Colors of Spring
Back when the great Eddie Merckx won his legendary 525 races, cyclists often rode everything. They rode the Spring Classics, the Grand Tours, the World Championships and the “Tour of the Falling Leaves”. Starting in the late ’90s, this began to change. While Merckx won the Giro five times, the Tour five times, the Vuelta a Espana twice, he even won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same season more than once. This has not been done since 1998 and not attempted more than a handful of times in the last 15 years. This is not all bad, especially for American cycling fans.
While for nearly a century, pink has been the color of May on the international cycling calendar, yellow and grizzly bear graphics have made their way in. The three-week tour of Italy had been the natural lead-in for the Tour de France, in the era of specialization and growing prominence of France’s big tour, the Tour of California has become a big race for more than Americans. This was helped in no small part by the moving of the race from February to May in 2010 after two abysmal weather years. Since the move, the biggest teams and racers have made the move to the Golden State.
The Tour of California is “only” a one-week race, this year beginning near San Diego on Sunday, May 12, and heading north for the first time, finishing in Santa Rosa on May 19. The Giro d’Italia is a three-week Grand Tour. Three weeks on a bike takes a big physiological toll on a body. It not only trims any extra fat off a racer, it begins a catabolistic process. It breaks down muscle in an attempt to find more energy to move the body on the bike. This is a difficult from which a racer has only five weeks to recover. As the Giro d’Italia is the most important race for and in Italy, the Tour is the biggest prize in all of stage racing. As a result, a shorter stage race has tremendous advantages for teams and racers whose ultimate goals are Tour wins.
So the best sprinter in the world not from the Isle of Man, Peter Sagan, will be back in California this weekend. The Boulder-based Garmin-Sharp team has the honor of defending Giro champion, and some of the Americans are in Italy to help with that defense, Dave Zabriskie, Garmin’s time trial specialist, will lead a strong team in California. Even Belgian hero Tom Boonen had planned to hone his sprinting skills in California before his crash at the Tour of Flanders last month.
The rise in American cycling will feature prominently again this August here in Colorado. While most Spanish-speaking racers will head to the Vuelta a Espana, most racers with a shot at September’s World Road Championship will skip the Vuelta in favor of the shorter, though still challenging Pro Cycling Challenge. Bad for the Vuelta, already the Grand Tour’s redheaded step-child, good for American cycling fans.
Meanwhile at the Corsa Rosa, Katusha’s Italian rider, Luca Paolini, is ensconced in pink. Defending champ, Garmin’s Canadian rider, Ryder Hasjedal, is 34 seconds back, tied on time with Sky’s leader, Bradley Wiggins.
The Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish started the Giro with a sprint win in Naples.
Team Sky was the overwhelming winner in stage two’s team time trial on the island of Ischia. Surprisingly, it was Sky’s firt TTT win in a grand tour. The win put Sky’s Salvatore Puccio, who also happens to be Italy’s national time trial champion, in the pink leader’s jersey.
Hesjedal took off on an attack during stage three, only to be caught and passed by eventual stage winner Paolini.
Stage four saw former Giro champion Danilo DiLuca get swamped by the sprinters teams less than 400 yards short of the finish line of the 153-mile stage in Serra San Bruno. Sprinter Enrico Battaglin took the bunch sprint. Paolini kept the rain-soaked pink jersey.
Stage five, 126 mostly-flat miles from Cosenza to Matera, was marred by a crash inside the last 1000 meters. Sprinter John Degenkolb of Argo-Shimano avoided the crash and made up a huge gap in just about 100 meters to take his first career win in the Italian tour.
Look west this weekend. The Amgen Tour of California will be televised on NBCSports network beginning Sunday. To see the Giro d’Italia, visit Steephill.tv to find a live video feed.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.
Progress
I am busily staring at my computer, trying to find a muse. I’ve just cleared off a spot on a shelf above my desk, just to change things up a bit and stand while I type. Ultra-marathon hero Dean Karnazes explained in a recent interview that he stands at his desk, just to be that much more active. He explained he also does push ups, squats and stretches every so often to keep moving. I got all this from a web show called Genetic Potential TV, a collaboration between physical therapist and former world-class paddler Kelly Starrett and CrossFit Endurance guru Brian MacKenzie. Make some time for it and check it out.
This week marked the end of the Spring Classics. From what I can tell, the riders to watch going into the Grand Tour season are Fabian Cancellara, sprinter Peter Sagan and last year’s Tour champion, Brad Wiggins. Look for them all to be in Italy next week for the start of the Giro d’Italia. More on the Corsa Rosa next week.
I’m a bit of a tech weenie. I love new gadgets and fun stuff. I loved getting the iPhone from the office, initially, as it gave me the chance to make video while I rode. That didn’t work out quite as planned, so I have my eye on the GoPro Hero3. I’m now awaiting the new Dura Ace group set and Shimano’s light DA C24 carbon/aluminum tubeless wheels. I’ve gone on and on about the technology in the new DA 9000 group set, but haven’t hit on the wheels so much, because tubeless rode wheels are new enough, as a concept, that I have not dealt with them before. The idea, as always with high-end wheels, is to be stiffer and lighter. Another in a long line of evolutionary steps with wheels.
Long ago, rims were made from wood. They have gone through incarnations of steel, aluminum, carbon fiber, sew-up tubular, clincher and now tubeless. This is all on the road bike side, mind you. The last 25 years have been amazing in the leaps in tech improvements.
I sent a note to Wayne Stetina asking about the biggest improvements in bike technology that he has seen. He responded with the wheels, but named a bunch of other upgrades, as well.
Stetina rode the Coors Classic and Red Zinger on steel frames with friction shift levers on the down tube, the tube running from the stem to the pedals. He has seen the move from those old shifters, in which the rider had to feel around for the right gear, to index shifters, which were set up to click when dropping into a gear, to the integrated shifter-break lever system introduced to road cycling by Shimano in 1990. Now, of course, we also have electronic shifting, as well.
Stetina also mentioned the move from the relatively heavy steel frames to aluminum, titanium and now carbon fiber. Some bike manufacturers have assembled bikes that weigh close to 12 pounds, a far cry from the 20-plus pound bikes ridden in the Tour de France as recently as 1999. Funny thing is, if you have the motivation and the money, you can ride a lighter bike than the pros. The Union Cycliste Internationale has set a weight limit of 15 pounds for pro bikes.
Imagine riding in wool shorts. With a real lamb-skin chamios. The modern bib shorts with man-made chamios are a huge leap forward in comfort. I own a number of wool jerseys and even a beloved wool trainer. They are soft and warm and don’t hang on to oder. However, I still wear something under them. I can’t imagine wearing wool against my sensitive areas.
Bike evolution, at least within the pro peloton, will continue without one of my favorite riders. Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi announced his retirement this week. The big Italian started racing in 1998, but started making a name for himself in 2003 when, in his first Tour de France, he won four sprint stages. That same year, Ale-Jet also took six Giro d’Italia stages and another five at the Vuelta a Espana. Petacchi holds the record for most stage wins in a single Giro, winning nine sprints in his home tour in 2004. He has the Points jersey from all three grand tours, but his 2007 Giro sprinters jersey was stripped after a blood test revealed he had too much asthma medication in his system. Petacchi actually had a medical exception for it, but officials felt he was’t monitoring his intake well enough and suspended him for most of the ’07 season.
Petacchi was cut from the same cloth as fellow Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini; tall, good looking, brash, flamboyant, though not nearly as much as Cippo, and not much of a climber. It came as a surprise when, in 2010, Ale-jet made the climbs of the Alps and Pyrenees and road into Paris for the first and only time, to claim the green sprinters jersey of the Tour, something Cipollini never accomplished.
Ride the Rockies is beginning to loom large in the near future. I am forced to obtain a bike box to get my bike from where I will park in Colorado Springs, out to Telluride. This will be my first experience with disassembling my bike for transport. The up side is that I don’t have to spend $400 on a bike case. I will head over to the Estes Park Mountain Shop and pick up a box that was used to ship bikes to them. This also eliminates the need to schlep the box all the way back to my car in the Springs. I will arrive in Telluride, assemble my bike and find a recycle bin for the box.
We are six weeks short of Ride the Rockies, by the way. Milage totals are heading up. According to the RTR training chart, we should be up to 60 miles over three rides during the week and another 40 miles in one ride on the weekend. Like many weekend warriors, I have to rejigger this a bit. I can justify counting my morning classes as 15 miles each. That only counts as 45 miles during the week. I have to try to add some of that back in on the weekend. Finally, the weekend weather is supposed to cooperate.
This week, I plan to spend some time on our local climbs, a nearly endless resource. On Saturday, I have time to warm up around Lake Estes, then head up Fall River Road to the steep Fall River Court. I will ride back into town and over Moccasin to the steep streets on the east side of the Estes Park Medical Center. None of these climbs are very long, but what they lack in duration they more than compensate with intensity.
