-I90 all the way, baby
-flat flat flat, smooth smooth smooth
-since we’re heading southwest, alot less headwind
-I got stopped by 2/undercover 5-0 + 1/marked car in Hondo, Texas. Apparently they were following me for about a mile around 7am this morning and watched/observed me BLOW 4 consecutive redlights in town. When the first car tried to pull me over, I wouldn’t acknowledge cuz I never saw a car with lights or decals, and kept going. By the time he hit the lights/siren, his partner had pulled up on the other side if me in an unmarked truck. They both hit the sirens and by the time I pulled over into a parking lot, there was a 3rd patrol car (this one actually looked like a cop car, haha). So the 1st guy gets out of his Chevy Lumina, and I thought that I was in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger… black tight Levis, black cowboy hat, sheriff star badge, denim shirt, but he was like a fatter, balder Chuck Norris. He says “boy! What gives you the right to blow every single redlight in my town???”. I answered “sir, I didn’t see any redlights, it is too early, too dark, and I am too sleepy to notice anything!”. They looked at each other like I was a weirdo & alien. They took my ID, went back to the car & ran it, then came back with a lecture & warning. “these people/drivers around here aren’t expecting to see the likes of you on a bike, especially in the dark, on an interstate, do yourself a favor and either yield to the traffic laws like any other vehicle, or find another route to get to California, we don’t want to see that kind of recklessness around Hondo.” I stood there with puppydog eyes & remorse, awaiting my fate. “have a safe and lawful trip, and by the way we clocked you doing 30 through 4 consecutive intersections and noticed that you made absolutely NO attempt to stop let alone slow down, next time, don’t do that.”
-and with that, the 3/confused officers let me go
-I think that I ran another redlight about a mile later while leaving Hondo
-good day! Finished the 85mile ride in less than 4hrs, avg mph was around 22-25
-only 2/stops necessary = 1 for Monster, Marlboro, banana, bathroom, the other was to say hi to Texas cops!
-we actually arrived early enough to make breakfast at Holiday Inn! I had: 3/raisin bagels, 3/cinnamon rolls, 3/waffles, 3/bananas, 3/cigarettes… dunno why I chose 3, must’ve been a tribute to the 3/cops in Hondo?”

Benitosan:Sorry to let everyone down guys,
but I believe that I am quitting this tour
very soon, I ABSOLUTELY abhor the South and
I’d rather quit the tour having finished 1st almost
every single day of the tour, then ride another day in this SHIThole.

The South is a big fucking diaper & I feel sorry fir anyone that had to live here,
I will never ever come back here again, the weather, the mentality, the standard of living,
it’s NO wonder people transplant themselves to the Bay Area… this place is DEPRESSING beyond

HOLY SHIT!!!

I can’t give up now, or else I’ll never be able to show my Arrospoks in SF!!!
Thanks for the kind words, affirmations, and support… obviously, had a really REALLY BAD time in the South, still in Mississippi, in a town called Batesville right now… Had a good, easy 60mile ride today… checking into the hotel right now, drinking a Coors Light tallcan @ 1045am… gonna do some laundry, nap, eat some eggs & toast, then relax & regroup my mind for the next leg of the tour… coming up: Arkansas & Oklahoma, I have faith that Little Rock & Oklahoma City will treat me right… need to find a bike shop & get my bike tuned up… need to find a Target or Goodwill & buy some new/used NOT damp/dirty/sticky clothing… I WILL devote torY to getting my mind & body back on track!!! Thanks for all of the encouragement, I am relying on my friends on this forum to get me through the TOUGH times, UGLY weather, UNVOMFORTABLE conditions, and PAINFUL miles of this tour… I WILL look forward to reading MORE support from you guys!!! I need it!!! It’s been almost 3weeks now & nearing 1500miles, I am tired, homesick, and frustrated, but I WILL keep going if only to make my friends back home proud of me, THANKS AGAIN… Will check back later for those important words of advice & influence!!!

ps. I STILL hate/can’t wait to get out of the South, if I NEVER see another Confederate flag, mullet, pickup truck, or armadillo & mosquito, I will be a happy man! Bring on the desert, the dry heat may actually be nice! :thumbup:

-Bennett

Benitosan:Sorry to let everyone down guys,
but I believe that I am quitting this tour
very soon, I ABSOLUTELY abhor the South and
I’d rather quit the tour having finished 1st almost
every single day of the tour, then ride another day in this SHIThole.

The South is a big fucking diaper & I feel sorry fir anyone that had to live here,
I will never ever come back here again, the weather, the mentality, the standard of living,
it’s NO wonder people transplant themselves to the Bay Area… this place is DEPRESSING beyond

Benitosan:Thanks for the words & support all!

