Out of office alert
Thanks for checkin’ in! Team bikeridr is out on the trails racing in the TR3. Wish us luck!
Archive for 'Miscellaneous'
Randoms – Hoffman, TR and Lance
As I’m off to Fernie this weekend to race in the TR3 and currently busy with packing, bike tweaking, and home renos, etc…, this week I just wanted to post up something, well, easy. One of the hardest things I always find about bloging, is deciding on the topic. This week, as usual I had a few post ideas rolling around in my head, so to save myself the anxiety-ridden trouble of decision making, I’ve decided to just write a little on all three. In this post, I’ve got Matt Hoffman, BMX big-air guru, the average age of the Transrockies, and the curtain call of my cycling hero and cancer fighter extraordinaire, Lance.
Racing Smart
For the most part, I don’t know what I’m doing. I haven’t been racing long enough. For example, I don’t know how I should feel before a good race, versus how I feel before a bad one. I’ve thought I felt great, and raced terribly, and visa versa. Sure, I’ve read a lot, and talked to a lot of people about this stuff, but for me it’s still just guess work.
Last weekend at Nationals in Canmore, I had a good race. Best result of my season for sure, coming in 3rd. It was a great experience landing on the podium, and one I’d like to repeat. But now with only 2 races left this season, I’m convinced more than ever, repeating that is going to be something that’s a lot easier said, than done…
LINK PINK Lance Armstrong For Breast Cancer
As you might have heard, a certain well-known Texan cycling legend, 7 time Tour De France Champion and prolific cancer fighter is coming to Edmonton this August…
Anatomy of a local bike race
All last year, I went to bike races put on by other groups and clubs, like Alberta Mountain Bike Racing, United Cycle, Hardcore and so on. I showed up and rode my bike, then ate some food as I waited around impatiently for results, podium and draw prizing. After, I went home. This year, through RVC I’ve helped put on two racers, and let me tell ya, I was completely taken back by the amount of organization and work that goes into these local races…
Bikeridr in Paris
So what do you think of when you hear the words ‘Paris, France’? You might say the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, or maybe you’ll think of something more gastronomic like fine cheeses and delicate Bordeaux wines… I certainly think about all those things, but I also think of BIKES. Yes, I think of Parisians riding home from work with a bottle of red wine and a baguette under their arm, and of course the Tour de France!
My wife and I recently spent just shy of two weeks in the City of Light, and let me just say, what a city! But beyond all the romantic Parisian experiences that we managed to enjoy, like walking along the Seine River, sitting under the Eiffel Tower, sipping café crème in little Brasseries that people like Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald once frequented, and dining in some of the most incredible Paris restaurants, I wanted to see the real European cycling scene! I wanted to browse in incredible boutique bike shops, and oogle over the finest road racing machines Europe had to offer. I mean, after all, Paris and the Champs Élysées is where the Tour de France finishes up! This is a cycling Mecca, right?!
Shot the gap, and failed
This weekend was my very first road race. I had been looking forward to it for weeks. The Prairie Roubaix, hosted my Speed Theory in Calgary. Racing in Calgary is always nice. I mean you’re in the foothills, with great views of the mountains just west, and of course I get to see my buddy Ken.
I drove up Saturday morning so I’d be there in time for a ‘funzies’ ride put on by Dead Goat. Tim set up a course, starting from his place it led us all over. Me, not being from Calgary, I was lost a lot of the time, but I didn’t care at all. It was 23 degrees, sunny and I was riding a brand new carbon Lapierre Xelius 200, courtesy of Edmonton’s friendly neighbourhood River Valley Cycle. What a machine! Super stiff and responsive. The bike literally
surges with each pedal stroke. It was nuts how much I loved this bike. And, I have to give it credit where credit is due on the hill climb challenge we did from the bottom of Canadian Olympic Park (COP) up to the Tea House. I flew up that steep, switchback road, cranking over that 42 tooth inside ring to just eek out a win in the A group. My closest rival, Ken Hurd of course, just 2 seconds behind me. This might be the only thing I beat Ken at all season, so good times, indeed. Hill climb victory aside, Sunday was going to be the real race.
Is that your final answer?
Ken bought himself a new rig, and a road rig at that. I have to say, I’m pretty stoked for him. He was the first to move to full-suspension, and then the first to move to cyclo-cross and now, although I already have a road bike (it’s more just a training tool) he’s the first to jump headlong into the roadie world. As you can see, it’s expensive keeping up with Ken. Everytime you turn around, it seems he’s adding to his quiver. It might be categorized as an addiction, but I’d have to call it a healthy one.
So in the last bikeridr post, Ken challenged me to see if I could guess what he bought, based on the few closely-cropped photos he provided. I accepted the challenge and now beers at the Prairie Rubaix are on the line. (Insert pressure here) The photos didn’t really gave away too much, other than the bike is really, really red, and kitted out with Ultegra, and a Mavic Ksyrium wheel set. So, what did he buy? What’s my final answer?
Ride vs. Ride
If you live in Alberta and you’re a cyclist, you’re likely aware of the two big rides happening to raise money for the fight against cancer. The more established one, the one we likely all know at least one participant of, is of course, The Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer. The other is new. It’s the Ride with Lance Armstrong. Both are going to be vying for your cycling and fundraising efforts this summer, so just how then is a rider to make the call. Which ride will you choose?
Advantage: Cyborgs
I always think it’s cool when some aspect of science-fiction finds its way into our reality. Most of the time, if you look for it, you’ll find all kinds of examples and one of the most common ones has got to be the proliferation of the cyborg. Wikipedia defines it as ‘a cybernetic organism (i.e. an organism that has both artificial and natural systems). Fictionally speaking, as in science-fiction, this is usually thought of more like the Borg from Star Trek. This month, WIRED magazine published an article called ‘Advantage: Cyborgs’, by Clive Thompson, which looked at how in the world of chess, the best of the best aren’t the Chessmasters, or the Super Computers, but instead the computer-aided humans – this combination is unbeatable…
