In the 2007/08 season white was the new black, and before that black was the new black (well “nude” carbon was). Last season seemed to be the year of white bikes with thin diagonal pointy stripes. This year Ridley and Team Katusha are making a very bold statement with their new 2010 team bike and shifting the needle again. Big bold blocks of red and blue mixed with a little bit of white almost make this frame look retro. The change started to creep into the peleton last year when Cofidis rolled up to the Tour on a very red and white Look 595. The first time seeing it I really wasn’t sure, it looked almost plain. But looking at it again in the window of R&A here in Brooklyn, it looks like a pretty classy ride. Followed closely by FDJ and Lapierre rolling out a frame that felt more like a French national champion’s paint job than a team design, it was beautiful in its simplicity (needs a white stem, though). Also with the BMC team colors being red and black, things are looking up for a splash of red. Now all we need is a red, white and blue Pinarello for Team Sky in the Tour to make the prediction come true.
One of the most exciting things I look forward to at this time of the year is what will the teams deliver for the National Champions on their teams. BMC have killed it with George’s BMC, pure class, this is the statement of a national champion. (But ironically they completely messed it up on Cadel’s world champion frame. How could the Swiss get it so wrong? It looks so pedestrian.) Lotto and Canyon have gone for intricate and beautiful details on the insides of the stays and forks with national flags, a really lovely touch.
And you have to admire when a sponsor shows this type of confidence in one of their riders. Just today Zdenek Stybar took the world cross title and after getting cleaned up and presented with his medal as newly crowned champion, no sooner had he stepped down off the podium and Ridley presented him with what looks like a beautifully designed X-Night. Maximize that “we have the world champion time” before the cross season ends.
When the temperatures hit 20 degrees and you need to break the cabin fever of the home trainer, Endurance Werx in Midtown is a fine alternative. Chad has organized a nice and intimate training environment for you to burn and hurt. We did an over-under workout today that resembled what one rider said “looked like something Chad’s daughter would have drawn for the front of the refrigerator”. Personally I thought it looked more like the New York skyline out the window. It was hot, it hurt, but it felt good.
“A metropolitan ride, with a bit of style“. This looks like a fun day out in your Sunday best. The second edition of the Tweed Run will take place on April the 10th at midday around the center of London. It is only 14 miles long, so need to worry about chafing from the tweed. They take a very scenic route around the city center that includes Trafalgar Square, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, but the best bit has to be stopping for tea in the park halfway around. At the end of the ride they are throwing a party and judging who was best turned out. People into this ride make a serious effort. I think a lot of the outfits are more interesting than the bikes, with a lot of the riders sporting bespoke outfits tailored for the event. It is a paid registered ride with the proceeds going to bikes4africa.
I can’t decide if this concept is pure genius or plain insanity. On the upside you would never have to deal with riding in traffic and dealing with road rage ever again (personal note: this would be interesting over Brooklyn Bridge in the summer to avoid the hordes of tourists that choose to ignore the bike lane symbol, and have single-handedly created the term “bike rage“). On the downside, not a lot of opportunity for passing here. It will add new meaning to the term “wheel sucker“, and could in itself single-handedly re-create the term “bike rage” – cyclists on cyclists. The concept is not meant to remove us from the roads entirely, but to be a bridge, a longer transportation line in more congested areas, or a independent tourist line. The idea of the bridge scares the shit out of me. It appears you are held on by what looks like a climbing harness and you ride on a track. I am not sure this would appeal to the more vertically challenged amongst us, but in certain cities it might be more appealing than throwing the dice in the bike lane. It is an interesting exercise in alternatives to beating congestion and using existing technology to bring something new, and I can only imagine the alternative view of your daily commute would be pretty amazing. More details and drawings here for those of you that want to visualize yourself doing this, and I personally have a question about that Zeplin. (Photos and drawings from kolelinia)
“Chicks that spin around the world“. A very worthy cause. A collective of female cyclists aimed at supporting and encouraging each other to get out there and ride. Based in Sydney, they have support and members in 21 cities around the globe. They have done a beautiful job of branding themselves with the help of the talented guys at Effective Design in Glasgow. They make simple styled steel frames with Dedacciai tubing in two colors. Although I love the accessories more, the handle bars plug is hot.
