By: Jeremy Dunn Aug 5, 01:35 AM

I keep forgetting. But, I usually do that. This time I keep forgetting to say that there are only a few short days left to see the Bespoke Show at the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) at Columbus Circle, in New York City. Yes, that New York City. August 15th is the final day for the show. But, while we are on the subject of handmade bikes, something that we are usually on here, there is another event we should mention quickly. If you are going to be heading over to the MAD show, you should stop by the Cycle Club to see the Richard Sachs Continental bike for the month of August (well, except for when I steal it away to ride D2R2). And tomorrow night there is a chance to meet some of the builders themselves, such as the famed Chris Igleheart.

Moving back to the MAD. Recently I saw the exhibit. Well, it was not that recently, it was actually the same day that I came back from viewing the Velodrome in little old Emmaus, PA (the biggest little bike town in American – is what I would like to call it from here on out [BLBTNA.)) I rode the bus back the next morning after seeing the sights and drinking the beers with Keith P. and TruBS. And when I got off the the bus I figured that I was close enough to trek over to the MAD from and check out what all the hubbub was all about.

So, I booked it uptown – no idea if this is actually uptown , but I’m going to go for it, you know? I walked the few blocks to the museum, but the stifling heat that is NYC made it seem twice as hot as it really is. Which made it 400 degrees walking through that tunnel of hi-rise buildings. Anyway, little country me did it, just like that. I followed the superphone directions to that place and before I knew it I was there.

The space itself is great. Nice and white and large enough to make you go: “How the shit do they do this in New York City?” It really is quite remarkable. The only thing is this: No Photographs.

Come on people this is a gallery space, this is not for snapping away with your digital camera, or your iphone, so don’t try to do it. I could see from the onset that I was going to have some trouble with this one too. My uptown commute, by foot, had brought me to a spot (the MAD in fact) where I was a little bit warmer than usual, and with my tshirt starting hang off of me I tried to plead my case with the good looking girls behind the reception counter. They would have none of it (rightfully so) and no matter how I tried, it did not look good for me getting my own images here.

Well, eventually they put me in touch with their Chief Marketing Officer, or something to that effect so as to get rid of me, but I produced the proper accreditation insuring that I was indeed who I said I was (no one in particular) and was finally allowed to snap a few photographs. Being as thought I wasn’t there “within the required media time” or the day when the media were allow to take photos, it caused quite a stir, and a couple others were dissuade from using their camera phones and digitals even when they produced a “well, what about him” whining, all the while pointing at me. Turns out I had the Golden Hallpass or however that goes…

The bikes there are nothing that we haven’t seen before. And I do not mean for that to come across in a rude way either. Quite literally I have seen these bicycles before. I have seen Richard Sachs Cyclocross Bikes, I have seen Sacha White’s little trike, I have even seen a few of Mike Flannigan’s A.N.T. bikes too. And Jeff Jones? Love that guy.

But there were two things that I had not seen that struck me about this show. One, I had not seen these bicycles in such an elegant space. And two, the ephemera that they had collected around each builder was something that exhibited a pretty special demeanor. But maybe that has something to do with number one.

It probably goes without saying that the best environment to view these bicycles is their natural state. The state that finds them on open roads or muddy cyclocross courses. That finds the Jones bikes ripping through the Oregon forests doing endo’s for only the trees to see. Cruising along a boulevard with a bottle of wine strapped into the basket up front, these are the places that bicycles should be viewed. But in each of those cases they are only seen individually and if we saw all of these together at the same time out in the wild it would seem a little gratuitous and also maybe a little grotesque. (Is not a Sachs bike made for Ripping through the mud, not strapping wine to the front?) But what the Museum does is take them out of their element and give them context next to each other.

So, that you are able to look at them a whole. Wander through the collection and see how they inspire you, but at the same time, see how they have inspired each other. We sometimes forget that that here in the states this form of art is relatively new and that there is a good chance, no matter what they’re proximity to each other they are still aware of each other. And once again, this space prevails.

The long display at the end of the hall was where I spent the most time. Even after I had put away my camera and had been left alone, I still spent the majority of the time slowing moving down the display case and looking at the what was displayed there. All of the New Yorker covers that were on the wall (there should be a new one to add to Mr. Sachs collection with this months cover) excited me simply because I had heard Richard talk about this collection before when we met him at his space in Connecticut. And to see early photos of him racing with a crazy head of hair next to a stack of his now trademark red welding glasses, well, that is the kind of stuff that I came to see…

By: Things we Learn Aug 2, 04:15 PM

A couple weeks ago I wrote an Open Letter to Campagnolo. It was part love letter, part expression of confusion and disappointment. Embrocation got a lot of comments about this piece, mostly good. We even got a coveted call-out on Brendan Quirk’s What’s New column.

Good stuff. (Actually just good to know that someone’s paying attention to us!) I didn’t plan to bring any of this up again until today, when I got a message from Campagnolo themselves, asking if I would publish a response to my open letter. “Of course I will!” was my response, and so, here it is:

You can hardly imagine what a pleasure it was for me to read your considerations and suggestions.

