Bike Hugger 

The regional Trek rep got Byron a new Madone hooked up with some Aeolus 5.0 wheels for an extended test ride prior to the Ride the Best tour which stops tomorrow at St. Edwards Park in Kenmore, WA. I went to pick it up yesterday for a little test ride to take it through the paces. Short verion: It’s a nice a stiff bike (which I like) in a rather impressive package. The bike looks as cool in person as it does on the flashy website.

– UPDATE - Post Ride the Best test ride –

Pam and I are off to the MS 150 this weekend, photos and posts to follow, and I leave you with this fabulous knitted bike sent to us by Zannestar

I can’t read the text either, but the kickstand really finishes the piece off and reminds me of the knitted ear warmers.

From the Seattle PI…

“A bicyclist was killed instantly and another was rushed to Harborview Medical Center after a dump truck turned into them Friday afternoon at a busy intersection in the Eastlake neighborhood.”

By my count, that’s 3 cyclist deaths this year and sadly demonstrates traffic safety in Seattle.

– UPDATE: Great posting by Denny Trimble about the tribute assembled by the local cycling community –

I went to France 3 weeks ago for vacation. Well, that and a bike ride. Every four years the Audax Club Parisien runs Paris-Brest-Paris, a 1200K ride from Paris, to Brest, and back. The ride has a long history, having been run the first time in 1891. There is also a history of long, organized bike rides in general, this type of riding is labeled Randoneering. To make it interesting (and depending on your personal level of machismo) there are time limits. Riders get a choice of 80, 84, or 90 hours. My personal level of machismo and the desire to squeeze as much into my once-a-decade European vacation led me to choose 80 hours. Since there are about 5000 riders, there are different start groups, and 80 hours went off first. An earlier start would mean an earlier finish and I would be able to meet up sooner with my wife and continue vacation. This decision would come back to bite me in the ass.

I got a glimpse of the 2008 Easton product line-up, and the wheels are sexy. Every single wheel seems to be new except for maybe the rim. I figure that they must have been throwing some big bucks into development this past year or two.