Oude Kwaremont

Just a quick one to catch up a bit on postings and races, etc. I got the chance to ride with Chris Milliman in Belgium during the classics trip that spanned Ghent-Wevelgem through Paris-Roubaix. Milliman's a big guy and in far better shape than I. He also takes great cycling photographs. Were it not for the fact that he shot this with my crappy little SD400, here's a 'great' shot of me on the Oude Kwaremont (Tour of Flanders), which we did a couple of times. I now know for a fact that I'm not exactly built for cobblestones!

The Saturday morning before Roubaix was incredible. We saw more Quick Step jerseys than I care to see in one place. There was group after group of Belgian locals out on the famous roads of the Ronde. Right after our ride, we high tailed it down to Compiegne to get our credentials and a meeting with the Mavic guys.

As for Roubaix, Quinziato put in a great effort, but had a little crisis late in the race. Still, 9th place means he's improving in this race and SHOULD be on lists for the future (if only he came from an english-speaking country! More about that later!).

We were able to get to four different points during the race. I passed a grand total of four waterbottles, one dropped by Quinzia. No wheel changes though - my chance at mechanical fame will have to wait another year!

Am I Hip Enough to Wear This?

Look what arrived in the mail this morning... The Rapha Bernard Hinault Legend t-shirt. I usually don't consider myself to be retro or cool enough to buy cycling clothes/gear that's not either lime green or plastered with the logos of our sponsored team, but I HAD to get this. La Vie Claire was the coolest team of all time (at least when I first got into the sport). Just put this one down to nostalgia as I approach 40 and try to recapture long-lost youth.

The answer? No, I'm not hip enough. Hipsters rejoice! I also won't be building my old Tommasini into a fixie any time soon!

Ghent-Wevelgem

I had the eleventh-best seat in the house for Wednesday's race (Team Liquigas was car number 11). It started out windy and wet, and it stayed that way for the whole race. The wind blew the group to pieces just 10km into the race. Strong teams like Quick Step totally missed out (ok, Boonen was in the lead group but once he flatted, it was game over for the Belgian powerhouse). Then, it was crash after crash from the front group. Cervelo at one point had almost their whole team in the break. Rabo had 4. Race radio said we had only two! Once we got permission to pass group 2, we found a nice surprise... Fischer had made the break as well! From there, Liquigas poured on the pressure as Alexandre Kuchynski attacked on the second pass of the Kemmelberg. He got away and was soon joined by eventual winner Edvald Boasson Hagen. Once he joined, we knew we were racing for second. Really, Kuchy did great, but the young High Road rider just has a stronger kick. It was nervous in the car for a bit, but what a way to watch a race!

My view...

My photographer's view...

It's Almost Here!

I was fourteen years old, and had just gotten into this thing called bike racing. I had not yet adopted my 'Dave Stoller' alter ego. Not yet a word of Italian... but we had Paris-Roubaix on CBS. This is how I became a fan of Greg Lemond. Over-produced, edited, schmaltzy, but it was these rare glimpses of pro cycling that gave me the bug. It's also how I built up an appreciation for this incredible race...

Somehow, I now have the luck to 'work' this race for the fourth time! I'll remember to pinch myself from the bleachers in Roubaix to confirm that it's real!

New Life for an Old Friend

Some bikes tend to stay with you forever. This Silk Path 500 was built with help from an old friend, frame builder extraordinaire Terry Osell from Minneapolis. I laced the wheels up myself in 1997 if I remember correctly. It was my first urban/commuter/city bike and I got it for a song and replaced some parts with some orphaned mtb items. Strangely enough, it was rarely used and sat patiently to be called into service heavily after our move to Basel in 2005.

Since then, it has been my daily commuter, reliably getting me to and from work as quickly as possible. She began to lose spokes in the back lately and after a few attempts at replacing them, a rebuild was necessary. So there she sat yesterday in the stand, sans rear wheel, and I decided to upgrade parts yet again. When you have a spare parts box full of interesting things, team only parts, one-time anodized CODA 900 cranks, etc... you start to get ideas to put new life into an old bike.

After hours of messing about, I finally found all the appropriate parts, correct-length axle, bearings and the rest. I fitted it about ten times before getting the right combination that allowed the arm to clear the seat stays, the chain guide to pass the chain and the correct chainline that the Nexus 7 will expect. I also changed tires, seatpost, lockout knob and fork boot. In all, I saved 855 grams - get this - for free! I can't wait to get the fresh rear wheel back and rock this thing around town this summer!

I'll get a new alloy tubular rack and some new fenders next week as well.

Carbon riser bars, Ergon grips, and the HeadShok "holee" stem from way back when.

Ever seen a CODA 900 crank anodized in crap? Here it is! Some custom hammering and the chain guard continues to function as it likes.

It's funny how a bike built from odd parts can be more fun to ride than your (or my) latest 14.5 pound road bike built from the latest and greatest. Plus, you can't leave that road bike leaning outside of the local bar without losing your desire for a beer!

La Primavera

So I've been far more active on Twitter lately, so here goes with a quick post-MSR update. I went down to Italy with the dogs for a bit of pre-race errands on Thursday and Friday. Even though MSR is probably my favorite race (along with P-R), I decided that I'd far rather watch it live on tv than make the trip to San Remo. Plus, with the dogs, even though they don't mind catching a big race now and then, it's far easier!

