second annual c4 velodrome

alex g, kathryn, steve & shanada rode on the track for first time at velodrome in blaine, minnesota among alex z, chet, tad & i. that is 50% of 8 c4ers who tried to ride for first time. 25% of c4ers are women! btw, mark could not join to ride with us due to his injured back but he gave his support and cheer his wife up.

bob williams did a excellent job to prepare all bikes together to be ready and wait for all people to show up. unfortunately there was heavy traffic from south in faribault to north in blaine so all people gathered together before bob started at 6:15 pm. thank god, we did ride to taste the rush in our blood vein enough before it rain. praise the lord for that it had put the rain on hold for us to enjoy riding in dry plus no crash. i don't need to mention the story since the pictures already spoke a thousand words. btw, you will see last two pictures of me by alex z.

oh, boy you should have seen his long lens 100-400mm zoom vs my short lens 85mm. he won to prove his true masculine. it doesn't matter if i try to draw my gun then he keep to draw his shotgun. remember i get new aero wheelset then he end up get his deeper aero zipp wheelset. i throw white towel to give up. lol... enjoy our photos.

our thanks to margaret m for being our excellent interpreter. she loves the cyclocross and mountain bike. she and her husband, jason also race. but you can ask her any question. she is asl user like us. alex and i both have been enjoyed her company when we across our path at the race, workshop, swap, etc... so you will love her too. please either welcome or invite whenever you happen to see her around.

our thanks to bob williams for allowing c4ers to ride at the velodrome again.

portrait of cuong aka buzz by tad k

the last important thing, we want to thank xavier for his excellent job to work out with bob william in order to penciling c4ers into velodrome's open schedule.

thank for reading.

cuong aka buzz

c4er's first video clip at the lebanon hills

c4's first video clip was submitted by tad k.

today tad k mounted his video camera on the handlebar of mountain bike at the lebanon hills to ride and to show you what the trail is all about riding and enjoying the natural and wild.

i watched his clip and could image myself in the scene with refresh air. i get back to the reality when i could smell the chemical at the printing company where i work. it is good time for all of us to get out of city and to “living a life to its fullest our life!”

btw, tad k was clever to grab a riding today before it will rain this afternoon as weather warns.

enjoy watching tad k's video clip.

thank to tad k for submitting his video clip to share with us.

cuong aka buzz

c4ers are made of ironman & ironwoman!

what an brutal experience day for us to ride at the ironman last sunday about 41f to 43f with rain, cold & wind in the awful weather!

xavier & alex g made it to ride the mountain bikes for 30 mile route. congratulation! guess what, their shine knight become rust by cold & rain. i bet one of these guys has been lubed & polished at night with wife's help for post-ride to keep their things in good maintenance. right? you two lucky dogs! ;)

alex z was first person to arrive and wait for all c4ers to be gathered at the lakeville north high school. he stood by his modified bike with new zipp aero wheels, light carbon fork & black stem different than last time he rode it with us at afton last week. oh holy smoke, he hammered his bike to accelerate over 23 mph on flat when i tried to keep speeding at 21 mph in order to conserve my energy.

about half of 25 miles, mark caught up with me. i jumped in the draft of his rear wheel and one guy just joined in our paceline. later, shanada surprised me when she passed me to climb the hills and to catch up with mark when i was dropped to 15 mph on hills. they began to fade away from my sight. the rain began to sting my face like bees. shoes cover could not protect against the rain without waterproof then my feet become soaked in wet like a day. so i only did ride 23 miles to quit after i already am damn cold. i made a big mistake to dress up for only semi-light rain shower because i predicted wrong that it would be light rain until 1 pm to have full rain.

i've been waited for bus ride about 4 hours. i have no lucky to find michele at the rest stop in jordan. i become bored to stand alone without anyone to keep me a company in asl. bus gave me a ride back to lakeville.

