flyby - verbier early season

One day in the schweiz finds a few of the ranchers gathering for early season turns. New comer, the bite - ridersharkbite - blog reader sebbi galli, riderhowe, ridereasy-e, and riderpitts enjoyed late afternoon sun with beers, sammies, and a view that makes u go aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Transalp 2010

The price of gold is going up, so the ranch bankers must be happy.

Tomorrow is the registration for the Transalp.

Anyone?

Please lemme from motorhead know asap.

Bon Vivant,
Bon Voyage,
Bon Mot,
Bon Jour,
Tout Le Monde,
Je Pleusir Maladi Contagious,

Pierre

Richmond park ride

8 am at Crespos place, its one of those crisp, damp London mornings. The ranch gather together, riderchiche, young boy calner, wide load crespo and eazy-e are getting ready to head towards one of those iconics classics rides, the likes that cemented our friendship, teamspirit and bonding throughout many years> It feels great!! happy guys, big smile in our faces, shooting the shiit, the bad weather is just anectodical, no one really cares... we are just happy and looking fwd to spin the legs...

Richmond in the morning, the color of the fall, the deer, lots of riders going up and down like yo-yo in their bikes, its so cool...

We took it easy, "under 150 heart rate, young calner comanded" its joy of life, and to add to the mystic moment we bumped into rider-speedoreido!! great, we are exited, riding with lone wolf is everys rider Kilimanjaro... the guy is steel, he flies in his de rosa king... and we struggle to follow him.. after one lap at high speed we let lone wolf go ahead and we go back to our winter "under 150 ride" ...

And the Saturday just only started, we have done our workout and endorfines levels are back to top level.. we are feeling good, we are feeling HIGH!

So here is the proof fellas, at the end of the day its not so much about the place, the weather or any external factors, such as money, jobs, status.. its all about the friends and familly, the people we have around, thats is what makes the trick in the pursue of happines and on this one, the ranch has always proven me right.

The heart is singing-

Peace!

eazy-e

Mama is BACK

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast and fast is a gift.

This seeming contradiction in terms defines many of the sporting greats: mastery and method produce efficient motion, superfluous movement is eliminated, time seems to stop, moving fast never looked so slow, and then in a flash of a brilliance, the clock stops, proving that smoothest is fastest.

Harken three years past, when Ridermama in the ascendancy of podium positions in European age-group triathlon chose another path --- forsaking competitive determination for the joy of parenthood. Pregnant and in process, Riderzoe was born giving rise to a new member of the Ranch. Since then, little has been heard from RiderMama.

But mistake not silence for complacency. Quietly and methodically behind the scenes -- like a shadow in the night -- Ridermama worked away diligently. Day by day, serving a higher purpose, Ridermama leveraged her way into a prestigous medical fellowship, laid the foundation of Riderzoe's childhood success and re-integrated a modicum of competitive training into the mix.

Like a mason stacking granite to reaveal a monument, the unveiling occured Sunday before last, when Ridermama appeared on the coast of California placing 16th out of 164 women in her age bracket in the Nautica Malibu triathlon.

Racing with Riderturbo and Riderzoe spectating, the team completed the 1/2 mile Pacific ocean swim, 18 mile bike and 4 mile run (800m/30km/6.5km) in 1 hour 50 minutes 3 seconds for Mama and 1 hour 40 minutes 14 seconds for Turbo (23rd out of 219) in a showing to make the Ranch proud.

Looking smooth while others gritted teeth, Mama glided through the water, rolled through the bike, and strided through the run with the grace and elegance befitting a champion -- reminding us all that smoothest is fastest.

Photos were snapped, smiles were shared and the west-coast Ranchers were oh-so-proud to proclaim that MAMA is BACK.

the chiche wedding

Normally a wedding follows a stag and that is exactly what happened as a few members of the ranch travelled to melbourne to give witness and state their approval. While most male cycling enthusiasts that follow this blog will turn off at this point - i know faithful reader tea and wedding aficiando ridermamma will want some sort of overview.

