’t slept in such good beds and eaten so well in quite awhile.

I once had a dream that I was playing in Paul Simon’s band. I’m not sure why it happened to be Paul Simon. I wish it was something cooler but that’s the way dreams go. Anyways, I remember thinking that I was chosen because of my guitar skills (yet in the dream I was playing bass. Weird dream world again).

Getting asked to do the Tour of California was the same thing except that I really didn’t get to apply my excellent mechanic skills that much. Basically, I was asked to join the band to carry the bags and play a little bit of triangle. Each morning I drove the van and trailer from one hotel to the next hotel to set up and get all our rooms situated. It’s actually a race in itself since 18 teams are all trying to get to the next hotel to get prime parking with water and electric. I never saw one lick of the race except for the prologue and time trial. Nonetheless, it was important to the functioning level of the team and had to be done. We should all strive to do tasks the best we can, but I’d rather be known as great mechanic rather than a great bag collector.

After the daily drive, setting up the trailer, and getting everyone’s bag to their room, I grabbed a bite to eat and waited for the race to be over and the riders to return. Within minutes of getting the bikes, Eric and I were washing bikes and getting them ready for the next stage. Having two mechanics made things really smooth. Usually we were done in plenty of time for dinner. After the 9pm staff meeting it was time for bed or a little socializing with the other team mechanics.

Once again it’s hard to truly explain what goes on in my job. There’s a lot to it that seems to go unnoticed. Let it be said pro team mechanics are wired differently. We must be a little nuts!


This was the team photo from camp I didn't post yet.


Before I left St. Helena, I had a chance to get the decals done on the trailer. Looks pretty even and straight.


Packed parking lot in San Fran for the start of the TOC. These are our Colavita cars. I have a thing for the tires being shiny.


I thought I'd show you some of the other team's vehicles. This is a Jelly Belly team car.


The Discovery Team truck.


Driving over a pretty cool bridge.


Parking in another lot.








The most unique hotel we stayed at was the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obisbo. All the rooms had different themes to them. even the bathroom is "world famous."


Ah yes! Another parking lot!


What happens at 6:30 pm after a week of racing. NOTHING!

Day 4 of camp

After another long day, us mechanics got to close up the trailers before the sun went down, wash our hands, and put on our "collered" team shirts for an official team dinner at the Sutter Home Inn.


The view from our balcony. There is only one room on the third floor that we call the roost.


Iona and I holding Flat Stanley.


Here is a picture of tonights team reception and dinner. Nice dinner!

Cheers,
DOUG

Updating Finally!

Hello to all who have been wondering about me. I'll spare you the mundane day to day life details. As my last update tried to convey, I've been busy. One of the busiest times ever. January 28th was the target day to leave for California. The 28th came and I headed out. Enjoy the picture montage!


Before leaving Team Sports I tried to get as much work done as possible. Here I am gluing some tires to be mounted later.


Here is Eric building some TT bikes.


Here is Rachel and Jess organizing the Specialized eyewear and Voler clothing.


This was an "RV" traveling couple I met one night at the hotel. They were on their way to warmer temps from Nebraska and we bonded because I was pulling a trailer too.


I always get excited driving east to west. The west has such a huge feel to it. Imagine what the first people thought. The thought of the mountain men living there has always fascinated me. Mountain men and cowboys.


Went to see a man about a horse. There must be a tree somewhere?


This is what the inside of the trailer looks like. Everything stayed in place on the trip.


Driving and driving. Left on a Saturday and arrived in St. Helena, Ca (Napa Valley) on tuesday. Everyday was sunny. No snowstorms or broken vans like last year. The worst part was getting about 7 miles per gallon. I stopped about every 160 miles for gas. I guess that's okay since I enjoy visiting truck stops. They have the most interesting stuff to buy if you take a minute to shop around. One place had several different types of 12 volt appliances to plug into the cigarette lighter. Hot pots. sandwitch presses, coffee makers etc. Cool!


A sunset while driving.


For the next 10 days Eric and I have set up our trailers at the Sutter Home Winery parking lot. As long as we have electric and water, us mechanics are happy.


You couldn't have the bike frames arrive at such a last minute moment if you planned it. They were finally in our hands 12 o'clock Friday and the riders were scheduled to ride 10am Saturday morning.


Somehow Eric and I, with the help of my pal Shane who flew in from Connecticut, got 26 frames assembled for the athletes. We worked from noon until 2 am that night. Took a nap and resumed in the morning getting the adjustments right. I must say we came through big time. I hope everyone appreciates it, since I don't think you'll find dedicated and thorough guys like us just standing on the street corner. We rocked!

Camp is progressing along with other kinds of busy work but at least everyone is riding. Phew!

I'll try and update some more this week with more behind the scenes of a pro cycling training camp.

Good night,
DOUG

busy

"Update the blog Berner!" I've heard this a few times lately. Sorry, it is really busy around here getting ready to leave for the season. I've literally done nothing but mostly work at the shop 10-12 hours a day for several weeks now. Any spare time has been to do more work, sleep, and try to eat something.

Cheers,
DOUG