Check this shizz out!

http://www.ridepikespeak.com/Pikes_Peak/Introducing.html

Dust off the 12/27, or the compact crankset...
The 'Assault on the Peak' ride UP Pikes Peak!
The stats-
19 miles...pavement and gravel
Starts @ 7750 ft altitude
Ends @ 14,110 ft altitude
Avg. 6.7%
Max 10.5%

As most of you know, my last name is not Bahamontes, but DAMN that looks like a good time!

Now for a mini-rant...

I don't like Joe Papp, period! Today, he outright called Levi Leipheimer a doper on his blog.
No, I will not now, nor will I ever link his blog b/c he just does not deserve any more attention. He's the Paris Hilton, or Lindsey Lohan, of the cycling world.
My issues are as follows:

1) He's a hypocrite. Papp doped his entire 'career'. He doped his no talent ass all the way to the middle, then failed test at the Tour of Turkey and got banned.
2) He SOLD dope to other cyclists. Oh, did I mention that he was selling HGH, EPO, and other products, WHILE he was testifying against Floyd Landis? Papp sold from 9/06 to 9/07. Floyd's trial before the USADA was 5/07. Yeah, he did that shit!
3) He got popped for selling EPO and HGH, among other thing, to 187 different 'clients'! No, that's not a typo! He made in excess of $80k selling to cyclists, tri-dudes and many other athletes.
4) Now, he's a crusader against doping? Fuck you Papp! I'll listen to Millar and few others, but not some come-to-Jesus-on-prom night jerknut! The two Federal counts he's being sentenced for bring up to TEN years in PMITA prison and $500,000 fine. That can double if any of his 'clients' were under age 18!

Why should YOU be pissed? You have probably raced against dudes he sold dope to at some point in the past few years! I personally know guys who have seen his 'pharmacy' firsthand! That means some of you guys do too!

June 25th is coming Papp! I hope you're doing your 'special' exercises! You'll be VERY popular in the joint!

End rant...

Oh, and we rode tonight...
Renick tomorrow, then going to pick up the new whip!

Good luck with that...

Oh Alberto, you can ride the cobbles all you like...it's not going to help you come July. Special bikes, FMB 27mm tubulars and the micro-doses of CERA won't be enough to help you stay with the lead bunch over the stones. Ask Iban Mayo how it worked out for him...
I have a DVD copy of the 2004 Tour, just in case you want to see it for yourself...skip ahead to Stage 3.

The TNWC was a blow-out, literally, last night. @ 20 started...somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 or 6 finished. Sure, a lot of of were out riding around, but all of the fire was blown out by 25mph+ winds. PDiscoe and I rode together for a majority of the time. This was the story for most everyone else...groups of 2 or 3 fighting the West wind. Hell, half the group just packed it up and went home....
I had to stop twice to adjust an ill shifting R/D. I guess putting a new chain on the bike DOES affect shifting. 50mm wheels were a bad choice last night too!

Did the HoP this morning and felt okay...considerably better than Monday. I then made the mistake of tickling some new Dura-Ace 7900 stuff. I say that my 7800 is good enough, then I go play with the new stuff. Why do I do that to myself? And yes, I've played with Di2...and NO, I won't be buying it...

Ummm...okay...

Check yo Trek befo you wreck yo Trek...


This was NOT the outcome after a crash! This occured on the START line in Athens. The rider clipped in, pulled on the bars to leave the line and the steerer came apart. The bike is/was virtually new and had NEVER been on the ground. You can see the stem had an offset clamp setup to minimize pressure on the carbon steerer tube. It is also the stock Bontrager RXL stem, FWIW.
QC is a bit suspect at the big T these days, eh?
If you own a new Madone, you may want to pull your stem and check out your fork...just sayin'!

And from the 'WTF' file...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/fleche-wallonne-riders-face-criminal-littering-charges

Hey, liberal, tree-hugging, do-gooder morons...isn't there something a bit more serious you could be worrying about? Really?

L-B-L 2010

Team Dopestana...

And I'm no expert, but does Cadel need to adjust his fit a little? Longer reach and higher hands maybe...?

A weekend off...not by choice...

