It’s not often I feel the need to post something non-bike related, but in this case I thought it necessary. It’s not everyday you have a son after all ;-)

The past nine months has been an interesting journey, but I tell ya… Despite all the time I had to think about this day it still blew my mind when they handed me that little guy. I may have thought cycling was a trip, but this should be an even more interesting ride!

Thanks to you all for the continued support of both Bikeridr and myself. I promise Sheldon and I will continue writing about two wheels – rubber side down, and not pablum, dirty diapers, and sleepless nights ;-)

For those interested (or not “friends” with me on Facebook) there are some photos and baby details here.

Related posts:

1. New Sled

Yesterday I walked past Phil Liggett on my way down Jasper Ave. ‘Hello, Phil!’ I said. “Hello there!” he chimed back with a small, but very polite nod.

Seeing Phil Liggett in Edmonton might have normally surprised me, but I was on my way to the Link Pink, Lance Armstrong for Breast Cancer luncheon fundraiser at the Edmonton Shaw Conference Centre. It was sold out, and packed! Hosted in the new Hall D, 1,100 of us sat around well-dressed tables of ten for a 3 course lunch before Lance Armstrong took the stage. His message, definitely one of triumph, hope and perseverance but to my surprise, Lance also took questions from the floor, answering candidly about his own personal and professional life, his future away from the tour (jokingly calling it his Retirement 2.0), and his family…

The Master of Ceremonies was of course, none other than Phil Liggett, the Voice of Cycling. And I have to say, it was pretty cool to have him moderate the show because not only is he a great public speaker, but he knows Lance so well. So through what could be best described as casual banter between two friends, the conversation stayed grounded on the core theme of the fight against all forms of cancer, but it was also at times really funny and entertaining, giving us an in-person glimpse into Lance Armstrong. Some of the questions that came up were actually a little surprising, ranging from the lighthearted, ‘who would you want to play you in a movie?’ (Lance’s answer: Danny Devito) to the more bizarre such as, ‘do you obstain from sex around competitions?’ (Lance’s answer: No way, saying you don’t want any kids looking like the milk man).

There were also more serious questions about whether Lance thought Andy Schleck can beat Contador (Lance’s answer: Yeah, he should have beaten him this year), and a question about Floyd Landis that Lance decided to leave alone, for now. All in all, I found it was a really nice mix, delivering on both a very successful afternoon of worthy fundraising, and a chance to get to know Lance Armstong as a person, just a little bit better.

The ride in Jasper is today, and for those 50 riders who each raised a minimum of $25,000 (one of them raising over $50,000),  it will be 100km of beautiful, summer day, Rocky Mountain riding with Lance and Phil, followed by a private dinner. Not a bad way to spend a day, if you ask me.

Related posts:

1. LINK PINK Lance Armstrong For Breast Cancer
2. Lance Armstrong in Edmonton
3. Ride vs. Ride

I love anything that gets women on bikes… Primarily because women on bikes are at least 15% more attractive than all other women (it’s a proven fact, don’t bother disputing it), but also because I feel that cycling (especially mountain biking) can be a slightly intimidating environment for women.

Anything that able to put women in a comfortable environment and let them immerse themselves in the awesomeness of cycling is something I can get behind!

Not being of the female persuasion, and not willing to pull out some Ms. Doubtfire action, I reached out to two of my friends to recon the 2010 Trek Dirt Series (originally the Sugoi Dirt Series) and answer some questions for me. I wanted some different perspectives, and since both Cate and Kim come from fairly different backgrounds, I think I got it.

If you’re sitting on the fence, or even considering doing something like a mountain bike camp, I’m sure the answers below will have you signing up in no time!

So without further ado, meet your hosts:

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:
Cate Hydeman
FIND HER ONLINE: TWITTER

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:
Kim McNeil
FIND HER ONLINE: TWITTER & WEB

What’s your background? Tell us a little bit about yourself. How does cycling play into the mix?

