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A Fred's-Eye View: Tour of California; a chat with Ben Jacques-Maynes; cinema NORBA; and Shimano's World Cup support

Published: Jan. 20, 2006
Now Steve McQueen knew a little something about racing around San Francisco
Now Steve McQueen knew a little something about racing around San Francisco

Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling that I’m not the only person ticking down the hours until the start of the Amgen Tour of California. Set your watches, ladies and gentlemen, we only have 620 left to wait — at 11 a.m. on February 19, you all better have your attention turned to the streets of San Francisco.

Now, starting the race with a prologue up to the base of Coit Tower on the tippy-top of Telegraph Hill sounds pretty epic. The route starts at Pier 1, skirts the Embarcadero just south of Fisherman’s Wharf, and takes riders up to, quite possibly, the best view in town. Sure, the route leaves out some favorite San Francisco attractions — Chinatown’s gamy fish markets, Haight-Ashbury’s acid pads-turned-yuppie havens and the Castro’s bar scene come to mind. But still, the only cooler prologue idea I could come up with would be to start at the top of Telegraph, Russian or Nob hills and send riders careening straight down toward the water. And do it in the middle or rush hour. It would be a strange, dangerous mix of Red Bull Road Rage and Steve McQueen’s "Bullitt," only with less gunfire. I suppose that’s why I’m not a race director.

Anyway, anyone who has ridden the roads featured in the upcoming ToC knows that the race will be a slugfest/death march. Having turned in many miles in and around Santa Cruz, I was a little bummed to see the county left out of the race entirely. The climbs through the redwoods in and around Big Basin State Park would definitely help in the selection process. But I suppose sending a pro peloton up the epically steep Alba and Jamison Creek roads might put a premature end to more than a few riders’ tours.

That’s not to say the ToC won’t have its share of selective areas. Stage 2 from the oil refineries of Martinez to San Jose will be especially hilly, and anyone who has ridden the long Stage 4 course from Monterey to San Luis Obispo knows how brutal the windy Pacific Coast Highway can be. And Stage 5’s ascents into the Santa Ynez Mountains will likely test the climbers.

From a fan’s perspective, part of the attraction of the Tour of California is seeing how the domestic pro teams stack up against the big hitters of the ProTour. With the ProTour races still months off, I assume that most of the teams will use the ToC as a warm-up race — an early chance to race themselves into shape. Although the meat of the NRC schedule doesn’t start until late March and early April, I would be surprised to see any domestic pros using the ToC for that reason. Those guys are hitting the heavy miles right now and will probably show up in San Francisco rested, strong and ready to do some damage. Sure it’s only February, but if ever there were a time for domestic pros to put on a show, this is definitely it.

One domestic pro looking to do some damage at the Tour of California is Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada’s Ben Jacques-Maynes. BJM is one of Northern California’s best. He won three collegiate national titles while racing for UC-Santa Cruz, won the 2004 Nature Valley Grand Prix and landed on a couple of podiums last year thanks to his abilities in time trials.

I caught up with BJM the other day, and he’s well aware how important the tour could be to his career and family. He, his wife, Goldi, and their newborn baby Chase live just a couple of miles from the Stage 2 finish, and a score of family members live along the route, so he is looking to put on a show as the hometown hero. And since the racecourse basically cuts through his back yard, BJM says he knows more than a few good places to attack.

VeloNews: All right, Ben, tell me what you know about the route of this thing.

Ben Jacques-Maynes is looking forward to representin' on his backyard course
Ben Jacques-Maynes is looking forward to representin' on his backyard course

Ben Jacques-Maynes: Living in San Jose is pretty good for knowing this course. I live about 10 minutes from where the hills drop down into San Jose on Stage 2, and the road that is the final loop is a route I ride every day. I know pretty much every road on the first four stages pretty well. I’ll probably be sharpening up on my knowledge of the Stage 1 roads up by Santa Rosa. But I really think the hills in the East Bay are going to surprise some people … it’s a hard, hard, hard ride, all up and down. I think [Stage 2] is going to wear on the peloton big time.

VN: Are you going to be looking to be a GC contender or will you be looking for stage wins as well?

BJM: Well, obviously I’d like to come out swinging and take it to people on the hometown roads. As a team I think we’re going to take it stage by stage. We’re obviously in it to win, and I think stage wins are going to be the big hope right now. But I think each stage we could have a stage winner. If we can have one or two guys make the break each stage — Dominique [Perras], Mike [Dietrich] or myself — then we’re not going to worry as much about GC.

