team discovery bids adieu to cycling, and i say "good for you"

As I pointed out in my last post, the Discovery Channel is removing its sponsorship from pro-cycling. This decision came in the wake of another Tour de France scarred by doping scandals. Even Alberto Contador, a Team Discovery rider, and the 2007 winner of le Tour (at age 24!) had fingers pointing at him as a possible doper - despite his passing of all UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) blood tests. His innocence is widely accepted at this point.

Some Discovery Channel executives stated that this decision was not influenced by the less than honorable events marring the past two Tour's - but one is left to form their own opinion.

I went out for a road ride today and actually spent some time thinking about this news while I was pedaling around. And honestly, I am happy for the Discovery Channel. I think they are distancing their name from a sport that is becoming more widely known for its losers (read: dopers) than its true, noble, clean athletes. In an age where steroid/illegal substance usage is becoming more and more evident in pro sports, little action has really been taken to discourage such behavior among athletes. Fans, teams and sponsors continue to worship athletes for their accomplishments, even amidst allegations of steroid usage.

In the days after Alexander Vinokourov and Christian Moreni were removed from le Tour, some cyclists refused to start immediately in the following stages - and sat at the starting line in protest of cyclists who seek illegal and unnatural advantages. I respected that gesture. Good for them.

And now, the main sponsor of the team that has had 8 of the past 9 Tour de France victories has removed its name from cycling. I think this is a big move, showing that sponsors will not continue to pour money into a sport that is not focused on honest competition. Here is a group of pro athletes, who get paid (quite generously) to ride their bikes for a living! If other sponsors follow suit, cyclists will find themselves having to get real jobs. The cycling community will need to rally together and take matters into their own hands, taking a strong stance that doping is not acceptable.

I understand the argument that dopers would use - "I HAD to do it in order to be able to be competitive, and if I am not competitive, I don't get to ride." Whatever happened to good ol' sweat? If you aren't the best, well then you better work harder - or else you do not deserve to be the best. But enough negative lip-service has been paid to the dopers.

Good for you Discovery Channel. In my opinion, this is one of the few television channels that shows decent programs, and I honor their integrity. It is a shame that so many cyclists who have seemed to be honest and clean competitors (Hincapie, Leipheimer, Beppu, Popovych) are without a team.

But it just goes to show that it's not about winning, it's about how you play the game. The Discovery Channel, I think, has made a statement. They don't care that they are sponsoring the team with 8 of the past 9 Tour wins. They care that cycling is becoming a sport of cheaters, and they don't want any part of that - whether it was their team that cheated or not.

day 8: it's friday

It is Friday. Here are some interesting news stories/blogs I have come across this week:

No Impact Man asks "why does making music have to sound like someone else?" - doing stuff instead of watching stuff:

A while back I went to Shabbat dinner at my friend Rabbi Steve Greenberg’s house. At a certain stage, he handed out booklets and we all sang together. I’m not Jewish so it was new to me, in a wonderful way, and I felt jealous that we did not all sing together in my house. I wondered why not? Why is singing together and making music not something we do everyday?

I bet your company car isn't as cool as Yahoo!s:

Yahoo! had a huge bike fair at their main campus in Sunnyvale, California.
Five lucky winners got this special purple edition of the Specialized Globe
Comp IG8.

Alexandria, VA awards grant to encourage kids to bike to school.

Team Discovery to disband due to doping problem in pro cycling:

Lance Armstrong's former team Discovery is to disband at the end of the season
after failing to find a new sponsor.

Sadly, finding positive, encouraging news is harder to do these days. A safe and happy weekend to all.

The Velorution is my co-pilot.

day 7: dogs, drafting, dehydration and consonance (d'oh)

Today was a scorcher, and I made a dumb mistake - I forgot my water bottle this morning. But more on that later.

Dogs - man's best friend, until you put that man on a bicycle. I knew it was bound to happen eventually, and this morning, I had my first dog encounter. Two dogs were bee-bopping along the sidewalk, as if they were just a couple out on a morning stroll. No leash, no owner to be seen anywhere. And just as if fate was intervening, one of the dogs [pictured right] and I met eyes and he darted right after me. Thankfully I had anticipated the chase and was poised in "sprint" mode. Once he made his first move, I was already standing on the pedals and out of the saddle, and took off. I got a good enough jump, and the dog was young enough, that I was able to out-run him.

