Where Have all The Women Gone?
How often do you see a group of cyclists pedaling at 20-30 MPH on the side of the road and the group is usually 100% male. Am I saying that women aren’t good at cycling? No but I am saying that most women don’t like the activity of cycling and results of a study out of the UK may hold the answer why.
According to the study, over a quarter of the women were concerned with helmet hair which is a distant cousin of hathead and bedhead. In fact, 2/3 of all women never cycle. Besides helmet head, women were concerned with sweat and impairment of makeup as additional reasons why they ditched the sport of cycling.
Alberto Contador makes history, serious competition to Lance Armstrong
Written by Michael Vass
Over the weekend there was a bit of history that occurred. Alberto Contador became the 5th cyclist to win the Tour De France, Giro d’Italia, and Spanish Vuelta. Not only has he won all 3 he did so in the least amount of time, 14 months. Contador finished the 21-stage Vuelta in 80 hours, 40 minutes, 8 seconds.
Now that was a great win. But I had to wonder about another cycling great. Lance Armstrong is back in cycling, and I wondered how competitive he might be. Contador is fierce, and his titles prove that, but can Lance hold him off? Or even keep up?
Well in August at Leadville Lance took on a different kind of conditioning race. And as he has admitted himself this was not his race to win. But his second place finish says a lot. Here are some of his thoughts on that race.
And if you wanted to see how the race was here is a video of it. And there is no question of the difficulty in this race.
Now I have to say that this is great preparation. And I have no doubt that all the competitors out there have see the tape of Lance and been training hard.
Is Alberto Contador worried? How could he not. But will Lance be able to win for an 8th time? That question is still keeping everyone guessing. And with Contador making a bit of his own history the odds in Vegas must be getting interesting.
BMX Pro-Am dirt jumping video from Brawlin’ at the Belmar
Written by Michael Vass
Yes I finally got it done. Long over due but finished at last. What might that be?
Back in August I reviewed my time at the Brawlin’ at the Belmar BMX Pro-Am dirt jumping tournament.
I mentioned in that post
“Now it’s taking me a bit of time to get the video of the event done, my editing skill are not the greatest and I have 200 video clips to work through…
The event was sponsored by Red Bull, FBM Bikes, and the Belmar Bar…
there were roughly 200 plus people there at any moment from 12pm until night fell some 9 hours later. That was just the crowd on Saturday, with part of the event being held previously Friday.”
The place was packed during the event. Riders from across the northeast and out to the mid-west all arrived for the competition. And they came to compete.
I had well over 200 video clips and photos. Though each jump was relatively short in combination, with editing involved, and my less than stellar editing abilities I had more than a day of work once I got to it. Still I made my best effort on the situation.
So without much further ado I present my video of the professional jumps from the event. There were some 15 or more professionals. Each had a dozen jumps by the end of the day. And I have put together some of the best ones, in my opinion.
When you critique the video, please be somewhat kind.
Brawlin’at the Belmar - my first BMX Pro-Am dirt jumping tournament
Written by Michael Vass
**This can also be found at Men’s World Blog**
Over the weekend I had the chance to watch America rise to the challenge. I wasn’t watching the Olympics, or the news on Iraq and/or Afghanistan. I wasn’t at a movie. I was watching a BMX competition – Brawlin’ at the Belmar.
I’ll say it again, I was watching teens and young men on bicycles competing on a short dirt track. In fact it wasn’t a track but a jump, landing hill, and turnaround wall specially built behind the Belmar here in Binghamton just for this event. To be more accurate it was a dirt ramp setup by Dave King – a master ramp builder in the sport - specifically for a Pro-Am dirt jumping tournament. And it was a great experience.
Now it’s taking me a bit of time to get the video of the event done, my editing skill are not the greatest and I have 200 video clips to work through, but I will have one soon. Even so the event was a wonderful display of America just enjoying itself.
The event was sponsored by Red Bull, FBM Bikes, and the Belmar Bar. This was not the first year this event has been held here, but it was the first time I went to it. And there were roughly 200 plus people there at any moment from 12 until night fell some 9 hours later. That was just the crowd on Saturday, with part of the event being held previously Friday.
Now I should mention that I am not a fan of BMX (never seen it before). I also knew nothing about the sport beyond the thought that it was something that kids did before some Monster Truck event. Such are the thoughts of a 40 yr old from the Bronx. I was wrong on multiple counts.