i've informed shanada in e-mail that i didn't see michele yet. they women somehow tried to keep in touch. guess what, michele ended up at the rest stop in 45 miles. shanada and mark ended up at middle of route about 30 miles with mark's flat tire between first rest stop (23 miles) and second rest stop (45 miles).

long story to short story, i drove to lonsdale for picking them up. i entered the legion hall build with no heat and my body began to shake. little boy asked me if i am alright? he offered me a hot coffee. oh poor michele for her suffering in lonsdale is worse than mine in jordon cuz my first rest stop place was warmer than her second rest stop place.

we finally found each other. they rushed to jump in my mini cooper s. mark and shanada sat in back seat and ran up the motor to heating up. michele was lucky to sit on front seat that come with heating like the electric heating blanket. thank god that michele prevented shanada and mark from making love in back seat while i struggled to unlock the quick released for wheel outside. we all had great time to exchange our words in asl and share our experience about riding, etc... in little car. i dropped them off to their van in lakeville so they can go back for picking up their bikes on the way to home.

alex z made it to ride at 65 miles. his special tacx trainer with high technology computer (yeah he has real one trainer) paid off his training well. but i suspect that he perhaps rent the cold storage for meat like rocky movie who trained to hit at the meat in cold room to be able to challenge his strength against cold weather.

did any c4er became monster to go for 100 mile route? yeahhhhh, drum up to introduce CHRIS SMITH! did he make it? well, hold your pants. he looked like a rambo who wear the plastic bags for rain than being homeless. he simply put the free plastic bags to cover his socks in the shoes, to cover his helmet and to wear cheap $20 yellow rainjacket but didn't wear leg warmers or carry big knife.

he MADE it. wooooot! i want his baby, wait a minute, slap my face. i can't be pregnant because i am man. he replied the simple words about his experience is positive attitude to survive his own pace without stopping during raining & winding weather. he departed to roll out at 8:15 am and to arrive at 4:30 pm in 100 miles. he is true ironman champion in our c4 book!

two guys recently asked me similar good questions. was it worth?? :) will i go at the ironman again next year with this same weather? i answered yes as long as i need to prepare myself for dressing up better with right gear against the cold rain. yes, it was worth for me to ride with them and to share our real rich experience there.

ironman for 100 miles: chris
aeroman for 65 miles: alex z
ironwoman for 45 miles: michele
knightmen for 30 miles: alex g & xavier
half-tandem-couple for 30 miles: mark & shanada
wussman for 23 miles: cuong
mia for unknown mile: kelvin

cuong aka buzz

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updated information about kelvin:

i was informed that kelvin is no long missing in action. he did check in at 6:41 am then departed to roll out alone. he did make it to ride at 30 miles like alex g & xavier did. he arrived at 9:32 am.

kelvin did enjoy to ride and met one man who know sign language. they used to ride for the ms tram bike 3rd time.

ironman for 100 miles: chris
aeroman for 65 miles: alex z
ironwoman for 45 miles: michele
knightmen for 30 miles: alex g & xavier
half-tandem-couple for 30 miles: mark & shanada
soloman for 30 miles: kelvin
wussman for 23 miles: cuong thought loud, "$@$#@&^%&... why me with lowest miles" (cried on table)

cuong aka buzz

second annual pedal off for 50 miles

click this map to be linked for more information
p.s. i forget to start my cyclo computer in 1 mile later from the beginning
missing 1 mile + 49 miles = 50 miles total

elevation

speed & elevation

heart rate

cuong testimonials

when 10 c4ers of us were ready to roll out together in big group. xavier & alex g were only the shined knight to ride their mountain bikes. the rest of us rode the road bikes. alex z led to ride with alex g & xavier together in 25 miles route. kathryn j led to ride with other 6 c4ers on our road bikes in 50 miles route.

riding about 5 miles, my heart rate (bpm) went higher about 165 bmp which is not good sign for my weak fitness in the beginning. i felt like i almost consider to quit and to drop. i decided to continue riding behind howie's rear wheel in order to match his easy pace to help me to recover myself better by cool off my heart down. yeah, i was last person to ride there. thank howie for being my pacemaker.

