Recently in the Cycling Category
“After decades of urban cycling, he’s come to believe that cities are best seen and understood from a cyclist’s-eye view, which hits a perspectival sweet spot, “faster than a walk, slower than a train, and often slightly higher than a person.” The results can almost mystical, he says in his new book, Bicycle Diaries.” Jebediah Reed writes about David Byrne’s dangerous infatuation with urban cycling on Infrastructurist.com.
Mountain biking blogger Terry Richard writes about ten central Oregon bike trails that are perfect for novices and intermediate riders. His suggestions include Dry Canyon, Suttle Tie Trail, and the “graduation ride” at Peterson Ridge: “From Village Green Park, ride south of town on Elm Street, then enter the well-marked trail system at the city limit. The six-mile lower loop is a easy but fun, while the 17-mile upper loop will have you gaining 700 feet. You’ll be ready to ride just about anywhere after this.” On OregonLive.com.
In The New York Times, Ian Austin comments on the arrival of Shimano’s new battery-powered derailleur on the pro cyclists tour and notes that some cycling purists are not happy with even the smallest addition of energy in the human-powered equation: “‘People choose bicycles precisely because a bicycle’s motion requires only human effort, and nothing could be more simple, independent and autonomous’ Raymond Henry, a cycling historian in St. Etienne, France, wrote in an e-mail message. ‘Any source of external energy, however weak, runs counter to this philosophy.’”
The League of American Bicyclists just published a detailed list — along with very interesting and elucidating commentary — of which U.S. politicians seem to have it in for bicycles and cyclists, . “On NPR’s morning news program ‘The Take Away,’ Senator Eric Cantor said, ‘To give you just an example, $3 million went to the District of Columbia. You know what they did with that money? They’re going to go build bike paths, and they’re going to increase the number of bike racks in neighborhoods like Georgetown. I don’t think that that’s a stimulative move.’”
Morgan Keys questions the intelligence of those who merged the idea of a daypack with a folding downhill bike. But I gotta wonder whether it wouldn’t be an awful lot of fun to ride this thing down a couple of my favorite Montana trails after a long hike up. “Wheelie-popping monks aside, there seem to be a few major drawbacks: No pedals means the Bergmonch can only function as a downhill bike; even brief inclines on variable trails will force you to get off and push. The tiny amount of storage space makes long tours out of the question, and since it lacks a seat, standing or kneeling while rattling down the mountain won’t really save your knees or back.” On Backpacker.com.
“Much like a shot of tequila – an entertaining idea but one that leaves you feeling bitter and regretful – the prospect of a muscle-toning bike ride through the rolling English countryside all too often descends into a grit-caked, coccyx-maiming journey along a traffic-choked B road. But relocate the experience into a gym, and those demoralising exterior hazards are replaced by that even deadlier fitness adversary: boredom.” In the U.K. Telegraph, Nick McGrath writes about the new Xdream “virtual” training bike, which provides an ersatz mountain-biking experience for the indoors biker. It’s great failure: it doesn’t challenge the rider’s balance.
We’ve seen a couple of different mashups that use the Google API to measure distance traveled by foot or wheel, but so far the Gmaps Pedometer is the most useful and user-friendly. As the Gmaps Pedometer site says, “This is a little hack that uses Google’s superb mapping application to help record distances traveled during a running or walking workout. Why? As a runner training for a marathon for the first time, I found myself wishing I had an easy way to know the exact distance a certain course is. Looking at Google Maps, and knowing there was a vibrant community of geeks hacking it, I knew there had to be a way.”
The tool has a couple of very cool features: in addition to automatically following road curves and corners, it marks every one mile distance, allows you to save your route to a unique URL, and even calculates your calories burned based on personal weight.
“Spanish cyclists have long come to Mallorca for the variety. There is everything from long, flat coastal roads to the snakelike climbs up the Balearic island’s highest mountain range, the Tramuntana, which forms the backbone of the northern coast. Look up and there they are: calm, green and, at their highest point, almost a mile above you.” In the London Times, Kate Spcier tackles the island of Mallorca.
Tom Stientra suggests taking account of all your gear before a season in the outdoors, whether that means checking your bike tubes, restocking your hiking socks or even giving your boots a full ten-day test before going on a "real" hike. "I've tried about 10 kinds of boots and they've all been good in some way, yet imperfect as well and the search goes on. Francis Tapon, who hiked 6,000 miles last year, wears lightweight trail runners. Tapon's current favorites are Ino-8 Trail Runners, and he says they last about 500 miles. If you wear a heavy pack -- never advised -- or
trek in snow, you'll need a heavier waterproof boot." In the San Francisco Chronicle.
"Four days and 263 miles into a backcountry race and Kathy Roche-Wallace isn't even halfway to the finish. She's limping on a big toe that is infected and swollen. She has a purple bruise the size of a grapefruit on her left thigh from a spill down a mountainside. Her sweat smells of vinegar and ammonia, a sign her fuel-starved body has started burning muscle." Alexandra Alter writes about the popular 500-mile race through Montana's backcountry. In The Wall Street Journal.
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