Eddie would go

Where were you when the sun rose this morning?

Redlight, Hammerson and yours truly were logging some foundation miles out at Meridian. Needless to say, it is cold before the sun rises. This was evident in the frost on Carla's fork. Surfers have a saying for going out in tough conditions, "Eddie would go." With a nod to the late, great big wave surfer Eddie Aikow, this morning "Lance would go".

Candian Banshees?

These guys look like us!

2004 JETFUEL professional cycling team

Quick, get a kleenex

Given the sprint stages, we can expect to see more pictures like this

2005 Tour route announced

Only three mountain finishes. Lets see if LA can sprint!

2005 Tour route announced: "Tour de France organizers have cut down on the mountain finishes and individual time-trials for next year's race in a move which could help Lance Armstrong's rivals prevent the Texan winning a seventh Tour."

And the climbs:

The main climbing difficulties on next year's Tour de France announced Thursday:

9th Stage (Mulhouse)
Col de Grosse Pierre (955m) 3.1km at average gradient of 6.4 percent
Col de Bramont (956m) 3.4km at 6.5 percent
Le Grand Ballon (1,338m) 21.9km at 3.6 percent
Col de Bussang (731m) 6.2km at 4.5 percent
Le Ballon d'Alsace (1,171m) 9.1km at 6.8 percent

10th Stage (Courchevel)
Cormet de Roselend (1,968m) 20.1km at 6 percent
Courchevel climb (2,004m) 21.8km at 6.3 percent

11th Stage (Briancon)
Col de la Madeleine (2,000m) 25.4km at 6.1 percent
Col du Telegraphe (1566 m): 12km at 6.7 percent
Col du Galibier (2645 m): 17.5km at 6.9 percent

12th Stage (Digne-les-Bains):
Cote des Demoiselles-coiffees (1,067m) 4.6 km at 4.8 percent
Col Saint-Jean (1,332m) 13.2km at 4 percent
Col du Corobin (1,230m) 12.4km at 4.5 percent
Col de l'Orme (734m) 2.7km at 3.9 percent

14th Stage (Ax-3 Domaines):
Port de Pailheres (2,001m) 15.2km at 8 percent
Ax-3 Domaines climb (1,372m) 9.1km at 7.3 percent

15th Stage (Saint-Lary-Soulan)
Col du Portet d'Aspet (1,069m) 2.7km at 8.4 percent
Col de Mente (1,349m) 7km at 8.1 percent
Col du Portillon (1,320m) 8.3km at 7.2 percent
Col de Peyresourde (1,569m) 13km at 6.9 percent
Col de Val Louron-Azet (1,580 m) 7.5km at 7.9 percent
Saint-Lary-Soulan climb (Pla-d'Adet) (1,669m) 10.7km at 7.6 percent

16th Stage
Col d'Ichere (674m) 4.4km at 6.2 percent
Col de Marie-Blanque (1,035m) 9.3km at 7.7 percent
Col d'Aubisque (1,677m) 16.5 km at 7 percent
Col du Soulor (1,475m) 2km at 5.5 percent

Check out stage 11, Col de la Madeleine and the Galibier - that will be awsome.

I Ride a Litespeed and Blow the Crap out of Ducks - read PETA hates me

These losers need something productive to do, like devlop a shotgun holster for my Arenberg

LITESPEED BIKES WINS PETA'S ANNUAL LITTERBOX AWARD FOR AD DISRESPECTING WILDLIFE: "Chattanooga, Tenn. Local bicyclemaker Litespeed hasn't won any customers among animal protectionists with its ad showing a dead opossum who has been run over by a bike. The ad went over like a flat tire with sympathetic cyclists like Richard Marks, who was so outraged that he set up an online poll to demonstrate that most bike enthusiasts weren't impressed. For attempting to increase its sales with commercials that truly stink for animals, Litespeed has won PETA's annual 'Litterbox Award.'"

VO2 Max

As many of you know, I have been chasing this heartrate thing for some time. Today I met with a cardiologist, Dr. Friedrich, who looked everything over and said, no problem with the high heart rate. But he also said that a VO2 Max test would determine optimal heart rate training ranges specific to my physiology.

