Apr 28, 2006 0
No, this is not a bike with a holder for your tasty Gyro, but a bike developed by some Dartmouth undergrads that helps kids learn to ride without the help of training wheel. The bike uses a gyroscope in the front wheel that helps keep the bike upright and allows the child to gently learn how to ride on two wheels.
via Gizmodo
Apr 28, 2006 1
Mercedes-Benz has been using carbon for years long before the trend started hitting its stride in the bike business mainly due to their Formula 1 efforts. This year they are coming out with a limited edition carbon bike to satisfy the cyclist who likes to show that he drives a Mercedes too. The bike looks like a Fuji carbon bike since the carbon wrapping is similar to to some Fuji Carbon bikes that a Colavita teammate rides.
This bike follows a trend lately of car manufacturers lending their name to bike accessories. Previously they were limited to lower end fare such as Jeep branded bikes. Recently Cadillac came out with a racing bike that looked like a Felt and now this. None of these match the Ferrari/Colnago concept bikes which actually use carbon that the Ferrari F1 team helped to develop.
Apr 27, 2006 2
The news this week is about Jan Ullrich’s return to racing. Der Kaiser finally started his season after a knee flareup caused him to ease up on his training. The result is that Ullrich is behind in form yet again, and reporters, newsmen, bloggers and fans are all wondering just how fat is Jan Ullrich? Well, with the help of some old Yo Mamma jokes and a shout out to Wilmer Valderama for his awesome new show “Yo Mamma” here is how fat Jan Ullrich really is:
(disclaimer, I can joke about this because like Jan, I am a fat cyclist)
Newly added*
Jan Ullrich so fat when he rode up L’Alpe D’Huez, he flattened the roads.*
Jan Ullrich so fat the broom wagon drafts him to save gas.*
Jan Ullrich so fat that fans thought T-Mobile placed a blimp in the middle of the peloton.*
Jan Ullrich so fat Graham Watson’s camera was too heavy after he took a picture of Jan Ullrich.
Jan Ullrich so fat, he makes Free Willy look like a tic tac
Jan Ullrich so fat he causes picture breakup just by sweating.
Jan Ullrich so fat, when he walked in front of the TV I missed 3 commercials
Jan Ullrich so fat, the last time he saw 90210 was on the scale
Jan Ullrich so fat, when he steps on the scale it says one at a time please
Jan Ullrich so fat, when he steps on the scale it says sorry we don’t do livestock
Jan Ullrich so fat, when he goes to a restaurant he gets an estimate
Apr 27, 2006 0
Yeah, I’m stretching with an original title, it works though… Chris Horner took the stage win and the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de Romandie. The win makes it two in a row for Davitamon Lotto after Robbie McEwen’s sprint victory yesterday.
Horner chose to stay in Europe instead of coming back to the US for the Tour de Georgia. The descision paid off well since Horner was in with the top contenders at Liege and now won a stage in Romandie.
The race is still very close as Paolo Salvodelli is only a few seconds back. The question is does Paolo want the overall victory enough just before the Giro, or will he chill for the rest of the race.
Horner’s Bike Position
Horner is a talented bike racer that has an extremely elegant position on the bike. If you notice his pedal stroke seems effortless compared to some other riders who mash big gears. He rides with a high cadence and sits far back on his bike. The result is a very flat back with lots of leverage from his hamstrings. Just watching Horner pedal makes you think that he is comfortable on his bike. There seems to be no wasted motions as he cranks along in a breakaway.
Apr 25, 2006 0
(photo from photoradius)
My first real race of the season was at The Perinton Spring Classic on Sunday. The race was put on by the Genesee Valley Cycling Club who are located in Rochester, NY. They are the same folks that ran the Rochester Giros and will host a bunch of other races later this year. I have to admire the sheer number of races that GVCC manages to pull off every year. They have a very active racing club that makes us in Syracuse jealous.
(Dave Faso placed 4th – photo from photoradius)
Anyway, despite some very threatening weather and gloomy conditions, there was a great turnout for the Perinton Spring Classic. Our Colavita-Spokepost.com had a good number of riders in each race. Jeremy Wickham won the Cat 4 race and Dave Faso and William Nicholson finished fourth and fifth in their Cat 3 race. It was a good turnout for Colavita overall.
(photo from photoradius)
My race went better than I thought as the hill on Furman Rd was a tough climb to get over. As you can tell by the pics, I have a few pounds to shed this season. Gee, once you get on a bike, the belly just seems to sag more than usual. These shots are almost embarassing, but I’ll put them up for motivation to lose the gut.
(photo from photoradius)
I felt good as the race started. I made sure I was close to the front in the neutral start especially since I wanted to scope out Furman Rd. After the neutral climb, the Cat 5 race started heating up quickly and gaps started forming in the group. On each of the little hills I was able to get up to the lead group of about 10 to 15 riders. As gaps formed I was able to bridge up to the lead group. It is important to not get caught out because someone else creates a gap. It is better to bridge those gaps as soon as they form. Otherwise you will find yourself burning up lots more energy than necessary simply to stay with the lead group.
Once in the top group I felt fairly comfortable, but I was not into my rythm yet. Some of the accerlarations just would leave me gasping. On Wickman rd, the little riser just ate up my speed and I was quickly off the back of my group. I managed to crank back up to speed and caught up with some shrapnel from the group. Two other riders and I decided to work together to get back to the lead group. This was just before we were to head up Furman rd. Unfortunately the Cat 4 race was riding up in a neutral start and it was difficult to get around everybody. The steepness of the hill and the frantic pace to catch back on caught up to me and I was crawling up Furman.