The week kicked off with RiderCrespo and RiderEasy-e flying from europe to OZ via hong kong which allowed a few days chez riderpitts. Ridercrespo made the most of his time rising early for runs around the peak, visiting local temples, exploring the various markets, and eating well. Ridereasy-e, true to his Latino roots, chose to live the life of a 17 year old sloth, and aside from a visit to mongkok and the venerable tailor Raja - preferred hong kong at night. This included a nightly skinny dip in the pitts pool and the eternal easy-e life questions posed while floating around bare assed to the stars.

Melbourne appears to be a very liveable city with cafes, coffee shops, and bars all hopping, oblivious to any sort of world downturn. The weekend paper felt heavier than the sunday new york times and on inspection was the result of a 90 page pull out with nothing but real estate classifieds. Draw your own conclusions there.

The friday night reception was held in the old gentleman's club of melbourne - the melbourne club. In a room fit only for a blazer and kaki's we listened to a history of the club while eating miniature steak pie's and slurping beer. Sarahs father gave everyone a lesson on how to address a room on the eve of his eldest daughters wedding - he is one smooth fellow.

The wedding was held at newnham college at the university of melbourne - the sacrament was not administered - however, the bride looked wonderful and chiche a handsome fellow - but the show was in part stolen by ridercrespo's 4 year old daughter valentina who acted as ring bearer and flower girl.

Following the church - a tour bus ran us around Melbourne and a brief history of the town was given. We drove the formula circuit and pasat the site of the Australian open.

The dinner was at the art gallery of melbourne - which was hosting a Dali exhibition. The room was magnificent with 60 foot ceilings and a stained glass roof. Here the stage was set for the inspirational and heartfelt wedding speeches that touched all. Ridercrespo was as elegant in his black tie as was his overview of the chiche - and of course chiche's speech was appropriate and wonderfully timed as one glimpse of the head table showed the male argentine contingent babbling like a bunch of jewish grandmothers watching Yentl.

This wedding - it can be safely summarised - was a perfect expression about all that is good in people, with the lingering sensation left in everybody that truly the chiche/sarah house is one built of stone.

A stag - ranch style

Once upon a time an otherwise innocuous post was scribed on this blog which contained a picture of a fellow - riderchiche - that resulted, all kidding aside - in a few of the ladies that follow the ranch and stalk its pages- calling the said writer and asking after the status of the young argentine gentleman. While little was made of these inquiries given the active filtering/standards/of the filteror - it will come with certain disappointment to part of our fan base - that riderchiche for lack of other sensible discriptors has decided to make a solo break of sorts and marry a lovely lady named Sarah. Now its not the purpose of the blog to debate the merit of leaving the peleton so early in the race - nope like any sensible band of brothers - the only cry that rung through the ranch train was STAG STAG STAG.

Now despite the varied nationalities of the ranch - STAGs do have universal appeal. They mean dancing girls, nut ticklers, beer bongs, two foot cigars, and large steaks. Stags by anybodies reference is a call to arms for all red blooded males to abandon morality, dispose of ring finger hardware, and stumble back into post exam college stupors as those golden drops of beer nectar wash away any guilt of the ritual. God - has given man one more chance at a hallway pass - a kind of adult get out of jail free card.

And so it goes for our rider - rider chiche. A stag for a giant lady producer from latin america whom once sported shoulder length hair and Pantera concert T's - while the possibilities were as endless as the investment opportunities for the 250mln of fresh usd in his new fund - there was one catch. Oh the shame of missing the catch.

We were talking about the ranch.

So the build up came to pass in the same way as a 14 year old boy discovering that just because you buy her a movie ticket doesnt mean you she will take her top off in the second row.

