It’s the New Style!!!

Hey, I did a redesign of the Idaho Falls Peloton and moved it on to a dedicated server so I am not limited by WordPress’ (free) hosting. Check out the new site here…

www.ifpeloton.com

…and make a note of the new address. Hope you like the new style.

Idaho Falls Century – heART of Idaho

This is all in it’s planning infancy but it seem that Idaho Falls is going to get its own century.  The tentative details are as follows:

• We will offer 25, 50, 62, 75, and 100 mile options.
• Pricing is $21 for the shorter rides, and $31 for the metric century and greater distances.
• Prices will include tee shirt, goodie bag, a window sticker, etc.
• There will be a ride organized around the greenbelt for kids.
• All options will be flat to rolling.
• Aid stations, sag, mechanical support on the course.
• There will be a post-ride barbeque.
• There will be a post-ride drawing (based on entry number) and a door prize giveaway.
• Attendance at the event will also include access to the Art Museum and the “Cycles of Sam” antique bicycle exhibit.  Idaho artists will produce bicycle-related art for the show, to exhibit and/or for sale.
• It will be on the 22nd of August.
• We will have the registration website and course description up on a website soon.
• On site registration and post-ride whoopla will occur in the park south of the Art Museum on the greenbelt.
  

The proceeds are going to the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho

I saw the map of the proposed route(s).  There is a 25 mile loop that runs south of town that stays fairly close of the Snake river most of the time  – which ties into a 50 mile loop that is on the northwest side of town that incoporate “the rollers” out by Osgood as well as the Shattuck Butte area – this ties to another 25 mile loop that rolls around Roberts and Lewisville before heading back to town.

More info and links to sites will come as soon as I have them.

Non-Cycling Quote of the Week

“It’s the new style!”  – Adam Yauch aka MCA of the Beastie Boys

How Not to Become an Awesome Racer

“He had this really long beard, and he smelled very bad,” said Vaughters, who was in his last season as a rider. “I remember thinking, O.K., this guy is completely different than the image of the typical European money-driven cyclist who buys Porsches in his spare time.”

Ever heard of Garmen-Slipstream’s Svein Tuft?  You will.  The following is a story from the NY Times.

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Photo by Matthew Staver for The New York Times

Those who have heard the tale of Svein Tuft have wondered, could it possibly be true?

How he dropped out of school in the 10th grade, lured by the freedom of the outdoors. How he evolved into a barrel-chested woodsman with Paul Bunyan biceps. How he ventured, at 18, from his home in Canada into the wilderness on a $40 thrift-shop bike hooked to a homemade trailer.

They have learned of the way he traveled sparingly, towing only his camping gear, a sack of potatoes and his 80-pound dog, Bear.The way he drank from streams and ate beside an open fire. Or hopped trains across Canada, resting as the land flickered by.

Now 31, Tuft is out to prove that all the raw travel and personal drive can translate into something beyond his survival. Recruited by one of the world’s top cycling teams, he is about to begin a more disciplined journey. It starts next weekend with the Tour of California, where he will race with the Garmin-Slipstream squad, and is likely to continue this summer at the Tour de France.

Read the rest here>

My First Road Bike

Excluding the K Mart 10-Speed that I got when I was around 12 years old (that was quickly stolen when I left it in the driveway) my first “real” road bike was a Bridgestone 600…

It was even the same color as the one in the image above.  With one exception – mine had those awesome foam Grab-On grips.

Picture this – a young gentleman with long hair and a jean jacket with all the latest death metal patches on it and a wad of money in his pocket that was aquired through a form of free enterprise that was frowned upon by the local law enforcement agency walking into the largest bike shop in Portland and proclaiming “I want a Bridgestone” – because my room mate had stated “Get a Bridgestone dude.  They’re awesome.”  The mechanic/salesman looked at me warily until I said I had around $500 to spend – this was the early eighties when $500 would buy quite a bike.  He showed me the Bridgestone 600 and I was a little upset that a bike of that price didn’t have those extra brake levers on them so I could stop without going into the drops.  He explained that they didn’t sell bikes with those because of liability.  “Whatever.  Can you put those foam grips on it for me?”  After changing over the grips and a quick test ride by the mechanic to “seat the spokes” I was on my way.  I don’t think that bike lasted much longer than the K Mart special because I was playing Ricky Road Racer around a blind corner and bounced of the hindquarters off a VW Bug and folded the fork, shortening the wheelbase by about 12″.  I’ve actually hit or been hit by automobiles three times in my life and all three times it was a VW Bug but I’ll save those stories for another entry.