The competition involved both amateurs and professionals with a total of some 30 riders or more in all. 
There were riders there from as far as Chicago and Long Island that I am aware of. There was even one rider that had been at the X-games this year. And the age ranges were from one young Black kid (Boogie was his nickname if I recall correctly) of 10 to a 32 year old.
Now I would be remiss if I did not mention that I was amazed by some of the jumps and tricks that were being done. I am quite sure that I’d have killed myself if I tried to do any of it. Yet all the riders were out giving their all for the crowd. There were riders jumping up some 20+ feet into the air, and others getting almost as much height while doing flips or 180 and 360 degree turns.
Now I had to ask a couple of the riders about this sport.
One rider I spoke to was Dan Psimer from Cleveland, Ohio. 
He’s 25 years old and first started riding bikes in competition in the NBL. The NBL is the National Bike League as I learned. Dan was 13 then, and he never looked back. His mother supported him in his endeavors and now he is a professional with big plans. I can’t discuss some of his plans for the future, but I can say that his love of the sport has gotten him to look to the entrepreneurial aspects as well as competition.
As someone who never had seen this type of event I have to say it was unique and fun. And the crowd was filled with spectators of all ages. A large amount of the crowd were very familiar with the professionals, and local amateurs as well.
Once I have my video, or videos, done I will go into more detail on the event. But I will say this, given the opportunity of watching another event like this or watching Olympic bicycling, or the Tour De France, I would gladly go all American and watch the BMX competition.
Drugs and Cycling - a relationship that needs to be broken
Written by Michael Vass
World class cycling is quickly becoming akin to Major League Baseball. I’m not speaking of television ratings, which would be a boon to the sport, but the use of enhancement drugs.
There is no doubt that every American was aware that Lance Armstrong was nearly stripped of his record making 7 in a row wins at the Tour De France. But how many across the world are familiar with the real history of the Tour De France? How many can recall the abuses back in the 1900’s?
The fact is that before there were steroids world class cycling was plagued by riders using alcohol, drugs and even ether in their attempts to win. While alcohol and ether have long been abandoned, performance enhancing drugs of all types have crept into their place. Perhaps most famous was the effect of amphetamines in the 1967 race. It lead to the death of cyclist Tom Simpson.
But more recent memories will turn to 1998 and the scandal surrounding Willy Voet and the TVM team. The fact police raided the rooms of riders and their tactics lead to a sit-down and quitting of a majority of the teams in the 17th stage. In 2004 three cyclists - Philippe Gaumont, David Millar, and Jesus Manzano – all opened up about the rampant use of banned enhancing drugs. And of course there was the 2006 scandal that implicated over 17 cyclists, including Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, ultimately leading to Floyd Landis being stripped of his winning title. In 2007 add Alexander Vinokourov, Cristian Moreni, Michael Rasmussen, Manuel Beltrán, Erik Zabel, Bjarne Riis and Moisés Dueñas in 2008.
Today we can add Riccardo Ricco to this seemingly growing and unyielding list of actual and suspected drug users.
Something must be done. The fact that riders from everywhere in the sport allege requirements by teams to use drugs, that multiple riders are being caught year after year, and that only specific types of enhancement drugs are precluded spell disaster for the future of this sport.
Either all enhancing drugs will have to be allowed, which no sponsor nor responsible organization would accept, or all of them must be disallowed – including any drugs produced in the future that do not show up in tests today. And penalties must be made far more severe. It is a beyond obvious fact that suspensions from racing are not nearly enough of a deterrent for any team or rider. And while some former winner are now coming forward to admit their drug use, and unknown number have not – not that there is any recourse they might fear.
Actually I am wrong in the premise I started this with. World class cycling is not like the MLB, it’s worse. And like any addict this sport is going to fall apart, wither and die. Will it take another death of a rider, or God forbid a dozen, to change things?
Fans need to make their outrage vocal. Teams need to value the health of their riders and the sport above sponsorships. And sponsors need to require their money be tied to clean teams, or they get their money back with interest. Oh and the international world cycling body, needs to work with authorities to ensure that those that break the rules don’t just get suspended, they need to be arrested.
Did I miss anything? Let me know.
