[Posted by Stan Schultz: I've taken the liberty to post a recent e-mail sent to me and many others in our group by Ryan Bankerd after he finished the Cycling stage of the Eppie's Great Race. Note to Team Revolutions, nothing but respect for you folks. We all need motivation during competition.]

When we all run in the same "Pack" its hard to see the progress we are making because everyone is getting faster, stronger, and skilled together. Now we all know that I am fairly new to Cycle Folsom and have found myself struggling to hang on to the rear of the Peloton group week in and week out, as a matter of fact with the help of Phil, I learned how to change my first flat on a ride to Discovery park. Well I had an opportunity to test myself against other cyclists Saturday and after seeing the hoard of T/T bikes, shaped helmets and racing team jerseys, I was convinced (to prevent disappointment) this was a race against myself not anyone else.

Riding into the staging area, I heard the familiar voice of Phil, who spotted me in my Cycle Folsom Kit. Phil, who has 3 wins in Eppies (and would get a 4th that day) was there once again, to offer last minute advice not far from where he showed me how to change a tire a few months back. He said: Cut all the turns, use the slight rollers to build up speed conserving energy, and save something for when you see Sunrise bridge because that is when you make your move.

Phil was long gone by the time I received my timing chip, as a matter of fact, almost EVERY rider was gone since my runner struggled in a skilled field. By the time I got my chip we were somewhere near last place. I got up to speed and realized there are A LOT of competitors seeing a Cycle Folsom Jersey blasting by them, and as you folks know, you get a little spike of adrenaline every time you "run down" another cyclist... I was getting a lot of that. I looked down and saw 21 on my speedo and kept repeating Phil's advice in my head. "cut the turns, use the hills to keep your speed up". It was about 8 miles in when I saw a Team Revolution jersey ahead of me. Now some of you may call this childish, but my goal now shifted from merely finishing Eppies, to having a Team Revo rider read the back of my Team Cycle Folsom shorts. I wanted at least one person on that team to know that there is a 1st class cycling club in the foothills and it is not Team Revo. It was during that epiphany, adrenaline washed over me, legs felt light, they turned over easy and my breathing slowed. I looked down at my speedo seeing 25 and realized a peloton had formed behind me. It was not much longer until I passed that Team Revo rider and he jumped in the peloton.

Phil's last piece of advice hit me at that point, "save something for when you see the Sunrise bridge". So I dropped back into the peloton and conserved energy. After a few more twists and turns, there was the Sunrise bridge, and my time had come. At this point wish I had something dramatic to tell you, something like; the Team Revo rider was on my rear tire and I could feel his breath. However when I looked back he was gone, as was most of the peloton. There was just a handful of other riders in the group now and they didn't get the memo about the bridge. I broke out with another rider and we walked away from that pack and they saw, what I set out to show them, the back side of the CF kit.

After that ride I took my team from a certain last place finish, to 6th place, we ultimately finished top ten at Eppies in our division. I am writing this not to boast of one of the best sprints of my life (okay that is part of it) but to assure you that Cycle Folsom is doing great things and Phil's 4th win proved that our pack is getting faster, stronger, and skilled.

Ride leaders; Stan, Kevin, Joel, Phil, Lisa, Ross, Bruce and everyone else, you all have something great here and I will gladly take my spot on the rear tire of the Cycle Folsom Peloton group any day.

Chase or Be Chased

-Ryan

Goal Rides Accomplished!

"No regular Weekend Rides scheduled by Cycle Folsom leaders" didn't equate to lying in a hammock sipping lemonade this past weekend. Between South Tahoe and the Bay Area, members of Cycle Folsom duly canvassed a big slice of Northern California sporting spiffy new kits designed by our own Stan Schultz.

While part of the group hashed it out over five mountain passes on the Death Ride Saturday, others spent Sunday touring 100 miles of San Jose's countryside on behalf of the Livestrong Challenge. This fundraising event to fight cancer-- which raised 1 million dollars (wow!)-- is dear to us: Stan's co-captain for the Cycle Folsom team and Peloton leader Kevin Harris is a cancer survivor who gives inspiration every day, reminding us that life is to be savored.

However, around mile 70 savoring turned to suffering as we approached the mountain range standing between us and the finish line. Cyclists generally speak of "climbing" hills, but the 1.8 mile long Metcalf Road is more appropriately, um... scaled up a 12% gradient. But that regular training we do together week in and week out was apparent in the ever-present power of OZ Lee, who scampered up every tilt the road dished out. This far into the ride Kevin couldn't resist chasing the carrot and beat everyone to the top of the grade handily. I think I saw a trail of AAA batteries in his wake though...

Now that goal rides are complete, we'll be dialing back the intensity of weekend rides. Come join us and enjoy some fun times!

W.B. Pond Park Ride Becomes Sticky

It was a beautiful morning Saturday as we began our ride out to William B. Pond Park and back. There were 8 of us at the ride start, with capabilities ranging from the oh-so-quick Oz and Gary, to Peloton newcomer Graham. Graham has been riding in our 11am Beginner rides, in addition to doing several rides on his own. Given that the pace was definitely on the high side of our Group's typical range, he did a great job holding on for most of the way out to W.B. Pond, and a good part of the way back. Nice job Graham. Keep up with the training. Soon you'll be pulling us.