kathryn gave the direction & map to xavier and alex g so they both can enjoyed the independence in their comfort pace on the mountain bikes in 25 miles route. alex z on his road bike joined to ride with us in our 50 miles routes.

i am last person to arrive in half way in afton to stop and to rest for refuel. after i observed that mark and chet did order the roasted bagels, i started to worry that i will be smoked by them when we will ride to climb up the longest hill in afton. i decided to order the bagel myself to make sure i could be able to keep up with them.

i jumped to ride with alex z, kathryn, shanada s when they were ready to leave little early without waiting for chet v, mark s, chris s & howie v because we know they will catch up with us on top of hills later. oh holy smoke, harley davidson motorcycles began to line up on full lane to prevent us which we were unable to move across the lane to get on right shoulder. we had no choice but end up in wrong lane. the harley davidson motorcycles were about over 200 total but half of 200 h.d. that we were able to budget break up the line across the lane to get on right shoulder finally.

unfortunately, we could felt so loud & vibration from harley davidson bikers passed us to screw up our rhythm of cadence (pedaling). four of us worked hard to climb up the first longest hill. i was last person to be smoked by alex, shanada & kathryn to climb up but i plead guilt to enjoy looking at their nice butts in order to try forget my crying and pain in my legs.

shanada & kathryn did stop for regroup so kathryn could escort us together. honest, they did me a favor for my sake to recover myself. my heart rate on chart has spoken the truth that my heart worked hard to keep up with them. alex waited for us to get together in regroup then we were puzzled that chet, chris, howie & mark did not catch up with us. alex had to go back to make sure everything is alright with others 4 c4ers. kathryn, shanada and i continued without him.

kathryn asked me if i am game for the ramsey street. i had bad flashback to hear of a story about mark & chet who had bad cramp from climbing that same steepest hill on ramsey street in st. paul after rode hills in afton last year. three of us did go for the ramsey street hill together. guess what, we made it without cramp. whew! i don't know about the rest of others c4ers but this last steepest hill brought the pride in us after we pedal off our butts harder. i noticed that shanada and kathryn have the recovery abilities. i didn't have the ability to recover after the hard climbing but it was worth.

xavier and alex g on mountain bikes were already arriving there early before us. thank them for being patient and wait for us so we all can be gathered to enjoy our chat.

the bottom is that they all are ready for ironman in their good fitness.

cuong aka buzz

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last year 2008 for first annual pedal off was 5 c4ers who rode and one c4er who could not make it to ride but did attend to the post-ride sandwich:

alex z (rode & stayed as host for sandwich)
chet v (rode)
cuong n (rode & stayed for sandwich)
jeff a (rode & stayed for sandwich)
mark s (rode)
kelvin h (attended for sandwich)
kathryn j (stayed as host)

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this year 2009 for second annual pedal off was 10 c4ers who rode and three c4ers who could not make it to ride but did attend to the post-ride bbq:

alex g (rode & waited a while)
alex z (rode & stayed as host for bbq)
chet v (rode)
chris s (rode & stayed for bbq)
cuong n (rode & stayed for bbq)
howie v (rode & stayed for bbq)
kathryn j (rode & stayed as host for bbq)
mark s (rode)
shanada s (rode)
xavier a (rode & waited a while)
anne g (attended for bbq)
jim c (attended for bbq)
ronda m (attended for bbq)

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wow, c4ers are expanded in twice than last year. the more the merrier!

would you like to share your stories with us about your own experience from pedal off. please e-mail me your article and i will post yours on this blog.

many thanks to alex z and kathryn j for being great host to c4ers and excellent foods & drinks. many thanks to everyone who were able to join riding with us for pedal off and able to attend chatting with us for post-ride bbq. many thanks to pro babysitter who looked after children while parent are able to enjoying riding and get a big time-out from kids. lol, right? we do miss you who could not make it to ride or to attend the post-ride bbq but hope you will enjoy reading this blogs that you are in our c4 hearts wherever you are. see you there at the ironman.