On Sunday, I hope to head down to Boulder and catch one of their shop rides. The shops that are sponsoring and supporting the RTR have organized group rides on most weekends. This Sunday, the Sports Garage has a three-hour ride beginning at their shop just about half a block north and west of Pearl and 28th street. They list the start time at 9 a.m. and offer a discount for purchases in their shop for participants.
If you want a ride down to Boulder on Sunday or interested in the Saturday climbing, shoot me an e-mail or call.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.
A nice shot by Sundance Images Event Photography of me in my Ale-Jet replica 2007 Giro sprinters kit! obviously, it is early in this climb. I’m still smiling!
Fun
Our sport is supposed to be about the fun. Yes, there is suffering. Yes, plenty of cycling involves challenging oneself and being uncomfortable. In the end, however, it is supposed to be about the fu, the pleasure of riding.
I am reading the autobiography of Manx sprinter Mark Cavendish and found a similar conclusion. He describes the suffering of the mountain stages in the grand tours, about the exhaustion of riding for three weeks. He also writes about the disappointment of leaving the Tour early in 2008 and not getting to Paris for the last sprint.
He also had harsh words for the riders ejected from the ’08 Tour for doping. It made me think, why would someone risk health, career and standing for a win. My conclusion was they put something else ahead of the fun.
I don’t mean to judge. Cycling in Europe is akin to prize fighting in the US, or a lot of pro sports. They often attract athletes who feel it the only shot at rise out of dire economic circumstances. If that’s the case, I could see how someone might be lured into doping to get as far from poverty as possible. Some don’t have the luxury that most of us leisure riders have.
I’m not condoning this behavior, either. The reason Cavendish was so animate about the dopers, in this case Riccardo Ricco, Leonardo Piepoli and Stefan Schumacher, When the dopers set there enhanced paces, they threatened guys like Cav’ who is clean and not a climber. The major Tours set a time limit based of the stage winner’s time. Come in after the cut off and you go home. Ricco broke away and won stage nine that year, putting pressure on the sprinters, then Piepoli put in an inhuman ride the next day.
You may have heard of the Autobus, or Grupetto. These are the groups of big men at the back of these climbing stages, generally sprinters working together to make the cutoff. They are not lollygagging. They are suffering just to suffer all over again the next day. When the cheaters put in the crazy-fast rides up the high mountains, they not only take away the chances of the clean climbers, they endanger a great many sprinters. This same sort of event also reenforces the notion that a rider has to dope to win. Luckily, the ’08 Tour also showcased the advances in the doping tests, resulting in the aforementioned ejections.
Fear is a big motivator. Fear motivates a kid from a broken home in a Dallas suburb to cheat, cheat to an unprecedented level, and deny cheating to protect all that was gained by cheating. Fear, in turn, causes corporate sponsors to flee the sport. It causes coverups and improvements in catching the cheaters. I have to count myself as lucky that I never got to ride at a level in which any of this was a consideration. I’m lucky that I can just ride for fun.
Last weekend was a great example of fun and suffering. The Paris-Roubaix, possibly the monument of Monuments, was won, for the third time, by Swiss RadioShack rider Fabian Cancellara. While everyone predicted his triumph, it was not as predicted. Spartacus did not simply ride away from everyone as he did in the 2011 Paris-Roubaix, or even as he did the weekend before in the Tour of Flanders. He found himself working hard to catch a break in the last half of the race, then dragging a formidable group with him to nearly the end. Bad luck derailed a few, then Cancellara had to out-sprint Belgian hopeful Sep Vanmarcke of the Blanco Pro Racing team on the track in Roubaix.
Cancellara was clearly happy to win his third cobblestone trophy, but he was also clearly spent. The cobbles of the road took a toll on big Fabian, who now looks forward to a break before the summer grand tours start in May.
Many expected Spartacus to have his way with the race on Sunday. Gone was his chief rival, four-time Roubaix winner Tom Boonen. The big Belgian crashed out of the Tour of Flanders a week before. Boonen was hoping to add his name to the short and distinguished list of five-time Paris-Roubaix winners which includes, of course, Eddie Merckx. Tornado Tom now awaits the healing process and the grand tours of summer.
One last Belgian Monument note; On the podium of the Tour of Flanders, Slovak sprinter Peter Sagan was caught in photos grabbing the backside of a podium girl as she was presenting the winner with his trophies. This week, Sagan saw the young lady again. Maya Leye is a 25-year-old who works for Flanders Classics, the organization that promotes and stages the Tour of Flanders. Leye was on the podium with Sagan again on Wednesday, April 10, to present Sagan with his prize for winning the Brabant Arrow race. Sagan presented Leye with his winner’s bouquet and a public apology. Perhaps the swaggering Slovak learned a little tact out of the who incident.
I plan to continue having fun. It’s a challenge with the late-season snow. I have ridden outside perhaps three times this year, once on the course on which I race this Saturday. I have to remember that it’s about the fun. It does not really matter how well I place. It matters that I am able to push myself. It matters that I get to compete. This won’t determine a paycheck. It won’t change the course of my life. It’s just for the fun of it.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going racing.
BTW, the photo was taken by Tom de Waele for Omega Pharma/Quick Step
Peter and Spartacus
If last week’s Tour of Flanders is any indication, there are only two riders contending for cobbled wins this season: Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan.
The two have traded off winning the northern classics this season. Sagan won his first spring classic by just riding away from Tom Boonen and Mark Cavendish at Ghent-Wevelgem a few weeks back. He took a sprint at the Three Days of De Panne and wheelied across the finish line. The only rider able to tame the 23-year-old Slovak champion is Spartacus.
Fabian Cancellara beat Sagan and the rest of the field at the the E3 Harelbeke two weeks ago. Many cycling writers were excited about the showdown with Spartacus, Peter the Great and Belgium’s Tom Boonen. The showdown fizzled a bit.
Last year at the Tour of Flanders, Cancellara hit a wayward water bottle and crashed in the race’s feed zone, resulting in a broken collarbone. This season, Tornado Tom crashed out, leaving Fabulous Fabian to run free. Cancellara hit the Oude Kwaremont, a climb averaging 4 percent, but kicking up to 11 percent at 17 km from the finish, and rode away from all but Sagan. Cancellara hit the gas again on the last rise, the Paterberg, leaving Sagan gasping and all others far behind, taking the race by better than a minute.
With Sagan skipping Paris-Roubaix and Boonen on the mend, Cancellara is nearly a prohibitive favorite to win his third “Hell of the North”.
The bikes used on these Cobbled Classics have become a hot commodity. The Specialized Roubaix, with its Zerts inserts and comfortable geometry has been a favorite for casual riders for nearly a decade. My bike is the 2004 version, and the newer editions are quite common on organized rides around the state.
The tag line for this bike is a comfortable bike is a fast bike, and the Roubaix is the best, though not the only, example of this. The idea of a comfortable race bike, an endurance road bike, one that is light, nimble and still able to soak up road noise, has become so popular among recreational riders with a taste for speed that several manufacturers have jumped on the band wagon.
Trek made the bike that Cancellara powered to the Ronde win on Sunday. The Trek Domane is the Waterloo, Wisconsin manufacturer’s answer to it’s California rival. The Domain 4.0 can be had for just over $2,000, comes with the relatively inexpensive Shimano Tiagra compact (50-34) gearing. Like any of the bikes at the entry level, it will weigh between 17-19 pounds.
The Giant Defy Composite 3 weighs just a whisker over 18 pounds and sports the same components as the Trek. Giant is an Asian manufacturer with the reputation of building plenty of frames with different labels. They know what they are doing with carbon frames. They make a whole lot of them, so their entry-level Defy will set you back a mere $1,700.
Swiss manufacturer BMC took a different tack, returning to the nearly-forgotten material of aluminum for their Granfondo GF02 bike. The $1,899 bike comes with Shimano 105 compact components, one step up from the Tiagra group. The frame is based on the carbon version that American Tyler Phinney is riding around the cobbles this season. It tips the scale at 19.1 pounds and shares much of the vibration-eating geometry of its much pricier carbon iterations.
The entry level carbon Specialized Roubaix, the Sport Compact, comes with Shimano 105 compact components and weighs around 18 pounds. It comes with their four-position adjustable stem and, because it is the bike that started the trend, gobbles the cobbles. It tends to be smooth and fast, though if you have the means and tend to be a weight-weenie, you may want to shell out a bit more than the $2,100 MSRP of this model.
We now sit eight weeks from the start of Ride the Rockies. The total milage for next week should come to 80 miles, 30 for the weekend ride and three more rides during the week totaling 50 miles. If you haven’t started already, it’s about time to insert some climbing, some short sprints and most definitely a group ride into your training. I will actually have a taper this week as I have a real race, the Haystack Mountain Time Trial, on April 13. I might not get all of the miles in, but I will get some intensity in.
