Cycling the Dolomites — Slideshow at Tread Bikes Saturday March 31st @ 6 PM

I’ll be giving a slideshow about cycling in the Dolomites at 6 PM on Saturday, March 31st at Tread Bikes in Campbell, California.  The address is 501 E. Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA.

The Dolomites is the easternmost part of the Alps, an area where coral atolls have eroded into dramatic mountain peaks, and a part of northern Italy that was once Austrian so the language, food, and culture is an interesting mix of Austrian/German and Italian.  The Dolomites offer some of Europe’s best cycling with beautiful scenery, a great mix of easy and difficult rides, delicious cuisine, and some pretty famous places in the history of cycling.

I made my first trip to the Dolomites 21 years ago in 1991 and have been back 6-8 times so far.  Last August, I went on a trip to the Dolomites with Alta Quota Adventures.  All of the photos in this slideshow  are from that trip.

Hope to see you there!

Allan

Vincent Juarez Prepares for Track World Championships

Resplendent in stars and stripes, world traveler and local track hero  Vincent Juarez is in town, training hard for the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships to be hosted at the Home Depot Velodrome in Los Angeles February 9-12, 2012.  Vincent’s goal is to win the kilometer, one of the most grueling and painful events in cycling.

At last year’s world championships, Vincent placed second in the “kilo” in Montichiari Italy, coming within 0.1 second of the former world record and finishing one second behind Great Britain’s Jon-Allan Butterworth who set the new world record.

This year, Vincent is coming to the event stronger and fitter with the determination to win.

Vincent’s Palmares

Vincent’s list of victories is impressive.  In addition to 2nd place in the kilo at the world championships, Vincent’s victories include:

• 1st place in the kilometer at USA Track National Championships
• 1st place in the time trial at USA Para-Cycling Road National Championships
• 1st place in the team sprint at USA Junior Track National Championships
• 1st place in the points race at the NCNCA Junior District Track Championships

Living the Dream

Vincent wins bike races and is traveling all over the world to compete.  At the young age of 19, he already has three national titles to his credit.  In addition to Montichiari, Italy where he finished 2nd in the kilometer, Vincent has competed in Denmark (Road Para-Cycling World Championships), Canada, Australia, and Gualdalajara, Mexico (Pan-American Games) as part of the USA Paralympic National Team.  After the UCI World Championships in Los Angeles this February, Vincent heads to London for the Paralympics.

Vincent’s Story

Vincent serves as an inspiration for many cyclists who aspire to improve their fitness and achieve great results.  When you meet him, he is soft-spoken and humble, despite his extraordinary results.

Yet, Vincent is disabled.  At the age of 15 he suffered a stroke that left the left side of his body paralyzed.  His stroke likely occured as a result of a blood clot after jaw surgery.  After some physical therapy, he has recovered most of his function and appears to be fully functional to most of us.  He competes in C5, which is the most able category in paralympics.  He he has some lack of mobility in his left ankle and his left arm yet this doesn’t seem to slow him down on the bike.  He explains the left side of his face doesn’t move as much as it should and his speech is slurred.  He’s quite shy with new people, but his speech is very clear.

Vincent training with Daniel Farinha at Hellyer Velodrome

Prior to his stroke, Vincent played soccer.  As his condition improved, he sought to be physically active again.  He grew up playing soccer with Daniel Farhina who was also an avid cyclist, with great results both at the track and on the road.

Daniel encouraged Vincent to try cycling.  Vincent joined Team San Jose/San Jose Bicycle Club and enrolled in the Hellyer Velodrome Juniors Program.  Vincent took to it very quickly.  His achievements are testament to his talent and dedication.

Preparation for World’s

Vincent’s humility and quiet nature belies the seriousness of his purpose and his commitment to training.  In preparation for world’s, he rides on the track every Thursday with his coach Dave McCook.  His training includes long rides on the road plus interval sessions with 3 sets of 3-5 minute efforts.

Back from his world travels, Vincent is enjoying riding in San Jose with his local friends but will be training on the velodrome in Los Angeles frequently during January.  Margins of victory in the kilo are slim, so every tenth of a second counts.  Being completely familiar with the course will pay dividends in time and potentially put Vincent in the rainbow stripes in February.

Vincent is the pride of the Hellyer Velodrome community.  Vincent, we wish you great success in February!

