Mama Wins Again - Pumpkinman Victory

Rider Mama just won the F40-44 age group of the PumpkinMan sprint distance triathlon in Las Vegas, placing 11th out of 186 women overall.  The race was festive preceding Halloween and included racers from many collegiate club teams including Stanford, the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, BYU, the Univ. of Arizona, Arizona State Univ. and others.  The Hoover Dam towered over one end of Lake Mead where the picturesque 750m lake swim was held.  And the 300m elevation gain over the 20km bike leg gave Mama a decisive advantage after a summer training on the bike for the Haute Route Alps.

 Most of all, Mama appears to have inspired the next generation of Ranch racers who look not too much unlike herself...

Haute Route Alps 2014

Photo and Video Essay

Geneva, Switzerland to Nice, France 

904km Distance / +21,400m Climbing / Prologue +7 Stages / Aug 23-30, 2014

Geneva Prologue Start - Cut, Polished and Ready to Race!  

Eazy Blasts Out of the Start House for the 9km Prologue Time Trial.  Ranch riders solidly bunched together in the 12-14min time range.

Ranch Video Summary of Haute Route Event Produced by RiderSwissTrain, a

Hugely Valuable and Newly-Added member of the Ranch

STAGE 1 - GENEVA TO MEGEVE - 130km/+3100m


Col de la Columbiere - Spectacular Mountain Landscape Ridges, Peaks, Valleys and Clouds

"Le Petit Ranch" Ascending the Columbiere


Col de Croix Fry - Gorgeous and Green with Sharp Teeth

Col des Aravis  - High Alpine with Surrounding Rock Faces

Hotel Recovery Lab with Normatech "Space Boots" and Marc Pro EMS  (Rider Mama sleeping with head under blanket)

STAGE 2 - MEGEVE TO COURCHEVEL - 130km/+3900m

Cormet Roseland - Picturesque Mountainside, Lantern Rouge Approaching from Behind

Courchevel - Finishline after Big Day of Climbing +3900m

STAGE 3 - COURCHEVEL TO ALPE D'HUEZ - 137km/+4650m

Col de Madeleine  - Rainy, Windy and 5deg C  -- 50 people Dropped or were Forced to quit by Broom Wagon on the Col d'Glandon, including all but 12 women

SwissTrain's Wash Rack after Cold, Rainy day on Bike
STAGE 4 - ALPE D'HUEZ TIME TRIAL - 15km/+1100m


Descending from Alpe D'Huez to Bourg D'Oisan to Prep for Individual Time Trial Back Up

Turbo in the Alpe D'Huez Time Trial Start House Sporting US National Haute Route Jersey

Mama Climbing Alpe D'Huez in 1:21h time, beating 17% of Male Field

Rider Turbo giving 100% to cover the 15km and +1100m in 1:08h Time following Myers 59m, Cah-li 1:02, Eazy 1:09, Armstrong 39m,  Pantani 37m, site of battles between Hinault, Lemond, Indurain and myriad other Tour de France Champions and Ghosts of the Past.  Beautiful Weather, Legendary Climb, Electric Ambiance.

STAGE 5 - BOURG D'OISAN TO DIGNE LES BAINS - 187km/+2900m

Sporting "Ride the Rockies Kit" for a 187km Day with Three Big Climbs in South of France

Lookin' Good, Feelin' Good


STAGE 6 - DIGNE LES BAINS TO MT. VENTOUX - 145km/+3050m

Top of the "Geant de Provence" after 145km stage and 2 hours of hard climbing at the end.  Epic.

STAGE 7 - DIGNE LES BAINS TO NICE - 160km/+2700m

Final Day, Five More Climbs

Last Stage Team Push -- Mama Borrowing Watts with EZ's "Carlos" Technique

Final Timing Mat atop Col de Vence- Team Crosses in "Ranch Style"

Finish Line in Nice- Meditteranean Backdrop - Vive Le Ranch!

June Lake Triathlon

This past weekend, RiderTurbo busted out a quick triathlon to stay competitive and mix it up:  The June Lake Triathlon near Mammoth Lakes, California. 

Billed as the "toughest race in the most beautiful place."  Olympic distance "plus" consisting of 1500m Swim, 40km Bike, 6.5mi Run.  High altitude hematocrit-builder at 7000-8000 ft elevation.  Hilly time trial bike leg with no drafting and plenty of climbing.  Grueling run with a mix on and off road plus 1100+ft. elevation gain on rocky single track trails. 

Great cross-training for the upcoming Haute Route Alps.  RiderTurbo results: Time 3h 6min. Rank 38/150 overall and 6/13 Men Age 44. Struggled on the swim, strong on the bike, gritty on the run. Just the way it should be given the recent focus on cycling preparation.

All followed by three more days of mountain cycling, kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, picnicking, waterfall hunting and frolicking in the mountains with the wife, kids, aunt and nieces!

1500m Swim: 35min
Swim @ 8000 ft. and Gasp for Air!
Ear Plug Out!