If you find yourself short on time, there is at least one thing I can suggest . . . intervals. On a relatively short ride, after a 15-20 minute warmup, take a few hard digs, close to your maximum effort, for no more than a minute. Take a good recovery interval and repeat at least four time. The toughest and most effective interval workout I know of is the dreaded Tabata Protocol. After a good 20-25 minute warmup, set a timer for four minutes. In those four short little minutes, go as hard as you can for 20 seconds and recover for just 10. This is as hard as it gets, but yields the most benefit in a very short period. Give it a try if you feel you need to train but only have half an hour. Better get a bucket . . .
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.
Joy
I was sitting around the office, daydreaming about our upcoming
spring break trip, reading e-mails for upcoming rides, reading about
the Cannibal showing signs of his age, he’s had a pacemaker put in,
when a friend posted a video on Facebook that changed my day. The
video was entitled “The best coin ever spent” and start in Spain with
a little girl putting a coin into the hat of what seems to be an
extremely talented and well dressed classical base player. As the
video goes on, musicians stream out of a door in what I assume is the
bank sponsoring the video, along with some well-placed and
inconspicuous choral vocalists in the crowd. The all come together to
perform Beethoven’s final movement of the 9th Symphony, or “Ode to
Joy.”
The tone of the music and voices brings an exuberant
smile to faces in the video and to mine. I love this piece. I
regularly soften the suffering in my indoor training class with it. I
hum it to myself while climbing. It is the musical incarnation of my
Happy Place.
Climbing is challenging. That’s just the nature of
it. If it were easy, everyone would do it. We’d have bike lanes on
Trail Ridge Road. Climbing shows us what we can be, what we are
capable of, how hard we can push ourselves. It is a psychological
exercise as much as physical. Sometimes I have to play games in my
head to get through.
I think I’m just used to TRR by now. The
climb from either side does not seem as difficult to me as
Independence Pass. I was certainly humming for that climb. I also pick
out land marks. This is an old trick. When really tired, or really
challenged by the terrain, pick out a landmark. In your head, imagine
throwing a rope around it like a pulley, and drag yourself to it. When
you reach it, pick out another and keep going.
Once on the Elephant Rock metric century, I had to help a buddy by telling him, “Okay, just ride to that tree. Okay, now ride to that big rock. Okay now just get over the top.” Painful and obvious, but effective.
Between the humming and the mind games, I can’t help
but smile. This is good. Smiling has a measurable positive effect on
performance. Smiling, whether you mean it or not, sets up a positive
cycle in the endocrine system. The positive feeling associated with
smile sends even more endorphins into the blood stream, taking a bit
more of the edge off of the pain. Even telling yourself that you enjoy
climbing, just another mind game, will start this virtuous cycle into
motion.
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
This weekend marks the start of the Spring Classics season. The Ronde van Vlaanderen, or Tour of Flanders, is Sunday and should be a showdown between Swiss superman Fabian Cancellara, Belgium’s favorite son, Tom Boonen, and Slovak up-start Peter Sagan. Boonen has had a rough go so far this season. He fell behind on training after narrowly catching an infection in his elbow before it got to the bone. This could have cost him the arm. Boonen bonked horribly while trying to chase down Cancellara in last week’s E3 Harelbeke semi-classic. Spartacus attacked exactly where everyone knew he would, but no one could do anything about it.
Relative youngster Sagan won last weekend’s
Ghent-Wevelgem with such a lead that he had time to pop a wheelie
while crossing the finish line. This sets up what could be the best
race that won’t be televised in the US this year.
NBC has shown no hint that they will broadcast this Monument, forcing guys like me to find a feed online. My suggestion is a web site called steephill.tv. They will find a feed, though it may require the scaling of a paywall. I think this year, it will be worth it. At this point, we will be adding another ten miles to the weekly total heading
toward Ride the Rockies. This is added to the weekend ride, which is
beginning to resemble a real spring ride. This week, as of Saturday,
we should ride 30 miles, then distribute another 50 miles over three
days. Nine weeks left, I’m getting excited.Again, if you feel the need
to ride, say Sunday, shoot me an e-mail.
Have fun, be safe. I’m
going riding.
We Fall
Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how much you know or how hard you train. Mistakes happen. Mistakes happen with the experts, the people at the very spearhead of their professions. It takes just a split second or one bad decision or just dumb luck. We are lucky if we get to learn from this.
In 1967, on stage 13 of the Tour de France, the rider who was then the very best ever to come out of Great Britain, Tom Simpson, collapsed and died during an ascent of Mont Ventoux. He was 29. He had made the decision to take an amphetamine and alcohol, with or without the knowledge of the combinations diuretic effect. In the heat of the climb, Simpson began cramping, but by the time he stopped, it was too late.
Fabio Casartelli was an Italian cyclist riding for Motorola in 1995. He was the defending Olympic road race champion. He had won stages in several major and minor stage races. On July 18, stage 15 of the Tour, Casartelli and several other riders crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d’Aspet in the Pyrenees. Casartelli’s head hit a rock on the side of the road the serves as a guard rail and died. He was just shy of 25. The next day, the entire peloton road behind Motorola, as they led the stage start to finish. Lance Armstrong won the following stage in a long breakaway, dedicating the win to his fallen friend. Every time the Tour passed the memorial for the rest of the Texan’s career, he payed homage.
Wouter Weylandt was young and improving. The Belgian was riding for the premier team from his country, Quick Step, with several stage wins and some impressive placings within the stage races. In 2011, Weylandt was riding for Trek/Leopard on the descent of the Passo Bocco during stage 3 of that year’s Giro d’Italia. He was near the end of the stage, but trailing off the back of the main peloton, as sprinters often do on climbing stages. He was trying to bridge up while on a switchback section. While checking behind him, over his right shoulder, to see who might join him, he clipped the guard rail on his left. He was thrown over and landed on the road below. Weylandt was 26 when he died. His girlfriend, An-Sophie, was pregnant with the couple’s daughter, born September 1, named Alizee.
Why am I going on about this? It’s more than the recent climbing tragedy in the national park. Things happen. We enjoy a different sort of inherently dangerous sport. Things can go horribly wrong in a fraction of a second. That is the nature of cycling. The best way we can ensure maximum survivability is to wear a helmet.
Pay attention. Don’t take silly risks. Most of us do not get payed for our cycling results. We have families who want to see us come home. Know the traffic. Assume that the driver either doesn’t see you or doesn’t care. And again, wear a helmet.
Carry some kind of ID. I carry my drivers license, my insurance card and my Road ID. If you crash and can’t communicate, you want whoever finds you to be able to tell your loved-ones whats going on.
Don’t let love of the sport interfere with family. No one ever gets to the end of this life and says, “I wish I’d spent less time with my family.”
Next time you head out, be sure to kiss your spouse. Hug your kids. Make sure everyone you care for knows how you feel. Things happen and you don’t want to leave something like that hanging.
For training, we are now 11 weeks away from the Ride the Rockies. Our total miles should be up to 70 with three rides equalling 50 miles during the week and one more of 20 mile on the weekend. Keep it up. As we are expecting snow and cold all the way through the weekend, the typical spring pattern, I’ll be inside again. It may also be an opportunity to do some maintenance on the bike, or maybe just stay home and watch movies with my wife and daughter.
I’m not just saying this. I mean it. Have fun, be safe. I’m going to hang out with my family.
Spring training
Years ago, a friend of mine laid some wisdom on me that I hold dear
to this day; little ring until spring. No matter how enthusiastic we
are, no matter what early events we have, we need to give our
connective tissue some time to adjust from indoor rides to longer,
harder outdoor training. Diving head-long into the big gears can lead
to the dreaded “Spring Knee,” which forces one back to little
gears.
Spring Knee is the name given to a specific tendinitis
that strikes the tendons across the front of the knee. It’s usually a
result of overusage and too much strain on the tissue that might be
relatively weak after the winter hibernation. As the name implies, it
tends to occur in the early part of the riding season. While it is an
indictor that the tissue could use some TLC, it’s also typical of
those of us who can’t wait to get out and hammer.
Before I go on
much more, let me suggest the book Andy Pruitt’s Complete Medical
Guide for Cyclists. Pruitt holds a doctorate in education and is the
Director of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. This is the first
resource I consult when I have some new, weird pain after riding. It
is full of descriptions and, more importantly, treatments for ailments
typical of cyclists.
So Spring Knee is marked by a sharp pain
along the top of the kneecap. It’s usually on one of the top corners
of the kneecap. Occasionally, the pain shows up where the tendon and
muscles come together, about two or three inches above the
knee.
Treatment of this looks a lot like prevention. Go easy on
gearing. Spin light gears for a few weeks. If the pain persists after
a week, consider taking some time off. I know this is difficult just
as the thermometer begins its upward journey, but it is better to take
care of it now them have to see a doctor in June.
I’m not an
advocate of either ice or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for
reasons I will explain, but I have no medical background beyond my own
collection of injuries. Ice and ibuprofen are exactly what Pruitt
suggests.