So what exactly is VO2 Max:
VO2 Max: "Fitness can be measured by the volume of oxygen you can consume while exercising at your maximum capacity. VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen in milliliters, one can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight. Those who are more fit have higher VO2 max values and can exercise more intensely than those who are not as well conditioned. Numerous studies show that you can increase your VO2 max by working out at an intensity that raises your heart rate to between 65 and 85 per cent of its maximum for at least 20 minutes three to five times a week. A mean value of VO2 max for male athletes is about 3.5 litres/minute and for female athletes it is about 2.7 litres/minute."

This is a pretty good page regarding VO2 Max and how to use it. Now scroll down and see that our boy LA has a VO2 Max of 80+.

To be announced.....

All right freaks, the 2005 TdF route will be announced tomorrow. This could be the route that LA takes his seventh. This, I believe, would become an “unbreakable” record.

Where do you think the tour will go? Mountain top finishes? Ventoux? Le Alpe d’Huez? How about some pave? Either way, I look forward to the discussion and analysis of the route.

I also think I heard the OLN will do a route discussion on Sunday evening.

10/30 Saturday Ride

Thinking a 7 am start. Wide open from there. Thoughts/suggestions?

Goal Event for 2005

So in planning a goal event for next season, I am curious about Team Banshee's plans for next year. There are so many events to focus on. Having a goal event is what keeps me motivated to ride through the winter..that and the thought of Fabio trying to pull away on Deer Creek!

I want to see some comments on this one.. as such, if you read this, I want to see a comment.

Events
Cherry Creek TT
Elephant Rock
Triple By-Pass
the Bob Cook
LAF ride in Aspen
Park to Park
Ride for the Roses
What about trying a criterium?

Radio Armstrong

Damn, this will cost me more money!!!

Radio Armstrong: "The six-time Tour de France champion has penned a deal to host a weekly yet-to-be-titled radio show on satellite radio provider SIRIUS set to debut later this year. Armstrong will be one of handful of top athletes hosting their own program which will include a mix of music, interviews and call-ins from listeners. "

Thule

You car rack will now come from Sweeden.

Bloomberg.com: U.K.: "Candover Investments Plc, a U.K. buyout firm, agreed to buy Thule AB, a Swedish maker of car racks, trailers and snow chains, for 465 million euros ($595 million).
Candover is buying Thule from EQT Partners AB, a Stockholm- based buyout firm backed by the billionaire Wallenberg family. Thule, which has been owned by EQT since 1999, had sales of 2.2 billion kronor ($310 million) in 2003.
``Thule holds global market-leading positions and has considerable opportunities for expansion,'' John Arney, a director at Candover, said in a statement.
Buyout firms typically fund two-thirds of each takeover with loans and then seek to expand their companies before selling them within five years. UBS AG and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc are arranging loans for the Thule takeover."

New crank concept

We saw and tested these new cranks at Veloswap. These are the "rotor" system setup that claims to eliminate the deadspot in the top and bottom of the pedal stroke. This accomplished by having the cranks "roll forward". Notice in the photo that the bottom crank is straight while the top of the crank is canted forward. Seems like it will work. At a grand a copy, it won't work for me......yet.

Also, that is the top of Aaron's head in the photo!

This is fun

Toured Veloswap and enjoyed finding the following website being promoted.

Believe Tyler

This is blind faith if there ever is such a thing. In the face of facts, these guys take Tyler at his word. I think we all really hope they are right and look forward to hearing his defense.

G

Monarch Record Tied

57 Minutes
Fast or Fat

- G

Soccer Sucks

With a nod to our cycling brothers in Euro where they actually like this game, I hate soccer. It is a cancer on sports.

Take, for instance, the Saturday morning training rides. These are all governed by the time in which we must be back for (insert child’s name here)’s game. Ask Koehler how much he likes waking before it is light outside just to get a ride in. Worse yet, soccer neccessates a link on my browser favorites for the sunrise tables in Denver all because of soccer. How many more hours of rest could I get if I didn't have to ride so early?