For two main reasons: first of all because they give me a fantastic opportunity to inform personally “the world” (i.e. everybody that can have access to your and my words through the web) about what is going on at Campy in terms of new products, activities and ideas and then because feedback and thoughts of a bicycle enthusiast, like you, contains very important input for a company like us.

I will move to the different points you raise:
First of all, I would like to underline the full respect all of us at Campy have for our competitors and their many achievements.

But let’s start from the product. I am particularly pleased to state that our 2011 new range does definitely contain tremendous changes.

I only have two ways to convince you and other riders to confirm or regenerate your enthusiasm for Campy: rather than go through a long and detailed technical description of the new features and weights, I will simply invite you to ride the new products.

Please just try one of our 2011 groupsets!
Whatever you will choose, from “Veloce” up to “Super Record”, you will immediately feel the goal we pursued in developing our new groupsets, i.e. to outperform the current benchmarks today available in the market in terms of braking, and front and rear shifting performances.

Of course I cannot express any opinions on my competitors’ products; I can only look forward to reading your opinions and comments on a blog or forum (or hopefully in a second open letter to Campy directly), after you have tried our 2011 range groupsets. You use words that for Campy, and which every manufacturer in the world – and I do – would consider as terrific achievements: “great stuff”, “tremendously good products”, “phenomenal product”, up to an incredible “religious experience”… believe me JM; to read these words makes me feel hugely proud, thinking back to my origins, to the people working for Campy, but particularly, to all the riders that our engagement has made and will make happy to ride a Campy equipped bike.

And that’s the point; the 2011 range has been developed to continue and improve all this but with a new, crucial target, i.e. to convince young and ambitious riders that even riding a now easily achievable and well priced 10-speed “Veloce” and “Centaur”, or today a very convenient 11-speed “Athena” (thanks also to the devaluation of Euro to Japanese Yen and US Dollar), they can experience Campy in full.

I then would like to come to some of your very intelligent and proper considerations on the route-to-market. To get the control of our Distribution is world-wide and one of our major targets: the way our products today sometimes come to the market, bypassing the Dealers, their role and their added value to Campy is a cash-flow killer, not at all a positive aspect. The shortcut price flow, whilst protecting naturally the final consumer in terms of product cost, generates a price battle along the distribution chain, so that the immediate undisputed price advantage for the consumer risks to set aside both the competence of the Dealers in conveying our product to the market and the technological content of the product itself.

Through several activities that you will see soon (also in the US) we will give more and more importance to the Dealers, highlighting their competence, their ability to correctly address the rider’s choice, their importance to provide the after sales service.

I appreciate your considerations on the way we advertise and promote our products in the market. I am sure you also understand we have to make choices; Campy is continuing to hugely invest in the product both to keep it at the top in terms of performance and to make it achievable and more competitive for a larger number of users – particularly young riders.

What we want to convey through our ads is the concept that Campy is reiterating into the present its tradition, its excellence and its values: history to Campy is not the past but simply the base of the present, with the unchanged attention and care for the top performance the riders in every age are looking for. The support to racing teams is a great effort we are trying to bring forward, but we have to be honest in recognizing we cannot be everywhere and on every segment. It is true that our choice was to sponsor Pro Teams with the aim to link our brand to top performances: this year the 5 riders covering the first 5 positions at “Giro d’Italia” on 4 different brand bikes were Campy equipped. At the end Campy was on 12 victories out of 21 stages.

At “Tour de France” too the achievements and stage victories were great; we won 7 stages and we took back to Italy the “Green Jersey” after many years. Coming to “Tour of California”, Campy has got this year important victories in stages 4, 5 and 6.

The support to local races is something we already do to promote our products in some countries, but frankly speaking, we need to concentrate our actions paying very close attention not to spread them out and risk losing impact where we do them.

Nevertheless, the US market belongs strategically one of our top priorities and we will set up dedicated actions to this crucial market aimed to encourage riders to test our products at the Retailer’s end. We are very proud to have an incredible number of riders tattooed with Campy logo and we are at the same time proud to know that the main entrepreneurs and product managers in our sector world-wide have their personal bikes equipped with Campy despite the bicycles specified in their catalogues; but I agree with you this is not enough. We need to do more. We are preparing our future on daily basis and we are eager to see the results of our efforts; should we succeed to engage you, JM, to test our new products and come back to Campy with the same old enthusiasm, this will be for us another important victory!

Thank you and… I hope to meet you on the road.

Ciao
Campy

Pretty cool, huh? I think so. And getting a response at all totally dispels any assumptions I had about Campy not caring about the US market. All I can say in response right now is that I most certainly WILL try the 2011 Campy product. That’s a foregone conclusion… Quite frankly, I can’t wait and I’ll be certain to report back my feelings. Although if it’s anything like your previous product, I’m sure to love it. Who knows, maybe the Embrocation Team will find themselves on Campy next year… wink, wink.

Seriously, Mr. Campagnolo, thanks for the response. It means a lot to me as a life-long devotee of your product and I can see that you really do understand and take seriously my concerns and complaints. I’ll shut up now and let you do what you do best without having to worry about punks like me.