We met - some of us from far far away in Zurich - the riderhowe, the ridereasy-e, the riderzinni, the ridercali, the riderpitts, and the birthday boy - riderchiche. And we rode bikes. We went to bed early, we got up early, we climbed 17km alpine passes, we sprinted long flats, we descended at 78kmh and we hurt.

We talked about gear, markets, love, and real estate. We debated logistics and future races. We talked about riderNoShows manscaping and wine picking, we argued about the size of ridercrespo's back door, we toasted riderstemcell's carbo fear with buns from the zueghauskeller, we poked fun at the riderturbo's fondness for 4 quid buffets and we argued about riderlonewolf's holiday allotment. It was all normal - and we won. Convention and adolescent ritual to the side - the ranch again takes its own path and does things in its own way. Normal.

Performance

Youtube video lampoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn29DvMITu4

Transalp 2010 Dates

Okay ladies, the dates for the Transalp are 27th of June through the 3rd of July.
You have until November 30, 2010 to decide. The start numbers are drawn by lottery on the 1st of December at noon. For those of you who do not rule the roost, it is time to put on some pants and bring some order. Are you a man, or a little boy? For those Ranchers sporting female mammalian protuberances, take no offense, you can also ride the Transalp.

Love,
StemCell

Power Lunch with Pitts

Power lunched with Rider Pitts toady in Frankfurt. Pitts perfects hand-rubbed ribs, tomatoes, water and cottage cheese for T´s waistline! Planned out potential future: Spokes, Strings and Edges. Met the cute Pitt kids driving Grandma crazy.

Ranch cycler´s need to start thinking seriously about next years Tour Trans-alp (road bike. We need a contingent at this race and I will personally set up the training agenda!

Giddyup!

Rider StemCell Finishes his 3rd Transalp

Rider StemCell finished his 3rd, and last?, mountain bike transalp race last Saturday. The fist stage was cancelled due to 30cm of Snow on the first pass out of Mittenwald. On the second stage, the third pass was cancelled due to 40 cm of Snow. Once out of Germany, the weather was perfect...as usual. As with the first 2 transalp races, RiderStemCell arrives home with a nasty case of swollen legs and an additional 5 kg of weight. Funnily enough, after 3 days, He is back to normal weight. Why? I´ll tell you why: too many carbs and not enough fat! The food at this event is always horrible! This year I raced in the "Herren" category which had me racing with young boys under 30. I´m a mad and must race with men older than 40! I destroyed a Ranch Jersey with grease as a major Chain suck had me elbow deep in chain grease. Sorry Tom, I owe you a Jersey.

Anyway, I have decided to concentrate my future racing ambitions only on the road bike.
As such, I want to ride the Tour Transalp. I believe the Ranch needs a presence at this event.

Who´s in? or are you all little girly boys?

Love, Stem

Ranch Recruits: BrokenTooth & SwissChef

All quality organizations require new talent to stay on the cutting edge. New blood fosters dynamism, infuses energy and ideas, and shapes the future as time passes and the guard changes.


The Ranch has been riding high for the better part of a decade. The solid core of RanchRiders know each other well and are a tight knit bunch. Over time, a few riders have joined and none have left.


To wit, Ranch riders have spread out over the globe. With contingents located in London, Zurich, New York, Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Los Angeles, the horseshoe and star can be seen from Central Park to the Val de Bagnes, from Malibu to the Upper Levels, from the Black Forest to the hills of Lombardy, with honorary members in Boulder and elsewhere. And the legend continues.


Never satisfied with the status quo, and always on the lookout for new talent, the Ranch has from time to time invited a select few to join as both Riders and honorary members.

Introducing Rider BrokenTooth and SwissChef. Long time friends of RiderTurbo, RiderMama and RiderZoe, Rider Brokentooth (above left) and Swisschef (above right) and are experienced cyclists in their own right. Rider Brokentooth hails from Ohio -- America's heartland where hard work and simple values go hand in hand. Her mountain resume was born from a decade of ski racing in the US Ski Association Central division, and in the north-east at Cornell University. With riding experience on the climbs of Switzerland, around her mountain top vacation home in Snowmass, Colorado and on a handful of centuries that included road-worthy mishaps, Rider Brokentooth is no stranger to the peloton .


