Jun
7
This is how I feel about my blog
June 7, 2009 | 2 Comments
I’m just going to cite the entire New York Times article on this one.
I am afraid that Facebook has ruined me for internet updates, these days. To quote some of the interviewees in that article, maybe I will get back to it with more enthusiasm.
For the meantime, it’s a bit of a dripping faucet.
Jun
1
On Taylor Phinney’s win at P-R …
June 1, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I have two things to say:
1) A Trek won a cobbled classic! (Kind of a classic, in this case.)
2) The kid’s a phenom, for sure.
I got a bit skewered in this space a few months ago when I grumbled about Taylor’s post-Olympics interview on Velonews.com, because I was annoyed that he had seemingly made such a great effort to get to the Games, but then fully admitted that he was not at his best there because he had stayed up late playing videogames. Way to throw away that chance! Also, the saga of leaving the Garmin squad without communicating with Jonathan Vaughters seemed pretty un-pro, especially since JV had given him a lot of awesome opportunities (hanging out with Magnus Backstedt, anyone?). But whatever - I’m sure that stuff happens all the time in pro racing.
He commented on my post on his Twitter page (thanks, T, I guess) and then I got slammed with a lot of poorly-spelled emails insulting me for having such a bad attitude. Thanks for the personal assaults, people. So I took down my post, and fumed for awhile about the whole thing.Mind you,
I am a 35-year-old woman, not a racer but only a fan; I am not an 18-year-old boy who has proved himself in only a few short years to be one of the best physical specimens racing a bike that our country has produced in awhile. I don’t have a competitive bone in my body and I prefer to get along with people. And I don’t know what it’s like to be a phenomenon - I am merely ordinary. (Though I do have a closetful of diplomas that I like to cite whenever I feel too ordinary.) Yes, I think he probably shouldn’t have been up late playing video games before his Olympic event. But did he win the world championships in that same event in less than a year? Yes.
So kudos to the young man. And winning Paris-Roubaix for the espoirs? Priceless. He sure does look to be developing like Fabian Cancellara, a TT specialist who is also strong on the cobbles. I look forward to seeing what he does next.
Now, let’s not forget about our other second-generation racers. I met Wayne Stetina tonight, uncle to Peter Stetina (son of Dale), and Peter sure is a hot prospect too. (I also learned all about the new electronic Dura-Ace system, but that’s for another post.)
May
20
I am terrible at putting on handlebar wrap
May 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
How is it possible that I can be so hideously inept at this most basic of bike maintenance activities?
Today I managed to install two new chainrings without having to undo everything and redo it multiple times. Not so for the bar tape. That I can never do on the first try.
All thumbs. No skill.
May
20
Thanks, Pan Mass Challenge guy, for spitting on me
May 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
I guess the fact that he couldn’t drop a tiny little girl while riding his custom titanium Merlin (while wearing running shorts) must have been frustrating.
Apr
24
Short Takes April 24
April 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
I went on a “longer” ride today. The quotes come because I inexplicably rode my bike very little this winter, so what was once my regular, medium length ride has become a bit longer and rarer than usual. It’s unforgivable, being this slow and out of shape in glorious April, when the trees are budding and I want to go on an actual “long” ride out to central Mass to see the apple orchards in bloom and check out the transformation into a livelier season.
A few observations about me:
1) I’m thrilled that I started taking allergy meds some weeks ago, so now I am completely unbothered by the arrival of dire pollen.
2) Yoga may have made me more flexible, but that doesn’t make much difference when all my extra weight went to my belly, and now it blocks me leaning over the bike.
And some about others:
1) Choosing to ride a time trial bike on the bike path? That means you are a stupid ass fuck.
2) Bike shorts a little tight? If there’s a gap between the back of your jersey and the top of your shorts, please please please go shopping for new clothes. Further: if I can see your ass crack above your shorts, I am likely to want to poke my eyes out.
