Month: July 2009

Santa Cruz: We can’t afford Tour of California

The city of Santa Cruz, California, will consider at next Tuesday’s city council meeting whether to commit to hosting a stage of the 2010 Tour of California.

The city has had to cut tens of millions of dollars from its budget due to falling tax receipts, and Santa Cruz is looking for other areas to cut.

Last February, Santa Cruz spent $80,000 as host city for the Tour of California Stage 2 finish. About 15,000 spectators waited in the cold and rain but they left downtown Santa Cruz almost immediately.

Local cycling enthusiasts are asking people to show up at the city council meeting next Tuesday, July 28, to voice your support for the Tour of California. The council meeting begins at 3 PM at Council Chambers on Center Street (two blocks west – away from the River – of Pacific Avenue downtown), and after the consent agenda and other discussion, the likely time for discussion is around 3:30 PM or so, although this is impossible to predict with certainty. Still, show up early to ensure your opportunity to speak: the council can move agenda items around, especially for items with a lot of interest. Speakers have two minutes to speak so be prepared. There’s a clock on the podium so you know how long you have.

A speaking point: The weather was dismal in February 2009, and everybody left downtown almost immediately after the stage leaders crossed the finish line. A finishing stage in good weather in May will do a lot to

Thank you to Karen Kefauver for the heads up on this.

Ready? Okay! TdF Stage 19

*** SPOILERS ***

Tour de France 2009 Stage Nineteen

What do we call Cav’s victory salute today? The cheerleader “Ready? Okay!”

Cheerleader Holding Pompoms Jumping in the Air

Or did Cav look more like a drum majorette as he crossed the finish line today?

He looks happy to have this win — his 5th stage win in the 2009 Tour de France — even if there’s no chance for him to get the Green Jersey with his 25 point deficit against Cervelo’s Thor Hushovd. If Mark Cavendish hadn’t nudged green jersey rival Hushovd towards the barriers in Stage 14, Cav undoubtably would have the points to take the green lead. Ah well, the misfortunes of racing.

Tour de France 2009 Stage 19

Bisbee: Surprise sprint finish.

Team Columbia HTC: Cavendish’s 5th Win.

Garmin Slipstream: Millar in the breakaway.

Other TdF commentary

VN: Contador for Garmin?

Hugger: Cavendish bike notches

NY Velocity: AC is such a ****

Science of Sport: Contador VO2Max.

Science of Sport: Time Trial Analysis. With props to Cozy Beehive.

Velochimp: Horner spills the beans. “Horner pulls no punches talking about the situation at Astana and the reasons he was left behind. Horner also gives insight into the turmoil surrounding the team. Will we see Radio Shack jerseys sooner than anticipated?”

Streetsblog actually mentions the Tour de France…. in their Weekly Carnage roundup of automotive (and motorcycle) fatalities in the news.

TdF Stage 18: Otra pregunta

While everybody else rode today’s time trial stage with black wheels, Lance Armstrong turned some heads with another pretty cool art bike from artist Yoshimoto Nara.

Tour de France 2009 Stage Eighteen - Individual Time Trial

Even his teammate, Alberto Contador, got a little stylish with his aero wheel.

Tour de France 2009 Stage Eighteen - Individual Time Trial

*** SPOILERS ***

Contador’s amazing performance today is prompting questions on doping, which Contador declines to answer. Alberto Contador is known for his climbing prowess and dominates on the hills in the same way Lance Armstrong did in 1999. For him to beat time trialist Fabian Cancellara at his own game, however, invites suspicion. The riders are being tested daily and The Tour de France has so far remained free of doping controversy, though it can take a few weeks for some tests to be run.

Cancellara can’t figure out how he lost by six seconds and now claims Contador drafted for the win.

Team Radio Shack

As you all know, Team Radio Shack was announced today. Here they are on Twitter.

Elsewhere on Tour de France Stage 18

TdFBlog: Team Radio Shack.

Bike World News: Stage 18 Results.

Bike Rumor: Contador smokes ’em. See also How to enter the Tour to France in six easy steps.

