A Brief Pity Party

Diagnosis: Asthma
RX: Advair, Singulair, Albuterol
Ah ha: Strength outpacing aerobic capacity makes more sense now. Hopefully the drugs will get the dude sitting on my chest the hell off now.

Bummin' :-(

Quotes of Note - Issue 3

"It doesn't get any easier, you just get faster."

- Greg LeMond

From the book The Quotable Cyclist by Bill Strickland

Filippo Pozzato Takes Milan-San Remo 2006 - La Primavera

Milan-San Remo is one of the earliest races of the season and is the longest classic race. The 2006 edition weighed in at a whopping 294 kilometers, that's 183 miles for you non-metric folks. This years winning average speed another impressive number 45.27 km/hour...28.13 miles/hour! There are little old ladies in my neighborhood who don't drive their cars 28.13 miles per hour! Milan-San Remo was first run in 1907 and was organized by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. The organizers were not sure it was even possible to do.

I was watching the last half on OLN and the thing that blew me away was watching the guys in the last 10km hammering up the Poggio. I can't remember his name now, but this big dude from CSC was in the big ring going up the climb and was carrying so much speed in the corners he was nearly biting it all the way up. The big ring people?!? Well, all 162 finishers felt the miles deaden legs, and the searing pain of the climbs, but only Filippo Pozzato of Quick Step-Innergetic knows what the win feels like.

Some interesting facts about the race:

• Italy has the most victories with 49.
• The greatest number of wins is 7 by Eddy Merckx
• Since the first edition in 1907, the only time the race has not been held was due to war in 1916, 1944 and 1945.

For more great facts, history, and stats about the Milan-San Remo race cruise on over to http://milansanremo.co.uk, this person did a really good job with the site.

Garmin Edge 305 Cyclometer - Installation

I managed to carve out some time to install the Garmin Edge 305 with cadence and heart rate on my road bike this morning. I have not had a chance to ride with it yet, but here are my installation and calibration thoughts.

Likes:

• Very easy to set up stem mount for main unit.
• Very easy to set up cadence/speed sensor.
• Very easy to calibrate and set up software.
• Heart rate monitor picked up signal with no problems.
  

Dislikes:

• Cheap ass wheel magnet (used for speed calculation when unit cannot get satellite signal).
• For a unit that retails for around $400, it is really cheap of Garmin to not include a second cadence/speed sensor.
• Again, for a unit that retails for around $400, it is really cheap of Garmin to not include an additional stem and handlebar mount.
  

The unit will track data for 2 bikes - why don't they give you everything you need to make those bikes work the same?

Once I put in some miles, I will post likes and dislikes for the functionality.

Garmin Edge 305 Cyclometer - Very James Bond

If James Bond rode a bicycle, this would be his cyclometer.

I was able to circumvent my inner cheapskate today and scored a pretty good deal on a new Garmin Edge 305 cyclometer with heart rate monitor and cadence! I know, I know, I should smell the flowers and not concentrate on beating records, etc, etc, etc. I simply could not help myself. The Garmin Edge 305 with heart rate and cadence is one bad-ass computer.

Now pay attention 007! Here are some of the features:

• Barometric altimeter for extremely accurate elevation and vertical profile data.


• Auto Lap ™—automatically triggers a lap every time you pass a specified location or travel a preset distance.


• Virtual Partner™—lets you "race" a virtual competitor, making training fun.


• Courses—lets you "race" against a recorded course to try to match previously set speeds at every point along the way.


• High-sensitivity GPS receiver—knows your position even in tree cover and canyons, making it extremely reliable for navigation.


• Training Center: PC-based software (included) overlays ride data on a map and graphs speed, pace, heart rate, cadence and elevation. Create and schedule custom workouts or use workout templates and download to the Edge.

For the full list of features check out the Garmin website.

Once I receive it, install it, and most importantly, figure out how to use the thing, I will publish my review of it. It looks very cool - I just hope it turns out to be worth the $$$$!

I Want My Bike TV!

Here in the mid-Atlantic we are enjoying a brief break from our dreary winter. This weekend it is in the 70's and even though everyone knows winter is not over yet a cyclists thoughts can't help but turn toward spring.

The bike paths and roads are jammed with cyclists all with the same thought - "I'm sick of my fluid trainer, and i'm not going to take it anymore"!

To help you get through the rest of March and get syched up for the spring season, cruise on over to your TV and check out OLN's televised spring/summer racing schedule.

• March 5 & March 12: Paris-Nice
• March 19: Tirreno-Adriatico
• March 19: Milan-San Remo
• March 26: Criterium International
• April 2: Tour of Flanders
• April 9: Paris-Roubaix - GO! George GO!
• April 23: Liege-Bastogne-Liege
• April 23: La Fleche Wallonne
• April 30: Tour de Georgia
• May 7 & 14, May 21 & 28: Giro d'Italia
• June 4 & June 11: Dauphine Libere

July..? What happens in July...?

This year OLN also has a cool new feature that allows you to sign up for email reminders of upcoming races televised on OLN.

*If anyone knows of additional televised racing, please leave a comment with the details....or radio shows, or podcasts.

Enjoy everyone! Spring is just around the bend!

Pimp My Bike

Did you ever own a bike that rode great but had a paint job only a mother could love?

Do you regret stripping all the paint off in a misguided effort to look a little more gonzo-courier?

Just want a naked woman on your stem a 'la Mario Cipollini?

For 30 years the folks at CyclArt in Vista California have been doing some of the best paint and restoration work for bicycles in the business. They can handle leather saddle restorations too (for you old school Brooks lovers). From ghost flames, animal prints, fine art nudes, to my personal fav' the bamboo bicycle the folks at CyclArt can make your vision a reality. They also have a pretty good selection of vintage parts in their eBay store which proves you should never throw any bicycle part away now matter how moldy it is ;-)

I wonder if Xzibit is available for a new show...