Bicycling 2011-01-02 Viny

CYCLING ICON
GEORGE HINCAPIE
PLANS TO WIN
PARIS-ROUBAIX
AND RIDE THE REST
OF HIS LIFE. FOR
MORE, SEE PAGE 46.
D I S P L A Y U N T I L 2 / 0 1 / 1 1
PUERTO RICO
BY BIKE
THE ULTIMATE
5-MINUTE WINTER
WORKOUT
BREAKFAST
FOR CYCLISTS
OUR
FAVORITE
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LAYER
BONUS! 12-MONTH
TUNE-UP CALENDAR Special Maintenance Guide
Motivation Issues?
THIS STORY MIGHT SAVE YOU. PAGE 58
TRAIN SMARTER
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FIND MORE TIME TO RIDE
HAVE WAY MORE FUN

& MAYBE EVEN LOOK
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The Best
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01/02.11
january/february 2011 Volume lii number 1
the great mechanic within
youll curse, youll sweat, youll defnitely get
greasy. but learn to fx your bike, and youll
cherish cycling even more. By eBen weiss
plus: a years worth of simple tune-up advice
and straightforward solutions to the 25 most
maddening maintenance issues.
the far-off end
When he starts to have trouble remembering
exactly why its important to keep racing, a cyclist
is saved by a race that hell never forget.
By mike magnuson
my bike went to puerto rico
What happens when a pale, pasty
northerner heads south for a monster tour of
the island? hot sun, lukewarm coconuts and
tears of joyor was that relief? By Bill gifford
plus: five more hot cycling destinations.
nine questions: george hincapie
after more than two decades of elite racing,
americas greatest domestique still loves to
ride. We chatted with big George about training
solo, start-line jitters and why he never, ever
gets tired of talking about paris-roubaix.
48
58
38
46
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Hincapie relaxes in down
town greenville, near
the Hincapie sportswear
headquarters. BmC
alpenchallenge02 bike;
outlier Blaze Cotton Pivot
sleeve shirt; Hincapie
ritmo jeans; Hublot Big
Bang Tantalum watch.
38
on the cover
photoGraphed by
PaTriCk Cavan Brown
styled by
sHanTel lowe
george Hincapie shows
off his 2011 BmC Team
machine bike at his home
in greenville, south
Carolina. Hincapie
signature jersey
and shorts,
Pro socks; northwave
aerlite s.B.s. shoes.
feaTures
january/february 2011 3
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10 editors letter 12 mail 15 start 19 bike snob 64 Gear 96 off the back
Start
shop we Love
from fresh espresso to fancy bikes, theres
nothing to gripe about at angry catfsh.

coach
this two-step workout will build the power
you need to crush short, steep climbs.
hubbub
meet a wrench who will fx your bike
for free, and fnd out how you can race the tour
of california. plus: havent you always wished
your bike could throw fames?
road rights
if you dont need a license to
ride a bike, do you need to show id when a
police offcer asks for it?
eat to ride
you need a good breakfastduh. but did you
know that you should choose what to eat
based on the ride you have planned? here are
four great-tasting and nutritious meals.
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we aLL ride
the owner of dogfsh head brewery explains
why beer people and bike people are so similar.
master it
forget that baseball-cards-in-the-spokes
thing: bikes should be seen and not heard.
here are eight ways to silence noisy parts.
Gear
city sLickers
explore your hood on a snazzy town bike from
electra, felt, Globe, jamis, trek or swobo.
editors choice
a lightweight vest is the most versatile
piece of cycling gear you can own. here are
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urbanLegends
We pick the ultimate city riding wardrobe.
vaLue of the month
the terry actif short: at this price, theres
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4 january/february 2011
BITOC.indd 4 11/8/10 4:33 PM
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BLUE
IS GOOD
AS GOLD
THE PERFECT RIDE IS PRICELESS. TRUST ONLY THE BEST TOOLS.
2010 Park Tool Co.
The color BLUE is a registered trademark and trade dress of Park Tool Co. www.parktool.com
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GOAL TENDING
This is The Time of year cyclisTs embark onThaT curious riTual
called goal setting. They circle a couple big rides on the calendar or vow to pedal 3,000
miles next year or declare to the world that theyll true their own wheels from now on.
but some meaningful goals just pop up out of nowhere. you blow past the normal
turnaround on your weekend ride and decide to see what 60 feels like. you read a mag-
azine story about a fondo and next thing you know youre on orbitz booking a flight.
or youre 15 miles into a century and look over to see chris horner telling you to
grab his wheel. This is what happened to me at the Patrick Dempsey challenge on a
crisp morning this past october. i was outside of lewiston, maine, drifting back from
a lead group that seemed erratic (read: too fast for me) when a guy with four snickers
bars crammed into a radioshack kit rolled up. i should mention that on roughly every
other day, horner is my favorite pro cyclist. (its Jens Voigt on Tuesdays, fridays and
hot July days.) chris embodies the cyclist persona i wish i had: strong enough for bold
escapes but unselfish enough to bury himself for the team, confident enough to speak
his mind. i lack redneck charm and a ProTour engine, but i know a juicy goal when i
see one. i vowed to stay on horners wheel until we rolled back into lewiston.
i should also mention my history of imploding on centuries. im more of a 90-
mile specialist, i guess. i didnt mention this to horner. We talked about kids and
new england real estate and how Thor hushovd can take care of himself on climbs
these days. Though chris was careful to dial back on climbs, we gradually picked up
remnants of that front group. a series of punchy climbs about three hours in left me
cramping and slimed in cold sweat, but i stayed with the pack. i no longer had horn-
ers wheelclearly, he was going to pull the whole wayand i sat at the back, silent.
as we swung into a rest stop at mile 75, three bike-industry guys with some
ability and attitudethe only riders still ahead of usrode out. one of them told
chris hed better take a short break if he hoped to catch them, and i knew theyd
pay for this hubris less than i would. someone had taped a course map to a Porta
Potty: two stout climbs left, then a flatish run-in to lewiston. Just get over those
bumps, i told myself. and i did. i was 20 miles from closing out a century with
the guy who had finished 10th in the Tour de france when he decided it was time
to start an earnest chase. i was in the big ring, in the drops, in trouble. after 20
minutes, i chanced a look back. The 10 people whod
been on my wheel a few minutes earlier were gone.
i searched for mental strength. i replayed hundreds
of hours of training. i visualized the facilities at the
Dempsey center id toured the day before, especially a
room where kids like mine learn to process that mom-
my or daddy has cancer, and i recalled that this ride was
about greater struggles than those against lame mito-
chondria. in crazy desperation, i even dug up the sting
of the girlfriend whod left me to be closer to Jesus.
my forearms burned. my chest rattled. and horner
didnt slow down. finally on a long, slight grade, i sat up.
as the little group floated away, i passed a sign thrust
into the roadside: Dempsey challenge 10 miles To Go.
on the bright side, id be sitting at a picnic table in
45 minutes, cracking open a lobster claw and cracking
a joke with a cycling idol when he asked where id gone.
in 30 minutes id be descending into lewiston, blowing
past friendly people on hybrids finishing up short loops.
but right then, as chris horner and seven fast guys on
his wheel disappeared? my only goal was to keep pedal-
ing. That, in the end, is always more than enough.
Peter flax
editor in chief
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writing The Far-Off End (p. 58) inspired Mike
Magnuson to start racing again. Im getting my
butt kicked, he admits. but I couldnt live without
cycling. Magnusons bIcycLING story, whatever
Happened to Greg LeMond?, was recently
selected for The Best American Sports Writing.
Hes a swell guy, down to earth, patient, says
photographer patrick cavan brown, who shot pro
cyclist George Hincapie for the cover and class
Act (p. 46). best of all, he let us torture him all
day long. browns work has also appeared in
Texas Monthly and National Geographic Adventure.
It opened my mind to what you can do on a bike,
says bill Gifford of his 369-mile ride around the
Island of Enchantment (My bike went to puerto
rico, p. 38). you can basically ride as long as you
can turn the pedals over. Gifford is currently
writing a book about ultramarathoner scott jurek.
contributors
Editors Letter
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WHAT YOURE UP TO
12 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011
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November subject who inspired the most letters: Tristan Prettyman (We All Ride),
26% >The most cringe-inducing Prettyman fanboy request we wont be able to
fulfill: Do you have her photo available as a high-res that I could print out and
frame? >Prettyman fanboy who took her metaphorical comment to an unfortunate
literal level: Jeff Champion, who posted a photo of himself in bed with his bike on
our Facebook page >The bikes maker (seriously): Felt
After reading about
an idyllic new cycling
destination in southwest
Wisconsin (The Perfect
Getaway, Nov.), readers
were eager to share other
Midwestern hotbeds.
The Brainerd Lakes
region of Minnesota has
stellar road rides and lies
at the beginning of the
Paul Bunyan Trail, which
starts at the Mississippi
River in Brainerd and
ends 110 miles away in
Bemidji, writes Joshua
Rebennack, of Pine
River, Minnesota. Aaron
Seeman recommends
his hometown of Eau
Claire, Wisconsin. May
as well throw in a trip to
Leinenkugels Brewery
in Chippewa Falls while
youre at it, he adds.
Meanwhile, Rod Gajeske
posted his vacation plans
on our Facebook page: I
read this article and have
got a trip planned there
already. Looks perfect!
NOT SO LAID-BACK
Off the Back (Nov.) shows the interna-
tional prohibited sign with a recumbent
bicycle as the targeted banned device. This
reinforces my suspicion that bicycling
harbors a bias against recumbent bicycles
and those who ride them.
THOMAS VANDEN EYNDEN,
Bowling Green, OH
NO HANDS GOOD, NO BRAIN BAD
I enjoyed Hands Free (Know How, Nov.).
However, a word of caution: I was nearly
run down on a bike trail a few months ago
when I encountered a young bicyclist riding
no-hands and texting away on his cell phone.
RON MORTENSEN, Omaha, NE
HIS PERFECT RIDE
Like the reader who wanted a flat-bar road
bike (What Bike Should I Buy? Nov.),
I needed something to take me from
smooth gravel to rough stuff. My solution:
a cyclocross bike. However, Im not crazy
enough to actually do the kind of cross
race described in The Crucible (Nov.).
TIM ONEILL, Chester Basin, Nova Scotia
DRINKANDDRAG
I just read Choose your Weapon (Nov.).
Most riders carry two bottles on the frame.
But the aero advantages manufacturers
promote compare bikes without cages and
bottles. Are the advantages significantly
diminished once bottles are added?
SERGIO SCAGLIONE, Weston, FL
Adding bottles to the bike does not negate
the aero advantage, says Gerard Vroomen of
Cervlo. A frame that is more aerodynamic
without bottles is still more aero with bottles.