Bicycle.net: Contador crushes.

Team RadioShack?

It looks like Lance Armstrong will race for Team Radio Shack in 2010.


RadioShack and Lance to Form New Cycling Team in 2010 — powered by http://www.livestrong.com

I gotta say, I sure didn’t see that one coming. But we know it’s real because the website has a black and yellow theme.

In other Tour de France news, Fat Cyclist gives some quick commentary on Alberto Contador as he also writes about an enjoyable two hours with his wife.

2009 Tour of Missouri start times

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (July 22, 2009) — Event organizers and Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder today announced the start and estimated finish times for each of the seven stages for the third Tour of Missouri professional cycling race, scheduled for September 7-13, 2009.

The following cities will play host to a leg of the 2009 Tour: St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Rolla, St. James, Jefferson City, Sedalia, Chillicothe, St. Joseph, and Kansas City.

The race will be contested over seven days and seven stages. There will be two circuit races (St. Louis, Kansas City), one individual time trial (Sedalia), and four point-to-point road races (Ste. Genevieve to Cape Girardeau; Farmington to Rolla; St. James to Jefferson City; Chillicothe to St. Joseph).

The start times, with estimated finish times, are as follows:

Stage Start City Start Time Finish City Estimated Finish Time
Stage 1 St. Louis (Circuit Race) 2:30 PM Central St. Louis 5:10 – 5:45 PM Central
Stage 2 Ste. Genevieve 11:00 AM Central Cape Girardeau 3:00 – 4:15 PM Central
Stage 3 Farmington 11:00 AM Central Rolla 3:10 – 4:15 PM Central
Stage 4 St. James 2:00 PM Central Jefferson City 5:45 – 7:00 PM Central
Stage 5 Sedalia (Individual Time Trial) 2:00 PM Central Sedalia 5:00 PM Central
Stage 6 Chillicothe 1:00 PM Central St. Joseph 5:00 – 6:00 PM Central
Stage 7 Kansas City (Circuit Race) TBD Kansas City TBD

All times subject to change

Stage by stage courses will be announced Thursday, July 30 in Kansas City.

The overall course will take on a very different slant in 2009. For the first time, the race will route east to west, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City. The past two years, the race routed west to east starting in Kansas City to finish in St. Louis.

The overall mileage for the course is expected to be more than 600 miles.

Though a stellar world-class field was presented last year, the three-year-old race is expected to be event better as the Tour of Missouri was granted an upgrade to one of the top five-ranked events outside Europe by international and national federation’s for cycling last month.

The upgrade has drawn pro tour teams Astana, Cervelo Test Team, Team Columbia HTC, Garmin Slipstream, Liquigas, Team Saxo Bank and Quickstep. Domestic teams participating in 2009 include BISSELL Pro Cycling Team, BMC Racing, Colavita / Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light, Jelly Belly, Kelly Benefit Strategies, OUCH presented by Maxxis, and Team Type 1.

Last year, the event drew more than 435,000 spectators over seven days. Missouri Tourism noted an direct and indirect economic impact of almost $30 million to the state.

The event is sanctioned by USA Cycling, the national federation for cycling in the United States, and the Union Cycliste Internationale, the international governing body for the sport of cycling.

They’re groomed like precious poodles

A comment about fixed gear bikes — “They’re groomed like precious poodles.”

Seth Godin: Winning on the uphill.

Bicycle Santa Cruz Wharf

Check out this grocery getter bike. Wow. It even folds. Via.

Is Sunday Streets the next Critical Mass?

It’s illegal to bike to school in James Kunstler’s hometown.

Bike Hugger: Disc brake conversion.

Tahoe Trail Building: “The Real Story.”

TdF Lawyer Lips.

WIRED: Saddlebags are about to become the next big bike fashion.

WIRED Gadget Lab builds a fixed gear bike.

Bicleta Bandita rants about commercialization of fixed gear culture.

Gizmodo: Garmin vs HTC in the TdF.

Yehuda: Tradition.

Nippleworks: 650 area code is road cycling haven.

CPSC recalls exercise ellipticals because you might fall down.