The Spin Cycle

Now THIS would be handy!

Can you put a traffic signal changer on a bike? No more red lights for the group ride!

Fred My Ride

Erik Saunders has been a friend of The Spin Cycle for some time now. He's a decent guy who's never afraid to speak his mind (Translation: Smartass who has trouble keeping his opinion to himself, kinda like me). But Saunders is a PRO, and normally pretty cool, and should know better than to make a heinous fashion statement like this abortion over his rear wheel. Where's the rear view mirror, baby?

Erik Saunders - President and Founding PRO member of "Fred My Ride."

UPDATE: Don't forget to read the article that the picture comes from - McGuire/Langdale looks to have a good team this year.

TdG Route Details Announced

The Dodge Tour de Georgia website now has detailed roadmaps of all stages. Stages 5 and 6 are killer. Ouch.

Lion King Roars - Again

News Flash: Mario Cipollini won over Grillo and Petacchi at Giro di Lucca. More detail when I have it.

Update: CyclingNews has brief results posted.

The Floyd

The Floyd's (that's Floyd Landis, for the uninitiated) website has a new look. Check it out!

Strike One

Well, the one neat little rumor that I was really hoping for hasn't worked out, and we will not see Roberto Heras or Liberty Seguros here at the TdG in April.

But we still have a chance for Mario. We also have definite confirmation that Credit Agricole will be here (you heard THAT rumor here first!) with Georgia Native Saul Raisin.

Cathy Mehl has a great interview with Stan Holm (TdG Race Director) over at the Daily Peloton - it's a must read!

BTW, I've added a new category strictly for TdG postings. I'll be updating all my earlier posts to reflect this over the next day or so, so that you can get all the TdG posts in one handy link.

Interesting - More TdG Info

Found this little bit in Tyler Farrar's CyclingNews interview:

CN: You say that you're heading to Europe tomorrow. What is the plan there?

TF: Well, I go over with the US national under 23 team. For the first part of the trip, we will be racing almost completely in Belgium in lots and lots of one-day races, in a lot of the Espoir events such as the Grand Prix de Waregem and other races like that.

I will be in Europe and then I will fly back just in time for the Tour of Georgia. I will be riding that with the US National team. I am really excited because it is my first-year riding that race, so that should be a good experience.

CN: Georgia is a nice shop window for you to show off your ability. There are several ProTour teams going to that, and then obviously there are other teams as well. I presume one of your targets for the season is going to be doing a ride in that?

TF: Oh, definitely. Georgia is one of the biggest races that we have in the US and I don't get a chance to show myself off too often. More and more I am getting the opportunity, but I still don't get, year round, the chance to show myself in the States. It would be nice to try and do a good ride there.

This should be the USA Cycling Under-23 team. I wonder what Pro team will be bumped to make way for them? I'll have to update my TdG post below...

The Baldbuster

Brasstown Bald has become synonymous with the Tour de Georgia. It boasts one of the steepest paved climbs in the United States, 3 miles of unrelenting punishment averaging over 18% gradient. The climb is merciless in intensity. At the end of a long ride, it is inhumane.

Now you have the opportunity to ride it just like the Pros do - at the end of a long, hard day in the saddle.

Surge Sports is presenting their biggest event to date: The Brasstown Baldbuster. A century that will finish at the highest point in Georgia - Brasstown Bald.

Now go forth and torture yourselves.

Silly roadies.

Gunn's Blazing

Long time cyclists from the Atlanta area will remember Georgia native Curtis Gunn. Curtis started riding in the late 80's, and I remember him  racing at the Dick Lane Velodrome as a junior. In fact, one of my last races at the DLV was against Curtis, when he was an aspiring match sprinter, and I was the (then) state and collegiate national champion. I still have some wicked scars from that ride and it's resulting high-speed slide into turn 3. That's all in the past, and now I'm quite happy to have him as a good friend.

As you can see from this recent photo, Curtis long ago gave up his match sprinting aspirations (my skin rejoices!), and turned to pursuiting. After quitting the sport for a while in the late 90's, he returned in 2002 to become one of the top pursuit riders in the country today. USA Cycling, however, hasn't favored Curtis with a ride at the track World Cup races, and so Curtis decided to take a shot at another dream of his - being a Pro. Curtis got his first Pro contract this year, at the age of 33. Riding for Team SeaSilver, he promptly went out an won his first race of his pro career, taking out the opening time trial and winning the overall at the Tour of Murietta in California last weekend.

He won the TT the hard way, too - note the bike he's riding. He spotted the rest of the field 19 gears, and still won by 25 seconds. Now he and the SeaSilver team are hoping for a berth in the TdG, and I'm hoping right along with them. Keep your fingers crossed for them, and for Curtis. I like to see my friends have their dreams come true.

Photo is Copyrighted and use is courtesy of Mitch Clinton Photography. Thanks, Mitch!

Tragedy, and Lack of Consequences

Even though I was out of cycling for a long time, I still have many friends who stayed in, and I've kept in touch with many of them. Others I knew only slightly, or in passing, such as Nicole Reinhart as a gangly 12-year-old, who I met at my first National Championships. I didn't know the woman who resulted from those early years, but now she is gone, and now I never will. I can say that at least I have some memory of her. Unfortunately, there are many who got involved in the sport while I was absent, and some of those people are no longer with us. I never met Dave Martin, who was killed just over two years ago in a tragic  accident caused by the inattention (or worse, it's unclear from the story) of a driver.

From the Cartersville Daily Tribune News:

As David Lee Martin cycled home along U.S. Highway 41 three years ago, he called his wife to let her know he was on his way.

Just minutes after he hung up, Martin was dead, run over by a car that drove on to the shoulder and hit the biker.

When photos of Martin's wrecked bicycle were shown to jurors, Cynthia Ann Richardson, the woman charged in Martin's death, wiped away tears.

It was an emotional first day for both sides, said prosecutor Mickey Thacker.

"It's tragic for both families," Thacker said.

And it's not just a tragedy for the families, as the driver was found not guilty of first degree vehicular homicide, despite there being evidence of her using drugs at the time (as reported in the full article, which is not on the website). Richardson pled guilty to two counts of second degree vehicular homicide, which is a misdemeanor in Georgia, and carries a maximum sentence of one year, and a $1000 fine. This is a tragedy for ALL cyclists - we are now targets of opportunity, with a value of a thousand bucks. All they have to say is "my attention wandered - it was an accident."

One of the hobbies I used to have when I was on my "vacation" from cycling was golf. I read a lot of books about it, and one of my favorite authors was Harvey Penick. There's a famous story about how Harvey used to inscribe the inside of all his golf books that he signed "To my friend and pupil." When asked why he did this, he replied "If you read my book, you're my pupil, and if you play golf, you're my friend."

I don't pretend to understand our legal system. People who perform insanely petty crimes can, under the right (or wrong) circumstances be sent to jail for ridiculous lengths of time. Martha Stewart got sent up the river over $50,000 and a stock tip. The person who crossed over the white line to run down Dave Martin can quite possibly go free with little more than a slap on the wrist. That seems an absurd penalty for killing the friend I never knew.