Again, I am not a doctor and if you have knee pain
that persists, talk to a real doctor. That said, recent studies have
shown that even moderate use of NSAID can cause liver damage. They are
real drugs and should be respected as such. Again, talk to a real
doctor, which I am not.
Second, inflammation is part of your
body’s healing process. When we apply ice, we interrupt our ownhealing. Two recent articles in medical journals address this. Go find “The Use of Cryotherapy in Sports Injury” found in Sports Medicine Vol.3, pages 398-414. Another place to look is the Journal of EmergencyMedicine, Feb. 25, 2008. “Is Ice Right? Does Cryotherapy Improve
Outcome for Acute Soft Tissue Injury?”
The first article states
that ice can actually cause our lymphatic system to work in the wrong
direction, adding to swelling. The second article states that they
found no evidence that ice helps in recovery. This flies in the face
of everything we have been told for years, but it is something worth
considering.
The alternative to these is compression. Some sort of
compression sleeve over the injured area can help control swelling
and, hopefully, speed recovery.
Spring is also a time for new
equipment. A new bike is possibly as sure an indicator of spring, and
in my opinion, more beautiful than new blooms. The things to remember
are fit and form. Make sure your fit is spot-on. Again, let me guide
you toward the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. They perform a
variety of professional bike fits that will assure that you are in the
best position to power that new steed.
Second comes form. No
matter how long you have ridden, you can always work on for. The most
common problem is in back position. We should have a pretty straight
and flat back when on the bike. The forward lean should come from the
hip joints, not the back. We should be supported by core muscles and
the forward lean should be supported by the muscles of the gluteuls.
We should feel tension on the high, outside muscles, like we would in
a deadlift. They are, after all, the same big muscles. The more you
are able to flatten your back and drive with the glutes, the more
efficient your efforts. You will be using not just the muscles across
the front of the leg, the quads, but the high hamstrings and glutes as
well. Spreding the same effort across three muscle groups, instead of
just one, results in more power for longer periods.
Keep it all
in mind next time you get out.
By the way, We are now 12 weeks out from Ride the Rockies. According to their own training chart, this coming week, which they start on Saturday, March 16, we should do 20 miles in a single ride this weekend, and another 40 miles split up over three rides over next week. As the above blog points out, we should still be spinning small gears. If you have even a hint of Spring Knee, wear knee warmers or embrocation (a warming oil or IcieHot sort of thing).
Oh, and this shot has nothing to do with the column, I just like it because Ivan was being shy the day I took this.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going
riding.
Control
Like a lot of life, cycling is not always predictable. Anything can happen, not just during the ride, itself, but even well before hand. Last season it was a crash that changed my training. A sink hole near Leadville changed the Courage Classic route while wildfire smoke forced a modification in the Ride the Rockies. These are things we can’t control. So what can be done? What can you do to prepare? Practice a good attitude.
I received an e-mail this morning telling me that there would be a change in the Courage Classic route again this year. Lake County High School is removing asbestos, so the usual day 1 start and day 3 finish had to be scrapped. The up side, for me, is the chance to ride the 80-mile Copper Triangle.
And that’s the difference. I can’t do anything about asbestos removal. I am actually happy not to be around that stuff. I have to find the positive. I have not ridden the whole Copper Triangle route; Copper Mountain to Leadville to Minturn, over Vail Pass and back to Copper. This will be a great day. I’m kind of big, but I will enjoy dragging myself up to Leadville and back over the west side of Vail Pass. I look forward to encouraging other riders up and over. I even, or perhaps especially, look forward to dragging the light little climbers to the foot of that last climb outside of Vail.
Attitude is the most important part of this sport. Dreading a climb only makes the suffering worse. Look forward to the climbs. Look forward to the wind. Smile as much as you can. It makes a huge difference.
Of course, preparation is pretty important, as well. Get out and ride hills. Go stick your nose out in the wind. Practice the things you will need to know. I had an e-mail not too long ago concerning changing tires. The pros have mechanics who hop out of following cars to change the whole wheel. We, mere mortals, have to figure out how to change those tubes and re-inflate the tube to get back into the ride.
First, be patient. Delays happen. Try not to schedule the rest of your day too tightly around a ride. Second, as I have discovered, swearing and flailing arms doesn’t get the tube changed any faster. After much research, I make that statement with confidences.
Next, get off the road. Like most cycling things, you want to make sure you are being as safe as reasonably possible. Find a nice rock or tuft of grass. Think of this as a short recovery.
At this point I should mention, when training, you should have tire levers and a small repair kit with you. That said, find those levers. Stick the end that looks like a scoop in between the tire beed and the rim. Take the second one and do the same, fairly close to the first one, then lever those things to pull the beed off of the rim. This can require a bit of effort if it’s colder out. Again, be patient. Losing one’s mind now only leads to bleeding knuckles and lost levers.
The levers often come in threes, anymore. If that’s the case for you, take the third lever, stick it in between the beed and the tire, again, and not between the other two levers. Now, pull that third lever around the rim to get the tire beed loose.
Now remove the old tube. Next, carefully run your hands around the inside of the tire to find what might have caused the flat. Again, be careful, in case there is a hunk of glass or a nail in there. Once you have removed the offending piece, get back to the tube.
Blow a little air into the tube. Run your hand around the tube to find the hole. If you are sure this was not a pinch flat, caused by low air in the tube, then a bump, causing the rim to pinch a hole in the tube, rough up the area around the hole. If you have “speed patches”, apply the patch. If not, pull out the rubber cement from your flat kit. You do have a flat kit, right? Spread a little on the area you just roughed up. Let the cement cure or dry just a bit, then apply the patch. Rub the patch a bit to make sure it has adhered to the tube. Next, retrace your steps.
Recheck the tire to make sure you didn’t miss a thorn or anything. Blow a little air back into the tube, which makes replacing it on the rim a bit easier. Stick it back inside the tire, then let the air back out. Re-seat the tire beed on the rim. Check to make sure no part of the tube is pinched between the tire and the rim. This will ruin the whole process pretty quickly. Once you’re sure the tube is completely inside the tire, pump the tire back up and be on your way.
There is a lazier way, but I only recommend it for races and organized ride. Bring a CO2 cartridge and an extra tube. Put the bad tube in your jersey pocket. Never toss on old tube on the ground. It’s littering, as well as inviting bad karma. Much quicker but more expensive and a bit wasteful. Save it for big events.
One more thing really quickly; we are now approaching week three of training. We should be up to two rides equalling 30 mile during the week and one 20-mile ride on the weekend. If you know your normal average speed outside, apply that to an indoor class, if you need to. I rarely get to ride outside during the week, but I teach three classes a week, which evens out.
We are supposed to see snow all weekend. It must be nearly spring. Find a good, hard indoor class or find a video for riding your trainer. I will have an exciting announcement concerning such videos probably next week.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding. 
Open hearts and wallets
We are now 14 weeks shy of Ride the Rockies. We should already be
training with that in mind. The earlier one starts, the easier it will
be to achieve the goal of spending a week climbing the beautiful
byways of Colorado. And while suffering is an inherent part of this,
at least you’re not being chased by Jens Voigt or other top pros. Such
a chase will be fun to watch, however.
The recent rumor floating around town is that we can expect nearly
100,000 visitors on the day the USA Pro Challenge rolls through Estes
Park on the second to last day of the race. That’s 100,000 people from
36 states and 16 countries. That’s 100,000 cycling enthusiasts who
average a household income of $113,918, itching to spend it. During
the first USAPCC, they brought about $67 million. The additional money
from traveling press from all over the world brought the total to
$83.5 million in 2011, $90 million in 2012. Imagine 100,000 hungry
stomachs, 100,000 visitors needing a gift from Estes Park, and more
than a few of them wanting to stay over night. Like the Tour de
France, or even Ride the Rockies, this event will expose a great many
people to our little town.
With international press exposure, many millions of potential visitors
will look at the images and think, I want to go there. This is a
chance to shine. This will have positive economic effects far beyond
just one day in late August. It will open us up to the nation and to
the world. Thy will come to see it themselves with eyes and wallets
wide open.
To the curmudgeons who can only think of how this will inconvenience
them, yes, this 1/365th of your year will be bustling. That’s the way
it goes. Stay home. For the rest of us, we’ve seen the races on TV.
Your bike will be the best way to get to the best vantage points in
town.
Now, back to riding. The fine folks at Ride the Rockies have provided
a handy table to help riders prepare for that wonderful week in June
when more than 2,000 riders spend a week astride their favorite bike.
The table can be found under the Rider Area tab at RideTheRockies.com.
Last Last Saturday, February 23, is when their calendar begins. We
should accumulate 40 miles for the week. This next week, beginning
March 2, adds 10 miles to the total. They separate it between weekend
and weekday riding miles. This weekend, they suggest fitting in about
20 miles. I will easily get that just in my extra job. I am, however,
open to fitting in more.
