National Bicycle Touring Portraits at ACA

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The Adventure Cycling Association’s mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle. Many of those cyclists – inspired to spend their summers riding across the US – have included a stop at the ACA’s headquarters in Missoula, Montana. Since 1982, Greg Siple (that’s him in the picture above) has been photographing them with their gear and asking them about their travels. Recently, they’ve been posting a few of their more than 3000 (!) photos and the travelers’ stories on their website.

click ‘more’ to continue, and to see one of the fabulous portraits…

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Kim West Radio Cycling Show Invites Iowa Bike-Haters On Air

Kim West, the personality behind the eponymous Radio Cycling Show on 1460 KXNO has invited  the man behind Iowa’s anti-cycling petition to appear on her his Sunday radio show from 6 – 7pm (Central Time) this weekend.

You can listen in at knxo.com if you’re not in the area.  If you have no idea what this is about, Dan Jones, a “concerned citizen” is circulating a petition to ban cyclists from county roads in Iowa.  Read the full story here.

New 2010 Campagnolo Eurus 2-Way-Fit Road Wheels w/ Tube or Tubeless Use

campagnolo eurus 2010 2-way-fit road bicycle wheels

Campagnolo, amidst swirling rumors that they are for sale / have been sold to Hello Kitty’s parent company  (which, BTW, we hear are patently untrue), announced today their totally redesigned and brand new Eurus road wheelsets.

The big news is the all-new 2-Way-Fit wheel with a rim that works with both clincher and road tubeless tires.  The model also gets new, lighter aluminum aero spokes (w/ aluminum nipples) for a wheelset that weighs in just under 1500g.  The 2-Way-Fit model will come in Black colorway only.

The Eurus Clincher wheels carry forward the name, but Campy says they’re basically a new wheelset.  New production procedures help them drop 115g from the previous version, putting them in at 1482 per set.

Hit ‘more’ for additional specs and big, awesome photos

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Planet Bike Makes $30,000 Grant Possible for Cycling in Miami

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PRESS RELEASE: The Alliance for Biking and Walking has awarded a $30,000 matching grant to Miami-based Green Mobility Network. The grant was made possible by Planet Bike and is the first in a series of special grassroots bicycle advocacy grants to be given by Planet Bike in 2009.

Green Mobility Network is a young non-profit with the mission to make Miami-Dade County a healthier, more livable community by promoting bicycling, running, and walking for daily transportation, leisure, and fitness. In its short history, the Green Mobility Network has been a key leader in Miami’s efforts to improve conditions for bicyclist and pedestrians by crafting the city’s first bicycle master plan, orchestrating six successful “Bike Miami Days,” and beginning the development of a Safe Routes to School initiative.

The grant will help fund Green Mobility Network’s “Complete the M-Path” campaign. The Mobility Path, or M-Path, is Miami-Dade County’s most important multi-use path. Currently, however, there exists a 1.25 mile “Dadeland Gap” which prevents bicyclists and pedestrians from safely and easily connecting with the area’s wider network of paths. Once the goal of closing the gap is realized, there will exist a seamless 30-mile bicycle-pedestrian corridor running from downtown Miami to the county’s southern border.

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Found: Chomper Body All Natural Chamois Creams, etc.

chomper-body-product-stackWe’re a sucker for anything that’s natural, especially if it works, so we were pretty excited to find Chomper Body’s chamois creams, muscle rub and warming rub.

The chamois creams are available in distinct men’s (Ballocks) and women’s (Booty Balm) formulas, with the difference being there’s Tea Tree Oil in the mens versus Lavender Essential Oils in the womens.

Both are formulated from natural butters and oils, and they contain no water, so they should last a long time on the saddle.  One of the more unique ingredients is Emu oil, which has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties to prevent and treat saddle sores.

Do they work?  We’ll let you know soon, we just got our sample kit in to review.  Now, if it would just stop raining…

Video: Nike / Cavendish Interviews Parts 5, 6 and 7

Yep, the Tour’s over, but these are still entertaining to see the subtle differences in some of his stated goals and thoughts filmed before the Tour de France versus what he said during and after.  Here’s parts 5, 6 and  7 Nike video interviews with Mark Cavendish.  Part 5 above, 6 and 7 after the break…

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Boston Helps Recover Stolen Bikes with Twitter, Facebook

stolen-bikes-boston-logoAs part of their progress toward becoming a “world class bicycling city,” Boston has implemented a Stolen Bike Alert program that makes it easy to report a snatched bicycle.

