Tina Dico - Sacre Coeur

Shimano Race TV - New Dura Ace brakes for RadioShack

A Late Day Ride 6/25/12

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 Some days it is just hard to get motivated to go out and ride. Especially on a hot humid day like today. I decided to just go out for an easy ride and take some photographs of animals I normally see along the road on my rides. Unfortunately many of the animals and water fowl I enjoy seeing on my rides were hiding out in the shade due to the hot temperatures we have been experiencing. To make my ride more beneficial I rode a fixed gear. It turned out to be a very nice ride after all.

 This horse was tied in a meadow today along McGregor Road. It is approximately 13 months old. I have been admiring it for over a year. I see it daily as I walk on this road with my dog. 

 As it often does my route today took me through Tanglewood Park. I rode on the new multi-use paved path hoping to see some deer. I did see the one in the photo above. It is normal to see several deer while on this path.

 The deer at Tanglewood are very tame. Look how close it is to the walkers on the paved path and the campground in the background of this photo.

 Two horses eating hay out of a feeder at Tanglewood Park.

 This is Tom with his horse Katie at Tanglewood Park. Tom has been retired for eight years now and he and Katie are having a great time.

I only saw one Mallard Duck at Mallard Lake inside Tanglewood Park. 

 There were quite a few Canadian Geese at Mallard Lake.

 They are hard to see, but that's two Heron flying overhead while I am at Mallard Lake. There were actually three of them. I only got two in this photo. They have a very large wing span and fly surprisingly fast. Heron are my favorite birds to look for as I walk Poor Ole' Joe, my dog, each morning and evening.

Cattle grazing along Idles Road outside of Clemmons, NC.

 A bull, a cow and a calf on Centenary Church Road outside of Clemmons, NC.

 These two horses off of Waterworks Road outside of Clemmons, NC have plenty of room to roam.

 I passed by several fields of corn on my ride today. I don't know why but the theme from the mid 1960's television show Green Acres got stuck in my head. Below is an episode of the Green Acres Show in three parts. I hope you enjoy it if you remember the show. If you aren't old enough to remember the Green Acres television show it probably will not make any sense to you at all.

Poor Ole' Joe was glad to see that I made it back in from my ride before it got dark.

Jill St. John rides a bike

Fall from Filmino on Vimeo.

Robert Jacquinot

Robert Jacquinot

Robert Jacquinot ( 1893 - 1980) was a French road racing cyclist, who won two stages in the 1922 Tour de France and 2 stages in the 1923 Tour de France, and wore the yellow jersey for a total of four days. 

Robert Jacquinot

Stupid Bike Lanes

Bobby Walthour, with pacer Hoffman, about 1903-04

Onyer Levt from elooto on Vimeo.

Giordana Velodrome, Rock Hill, SC - today was a perfect day to ride on the track 6/18/12

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At the Giordana Velodrome.

I was lucky enough to make it to Rock Hill, SC to ride on the Giordana Velodrome today. The Weather Channel's hourly forecast was for a 30% chance of rain today. The weather turned out to be fine and no rain. I had the pleasure of meeting and riding with Rick Rickter today. He's a great person and went to school in my home town of Winston-Salem, NC. If  you get a chance be sure and get in touch with the folks at the Giordana Velodrome to find out about getting certified to ride on the track. Try it, you'll like it! Click here for more information on the track.

Rick Rickter riding on the banking of the Giordana Velodrome

Bob Nixon is one of the folks that keeps things running smoothly a the  track.
Thanks Bob, for all you do!

Rick Rickter and Bob Nixon 

Parallax - Bicycle Short

Parallax - Bicycle Short from Wes Coughlin on Vimeo.

Italo Zilioli

Italo Zilioli

Italo Zilioli (born September 24,1941) is an Italian former professional cyclist. During his career as a professional he won 58 races. He also won 5 stages of the Giro d' Italia. He never won the Giro, but did finish in 2nd place in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Zilioli finished the Giro d' Italia in third place in 1969.

Italo Zilioli currently lives in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont).

Italo Zilioli

Poor Ole Joe is glad to see my Surly Long Haul Trucker

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Poor Ole Joe and my Surly Long Haul Trucker

Poor Ole Joe was glad to see me when I rolled up on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. It's been a long time since my schedule has allowed me to be able to commute to work by bicycle. It is a pleasure to spend my time riding a bike to work instead of driving in a car. Hopefully I will be able to do more of this. 

Life Behind Bars - MTB Lillooet w/ Semenuk - Episode 4

Newbaum's Cotton Cloth Handlebar Tape

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Newbaum's Cloth Handlebar Tape

 Newbaum manufactures Cotton Cloth Handlebar Tape in the USA using only eco-friendly dyes. One roll is enough to cover one side of a handlebar. They also manufacture cloth rim strips. Click here for more information on Newbaum's.