I will offer this each week, knowing that training with someone makes
training easier. I would be open to riding the area’s favorite road,
US 36 from Lyons to Boulder on Sunday morning. It is hilly without
being too nasty for this early in the season. It will also be warmer
down there. If you need to start your miles and want to ride with
someone else, reach me either by phone or e-mail, both found below. If
you are new to road riding, or riding in a group, this would be a
great opportunity to start. Learn rules of the road and, possibly,
roadside repairs. I’m also a big fan of interesting coffee shops. I
know of at least two that would fall within the 20 miles of the ride.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.
Cycling star Andy Schleck picks his way through the crowd in the cyclist village before the Colorado Springs prologue of the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. No other sport allows fans to get so close to the stars.
Hang in there
I’ve run into some challenges getting stuff up. I have not forgotten this. STill working.
How nice have you been?
I’ll be honest; I love writing this column every year. This is the list of the over-the-top, no-holds-barred dream list of cycling stuff. These are the things that dance in my head when I hit my pillow each night. You are a special sort of cyclist if you have been good enough this year for this list.
We’ll start with the local goodies. In a little factory over in Steamboat Springs, a few dedicated artisans take US-made, aerospace-grade titanium tubes and sculpt them into Moots bicycle frames. The frames, themselves came with a lifetime warranty and are designed to, pretty much, last forever.
Start with that frame and add the factory stem, fork and seat post and we are already ringing up a tag of $4,500. Add to that the top-of-the-line Campagnolo Super Record EPS electronic shifters and maybe Shamal Ultra wheelset and you have a dream ride. This thing would be completely serviceable by the owner and would be a faithful steed for many, many years and tip the scale at about 14 pounds. This wonderful mix of Colorado and Italian bicycle artistry would set the buyer back about $15,000. The upside is you would never have to buy another bike, ever.
If your beloved cyclist already has the frame of his or her dreams, you may consider a wheel upgrade. For about $5,400, you can get the handmade, lightweight, Meilenstein wheelset. These are super-stiff 47.5 mm deep rims that come either with the traditional tubular rim or the more practical clincher. They are considered by the German manufacturer to be their all-round wheel, a practical choice in their line. They are light, as well as stiff, tipping the scale at 1,100 grams. These are easily light enough for rapid climbing and stiff enough for hard sprints and only as expensive as some second-tier complete bikes.
As it is winter in the Rockies, maybe your roady needs some outerwear. For this list, there is only one clothier that will do: Assos. The Swiss cycling clothing manufacturer is known as much for their catalogue as for their high quality and equally high prices. The clothes are still mainly pieced together in Switzerland, and worn by supermodels in their ad campaigns. You will be warm if you choose Assos gear. You will not be disappointed by the fit or function of these fine products. You may throw a seizure when you see the price tag, however.
You can walk into Excel Sport down in Boulder and pick up a pair of the Assos LL.fugu S5 bib tights and know that your special bike rider will wear these for a long time, which is good because they run $650. They come with a two-way zipper, foot stirrups, an industry-standard comfortable chamois and are insulated from top to bottom. The Excel Sport web site touts them as “the warmest tights ever made.”
For up top, you may want a jacket. Assos has you covered, literally. The jacket I dream of is the fugJack. Assos rates it comfortable for riding down to 20 degrees. It has a built in fleece neck gator/balaclava, tall anti-fold collar and comes in a choice of six different colors. If you were wondering, I like red. Also, about $650.
I made reference to a few shoes a couple weeks ago. The top-of-the-line Sidi Wire Vent Carbon have a lacing system that resembles fishing line but insures an absolute custom fit. They have a memory foam insole, vented, super stiff carbon sole, adjustable heel retention device and come in white or fluorescent yellow and black. Top Italian shoes will run $500.
To really show that cyclist what love is, and by love I mean conspicuous consumption, look no further than the full-custom Rocket 7 shoes. Pick your style, road, Tri, Mountain or Track. Pick your size. Pick a cleat set-up, three-hole or four. Pick a color. In fact, pick four different colors -body, heel, straps and toes. You can even get them embroidered. Why not? These are going to run over $1,400. C’mon, all the cool kids are getting them.
What if your cyclist already has all of this? What can you, the loving partner of this obviously unhinged individual possibly get that they themselves haven’t already found? How ’bout a trip?
This will seem relatively sane. For a mere $3,800, not including airfare to and from Milan, your special someone can spend late May following the 2013 Giro d’Italia through the Alps during the race’s decisive final week. Your rider will get to ride some of the most famous climbs in Italy, rub elbow, gently, with the best riders in the sport, and enjoy coffee the way it was meant to be. Fly into Milan on May 17, see five mountain stages, including the legendary Tre Cime, which you also get to ride, a sprint stage into Vicenza, the home of Campagnolo, see the mountain time trial and the race finale in Brescia on May 26, before returning to Milan for the farewell party and the flight home. Contact On the Road, or ontheroad.com if this sounds too good.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going dreaming.
Bang for the cycling buck
Last time we covered the little things, stuff we all need and could be classified as stocking stuffers. This time, we up the ante. We look for good value in good gifts.
I’ve written about contact-point purchases before. When on a budget and dealing with one item versus another, spend the money on what make direct contact with you, between you and the bike. So if you have to choose between spending on shoes or pedals, blow the wad on the shoes. Choose comfortable shorts over a cool jersey. That said, let’s look at good buys, as well as quality stuff.
With shoes, my feet prefer Italian. That’s strictly for bicycle stuff. They fit my feet better. I seem to have a narrow heel and apparently wide across the balls of my feet. For me, this means neither Shimano shoes, Lake or the Performance house brand fit me very well. Sidi’s one of the most popular brand, and for good reason, fit me very well. Sidi, however, is aware of their cache, and are built by honest-to-goodness Italian artisans. This means the second-from-top Sidi road shoes, the Genius 6.6, run $375. Ouch, but if you have the money, well worth it.
I discovered way back when I bought my first pair of real cycling shoes, that Specialized shoes are also built in Italy. The top Specialized shoes are only $25 more than those pretty Sidis. More on both brands next time. If, like me, you watch those pennies, the second or even third-tier Specialized shoes will be delightful.
If you are in the market for a new groupset, you may want to make due for about 7-12 months. Shimano’s top component group, Dura-Ace, just came out with an eleven-speed setup. Like so many things, Shimano likes to trickle down the technology, like with their Di electronic shifting. Shimano introduced the first Dura-Ace Di shifting a little more than two years ago. By last summer, the technology was on the second-tier Ultegra group. I’m betting this will soon happen with the 11-speed rear cog, as well.
The other part of this that makes it worth the wait is that the new DA cranks and chainrings are built around a 110mm spider, the arms that extend from the crank out to the bolts where the chainrings attach. So what? Well, until this new setup, larger chainrings, say 53 teeth, mounted on a 130mm spider and only compact rings mounted on the 11mm setup. This meant if you happened to be big and strong, you almost had to buy two crank sets, one for flats and one for mountains. With Shimano making their new 110mm DA crankset, they engineered all of their rings to fit the one spider, from the mountain-taming 50 tooth rings to the massive 56-tooth time trial rings. Wait a year and Shimano will likely build a cheaper version for their Ultegra line.
If you have a yearning for pricy labels, but not the bank account, first, you are not alone, second, look at the Assos Fan Pack for $65. Assos is the top of the top for cycling apparel. Know for their prices, $300 dollar shorts, $650 jacket, as for their unmatched fit and function, Assos realizes not everyone can spend, or is willing to spend that kind of money on cycling clothes. We still, however, want to be associated with this kind of quality. So Assos put together their Fan Pack, consisting of an espresso cup and a hand towel, both adorned with their famous logo.
Everyone can use new tires. About once a season, at least for non-competitive riders, a new back tire is a good investment. Every-other is good for the front. My favorite is the Continental Grand Prix 4000s. It has a slick center section and just enough tread on the outside to give you confidants while cornering. It is a great all-round tire. I use it both for training and racing. It’s a tough, long-lasting tire with good side-wall protection. Normally, it sells for about $75, but this time of year, you can pick one up for $65. This might seem pricy, but you won’t have to even think about another tire for at least another year.
For those times when you need to recover, or the weather is just too bad, or, like me, you or the cyclist on your list likes photography, Velopress has released “Merckx 525″, a coffee table book filled with words and images of the most dominant cyclist of all time. The 525 represents the Cannibal’s wins over his career. Eddie Merckx, himself, authorized the book and said that it contained images that even he had not seen before. It is 13″ x 9” hard cover with 224 pages. Order it at Macdonald Books for about $60.
This is not top of the line stuff, but certainly worth the price. Any of these gifts would set your favorite cyclist’s heart aflutter.
Have fun, be safe. I’m still shopping.
