Here are a couple of well thought out responses to a recent News & Observer article about alternate commuting, etc. I wish more motorists would read and know the passage the first letter quoted:

“Bicyclists usually ride on the right side of the lane, but are entitled to the use of a full lane. A bicyclist staying to the right in their lane is accommodating the following drivers by making it easier to see when it is safe to pass, and easier to execute the pass. Drivers wishing to pass a bicyclist may do so only when there is abundant clearance and no oncoming traffic is in the opposing lane. When passing a bicyclist, always remember the bicyclist is entitled to the use of the full lane.”

The second letter talks about riders two and three across. The argument here is that a compressed group of say twenty riders in two rows (2×10) is easier and safer to pass than these 20 strung out single file. The groups I ride in, we try to tuck in as close as possible to each other when drivers are passing, etc.

This back and forth between cyclists and motorists is never going to end. There are broad generalizations on both sides (hell, see my first paragraph), but a little courtesy and patience from both groups that are on the same roads would go a long way.

Bikes on Our Byways

This is a shame. The pro peloton development team, Toyota-United is going the way of other American cycling squads like Discovery and 7-Eleven before them. With no lead sponsor, their continuation into next season is highly unlikely. Toyota-United’s current team members are free to seek contracts from other teams.

Pro cycling in the United States seems to be struggling as much as pro soccer here in the U.S.

Toyota-United Releases Riders

Man, this is a classic cycling picture from almost 80 years ago. Imagine cornering with this kind of lean. I saw this over at Bike Hugger, who in turn saw it on Flickr. That guy saw it on a cycling forum.

This cool picture is definitely making its way round the cycling interwebs cause it’s so impressive to all us cycle geeks.

Get Low, Bicycle Racing circa 1930

So it’s been a fairly long day. Amanda and I have been up since the 4am hour. Amanda and Tania volunteered at the registration/start area this year, instead of their usually manning of a rest stop. They had to be there at 6am. My 62+ mile ride wasn’t scheduled to start until 7:30. I waited around till roughly 6:45, but it was chilly and I didn’t want to keep Amanda and Tania waiting at the finish too long, so I took off on my own, decked out in my ‘08 Trikes team kit.

It took several miles until I warmed up, but I really enjoyed putting in the 100km solo. It was a testament to my continued fitness improvements. A year ago, I couldn’t have done 62 miles on my own, and definitely not in the time and speed I did.

The cue sheet was spot on, and the roads were well marked and the miles just flew by. Luckily, it was cooler today and I was able to make it through the ride without the need for the rest stops. There were three rest stops over the 62 mile course, but with leaving out early, the rest stops were not up and running when I flew by any of them.

As I said before, my fitness has really jumped up in the last year. It was very obvious on the climbs. Some of the ascents that I had before been doing at 10-12 miles per hour, I did this morning at 18-22 miles per hour. While the heat was part of it, I didn’t cramp up at all and had very little pain and discomfort. It was great basically time trialing solo the 100K and was a great confidence booster on my continued success and improvement in the cycling saddle.

Bikefest 2008 - Hillsborough, NC

Tonight was my third trip out to Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, North Carolina for their Tuesday night criterium series. The first two resulted in fourth place finishes with a starting field of less than 10.

Tonight was a little different – with a bigger field and in the end, a slightly better result. At the start line, we had 18 racers, double the field of the previous race two weeks back. The sky looked about ominous and we heard some distant thunder early on in warmups, but it held off for all three races this evening.

(more…)

Often cycling on the road, we as cyclists aren’t given the respect by drivers – honking, not passing with a safe clearance (side mirrors people… Side mirrors!) and simple impatience. It often leaves a bad taste in our mouths and a good share of anger and fear.

But today pedaling home, I had a refreshing incident. At a red light, after a pretty big climb, a woman in an SUV rolled down the window and asked if I was OK in the intense heat (it was probably 98 degrees at the time). I said I was and she told me to be careful and that it was great to be seeing more and more bikes on the road meaning less car traffic and more calorie burning for the cyclists.

It was a little thing, but a nice gesture and a nice way to affect my commute positively for once. I hope for more of those incidents and more people like her out there sharing the road with us.

There’s been talk of the new Shimano Electronic-based Dura-Ace, but you know it’s a big deal when it’s being talked about on sites other than bike-related like Gizmodo (first link).

It’s got some mainstream appeal based on the fact that the standard shift-by-wire is moving up to.. well shift by wire. But the new system, is more efficient with its electronic shifting in that the “electrically actuated shifting eliminates cable friction and contamination. The shifters are now merely switches, which also allows for creative placement of optional remote shifters while reducing the weight and profile of the main shifting units.”

Sounds cool, but speaking as a former early adopter of gadgets, you’re better off letting it get a few generations in. The technology will get better and cheaper. I’d let those with deep pockets and pro pelotons work out the kinks.

Shimano’s All-Electric Gear System is Like F1 Paddle Shifters For Your Bike

Shimano’s Electronic Dura-Ace

So I haven’t been very strict as of late watching what I eat, but after lady night’s training ride, I was the lightest I’ve been since college.

While obviously watching what you eat helps, for me – sheer volume of exercise and calorie burning has been my solution.

The past two years, I’ve been spending more and more time in the bike saddle and I don’t see that changing any time soon. I’ve been regularly riding three times a week halfway to work with a total round trip of about 15 miles. That’s netting me 50 minutes of elevating my heart rate, over 1000 calories burned, plus the hilly route is helping me train a bit for my crits and road races.

All of this is in addition to the benefits of less gas burned in the 4Runner, more time outside and some great stress relief.

All in all, I’m finding bike commuting is benefiting me in health, training and a bit in the wallet. I highly recommend anyone that can integrate bike commuting, even once in awhile to do it.

Interesting read on what a Pro team eats. It makes sense that reduction of grains and red meat would be a good thing. We need to be eating more rice in our diets as well.

Garmin Chipolte: Our Special “Anti-Inflammatory” Diet

Just catching up on the final day of the 2008 Tour de France on Versus/TiVo tonight. I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve only had the chance to watch parts of like 6 of the stages this year between our travels, work home and my own cycling.

Congrats to CSC and Carlos Sastre for taking the tour. It’s cool to see all the CSC riders today with the yellow bar tape on their final stage bringing them from Étamps to Paris.

Sastre Wraps Up First Tour Victory as Steegmans wins the finale