For the time being… I’M BACK IN THE GAME

-had a good ride today, and the humidity went down
-still in shithole Mississippi for the time being, but at a A/C hotel at least
-100mile ride to Clarendon, Arkansas tomorrow, ouch!
-mentally recovered today with food, shower, nap, laundry, and shopping therapy
-going to sleep now, proud & appreciative of all the love of SJF… you guys are my family
-the Tour has given me a mock “World Champion Striped” ring to show how I’ve finished almost every stage in first place, I can’t give up the ring right now, it feels so comfortable on my finger!!!

Benitosan:I’m in Little Rock, Arkansas right now, ANOTHER 105mile ride today, whew!

-SO HAPPY to be out of the boonies & in a major city again :clap:
-SO HAPPY to see Starbucks & traffic instead of Walmarts & cows :tongue:
-still feeling strong, still wearing the ring, though my ass is still all blown up
-they treated us to Benihana’s for dinner, that’s not real Japanese food, but I’ll take it :thumbup:
-went to a bikeshop in downtown Little Rock, some employee was trying to educate ME about “fixies” haha :confused:
-the route was HELLA confusing & long today, sorry if I misdialed a few of you, using an iPhone while riding down an Interstate no-handed while reading a map, eating a Clifbar, and drinking Monster Lo-carb just ain’t that easy!
-I love you and miss you all!!! Just about at the 1/2way point of the tour… next comes Oklahoma, then 2 STRAIGHT WEEKS through ginormous Texas, then 2grueling weeks crossing the Mojave desert thru New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California… I just may finish this damn thing… Survived the humidity, Mosquitos, and depression of the South, now I’m heading West!!! See you in LA, somebody bring me some TCC!!! :hungry:

sorry, not the kind to take pictures, i believe that there are a few flickr groups from my team: dinosaur1 and sodanpop.

here’s a few from me:

me & my roommate Dade, he is the owner of Dodici rims & frames, he comes from Milan, Italy

me & Chris from NY, he is a messenger, he has won Monster Track, we just raced to Atlanta, where it dumped SO MUCH rain on us in the last 5miles to the hotel, we stayed across the street from the Atlanta olympic center built in 1996 aka Campy Atlanta rims

camping in South Carolina, ticks & mosquitos & spiders everywhere, no bathroom, pooped in the woods, lots of fireflies at night, as well as snakes, yikes! check how i brought the City to the Countryside, hung my sneakers on the pole as well as u-locked my bike to the fence, haha!

speaking of bikes, here is the secret weapon… i’ve finished first on most of the rides thus far, everyone complains that all they see is my ponytail & hipbag and all that they hear is the sound of my carbon wheels & big ring, they are also PISSED that i smoke and drink so much beer, haha, after all, i’m repping SJF!

-Bennett

Bennett & Superfish

benitosan:Clocked in 90miles today en route to Raleigh, North Carolina… HORRIBLE routing by the management team, they lead us on a crazy, alleycat-style route while all we wanted to do was to get to our destination hotel & out of the heat. BAD day, I feel like shit right now, and there are still slot of other riders out there lost, hungry, and most importantly, hot & tired. I will definitely be yelling at whoever routed us today into the middle of nowhere, I only got lucky to find the end cuz I treat every stage like an alleycat/treasure hunt & I know how to navigate & I luckily have an iPhone… without one, people are going to be vulnerable & frustrated. DISAPPOINTED at our staff today. To top it all off, I am getting saddlesore, OH JOY

Photos By: Mike Martin

We’ve had some questions about our daily routine on this little road trip. Of course, every day is different but here’s what a typical schedule might look like.

Photo by Josh Kadis

We usually meet in the hotel lobby at 7am and head out to breakfast at Denny’s, IHOP, or something like that. A couple of the hotels have had edible breakfast in-house, which has been rad. By the time we eat, fiddle with our bikes, load up the vehicles, and drive to wherever we’re starting from, it’s usually between 9am and 9:30.

We have a great setup in terms of vehicles and support. The riders and photo/video equipment are transported in a rental passenger van, while the bikes and luggage roll in a biodiesel Dodge Sprinter provided by Clif Bar with a trailer. A lot of the taping happens from a Honda PS250 scooter, which travels inside the trailer as well.

Photo by Josh Kadis

Mike Martin is shooting video and photos, along with Gabe Morford for the first few days. They’re the two filmmakers behind MASH. Will Meeker plays the role of production assistant and gets a litany of little things done. Steve MacDonald has been driving the passenger van and making sure that all the riders have what we need during the day.
Matt Sharkey from Clif Bar has been with us the whole time, driving the Sprinter and helping us in innumerable ways. All the support has been awesome. It’s what makes this trip possible, really.