Relativity
I realize shopping for the cyclist is not the easiest thing in the world. I know, when I’m checking out the newest offerings from a certain Swiss clothing manufacturer that I have scant chance of seeing one of these products when I open presents this holiday season. Bicycling stuff is expensive. Fear not. I have suggestions for presents for your beloved biker for under $100.
One sure way to show you care for you two-wheeled obsessive without clearing the college fund is a head lamp or tail light. While some lights can go for as much as $600, NiteRider makes several models for under $80. The NiteRider Mako 200 USB, Mako 200 and Mako 1 Watt commuter lights will add a bit of safety to a morning or evening ride, allowing motorists to see the rider and give him or her a safe space.
For great big value, CatEye, known best for their cycle computers, makes a bundle of their Vectra wireless cycle computer, EL120 Sport Opticube LED headlight and TL-LD 170 tail light. Each item is light and easy to mount with long battery life. Nothing says love like helping a rider’s survival, and for $80, your wallet will survive, as well.
Cleaning supplies might sound a bit lame for a present, but if your cyclist is, shall we say, particular about the look of his or her ride, they might need Finish Line Bike Wash. I use this, myself and can vouch for the manufacturer claims that you just squirt the Pepto-pink stuff of your bike’s dirty bits and then turn the hose on it. It claims “little of no scrubbing, but there’s always a little scrubbing. That’s okay, though, because the results are nice. Takes mud and turt off the frame and grease off the chain and drive train. It comes in a handy squirt bottle for about $13.
Grease Monkey Wipes are the perfect thing to get gunk off the rider. These heavy-duty, multi-purpose wipes have an all-natural citrus cleaner than removes grease, dirt, oil, paint and general muck from skin. They even come in a convenient 30-wipe pop-up canister for about $7.
Believe it or not, tires are a legitimate gift. Even casual riders go through a pair of tires in the space of a year. The best bang for the buck is likely the Continental Ultra Gatorskin wire bead road tire. Not as light as the Continental racing tires, but extremely durable. I’ve put a few thousand miles on mine and am just to the point of replacing the back tire. The tough casing is puncture resistant with great sidewalls. They have a fast, smooth center section and grippy shoulders for safe and confident cornering. I bought mine after the 2011 Courage Classic and they lasted all through the rest of that summer, all of the training and riding for both Ride the Rockies and the 2012 Courage Classic. I have no complaints. If you poke around, you can at least find one for $55. If you are really lucky, you might find a pair for $100. Worth every penny.
I find myself collecting the retro-style riding caps, these days. If you’ve seen the old black and white images of the Tour, you may have seen the cap I’m describing. They come in a wide range of colors and even a range of quality, from the cheap, light cotton cap one can pick up for about $10-$15 to the twill version made by higher-end manufacturers running in the $30-$40 range. My favorite, however, is my wool cap.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going shopping.
So Thankful
I started listing things on my personal Facebook page for which I was, and am, grateful. It’s not an easy habit to stay in, as I have a difficult time with any new habit. In this season of gratitude, this column offers an easy way to get back into a good habit.
I am simply thankful for bicycles. Since I was eight-years-old, bicycles have been freedom, to me. Freedom from worry, from conflict, from boredom. It has grown since I have grown. I am thankful for bicycles because they give me freedom from most medical problems. People who know me will be quick to point out my harrowing crash stories, but crashes are still rare. In exchange for the occasional crash, scrape, one single broken bone and many scars, I have a lot of great stories. I have no chronic medical problems. I am on no prescription medicine of any kind. I am as fit as I have ever been and I’m able to swim with my 11-year-old daughter as a result of being in this kind of shape.
I have more than one friend who has been diagnosed with some disease related to a sedentary lifestyle, enlarged hearts, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, this sort of thing. Mid 40s is way too young for these issues. Thanks to bicycles, I do not have them, and for this, I am thankful.
I am thankful to my father for instilling an active lifestyle in me. That made the last paragraph possible. He also bought my first bike for me. When I got older, the two of us cannibalized a pair of bike to make one good bike.
In an odd, backhanded sort of way, I am thankful that my misspent late teens resulted in not having a car. This would lead me to my first bicycle purchase. In 1989, I bought a year-old Schwinn High Sierra mountain bike. At the time, it was mid-range at $600. I would ride that bike all over; to school, to work, to visit friends and girlfriends, and when I made some upgrades and moved to Colorado in 1995, I rode it in a few races.
I am thankful for the outdoor-loving culture of the Centennial State. The culture pulled me into several different riding styles. After upgrading bikes in 1996, I spent the next two years racing cross country, downhill and even a few duel slalom races. I was never great, but I enjoyed it.
I’m thankful for a particular roommate of mine when I lived in Golden. This guy took me to Moab my first time. He also regularly whipped me racing. He gave me a target, a goal, and the knowledge of some of the best mountain biking terrain on earth.
I’m thankful that the depth and breadth of the cycling culture on the Front Range knows no bounds. When I started having difficulties with mountain biking, I was able to pick up other disciplines. I bought a cyclo-cross bike, originally as a commuter. It allowed me to enjoy my commute from southwest Denver to downtown. The drive made my cranky and no fun. When I started to ride it, things improved.
I am thankful for all of the roads both here in Northern Colorado, and throughout the state. I am thankful for traditional road bikes. When I started to get into the mountain bike scene, the term “Roadie” was one of derision. Now, I enjoy it all. Along those lines, I’m thankful for triathlons and the special sort of suffering they offer.
I am thankful for the many magazines I have subscribed to over the years. Some I read for the technology, some for advice, and at least one, Bike, for the pictures. I still receive four different bike related magazines. I get everybody’s favorite, “Bicycling”. I get the local favorite, “Velo”, formerly “VeloNews”. I receive “Trathlete” and when I want the heart and soul sort of articles, I will swing by Macdonald Books and pick up “pelotone”.
I am thankful, most of all, to my family, who tolerate this lifestyle, this habit that they don’t always understand. They put up with the occasional expensive purchase, the penchant for flashy, tight spandex and retro wool. I think Kendra actually likes that I am much, much more likely to pick up an exotic bike then hit on an exotic woman. This lifestyle is better for my marriage, in that way.
I am thankful most of all for my wife, who kisses me even after I’ve been riding for several hours, helps clean my wounds, puts up with racing broadcasts in the summer and cycling documentaries in the winter. She has even tried multiple times to enjoy riding, herself, though, my devotion to the sports remains a mystery to her. I am thankful for her support, whether training, racing, touring or fund-raising. She is the best thing to ever happen to this bike geak, and for that, I am thankful.
Have fun, be safe. Have a happy Thanksgiving.
Fit to help
The holiday season is just beginning to ramp up. For many, including myself, it consists of the opposing forces of wonderful holiday food and trying to stay in reasonable shape in the off-season. As I am reminded, year after year, it doesn’t have to be that hard. The giving season offers ample opportunity to keep fitness and stay in the holiday mood.
On Sunday, Nov. 18, Boulder Cycle Sport will sponsor Cranksgiving Boulder, a charity ride with a twist. Show up at the Boulder Cycle Sport south location, 629 S. Broadway with your bike, any bike, and $20 by noon. Participants will be given a checklist and will ride to grocery store “check points” and buy an item or two, then on to the next. The race winner will be the first rider to get back to the bike shop with all his or her groceries. The food will be donated.
Prizes will also be awarded for best costume and oldest ridable bike. Bring $20, a bike, a helmet and a lock and be ready for fun.
The event not only gathers much-needed food for those less fortunate, but also shines a positive light on the local cycling community. If this sounds good, sign up at the link found on the shop’s website: bouldercyclesport.com/community/cranksgiving-boulder.
Closer to home, the CrossFit Estes Park community is organizing and sweating for one of its own. This Saturday, Nov. 17, the box at 1755, Spur 66, just past the Rock Inn, will host a fund-raiser for local CrossFitter, artist and all-round great guy, Joel York.
A few years back, York, who’s only 35, was diagnosed with cancer. While doctors caught it in plenty of time, hospital visits and treatment get expensive. The fund-raiser will help defray the costs.
Bring whatever you can for a donation. Whatever money the event raises will be matched by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, so be generous.
York is an upbeat, humble and energetic member of the community who has lived in Estes Park for nearly 20 years. He is not only an artist, but also an instructor for CrossFit Estes Park. While his technique seems nearly flawless to most, he is fond of saying, “It’s all a stupid game,” and “I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.”
The fund-raiser will, of course, consist of a workout that gym owner Eric Adams describes as “easily scalable.” The idea is to make it so that anyone at any fitness level can participate. It’s much more about supporting Joel than showing off fitness and you don’t have to belong to CrossFit Estes Park to participate. The gym will open at 6 a.m. and remain open until 4 p.m. Group workouts are planned for 6, 7 and 10:30 a.m., as well as 2:30 that afternoon.
