Archive for the 'Cycling' Category

Highway to heaven

Monday, August 20th, 2007

I got a chance to redeem myself at the Highway to Heaven Hill Climb this past Saturday after having to abandon a completely disappointing Tour de Christiana the weekend prior due to a lingering respiratory infection and an anomalous knee flare up. I like riding up hills, especially steep ones, so I was excited for […]

18% grade = 100% pain

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

In the words of Aesop Rock, holy smokes! I did my hill sprint workout today on Ilchester Road in Ellicott City, which is the course for this Saturday’s hill climb time trial. It’s only .9 miles long, but it is brutal. The first section, especially, at an 18% gradient. Every competitive cyclist must be somewhat […]

(Not so) Pleasant Valley RR

Friday, August 10th, 2007

The wedding excitement has been pretty consuming, but I have been racing my bike. Last Saturday was the Pleasant Valley Road Race out in western Maryland. This was the most brutal race I’ve ever done. The course wasn’t really that tough, but at 100-degrees with humidity, the weather proved to be a huge factor. Mostly […]

Mechanical

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

So, you ride a great race. You stay out of trouble and tucked in the bunch. You cover a couple attacks to show that you’re willing to work and to avoid the post-finish line snide remarks (”Dude, that guy just sat in the entire time and didn’t work at all. What an…). You hammer to […]

Cranky

Thursday, May 31st, 2007

How Brian Becomes Irritable During a 2.5 Hour Bike Ride

Headwind going out and coming back
Bitch in SUV insists on passing me on a descent despite the fact I am traveling in excess of 50mph
Gears keep slipping on steep climbs
90-degree heat plus humidity
Bad pavement

Super teammate

Thursday, May 31st, 2007

For most people who don’t follow professional cycling, I imagine the sport seems like a very individual pursuit. But teamwork—an often overlooked portion of professional cycle racing—plays an incredibly important role. The only race that Americans pay ay attention to is the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong’s 7-year dominance of it before his retirement […]

Come on, now

Wednesday, May 9th, 2007

Okay, it’s been a while since we’ve commented on the world of professional cycling here at SLN, but it’s about time to chime in on recent developments. First a quick question: In Lance Armstrong’s last two Tours de France, name the only two riders who were able to stay with him on some of the […]

Sunday ride

Sunday, December 17th, 2006

Stats: Time: 3:04:40; Distance: 51.67 miles; Avg Watts: 172; Kilojoules: 1906.
Playlist: Warren G, “Regulate”; Amerie, “1 Thing”; Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, “Déjà Vu (Uptown Baby)”; Lupe Fiasco, “The Instrumental”; Jay-Z, “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”; Gorillaz, “November Has Come”; Lupe Fiasco, “Kick, Push”; Jay-Z, “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”; Kanye West, “Drive Slow”; […]

Floyd AWOL

Thursday, July 27th, 2006

No! No! No! Please, Floyd. Say it ain’t so! I hate myself for thinking this, but when the UCI announced yesterday that one rider had tested positive for a banned substance during this year’s Tour, I immediately thought the worst—was it possible that Floyd’s Stage 17 epic was simply too spectacular? Like, illegal spectacular? My […]

Horse power

Tuesday, July 11th, 2006

An appropriate image on the eve of the Tour’s first big day in the mountains. Will there be a major sorting out tomorrow? I’m not even going to hazard a guess. However, I’ll wager that Rasmussen puts in a big KOM bid on Thursday. [Image courtesy of Brother Pachucki.]