Olympic Time Trial Bike + 12 other bikes (valued at $100,000)

Here's a list of the items stolen from Zabriskie’s home:

• Black 2008 Subaru Outback, Utah plate A189NC
• Black 2006 Toyota Scion, Utah plate 094VWM
• Giro D Italia Race Medal (approx. 6" circumference)
• Olympic Seiko watch
• Beijing Olympic ring (silver) with initials "DZ" engraved ($4,000)
• Olympic Time Trial Bike, plus 12 other bikes (combined value of $100,000)
• Cervelo (black/red) bike frame - team issued ($5000)
• Tag Heuer watch ($6,000)
• Bose Speaker/Receiver System ($15,000)
• Sony 52" flat screen TV ($4,000)
• Two Mac Books and one Mac desktop, plus hard drive ($8,000)
• A pair of Space legs, a recovery compression system for legs ($5,000)
• 7 Marvel sideshow statues ($11,000)

call the Tips for Cash line at (801) 799-INFO (4636). Please reference case #09-32767

Snow @ Boulevard Road Race

Glad that i didn't race Boulevard this weekend. Check out the snow.

Lance's Twitter account

I was connected to this by a buddy of mine, Layton.  If you're curious to find out what Lance is doing.    Twitter / lancearmstong

La Grange riders attacked on Ventura Blvd.

Mon Jan 5, 2009 9:58 am (PST)

a group of four riders were attacked yesterday morning on Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills.

The group, consisting of three former and/or current La Grange members,
Al Lavery, Joel Slaven and Skip Nevell and Ron Sarchian, a member of
the San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club, were proceeding west on Ventura,
outward bound on their customary Sunday ride, when the incident
occurred.

The first indication of a problem manifested itself as the attacker
sped past the group in his auto, leaning on the horn in apparent
displeasure at being somehow slowed by their presence on HIS street. It
was early morning and traffic was VERY light. At worst we were riding
two abreast on the far right side of a very wide street.

The cretin then pulled to the curb ahead of the group, leaped from the
car shouting obscenities and swung at Ron as we rode past. Ron fended
off the blow with his forearm and we continued.

Not dissuaded, you have to admire his persistence, Sir Violence, again
sped past us, nimbly exited his vehicle and the real fun started.

I was in the lead and I watched as he opened the rear door of his car
and pulled out what looked like a length of black iron pipe. Fearing
the worst, I rolled past and immediately heard a loud "thwack."

Stopping and dismounting I turned to view the spectacle of Ron
wrestling in the middle of the street with the lunati c.

I digress here to provide a few details of Ron's resume. He is a former
college football player, skydiver, rodeo clown, you know, the guys in
funny suits who divert enraged bulls away from fallen riders and
currently, between acting gigs, he is a personal fitness trainer. In
addition, he holds numerous Guinness Book world records including most
punches thrown to a bag in one minute, most roundhouse kicks delivered
to a heavy bag in one hour and longest time spent punching a bag,
minimum one punch per second.

He is big, amazingly strong and very fit.

If you wished to attack a bicycle rider within a hundred mile radius of
where we were at that moment, I wager the last guy you would chose
would be Ron. To put it as baldly as possible, jerko was f-----g with
the wrong Marine.

The fight lasted at least three seconds and ended with Ron on top of
the jerk in the middle of Ventura Blvd., securing him with an arm lock
to the throat that prevented ANY movement.

The police were summoned and they responded with immediate and
overwhelming force. At one point we counted seven black and whites and
a helicopter circling over head. It was Sunday morning, what else was
there to do?

Ron emerged unhurt from the fracas although he had been knocked from
his bike by a blow to the rib cage I heard being delivered. Fortunately
for Ron, the20"pipe" turned out to be a walking stick but one certainly
capable of inflicting serious damage when wielded by a determined
attacker.

Jerko was handcuffed and hauled off to jail and we proceeded on our way
trailed by the words of one of the arresting officers, "Have a nice
ride, guys."

Skip Nevell

Leadville 100

Entries will be limited and determined by lottery. Entries must be received by Jan. 31 for lottery participation. Confirmations will be mailed by February 9. Unsuccessful entries will be returned. Under 9 hours – handcrafted gold and silver trophy belt buckle, under 12 hours – handcrafted silver belt buckle. August 2009
$250 fee

50 miles out and back. Start/Finish in the heart of Leadville @ 10,200’. 90%+ dirt or double track dirt roads. Steep climbs: serious descents. 7 mile climb to the 50 mile turnaround at 12,600 ft. Approximately 14,000’ elevation gain. Greater than 65% average finish rate under the 12 hour limit. Excellent support stations.