>The correct spelling of the author of
The Crucible (Nov.) is Adam Myerson.
Talk to us via e-mail (bicycling@rodale.
com), snail mail (400 S. Tenth St., Emmaus,
PA 18098), Twitter (@bicyclingMag) or
Facebook (bicycling magazine).
WELL SAID, COMRADE
You mentioned Colorado gubernatorial
candidate Dan Maess goofy remark
about opponent John Hickenloopers
pro-bike policies being socialist in
nature (Hubbub, Nov.). Im a lifelong
member of the Grand Old Party, but
Im happy no one asked me to justify
his comments, or even explain them; I
couldnt have done it.
GEORGE LEWIS, Colorado Springs, CO
Thats why they call election time
the silly season; fortunately, George,
its always cycling season, so this
Park Tool Home Mechanic Starter Kit
should come in handy.
LETTER OF THE MONTH
THIS MONTH ON
RIDE STRONG AT ANY AGE
READ ABOUT 67-YEAR-OLD JULIE
LOCKHART ON PAGE 58, THEN GO
TO BICYCLING.COM/JULIE FOR TIPS.
PLAN YOUR VACATION
At BICYCLING.com/rides, youll nd
routes from all over the world. Get
maps for the 2011 Vuelta Puerto
Ricodescribed on page 38at
BICYCLING.com/puertorico.
WINTER CROSS-TRAINING
Dont sit around waiting for the snow to melt.
Follow our advice for off-season training at
BICYCLING.com/9tips, and youll be riding strong
come spring.
MAIL
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Dazzling Monterey Bay coastline, exquisite Carmel Valley wine country coupled with sweeping Salinas
Valley farmlands, andnew for 2011 a mountain bike route through the largest undeveloped public
lands on the Monterey Peninsula.

www.SeaOtterClassic.com | 800.218.8411
Fully Supported Recreational Rides
April 16, 2011 Monterey, California USA
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Roland Freund and Sebastian Moll round
out an epic ride on the restored cobbles of
Gotthard Pass, in the Swiss Alps. To learn
how to power up climbs, turn to p. 20. >
01/02
2011
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START
2011 RIGHT
Cyclists in Lexington,
Ohio, ring in the New Year
with an afternoon ride
and chili (ynotcycling.
com). And in Ypsilanti,
Michigan, riders wind up
their midnight revelry
with the 6-mile First Ride
of the Year in the First
Hour (bikeypsi.org). For
more New Years rides,
visit BICYCLING.com/
event_finder.
IMBIBE WITH
THE LEGENDS
Help send kids on
potentially life-
changing off-road
rides by partying
with the likes of
Ned Overend at a
February 13 Brews,
Bikes and Bucks
benefit (trips
forkids.org) in San
Rafael, California.
Cue Sheet
M
ore on

p
age

9
6.
I want to win a Classic, any
Classic. I dont care if it is Italy,
Belgium, France, wherever.
I just want to win a Classic.
Johan Van Summeren (Team Garmin-Cervlo), on his 2011 New Years resolution
RIDE IN THE NEW YEAR
START DROOLING
More than 75 boutique builders will show off
their lust-worthy creations at the North Ameri-
can Handmade Bicycle Show in Austin, Texas,
February 25 to 27. Dont forget to bring your own
bike: The citys average February daytime high is
65 degrees. handmadebicycleshow.com
WEAR
TWEED
[ IN MODERATION ]
A reminder as the temps
get colder: Head-to-toe
tweed puts you in the
same realm as Renais-
sance Faire groupies.
Tweed accessories, on
the other handsuch as
the Paris, from British
helmet-maker Yakkay
($175; thebicyclemuse.
com)make for smart
winter cycling style.
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Do the Right Thing
Even if youre not putting in a lot of miles this time of year,
you should still clean and lube your bikes chain after
every wet ride. For a cheap and easy method, consult our
maintenance calendar, The (Not Very) Dirty Dozen.
Ride for the Rabbit
Rock the Chinese New Year with the 30-mile Firecracker Bike Ride
(firecracker10k.org), which leaves from LAs Chinatown during the
Nite n Day Arts Festival on February 12. All participants get a high-
carb postride meal and a Year of the Rabbit T-shirt. Learn what the
stars hold for your riding life by turning to our Cycling Zodiac.
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BI_ST_CUE_SHEET.indd 16 11/8/10 11:09 AM
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For the rst time, Bicycling magazine assembles its best advice in a must-have book for
cyclists of all levels. Youll nd the most useful information on getting started, buying a
bike, riding to work, bicycle maintenance, tness and nutrition, understanding the rules
of the road, and much more. This instant classic is an invaluable resource for all cyclists,
created by those who know the subject best: the experts at Bicycling magazine.
ON SALE NOW
For more information, visit RodaleBooks.com.
Pedal Like a Pro
201603401
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Even on
cold days,
the Angry
Catfsh,
owned by
Josh Klauck
(right),
flls with
cyclists
and coffee
lovers.
At A pArty A couple
of years ago, a girl told
Josh Klauck, you look
like a catfish. An angry
catfish. Klauck found
the name so fitting, he
built a bike shop around
it. Angry catfish Bicycle
and coffee Bar opened
last January in the guts
of an old hardware store
in south Minneapolis.
I used to go to the bar
next door, says Klauck,
and always saw bikes
locked to the awning.
It was already a gather-
ing place. Klauck had
been looking for a spot
to open a bike store,
so after securing an
investor he started tear-
ing out tool displays,
then outfitted the
4,400-square-foot inte-
rior with dark wood and
stainless steel. Baristas
serve espressos at one
end of the counter, and
wrenches service fancy
bikes at the other. Its
enough to make even a
ticked-off catfish smile.
Frank Bures
Angry CAtfish
BiCyCle And
Coffee BAr
4208 28th Ave. S
Minneapolis 55406
angrycatfish
bicycle.com
Info
ElEvatE your stablE of bikEs or your mood
at this minnEapolis cycling hangout
Shop We Love
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BI_ST_SHOP.indd 18 11/1/10 4:39 PM
11012010164014
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the latest craze sweeping the nation is Bike Friendliness. it
seems that officials in towns all over america are beginning to realize, hey, there
are people pedaling in order to get places, and apparently they dont like being run
over. so theyre building things like separate traffic signals for bikes, which means
that someday our cities will be almost on par with mid-20thcentury amsterdam.
thats great! you say. i cant wait until Bike Friendliness comes to my town!
But even after santa arrives from portland, oregon, on his cargo bike brimming
with Bike Month cheer, life wont be perfect. here are three things to prepare for.
Slow riderSthis may sound crazy, but there are people who dont read this maga-
zine and who arent interested in carbon or Five ways to get Fast on the Bike while in
a Business Meeting. they just want to pick up some celery without burning gasoline.
Much as the mall isnt the place for runners to practice sprinting, the bike lane isnt
a good place for your intervals. if you recover from your anaerobic haze and notice
that the other riders are carrying baskets of fruit, youre training in the wrong place.
FaSt riderSso you now understand the difference between competitive and prac-
tical cycling. Unfortunately, this is not true of the rider who just bought her first fixie
or the guy on the dual-suspension Magna with a radio on the handlebar. these peo-
ple may try to race you. For the sake of both safety and dignity, resist the challenge.
Smug riderSsome folks ride for fitness, others for practicality, and still others just
for fun. theyre all wrong. the smug cyclist knows that the only reason to ride is to
save the earth. what do you think is cleaning up the spill in the gulf? oil-eating
microbes? no way! its the vibes of superiority emanating from naked protest rides.
if you encounter one of these naked cyclists, dont call the police. instead, remem-
ber: theyre sickening you only so they can save the polar bearsand your soul.
itS a JuNgle
out tHere
As more cities begin to embrAce urbAn
cyclists, heres whAt to wAtch out for
Bike Snob
january/feBruary 2011 19
tHe Bike SNoBRead more of his cultural criticism at bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com.
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BI_ST_SNOB.indd 19 11/1/10 5:00 PM
11012010170101
HOW DO YOU
MEASURE UP?
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composition measurements
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Enter promo code B1210
at TheCompetitiveEdge.com or
call 866-859-3343 for exclusive
holiday bundles. Give the gift
of health to everyone on your
list this season.
Simply stand on this bathroom scale and find out!
worldmags worldmags
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will help activate newly recruited muscle fibers when
youre trying to accelerate on the road. Do the inter-
vals outside or indoors on a stationary bike or trainer.
Do the following workout twice a week, with at
least one rest day or endurance ride between sessions.
Complete the strength part first. (For more exercise
options, visit biCyCling.com/gym.) This should take
only about five minutes. youre not trying to stress the
muscle into adapting; you just want to awaken the ner-
vous system controlling the muscles. Then, on the bike,
do short, high-resistance efforts, starting in a big gear at
a very low speed.
iT sounDs like you have plenTy oF power
for riding at a steady effort level, but for accelerations,
not so much. unlike long, gradual ascents that let you
settle into a rhythm, short, steep hills (often called
power climbs) require you to quickly ramp up your
effort at the bottom in order to avoid losing momen-
tum and getting dropped. power climbs are essentially
accelerations: youre increasing your effort level, even if
your speed drops on the way up.
a great way to improve your power for acceleration
is to do strength training and high-torque efforts on
the bikein the same session (see the acceleratory
power workout, below). Cycling is a repetitive motion,
and your body adapts to make this movement as eco-
nomical as it can. That means using as little muscle as
possible to deliver the power youre demanding. but to
gain power for acceleration, you need to teach your body to activate more muscle,
which is where strength training comes into play.
exercises such as squats, lunges and step-ups can help increase muscle
recruitment in your quadriceps, hamstrings and other muscles throughout the
buttocks and hips. The point isnt to see how much weight you can pushyoure
not trying to gain huge amounts of muscle. instead, do faster movements with
low-to- moderate weight (or with your body weight offering the only resistance)
that will train your nervous system to engage more of the muscle you already
have, especially the fast-twitch fibers that dont get much attention during longer,
sub-threshold cycling efforts.
next, immediately apply that strength work to on-the-bike efforts. perform-
ing high-torque efforts just after hitting the gym
many athletes have the fitness to
feel strong early on, but struggle
when the intensity increases in the
Im used to long
climbs, but I just moved
to an area with lots
of short, steep hills. Any
tips on acclimatizing?
Mark R., Norristown, PA
Chris CarmiChael, founder and CEO of Carmichael
Training Systems, has been providing coaching, camps and testing
to athletes for more than 10 years. Visit trainright.com for info.
step 2: stomps
> after a warm-up of at least 10
minutes, shift into a big gear
and slow down to 8 to 10 mph.