Her spouse, Rider SwissChef adds to the cosmopolitan cache of the Ranch with an impressive riding resume. Originally from Zurich -- with an Italian madre still residing there --Swisschef possesses souplesse cadence, grace and power, fluency in four languages and refined skills in both the international professional workplace and kitchen of Continental cuisine.

Both Riders are new to the ranch, but certaintly not new to the rigors of the outdoor lifestyle, endurance sports, triathlon and cycling. Both work for Nestle, producer of Powerbars, Chocolate and delicious, nutritious dairy products. Both riders recently moved to Los Angeles from living in Vevey, Switzerland where they competed in many events in Europe with Ridermama and Riderturbo in recent years.


Reunited in California, Rider BrokenTooth, SwissChef, Mama and Turbo have been on a number of rides over the past few months, and set off in recent weekends on mountian bike rides in the Malibu and San Bernardino mountains.

One interesting ride called the Bulldog Motorway involved 2500 vertical feet of steep, rocky climbing over three hours traversing the Castro Motorway atop mountain ridges overlooking the Pacific Ocean. In a word, the ride was spectacular. The riders conquered the climb with vigor despite oppressive July heat typical of Eastern facing alpine aspects in the high desert California summer.

An interesting feature of the ride was that it directly passes the original filming site for the syndicated television program "MASH."
Old rusted Jeeps and equipment can still be seen trailside and the Riders stopped for a moment to snap a photo for the blog...

Please welcome Rider BrokenTooth and SwissChef to the group. Next time visitors come to L.A. or Aspen, or when the riders next visit Switzerland, we can join up for a ride!

As an aside, Riderzoe seems to be moving right along with her second birthday and a new set of wheels...

Racing NYC

That is racing circa 2001. I think i have a skinsuit on.

Lance, Alberto and V.A.M

Ranch riders are always looking for an edge on the bike. A seemingly trivial video interview snippet with Lance reveals deep insight into who wins climbs and Grand Tours.

Save an out-of-this world single time trial by Lance, or otherwise catastrophic mishap by Astana, it explains why Contador is most likely to win on Mt Ventoux leading to a win in this year's TdF. It may also explain why Alberto may win more Grand Tours in the years to come to take his place alongside The Boss, the Badger, Big Mig, The Cannibal and others in the Tour's Greatest of All Time.

Secrets revealed by the V.A.M.

Lance Stage 16 Pre-Race Interview - "Back in the Day"




On the Cycling News Website in an interview with Dr. Michele Ferrari, the V.A.M. to which Lance refers in this interview is the "velocita ascensionale media" average climbing speed (vertical rate). By his own admission, Lance's best ever V.A.M was 1790 meters/hours on L'Alpe d'Huez. Presumably, this was during the uphill time trial on Alpe d'Huez in 2004 on a feather light Trek riding fresh and not in an exhausted state at the end of a long road stage as is typically the case when the TdF climbs the L'Alpe d'Huez.

By contrast, Lance states in the video that Contador's V.A.M on Verbier was 1852m/hour -- bettering that of Armstrong's rate in his best years when even then he says "he wasn't following that." This may allude to Lance's belief that even when he was at his best he might not have been able to stay with Alberto on a grand tour climb.

Examples of VAM (Vm/h) Metres Per Hour (Vm/h) from Cycling News Interview:
1800+ Vm/h: Lance Armstrong - and Pantani of olden days
1650-1800 Vm/h: Top 10 / TdF GC or mountain stage winner
1450-1650 Vm/H: Top 20 / TdF GC; top 20 on tough mountain stage
1300-1450 Vm/h: Finishing TdF mountain stages in peloton
1100-1300 Vm/h: The Autobus Crew

Interesting Articles from the 53x12 Website:

VAM: Effects of Gradient & Altitude
More about VAM

Certainly, the Verbier climb in this year's tour was not as long as many of the Tour's Hors Categorie climbs. From our personal experience, the Verbier climb is one we all know well and perhaps any rider, pros included, can sustain higher V.A.M for shorter durations of time.