First, you simply register your bike online (it’s free, and you upload a picture). Then, if your ride is stolen, simply report it to their website and they alert the police, local bike shops, hospitals and schools…and everyone who follows them on Twitter and Facebook.  Essentially, you get the cycling community and law enforcement all aware of and looking for your bike.  Sweet.

This represents a killer application of Web 2.0.  It’s free, it’s community based and it’s simple.  Let’s hope more cities adopt a similar system.

Bikerumor Pic Of The Day: The End Of A Good Day…

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Indo pedalar” by Fernando Bittencourt.

For more Pics Of The Day, click here.

Campagnolo Rumored to Have Sold to Japanese Company

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Bike Europe is reporting strong rumors that Campagnolo has sold to a Japanese company, but rest assured Shimano has denied any involvement with the rumored sale.

Asked to confirm or deny the speculation, Campagnolo’s Marketing & Communication director Lorenzo Taxis said: “I am not going to give you an official answer on this, as this is not an official matter inside the company.”

Hmmm…. stay tuned.

Hincapie Rode Final 4-1/2 Stages of Tour de France w/ Broken Collarbone

george hincapie finishes 2009 tour de france with broken collarbone

It never gets old, say it with me:  George Hincapie is da man!

After wrecking in Stage 17, Hincapie rode the remaining 70 miles of that stage with what he found out today is a broken collarbone.  Then, he rode stage 18, 19, 20 and 21, with a massive lead out effort on the final stretch of the Paris circuit to sling shot Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish in for the 1-2 finish.

Hit ‘more’ for the X-Ray pic…

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First Colorado, Now Iowa Trying to Ban Cyclists on Roads…WTF!?!

First it was country bumpkins in Colorado’s Jefferson County that want to ban cyclists from county roads (or at least have the right to select some roads), now some Iowa ruralites seem to have stuck their head up the same arse.

Radio Iowa is reporting that a group calling itself the “Citizens for Safety Coalition of Iowa” is asking people to sign a petition that asks the legislature to create a ballot initiative for the November 2010 election that would ban bicycles on “farm-to-market” roads. Dan Jones of Van Meter is a spokesperson for the coalition.

Here’s a freakin’ quote for you: “Because of the growth of today’s commerce and agricultural business, shared roadways are no longer safe or practical in today’s society.” Now that’s forward thinking…

In case you’re wondering, “farm-to-market” means non-Interstate highways…basically any highway that connects agricultural and rural areas to towns and cities.  You know, the roads we all like to ride…the ones that so far we’ve had every legal right to ride…the ones that RAGBRAI has used for 37 years for the world’s largest and oldest touring bicycle ride.

If you want to see who to cross off your Christmas list this year, here’s a list of who’s signed the petition.

If you’re a cyclist in Iowa, now’s the time to act.  Call or email your state, county and city elected officials and let them know that you will not support anyone that entertains any legislation banning cyclists from public roads.

Chris Carmichael Releases “The Time Crunched Cyclist” for People Who Still Have Jobs

chris-carmichael-time-crunch-cyclistI don’t know too many people that have actually been laid off (except for Daniel, which is why he’s able to write for us…but he hated his job anyway), but I do know plenty of people that are working ridiculous hours for far too little pay.  Sweetie would argue I probably fall into this category, but fortunately I have more than six hours a week to ride since technically it’s considered work…and I use that term loosely, though it’s surprising how much work it actually takes to produce this site.  Anyway…

For those that aren’t self-employed bicycle media entities, Chris Carmichael has just released a new training book entitled “The Time Crunched Cyclist: Fit, Fast and Powerful in Six Hours a Week.”

It’s 232 pages of words, charts, tables and pictures designed to make you fast in less time than you spend on Facebook each week.  Once you’ve done the CTS Field Test, it runs you through four different training plans, covers nutrition and other details honed over his 20+ years of coaching folks like Lance Armstrong, etc.

MSRP is $19.95, but you can probably find it on Amazon.com for $13.57.