Saturday Ride

34 miles I actually rode with other people today, tagging along with some of the racer boys on an easy ride. The climb at the start of Middle Road is quite nice, and I’ve realized that I need to teach myself that it’s entirely possible (and okay) to downshift and climb slowly. There’s no need […]

Well, There You Have It (2)

Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen has been sacked by his team, Rabobank, and removed from the Tour. Apparently pressure from the board of directors led to his dismissal, which is not at all unexpected, given that the race director suggested the Dane was a cheat, and fans booed him on his way to a […]

Well, There You Have It

Alexandre Vinokourov has tested positive for blood doping. David Millar (who knows a little bit about doping himself), was being interviewed when the news broke and responded “If a guy of his stature and class is doing that in what’s cycling living right now, we can just all pack our bags and go home.” (This […]

Le Tour

We are nearly two weeks into the Tour de France. I suppose I didn’t write my usual pre-race post, but that’s a good thing, given that my pre-race favorites for the general classification and other jerseys are, for the most part, a complete bust (the lone shining star is Alberto Contador in the white jersey […]

Cycling News

I was remiss with mentioning the Spring Classics campaign this year, mostly because I’ve been too busy (read: lazy) to write much of anything. So here’s a brief recap: Tom Boonen was shut out from the big three (the Tour of Flanders, Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix). (The success of his season now rests on winning the […]

Cycling

From Matt Chester: Riding a bicycle, like playing a musical instrument or sailing a boat or driving a racing car, allows those who are otherwise unsure and awkward to exhibit moments of fluidity and grace in a way not readily possible with dance shoes, a basketball, or a pair of boxing gloves. From square one, […]

Fun in the Sun

I rode roughly the first quarter of the Iron City Populaire yesterday, taking advantage of the fine spring weather. Some folks had grumbled on the Bike Pittsburgh message board that Kittaning Pike, out of Sharpsburg, looked long and steep. Upon further review, they are correct. It is a very nice climb–generally in the neighborhood of […]

The New Commute (2)

I was not looking forward to the new commute yesterday (my first day on the new job). I had been given a laptop a week or so ago so I could begin to poke around the codebase, and now, I had to get said laptop (a large-ish Dell workstation-type model) back to the office, in […]

New Commute

Starting tomorrow, my morning and evening commute will consist of this. If you care.

The Commitment of Commuting

Eli has a thoughtful post on the commitments of bicycle commuting. His musings are a reaction to this essay by Grant Peterson (of Bridgestone and Rivendell fame) that outlines the commitments and compromises required of full time commuting. Eli is most troubled by this particular point: It is also hard to ride a bike to […]