By: Jeremy Dunn Jul 29, 06:07 AM

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to get to spend the week in New York City. Wow, what a place, that city. A worthy adversary for sure. And now that we are on the subject, I think that it is safe to say that I know why people call it ‘the City.’ It used to piss me off when people from NYC would say that, referring to the place that they call home ‘the City.’ It just sounds so uppity and fucking annoying if I am allowed to speak plainly. And I am.

But when you spend a little time there you start to realize why it has earned its moniker. It has something to do with the people on top of people, but also the accesibilty of everything. The City itself defines exactly what it means to be a city, and then takes it to such an extreme that you cannot help but succumb to it. At least I did.

I found myself traipsing around the Lower East Side at night, nodding to the sentry’s behind the newsstands, talking to loud into my phone and crossing the street whenever I damn well please. Same with being on the bike. If there is a way that I could bring Piers North out here to give a little lesson to…well, all of Portland, I would. And his lesson would be this “How to Ride your Bicycle in an Urban Environment.” On one 20 block ride he nearly crashed into four old ladies, almost tipped over a fruit stand, and ran 32 red lights. It must be noted that not one of the old ladies even blinked as they avoided his spinning front wheel. I was in heaven while this all happened. Not even joking. I miss the days that aggressive city cycling was the norm.

And what was I doing when I was riding through that sweaty city? Commuting to work of course.

The Cycle Club is well on its way to Cycle Club infamy, as far as those things go.

And it has everything to do with the man in charge. I do not mean Brett Cleaver, I mean the man really in charge. If you do not know who Mike Spriggs is, you best familiarize yourself. Aside from Gage & Desoto (I always forget to ask where the name comes from) and being the head honcho over at the Club, he is also a) a really nice guy and b) a fierce collector of bicycle books. And aside aside from that he can be seen above furiously writing out the next days TdF Stage on the Leaderboard. And that was before he went home and wrote out a recap of that days stage (the yellow clipboard below the chalkboard).

No shit? – You’re saying that to yourself right now aren’t you? You did not know that about Mike. Well, now you do. The best part about this though, if you live in ‘the City’ is that Mike has made his library available for you to peruse. Well, he has made them available to you, and he has also stocked them with some of the better Cycling Publications out there, but also that have ever existed.

There is the current stock of pubs. Yeah, got it Alberto, you’re saying Two with your hands there. But, really, if you had wanted to be ominous for PRO Cycling there, you would have held up “tres” fingers for us to see. (Tres is three in Mexican in case anyone is keeping track). But really the point of all this buildup is to get to the one that I have already shown you. It is this one right above, with Greg Lemond in the Stars and Strips (I like ‘Strips’ better because in England that is what they sometimes call Soccer Uniforms – Strips, and once a very beautiful, very English girl told me that she liked my Strip – it got weird because I thought she said “I’d like you to Strip” but alas, not all of them work out as planned – except that one did.) Aaaanyway…

No idea really as to why it is called “Eddy Merckx The Fabulous World Of Cycling” other than the fact that he wrote the intro. But I would venture a guess that if we had to call all of Cycling – Eddy Merckx, like, if he owned it, well, I guess I would be ok with that. “No Argue” he would say after that, and no one would.

The book itself is fuuuucking amazing though. I had the extreme pleasure of sitting with the author of the book Typography for the People (peep it in the photo where Mike is writing furiously – and then go buy it cause its awesome and comes with free fonts) and it is safe to say that we both went apeshit over the whole thing. The kits that everyone is wearing, every photo with Lemond and his neatly feathered hair, and some of the sponsors that were a part of the sport were mindblowingly awesome as well.

For a book about cycling, the were sure into the gore of the sport. Although, I guess, who isn’t? The layout of the book is fantastic. The commentary alone is worth trying to find the book, I only glanced at a few of the descriptions, but they are all written with a strange air to them… take this one for example..

“In any case Kuiper’s Victory deserves our full respect.” Oh yeah? Well then why did you spend the lines before it talking about someone who had the potential to win, but did not? I find that to be an odd remark.

Just to have a visual photo album of the ’83’s races makes the book stand out on its own. The only thing better would be to have it signed by everyone involved, like a sort of yearbook.
“Hey Greg Sweet Race at Worlds! You win. Ps – Quit trying to use those dorky handlebars, they’re never going to get you anywhere” – Prof.

“Yo Greggy. Time to get a cool nickname eh? Say hi to the ladies for me…
j/k see you in Colorado. Oh yeah, did you see that photo of me when I won Fleche? So badass!!” – Bernard “the Badger” Hinault

In any case, I am sure that we could go on and on with that one. Thanks goes out to Mike for sharing his beloved Cycling Library with everyone. Stop over and say hi and he would love to talk to you about Cycling. Or Bikes. Or Books. Or Babes (what? it starts with a “B”). But, my question for you – dear readers – is who the hell is this?

