The Lava Report

One of the nicest guys on the planet. One of the most passionate cyclist on the planet. A Coates Team Rider for many, many years. Kept getting stronger and faster each year. Had a houseful of high end bicycles, many rescued dogs (he could bring a different one into the shop M-F day and the love and care he gave was evident). A beautiful and wonderful wife. I knew Kevin and Liesel all the way back from the early 90's when we all lived/trained/raced in the Palm Springs area. Then we became reaquainted here in La Verne/Claremont thru Coates Bicycles. Kevin died today from complications due to a crash on Glendora Mountain Road. We are in shock. I am sure everyone that knew him is. A very, very sad day. You will be dearly missed Kevin Unck.

The race today was over the top. The organization, the course and the competition. Typically you get a medal and a podium visit if you win or place. Not today. Their awards are hand built by students in the MSAC welding dept. Mine is a Pirahna. Best I've ever seen. I love it. Each division winner got a Michelob Ultra jersey. And it's a cool jersey you'll want to wear. And wear it I will. Thank you to the Race Director's, Al and Omar, Demi Hechinova the announcer, race volunteers, MSAC welding dept., and Michelob for the jersey one rarely gets.This is turning into one of the best mtn. bike races out there. Hands down. And thank you Corey of Coates Bikes for lending me that big 'ol beast, I mean bike!!!!!Oh and Scott Palmer for the hurt you dished out..........

We love going off the beaten path. Training and racing. This is way off the beaten path on the Caribbean side of Panama. Deep jungle. Like see wild -animals-deep-jungle. Like see spiders and their webs that could have you for lunch jungle. So we were excited about the island of Roatan off Honduras race next month. Only thing is.......they just cancelled it. But we have flight tickets and rooms. They hopefully will have the race early 2011. Hopefully.

SC Velo put on a great event today @ Bonelli Park. Race directors Al and Omar have got it down. The course was challenging and big fun. I borrowed Corey's single speed and mixed it up with the blinged out carbon 29er's. I liked the fact that I was possibly the only steel framed, v-braked, inner tubed, not-a-single-piece of carbon SS out there. Do I sound envious? Okay I was. But had I been riding any one of those eye candy bikes today wouldn't have made a bit of difference. I managed a 3rd place and Corey's trusty old steed really pretty much performed.............flawless.

Bills. That's what I typically get in the mail. But today this arrived. An official County of Los Angeles Gold Seal Award signed by the board of supervisors. All for winning the Los Angeles Triathlon Series race a few months ago. See what racing can do for you? So train smart, race hard and recover well. Schedule an appointment for sports massage with us and you'll be one step closer to getting one of these!!

The Team of Tri Events put in lots of hard work and it showed as their race this past Saturday was a blast for all. They gave away more free raffle schwag than I ever seen. Anywhere. Corey of Coates donating most of it. Chip timing and they already have results up with splits and that's always a treat. I knew Jodi was first female but not 6th over all!(women started in the last last wave) She layed it down! My trusty steed here provided me with the fastest bike split of the day carrying me from 10th out of the water to 1st into the bike/run transition. I had company pretty quick though and hung as long as I could with the young gun.. Then the "21" on his calf got smaller and smaller. And that was just fine. He had to work for it as he saw "51" in front of him for many pain-inducing and lactate producing minutes........ That was another fun race!