Bike Trainer

Just saw this trainer on the Garmin-Transitions video channel and find it looks great. Here's an interview with Greg LeMond about it.

What Is It!?!

It's an exercise bike. Take a look at the website, if you're having serious doubts. Its price tag is US$10,000.00. An Italian designer and professor of graphic and computer arts named Luca Schiepatti produced this fashionable item.

It comes across to me as a piece of art or sculpture that a wealthy collector would purchase and place in a prominent part of his penthouse or mansion that would serve far more as a conversation-piece among his equally wealthy admiring guests, than it would as functional fitness equipment.

I have to say though, it's one nice-looking piece of artwork that would take up a very small footprint wherever it's kept. The makers say that the seat and handlebars are adjustable and that a display is located at the top of the one stationary wheel.

YouTubing the bike turned up videos that were all essentially the same and not providing what I was looking for—a run-down of the display's features, info on the amount of resistance the bike can provide and a demo of someone exercising on it (not that one with a model in a mini dress grinning uselessly and pedaling slowly).

Here's a short video (in Italian) of the bike on display with two others. If you can understand Italian, I'd be interested in knowing what the guy's saying.

White Collar

I love the television series White Collar. I'm always taken with the uncovering of nefarious activities in 'high circles', such as the theft of art or precious memorabilia. I like that the plots, which I find interesting, move along at a good speed, and the banter between Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke and Mozzie is quite funny.

I remembered a program that showed on either the History Channel or National Geographic on this type of white collar crime and was surprised to learn that it ranks as the world's fourth most lucrative illegitimate activity. I couldn't locate the exact episode, but I came across some other interesting incidents—did you know that the Mona Lisa was stolen right off the wall of the Louvre Museum and could not be found for two years!?! But I'm really straying from my original thoughts. (It happens often.)

Anyway, I'm intrigued (as I said in the previous blog post) with the unfolding script that Landis began when he typed several emails to cycling officials. And I'd love to see a movie about it in due time (also mentioned in the previous blog post), but what I'm adding now is that Jeff Eastin, the creator of White Collar, would be my choice to put in charge of script production. The story of the peloton in the light of organized doping, played from an investigative, legal point of view, and presented with 100% accuracy with no 'creative liberty' taken, would make for some fine viewing.

I have a few casting suggestions for Jeff, if I may call him Jeff, beginning with Lance Armstrong. It would be really great if Rick[y] Schroeder played LA. He's perfect for the role. He's a terrific actor who could convincingly pull off both Lance's charisma and his fierce ways. Just take a look at them below.

See!?! Didn't I tell you Ricky Schroeder would be a good choice? I'll take the credit when he signs the contract.

Next up is Floyd Landis. Matt Damon gets my vote there.

Now, my intention was to google a few actors for the real life roles, but searching for these pictures took longer than expected, so I'll just suggest one more character, for now. Jeff Novitsky, the official who's investigating the allegations. I was going to google "bald-headed actor" but before I could, I came across the pic of someone who looks the part (literally). And I hear he really hates tennis, the job he's done all his life. So, maybe he can try his hand at acting, he might like it.

Good Things Do Come In Small Packages

I bought myself this cute, sweet little 'dirt bike'. There aren't enough exclamation marks in the world to convey what a nice ride it gives!

I think I'm enamoured with it because the quality surprised me a great deal. And that's because I was biased, narrow-minded and judgmental about it in the first place. But who isn't with some things, eh?

I normally associate BMX bikes with tall early-teenage boys sporting long legs and when riding the bikes, their knees come up to their ears. I never considered it a "serious" bike or for adults. Then, two Fridays ago, I bought one. More about that another time. Maybe.

This is a Giant 2009 Method BMX or so the paint job says. If I sound like I have my doubts that it's that exact bike, it's because the Method on Giant's website is US$490.00 and I paid US$220.00 for mine. No, I didn't get it from a hooded guy in an alley in the dark of night. It was daytime. I'm kidding...now back to the bike.

The ride is just too nice! Since the bike is constructed to be ridden on a motocross-type circuit, it's a sturdy little thing. It also must be made well because it's additionally used for stunts and tricks. Plus, Giant is one of the top bike brands.

(The guy in the pic above is not falling, he's doing a stunt.) The bikes aren't made for sitting down on for long periods of time, but I remedied that by switching to a much longer, smart-looking, silver-coloured seat post which looks just fine against the black bike (you can see this in the first photo). So now the seat is raised high enough for my legs to stretch out comfortably while pedaling.

This brings my little bike collection to 3. Two Treks and a little Giant. That's nothing if you're a cycling fan. One of my cousins has 6 bikes in his garage! Six I tell you—which means that presently I'm only half the cyclist he is!

"Wired To Win"

Wired To Win: Surviving the Tour de France is a movie which was released in 2005, after five years in production. It's a mixture of fantastic visuals of France, with the science of the brain in its role during the race, described as the most grueling of sports events on the mind and body. What intrigues me most about the film is that's it's an Imax film. An Imax I tell you!!