Palomar Mountain Stage 8 Update

Palomar Mtn will come at the half-way point of this stage (not at the finish). With four climbs, this is most difficult final stage that the TOC has ever seen. Palomar Mountain (5,123 ft.). At 11.7 miles, a seven percent average grade, 4,200 feet of climbing and 21 switchbacks. A small group will get away on this stage.

ROUTE details 2009 Amgen Tour of California

AEG released route details yesterday. Race is expanded to cover more than 750 miles over nine days, 8 stages. Pick 4 stages that shouldn't be missed?

1. Stage 2: Sausalito south to Santa Cruz over the Golden Gate down PCH
2. Stage 6: Friday, Feb 20th, Time Trial in Solvang
3. Stage 7: Saturday, Santa Clarita to Pasadena via Angeles Crest Hwy
4. Stage 8: Sunday, Escondido to summit of Palomar Mtn

PAA 2009 kit design

Here's the look of the new PAA cycling kit.  Orders must be received by Saturday, November 15th.

200 mph high-speed rail in California

California voters approved a High-Speed Passenger Train Bond. An 800-mile high speed rail will link SF and San Diego. This will take more cars off the road and make way for more bikes.

The high-speed rail will be stretch from Sacramento to SF and on to LA and San Diego. Trains would use the same wheel-on-rail technology found in France, Spain, Korea and China and reach speeds of more than 200 mph.

Click here for the train route

Lance Rides Again and I have a benign tumor?

Both are true.

I thought lower back pain was just a given in Transrockies? On day 3 of TR, my left side of my lower back hurt and became numb and continued throughout the race. Heavy doses of Advil kept it reasonable. A week after TR i bent over to tie my shoes and noticed i had a golf ball size bump on my lower back. Today the doctor diagnosed me with Lipoma, a benign tumor under the muscle tissue near my spine on my lower back (which explains the pain and numbness). It's large and near the spine so it needs to be surgically removed. Beeatch.

Click here for the exclusive Vanity Fair article on Lance

The Kids

Training takes a back seat for this morning as Parker and Elie had their first day at school last week.  I did sneak in an hour easy ride.  Here's a pic of the little tykes.  Parker is on the left and Elie is on the right.  Their friend and neighbor Danny is in the middle.

Crazy Larry & The Italian Mafioso

We met some great people along the way racing in Transrockies 2008.

Scroll down the side and check out the other pictures.

Top 10 things to remember for the next endurance mtb race

10. Ingest HEED instead of Cytomax
9. Carry a rain jacket
8. Ride a sub-25 lb mountain bike
7. 8+ hour weekend training rides
6. Learn bike maintenance
5. Race and drink with Kiwis & Brits
4. Add serious hike-a-bike training to your schedule
3. A Camelback can only slow you down
2. Ride UST Tubeless w/Stans
1. Have Sam from InCycle as your lead mechanic

Re: Stage 6

CRAP!!! Dude, you are so gnarly. You will be forever changed by this event, if they allow you to survive!! I'm buying you the biggest beer I can find the next time I see you.

thanks for the update and keep kickin' arse!

comment

10,000 + feet of climbing
10,000 + feet of descent
95 degrees

The route organizer described todays stage as very challenging. Come to find out 40 teams decide not to start today. Athletes are breaking down and nerves are on edge.

Most of us felt sick just listening and watching the course being described on google earth the night prior. Stuart from team ireland said he walked out of the room as it was being described.

We decide to ride with Laurie and Chris the entire stage as its survival mode...

Critical points in the stage are 8 climbs, one being a 45 minute hike-a-bike and 3 more major hike a bikes at 90k (just when u think u r finished.

The day wore on and it was a very dusty and dry day. The start was a 10% climb for 4 miles and right into beautiful single track. I did not feel good on the 30k ascent of High Rock Range and someone crashed in front of me and almost took me with him thru a 1 foot deep dust bowl section. I ascended at 4 mph and just kept plugging. Vert was having a good day and had to wait at the top.

We peaked out a few more times, at checkpoint 3 with 30k remaining, I was over heating. Luckily I started dumping ice water on me to cool down.

We recovered and powered the last 30k, Chris and Laurie were climbing like mountain goats and Vert and I took 15 seconds back from team Chantry Fats today on the sprint at the line.

The stage went well for us - though it was beyond hard and almost ridiculous. The athletes were in agreement that they just tried to crush everyone today. We finish in 8 hours.

Stage 4

Nipika to Whiteswan Lake

110 kilometers (longest stage)

8,500 feet of climbing.

8,300 feet of descent.



In prep for a long brutal stage. 6am breakfast of 3 pancakes, eggs, ham slices, fruit, coffee, oj and coffee.



Race starts at 8am with an expected 8 hour day on the bike. Sammy dialed in the bikes last night and says I need a new headset.