How to Race Cyclocross (Joachim Parbo CX Clinic)

Yesterday I attended Joachim Parbo’s Cyclocross Clinic at Baylands Park in Palo Alto.  Four-time Danish National Cyclocross Champion Joachim Parbo broke cyclocross down into three critical skills, explained and demonstrated each one, and then gave each participant hands-on personal instruction and feedback on each skill.

I’ve never raced cyclocross before.  I have photographed cyclocross many times, but not recently.  I photographed Cyclocross a  lot in Sonoma county in the early 1990s, photographed Cyclocross Nationals in Tuolumne, CA in 1993, and photographed two races in Belgium in 2009, Dottignies and SuperPrestige Gavere.

Freinds have suggested I give Cyclocross a try.  It would address all of my weaknesses as a rider and would probably be a lot of fun.  My initial thought was to go buy a cyclocross bike and enter a race.  If I did that, I’d probably get thrashed and frustrated.  Having watched Joachim Parbo conduct this clinic, I now understand what I’d have to do to prepare for a cyclocross event and would be able to enter the sport much more effectively.

Joachim covered bike setup and went over three critical skills:

1. dismounting & remounting,
2. cornering, and
3. shouldering.

Bike Setup

Joachim explained that a cyclocross bike must be set up for good bike handling and the rider must be able to accelerate and decellerate quickly.  While criterium racers keep speeds relatively constant, in cyclocross, a rider must regularly accelerate from 5 to 25 mph, and the bike must be set up to facilitate this.

That said, aero bike positions are worthless.  You must be able to pound on the pedals and you must be comfortable.  For reference, here’s a photo of Joachim’s current cross rig.

It sure is clean.  It looks like he went over it with a toothbrush just yesterday!

Joachim made a point to many riders about brake hood position.  Compared to a normal road bike, Joachim recommends the brake hoods be placed higher and closer to the rider.  Otherwise, the setup isn’t too different than a normal road setup.

I noticed one other interesting detail on Joachim’s rig.  He uses hydraulic disk brakes for maximum stopping power.  Because levers for hydraulic brakes are not available in cross form, he has a cable-to-hydraulic adapter mounted under his stem.

Here’s Joachim discussing bike position with 2005 USA Road Champion Katheryn Curi-Mattis.  He’s recommending she lower her seat.  The tradeoff is a bit less leverage on the pedals and maybe a less aerodynamic position, but more comfort and flexibility for cross.

Dismounting & Remounting

OK, now for some skills.  Joachim started with dismounts and remounts.  In a cyclocross race, you have to do this a lot, so getting the technique down is really important.

Joachim had the riders perform a simple drill, approaching an obstacle, dismounting a few steps before and then remounting once the obstacle was cleared.  He used a pretty easy obstacle and stressed technique over exertion.  Technique was pretty simple — just dismount, grab the top tube, run a few steps, and then get back on.

Here’s Joachim demonstrating the remount at a walking pace.

Karen Brems, 1994 World Time Trial Champion and current cyclocross dominatrix, shows us how it’s done at speed.

The riders worked on this drill for nearly an hour with Joachim giving each rider individual critique and instruction.  As a photographer, I noticed big differences in the skill of the riders.  Their comfort with the skill influenced how many steps they took after the obstacle before they remounted and, therefore, where I had to be to take a good photo.

The critical tip seemed to be that the riders should push the bike forward before they jump in the air to land on it.  Joachim demonstrated this push-forward technique and also the alternative.

Here are two riders remounting side-by-side with Andrew Yee from Cyclocross Magazine in the background taking their picture.

Cornering

Joachim set up a simple downhill slalom course by dropping a few waterbottles on the ground and had the riders ride down it repeatedly.  I remember doing the same drill when I learned how to ski, following the instructor’s tracks through the snow.

Joachim discussed the choice of apex — too early, too late, and just right — and demonstrated how to do it.  After watching the riders a few times, he pointed out where riders were getting in trouble.  On innocuous-looking turn 3, many riders would apex too late.  This resulted in them having to go a bit uphill to get to turn 4, slowing them down, but also causing them to set up turn 4 incorrectly.

Here’s Lee Sloan riding through corner 2.  Yeah, it looks like he’s racing.  No, this is a clinic and the speeds were slow.  Joachim’s focus is on technique, not speed or exertion.

