Can Phinney save cyc...

Americans love winners. It’s a cliché, but true. Taylor Phinney’s win in stage 1 of the Giro d’ Italia won’t project him onto the front page of newspaper’s here in the States as that’s reserved for the one bike race Americans know – the Tour de France. However, I’m hoping...

Automobile influence on the bike industry Apr18

Automobile influence on the bike industry

With air slicing design, coupled with a mechanical beauty and visually pleasing color schemes, it’s no wonder that several bike companies have used automobiles as inspiration. Ferrari has been a muse to Colnago for several years. According to the Colnago site the first Ferrari badged Colnago was the CF-1 with a limited production run of 500. And if you need to ask how much a CF-1 retailed for, you can’t afford one. However if you gotta have one, I discovered that the Bike Exchange in Australia is selling a 60cm Ferrari for 26,000 Australian dollars ($26,915 American). Last year we saw Mark Cavendish on a Specialized Venge, which...

Paris-Roubaix scenarios with Levi Leipheimer Apr08

Paris-Roubaix scenarios with Levi Leipheimer

With Levi Leiphimer back in the States nursing his injury from his recent accident I interviewed him for Cyclingnews.com. The main focus of the interview was of course his injury, how serious it was and what affect would it have on the season – meaning the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de France and the Olympics. However, as you talk other topics come up that don’t fit with the article. And sometimes, like in any conversation, you make small talk to broach a subject. With the obligatory Amgen Tour of California question answered I wanted to know about the Tour de France. With teammate Tom Boonen in great form I jokingly made a...

Is this the new pro cycling meme? Apr05

Is this the new pro cycling meme?

Remember the Dirk Hofman Motorhome banners we’d see in the final 100 meters of all the classics. So far this year I haven’t seen them. However, this guy seems to have taken his spot. With about 17 kilometers remaining in the Tour of Flanders and then again at the finish this guy was waving his huge “Tornado Tom Frites” banner. You might remember that Boonen also has a training book, which I suspect doesn’t mention frities as part of any training plan. For those who may not know – frites are primary known as a Belgian snack similar to our French fries but with mayonnaise and are great for soaking up excess...

Belgian spectators at Flanders Apr02

Belgian spectators a...

Check out the spectator that gets spun around by Sebastian Langeveld. He steps away from the crash like he wasn’t involved. He starts to approach Langeveld, but then turns around and returns to his group. That’s a dick move in my book not to even check how serious Sebastian...

Happy Flanders Day! Mar31

Happy Flanders Day!

Some holidays we share worldwide – just perhaps not on the same day. Other holidays are exclusive to certain regions. This is why I don’t expect you to know that this is national cleavage day. For others this is the day before arguably the best one-day race of the season – the Tour of...

My Danny Pate interview and fate of the US Pro Mar22

My Danny Pate interv...

I was walking down Main Street from the finish line of the US Pro road race to the post-race press conference. It was 2008 and Tyler Hamilton had just won the national championships in Greenville, South Carolina in a photo finish sprint with Blake Caldwell of Garmin-Chipotle (now...

Frankie returns to the Tour de France Mar09

Frankie returns to the Tour de France

I interviewed Frankie Andreu, director of the Kenda/5 Hour Energy presented by Geargrinder team the other week for CyclingNews. The site wanted an interview about the team, what was going on at the training camp and who were the new guys. There’s some information that I get that just doesn’t make it onto Cyclingnews.com, so I thought I’d post it here. I spoke to Frankie during the camp and as expected he was keeping busy getting the squad organized with the new equipment and the general organization that needs to happen when you get 20 cyclists together. After discussing the team’s goals and his hope that they get an invite to the...

The Lance Armstrong ...

Honestly I can’t say I’m totally surprised that the federal investigation into Lance Armstrong has been dropped. The reason for my lack of surprise? The investigation seemed to be dragging on and on. The burden of proof is much higher in these types of cases and while it was rumored that...

Shiv road bike proje...

This past Wednesday I wrote a post regarding the Shiv road bike that Specialized’s creative director Robert Egger has been riding on the the company’s famous lunch ride. Like many of you I was intrigued by the idea of taking a time trial bike – in this case the Shiv – and...

The 2014 Shiv road bike? Jan25

The 2014 Shiv road b...

If you’ve ever gone to a car trade show you’ll see prototype cars that will never make it onto the highway. Known as “concept cars,” these are a rolling laboratory for ideas that might dribble down to other projects. They are also great for marketing as it shows to the public that they...

Vintage Tour de Fran...

I’ve been in a bit of a retro mood lately. Regardless, If you’re new to bike racing (or you forgot about the pre-carbon days) go back into the archives of cycling broadcasting via YouTube and watch the Tour de France circa the late 80s. These were the days of split stages and 50...