While seated and with your
hands on top of the bar, stomp
on the pedals and accelerate as
aCCeleratory poWer Workout
step 1: squat Jumps
> stand with your feet shoulder-
width apart and your arms by
your sides. keeping your head
and chest aligned (dont hunch
your shoulders) and your eyes
forward, sit back into a squat.
your weight should be evenly
distributed along your feet. you
can lower your hips anywhere
from halfway down to the point
where your thighs are parallel to
the floor, but dont go any lower.
Next, keeping your head and
chest aligned, swing your arms
over your head and jump as high
as you can when your arms reach
their highest point. Bend your
knees upon landing and return to
the starting position. Complete
four sets of five jumps, with one
minute of recovery between sets.
fast as you can over 15 seconds.
Focus on the downstroke, but
remember to pull back through
the bottom and push over the top
of the stroke. Complete seven
accelerations, with four minutes
of easy spinning between each.
to conquer
steep hills, hit
the gymthen
get back on
your bike.
The Coach
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BI_ST_COACH.indd 20 11/2/10 4:13 PM
11022010161413
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My Favorite Things
The TOC
Wants You
HAVE YOUR KIT READY WHEN AMERICAS BIG
gest pro cycling race, the eight-day Tour of California
(amgentourofcalifornia.com), starts on May 15. The
sixth annual event kicks off at Lake Tahoe, which hosts
a stage start for the first time. Another new stop is Mt.
Baldy, the mountaintop finish of Stage 7. The Solvang
time trial is back, with a twistamateurs can race the
course earlier in the day. This years edition is pivotal:
Organizers hope to earn ProTour status in 2012.
AT FIRST, AS YOURE PEDALING TOWARD IT, THE SIGN LOOKS TOO GOOD TO
be true: Free Bike Help, it says. You wonder, Whats this guy selling? If I pull over, will I get
my tires topped off in exchange for membership in some cult?
Thankfully, the only thing 28-year-old Dan Sloan wants to share with the citizens
of Portland, Oregon, is noble idealismalong with his wrenching chops. Six months
ago, the self-employed mechanic was malingering about his home shop, feeling a bit
isolated. He says he decided, I want to help people. Directly. He threw his work stand
into his dingy yellow bike trailer, towed it out to North Williams Avenuewhich sees
3,000 riders dailyand has since attended to the evening rush hour two or three times a week.
The work is basic, mostlySloan does myriad brake and derail-
leur adjustments. The real adventure is social. Once, a 40-ish woman
begged for a kiss. (Sloan demurred.) Another time a local inebriate on
a rattletrap ride declared, I just bought this thing off of some junkie.
It was awkward, says Sloan. You never want to assume He fixed it.
Numerous clients have given Sloan giftscookies, blueberries,
bottles of beerand he dreams of spreading the magic and launching
a Free Bike Help tour. Im thinking Seattle, he says, maybe San Fran-
cisco. For me, this isnt work. This is play.Bill Donahue
BUILT LIKE
A TANK
BRITISH CYCLE INSURER ILOVEMYBIKE HASNT SOLVED
all of cyclings challenges, but its had a few good laughs trying. Before
building its prototype B.O.N.D. (Built of Notorious Deterrents) bi-
cycle, the company asked riders to
name their least favorite part of cycling.
Fifty-two percent cited vehicles passing
too closeso naturally, the B.O.N.D.
includes a flamethrower. Twenty-five
percent voted for potholes; thus, a cater-
pillar track replaces the rear tire. Theres also a ski at-
tachment for snowy rides and an ejector seat to dispose
of would-be thieves. The insurer has no plans to sell the
contraption, which was on display at the London Cycle
Show, but you can see it in action at bondbike.com.
WILL WRENCH FOR FREE
Hot List
SPYNNER CHICKS
For the past nine years, a dozen women
from Fredericton, New Brunswick, have
trained together for a yearly cycling trip.
When theyre not out exploring eastern
Canada or Maine, they take Spin classes
at the local Yhence the group's name.
Jersey of the Month
*About 100,000
people biked or
walked on car-free
streets in LOS
ANGELES during
its first CicLAvia in
October (ciclavia.
wordpress.com).
*GIRO launches
its first road and
mountain shoes in
January. You may
have spotted the
Prolight SLX on
Levi Leipheimer
during the 2010
Tour de France.
*The 2010 Hawaii
Ironman triathlon
champion, CHRIS
MCCORMACK, will
be the first winner
to appear on a
Wheaties box.
Hes
totally
legit, we
swear.
MY LITTLE RED
SIMSON SCHWALBE
SCOOTER
I come from East Germany
and I am into collecting
all things East German,
especially old vehicles.
MY GRANDMOTHERS
PANCAKES
They are incredible and
delicious.
MY WIFE, TINA, AND
MY KIDS, Anna and
Luna. A lot of things would
simply not be possible
without them. They keep
my back free.
Hubbub
ANDRE
GREIPEL,
OMEGA
PHARMA-
LOTTO
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BI_ST_HUBBUB.indd 22 11/4/10 1:37 PM
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Heres a conundrum: If you dont need a lIcense to rIde a bIke,
do you need to be able to show Id when a police officer asks for it? In most states,
the answer is no. but depending on where you live, you may be required to produce
Id if you are stopped for a traffic violation.
confused? youre not alone. Heres the reasoning behind this apparent contra-
diction: as a user of public roads, you are subject to traffic laws. and if you break a
law, you can be ticketed. thats the price of having a right to the road.
If an officer stops you, he is permitted by law to ask you to identify yourself
if reasonable suspicion exists that you have violated a law, whether he intends to
write a ticket or not. often, all you are required to do in these situations is provide
your name and address. but in some states, the law allows the officer to require
you to provide proof of your identity. In california, if an officer sees a violation
(or has a reasonable belief one has occurred) and stops you, he may require you
to show proof of your identity. If he does so, you are required to produce a drivers
license or its functional equivalenta government-issued Id card such as a mili-
tary identification or a passport. this means your student or work Id card, your
credit card and your frequent-flier card would not suffice.
What if you have only a student Id card? under california law, the officer has
the discretion to accept it, but if he or she doesntand you cant produce adequate
Idthe officer can choose to take you into custody. this means in california,
colorado and perhaps a few more states, you could run afoul of the law if you dont
ride with a drivers license or another government-issued Id. It sounds silly, but
failing to have one could cause bigger problems than you would normally have
from just, say, running a stop sign.
state laws vary, and its a good idea to know the law wherever you are riding.
but the bottom line is that it will probably make sense to go beyond what the law
requires. this means that you should always ride with some form of identifica-
tion. a simple wristband Id, such as the one made by road Id, will help emergency
responders identify you if you are injured and unable to speak. and in many states,
this may also serve as proof of Id.
Research and drafting provided by Rick Bernardi, JD.
IdentIty CrIsIs
Theres no such Thing as a cycling licensebuT
you should carry id on rides. heres why.
BoB MIonske is the author of Bicycling and the Law. For more
information, visit bicyclelaw.com or read his blog at bicycling.com/roadrights.
Road Rights
januaRy/febRuaRy 2011 23
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BI_ST_RIGHTS.indd 23 11/4/10 4:41 PM
11042010164220
www.markhamjohnson.com
www.tripsforkids.org
(415)458-2986
national@tripsforkids.org
You can change
the lives of children.
Start or fund a
Trips For Kids program.
Many kids never leave their own
neighbor hood to enjoy the beauty
of nature. Thats why we started
Trips for Kids, a national non-profit
organization that provides mountain bike
rides and environmental education for
disadvantaged youth. You can start a
Trips for Kids chapter in your area. Well
assist you, at no charge, by supplying
bikes and helmets, and support based on
22 years of experience.
Or make a difference by donating
money, bikes or equipment (new or used).
All donations are tax-deductible. Also
consider volunteering or otherwise
supporting a chapter in your area.
worldmags worldmags
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Start It Up
Youve heard a gazillion times that breakfast is the most important meal of the daY,
and sports nutritionists agree that whether you want to burn fat, ride fast or both, front-loading your day is essential.
but plenty of cyclists disagree on the particulars of a smart morning meal: fat-phobic bonk trainers suggest skipping
it until after you ride, long riders fuel up like lumberjacks, and racers search endlessly for the perfect winning fuel.
What you eat depends largely upon what kind of ride youre going to be doing. the idea is to keep your muscles
energized, your brain focused and the rest of your systems firing on all cylinders no matter what. You first need
to look at the duration and intensity of the ride ahead, says florida-based sports nutritionist barbara lewin, rd,
who works with cyclists and triathletes at sports-nutritionist.com. then you need to take in foods that give you
the fuel to perform your best. heres how.Selene Yeager
Spin Stronger
by chooSing
the beSt
breakfaSt for
your ride
Dial in your
breakfast for
an optimal
ride.
eat to ride
BI_ST_EAT.indd 24 11/1/10 4:48 PM
11012010164900
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Winning isnt everything
Its the will to win thats the thing. And NRC leading teams Jamis/
Sutter Home Presented by Colavita and Colavita/Baci Presented
by Cooking Light clearly have the will. It doesnt hurt that they also
have the bike. Some Pros are saddled with have to machines, bikes
theyre obligated to ride. Not ours we give them the Xenith SL, a bike
every other pro is eyeing covetously, and the points Luis Amaran and
Catherine Cheatley are racking up this year show why. The advantage
is almost unsportsmanlike. Our Near Net Molding technology squeezes
every performance-robbing gram out of frame weight and assures
that every single ultra-high modulus ber has been fully compressed,
attened and aligned for the stiffest, strongest, fastest possible ride. The
asymmetrical chainstays, tri-oval SST top and down tubes, tapered head
tube and BB30 shell are additional advantages that yield results we see
on podiums and hear in the clink of medals and trophies race after race.
The fact is, if winning isnt everything, then there shouldnt be a nish
line. Because once its there, the Xenith SL is going to cross it rst.
worldmags worldmags
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Meet the chefs
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 shallot, minced
1 cup coarsely chopped wild mushrooms
(shiitake, morel or hen of the woods)
8 large eggs
cup whole milk
cup heavy cream
cup cream cheese
1 cup grated Gruyre cheese
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
teaspoon salt
teaspoon pepper
Wild Mushroom
and Gruyre Frittata
century
Calories 400 to 500
Time before two hours
Strategy century riders are often tempted by a
Dennys All-American slam (at 1,000-plus calories). It's
better to have half that amountabout 500 caloriesand
eat throughout the day for an even stream of energy. Be-
cause you likely won't go full throttle, you can eat a wider
variety of foods. Lewin suggests a breakfast rich in mixed
carbohydrates, plus a little protein and healthy fat. this
will give you an energy boost for the start of the ride,
but will prevent bonking before the first food station.
