Boonen tops 'em in Spain

Angry-Sprinter, Tom Boonen and his Belgian hit-squad reeled in a huge attack in the closing laps by none other than Alexandre Vinokourov, and Paolo Bettini to win the 2005 World Championships in Spain yesterday.




This tops a fantastic year for Tom, that included Flanders and Paris-Roubaix victories.

American bright spot, Saul Raisin, failed to finish, but put in a great effort as part of an early break.

...with Worlds down, that can only mean one thing...BRING ON THE CYCLOCROSS!!!

Problems Facing Completion of Katy Trail North of St. Charles

Here's an article which details some of the problems facing the completion of the Katy Trail from St. Charles, north towards Illinois.

Bridge Access For Cyclists in STL Area

This answers a question which had been burning somewhere in the back of my mind for awhile: How many different bridges can you cycle across in the STL Area?
You also might check out the Missouri Bike Fed which is working for better and safer conditions for cycling around the state. GORC belongs to it.

The Worst Album Covers Ever

Here's a link to a collection of some truly awful album covers.

Ninja-Pirate Assembly of God

First we find out that today is Talk Like a Pirate Day.
There's also a church that will embrace both Izak and F'Ed.


The FSM is certainly amazing.

More motorcycle madness

The Formula Smack Pack race in Texas sounds a lot like the mountainbike singlespeed "competitions." Nurse's costumes on guys (over leathers), the women's winner didn't even ride, lemans start and major course-cutting without consequences, and it sounds like tons of fun, for charity even. Oh yeah, and they were on supermotard motorcycles -- tricked out single-cylinder dirt bikes set up for street riding. It's kind of the motorcycle equivalent of urban assault or singlespeed or something.

My friend sent me the link with the byline, "all they needed was a jump through fire." I can't believe they missed that.

Story Link:
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=23989

The future of downhill bikes?

I guess it was inevitable. The throttle twisters at FX Bikes in New Zealand finally realized that modern downhill bicycles are just motorcycles without motors and replaced the drivetrain with a little two-stroke. Or I guess you could say they replaced the heavy parts of a motorcycle with "lightweight" DH bicycle parts to make a motorcycle that weighs about 100 pounds.

My favorite quotes from the article.

HANDLING
You can actually bunny-hop
obstacles and pull up the front wheel with
your own strength.
...
WHAT BROKE?
Broken wheel – The spokes on the mountain bike rear wheel collapsed under load. They have now been rebuilt with all the nipples Loctited.
...
RIDER FEEDBACK:
I could see myself sneaking onto tracks I shouldn’t be on.


Well at least he's honest.

I'm sure these bikes are loads of fun and all (in the right place) but I won't be replacing my hardtail with one anytime soon.

Those Crazy Germans

Pimp My Bike.
What will they think of next?

Vuelta anyone?

There is a race going on in Spain, and even if Lance isn't in it...









Here's the profile for today's stage. Heras has managed to retake the lead by putting 4-1/2 minutes into Menchov.











That's called ripping the legs off the competition folks. Heras deserves another one.

Monthly Meeting Wed. 9/07

The regular monthly meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Schlafly Tap Room.
Be there to find out what this picture is all about.

Wednesday Report from Salida

Wednesday, Fresh legs. The-Pimp, 3-Bowl, and the Great Randini fly in. We take all of a few hours to acclimate, drink some of the great beer (nice Stout), and kit-up for the 35-mile epic of Monarch Crest to Rainbow trail.

We're also joined by Special guest rider #1, Jim Butler. A former StL resident and supa-fast dude. He's on a singlespeed, a truly bad man. The ride is stellar, and everyone on the GORC-crew nails it big-time. We had a great ride that punctuated by unbelievable views, great trail, and sunny 60-degree temps. Rain threatened briefly, but the ride was dry, and the trails were fast.

Wednesday night we headed into Salida for some fresh parts - chainring for the pimp, and derailluer hangar for Big-Pun. The evening on the town ends with Giant Burrito's at White Water Wraps in Salida.

We're gonna be ready to rock on Thursday, for legendary Trail 401 in Crested Butte!

Stay Tuned.