I know every cyclist has their own preferred method of dodging the inevitable curious canine, but from my experience, the best thing to do is maintain control of your bike first and foremost. I have seen dogs lunge right in front of a cyclist's front wheel and get plowed over, which is certainly the worst-case scenario for both parties. If you are poised and balanced on your bike, you do have a chance at maintaining an upright position. I have found that sometimes, if you just stop riding, the dog will lose interest. Water bottles and frame pumps are useful in case you DO need something to fend off a more aggressive dog. Or, in my case, sheer speed works! :)

I love school. I am not a student anymore though. Now that school is back in session, school buses are running. And when a school bus pulls out in front of you 20 yards ahead, you are given a golden drafting opportunity! On the way home, a school bus pulled out in front of me, and sure enough I was able to jump right in behind it and draft for about 2/10ths of a mile. He was preparing to make a left turn (and signaled plenty early) leaving me with a bus cruising around 25 mph about 10 yards ahead of me. Primo drafting.

As mentioned above, the h2o bottle got left behind this morning. I usually leave it sitting on the kitchen counter, right next to where I keep my bike, so as to grab it on the way out in the morning. But yesterday, I had to run some errands after work, and my trusty water bottle accompanied me. I have plenty of other bottles, but every one has that one, special bottle that you take everywhere...except when you accidentally leave it in your car! Needless to say, with 106 degree heat, no clouds and 14% humidity on the way home, you get a little thirsty. I will not make that mistake again.

Here's a photo I snagged on the way home. I have noticed this sign the past few days, and finally captured it today. I find it a rather amusing choice of words...first of all, if not on the ground, do they expect you to park in a tree? Secondly, what are they protecting? - it must be some special dirt they have there.

On that note, it's time to go dip in the pool. Viva la Velorution!

day 6: i always did love ice cream sandwiches

Another successful day with no problems. People around my office are starting to act surprised that I am still riding my bike to work. I told one "gentleman" on day 1 that I was going to bike to work every day of August. He just sort of nodded and said "ok." Today he came by my desk, looking surprised:

him: You still riding that thing? (he's from NYC)

me: Sure am - it's still August isn't it?

him: Huh...I thought you were kidding.

I think I am about to settle in a groove for the next 2-3 weeks. I have almost tricked my brain into thinking that anytime I need to go somewhere, my bike will get me there. It's amazing how fast a routine can shift. Getting into my car to go to work would feel like trying to throw a baseball with my left hand (I'm a righty). Bike commuting really feels like the norm now! It's pretty neat.

Today was another hot one though. Another afternoon of triple digit heat and no clouds. Thankfully, my commute goes Westward in the morning and Eastward in the afternoon, so I never have to ride facing the sun. I emptied an entire water bottle on the ride home just by pouring the water on my head at traffic stops.

If you don't already know about this, there is a water bottle that you can buy at just about any bike shop, made by Polar, that has a built in insulated sleeve. The bottle itself will fit in any standard bottle-holder, but it certainly does a good job of keeping your water cold. It is a necessity in someplace like Arizona. I wasn't using mine today and in the 35 minutes it took me to get home, my water had gone from fresh-out-of-the-water-fountain-cold to a tepid warmth. This water bottle is certainly worth the $10 it costs. If you don't want to spring for another water bottle (less consumption is more, right?) a trick you might not think about: wrap a water bottle with aluminum foil. It will still fit in your bottle holder, and it provides a decent layer of insulation.

This image gives you a good idea of the width of roads I get to ride on my route. They don't always have the designated bike lane as shown here, but almost my entire ride is along roads of about this width. It seems as though I am pretty lucky to get a route this wide. But then again, I didn't know about this road until I started biking - so all it takes is a little exploration (or a helpful email from a stranger) to get you on the track of thinking not like a car driver, but like a cyclist.

A great resource I have recently come across: MapMyRide. This site uses a Google-powered map and allows you to mark waypoints, turns, points of interest, or just a general route. You can save your route, and even view other routes in your same city, state, zip code. This way you have a good chance of finding lesser known routes that other people who are more familiar with an area have documented. The interface is much more detailed than the regular Google Maps interface - and seems to be a really neat tool. I look forward to playing around with it a bit more in the next few days.

Lastly, I've decided that I need to carry more change in my pack or something - not for emergency bus fare, but for ice cream. Apparently there is an ice cream man that runs down the same road I ride home!!



