Interview with Joonas Henttala of Team Novo Nordisk

Amgen Tour of California 2016, Stage 1 Breakaway
Photo ©TDWSport. Used with permission.

Joonas Henttala is a professional cyclist with Team Novo Nordisk. Joonas started the 2016 Tour of California aggressively. We was the first rider to attack after the neutral start of Stage 1. This created a break away with 6 other riders that was off the front for over 85 miles. The break away was reeled back in before the final 3, resulting in a bunch sprint. Joonas’s teammate on Team Novo Nordisk – Martijn Verschoor – was able to capture a 5th place finish against some of the best sprinters in the world.

We caught up with Joonas Henttala before the start of the Tour of California to ask him some questions about his life as a professional cyclist, overcoming Type 1 Diabetes, and competing at the highest levels of the sport. Keep reading →

Team Novo Nordisk showing new kits for Tour of California

Photo ©Team Novo Nordisk. Used with permission.
Photo ©Team Novo Nordisk. Used with permission.

Team Novo Nordisk will be returning to the Amgen Tour of California this year with a whole new look that will be exclusive to the US races. The new green kits feature Tresiba®  – a long-acting insulin produced by title sponsor Novo Nordisk.

Team Novo Nordisk is a global team made up of nearly 100 endurance athletes with diabetes, including cyclists, runners and triathletes. The men’s professional cycling team includes 17 athletes from nine countries, 8 of which will be on the starting line for the Amgen Tour of California.

The Amgen Tour of California is the biggest cycling event on U.S. soil and it’s definitely one of the most important races of the season for Team Novo Nordisk, so we are excited to introduce our new U.S. kit at this prestigious race. This year marks our third consecutive appearance at the Amgen Tour of California, and we are eager to use this opportunity to show the 415 million people around the world living with diabetes what may be possible.

Phil Southerland, co-founder & CEO of Team Novo Nordisk

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Garmin GPS vs. Speed/Cadence sensor

Garmin Speed/Cadence SensorMy trusty Garmin GSC 10 Speed/Cadence sensor gave up on me the other day. I think this may be the original sensor that came with my Garmin Edge 500, and I know for a fact that my Edge 500 is the single oldest piece of cycling gear that I still own. I have data on Garmin Connect going back to August 21, 1999. Therefore I am not entirely sad nor upset that my sensor went out. It has served me well for a very long time. It has survived more bikes then I can remember, inadvertently tracked a couple of Amtrak Capitol Corridor trips, managed to NOT be on any of the bikes that got stolen, and held it together through more than a few crashes.

What did surprise me however was what seems to be a change in my overall average speeds since the GSC went out of service. That change, of course, was down. Keep reading →

The physics of banging your head

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Call me Jeremy, because I spoke on reddit the other day. And I got the expected backlash. This was augmented by the fact that I spoke about… wait for it… bike helmets. Nothing will get folks worked up as quickly as bike helmets and cyclists rolling through stop signs. But I just can’t seem to keep myself out of helmet discussions.

However, I just happen to be the type of guy that can find value in someone telling me I’m a complete idiot. Keep reading →

An interview with Mandy Marquardt

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Photo © Team Norvo Nordisk. Used with permission.

It is, without question, extremely challenging to reach elite levels in any sport. Cycling has its own unique challenges. Couple that with the demands of managing a life long disease like type 1 diabetes and challenging can quickly turn into “daunting” or even “prohibitive.”

However, US track sprinter Mandy Marquardt is a fantastic demonstration that type 1 diabetes is not something to keep people from achieving their goals. Along with the help of Team Novo Nordisk, Mandy is spreading the word that diabetes does not have to be a limiting factor in our lives. We caught up with Mandy via email to talk to her about her experiences as a diabetic athlete. Keep reading →

Ikea selling bike as “car replacement”

News of the launch of the IKEA Sladda urban bike began to spread shortly after the recent Red Dot Design awards. The bike received Best of the Best in the product design category. While we assume that the Red Dot judges had an actual, physical product, as of yet it is only the officially released graphic rendering of the bike and accessories that has been made available.

ikea-sladda-render

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Sacramento woman recovers bike from Craigslist ad

From CBS Sacramento

Bike builder Willy Tan

DSC06407One of the bikes seen at the North American Handmade Bike Show this year had the name “Willy Tan” carefully labeled on the down tube. This small framed pink touring bike definitely caught my attention, and if fact was one of my favorites of the entire show. What caught my attention even more was that this bike was in the booth of the University of Iowa – the only academic institution at the show. The bikes on display were on par with the quality and workmanship of the rest of the show – many seasoned professionals with years of experience.

The University of Iowa program is lead by Steve McGuire, Professor of Metal Arts and 3D Design and Studio Division Coordinator in the School of Art & Art History. Thanks to the magic of social networking, I was able to get in touch with the builder Willy Tan and ask him some questions about the program, and this fantastic bike. Keep reading →

Cycling Shimanami Kaido

Back in January JustAnotherCyclist.com got an email that read in part “During my last trip to Japan I rented a bicycle and cycled 160 kilometers across 6 beautiful islands in 2 days.” The route in question was Shimanami Kaido, which by many accounts is one of the “world’s most incredible bike tours.”

Not only that – there was video!

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Bay Area Bike Share reveals proposed new locations

Bay Area Bike Share station
Bay Area Bike Share station, 7th & Townsend, San Francisco.

It has been over 8 months since Bay Area Bike Share announced their plans to expand and started soliciting feedback from the public. And now, presumably after evaluating usage data and feedback from the numerous surveys, they have started to reveal many of the proposed new stations.

While plans are to expand Bay Area Bike Share tenfold all over the bay area – including east bay – the released locations are all in San Francisco and San Jose. The San Francisco locations are focused in the south-east section of town, including SOMA, the Tenderloin, Mission Bay, as well as Castro and the Mission.

Not only have they published maps of the proposed sites in PDF format, they are also soliciting additional feedback now that the new locations are starting to be known.