Christian VandeVelde of Boulder based Garmin wins the races here on the last day time trial by beating last years champion and Saturday yellow jersey holder Levi Leipheimer. The real winner though was Colorado because people around the world got to see what a great cycling state we have.
I got to see the finish in Beaver Creek, the stage in Boulder and the time trial in Denver. Fabulous crowds, great racing and great weather for the riders. Both Garmin and BMC had strong teams but Garmin really had a great strategy and was on the podium early and often.
My favorite part of the race was the Saturday stage because the winner was a local Boulder guy, Rory Sutherland, racing for a continental team United Health Care. He had been up Flagstaff mountain hundreds of times, he had his family there and it was the greatest win of his career. An awesome story.
Time to get back
Sinnercycling was on vacation I have had trouble getting back into riding, but a great ride today and Olympic rings to inspire me. Time to lose all the gelato weight from Europe. Time to start getting ready for the US Pro Cycling challenge here in Colorado in three weeks. I will be following it and will send in my reports. I got a chance to see a stage of the Tour De France this year and talk to Jonathan Vaughters about the Colorado race. They had such bad luck at the Tour that they are really looking forward to racing in their home state in front of Colorado crowds.
Boulder based Garmin, congrats on a great win! We are all looking forward to seeing this team in the Tour de France and the US Pro Cycling Tour here. Thanks to Lomax bike for this post that I am humbly reblogging.
So its official Ryder Hesjedal has won the Giro d’Italia and created cycling history by becoming the first Canadian to win.
Hesjedal, claimed the pink jersey from Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez after the 28.2km final-day time trial. Rodriguez, who led by 31 seconds overnight, finished 16 seconds behind in second with Thomas De Gendt third. Briton Mark Cavendish came second in the points competition after Rodriguez overtook him on the penultimate stage.
Hesjedal said “It was just an unreal experience from day one, with what we’ve been able to do, with the support of the team”.
“I couldn’t have done it without them. I knew I was good when I came here. I just stayed focused and took advantage of the situation. I kept feeding off that support.”
This is also the first time his Garmin team have made the podium in their five-year history.
I also love Ryder’s name –…
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Bicycling article names Portland, Minn, NY Chicago top cycling cities…have they actually been to these places to ride???
Here is my post at Bicycling.com It relates to an article that named Portland the number one cycling city and put NY, Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle and others in the top ten. Its a stupid fluff piece that is poorly researched by an obvious non cyclist and non traveler who likely has not tried to ride in any of the cities listed.
NY, Chicago, seriously??
Does the person who wrote this article actually know anything about these cities or did they just call around?? I am not sure what the criteria are but if the person who wrote this had ever tried to ride in NY City it would have been near the bottom because they have virtually no bike lanes, the cabs go down the ones they have and NY drivers could care less about the riders. I did the MS 150 there and was scared to death riding the around the city before and after the ride, and I am not easily intimidated.
There is absolutely no way that an intelligent person who had actually been to these cities woud rank NY, Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland and Seattle ahead of Denver. Check the weather in those cities. It snows here but not like Minn. and it doesn’t rain every day like Portland, Seattle, and Eugene. No humidity like NY and Chicago either.
Denver is the home of the US Pro Cycling Challenge that generated 250,000 people watching last year just in Denver, has extensive bike paths that allow riding out of traffic, boasts dozens of the most popular charity rides in the country, plus we have Ride the Rockies and the Triple Bypass that sell out every yr.
This article seems to be giving credit to the cities that are way behind and trying harder rather than the cities that actually have riders and paths in place. This is an acticle I would have expected to see in a non cycling magazine. At least you got Boulder right.
Happy Mothers Day
I want to wish all Mothers that read this a Happy Mothers Day. I am serving as father and mother right now for a very nice 16 yr old and happy to be able to fill this role. To this end some of my thoughts on this day.
First, thanks to my Mom for all of her support over the years. Her love is unconditional and she supports me and my brother and sisters regardless of what happens in our life. There have been difficulties that she has endured but she has been there for us through it all without judgement or criticism. She has been able to voice her opinion, and has the right to say she doesn’t like some of what she has seen, however she has not waivered in her support. While riding today I thought about this and another mother who is currently ignoring her son just because he made a remark that she didn’t like months ago.
Mothers love is important to us all, and the withholding of that love by a superficial mother is painful. This is not how my mother is, and not how mothers around the globe treat their children. They love them whether they are university grads or barely grads. They support them when they mess up, and hope that they can make everything better. Mothers have to endure the pain of seeing their child struggle and treat them the same as the one who has just accomplished something special. They cry in the backround when they know that destructive behavior is hurting their child but put on a good face when they make them a nice meal and hope that it will provide hope for them. Sometimes that support is hard to understand but they don’t care, they do it anyway. That is why we celebrate them today.