Soccer is a game in which the crappy players can hide on the field without embarrassment. Cycling isn’t so kind. I guarantee you that if you show up for a ride, those wheel reflectors will stand out. Further, you get dropped. The flip side is that in cycling if you are embarrassed, you can make a comeback, ala Thomas Voekler, and be considered a hero. Not so in soccer. You just stand around on grass.

Soccer has no gear. No titanium cleats, no heart rate monitors, no rear cluster or cool new hubs. What do you suppose soccer players talk about between games? “Man, I have really got to get a new front left spike for my shoe?”

And what about America’s past time? While an argument can be made for how boring baseball has become, I can relate to it's storied history and tradition which is similar to cycling. But soccer has managed to deplete the talent pool for baseball players in America. Legions of children are playing soccer over baseball because they are just plain lazy.

The net of it all is soccer sucks. Redlight will try, but there is no explanation that supports any redeeming value to standing in a field hoping the ball goes the other way.

With that said, the sun is just coming up so I am off to ride Monarch. I hope I can get back in time for our game today.......

G

Phantom Creek....er Creak

As some of you may know, the Wire Donkey started making a horrendous noise while we were in Austin. I was thrilled, NOT. I thought it was the bottom bracket and was annoyed as I had just had her tuned at Bicycle Pedal’r. I was convinced that the tune-up had caused the problem.

In talking with Ed, I brought the bike back to have it looked over. Ed patiently spent an hour and a half tearing apart the cranks and looking at various parts within the bottom bracket. I watched everything myself and nothing seemed amiss. We then worked over all other parts with only the cleats on my shoes somewhat loose.

With everything tightened down, I took her out and pounded on the roads for a minute or two. The creak had run in fear.

Thankfully, I think the problem was in the cleats and not the bottom bracket.

After working on this with Ed, I recommend that if you take your sled to Pedal’r you get Ed to work on it. The guy is thorough and experienced.

G

Numbers

Here is what our boy from Texas claims are his numbers. As they say, a century a day keeps the doctor away.


Key Stats
Lance at a Glance.

Resting heart rate: 32-34
VO2ml/kg: 83.8
Max power at VO2: 600 watts
Max heart rate: 201
Lactate Threshold HR: 178
Time Trial HR: 188-192
Pedal rpm's during TT: 95-100
Climbing rpm's: 80-85
(sometimes faster when attacking)
Average HR during endurance
rides (4-6 hrs): 124-128
Average watts during
endurance rides: 245-280 watts
Training miles/hours,
endurance rides: 5-6 hrs / 100-130miles

Yankees of Cycling

Holy Joke. Danielson to Discovery!!

Cycling, bicycle, Eurosport, live, tour de france, giro, vuelta, UCI, armstrong, virenque, Athenes 2004: "Also signed to 2005 Team Discovery Channel contracts: Yaroslav Popovych (UKR), Paolo Savoldelli (ITA), Leif Hoste (BEL) and new American recruit Tom Danielson, 26, making the switch from Fassa Bortolo."

Define "Comfort"

The following is a little treatise in the most recent Bicycling Magazine that you might have missed. The beauty is in defining comfort.


Forgive me, but putting "comfort" and "bike'; in the same sentence, I just can't make it add up.
If I want comfort, I drive my Ford F-150 to Cracker Barrel, park as close to the door as I can, and comfort myself with a chicken-fried steak dinner with all three sides, sweet tea, and brownies and ice cream for dessert.
But if I want a bike, I'm thinking about this: Cyclists love to suffer. We love agony, misery, sweating and drooling and pushing ourselves past our limits and into the even more painful recesses of the unknown.
You don't believe me, think of the cyclists we' idolize. Take French champion Thomas Voeckler. When the climbing brutes of the Tour de
, France dropped him last July; he would cock his head to the side, grind through unfathomable reservoirs of pain and, by god, fight his way back to keep the yellow jersey. We didn't watch him and think, if that boy only had a tush-sensitive seatpost or more neck-friendly geometry, he wouldn't be in so much pain. No way. We wanted to go out and ride ourselves into a hurt just like his.
Because in our real lives, we get dropped all the time-something goes wrong at work; something breaks at home; we get sick-and precisely because our sport requires us to suffer, we can say, "Okay, I've been dropped, but I'm not going to stay dropped. I'll go through hell to catch back on, to reaffirm to the world around me that I'm still riding strong here, I ain't never gonna quit."
I don't know about you, but that's the kind of comfort I'm looking for in a bike. -Mike Magnuson

Can you believe he beat Redlight??