Photo by Mike Martin

The riders, by the way, are Rainier Schaeffer, Jonathan Burkett, Garrett Chow, Blake Van Knopka ,Walton Brush, Andy Peterson for the first couple days, and myself, although I won’t be riding all the stages due to some other commitments at the Tour.

Anyways, once we hit the road it’s pretty free-form. Sometimes we ride in a paceline and sometimes the group breaks up, it depends on the terrain and how people are feeling. We eat a lot of Clif product, supplemented by “real food” like ham and cheese sandwiches. I’ve been drinking 6-8 bottles per day.

Photo by Josh Kadis

The pro peloton usually passes us during the ride. It’s kind of amazing how many cars are required to shepherd them. There’s a “rolling enclosure” around the race, meaning that CHP officers shut everything down before the race comes through, then the roads open back up. We just have to wait. If there’s a breakaway with a big lead on the main field, it can take well over half an hour.

A few of the pro riders know what we’re up to, especially the Garmin-Slipstream team since we did an event with them at Clif Bar HQ in Berkeley last week. Svein Tuft always gives a head-nod. And it’s been surprising how many spectators know MASH. A lot of people have seen us out there every day and cheer when we come by.

Photo by Josh Kadis

We’re treating this as a road trip, not an official race. So we just ride as far and as fast as we can until we get as close as we can to where the race finished that day. Our arrival time has varied, but it’s usually dark by the time we climb off our bikes, mill around for a minute, put on dry clothes, and load up the vehicles. We’ll grab some dinner on the way to the hotel, and then get some rest.

-
Josh

Photo by Mike Martin

Slow going on Wednesday’s stage. We rolled around 9:15 and reached the top of the final climb at maybe 5pm, having covered just 70 miles. At that point, the consensus was to pack it in for the day. We were still 45 miles from the finish.

A few of the delays:

• Cleat broken while skidding – 20 minutes
• Waiting for the race entourage to pass through – 40 minutes
• Many, many gear changes – 20 minutes

We started off under clear skies on gently rolling roads through the orchards outside Merced with the mountains on the horizon. But after the course left the valley floor, we didn’t cross a mile of flat ground the rest of the day and there wasn’t a climb or descent too small to warrant changing gears. I switched between 44×21 and 44×17, but I probably should have replaced the 17 with a 15. Oh well.

Photo by Mike Martin

That said, there was some amazing riding over snow-covered passes that had to be plowed earlier in the day because of the Tour. Mike got some gnarly descending shots from the scooter.

At least we knocked off all the day’s difficulties; from where we stopped, it was all downhill to the finish. I guess that riding track bikes during the Tour is an inherently slow method to cover these courses. Sure, It was disappointing not to complete the stage but that’s part of the adventure. Not every day is going to work out perfectly.

But one can always hope.

-
Josh

Photo by Mike Martin

Other than the weather, gearing is probably our most frequent topic of conversation. These courses are throwing a really wide range of terrain at us; finding the perfect setup will be essential to make it all the way through the trip. But most of the roads are completely unknown to us and you can only learn so much from the course profile, so there’s a lot of guesswork involved.

Tuesday’s 100-mile stage* from San Jose to Modesto started with the super steep Sierra Road climb right off the bat, followed by some gradual descending, a smaller climb over Patterson Pass, another gradual descent, and then about 50 miles of pancake flat, windy roads through the Central Valley.

Our gear selections:

• Garrett: 44×20 and 44×15
• Blake: 44×22 and 44×14
• Walton: 47×19 and 47×17
• Josh: 44×21, 44×17, and 44×15
• Rainier: 46×21 and 46×17

Sierra Road is so steep that Cervélo TestTeam (including last year’s Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre) told me they were going down to a 38t chainring. So all of us would have been more comfortable on a smaller gear, but we managed. I can only speak for myself but if that climb had been at the end of the stage, I would have really struggled.

For the rest of the stage, the 44×17 was perfect on Patterson Pass and the 44×15 was good for the flats. I was maybe a little overgeared for some of the block headwind sections.

Wednesday’s stage has probably more total elevation gain than today but the climbs are more gradual. Sierra Road is roughly a 2,000 foot ascent in three miles, and the first climb tomorrow is about the same elevation gain but over maybe ten miles. I’m thinking that the 44×17 should be okay as my climbing gear, and I might run a 44×14 on the flop-side since there will be some long, wide-open descents. But it’s all a crapshoot, really.

-
Josh

* We had to skip about 20 miles in the middle in order to get ahead of the race’s rolling road closures. So it was more like an 80 mile day for us.

Photos by Mike Martin