By: Embro News Jul 28, 05:10 PM

Our newest team equipment sponsor is the legendary Cinelli, who have gone completely above and beyond the call of duty to create these little honeys for us:

That’s right. You saw it correctly. Imagined and designed by our very own Jeremy Dunn; produced by Cinelli, these are custom painted Cinelli Ram integrated bar/stem units. Embrocation Team Edition custom painted Ram bars. You can’t get them – at least not yet, but we may be working on it… maybe. Anyway, enough words.

Hole Shot by Backyard Blam

We’ll be at it. And if you’re in the general Portland area, so should you. Go visit Amanda’s blog for updates on this event and to check the list of sponsors as they come in. We’ll be kicking down some Embro goodies for sure, so stay tuned.

JDK Design to do Soft Goods
Those who’ve been paying attention to the goings on here at Embrocation will know the name JDK Design for a couple reasons: 1) They were guest designers for Embrocation Volume 3 and 2) their CEO, Steve Francisco is an integral member of the Embrocation race team. As of this week, JDK will be our newest supplier for custom soft goods – T shirts, jackets, etc. They’ve already contributed to our lineup of clothing by designing and producing our special edition Dope shirt. Look for more goodies in the coming months lovingly produced by JDK.

Pro Bar

We got a little care package in the mail the other day – a sample package from one of our new team sponsors: Pro Bar. If you’re not familiar with these guys, you should be. These are the best tasting, most satisfying and healthiest energy bars around. They’re food made from real food – read the ingredients and you’ll be shocked to recognize each and every one in the bar – no fillers, no chemicals; just delicious stuff. We’re busy handing these little beauties out to the team and should have some reviews on the team site before too long.

Team Schedule and a Special Deal

Cyclocross is coming. Can you feel it? Can you? We can, and we’re getting our gear in order, including our team bikes provided by Ridley. International Bicycle Center in Boston is our team’s official retail sponsor. They’re also one of the biggest Ridley dealers in the US and, come fall, they have one of the biggest selections of Ridley cross bikes you could possibly imagine. If you happen to bump into one of the Embrocation team riders in the coming months, you can score a special team discount card – pictured above. This card, when presented at either of the International Bicycle locations, will give you a discount on the Ridley of your choice. It’s a pretty good deal on some pretty great bikes, but you can only get this with the card; and you can only get the card from one of the Embro boys or girls. You can find them in the coming weeks at these events:

July 30th thru August 1st – Tour of the Catskills; Hunter and Windham, NY
August 1st – Norwell Circuit Race; Norwell, MA
August 4th – Gran Prix of Beverly; Beverly, MA
August 8th – Concord Criterium; Concord, MA
August 9th – Tokeneke Road Race; East Hartland, CT
August 11th – Witches Cup Criterium; Salem, MA
August 14th – NY Capital Region Road Race; Albany, NY
August 15th – Fall River Criterium; Fall River, MA
August 18th – Greylock Criterium; Pittsfield, MA
August 21st – D2R2;
August 28th – Topsfield Circuit Race; Topsfield, MA
September 3rd thru 6th – Green Mountain Stage Race; Waitsfield, VT

And more to come…

By: Jeremy Dunn Jul 28, 10:30 AM

It is official. That just happened. Garrett Chow and total MASH-er just emailed me to let me know that this bad boy just dropped. Or is about to drop, or however the hips and hops happen, this is it. I showed this to my roommate Steven Hunter and it is possible that he lost his mind a little bit. Maybe not officially, or outwardly, but he definitely wanted to. And I can just about hear Rich Bravo and Whit Yost clamoring for their credit cards on this one.

Artoo from Hypebeast covered it too.

Speaking of Rich Bravo apparently this is what happens when you forget your new (and I might add custom colourway-ed) Oakley’s at his apartment in Chelsea. This gives Rich the full on right to literally molest my glasses though different parts of that tiny island that we like to call Manhattan. And I have to say, if there is one way to do it, it is this… However, I am not going to lie, I like you and all Rich, but you could not have gotten ANY cute girls to model them? Or homeless? I mean, come on man, take it to the extreme. Although, just the simple fact that you got them that close to the flowing mane of that hairdresser (yours??) gives you a few much needed style points.

Now, Um, can I get those back?

The thing to note is that Bravo dressed appropriately (as always) in an Embrocation Luchador T-shirt. Which, always makes me happy. Now, if only I could get him to model the DOPE one, those could also start flying off the proverbial shelves. I promise, it is not a comment on cycling. Or is it? The other thing that I really liked about Rich’s exploits with eyewear was that he kept on calling them the “Wayward Lenses.” Now if that is not someone who studied ‘the Classics’ then I do not know what defines these people…

And Spriggs. He got Mike Spriggs and Andrew Crooks in on it. Bastards!

By: Jeremy Dunn Jul 23, 04:49 AM

I know it is Friday, and I know that it is the last Friday before the end of the TdF. And while the race may already be decided, it also might not. What I am hoping is that Schleck pulls out some newfangled contraption – not a motor for his downtube we already have those – some kind of special handlebars or something that offer his body a more forward – (ie futuristic looking) position on the bicycle (I know, I get it, they would have to be really space age to make that happen) and he wins the Tour by narrowly beating Contador due to his tactical advantage in the Time Trial. But, then again, that could probably never happen.