Cycling, the other gasoline alternative
Written by Michael Vass
Let’s assume that the price of gasoline has been rising every year for the past 6 years. Let’s say that you live in a major metropolitan city. Let’s say that the number of obese people in your nation has grown almost as much as the waistlines. What do you do?
In America you blame the other political party, offer a tax break or threaten to tax the oil companies (depending on your party affiliation), mandate an alternative fuel source that drives up the price of food and that 98% of the population can’t use, and then sit back as unprecedented numbers of people go out and buy scooters or motorcycles. In America its drive or die you know.
But if you happen to be in England, well then it’s another story completely.
In a nation where gas gulping Hummers never took hold the obvious choice was to ride a bicycle. And that is something they have been doing in droves.
Since 2000 there has been an increase of 90% in the number of cyclists hitting the roads. In fact the government there has just created a ~$250 million incentive package for 12 cities, including Bristol, to become modern cycling cities. Not that does not match up much against the ~$10 billion spent on transportation in London alone (of which approx $110 million will be going to cycling) but it’s an impressive number.
Considering the huge numbers of people in America concerned about green house gases and global warming, the food police demanding that every meal be an organic mix of veggies and nuts, and the ping pong battle over drilling for domestic oil anywhere I have to admit I’m shocked that not even San Francisco has made similar moves if not to lead the world with cycling.
Cycling is not just the sport of France, or an event in the Olympics. It’s a real solution to rising oil prices, obesity, and global health. No matter how the politicians spin the polispeak the fact is that there is something that can be done, and England is doing it.
Sponsors Coming Back to Cycling
Good news for the business side of world class cycling teams. Amid doping scandals that go back to the 1990’s and most skeptics believe well into the 1980’s, teams are now landing endorsement deals. This week, Columbia Sportswear Company announced that they will sponsor Team High Road for the remainder of 2008.
The team will now compete as “Team Columbia” and the new blue, black and yellow uniforms will be unveiled on July 3rd, two days before the start of the 95th Tour de France.
The three sponsorship deal runs through 2010 and includes both the mens and womens professional cycling teams.
In addition to Team High Road, Team Slipstream-Chipotle’s and Team CSC also announced that they landed multi-year sponsorship deals. Although no numbers were announced, past sponsorship deals indicate that a good guess would be the mid seven figure range for the Columbia deal. Cycling, with its international reach, still brings a lot of value to sponsors. That’s, with out the doping news.
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Cycling Over Swimming in Cross Training
I was just reading an interesting article which weighs cycling as compared to swimming for runners on non-running days. It’s an interesting concept and it’s something that all triathlon athletes face each day. If you are a runner, this also should interest you. There are 2 differing opinions in the article but the bottom line is this.
Cycling better simulates running than swimming because of the stress on the leg muscles. Rigorous cycling is advisable for low volume, injury prone runners because the cycling routine is a real fitness supplement to the running. For high volume runners that really push the limit, a low impact day in the pool is advisable.
Ride to Conserve Gasoline
As gas prices surge above $4 per gallon nationwide, expect to see more cyclists on the road. In fact, cycling helps energy prices and lends will to energy conservation.
On Sunday, I hopped on my bike for the 2 mile ride for the morning paper. Not only did I feel good about myself, my wallet really appreciated. On county roads, I’m actually seeing more and more people cycling to work.
I would recommend the following. First of all, wear a helmet. Many states throughout the country don’t have mandatory helmet laws but riding a bike without a helmet is potential suicide. Second, do a check every time you get on bike for a ride of more than one mile. Check the gears, tires and breaks. To check the tires, squeeze the tire and make sure that your thumb is not being depressed into the tire. If there is an obvious decrease in tire pressure from the last time you checked the tires, you probably have a slow leak. Second, check the breaks. I like to check the breaks by straddling the bike and gently moving the bike forward. When you do this, engage the breaks and this should stop all forward movement. If it doesn’t, I wouldn’t ride the bike until the breaks are checked. First look at the pads. If the pads don’t have visible wear, then the breaks probably need adjusting. This is tricky and most people call on a qualified bike mechanic to adjust the breaks. Third, check the gears. Visibly check the gears and make sure that they’re not damaged. You you can gently rest your foot on the chain to see if the chain is not too loose. Any depression in the tire chain of more than 3 inches would indicate that the chain and/or gears need to be adjusted.
Most importantly, have fun. And while you’re cycling, say no to $4.00 gasoline.
