thursday nite ritual - holy night

riderpitts, ridercrespo, riderchichi, ridercali, and first timer this year - riderzinni - played in the chilterns thursday night. Pace was a little gray much like the weather with the only noteworthy parts being riderchichi's double flat, ridercrespo's brush with death, and riderpitts's new R3 ride. Even the steak and lamb at the bull and butcher felt a bit drab. Traffic was heavier than usual with the first cut of hay taking place and the resulting wide load farm vehicles clogging 2 meter wide lanes especially on our training turville heath climb. To inspire ourselves with an infusion of a different sort of mind set - i have included a sign in german (picture above) reminding us of jan ullrich's legendary line with his faithful teammate Udo bolts - "qual dich du sau" - translated - torture yourself you pig.

Blenheim Triathlon 3 Jun 07

Over the weekend, the Ranch came out in force for the Blenheim Triathlon. The event began with a carbo-load dinner in the back garden at Princes Square. Ridermama organized the event, which was attended by the Riders racing the event - and girlfriends - including RiderChiche & beautiful Sarah, Rider Eazy-E and RiderWurzel & splendid Anya. RiderTurbo tooled on deep dish Mavic carbon wheel rims to help Riderwurzel prepare for the race. Ridermama whipped up a delightful pasta, pesto and sundried tomato dish accompanied by a refreshing spinach, pear and toasted seed salad, finished off with fresh strawberries and ice cream for dessert. The next morning, the Riders made their way to the historic Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, for the race. The Argentine Ranch contingent was out in full force and looked ready to race. The swim course followed yellow and orange buoys down a long, freshwater lake aside the palace. The difficult 19.8km bike and 5.4km run courses weaved through the lush green undulating landscape, with small, sharp lactic-burning climbs to keep the Riders honest. Legs and lungs ablaze, the Ranch powered through the course with flying colors. Riderwurzel won top blog honors with a total time of 1:18 followed by Riderturbo at 1:23, Ridercrespo at 1:28, Rider Eazy-E at 1:29 Rider Chiche at 1:33. Bike splits reflected cohesive team training with a tight spread of 33:26, 35:35, 37:56, 35:49 and 36:40 for the five riders, respectively. The race was followed by a luxurious picnic setup near the finish line hosted by Ridercrespos family. Much pain, sweat and glory was enjoyed by all and a consensus formed to order additional Ranch tri gear next year to wave unified colours and stake the Ranch's claim on the Tri circuit.