Go Clipless

Will GM really say 'FU' to the H2?

Well, they've finally succumbed to the pressure - maybe. Sales are down 27% and GM is considering killing the Hummer H2. You knew it had to happen. Especially after those commercials showing the uber-mommy-bitches mowing people down in their Hummers all Napoleon Syndrome style. Speaking of little-d!*ks, remember this one? They even began marketing to this segment of emasculated men! I guess that's when they jumped the shark.

In all seriousness though, I'm usually not so militant about these things...I'm more of a live and let live type. Still, I've been trying to figure out why I am so bugged by these monstrosities. I think Dethroner may of hit on the reasons why:

I understand that a few people have a need for large SUVs and that a person’s willingness to pay the premium in fuel goes a long way towards justifying the cost. But what I don’t understand is what seems to the acceptance of edge-case preparedness...

What’s it going to take for the average American car owner to accept that owning a modest vehicle is, you know, actually cool? What’s wrong with buying a crossover SUV that gets great has mileage, still seats six (or the now-magical seven), but might not quite be able to tow your boat down the highway at 80 MPH?

Here's to the vehicle that inspired a movement.

New addition to the coolest cycling t-shirt list

If you've been around for a while than you know how I'm a sucker for the Cycling T. This despite the fact that I actually own very few. In fact, my wife owns more than I do and she rarely cycles - thanks Flirtees (which reminds me...we actually did a photo shoot with K-girl showing off her Flirtees shirt - I'll post up soon). Is it me, or are most of the best cycling t-shirts made for women?

Anyway, it's been a while since I've added a new entry to the Coolest Cycling T-Shirts list, but then not just any shirt company will make the list. Vital Industries (found via The Piton) is an eclectic company that sells a mixture of items, only a few of which revolve around cycling, including wallets, photography, and t-shirts. Vital describes it's style as "full of energy, life...and an aesthetic attitude that is at once urban and rural." You can buy their shirts and other products on Etsy.

I like the cycling t's in their collection because of the unique placement of the artwork on the shirt. Although, I must say that this one in the men's collection is a bit bottom heavy.

Ok, now back away from the screen...you're liable to put an eye out.

The coolest cycling t-shirts.
More of the coolest cycling t-shirts.

MTB wedding rings, no respect from the prez, safety is sexy, sock wars, and rolling up my sleeves blue collar style

Been doing a lot of riding and working lately. More like working and riding. Still, there has been some riding mixed in there, which is nice. Anyway, here's a few crazy/wild/interesting stories since last we talked:

How about a ring shaped like a mountain bike tire? With two different tread patterns to choose from. The silver version starts at $75 but the gold and platinum versions go up to a few hundred dollars. Shit, if you marry a honey you meet on the trail, you may even get away with making this your wedding band. Ha. (via Dethroner)

Looks like Go Clipless carries no weight with POTUS (President of the United States). Does anyone? I'm just asking. Freewheeling Spirit tried to call his attention toward National Bike Month and get him to encourage bike commuting. Still waiting for an answer...

Gwadzilla reminds us that safety is sexy. Oh yeah, then why do so few naked chicks on bikes wear helmets??? (Warning - last two links are NSFW).

And...in the ongoing saga known as the cycling sock wars... I sense DeFeet is starting to pick up some momentum. Bicycle Retailer and Industry News is reporting that they hired a sales rep from SockGuy. A game changing event to be sure.

Finally, I've always been curious about the new Internet Bike Dealers (IBDs) made possible through low cost overseas manufacturing. Are they really a better deal than comparable bikes bought at your local bike shop? I've begun testing a full-suspension rig from one such IBD, Woodstock Bikes. Through a partnership with the Crooked Cog I will be reviewing the Woodstock 707 for Blue Collar Mountain Biking and recording my thoughts a long the way. So far the experience is positive and I've posted up my first impressions already. I'll also be exploring other aspects of the process of buying a bike online. So check it out...