The Featurette is gorgeous in itself, with the crew and others talking about some of what it took to capture the event on film. One example was rigging an Imax camera to a motorcycle, with the camera being operated from a helicopter 2,000 feet away! The filmmakers make use of 3D computer generated imagery which is excellent. You can see the movie trailer here.

I attempted to find out if there is a DVD version, but something tells me that Imax films may not be readily available in that format. Still, I sent an email enquiring about it to the producers. It's already been a whole four hours—why haven't they replied!?!

Moving Billboards

Sponsors are the life-blood of cycling teams—without them, the cycling world would be very different. In the early days of the Tour de France they dressed from head to toe with what they personally owned. Only after some time did some manufacturers seize the opportunity for having their products seen by tens of thousands of people. Today, there are millions of people looking on at Tour.

It was good to learn that Skype has stepped in as one of the sponsors for the HTC-Columbia team now taking part in the Tour de France.

One of Skype's managers summed it up nicely when he said, "That's the beauty of Skype; it allows people to do the things they normally do together even when they are thousands of miles apart." I've used Skype for several years and it's a great program.

But, who knew there was still room on the kit for yet another logo!

The Business of Cycling – Managing Your Image

Public Strategies Inc. is the company Lance Armstrong has contracted to handle his image, or the public's perception of him; or perhaps manage the American public's perception of him. I'm guessing about that last part. Actually, he's been a client of theirs for quite some time now, at least a few years it seems.

The company describes their occupation as helping "leading companies transform their corporate reputation into competitive advantage by building trust with key audiences through campaign, transaction, crisis management and corporate partnerships."

Tiger Woods hired a consultant (a White House guy I believe) to help him manage his image when he found himself in a crisis a few months ago. Right about now (well, starting in May actually) I'm certain a seven-time-tour-champion has been in daily contact with PS Inc., since some dark clouds of allegations about the very seven-time-tour-winner had gathered over his seven-time-tour-myth image.

Getting back to Public Strategies, whose information about themselves is noticeably scanty (possibly a strategy in itself), they reassure you that all your bases will be covered, including the use of online social networking, such as Twitter.

Recently, I read this saying: If you take care of your behaviour, your reputation will take care of itself.

I feel that a person's established reputation is one of the best defenses for crisis management. If that isn't working, there's always a company out there willing to help you with how to Twit and what pictures to release to the public.

They wouldn't, for example, release pictures like this:

Cab Owner Paid (And Tipped) For Swapping Seats

Photo: Taken March 21st, 2010

Where: @ The Bluegrass Festival, Temecula, California

The real scoop: This pedicab owner offered Michael–Photog of the Flickr Roundtable–a ride for $1. Michael thought, "Wow that's cheap a good price. . . but I need the exercise, so no" and he declined. Then it struck him that pedaling the vehicle would make for some great exercise, so, he returned and offered the guy $1 to allow him to do the pedaling! Then topped it with another $1 as a tip!

I wondered out loud on Michael's Flickr page whether the bike has gears and he described it as like a mountain bike with a number of gears, and a stable and smooth ride.

The African Cyclist

Today I watched ESPN's half-hour recap of the ATP Indian Wells Tennis Tournament. One of the segments recounted the "Hit For Haiti" matches that raised US$1,000,000 and they nicely worked into the story, the views of a retired professional Haitian man who has several pro titles on his résumé. (I don't remember his name.) Then I began thinking of Arthur Ashe, which led me to thinking about Jo-Tsonga Wilfried, the Williams sisters, Monfils and Blake. It struck me that there are no current African professional cyclists on the world scene. I know about Major Taylor, who was a celebrity very early in the 1900s but I don't recall any black world champions since then.

You'd expect that since Africans naturally excel in track and field and marathons, they should do the same in cycling, since the skills needed are the same in both sports. Then I recalled something about Kenyans being exceptional athletes due in part to the altitude at which they live, which is similar to Colorado, and I know there's more about fitness and living in Colorado but my memory has only a vague outline about it.

So why aren't there black cyclists in the peloton at the major races?

Googling "black professional cyclists" turned up some very interesting info, articles, and a movie — The African Cyclist — which is still in production.

Here's what I learned.

Cycling is the most popular sport in the East African country of Eritrea which has a population of over 5.6 million. The Tour of Eritrea was first introduced 54 years ago by the Italian Eritrean community, who are descendants of Italian occupiers of the 19th century. The race was brought back in 2001 on the tenth anniversary of Eritrea's independence and today is recognized by the world governing body of cycling (the UCI).

Many marathon champions come from Kenya, another East African nation. And so do Zakayo Nderi and Samwel Mwangi, a shoe-shiner and a pedal taxi driver. They were brought to Europe to attempt a famous Tour de France climb in the L'Alpe d'Huez, which they did on the 14th August 2008. The record for cycling up this mountain is 39 minutes 41 seconds with the tenth-placed cyclist finishing in 42 minutes 8 seconds. The Kenyans, who have no racing experience or professional coaching, climbed it in 42 minutes 10 seconds. Seems like they have a place in the peloton.

One cycling site suggests a couple reasons for the absence of African teams in major races. One is that the government of some African nations restricts the athletes from participating in outside events and another is the high cost of the sport which requires several sponsors per team.

