I got a chance to do a demo ride on a Cannondale Evo, a bike I've been curious about for a few years. Cannondale and City Bike Works in SacTown teamed up to make the offer on the opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California May 11.
All those interested had to do was phone in a reservation for the Cannondale bike desired to ride, plus the preferred frame size. Then it was just a matter of showing up with your pedals, helmet, etc. and going on a 25-mile ride led by Ben Vogt of the bike store. The Cannondale mechanics prepping the bikes were easy going guys happy to answer any questions about the bikes and their components. Joining in the ride were Cannondale pros Matthias Krizek, 25, an Austrian rider, and Slovakian Juraj Sagan, also 25, older brother by a year or so of pro cycling superstar Peter Sagan. Vogt gave the 10 or so locals that showed up to ride either Cannondale demo bikes or their own rigs just a couple of pre-ride thoughts: “Have fun and don’t crash the pros.”
We all took off on the loop ride that followed the American River bike trail and parallel suburban streets.
I loved the Evo. Light, quick, nice wheelset, Mavic Ksyrium elites, which cost a reasonable $700-$800. I was surprised to learn they cost about the same as the Ultegra wheelset on my bike, but they seemed to roll with a whole lot less resistance on the Evo for some reason. I’ve come to realize how key a nice wheelset is to a great ride, even if your frame isn't an ultra slick hotshot number like Evo. I love my Scott CR Team frame, a carbon fiber unit part of the bike's $2K price tag nearly four years ago. The Ultegra wheelset is fine, so I can't really complain about my ride. But I have to say, its paint job isn’t anywhere near as sweet at the Evo’s. And beautifully painted bikes are no doubt a big key to sales.
I chatted up Krizek on the ride, he said this was his first time to California, and the day before he rode across the Golden Gate Bridge. Not surprisingly, pro racers ride every day, he said, with a few rest days sprinkled in. Tall, tan, blond and thin, Krizek speaks Italian (kind of has to, since Cannondale Pro Cycling is based in Italy), German and English. Riding fast on flats and rollers are his specialty. Pro cycling has given Krizek a chance to travel the world. He’s glad he can do it while he’s young, he said, since he’s not sure if he’ll have the same travel opportunities later in life.
During the ride, Vogt took selfies of our group from his front position, and another rider had his Go-Pro helmet cam running as he took plenty of phone shots. I thought about taking a phone shot from within our peloton, but decided I’d better not risk a multi-tasking crash. Not worth it!
Chatting with another rider, Chad of El Dorado Hills, we both agreed that one of the greatest sounds associated with cycling is the whirring you hear in the middle of a peloton. It's the quiet, powerful music of pure energy of riders and bikes.
I took my Garmin bike computer on the ride just to check out the metrics of riding on the bike trail in a group vs. solo, which is the way I usually ride it. Our average speed was nearly 18 mph, a pace that was easy to keep in the group, even in the wind. I’ve ridden into similarly strong crosswinds and headwinds on the trail many times solo, and maintaining an 18 mph pace alone with those wind conditions is tough going.
The wind was strong out of the north, blowing tree branch debris onto the trail and one long thin branch landed on Chad’s lap as he rode. Brian, a Cannondale bike handler trailing our group, advised us just to ride over branches instead of veering to avoid them. Good advice, though the image of a flying branch getting caught in spokes made me think they could cause a crash.
After the ride, Cannondale provided sandwiches and drinks and we all ate and chatted in the alley behind the bike shop. Somebody asked Krizek about his worst fall. He said that in one crash he doesn't remember a thing. He later woke up in a hospital with a concussion, wondering what happened.
He said when he’s seen cyclists crash in a race from the perspective of an overhead helicopter camera, he is horrified at the mayhem and injuries that result. “I ask myself why I do this when I see that,” he said.
But he also said the pros just don’t think about crashing. They accept it as a risk of racing, and just think about how to ride the fastest they can for their team.
Somebody asked what was the weirdest run-along fan action he’d seen while climbing during a race. Krizek said the Borat imitators in the bibbed, slingshot marble bag thongs, which the Aussies call "budgie smugglers," for him, pretty much take the cake. One time he was amazed to see two guys having a boxing match on the side of the road, as racers passed them.
Chad had his 11-year-old son on his phone, and asked Krizek if he’d mind chatting with his son, who he said idolizes pro cyclists. Not at all, said Krizek. He took Chad’s phone and was happy to talk cycling with the kid. As we sat in folding chairs, munching on the food, both Krizek and Sagan enjoyed the California avocados included in the spread.
I asked Jaraj Sagan his specialty, and he replied: "Worker."
Jaraj, small but powerfully built, is shy and mild mannered. He and his big name brother Peter are inseparable when they’re not racing, according to Cannondale’s bio on him.
It's easy to forget that not all pros are big-name superstars, in fact most aren't. They're the guys leading pelotons, the so-called “domestiques” as the French call them, doing all the riding in the trenches for the good of the team. They distribute full water bottles to team riders which they pack under their jerseys after they load up on them from support cars. They switch off the front to do the hard pedaling and form the slipstreams that the star riders ride behind so they can save energy for their finishes.
Krizek and Jaraj seemed happy in their roles as pros out of the limelight. Just going on a promotional demo ride in California on a nice sunny day with a bunch of envious amateurs, having some lunch, seemed to be fine with them.
Amgen TOC, meanwhile had a great first stage, with Mark Cavendish’s photo finish win of a long, windy, hard-fought race. No better way to kick off what has emerged as the best pro cycling event in North America. Come back to Sacramento Amgen TOC. We love ya.
Til next time, remember to strap on a helmet every time you get on the bike. Then, make sure to keep the rubber side down. Be safe and have fun.
--Mark Eric Larson
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