Related posts:

1. 2010 Road Nationals in Edmonton Alberta
2. Top Ten for 2010
3. Bow Cycle 2010 Bike Expo

As July slowly draws to a close, we say farewell to the Tour de France. Groggy and hungover from Tour withdrawal, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the past 3 weeks, 3,642 kilometres and 91 hours. Hopefully you’ll give me your thoughts as well!

I obviously can’t speak for anybody but myself, but I found this Tour fascinating… It had all the ingredients for high drama and it delivered in spades:

• An aging champion, coming back for one more round
• A young Canadian, putting on an stellar performance
• A man who many love to hate, but is without question the ‘fastest man on two wheels’
• A dropped chain, a controversial attack

An aging champion, coming back for one more round

I don’t think anybody can argue that things didn’t really pan out in Lance’s favour this year. Things started optimistically with an amazing 4th in the opening time trial but seemed to quickly decline. After all the drama whipped up by the media, watching things play out was far from fulfilling. While, personally I don’t think Lance had the legs to win the Tour this year (evidenced by his inability to shake his break away groupo on Stage 16), I would have much preferred him loosing in a test of mettle, rather than succumbing to crashes and mechanicals.

With Lance firmly stating unequivocally that this is his last Tour my main fear is not for the peloton, or for Lance, but for cycling in North America. I simply hope that our sport can continue it’s growth without it’s one universally known cyclist sitting in the limelight. Regardless of how you feel about Big Tex, you can’t argue what he’s done for both cycling (and cancer for that matter!).

A young Canadian, putting on an stellar performance

After the unfortunate crash of Christian Vande Velde and the eventual withdrawal of Tyler Farrar, Garmin Transitions were in a tough spot and a certain Canadian rider found himself with the unforeseen opportunity to do his team proud.

What ensued was nothing short of remarkable.

From breakaway after breakaway, to climbing like a man half his size (not to mention fishing fourth on the Col du Tourmalet), Hejedal put in an awe-inspiring performance. With the North American void Lance leaves behind, is Hejedal poised to carry that flame? No pressure, Ryder ;-)

A man who many love to hate, but is without question the ‘fastest man on two wheels’

“Nadal syndrome,” is something Sheldon coined where we just can’t stand an athlete, despite them giving us next to no reason to dislike them. The ‘Manx Missile’ has filled this Tour role nicely… Cavendish is next to untouchable in a flat-out sprint yet despite being fantastically talented and charismatic, I can’t stand the guy. I had high hopes that Tyler Farrar would be able to take a stage or two, but after his wrist injury it simply wasn’t to be.

Despite Cavendish’s speed and talent though, I’m glad that the Maillot Vert is about more than that. As far as I’m concerned Cavendish can have his stage wins, as he obviously deserves them. To me though, the the Green Jersey should go to somebody who’s more than just a sprint specialist. It has to be. A stage victory is enough for the sprinters. You need to be able to show me something for more than 15 seconds. Look at Thor Hushovd’s performance last year where he launched a brazen solo attack on a mountainous Stage 17 to claim both intermediary points and solidify green.

Maybe I’m a Thor fanboy. Maybe I want the Green Jersey to be something it’s not. Alessandro Petacchi did the jersey proud this year, but I just hope that more men like him and Thor are able to keep it off the back of pure ‘stage sprinters’ like Cavendish in years to come.

A dropped chain, a controversial attack

The 2010 Tour de France quickly came down to a battle between two men. After Fabian Cancellara convinced the peloton to neutralize the second stage (because of the massive crashes – coincidentally including his team mates Fränk and Andy Schlek) there was much talk about the ‘gentlemanly conduct’ that exists as an undercurrent with riders in the Tour de France. If only we had known what sweet foreshadowing this was to be…

As the riders wound up the Port de Balès (the final climb on Stage 15), Andy Schleck made an initial attack and easily cleared his group, but as he prepared his attack is earnest he dropped his chain – whether part of a mechanical or rider error, I’m not sure. Contador was quick to counter and gapped the hapless Shleck. The media and the internet were almost instantly a-buzz. Should ‘gentlemanly’ rules have applied, as was the case in ’01 and ’02 when Jan Ulrich and Lance Armstrong both waited for each other (under admittedly different circumstances)? Or was the counter attack justified?

