The McQuaid Problem
Pat McQuaid has secured nomination for a third term as the president of the UCI. It is McQuaid's most selfish, telling act since Floyd Landis elected to detonate the façade of legitimacy laid over the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team. We've seen clearly in the past that McQuaid has really only cared about the truth when it serves to protect his role as UCI president. I had held out the hope that maybe if the Irish cycling federation listened to the worldwide cry to give McQuaid a retirement watch and chose not to nominate him for a third term, that ...
Gran Fondo NY 2012: I Know It When I See It
My choice for doing GFNY was heavy on novelty, light on challenge. No idea what to expect, would it seem like a race, a group ride, a tour, an 'athon? There was the challenge component to it. Of course, doing well is something, and winning would be nice, but it wasn't a reason for participating. Looking at the numbers, it seems that novelty and tourism were high on the list of reasons to come. According to the promoter, there were 5,000 registered riders. Of that, 20% were from outside the United States, and 50% of the foreigners, or 10% of the ...
An Evolution in Fit
I've been fit by more alleged "masters" of the bicycle fitting process than I care to remember. What I'm even less interested in recalling are the specifics of some of those fits. I'd prefer not to have had the journey, but along the way, I've seen—and learned—a lot. One Italian frame builder took three measurements of me while I was in a cotton shirt and chinos as I stood in his booth at a trade show. Net result: The bike was gorgeous, handled like water flowing through a pipe and was at least one centimeter too big, and that left me ...
Schwinn Stingray Inventor Al Fritz—An Appreciation
Al Fritz, the Schwinn employee who invented the Stringray, has died. It was Fritz who noticed in the early 1960s the rise of the muscle-car culture and how that began to bleed into bicycling with kids customizing their bikes. The Stingray was less a bike than a hot rod with two wheels and pedals. And for kids like me who were born in the 1950s and '60s, the Stringray was one of the first status symbols we ever encountered. It wasn't just a toy. No, the Stingray was rolling style. It was Beach Boys-hip and as indestructible as a Chevy ...
The Return of the Son of the Killer Tees
With all due apologies to Frank Zappa, it seemed appropriate to note that what I'm about to announce isn't exactly new news. We blew through most of this year's run of Roubaix shirts in fairly short order, so I did a second run and in an effort to respond to those who have requested non-black T-shirts, we did a run of the Roubaix shirts in gray. We looked at what could be done to try to do this shirt in white, but there was no way to work the graphic that didn't make it look like a photo negative. So gray ...
Reconciliation
After a year of alternately surprising and unseemly revelations, truths that are unsettling or perhaps only half-so, we finally seem to have arrived at our great test. The recent nomination of Pat McQuaid to another term as UCI President by the governing board of Cycling Ireland is the great denouement of this era in cycling. Should he succeed in achieving another term as the president of the UCI, McQuaid will be the unassailable impediment to cleaning up cycling. Having shut down the investigation into his organization's past and derailed what could have been a transparent exposure of the sport's true ...
Body
The McQuaid Problem
Pat McQuaid has secured nomination for a third term as the president of the UCI....
Gran Fondo NY 2012: I Know It When I See It
My choice for doing GFNY was heavy on novelty, light on challenge. No idea what...
An Evolution in Fit
I’ve been fit by more alleged “masters” of the bicycle fitting...
Schwinn Stingray Inventor Al Fritz—An Appreciation
Al Fritz, the Schwinn employee who invented the Stringray, has died. It was Fritz...
The Return of the Son of the Killer Tees
With all due apologies to Frank Zappa, it seemed appropriate to note that what I’m...
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Live Coverage: 2013 Giro d’Italia – Stage 16 – Valloire to Ivrea, 238km
Live Updates: 2013 Giro D’ Italia – Stage 15 – Cesana Torinese to Col du Galibier, 145km
Live Coverage: 2013 Giro d’Italia – Stage 14 – Cervere to Bardonecchia, 168km
Live Coverage: 2013 Giro D’ Italia – Stage 13 – Busseto to Cherasco, 254km
Live Updates: 2013 Giro D’ Italia – Stage 12 – Longarone to Treviso, 134km
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Machine
Friday Group Ride #167
I will endeavor over the following paragraphs to make no butt jokes, employ no puerile double entendre, and avoid, at all costs, referencing parts of the human anatomy I have barred my young sons from mentioning at the dinner table. We have over recent weeks been discussing product preferences for such crucial gear as helmets and gloves, and you, our... [Read more of this review]
Ritchey WCS Echelon Pedals
In my experience, more than any other component found on a bicycle, pedals elicit a near-religious loyalty among users. It may be that because cleat design will remain static to a degree that even the number of cogs on a cassette will not, people have more years of use on a system and are more likely to develop less a preference than an accustom. We... [Read more of this review]
Friday Group Ride #166
Oh, man. When I brought up helmets last week, I had this sneaking suspicion it was a better conversation starter than the Giro d’Italia, though in years past I know we would have turned the Giro over and over like a favorite record. 50 comments later, I think we covered helmets pretty well. In midweek, Padraig reviewed a new pair of gloves, and... [Read more of this review]
Road Holland Arnhem Jersey
The long-sleeve jersey is an item that wasn’t represented in my wardrobe for a great many years. There was a simple reason why: Fit. Most of them fit me like a burlap sack. Now, a burlap sack is fine if you plan to take 50 pounds of potatoes to the farmer’s market, but even for a cyclist who was only marginally picky about fit, that wasn’t... [Read more of this review]
Assos longSummerGloves
I’ve written previously about how life in the South Bay of Southern California means that I spend at least eight months of each year in arm warmers. I go through a lot of embro as well. I’m also, eternally, on the lookout for lightweight long-finger gloves. That is, a long-finger glove that is warm, but not too warm. For me, I tend to put... [Read more of this review]
iJ.intermediate_s7
There are times when I notice that what I feel for Assos is also what I feel for my son Philip. Yes, there’s the incandescent affection that can cause me to smile at the simple utterance of his, or their, name. But there’s also cross-eyed frustration that comes when you simply want your kid to stop moving. Not only have I said through gritted... [Read more of this review]
Cannondale Teramo Helmet
Take a moment to look at the object above. Really look at it. If you weren’t already a dedicated cyclist, what would you guess that was? I can say that I would guess that it was a souvenir replica of some sort of head gear from a first-person-shooter video game. It would be right at home on an alien in Halo. Falling back on my trained experience... [Read more of this review]
Rapha Sky Kit
I need to be honest. I haven’t worn the kit from a team I wasn’t a member of in probably 15 years. Before I moved to Southern California, I and all of my friends wore any jersey or kit we thought was cool. I had team jerseys from PDM, Z, Gatorade-Chateau d’Ax and even a replica Banania-sponsored maillot jaune like Greg LeMond wore... [Read more of this review]
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