The Echelon

January 2003
Newsletter of Echelon Santa Barbara * a USCF club since 1984

Echelon Santa Barbara
www.echelonsantabarbara.org
PO Box 782, Santa Barbara, CA 93102

President: James Morgan, 692 2766, sblivin@earthlink.net

Money: Mark Musicant, 966-4554, musicant@silcom.com

Junior Team Coach: Rory O'Reilly, 963-9796

Newsletter: Jill Gass, publisher, 682-2105, jillgass@aol.com
Eric Forte, editor, 564-1770, eforte@101freeway.net

Echelon's Sponsors

BDC, Bermant Development Corporation, Jeff Bermant, 964-7200)

Bianchi Motor & Autobody, 435 E. Haley St. (Jack Bianchi, 965-5261)

SB Chicken Ranch, 2618 de la Vina St. great barbecue (Matt Benko, 569-1872)

The Daily Grind, 2001 de la Vina St. coffee, juice & goodies (Luis Cubilla, 687-4966)

FasTrack Bicycles, 118 W Canon Perdido. pro bike shop (Dave Lettieri, 884-0210)

Big Gear Bike Gear, 324-A State St. bike apparel and accessories (Barry Bash, 962-5962)

David Welton, MD, cardiologist (Sansum - Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic, 681-7500)

Ferrel's Chiropractic, 533 E. Micheltorena. sports medicine clinic (Ernie Ferrel, 963-3232)

Hill & Associates, attorneys, 800 Presidio Ave. (Gary Hill, 963-1453, ghill@sblawgroup.com)

Rob Lettieri Photography, photography (Rob Lettieri, 800-207-1954)

Rudy Project, eyewear & specialty helmets

Louis Garneau, bike, ski & outdoor wear

Ride and Race
Local Rides

Racing Schedules:
SoCal Cycling
NCNCA

Mothballs Volunteers

Our Mothballs Criterium takes place on Sunday, February 2nd. To make sure we put on another great race we need everyone to volunteer to help out. We'll be finalizing preparations at the January 14th meeting. If you aren't at that meeting, contact club President James (sblivin@earthlink.net, 692-2766, or Race Director Mondo, mondini@cox.net, 690-1838) and let them know when you are available to help out that day. All volunteers race free. The flyer is on the web site. Please pre-reg for the race (you can at the meeting).

January Meeting

Date: 1/14/2003
Place: Rusty's Pizza, Upper State (3731 State St.)
Time: 7:00 PM
Highlighted by Mothballs prep.

Clothing

You may pick up clothing and/or buy additional Echelon clothing at the meeting. Thanks to Gregor and everyone else who worked on our great new design!

Thanks to Bermants

Many thanks to sponsor and member Jeff Bermant (BDC), his wife Paulette, and the rest of his family for hosting the invasion of cyclists at the Echelon Holiday Party last month. Great food, a gift exchange of the requisite silliness and bawdiness... and we also gathered a ton of toys to donate for Toys for Tots. Thanks to Jeff and everyone who came!