Another important point is that, if you use sewup tires, make sure they are properly glued before you race.  Fortunately, this tire came off at low speed and nobody was hurt.

Shouldering

The last skill Joachim covered was shouldering.  This is the technique of picking up the bike for a long carry.

Joachim explained the process and steps involved in shouldering.  First, you grab the bike frame with your hand on the down tube right where the shifters used to be (sorry young guys, yes we geriatrics used to have shifters on the down tube in the old days).  Next, you lift the bike up and put it on your shoulder.  Finally, you  hold the handlebars.  Joachim demonstrated a few ways to hold the bars.

Here’s a photo of Joachim instructing Richard Jacinto in shouldering technique.

Putting the bike down is a simple matter of reversing the steps.  Simple, eh?

Shouldering is commonly used for “run-ups” so Joachim had the group practice a runup with the shouldering technique.

Well, that’s about it.

A big thanks to Joachim for a fascinating and instructive session.  Speaking for myself, even though I didn’t have a bike, I sure learned a lot.  These simple techniques will make it easier for me once I do get a cross bike.  I guess I’ll have to leave my camera at home.

I really appreciate people who really understand a subject and can explain it clearly.  Apart from being a four-time Danish National Champion, Joachim Parbo is one of those rare individuals who really gets it and has a gift for teaching.  Thank you Joachim for your insights!

Thanks also to Sterling Sports Group and Coach Matt McNamara for helping put on the clinic.

Oh, P. S. – I posted a full set of photos here.

Danish National Champion Joachim Parbo to Lead Cyclocross Clinic

Danish National Cyclocross Champion Joachim Parbo spoke last night at the Webcor/Alto Velo club meeting about his history, training philosophy, the US and European Cyclocross scenes, Danish investment in cycling facilities, and announced a cyclocross clinic tonight 4-6 PM at the Palo Alto Baylands Park and a talk at the Bicycle Outfitter from 7-8:30 PM.

Joachim Parbo started bicycle racing relatively late in life.  He was discovered playing in the forest and encouraged to enter mountain bike races when he was 24, far too old for pro european sports.  He won the Danish mountain bike championships in 1999 and dabbled in ski touring and adventure racing before discovering his true love — Cyclocross.  He made the national team and was offered a sponsor bike.  He entered his first cross race in Belgium.  Despite being up against the top riders from all over europe, he didn’t get lapped.  A few years later, he won the Danish National Cyclocross Championships and has now won his country’s title four times: 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010.

Joachim’s Training Philosophy

Joachim follows an unconventional training plan.  A rebel to the dictates of structured plans, Joachim goes mostly on feel.  He reports that he does own a heart rate monitor, but only uses it to “look at the clock.”  He uses pain as his training indicator.

Joachim listens to his body and adjusts his training appropriately.  When he started out, he went hard every day, but starting in 2004, he goes by feel and eases up some of the days.  By staying fresh, he can go harder on his hard days and achieves better results when he races.

Joachim makes it clear that talented bike riders must be able to endure a lot of pain, but he says you must let old ladies pass you on the bike path when they are going grocery shopping.

Joachim does a lot of low-intensity base-building during the summer.  He works as a bike path inspector for the city of Aarhus in eastern Denmark.  His work requires he cover a network of 350 miles of bike paths, which fits in very nicely with building a massive base of training.

An interesting side note: Joachim does not shave his legs.  He didn’t shave his legs when he first started out and sees no reason to change now that he is in the professional ranks.  Since he is a cyclocross rider, he doesn’t have to worry about crashing on the pavement so he can “stay furry.”

Cyclocross Scene: US vs. Europe

At the end of the summer, Joachim switches over to Cyclocross, racing for a month or two in the US before he returns to Europe for the famous races in Spain, Italy, Luxemburg, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and of course Denmark.

Interestingly Joachim doesn’t race much in Belgium, and is strongly enthusiastic about the US Cyclocross scene.  Joachim points out that Belgian cyclocross is like US football, maybe a bit more aggro.  While the top level riders get paid 10,000 € just to show up, the fields aren’t very deep.  By contrast, US cyclocross is more grass roots and more fun.  Fields have “thickened” with some fields having more than 100 riders.  Courses have evolved from simple grass crits to really challenging “buttonhook 180″ courses emulating the classics like Gavere.  American fields continue to grow and the depth of talent is increasing, making the races both challenging and exciting.