So Friday was my 40th birthday...oh joy! The H.O. and I took the MTs out of school and went to Charleston for the day. A nice lunch led to a couple hours of chasing a 3 year old and a 5 year old around. This was followed by a short trip to the beach so the boys could run around for a while. I was ready to go and get home, but the H.O. was in no hurry, which struck me as odd, but no matter...
We rolled home @ 7, and much to my honest-to-God surprise, the H.O. had coordinated with my mother and organized a surprise party for me. It was really great and I'm extremely appreciative and thankful. Lots of folks showed up, ate some food and had a pretty good time.
I stayed up late to help the cleanup, but still had plans to show up to ride yesterday...rain or shine. The body had other plans...!!!!!
Alcohol hasn't touched my lips for the better parts of tens years, but I woke up Saturday with what could be described, at best, as a monsterous hangover. Headache, BAD stomach, feeling of malaise...the whole nine. There was no HTFU yesterday! I went back to bed. I guess running around all day, getting dehydrated and eating a bunch a bad food and cake will foul you up pretty badly!
We had family over Sunday for #2 son's 3rd birthday party, and as you all know, family will flat suck the life out of you. An afternoon of entertaining everyone didn't exactly make me chip up!
Another round of cleaning led to sleep coming easy. I hit the pillow @ 11 and opened my eyes @ 10:05! That's right, 11 hours of sleep!
I still feel iffy, so I will not be throwing a leg over the top tube today. Spin tomorrow morning to get moving again...

Now, on to the commentary...
I've never been truly disappointed by a Spring classic, but LBL let me down today. Sure, the racing was good, but the fact(s) that the weather was really nice and that doping doper Vinodoucheov won somehow lessened the experience for me. They should have banned that assmonkey for life.

My .02 cents...nothing more...
I'll have the video up shortly.

Hope everyone who raced this weekend did well. Athens and Tour de Moore were both Saturday. LL hit the ground @ TdM and JayC finished 10th...I have no idea who did what in the rain @ Athens.

EDIT: I forgot the two local loonies who trekked to Tennessee for the Cohutta 100. EmilyB and MDro went up and braved the weather and slop for the slugfest. Both finished and are worse for wear today...good job guys!

See you guys Tuesday!

Pimpin' ain't easy...

2010 Fleche Wallonne

Contadork must not be on his Tour drugs yet! Cadel rode straight past for the W...


6 people showed up for the TNWC last night. From reports I've caught today, it was a paceline affair that included GW breaking the other 10 legs in attendance. Sorry I missed it...

HoP(tm) for me on the road bike this morning...tired and flat, but could still hold some speed...weird!

What a f*cking choad!

Contadork has his 'new' fingerbang logo, his name and his personal website emblazoned on his new Audi estate. He's a hell of a guy...just ask him!
Even Lance, who's arguably the biggest egomaniac in the pro ranks had to be scratching his head with this one!


I cannot WAIT until he pisses hot during the Tour. It's coming...mark my words!

Amstel Gold 2010

Weekend

Saturday- No one showed up, on time at least, so I rolled out through the Fort and ended up catching TVH. I felt HORRIBLE, so I turned around and did a big loop with him and NID. Just felt BAD all day...must have been the front blowing through.
Ate poorly last night and got zero sleep, so I figured that today's ride would be a big pile of suck...wrong!

Sunday- I got up and headed into West Columbia to do a short loop. I started feeling better the longer I stayed out, so I just kept riding. I ended up doing the long Gaston loop. I felt damn good for the entire ride, even when I was fighting the monsterous headwind out in middle-of-nowhere Lexington county. 90km solo in 2:35.
No issues with cagers at all out in the sticks either. I had to wait until I was less than a mile from home before getting dive bombed by some prick in a Lexus. I LOVE it when I have the light AND the right of way, yet some self-important, just-left-church BALLBAG blows a yield sign and nearly makes the H.O. an instant millionaire. Fortunately, I saw the aforementioned scrotum coming, checked for traffic and changed lanes. The guy NEVER looked...I guess you don't need to immediately after leaving a house of worship!

The SC State Crit Championships were today. LL and JC finished in the 35+ field. The P/1/2 field made the mistake of taking MW to the line and he cleaned up with the win! Good looking out man! That should garner some interest from some teams...

Easy spin tomorrow morning...see you guys at the TNWC...hopefully...rain is called for Tuesday afternoon.

A surprise...

The ride was thin last night, but it was a really good ride. We just kind of fell into rolling paceline and stayed that way for almost the entire ride...@ 40-ish kmh. No lollygagging around, no attacking each other, just a nice, steady, tempo pace. Too bad that more rides can't be this way...