cuong aka buzz

ready and wait to roll out with c4ers

i just rode the track bike on track at the velodrome outside in perfect cool weather last saturday (yesterday) for open training first time since my introductory track class in 2007. i only rode for several laps and decided to call a quit for a day because my my neck is already stiff & sored due to hold the handlebar's handgrip too low for aero position. i will try to ride again next time after my neck get used to recover from.

i mounted both lemond road bike & jamis sonik track bike together on the rack to test driving on highway. i notice the wheel mounted on front rack began to have more vibration than the wheel mounted on rear rack when i drove mini at 60 mph. i decided to put both wheels mounted on rear rack for better draft and less vibration.

btw, you can see in photos why my two bikes scream my name and beg me to ride on them with you c4ers. thank god that i just finished preparing with my tax return today before deadline in april 15th! that is why i am looking forward to ride with you this april 18th on saturday for pedal off from the free of stress.

i save best one for the last one (rawland) when it is right time. ;)

cuong aka buzz

Second Annual C4 Velodrome

Portrait of Xavier in circle of color face

Date: June 19, 2009
Time: 5:30 pm
Where: 1700 105th Ave NE, Blaine, MN 55449

I need to collect bike size from everyone who want to go. They have their bike for us to use (that's why I need their bike size).

We must wear helmet!

We need to ask interpreter for volunteer to interpret it for us. Interpreter can ride on velodrome as well if they want to.

I will ask Bob what is the max # we can go on velodrome.

Thanks
Xavier

my two cents thought

i found myself getting all misty-eyed & decided to buy a new jamis sonik track bike for me after xavier's a lot of sweat and work was put in effort to plan for second annual c4 velodrome. please hold your pant, you don't need to buy one to ride at velodrome. you need to e-mail to xavier to rsvp your size in advance in order to get your right size bike to ride properly.

you perhaps wonder to ask a question behind your mind, "why a idiot guy like cuong bought one for himself?" just fyi, i completed the introduction to track cycling class in 2007 since i live in fridley near by. i just mailed a check to get a 2009 season pass so i can train on the track more on my own during open training session so this has nothing to do with c4 to represent at all but it is individual for my own risk. of course, i've consulted with bob first before ride safely.

btw, don't consider to buy a cheap fixed gear bike to ride at the velodrome because this schwinn madison considered to be NOT allowed to ride on the track due to bb clearance issue. i was idiot once to buy this one last two years. i did double check with bob that jamis sonik track bike is approval to ride at the velodrome. whew! now i am half idiot for owning schwinn (idiot) in first place and jamis (smart to improve my deficit of being idiot).

you all c4er are welcome to have the opportunity to either taste new experience for first time or to enjoy riding on track again. i highly encourage you to try it because the velodrome will blow your mind better than sex. someone claimed chocolate is better than sex. you decide which one is better for you after post-ride track & post-eat chocolate but you need to e-mail xavier first for rsvp and bike size. ;)

cuong aka buzz

Second Annual C4 Pedal Off

Pre-Ironman 50-mile Road Ride
Saturday, April 18 at 8 a.m. sharp
Meet at Alex's Residence at
1211 Summit Ave, St. Paul, MN 55105

We could have small BBQ for who wants to stay and to mingle afterward. But bring your own meats to grill.

Checklist:
(can't roll out without it)
Road bike
Helmet
Shoes
Bottle

(can roll out without it)
Gloves
Warm clothes (arms, legs & feet)
Rain jacket
Spare tube
Tools
Banana
Map

busted by satellite?

photo by cia's satellite

submitted by cia

the photos were submitted to me by the top secret "for your eyes only". i originally decided not to post these photos at this unofficial c4 blog in first place because this has nothing to do with c4 to represent at all. please keep in mind, it is individual at your own risk. however c4 does value the safety in order to be able for all of us to enjoy the riding together better.

