Coming to you live from stage 20 of the Vuelta, and reporting whilst still marginally sober. Racers are coming in fast on the 30+ min time trial, with several overlapping at the finish. We’re parked at a beer garden along the last little stretch, having run the last 10 km of the course earlier this…
The Archives
I’ve made mention before of Rouleur magazine and their amazing, in-depth articles. In one of the past issues, they had a wonderful piece on frame building in the eighties and nineties describing how many of the big names sourced the building of frames – especially custom frames – to subcontractors. The article focused on one…
What’s going on in Cadel’s head? Maybe the intense heat of Spain has melted his synapses, which were already near breaking point, or perhaps it’s just the realisation that he is never going to win a Grand Tour of any kind, not even the third-tier race he’s currently gracing with his comedic ramblings. His latest routine…
Mario Cipollini, if nothing else, did one crucial thing for cycling. For better or worse, he turned cycling into a Business. His business sense was light years ahead of the pro cycling culture. He recognized that, by being both a dedicated professional a narcissist, you could make enourmous amounts of money – not only for…
I think it goes without saying that riding a fixie properly takes quite a bit of skill and finesse; the pedals being directly connected to the rear axle demands a fluid pedaling technique when riding at speed, not to mention the skill required to stop (quickly) without brakes. The issue I have with the fixie…
Phase I of Project Zero is complete. Stock, the Zip wasn't a bike that i was going to be able to ride. First of all, I'm too tall for the 270mm Ritchey seatpost, and the stem was too short. Also, while I love the approach Bridgestone took to designing their bikes, I have to say…
I posted SpandX’s excellent and funny cycling-centric music video for “Performance” here the other day. Watching it again recently, I noticed the that the character riding the fixie, whose name I assume is Fred, is doing a trackstand in front of popular Portland coffee roaster, Stumptown, as you can see in the shot below: That…
Last weekend, Michelle and I drove out over the Cascades and into the arid region on the other side of the pass. It’s amazing the way the mountains hold the moisture on the Pacific side of the range; driving up through the rain forest to crest into the East Cascades is an amazing experience. As…
My friend Robbie is no slouch on a bike. He is a former Mass-Rhode Island district road race champion, he has been beaten by the likes of Steve Bauer and Davis Phinney. The man can always get on a bike and haul ass, he always will. He drove by two days ago and was hot…
I’ve been a fan of Danilo Di Luca a long time, and to tell the truth, was much more suspect of Menchov’s performance at the Giro than I was of Di Luca’s; Menchov rode the last few days of the Giro like it was a Sunday spin, while Di Luca seemed to visibly tire with…
I miss downtube shifters. I miss them in the same way I miss the days before the widespread use of race radios, when races were less choreographed and more unpredictable. Racing on downtube shifters, a rider had to be seated and take one hand off the bars to shift. Shifting had to be planned into…
In keeping with the retro thread from Frank and his MB-Zip, here is the bike I spent my weekend on: For those of you squinting, it’s a Specialized Rock Hopper, circa 1988. This museum piece is my ride of choice when visiting my in-laws in Boise, ID. It’s perfect for the miles and miles of…
I am a nod snob. The fact is, I’m a bit of a cycling snob all-around. I am not a “biker” and I do not “like to bike”. I am a cyclist and I like to ride. What’s more, as I outlined before, there are very loosely defined parameters under which I will bestow a…
Things were always better in “the good old days”. That’s what my mate Johnny Klink always says, especially when we’re talking about mountain biking (which is 99% of our conversations). We were turned on to the sport around the same time in the early 90’s, and even though we didn’t meet until the latter part…
About a year and a half ago, as I was just starting to get really serious about cycling again after dabbling for about a decade, Michelle bought me every past issue of Rouleur and got me a two-year subscription. This is not a bike magazine. This is a quarterly publication for cyclists. It is printed…
Michelle and I hit the trail on Saturday to take our newly acquired mountain bikes for their maiden voyage on the Grand Ridge trail near Issaquah, Washington. We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the trail, and elated with our bikes. The only trouble we got into was with me going a bit too…
Despite their obvious utility, I’m not a big fan of Fixies. I understand they have minimal maintenance – which make them great for commuting – and the fixed gear forces excellent pedaling technique. But the wide-spread adoption of these bikes has less to do with those two considerations than they do with fad. But fads…
Whenever anybody asks me “what are your favourite films”, when my answer is proffered I’m usually met with a blank stare akin to a dog being shown a card trick. Along with the likes of Fargo, Being John Malkovich and Easy Rider, one of the first names out of my mouth is usually Breaking Away. “Breaking A-what-now?”…
Phase I of Operation Get Back Into Mountain Biking is complete. This week, we bought Michelle a used Cannondale Prophet. Comparing this thing to my Zip is a study in how dramatically times have changed. Looking at the bikes side-by-side, it seems the only similarity is the fact that they both use wheels, are powered…
Did I need new cycling shoes? Absolutely not. In fact, as I rode that day I planned a product review post for my one year old Specialized road shoes. A year seems like a good long time to get to know intimately one’s cycling shoes. My review would be quite positive: light, comfortable, not too…