Meal Plan two pancakes, half a cup of berries, one
cup of fat-free yogurt and one slice of canadian bacon or
a scrambled egg. If you plan to ride easy, you can replace
the egg with a slice of frittata (see recipe at right).
time-trial,
crit or
cyclocross Race
Calories 400
Time before About
two hours
Strategy Most racers
take in too many calories
from the wrong places,
Lewin says. A little fiber
is okay, but too much can
slow you down and make
you sick. Aim for less than
two grams by eating foods
like bagels and white
bread. Watch for fat, as
well, she warns. Many
athletes eat peanut butter,
thinking theyre getting
protein and not realizing
that its 70 percent fat.
then they feel weighed
down and cant race well.
Meal Plan two
slices of white bread
with jam, six ounces of
fat-free vanilla yogurt, a
small banana and a glass
of orange juice. eat an
energy gel or block 15
minutes before the start.
hard shop Ride
Calories 600
Time before three hours
Strategy A two- to three-hour hammerfest will
burn more carbs than a long recreational ride or even a
one-hour race. consume about one gram of carbohydrate
per pound of body weight. the harder you ride, the more
glycogen (carbs) you require. You need plenty of energy,
which means more food and calories, so eat early enough
that your body has time to fully digest them, says Lewin.
top off with a gel or a few bites of a bar right before you
start to ride. Research shows that athletes following this
eating strategy can push 20 percent harder near the end of
rigorous exercise than those who dont eat before, and 10
percent harder than those who have just a snack.
Meal Plan A bowl of oatmeal, one slice of toast
with a tablespoon of nut butter, a cup of yogurt and
glass of orange juice. have a gel, a few bites of bagel
or some sports drink 30 minutes before you start.
easy spin
Calories 200 to 300
Time before thirty
to 45 minutes
Strategy You dont
need much for a sub-
two-hour ride. But dont
skip breakfast. Youll
go into deprivation mode,
and risk overeating later,
says Lewin. Just 200 to
300 calories will replace
the glucose you lost while
you slept and let you ride
longer. exercisers who
eat a small breakfast
are able to work out 16
percent longer before
tiring, according to one
study. Include foods with
fiber. "fiber can also
increase the amount
of fat you burn during
exercise," Lewin says. It
slows digestion, so your
glycogen is harder to
access, which forces your
body to pull energy from
your fat stores.
Meal Plan
*
One
cup of oatmeal and half
a banana.
WhO theY ARe John and Diane MacPherson own the foster
harris house Bed and Breakfast, a five-room inn located
in Washington, Virginia. WhAt theY seRVe Breakfast is a
four-course, sit-down event. One meal includes candied-
ginger scones, a red-pepper souffl and a mango topped with
custard and granola. WheRe theY RIDe the MacPhersons
lead guests on a 25-mile outing called the tour depicure.
cyclists pedal through a bucolic landscape, making stops at
wineries and food shops. Its the best way to see this part of
the country, John says. WheRe tO fInD theM 800/666-0153;
fosterharris.com; tourdepicure.comRachel Vigilante
heat two tablespoons
of butter over medium
heat in a large nonstick
skillet. Add shallot and
cook for one minute. Add
mushrooms and cook until
lightly brown, about eight
minutes; transfer to plate
and set aside. Wipe pan
clean with a paper towel.
Whisk eggs, milk and
cream in a large bowl until
well blended. Add cream
cheese to the mixture in
dime-sized bits. stir in
Gruyre, mushrooms,
parsley, salt and pepper.
heat the pan over medium
heat, melt the remaining
tablespoon of butter and
add egg mixture. cook for
three to five minutes until
edges start to look firm,
then transfer to oven. Bake
at 350 degrees for 15 to
20 minutes, until center is
just set. serves five. Per
serving: calories, 342; fat,
28.6 grams; carbs, 2.8g;
protein, 18.4g
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*Calories are based on a 150-pound rider. Add or subtract
portion sizes proportionally based on your body weight.
eat to ride
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You live in Lewes, Delaware, the first town in the
first state in the nation.
Lewes is the main ferry stop for cyclists headed to
Cape May, New Jersey, so some mornings our town
looks like the starting line for the Tour de France.
Brewing is a fickle, time-consuming process.
How often do you get out on the bike?
I ride through Henlopen State Park every morning
on a 55-minute loop. Its incredible; I see osprey, dol-
phins, plenty of wildlife. I travel every other week for
Brew Masters, so I like to spend the weekends with
the family. We ride the Breakwater path from our
home in Lewes to the brew pub in Rehoboth.
Tell us about your bikes.
I ride a Mudhoney cross bike from Seven. I wanted a
new bike as a gift to myself for quitting smoking. They
printed Off-Centered Trails for Off-Centered People
[a play on Dogfishs tagline] on it. As a trade we brewed
them a beer for their 10-year anniversary. I also have a
Salsa Chili Con Crosso and a Specialized Rockhopper.
ONE CRAFTY RIDER
Sam Calagione, the owner of DogfiSh heaD Brewery anD Star of the new
DiSCovery Channel Show Brew masters, talkS aBout BlaSting punk muSiC on riDeS
anD why getting a tattoo with a Date on it Can Be a BaD, BaD iDea
when Im on the bIke Im dreamIng
up Ideas for beers and thInkIng: dont tell
me thIs cant be done...lets do thIs.
Do you always barter with beer?
That wasnt about money. These guys
inspired us to think about a new com-
bination of flavors. Everything we
create at Dogfish comes from some
external inspiration, which means I
want to be around entrepreneurs and
artists like the guys at Seven.
Speaking of artists, we hear you
have a tattoo with a story.
I had For Sammy: 01-01-01 inked
on my hip to commemorate my sons
birth and to signal my motivation for
quitting smoking. The first attempt
failed.I didnt get the bike until I
was smoke-free for one year, so now
it reads 07.
Whats your riding style?
I do almost everything wrong: I blast punk music like
Pavement and the Replacements while hammering
out of my saddle. Hard-core cyclists yell at me, but I
love it. When Im on the bike Im dreaming up ideas
for beers and thinking: Dont tell me this cant be done.
What the @#$%? Lets do this.
Craft brewers seem to connect to cycling; almost
every brewery has kits for sale. Why is that?
Because we arent multinational corporations inter-
ested in selling you packaging instead of beer. We
are creative and competitive, independent and hard-
working. Its just like die-hard cyclists: They tend to
be the same kinds of thinkers and hands-on types.
And yes, we sell jerseys.
What about your competition?
I was on a national morning show talking about craft
beers and brought samples, including New Belgiums
Fat Tire Ale. The next week this box arrives with a
New Belgiumthemed bike. Coors wouldnt do that,
but guys who have bike-in movies and the Tour de
Fat? Always. Im not afraid of competition; I embrace
it. Craft-beer drinkers are promiscuousI drink
plenty of other beers. We just want them to stop by
and screw us once in a while.T.R. Foley
We All Ride
jAnuARy/febRuARy 2011 35
Im on a
schedule
because beer
is on a
schedule,
says Calagione,
who rides
nearly
every day.
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miami beach
The phoTographer josh riTchie The spoT The Boardwalk, souTh Beach The daTe ocToBer 16, 2010
whaT he saw "iT was a very leisurely pace ouT Therepeople riding really slow, doing a loT of people waTching."
Scene
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Headset
TesT To identify con-
tinuous clicking, ride
with no hands. To check
for occasional creaking,
stand over your top tube
and keep the front wheel
planted. Then grab the
drops and pull up on one
while pushing down on
the other.
Fix Clean and grease the
bearings. if the head-tube
surface is uneven, take
the bike to your shop.
For clicking, grease the
cable-housing mount.
Bottom bracket
TesT Listen for a creak from below while riding. if
chainring bolts aren't tight, they will click.
Fix Remove your cranks and feel the bearings. if they
turn smoothly, remove the bottom bracket to clean and
regrease the threads. if the frames bottom-bracket
opening edge is rough, take the bike to your shop.
siLenCe a noisy Bike
follow this guide from former garmin-slipstream wrench daimeon shanks,
owner of the service course, in Boulder, colorado, to quiet your ride. By matt allyn
Wheel skewers
TesT open, then retighten
both skewers.
Fix Lightly grease the
frame dropouts and tighten
your quick-release. and
not just to kill the noise: a
wheel could pop out while
youre riding.
Handlebar and stem
TesT Lube all the bolts and contact surfaces.
Fix Clean, then grease contact surfaces and the steerer
tube (use carbon assembly paste for carbon parts).
CLiCk CReak PoP GRinDinG
Pedal bearing and cleats
TesT Ride with another set of pedals.
Fix Grease your cleat. if the noise persists, retighten
the pedals. if the sound is more of a pop, try cleaning
and replacing worn bearings.
Hubs
TesT Wiggle your wheels to feel
for side-to-side play. Hold the hubs
and spin the wheels to ensure
the bearings roll smoothly. if you
suspect the rear wheel is the cul-
prit, also check that the cassette
is tight and the freehub bearings
are in good shape.
Fix Most hub bearings arent easily
tightened or cleaned. Take the
wheel to your shop.
spokes and
valve stem
TesT Check for loose
spokes and valve stems.
otherwise, spokes may be
rubbing the nipples.
Fix True your wheel.
(For a video tutorial, go
to BiCyCLinG.com/
wheeltrue.) Grease the
nipples and spots where
spokes cross. Matte-black
spokes are apt to creak.
if the valve stem wiggles,
wrap it with electrical tape.
seatpost and
saddle rails
TesT Pedal out of the
saddle to see if the
noise stops.
Fix Grease your rails and
post. Use carbon paste
instead of standard grease
for carbon-fiber parts.
For more detail on these fixes
and a maintenance regimen that
will prevent such problems from
cropping up in the first place
turn to page 48.
Master It
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From a church
in the southern
city of Ponce
to northern
beaches, the
Vuelta is Puerto
Rico writ large.
BI01_11PUERTO RICO2.indd 38 11/5/10 4:58 PM
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AND ALL I GOT WAS A BUNCH OF POTHOLES BIG ENOUGH TO SWALLOW A COCONUT,
A BULLHORN-HAPPY ROUTE DIRECTOR, A WILLIE NELSON BODY DOUBLEAND ONE OF THE
GREATEST HARD RIDES OF MY LIFE >by BILL GIFFORD photographed by ANGEL VALENTIN
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Too early the next morning, I found Pabloa
fit-looking, 40-ish guy who runs a local language
instituteand his buddies straddling their bikes on
the Paseo de la Princesa, in the middle of Old San
Juan, Puerto Rico. Normally jammed with cruise-ship
tourists and souvenir hawkers, the Paseo should have
been deserted at this small hour, between the closing
of the bars and the waking of the doughnut makers.