Neverthless, the quick comment shows just how dominant Contador really is at climbing in Grand Tours right now -- the superior power/weight ratio is evident in his V.A.M. -- and also gives clues to how we might improve our climbing by training just a bit more with the use of a barometric altimeter that is now standard equpment on many of the modern sport watches produced by companies like Polar and Suunto.

the arrival of riderturbo

randol curtis, aka the turbo from his NCAA div 1 skiing days, arrived for a few days of pleasure, business, and fine dining in Hong Kong. Logistics prevented any cycling however, saturday morning was not just about julietta's fresh papaya and mango - no sir - in the spirit of ranch tradition - riderpitts and riderturbo - knocked off a 50 minute run around the peak followed by a plunge in the pool. Sunday morning saw the turbo depart around mid-day - but that day was not to escape its own early a.m. session as the two knocked of an hour run which included a summit on MT Austin. The highlight of the assult being the two ranchers overtaking a pair of kitted out mountain bikers - on one stretch of 14% grade - and for the avoidance of doubt - ranchers drop mounain bikers on foot. In summary, the turbo looked extremely lean, extremely fast, and exceptionally prosperous.

2010 Tour Transalp

Hello Fellow Ranchers,

Next Year I want to ride the Tour Transalp.

Who´s In?

Hold your breath for my Dreilander Report-It should be cold ontop of that little hill!!!!

RiderHowe Hitches onto the Cadel Pelaton

On Tuesday of this week, I had the pleasure of joining Cadel Evans (2 time Tour de France runner up) and Hendrik Redant (Sporting Director for the Silence Lotto Cycling Team). The background links to an Australian friend of mine, Peter Beatty (a Ranch Target) who now resides in Verbier. Pete, who hosted the dinner, grew up competing with Cadel and they have maintained a solid friendship since. Cadel and Hendrik were visiting Verbier to scope the 9 kilometer climb (one that we Ranchers are all familiar with) as preparatory work for Cadel’s assault on this years TDF.

Fresh off of a 2nd place result at the Dauphine Libere, Cadel (followed by Hendrik in the Team Car) was “casually riding” 3 stages of this years TDF that were new to him (including the Verbier stage). Known as one of the lower profile top riders on the circuit, not everyone is familiar with Cadel. His achievements speak volumes;
- 2 x Tour De France Runner Up
- 2 x Dauphine Libere Runner Up
- 2 x Tour of Spain 4th place overall
- Along with multiple single event and individual stage victories

Hendrik was no slouch himself, groomed from solid Belgian riding stock, he competed professionally for 10 years, riding 5 TDF’s and multiple top finishes in the single event and short tour circuit.

Over a bottle of red and a hearty spagbol, it was a fascinating evening of sharing tour and rider insights coupled with the regular banter you would expect to hear from a couple of Aussies. There’s did not appear to be a “rockstar” lifestyle, but rather a very serious and committed approach to their sport with a cost conscious approach to overall team Management. A couple of interesting anecdotes throughout the evening included;

- typical TDF riders will put on at least 40,000 kilometers of training per annum

- we always think of the challenge of the climbs in the TDF, what we rarely consider is the 8 to 20 kilometer descents that are done with speeds consistently topping 100 km’s/hour. Try that in light drizzle with a 100 rider pelaton!

- incredible preparation in terms of researching the nooks and crannies of each of the stage’s roadways including detailed analysis of the finishing areas

- a certain level of frustration with Nationality Partnering overtaking Team Partnering (you will know what I mean if you watched the last 2 stages of the Dauphine)

- and finally, a call from Doping Control, advising they would be in Verbier at 7am to give Cadel the once over as part of a routine spot check. Turns out the guy drove half the night from Stuttgart to meet his time commitment.

