I’m starting to find the need for a way to communicate random items that people send to me that fall outside of the format of this blog. This will be the start of a randomly timed “Random Ramblings” post. If you have something you want me to post feel free to send it over to me at at this address and subject heading . I can’t promise I’ll include it, but if I think readers will get some value out of seeing it I’ll gladly put it up. Let’s please keep it to road cycling and a non-commercial nature. Hint: make it as easy for me as possible!
Photo by James Broadway. BTW, congratulations to James for having a new baby girl this week!
Cyclist are a peculiar bunch. We can’t let a ride just be a ride. It’s impossible for any of us to admit that a bad day on the bike is due to anything but external circumstance that we have not control over. We all do it. At the beginning of a ride we lay out at least one disclaimer of why we’re not going so well. If it weren’t for this disclaimer you’d be inflicting all sorts of pain on the rest of your mates, so they should consider themselves lucky.
It’s not PRO to rock up and announce to everyone “I’m on fire guys, watch out!”. It’s all about lowering expectations. This way if you pull a magical ride out of your ass you’ll look like superstar. “Just imagine how I would have smashed it if I was on form!” you can say. However, if you really do ride as pathetically as you said you were going to, then you’ve already laid that on the table. You can’t lose.
I have this annoying tendency of taking photos of mates on the way home from races
We all know that Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is one of the hottest banned substances in professional sport. The effects of HGH include (from wikipedia):
Decreased body fat, increased muscle mass, increased bone density, increased energy levels, improved skin tone and texture, increased sexual function and improved immune system function.
Last night the Bayside Counsel held a meeting to vote about banning parking along the rest of Beach Road on weekends. The only news I’ve been able to find is that more information is needed before a decision can be made.UPDATE: Bayside Council rejects Beach Road parking ban.
At any rate, I wrote something for Fairfax (The Age, SMH, Brisbane Times and WAtoday) this morning hoping to spark some discussion on the problems of the big bunch rides that exists. I can only give an informed perspective on the Melbourne bunch rides but I suspect that the same problem exists to some extent in the rest of Australia.
I’ve seen how some of the bunch rides in Melbourne have grown over the past few years. If you think the Hell Ride is bad you should see the 6:30 Tuesday evening Beach Road ride and the Thursday evening Tour of Suburbs. Sure they’re fun to ride in, but we’re our own worst enemy riding these like we do. The bunch sprints take up 2 lanes and there are cyclists scattered everywhere amongst traffic. Every time I do one of these rides I shake my head at some of the bonehead moves that people pull (myself included). The amount of testosterone that flows when you get 50-100 guys together is unbelievable. I’m just waiting for the day that someone gets killed. I’m afraid that’s what is going to happen before people wise up.
There’s no chore that is more therapeutic and gives me more satisfaction than the bike wash. I usually wipe my bike down after every couple of rides with baby wipes but once a month or so I’ll roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. You don’t really need much except for a few simple ingredients that you can find laying around your house. The photo below shows a good assortment of brushes, sponges, lubes, etc that are ideal for cleaning the bike. However, all you really need to get the job done are the following:
I’m the first person to admit that I don’t know squat about bikes. Over many years I’ve been spoiled with nice bikes that have basically been given to me. I never had a need that required me to do some heavy research on on a bike I’ll be dropping thousands of dollars on. I’ve been extremely fortunate.
I was forced to drive into the city for work yesterday and the traffic was absolute chaos. Was I the only motorist that realized that the cause of all the dramas on the roads were the number of cars? Not the cyclists. The bikes were the ones who freely rode past as I was caught in the gridlock. Even though it was pouring rain out I was jealous of them. I often wonder how much worse it would be if the 5000 commuters who come into Melbourne’s CBD per day were driving cars instead of bikes. A Drive to Work Daywould certainly prove a good point.
We all have a friend who floods our inbox with every single joke or catchy link he gets forwarded. I tend to open one in a hundred and yesterday I happened to stumble on was one of those “most dangerous roads” powerpoint presentations. I’ve seen these before and always think “man, it would be cool to ride on that road if it weren’t so damn dangerous!”. That got me scouring all over the internet for photos of cool obscure roads that would be awesome to ride and your chances of death would be a lot less. Here’s a few I came up with:
Trollstigen, Norway. A cyclists paradise! Thanks to plasticine for sending in. (click on image to enlarge)
It took a while to get all the details ironed out but we’re now ready to start taking orders on the “SHUT UP LEGS” t-shirts (you need to say it with a thick German “Jens” accent to get full effect).
I’ve tried getting in contact with Jens Voigt via a friend who knows him but unfortunately I haven’t heard back. I’d love to have his name on the shirt but unfortunately I’m not certain about the legal ramifications. I’d rather avoid having that drama in my life. No worries though – I think everyone here knows that he’s the hardman behind these profound words.
Colors choices are black or white. Lots of women have also expressed interest so I’ve put forth this option as well. A’qto is making these t-shirts so I’m confident that the quality is more than just a token t-shirt. I own many A’qto t-shirts and absolutely love the fit and the feel of the material. I’m confident you’ll like them too. Sizing information is located in the online shopping area.
Since I’m not rich enough to carry stock of these t-shirts I can only afford to get these manufactured based on a pre-order basis. Orders will close on Sunday, Feb. 14 Wed, Feb 17 (extended because shopping cart had problems last night) and your t-shirt will be shipped 2.5 weeks later(international orders may take additional time to ship). I have plans on only doing one run of these so please get your order in so you don’t miss the boat.
Go to the links below to order. Payment can be made via EFT (preferable, details are at checkout), Paypal or Credit Card (I’d rather keep Paypal out of this)
I was having lunch with a friend yesterday and the conversation inevitably led to cycling. Many things came out of this chat but one profound thing that stood out is the two and a quarter rule (2¼ rule).
An old coach from back in his VIS days always told him that people have the capacity to be 100% committed to only two and a quarter (2¼) things at one time. If you try to fit any more in something will have to be sacrificed. For most of us, work takes up one point, wife and kids take up another point, and you have a quarter of a point left to play with. You can see why competitive cycling is a young man’s game.
Cycling is a sport that can consume a person. It has this strange allure that can even become addictive. Take a look at where you’re taking points from in the other areas of your life and ask yourself if the sacrifice is worth it.
Photo by James Broadway. BTW, congratulations to James for having a new baby girl this week!
I was forced to drive into the city for work yesterday and the traffic was absolute chaos.
