Category Archives: cycling

Ironman – Coeur d’ Alene or Nice, France?

Posted by —

0

I arrived the night before Ironman France – Nice to surprise Dave Adlard. I’d join his support team.

Much to my surprise, Dave’s not registered!

Turned out he’d registered in another Ironman, … for SOME reason …

Dave Adlard is a tad worried about the start of his first Ironman.

… If he survives the 2.4 mile open water swim, the 112 Mile Bike and 26.2 Mile Run should be a breeze.

GOOD LUCK DAVE.

There are only 2,399 opponents to best. (approximately) How hard could that be?

Stay close to two-time world champion Craig Alexander, Dave, and things will turn out well.

official website

Adventure Will Change Your Life

Posted by —

0

Here’s another shout out for Alastair Humphreys’ Adventure blog:

The world sounded a scary place until I stepped out into it. Sure, it sounded exciting. Exotic places like Pakistan or Guatemala or Syria: I knew they had fascinating cultures and people that I’d love to get to know. I’d seen beautiful photography of extraordinary places and read exotic stories of crazy, bold adventures.

But I always assumed that countries like that were for real travelers; dusty, crazy guys with more nerve and experience than I would ever have. The world’s wild places were for me to enjoy from the comfort of my own home, nothing more. I enjoyed vacations. But adventures? I didn’t think they were for me.

But all that changed.

I set out one summer morning to seek adventure. I don’t know how I summoned up the nerve to begin, but begin I did. I climbed onto my bicycle, pedaled away from my front door, and didn’t stop riding for four years until I arrived back home. I cycled right the way round the world. I wasn’t rich (the whole trip cost approximately $10,000), I wasn’t brave. I wasn’t very fit. I just did it. I pedaled away from all that I was familiar with in England. …

read more and be inspired – Adventure Will Change Your Life

Alastair

biking movie – Life Cycles

Posted by —

0

For months I’ve been looking forward to the Banff Mountain Festival World Tour.

Of the 7 excellent films we saw last night, one stood out for originality and attention to detail.

Life Cycles tells a spectacular story of the bike, from its creation to its eventual demise. A visually stunning journey, with thought provoking narration, Life Cycles uses Ultra HD to document the many stories surrounding the mountain bike and its culture. …

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

Life and death are much on my mind right now.

winter cycling Saskatoon

Posted by —

1

Today I rode in to the University with Warren Long, a surprisingly challenging 30min trip.

In fact, one of my sudden stops resulted in Warren crashing into me. (I came out the better on the collision.)

I had his winter bike with a studded front tire. He rode his summer bike with regular tires. The studs really help on mixed snow and black ice.

cycling Chianti, Italy

Posted by —

0

Somewhat disappointed with my attempted hike in Tuscany, I rented a hybrid next day.

Shout out for the best bike shop in Sienna, Biciclette Bianchi. Great bikes. Great service. Only 10EU full day, 5EU half day.

cycling Chianti, Italy

They recommended a tour on (relatively) quiet byways, mostly paved, through Chianti from Sienna to Gaiole.

cycling Chianti, Italy

cycling Chianti, Italy

Firewood drying:

cycling Chianti, Italy

It was like cycling through a postcard shop …

cycling Chianti, Italy

This is an ideal way to see this region. All day I was envisioning a multi-day wine tour by bike.

hmmm

cycling Naples, Italy

Posted by —

0

HOTS loaned me a mountain bike. And gave me recommendations on where to go.

My favourite man made structure here is the Galleria Umberto.

Naples : Galleria Umberto I - 5/5

Happily it was a lazy Sunday. And there was an important futball game on TV. The roads were, for once, not busy.

I set out along the Bay, Vesuvius in the distance.

Naples, Italy

The highlight was vistas out over the sea from Virgiliano Park.

Magari fosse mio...

That’s Nisida island.

Tramonto

Most of those are not my pics which, sadly, did not turn out all that great.

But you can see more interesting photos tagged Naples on Flickr.

cycling Crested Butte, Colorado

Posted by —

0

I could live in Crested Butte, my favourite American Rockies town, a mecca for skiing and mountain biking.

The hostel is the best in Colorado, … so says Lonely Planet. It is awesome.

Between afternoon thunder showers I did a warm-up ride on the Snodgrass. Gageesh! It was tough. I was sucking wind at high altitude. Power sliding turns through mud and horse poop at the bottom of hills.

How was the much more famous 401 going to go, next day …

Trail 401 Crested Butte, Colorado

The 401 Trail is often listed as one of best singletrack mountain bike rides in the world, especially in the Spring wildflower season.

And I’m pleased to report that my 52yr-old self and my $500 bike both survived. I rode about 85% of the time both up and down the 401.

Levi Leipheimer wins Leadville 100mi

Posted by —

2

I made a 30mi detour yesterday to check out the infamous Leadville, Colorado. It’s a grim looking mountain mining town.

It was festive yesterday, however. …

Just shy of three weeks after a disappointing performance in the Tour de France, Levi Leipheimer made a triumphant debut in the Leadville Trail 100 on Saturday, pedaling to a new record, 12 minutes faster than the previous record teammate Lance Armstrong set last year.

Leipheimer (Mellow Johnny’s), who finished 13th overall in late July in the Tour de France, overcome several crashes to claim the high-altitude mountain bike ordeal in 6 hours, 16 minutes and 37 seconds. …

“That was ridiculous,” Leipheimer told CyclingNews.com after the race. “I don’t know if I’ve ever suffered that much before. …

Levi Leipheimer pedals to dominating win in Leadville Trail 100 debut

I really can’t comprehend how road cyclists can switch so easily to mountain bikes. … Pain tolerance is pain tolerance, I guess.

Rebecca Rusch (Specialized Factory Racing) not only topped her first-time from last year by coming in at 7:47:35, she smashed the course record by nearly a half hour.