台灣 Team Cinelli Ritchey 車隊

I’m now officicially in rehab (not like Amy Winehouse RIP). With much deliberation I scheduled surgery to repair a ruptured bicep in my arm. After 18 stitches, 6 weeks in a sling, no riding (doctor’s orders), and taking the bus to work, I’m starting to feel back to normal. I attempted to maintain some semblance of fitness with brisk walks and taking the stairs instead of elevator (22 floors). My reward today was a nice 1 hour ride in Dakeng! It felt great to be back on the bike, and I look forward to beginning a more sensible training plan for next season. Hoorah!

When I was an up-and-coming bicycle racer in northern California 28 years ago, I lost my best friend Charley to a bicycling accident. The recent death of professional racer Weylandt has brought up some buried emotions, images, and questions that I haven’t had to acknowledge for some time regarding Charley’s death.

The biggest change in me from that event was my distaste and loss of passion for cycling. I began to look at other directions for my future. It took several years to regain my interest in riding and return to racing, but it was never again my first priority.

Today through the generosity of Team Cinelli Ritchey I have the opportunity to again be a bicycle racer. (more…)

Wind Tunnel with United Healthcare.

Who? Team what? Team Cinelli Ritchey has deep roots in leading bicycle product design and racing heritage…

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After an exciting business trip to Interbike show in Las Vegas I made a detour to LA visiting friends. I had the luxury of bringing a bike with me and indulged in some coastal riding. Though LA recorded it’s highest temperature while I was there, I rode along the beach, connecting me to panoramic mountain climbs, easily 20 degrees cooler than inland. I cruised the bikini clad beaches of Manhattan Beach on my way to Rancho Palos Verde; and also north through the surfing communities of Venice, Santa Monica, to the mountains of Malibu, including some steep dirt roads.  A true So Cal experience.

Rick 和一家人上週六早 5am 從美國回台。9am 到台中家。11am 趕到大甲參加捷安特盃。。。

My journey began on Thursday noon in Northern California USA with a 7 hour car drive to drop off family and head to the airport for a 1:00am flight back to Taiwan. With 3 adults and 2 kids, that car was full of luggage! The flight was just over 12 hours landing in TPE 5:00 am on Saturday. A bus then taxi ride back to Taichung was next, arriving by 9:00am. Shower, food, gear and tool grab I was out the door around 10:30am in my car headed to Dajia.

This man earned some bragging rights last Saturday. Jet lag? What jet lag?

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My ride in the north coast series stage one road race was a good example of selection, timing and steadfast commitment. Either that or I got lucky, ha! Mere minutes after the starting gun, two riders attacked off the front. Not long after another rider accelerates to bridge. In the time of two heartbeats I knew this was my opportunity to get out of the pack and into a promising breakaway, so I chased hard… Once the initial accelerations and rotations were over, we had six grouped together with representation from: Giant, Equinox, Columbus, Cherry. With this mix there was less motivation for the main pack to chase, and those that attempted to chase weren’t organized well enough.

yeah yeah, it's another plaque... but the fans were impressed

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Here’s a pic of my early Strato build. Once I threw the wheels on I had to take this picture. This is a stunning bike! I feel some major motivation coming on…

Cinelli Rocks!!!
You need to put yourself on the list and order one of these. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

in the meantime, OUR Stratos are ready to hit the road (and did already this morning)

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Ray, Inigo, Rick

The Good
Beautiful Puli roads; Excellent team camaraderie; Wonderful company; Amazing meals; Unforgetable character building experiences.

The Bad
Rain, and more rain.

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The points racked up for Team Cinelli Ritchey in the National Series Races last year.

E30:
Tim – 41pts. – 4th Place
Inigo – 37pts. – 7th Place
E40:
Rick – 69pts. – 2nd Place
RM20:
Ray – 32pts. – 4th Place

In Elite team standings – 128pts. – 9th Place

However this doesn’t seem to add up. We should have accumulated 147pts. in Elite which would put us in 7th place, one point ahead of Specialized. Anyone care to follow-up on this?

A not so ghoulish day in Dajia (hint… it’s Halloween), cool breeze, bright but not too sunny or hot. Team CR was looking sharp in top shelf kit and equipment. No matter, it was my little kids that gained most attention! We rode a warm up lap, prepared for the start. Delayed! .. and worse, only 3 laps instead of 4. Wait some more. Warm-up was long gone, time for a nap, or some lunch. Finally racing, and predictably fast.

chicken little Kaikai, the lovely Xiaoyu, and princess Olive

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Excellent altitude riding during my trip to Lake Tahoe in the USA. I rode some of my favorite rides from my youth: Donner Summit, SkiSlope, Brockway Summit, Mount Rose… to name a few. I also rode some beautiful mountain bike single track on Tahoe Rim Trail. Two weeks of riding at an average elevation of 2500m has me in pretty good shape.

There’s a lull between races, hot weather, rain and typhoons… sound to me like a good time to take a break from the bike. Don’t get me wrong, I love to stay fit, but sometimes you can get burned out from the bike. I’m taking 10 days without touching or looking at my bike. I’ll take advantage of this time to do a little cross training to stay fit. One of my favorites is hiking the steep trails of Dakeng. It’s nice I get an upper and lower body workout AND get to spend time with the family!

cross training with the kids in Dakeng

Preliminary results from the long climbing race:

E- 11th Place – Inigo
EM- 2nd Place – Rick
EM- 3rd Place – Tim
RM20- 1st Place – Ray

We received 4th in team standings.

Another great Team Cinelli-Ritchey effort on a very difficult day! Congratulations to all…

I was really looking forward to the Ilan races; first day a fast climb; second day a circuit race with fast rolling terrain, with a not-so-long climb. Perfect courses for me! I had high expectations for myself, especially after a so-so result in Huadong. The first race started fast, even in the neutral! As soon as the neutral ended I pushed hard to move towards the front. Much of the climb was exposed, with the sun baking us on the outside, and the hill cooking us on the inside! Inevitably the pack separated and formed smaller groups. I didn’t like the pace of my group and I forged ahead, a few others joined and kept the pace to the top.  I felt strong throughout the race and knew I must have placed top three in my category. It wasn’t until I was called to the podium at the award ceremony that I knew I got first place!

Sprint on 2nd Day... MAD!

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