Good write up on the Bob Cook by Tom Danielson, the current record holder. Love the quote:
Tom Danielson: "But if there is a road going up a mountain (that maybe shouldn't be there a.k.a Mt. Washington!), then why not have a race up it?"

Redlight never had a prayer. Maybe Koehler should have lead him out like Wilk did for Danielson.

G

Business Oppurtunity

Could be an oppurtunity. I can see a magnesium Huffy!

KUNC: Bicycle Maker Huffy Files for Chapter 11 (2004-10-20)

Hamilton Post

Tyler's got a new letter up on his site. Not much new information but he writes as if he will be dropping a bombshell on the case.
I have been wondering what you do with your time while waiting on the outcome. From his site he states:

Tyler Hamilton: "Since that time, I have made three trips to Switzerland to meet with my team, a trip to Madrid to congratulate my teammates on a podium finish and five stage victories at the Vuelta Espana, a trip to France to conclude filming of the IMAX project �Brain Power�, and have traveled to the Interbike Trade Show in Las Vegas. "

I am hopeful that he does have something new for us soon. I want him to be cleared. Right now, the facts are against him.

G

Carmichael a Banshee???

Do you think Carmichael is a Banshee?

Philosophical Question

Why does a man ride 100 miles in 100 degree heat with a constant headwind? So he can wash down a TC bean & cheese with a Shiner Bock, of course.

Livestrong Bike

Me touching LA's bike he used on the Champs in the 2004 TdF: the Livestrong model. This is truly hallowed ground.

beans, chips, gauc, cheese

Dirt and Carmichael. According to Chris's new book, Chuy's and Taco Cabana are purveyors of perfect cycling food....beans, chips, gauc, cheese and especially sour cream.

Stalking Sheryl Crow

Aaaah yes, I was stalker distance from Sheryl Crow. Just 8 mere seats seperated us. Crappy picture but trust me (I have witnesses) this is Sheryl's head.
Photos by Dirt

The Goove, Bike Stoke & Texas

What a trip. We just spent 16 hours driving through the prairie and all I can think about is getting back on the Wire Donkey. As Flat Girl can attest, I have a very serious case of “bike stoke” going on.

Next year we must all plan on going as is it a “not to be missed” adventure. The key ingredient was the group of kick ass cyclists that we are and the awesome groove we all got by working full time on our passion. All bike, all the time.

Lessons learned: Many that will be posted over time. Off the top of my head:

1.You can touch wheels and not crash
2.Altitude training on Monarch is an awesome way to destroy all the Texas fatties
3.Singing at the top of your lungs while riding is possible….at lower altitude
4.Texas just smells bad
5.Flat Girl is tougher than you
6.We rule

A big “hats-off” to Hammerson (Ride Trek’s new nick name) for organizing and inspiring the ride.

…….now, where is the Wire Donkey.

The Ride Baby!

The century was one of the flat out funnest that I have ever done. The hot, humid and very windy weather made it difficult. The groove of the riders was truly exceptional. Everyone it seemed was having a very good time. Our boy Richard through down some huge pulls in the very hot and windy flats that were the strongest of his career. The hill at about 90 miles was a crusher that destroyed the field. Richard and I hammered up this hill while dudes were dropping and walking.

Ride of the day honors go to Flat Girl for a huge rally. At about 50 miles, it was time for Carol (Flat Girl) to hop into a sag wagon. Instead, Flat Girl nutted up and hammer out the last 50. Truly impressive.

Richard and I put in a 18.4 mph average time in the rough conditions which I was pleased with. Lots of long pulls with slackers sucking wheel. We got a little arrogant and Richard fired up the "Bike"pod that allowed us to listen to music for the whole ride. The high point had to be Richard, Barry and I in a paceline, singing to the bikePod while passing people left and right. We rule.

We closed the day with a Chuy's run. Now it it is time to sleep.

