March 17 & 18 Race Reports

Tubbs beating me for the 2nd day in a row

Mason Lake, WA (Stage 3, Overall)Posted on Thursday, March 22 @ 15:20:34 EDT Topic: Men's Elite Team

Rob Campbell secures 3rd overall in the Mason Lake series with a 6th place in race #3. Besting Kenny Williams (1st Rate Mortgage), but coming up short against Ian Tubbs (Hagens-Berman)in the field sprint, Campbell added to his 4th place from race #1.

(I wasn't looking to go too deep in this race--no reason to really. Michael Emde and Micheal Murdin meanwhile chewed their arms offs like animals caught in a trap to stay ahead of the field. Hats off to them, I just don't see the point to bury myself for so little. I was happy to have enough points available in the field sprint to score somemore and come away with a podium spot in the series after not having to do a lot to earn it.)

(I was happy to have fairly fresh legs, though I'd logged over 100 on Saturday after riding to and from Mason Lake and doing the 70 mile race. The rain may have helped wear me down and give the me the low-level cold I have this week. I was also happy to have Derik riding in my service as he put in work at the front the chase several times. In the end I was beaten by Tubbs, but by doing very little I also earned good points toward the WA Cup.)

The following day at the Market Street Road Race, Derik Archibald rode strongly in service of Campbell in his quest for victory. Archibald kept the field intact during several breakaway attempts by the field, and in the end the undemanding course allowed for a field sprint. Again, Campbell was bested by Tubbs, but this time it was for 2nd on the podium.The result propelled Campbell into 3rd place in the Washington Cup series, a mere 15 points out of first place. Team Bobs-Bicycles.Com leads the team classification in the WA Cup after round #3. Campbell and the team will attempt to take the leader's jersey after round #4 at the Independence Valley Road Race near Olympia Saturday the 24th of March.

(20-30 mph winds are forecast for Saturday and it has been raining steadily for about 12 hours with not end in sight. Independence will be tough. I think that a decent selection will form in the flat exposed part of the course after the Michigan Hill climb. Hopefully I can make that selection and sprint out of it for the win.

Should I take the WA Cup jersey I will try to defend it to the end. If I don't, I'll keep trying to get it, but will probably take the start at Piece of Cake where there will be $1000 for the pro/1/2 men. That race will conflict with the North Shore Circuit Race, a WA Cup event. The WA Cup will only pay $250 for first, with a lot more effort and events. Speaking of prize money, I'll be hitting Sequim #2 on Sunday in an effort to win it and the third Sequim race later on. There's also $1000 for the pro/1/2 men for the series. I've won there several times and have taken the series overall too. Hopefully things will go my way and I'll repeat.)

That's all for now. I'll be back with race news after this weekend.

Not all soldiers think alike

Unless one goes out of their way to speak to a soldier or search for their views in print, you might mistakenly assume that all soldiers "believe in the mission" and support the decisions of the commander in chief. This week I spoke with or heard the views of at least four soldiers.

Only one of them is buying the war and believes that those trying to end the war through protest are "clowns" in his words. He believes that the protesters at the Port of Tacoma are "protesting the troops." I told him I didn't think that was the case, and that they were more than likely protesting the weapons and materials the individual soldiers were loading onto the ships. This soldier believes that they are all wasting their time and that "there are better means of protesting." I told him that I'm sure many of them are using a variety of means, contacting their elected officials, writing letters, holding meetings, and acting like "clowns" as he called those exercising their 1st amendment rights of free speech and assembly.

This soldier is completely ignorant of the facts regarding Saddam and any connection to Bin Laden/Al Qaida. He buys the line that Saddam was in cahoots with Bin Laden, a story that was put forth by the administration to frighten the nation and dupe Congress into signing on to the war. Just about anyone that has been conscious in the US is now aware that there were many, many lies told to get the war going, and the sweeping electoral defeats of many that voted for the war in Congress got the boot last November. Were you paying attention to that soldier? Is that more "clownish" behavior?

