Team Radio Shack

Team RadioShack has just given us die-hard fans a sneak preview of its new jersey for the 2010 racing season and it looks good! Now before you go out and buy matching helmets, socks, gloves, water bottles, repaint your bike... this is a working prototype of the jersey whose final design is not be revealed until the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia staring January 19th. However, it’s apparent that this design is pretty close to the real deal that you’ll be watching as the boys start to make their presence felt in the first race of the season. In fact I hear The Shack team are wearing similar kits right now in Arizona as they begin training as a complete squad riding in team colors for the first time.
They’re obviously as excited as I am about their prospects this year and it comes through in their explanation of the kit. Here’s the exact words from the official announcement, “It was our goal this year to create something visually distinctive and a look that was symbolic of what we feel Team RadioShack is all about: cutting edge technology, speed, strength, determination and a global message to LIVESTRONG. The experts at Nike and our partners at RadioShack helped to create this fast form-fitting design using various textures and patterns symbolizing the themes of new technology, global connectivity and community. I think it looks pretty cool.”

Trek's new TTX

Trek’s development of a new TTX time trial bike could almost have been predicted: Giant, Scott, and Specialized have all engineered new TT frame platforms for their ProTour teams in the last 12 months, while Trek’s design cycle apparently remained static (at least in public).
Design Features
It looks like some big changes from the current TTX, the stem and fork crown merge in front of the "head tube". This hinged design is similar to what has been seen on Look and BMC TT bikes, as well as the current crop of UCI-compliant bikes from Giant, Scott, and Specialized.

Most notable on the front end is the apparent absence of a front brake — however; it’s not missing, just hidden between the fork blades. In fact, zooming in on head-on photos of the bike in action reveals what appear to be caliper pivots, and possibly an enclosed area for cable attachment. While most have tucked a front brake behind the fork crown, Trek looks like they took an extra step of actually hiding it IN the crown. The fork blades look especially wide, both to house the front brake, and maybe maximize airflow and the benefit of a three-spoke front wheel.
The rear brake is also hidden under the chainstays, and in fact not just hidden, but again integrated into the frame tubes. Close inspection of the photos shows the gap between the brake arm and chainstay, as well as a brake pad and fixing bolt. The brake arm is so perfectly matched to the chainstay that it could easily pass for the stay itself.
I’ll I can say is Trek looks to have done it again and now I want it. I can’t wait to see the real thing.

Rock Racing Style

I have found the Holy Grail of cycling clothing! After Tyler Hamilton joined Rock racing I have followed Rock Racing and have become drawn to there kit but never had the $400 to see what the hype was all about. The logo is a little heavy metal and the colors are wild and flashy for most people, but I like the looks of how they are put together and my nephew thinks it looks like a super suit.

The jersey breaths well and does not have the uncomfortable elastic band around the arms like most jerseys do, there is a rubber strip around the waist to keep the jersey from riding up while in the drops. The zipper is a full zip and does not bulge around the belly like most full zip jerseys tend to do and the zipper is covered and zips easy with one hand. The jerseys are perforated for better breathability but you can’t see the holes from the out side of the jersey.

The Bibs are the best! If you have the means I highly recommend picking a pair up. The chamois is comfortable and breaths very well, all the bibs panels are well placed so they fit snug were they are suppose to be snug. The rubber band around the leg is very comfortable and does not restrict movement, the legs are longer than regular shorts though and I thought that would drive me nuts but I didn’t even notice once I was riding. And the biggest thing for me is the material breaths well in heat.
I can’t tell you how great they are so I would recommend if there is one kit you must have in you cycling clothing arsenal it’s a Rock Racing kit.

Armstrong 22nd overall at 3:34 Back?