There are those who will expect the kids to kiss the ring today, make a big deal about the day, and will feel slighted if they dont get a gift or flowers. Those mothers may have every right to hope for that type of treatment but in all liklihood that “its all about me” type of attitude will have been present all year and todays celebration will be a furtherance of that attitude. Those mothers will only get that type of respect if they give unconditional love but they may be incapable of that.
We, as the children, cannot take our mothers for granted. We must respect them, and not take advantage of the kindness they send our way. We should learn compassion from them and hope we can pass that on to our children. We have to understand their pain if we make poor choices and vow to do better if only to make them proud of us. We must return the love they give us by our actions, and remember that they will always be there, but we cannot take advantage of that.
I have had success in my life and have not had too many “o my god” moments. Moms of the kids who are successful can look back and see how their good qualities and how those have been nurtured by their Mom. She is proud of seeing those accomplishments but I would guess that it is more important to her if you are a good person. Be that good person.
Happy Mothers day to all.
Burden of Proof is on the one claiming the existence of the fact
It makes you wonder why the people that believe in God, refuse to listen to logic and reason when examining their own existence.
Congrats Taylor Phinney!!
Over the weekend our own Taylor Phinney, from Boulder Colorado, was the winner of the prologue of the Giro d’Italia. For those that are not cyclists it is a three week cycling race similar to the Tour de France. It is one the three “grand tours”, together with the races in France and Spain. Taylor is only 21, and it is only the third time an American has put on the leaders jersey. Awesome!
Today the race was flat so it was expected that he would continue to hold the jersey because generally the riders finish as a pack and all are given the same time as the winner as long as there are no gaps in the group. If… there are no unexpected crashes or problems. Watching this stages on TV is brutally boring, like Nascar, unless something happens to upset the norm.
Taylor was cruising along, 8 k from the finish comfortably in the pack when that is exactly what occurred. He touched wheels with another rider and went down, though he said afterward that he “tumbles well”. Then to make matters worse his chain came off so he couldn’t jump back on and get going right away. The team car containing the mechanic had to stop and get the bike fixed quickly so he was even further back. This was at a time when the pack was really cranking it up for the finish and moving away quickly.
First one teammate, then three others, dropped back to help him get caught up. For non cylists this demonstrates the value of the non stars that are in the race. They lined up to go as fast as possible with a very short time left in the race to get their guy back up to the pack. Using the drafting techniques in cycling they allowed Taylor to sit behind three guys in a train formation and went like crazy to get him back up to the group. And they made it.
Barring accidents Taylor should hold the jersey for a week or more since all of these stages are flat and generally the group will finish with the sprinters doing the racing at the end. Congrats Taylor! The hometown crowd is very happy to see you in the leaders jersey.
Dead Legs
I was out with the Irishman today and had the dreaded “dead legs” that all cyclists experience from time to time. We had passed the halfway point of the ride and were headed home in a cicular route that involved some riding into the wind and some uphill. I was lagging a little behind with no ability to step it up and stay on his wheel, something that usually would not be the case for me.
So what is the cause? Is it a lack of proper nutition leading up to that point? Or could it be the ride the day before that was harder than expected so that a day of rest was needed?
In the end I was happy to have got out regardless of how I did on the ride. If you only have more time to train on the weekends then you need to get out both days and try to get a ride in. I will concentrate on doing a better job of getting some training during the week. I would like to know if the lack of eating much the day before, or the lack of sleep was a factor, but in the end I just go for a nice ride and not worry about it. I’m not a racer, just a guy who likes to ride.
Love Lost
I have been very fortunate in my post married life to have dated some wonderful gals. Most recently I was very fortunate to be with someone who cared for me, who looked after me and who supported me in everything I did. I hoped that I was equally supportive and a good sounding board for all that she did. Sometimes though there are everyday life things that prevent the relationship from being complete. I am sad to have left that several months ago however I hope that I have enriched her life as she has done to mine. I wish her the best and hope she finds the person that makes her happy.
I guess we all hope to find that one right person for the “happily ever after” but I will concentrate on the now and hope that it works out.
Riding alone..time to reflect
I got a long ride in today and was by myself, with my music, and a lot of time to reflect on things that popped into my head. Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven came in through Pandora and made me think of my daughter Kacey, who left the world almost four years ago. Its so sad to think about, but when riding alone its something that happens. She was such a kind and caring soul, and would have made a wonderful adult. As time passes it is less of an issue for those left behind but it is still something that comes up when I ride alone because I remember so vividly my thoughts on that day, when I went for a ride to have some time away from the relatives to wonder why….and cry.
Riding, or running, alone really allows for a lot of random thoughts about all sorts of things. Loves lost…loves that never happened…even loves that might happen in the future. Today was one of those days.
sinnercycling 