Nderi and Mwangi, the subjects of the movie The African Cyclist, are hoping to attract support and sponsorship to participate in the Tour de France. I hope they get it.

Helping Those In Need

I received a few photos in an email which explained that during a week of very hot weather in Australia, Koalas were approaching humans for a drink of water.

This photo just knocks my cycling socks off. There's a whole lot of mottos rolled into one, going on here...to protect and serve and speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Isn't this nice!?!

Multitasking

I was out dual-tasking today. First, I wanted to go for a ride. I was annoyed to almost the hilt because sickness, namely, sinusitis (which I get reliably 4-5 times a year) and sciatic pain (which is a new development now) kept tripping me up for the last several weeks. Today I decided that nothing would stop me from a valiant attempt at some climbing.

I virtually sped home from work (by taxi and on foot), changed into my cycling gear and munched down on an ice cream sandwich before heading out.

I did well on the ride. There were times when I wanted to quit, but I kept pushing and pushing until I reached my goal. I wondered for a while if I'd overdone it, because my stomach developed an intense pain, almost nauseous-like, but I recovered and perhaps one day soon I'll read something about exercise and understand what happened.

Having taken care of the first goal, I turned my attention to the second task at hand — using the Pedco Ultra Clamp Assembly. What a fine little instrument this is!

Here it is clamped to my bike's handlebar supporting a lightweight digital camera.

This camera mount can comfortably hold small camcorders and cameras. The top part which secures the camera is also a pivoting ball head type of attachment, so you can adjust the tilt of the camera in any direction. In addition to the pivoting head, the section directly underneath can also adjust. The part that fastens onto the handlebar has a convex shape so that, when the opposite side is screwed in, the mount becomes solidly fixed onto the bike.

This mount set back my wallet by $21.49 and set forward my videomaking by some leaps and bounds. I'm thrilled over the footage that I envision capturing in the months to come. Here is some footage recorded using the mount. The frame rate is less than what you'd find in a good videocamera so that accounts for the slight jitter. I also stabilised the footage in the editing program for easier viewing. Aside from those two things, this little mount is quite capable of contributing to some really nice footage in many rides to come.

CameraMount from Microchip on Vimeo.

What's Not Right With This Photo?

I got this photo along with a bunch of others via email, which was entitled "Husband of the Year".  I could hardly believe this!  Why isn't the other bicycle under the tent as well?!  Could the guy not do the decent thing and bring in the other bike?  I assume there's another bike, because the tent is clearly not large enough to hold a tandem, so they aren't riding one of those.  That's enough to start talking divorce, isn't it! Sheesh, some people...!

 

"Differences Between Boys And Girls"

The Fat Cyclist (who is not fat) has one of the best cycling blogs (in my opinion) on the 'Net. I just love his sense of humour. Well, this photo-post of his is one worth seeing. And...it would be better for you not to be drinking anything while reading it.

:-)

A Letter To Cycling Fans

Dear Avid Cycling Fans,

It's good to take a break from your normal routine once every so often, and experience something different. You will be surprised as I was to learn that there are other sports! (And you know what — it's okay for people to take these seriously, because we know in time they'll come around.) I was introduced to one such sport by a good friend of mine who shall remain incognito, and recommend you give it a try.

First of all, find yourself at a Golf Club and pay a few dollars for a bucket of these. This works out to be quite a deal, because you only leave the Club when you've successfully hit them all off of a peg (one at a time). This means you can be at the course all day long for the same price as the others I saw there who were through with their buckets very quickly. I felt bad for them that they didn't get their money's worth.

Now you go out on what they call the driving range. As you can see, they've placed a series of green mats on the bicycle path.

The golf club (not the premises you're on, the thing you hit the small balls with) is very lightweight, and I suspect is made of titanium, much like the frames of some of the bicycles the pro tour teams use. (So that's a good similarity between this sport and the one that we know the world revolves around.)

Now comes the good part. Bring the club all the way around the right side of your body...

...and swing it at the ball with all your might! The swinging action can dislocate the strongest of shoulder blades, again, much like what can happen if you fall off your bike. (This sport keeps getting more points in my book.)

You may have to try this several-to-many times, but as I said, you have all day.

It's a nice sport. Who knows, if word about it spreads around enough, it may even catch on in a big way, with competitions and such! So try golfing the next time you're looking for a change in routine, or going on a vacation. And of course, always spend the time on your flights wisely.

Yours bikefully,

Velopen

P.S. It's always better to try a new outdoor sport with a good buddy who's as crazy as you are about a sport, even if it's one of those 'other' sports.

Unusual Bikes – The Yike Bike

Imagine that! You can re-invent the wheel[s] — a New Zealand engineer certainly has!

Take a look at this very, very nice folding electric bike with anti-skid brakes and weighing only 22 pounds! View all the videos about this bike, they're just a few minutes each. It's bound to catch your attention!

The Discovery Channel short feature on it:

http://www.yikebike.com/site/gallery/video/yikebike-discovery-channel

And here's an advertisement:

See how it performs riding over a grill, up a steep gravel hill and road, across wet grass and more.

A point to note: Do always wear a helmet.