Big hearts and an even bigger RV: The 2006 Valero MS150.

Peak Fitness Athletes are more than talented bike racers. They are members of the human community who know a good cause when they see one. And if that good cause can somehow involve 150 miles of bike riding, good times with fun people, and traveling in style in a gigantic RV, then answering the call to service is just that much easier.


Riding 150 miles in two days in Texas in the Heat requires a few early mornings. Luckily our Team RV had a coffee pot. Morris got to work drinking the 8.7 gallons he has to ingest to be able to mix nouns with verbs to form sentences.


I can't stress enough how gigantic this RV was. I have never been inside anything like it. It is larger than any apartment I have ever inhabited. It could have had a tennis court and a bowling alley. We could have given the space shuttle a ride back to San Antonio if NASA was in a pinch.


The 'driver's vestibule' is almost exactly one Becker in length (aprox. 6ft 8" & pure muscle).


It even had Satellite Television, displayed here by Kelly and Heather.


It also came with a Driver, Captain Bill McMillan. He kept her steady on the road and took care of the team like a Pro. We were a lucky bunch.


Although we could have hung out the entire weekend in our mobile five star hotel, we managed to get out and ride our bikes. The event started each day in a tangled mass of do-gooders, some of which might have been riding a bike for the first time. We left with the second Throng, a few hundred riders back. It was decided that a quick pace might help us avoid any un necessary tangle-ups. Maurice helped set tempo and we passed about 14,000 riders, working our way to the front of the ride. Some people tried to keep up, because it looked like Mo was smuggling wine in his jersey pockets.


The first hour, however, was not without incident. Someone decided to sit up, slam on their brakes, and try to put their bike in reverse after the pack came around a corner. Morris touched wheels and went down, left butt-cheek first. He was not shy about showing everyone the mutant raspberry that had become of his posterior terminus. It was pretty gnarly.



The rest of the day was smooth sailing with two Peak Fitness Athletes grabbing the 3rd and 4th spots. Not too shabby.

There must have been something in oatmeal in Beeville, as Sunday turned out to be a 60 mile mini Texas Championship Road Race. People were biting at the bit with the front group showing an average speed of 26 mph for the first hour. One rider, in full aero gear, even went so far as to have a team car feeding him food and drink through the day. That’s some pretty hefty competition for a Charity Ride! Fortunately, Peak Fitness Athletes are not ones to shy from a Bike Fight, countering moves throughout the day, with two teammates sprinting across the line at 2nd and fifth. Nice work, especially considering there were 3000 people.


We headed back to San Antonio. But first we stopped off for gas. Luckily it was really cheap.


Special thanks to Wachovia and USAA for their support of a great cause. Solid work team! See ya'll on the next training ride.

Becker
eric@peakfitnessnow.com

a child is born.

Really, it was only a matter of time before the uber-motivated athletes of Peak Fitness realized the awe inspiring power of their strength in numbers. So voila, Peak Fitness Racing has begun. We've rounded up wonderful sponsors. We've had thousands upon thousands of applicants. We've laid out a schedule of training camps and races. We've established our core values, chiseled out a mission statement, articulated our platform, retained a cadre of lawyers, incorporated in Delaware, and bought a timeshare in Florida.

But there were still a few things to sort out . So we headed to the Helotes Country Club on Sunday to iron out some of our long term strategy.


Team rule #1 was in effect: always wear spandex and a helmet.


We decided on our team Power Animal (1/3rd of a deer).


We also decided on our prefered brand of team smokes.


The only thing left to do was hammer our mutual commitment in stone. And what better a way than the timeless trust-fall.


Unfortunately Morris was distracted by a small dog with a puffy tail.


Sorry about the bruised tailbone Maurice. We promise that team uniforms will have a VERY thick chamois.

Interested in being a part of the team? Check us out at http://www.peakfitnessracing.org/.

On the topic of a strong constitution of the inner ear and lost pets

The good people of Solar Eclipse have managed to single handedly create a new sport with their Tuesday night street luge/nascar/bike race. When they designed the course they did it with one objective: no straight sections. Here is an artistic rendering of the how it looks:



I may be weak of constitution, but I got queasy on the warmup lap. The winner of the race is the one who has the strongest inner ear and does not get lost. Local superstar Morris Camp faired better than I and did not loose his lunch (celery sticks and non fat fro-yo) in turn two.


Results: Morris camp, 4th in the 5's and E.Becker 3rd in the 4's (some vomiting).


In totally unrelated news, I've been getting a little bit bored of riding the same routes all the time. So I'm trying to figure out new ways to spice up the scenery. So far the best idea I've had is to put up posters of animals that I have recently lost.

