Bicycling

Equipment check and options

June 14, 2008

When pilots go to fly a plane there is a pre-flight check before each and every flight. This is a wise practice for many things including driving and bicycling. As a case in point the story of my evening will illustrate. About 45-minutes ago I left the house for a bike ride. Planning to ride for an hour or so. The story actually starts a couple of weeks back when I picked up a new pair of bike shoes at a REI garage sale. The shoes were just a bit larger than those I had before and were much more comfortable.

This week I got around to putting the cleats on them and tonight I took them for a ride. Everything went well, for a while anyway. With the garage door closing behind me I pulled down the driveway, turned on the bike computer and heard the reassuring click, click as my left-foot and then right-foot clicked into the pedals. Things went quite well for a longish while. Riding around the neighborhood and down some of the local streets and through the park all was well. Fortunately I decided that before hitting the state highway I should make sure the new shoes released from the pedals properly. A flick of the ankle and nothing... more wiggling tugging pulling and nothing. The realization that the cleats weren't tightened down enough floods the mind at this moment.

The second third of life

April 5, 2008

Cannondale F5Singing Phil Vassar's song Tim McGraw tells us:

I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

I'm measuring not in 30-year spans but in a third of life spans. Having just put up the score card on the first third it is time to turn to the second third. My family was very nice and procured some long-desired toys that will help focus my next third on staying in better shape. The Cannondale parking area now has another member. Sadly, it is also the first Cannondale that I have owned which does not bear the "Made in USA" label. The last Cannondales I purchased came with a manual declaring their proud factory and a video telling the company's tale. Granted the video was a VHS tape which I would have to hunt for a way to play now days but it remains a sad marker on the changing of the times and I contributed to it. Cannondale and Trek among others do still make bikes in the USA but they are the higher end bikes.

Picks for the 2008 Tour de France

July 29, 2007

With a fantastic finish to the 2007 Tour de France behind us all eyes turn to what is next. My pick for the top team in the 2008 Tour de France is the Google pro cycling team. With the outstanding Discovery Channel Team looking for a new sponsor it would be an outstanding time for either Google or Apple to jump into the fray. The challenges facing Apple, though, would include riders typing on their iPhones instead of listening to the team car and figuring out how to reinvent the bicycle in a more aesthetic way that still complies with the rules of the sport. Google on the other hand would make a great sponsor.

Poor OLN journalism

July 10, 2006

Viewers of the Tour de France have been seeing the ads that later this year the Outdoor Life Network will change it's name to VERSUS. Seems like a silly change but it also seems their goal is to be yet another ESPN knock-off.

Tonight, however, they mentioned "tune in tomorrow for a big announcement from Floyd Landis' team". Wondering what the big news will be tomorrow? Head over to Google or any newspaper and you'll soon learn that Landis will have hip replacement after the Tour.

Always wear a helmet

October 5, 2003

We had lunch yesterday with Ro and Anne. One topic of discussion was wearing helmets while bicycling. As we were leaving, headed to Rocky Mountain National Park to watch Elk, we encountered an accident that drove the message home so clearly. A young person had been riding down the shoulder of US 36 headed northbound. Apparently something caused the person to go off the side of the road on a downhill section and be thrown over the handlebars. The rider ended up in the center of the highway with severe trauma including an apparent closed head wound. A helmet would likely not have prevented all injury, but it may have helped prevent the most damaging of brain injuries. From witness accounts there was nobody else involved in the accident. A quick look at the bicycle and equipment being used indicates this was not a novice cyclist. Our thoughts are with the family of the young person.

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