Found some film rolling around in my bag, and got these images off of it. This was from a few months ago when Drew, Norm, Aaron and I decided that we should be like the Europeans and ride no matter what the weather. It happened to be not so bad when we rolled out, then after a stop to get some rain jackets it was some of the hardest rain I have ever experienced on or off the bike and there was lightning to make it more interesting. We descended down into Camarillo and took a bit of a break to dry off and eat some snacks. Kept riding on the PCH where I really felt like complete crap. Stopped at Neptunes to warm up, but I had to call it quits and get a sag vehicle to pick me up. The other guys made it back over the canyon home like men. I proceeded to sleep for the next 15hrs when I got back, feeling achier then ever. Well, enough story time, here are some pictures.

Swarm! puts on a yearly even called Feel My Legs, I’m a Racer, where the objective is to race up the 10 of the steepest hills in LA, one after another. The supposed steepest street, Fargo, is only one of them. Aaron and I decided to head out and give this a go. Super nice morning but then it turned to a hot day which made climbing even more fun. Some of these roads are ridiculous, barely kept up, pot holes, gravel, glass, dogs, peacocks, narrow, but that adds to the fun of it. Everyone had a good time, and I definitely felt my legs after racing up all 10 of the hills. Can’t wait til next year! This is the view of Fargo, 33% of torture for one block.

I have been going to Encino Velodrome on Wednesday nights with Matt these past few weeks to get some race knowledge of the track. It is way more fun now that we really know what the races are and how they run. It is always fun when there are more people to ride with, so come on out. We are going to get the BBQ grill going on the infield for some warmth and some food. Aaron came by one of the nights to take some pictures and hang out and see what the track was about. The pictures came out rad.

The rest of the pictures here:
http://aaronpalmerphoto.com/galleries/encino.velo/

Go fast, turn left!

Aaron and I decided to head up to Santa Barbara on super bowl Sunday to ride up Gibraltar. It was a great day out, windy on the coast but got better when we arrived in Santa Barbara. Got some food and supplies at Lazy Acre market and then headed out. Started straight from the beach and headed up State st. into the mountains. It got warm fast as we headed up, and the view just got better and better. The climb is ~10mi all uphill, and it only gets steeper as you get higher. Towards the summit someone met up with us on a super awesome Crest team edition bike, and told us to go to this look out point, so we followed and relaxed and ate out snacks up there while soaking up the warmth from the sun. The descent was chilly! but totally worth it all. Crest bike man told us to take a different road then planned down and it was way better then we expected. Butter smooth roads and nice and open with little traffic. Got back and headed straight for victory burritos. It was a good day. The only camera I had was my dads old point and shoot from when I was a kid, hence the look of the 80′s, but I like it.

The rest here:
http://samsonkhatae.com/images/gibraltar/

Aaron and I headed up the get a little racing in up past Santa Barbara for the UCSB Poor College Kids road race. It was a nice day out, would have been perfect for just riding, but we were racing. It was fun, no crashes in our group, just a bunch of surging back and forth. Not the best results for us…just testing out our legs I’d like to say. Colby did great tho, 6th in his heat, even tho he was in a different team kit, we can still congratulate him.

Well, what did I get myself into. Got invited to go for a mountain bike ride with Drew and Colby to a run called “Suicide”. Drew was testing out some gear from Fox. I am not to great on a mountain bike, but it was going to be fun to go and take some pictures and try it out. It all starts with a 45 minute walk up pushing a bike, I thought my calves were going to explode. It was getting dark as we got to the top, and it was windy. Headed down at my pace (slow) to spots to take pictures, snapped some, and then worked our way down the mountain with minimal light. I need to try this activity some other time then after dusk. Got some cool pictures tho!

Gallery of the pictures here
http://samsonkhatae.com/images/mtbikesuicide/

It has been one of those crazy times in California where it was cold and rainy. First day of clear blue skies we got out and did some riding without anywhere to go in particular and it was great. Stopped at the Somis Nut House to get some snacks and rode some roads we haven’t been on. The light ran out and we had to call it a day after our post meal ride at Denny’s. Can’t wait for more days like this.

Howdy all, so today was an amazing day and some of us were lucky enough to get out and do some pedalin for a few hours… Anyhow, I’m not gonna get into it too much here seeing as how I started a new personal site and will most likely be linking you guys over there to catch up on my going on adventures etc… That being said, here it is, and check back often as I hope to keep it updated and amusing regularly.

http://drewrohde.blogspot.com/

Hey guys,

So, my buddy Luke who is the shops inside Trek guy out there in Wiscansin got the awesome chance to play domestique for Gary Fisher couple weekends ago at the Tour de Tucson. (Perks of workin for the big boys) Enjoy

Yo Drew, and fellow Chaing Gang associates,

Here are some pics of my trip to ride and work the Tour de Tuscon. Trip was incredible, the ride had more than 12,000 participants and 30,000 spectators.

Arriving late to the event, Gary was itching to ride, cheering on riders already on the road and whistling the circus theme as we prepared. After dropping the hammer from the gate we had to stop quickly and make some saddle height adjustments. We had one tool for the 3 of us, Gary finished first and took off- it was the last we would see of him.

Later that day, after the ride, we ate a copious amount of mexican food at Cafe Poca Cosa and drank the finest tequila Tucson had to offer- thus the shit eating grin on my face in the picture.

Viva El Tour de Tucson

Luke



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