Instead, it was packed with pickup trucks and police
cars and ambulances, whistles and flashing lights,
and hundreds of cyclists edgy with anticipation.
We were a diverse group there at the starting line
of the 369-mile Vuelta Puerto Rico: fit-looking warm-
weather riders from Miami, tanned locals from San
Juan, a bunch of laughing Jamaicans; a pair of Cat 2
racers from Houston draped over their bikes like grey-
hounds. There was more than one Ironman tattoo, and
few bikes that werent full carbon. I felt like I was about
to get dropped even before we started pedaling, and
that Id wind up riding the whole way with the three
unfortunate souls who showed up on Bike Fridays.
Luckily, we would soon be divided into three
groups based on speed: the hammerhead As; the
more moderate Bs; and the not-quite-leisurely,
15-mph-averaging Cs. Were starting in Group B,
Pablo murmured in the predawn gloom, and ending
in Group F. Sounded good to me.
It was easy to pick out my fellow Northeasterners.
This was early February, and we were so pale we prac-
tically glowed in the dark. Heavy snowfall over the
previous couple of months had annihilated our winter
training plans; the only consolation was that we were
going to miss the blizzard that was projected to slam
into the East Coast that very day.
And that was the point, I kept telling myself. So
what if we had to ride nearly a century and a half today,
listen to me, said my new friend Pablo, leaning in at
me over dinner that first night. Im going to teach you
the most important Spanish word for bike riders.
I nodded, my mouth full of chicken and rice.
The word is hoyo, and it means hole. When you
see a pothole, you shout Hoyo! so everyone knows.
Hoyo, I repeated.
Louder.
Hoyo!
His two friends nodded, their faces serious.
Good, said Pablo. Because youre going to need
that word.
the very first day of a three-day circuit of the island? Who cared if I still had doubts
about this ill-defined, still-formative event that was not quite a race, and pointedly
not a leisurely Backroads tourbut rather something all its own, something both
dreamy and slightly nightmarish? At least we wouldnt be shoveling snow.
Someone blew a whistle, and we all moved forward as a one-footed-pushing herd,
then clicked in, wobbling over the cobbles. We stretched out into a stream of blinking
red taillights as we threaded the maze of Old San Juan, looping out past the light-
house at El Morro, the old Spanish fort, and below that the cinder-block tenements
of La Perla, maybe the finest beachfront slum in all the world. Then we headed east,
out past the Rat Packera Carib Hilton and the beachfront casino hotels, where all
the normal tourists still snoozed in their beds.
By the time dawn broke, we were rolling down the coastal road to the airport, a
long double line of riders that stretched out of sight ahead of me and just as far be-
hind. Almost nobody spoke. There was only the whirring of chains, the soft chunk
of shifting gears. The morning air was soft and cool, but that wasnt why we wore
arm warmers: Those were to keep the broiling sun from frying our pasty flesh.
We turned off the main road and flowed into Loiza, a little coastal town founded
by escaped slaves, and the first of the days nine rest stops. There, the tranquility
ended. As soon as we arrived in the town square, ready
to grab bottles and Fig Newtons and keep going, a samba
band started playing noisily, and an enormous local
woman sashayed into the crowd. It wasnt even 8 a.m.,
but it was party time. Soon townspeople began dancing
with cleat-shod cyclists, and right in the middle of it all, a
brassy little firecracker of a woman, a local named Rosie,
got off her bike, strode into the middle of the square, and
Puerto Ricans
enjoy the spectacle
on their own terms:
one resident of
Quebradillas offers
a cooling shower on
day 3, and a produce
salesman looks to turn
a proft on calorie-
defcient riders.
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yelled, at the top of her lungs, Puerto Riiiiiico!!!
And everyone cheered. La Vuelta had begun.
The idea had seemed so beautiful a couple of
months earlier.
That was back when I was first offered the chance
to ride in the Vuelta; all I saw were the words Puerto
Rico and February. I immediately signed on, en-
visioning a gentle tropical bike tour with catered
lunches, a slow-moving sag van and long siestas on
the beach, maybe a surf session or two. Just the thing
for the February blues.
A few days later, a friend e-mailed urgently: Dude!
The first day is 147 miles. With an 800-foot climb at
Mile 92!
What? A few mouse clicks later, I confirmed that
he was correct. It was a tour of sunny Puerto Rico, all
right: a complete lap of the island, covering 369 miles
in three days. The first day was, indeed, 147 miles. Followed by an easier 92-mile
day, with 130 miles looming on the third.
Those werent tropical-vacation distances; they were Tour de France stages. The
elevation profile looked like an alligators dental X ray, and the event website featured
video of defeated souls pushing bikes up a savage incline. If you end up walking the
climb, my friend cackled, make sure theres no photographic evidence.
Although he clearly hoped there would be.
This was in December, and though I used to race and have ridden tens of thou-
sands of miles in my life, I was in my off-season prime, my legs pale and my belly soft.
I hadnt ridden 369 miles in the previous three months; in fact, Id never once done
a full century. In the run-up to my trip, thanks to the winter weather, I managed a
grand total of six training rides, the longest topping out at 48 miles. Which meant
that on the first day Id basically be on terra incognita for the remaining 99.
Why such a tough ride in a place where tourists come to put up their feet? The
incongruity reflects the unique and slightly twisted genius of William Medina,
creator of La Vuelta. William, as everyone calls him, had been dreaming about
riding all the way around Puerto Rico since he was a teenager in San Juan. Once, he
and a friend hopped on their Schwinns, intending to circumnavigate their native
isle in blue jeans. They made it only 50 miles, but as an adult Medina
evolved into an accomplished ultra-endurance cyclist who rode in
organized brevets that covered 200 miles or more, with time cutoffs
at checkpoints.
One of his favorite training routes is a 350-plus-mile lap of the
entire island. But he knew it might be more appealing to cyclists
if they could, you know, sleep at night. So in 2006, he organized
a three-day version, and 89 riders signed up, paying $75 each to
participate in what Medina grandly labeled La Vuelta de los Nueves
Faros de Puerto Rico, the Tour of the Nine Lighthouses of Puerto Rico.
They were stoked, he says. He paid most of the expenses himself;
he just wanted to see if it could be done. When a dozen riders from
Miami showed up unannounced, he was stoked, too.
He took time off from work in 2007 to attempt Paris-Brest-Paris,
the legendary 750-mile endurance test. He prepared for the cold
weather by riding in the walk-in freezer of a friends convenience
store, but he still was forced to withdraw after 36 hours when doc-
tors informed him that he had acute hypothermia. He liked Puerto
Ricos climate better. He staged a second Vuelta in 2008, and 180
people showed up; the next year, 293 came. Soon after that he quit
his job as a real-estate examiner to organize the La Vuelta full time.
In 2010, 475 riders signed up, from 39 states and 13 countries,
from Chile to Chinabut by far the largest number (210) were locals.
William has a talent for logistics and a profound need to be in
one oF wIllIAms FAVoRIte
tRAInIng Routes Is A 350-mIle lAP
oF the IslAnd. but he knewIt
mIght be moRe APPeAlIng IF RIdeRs
could, you know, sleeP At nIght.
Ride the Vuelta Capped at 600 riders, the 2011 event (vueltapr.
com) will take place January 28 to 30. For $499, participants receive a
duffe bag, bottle, commemorative medal, eight meals and numerous
rest stops plus support vehicles (including mechanics). Medina says
participants should be capable of riding 100 miles in seven hours; this
years ride gains about 13,000 feet in elevation. Information on dis-
counted lodging is available on the ride website. Other optional excur-
sions range from a bike tour of San Juan City to a day trip through the
El Yunque Rain Forest (prices range from $50 to $70).
Looking for something easier? Puerto Rico is host to a variety of
two-wheeled tours, ranging from a three-hour ramble around Old
San Juan (bicyclevacationspuertorico.com) to a 30-mile tour of La
Parguera (bicycletour.com, enter Puerto Rico). Mary OReilly
Puerto rico
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charge. His compact frame and bespectacled mien
might fool a stranger into thinking hed take no
for an answer. But his mild appearance camouflages
a personality as stubborn as a platoon commanders.
Which was what is needed, he told me, to organize
something like this in the tropics.
He had the ride choreographed down to the last
detail, from early-morning departures to the many
well-stocked water stops, spaced roughly an hour
apart. Hed negotiated with dozens of local police de-
partments to close roads and provide escorts. Its all
organized according to mathematics, he explained. I
will be able to tell you, at any given time, where each
of the three groups is on the roadand Ill be accurate
to within four minutes.
Hopefully it would all add up to something greater
than the sum of its parts. La Vuelta is not a race, he
emphasized, but neither is it merely a ride. He wanted
something more. I want to push the limits of people
and make them feel, when they finish it, that theyve
really accomplished something, he said.
Completing the thing would be a lifetime achieve-
ment. Youll see a lot of people crying at the end,
because they cant believe theyve done it, he said.
Wait and see. You ll be crying.
That I believed.
The pace was slow that first morning. We pedaled
along narrow, twisting roads, rolling through a ficus
grove that arched over the road, shading us from the
sun for 2 surreal miles. We swung onto a main road
and saw to our surprise that traffic had been stopped.
Less surprising, many drivers were hanging out of
their car windows and leaning on their horns.
There are many good reasons to visit tropical is-
lands in winter, but it turns out that riding a bike hard
for hundreds of miles in the hot, energy-sucking sun
to circle the island
in three short winter
days, Vuelta cyclists
often put in big miles
before dawn, and must
roll quickly after vari-
ous performances,
such as this one (right)
by a group of young
dancers.
typically isnt high on the list, for reasons having to do with
the smallness of the islands, their bad roads and their com-
pensatory wild traffic. The number of cars in Puerto Rico is
legendaryeven by the lofty standards of the rest of the
United Statesand their drivers tend to regard double-
yellow lines and even traffic lights as suggestions rather
than strict rules.
For all these reasons, the island seems uniquely
unpromising for this kind of tour. But cops appeared at all major intersections,
holding back traffic. Then theyd race past us, sirens whooping, to the next big
crossroads, where more drivers hung out of their windows and rubbed their eyes
at the sight of 500 cyclists buzzing past. Meanwhile, the local riders blasted away
on whistlesFweeet! Fweeet! Fweeeeeet! This seemed a kind of bizarre breach of
cycling etiquette until I learned that they are actually required by Puerto Rican law.
As yet another phalanx of cops roared past, one
fellow Northerner marveled, DamnWilliam must
have some serious pull.
But while motorists in, say, New Jersey would have
been insane with rage, it turned out that the honking,
accompanied by whistles and claps, was like cheering.
La Vuelta was big news here, and everyone was happy
to come cheer the bravery of the riders crazy enough to
try to circle the island in three days. When we stopped
for snacks in one seaside village, schoolchildren ap-
proached us with posters to autograph. Wed come to
see Puerto Rico, but we were the ones being watched.