So I headed to Venice and spent Friday morning at the team warehouse doing some catchup with Gianfranco. After that, we busted tail for Milan. I had some frames that I needed Ivan to sign... some lucky chaps will be the recipients of these!

Then, I spent some time with my friends from Mavic, as well as the mechanics. As usual, Arco and the team got the bikes perfect before the race. Arco is so fast - he bends spokes! Don't believe me, check it out... thanks to the fast iPhone camera!

I spent some time with the big favorite for this weekend, Bennati. This was his first San Remo where he wasn't injured or working for a team leader, and he was quite excited. He is in great form right now and was certain that he'd make it with the lead group into San Remo - and he was right. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side. I think it was the final turn that found him out of position and unable to respond to Haussler's attack - sixth. Anyway, he also had a new paintjob for the race... check it out.

So now it's off to Belgium and the rest of the classics!

ToC Wrap Up

So Cali was decent for us. No big wins but two VERY close calls by Nibali.

My main responsibility was to interpret the flurry of questions being thrown at me, as most of the guys don't speak english. I also sat up on stage with Ivan at the pre-race press conference. It was a bit strange sharing the mic with Lance, Levi, George and Christian. Luckily, once people realized that he'd need interpreter, they lost interest and refocused on Lance. Then the fireworks came with Kimmage's question!

After that, it was to the start and finish of each stage. I also had Andrea Noe as a guest rider for some test rides and retailer rides. That involved some early morning drives and rides as well. We had a good time and some good riding. Rides and shop visits/autograph sessions were arranged with Mike's Bikes in Sacramento, Herb Bauer's in Clovis, and Swami's in San Diego. Here is a photo from the Clovis ride, taken near Millerton Lake.


We also participated in a climbing camp set up by our Philly retailer, Cadence Cycles. It was a great ride in and around the Agora hills. There were about 40 of us total and the instruction by Brian Walton was great. Andrea was a champ, joking around and trying his best to understand english!

The Solvang TT was a let down. Ivan hit his knee and I immediately went into 'take care of Ivan' mode. I did a press statement with him before rushing him off to Santa Monica for an MRI and lunch followed by a long drive down to San Diego. The next morning was an early flight home for him. That was the second of three 5:00 am morning trips to the airport!

Sunday was another early morning followed by my driving of team car #2, after all my statements that I wouldn't do it again! I picked up RoRo, a Facebook friend who took plenty of photos including this one. The crowds were fantastic and the tension high as Nibali went after the stage win. It wasn't to be, however, and we had to settle for second.

I'm now finally getting ready to fly home. Milan, actually. From there, I'll drive down to Massa Marittima for the CFR team camp. More to come from there!

Big thanks also to Richard and Sharon from Speedplay for the hospitality and restaurant tips!

Tour of California Update

It's been awhile so here goes! First off, please check my Twitter udpates as I'm doing quite a bit more of that from the races. Also, it's been embedded into Cannondale.com's Liquigas page, so expect more info to come there! We've got lots of info there and a ton of videos posted.

The rain of the early stages is behind us now, and everyone's attitude towards California changed rapidly once the sun came out!

I've been traveling with Andrea Noe, our guest rider, doing some nice training on a borrowed System Six (my new Super was broken in transit and I'm looking forward to building another one up once back home). Today, we have the climbing camp (I need it!) with Cadence Cyclery from Philadelphia. It's kind of a day off for me! I won't even see the TT in Solvang today, I've left it up to my partner in crime Scott to take care of our guests. Let's see if he either learns Italian today or discovers how tough my job really is!

Racewise, Nibali and Basso are sitting pretty in the top twenty with determination to climb further up in today's TT. There is a bit of a running joke among the team directors - when Nibali reacted too early to Levi's attack on the climb on stage 2, race radio announced rider number "66" had gone off to bridge. We now call the Shark of the Strait "66" (in a thick Italian accent of course). 

Anyone notice that Ivan doesn't really have a big smile in pictures? Is he Liquigas' Mona Lisa?

ToC Arrival

Four days into my Cali stay and I'm still suffering from the 9 hour difference. Up at 4:30, little sleep, long days with lots to do... it's tiring! Liquigas is pretty well set up. We've provided our freshly-wrapped (green!) truck for the mechanics to call home, along with assistance from James. We also provided plenty of the mechanics' and masseuses requests so they were able to travel a little bit lighter.

On arrival, I unpacked my new bike... freshly built with one ride... and it was broken. Evidently I packed the box a bit too tight and after the security check it was repacked in a hurry. Oh well, I'm set up with a borrowed SRAM System Six... and the replacement is on the way already.

I picked the boys up on Tuesday night, along with AG2R. Immediately off the plane and they looked like a commercial for a cell phone provider...

Yesterday was their first ride followed by lunch and some wind trainer riding. The cold, wet weather here hasn't been conducive to overcoming the jetlag. Today, we've got some journalists coming along for the ride. We're also filming for a commercial spot. Lots of the guys who were behind the scenes from Napoleon Dynamite are shooting here. They're equipped with the (Oakley) Red camera.

Last night was a bit of karaoke in the hotel bar. I'm no stranger to the mic, but there were some pros there who are better than anyone on American Idol!

More to come...

Benicasim Videos

Just posted on the new Cannondale.com (check out the Liquigas team page). These are the first two of the videos we shot in Benicasim in December.