40km Bike: 1h 14min w/ Hills
32.2km/h avg speed
Smooth!

6.5mi Run: 1h 14min
Hot, Tough Mountain Trail Run
Ok!

Teamwork - Felice Gimondi 2014

 Sharing the work, watching the road like hawks...

 Ranch Spirit, sprinting to victory after 128km together as a team...

I can tell you this much about the experience of racing as a team.  I know in few years time, I will not remember, how fast I rode, what was the timing I clocked in the race, were the climb hard or not, was it hot or cold, sunny or rainy; all that I know it will be anecdotical but, without a shadow of doubt; I know I will remember and more importantly, that it will bring joy to my soul and surely a big smile,  crossing the finish line with fellow rider no- Show.

And that my dear friends....  is priceless, for everything else there is master card... Be well- rider Eazy-E

Huge May Opener - Summer's here - Let's Roll!

Ranch West Coast has kicked off the summer racing season with a bang.  Starting on May 4th, 2014, where RiderMama "Ran the Verdugo."

Eager to get back on a racing schedule three years after the birth of Rider Sasha and a handful of races last summer, Mama kicked off the racing season in May as RiderTurbo took babysitting and spectating duties.

The Verdugo is known as the toughest 10k trail race in Southern California.  It is an up-and-back on dirt fire road with 1735ft elevation gain in the first 5km followed by 5km down.  Despite severe cramps forcing 3-4 minutes of walking on the descent, Mama clocked a respectable pace given course conditions and punched 8th place out of 45 women finishers age 40-44.

Verdugo 10k Results 2014: F 40-44

Next up on May 17, 2014, Mama took on the Xterra Renegade off-road triathlon.  Following the one-shot-wonder performance of RiderTurbo winning the recreational division three years ago, RiderMama set out with high expectations.  A severe shortage of training time prior to the race due to work demands meant Mama had done only one swim set all spring.  Woefully unprepared for the water, Mama choked up and went into familiar anaerobic panic mode in the first 200m of the 1/2mile (800m) swim. Somehow she pulled it back together and finished with the help of mental fortitude and last-ditch, save-the-race breast stroke mode.  Despite the worst swim of her triathlon career, Mama managed to get out of the water in one piece and salvage the race with a stomping 7.5mile mountain bike and snappy 3.3mile trail run.  The result: VICTORY.   Mama won the recreation division beating all-comers, both women and men!  She finished just in time to rush off to the hospital to perform weekend call duty at work, which is the principal reason she did the rec. division rather than the longer competition division in the first place.  45 minutes shorter in length made the rec. division the difference between doing the race and not, giving time to make it back to work.  Still no complaints.  Clock a victory, jump in the race van and head back to work!  Now that's a victory, Ranch style!
 Renegade Xterra Rec. Division: Results

Mama Descends en Route to VICTORY in the Xterra Renegade Recreational Division 2014

After the excitement of the Verdugo and Xterra, we moved on to May 18, 2014 where the team enjoyed a very special moment.  The final stage of the final day of the Amgen Tour of California passed directly behind the backyard of RiderMama and Turbo in the Westlake Village suburb of L.A.

The Tour of California is America's biggest cycling race. The title sponsor Amgen is the proud patent holder of EPO and somewhat fittingly, the Tour ended near Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks, CA.  RiderMama and Turbo managed to get in an early morning Double Decker Training ride for the Haute Route Alps (http://goo.gl/maps/wbMRp) while catching the peloton near the summit of the climb (video below).  Team Sky lead the peloton protecting GC leader Bradley Wiggins.

Mama and Turbo descended Rte. 23 Decker on the Westlake Village side moments after the broom car passed only to be stopped half way down the canyon behind two ambulances where two pro riders had launched over the guard rail on a steep, high-speed descending turn.  Fortunately, neither were badly hurt and both later rejoined the peloton.

Later that day with Mama again on call at work, Turbo took kids RiderZoe (6) and RiderSasha (3) out on the Trek Mystic Girls bike and Optibike/MT202 trailer rig, to watch the finishing loops around the village and to watch the grand finish.

Wiggo Whizzes by Turbo and Mama's back yard 

Bradley Wiggins won the Overall and Mark Cavendish won the finish line sprint on Stage 8 to cap off three weeks of great racing in May for the Ranch.  The summer has started with a bang and its going to be amazing!

Amgen Tour of California 2014 Results

Tour of California Final Stage Passes By Turbo & Mama's Back Yard!
AMGEN Tour of California Stage 8 - Last Kilomters HD

Felice Gimondi 2014

Big weekend for the Ranch going back to Italy to ride the hills on the outskirts of Bergamo. 4 riders, The Show, Eze, The Wolf and Cah Li, arrived for the weekend's challenge.  We could go through the details of VAMs, power outputs and the rest of the noise that we usually go on about....  These weekends have become more about an escape from city living and the noise and the nonsense that comes with it.... I wish I had more fotos to upload and more weekends like this past one with the boys.