(you can click this logo to read more information about share the road)

i found this share the road to be short and sweet for anyone to remember the rule of thumb easier. but more important is for all of us to enjoy communicating in asl and sharing our same passion in cycling like road ride, mountain bike, cyclocross, velodrome & triathlon.

to only ladies of c4, can you guess who is this wacko guy riding downhill in the picture? one woman (only c4 women) who will give right answer to me first in e-mail will get a first free c4 t-shirt. (sean still owes me one brand new c4 t-shirt will be yours if you know the answer, btw to clarify it is NOT jersey one, sorry). let game begins to roll.

cuong aka buzz

C4 jerseys, bib shorts & shorts are damn hot!

(You can click one of any these three photos to see big picture with details)

The moment you longed for is finally here! It is freaking cool and unique! A lot of sweat and work was put in effort to create one of the kind! You are practically witnessing the history in the making!
But first of all!

1. Please email me at alexz@umn.edu to order it asap. While ordering, be specific with the quantity, sizes and what article you want. And if you want shorts, be specific what kind of shorts: either bib shorts or regular shorts. If you want both bib and shorts, that's fine.
   
   
2. Prices are as following:
   Jerseys: $55 (click this to view the product details)
   Bib Shorts: $65 (click this to view the product details)
   Shorts: $50 (click this to view the product details)

Let's go baby!

Alex Z.

c4er's first big step!

self-portrait photo by tad k

i was told by a little bird that tad k will attend 3 races:

may 17 – inver grove heights, mn
may 31 – afton avalavche, afton alps, hasting, mn
august 9 – buck hill birch bump, burnsville, mn
check out the information at minnesota state champ series (click this orange letters to be linked) for mountain bike races schedule events.

tad, you the man! we are all psyched up now so we should train soon before be ready to ride at the ironman in order to keep in good shape for any races. what say you all c4ers?

submitted by little bird (tad k)

is cyclo-cross perfect for c4's atmosphere?

photo by cuong aka buzz
canon camera owner by alex z

what is cyclo-cross? cyclo-cross races take place typically in the autumn and winter. alex z had a great time to make love with his special prototype rawland bike (single speed) as his mistress by racing cyclo-cross last fall to enhance the rich experience. pardon my language, i am not talking about the viagra to enhance something else. cyclo-cross is more than that and all about the perfect atmosphere for all families including kids, friends, club or team to enjoy the social and scene.

sean and i were there to give him the morale booster. we've enjoyed to witness a man who was too drunk to be psyched up. yeah, you are allowed to bring your own beer, to yell so loud, to cook your brat on griller or to exchance the words of wisdom all you want at no charge. is cyclo-cross perfect for c4's atmosphere? you bet our life!

that is where alex get his idea from his cyclo-cross to share with us and to promote our c4 club to be officially registered with usac therefore we can enjoy either to race or to host the event.

thank alex for getting us all psyched up!

buzz

2007 Horribly Hilly Hundreds

Sean's home was our rendezvous for the HHH journey (near Madison, WI). Four of us (Sean, Chet, Chris, and Howie) took on a challenge to ride 200 KM (almost 125 miles) of HILLY ride with some insanely steep climbs. It was June of 2007.

Morning preparation (6am).

We were rookies there and couldn't figure out where to register and problems with Chris and Chet's bicycles came up (blown tire and broken spoke, respectively) delayed our start by one hour (some started that late too). We arrived first rest stop with ten miles short on our odometers and we figured out that we missed a loop at the beginning. Oh well we moved on and had to take about 5 miles short cut at the end due to time. We will never forget the unforgiving forever up hill along Blue Mounds Road and then unseen before "like a wall" uphill for the final stretch.