I hope you have some time on your hands.

It is wonderful to be able to watch the climbing stages over and over. This is not really something that I can always do, but I like to. Today, I sneak glances at the TV and Kolobnev as he goes for yet another of the KOM sprints. This is playing for the third time straight. Glad no one minds.

Andy Schleck too is a marvel to watch. Contador makes me jealous. Snakehips. Whatever, who cares, he looks unique, fluid, sleek but in his own curious way. And these are the people that I channel when I climb, knowing full well that I probably look like an awkward bar room brawling (complete with look cleats and carbon soles) version of these two. Heavier sure, but also muscling the bike around like I am trying to make it do my bidding instead of the perfect union that is either of those two. Ah well, it still hurts the same either way.

Speaking of climbing, I had the chance to ride with KV the other day. Turns out we did a little bit of climbing, for most of it I was again staring at the ground whirring away beneath my tires. New ones in fact, but that is besides that point. Kyle is one of these “editors” one of these guys who sits behind a computer screen, or bank of computer screens, all day and gets to just play around with videos. Or at least that is how I imagine his life to be. Dark and filled with cheetoes. Keyboards smudged with greasy orange paw prints. In truth I am sure that it is something a bit more sterile than that. And KV does not ride his bike like he eats a ton of Cheetoes.

The reason that we were talking about editing though is because one of the last pieces that KV edited is one that many of you have been seeing for the past…oh say 18 days or so…

Nike Lance Armstrong commercial: ‘Engine’ from Anthony McLean on Vimeo.

My question for him was about the second move, where the camera pans back over the mountains and why that move was necessary. He said to help establish the fact that the voices were solely surrounding Mr. Armstrong and not a product of the environment. Makes total sense to me, but what he told me next was what made the whole thing ridiculous and funny. Apparently people who had watched the video online had written in to tell them (Nike and W + K in this case?) that the audio keeps cutting out throughout the film. And this is where KV reached out and started smacking his own helmet and saying “It’s the voices in his head, it’s the voices in his head.” See how they come back when the camera shifts back….nevermind.

What I also find interesting is the “Una Mas” commercial that has been airing directly after (or was it before) the Armstrong ad – and they aren’t Nike Ads anymore – they’re Armstrong ads. I have to say (no offense KV) that if I had to choose one over the other it would have to be the Specialized ad. Two reasons for this. Well, ok maybe more than two.

1) lighter. this evokes a spirit that LA has been missing for quite some time now
2) lighter. as in color and brightness. tone, if you will. quit being so fucking dour Lance. you did this to yourself, this was your choosing.
3) the music
4) we all know that he has voices in his head.
5) if I woke up from a crazy dream, naked in front of a crowd of people and it was on a Specialized Roubaix, or whatever Contador is riding now Spz-A36 or something, in Astana Blue, I would be less embarrassed than if I was riding a Trek Whatevs 940. Fer realz.
6) I like that ‘Berto is doing hill repeats – fast – instead of ambling along looking back on his career and “all the pressure to do this” and “the people wanting me to do that.” Heard It. Contador has made it all about the best part. Riding his bike.

I feel like a dick now. Sorry KV, your work is amazing.

————————————————————————————————
Cycling Inquisition with an amazing story that includes but is not limited to: Colombia, drug trafficking, murder, infidelity, and Cycling. There is a video at the bottom of this post that I think you should check out. It is of JV showing off his hotel room and offers amazing insight into that man that we know and love. Family man? Maybe, check out his sleeping shirt and photos of his family. Also, a man of discerning tastes? Well, I do not blame you Jen’s. I think that those synthetic feeling off color blankets are weird too…

Spriggs and I were talking about him all last week at the Cycle Club. Hoping for glimpses of him in post race interviews, or, more importantly, at the front of the peloton crushing peoples ever-loving spirits. Or, conversely taking a kid’s bicycle out for a joyride. The man will just not back down, and no matter what he said about stage 3, he still wins in my mind. Please do not retire my man. We need you.

Need proof? Jens Voigt? (please click that link). (pretty please). Damn, he has a sense of humor as well. What more can you want?

Honestly, let us get back to Spriggsy and I? Our JuJu must be taking some serious hold. Because in all probability it was just that type of talk that got us a mention near the bottom of that NYTimes post. Ok, not really us, but you know what I mean, that is our boy Graeme killing it on the Tourmalet. And just like that the revelations just keep coming.

One merry prankster in the comments sections offers insight into Voigt.
Joke from the Seventies:
“Why do cycling shoes have all those holes in them? To let the blood run out.”
-brought to you by Harry from Boston.

