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If you read this blog, I wanted to let you know that I'll be moving my posts over to hocroad.tumblr.com from now on. I like the layout better there, it's cleaner, and more of my friends are on it so we'll give it a try. Thanks for reading on here even though I was pretty bad at updating the past couple of months. I will try to be better on the new blog.

hocroad.tumblr.com

Tell your friends.

-Joe

Jack Bauer's Rig

This makes me want to get a LOOK 595. This is Jack Bauer's bike. He races for Endura Racing in the UK. Oh yeah, the reviews and details of the frameset are pretty bad ass too! I won't be getting a new frameset for a while, but one can look right?!


www.enduraracing.com

www.cyclingnews.com

-Joe

HTC HIGHROAD S WORKS

Seen on the cyclingnews.com news feed. I'm not sure yet, but I think I liked their Scott's better....




-Joe

Bobcat Trail

The days here in San Francisco have been amazing this week. This morning I rode up in the headlands again with Connor and he took me on the Bobcat Trail that led down to Tennessee Valley Rd. It was definitely fun, and I'm excited to do more exploring and find some new fire roads. Naveen's getting his crossbike soon so that should be fun times ahead!



-Joe

Slammed

A shot from belgiumkneewarmers.com. They got tons of endless Pro Peloton photos on there and they're fun to look at. If you're on break from work, check them out!

-Joe

Cadel's Impec

I'm assuming you guys caught the WC race yeah? Cadel rode pretty awesome during the race, defending his worlds title with class. Right about this time last year when he won it, I slowly became a fan of his while knowing that many people out there didn't really like his whiny attitude, and lackluster riding. It didn't bother me one bit and I still rooted for him as the underdog, and this past year he raced pretty awesome, wearing the rainbow jersey with pride and respect, while winning some great races - La Fleche Wallone and Stage 7 of the Giro!

Here's his custom IMPEC. I wonder how much the the IMPEC frameset will retail for? All handmade by machine. Not exactly ready for a new race bike just yet, but it is in the back of my mind in terms of what my options are! I will probably ride my GIANT for another season. I love that thing (Maybe I'll get a white one?)!



-Joe

The Headlands

Before I left for NYC, I got a chance to go for an epic morning ride with Connor and Travis on the cross bikes. Super fun and mad tiring. I feel out of shape riding with those guys, but that's probably because I AM out of shape as I haven't really been riding since my trip to NYC and Europe. It does feel good to be off the bike though. Excited to start riding again though. During the ride there was lots of dirt, bushes, carrying the bikes while hiking up small mountains, and timeless views of the bay. Another awesome morning.





-Joe

NetApp

The Team NetApp Focus Cayo bikes are fresh. I'm digging the blue color with that 3T fork. Nice.







www.teamnetapp.eu

-Joe

Argon 18

New 2011 Gallium Pro is "mad nice son". I'd ride that shit. Check out that MASSIVE bottom bracket area as well as the beefcake chainstays.










http://www.flickr.com/photos/argon18bike/

-Joe

Worlds

The UCI world championships are just around the corner and I'm pretty excited to see what unfolds. Rooting for these two.



Check out this new Ridley Helium Flanderien ed. with the limited SRAM red group from the TDF. Sick.



photos from pezcyclingnews.com

In other news, I think we might be moving this blog to a tumblr format soon. What do you think? It should be good!

-Joe

Tourists

Chcuk, David, Nathan, and Kris made the long drive from Las Vegas. Long story short, we rode bikes, ate great food, rode some more, ate some more, raced the Giro, and they went back to vegas. I don't think these guys have ever ridden any terrain this damn beautiful that we have in the bay. Good times with the vegas contingent.



Full recap of their trip through David's words/photos at www.legitimusmaximus.tumblr.com

-Joe

Super Six

Dom's new SuperSickx



Looks PRO Dom, good job on the build.

-Joe

Labor Day Racing

Our good friend David snapped some photos from the Giro di San Francisco this past labor day.... The weather was perfect, the racing was fast and intense, and the spectators were great. It was awesome to finally race with Chcuk and also ride around the bay with Nathan, David, and Kris! The day before the race I took the boys up to Mt. Tam and the views, as always, were nothing short of spectacular and they loved it. A short trip is in order to vegas to ride with those guys again. Valley of Fire/ Mt. Charleston? Lets do it. Check out David's blog at www.legitimusmaximus.tumblr.com for a nice recap of their whole weekend in San Francisco.

*More photos to come that Saskia took...


















-Joe

Giro di San Francisco

If you want to enjoy your Labor Day with some great local bike racing, come out to Levi Plaza tomorrow and watch the Giro di San Francisco! Chcuk and I race at 2pm.



metromintcycling.org

-Joe

Super Sprint

Saskia participated in her first super sprint all women's triathalon and took 10th overall, placing 3rd in her age category of 20-29. She did a great job in each discipline for not being the most experienced swimmer and runner. Naturally, she made up lots of time on the bike leg of the race. I think I was cheering her on like a crazy mad man! Great job Sas ;)

-Joe

Pause

I like this shot from Tom Robertson. Seen at tomrobertsonphoto.com via freemantransport.com. Check out his site for more nice photos.