We straggled up and over the climb, which rose
to a cliff overlooking Puerto Ricos east coast. Climbs
always seem bigger on an island, yet this one wouldnt
have been all that difficult but for the 91 miles that
preceded itand the knowledge of the 50-odd miles
still to come.
And, of course, there were the potholes: Some were
CyCle the CaRibbean
Five more great riding destinations
costa Rica A seven-hour, 22.5-mile mountain-bike route from Lake Arenal to El
Venado offers an abundance of wildlife and natural scenery, including views of
volcanoes and Costa Ricas most spectacular lake. $106; anywherecostarica.com
st. croix Stamina Sports points roadies toward popular local routes, including the
70-mile leg of the local triathlon and a beloved 35-plus-mile ride that follows the
coastline. $30 for the frst days rental and $20 a day from there; stamina-sports.com
st. John Mountain-bike trips range from three to six hours, winding past scenic bays,
historic ruins and some of the islands most remote areas. Bring a bathing suit for
swim breaks. $50 to $90; arawakexp.com
st. thomas Most traffc on lightly populated Water Islandthe newest and smallest
of the U.S. Virgin Islandsinvolves golf carts, so the riding is a breeze. Wrap the
excursion with a swim at Honeymoon Beach. $65; waterislandadventures.com
tortola Road rides here range from leisurely loops along the coast to a route with
fve steep hillsideal for intervals, if thats how you want to spend your vacation. Last
Stop Sports rents bikes for $40 a day and $160 a week; laststopsports.comM.O.
!
For interactive
m
aps of la Vuelta
Puerto Rico, go
to bicycling.com
/
puertorico.
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just minor divots in the tarmac, but many of them were
jagged-edged craters that opened suddenly in front of
your wheel. One seconds inattention and your Vuelta
would be over. I bunny-hopped an especially deep one
that had a whole green coconut lying at the bottom.
Of course, everyone called out the hoyos. All the
time. Wed be riding along, someone would shout
Hoyo! and everyone else would shout Hoyo! Hoyo!
and panic and grab the brakes, prompting another
round of harried shouting: Adelante! Slowing!
Then wed sprint back up to speed.
Cycling computers sprang free and shattered;
bottles popped from cages, causing further havoc.
The pack swerved around dead cats but generally
rode straight over the many flattened iguanas. Dogs
chased us, threatening to dart in front of the pack,
and more than once, runaway cart horses cantered
alongside. Many riders flatted. Despite the large
number of triathletes, I witnessed only two crashes
William had banned aero bars, praise the Lord. On
one occasion, two guys got tangled up on the climb;
another time, a big Jamaican plowed straight into a
hoyo and went down with a heavy grunt.
Fueled by the chaos, our stately pace built into a
furious charge as the day progressed. After lunch, we
raced across the hot, dry southern coast. Crosswinds
blew down from the mountains and tried to tear the
group apart, but the leaders kept pushing it, hard. My
speedometer ticked steadily upward, from 19 and 20
up to 24, 26, 28 mph in spots. Id never sweated so
much. At one stop, I rubbed my eyes, which promptly
filled with sweat until I couldnt see, and staggered
around spilling Gatorade on my shoes.
I didnt care. We were racing against darkness now,
trying to finish before nightfall. At the back, riders
were getting stripped off one by one and in clumps; one
person would let a gap go, and then it was good-bye.
Not long before dusk, our group pulled into the
town square of Ponce, a sleepy colonial city shaded by
enormous trees. We unclipped, leaned our bikes and
grabbed a last bottle or two, a little shell-shocked.
The town marching band was waiting, and on
cue, the drummers beat a furious rhythm while teen-
age girls in mascara and sparkly eye shadow began
strutting and twirling and tossing their batons. We
watched them for a couple of songs before two of the
drummers suddenly started throwing punches at
each other, shirts off in the middle of the street. (Evi-
dently it involved one of the prettier twirlers.)
We bolted down a dinner of chicken and rice,
then limped off to our hotel rooms. I flicked on CNN
and fell asleep to the sight of a reporter floundering
around in 2 feet of cold snow on the U.S. Capitol lawn.
All that night I dreamt of hoyos.
It had been years since Id ridden in a peloton. So
long that Id forgotten how much I missed it. In fact, I didnt realize I had missed
it at all until the second morning, when someone yelled Grupo B! and nearly two
hundred shoes clicked into two hundred pedals, and I got a little shiver. We rolled
slowly out of the square, through the dusty streets with their brightly painted
houses, and out onto the main road, where we settled into our spots in the pack.
The sounds of pedals and freewheels and chains merged into a steady hum,
and I thought of when I used to race, and how the thing I loved about it was not the
winning (which I never did anyway), or even the trying to win, but simply being in
the group; the race was beautiful because it brought us together. Then Id crashed
hard and injured myself, and that part of my life had ended.
But I knew that a savvy rider could tuck into the sweet spot of a big bunch and
be swept along by the group. That was my plan for surviving the rest of the Vuelta.
Up to that point, it had worked. As we rolled out of town the second morning, in
a long procession of twinkling LEDs, we traded horror stories about people whod
been dropped or suffered mechanicals on the run-in to Ponce. Riding solo, they
wobbled on the shoulder as traffic whizzed viciously past. Couples had been sepa-
rated, leading to ugly recriminations. You definitely dont want to fall behind the
police escort, a Vuelta veteran warned me. Because then everything goes to hell.
Which was, naturally, exactly what would be in store for me that day.
We spent the morning heading out to the stunning Cabo Rojo Lighthouse, set
on a rocky point on the islands southwest corner. Apparently we moved faster
than the lunch trucks, because when we got there we found no food, only buckets
of warm orange Gatorade. Two hundred miles into the Vuelta, wed spent more
time on our bikes than in beds, and some riders were becoming unhinged. Theres
no lunch! one guy screamed. Theres not even any ice!
William looked pained. When lunch arrived, riders jostled to get places in line,
where we broiled in the sun for another hour. By the time Id eaten, my Group B
buddies were nowhere in sight. Theyre waiting down at the paved road, someone
said. I hustled down the rocky dirt track that led to the lighthouse, only to find
no one.
After the previous day, I desperately needed a grupetto to hide in. My legs were
asking to do something else besides ride a bike today. We had more than 30 miles to
go, which seemed an awful long way to ride solo. There were a few other stragglers on
you dont want to fall behind the police
escort, because then everything goes
to hell, one rider said. naturally, that was
exactly what happened to me.
Puerto rico
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44 january/february 2011 january/february 2011 89
the road, tongues flapping in the heat as they turned
the pedals robotically. Nobody felt very sociable. I rode
a while with a kid, maybe 20 years old, but after I pulled
him up a long hill, he sprinted around me at the top and
was gone.
In a small beach town I ran into Team Big Boss,
a crew of Puerto RicanAmericans from Dallas, and
rejoiced at firstbut they just seemed to be mean-
dering along, on their own schedule. Eventually they
disappeared into a beachside bar.
I decided to take my time as well. Fortunately, Id
picked a good place to become detached. Riding alone
here on the island-time beach roads in the south of
Puerto Rico was a totally different experienceno
police escort required. I started to notice things other
than other riders rear wheels and the gaping hoyos.
Offshore, I watched surfers slice the huge comb-
ing swells. I saw families on the beach, whiling away
the Saturday, heard snatches of conversation drifting
up from open-air bars. I passed roadside stalls selling
oysters, bacalaitos and beer, and I ached with longing
to rent a tiny shack by the beach and go surfing.
This was the real Puerto Rico, not the cruise ships
and huge hotels of San Juan and the northern coast.
I thought of Hunter S. Thompson, whod also escaped
New York and spent a year on the island as a young re-
porter in the late 1950s. I wanted to take off all my
clothes, he wrote, and never wear them again.
When I spotted a hand-lettered sign for Cocos frios
$1.50, I doubled back. The stand consisted of a small
table, an umbrella and an older guy with a machete.
He had a cousin in New York, of course. I happily PueRto RiCo continued on p. 89
plunked down two greenbacks, my system anticipating
a shot of icy electrolytes, as he hacked into a green husk
from a cooler. How many kilometros you go? he asked.
I showed him my computer: 146.53. He looked at me
like I had two heads. Then his buddy came up, clapped
him on the back, and said, in Spanish, You asshole, you
finally sold one of your cocos calientes?
Unfortunately, the friends description was accurate: The coco was as lukewarm
as my hotel shower that morning. I took a few sips, then pedaled off with barely
concealed disappointment. Watch out for the cars! yelled Cocos Caliente.
Not long afterward, I met Willie Nelson. Or at least, he looked like Willie, with
long gray hair and a grizzled beard. Turns out he was actually Woody Graham, who
is something of a legend among ultra-endurance cyclists.
At 60ish, Woody rode at his own pace, in leather sandals, on a Trek that predated
Lance. His only concession to modern cycling technology: clipless SPD pedals. His
business card identified him as Bicycle Bum Extraordinaire, and though he hailed
from South Carolina, he had ridden all over the world: Europe, across America, the
Australian outback. One year he completed 57 centuries.
Woody had also finished the 750-mile Paris-Brest-Paris seven timesa
remarkable feat, considering it runs only every four years. The hardest was the
time hed ridden it as a newlywed. I thought, what am I doing? he said. Ive got a
new bride at home, and here I am sleeping on a cardboard box in France.
Apparently she had understood, because they were still married. But Woody
was very much his own man. He was roaming the roads of Puerto Rico on his own
schedule, leaving on his own time and riding at his own pace, occasionally showing
up at a water stop, which is where I ran into him, sucking on an orange slice. He
seemed unconcerned about the heat, or the traffic, or whether or not hed reach his
hotel in time; he knew hed make it, sooner or later. Which is the beauty of the bike:
You can always roll another mile.
The Ironman types mostly ignored him, yet he was the most famous person on
the ride, and easily the most recognizable. Having already ridden the Vuelta twice
I dont wAnt eVeRybody comIng uP FRont!
wIllIAm cRoAked Into the bullhoRn.
thAt edIct lAsted About hAlF A mIle beFoRe
the Peloton boIled AheAd.
Vaya con dios: From
stray dogs that run
into the peloton to
the rider-shredding
climbs, the Vuelta
is a constant test of
bike-handling and
pack-management
abilities.
Puerto rico
11052010165854
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1
Youve lived here in
Greenville [South
Carolina] for 10 years
now. Has the cycling
community changed in
that time?
Definitely. The
community is really
embracing cycling now.
There are bike paths all
over the city, including
a new trail that runs
from downtown to
the foothills of the
mountains. Sometimes
Ill jump on those paths
to ride downtown to get
a cup of coffee or go to
the office [of Hincapie
Sportswear].