The funny thing is that I ended up getting a job at the same bike shop a few years later and after I learned about “cycling”, Campagnolo, Columbus tubing, etc. I would just shake my head at myself and chuckle.  Those guys that sold me the 600 must have had a good laugh as soon as I was out the door.

Lance Who?

Being an American cyclist – and I use the second term lightly – I figure I am honor bound to cheer for the likes of Lance Armstrong, Greg Lemond, Andy Hampsten, et al.  But at one of the first bike shops I worked at in my early adulthood there was a strange character there that had a great influence on my cycling allegiances.  I don’t even remember the guy’s name, but the strangeness was based on the fact that this was a lowly bike mechanic that also happened to be a licensed physician.  On the days that it was too nasty to commute via two wheels his mode of transportation had a flat six boxer engine hanging out the back.  For those of you of lowly pedigree, I’m talking about a Porsche 911.  He said he stopped playing doctor – much to his wife’s chagrin – because he was tired of all the politics and he was perfectly happy to turn the various pedals and wrenches of cycledom.

ED_DDYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

Now even as a BMX racer that only liked road bikes because you could go pretty fast on them, I knew who Eddy Merckx was.  But every morning when the good doctor showed up he would burst out with a loud ED-DYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!  Then the morning was spent either being regaled with stories of epic rides or listening to him bitch about his wife bitching about him diagnosing SunTour Superbe Pro drive trains instead of some old duffer’s pancreatic cancer.

Cycling Quote of the Week

Pro Cycling is like sausage, I love it but I don’t want to know how it is made. – Anonymous

Cycling Quote of the Week

Cats just don’t feel safe on a moving bicycle, no matter how much duct tape you use – catzilla

Hey Fred!

From Wikipedia

“Fred” is a derisive term used by cyclists to describe other cyclists, usually male, that appear amateurish and oblivious to cycling culture.

The exact qualities that define one as a “Fred” vary widely among regions and cyclists, but recently, particularly in the US, a Fred is somebody with higher quality and more expensive gear than his or her talent would warrant. For example:

A person watches the highlights of a few Tour de France stages, goes to a bike store and buys a Trek carbon fiber Madone in Team Discovery colors, along with Team Discovery shorts and jersey, and then rides it on a cycling path at 15 mph (25 km/h).

Such a person would be a prototypical Fred, especially if the jersey is yellow, which is typically worn by the leader in a multi-stage race.

In the UK the earlier usage is more common—used by ‘serious’ roadies to refer to (often) bearded, sandal wearing, touring cyclists. The rare female Fred is a Doris.

This usage still survives in the US – David Bernstein, presenter of The FredCast says the term is “used by ‘serious’ roadies to disparage utility cyclists and touring riders, especially after these totally unfashionable ‘freds’ drop the ‘serious’ roadies on hills because the ‘serious’ guys were really posers.” Mostly, though, a Fred dreams of being able to drop a real cyclist because their equipment is nicer.

In the US the term is also used to describe the many bicycle riders who enter fun “tours” or “rallies” but tell everyone that they were in a “race” with actual knowledge that what they were in was not a true race. Bicycle racing is governed in the United States by USA Cycling.

Liz Hatch crashes hard.

From her blog: http://www.lizhatch.missingsaddle.com/

“I was participating in the “Ride the Route” fundraiser for the Women’s Tour Of California Criterium. It left from Santa Rosa and went to Calistoga and then doubled back to Santa Rosa. I arrived a bit late due to traffic and was attempting to catch the main group with few friends. On the last descent into Calistoga I was a bit off the front and enjoying a great time down the hill when I came up on a corner full of pine needles a bit too quickly (understatement) and my only choice was to try to lay the bike out or hit the guardrail… Apparently the second choice was better (???) and I went head first into it at 45k. Specialized helmets, THANK YOU! Also, ROOLY glasses!!! I am so glad I was wearing those things, they kept my eyes protected and all of the dirt and pine needles that ended up in my mouth, nose and ears, yes ears, didn’t touch my eyes! Not only that but they look like new post crash, cannot believe it.

I was knocked out for a short while and don’t remember much except that I couldn’t breath and my mouth was full of blood from biting part way through my tongue. Bob Cullinan from CycleTo was on the scene quickly (and ended up riding with me to the hospital and staying with me for 6 plus hours) as were quite a few other kind souls (Greg Durbin, thank you!) who stopped traffic so I wouldn’t get run over and called the ambulance. From there it’s a blur…”

More details and photos can be found here> Cycle To