This guy has sadly put his head in the ground like an Ostrich in order to not deal with the fact that he is a lifer who is doing the dirty work of the Oil Oligarchy currently in power. While all soldiers pledge an oath to obey the commander-in-chief, the same oath requires them to uphold the constitution of the U.S. When their commander breaks the law, they have the right to refuse illegal orders. This is the grounds which the Watada case lies on.

The soldier in question gave the hackneyed knee-jerk response that Watada "shouldn't have taken the money and benefits...blah blah blah..." I assume he is ignorant of the fact that Watada wished to be treated as a citizen with rights and that he requested to not be sent to the place where he believed an illegal war was being pursued, Iraq, and instead wished to be sent to Afghanistan. The court martial will probably not be successful and the case is currently on hold after a mistrial was declared. My guess is that they knew they were 1)going to lose and 2)create a lot of publicity for the anti-war cause at a time when the build-up was being implemented/failing like the whole adventure has. But I digress...

The danger of soldiers like this one is not that they are stupid, but that they possess a decent intellect. Somewhere along the line they make a conscious or unconscious decision to remain ignorant to the facts about the justification for the war, the situation on the ground in Iraq, and the horrible treatment that the huge numbers of wounded soldiers have recieved in the government hospitals, in the rejected claims of post-traumatic stess disorder, and assistance in readjusting to civilian life. All issues that have faced all vetarns who have been used the by government and the corporations it serves. This isn't even mentioning the aspect that many intelligent soldiers must allow themselves to see the enemy and those they are supposedly fighting to "liberate" as sub-human others that are both a major inconvenience, and at the same time, the reason they in a foreign country "serving their country."

This guy is sadly "just following orders" like a good German in Nazi-era Germany.

Thankfully, prior to speaking to this soldier I had spoken with another that is thankfully not on active status. He told me about how he voiced his opinion in the presence of some other soldiers and nearly had them attack him when he said the new war on Iraq was ridiculous. He told his comrades that Iraq was a beaten-down paper tiger that had already suffered from years of embargo and starvation. What threat did they possibly possess? Apparently to think aloud and to question was enough to raise the ire of the others to the point that they could not intellectually function. Even as rear support personnel they still did not value intellectual debate and free thought. It is dangerous to be free and to think while you are being told it is time to gear up for liberating a country that has been ruled by a despot who has order the torture and killing of citizens who have questioned and resisted his rule. The irony.

Other glimmers of hope came through when I saw two soldiers take the microphone at the Olympia City Council meeting on live t.v. Most of the meeting was taken up with support for Councilman T.J. Johnson who, like the "clowns," went to Tacoma to use his constitutional rights of free speech and assembly, and was also arrested to make point that he believes the war is illegal and he is willing to break trespassing laws to make his point. A classic civil disobedience tactic that results in more press for the protestors cause and when a respected figure takes part, gives more legitimacy to that cause. Anyway, two young veterans that had served in Iraq spoke out in favor of T.J. and against the war. They've been there. They've seen and heard the public outcry and protest. They don't feel inclined to put their heads in the sand and relinquish their rights to free thought and speech. They are smart enough to see that they didn't serve their country, but the oil corporations used them.

Sadly, a few weeks before these encounters with soldiers, my half-brother called me out of the blue to tell me that he'd signed up with the Army. He told me how they'd duped him into believing that he had an amazing IQ and that he was in line for Airborn Ranger training once was called up for basic training, etc. I told him they were lying to him and that he would be in the infantry, private first class, or whatever. I doubt very much that 28 year old former truck drivers with a felony weapons charge on their record are going to be in an elite unit.

I guess he has had enough of freedom and the responsibilities of fatherhood and the grind of work. He has few options, and hadn't shown an aptitude for school, or else he'd be seeking some other job skills or training. I only hope he doesn't have to kill or hurt anyone and that the same doesn't happen to him. If he makes it home safe and sound I hope that he also sees the world with a new set of eyes and is able to see the injustice of the war and how it was fought to secure oil and territory for the expansion of U.S. interests.