2008 Shimano Deore XT preview - better than XTR?

Just about all of your favorite major media outlets have a preview of the new 2008 Shimano Deore XT group set online right now. I believe Singletrack Magazine was the first to get its preview up, but Bike Magazine also has a good write-up.

To me, the XT group is the poor man's XTR. But ironically it usually is a better choice than XTR if weight is not your only criteria. The system is simply more durable. I'm of the mind that Shimano's XTR group really should be considered for the pros only that have a troop of people maintaining their bikes. They've got the money, time resources, and incentive to bend parts back in place or replace worn cogs after every hard race. If you take your riding seriously, but don't make a living from it, you are better off with XT.

Funny thing is that every few years it seems that Shimano releases the XT group with even better technology than it's flagship XTR group. I can remember reading a magazine's recommendation to go with XT way back in the 90's because of it's advances over the (then) current XTR, and this year may be no exception.

The most notable advance on the XT for '08 is the "Shimano Shadow" rear derailleur. Essentially the Shadow is a reduced profile derailleur that draws the hanging mechanism closer to the rear cogs and out of the way of danger. In fact, the entire derailleur is behind the quick release bolt so it is protected from damage if the bike crashes or is dropped on it's right side. (See the side by side profile comparison photo - notice the Shadow version is on the right).

Of course the group maintains many of the characteristics and options that Shimano brought to market with the 2007 XTR group. For more information I recommend the following from the GC archives:

• Overview of Shimano's new XTR group set with options explained
• Explanation of dual control and low normal shifting

New bike 'zine chronicles the Urban Cyclist

Brad Quartuccio and Jeff Guerrero of Dirt Rag fame, have started a new 'zine called Urban Cyclist. The first issue just hit the streets/web and is chock full of gritty city street biking and culture. And culture is what this zine is all about. Here's an excerpt from the editor's statement:

For people of all walks of life the bicycle is the great unifier. Brothers and sisters on two wheels, another cyclist is a friendly face in a crowded sea. Through this a wealth of culture is within reach much of it focused on our shared love of two wheels.

The zine just exudes cool...download it here.

2007 Greenbrier Challenge UCI Pro Race Report, a personal account

Alternate title: Why you should take your family to a pro mountain bike race.

Woke up Sunday morning and said to my wife, "do you think we can be ready and out of the house by 10am?"

"Huh...oh...oh yeah...I forgot," she groaned.

Notice I didn't remind her of anything. All week I had been talking about going as a family to watch the Greenbrier Challenge UCI Pro Race in Maryland. She just didn't want to go for some reason...

Nonetheless, I made it happen. We packed the cooler with PB &J, watermelon, oranges, some baklava left over from a party, and of course, Diet Cokes and headed to the mountains of Central (or is it Western?) Maryland to catch the race.

On the ride up, I played up the race. "We're going to see all the pros." And I started naming the local heroes...Jeremiah Bishop, Chris Eatough, Sue Haywood...

Now Jack jumped in..."Chris Eatough is going to be there? Really?"

Jack just learned about Chris Eatough on Thursday when he accompanied me to the hometown premiere of 24-Solo, which I'll review in another post.

"Yup, Chris Eatough will be there," I said.

Next Claire (my 6 year old) chimed in..."Daddy?"

"Yes Claire?"

"Will Gwadzilla be there?" she asked innocently.

Kgirl and I just lost it and began laughing hysterically. (Of course he was there, though we left before we had a chance to catch up with him).

We arrived at the race just as the pros were staging. On the sidelines to my right was a woman with a baby in a papoose saying "there's Daddy," and pointing to one of the riders. I asked her which one was Daddy and she pointed to none other than Chris Eatough. (Were the stars aligning, or what?)

"Oh really, well Jack and I just caught the movie the other day in Arlington. Chris is Jack's new mountain bike hero...he's got the poster on the wall and everything." We continued some small talk for a minute or two and then the riders were off. But not before I snapped this pic of Chris getting a good luck kiss from the family.

