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 […]

Sunday Ride

25 miles. Originally, I wanted to venture up a few Dirty Dozen hills, but after climbing Center in Aspinwall, my desire to suffer that much fizzled. I promptly changed plans, and headed out Dorseyville with a plan to ride out Saxonburg to the Red Belt and come home via Freeport Road. North of the turnpike, […]

Connecting the Dots

For the past several months, I have been part of a diverse group of people reading through Marilynne Robinson’s collection of essays entitled The Death of Adam. While the essays were written at various times (and for diffrent publications), there is a common thread that weaves them together, summoned up by this line from her […]

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 […]

Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang, originally uploaded by anklebiter_pgh. The current stable. The Steamroller has been updated with Albatross bars. The Vigorelli has quite an eclectic mix of parts: Steel frame Carbon fork Carbon cranks (!!!!) Downtube friction shifters Touring wheels Having ridden mostly “heavy” bikes for the past few years, I must admit the Vigorelli is […]

Independence Day Populaire

By 8:15 am, there were roughly 30 people gathered outside of Tazza d’Oro (which was CLOSED, meaning more than a few folks went without their morning hit of caffeine), waiting for the ride to start. I had, after driving the course the previous weekend, cut the mileage to just a smidge under 50, partially in […]