Port of Tacoma protest video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1_lmvhkv3c&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-w7g_8ZCYU&NR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWmLufB6Bsw&NR

Team Bobs-bicycles.com get together

Last Friday Michael and I made the big drive to Boise to meet Vern, the shop owner and team sponsor, do a photo shoot, hang/meet the rest of the dudes, and do a little time trial. It was actually quite busy, with minimal time for hanging out at Brandon and Amanda's pad near the smelly dairy farm. Thank goodness they are moving into town and away from that wretched stench. I guess I didn't notice it in the summer since we quickly entered the sanctuary of the AC inside the home then.

Anyway, 9 hours to Boise from Oly via Portland, but the silver lining was that it rained non-stop pretty heavily while we were gone, so no love lost as far as missing the drenching.

The photo shoot was painless and it was nice to get our partial kits. Hopefully it will stay cool and I'll bwe able to actually race in the Team Bobs longs sleeve jersey.

Vern and Nancy are super nice and have been in the business for a long time and are super stoked to support a serious group of elite-level bike racers. Hopefully things will continue to develop and the team will become a launch pad to the pro ranks like some other NW teams have been.

The riding was nice after the individual photos, and during the ride 600 digital photos and a couple hours of film/video were shot for promotional purposes in the Boise area.

It was fun to answer counter-attacks from the team's awesome climbers while being filmed. I wonder what my face looked like? It was definately race-pace efforts and an opportunity to show the guys I'm not just a sprinter.

Sunday we did the Jason Broome Memorial Time Trial and I was shooting for 4th on the team and I did that with my 12th place. I got smoked by the top 5 guys, and Team Bobs took 1st and 2nd. Those guys are studs. I was pleased with my ride considering I don't focus too much on time trialling and it is early for me to have good legs in a time trial. Maybe I'll work it a bit more this early season.

Here are the results:
http://www.spondoro.com/results/JasonBroome/2007/results.pdf

See ya later,
Rob

So I have a blog now too

Well, I had to sign in to make a post to another blog today and one thing led to another...I now have a blog. I once had a webpage hosted by my college, but I graduated and it disappeared. That was a mere 5 years ago, before blogs existed. This is much easier than maintaining the web page, but it went away and I didn't bother seeking other means. But now, everyone has a blog. I have a myspace account, but I haven't done anything with it. I guess I have enough "friends" already.

So anyway, I guess I'll mostly be making posts about bike racing and other stuff that comes to mind.

Okay so here goes. Bike racing season 2007. I'll be racing for Team Bobs-bicycles.com out of Idaho this year. Bob's Bicycles is a bike shop in Idaho that does a lot of ebay and online retailing. They are the 4th largest Giant dealer in the nation! Thus, we are riding Giants this year, and I like mine a lot. I've had several Giants since Broadmark was sponsored by them when I was with them.

The team is made up of three guys from "the coast" me, Derik Archibald, and Michael Gallagher, and eight guys from Boise or other parts. Basically last year's ICO team with a few more additions. Every guy on the team is a "closer," or will be once the form comes around with some more racing.

So far we have already scored top-3's in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and New Mexico.

My results so far:

• Cherry Pie Road Race, 14th (Took field sprint after D got in the winning break, and MG was in the second group). I was happy to just finish the race considering I'd been at a bachelor party the night before...

• Ohop Roubaix, 2nd (MG took the win after attacking on the 2nd lap. I duelled with Lang Reynolds and eventually rode away with M. Emde to seal the 1-2 in that awful race. My hands and arms were wrecked but some massage did the trick the next day.)

• Mason Lake #1, 4th (Took the field sprint again. We helped chase--well Derik did--to bring the Tubbs break back that included our own Justin Rose. I was hoping to get in the next successful break but I was pretty marked and I don't think people wanted to either let me go or be faced with dealing with my sprint should we get a nice gap. What can I say? The price of being a good rider I guess. At least there was no cash on the line, and I was able to test the sprinting legs. By the way, where's the challenge? I came from way back and dusted everyone. I look forward to being able to do that at a more prestigous event soon.

Next up: drive 9 hours to Boise for photo shoot, team ride, some time trial, hanging out with team.

This "art" is what can happen when a 9th grader has access to your computer. They just might "microsoft paint" you into a compromising position. At least me killing bunnies while doing a cyclocross is better than the one they made where I'm covered with bees while taking a sprint win on the road...