It's incredible how fast the pros are! They just shot out of the gate and up the first hill as though there was no tomorrow. Since I have ridden this trail several times before, I decided it would be most interesting to watch the riders go through the first technical rock garden. It proved to be the perfect choice.

Todd Wells and Jeremiah Bishop were the clear leaders of the mens race. After only one lap it was clear they would dominate the day. But Greenbrier is a very technical race course, it's very rocky with one crazy steep hill so anything could happen.

One by one we watched both the men and the women navigate the rock garden, as each lap progressed it was obvious that some riders were becoming fatigued and began to get sloppy through the rocks. There were only a few slippages, however, and no major problems for the riders getting through this tight and twisty section of floating baby heads.

Around the fourth lap, Jeremiah Bishop was only 45 seconds or so behind the leader Todd Wells. He entered the rock garden just after one of the pro women racers and had to pass if he was to continue to make up time against Wells. Thus, he did what any skilled east coast rider would do and took a hard inside line over several boulders and zipped on by without even skipping a beat. Incredible!

Now it was time to hike back out to the finish line. I parked the family on the side of a hill overlooking the finish and grabbed the cooler from the car. Meanwhile, the announcer started riling up the crowd with announcements from the field. Will Jeremiah make up enough time? Can Wells hold on to the lead? Only time will tell. Suddenly there's a report that Wells has blown a tire with 6 tenths of a mile to go. But Jeremiah is less than a minute behind...he'll have to ride it in if he wants to win.

Next we get a report that Jeremiah has also flatted. Will he ride it in too? Where was he in relation to Wells? No one knew for sure. From a distance a rider emerged from beyond the lake. Was it? Could it be? Who is it?

Finally, we recognized it as Todd Wells who was wobbling in on a shredded flat tire still going at full speed.

A few minutes later another rider emerged...is it Jeremiah? No. It must be Chris Eatough then? No. It was Jeff Schalk from Trek/VW - East, who quietly raced consistent fast laps and held out for a very respectable second place showing.

Chris Eatough finished third, while Jeremiah finished in fourth with a final lap that was about 8 minutes off the pace from his previous lap, due of course, to the flat that he suffered near the end. Clearly not a happy man for the moment, he threw his bike down in disgust and walked off the course. Who could blame him?

Then it was the women's turn. Katie Compton, three-time U.S. Cyclo-cross champion, was out in front the entire race to take the Challenge by a margin of more than two minutes. Sue Haywood came in second and the crowd roared as she is one of the regional favorites.

After the race we were finished with our picnic lunch. From the hillside we watched as the remaining riders - Experts, Masters, Clydesdales, and Single Speed - took off into the mountain side. But we would not see these riders to the end as it was time to get home, cook dinner and get ready for the work and school week.

But not before visiting the Trek/Volkswagen tent and trying to catch up with one of our heroes.

"Jack. Claire. Come here. Quick. It's Chris Eatough. Check it out he's over there washing his bike. Let's go meet him."

Shyly they followed me over as I "stalked" Chris and asked if he would mind getting a picture with the kids. Very graciously he accepted, of course. A little small talk - the movie, Jack starting to ride with me, the Jason Berry interview for the blog - and he was off. What a nice guy.

And now, Jack (and Claire, though she may still be too young) will have a memory for life. It just doesn't get any better than that for an eight year old kid.

All-in-all, it was an amazing day. Aside from gas, the whole day cost us 4 dollars - the out of state entry price for the park. I can't think of too many other sports where you can get right up to the action and meet the pros to boot. What a day!

Photo at top of post is from Kevin Dillard. Check out all of his Greenbrier Race pics - coming soon.

Check out my other photos from the day on Flickr.

Greebrier Challenge Race Results

A "real" race report from Cyclingnews.