There's racing in Charleston this weekend...good luck to all that are going. Keep the rubber side down.

9am @ the gate for those who aren't making the trip South.

2010 Brabantse Pijl / TNWC #5

Last night was a nice, fun, steady race. Attacks went and came back for most of the night. Nothing was getting away though...too much HP in the group.
Breaks would go, have a good amount of power in them, yet only get 50-75 meters out and get pulled back within a lap or two...except for the end. There was a BIG lull with two to go that allowed JayC to get away, and stay away for the solo win. The remainder of the group, which had dwindled to @ 20 at this point, diced it out for the scraps.

I actually felt quite good last night, but didn't want to do anything to strain my back, so I sat in and rolled around. I can say, with some authority, that the back is a scary place to be. It's very Cat5 back there. Too many people sitting up and braking heavily into the turns, thus creating gaps, and then sprinting like their asses are on fire to close the gaps. Roll into the turns and speed will scrub naturally. The juniors are extremely guilty of this behavior. Sure, most of them can go like hell in a straight line, but the turns have them vexed.

Anyway, it was big fun last night.

As an aside, I rode the new Vittoria Open Corsa CX2 tires last night (320tpi). Every bit as good as tubulars when paired with latex tubes. If you haven't ridden these tires, you're missing out!

Thursday ride this week...6pm @ the gate.

A man with boys...

No, the title isn't a diatribe about the Catholic Church, it more than accurately explains and describes Cancellara's race on Sunday. I won't bore you all with the details, as I'm sure you've all watched it several times. I will say though, Fabian just throttled the strongest men in the World, PERIOD! It made a Kershaw County ass-whipping look like a tickle fight!
Muddy Waters must have seen the future when he was writing 'Mannish Boy', because Fabian was a full-grown man on Sunday!
And how about those beautiful FMB tubulars he was riding? $165 to you...for the 25c width. The 27c tires FC was on will run you @$250 each...if you could get them. Handmade...by one old French man...in his house...
I never ridden, nor even SEEN one in person, but I can only imagine what they feel like when glued to a proper set of wheels. Smooth like butter on a bald monkey...

Now for my part of the post...

Saturday- 85km with the group. Felt BAD when we left, but got marginally better as the ride progressed. Came home and did yardwork for 3 more hours...cross-training...

Sunday- 75km with the group. Felt better...

Monday- 90 minute spin on the cross bike this morning (with skinnies). Planned to ride easy, and did just that...until the opportunity the do a little motorpacing popped up. I tucked in behind a truck/trailer and paced him from south of the Stadium, through Olympia and up onto Huger St.
That's when the bluelights and sirens came on. The Columbia PoPo pulled BOTH of us over. Unbelievably, the cop was pretty cool about it. He said what I was doing was 'very dangerous' (no shit!), yet impressive at the same time. He gave me a written warning for speeding (43 in a 25) and dangerous driving. I cajoled the officer into giving the driver a break too, as he likely had no idea I was behind him.
I felt pretty good after the effort though...
40-45mph is quick, especially when you only have a 46t big ring!!! 46/12 FTW!

See you guys tomorrow night! Peace!

And yes, I think I'll get the warning ticket framed...

SUNDAY...SUNDAY...SUNDAY!!!

Holy sheeeuuuut! I can only hope that the folks who are reading this are as excited about Roubaix as I am...
I don't care what people who waste their time with ball and stick sports say, Paris-Roubaix is the hardest, most epic and most glamorous sporting event on the planet...PERIOD!

Let's start with a photo. It's a photo that proves the 'picture paints 1000 words theory'! If you showed this picture to someone, and they STILL didn't understand the draw of Paris-Roubaix, then any explanation of the race should cease and you should walk away from them.

This is the section of Le Carrefour de l'Arbre. It's Section 4 (to go), is a 5 star section (hardest), and hits the hardest of the hard @ km 242 (15km to go). It was taken by an seriously talented guy from Athens, Ga. named Jered Gruber. Check out his photosets on Flickr.

Jered has an unbelievable eye and takes some truly beautiful and artistic photographs. Hell, he caught THE moment that Cancellara attacked Boonen on the Muur during the RVV.

Jered has intimated to me that ANY photo he has in the stream is available for purchase. He can either transfer you the digital file, or he'll get the photo(s) you've chosen printed and send them to you. Let me know and I'll hook you up with his contact info.

