spasticrobot

2006 Giro d'Italia

The 89th Giro d'Italia kicks off this weekend. It's the first Grand Tour of the season and lately it has become an even more exciting race than le Tour de France.

The burning questions of this year's race are:

Will Basso win the Giro and then finally go on to win le Tour, creating the first double winner since Marco Pantani?

Will Salvodelli use his superior descending skills to capture victory again for the second year in a row?

Is Jan Ullrich up to the challenge of both the Giro and le Tour this year?

Can Di Luca, Bettini, Simoni and Pettachi challenge the favorites at every turn, creating thrilling attacks on the climbs, descents and sprints?

Velonews has great team by team breakdown up on their site. One thing is for certain, it's going to be an exciting race that will lead to an exciting Tour de France.

First Wednesday Ride

Yesterday Chris, John, and I went out for our first Wednesday ride of the DST season. We rode about 30 miles, most of which were spent on the Lakefront moving at a pretty high pace. Riding for a few hours on a work day is an amazing thing.

Again, I encourage anyone who wants to join us to meet-up in front of NOMA, in City Park, on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. It's a great ride and if non-roadies show up we will keep the pace nice and easy for most of the ride.

Three Important Things

1. This weekend I took a big proactive step toward launching a new enterprise. Starting a business is something I've often thought about with some trepidation but I've finally decided to just go ahead and do it. Damn the torpedoes! More to come.

2. I had a really nice ride on Satuday to kickoff the DST season. I'm ready to start riding 5-6 days a week. Today will be my first post-work ride of the season and I'm totally amped up about it.

3. Yesterday I watched Tom Boonen win the Tour of Flanders with most of my bike geek homeboys. Drinking beer and watching the Spring Classics with close friends is one of the best things ever. I'm so glad the season has started again.

Daylight Savings Time

Don't forget to set your clocks 1 hour ahead late Saturday night (or early Sunday morning, depending on how you look at it). That's right, it's almost DST time!

For me, DST is all about after-work bike rides. The first weekly Wednesday evening City Park / Lakefront ride meets up this Wednesday at 5:30pm in front of NOMA. If you want to do a nice 17-20 mile pace ride come out and meetup. It's great, relaxing, mid-week fun!

Rouleur Magazine

Rouleur is a new cycling magazine from Rapha, makers of beautiful and super high quality cycling gear. The layout looks amazing and the content sounds incredible.

The first issue's featured articles include:

• Redoubtable rouleurs - profiles of the rouleurs who have inspired us the most
• Pride and prejudice - a comparison of Record and Dura Ace that focuses on design and emotion rather than practical performance
• Le Tourmalet - an account of the classic climb
• Kraftwerk - a study of the German techno pioneers and their relationship with the ultimate man-machine
• Obsession - photographs from a day of suffering
• Fixed Idea - an essay on the appeal of the fixed gear
• Magnus - an interview with the sinister but likeable Swede

I can't wait for my issue to arrive.

As a sidenote I'd be remiss not to mention just how badass I think the Rapha site is in and of itself. If you are a fan of cycling or web design take a minute out of your hectic day to enjoy the pleasure of their products, features and about pages. They really evoke the drama and beauty of cycling through their simple and lovely design and copy.

The Hell of the South

Long before I started getting serious about cycling I had heard all kinds of crazy stories about the Rouge Roubaix. From the fact that it’s the bloodiest road race in the south to the stories of the year everyone’s water bottles froze to the legendary hazards, I had heard enough to know it was something I would never want to do.

And then something crazy happened, I started riding my bike almost daily and started getting really serious about cycling. I slowly started to realize that part of the reason I loved riding so much was because of the intense feeling of relief I would get after a long hard pull in the saddle. I knew sometime last year that I was working towards the inevitable reality of riding in this year’s Roubaix. Then in December I decided firmly that this race would be my first big cycling challenge.

Lenten Penitence

To make up for my indulgences during Carnival I am turning the screws on myself during lent. First and foremost, I am cutting drinking out for a while and quitting smoking permanently. I did great in these efforts during the month of January but February's excess knocked me off-track.

I'm also moving to Phase II of my fitness & nutrition plan. It starts this weekend with the Rouge Roubaix, a 100 mile bicycle race which includes some serious hazards like dirt roads, uphill gravel trails, abandoned bridges and cow grates. This is 100% pure lenten penitence. Hopefully, this will push me into a higher state of training and riding which will result in overall better well-being.

As always I'll take lots of pictures and I'm sure I will have plenty of stories to tell at the end of it all.