To There and Back Again, a 'Crossers Tale

By Rick Abrams

Thanksgiving weekend in Solvang dawned overcast and cool with rain clouds over the mountains. My second cross race this year right after a rain. It must be cyclocross season. I traveled to Palos Verdes for the cyclocross race right after the 5 plus inches of rain we had. 100 meters after the start gaps quickly formed splitting the field that wallowed through the very muddy conditions. I did fine in the middle of the pack until a flat tire on the last lap finished my race. The SB County cyclo cross race was held in Hans Christensen Andersen Park in Solvang. The 1.5 - 2 mile course was well planned with most of the technical sections within the park grounds and available for the spectators viewing. A fire road and a short fast single track run connected a stiff little run up and three barrier sections. A dozen of us lined up at the start line for three combined races. A long half-mile sprint led to a group of 3 barriers placed so that one had to dismount and run the barriers. I was in third position going into the section when our leader chose to misjudge the first barrier. He nose dived over the barrier but his bike didn't. The result of course was controlled mayhem. Ahhh. . .it must be 'cross. I avoided this minor disaster and attempted to remount and make the first hairpin turn immediately following the barriers in solid second position when I dropped my chain. Fumbling and cursing ensued. From second place to last in a heartbeat. Not only last, but the pack was not even visible on the horizon. No problem, only minor panic. Get the chain on, go like hell. Anaerobic for 1.5 laps and I started to catch and pass people. Taking greater and greater risks with the dismounts and clearing the barriers was exciting, really. Sights always set on the next rider and the next obstacle. Always on the edge, how late can I brake for the barrier or the turn, how fast can I take that section and the tires just skimming the barriers over and over again. I never crashed though. With two laps to go, our official, Paul Loufak, called out "That's your fastest lap time" as I went through the start finish area. The run up was the toughest on the last lap, I felt like throwing up, but I knew it was the last time up that section. On the fire road once again, I finally saw the leader who had crashed into the barriers at the start. We passed each other going in opposite directions. I didn't know exactly what place I was in at this point but I did know there were riders between us. A little descent, a glance back over the shoulder to make sure I was safe and I coasted over the finish line and congratulated the winner as we compared notes on the course. Tens of people cheered our efforts. Turns out, I finished 5th overall and 2nd in my race (Masters 45+). Two more races are planned for the SB Cyclocross series, both in the SB - Goleta area. Come on out and give it a go or just watch. It's a kick.

Last local (Goleta) cross race, Sat 1/11. Info: http://www.ridesb.com/2002_sb_cyclocross_series.htm.

DOWN THE EAST COAST

By Bill Pollock

In the weeks after Labor Day, quiet gradually settles on the seaside towns in New England. With sweltering August days gone, the summer residents go back to the city and kids go back to school. Houses are shuttered, sailboats hauled out, beaches cleared of their rental stands and snackbars. Year-round residents reappear, now willing to brave the roads even on weekends. Carpenters and painters are at work on yearly maintenance jobs, taking advantage of Indian Summer, those delightfully sunny September days.
New England Fall (New Hampshire)

Dolores' sister had offered us the use of her summer cottage on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. The house is unheated, so we could stay "until the pipes freeze", she said. In the warmth of mid-September, that seemed a remote prospect. We unloaded our van, settled in, got a discount card for the local supermarket, found the best sources of fresh fish, scoped out restaurants in the nearby town of Hyannis (famed as President Kennedy's summer retreat), walked the beaches, kayaked to quiet coves -- and explored the Cape by bike.

Roads are often old and narrow in the East: a low dirt shoulder or none at all, white line running right down the edge of the asphalt. No place for a cyclist while the vacation hordes are on the loose, and a test of nerves even in the off-season. But Massachusetts does boast a marked route called Bike 1, running 120 miles from Boston to the tip of Cape Cod at Provincetown. On the Cape, bike lanes lead to a 25-mile rail-trail through the woods, and then to remote roads atop cliffs that overlook the Atlantic and the endless white beaches of Cape Cod National Seashore. Bike 1's finale is a loop in a wilderness of ancient sand dunes behind Provincetown. Grasses, shrubs, even groves of pine and hardwood have grown on this tumble of giant sand hills, and ponds dot the landscape. Autumn here brings breathtaking color to the leaves.
Cape Cod Dunes

The beauty of fall is not without its price, however. In October, the nor'east storms begin, bringing dark-gray skies and chilly rain, warnings of the coming winter. Nights get colder, morning sunshine later, and the threat of pipes freezing begins to look real. We packed up a week after Columbus Day and began a slow drift to the south, the plan being to follow the changing foliage down the coast, thus extending that colorful season. And so we enjoyed the red and gold leaves from New Hampshire all the way down to Pennsylvania and Maryland. Biked everywhere, too, weather permitting.