All in all, a great evening with a couple of humble guys who are so entrenched in their sport, that they don’t really seem to see the magnitude of their achievements.

It looks probable that Cadel will ride the Giro di Lombardia, and for those of you coming to Como, I am hoping I can line up Cadel/Henrik for a post race intro to Team Ranch. In the meantime, and despite confronting a slight latino bias within our team, please join me in supporting a real “class act” for the sport. Hope to see you in Verbier on the 19th of July “pour Etape 15”.

RiderStemCells New Machine

I had a custom sized frame built for me from the German Expert frame builder NICOLAI. 100% Easton Aluminum with a bottom bracket stiffer than a diamond. No carbon frame can match the stiffness of my Argon Road. It is fast...I am clocking speeds of over 75km/S down the hills of Feldberg here in Frankfurt. Negative Gravity Brakes, Easton SL90 Fork, and waiting for my Rotor Q rings(53/39) and Crank set to arrive.

Dreiländer Giro

YO, RiderStemCell will be starting the Dreiländer this Sunday......with his new Machine....and better leg......and bigger Lungs....and a stronger heart!

I´ll be thinking of you all as I power over Stilfsjoch....

Wish you were here.

Loe Stem

That Which Does Not Kill Me....

For Ranch riders and cycling afficionados who harbor idle curiousity about the fringes of human potential and the darkside of the craft, I offer an entertaining article about the current king and upcoming favorite of 2009 solo RAAM starting in two weeks -- the Race Across America

(2006 RAAM Promo Video) (2008 RAAM Promo Video)

That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stranger, NY Times, 5 Feb 2006

RiderZoe's Race Debut

RiderZoe makes the Ranch race Tour debut at the Acura L.A. Bike Tour! Up at 3am for the 5am start in the dark this past memorial day, the beloved RiderZ won the hearts of adoring fans among a throng of thousands riding the 40km road course covering the route just hours before the running of the L.A. Marathon! Despite dozing off for nearly 1/2 the ride in early morning twilight, RiderZoe shows off the new Chariot side carrier -- accompanied by Ridermama and Riderturbo -- and makes her public Ranch riding debut in flying colours!

Goin' Back to Cali

Sunny California. Bastion of beautiful beaches, body builders and babes in bikinis. Perhaps more pertinant to Ranch lifers, mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and all things ocean, mountain and desert.

This past weekend, a three-strong contingent of the Ranch cohort made an appearance at the Encinitas Triathlon. Located in surfer's paradise, just north of San Diego, where the sport of triathlon was born of Navy Seals in 1974, Ridermama, RiderZoe and Riderturbo (Turbine) appeared smiling brightly and proudly flying the Ranch colours.

Preparing for the event was not easy. Turbine solicited inspiration from the Oracle (RiderPitts) some half-the-world away in Hong Kong to drop pounds, lean up and get ready for race day, incorporating a regimen of austere diet, aerobic base building and Friday fasting to throw down when the chips were on table.

Despite teeming with a hunger to race, Ridermama was relegated to spectator with Riderzoe due to some group planning issues.

Wanting to take glory for the team, Turbine lined up front row behind the start tape with the big guns in a land where triathlon is no joke. Fueled by a pre-race regimen of Red Bull, push ups and delusions of Ranch victory, Turbo flew off the line like a trackstar and was first into the water with high knees and powerful arm drive.

A few seconds later, the dream was shattered as Turbine slammed head-on into a wall of incoming surf where mother nature shows no quarter to feeble displays of human aggression. After regaining composure, Turbine settled mid-pack among local ocean swimmers and swung into a rhythmic corkscrew tempo reflective of weekend race pace. The group swam straight outbound to the yellow triagular buoy, smoothly sighting intermediate orange buoys past the break, then turned shore bound by sighting off a towering palm tree onshore to complete the 750m swim leg.

