On Bicycles, and.... what else is there?

I really enjoy Lennard Zinn's articles on VeloNews. I don't always agree with his views, but I often find insight there. Today was an exception . Kestrel's latest Talon SL: very slick. He was asked about the benefit of aerodynamic road frames for mass-start racing. These frames claim to save approximately 1% to 2% of total wind resistance. There's a bunch of them. Kestrel was really the first to my knowledge with their carbon fiber Talon, although that failed to catch on among the mass-start crowd. Cervelo was the first to really break through with its aluminum Soloist, followed by Soloist Carbon (SLC), SLC-SL, and finally this year the S-series. More recently, Felt (with its AR) and Ridley (with its Noah) have jumped on board. There's still others. Chris Boardman claims to be testing an aero road frame. Yet the pros are sometimes reluctant to take advantage of these. While Cervelo was largely successful with its SLC, and even more so with its S3, at get...

Fight Club was one of the great movies of our time, and one of the worst marketed. Oh, yeah, there was that business about guys cutting loose with the barefisted brawls. I think competitive cyclists everywhere strongly relate. But the real message was its potent yet underappreciated " That which you own ends up owning you. " Is there a better summary of culture, our society, our lives? I've been moving these past few weeks. Peeling away the crusted shells of neglect. Stuff pushed aside, hidden away, suppressed. Old bike stuff. Old mail. Old memories. Course notes from school, written with detailed attention I can't imagine giving today. A different age. A different me. In denial of our throw-away society. Old computer boxes, packed with form-fitting styrofoam. Sure, the boxes can be "recycled". But the foam? Where does that end up? Put it on the curb, let them haul it away. Would hanging on to it change anything? Old modems. Why when you ...

I just heard from my coach Dan Smith that Lance Armstrong was wait-listed at the Cherry Pie Crit. I can see it now, long reg lines..... (Pro 1/2 line) "Next..... license and waiver?" Rider hands over license. "Pre-registered?" "No." "All fields are full, but I can add you to the waiting list." "Okay." (writing) "Lance Armstrong. Austin, Texas. 38. Astana." "We'll call your name if there's room.... NEXT?" Expect to see the city Napa in flames, the greater population in a rampage of uncontrolled looting and anarchy, if Lance doesn't get that start line position. Oh yeah, 2007 US Elite Criterium champion and 6-day racer Daniel Holloway of Garmin is also on the list. No riot for him, I'm afraid. update: So much for rumors: Lance is leaving town ... No cherry pies in his diet plan.

First, an apology. Last blog post, which I subsequently deleted, I commented on a power metric which I didn't fully understand. I like playing with formulas, I don't deny it. It's sort of my job (in semiconductor devices, not in cycling). I love trying to model stuff. But if I'm suggesting limitations in someone else's model, I'd better be really sure I understand what they're modeling! I'll still post my models here at some point, but in a more constructive fashion. Today I attended the CalTrain meeting on increasing bike capacity on trains. It's fantastic Caltrain recognizes that given the profound limitations of public transit on the Peninsula, the bike + train combination is a uniquely attractive option. Indeed, it amazes me that anyone tolerates the solo-driver commute from the City. Living in San Francisco with a job on Palo Alto simply would not be an option for me if I were compelled to drive. Caltrain bike car. You've gotta be ...

A Canadian rider asked WeightWeenies forum about good rides to do for a racer visiting Santa Clara county (the San Francisco Bay area) on business. Cara recommended I post the list here, so here it goes. These are rides taking place now, in February. More options open up during Daylight Savings time. And, for example, the fall offers the the Low-Key Hillclimbs , near and dear to yours truly. A description of local climbs is available from Stanford Cycling . This wonderful compilation is largely the work of Sergei Morozov, who unfortunately last time I checked was in exile in New York City. A frustrating fate for a climbing addict.... Keith Vetter's Klimb is a must-see route tracking utility for the San Francisco Bay area and Sonoma. It runs on a broad range of platforms. If you are thinking of charting out a route, you really need to give this a look. It's largely based on Bill Bushnell's comprehensive statistics, meticulously collected in the 1990's. Another ...