Here's to ice cream, bicycles, and to the Velorution!

day 5: ask a cyclist, they'll get you there

This morning was rough. Yesterday, after work, I went out for a 7ish mile run on the trails right by my apartment. I could feel a bit of fatigue while I was running, but I stay pretty active, so it was nothing alarming. Even after a solid night of rest (I got my 8 hours), my legs just didn't want to get going this morning.

I wasn't sore, just a little sluggish in the legs. Once I hit the road to head to work, I had loosened up a bit - but still could not crank as powerfully as the past few days. By the time I arrived at work, I was feeling as good as any other day, and didn't think about it again until it was time to go home.

Of course today would be the day that I had to battle a constant 10-15 mph headwind, in addition to the 100 degree heat. Honestly, I have not really faced a sunny day on the ride home since I started biking to work. Arizona is in the middle of its "monsoon" season, and the afternoons have typically been overcast for the past 2 weeks. Not today. Bright sun and blue skies, and 100+ degrees. So THIS is why everyone said I was crazy for biking to work in Arizona, in August!

Since I was heading home, and was in no hurry to get anywhere (except to the pool), I didn't worry that my speed was a bit slower than I am used to. I fought the wind for the first 2 or 3 miles, standing up on the pedals to get a little extra power, but eventually I gave in and cruised home from a seated position. While I am used to hitting 100+ miles a week on a road bike during my "training season," I am also used to taking a day or 2 of rest in between rides.

I still think going for a run yesterday added quite a bit to the punishment.

All complaining aside, I still don't have to sit through traffic. I still haven't put any gas in my car for the past 3 weeks. I still have an awesome farmer's tan.

I always cringe a bit when I hear a car horn coming from behind me. On the way home today, I hear a quick little "toot" behind me - the kind that is obviously not initiated in rage. A car pulls up along side me and slows down. The guy was trying to simply find a certain road - no worries, I knew exactly where to direct him.

Maybe the world would be a much better place if there were more cyclists on the road to help direct people where to go. Instead of having to stop at a gas station, get out of your car, and go ask an attendant for help - all you would have to do is slow down along side a gal or guy on a bike, and be on your way! Cyclists sure are cool people.

Viva la Velorution!

day 4: bicycles are the leaders of tomorrow

What a way to start the week! If I gain nothing else from this experience, at least I will know that riding my bike to work makes me that much more excited to get up each day, and that I am also much more awake by the time I actually get to work!

Today was without problems - which I suppose is a good thing. But once again, it doesn't always make for the most compelling reading.

Today was the first day of school for Phoenix public schools, and since my route takes me through a number of residential areas (and past a number of schools), there were a few more people on the road. They were mostly pedestrians though - kids on the way home after the first day of school, still hopped up on pixie sticks or whatever kids use for sugar these days! Ha...I make myself laugh.

The plus side of this increased traffic was that, even though there were more cars on the road, the increased number of pedestrians ensured that the drivers were paying attention to what they were doing. This in turn makes me feel a bit more comfortable - because, well, I like it when people pay attention to the 4000 lb piece of metal, leather, and plastic they are attached to.

I spent some time this afternoon cleaning my bike. Nothing fancy, just wiping off the dirt and grime that has accumulated over the past week. I gave all the mechanical parts a simple look and tug test to make sure nothing would fall off on me tomorrow morning. With a bike, just like any mechanical equipment, it really is important to periodically check the parts for excessive wear and tear, extra grime or grit, or just any foreign object that you know shouldn't be there. Not to take business away from the local bike shops, but basic bike maintenance is something that most people can do on their own. It is a good idea to be familiar with the mechanics of a bike and its parts, as well as some general troubleshooting skills.

Short of going out and buying a book on bicycle maintenance, here are some good resources for common bike maintenance tips/procedures:

• How to prevent or fix a flat
• How to clean your chain
• How to maintain your brakes

I think that anyone who gets on a bike should know how to do these 3 things. They are the essentials of a bicycle: rolling, self-propulsion, and stopping. Do yourself - and innocent bystanders a favor - and at least learn these repairs.

There are plenty of resources online to help you with DIY bike repairs. If you want to invest the $20 (well worth it), I suggest buying a repair manual. Personally, I use and love Zinn and the Art of Road/Mountain Bike Maintenance. I see it in every Borders or Barne's and Noble that I set foot in, and of course you can order it online. It is filled with great images and illustrations. The book will help you diagnose, repair, overhaul, and generally appreciate the mechanical beauty of the bicycle.

That's all I've got to say for today. Happy riding and Viva la Velorution!