Armstrong has been saying since the start of the Giro that he’s not here to race to win, but his fans worldwide just didn’t want to believe it. After hanging with the leaders Tuesday in his first mountain summit since retiring in 2005, I was still hoping for a miracle. Just hours before the stage started, Armstrong said he expected to lose two minutes. He was close and he always knows his numbers. After getting gapped with about six kilometers to go, Armstrong came across the line 35th at 2:58 back. “Like I said in the beginning, the first half is not going to be my half. I have to ride into the race and get my condition back after the accident. We’ll see what happens in the second half of the Giro,” Armstrong said at the line. “I cannot expect to be in the front. If I could have woken up this morning, snapped my finger and ridden away from everybody, I would have done that. I’d like that but it’s not realistic in 2009.” All eyes were on the seven-time Tour champ when he started swinging at the back of the lead pack with seven kilometers to go. With Liquigas cranking up the speed, topping 30kph on the 7-percent grades up the winding climb to Alpe di Suisi, the front group of 30 favorites was strung out and the chord finally broke for Armstrong with about six kilometers to go. “I don’t have a problem with people riding away from me. I knew it was going to happen,” he said. “I just look around, find my guys and ride my tempo.” He was always surrounded by his Astana teammates Janez Brajkovic, Chechu Rubiera and Dani Navarro, the four of them climbed together and limited their losses. “We just started to ride our tempo and try to limit the losses. Maybe two minutes, but closer to three, but that’s OK,” Armstrong said. “It was a matter of finding the right rhythm, you find your threshold and hold it there.” The people were cheering as we went by as if we were winning,” said Rubiera. “Lance was setting the rhythm and once he recovered a bit, we were going faster. My job here is to help him. I follow him even on the downhills back to the team bus, because people jump out to take photos and get in the way. I am impressed with his condition, considering he broke his collarbone in Spain a month ago. He’ll be good at the Tour.”

Armstrong’s bikes have been tagged.

Following tradition of having a custom painted Trek Madone for Tour Down Under earlier this year; Lance Armstrong will be racing the Giro d'Italia aboard two very unique Treks.

His Madone and TTX time trial bike have been decorated by artists Shepard Fairey and Kenny Scharf especially for the upcoming Giro, the first time the 7-time Tour de France winner will be competing in the Italian stage race, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the race.

Armstrong's trusty steed, his otherwise stock Madone 6.9, has been painted by Shepard Fairey to draw attention to the Livestrong foundation, the reason Armstrong has returned to racing, as well as pay homage to Italy's rich architectural heritage. Meanwhile, Armstrong's TTX displays a 'lightspeed' look by Kenny Scharf. The numbers 1274 on the frame refer to the numbers of day Armstrong was retired for. 27.5 million is the approximate number of people who died from Cancer during that time period. Both bikes will be auctioned at Nike's Stages, a global travelling anti-cancer show organised to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, when it visits New York on 2 October.

Britain's Mark Cavendish is the first maglia rosa wearer — the first pink leader's jersey of the 100th anniversary Giro d'Italia —After his Columbia-Highroad team won the opening 20.5 kilometer team time trial.
The American team was the first starter and held the lead all day, finishing at 21:50. The team finished with its full team and Cavendish crossed the line first. And the other American team Garmin Slipstream was 6 seconds behind Columbia-Highroad in second and must have been disappointed not to repeat its win at the Giro's opening TTT, which last year put our own Christian Vande Velde in the pink jersey.
"We got down early and it was too much to overcome," the team's David Millar said. "I really thought we would be able to win again today, but it wasn't meant to be. That's sport."

Astana, matched Columbia at the first time check, but fell 6 seconds behind at the second marker and ended up third at 13 seconds.
All in all it was a good day for US cycling and Lance.

Who’s paying for this.

Well it looks like Lance Armstrongs team will start the Giro d'Italia this weekend wearing Astana uniforms, despite financial difficulties at the team.
The European media has been saying that some team employees and riders have not been paid and the team is in jeopardy of losing its UCI license. There is a lot of talk about weather new sponsors will step in to rescue the team, even as soon as the start of the Giro. However there is little real information to suggest that, beyond Armstrong's mentioning to reporters that he would like, at some point, to own and manage his own pro team.
Armstrong told reporters in Italy on Wednesday that the financial situation concerned him. "There's not a lot of clarity about what is going to happen," he said, according to the Associated Press.
"Maybe the situation gets resolved, and the guys start getting their dough," Armstrong told the AP. "Otherwise, I think the license ought to be transferred to (team director) Johan (Bruyneel), and we try and start a team in the middle of the season."
Alain Rumpf, the UCI ProTour manager, said there has been no request to transfer the team's license to new owners.
"We are working to ensure that this critical situation can be solved in a satisfactory manner for all parties," Rumpf said. The team's license is owned by the Kazakh Cycling Federation. "If it is transferred, the license commission will have to make a decision under which condition a transfer can be approved. However, I would like to point out that this is purely hypothetical as we have received no request for the moment."