The profile shows two mtn ranges we need to fly over with 3 checkpoints - the rules state that u have to checkin as a team at each checkpoint or get penalized. The weather is ideal today at 30 degrees celcius..



At the first descent a pro crashed head first and received 10 stitches. The start was fast on dirt roads - we rode well and finished in 8 hours -- the descents and scenery was amazing - with lots of rivers, 8,000 feet of descent. Today water bars in the trails were dangerous and one guy hit one at full speed and launched while breaking his clavical. We passed him and he was laying on the ground with an emergency blanket waiting to get air lifted out via helicopter while his teammate finished the day with a broken crankset. We hit major water crossings and a fast finish into Whiteswan Lake.



Finished in 7 hours 55 minutes exhausted. Very tough day.

Stage 2 : detail

Stage 2 - August 11: Invermere to Nipika Resort, 74km

13,000 feet of climbing.





A detour to heaven. It was a long day for everyone on the TransRockies trail today, as an already gruelling stage got longer when the front pack went off course and everyone played "follow the leader," The riders went awry when some of the top teams missed the flagging tape on course indicating a right-hand turn. Instead, the group marched up a steep avalanche gulley shouldering their bikes all the way to the top, missing the turn and finding out, upon summiting the chute, that the trail had gone cold.". Everyone was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that we ended up just following riders at the front of the race, realizing their mistake, turned and began backtracking, eventually finding the route the leaders completed the course with a time of 5h50'37. There was a lot of climbing today even without adding an extra hour and a half of uphill with my bike," said Frederic at the finish line, still sporting a smile but showing signs of fatigue after two straight days of steep vertical.



The degree of difficulty was high and the wrong route created an extra hour of hike-a-bike. The descent was so difficult with roots, mud, water falls, stream crossings. Today I question my tire choice of Michellin Pythons as I slide down shoots of mud and scree at high speeds, though no major crashes - maybe they will be ok.



The 3 climbs today were absolutely brutal at well over 15% for 20k each. It took us 7 hours and 56 minutes to complete todays stage.



The next stage is at Nipika Mountain Resort and promises to deliver that with some exceptional private singletrack along the Kootenay River, bordering Canada's Kootenay National Park. The weather is clearing now as the clouds cracked open to reveal blue skies today.



There was plenty of snoring in Tent City last night. Perhaps this collective deep sleep, after only Stage 2, it is concrete evidence that TransRockies VII is indeed the most challenging edition yet?



strong Kicking Horse Coffee is on the menu in the morning.

Stage 7: Last Stage

80 kilometers

Crowsnest Pass to Fernie
7,000 feet of climbing
8,000 feet of descent

Todays highlights are a 10% climb out of the valley at the start! We thought the last stage would be easy? Not the case - it was set as a tough day to the finish with hike a bikes, singletrack, and a fast rip descent thru famous Fernie singletrack. Technical descents and fast fire roads with a paceline were also on the menu. We were on a good day. We held with a great group for the first 50k. The group was made up of 2 leader jersey teams (100+ mens, mixed open).

We passed team KHS in 26th place and were on track to catch team chantry fats when Vert lost control on a nasty descent and body slammed on the steep rutted descent. Luckily he didn't crack his helmet, but he was seeing stars. For 30k after the crash he recovered.

At checkpoint 3 we regrouped, had some coca cola, water, the medic offered Vert a ride on a quad to the finish. Luckily he turned it down we bombed down the final sections to finish on main street in Fernie!

We immediately went to the beer garden and celebrated the finish with the pasadena team Chantry Fats and the mayor of Fernie.

Stage 5 update - the Rock Garden

It is Thursday and the first time I have been able to get internet access.

Stage 5 is Whiteswan Lake to Elkford
88 kilometers, 6,500 feet of climbing.
6,000 feet of descent

Todays climbs are steep, 2 big range to ride over today as we ascend over the front range of the rocky mountains and lots of ground to cover to get into Elkford.

The ride looks short at 88k, but the climbs are steep and and the second climb is 30k with a steep pitch at the end. The descent is wicked fast at the end covering 4,500 feet in 15k with the famous rock garden. The descent was thru a 5k garden of boulders, we rode the whole thing, just banging the bikes. Our friend stuart from team ireland's bike came apart at the end - his linkage bolts started popping off....

The italians had a mechanical and lost the stage to team rocky mountain in 3.5 hours and we finish in 7 hours.

Finishing in Elkford was awesome. The city opened up the sports center and we had a cool place to rest, shower and eat, I napped on the floor of the curling rink and rested - very tough stage and tomorrow is over 100k and the temp is going to be over 90 degrees.

In 28th place


Mike Mascott
Google
P: 949.794.2053
Cell: 626-390-8712

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