2
Youve been riding at
a high level for more
than 20 years, so you
must know a thing or
two about how to stay
fit and motivated.
Whats your secret?
A big part of it is that I
still love what I do.
I sometimes cant
believe that Ive been
able to make a living
doing something that I
dreamed about as a kid.
Still, thats not enough to
get through those long,
cold and rainy training
days. But I know those
are the days when lots of
people end up missing
their training and then
pay for it later on. Those
are the days that help
you reach your goals.
3
Okay, lets talk about
goals. But be honest:
Do you ever get tired
of people asking you
about Paris-Roubaix?
No. Id like to win
another Tour stage,
but my ultimate goal is
to win Paris-Roubaix.
People know Ive been so
close there, and theyre
fascinated to know
whats missing. Its such
a hard raceof course
thats why the race
appeals to me so much
and why I still dream of
winning it.
4
What do you want
people to remember
you for as a cyclist?
I want people to
remember that I was one
of the hardest-working
guys in the sport,
someone who could be
trusted, someone who
always showed up fit.
5
Is it true that you
do almost all of your
training alone?
Yeah, its true. Ive got
some young, aspiring
pros that Ive been
training with lately, but
most of my time on the
bike Im alone. Im lucky
I still love riding my bike
so muchif Im not
training a lot I dont feel
normal. Ill keep riding
my whole life. My racing
career will be over soon,
but Ill keep riding.
6
What do you think
your riding life will be
like when you retire?
Nothing majorjust a
couple hours a day.
7
So youre not going to
show up at random
cross races?
No wayits not going to
be like that. Ill mountain
bike with friends. I dont
think Ill do any racing.
8
Youve won lots of fans
for the ways in which
youve handled your
success and adversity.
Is it strange to think
about how many
people will be pulling
for you when Paris-
Roubaix rolls around?
Its definitely an honor
to know that there are
people who want me to
win that race so bad
that they kind of feel
the pain that Ive felt
throughout that race.
People have seen me be
successful, theyve seen
me on the ground in
that race, theyve seen
me with broken bones.
And they just want it to
go perfect for me. That
makes me feel good. And
if I go into it prepared
and have some luck, a
win is definitely possible.
9
So how will you feel at
the races start line in
April?
Oh, Ill have butterflies
for Roubaix. I also get
nervous before team
time trials. But other
than that, for stuff like
normal Tour stages,
I dont get nervous
anymore. Ive been doing
this too long for that.
photographed by
patrick cavan brown
Americas greatest domestique
and Classics racer talks about his obsession
with Paris-Roubaix, the only
two races that make him nervous,
and riding after retirement
9 Q u e s t i o n s G e o r g e Hi n c a p i e
I want people to remember I was one of the hardest-working guys in the sport.
Class Act
BI01_11HINCAPIE.indd 46 11/5/10 4:56 PM
11052010165648
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9 Q u e s t i o n s G e o r g e Hi n c a p i e
Whether hes
in kit or jeans,
Hincapie puts in
the miles around
his adopted
hometown of
Greenville, SC.
Class Act
BI01_11HINCAPIE.indd 47 11/8/10 3:14 PM
11082010151450
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From the exquisite, cherry-handled Shimano
chain tool to a cast-off greasy bearing race, the act of working
on your bike exposes you to unexpected beauty.
T HE GR E AT MEC H
BI01_11MAINTENANCE.indd 48 11/8/10 2:21 PM
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C H A NI C WI T HI N
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A certain elemental satisfaction comes from growing
your own hot peppers or figuring out how to fish a lost
toy (or wedding ring) out of a drainpipe, yet few of us
choose to lead the daily, tough life of a full-time farmer
or plumber. So it is with our bicycles: We gain something
important as cyclists by learning just enough to avoid
being stymied by that scratching sound coming from
the brakes. Eliminate a squeak from your seatpost
and you experience a pleasure that is admittedly out
of proportion to your achievement but also undeniably
authentic. Heres a years worth of simple yet vital
projects that will give you the satisfaction of working on
your bike without requiring you to set up an elaborate
home shop or adopt the scraped-knuckle existence of a
grease monkey.Bill Strickland
The
(Not Very)
Di rty
Dozen
WE SHOULD LEAVE MANY PROJECTS OUR LIVES REQUIRE TO
professionals. For example, relatively few people are qualified to cut their
own hair or perform their own surgery, and even if youre actually a barber
or a surgeon youre probably still going to turn the job over to a colleague for
best results (though back in the Middle Ages you would have at least been
able to turn both jobs over to a single person).
For most of us, bike maintenance falls into the for-the-pros category,
and understandably so. A misshapen haircut is one thing; having your
knuckles stitched back together because you tried to take off your pedals
is another. Even so, I am here to implore you to open that tool kit you got
for your birthday three years ago and tap into the primordial collective con-
sciousness that exists inside of every cyclist: The Great Mechanic Within.
The path to summoning this entity is fraught with challenges, but the
mere process of trying to do so can bring richer rewards than you ever
anticipated. Plus, you might save lots of money someday.
I started working on my own bikes as a kidoiling the chain to make it
12 SIMPLE BUT VITAL REPAIRS
YOU CAN MASTER
THE GREAT MECHANIC WI THI N
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WINTER
BOTTOM BRACKET/CRANKSET
With the chain derailed, spin the
crankset slowly with one nger.
If the movement feels gritty, audibly grinds or catches at certain spots
in the rotation, you need either a bottom bracket overhaul or full
replacement. You did the diagnosis, which is plenty. Leave the surgery
to a shop. 1 Grab the crankarms and try to wiggle them toward and
away from the frame. If there is play, determine if the whole crankset
is moving or if its only one of the crankarms. For the crankarm, try
tightening 2 (with the required 8mm hex, a thin-walled socket or in
some cases a proprietary tool) then check again. For the crankset
itself, a shop might be able to tighten the BB or else replace it. 3
Finally, snug all chainring bolts, usually with a 5mm hex or a Torx key.
(Some bolts require you to hold the opposite side while you tighten.)
CHAIN
A pro-team mechanic showed us a cheap and easy quick-clean method we love: Soak the center of a sponge with dish soap
(or a commercial degreaser or cleanser). With one hand, wrap the sponge around the chain, under the chainstay, then with
the other hand backpedal 10 revolutions. Rinse the sponge, squeeze out excess water, reload with cleaner and repeat. Continue until
the sponge no longer gets dirty. Dry the chain by letting it sit for 10 minutes or by backpedaling through a clean rag. Apply one drop of
lube to each of the chains pins, then backpedal 10 revolutions, allow ve minutes for the lube to penetrate, then wipe the chain with a
clean rag by backpedaling. (Any lube removed this way is excess that doesnt help the links move, and attracts grime.)
from now on CHECK IT ONCE A MONTH
from now on CLEAN EVERY TWO WEEKS, 10 HOURS OF RIDING, OR IF WET RIDE
REAR DERAILLEUR
Clunky rear shifting is most often caused when
the cable stretches or the amount of tension it
exerts on the derailleur somehow goes out of whack, which affects the
derailleurs alignment with the cogs. Amateur mechanics sometimes
try to x this by ddling with the two screws that are prominent on the
derailleur body. Those limit screws, however, are intended to be used to
set up the initial range of motion (preventing the derailleur from jumping
into the spokes on the large-cog side, and centering it precisely at its
lowest, least-tensioned starting point on the small-cog side).
Fortunately, the simplest way to tune the rear shifting solves
somewhere around 90 percent of all problems. Shift to the smallest
cog. Turning one pedal by hand, click up one gear. If the derailleur
balks, click back and stop the drivetrain. Turn the barrel adjuster
located where the cable goes into the derailleur; its the only thing down
there that looks like a barrelout half a turn (counterclockwise). Try
the shift again, continuing to dial out the
adjuster as needed until the derailleur
snaps crisply onto the cog. Progress up
the cogs. When the shifting is perfect
that way, repeat the routine coming down
the cogset. This time if the derailleur
hesitates, dial the barrel adjuster in just
one-quarter of a turn at a time. You should
be able to work your way up and down the
cogset and ne-tune the shifting in less
than 10 minutes.
from now on TUNE WHENEVER SHIFTING GETS BALKY
I no longer dread rainy days
theyre an opportunity to lose myself
in maintenance.
WIGGLE
BACK &
FORTH
TURN BARREL ADJUSTER
COUNTERCLOCKWISE
LUBE HERE
NOT HERE
3 2 1
BI01_11MAINTENANCE.indd 51 11/9/10 11:02 AM
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The (Not Ver y) Di rt y Dozen continued...
run more quietly, taking the chainguard off to make
my bike look more like the ones in the BMX maga-
zines, and in the process acquiring my first greasy
chainring tattoos. I quickly advanced to cursing at
my bicycle as seemingly mundane repairs exploded.
Steeped in such tradition, it would seem logical that
as an adult interested in road bikes I would possess all
the confidence and knowledge needed to perform my
own service. Yet I quickly realized that my childhood
riding friends and I had mostly just been beating on
our bikes with pliers and Channellocks like that ape-
man with a bone in the beginning of 2001: A Space
Odyssey. As an adult, I was well ahead of people who
are flummoxed by quick-release skewers, but woe-
fully ignorant when it came to components such as
derailleurs. And as I tried to adjust them, they only
got worse, leaping wildly from cog to cog like a mouse
trying not to fall into a pop-up toaster. I could have
taken my bike to a shop. I should have. But something
in me wanted to recapture that headyif ignorant
and unearnedconfidence of my childhood.
And thats when I met my first mechanical mentor,
Sheldon Brown. In some primitive, pre-Google search
engine I typed rear derailleur panicked mouse help!
and found my way as if by providence to the website of
a mechanic working in West Newton, Massachusetts,
who appeared to be an online oracle. As well, his pic-
ture showed that he had a beard, which made him
seem simultaneously accessible and divine. In the
same way that the older, more experienced riders I
was meeting were pointing me toward the notable
climbs and encouraging me to set out on those first
big road rides, Sheldons Internet advice pushed me as
a mechanic. Just as I was sure to bonk 60 miles from
home on those first too-tough rides, I also stripped
bolts and scratched paint and completely falsified
wheels I was attempting to true. I read Sheldons
derailleur treatises repeatedly until I had them com-
mitted to memory, but just as I knew intellectually
that to stay strong on a hard ride I had to eat before I
was hungry, until I developed the feel that comes from
experience and repeated failure, I struggled.