Danish Investment in Cycling Facilities

Joachim described bike paths in Denmark and cited a few numbers that made my head spin.  Denmark has a 5-year plan that earmarks $200M to be spent on cycling facilities.  Wow!  Denmark’s population is only 5 million people.  That’s $40 per person or $8 per person per year.

How much do we spend in the US?  I honestly don’t know the number, but I doubt we meet that mark even in bike-friendly meccas like Palo Alto and Boulder.  Can anybody give me figures?

Clinic and Talk Tonight

Joachim goes home Wednesday.  He’s been here for a month or so and has competed at Cross Vegas, at Greem Mountain Cyclocross in Vermont, the Gloucester Grand Prix in Providence, and in Irvine, CA.

Tonight he’s holding a cyclocross clinic in Palo Alto.  It’s your opportunity to get one-on-one instruction and tips from a world class pro and all-around nice guy.  A few seats are left and it only costs $30, so if you’re interested, show up at Baylands Park at the T intersection of Embarcadero Road and Embarcadero Way at 4 PM today.

And if you’d like to hear Joachim speak, you can see him from 7-8:30 PM at the Bicycle Outfitter in Los Altos in Loyola Corners, just off Foothill Boulevard.

Thanks to KCM

Joachim Parbo spoke last night at the Webcor/Alto Velo club meeting thanks to Katheryn Curi-Mattis, otherwise known as KCM.  KCM won the US National Road Championships in 2005, represented the USA at the cycling world championships in Geelong, Australia in 2010, is a driving force behind the Webcor women’s bridge team, is married to Webcor/Alto Pro Team co-founder and 2011 Masters World Champion James Mattis, and loves cyclocross.  Maybe she’ll consider a second career?  We can always hope as it is a joy to watch her race!

Here’s a photo of Joachim and Katheryn after the meeting.

Elizabeth & Jared’s Wine Country Wedding at Vine Hill House

Wow!  I just got back from Vine Hill House in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, California where I photographed Elizabeth & Jared’s wedding.  What energy and excitement!  Elizabeth’s and Jared’s families are so happy for the couple and proud of them.  The love and energy was flowing at the event and it was so fun to serve the couple and their families.

I’ve just started post processing the images and wanted to get a few of my favorites up so Elizabeth & Jared can share them with their friends and families.  They are in Hawaii now on their honeymoon.  I’ll be working on Lightroom for the rest of the week and a bit of next and will have the full gallery up for Elizabeth & Jared to review soon.

So, here we go!  Here’s a photograph of Elizabeth and Jared in the vineyard.

 

The vineyard is one of the coolest parts of getting married at Vine Hill House.  Established in Sebastopol just west of Santa Rosa by the O’Connell family nearly 100 years ago, Vine Hill House was originally an apple farm, specializing in heirloom Gravenstein apples.  9 years ago, Dan & Jan O’Connell planted their first grapes and now make a delicious Pinot Noir.  Tiny wineries next door, like Paul Hobbs and Thomas Dehlinger, brought fame to this area by demonstrating that this tiny little hill can make some of the world’s best Pinot.

The O’Connell family now hosts weddings at their property.  Vine Hill House is a  popular venue because it offers a peaceful country setting and the opportunity to  personalize your wedding.  If you want corporate Tuscan wedding #237, just like #236, you won’t get it here.  If you want the soft country feel and your own pizazz, Vine Hill House is the place.

Now, back to Elizabeth & Jared.

Here is Jared getting ready, about to put his tie on.  He’s got a pretty big smile, too!  What a confident man!

Radiant in her wedding dress, Elizabeth is smashingly beautiful.   Her mom and best friends are putting the final touches on her outfit just before the ceremony starts.

Here she is with her beautiful bouquet.

Elizabeth’s entire life is about to change.  The moment she walks through that door, she will marry the man she loves.

Here are Elizabeth & Jared’s wedding bands balanced on corks from O’Connell Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir.  This wine is absolutely delicious, but production is very small (only 200-300 cases per year), so the wine is hard to get.  Even if you’re not getting married, you should call up Dan, posed as an engaged couple, tour Vine Hill House, and get him to sell you some wine!    Actually, you can buy Dan’s wine here.