(photo from photoradius)
Eventually I found myself alone cranking along in no man’s land. I thought my race was for a lowly placing. I saw Seth Torrice on the side of the road with a flat and stopped to offer him my wheel, but he declined as he was already too far back to catch on.
After that I caught a few riders and was passed by a few categories. The Pro Women caught me on Furman and they weren’t able to shake me off. Usually if a higher category passed me, they already had a head of steam going along so it would be difficult to latch on. But here, the Women were not going too fast, so I attacked to get ahead and try to catch onto a group up the road. On the hills the women would come right back. The group was composed of three Terry riders, one Handlebars and one JW Dundee rider. Finally on the next go round up Furman they totally dropped me on the hill that just got harder each time.
Finally in the last lap and one half the rained started coming down, and it was a bit heavy at times. So I was playing with just dropping out of the race. The idea became more tempting as I caught up to Scott Grimshaw who was riding in the Cat 3 race. He is working his way back to fitness and played with the Cat 3s for a while. He got 30 miles in and decided to bag it especially as the rain was getting heavy. But I only had one lap left and two Cat 5s caught up to me. One more time up Furman can’t hurt.
As I’m crawling up Furman for the last time I see Matt Howey and Jason Haight in William Nicholson’s car. They weren’t feeling well, so bagged it, which seemed like a tempting move until I heard Matt yell out what sounded like I was 40 seconds down on the Cat 5 group. I thought WTF? I am not totally dropped? So I started to crank along to try and get a good placing. The hills after Furman were more than manageable for me as I got closer to the finish about 5 Cat 5s caught up to me and so did a lead group of the Cat 3s that included William Nicholson. The Cat 3s still had one more lap to go before they finished. In the downhill run to the finish I got caught inside the Cat 3 group and it was tough to get around everybody, but William helped lead me out a bit to get a respectable placing.
(William Nicholson going for fifth and 1 point away from an upgrade to Cat 2 – photo from photoradius)
Overall, the race went about as expected. I have to lose a few pounds to get into better hill climbing form but my goal for the race was to get some racing fitness.
Here are a few more shots of Colavita Teammates: Special thanks to Photradius for the great photos.
(Andy – photo from photoradius)
(Andy – photo from photoradius)
(Jason was having “un Jour Sans” – photo from photoradius)
(Andy says “I laugh at this climb!” – photo from photoradius)
Apr 21, 2006 0
Gas $4.00/per gallon, Air 75 cents for two minutes…. Easy choice, plus you get exercise.
Dolph Rempp, owner of an entertainment services company, pumps air in his bike’s tires before riding home Thursday, April 20, 2006, at a gas station in Beverly Hills, Calif. Rempp, who lives in Beverly Hills, rides his bike to lunch to avoid paying record high gas prices. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Yahoo Pics
Apr 20, 2006 0
Paolo Bettini knows how to win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The punchy Italian won in 200 and 2002 and thinks that he has what it takes to win again this year.
“It’s as if I’ve already won it. No really, I’m not joking,” he told La Dernière Heure.
Bettini place 12th in Wednesday’s Fleche Wallone, but explained that he is not really a fan of the Mur de Huy the finishing climb of the mid-week Classic where Alessandro Valverde won his first Classic tis week.
“The Mur does have a portion that has a 19% gradient where I’m never very at ease. Try as I may, I can never follow the best. And this Wednesday, even though I found myself in the very front row on the climb, I quickly realized that it wouldn’t be any different this year,” he added.
“That said, I’ll simply remember that I had excellent sensations, same as in the Gold Race. It’s very promising for Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And that one, I love it!”
Paolo sure feels confident especially after being so animated in Amstel last Sunday. Although Quick-Step lost a little momentum to CSC in the win column, they still sport a very strong team that can help Bettini get in the right position. Ill Grillo just needs to make sure he drops Valverde before the end.
Apr 20, 2006 0
Follow the Tour de Georgia with the tdgblog. It looks like it is the same folks that bring you the tdfblog.com as the format is very similar. There are links to photosets on Flickr and reports from folks who are at the race this year.
The Flickr links are by far the best feature since folks with digital camera are alll over the race and very eager to upload pics. It gives a different angle to the event that can’t be seen as well with the professional shots from Velonews and Cyclingnews.com.
Apr 20, 2006 5
Hoping to keep his fitness unlike other retired Tour de France Champs, Lance Armstrong has his sites set on running the New York City Marathon.
Armstrong may miss athletic competition and is looking for a new athletic challenge, but maybe he also fears getting fat like his mentor Eddy Merckx. After burning all those insane amounts of calories riding 6 plus hour a day, getting used to a more sedentary lifestyle can lead to some unwanted extra pounds. Seeing what happened to Eddy Merckx, Lance intends to start running again and keep on biking.
Here is a bland quote on why Armstrong chose to run in NYC.
“We were looking at the Chicago Marathon, but a conflict arose with the date, and New York seems to fit our schedule better,” Armstrong said in a telephone interview. “I’ve been training some, but I wouldn’t call it serious. It’s just something to fill a void in my life after I quit competing as a professional cyclist.”
Just stay away from those donuts and especially those Luther Burgers and you should be OK.
BTW, with this marathon running, could the Ironman triathlon be far behind?
Yahoo News story
Apr 20, 2006 0
Nice shot of the Specialized Angel from Sea Otter. This pic comes from Flickr courtesy of the tdgblog.com
Specialized isn’t putting too much marketing behind the Tour de Georgia especially since Gerolsteiner is not racing there this year.
Specialized has a fairly low-profile presence in Georgia this week. Their only official sponsorship is of KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada, for whom they provide helmets and electronics, so no Angel.
