El Cyclista

02.27.10

Omloop! Nice one Juan

I felt bad for big Tony (Juan) Flecha last year in Paris Roubaix, when Pozatto had the balls to complain about him falling in front of him. Hell Pippo, it’s not like he did it on purpose, maybe you shouldn’t sit so close to his wheel! So if anyone was going to beat our Heinrich, then I don’t feel so bad seeing Tony giving the “bow and arrow” on the line. Did he really just ride Philip Gilbert off his wheel without getting out of the saddle? It looks like that new fish n’ chip, and deep fried Snicker British diet is working out for the Spaniard (did I just give Brailsford’s secret away, sorry Dave). Very impressed to see Heinrich take second, despite declaring himself “less than fit” before the race. Looking good for MSR Mr Haussler! Also nice for the Belgium commentators to be the first to say “the sky’s the limit” – I wonder how long it took them to think that one up? I doubt it will be the last time we heat that…Cycling’s March madness is well under way.

ADDITION:

….and they just picked up a 3rd in K-B-K, with Ian Standard. Man, I could feel Standard’s legs lock up after he went in the last KM – still a great ride. This team is looking good for another win in the classics.

02.17.10

Ray Dobbin’s Paletti Cronos

I don’t know what impresses me more about Ray Dobbins. The fact that he has found and restored all of these bikes to such a high standard, or the effort he takes in documenting them. His site is well worth a visit for anyone interested in looking at the craft of frame design and how rides have evolved over the decades. It is hard to choose a favorite, but this Paletti Cronos is one of the most unique rides I have seen. Check out that paint. Man I wish I had the story behind this bike.
Photos by Ray Dobbins.

01.30.10

The 2010 Tweed Run, London

“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.

Photos courtesy Roxy Erikson and Adam Scott

01.22.10

Is your bike male or female?

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….

01.09.10

The Peyresourde Climb

I am using this time in between seasons to catch up on photography projects that I have been sitting on from last year. These shots were taken this summer on a week in the Pyrenees. We had really spotty weather which made it sometimes nervous to ride in (I found that out descending with Carbon rims in the wet for 17km), but it did make for great light to photograph in. The Peyresourde sits just outside of the spa town of Bagnéres De Luchon, nestled at the bottom of some of the best climbs in the Pyrenees, up the valley from Lourdes. Two cars past me all the way up. It is a really beautiful ride, with the best of french country markets at the end of it.

01.06.10

Girl with bike by Evelyn Hofer

A beautiful image shot by German photographer Evelyn Hofer on the streets of Dublin in 1966. She has a gorgeous monograph and collection of her work published by Steidl & Partners. Well worth a look.

01.02.10

Fausto Coppi, Il Campionissimo, Gone 50 Years Today

Where it all began, skipping school to ride your bike and getting sentenced to write “I ought to be at school, not riding my bicycle”. Just shows you, never listen to teachers. Gone 50 years today. On his death in 1960, the editor of La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that he prayed that God would soon send another Coppi. I think we are still waiting.

12.29.09

5 Team bikes that made us sit up and notice

Not the lightest bikes, or the most expensive bike of the decade, but ones that made me want to rush out and buy them. Bikes that on first sighting people talked about, but more importantly still do. Ten would have made it easy. So in no particular order, a Canadian, an American, a Swiss, a French and a Belgian (what! no Italians? and I own a Colnago….)

x

1. The Cervelo Soloist SLC / Team CSC

There was a lot of buzz around the mechanics’ area on the evening of May 25th at the 2006 Giro. Cervelo had already started to make a name for themselves as a technology-forward company, and had already brought some pretty impressive prototypes to Europe, and delivered some great results on board to back them up. So when the rumors started that a new superbike, the SR71 prototype, was coming, everyone wanted a look. The new frame was a combination of the already successful R2.5 and the Soloist. The frame was introduced into the line to balance the R2.5 climber’s frame with a frame that would be lighter than the Soloist, be suitable for Classics, and roll on the flats for riders like Jens, Fabian and Stuey. It was a frame that was fundamentally different from anything that was already out there, and had more in common with its sister time trial frame than any other road frame. Rider feedback said it all – “I just ride faster on it.” (Note: Those are the legs of Kurt Asle Arvesen on the Champs-Élysées at the end of a 3-week Tour, as he asked me if I wanted him to smile for the camera – “more interested in your legs Kurt.”)