In my mind, Gerard Vroomen (co-founder of Cervélo TestTeam) and Ryder Hejedal captured it as eloquently and succinctly as possible on Twitter:

Gerard Vroomen: Contador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly.

Ryder Hejedal: If you draw your sword and you drop it, you die.

If Schleck had been caught up in a crash of something out of his hands, I would be outraged, and write Contador off as a classless chump, but in this case Andy gave it a go, and it didn’t pan out. Contador attacked when he saw weakness… He didn’t wait to see what the problem was (though I suspect he knew it was mechanical in nature), he just dropped the hammer. I’m sure this is practically instinct for these guys – Despite being three weeks long, the Tour doesn’t provide an abundance of chances, you have to make the most of the ones that present themselves.

Despite saying that it’s not what he would have done, Andy appears to quickly put the incident behind him. And if you want to hear Contadors thoughts/apology on the matter you can see it here.

So with that, I open the floor to you – Agree with me, argue with me, or add a new thought to the mix… Let me know what you think!

As an aside, I was able to enjoy all but the weekend stages of the Tour courtesy of Versus on the 2010 Versus Tour Tracker. I did receive some emails indicating frustration with the application, but for the most part the feedback (that I received) was overwhelmingly positive – I look forward to what they have in store next year!

Related posts:

1. A Photographic Tour de France
2. Lunch with Lance
3. Versus 2010 Tour Tracker

I challenge you not to love Jens Voigt. This man is made out of chiseled granite and railway spikes. He is truly the stuff of legend.

For the second year in a row a bad crash threatened to take Jens out of the Tour de France.

After a front-tire blow-out, shattering his bike, tearing open his elbow and being covered in road rash at the start of a 25km descent, Jens had some choice words for the Broom Wagon.

From Bicycling.com:

That stage pretty much got off on the wrong foot. For starters, we just went out so hard. We started out climbing up the Peyresourde Pass and everybody came out with their guns smoking.

I came over the top only 20 seconds down on the front group, but about 2 kilometers into the descent my front tire blew and I thought, “Oh God,” and I went down. Just one year after my horrible crash, and there I was tumbling on another mountain descent. And let me tell you, about the only place that feels good right now is my right ankle. The rest of me is all road rash. Plus I’ve got five stitches in my left elbow and then there are some ribs that are not in the right place! I may have to get x-rays, but I hate x-rays (the radiation), and plus, if I’ve got a fractured rib, what can anyone do about it?

The worst thing of all was that I almost got forced out of the Tour for a second year in a row. The problem was that the first team car was behind Andy Schleck, and the second had decided to go up ahead to hand out water bottles at the foot of the next climb. As a result I had no bike, because mine was shattered.

Jens Voigt on his 'junior' bike (note the toe clips ;-)

So then the broom wagon pulled up and was like, “Do you want to just get in?” And I said, “Oh no, I don’t need YOU!” But there I am with blood spurting out my left elbow and no bike. Finally, the race organizers got me a bike, but it was this little yellow junior bike. It was way too small for me and even had old-fashioned toe-clip pedals. But that is the only way I could get down the mountain, so I had to ride it for like 15-20 kilometers until I finally got to a team car with my bike.

Then, I still had to get up to the grupetto. All I can say is that that desperate times need desperate measures, but I got up there. And once I did it was grupetto all day long.

Needless to say, I had plenty of time to come up with a fitting book of the day. It’s from the Disk World series by Terry Pratchett. In it, the protagonist is Conan the Barbarian, who is a 70-year-old who has just survived everything. At one point he, and his other old warrior friends capture this village, but then they find that they are surrounded by an army of tens of thousands, and his only reaction is, “Oh man, it’s going to take days to kill all these people!” And that’s the way I was today when I was lying on the ground. I just thought, “Oh no, I’m going to Paris this year, I’m going to Paris. There’s just no way you are going to get me out of this race for the second year in a row!”

I wanna be like Jens.

No related posts.

A moment of suffering, captured forever.

This image of Cadel Evans turning himself inside out, and many other fantastic images of the Tour de France can be seen on The Big Picture.

