Will an arm around Tom Danielson and lunch near TeJay van Garderen make me faster?

guest — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:03:23 GMT

Where I live along Colorado’s northern Front Range, it is not uncommon to see highly talented athletes. In December of 2008, we had a special treat when my Sunday group ride went to Estes Park.

Estes is around a 32-mile climb from Loveland, Colorado. Sitting at the mouth of Rocky Mountain National Park, at about 7,500 feet, Estes can definitely be cold in the winter. Sometimes we get lucky and can cherry-pick a day to ride to Estes in any given month of the year. In fact some silly people make that an annual goal.

On one of the group rides, we happened to run into several of the pro riders doing a training ride. They rode to Estes from Boulder. I’m now hoping that simply standing next to Danielson and near van Garderen will make me faster. Perhaps it already has? Maybe there’s more to come?

It is fun to see these riders currently doing well in the Tour de France. Beyond the next two weeks and the Tour, I’m looking forward to seeing both TeJay, Tom and several of the top Tour de France teams at the USA Pro Challenge in Colorado in August.

Here’s hoping these guys can stay out of crashes and healthy ~

Estes With the Pros

guest — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:39:24 GMT

Big-name riders from Rock Racing, Chipotle, Rabobank, Toyota and Health Net were in Estes Park yesterday on the Sunday group ride. Tyler Hamilton and Tom Danielson are two of the names you might recognize.

Before I launch right into the adoring-cycling-fans photo, let me begin by saying the ride today was to bag our monthly Estes ride. I've mentioned this monthly goal in past blogs, and I can tell you that today's weather was better than any of our other December Estes rides in past years.

We started with ten people from my doorstep. Scott Ellis, Steve Douglas, Todd Singiser, Bill Frielingsdorf, Bruce Runnels, Ron Kennedy, Peter Stackhouse and Dave McClure. It was one of those rides filled with flats. There were four flats on the way up, Todd and Peter had two each. Ron turned around early due to family commitments, Peter and Dave turned around at the top of the Glen Haven switchbacks...would they regret it?

The remaining members of the group arrived at Estes later than normal, by about an hour-and-a-half. Not only due to flats, but we were riding at a winter-out-of-shape pace. After a leisurely lunch, we were getting ready to head back down when a "that's no amateur" rider walked in the door. More followed.

Steve, his shy self, walks right up to Tyler Hamilton and says, "Hey you look a lot like that Hamilton guy" and that opened up the conversation. Turns out several of us know mutual people.

The photo below was taken at our favorite haunt, the Notchtop Cafe in Estes Park. Blog readers, please check me on this - left to right: Tyler Hamilton, Scott, Steve, Heath Blackgrove, Todd, Bill, Gale, Tom Danielson, TeJay van Garderen (Thanks Steve), Bruce Runnels, Matt Cooke and Chris Baldwin took the photo (much to my dislike - I would have rather had him IN the photo). Anyway, thanks Chris.

The last time I saw Tyler was at the 2004 Olympic Games. The TT course was held just outside the city where the triathlon was held so a few of us walked up there to watch them warm-up and ride some of the course. The rest of the guys I have not met in person.

These guys were very friendly and approachable. How many professional athletes do you know are completely approachable (sans the triathletes, of course)?

Though not on my Sunday ride, they were out for a Sunday ride. I'm happy we were delayed on our trip up and got a chance to talk to them awhile.

Just how cool is that?

Blog Posts From Active Expert: Gale Bernhardt Tagged With tejay_van_garderen

Will an arm around Tom Danielson and lunch near TeJay van Garderen make me faster?

Estes With the Pros