So it looks like Armstrong may be without a team. I hope I didn’t jynx him by posting my last blog! Sorry Lance.

Is Lance without a team?

Lance Armstrong announced Tuesday (April 27th) that his return to racing after his crash would commence at the 23rd SRAM Tour of the Gila (New Mexico, USA), despite earlier reports of him and his Astana teamates being barred from the competition. The Tour of Gila started today and lasts for five days. This is his first race since his subsequent collar bone fracture in the Castilla y León in (Spain) stage race on March 23.

But the UCI had barred team Astana and Lance Armstrong from racing in the SRAM Tour of the Gila this week, enforcing rule 2.1.009 which states "only the UCI continental teams of the country, regional and club teams, national teams and mixed teams may participate in national events. Mixed teams may not include riders from a UCI ProTeam." Bla Bla Bla.
The rule is a UCI regulation and not a USA Cycling rule, and USA Cycling spokesman Alan Lee told VeloNews, "It's not our place to waive the rule or enforce it," Lee said. "From what we've been told they (the UCI) are choosing to enforce that rule in this case."
So to conform to the UCI rule Lance decided to take two of his Astana teamates to the race and enter under the team name “Mellow Johnny’s” which is the name of his bike shop in Texas.
Levi Leipheimer --one-third of the "Mellow Johnny's" team-- took first place at the Tour of The Gila's Stage 1 today. Lance Armstrong and Chris Horner rounded out the "Mellow Johnny's" team.
According to VeloNews.com, Leipheimer sprang from a disintegrating pack on the finish climb, taking a clear win ahead of Peter Stetina (Garmin-Felt) and Chris Baldwin (Rock Racing).
Leipheimer said he had some doubts about whether the team should go for the win so early in the five-day race, cites VeloNews.com.
"I said to Lance coming up here, 'maybe it would be better that we try and let somebody else win, ' " Leipheimer said at the finish. "And, he said something that made a lot of sense, he said, 'you know what, you are a winner, go win the race and we'll figure it out.' So we'll figure it out." For more results, visit the Team Astana's website.

My wife thinks I can’t write and my brother in law thinks I trace.

Amanda asked me yesterday after posting my blog if I wrote it? Um yes! This seems to be a pattern, her not recognizing my talents because not to long after Amanda and I were married I was wasting time on the computer and drew a picture of Lance Armstrong while looking at one of his time trial posters. Now mind you I drew it in the Windows program paint. Amanda looked at what a drew and said, “Did you trace that?” After giving her a puzzled look, I stood up from computer and proceeded to trace the out line of Lance on the poster with the mouse… what is this all about?
From a very young age I have displayed a talent for the arts, when I was and infant my mother noticed this talent and told my older brother I was “artistic” (Being only 10) he thought my mom meant “Autistic” Creative writing and art have always been a interest of mine so much that I excelled in both of them in school, so it surprises me when people challenge my need to express myself through art. I guess what this means is I don’t share my talents enough with those who are close to me; and for that I apologize.

58th Little 500

Baseball has films such as “Field of Dreams” and “The Natural.” Football has “Rudy” and “Brian's Song.” Basketball has “Hoosiers” and … “White Men Can't Jump?” (okay, there are probably better examples than that last one.)
The point is that sports and movies go together like Bert and Ernie. Of course cycling has a film to call its own ─ the 1979 Oscar-winner “Breaking Away.” Even the most fervent cycling fans among us might forget that the race featured in the story is, in fact, a real race... and the 58th running of the Little 500 is slated for this weekend on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
Now the drama at the center of the film's plot ─ the townie kids pitted against the rich Spoiled college kids ─ was dramatic license for the film. In reality you need to be enrolled as an undergraduate at the school to compete. There is a Cutters team but that was an independent team formed after the movie.
The rivalries that are a part of this race can go back decades, often involving fraternities and sororities. For many years the race was all Greek-dominated. But in the early 1980s the real Cutters team formed as a splinter group out of one of the fraternities, and won the race. Since then teams from the Greek system, residence halls and independents have traded wins with the Cutters, the team which has since enjoyed the most wins, at nine.
What is at stake? Not a dime. Whatever money the race generates, all of it goes to fund scholarships, more than $1.4 million to date. For the riders, there is only pride. But make no mistake; the level of competition that surrounds the actual race is as serious as it gets in bicycle racing.
The student-athletes, many of whom have never raced a bicycle before, train most of the year for this one event. Some are former high school sports stars, others are just in it for the experience. It is so serious the top teams pay for their riders to go on spring break training camps to Arizona and Texas, foregoing the usual fare of partying in Mexico or Florida. That represents serious dedication for a college student.

