Andrew Taylor’s Secret Stash of Santa Cruz Dirt Jumps
by Yuri Hauswald
21 Jul 10 05 07
AUTHOR
Pack it up Superman, AT is in the house!
Although Andrew Taylor, Marin Bike’s slope style/dirt jumping, high flying ace lives in Santa Cruz, he still considers Santa Rosa his home town. I am currently in a secret location in the Santa Cruz Mountains “working” with the Ride Guide TV crew as we film a segment about Marin Bikes and some of its riders. If you want to see what few have seen before when it comes to where many of today’s finest dirt jumpers honed their high flying skills, then check out this link.
Enjoying a Tennent's lager, Scotland's national brew, at a quaint fishing spot on the River Dee.
Although I am of Germanic descent, I don’t really have much connection to the history or heredity of “my people”, unless you consider my deep appreciation for brauts/sausage and other salted pork products evidence of some sort of cultural link. My wife’s family,on the other hand, has a deep understanding and love for Scotland, the country from whence their blood line began. Arnot, or also Arnott, is the family surname that dates back to the 12th Century and can be pinpointed to a small locale situated on the border of Fife and Kinross-shire. Our fearless family tour guide, DTD, otherwise known as the Plan Man, took us to this area to show us the craggy remains of the Arnot Tower, thought to be built in the early 1400s, that stands today as evidence of this bucolic area’s feudal past and, more importantly, as a reminder of his family’s roots. It was touching to see three generations of Arnots, Dave, Duncan and Rowan, stand beneath the remains of this historical landmark.
Napa resident Lucas Euser(Team Spidertech presented by Planet Energy),who currently sits in 19th place in the 2010 Tour of California, started racing BMX bikes when he was six years old. He eventually graduated to mountain bikes and raced the first two years of the now highly successful NorCal High School Mountain Bike League. While an undergraduate at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the 5′7″, 130 pound Euser turned to the road and quickly began to rise through the cycling ranks. In 2006, he signed with the Garmin team and seemed to be destined for cycling greatness-that was until he was hit by a car in May of 2009 while training in Girona, Spain. The horrific collision that saw him sustain two broken ribs, a broken finger and a shattered patella could’ve been a career ender, especially considering that he was later dropped by his Garmin team. Not one to be deterred by adversity and no contract for 2010, Euser set his sights on returning to the pro peloton and dedicated himself to a year of difficult rehab and training.
Almost exactly one year since his near career ending injuries, Euser is riding amongst the elite ranks of some of the world’s best cyclists. His powerful pedal strokes are proving to the world that a year’s worth of hard work, rehab and training have paid off and have him on the brink of taking it to the next level.
In 1953, Edmund Hilary and his sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, made mountaineering history by being the first known people to summit Mount Everest. Hailing from the most mountainous region of Nepal, Sherpas are renowned for their hardness, climbing expertise, amazing guiding skills and ability to function at high altitudes. Steve Cozza(Garmin-Transitions), on Stage 6, the 135 mile monster that had over 13,000 ft. of climbing, showed the cycling world why he is the modern day two wheeled version of Tenzing Norgay. Steve’s job on Stage 6, besides chasing down breaks and sheltering their team leader Dave Zabriskie from the wind, was to fetch and carry food and water from the team car and deliver it to DZ, who only had one bottle on his bike the whole stage. Although Steve may have some of the same physical adaptations that make Sherpas great mountaineers like unique hemoglobin-binding enzymes, doubled nitric oxide production, hearts that can utilize glucose, and lungs with an increased sensitivity to low oxygen, it is his aerodynamic mustache that gives him that little extra athletic edge and makes him one of the best and most recognizable domestiques in the international peloton.
In the case of the Stetinas, one of the most decorated , influential and accomplished cycling families in the United States, the apple does not fall far from the tree. For Sonoma County cycling aficionados, particularly those who remember the Coors Classic, Wayne and Dale’s names may ring a bell. Both raced the Coors Classic multiple times, with Dale winning the race in 1979 and 1983. That’s rarified air because Greg Lemond is the only other two time winner. Wayne, the Vice President of Shimano’s bicycle division and the older of the two brothers, won the 1977 Red Zinger Bicycle Classic, rode on the 72′, 76′ and 80′ Olympic teams, took gold in the 1979 Pan Am games in the 100km TTT, has 13 national titles and is in the United States Bicycle Hall of Fame. On Monday, I had the chance to ride with both Wayne and Dale as we did the Davis to Santa Rosa stage, a route that covered some of the hallowed roads that the brothers raced on over thirty years ago.
At this year’s Tour of California, Malcolm Hill, a member of the Amgen UBS Elite Masters Racing Team, has challenged California cyclists to “ride and raise” for charity for Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer initiative by offering riders the chance to ride a stage ahead of the peloton. Hill states that, “This is a great way for California’s cycling community to get in some quality training while supporting Breakaway from Cancer, an important component to the Amgen Tour of California .Our racing team is part of the larger Amgen Cycling Club whose mission includes raising funds for our sponsor charities. We are challenging riders and teams to become part of the highest profile cycling event in the U.S. by participating in one or more of our stage awareness rides.” Besides the fact that over 500,000 Americans are expected to die of cancer this year, that’s 1,500 people a day, cancer has a more personal and powerful connection to my life. Five years ago I lost my father to melanoma. It was the bike, along with a strong and supportive family, that helped me navigate that emotional time in my life.For the first three stages, starting tomorrow in Nevada City, it will be the bike that allows me to share a stage as I ride to raise funds to help raise cancer awareness world wide.
Mile upon mile of asphalt. Thousands of screaming fans lining the roads. Mad finish line media melees to grab that one singular quote or video clip that will rock the cycling world. Wearily hustle out of Dodge, only to face a long night on the road to the next town where the midnight oil is burnt tying to assemble the day’s words and footage into something that will encapsulate the racing action. The 2010 Tour of California is just around the corner and Bike Monkey, just like the Stones, can’t give up the ghost just yet and has decided to get the band back together to follow some of the world’s best cyclists as they battle it out from Nevada City to Agoura Hills.
The elusive Cazadero Monarch
One spring day when the West County hills were an explosion of wildflowers- two friends, butterfly and frog, packed up a Eurovan and headed to the hills outside Guerneville to witness a momentous cycling challenge unfold: Sweetwater Supreme. The parched companions stopped at Guerneville’s finest coffee establishment, one that had more rastas than a Peter Tosh concert, for a final caffeine bump before ducking into the neighborhoods at the base of Old Cazadero Rd. and setting out on their quest: To bring a smile to every suffering face they saw that day.
Volvo means “I roll” in Latin. Yesterday, while on my commute home from school, I decided to test the sturdiness of a Volvo car door. I can attest that the Swedes did their job well, as I was, upon impact, bounced off the burly door and rolled violently across the asphalt. Seems that their car doors really do live up to their namesake. This traumatic impact reminded me that if it weren’t for the three series Rolfing body tune up-one that focused on the pelvic and shoulder girdles, as well as the spine- that I’d recently undergone as a follow up to the ten series I’d done over a year ago, that the injuries that’d been inflicted by Swedish engineering would’ve been a lot worse.
When it comes to fighting fair in the head phone market Phonak, a Swiss based company, is not following it’s historical tradition of remaining neutral in world affairs when it comes to its latest headphone offering: the Audeo PFE. Phonak broke out the serious guns when it designed the PFE headphone system, paying particular attention to the seal between earpiece and ear canal. This interface, one crucial to enhancing comfort and sound, validates Phonak’s PFE acronym.
