Classic.

I saw this bike up on eBay- nothing like a bit of lime bugger green to make you have a serious case of bike envy.

Reynolds.

Notes.

Notes. Just a collection of things that caught the eye of the MBR.

Phil Wood- I love their stuff. And I am sure I am going to get some flack on this but as cool as it is, it is kinda heavy. Really nice, but chunky. Great picture stolen from their site.

• Great piece by Embrocation on mechanics- The rules are a must read for anyone who aspires to be PRO.
• Sachs-A man that is considered by those who are in the know one of the greatest bike frame builders of his time. A nice (older) piece that resonated with me because of his passion for his work.
• He should have not come back. See the bullet point below.
• Where is the US main stream press? They must be afraid of being accused of loving cancer. Remember this? Funny how few are aware of this interesting tid bit. Mind you this is not the UCI or some sporting federation- this is the French judicial system. That one might be a little harder to dodge or bribe.
  
• Do you need a history lesson?
  
• Are cars companies in such a bad state they need to resort to entering the fray of bike sales? BMW bikes and Mercedes bikes were a joke and so I am guessing these will garner some chuckles as well. Maybe Saab should have come out with a bike and saved their own skin.
• Giove- For some reason the fall of Missy Giove really haunts me. She was once was in the patheon of my hereos (and still does rightly)- but now she faces a really hard trail back to freedom (no pun intended...really) and for some reason that bothers me.
• A good listen for any true bike racing fan- Excellent interview featuring one of the most read editors in the bike journo biz. NYVelocity.com is really scooping some of the main stream news sites. 
  
• Stolen from BikeSnob- Like Tyler Hamilton did a few years ago(he sold his custom Phonak bikes on eBay), Tour de France winner/loser Floyd Landis, is selling off his collection of bikes from his best season ever as a pro on Craiglist....Funny what you might find on CL. But one has to feel for the man who was caught cheating at the TDF, lost his father in law to suicide, was divorced in recent years and finds himself racing on the least respected pro team on the planet-no man deserves such punishment.

Finally:
Rode a solid 40 plus miles on Sunday in the Sun- I have forgotten the therapy in the steady rhythm of the road. Did not feel half bad. I am actually looking forward to putting in some big miles this winter.

Old Testament.

Old Testament.

Very cool- makes one wonder, what is the age of the New Testament? Totally stolen from VeloGoGo- always a good place to find a nice bit of bike distraction.

One for the pet lovers.

Last Minutes with ODEN from phos pictures on Vimeo.

There are times when I can still smell their kitten breath-There is a little bit of me that is gone for good, because I don't have my cats anymore.

Count Down.

TDF is awhiles away, but already they are taking bets that Berto will win it again....Something not quite right about Bert Contador: I am not a fan. He does not seem to suffer.

Merry Christmas!

The 7-11 Merckx bikes are pretty x-massy.

The whir of the wheels calls.

The whir of the wheels calls:
The dirt riding prospect has shrunk with the dump of snow last week-I am somewhat saddened by the prospect of no more mucking about in the woods till Spring. But the arrival of snow was just in time as I found myself with a new intense found desire to start doing base miles- I know, intensity and base miles don't normally go hand in hand. But none the less longer, moderate paced rides in winter followed by strong cafe con leche have been on my mind. Repeat weekly when weather co-opperates.

It is the start of the winter ritual.

Photo courtesy of Kristof Ramon.

Riding other peoples tires.

Blacked out label- I read an article a few years ago in which Jeff Steber of Intense bikes was quoted as saying that suspension technology has pretty much reached its peak and that the next designs will only be incrimental in gains of performance (Note:if I remember correctly the interview was around the time the VPP suspension design had been out for a couple of years). BUT, he did say that tires were to be the next true battle ground in terms of eking out better performance from mountain bikes- meaning not all tires are created equally. Blacking out tire labels has been going on for some time but it is not everyday you see the World Champ paying retail for tires.

Pop Art.

Briefs.

Not really that surprsing- Astana with suspect medical equipment? Who knew you still needed needles to race....isnt that why 7xTDF said he would publish his results? Where are those results? Oh, that is right...they are discontinuing that program.

Interesting to note that Tiger Woods was voted athlete of the year by the Associated Press- Who was ranked number two on that list? Lance. Interesting to note that both Nike athletes have had some controversy/badpress about using PED's. Win at any cost.

How Toto is done: NYVelocity is genius.

King of Cobbles.

A decent interview on Boonen- I wonder if he thinks about the other greats (Pantani, VDB and Jimenez) who all had terrible adicctions...which some journalists connect to PEDs.

Built for speed.

DSC_0063, originally uploaded by ConradStoltz.

It is Bike Friday....

Bike Friday.

Random bike pictures on Friday- Baby blue IF, Big Mig killing, a little London Calling done Rocky Mountain cycles, King Kelly riding in 2 degrees celius, IF SSR stolen from NYC VELO and early 90's Italian.

Penny seat stay caps

penny seat stay caps, originally uploaded by NYC Velo.

Sycip- first rate class.

Bike cleaning.

Rapha Continental | Diabolical Double | McHenery, MD, originally uploaded by R A P H A.

Tis the Season to HTFU.

Hitting the deck.

Tim Jones wrecking full tilt- Congrats on the super awesome finish at Single Speed Nationals.

Black and White:

Winter is so grey sometimes. Semi melted snow with a coat of soot and the stresses of the holiday makes winter so very depressing. Sheeesh.
The king, the Queen of the Classics and the joker.