VN: This race is in the middle of February, which is pretty early. Do you think people will be lacking in fitness a bit?

BJM: I’m actually not expecting it to be slack at all. This is the biggest event in the country this year. The timing puts it at odds with the rest of the season, sure, but I don’t think that matters. This is bigger than the Tour of Georgia. The riding and showmanship will show that too. The daily TV exposure [on ESPN] is huge, too. I think the big heads of the Euro racing will show up and roll around and won’t go hard. I think the American teams are in a unique position. We all want to race hard but whether we’ll be able to do that against the Euros will be something to watch. I mean, the Europeans are gone before the NRC even starts. And Sea Otter is only one day. Redlands is only a couple of days. There’s no back-to-back stage racing as there has been inn the past years. I think because of that there are going to be some of us domestic guys who will be on a whole different level of fitness and will be just flying.

VN: Talk to me about the team. It looks like you picked up some strong guys in the off-season.

BJM: Bringing Jonas [Carney] on is enormous for us. I’ve been telling people that [having him] will double or triple our racing potential. I think that is a huge step for us. And we’ve added a ton more speed for the finale, which is where we had some problems last year. We could be coordinated enough to be at the front toward the end but we didn’t have enough power to jump a guy to the line at the end. We’d always get fourth or fifth or 10th with a whole lot of team effort behind it. I think we’re really motivated and ready to win this year.

VN: And the new baby? How has that changed your training and racing?

BJM: Having Chase in September actually has worked out pretty good. The ‘cross season got thrown out the window, which gave me a little time off. Now I have something to train for. In the past I would always show up to the early season races still at the beginning of my fitness. It puts a whole lot of other things in perspective too. I’m working a lot harder around the house and I have less free time. Goldi and I swap shifts on taking care of Chase. But I think my head is screwed on a lot tighter now. Seeing him smile makes everything worthwhile, you know? The late nights, the cold, rainy days on the bike; everything gets pulled into perspective.

VN: Do you have any individual goals?

BJM: Fame and fortune always sound pretty good! Honestly, I don’t think I’m really looking toward Europe anymore. I’m going to be 28 this year and I have a wife and kid. I’m thinking about stability now. I want to be able to come home and be with my family. I don’t think about sacrificing that for the dream of racing in Europe. I would much rather be a top-level cyclist in America. I want to be the go-to guy for my team. And I think I’ll have a good shot with Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada.

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Mountain-bike fans who also happen to be garage filmmakers, listen up. Winning an Academy Award for your amateur documentary on the perils of sport-category cross-country racing might be a bit far-fetched. But you might have a shot at the 2006 NORBA film awards!

After being approached last season by a number of amateur filmmakers, the organizers of the NORBA National Series have decided to accept films five minutes in length (or shorter) for their inaugural film competition, which is open to anyone — racer, spectator, industry person. The films will be shown at the U.S. mountain-bike national championships July 22-23 in Mammoth, California. Viewers will vote to decide who gets the top prize of $750, not to mention bragging rights. Second place gets $500, and third nabs $250. The films will also be shown on www.norbanationals.com. But keep it clean — NORBA won’t show any films with profanity or lewd behavior. No one wants to see you riding a DH bike naked, anyway. Stay tuned for the details on how (and to whom) to submit your masterpieces.

Personally, I think this thing sounds pretty sweet. I can’t wait to watch "Josh’s Broken Ankle," "Randy’s Gnarly Stack-up" and the other ouch-filled crash films that will likely come out of the gravity crowd. A similar contest was held last year at the U.S. collegiate road nationals, and several teams put together winners. If anyone at collegiate nats remembers which team produced the film about the kid who joined the team riding a beat-up Huffy and an old-man ping-pong-ball helmet, please email me at fdreier@insideinc.com.

* * *

More than a few mountain-bike fans have started to speculate on how the UCI World Cup teaming up with Shimano for the 2006 season will affect the mechanical-support rule introduced in 2005. In fact, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News has even jumped the gun a tad and is talking about wheel-laden motorbikes following racers around the course. Well, time will tell on that one.

Shimano will offer neutral support at World Cup races, with mechanics in the two tech zones to help racers with their needs. However, those fearing the prospect of motorbike support should keep their pants on. That has not been decided yet. The UCI and Shimano will meet at the world cyclo-cross championships at the end of this month in the Netherlands to work out the details. So while mechanics on motorbikes could be a reality this year, we’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned.

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