Hydration is a tricky subject. When I started cycling, I had a coach who believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that water made cyclists soft. It’s an old European cycling myth that rivals any of the countless do’s and don’t a cyclist needs to adhere to in order to be tough
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With November approaching the air begins to crisp. Mornings are dark before we change our clocks to fall back. Even here in sunny Southern California, our bright lit skies begin to grey. This early chill is a good indicator to begin tapering down for the year. As important as a solid training
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My second worst injury on a bike happened a number of years ago when I caught a car door to the chest. I was riding with a friend of mine and we were chatting as one does when riding with a good friend. We had just come through an intersection. The next
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Living in the same town, riding the same roads day in day out, week in week out, year in year out, can become a bit monotonous. I’m a life long roadie, who has only dabbled in full fledged off-road activities a few times. What was once a faint echo is now ringing
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Ever since Alejandro Valverde won the World Championship title a few weeks back, I’ve heard and read quite a bit about cycling fans not being happy with his victory. While I do understand their position, the reality is that Valverde has never had a positive test for doping. Yes, he served a
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Since I’m a total bike nerd, I think every rider should read The Art of Wheelbuilding by Gerd Schraner. That is of course unrealistic, but Schraner’s indispensable guide does go into the minute detail of every aspect of the spoked bicycle wheel. If more people were aware of the beauty of the
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It’s been a busy couple of days in the world of professional cycling. With only a couple of weeks left for the road season, riders are scrambling to get those late season wins. Cyclo-cross is beginning to pick up steam in earnest with the European campaigns in full swing. Lastly, the rider
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I’m not trying to say I’m the king of old school but few of the recent “innovations” in cycling pique my interests. Tubeless road tires, electronic shifting, road disc brakes, none of this stuff will make it onto one of my bikes anytime soon. So I find it interesting that a friend
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Often neglected and ignored, the drive train in the heart of your bike. Without the chain, rings, pulleys, and cassette, you’re not going to get very far. It always boggles my mind when I see a filthy chain, gnarly cassette, and caked pulleys. A clean drive train not only increases power transfer
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I have to say, that was an incredible day of racing for both the Men’s and Women’s Elite World Championships. What’s more incredible is that I mentioned both the winners in last week’s speculation post. Valverde rode a perfect race, and found himself exactly where he needed to be in the finale.
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