Now enjoy this:

By: Raison de Velo Jul 20, 11:46 AM

Some terrible things have been going on around the Tour de France this year. The most spectacularly horrific and godawful has little or nothing to do with Armstrong and Evans falling over a lot, or the strange blood that must be coursing through Vino’s veins, or the teams or the race itself. At least not directly. The most vile of vituperation emanating from the wake of the Tour is the nut filled turd known as VeloCenter. This preview and recap “show” on velonews.com is at minimum the most insulting attempt at race analysis ever broadcast. To watch even one segment is to quickly de-evolve from a once content and excited state of post racing glee to a mush brained Fox Sports style feeling of emptiness and lethargy. Levels of incompetence far beyond what was ever thought possible are reached with great frequency throughout the several minute broadcast. This swill makes the talking head they put next to Phil, Paul and Bob Roll on Versus seem like a seasoned cycling journalist. View at your own dismay. Velonews.com and VeloCenter truly reach for the lowest common Nascar denominator.

Another terrible thing that results from the Tour isn’t really terrible at all. It’s better than in the fall when a similar instance occurs when “cyclocross season” begins. All conversation, regardless of initial topic, finds its way to the Tour and, very likely, Mr. Armstrong. Personally, I thoroughly enjoy talking about professional racing and would gladly participate in such conversations all year long. In fact I do. The down side is when a conversation takes too long to stray from the original topic to the Tour. Dull, forgettable talks about work or social things too often take increased energy to force the digression. Please allow me to change the subject so we can talk about the Tour. That’s what I will people to understand, sometimes to no avail. On the other side of this conversational coin is the chatter on bike rides. Instead of potential long pauses between topics, nary a moment passes without race discussion even under the heavy duress of a significant climb.

At one point during a ride last week, my two riding companions and I were discussing whether another reigning world champion had worn all three grand tour leader’s jerseys without an overall win. We couldn’t think of any but we never checked, either. Anyway, during the discussion, which was immediately following the second nastiest headwind stretch I’d ever ridden, we pedaled over several short, punchy rollers. These were the kind of roller that are usually momentum climbs not requiring more than a shift or two to crest. But the wind and length had other ideas for us. The rollers kept attacking us; lurking around each bend like terrorists hating our freewheeldom. Though our exit strategy was firmly in place, the time and distance it took to achieve the goal was notably greater than the ride guide had foretold. It seemed as though a 15km section of crosswind rollers was left out of the description between the 20km of viscious headwind and 10km of blissful, serpentine descent. But this was of no great consequence, for we had the Tour to discuss and emulate through every pedal stroke.

By: Whit Yost Jul 19, 05:02 AM

I’m not usually one for histrionics, but I’m running out superlatives to describe the action we’ve seen thus far in the 2010 Tour de France—it truly might go down as one of the most exciting Tours in recent memory. Os someone said in today’s Bicycling Magazine live blog, “2010 Giro d’Italia, meet the 2010 Tour de France.”

Here’s what we noticed:

1. Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck seemed perfectly willing to shut one another out of the race today, even going so far as to let Denis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez ride up the road. While their time cushions remain relatively secure, one has to wonder if today’s display could hurt them later on. Schleck has the most to lose—Menchov and Sanchez are both better time trialists than he is—but Contador must be careful as well. Instead of eliminating two dangerous contenders for the overall title in Paris, they’ve allowed them to creep a little bit closer. With several hard days left in the saddle, anything can happen.

2. As for Schleck, I wondered whether or not we might see him suffer today, as he spent most of the day on the back of the group. But in the end, all this was merely an attempt to shadow Contador—everywhere he went. Schleck’s confidence should be peaking right now, but will it be enough for Schleck to extend his lead over the Spaniard between now and Saturday’s time trial?

3. Menchov and Sanchez are both beginning to look as if they might have the firepower to knock one of the top two favorites from the podium—if given more opportunities to do so. Menchov’s Tour has gone perfectly to plan—having a top-10 contender in Robert Gesink as your lieutenant certainly helps. And Sanchez now has two top-3 stage finishes in this year’s race along with a sixth-place result in Mende. One of the peloton’s most respected descenders, the Euskaltel rider copuld come through with a win tomorrow.

4. Belgium’s Jurgen Van den Broeck had another fantastic day with an attentive and powerful ride to defend his fifth place overall. I’m still wondering if VDB2 might want to tone it down a bit, perhaps letting others set the pace while he waits to launch an attack or two. That said, his strategy is certainly working—he’s on his way to the best finish for a Belgian in years.

5. I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel sorry for Levi Leipheimer. He’s receiving virtually no support in his bid for a high finish in Paris and today lost a place on GC. Radio Shack’s implosion is quickly becoming an embarrassment. Lance is sitting-up to save himself for a stage win, Kloden and Horner seem to be mailing it in, and Bruyneel seems more concerned with the tactics of Contador in last year’s race than those of his own riders in this one.

6. Liquigas was another victim of today’s action with both Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger losing time to the other GC contenders. Basso now sits in tenth overall, while Kreuziger has slipped back to twelfth. There’s plenty of race left for both men to improve their standing, but at this point, top-5 finishes appear out of the question.

7. And by the way, Bradley Wiggins confirmed (literally) what we already knew.

8. And lest we forget it in all the GC hubbub, Christophe Riblon took a fantastic stage win today—the fourth French victory in this year’s Tour and the most in over a decade. Add two days in yellow and a near eternity in the polka dot jersey, and you have the makings of a fine year for the home nation. Bravo!

