Today the organizers of the Tour de France (ASO) announced that they are banning Team Astana because if the doping issues in 2007 Tour de France. Any true cycling fan can what the truth is behind this decision. ASO has been in a power struggle with the UCI over who controls pro cycling. Astana is now being used as a pawn in this petty game that the ASO and UCI are playing. The ASO is basically shoving this decision in the face of the UCI saying “you can’t tell us who to invite to our race, and we’ll show you by leaving out the best team and last year’s winner.”
The Tour de France organizers are only doing more harm to their race and making a mockery of the sport. It is the fans, the riders, and the sport that suffers because of this.
At least we have the Tour of California to look forward too.
It is January and I have been logging many hours on the indoor trainer since the beginning of November. The only thing that is keeping me sane is knowing that the daylight hours are now getting longer each day, and before we know it another season of cycling events will be here.
2007 was not a good year for me on the bike, so I have resolved to get in shape and have a good cycling season in 2008. To start off with, I want to do some races this year after no racing for a long time. So this is the time of year I get out my calendar, and start marking down some of the events I want to do. These are some of the events I would like to do if all goes well juggling family and work priorities:
- The Plainville Spring Series: I want to do some of these Saturday morning criteriums in March and April. They do not have a masters category for cat 3’s, so I will probably do the 3/4s, or 1/2/3 depending on how I feel.
- April 19: Battenkill-Roubaix: I have singed up for this race in the Masters 40+ category. It will be my first road race in a long time.
- April 26: Shelburne Falls 200K: I did this ride in 2006, and it is a great Spring Ride up into Vermont. The other option would be to do the Sturbridge Road Race.
- May ?: Jiminy Peak Road Race
- May ?: North Stonington Road Race
- June ?: Housatonic Hills Road Race
- July 12-13: Seattle to Portland I will be in Seattle in July, so this is an option
- August: Tour of the Litchfield Hills I’ve missed this ride the past couple of years. I may do it on the Tandem this year.
- August 10: Tokeneke Classic This is a hilly race around a regular training loop here in Connecticut. If I can get to my goal weight by then, I may be able to do o.k.
- August ?: New York TT Championship I’d like to do a 40 K TT this year. I hope that the North Atlantic TT will be back, but this is also an option
- August 23: D2R2 I want to do this ride again this year if I am in better shape.
- October: Great River Ride This is possibly another Tandem ride
- Pleasant Valley Time Trial Series: I’d like to set my best time for this time trial course. I might ride the tandem with my daughter Skylar on the team time trial days.
I’m sure I’ll add other events and change things around a little as more event dates are announced.
For Christmas I got new cycling shoes and pedals. I have been using the same shoes and pedals for quite a while now. All my bikes are set up with the older style SPD road pedals that you can use either road shoes or mountain bike shoes on. I liked that option because I used to commute to work on my bike and using mountain bike shoes were better for hauling my bike up the stairs when I got to work.
Crank Brothers pedals offer the same things I like about SPD pedals in that you can use mountain or road shoes with the pedals, so I ended up getting a pair of the Quattro pedals for my road bike. I thought about getting Look, Time, or Speedplay, but it seemed like the Crank Brothers Quattro pedals also have a great price compared to similar featured models of other brands.
So far I have ridden my indoor trainer with the new pedals twice, and I like them. They seems very easy to clip into compared the my old SPD pedals. The fact that you can clip into either side makes it even better. My old shoes have a big scuff mark on the toe from always kicking over the pedal to clip in. On the Crank Brothers pedals you just step down on them, and your in. The cleats can be set to a 15 degree or 20 degree release angle. I set mine to 20 degrees, and you do have to kick you heel out a little farther than I did with my SPD pedals for them to release.
To go with my new pedals, I was also ready for some new cycling shoes. I have used Sidi and Carnac shoes in the past. My old Sidi shoes were size 46, and sometimes on long rides I would get some pain in my feet. I think this was due to my shoes being just a little too tight (yes I have big feet). Sidi makes a size 46.5, so I opted for the half size increase.
Before Christmas I saw that REI Outlet had the Sidi Genius 5 shoes on clearance pricing, so I sat my laptop in front of my wife, and said, “Here … Order these for me for Christmas.” REI offers free shipping to a local store, and since a new REI store just opened in West Hartford, we had them shipped there, and we picked them up.
I’m looking forward to riding in my new setup this spring, and plan to convert all my bikes to the Crank Brothers pedals in the coming months.
