Just had a birthday and I’ve decided to get some rollers for indoor training. I’ll add some photos when they arrive. Wish me luck!
Rollers…
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Category Archives: Cycling
Are You Ready For the Amgen Tour of California?
First things first. I hope Chris Horner drops everyone on Mt. Baldy and retains his Tour of California title.
Here are three primers to get you fired up for the Amgen Tour of California. It starts this Sunday, the 13th of May. Enjoy!
Here is a good overview of the stories to follow during the tour from cyclingnews.com.
And from the race organizers here is all of the stage information.
Finally, from the guys at Rapha, check out this gorgeous video showing cyclists tackling the 2011 stages. Lovely.
Who do you want to see on the podium this year?
First Rule of Barfly… You Do Not Talk About Barfly
The First Rule of Barfly is You Do Not Talk About Barfly.
I am going to clue you in on something here and I know that I am breaking the rule but I’m only doing it for readers of this blog. You and I have a deal, alright? You can not talk about the Barfly. Not to anyone.
What is the Barfly? It is a mount for your Garmin that attaches to your handlebar to move the position of your Garmin forward. It basically kicks those rubber bands Garmin provides you to the curb. In addition to having a great location, the pro look of the Barfly set-up will probably be banned by the UCI, due to it’s performance enhancing benefits. The intimidation factor alone is guaranteed to shoot you up to the podium in your local crits.
Behold the Barfly
Nice Forward Position
Intimidating
Featured On Texas Mountain Bike Trails – 5 Tips For Fueling a Century
Ready to Roll
Are you curious how a vegan cyclist can fuel themselves on long distance and ultra distance rides? My buddy Shawn over at Texas Mountain Bike Trails asked me to contribute some tips for fueling a 100 mile (century) bike ride. The whole exercise started with asking me how I do it. We chatted for a bit and decided it would be great to write a post talking about how to fuel a long distance ride.
You can read the post here. One thing to add that wasn’t in the post is that I use these same tips for rides that are longer than 100 miles, too.
You can also check out Shawn and keep up with his mountain biking tips on twitter @TexasMTBTrails.
Ride Review for Lone Star Randonneurs’ OK is OK 309 km Brevet
At the end of 2011 I joined Lone Star Randonneurs to ride with them on some of their longer rides. First up for 2012 was the OK is OK 309 km Brevet. Going 300 km was a goal of mine so I jumped at the chance when this ride was announced.
The Good
The Lone Star Randonneurs get on with it. The forecast called for a stiff headwind for the first half of the day as we headed north and a stiff headwind for the second half of the day as we would be heading back south. There was discussion about the weather and everyone knew the conditions would make the ride tougher. Many cyclists would have caved rather than suffer through 192 miles/309 km of headwind. Not this gang.
The route, picked out by George Evans, was fantastic. Quiet, scenic country roads. About 4,200 feet of climbing, mainly rollers but with a few slightly longer climbs in there as well. The well detailed cue sheet made following the route easy.
Barn in Wolfe City, Texas
Jack Lindquist One-on-One, A Conversation with a Vegan Professional Track Cyclist
Jack Lindquist, aka Pink Fixie
I’m fired up to have a chance to visit with you, Jack. I have a bunch of questions about fueling your cycling on a vegan diet and racing, but first things first. You have some pretty iconic cycling tattoos. Can you give me the story behind them?
The tattoos started off as a joke, like all good tattoos should. I was working as a bike messenger here in LA, and had just started racing track, and was doing very well. I was winning every cat 3 track race I entered, tons of alley cats, had done really well at Cycle Messenger World Championships, and had a friend that was a tattoo artist. I went to him with the idea and some pictures of old diesel pistons from turn of the century locomotives. The tattoos took almost 3 years to finish, from outline to shading, every time I would sit down with my artist, he would be astounded at how much area there was to fill, and the 3 hour block he had set aside to finish the piece was eaten up with very little progress. Now that they’re done, I’m stoked, and I’m very quickly recognized everywhere I go, it’s pretty cool.
Goal Achieved! Finisher of Rapha 500
Yesterday I achieved my goal of finishing the Rapha 500. I road 516 kilometers to pass the 500k goal of the competition. What a great way to end 2011!
Some highlights:
- Road a century with friends and family on Boxing Day
- I had a personal best for longest ride at 212 kilometers
- Road with a new friend discovered through the Rapha 500
- Helped a friend achieve a personal best and finish her first century
- Managed to keep it rubber side down and finish with no mechanicals
- Discovered several new cycling buddies on Twitter and Strava
- Managed to stay awake to see the New Year’s fireworks
Rapha 500 Progress
Here are some photos from the rides:
Stopping at Catfish Corner for a photo
The gang at Catfish Corner
Just me and the cows
Discovering quiet country roads on Rapha 500
Fireworks ringing in the New Year!
Thanks to Rapha, Strava, my family and friends. The Rapha 500 was epic!
Rides Four, Five, Six and Seven For Rapha 500
Here are the rest of my rides from Strava for the Rapha 500.
Ride Number Three For Rapha 500
Ride number three for the Rapha 500 was outstanding. Accompanied by friends and family, the ride was 100k heading on a loop southeast from Dallas.
Sadly, my Garmin and my iPhone died during the ride so I only recorded 39 miles. Oh well!
Ride Number Two For Rapha 500
Ride number two was an easy Christmas ride with my brother Joshua. We rolled around White Rock Lake and Lakewood.
The ride was just under 30 miles, about 47 kilometers. With that ride I am now about 52% complete with the challenge with 6 days left.