I enjoyed posing Elizabeth & Jared in the vineyard.  From the photographers perspective, the vineyard is the coolest part of Vine Hill House.

As we walked back to the reception, Elizabeth jumped into Jared’s arms and celebrated.  Looks like she really scored!

I think Jared’s pretty happy, too.  Here’s a shot of Elizabeth & Jared admiring their rings together.

Cheers to Jared’s and Elizabeth’s family.  It was a wonderful to see your joy and share in your celebration.  Your happiness is contagious and lifted my soul.

Elizabeth!!! Jared!!! enjoy Hawaii!  Relax and enjoy the down time after all the work you put in planning your beautiful wedding.  Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon!

Maria & Erik’s Engagement

Maria & Erik are very excited about their upcoming December wedding.  Maria & Erik are very happy to have found each other and to make a union between their two families.  Erik proposed by hiding the beautiful ring in some orange Sherbert.  Maria’s daughter Lexi was there for the proposal and drew a heart in the sherbert before Maria ate it.

We headed to a local Japanese garden for the engagement session.  I first photographed Maria & Erik chatting with each other walking hand-in-hand towards me across the lawn.

I love the way they look at each other.  Maria’s gaze seems to say “Erik you are the best man I have discovered in my life.  I am so blessed to have found you.” and Erik’s confident look back seems to say “I am so sure about my choice in you. I am ready to spend the rest of my life with you.”  Maybe I should ask them what they really were thinking? 

Erik and Maria really are larger than life.  They have untold energy and a “go for it” attitude in everything they do.  Erik’s confidence and Maria’s enthusiasm will allow them to achieve together anything they want in life.

Next, we headed over to the lake for a scenic pose.  It’s pretty easy to get them to smile.  So long as they are together, they are happy.  They are even happier when they are touching each other.  This pose has a lot of touching, so it was a good pose. 

Since Maria is an angel, I tried a little backlighting so we could all see Maria’s halo.

The back light definitely lit up Maria’s hair.  While Erik doesn’t have quite as much of a halo, he lights up when he is in Maria’s aura!

Maria has a beautiful and unusual ring with a bright blue stone and a matching bracelet.

Finally, here are Maria and Erik relaxing on the grass, take 1…

and take 2…

They sure like to be next to each other, don’t they? 

Cein & Matt’s Engagement — Smooth Sailing Ahead!

There is nothing a photographer can enjoy more than photographing a young couple in love.  This past Saturday, I drove out to Stockton to meet Cein (pronounced “seen”) and Matt who are engaged to be married next July.  Cein and Matt have known each other for 10 years.  They worked together at the movie theatre, have been best friends ever since,  and will soon be man and wife.

I met them at their beautiful home on the channel.  We hopped in the car and drove to Lodi Lakes Park.  Yes, Cein and Matt are water people.  They love lakes and boats.  Here they are standing by the lake.

What a beautiful dress she wore!  We gotta see this from a few more angles.  Here is Matt kneeling.  (He’s a very tall guy!)

I asked them to sit on the park bench and enjoy the view.  I snuck up behind them, surprised them, and got these smiling faces.

Next, we tried lying on the grass.  These two are happy so long as they are next to each other.  Smiles beam from them every second of the day!

That was fun, so we hopped back into the car and headed off to the Stockton Sailing club to check out the harbor.  Cein and Matt are happy pretty much whenever they are around each other or when they are near boats and water.  Being together at a sailing club is even better.

Yes, you’ll notice, they both changed.  Cein brought a change of clothes for herself and a fresh shirt for Matt.  Gotta look your best, eh? 

Cein’s father keeps his sailboat in the harbor, so we walked out on the docks.  Cein and Matt posed on the bow of the boat.

On the way back to the car, things got a little playful.

Matt is a very warm person, very easy to be around.  Cein is inquisitive and fascinated with life, awaiting adventure at every turn.  The two just ooze with optimism and happiness.  Without a doubt, life will reward Cein and Matt with great experiences and a very happy marriage.

Cein is wearing a beautiful diamond engagement ring on her hand and a delicate string of pearls on her wrist.

Looking closer at that beautiful diamond, we see it really sparkles!

and finally, Cein and Matt close in for the kiss…

here they go!

and there were a few repeats after this.