Graphic

The Indexed blog takes Venn diagrams to a new level. This one relates to cycling. And one that just plain silly.

Complaint Department

Hey, I'm just a guy that likes to ride a bicycle so I'm no expert, but keeping last years' winner out of this year's Tour de France just seems stupid to me. That goes for the third place finisher as well-- some guy named Levi Leipheimer.

Via Trust but Verify I see that WADA is mad at UCI for suing their former president (a certain Dick Pound) for injurious and biased comments against UCI. There's also stuff in this article about the French Cycling Federation (FFC) sanctioning Paris-Nice outside the oversight of the UCI and using the French anti-doping agency, AFLD, to be in charge of the doping controls for the event. The UCI warned that they would discipline any rider that participates in the event.

Tell me again why this is good for the sport.

Technology Meets Swimming

In the "Things-You-Never-Thought-About-Department" we discover that a new swimsuit designed by Speedo with help from NASA and lots of other organizations containing smart people is helping swimmers set new world records. Video of the awesome suit is here. Predictably, swimming's world body, FINA, is concerned about the advantages this suit conveys and will be meeting next month to discuss the thickness of the material used and, possibly, the ethics of using it at all.

I wonder if doping is also a concern in swimming?

Wait, was that Dick Pound's beeper I just heard going off?

In the Beginning...

"In the beginning God created the bicycle, saw that it was good, then went for a nice Sunday ride on the bike lanes He'd made the day before, and they were good, too, because they were new and He had the angels keep them clear of debris. Later, of course, God would get cross and have the flood wash all the good ones away."

--Cycling Plus, January 2001

Another Thing I'm Not

I just learned that I'm also not one of the "World's 50 Most Powerful Blogs" either. Yeah, me and forty two million others...

Setting Out

Saturday morning. I'm still learning how to use my camera and what the best default setting would be for when it's in my jersey pocket. I like to use the continuous drive mode while riding, but this limits which shooting modes I can use. I am also learning that most changes to default settings are lost when the camera powers down. The net result of all this is that this shot was overexposed. I did my best to fix it in Photoshop and felt it looked better in black and white. Still not happy with it. Also, I missed a later shot of the xXx-Athletico paceline when I inadvertently put the camera in timer mode, not continuous drive mode. Damn gloves!

Oh, and it was a great day for a ride too!

The Pornography of the Bike

Holy #$%, this movie is in town tomorrow night! Here.

Fed Up

I agree with Donna. All the infighting, the drug problems (both real and alleged) and the whining have me fed up with pro cycling. I'm going to use that extra time to ride more, stretch after riding and maybe post more to this stupid little blog.

Weblog Awards

The results of the 2008 Bloggies are in. No, I didn't win (thanks, Barb for nominating me). The best sports blog was Fat Cyclist, so props to him. He was, of course, humble about wining. The runners up were Kickette, The Big Lead, Up in Alaska, and Deadspin.

RideStrong

Go here. Sign up. Maybe you'll win a bike.

Up in Alaska: Aftermath

Up in Alaska: Aftermath Congratulations Jill. You made it. I really enjoyed reading about your adventure. Except how it made me feel like a wimp for not riding here in the relative warmth of 20 degrees knowing that at the end of my ride was a hot cup of coffee. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

Sexiest Sports

What sports make you most attractive to the opposite sex? The Quirkology website has offered the results of their experiment, involving "6000 people indicating which sporting activities would make a member of the opposite sex more attractive." The results? The highest percentage of men claimed that they were most attracted to women into aerobics and yoga and least attracted to women involved in bodybuilding, rugby, and golf. The highest percentage of women found themselves attracted to men in climbing, extreme sports, football and hiking. Women were least attracted to men involved in aerobics and golf. There was no [see comments for update] information provided about cycling, because we know that shaved legs and tight clothing gives us an unfair advantage. Which might also explain why men and women agree that golf is one unsexy sport.

Blood for Oil

Posted on flickr by evithalani

I first saw this here. No further comment needed.

March Ride

What a great day for a ride! It was 40 degrees when we started and 35 miles later, it was 50. The snow on the ground and the sunny skies made for a beautiful ride. And, I have a new camera. As far as I was concerned, this was the first ride of spring.