In Philadelphia I climbed the Manayunk Wall, famed killer hill in the CoreStates circuit race. It's only a half-mile climb, but the grade hits 12%. The pros do about 10 laps. I actually did 3 laps, climbing a different street each time because our hosts in Philly couldn't decide which one was the real Wall. And then there's the gorgeous countryside outside the city: rolling hills, streams ambling beside the road, woods ablaze with autumn, fields with white rail fences. Next time you're out that way (maybe for the track Nationals?), take a couple of days just to ride in the country. (Ask Gary Hill, who used to live there, about the scenery.)

Dawdling in Virginia, we fell behind the foliage 'front', the trees all started to look brown, and it was getting dang cold again. And I had one more hillclimb in mind. We hustled down to Asheville, North Carolina which, by the way, is a lively little city in the hills, with echoes of Boulder and Santa Cruz -- art galleries and craft stores, big civic auditorium, lots of young folks, two alternative weekly papers, and restaurants ranging from Southern to European to Vegetarian. (A far cry from coastal NC, which features cotton fields, big pickup trucks and Confederate flags.)

But we were in Asheville because it's the jumpoff point for Great Smoky Mountain National Park. In the Park is Clingman's Dome, highest mountain in the East (6600 ft), and there's a paved road to the top. By now it's November 20 and the weather forecast is grim, but Hey, let's give it a try. Drive to the Park entrance at 2000 ft; cold rain coming down hard, hmmm, maybe I'll do myself a favor. Drive on to 3000 ft; a break in the rain! Whip out the bike and start cranking up the hill. Eight miles later, at 5000 ft, a left turn onto the Clingman's road and poof, into the cloud layer. Snow and icicles on the rocks along the road, temperature 38 degrees, fog. Not as cold as Pine Mountain back home, but a lot wetter. 7 more miles to climb. Eerie feeling, with birch and pine trees sieving water out of the cloud and dropping it onto the road and the rider. A short downhill stretch to heighten fears about icy pavement, then at last the long curving final climb that wraps around the summit dome. The parking lot emerges from the mist, and I see Dolores waiting for me in the van. We walk the 300-yd path to the actual summit. (Wearing dry clothes and mountain parka, it almost feels warm.)
Clingman's Dome

The next morning snow was blowing across the Interstate highway in Asheville, and we were making tracks for the coast. A few hundred miles later, we pulled into Charleston, South Carolina: sunshine, palm trees, a light breeze rippling the bay out towards Ft Sumter. Yep, I think we're done with the mountains for this season.

Thanksgiving in the Sea Islands of Georgia, then on to St Petersburg, Florida, for a month on the Gulf coast and Christmas with old friends. Happy New Year to you all!

Pack Filler

You're inspired, and ready to roll out on a Tour of your own. And if you live in Santa Barbara or Goleta, you're among the privileged few who can be on a Tour-worthy mountain climb within minutes. So how do our local climbs stack up to cycling's most famous climbs? Both Gibraltar and Old San Marcos/Painted Cave resemble L'Alpe d'Huez and Pyrenean climbs- shorter and just a bit steeper than most of the famous climbs in the Alps.

Rough (it is filler, after all) numbers:

Gibraltar (the Mission to Camino Cielo): 13.5km @ 7.1% (last 10km- Gibraltar road itself- almost 8%, Flores Flats section around 10%).
Old San Marcos/Painted Cave (to Camino Cielo): 10km @ 8%, switchbacks of Painted Cave around 10%.

Compare with L'Alpe d'Huez: 14.1km @ 8%
The Pyrenees' Hautacam: 13.5km @ 7.9%

Most other big Alpine climbs are longer than L'Alpe. And Ventoux is 21km @ 7.5%. Famous beastly Giro climbs include the Gavia, 17.3km @ 7.9%, and Mortirolo 12.6km @ 10.3%. And the Vuelta's new star, L'Anglrilu, is 12.9km @ 9.6%, but like many of the above climbs, has extended sections harder than our local climbs: in this case the whole second half is over 11%, with the famous sections up to 23%.