I thought, ‘I’m a little bit stronger than the other guys in the break, but of course, less fast,’” said Voigt. “I said, ‘now or never, now or never. Everybody’s hurting now.’ And it worked. It worked once again.
—Originally posted here
Not a race report… but my new desktop for my computer. I tend to race this way, though not with the success that Hinault did.
Keep attacking!
Last night was a great night for the SaltCycle-Intelitechs team at the Utah Crit Series! I snagged 1st place in the Cat3/4 Race, Tom snagged 3rd in the same race, and then Daniel and Sheyn did the same in the Cat 4/5 Race!
My first win of the year, and first Crit win since I was a Cat 5. Felt good. Team rode it perfectly, and I had just enough in the legs to grab the victory! I’ll put up a more detailed race report later on.
Side note: I love how this kit looks.
Today we are all runners
I may be a cyclist, who jokes with runners about how they should be cyclists. Who teases them about their loin clothes running shorts. But today. I am a runner.
Today we are all runners.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of my fellow endurance athletes, their families, and their friends. To the spectators, their friends, and families. To all the first responders who ran to the scene to try to save lives. May peace be with them, and may we all stand beside them in solidarity.
The 2013 Milan—San Remo will be remembered as one of the most epic races of our generation. It was shortened by bad weather, had to be stopped and restarted, and it all led to some of the most beautiful photos of cycling that have ever been taken. From Robbie Hunter’s suffering to Edvald Boasson Hagen’s seemingly cheery face, the racers ran the gamut demonstrating for us the extreme highs and lows of the sport that we love.
These photos were taken by Jered Gruber whose flickr stream is full of amazing photos. Well worth the time you’ll spend looking around. Especially the MSR 2013 and the MSR Snow set that includes all the photos above.
The bicycle has a soul. If you succeed to love it, it will give you emotions that you will never forget.
—Cipo source
Once you open that box, you might as well empty the whole box. You never know. Something can happen and you might still have a chance.
—Jens Voigt Talking like only he can about giving it all you’ve got while bridging to a break away and then working in the break away. He and Spartacus make me like RSLT, even when I don’t want to.
True cyclists those two.
It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop
—
Confucius, Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC).
For a non-cyclist Confucius sure understood cycling well…
The Shakes
Hi, my name is Daniel.
Hi, Daniel.
It’s been several months since I raced bikes.
That’s great Daniel! You’re doing good!
Thanks. The truth is, while I haven’t been in races, I’ve been racing. Racing myself. Dropping the “no drop” ride. Racing Strava. And, well… it’s been fantastic.
Daniel…
I love the feeling of surging out of the pack. Of bursting lungs and drumming heart. It makes me feel so alive! I love it so much that when I think about racing, when I think about the last few minutes of a race, I can feel the adrenaline start. My palms shake a little. My heart beats harder and faster. The nervousness and excitement well up inside me…
Thank you Daniel for your honesty. Recognition is the first…
Guys, what are we doing? Riding bikes is amazing. Racing bikes is wonderful. There’s nothing wrong with it.
Seriously. Let’s go! Let’s go race our bikes! Who’s in?
I think it would be best if you leave now. Now.
Ok. I am fine with that. I am going to go ride my bike! I am going to go power up a hill, and fly down the other side. I am going to go chase the wind, and catch it, and drop it! I am going to go race past cars, and other riders, and steal some KOMs! Who wants to come with me?
Wait… where are you all going? Stay here! You need help! Don’t walk out that door! If you walk out that door it will only be harder to walk back in next time. Seriously! Stop! You don’t have to ride bikes!
The truth is we do.
The first criterium of the Utah Crit Series is tomorrow. Here’s to a fun and safe racing season for all y’all! Let’s go race with the wind.
Rocking the brand new SaltCycle-Intelitechs 2013 team kit for the first time on the rollers. Hopefully the weather will hold so I can wear it outside for the first time this weekend.
The countdown to racing has begun… 2 more weeks until the Utah Crit series begins.
A brief look into the sub-culture that is cycling and the sub-cultures that exist within it. Best quote: “To push yourself, and then see the progress that you’ve made, I feel like for me it’s truly fulfilling. If you just… spend the time, put the work in you can see the progress…” That’s what winter training is all about.
