The old Olympic training ground returns!

Ginny King once referred to White Rock (in a mocking tone) as the "Olympic training ground" as afternoons would see large groups dicing it up for no apparent reason, short of fleeting and dubious glory in simulated race mode. Caryn just calls it excessive testosterone on display. After weeks of rain, the storms stayed north of I-635 and large groups of cyclists came out of hiding to test their race strategies. Of course I was more guilty than most in succumbing to the urge, even chasing Nicky and his team mate Lee down whenever they would escape the not so friendly confines of the group.

We met at the flagpole with Michael Vangeli choosing to celebrate his birthday with us. Also Noah, Kevin, Caryn and Damiano (who is going to provide race reports from the Giro) joined me as we met up with Nicky at the lake.

Nicky had a "chute" on Tuesday that by all accounts was spectacular! Tuesday night crit Cat 4 race, perfectly positioned (4th wheel, and fresh) going into the final corner and he had a casing failure on his Vredstein's, which immediately went flat, rolled off the rim of his Kysiriums and caused him to have a high speed skid, 6 series aluminum on concrete. He controlled it long enough to get out of the train and dived into the grass, sliding on his back. No long term effects save for the disappointment of seeing a perfectly planned victory go awry.

Noah was resplendant in his Livestrong kit, and the miles he put in for the MS150 showed immediate results. I have never seen him this strong. Just a few weeks ago he was getting shelled on the ups, and now he was making many of those out on course crack.

Michael was continually chasing every rabbit that escaped and Caryn was spinning away in her soon to be discarded SRAM Rival compact crank. She likes to grind ala Jan Ullrich, rather than fast twitch it. Noah has discovered he is a fast twitcher and loves to spin away in the small ring. Crazy how everyone's physiognomy is so different. Michael is just a bit taller than Odessa's husband Levi, but he pushes 175cranks.

Speaking of Odessa, I am promoting two groups that are advocates of Mustang preservation. To ensure that these two groups are the proper advocates for the preservation of our true mascot, I e-mailed a well known animal rights advocate, Odessa Gunn, (who also happens to be the wife of one of the favorites for the Giro d'Italia, Levi Leipheimer.) She sent a very kind response and gave me the thumbs up for this effort.

Kevin and Greg Pulte are in favor of doing the "Horseshoe" loop as our Wednesday ride path, but when there are this many cyclists at the lake, it is way too tempting to sit in the pack.

With many leaving for the summer, we want everyone to know that we will still be riding and planning events for the fall, so keep in touch and keep riding.

By the way, Michael celebrated his 43rd with the winning sprint at the city limit sign!