Related posts:

1. Le Tour de France – Retrospect
2. Versus 2010 Tour Tracker
3. Le Tour de Femme?

Canada Cup race weekend began rather ominously… Driving up to Edmonton we ran through one of the worst rainstorms I’ve ever had the displeasure of traveling through. The effects of the storm on my mood were amplified even more by my apprehension of what all this rain was doing to the course!!

Sadly, my fears were realized Saturday morning when I met up with Sheldon and Gord, to pre-ride the course. I would say optimistically that 1/3 of the course was ‘walkable,’ another 1/3 was super greasy and sketchy, and the last 1/3 of the course was ‘manageable.’

Needless to say we weren’t exactly feeling ‘race ready’ after our pre-ride. Amongst the riders we ran into speculation was flying as to whether or not the course would dry up, or whether it would be a mud-ridden suffer fest.

Come race day, however, I would say the conditions were damn near perfect, with upwards of 85% of the course being nice and tacky, and the rest either requiring a very careful line selection, or a quick muddy run. To be honest, I couldn’t believe the course dried up as well as it did.

Despite what great shape the course was in, I was in for a slightly ominous start to my race as well… Not used to the clockwork-like organization of Mike and Evan, when I finally decided to grace the start line with my presence (15min prior to the start) I found that everybody had already assembled and that names had already been called… Gulp!

I found myself on the ass-end of by far the biggest racing category of the day (59 riders) and could hardly see Smart and the rest of the boys up there in the front row!

Regardless of my start position, my game plan was simple… Knowing that the majority of the course was tight, technical, slightly damp singletrack, I just wanted to get myself seeded ‘top-ish’ in the pack and either pick my way up the pack, or fade away – depending on how the legs felt. As luck would have it, it turned out to be the former ;-)

I’m still not sure how I did it, but somehow I managed to muscle my way through the majority of the pack on the first climb and put myself just off the lead group of Gord Brenner (RVC) and the “Redbike Train” of Chris Ring, Mark Jung and Sam Mothana. I was feeling pretty gassed after the climb, so I pretty much just sucked wheel for the first half of the lap and focussed on recovery.

With the fortunes smiling, our small crew managed to gap the rest of the field a bit and I managed to hang on. Halfway through the second lap, it was just Gord, Chris and I leading the way. The legs were feelin’ pretty good, so I decided to see if I could get a gap and stayed on the gas through an extended open area. It wasn’t until the singletrack that I realized I was all alone.

The rest of the race, as they say is history… I managed to stay strong and keep a gap, though I was admittedly looking back nervously every once in a while, fully expecting the pack to be breathin’ down my neck, but the catch never came.

While in the early break Gord thought we were leading the race, but I kept such thoughts in the back of my mind… I convinced myself (as had happened many times before) that a small group of really strong riders had broken off the front and that when I finished I would be rolling into a 4-6th place finish… Although I wasn’t completely incorrect, it was only Damian Stachura (Pedalhead) who had broken free of the bunch, and I had rolled onto the podium for a 2nd place finish!! When I read the results list… I truly couldn’t believe it!

Despite being on-site since 5:00, Mr. Smart managed a very respectable finish as well, finishing in the top 1/3 of the field! Talking to Sheldon after the race, I was saying that even though I have the mountains in my back yard, I’m still jealous (and miss) the river valley in yours! Great riding for sure!

The rest of the day was pure gravy on top of my surprising finish, whether it was hob-nobbing and taking photos of the top athletes in our sport, watching the pros rail the course, or chilling out in the Kokanee Beer Gardens. It was a highly satisfying event and a super fun and mellow vibe all day. The kids race was a really nice way to get the crowd pumped prior to releasing the elite racers as well… Those young’uns are so freakin’ cute!

I can’t say enough about the hard work that Mike & Evan put in to this event. It definitely showed! As always, the volunteers deserve a special call out, as they were stupendous throughout the day!