“It changed me, who I am, and how I act, shaped me into a better person.” I can definitely say the same. That’s what cycling is all about, becoming better, both on the bike and off.
At 18, in my first team house I did not have long to wait before encountering suspicious circumstances. In the fridge were various bottles and vials with diaphragms on top for extracting the contents via syringes. I rang dad and asked what I should do. We chatted it through and came to the conclusion that even condoning the presence of ‘medicines’ in the house I was staying, could lead to pressure being put on me, or in the worst case, if there was a raid on the house, it was highly unlikely that any of the “professionals ” I was sharing the house with were going to say “it’s a fair cop guv, That gear is all mine.” Rather a finger would be pointed at the Brit who could barely speak Italian and somebody would say, “All these bottles – every one of them are hers —— my mates and I tried to stop her but she just keeps doping every day”. So, I emptied the fridge and put the lot out in the front garden and told the team manager to deal with it, either it went or I went. It went.
—Nicole Cooke
Her retirement comments on leaving women’s pro cycling just a few days ago. That took guts, the kind of guts that epitomizes what bike racing is all about. Cheers Nicole! source
Anonymous asked: What's it like to race criteriums? I'm really afraid of them, but have won a lot of alleycats where I live! Are they a lot like running where everyone has their own lane and does their own thing? Thanks, you obviously have a lot of experience in the sport!
There is very little that can compare to the mix of intense strategic thinking, and pure adrenaline that courses through your body when your hear the race bell during a criterium. You know instinctively that it means the time for recovery has ended and judgement day has arrived. Things are about to get fast. Really fast.
The race bell rings for two reasons during a criterium, or crit. The first is to signal a prime (pronounced preem) or intermediate sprint for prizes. And lastly, as your legs are beginning to ache it rings to signal the last lap, the final judgment for your legs and the strategy you have been racing with.
Crits are fast and aggressive in ways that no other form of road racing can boast. Time Trials are hard, personal, and all about maintaining constant power output just barely below your max for the whole race. Road Races are about strategy, and finding the winning move while preventing other moves from getting away. In that way they are much like a crit. But neither of them can compare to the aggressive sprints out of corners and the non-stop intensity of a good crit.
Because they are so fast and aggressive crits have a reputation for being dangerous, and they are. So is screaming down a mountain at 50+ mph on a road bike in lycra. Doesn’t mean it isn’t fun!
The reputation that crits have is somewhat deserved, they are fast, usually mostly flat, and reach incredible speeds in the last laps. They are also one of the more accessible forms of racing which means that they are filled with riders who have less experience in big bunches (at least the lower categories) and tend to panic when they get bumped sending themselves and others to the ground.
Holding your line while cornering at 25+ mph around street corners also requires a level of technical riding that many new riders don’t have. But that’s ok! Most areas have crit series with entry level groups, that allow you to develop all those skills over time. If you are comfortable racing in alleycats, then crits should be no sweat for you. The general danger level is much lower than an alleycat, if a rider hits you and you go down you aren’t going to be run over by a car.
No one is comfortable racing in a group of riders their first few races, but the more you do it the more comfortable you become. You may not have lanes like runners do, but there is nothing more exciting then hammering towards the finish line of your local crit series as lead out man for your sprinter. Or swinging out from behind your lead out man to scream across the finish line from a bunch sprint.
Good luck and good racing!
And when we are willing to suffer, we can do anything.
—frank over at Velominati
There is a moment in cycling, where your body seems to be gliding. Where everything is smooth, effortless, balanced, and in harmony. Your body and the bike become one and you feel as if there is if you could go harder and harder forever. All thoughts flee from your mind and everything becomes peaceful.
I think the closest term that exists for that moment is duende, a term in flamenco that I think is best explained by this part of the linked wikipedia article:
“The duende, then, is a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, ‘The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.’ Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation.”
In our hearts this is what all cyclists seek, this is the perfected ideal of the spirit of the domestique. The moment when everything focuses inward, cleansing the mind and the body and allowing suffering to melt away. Yet it is a fleeting thing, it comes and goes taunting us, making us fight to rediscover it.
That is part of what keeps us riding, the desire for perfection, the drive to attain duende in every pedal stroke of every ride. The search for the beautiful suffering that will finally set us free, to become the riders we dream of being. Vive l’esprit du cyclisme! May we all find it.