On the way out, things got a little sticky—for two reasons. First, several other cyclist joined our pace line and did a pretty good job sticking to us like glue. At one point we had about 15 riders in the pace line.

Second, the trail got a little clogged up with some slower riders and some oncoming traffic, which resulted in a pretty scary near miss. It was a sober reminder to all of us how important it is to keep the adrenaline and testosterone in check, and to exercise patience and safety whenever we're riding.

Even if it means that a gap will be created, the safety of yourself and especially the others around you and behind you in the pace line is more important than your reputation for holding someone's wheel. Our group can gain or lose respect very quickly depending on how we're perceived on the trail, so let's all try to keep safety as our #1 goal when riding.

New Cameron Park Loop - looks like a keeper!

We had a good turn out yesterday for our CycleFolsom Peloton Group Ride considering the wind and the heat. There were six of us trying out the new Cameron Park Loop introduced by Joel. This incorporates some of the Rescue Route and part of the Tuesday Evening climbing workout in El Dorado Hills.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/34266

We had the pleasure of riding with Jessica who joined us for the first time. Jessica is a second year student at Berkeley and visiting Folsom for a couple of weeks while on break before heading back for summer school. She’s only been riding since November and yet did a great job keeping up with the boyz. Course, she's only half our age and also does Triathlons so it's not like were real fast or strong!

As usual the group started out from Karen's where we deviated just a bit from the posted route by heading out across the trail and up to Folsom Lake Crossing. From there were riding the Rescue Route which follows East Natoma St, Green Valley Rd, Malcolm Dixon Rd back onto Green Valley to Deer Valley Rd then right onto Starbuck Rd. Starbuck starts with a small climb which can lead you to think, "come on not more climbing" but its short and for the most part you enjoy a nice downhill ride to Green Valley Rd. Good thing because it was starting to heat up but thankfully the wind really wasn't a factor, yet!

We quickly regrouped at the bottom before continuing onto Cambridge Rd and then a right onto Country Club Drive. This takes you through Cameron Park with a few rollers and fairly quiet roads light on traffic. Turning right onto Bass Lake Road exposed us to the wind and much more traffic but all in all it really wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. Turning left onto Serrano Parkway I mentioned to Bruce that the wind was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be which was a good thing because most of us were running low on water and needed to fill up before tackling the infamous Willson Blvd and the steep climbs up to Beatty Drive.

The old El Dorado Hills Golf Course proved to be the perfect stop to refill and take a short break. Played many a not so serious golf games there (by which I mean playing with friends, drinking a few beers along the course and really not keeping score). Its a shame to see it in such bad shape now!

Once everyone had refilled and taken in some shade, we continued out to El Dorado Hills Blvd and then left onto dreaded Willson Blvd. Now this starts out not too bad but as soon as you wind left it quickly steepens and you know your in for some work. And its not done just because you reach the top, no after turning right onto Ridgeview Dr and then onto Knollridge your reminded that you gotta work for that fast ride back down Beatty Drive.

We regrouped again on Katie Way where Tim took a quick picture of the group. Thanks Tim for the pic, from left to right is: Kevin, Chuck, Joel, Bruce and Jessica on Katie St, El Dorado Hills about to head down the infamous Beatty Drive...

After a fast ride down we turned left onto Alexandra and then onto Sophia Pkwy where we formed a loose pace line again fighting some good wind. Sophia turns into Empire Ranch Rd which we followed right onto Iron Point Rd which climbs up to the top of "Costco Hill". At this point the group broke up a bit and we lost Jessica on the last climb up. Tim, Bruce and Scott headed on down and I waited up for Joel and Jessica. She's new to the area and I didn't what her felling lost and left behind on her first ride out with the group. Sometimes being a ride leader or co-leader does not mean your always in front, it means looking out for everyone and making sure you stay together as a group. The last thing you want to leave new riders with is a feeling that everyone just left you behind on a route they've never ridden. At the same time you don't want to hold anyone else back from achieving their training goals for the day.

At the bottom of Iron Point, Tim, Bruce and Scott were waiting for the rest of us and we continued down to Folsom Blvd and across to the trail. At this point everyone knew the way back and you could see the pace really starting to pick up. It seems natural on the last couple of miles on the trail to start challenging yourself and others at this point with the small rollers and fast curves. But you really got to keep you head because the trail gets very crowded this time of year and you don't want to come rolling around a corner and take out a jogger or family out for a nice Saturday ride - bad form and reflects poorly on CycleFolsom.

With just over 43 miles which the group did in 2:51 for an average of 15.1 mph, this routes a keeper. It's got something for everyone, challenging climbs but not gut busters, rollers for recovery and rewarding descents!

Getting back to basics brings out new comers.

This weekend's ride was intended to give a welcome break to Peloton ride leaders who completed a few major goal rides over the past couple of weeks, and to inspire new comers and re-entry riders to come out and give Cycle Folsom a try. The destination was William B. Pond Park, approximately 30 miles round trip. The ride description indicated that the pace would be a bit more tame than usual, which proved successful as we had 4 new comers, 3 re-entry riders, and 3 regulars.