End of the ride...we barely survived the ride.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Chet

tom peep at another c4's blogs

photo submitted by tad g

last year, 8 c4ers had great time to learn how to ride the fixed gear bike on the track at velodrome in blaine, minnesota. the instructor (#1 photo) is front to led them in paceline and to show the rope how to ride safe, etc... you can see the big gap about 6 feet between instructor's rear wheel and alex's front wheel. once they felt comfortable to get familiar with pedaling then tried to close the gap slowly about 1 foot in order to have enough draft.

oh, yeah it is very dangerous but they love the rush thru vein to the heart. wait a minute, i was not there. oops, my bad i took lessons last two years ago in summer. this is not my story but take my words that velodrome would blow your mind! why? of course, 43 degrees on banking in turns!

if you love to see more photos than my words blab.... then i recommend you highly to tom peep at tad g blogs. of course, the pictures already spoke one thousand words than mine. oh, my god, tad includes the video in blog. you better check out his. thank tad for his photos & video! ;)

our thanks to kathryn (#2 photo) for being our excellent interpreter. she loves the triathlon. she also contribute her time to interpret for deafies who joined to race in the triathlon last summer.

our thanks to bob williams for allowing c4ers to have the opportunity to ride at the velodrome for our rich experience.

cuong aka buzz

our first riding to represent c4 in 2007

photo by jesse & chet

we really enjoyed our first riding to represent c4 at the 2007 minnesota ironman bike ride. chet, cuong, howie & jesse with c4 wool jersey went for the full century 100 mile route together. only three of us made it and one finished 3/4 century with good reason.

there were other three c4ers who went for the 65 mile route and the 30 mile route. jeff, daniel & alex (with his wife) did ride on their different route. that is why they were missing in photo. thank god they were not mia (missing in action), whew!

more pictures from cyclocross, velodrome & hhh come soon. it is too sin for me to spell this hhh to stand for... but i need to pray first for god's forgiveness before i take a breath in next blog.

cuong aka buzz

the highlight of our 3rd annual meeting

photos were submitted by tad g

last two years, we really enjoyed our riding to represent the c4 in our activities like road ride at the minnesota ironman bike ride, mountain bike at the minnesota off-road cyclist & to learn how to ride on track bike at the velodrome.

the highlight of our meeting at the breakfast restaurant, you can see alex with asl hands in blur "butterfly" movement on top photo #1, he discussed about suggesting c4 to have registered with usac. we all gave alex the green light.

this morning with good news, alex quoted, "A moment of glory and pride! Our club is officially registered with USAC! Check out the following link:"... (please click "link" to look for the crooked cog(s) cycling club on the usac list.) you bet several of us will race for real to represent c4 this year! our thanks to alex for taking a step in right path.

keep your eyes on this blog for more photos from ironman, velodrome & cyclocross race.

cuong aka buzz

the story behind the crooked cog(s) cycling club

photo by cuong aka buzz

what is crooked cog(s) cycling club? c4ers among us who live in twin cities, minnesota. we all are asl signers to led a full social life. we share our same passion in cycling like road ride, mountain bike, cyclocross, velodrome & triathlon.

why i brought up this portrait of sean virnig behind the rawland bike? if it was not for sean virnig, i would not be here to ride a bicycle. about three years ago, i had bad bicycle phobia due to the incident and end up to stay at the hospital for 41 days.

when sean heard about my incident, he had fundraising idea plan to discuss with madc to get me a new lemond bike. at that time, trudy suggs on behalf of madc did support his fundraising idea as green light.

however i've declined his kind offering because i've my full-time job back after my 41 days absence at work. (i was lucky cuz one staff at my company was fired for two weeks absence. but my wife did go thru the channel properly to keep my boss posted with letter from the hospital, whew!) more important, sean has shown me the way of unitying the deaf community to overcome my bicycle phobia than meet our eyes.

after i've been recovered back to normal health in few months, sean who is the one who gathered all asl signers together to start the c4. another thing, sean started his own rawland business. that is just my story behind the c4.

cuong aka buzz