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2013 trip to Tour de France

on Fri, 07/26/2013 - 15:45

This year was the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France. Assuming you know me a bit, you know I'm a cycling guy - both a rider and a fan of the pro sport. This, therefore, was an event I somehow needed to be part of. So late last year, I signed up to ride the Alps alongside the Tour, and then go to Paris to watch the finish. My very wonderful wife gamely said she would ride with me - though I could tell she had some trepidations. Here's a few reflections from the trip. (Shortcut: Skip to Flickr photo set.)

First, a free, unsolicited endorsement: If you ever want to go ride a great,

Harpooning the Whale

on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 14:43

Last Saturday I rode the 2012 edition of the Harpoon Brewery to Brewery (B2B) ride.  This was my fifth time doing it.  It's one of those rides that I both love, and hate: love because after the fact I feel a good sense of accomplishment having done, and hate - especially in the last couple of hours of the ride and the day or two after - because it is painful. Typically, every year, I finish and say "That's the last time I'm doing that ride."  A week later, I'm starting to think about training for the next one.

The ride is long - 148 miles - with about 7,000 feet of vertical.

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Making Cycling History at DeRonde

on Sat, 04/07/2012 - 12:50

Key memories in life are formed when you must go thru extreme difficulties, whether by accident or choice. If you're lucky, some memories will cross an invisible line and become history, sometimes yours, sometimes part of a history that is bigger than you. I'm pretty sure that I and some good friends just became part of (some) history, having ridden the 2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen Cyclosportive.

The professional cycling sport has a set of races every year held in the same spring dates that together are called the Spring Classics (often split into the Cobbled Classics and Ardennes Classics).

2012 Ronde van Vlaanderen

on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 15:07

Time to start planning for 2012. In 2010, I went with my buddies Scott & Joe to the Ronde van Vlaanderen professional cycling race in Belgium. The day before the pros race, the route is open to amateur cyclists of all levels.

We rode with 8,000 (or more) other crazy cyclists over a route full of cobbled roads, leg-ripping short hills called "muurs", and had a blast. It was a rainy day in April, which made it even more epic.

Time to start thinking about 2012. The route was changed this year - with much howling from race fans, because it moved what had often been a decisive climb at the end to

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Paceline ettiquitte

on Fri, 07/23/2010 - 17:57

 

My friend Tom Pincince sent me the below in email. I've so often wanted to point cyclists to a good list like this (but not had one) that I thought I'd capture it here for posterity.

Items 7-10 are my own additions.

 

A note from one of the stronger guys I ride with in the morning. He just got back from climbing the Tourmalet. Note that I was dropped mercilessly this morning.

Regards,
Tom

Subject: Paceline etiquette -- staying out of the hospital

Hey guys - -

Last Saturday night in France, I got a lot out of a discussion and wanted to pass it along.

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