Looking ahead, the Pyrenees continue Monday with another long day in the saddle. While there’s no summit finish on tap, the top of the hors categorie Porte des Bales comes only 20 downhill kilometers from the finish in Bagneres-de-Luchon. After what we saw on the Madeleine earlier in the week, there’s no reason to think we won’t see more action from the men contending for the overall. A break might indeed get away to take the stage, but I still see Contador trying to shake Schleck on tomorrow’s major climb.

But then again, I’ve been wrong before.

By: Jeremy Dunn Jul 17, 08:47 AM

Joe Staples wrote a nice little piece the other day about lying to yourself.- I was featured in the post, but I think that it should be noted that it is solely because I ride with him all the time, not because I have any bearing on the actual outcome. He could trash me in a second. Most of these people that we ride with could. Only thing is – I was not wearing kneewarmers – psshh – who wears knee warmers?

But the truth of the matter is that he got me thinking about the ways that I lie to myself. And, at this point I will only tell you the cycling ones. If we were to go into the others things could get what you might call ‘a little messy.’ And then I am sure that I would start lying to you, which would be bad, or worse than just lying to myself.

I do not know if what I do would be considered lying because I am fully aware of it when it is happening and am also fully aware when it is over. What happens is that I start to slip, at least visually, and when the slipping starts, it is very, very difficult to stop. And I plead with myself (which is where the lying might factor in) but it is the whole procession of slipping that really is the point.

Most of us when riding get very focused on what is directly in front of us. Possibly not Jens Voigt his focus probably rests somewhere on the top of Pain Mountain, trust me you will never see it, this mountain, because it is in a far off land somewhere. Only he and a few others can see it. Bruce Lee probably saw it. Myself? I tend to focus directly on what is front of me.

Visual Slipping

Barring any real ailments I feel to be in pretty good health at the moment. The big toenail of my right foot fell off recently for no real apparent reason. But, other than that I feel to be the picture of perfect health — except for the fact that I am blind as a bat. I know that everyone says this at some point, especially if they wear glasses, which I do, but seriously I am fucking blind.

For example: I saw some old friends recently. These old friends have not been seen by me in quite some time, and during our time apart I purchased new glasses. This was their response to these glasses; “New glasses eh? I do not remember your glasses making your eyes look all bulgy and buglike the last time I saw you in them. Are they getting thicker?” Thanks guys, just for putting it out there, and yes they are.

For example2: If I were to lose one of my contacts in a race. I would stop and get off my bike. It really would be dangerous for me to be riding blind as a bat.

But the point of that is this: My slipping happens visually.

A person much wiser than myself once taught me a visual trick to help me close the distance between myself and another rider in front of me. He had noticed that I was letting too great a gap open and when he mentioned it to me, for one I did not know what he was talking about, and for two I said “well, why would I want to get that close to another cyclist, I might hit his rear wheel and take us both out.” (This happened one time and it was not pretty.)

So, being a much smarter cyclist than myself he passed along a little knowledge. “Look straight through the bike ahead of you and focus on their front hub.” I tried and it worked extremely well. “You’ll know what they are doing [by the movement of their front wheel] and instinctively move with them, and at the same time, you will be aware of the space between both of your bicycles.”

It was easy, made sense and works every time. Until you start slipping.

If it happens quick, the slip, your vision will go blurry (you’ll wonder if a contact fell out, like me) and you will quickly realize that you have exerted yourself a little too much and plain lost the wheel in front of you. Commence heavy breathing and stamping on the pedals. This method is a bit preferred only because it feels like an accident and any gap you have created can, hopefully, be quickly eliminated.

The slow ones are the ones to watch out for because by the time you realize they have happened, it could be over.

Phase One:
First my vision goes from the front hub to the bottom bracket. This seems ok to me because there is more visible motion happening in this area. The cranks are spinning effortlessly, smoothly in their little press-fit shell (little joke). This can also be an area of wonderment because this is where all the power from the legs is being transformed into forward motion. Even if it does mean I have slipped a little bit – and I am not worried about it.

Phase Two:
When you have gone from the bottom bracket to the read hub, then it is time to start worrying. Take note of what is happening (you are going backward) and start to work to counteract what is happening. I am slipping, ever so slightly off the wheel of whomever is in front of me. Immediately following this revelation, my sight will go to the very back of their back tire. Now, is time to be worried.

Phase Three:
Once I have exhausted the bike in front of me, it is time to move onto your own. Visual Slippage has now taken its toll and what you are left with, fortunately or unfortunately is your own bicycle. The machine underneath you. The problem here, well now you do not have a wheel to follow. Now you are left to your own devices. And if you do not have the mental fortitude of Jens (which unfortunately I do not) Well, then, I hope at least you are having fun.

It is possible to counteract the slip however. All it takes is the mental strength to reverse the process. Quite literally force yourself to look from the rear tire to the rear hub. Punch your eyeballs from the rear hub back up to the bottom bracket. Watch the spinning. And then when you have settled back into the rhythms that have kept you there in the first place. Move your eyes a bit further up to the front hub. Voila. Counteracted.