Additional photos of the event can be found here:

• My Flickr
• black_betty2′s Flickr
• lungsnot’s Flickr

Related posts:

1. Edmonton Canada Cup Feature Racer
2. Edmonton Canada Cup Feature Racer – Krystyn Ong
3. 2010 Road Nationals in Edmonton Alberta

As the 2010 Tour de France spins up and the speculations, predictions and intrigue start to weave their tangled webs, many of us are trying to figure out the best way to absorb this years Tour.

Do we set our PVR each day – consciously blocking out internet race coverage and forewarning coworkers to keep details to themselves? Do we desperately scour to keep up on coverage through RSS readers and Twitter? Do we suddenly come down with an illness that only allows us to come to work in the afternoon?

Thankfully, Versus is ensuring that these difficult decisions aren’t necessary with their 2010 Tour Tracker.

Last year I detailed what you could expect in the 2009 Versus Tour Tracker and it appears as though the fine crew has been hard at work behind the scenes to offer, not only better coverage, but some sincerely cool ‘add-ons’ to your experience.

There are essentially three aspect to this years Tour Tracker, the tracker itself, the mobile counterpart, and the MapMyRide interactivity.

The 2010 Versus Tour Tracker

I know last years Tour tracker was pretty damn solid, and I expect no-less from this year:

• Live streaming video of the tour in high definition from any online or mobile device anytime
• Pause, rewind, and fast forward to guarantee you don’t miss any epic moments
• Follow every stride of the race with real-time GPS tracking, minute-to-minute updates on overall standings and rider positions
• Customize and personalize your viewing by setting alerts for your favorite players and using the new timeline feature to jump instantly to key moments in the race

The Tour Tracker iPhone App

I’m excited to see how the iPhone app shapes up, since that will be key for me staying up-to-date while I’m in meetings… I haven’t downloaded it yet (I don’t know if it’s ready for public consumption), but it looks like it’s going to have some pretty fun features as well:

• Access to highlight videos, detailed race results and standings as well as full course profiles
• Real-time Twitter updates to stay informed about what’s happening in the race even when you can’t watch
• Access live streaming video on 3G or WiFi—without commercial interruption and the ability to access the full stage immediately following its conclusion via the on-demand feature (with a one-time upgrade of $14.99)
• Real-time GPS tracking showing riders are on the course, including time gaps and breakaways, as well as minute-by-minute updates for each stage (for the video coverage)
• Customized alerts for breaking news, updates on their favorite riders and for notifications before the start and conclusion of the race

2010 Le Tour Challenge

The one extra bit of icing on the cake for this years Tour Tracker is coming out of a partnership with MapMyRide that let’s you pit your measly spaghetti legs against the rippling quadriceps of your favorite Tour riders:

• Ride your bike on any given day of the tour and track your distance, time and pace either manually, using the MapMyRide app, or using a GPS device
• Submit your data to mapmyride.com and the site will convert your information into “virtual time” to see how you would have compared to that day’s stage of the tour
• Win prizes by automatically being entered into daily drawings—the more days you ride and submit your data, the more chances you have to win!

The nice thing is that the MapMyRide functionality and prize entry is all free! You’ve always known you were slow, but now it’s time to find out just how hard these guys would drop you in a ride ;-)

There will be “virtual” competitions for custom designed jerseys, a handful of Cannondale bikes, “thousands of dollars” in additional prizes, and a trip to Paris for the final stage. So it’ll be fun regardless, and you’ll have a chance to actually pick up some pretty wicked stuff.

If you’re lucky enough to live in the US and subscribe to Versus, then you’ll be treated to great coverage 14 hours a day, but for those of us in Canada, we’ll have to rely on a piggyback of the Versus Tour de France coverage, and if memory serves the Canadian coverage was broadcast live (ie. very first thing in the morning) with highlights in the evenings, and if you’re anything like me there are two problems with that scenario:

1. I have a job and work during the day
2. I need to know what’s going on as it happened… Watching it after the fact is simply not acceptable ;-)

I’ll probably still watch the highlights in the evenings (there is something to be said for seeing it on the ‘big screen’ after all), but I think the Versus Tour Tracker will definitely find it’s way into my daily routine… I’m just lucky enough that I have a job where I’ve got my computer on me most of the time and should be able to stream things in the background.