Tour de bris

Saturday's ride was a really amazing experience. Sonny, Chris, Dave and I met up with around 50 other riders at Audubon Park around 8am and spent the next six hours riding through (and stopping in) almost 50 miles of the most damaged parts of our region including Central City, Lakeview, Gentilly, New Orleans East, St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward. Riding through it all really gave me a new perspective of just how massive the footprint of destruction is and just how far behind we are with our reconstruction efforts. When will this all be fixed? Will it ever?

Link to my photos of the ride
Link to CHOMPS' account of the ride
Link to Baton Rouge Advocate coverage of the event

New Orleans Adventure Ride

Tomorrow I'm doing this ride and I'm a little nervous about it. The terrain will be crazy, it's my first big group ride and it will be the longest I've ever ridden. If nothing else I'll have a great story to tell and some great photos to post. If the weather holds up I think it's going to really be quite an experience.

Kenny's New Orleans Adventure Tour Sat Jan. 28
From Kenny Bellau

Come to Audubon Park at the Magazine Street. entrance at 8 a.m. sharp for a
tour of New Orleans like you've never experienced.

On Saturday, Jan. 28 I will be hosting a tour of New Orleans' most impacted
areas, including Chalmette. This will be an easy ride of about 60 miles with
several stops along the way, expect 4 hours or less. The pace will be
typical (or what is supposed to be typical) for a winter ride ... strictly
small ring. We will stop at several significant places, levee breaks and a
couple of flooded homes with commentary by myself and others that have
first-hand knowledge, personal loss or riveting stories. People from outside
the area are especially welcome and encouraged to come. I can promise that
this will be educational and unforgettable to anyone who participates. Even
if you live(d) in New Orleans, you should join us for this memorable ride.
It is guaranteed to give you a greater understanding of the scope of
Hurricane Katrina and you will see and touch things that some bus tour can't
offer.

What you will need for this ride:
1. Good tires! I've been riding in these areas a bunch lately and have yet
to get a flat, but my tires are brand new. There is a lot of glass on the
roads. Tube, pump, etc. highly recommended.
2. A camera.
3. Scruffy shoes: We will get off the bikes and walk up to at least one
levee break. It is rocky and rough and your best shoes and cleats might make
you think otherwise. This is really something you should see up close.
4. Entry fee: Write public officials from other states. Forward your
pictures to out of state friends. Get the word out how bad our politicians
screwed up and how they continue to screw up. Just go home and talk about
it.

Time and Place:
We will meet at the Magazine entrance to Audubon Park across Magazine from
the zoo. There is plenty of parking and bathrooms there. We will leave at
8 a.m. sharp! We should be back to the park before noon.

*This ride will be in the city on city streets. We will be expected to obey
all traffic laws. Basic bike handling skills will be useful. No one will be
left behind, but you should be able to ride comfortably in a pack. We will
also be going over a very big bridge with expansion joints and we will need
to be careful. At least one of our stops will have drinks, Clifbars and
bananas and we hope to have at least one follow vehicle (that position is
still open). Also, anyone is welcome to follow in their car and join in with
the discussion. This is a "ride at your own risk" event and is not
sanctioned or sponsored by anyone or any organization.

Please set this date aside on your calendar and come to New Orleans for a
truly memorable experience.
Hope to see you at the park...

Finding my Legs, Again

I went riding twice this weekend, which is a major breakthrough at this point. My personal fitness has suffered greatly from the K-flood and subsequent aftermath. Riding in the city, especially through Midcity and the Lakefront is really nice right now. The debris in the roads is finally picked up enough to not scare you into the way of cars and even when you do have to swerve to avoid a nail, pile of dirt, or random household item, there are very few cars to worry about.

Saturday I rode solo and it was overcast, windy and COLD. It was my first time really riding in the cold and despite the massive amount of snot that I had to deal with I really enjoyed myself. I rode up Esplanade to City Park, which is a heartbreaking sight to see. Hundreds of the beautiful Live Oak trees that filled the park before the flood are now missing, their stumps the only sign that any trees were ever there at all. And everything is brown, the only bright spot is the mini Christmas in the Oaks display that volunteers somehow were able to get up and running. After a few depressing laps around my old training route, I rode back home.

Sunday I rode with Chris through City Park up Marconi to the Lakefront, which is in really great shape. It was a beautiful, sunny day and a tailwind carried us through the first lap, all the way up to the Industrial Canal. The headwind on the way back was horrible and my loss of fitness really kicked in as I struggled to maintain 15 Mph on the flats and 13 Mph on climbs. Despite my weak sauce on the way back out, I really enjoyed the ride.

Both days felt great and somehow the experience of riding out to the Lake brings closure to many of the things that had been plaguing me after the flood. I rediscovered confidence in my riding and I'm finally ready to start riding regularly again. It's going to be a moderate December, with rides on the weekends and the consumption of some Holiday Treats while thinking about the grueling training months ahead, just around the corner.