I sweat. No, I do. That’s why the head bands dangle from my drying rack (aka handlebars). But when Sean rides, it rains
Yehuda Moon
If you aren’t following the adventures of these bicycle shop workers, you should be. Yehuda Moon. Or you can see it every day from the Classified’s page. (Oh, Dave’s sold that rack)
Don’t miss Matt Weyen’s latest blog. You’ll find a link over to the right or just click here to read his take on If you’re going to play in Texas, . . . .
This one is dedicated to Bill McPherson. You may know Bill as that leathery old guy that beats us all up White Bird regularly. I know him as the guy who mows Helen’s lawn. Kind of puts it all in perspective doesn’t it?
Bill’s fast. Says he’s got other things to do with his day so he likes to ride shorter miles but hard. When I’m on the bike, he says, I’m going fast. Still he tells me he has 900 miles in May. Not too shabby. So I post this article on how to climb faster for Bill.
Vaughters begins by asking Why? and finishes with a list of tips on how which boil down to hurt. I still don’t get the urge to race uphill.–Corrie
Expert Advice From Jonathan Vaughters
30 Days to L’Étape. Today’s training: practice spinning up hills while pedaling at high cadences.
Guest blogging today on The Climb is an expert on the subject, the former rider Jonathan Vaughters, who counts among his accomplishments a record-setting ride up the side of the fearsome Mont Ventoux. Vaughters rode in the Tour de France for Lance Armstrong’s United States Postal Service team and for the French squad Crédit Agricole. He is now the sporting director of a new American team he founded, Slipstream/Chipotle, which will compete in this year’s Tour after a rousing, burrito-fueled send-off from midtown Manhattan this morning.
Last year, Juliet Macur wrote about Slipstream’s anti-doping mission. Vaughters, who was recently profiled on French television, also blogs regularly on Slipstream’s Web site.
Over to you, Jonathan…
On Clarkston’s Green Belt Trail the squirrels are suicidal. Chickens have nothing on our squirrels. Should a squirrel see a bicycle cruising along at the mandatory speed limit of 15, he immediately develops an irresitable urge to investigate the tree on the otherside of the path. Some squirrels, however, see it as a game–how close to this guy’s wheel can I get? I’ve hit squirrels with one wheel, ger-thunk, but a while back one squirrel won the game–that’s right, both wheels. Ger-thunk! Ger-thunk!
I didn’t even look back. I confess belatedly to this hit and run with only a little sadness. I’d feel the same for you if you tried to interfere with my bike ride.
The Bike Nazi: Squirrels
(Just some random thoughts about squirrels.)
Do you have squirrels in your community?
We’ve got ‘em in droves here in Boise.
Squirrels. The Hells Angels of the animal kingdom. Their motto: “Live fast, die young, and leave a furry patch on the roadway.”
In an urban environment, squirrels don’t have many predators. So I s’pose we should be grateful for automobiles - without traffic, mashing our furry friends into the pavement, our community might be overrun with ‘em. I saw one get missed by mere inches, just this morning on my way to the office. 9 or 10 months of the year, their carcasses litter the roadways.
The thing I like about my bike is not its speed. Rather, I love the silence. Don’t think I’m picking up one of these jet powered versions anytime soon.–Corrie
The 75 MPH Bicycle That’s Powered by a Jet Engine
Robert Maddox is a builder and seller of real pulse jet engines with powers up to 1000 pounds… and if that’s not a cool enough hobby, he’s also bolted one to a bicycle. The 50-ish pounds of thrust developed by the engine could push the bike up to 75 MPH, which would be a real bone-shaker of a ride. And a deafening one too: the pulse jet engine makes a frightening racket, and its humming sound earned the 2nd World War cruise-missile V1s which used similar engines the nicknames buzzbomb and doodlebug. You can hear and see the results of this DIY craziness in the video.
Well, yes, the Ride of Silence is coming up, but that’s not what I mean. I don’t like engines. i know some of you are motorcylists but I’ve no interest in noisy smelly machines. Yeah, Lance, I know you put your mufler back on. Its still noisy.
The whoosh-whoosh of tires on pavement frees my spirit, lifts me, and any tick, creek, or rattle spoils the ride. Guess where I fit below? I identify with this post ’cause I’ve discovered the source of offensive noises to be nothing more than a loose strap.
There are three broad categories of bike noise tolerance among cyclists:
- Absolute Silence: Some riders want no noise coming from their bike whatsoever. They regard any click, creak, buzz, or rattle as an affront to them, and a condemnation of their machine. All noises must be corrected immediately, even if it means halting the ride. People like this are almost all roadies. Or, in extreme cases, they may be triathletes, in which case they may need to be treated pharmaceutically.
AFter watching all those skinny guys climb that hill behind Jack O’Conner Center, I thought this might help the rest of us get our self-image back in line.–Corrie
This is Bob…of Bob’s Bar and Grill. I just read his blog and he totally hit it on the head of what the true definition of a “real mountain biker”
Okay I did put this in the equipment category also in the humor category. Hard to believe anyone will take this seriously. I actually liked that angular momentum Trikke but this is just silly–Corrie
If the walking bike wasn’t your speed, check out the Jump Bike a custom job that’s a different kind of hybrid bicycle. Instead of pedals, you power the bike by saddling up and walking (or running) along with it. When the desired speed is reached, the feet come up and you let ‘er roll.
Good comic strips are a treasure. I remember spreading the Sunday funnies out on the floor as a boy and poring over Dick Tracy and Li’l Abner. I loved the colors, the lines, and though I didn’t get Al Capp’s political message, I did get Daisy Mae.
I moved on from strips to the first comics in the Marvel silver age and collected comics with a passion until just a few years ago.
And now there’s a great bicycling comic strip. Hasn’t been out long. Its worth your time to click on First and read all the strips especially if you work in a bike shop and commute to work. I won’t mention any names. –Corrie
Read the comic strip Hint: or just go on over to the classified’s page under News. You can read it there in an iFrame. Never mind that one ad at the bottom. I’m sure it has long since been dropped. Gotta work out something for keeping track of ads. Maybe with a funny, people will actually visit that page. –Corrie