x

2. The Cannondale CAAD7 Prototype / Team Saeco Cannondale

When Simoni was on top of his game he got to demand whatever he wanted. Back in the days when the UCI were still playing around with the idea of weight limits, Simoni demanded the lightest frame he could have to tackle the 2003 Giro. Aluminum was still the choix du jour and Cannondale’s Optimo tubing was the best you could get. They built him up a small frame using their new proprietary Alcoa aluminum tubing with oversized diameters for strength, and it was finished off with no paint or clear coat. The bike he rode in the 2003 Giro would eventually become the CAAD 7 Optimo road frame. Also notice the Fizik saddle (which they kept a cover over for most of the tour), the first time that saddle was seen, and the SI Hollowgram cranks (with a 38 X 28 ratio to get over the Zoncolan). There was a lot of goodness on this bike that is still around today.

x

3. The BMC Pro Machine SLC01 / Team Phonak and BMC

It has to be said, in pictures this frame never really did it for me, but man when you see this thing in the flesh you really start to appreciate the design and engineering that went into it. The tubing shapes, skeleton rear end and the angles make it feel architectural. It was the first bike I saw with a completely flat top tube and tubes that flipped shape and dimensions as they ran down the length of the bike. The only thing that isn’t carbon on the frame is the bottom bracket casing. Coupled with beautiful and minimal Swiss graphics and a paint design that perfectly picks out the lines of the frame, this is a bike to remember. The other nice touch was the mix between matte and gloss finishes, with the gloss only being added to the paint areas, making the white on the front end and bottom bracket area really shine. One thing that I would rather forget is the wonderful tagline found in the Swiss edition of their 2009 product catalogue: “It is 100% seduction, where the high pulse is yours for free“, indeed.

x

4. The Look 595 / Team Crédit Agricole

Not the first white bike we ever saw, but the one that triggered the current trend. Just when everything was getting to the point of, “no paint please, it is carbon and I must show it to the world”, Look covered the whole frame in white paint. Lovely. Not only that, they dispensed with the seat post as well, and decided to make it part of the frame, something they had been doing on their track frames for awhile. Look claims that it was the first frame to use Nano Tube technology, and this coupled with them being experts in lugged construction made this if not one of the lightest frames (just over 1000 grams uncut, but then you don’t need a seatpost), certainly one of the most solid. Also at a time when tubing was getting larger and more shaped, they kept the design refreshingly simple with a slightly elliptical top tube and boxed seat tube, producing a bike that looks pretty timeless and sophisticated. There is a rumor that Thor refused to give his up when he moved to Cervelo, and has a couple in his garage. That I can believe.

x

5. The Eddy Merckx Team SC / Team Lotto and Domo Frites

The only frame that Bicycling magazine ever gave a perfect score. A phenomenal all-around race frame with wins in the cobbled classics with Johan Museeuw and Van Petegam on board, to mountaintop finishes in the Alps with Richard Virenque. The design leaves a lot of clearance up front for the different tire and rim options for the classics, and a longer top tube (by 1cm) than the seat tube makes handling on the “rough” surfaces of Northern Europe a lot easier. I have seen a build of this frame with Campy record and Zipp 202 wheels that came in at 6KG/13.2lbs, which is light enough for anyone (although some of the carbon parts would probably not survive a racing season). This frame is now in the realm of being collectible.

12.24.09

Ten riders and moments that defined the 2009 season

1. Denis Menchov falling, getting up, and going on to win the the final time trial and the overall at the Giro. Every Italian watching him was willing him to hit the deck on the wet streets of Milan, and give Di Luca the only chance he had for victory. What was amazing was that while Menchov was sliding along the street he was still trying to grab his bike and get back up. He crossed the line with time to spare, and the Ice Man melted to reveal a fist-pumping crazy horse hero! Emotion rarely seen at the end of a bike race.

X

2. The Milan San Remo finish. I was screaming at the TV and I didn’t know for which rider. Cav got himself over the Poggio with the help of  George, and into the final mix. Haussler came up the line so fast no one could take his wheel, and he went seven lengths clear. It wasn’t the final throw for the line, which is being called the sprint of the decade and a win that came down to millimeters, that was incredible, but the scenes after the riders crossed the line. We have access in our sport to the athletes in the moment of victory, or in this case crushing defeat, that no other sport can deliver. The shot above is Heinrich Haussler lying on the ground after finding out he has lost MSR by 1cm. Crushed.

X

3. Ireland had waited 17 years for another Grand Tour stage win, and it came on a shitty Irish weather day. Philip Deignan refused Roman Kreuziger’s supposed offer of money in the last 2km to give up the win on stage 18 of the Vuelta. His response, “get stuffed”, and a killer sprint to take the win.