For instance:



Or.



Steady as she goes,
EB

Eight-Legged Beast.

Houston is the closest thing you can get to experiencing an actual, thriving, underwater metropolis. With the average summer humidity hovering somewhere around 114 gallons per-second, and the average heat lingering around elevendy-billion degrees, just trying to breathe can be difficult. Some people say that living in Houston is like living in any big city, but being slapped with a warm wet towel everywhere you go. So it's a good thing that our crew of Peak Fitness athletes are a tough bunch, ready to take on any climatic element, be it humidity, heat, or a good, hearty warm/wet towel-slapping. Their preparation paid off with a stellar Team Time Trial at the Texas State Championship.


The team consisted of the usual suspects, including:

Maurice "high threshold hummingbird heart/beast of the" East:


Ray "I have a PhD in whooping butt" Botello


Scott "this is probably the first time you've seen my face because I am so fast" McMillan


And Morris "No I don't shave my legs, I just stare at them and the hair runs away" Camp:


We arrived at the course about an hour and a half before the start time. We had one minor holdup before the race, involving a bike locked to a car rack and a key at a hotel room roughly one hour away. I scrambled to find something to help free the stead. Luckily Scott never leaves home without a good hefty pair of wire cutters.


I managed to work my way through the cable in no time at all. It was easier than I thought it would be. In totally unrelated news I recently came into possession of a bunch of gently used Pinarellos, Cervelos, and Colnagos that are now for sale.

With the bike now not attached to a Toyota, the boys headed out for a warmup and then assembled at the start area. They assumed incredibly intimidating facial expressions. They were like rattlesnakes ready to strike.


There was a storm a' brewin. Lucky for everybody else there was also a cowboy/USCF official to keep things calm.


The boys lined up and spent the last few minutes going over their strategy: go very, very fast.


They rolled up to the line, made last second adjustments, and were off!


It would be pure speculation for me to gander at what happened on the out and back course. Locals in the area reported seeing a "flaming train of lightning and fire," and hearing "the speed of sound being repeatedly broken," and catching a glimpse of "some sort of crazy eight-legged monster that had perception of neither of pain nor suffering." We caught a few shots as they zoomed across the finish line.


The race was a success and the training paid off. Total time: 58.39 for an average speed of 25.43 mph! This nabbed an impressive 5th place for the category.

There was only one thing left to do: stage a totally rememberful "GO TEAM!" picture at the finish line.


And then it was time for the cool-down.


Good work boys. Next year, Pro 1/2 for sure.

EB

Beat your friends to Corpus.

We put the T in TTT.

A squad of totally radical Peak Fitness athletes will be flexing their quads for the public's enjoyment for about an hour this coming Sunday in Pattison Texas. This event, also known as the Texas State Team Time Trial Championship (TSTTTC) will attract teams from all over the world (of Texas). Peak Fitness has been helping some of these racers reach their goals through performance testing, training plans, and team practice sessions. Read on to see just how we help our athletes train right.

This was my second week of helping coach the team's technique and things were running very smoothly. Morris is the lead man, helping get the group up to speed.


We've been putting most of our focus on developing high-speed pacelining skills. This included tweaking pull times, practicing steady accelerations, and getting a comfortable rotation.


The ever important element of communication is an oft-forgotten skill in cycling. Maurice spent a little time teaching us sign language. I'm not totally sure what this one meant, but I think it had something to do with the letter "W."


Next, Maurice instructed us in the art of "body language." This pose means "I GUESS we could watch the Tour Recap, but I'd be missing Oprah." It can also mean "Hmmph, how am I EVER going to get these Chianti stains out of this throw pillow?!?"


This was very helpful information. It made the suffering of a TTT that much more tolerable. These guys were flying.


We took a break from practicing to refuel in Leon Springs. Proper nutrition is key. Luckily, our athletes have been benefiting from the nutritional assessment services of Peak Fitness. They are all on specific diets that have been tailored to their unique metabolic needs. Morris, for example, after being assessed, has been to determined to reap the most performance advantage from eating packaged green things that he has stolen.


Maurice, on the other hand, turned out to function best on "Mrs Baird's Sweet Side of Texas Product line" comprised of honey buns and small pies.


Ray, however, is best on a liquid diet rich in Hickory.


With our energy levels replenished, we headed out for some more cruising. See you in Pattison!



Ciao,
Eric
eric@peakfitnessnow.com

Peak Fitness offers an assortment of services to help you train. Whether a new cyclist or runner looking to learn more about basic skills, or an elite Triathlete aiming complete your 26,791st Ironman we have the tools to make you go faster.