Just Another Cyclist

The Danish website TV2 Sporten is reporting (English translation here) that there are indications Jens Voigt will possibly be leaving the current Team Saxo Bank to join Frank and Andy Schleck on their new Luxembourg team.  Reports are that Kim Anderson – former directeur sportif of Team Saxo Bank now working to help set up the new Luxembourg team – has contacted Jen Voigt about a possible spot.

VeloNews as confirmed the rumors that Alberto Contador will leave Astana to ride with Team Saxo Bank next season.  These moves are potentially setting up a repeat of this years Tour de France next year, with Andy Schleck again facing off against Alberto Contador.  In fact, Andy Schleck as already stated as much on the website andyschleck.com:

Next year I can turn the tables and win the Tour. I did a bad prologue this year and I have to admit that, but Fränk crashing out was a big loss. If there were two of us in the mountains it could have been so different. But now I know that I can beat Alberto and that gives me huge confidence and motivation for next year.

VeloNews.com is reporting that Andy Schleck has officially confirmed that he and his brother Frank will be leaving the team currently known as Saxo Bank at the end of this season.

So, after first reporting that the brothers were leaving, and then reporting that wasn’t certain during the Tour de France, we’ve finally got more concrete, specific information.  Next year we will see a new pro cycling team out of Luxembourg, with Frank and Andy Schleck riding for their home country’s team.

Well, it looks like my Polar CS100 cycling computer will need to be replaced soon.  I’ve been using it for 2 years now (or is that 3?) on 3 different bikes.  I’ve used it to monitor my speed, cadence and heart rate.  While it has been a good unit for the most part, there are a couple of issues that have cropped up.

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Here it is folks – the now world famous (really!) crash out to Ione, CA.  Caught in brilliant detail thanks to the careful placement of a GoPro HD Helmet Hero camera right on the handlebars.

I grew up in the beautiful Seattle area in the “hey day” of the whole grunge/alternative rock thingy.  There was always an underlying theme in that area:  The mainstream sucked, therefore you could only be cool by liking things that not many other people liked.  That’s right – you as soon as more than a couple people had heard of it, you couldn’t like it any more.

Somewhere along the line this idea got officially labeled “indie” (originally short for independent, if anyone cares).  Indie was everywhere.  Indie films.  Indie bands.  Indie bars featuring indie bands.

So imagine my excitement at being able to relive my youthful sentimentality with my grown-up hobby of cycling.  I found Indie Bike – a source for indie cycling apparel.  And just look at the list of major manufactures they’re selling.  I can get all my stuff right here.

Now wait just a latte-sipping minute.  List of major manufactures?? Um, isn’t the whole idea of “indie” that it isn’t among the major manufactures??

Now, I don’t want to badmouth any companies (especially ones that could potentially try to get a hold of me for an advertising / sponsorship deal.  Just saying…) but the name does throw off the freds of the world that might assume a catalog full of tweed and wool.

Pretty much everyone is familiar with the tradition in theater of wishing well to actors before a performance by stating “Break a leg.”  Well, now cyclists can have their own silly superstition.  Next time someone is heading out for a ride, yell at them “Break an elbow!”

We can thank Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles for setting us up for this.  He recently found himself involved in a right-hook incident with a taxi cab while he was riding his bike on Venice Blvd, which ultimately resulted in a broken elbow for the mayor.

As a result of this incident, the mayor has declared his desire to put together a bike summit.  According to an LA Weekly post:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently reached out to the bicycle community via YouTube and announced — more than a week after he broke an elbow in a bike accident on Venice Boulevard — that he would help organize a summit about the future of pedal power in L.A..’We’re going to work with the bicycle safety community to put together a bike summit,” he said.

It is unfortunate that someone in a position of power has to be injured to drive the point home about the need for more understanding and protection of cyclists.  However, it is totally understandable why, as a human, the mayor would be more sensitive to cycling issues after an incident such as this.  “Have a good ride mayor!  Break an elbow!”

The time seems ripe in LA for a change in culture.  The LAPD was already making strides to improve bicycle safety.  From the LA Times blog post:

Police Chief Charlie Beck has made overtures to bicyclists, promising to make their safety a bigger priority and sending some of his officers to ride in the monthly Critical Mass bicycle ride in June. The LAPD issued a directive instructing officers that a motorist can be held responsible for causing a bicycle accident even if he or she did not make direct contact with the rider — and can be arrested for fleeing the scene, Box said.

The LAPD involvement in the critical mass ride, while reported as wildly successful by both sides, unfortunately also only arose in response to an unfortunate circumstance.  A previous ride in LA staged to protest the BP oil spill was met with what was perceived by many as unwarranted aggressive behavior towards cyclists.

I fully applaud the actions of both the mayor and LAPD, acknowledge that all folks make mistakes, and give kudos to LAPD for recognizing a poorly handled situation and taking actions to correct the damage. However, I can’t help but find it frustrating that so many times it requires a tragedy in the cycling community to bring about any real, positive change.

Be safe, keep your helmet above your saddle above your pedals, and by all means “Break an Elbow!”

MC SpandeX has become something of a cult phenomenon among the cycling internet crowd with over 1.3 million views on YouTube.  His video “Performance” is a tongue in cheek humorous rap video simultaneously poking fun at both the roadie and the fixie/urban crowd.

Now, he’s back and taking pot shots at the mountain bike scene in another video “Get Dirty”

I seem to recall reading once that MC SpandeX was actually a Cat 3 racer out of Portland, OR.  However, I have not been able to find a reference to that information again.

Both videos can be found on the YouTube channel of Robin Moore, or at the website of Robin Moore Productions.  Robin Moore is, in his own words:

I grew up in sunny Santa Cruz, CA, and recently moved up to the frigid Northwest.  When I’m not cycling, rock climbing, and traveling around the world, I am producing/directing/editing videos.

Treehugger.com recently posted and article about a collaboration between various fashion designers and Peugeot for a charity / fundraiser event.  This event gave 12 designers a Peugeot frame to customize, which would eventually be auctioned off.

Twelve Peugeot fixed-gear bikes and 12 top fashion designers recently came together for one goal: Raise funds for Act-Responsible, a non profit organization that promotes responsible communication on sustainability, equitable development and social responsibility.

I was browsing through the photos of the completed creations.  Most were what one might expect for art bikes – interesting and even beautiful designs, but often at the expense of ridability or practicality.  But then I stumbled across this gem created by “Husband and wife François and Marithé Girbaud” [treehugger.com]:

Treehugger.com describe this bike by saying “Their bike has a custom frame with irregular geometric figures to die for.”  I suspect that may have been an error though, and what they perhaps meant to say was “irregular geometric figures that will make you wish for death should you try to ride it.”

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve got absolutely nothing against art bikes.   However, art bikes are like haiku – there is a specific framework for the form to follow.  It is the expression of creativity within that framework that truly allows the genius of the artist to shine through.

Maybe in the future an additional requirement for these contests would be to require the designer to actually sit on and pedal their creation when they are done.  That might help illustrate pesky details that slipped through the cracks, like not being able to reach the pedals, or the handlebars for that matter.