Mentally discombobulated coming out of the water in 37th place, Turbine knew it was time to show the locals what the Ranch is about. After an extra 30 seconds fluff time in T1 donning the obligatory Ranch jersey, hell broke lose as Turbine locked, loaded and fired the Eddy Mercx Chrono TT bike down the road course, sighting the competition and picking them off one by one. After two laps comprising 20km, Turbine had restaked Ranch claim with a non-drafting bike split 37 minutes, ranking 7th amongst men same-age group competitors.

On to the run after a snappy one minute T2 and Turbine felt the pain of hard-won glory on the bike. Despite efforts to ignore the pain, lactic acid spiked and leg muscles seized as Turbine grit his teeth and knocked down the first of two laps. Inspired by fast veterans, fit women and Romanov's Pose Tech running technique, Turbine picked up the pace and brought home the second lap of the 5k run in style with Riderzoe and Ridermama providing paparazzi photos and raucous cheering along the finish line chute.

Overall, Turbine clocked a mid-rank 5k run split and won 14th overall position out of 63 competitors in the Men's 35-39 age group.

Ridermama and Riderzoe proudly showed Ranch colours throughout and curious onlookers in the crowd were heard whispering "who's the Ranch?"

Chalk up a few more kilometers, smiles and points for the Ranch on the global racing scene.

RANCH HUSTLE, LOYALTY, RESPECT.

The Yan - reflecting on the history of the ranch

Some of you might not be completely aware of the genisis of the ranch. As much rumour abounds - i thought it time to put facts straight. The ranch was the brainchild of Roy the Yan in the living room of 151 drayton gardens - a south kensington home to 5 young bankers - which became known amongst those in the know as "the ranch". Not sure why "the ranch" perhaps two of the fellows - mark begert (texas) and tom pitts (alberta) hailed from those places associated with pick up trucks and middle teeth.

Roy Yan (critirider) was a competitive cyclist as a junior living in philadelphia. Later he rode for the westpoint millitary academy (ARMY) and is still found racing in assorted criteriums across the east coast. Maintaining a strict cycling regimen in London he introduced the sport to the good men of the ranch in the late 90's - as an off season leg strengthening exercise. Off season as the men of the ranch were found skiing each and every weekend and were looking to optimise their ski season free from the ritual month of aches and pains.

To the casual observer - the ranch was soon mistaken for a soho bathhouse - as men were seen semi clothed with a full lather of sweat - pounding away at compu- trainers and bikes on rollers all in full view from the passers by on old brompton road. Not suprsingly with a bunch of AA personalities everything was a competition weather it be wattage, heart rate, or weight and progress was made. The mantra of cycling soon was accepted and endorsed as:

"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."

It comes with little suprise that while 151 drayton gardens survived for 6 years - eventually girlfriends ultimatums, job transfers, and the realization that one should start living more adult like - the fellows moved out. But the cycling continued and new recruits were swept up with no real thesis beyond finding a few more willing guys to ride saturday mornings. An Argentine contingent led by Easy-E was exploring cycling and stumbled into the fray and suddenly with ridercrespo and riderchichi a group was re-emerging. Staple on a couple of colorado transplants (riderturbo) and the lone wolf - add some veteran leadership (riderhowe) some boston old money (ridernoshow), boston new money (ridercali) and a hersute terrone (riderzinni) - and the ranch cycling team was born.

Fellowship amongst like minded men in the midst of all the nonsense that bigger money and temptations can bring - sets one on a steady path. The acceptance of suffering is best done with some support from your pals - so the ranch started to take itself a bit more seriously - and results started to show. Everybody kinda had their own goals - whether it be a sub 20 loop of richmond park, losing a few pounds, or dropping one of your pals who was needling you all week on the subida de la muerte in turville. Remembering at base the ranch was a bunch of adult men trying hold off middle aged expansion - and looking to find the discipline to just be plain healthier. The 4 or 5 races in europe each year were a bonus and served to pause - a pause to see wonderful parts of the continent - a pause at the starting line to reflect on ones training and state of being - and a pause to be aware enough that these memories are going to be stored away and reflected on and replayed over the years to come. The catch all phrase for 2009 is make it yours - a somewhat selfish "only child" line - but i think the point is to maintain a balance in all things - which is stressed and applauded each day with each rancher holding the other to task.