Greg

Austin Ride

Rode a little warm up this morning. Beautiful way to see a town. We managed to stop at one stop light because of the cops. To this cops remarked that they had never seen a cyclist stop at a red before! God I love to ride.

We worked some of the beer and Chueys out of our system. Can't wait to ride tomorrow. Now we are off to the expo and have the presentation by Lance tonight. While Austin seems more like a running than a biking town, it is awsome to ride this hallowed ground.

Are we not stalkers????

Word has it that the RFTR delagation has the approximate address of our boy LA. Kind of like the hollywood star map!

Off we go!

Bike Lust

Maybe carbon is soon to go the way of Titanium. We deserve, no need to get one of these new Magnesium rides from our boys at Pinarello. With the oversized bottom bracket, a la Cannondale, and this new badass material, I think we could all take one more nano second off our TT times!

"The Pinarello FP is sculpted out of Magnesium AK61 alloy to offer maximum comfort and absolute stability. Using its cutting-edge oversized (M.O.st) bottom bracket shell, the Dogma FP features oversized tubing in the key areas - chainstays, seat tube and down tube which allow you to crank out pedal force like no other bike! "

http://www.cbike.com/pinarellodogmafp.htm

Did Tyler Cheat?

So the big question is.."Did Tyler cheat?" The facts are clearly stated in today's Velonews post.

"Hamilton is facing up to a two-year ban after a backup test taken at the Vuelta a España confirmed an initial positive test that showed evidence of banned blood transfusions. Hamilton was allowed to keep his Olympic time trial gold medal despite failing an 'A' sample after testers inadvertently placed second 'B' blood samples in a deep freeze, rendering red blood cells unusable for follow-up tests.

Hamilton has vehemently denied he injected someone else's blood into his system and has promised to challenge the validity of the testing method to prove his innocence."

Unless there is foul play or a faulty test, as much as I don't want to, I have to rely on the facts as we know them. His reputation says that he didn't do it, I don't want to believe it and I hope he can clear his name. But for now, I think he did it.

Thoughts?

Whoa...Look at them Vectors!

You wanna bet there is some bitterness at Trek about the wheelset on the Tour of Hope sled?

CyclingHour radio show

Unknown to most, there is a radio show here in Denver on Saturday mornings at 8. Too bad that we are usually in the saddle when this is on! Its is hosted by the owners of Wheatridge Cyclery.

1650am at 8 on Saturdays.

CyclingHour.com

Tyler Hamilton Signs With Compex

This thing reminds me of the machines for your abs!

2004 Olympic Cycling Champion Tyler Hamilton Signs With Compex

Redlight Ignites!

Now we know why Redlight didn't show this morning. He was on his own death ride!

New Pedals on the Saturday Ride

48.5 Miles/2:45/17.4 mph Richard/Randy/Redlight and me. The rest of you all got fat.

Great Service - Bicycle Pedal'r

Just had a great experience with Ed and Steve at Bicycle Pedalr on Wildcat. I was having trouble putting new pedals on the Wire Donkey. I called at 7:05 pm but they close at 7. They kept the doors open and took care of swapping the pedals on the Wire Donkey. Pretty cool that they would stay open for a $5 pay day. Thought you all should know about this little piece of customer service.

Ed is the tall skinny guy that owns the place. Steve is the wrench with the wild tats.

Bicycle Pedal'r of Colorado

Feeling no pain.....what a dumbass!

A good day for American cyclists

Lets hope Horner can kick some ass and do us proud!

www.usacycling.org -- Horner signs with Saunier Duval

Denver Veloswap

The Denver Veloswap is coming to the National Western Stock Show events center on October 23rd. It will be your chance to ask Tyler to his face if he doped his blood. Could be really cool. Check out their site at www.veloswap.com.

Richard and I are pulling Mr. Mom duty that weekend so we will be taking the kids.

10/10/2004 - Sunday Ride

Thinking Monarch Loop at 2.

10/09/2004 - Saturday Ride

Looking to do a 50+ mile ride Saturday Morning. Meet at 7:00 am at the Indigo Hill sign. Gonna be flat, easy pace (17± mph) base milage ride. Ideas...takers?