It has been a crazy few weeks at work. A lot of late nights (working) and a lot of “pitch stress.” After a sound sleep-in today I bimbled around the apartment for a while waiting for it to warm up a bit outside. In a time-killling frame of mind we decided to kick of the day with a little bit of Belgium. These waffles are a tried and tested favorite in the Elcyclista household, especially when coupled with a little bit of pear apple sauce. Along with the daily grind of Stumptown Hairbender I was starting to feel a little more normal again, and motivated enough to get out in the practically Spring-like 39 degrees. The recipe is below if anyone wants to take a shot at making them. Also, my wife Nina recommends melting a little butter and brushing it on the waffle iron before putting the batter on. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. A bit like myself….
———————————————————————————————————— Belgian Waffles
(Takes about 10mins, and makes 3 to 6 servings)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
2 Cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 Tablespoons of sugar
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons of butter melted and cooled, plus a little extra melted to brush on the iron
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- Brush the melted butter onto the waffle iron.
- Combine the dry ingredients. Mix the milk and eggs. Stir in the butter and vanilla. Mix the wet and dry ingredients until just blended (do not overmix).
- Scoop some batter onto the waffle iron. Usually takes about 3 to 5 minutes per waffle. Brush a little more butter on for each batch.
Quite the stage today down under. If this is how they are going in January, I can’t wait until April. Great to see Evans in the mix yesterday and today driving a potentially Tour winning break, very exciting to watch. Might have helped if there had been a proper climb. Now that really would have thrown a curve ball.
Cevelio, Eddy and Claudette. That’s what mine are called. We all have pet names for our bikes right?…. right? But how do we decide which gender they are? Mine have nearly always been male, all but one. My current ride is a Cervelo SLC, nicknamed “Cevelio“. My mental rider image of Cevelio is kind of a cross between Oscar Feriere and Francesco Moser, a little chunky, but looks fast standing still. I have no idea why this Canadian has become a Spanish male sprinter, but it just feels right. Maybe it is all that muscle up front and that big fat down tube?
I couldn’t help thinking while riding next to my friend Wai the other night that his old purple steel frame Colnago was female. Well, it is purple, and has lovely delicate little chrome lugs and some nice linear paint decoration. It kind of looks all dressed up and ready to go out. The sort of dressed up that most men don’t particularly care to do (You know “what T-shirt graphic will I wear this evening?” isn’t really dressing up right).
However my first ride was an old steel Holdsworth under the brand of Claud Butler. She (see it just feels right to say “she”) was a gorgeous royal blue and in the way that a lot of frames from the 80s look now, looked a little delicate. Hence Claudette. Despite the fact the frame is British I always thought of her as being from Belgium. Kind of like a female version of Claude Criquielion.
The side effect of this is I can’t give them up. This isn’t just a build. It is Claudette. How could I ever sell Claudette? Hence I have a bike from each period of my riding, apart from the Merckx I crumpled into the back of a car. You know this cold weather riding does funny things to your brain….
I have been staring at this frame for weeks. It has been a dark week here in Brooklyn, I am buried in work and finding it hard to get time to do anything beyond push pixels and get some -30 degree riding in. I keep coming back to this frame and admiring the design and that muscle bike front end. A brand I didn’t know much about until the Cross Season started. Nice and light at a claimed weight of 890g. But something else did bring a smile to my face. I imagine if you are a pro rider you would get very excited at that time of the year when you go to the team’s first camp and get your new kit and bikes. And then someone does this to you. What possessed someone to choose “skin tone” as a color for a kit? They will look naked! Can’t wait to see this one on TV and hopefully they will ride Roubaix, all that mud and skin they will look like mud wrestlers. Blur your eyes, go on, I dare you…….