Today’s wildlife spotting:
While riding along, another cyclist caught up with me in a quiet part of the Carlisle woods, and we got to chatting. I spotted something small moving in a really odd way on the side of the road, and wondered out loud what it could be. To both of our surprise, it was a giant snapping turtle. We stopped to consider what we should do to help it get away from the road. Something about being called a “snapping turtle” made us not want to touch him. A third cyclist came along, and we decided to poke the turtle with a stick to see if it moved. Which it did – fast. Mostly to snap at the stick. And then to stroll across someone’s front lawn at a speed just a few miles per hour slower than my own.
On that note … all non-cyclists stop reading right here.
I’m basically doing “base,” now, to catch up for the fact that I didn’t ride much over the winter, and certainly didn’t do base with my collegiate cyclist friends, who have to be in race form obscenely early in the year. So for now I’m trying to keep my heart rate in that joyous fat-burning, aerobic-improving zone 2. Unfortunately, I just about reach the bottom of my zone 2 by merely swinging my leg over my bike. This is normal, it’s just how my little hummingbird heart behaves, even when I am at my fittest. But now, as I try to recover from a winter overshadowed by a strong case of the “don’t-want-tos” (as relates to exercise, primarily), my heart rate jumps over zone 2 if I so much as blow my nose.
It’s stupendously boring while you’re out pedaling on a sunny day to keep slowing down in order to get my heart rate back down. Oftentimes it just hovers at one heartbeat-per-minute over the top of my zone 2. How aggravating. It feels like I’m just being taunted. But I’ve learned – through trial and error! –that getting peeved about heart rate fluctuations just makes it worse. Yes, folks, getting mad at your heart rate monitor, or even cursing at your stupid little inefficient heart, results in nothing but elevated BPM. So I try to stay calm. It’s an interesting exercise.
So far my battles with zone 2 have resulted in weight gain. What fun.
Apr
17
Where were you when they were handing out luck? A study of Tyler Hamilton
April 17, 2009 | 2 Comments
Yet again Marblehead, MA’s most successful cyclist is in the news; this time, it’s for having traces of a banned substance in his system, which he says is the result of having taken some kind of nutritional supplement which claimed to aid in the treatment of depression. An “over the counter anti-depressant,” if you will. He says he was on a prescribed anti-depressant (Celexa) until recently, when he doubled the dose due to family health issues, and then went off it altogether. Hm.
Poor dude. He’s 38, and there will be no comebacks to cycling now. What a bitter retirement this must be for the current national road champion. Yet again he’s driven out of the sport, while concurrent headlines continue to extol the re-emergence of his former team boss and rival, Lance Armstrong. Tyler has had quite an array of poor luck, while his compatriot has managed nearly unbelievable successes. Seven Tour de France titles with barely a flat tire? That’s practically deal-with-the-devil level. (Did we consider Satan as one of Lance’s dubious supporters?)
Let’s consider the unbalanced comparisons:
Upbringing
LA: Single mother, poor, Texas
TH: Upper middle class, tight family, New England
Early results
LA: Triathlon success leads to bike racing
TH: Ski racing success leads to college; broken back leads to bike racing
Bones
LA: Just broke his collarbone for the first time; practically whined about the pain
TH: Came in second in the Giro d’Italia with a cracked shoulder and fourth in the Tour de France with a broken collarbone
Boners
LA: Once married, three children, one more on the way with current hottie girlfriend; once engaged to Sheryl Crow, linked to twins and hot blond things alike
TH: Once married to very capable and intelligent Haven, who made the error of having her name on a receipt for Operation Puerto papers
Reputation
LA: Kind of a bully
TH: Nicest guy in bike racing
Ardennes results
LA: Twice second in Amstel Gold, twice second in Liege-Bastogne-Liege
TH: Won Liege
Spanish results
LA: Won Classica San Sebastian
TH: Won Vuelta TT, lost the win due to doping suspension
Olympic results
LA: Bronze in 2000 TT
TH: Gold in 2004 TT, but with a eyebrow-raising “A” blood test and a ruined “B” one
Charity
LA: Livestrong, which overwhelmed the world with those damn yellow wristbands
TH: Tyler Hamilton Foundation, dedicated to MS, a disease which affected his ex-wife’s mother; bet he doesn’t want to be involved with that anymore
Influence
LA: People tattoo his image on their skin. He’s big.