Now some video...

Saxo Bank recon...look at the giant tubies flex under the strain of the cobbles...



Team Sky recon....




Good luck to the locals going to Rock Hill this weekend. Rubber side down boys!

Tyler Farrar FTW!

Clean wheels baby!

TNWC #4

Yeah, it's the TNWC...I've relented! I was the only one calling it the TNCWC...

Pretty good sized group tonight with a lot of HP in attendance. Started quick, ebbed and flowed in the middle and then stayed fast for the end. No breaks tonight. Anything that went up the road tonight was quickly pulled back. Just too much power in the bunch. Oh, did I mention it was 90 degrees and the pollen was hanging in the air. Yellow crust for everyone!
It came down to a bunch gallop, which usually means that MW takes the win. Tonight was no different! You just cannot take that guy to the last 200m and have any hope of taking the W.

As for me, well...I suck! My legs and lungs were fine, but my back and spirit were just weak. My wanting to suffer just isn't there right now. I need to HTFU a little! I also need to get my fat ass on the bike. This 3 days a week shit just isn't cutting it. I can't blame anything other than a lack of fitness...

Peace...

THE move...

This is what 1450w looks like when climbing the Muur. It was a Vulgar Display of Power, plain and simple. Boonen looks like he's riding a mechanical bull while losing ground. Cancellara gutted Boonen, and the entire country of Belgium, in little more than 100 meters...

You betting against Spartacus for Roubaix...? There's a reason the favorite is called the favorite!
He's a bad MFer...period!

Columbia Cycling Group on FB

Okay, so I created a group on Facebook for the ENTIRE cycling community in Columbia. It makes no difference what, how, when or where you ride, the group is for everyone.
Use it to post rides, ask advice, give tips, share rides to races, sell stuff, whatever...

Check egos at the door. No one is better than anyone else in the group!!!

Columbia is a great place to ride..ALL of it, be it Lexington, Irmo, Blythewood, downtown or wherever people choose to ride. The terrain is great, the weather is great and there are scores of riders.

There is ZERO reason that we cannot have some sort of cohesive community in Columbia that mimics Greenville, Charleston or Charlotte.

Columbia (SC) Cycling

Thanks!

Weekend Update

Friday- I found a great loop out through West Columbia, into Lexington county. Great roads, friendly cagers (shocking), and fabulous terrain. It ended up being right at 3 hours and 55 miles. I come home crusty with yellow pine pollen, tired, and as happy as a puppy with two peters. It's just too bad that there are only about 3 people in the downtown group that will actually ride out that way. Lower Richland is brutally boring anymore and there are GREAT loops just across the river, no further away than where we ride every damn day! Anyway...
Saturday- I rolled to Fairfield County to help LL with the first installment of the 321 TT Series. @60 folks rolled into White Oak from all around for the not-so-flat 20k and 40k races. The air wasn't quite warm at start time, the wind was stiff and the pollen was flying. Everything went smoothly and the racers were happy. The upside was the fact that everything was buttoned up and I was home by 1pm.
There were a few fast times, including GW (go figure), but my BIG ups go to young Jeremiah Rambo. He's a stud, period. 10 years old and riding a tiny Trek road bike, but he did it and averaged 15mph on the 20km course. I was proud of the boy!
Sunday- I planned to do a long ride on my peaceful, family-free Sunday. Plans changed. I built the MT's Easter baskets last night, which meant that several bits of candy were ingested by yours truly. The combo of ingesting pollen and candy led to a general feeling of malaise when I rolled out of bed.
Instead, I did a loop of the Fort with Crusty and the soon-to-be Mrs. Crusty. Nice easy spin and was home in 2 hours. Now to lay about for the rest of the day....

Cancellara crushed it in Flanders today. I should have taken the betting line 2 weeks ago, before E3 Harelbeke, when SkyBet had him @ 33 to 1!! Dammit! Farrar was 5th and Hincapie 6th...
Video will follow as soon as it's available!

I think I may start a Columbia Cycling group on Facebook as well. Just a place to post rides, catch rides to rides/races and put up general information for everyone in town (or out of town). Thoughts?

Peace...Have a good Easter Sunday!

Flanders...

It may be epic tomorrow...supposed to be wet!

Got Skills?

As Yoda would say... "Skills, have them these guys do..."

Yeah, I'm a tight shorts roadie doofus, but I could watch this stuff all day!