So the ranch has shaped up into a core bunch of guys that have developed into pretty good weekend cyclists. They maintain enough perspective that they can laugh at themselves when they drop a chain, or get passed by a bunch of girls on pink pinarellos. A number of ranchers have dispatched to different countries - but still maintain daily contact over bloomberg chat and post the odd blog to reaffirm their membership. They became virtual friends with a tri-athelete in colorado, a stem cell researcher in frankfurt, and were cited in the cyclopassion bike calander. The site meter shows 6,000 visits with 12,000 page views. All of this - its fun to think - is the result of a hedge fund manager from philadelphia - who found himself in London - living with a few numbnuts - and said - lets see if some of these muppets can learn to ride.

lone wolf - enough said

end of the road - verbier to fionnay - approach to the mauvoisin dam

where there's black top - you can find the lone wolf.

Sometimes i mutter "take me back"

Once in a while - but only once in a while - i wake up and meander along the 7 minute hilly walk way up on the peak of hong kong - I work my way through the thick air and drenching humidity to my designated spot for my ride to the office - and along those stumblings I sometimes find I miss my old pre-work morning laps in regents park in London. I miss the white jersey guy who sprints by me and throws a couple fist pumps as he edges out the commuter kid at the stop sign. I miss the one legged black guy who bangs out laps in the mid 30's. I miss the douches of the london dynamos who leer disapprovingly at my 10 year old aluminum de-rosa. I miss ridercali offering me his other glove as my knuckles turn blue. I miss getting hassled by the park security guard as i coast through a red light on a car-less road. But then, like a good breakfast - the feeling is digested and passes. And i reflect on the fact that its not regents I miss - its the routine. So with a few extra kilos that have snuck into my mid section - i make my way to the gym at the american club and sit on the stationary bike for 20 minutes - here I sweat alongside the blackberry tappers faking another workout wondering if that jackass in the white jersey is missing me.

Ranch Riders Go Global

With Eazy-E posting in Zurich, riderpitts landing HK, and riderturbo, ridermama and riderzoe surfacing in L.A., the Ranch has officially gone global. Represented on three continents -- Europe, Asia and North America -- Ranch jerseys are creeping their way into local riding groups, pelotons and races around the globe, and have been seen along favored cycling routes and trails worldwide by virtue of a powerful but silent viral marketing campaign.

Ridermama has recently been seen ripping up trails on a full-suspension Yeti along the backbone single track trails and fire roads high above Santa Monica and Malibu, while riderturbo has been hard at work cleaning chains, tweaking derailleurs and changing tires on the repositioned road and mountain bike fleet.

Riderzoe (seated on left) has contributed her energies recruiting future ranch riders through a youth indoctrination program whereby vulnerable young toddlers are recruited to ride in the cycling chariot while sharing bottles of milk and contemplating the wonderful possibilities of participation in the ranch cycling program.

To that end, Riderturbo and Ridermama have signed up for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon and would like to invite \Ranch Riders near and far to join us in sunny California for this most delightful and heart-pounding race consisting of a 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike and 4 mile run, or Olympic Distance 1500m/40k/10k, to be held the weekend of Sept 13 & 14. Contact riderturbo for more info if you are interested. http://www.nauticamalibutri.com/

Other events currently contemplated in the area appear on the following website.

http://www.socalcycling.com/funrides/index.asp

Anyone traveling in the area, please let us know. We have extra road bikes in the fleet available and at your disposal if you prefer to travel light prior to embarking on some serious climbs in the Sierra Nevadas.