TH: People who rode or raced with him locally still like him. Everyone else rolls their eyes.
Future?
LA: Will we never hear the end of him?
TH: Might have to finish that college degree after all
A last thought: here is Tyler’s quote about his thinking about taking his “over the counter” anti-depressant. Sounds a lot like someone that could be said by any of the dopers, no?
“What I did was wrong and yes, I did know it was on the list of banned substances. I also knew that USADA could have shown up any day and at any time to test me. But, I was going through a very rough moment and I was desperate. I heard about it and I thought I would try it out as an act of desperation.”
Can you hear that coming out of Basso’s mouth? What about Bernhard Kohl? Or any of the dumbasses who dope because they’re under pressure to perform and have to get a result?
Apr
8
Women: What’s wrong with us?
April 8, 2009 | 1 Comment
This from a column of breaking news on the New York Times online at 9:35pm on April 8.
Mar
30
Five bikes
March 30, 2009 | 1 Comment
I’m back on regular staff at the bike shop, and last weekend I weathered the first big spring sale. As a not particularly successful salesperson, I nevertheless did a bit better than average. I sure was tired out afterwards. I have noticed that I eat nothing but crap when I am at the shop – a tendency continued this weekend when the Specialized rep brought us a bunch of cupcake-frosted muffins and the Trek rep brought hot dogs.
I am surrounded by oodles of different kinds of bikes at the shop – mountain bike with no suspension, mountain bike with front suspension, mountain bike with dual suspension, each of those with disc brakes, each of those in women’s design, 29er, steel 29er; plain hybrid, hybrid with front suspension, hybrid with disc brakes, hybrid with 3-, 8-, or 9-speed internal hub, each of those in women’s design, cyclocross bike, cyclocross bike with disc brakes, kind of a cyclocross bike that’s really a hybrid, kind of a cyclocross bike that’s really a hybrid with disc brakes, flat bar road bike, flat bar road bike with disc brakes, each of those in women’s design; comfort road bike with some carbon, comfort road bike with more carbon, comfort road bike in all carbon, each of those in women’s design; road bike from this company with these components in that material, road bike from that company with those components in the other material, women’s versions of every permutation thereof; tri bikes; single speeds; touring bikes… On, on, on, all the way to custom bikes.
I often find myself wishing that we really only sold something like five different bikes at the bike shop, in various different sizes. We really don’t need to have nearly so many options. “How is this one different?” is a question I constantly have to try to answer, though the response really is “They’re not very different.” Different components, different geometry, different color, different design, different use – if people had fewer options, would it be easier to choose? Folks come in and say “I want something like a mountain bike that’s not a mountain bike.” Do they really need to get a road-bike designed “hybrid” bike with disc brakes, 700cc wheels, and 32mm knobby tires? Couldn’t we just offer them a ‘cross bike? Same thing when they ask for a touring bike? The Trek Portland, for example – what is that? Not a road bike, not a ‘cross bike, not a touring bike. Not a bike I ever show anyone.
Why not make it simple? We can sell a mountain bike (26in wheels, knobby tires) – I guess I would consent to front suspension, full suspension, 29er, and downhill as options. Then hybrid bikes – one comfort, one commuter. A ‘cross bike, of course. Road bikes would consist of short top tube models and long top tube models – none of this women’s design nonsense. If you want a “comfort” road bike, get a ‘cross bike and install racing wheels. One tri bike model, one single speed variety (and they always come with brakes).
But of course a bike shop only selling a few bikes would look like one of those liquor stores in states where hard liquor sales are heavily regulated, like the ABC stores in Virginia or their equivalent in Washington State (the only ones I’ve visited). Brightly lit, nearly bare shelves, and with a distinctly Soviet feel. Makes you feel like a criminal just for stepping inside the door.