X

4. Jens Voigt’s crash on the descent of the Petit-Saint-Bernard. I had tears in my eyes. It didn’t look good. I hate to see riders wipe out like that, but you know when Jens Voigt stays down it is going to be serious. We all know how hard a rider he is, so when he doesn’t get up……I will be looking forward to his comeback this year, because this is not how a rider of his caliber should leave the sport.

X

5. Bradley Wiggins did what we all hoped he would do. Took that superior speed and engine from the track to the road, and turned himself into a serious GC rider. Watching him on The Ventoux bury himself to hold his position on the overall was what this sport is all about. Absolutely buried himself, one of the rides of the year. Now let’s go one better in 2010.

X

6. Johnny Hoogerland of Vacansoleil. The beauty of a wildcard slot is that a team and its riders know that this might be the best and only chance for them to make a name for themselves. Get noticed in the public eye. Impress the sponsors and make them want to keep investing. Every break that went up the road in the Veulta seemed to have the name Johnny Hoogerland on the screen. It was amazing to see him hang on the back of the break on Stage 21 and just gut it out. This guy is value for money and never gives in. A Pro Tour team has to pick him up? A fans’ rider. The sort of guy you want to ride up to Nyack with on Sunday.

X

7. Heinrich Haussler on Stage 13 of the Tour. The riders were greeted by a wet and miserable day, one made for Mr. Haussler, who openly admits to loving to race in these conditions. He went away early on the roads he trains on and eventually rode Sylvain Chavanel off his wheel (not an easy thing to do) on a descent to finish by himself with a 4-minute gap and a break that lasted for 197km. On crossing the line, it was obvious what the victory meant to him. The biggest win of his career, and a little bit of make-up for coming so close at MSR. A rider not afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve (well, arm warmers then). Love this rider.

X

8. A sprinter steals the headlines on the Queen mountain stage of the Tour. Thor Hushovd, spurred on by the big-mouth comments of Mark Cavendish, went off the front on a very tricky descent, to show that it takes more than big thighs and an attitude to win the Green Jersey. It was strange to see the Green Jersey lead the field over two Cat 1 climbs and a Cat 2, holding time, then using his amazing bike handling skills to gain more time going downhill. Green Jersey in the bag, “unstained”, thank you very much. An amazing solo effort, a classy rider and a gent.

X

9. Wait, Valverde is on the start list? Banned from the Giro. Banned from the Tour. Well, I guess you get to ride your home Tour, right? Valverde gets to ride the Vuelta and is gifted it by a messed-up wheel change for Cadel Evans. Now that is a tainted win. All but 23 seconds of his winning margin were gained on that wheel change. No gentleman’s rules here, Basso and Valverde go straight to the front and hammer it on the descent to gain as much time as possible on Evans. Well that is one way to kill off your biggest threat. That look that Cadel gave to the camera, “Man! Do you #@*%ing believe this shit”. No Cadel ,we don’t, but the World’s helped us get over it a little bit. Now just what was the nationality of that neutral service mechanic, and is he still employed?

X

10. Russell Downing winning the Tour Of Ireland. A rider who I have watched for years and seen never really get the recognition or chances he deserves. Well this year sees the new British Sky Pro Tour team began, and if there was ever going to be a chance for him to move up, this was it. But to do that he had to earn it, he needed a big result against a quality field. Even a Saxo Bank or Columbia B-Team would be considered serious competition in most races, but there was no B-Team in the Tour Of Ireland. Downing didn’t really have a team of his own to protect him, which meant this win was that bit even more impressive. Using his head, legs and bike handling skills he killed them all off on St Patricks hill in Cork, in terrilble conditions. On a day when most of the “names” pulled out due to the weather, or partying too hard with U2 in Glasgow.

12.17.09

From Vevey, Switzerland

Some shots from a recent trip to Switzerland.  1. Trains built to take bikes, at no extra charge.  2. The northern point of Lake Geneva and the entrance to the Italian Alps. The Stelvio and its 24km climb lies beyond the clouds.  3. A beautiful CBT from Italy, with added Xmas decorations.  4. Pascal Richards Aluminum Coppi from the Olympic museum in Lausanne, with some original Cosmics. The bike that won the 1996 Olympic road race.  5. Also from the Olympic museum, Chris Boardman on his way to taking Olympic gold in the individual pursuit aboard the Lotus designed bike, and the first rider to lap his opponent in a Pursuit final.  6. And that now famous Lotus ride.