Bike Hugger 

I’ve made it to the land of Oz. It’s pretty nice down here (85+), and I’m hoping to really get out for some exploring now that I’ve settled into my home base in Brisbane. Sydney was NOT a bike town. I rode for an hour up and down the same street - mostly because I was afraid of getting lost, but also because it was the only street I found that had any sort of a shoulder to it. I couldn’t imagine trying to get around Sydney on bike alone. Commuting to work there would be a challenge for sure.

Reading the definition of McMansion Masters on Nega-Coach was even funnier after completing my first masters race of the season. The first race with the old guys is always who’s gonna cramp first. Or a big-effort suddenly reeled back with a desperate realization that, “whoa, not quite ready, better back right off … .”

My cramp was a twanging hamstring and I imagined it looking like a guitar string, buzzing after a hard, Peter-Townsend type power-cord strum. It was one pedal stroke away from snapping and I spun like a spin class, at the highest cadence I could to stay with the group. I finished the race favoring my right leg and was relieved it was over.

Following the study last year linking asthma and inner-city children to diesel pollutants, a new study by the Clean Air Task Force and reported by Reuters finds that diesel soot shortens lives and that “fine particle pollutants released from the exhaust of diesel-powered vehicles pose a major health risk to commuters.”

Yet another reason to bike to work.

It’s late on Sunday night and I’m packing up my travel bike for a little trip to Florida and South Carolina. I’ll be flying with my custom steelSycip.

I’ve been thinking about that bicycle movie list posted a while ago. There’s this Japanese movie called Messengers that I’ve wanted to see. It kinda sounds like the movie Quicksilver if Kevin Bacon was a woman…and Japanese (actually that’s a disturbing image). Anyways, I’ve always been into music more than movies, so invite people to submit their favourite bicycle songs. Rules: it’s gotta be pretty obvious that the song is referring to bicycles, not motorcycles. so I here’s my own list of bicycle songs to start the ball rolling:

The Trucks- Big Afros (self-titled) My two favorite things in life: big Afros and riding bikes with you.

Orbit- Bicycle Song (Libido Speedway) What a pretty bicycle she said, I want one just like that.

Lily Allen-LDN (Alright, Still) Riding thru the city on my bike all day cause the filth took away my license

They Might Be Giants- Narrow Your Eyes (Apollo 18) get on my bike, ride down our block, ride thru the rows, thru the green lights, but when I think of all your advice, I narrow my eyes…

Tori Amos- Pretty Good Year (Under The Pink) Tears on the sleeve of a man, don’t wanna be a boy today. Heard the eternal footman bought himself a bike to race

The Smiths- This Charming Man (originally 7 single) Punctured bicycle on a hillside desolate, will Nature make a man of me yet?

Fortune | How a lottery winner spends his multi-million-dollar jackpot - Feb. 21, 2007

Fortune has a story about Brad Duke, a Gold’s Gym manager from Idaho who won a $220 million Powerball jackpot in 2005.

He retired his student loans and his mortgage, but you’ve got to treat yourself a little when you pick up a check for $85 million. His treat? A trip to Tahiti with 17 friends ($63,000 worth) and new bikes to the tune of $65,000, including a $12,000 BMC.

He’s still teaching his spinning class twice a week, too.

I’d like to share just a few thoughts about wheels…because too few of you are asking me. People get the most nonsensical ideas about high performance wheels, and I can only surmise that this results from hearsay, undigested marketing propaganda, and a weak understanding of science. So here follows some general guidelines for choosing high performace aero wheels…