Right now you can get access for the entire Tour for $29.95 (which is actually $5 cheaper than last year), but the option to buy individual stages is gone, which actually surprises me a bit. It could be that they opted out of this since most viewers were only buying the mountain stages, but if it were up to me (and it should be) I would offer four different pricing packages:

• The full meal deal
• Per stage
• A ‘climbers’ package (ie. all the mountain stages)
• A ‘sprinters’ package (ie. all the flat stages)

Related posts:

1. Le Tour de Femme?
2. Le Tour de France – Retrospect
3. Top Ten for 2010

As a cross country rider I’ve long since come to terms with climbing. I may even enjoy it in a masochistic type of way. But the real reason most of us enjoy climbing, the real payoff, comes after the fact… When gravity turns from your foe, to your ally.

I appreciate the balance that climbing everything I descend offers, but there are times when you just want to point your wheel down the hill and let ‘er rip… To constantly feel the wind in your hair, weaving between rocks, roots and singletrack in search of the best flow.

It’s the appreciation of these things that got me so excited to work with two friends of mine and help realize a dream of theirs.

Andrew Ellis has been mucking around with bikes since he was a wee tot back in England, but he’s always had a dream of sharing his love of riding two wheels downhill with as many people as possible. On and off over the past year, I helped him pull a website together for their new downhill touring company – Descend Inc.

Generally speaking, I’m very lucky to really enjoy my ‘day’ job, but I have to admit, it was a real treat to combine my day job and my post-work passion into something special.

Specializing in mid-size private tours of Panorama, Kicking Horse or Mount 7, as well as shuttle tours in Golden, Descend is all about capturing the challenge and chill of downhilling. Once you cough over a wee bit of cash (very reasonable amounts by my estimation), you’re effectively set – and outside of a few logistics, almost every aspect of your trip is taken care of.

• Cozy mountain cabin to crash in after driving yourself to near exhaustion on the hill? Check.
• Spacious, kick-assed Descend-mobile van? Check.
• Wicked bikes with more travel than 3 xc rigs combined? Check.
• Delicious, home-made food to get you fueled up for the next day? Check.
• A sharp, witty bloke to guide you down the narrows? Double check.

Sharing a pint with Andrew a few weeks ago, we got to chatting about how specifically a cross country rider could really benefit from a trip like this. He was a firm believer that not only would a trip with Descend would not only be a nice break from a hectic race season (or a nice way to wrap one up), but would also be a fantastic way for a cross-country focussed rider to get quite a bit faster.

I agreed wholeheartedly.

At first blush this may not make sense at all, especially since most races to date have been in/around Edmonton, where the terrain, though winding, technical, challenging and fun, doesn’t really provide any serious altitude problems. Anybody who has raced a course with sustained climbs/descents however, will instantly recognize the value competent descending can bring to your game.

At best, you’ll shave a fair bit off your times, gain a ton of confidence, and school your buddies in rough, technical descents – at worst you’ll work the kinks out of your downhill game and go a long way to avoiding a bad crash on your way down the mountain.

So with race season in full swing, maybe it’s time to carve out some time and point the wheels south and get some quality time with gravity!

Related posts:

1. Burn Out – by Kirk Hamilton
2. Summer Solstice Suffer Springs XC race report
3. Edmonton Canada Cup Feature Racer – Krystyn Ong

Cycle Speedway – Euro Club Champs Final 2010 from Cycle Oxford on Vimeo.

Short-track speed skating, meets roller derby on no break, single-speed bikes – this is awesome! Born out of the post WW1 rubble-strewn streets of Britain, this dirt track motorcycle speedway influenced style of racing takes velodrome sprint speed power and bike handling skills, plus the ability to shoulder check your fellow racer into the rails. I can see this catching on here. If anyone around Edmonton is doing this, drop us a line. This looks like seriously good fun. I’m in!

Related posts:

1. Kokanee Sponsors River Valley Cycle XC Race Team
2. Bow Cycle 2010 Bike Expo
3. Cyclocross 101