Democratic ideals lead to way too many kinds of bikes. And cars. And toothpaste. I certainly don’t have just one bike myself, so I can hardly criticize the options.
Mar
25
Singlespeeds and helmets
March 25, 2009 | 3 Comments
On my way across the river to Brookline today, I took a very unofficial survey of the bikes zipping down Comm Ave, and I was surprised - though I shouldn’t be - to note that a majority were singlespeeds. I can’t say if they were fixed or not, but many had two sets of brakes. But that doesn’t mean much, since I run one of my fixed gear bikes with front and rear brakes, because I often flip the rear wheel around and ride it in the woods.
I am beginning to think that the fixed/single thing is close to jumping the shark. Some of it is my own fault, having sold a number of singlespeeds myself.
What else did I notice? Hardly anyone was wearing a helmet. What, think it’ll block your mojo? Unlike certain unnamed and certainly enthusiastic Massbike members, I am not one to insist that everyone ride a helmet every single time they get on a bike; I myself tend not to use one when I ride around the corner to get some wine, or stop into the library, or visit the CVS. (I do always wear one now when I ride to the bar, because drinking+biking=you never know what’s gonna happen.) But if I am going to be out for awhile, on a busy, crazy road like Comm Ave where there have been recent cycling fatalities, I definitely wear a helmet.
Are head injuries no longer scary for people? They’re scary for me. But maybe it’s the circumstances of having visited the brain-injured father of a friend in the hospital. It’s not a joke, folks. Helmets may look ugly, but they fit over hats (can’t use that as an excuse) and they really aren’t very expensive. Some start at $35; some health plans give them away or offer price reductions.
I would hate to see a rash of head injuries featured as one of the scare-tactics in seasonal newspaper articles used to dissuade people from using their bikes for transportation.
Mar
19
eBay bike sales etiquette?
March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Lately, I’ve been trying to sell items on eBay for the bike shop where I work. It has been going well enough for small items like winter shoes, and I’ve even sold a couple of out-of-date trainers. I really made myself worthwhile by selling a pair of four-figure-priced carbon wheels, but I have been unable to shift a complete bike.
Perhaps it’s a measure of the items I’m listing. First I tried to sell several full-suspension bikes that were – drum roll – nearly or more than ten years old. If one thing has improved in bicycle technology, it’s rear suspension. But there are collectors for nearly everything, why not these bikes too? I did field a lot of questions from potential buyers, but none of the bikes sold. I reduced the price and re-listed them several times, but still no go. Even more recently I’ve been listing recumbents, and wow, do people have a lot of fussy questions about those. A LOT of questions.
In both cases, a very annoying tendency has become noticeable in my imaginary client base. Namely, people ask me to sell them the bike at a price under the one I have listed, off-line. “$XX is too much to pay for a bike sight-unseen.” Fine, then don’t bid. This isn’t a Turkish rug bazaar; I’m not going to haggle with you. Don’t want it? Don’t buy it. But my correspondent continues on: “But I’d buy it from you for [some insultingly small percentage of my list price].”
It’s such a relief to me to have a clear-eyed customer notice that I listed a bike at a price slightly more than free (and slightly less than the cost of all the parts on the bike, had we stripped the frame and sold it piece by piece). How could I help but cancel my auction and immediately sell said bike to this delightful customer, who usually phrases this offer with many misspellings or ALL CAPS, but who has divinely recognized the true value of my sale, and offered to buy it in a venue that doesn’t offer any seller protection?
How aggravating. Insult the salesperson, then offer to take their junk off their hands, in a potentially dubious way. Does that actually work for anyone?
I have, however, managed to get one man into the shop to buy a recumbent at a price we agreed upon through eBay-based emails. And it looks like I may – gasp! – be able to sell the holy grail of bicycle absurdities, a tandem recumbent, via the same route. If I can get that tandem recumbent out of the store, I hope to be honored as a hero. It’s unlikely, but a girl can dream.