Newbaum's Rim Strips

Twine for finishing cloth handlebar tape.

Newbaum's yellow cloth handlebar tape finished with twine.

My Surly Long Haul Trucker with Newbaum's cloth handlebar tape.

 Newbaum's handlebar tape is available in 16 different colors. Yellow is the most popular color. Most folks don't leave the yellow tape the way it is delivered. Painting the yellow handlebar tape with amber shellac turns it into a honey color that goes well with Brooks honey colored saddles. Shellac also greatly extends the life of the bar tape too.

A small can of Zinsser's Amber Shellac. Also available in clear.

Newbaum's yellow cloth handlebar tape after two coats of amber shellac.
I put one coat on and then the next day put a second coat of shellac on it to darken it a bit.

My Surly Long Haul Trucker with Newbaum's yellow cloth tape after it has been shellaced.

The above video by Rivendell shows how to wrap your bars and finish them with twine.

Two Broad Arrows

Two Broad Arrows from RAPHA on Vimeo.

Wim van Est

Wim van Est

Wim van Est (1923 –  2003) was a Dutch racing cyclist.

Van Est was born in the town of Fijnaart, in North Brabant. Prior to his cycling career, he used to smuggle tobacco by bike, but was eventually caught and served several months in prison. He started his cycling career in 1946. His first major victory came in 1950, when he won the 600-km Bordeaux–Paris race.

He is best known for being the first Dutch cyclist to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France of 1951, and for falling into a ravine while wearing it.

In 1951, Van Est was part of the Dutch team for the Tour de France. In the 12th stage, from Agen to Dax, he escaped with a small group. He won the stage and gained 19 minutes on the leader, enough to move up to first place overall. As the first Dutchman to wear the accompanying yellow jersey he was praised by the public and media at home.

The next day, in defence of his position, Van Est was chasing the leaders in the descent of the Col d'Aubisque. Due to a flat tyre (according to Van Est himself), he slipped away and fell into a 70 m deep ravine. Miraculously, he survived the fall and had no serious injuries. Using a chain of tyres, and helped by spectators and his manager, he managed to get back to the road. Van Est wanted to continue, but was persuaded to go to the hospital.

At home, Van Est's fame grew even more when Pontiac, which had supplied watches to the Dutch team in the Tour de France, started an advertising campaign "Seventy meters deep I dropped, my heart stood still but my Pontiac never stopped".

Later in his career, Van Est twice won the Ronde van Nederland, wore the yellow jersey again in 1955 and 1958, placed 8th in 1957 and won two more stages. Also, he won Bordeaux–Paris two more times, two national road titles, four national titles in the individual pursuit on the track, as well as three medals in the pursuit at the World Championships.

Nevertheless, he remained most famous for the two days in the 1951 Tour de France. To remember this event, a monument was placed on the mountain 50 years after the event, on July 17, 2001.

The curve on the Col d'Aubisque where Wim van Est had a flat and fell

Wim van East pulled to safety.

Wim Van Est winning Bordeuax-Paris in 1952

The plaque on the monument remembering Wim Van Est's fall the 1951 Tour de France



Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky ride bikes.

Life Behind Bars : Foam pits, fishing, and shotguns - Episode 3

Lucien Lesna

Lucien Lesna

Lucien Lesna (1863 - 1932) was a French rider who won Paris-Roubaix in two consecutive years, 1901 and 1902. 



Giordana Velodrome, Rock Hill, SC 6/3/12

The Giordana Velodrome

Greg

I was lucky enough to make it down to the Giordana Velodrome again today for an afternoon of riding on the track. Last week I rode and talked bicycles with another rider, Greg, who was there to ride on the track. Greg was already there when I arrived today. We warmed up some and did a few laps and took a break. After several times of hard efforts followed by rest, we decided to ride for a while drafting off of each other. We came up with the ride format of each rider pulling for two laps and then pulling off as we entered turn one. A duration and pace for this ride was decided at thirty minutes at a pace of twenty two to twenty six miles per hour. Greg has a computer on his bike so he did the timing and said he would let me know if we started to ride too fast. We worked well together and were riding smoothly. After about 15 minutes of riding this way Mac Cannon joined us at the back of the line. Having three riders all on the same page made this even more fun. It's a blast to pull off to the right in the steep part of the banking and then drop in behind the last rider to sit in the draft. Riding in a single file rotating paceline is my favorite way to ride a bicycle, and it's even more fun on the track. Another fun day of riding a bicycle! I hope to make it down to Rock Hill again soon to do some more of this fun riding.

Namibia by bicycle by Ellen van Drunen

Namibia by bicycle from Ellen van Drunen on Vimeo.

Jan Adriaensens

Jan Adriaensens (born June 1932) is a former Belgian road bicycle racer. He finished twice on the podium of the Tour de France, with a third place in 1956 and in 1960. In both these years, he wore the yellow jersey as the leader of the general classification.