Levi Leipheimer racing at the Cascade Classic in 1998. Photo by BikeRide.com
According to a post on BikePortland.org, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will be racing in the Cascade Classic form July 9-13 in Bend, Oregon. With Team Astana being left out of the Tour de France, they will be using Cascade to prepare for the Olympics.
In 1998 Lance Armstrong raced the Cascade Classic, then went on to win the Tour de France the next seven years, so maybe it will be good luck for Levi too!
Another top rider who will be at Cascade is Tom Danielson who was left off the Team Garmin / Chipotle roster for the Tour de France.
This morning when I arrived at my office in Collinsville, Connecticut, there was a couple from Seattle eating outside on the patio of La Salle Market with a fully loaded Rodriguez tandem. They had ridden across the country, and were now heading south to Florida.
They said they had ridden from Stockbridge, Massachusetts the day before and said it was some of the most scenic riding of the entire trip. I have to agree that I live in a great area for bicycle touring.
It was nice running into some people from my home town.
I took this picture this morning on my ride to work. After changing jobs last year, now I live less than 2 miles from my office. It is a flat route with a bike trail half the way along the scenic Farmington river. I put regular flat pedals on the bike, and I can just cruise down the bike path in my sandals and regular shorts and t-shirt (which I can wear at work) and not break a sweat. I just throw my laptop in my messenger bag, and I am all set.
I switched the wheel from fixed gear to freewheel so I can just coast half the way. If I want a workout I can just go for a ride when I get home on my road bike. There is really no reason not to ride to work for me, and I get to start the day feeling like I am on vacation just cruising down the trail on my bike.
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.
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