Lurkin on The Loop!

LOOP LURKIN
is an activity best left to the summer sun,
unless you are one of those rare breed,
RACER.


Riding at 1000 feet in the Winter months can lead to cold fingers,
and tingling toes.



Sunday saw scenarios similar certainly, but some saw old friends and new competition.



Sprinting
for the "Stop Sign Ahead" sign from under the bridge, Bergmann looked like he knew what he was doing and Peter seemed to be finding 0ut what he could really do.

Kent and Noah were always lurking.



Everyone was steaming by the time we came back to Fairmont and Talbot.









Master of hospitality of course once again had a winning idea with tacos from the taquiera on HWY 10.





Kent and Noah blazed the descent off the west slope. Bergmann and Petey hearded the youngins to the feed zone.

Sunny Saturday

Surprise!

Winter Cold Warmed Up for an Elite Junior opener in December.

Investment in the young ones is paying off now that they are not so young.
Strong and skilled they got down the road pretty good.

Climbing Cornell to Skyline and descending McNamee, Noah and Luca led us out while Pete Smith mentored. Tupac, The Badger and Daddy pushed with one hand , then switched.

Regulating tempo with easy gears, the team made good time out. And when they turned in on HWY 30, they caught everyone on the road.

Along the way we met friends who had preceded in The Lore. One was Kyle McTeague, a premiere climber who raced for PSU with Norrene Valente, Tim Bergmann, and myself.





He was tickled to meet the Junior boys and asked them questions about their cycling.




Our next rendevous was a pit stop to flip a stem, and at Westend we laughed with three guys who had raced with Cyclisme when it was "River City Montage," "GB Cyclisme" and recently with "RCB Cyclisme."


Mark Ontiverous, Justin Serna, and Chris Corno had all raced for Cyclisme at one time or another.
Just Serna even returned and coached on Cyclisme and helped discover Alex Lightman and Trevor Spahr.


Mark let our guys do abs in his store, then bought everyone hot coffees or cocoas.
Getting out of the envelope was the order of the day, and whether our guys were racing scary or socializing sweet, it all came full circle to Cyclisme.

BUUURRRRR ito!

Cold is not the word...
Electric Bite-Ya Cold is closer to the point.

Team rides keep it close to the start. Hot loops of climbing help regulate the system, but still there is little defense against the cold except big effort.

In situations like these, kids like their cocoa HOT.

Eastmoreland Market is our place of choice for meeting, snacking and libation. Their Meditereano exotic faire is still a thrill 5 rides into the winter.

Their store seems like a miracle after one loses all feeling in their face.

While some teams are challenging gigantic truck convoys and car traffic blowing like frozen leaves out into the hours of Long Slow Distance, Cyclisme is sweating and laughing through raucious games of bicycle tag on the Reed College Campus.

Tim Bergmann has been holding down the fort as Juniors are showing great promise for 2012.

Juniors are learning about all things wild and Italian and edible. Santo is making friends. Kent is eating lots and lots of bread.
Cycling and eating go hand in hand.