There was a slight chill in the air at 8am when we started, but the wind was fairly calm and the sun was seemed ready to warm us up fairly quickly.

Our pace varied from time to time, but stayed in the range of 17 mph. It was enjoyable to hear---and take part in---discussions throughout the pack.

Ross Del Ducra took the lead of the pack for several miles as other leaders moved up and down the line in the group. As we road within striking distance of the bridge before W.B. Pond Park, Stan called for a sprint across the bridge. In typical fashion, he did this only after he gained plenty of speed and caught everyone totally off guard.

After a brief break, we headed back. Our pace was about the same. At Sunrise Park, we crossed the river and did a quick up-and-down on the small hill on River Dr. The goal being to show new riders a way to incorporate "repeats" on small hills on an otherwise flat trail, and begin to build some strength to take on larger hills.

As we headed back toward the ride start, every one was made aware that the stronger riders would likely up the pace as they got closer to the finish. The prediction held true, after passing a lot of runners and walkers that were part of a fun-run event, four of us pushed pretty hard all the way to the end.

As we all re-grouped in the end, it seemed that the goal of the ride was met. The newer riders didn't seem shell-shocked, the re-entry riders had a bit more confidence in their smiles, and the regulars enjoyed a great ride with a little less pounding than normal.

Weekend Ride: TOC Stage 1 Finish

[Posted by Stan Schultz] Phil, Jeff, Kevin, Joel, and Stan met up at Karen's for a ride down to Sacramento to see the Stage 1 finish of the Tour of California. Don and Kim of Team Juice Plus also joined us. The pace was comfortable out to Nimbus Dam, where we picked up Cesar and Jeff.

As Kevin moved out front, the pace gradually picked up. Then, it seemed, as each rider had something to show as they moved out front to pull. Kim kicked the pace up to 23 mph and pulled several miles before handing it off to husband Don, who wasn't about to let up. I was behind Don, and next up to pull. As we moved within a few miles of W.B. Pond Park, relief set in. I knew we would make our normal stop there. I wouldn't have to pull nearly as long or hard as the animals before me.

Mind you, Phil and Jeff had ridden the Davis Double Century the day before, and Joel had ridden a Century with 11,000 feet of climbing, so they were justifiably grumbling in the back of the back. The pace slowed down a touch the rest of the way, but not by much.

We arrived downtown to a festive atmosphere and plenty of vendor stands to peruse before the finish of the race. A few in the group split up and met up with other friends. We bumped in to Team Van-Hu-Ha (Ron and Lisa), who had ridden the Davis Double the day before and opted to drive to the race and bring a couple of family members along.

Four of us staked out a good place to see the finish. We found a spot that allowed us to see a Jumbotron for updates. We reveled in the knowledge that we often ride the same roads that the pros were racing on today. It was interesting to have a sense of the grades and challenges the riders faced as we watched them on screen. We stood about 20 feet from a 90° turn on the course and were awed by the tightness of the pack as they sped around it.

We were about 50 yards past the finish line, which was fantastic because we could watch the finish on the Jumbotron across the street, followed by Mark Cavendish coming to a stop about 15 feet away from us, greeted with hugs by team reps and teammates. Other high profile and well-known pros also cruised by after the finish at a comfortable pace, including George Hincape, who the crowd went wild for.

After it was all over, we picked up our bikes from the free bike parking area, hosted by the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates (Note: If you're not a supporter of SABA, you should be). We agreed that we would tame the pace for the ride home, which meant around 19mph. We all made it home with a healthy appetite, just in time for dinner. For me, that meant a couple of rolls and a beer at Sushi Unlimited. Great ride. Great day. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the race unfold.

Are You Tougher Than A 6th Grader?

Well, that's a tough question to answer when the 6th grader you're up against is Connor Ellison. On May 8th a small but merry band of Cycle Folsom contingents joined other area cyclists in a fundraiser for a local young man with a passion for bicycles. I hate to say it but being chased by a 12-year old over the likes of Beatty Hill and Cothrin Ranch Road is a humbling experience.

What is impressive about Connor is that he has a congenital liver disease severe enough to warrant an eventual transplant, but it doesn't stop him from setting (huge) goals. Although he faces very real odds of life-threatening illness, even at this young age he has realized he can do something to fight back. He joined Team Donate Life and aspires to complete the Ride Across America in June. Read all about his campaign here: https://www.teamdonatelife.com/6thgrader/6th_grader.asp

Although we all ride these country backroads on a regular basis for free, it was heartwarming to witness the cycling community come together in support of this young lad. Several Cycle Folsom regulars turned out for the event and helped to sponsor Connor's epic adventure. All in all there were nearly 200 riders and it was estimated he's raised over $6000 so far. I've been mighty unmotivated to saddle up at times, but when the likes of Connor, his cause, and his determination cross my path, it's time to rethink how lucky I am to even have a bike or the health to move it forward. Thank you Connor for your inspiration. All of us from Cycle Folsom will be with you in spirit next month!