Even if you are not able to workout, come down to donate, then cheer the athletes on. It’s a great event for a great community member. I’m a bit biased, I’ll admit. I’ve worked out and played hockey with Joel for much of the last 12 years. He has a great attitude, especially when he’s making a skill I’m no good at look easy. The least I can do is show up and sweat a little for him. I encourage you to do the same.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going fund-raising.
Look for joy
Walt Hester | Trail Gazette
Sore, tired and elated to finish, the author celebrates with 2,000 other riders at the end of Ride the Rockies at the O’Dell Brewery in Fort Collins. In cycling, the rainbow stripes signify the world champion, and that is how a rider feels upon completing the six-day, 400-plus-mile ride across the Colorado Rockies.
I didn’t write a column for my paper this week. We ran out of time. I was looking for something to write, just to make sure I had a post this week when I got a little bad news.
A young woman I met when I first moved to Estes Park seemed to have lost all hope and ended her own life. She was only 28.
I met Meghan when she was still in high school. I had worked for my paper for about a year and a half when I photographed her and her teammates setting their school’s record in the 400 yard freestyle relay at the Colorado State Girls swim meet. She even earned a swimming scholarship, but had to give it up after opting not to have surgery on her shoulders. I was not too close with the girl, but things seemed to go a bit south from that point.
She and her mother lived down the street from my family. When she started studying massage, I was happy to offer my beat-up muscles for the betterment of her education.
She married pretty young, after a bit of a scandal, but remained married and had several beautiful children. Though she always had a bit of melancholy about her. I don’t know if this eventually led to her ending her own life, but it certainly makes me think.
First thing I did when I found out was hug my own daughter, make sure she knew she can talk to her parents at any time, no matter what. Then, like anyone, I tried to make sense of it. I suppose it’s nothing I am supposed to figure out.
I can make sure I look for my joy. I have to make sure my daughter and wife do the same. What makes us most happy? My bike, my family and photography do this for me. I have to make sure I talk to the people I love. Never loose hope.
That’s huge for me. I don’t know what led Meghan. I don’t know why she lost hope. I just have to make sure that I and those I love don’t head that way. Life is not always easy, doesn’t always turn out the way we planned or hoped, but what can we make of it? That is what will keep me going.
I may not have hoped and planned to be a small-town photographer, but there is joy in this. My child’s classmates light up when I walk into her school. People occasionally come out of shops to compliment my work. People ask about my family. There is a great deal of happiness in it.
Never give up. Never loose hope. Talk to someone. Find something that brings you joy.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.
My riding buddies and I at the Trail Ridge Store this summer. I’m second in from the left.
Reading into it
I can’t really fall right to sleep. Sometimes I try, and there are always exceptions, like a particularly brutal ride, but often, I have to read myself to sleep. Luckily, cycling has produced a lot of materiel for writers.
In light of recent developments, one book that stands out is “Lance Armstrong’s War” by Daniel Coyle. I’ve recommended this book in the past, as it gives great insight into the “Boss” of pro cycling. Better than Armstrong’s autobiographies, which all give the well-honed message the now-disgraced rider wanted the world to see, Coyle’s book hints at a driven, almost obsessed champion, right in line with many of the cycling personalities of the past. It shows not just Lance, but the people and world he ruled over.
Another of those personalities who still casts a shadow over the sport is five-time Tour champion Bernard Hinault. The French cycling hero swore his allegiance to teammate and American Greg LaMond for the 1986 Tour de France. The Frenchman then began relentless attacks against the field and his own teammate. Hinault’s attacks and LeMond’s reactions made for what is widely considered the greatest Tour ever. This is the story of Richard Moore’s book, “Slaying the Badger.” It’s next on my list.
On Feb. 14, 2004, an Italian hotel worker knocked on a door, hoping to talk to cycling hero and former Tour and Giro champion, Marco Pantani. What he found was the disgraced climber dead on the floor from a cocaine overdose. “The Death of Marco Pantani” by cycling writer Matt Rendell, chronicles the troubled history of one of cycling’s Angles of the Mountains. It begins at Il Pirata’s end and pieces together a life that seemed destined for a pre-mature ending.
Finally, again, in line with current cycling events, “Blazing Saddles, the Cruel and Unusual Story of the Tour de France”, also written by Matt Rendell. Rendell covers the odd, laughable and sometimes disdainful stories of cheating in the great race. From catching a train in the second Tour, to elimination for “Outside Help” to the account of Floyd Landis and hints of what would eventually come to light about Lance.
These are just a few such reads. Some actually keep me up more than help me sleep. All are worth the time.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going reading.
Life Goes On
In the aftermath of the Lance Armstrong affair coming to light, a laundry list of sponsors have terminated their relationships with the now-disgraced cycling legend. Former teammate Levi Leipheimer was fired from his team, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, seemingly for coming clean. It’s all a terrible mess. I have some suggestions to get over this, if only for a while.
The Estes Park High School Mountain Bike Racing Team heads to beautiful Fruita to wrap up their first season. Most of these kids had never owned a mountain bike before this fall, much less raced one. While they aren’t expected to win, they have all made huge strides and shown a lot of courage and character in choosing this life-long sport.
In the first race of the season, many of them didn’t finish. Now, as the season draws to a close, they are learning new things about themselves, as well as the sport, that will carry on well beyond their high school years.
Whether you have a kid on the team, happen to love mountain biking, love the Fruita area, or any combination there of, make the drive to sunny and warm Fruita to cheer on these kids. Then, maybe stop by Over The Edge Sports in Fruita, where you can rent a bike of your own, then head to the Book Cliffs or out to the Kokopelli Trail and have some two-wheeled fun of your own. It would make for a great family weekend.
If, like me, you just don’t have the time or gas money to make the drive west, head to Denver on Saturday and take in a bit of bike-geek culture. The annual VeloSwap fills the National Western Complex from 9 to 4. If you need a new bike, some components, clothing or just love people watching, this is a fantastic event.
I’ve written about this every year I’ve had the chance, and I get more excited every time. I’ve met Graham Watson, celebrated cycling photographer, at the event. I’ve met Ironman World Champion Chris MacCormac their. I’ve touched David Millar’s Garmin bikes and purchased replica jerseys of Mario Cipollini, Alessandro Petacchi and “Fast” Freddy Rodriguez. I’ve picked up carbon race wheels for $80. I’ve carried out countless pairs of socks and shorts. On at least two occasions, I’ve helped cement a love of bicycle culture for a friend.
Industry companies like Rudy Project, VeloNews, MAVIC will chow off their new gear. Area bike shops like Full Cycles, Big Ring Cycles and Sports Garage will have booths to sell off last season’s gear. Small Planet Foods and Larabar will be there. Magazines, massage therapists, various lube and skin care companies and at least one bike insurance firm will all show for the event.
Subaru sponsors a shuttle to make getting from your car to the event hall and back with all your new gear easy. If you can, Bike Denver, a cycling advocacy group, encourages attendees to ride to the event. They will have bike parking with security. The Boulder Center for Sports Medicine will hold Computrainer events throughout the day with prizes.
Tickets are $8 at the door. Parking is $10, but you can usually make that up in short order once you get inside. You can even bring your old innertubes that clutter your garage. Green Guru collects them to make bags, wallets and purses. Go down and spend the day, or shoot in, find what you need and get out. Which ever you prefer, the drive will be worth it.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going swapping.
Heroes Fall
Okay, so I was wrong. We do, in fact, get to see the evidence against US cycling legend Lance Armstrong. It looks really bad.
The US Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA, released their 1,000-pages “Reasonable Decision” in the case against the former seven-time Tour de France champion and leader of the US Postal Service, Discovery Channel and Radio Shack teams. It’s one thing when nemesis Filippo Simeoni is sited, after all, Simeoni sued Armstrong for defamation in 2003. It’s a whole other matter when faithful lieutenant and friend George Hincapie testifies. In cycling circle, “Big” George is beyond reproach.
The paper sites the testimony of Hincapie, Simeoni, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde, Jon Vaughters and Dave Zabriskie against, not only Armstrong, but Johan Bruyneel, the infamous Dr. Michele Ferrari, team doctors and trainers, as well. Nine different cyclists who were questioned in the affair were also patients of Dr. Ferrari, and many were teammates of Armstrong’s over the years.
I wrote a while back that I agreed with another writer that we need one standard in doping cases and that it really needs to be physical evidence. After looking at USADA’s document, it’s hard to imagine a defense that would exonerate the one-time Boss.
The charges are: use or attempted use of a known banned substance; possession; trafficking; administration or attempted administration; assisting, encouraging aiding, abetting, covering up of the violations and witness intimidation and retaliation against witnesses.
All of this was dug up without the help of the federal case against Armstrong that was dropped. The prosecutor did not respond to requests by USADA for the files they had collected. The sheer amount of evidence against the Texan is overwhelming. USADA considered all of this so damning that they waived the usual eight-year statute of limitations.