And while easier said than done, it is something to think about.

Today I slipped, fell off. Clawed my way back on. Slipped again, scratched the inside of my soul until it was raw, and then just decided to be content with how my knees looked bobbing on their own.

Then I was kindly berated for letting this side of things slip too. But it is definitely good to be out and about…

By: Things we Learn Jul 16, 06:43 AM

Dear Campagnolo,

Do you mind if I call you Campy? Everyone else does, so I figured it would be ok. You have to realize that when we say that, it’s not a put-down of any kind. It’s just easier for Americans to say. Some Brits say Campag, which I suspect is said in much the same way – just easier on the tongue. Besides, saying Campagnolo in casual conversation is generally regarded as effete here in the US of A.

I digress. Let me come to the point. I love your stuff, really, I do. I started out riding Shimano for the first few years I was a road rider, mainly because it was what was available and worked well. I liked my time on Shimano, but when I started riding Campy a few years later it was like a religious experience. It totally redefined my expectations of my equipment and my level or riding enjoyment. I started on a Chorus 10 speed group that, over the subsequent few years, I probably rode about 10,000 miles. Since then I’ve invested in a few more 10 speed groups and, more recently, a couple of your 11 speed drivetrains. Again, all great stuff – no regrets.

I just got an email from you with this PDF presentation about your 2011 products and as expected, they look great. It doesn’t look like you’re doing tremendous changes for ’11 but the ones you are doing are really cool. The threaded chainring? Brilliant idea.

And the colored hoods and cable sets… you’re a little late to this party, but we sure are glad you came.

So, here’s the thing, Campy. I feel like our relationship is a bit shallow. I need more from you. You see, a couple years ago SRAM entered my life and everything changed. They used to be the punk kid on the block, making grip shifters and unique if second-rate mountain bike parts. But they grew up, got their act together, improved their products to the point where they’re the new benchmark and they introduced some road gruppos – four awesome road gruppos in as many years to be specific. They’re killing it right now and they totally deserve all their success because their products are really, really good.

But that’s just half the story. You see, Campy, in addition to making some tremendously good products, SRAM, as a company, has a great personality. They’re engaging, involved, enthusiastic, articulate, smart and hungry for the business. They move me. Whereas you, Campy… you are, well, a bit snobby; a tad aloof.

I know if feels like all I’m doing is comparing you to SRAM, but that’s not really the case. SRAM just brings my feelings about you into stark relief. Rather than get jealous, or simply ignore what I’m saying, I think you could use this as a learning experience. It’s clear you’re not totally opposed to change, after all you’re bold enough to do things like 11 speed drivetrains, and embrace fringe technologies like tubeless road, so I know you have the capability to do things differently than you are now.

I think it would be in your best interest to look inward and address the following issues:

1) Get control of your distribution. The fact that your European retailers can sell your products for what in many cases is less than US wholesale prices is absolutely killing your sales in the US. Get control of yourself. I know it’s good for your cash-flow to be selling stuff right out your back door for cheap to those Euro online retailers, but I promise, it’s not benefiting your long-term bottom line and it certainly doesn’t do anything to improve the impression of you product stateside. If retailers can’t make any money selling your goods, then why should they even bother to try?

2) Get involved with domestic racing. I know I keep bringing up SRAM, but I can’t help it… They’re just nailing it and right now they own the amateur racing scene. Why? Because, as I’ve said, they make great products, but more importantly they’re making these products widely available to race teams. They’ve been aggressive about getting as many racers as possible on their good while still helping their retailers maintain a profit margin. They did this so well for the first few years of their road business that now they have an unstoppable momentum – they’re the go-to brand of choice for most regional racers. Don’t dismiss this market – they’re the ones who log the miles, show up to local races and group rides, post pictures of their bikes on blog and online fora. They’re the young riders who will someday stop racing bikes and getting discounted parts and become full fledged, full price consumers. Get them now; plant the seed. Sponsor some regional Pro/AM race teams, support local races, get your logo on some jerseys and most importantly, your parts on some bikes belonging to young, fast people.

3) Do some marketing. You already do this, but it’s a little hurting. Your marketing efforts require more than a little tweaking, especially for the US market. In your attempt to be classy, your advertisements come across as stiff, stuffy and somewhat pointless.

Ditch the retro angle. Maybe it works in Europe but it doesn’t work here. None of your would-be customers cares about the history. They just want cool shit and they want it now. Get gritty and edgy with your ads. Pro Tour stuff is great, but make it real and tangible to your audience. This stuff is just antiseptic dross that neither conveys nor inspires passion. And, for the love of God, make sure you run your copy through someone who’s fluent in both English and Italian…

So, Campy, I hope you’re ok with me saying all this and I hope you realize my criticism comes out of love and concern for your well-being in the long-run. Your product is phenomenal. People love you -they get your logo tattooed on them! I just want our relationship to be built on more than that – I want you to engage me and continually make me want it. And I want you to reach others and make them want it. I’m happy to help you do this, if you’re willing…

JM