-Joe

MTB

Wouldn't mind either of these Indy Fab's right about now...






-Joe

TOU Stage 4

Jeff Louder of BMC was one of my first favorite riders when I started following pro cycling last year(I know, nOOb). He won the tough looking stage 4 crit of this year's Tour of Utah. He attacked about halfway through the race on the 1 mile course that had a 12% kicker. Riders were getting dropped left and right, and also being lapped! Crazy... My friend Eric Lippincott was there actually handing out bottles? Eric if you happen to read this, hit me up!


(photo: velonews.com)

-Joe

KBS Orca

Not usually a big fan of Orbea's, but this Kelly Benefits edition one is pretty nice.



-Joe

Posted

Only because of those blue hoods. I like that blue... and maybe the wheels too...



-Joe

Donuts

-Joe

EDGE

I want some EDGE wheels... 1.68 or 45 clincher? Yeh, Yeh.








http://www.edgecomposites.com


-Joe

Looking Forward

Yeah, I know.... lack of updates.... although it's all good because I've been quite busy with the daily happenings in everyday life. Working, chilling, racing, riding, planning.... planning for what? HOC Cycling Team next season. Yup. We're going to do this! As of now, Jonathan is working on the kits once again, and they're looking FRESH. I'm so stoked on it for next season. Jersey, bib, vest, cap, and gloves. If you are reading this and would like to get an order in, shoot me an email at hocroad@gmail.com. I will shoot you over the mock up we have of the kit details once we get them, which should be very soon. We aren't producing a whole lot for the first time around, they're mostly going to be for the team, which is right now comprised of less than 5 people hahahah. But that's alright, we will build strong! On that note, a big shout out and congratulations is in order to Naveen for his win at Dunnigan Hills RR last weekend. So stoked for you man! And Kevin as well, putting in some nice solid efforts for Naveen.... looking good for next season boys!

Interested in riding for us? Send an email of interest to hocroad@gmail.com.

In other news, my left leg has been numb for the past couple of days. Doc says it could be a kinked/pinched nerve, and hopefully it will go away soon. Haven't felt any pain with it, just the fact that I can feel it is pretty annoying though. At least it doesn't hurt.... anyway, I still raced with it even though maybe I should have rested last Sunday. I won't do a race report this time around for the last two races, but I'll just post the photos from them. The way my schedule is looking like for the rest of the season, it looks like I might only be racing 2 or 3 more times... Excited to race with the vegas boys when they come through at the end of the month! I'll be going to Europe in the middle of September and then NYC for early October for a little R & R! Looking forward to it.... Oh yeah, I want a mountain and TT bike.... which comes first? I'm also waiting for Curtlo to get back to me on the decals so I can get the cross bike re-painted. Hurry up yo!

More soon and thanks for reading!


Timpani Crit









Suisun City Harbor Crit










Kevin at the front, pacing Naveen who is right behind him in the photo.



(Photos by Saskia and Hors Categorie Photography)


-Joe

Copper Town Circuit Race

Kevin and I woke up at the crack of dawn to drive out to Copperopolis for this circuit race. Weather was great and definitely warm, and the course was really fun too. Closed road course with smooth pavement. The turnout in each field was pretty damn small actually, and it's a shame there wasn't more racers. Kevin raced in the 4's and did well I believe, and in the 3's, I took 9th and Rainier sprinted to 3rd. I believe that result for him was enough to upgrade to cat2!? Wow, congrats man. Although I'm not surprised, as Rainier was a beast before the start of this season haha... thanks for helping me stay motivated man.








Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/swoo/sets/72157624500243381

-Joe

San Marcos Crit

So a couple of weeks ago Saskia and myself drove down to LA to visit some friends and I also planned on racing down in northern San Diego with Chcuk and Ryan from Las Vegas. Long story short, it was my very first cat3 race and I was pretty excited for it, especially because I was going finally race with Chcuk! Anyway, about 10 minutes into the race my gears started to play tricks on me, skipping up and down, and then finally just not shifting... before I know it, I look up and the race is down the road. Bummer. I managed to finish the race however, with access to only a couple of working gears. I guess it's important to note that there was a short and punchy climb on the backside of the 1.7 mile course which presented a problem for me with my messed up drivetrain. When I got back home, I realized my rear derailleur cable was fraying all over the place inside the hood. Need to grease that more often, thanks to the tip of Travis from Freewheel. Good thing that cable didn't snap during the race! Nonetheless, we all had a good time racing and hanging out, even though it was just for the day. We'll all be racing together again in September here in the bay area, which should be lots of fun.

-As always, thanks a bunch to Saskia for driving and taking photos =)


Ryan in the 4's





Myself





Chcuk

-Joe