How does it work?

The race itself is unlike any other in cycling. It is modeled after the Indianapolis 500 motorsport race to form a strange hybrid of track, cyclocross and criterium racing. It is run as it was 58 years ago, on a “Chariots of Fire” style quarter-mile cinder track, adding the risk of some intense road rash for those unlucky enough to crash.
Riders are obligated to use what the rules define as a “stock” bike, which is about as low-tech as one can get these days. First, it weighs a lot compared to today's carbon wonder-bikes... about 22 pounds. Second, teams can only change a few insignificant parts, such as the seat and handlebars. The gearing must be 46x18, with a coaster-brake style freewheel hub and platform pedals. (The taping of shoes onto the pedals a la 'Dave Stoller' is not allowed.) What comes out of all this is a level playing field so that ability and not money determines who wins.
Teams consist of three to four riders that “exchange” during the race, making for the most unique aspect of the event. Exchanges are done on-the-fly with one rider coming into the team's designated pit, on one pedal like a 'cross racer getting a clean bike.
Meanwhile a teammate stands on the opposite side waiting to take the bike and continue racing, hoping to regain their spot in the pack. Even more challenging is that the exchange must take place within only a 16-foot long pit area. The only rule for exchanges is that there must be ten (five for the women) at any point during the race.
Like the Indy 500, the teams must qualify to be in the race, riding a 4-lap time trial with clean exchanges each lap. The fastest 33 teams make it and are seeded as such, like in the auto race, in ten rows of three. There is a 3-lap parade before the green flag is dropped for a flying start to 200 laps (50 miles) for the men and 100 laps (25 miles) for the women.
The initial laps are usually very chaotic, with the top teams fighting for position and the weaker teams trying to keep up. A crash in the first few laps is quite common and the protocol for that is identical to the Indy 500. Yellow flags slow the field down holding their positions as the carnage is swept up. Also as in the car race, the pit is a critical strategy position with a team coach using a marker board to communicate with riders.
In the final laps the race is usually down to 4-5 teams in contention, though there have been rare cases of a solo break and even recently a team lapping the field. The main strategy for teams at this point is to decide when to exchange to put the sprinter on the bike ─ too early could wear the sprinter out, and too late could cost valuable position in the lead group.
This year's event is packed with the usual rivalries and pre-race favorites. The back-to-back defending men's champions, the Cutters, have qualified third behind two fraternities with the Cutters' captain Eric Young winning the spring series' individual time trial.
In the women's race, the defending champion Delta Gamma team is farther down in seventh, and will get a challenge from the Teter dorm team who qualified for the pole position with a new track record; as well as the independent team Wing It, whose Kristi Hewitt won the ITT with a record herself.

Tyler made me cry

American national road champion Tyler Hamilton announced he is retiring from cycling on Friday after confirming that he tested positive for a banned substance in an herbal supplement he used to treat depression.
The 38-year-old Hamilton confirmed that he had tested positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) a multi-functional steroid he said was in an herbal remedy he took after he had stopped using prescription anti-depressants.
Hamilton said his depression was initially diagnosed in 2003, a year that on the surface “was the best year of my life.”
“Depression has been in my family for a long time,” Hamilton said. “I sought treatment in September of 2003.”
Since then, Hamilton said he’d been using prescription anti-depressants, none of which are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. However, after his recent divorce, his mother’s diagnosis of cancer and other personal issues, Hamilton said he began to experience more severe symptoms and first attempted to double his dosage of those prescriptions.
Feeling the side effects, he then stopped taking the drugs entirely, which further exacerbated his problems with depression. Hamilton said he turned to a “homeopathic” remedy ─ Mitamins Advanced Formula ─ that included herbs, such as St. John’s wort, and DHEA.
"I took a banned substance so I need to take whatever penalty they will give me and move forward," Hamilton said.
Hamilton suggested that he knew that Mitamins Advanced Formula contained DHEA, which he also knew was banned, when he took it on February 8 and 9, but was acting out of a sense of desperation.
“Anything you can do — even if it was hitting yourself over the head with a hammer — to make yourself feel better, you’d do it,” he said.

GOOD LUCK TYLER!