I suppose Lance fought so hard all of these years because he had a lot to lose. He’s not just an athlete. He was a hero. He was the man who faced down poverty, raised by his single mother, was the youngest world champion in a generation, and, lest we forget, faced down a death sentence from cancer. He is the voice and face of survivors. He was the public face of the US Postal Service, Trek bicycles, Oakley sunglasses, Nike and his own Lance Armstrong Foundation. He was the face that launched 100-million rubber bracelets. He gave hope. He gave inspiration. Now what?
The real trickiness may lie in how the International Cyclists Union handles the affair. As the report notes, 20 of the 21 podium finishers of the TdFs that Lance won were also linked to doping and a mind-boggling 36 of 40 podium finishers were implicated from 1996 to 2010. While ‘everybody’s doing it’ is not a defense, it kind of puts Lances wins in perspective.
I will still buy all seven videos of the Tours that Lance won. It’s pretty clear that in a sick way, he was competing on a level plain. The drugs Armstrong is accused of using were available to everyone. So, when I watch the dual between Lance and the late Marco Pantani in the 2000 Tour, it’s not some Texas bully and some poor Italian has-been, it’s the Pirate and the Boss, one on one. It was the greatest climbers dual of the generation. Similarly, in 2003 when Lance barely beat Jan Ulrich, it was the Boss and the Kaiser: the best rivalry of the time.
My lovely wife has chosen to take her yellow bracelet off. That may have more to do with how Armstrong conducts his personal life and his politics. I will continue to sport my yellow bracelet, not for Lance or his foundation, but for the hope that it represents. I won’t boycott the USA Pro Challenge just because Lance made it possible. I will be grateful that someone could bring pro cycling of this caliber back to Colorado.
I get it. In all reasonable likelihood, he cheated. I understand that. Today, I own a road bike. I imagine myself climbing the Alps and the Pyrenees. I fantasize giving a rival “The Look”. I even imagine storming down the Champs-Elysees, the cobbles of Northern France and Belgium and the last sprint in Milan due to Armstrong. If not for Lance, I might not have this path. I have to acknowledge the bad, but I won’t let it spoil the good. Shame on you, Lance. But at the same time, thanks.
Have fun, be safe. I’m still going riding.
Time to geek out!
It’s the time of year when many of us high-altitude cyclists wind down the season. There are plenty of fall-color rides in the area, but it may just be time to put feet up and rest the legs before facing the often mind-numbing prospect of an indoor winter training regimen. For all of this, however, there are options.
Wednesday’s snow reminds us that if we want the challenge of Trail Ridge Road this season, time is running out. The painfully fulfilling ride up the Old Fall River Road will already require lobster gloves and as much layering as you can stand.
Riding buddies of mine took the breath-taking ride from Estes Park to Nederland last weekend. The 40-plus-mile ride is amazing in its beauty this time of year. Riders pass grove after grove of golden-leafed aspens, and now snow capped peaks as a background. This is no poser’s ride. Take it seriously. It is a series of climbs from start to finish. One may very well see some pro talent roll by, as it is a favorite ride for the elite athletes of the area.
The ride offers diversions and exit strategies, as well. A rider could turn around at Allenspark or before the long climb out of Peaceful Valley. One could roll on down the 25-mile descent from Allenspark to Lyons. Ward and its quirky little general store sits atop Lefthand Canyon. It’s a great option to either trim or add mileage.
If you feel particularly fit and self-punishing, the ride off of Hwy. 72 to Gold Hill will satisfy you. Gold Hill has several steep climbs leading to the old mining town, the best-known of which is Sunshine Canyon.
The canyon hosts a race every year, the Sunshine Canyon Hill Climb which starts just off of Mapleton Avenue and 4th street in Boulder and climbs about 3,000 feet in nine miles. The average grade is 6.4 percent and maxes out at 11.86. It’s a leg-breaking test for any climber. The payoff is worth the suffering.
Gold Hill is home to, not only one of the few one-room, well really two-room, school houses still in operation, but also a general store that offers arguably the best home-made cookies in the area. The town is not just a great place to train and refuel, though. The gold is in the trees these days.
Fires encroached on the tiny town in recent years, so they could use some tourist revenue. Ride out to see their aspen, which have to be close to peak. Check out the 100-year-old structures and enjoy some home-made goodies.
Nederland, also an historic mining town, has plenty to offer riders, as well. The home of Eldora Ski Area, and supplier to the old Caribou town and mine, is a refuge for those who feel the bustle of Boulder is too much, still wanting the laid-back attitude. It sits just a bit higher than Estes Park at 8,234 and can have the same unpredictable weather and strong winds. All things to consider before heading out.
The town offers plenty of places to grab a cup of coffee, grab a few PowerBars, or sit down and enjoy a meal. This also brings up another possibility for tired riders.
Find a restaurant your non-riding significant other or supportive friend might like. Bribe them with a free meal with the idea of picking you and your bike up in Ned and driving home. It cuts the mileage in half, but also the time and necessary recovery time, if that is a concern. Also a good option if snow suddenly appears from over the Indian Peaks. Give it a try. You will not be disappointed.
The World Road Championships were decided last weekend. The women’s winner was not a surprise. The men’s winner was a bit of a relief.
Belgian Philip Gilbert won the men’s race in an uphill sprint. Many expected Spain to have a champion this year with names like Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde and former world champ Oscar Freire on the roster. They seemed to have a moment of hesitation as they headed for the final climb just as Gilbert attacked. Andrew Talanski was the highest placing American at 43rd place, 1:54 off of the winning time. Defending champ Mark Cavendish finished in the broom waggon, as did TdF champ Brad Wiggins.
Women’s Olympic road champ Marianne Vos of the Netherlands took the gold on their side. Amber Neben slotted in fourth, 33 seconds back, as the best-placed US rider.
Only one Pro men’s race remains, the classic Giro di Lombardia. The nickname is Tour of Falling Leaves, but it is anything but dead. It is raced in October, so this is a good time to leave everyone hanging.
Have fun, be safe. I’m going riding.
Cheer Locally
The Estes Park High School mountain bike team got their first taste of competition this weekend. While none surprised the field at the season-opening race, the riders got invaluable experience to carry into the next race. Meanwhile, while things change, they really stay the same in the pro road ranks.
Alberto Contador, riding for Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, put together an amazing last week of the Vuelta a Espana to overtake Joaquim Rodriguez and win his first grand tour back from his doping ban. On the podium in Madrid, Contador put up seven fingers, signifying the wins he’d have if not for his disqualifications from the ban. This is Contador’s second victory in his home nation’s grand tour.
The race had been an amazing battle between Contador and fellow Spaniard, Rodriguez, who rides for the Russian Katusha squad. For the most of the last ten days of the tour, ramps were painfully steep, but Rodriguez was able to hold off “El Pistolero”. Then, last Wednesday, Contador pounced on a seemingly easy climbing day. Many viewed the attack as a suicide mission, that surely the peloton would catch Contador. Not only did he stay away, he put important, and significant, time in on both Rodriguez and the dangerous and eventual runner-up Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.
When the peloton rolled into the Spanish capitol, they were greeted as conquering heroes, Spaniards sweeping the podium.
Contador is still credited with wins at the 2007 and 2009 Tours de France, the 2008 Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. His wins in the 2010 TdF and 2011 Giro were stripped after the doping ban was enforced.
The Estes Park High School mountain bike team will have no such worries this season. The fledgling squad traveled to Northrop Colorado on Sunday for their first Colorado Cycling League race. While the earth did not move, the team put in respectable performances.
The Chalk Creek Challenge was won by the team from Boulder High School with their arch rival, Fairview, slotting in second in the Division 1 results. The Estes Park team was 12th, with most riders finishing and earning points. Jeremy Norris was the best-placed boy, with 352, riding in the D1 Freshman class. Marin Kingston was the best Ladycat, earning 333 points and placing 37th in the D1/D2 JV class.
Lauren Igel earned 305 points for her 17th place among D1/D2 sophomore girls. All five sophomore boys, Zach Brittain, Eric Edwards, Otto Engle, Barney Treadway and Kyle Collins finished their race to accumulate points.
Once again, none of this was earth shattering, but the kids are out doing it. I hope they continue riding and racing. The sport is not easy, especially if you’ve never ridden a mountain bike before, like most of the team. I hope fans and parents support the team in its efforts. I also hope they, themselves, see their improvements and appreciate how challenging their chosen path is. I hope they find pride in their efforts and keep pushing themselves.
One little gem I can throw in to tie these two stories together; Contado said, after serving the ban he did not feel he deserved, then winning the tour of Spain, “I do not race to shut people’s mouths, I race because it gives me pleasure.” I hope the team finds the pleasure and joy in racing and keeps at it.
Be safe, have fun. I’m going riding.
Albannach at Scot Fest
Jamsie, one of the members of Albannach plays at the Celtic rock concert during the 37th Longs Peak Scottish Irish Festival. The band is a huge crowd favorite.
Walt Out West 