During this period of my life, I bonked spectacu-
larly all over the roads of the greater New York City
metropolitan area, and when I finally limped home I
would twiddle my poorly shifting derailleur late into
the night, cursing with the energy of my childhood
from now on
CLEAN AND REAPPLY GREASE OR
PASTE EVERY SIX MONTHS, OR AFTER
SEVERAL WET WEEKS, OR WHEN
YOU HEAR A SQUEAK
SEATPOST

Mark your seat height by wrapping electrical tape around the
seatpost (ush with the collar, the part that clamps the post in
the frame). Loosen the clamp bolt and remove the post. Clean it with a dry rag. Tip
your bike upside down and let the water thats accumulated in the frame run out of
the seat tube in a brackish, malodorous stream. Feel smug about doing this. Push
another rag into the seat tube and swab the inside clean. For a steel or aluminum
post, spread a dollop of grease along the bottom third of its length. Use just enough
to leave a milky sheen. With carbon posts, do the same with paste or assembly
compound; these are tackier and grittier, which
helps you avoid overtightening the clamp bolt in an
attempt to keep the post from slipping. Reinsert the
post to the correct height. Tighten the clamp to the
manufacturers recommended torque.
CHECK CHAIN FOR WEAR
Youll hear chain wear
called stretching,
because you detect a worn chain by measuring the
distance between pins, but the term is inaccurate.
The plates dont get longer. The pins and bushings
that hold the links together degrade, creating slack
that increases the distance between pins. When this
happens, the chain doesnt sit properly on the teeth of
the cassette or chainrings. Shifting becomes clattery
and imprecise and the teeth can wear, leading to
expensive replacements. You can detect wear with a
special tool, but heres the simplest method: With the chain
on the small ring, apply force to the right pedal with one hand
while holding the rear wheel stationary with the other. If the
chain oats above the teeth rather than fully meshing with
them, its time for a new one.
from now on
REWRAP ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR
SPRING
from now on MEASURE EVERY 500 MILES
Just as I knew intellectually
that to stay strong on a
hard ride I had to eat before I was
hungry, until I developed
the feel that comes from
experience, I struggled.
BAR TAPE
Fresh wrap changes your bikes appearance so much some people will
ask if you just bought a new ride. But there are practical reasons to
change tape: Friction from your gloves eventually erodes the tapes tackiness, leading
to an insecure grip, and as small cuts, tears and abrasions accumulate so does the
chance of the tape ripping or slipping during a moment of high-stakes stresslike
when youre locked onto the bar in a sprint. To remove the wrap, rst unpeel the
nishing tape that holds it in place near the center of
the handlebar. Unwind the wrap by hand, spiraling
along the bar. When you get to the brake/shift lever,
peel back the hood then continue. Before you reach
the end of the bar, remove the plug that tucks the
end of the wrap into the hollow. When the wrap is
off, scrub away adhesive left on the bar. Taping isnt
difcult, but expect several botched attempts. The
fundamentals: Start from the end. 1 On the rst
wrap, leave half the width of the tape hanging off the
2
3
GAP = WORN CHAIN
SPIRAL TAPE AWAY
FROM BIKE AS YOU
PASS OVER THE BAR
1
bar (this is the part youll tuck in with the plug). Continue
along the bar in spirals, wrapping away from the bike as
you go over the top of the bar, and slightly overlapping.
2 At the bend, say a hosanna and wrap around the
brake in a gure eight. Continue on. 3 A hands width
from the stem, cut the tape and tack it down with two
revolutions of electrical tape.
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Its not just a spare-parts bin. Its proof
that your relationship with your bicycle is about
more than just riding it.
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SUMMER
CABLES AND HOUSING
If shifting or braking feels sluggish, the problem is often
gummed-up housings or dirty cables. You can restore spry
action with a simple cleaning. Create slack in the brake cables by opening the quick-
release buttons (on the calipers for Shimano and SRAM, on the lever for Campagnolo).
To slacken the rear derailleur cable: Shift to the largest cog while turning the pedals;
stop the pedals and rear wheel, then push the shifter as if to return to the smallest
cog; because the derailleur wont move, the cable slackens. (The front shifter cable
is exposed along most of its length already.) With the tension gone, you can easily slip
the housings out of the stops, then slide them along the cables to expose dirt and grit.
Wipe the newly exposed sections of the cables clean, then spray degreaser into one
end of each housing until it drips cleanly out of the other end. Most modern cables dont
need lube for smooth operation, but you might want to
try it to see if friction is reduced; place a drop or two
of lube on your thumb and forenger, then pinch the
cable between them and wipe any exposable sections.
Replace the housings in the stops, tighten the quick-
releases, and gently pedal the rear derailleur into the
proper gear. If the shifting is still sluggish or the cables
appeared frayed, rusted or bent, take your bike to the
shop for a replacement.
HEADSET
Left unaddressed, a loose headset
could cause you to lose control, impair
steering and eventually damage your head tube and
fork. 1 With your bike in a stand or sitting on the
ground, grab the handlebar with one hand and the front
wheel with the other, then push and pull in opposition
while feeling for play. To tighten: 2 Loosen the two
bolts that clamp the stem to the steerer tube, then
turn the bolt in the top cap of the stem clockwise and
retighten the clamping bolts to the manufacturers
recommended torque. The headset is just right when
there is no slop when you perform the check, but the
front wheel freely ops from side to side when you pick
up the front of the bike. You might need several attempts
to nd the precise adjustment. Make sure you always
loosen the clamp bolts before tightening the cap.
from now on CHECK EVERY TWO WEEKS
from now on REPLACE BOTH AT THE END OR
BEGINNING OF EVERY SEASON, OR WHEN YOU
NOTICE ANY CUT OR CRACK IN THE HOUSING,
OR FRAYING OR RUST ON THE CABLE
BRAKE PADS
Examine the pads and remove embedded grit or metal shards
(which come from your rim) with an awl, tweezers or other sharp
implement. Then roughen the surface with sandpaper or a le to improve braking.
Finally, replace the set if either pad is too hard to let you press in with your thumbnail, or
if the grooves etched into the pad are so worn theyre almost nonexistent.
from now on EXAMINE ONCE A WEEK, OR AFTER EVERY WET RIDE
daysthough with an expanded diction.
Eventually I began taking my riding seriously
enough that I got tired of sacrificing my energy and
potential cycling or recovery time cogitating on
Sheldon Brown and screwing up my bike. When
something didnt work, I wanted it fixed properly and
expediently so I could be assured my next ride would
leave on time. This was a period in my life when I
wanted to walk into my local bike shop and feel like
Dale Earhardt Jr. being mobbed by his pit crew. Shift-
ings balky, I would mutter as my bicycle disappeared
down the stairs or into the back of the shop. Bottom
brackets creaky, I would complain, agreeing with no
hesitation to a new one plus labor and figuring I might
as well upgrade the crank while I was at it. I wanted
my bike to be perfect, I was thrilled by the promise of
increased performance, and being serviced by profes-
sionals made me feel like a pro racer.
In this adolescence of my cycling life, the Great
Mechanic Within seemed square and out of touch,
and I wanted to run with the cool kidsthe ones with
Colnagos and team kits emblazoned with the logos of
local businesses. Eventually, though, something hap-
pened: I wanted my relationship with my bicycle to be
about more than just riding it.
As convenient as it was to have a shop install a
headset or shifters or to bring in a wobbly wheel and
take it home perfectly straight, I was always bothered
that I hadnt achieved those feats myself, that I didnt
have full knowledge of my bicycle, and that my cy-
cling experience depended in part on somebody elses
expertise. I was never going to become the kind of per-
son who could weld a frame or machine a dropout, but
I figured that once all that stuff was done I should at
least be able to take it from there. Just like some car
enthusiasts cant stand the thought of an automatic
transmission shifting for them, I wanted to be fully
engaged with my bike. For me, that meant returning
to the GMW with newfound respect and humility.
I started working weekends at Toga Bikes in Man-
hattan, in part to feed a racing-component addiction
at employee pricing. It was there that I was able to
watch a great New York City mechanic at work.
Ive never actually worked on the floor of the New
York Stock Exchange, but I cant imagine its much
more hectic than Toga on a Saturday afternoon in the
springtime. Good weather is like a hot stock tip, and
for most people bicycles dont exist until its sunny
and warm, at which point they must have one imme-
diatelyor else they remember they already have one
and want it fixed immediately. Togas head mechanic at
the time was Imbert Jimenez, who has since opened
his own shop, called Master Bikes, and watching him
I began to understand how much talent and experi-
ence it takes to be a great shop mechanic. On a busy
Saturday, Imbert didnt just fix bikeshe did triage.
PUSH AND PULL
SIMULTANEOUSLY
1
2
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A ( BoNus) Quick-Fi x Gui De
25 more
SolutionS
to Vexi ng
ProblemS
January/February 2011 55
every time you Fix a
puncture, the neW
tube goeS Flat
If the holes in the tube are
on the bottom, the rim strip
may be out of position,
allowing the tube to get cut
by the spokes. If theyre on
the top, there may be some
small sharp object stuck in
the tire. Find it by running
your fngers lightly around
the inside of the tire, then
remove it.
Frequent pinch FlatS
Put more air in your tires.
a remounted tire Wont
Sit right on the rim
Let the air out, wiggle the
bad spot around, reinfate to
about 30 psi, and roll the
bad spot into place with
your hands. By pushing the
tire in toward the middle of
the rim you will be able to
see if any of the tube is
poking out. When the tube is
fully inside the tire, infate
as normal.
a patch Wont Stick to
the glue on the tube
Apply more glue and let it
dry completelyabout fve
minutes. (Dont blow on the
glue to try to make it dry
fasterthis can leave
moisture from your breath
on it, which hinders
adhesion.) When you apply
the patch, avoid touching
its sticky side with your
fngers.
creaking Sound From
the WheelS
A spoke may have loosened.
If tension is uniform, the
sound might be caused by a
slight motion of the spokes
against each other where
they cross. Lightly lube this
junction, wiping off the
excess.
creaking Sound When
you pedal
Tighten the crankarm bolts.
If the arm still creaks,
remove it, apply a trace of
grease to the spindle, and
reinstall the arm.
the large chainring
FlexeS, and the chain
rubS againSt the Front
derailleur cage
Check for loose chainring
bolts.
ambitiouS , you
removed the chain-
ringS to clean the
crankSet, but noW the
Front derailleur
doeSnt ShiFt right
You may have installed a
chainring backward.
Remove the rings and put
them on correctly. Usually,
the crankarm bolts ft into
indentations on the
chainrings. Sight from
above, too, to make sure
theres even spacing
between the rings.
youre trying to
remove a chainring
bolt, but it juSt SpinS
Hold the backside of the
chainring bolt with a wide,
fathead screwdriver or a
special chainring-bolt
wrench built for this
purpose.
While trying to remove
or adjuSt a crankarm
you Stripped the
threadSnoW you
cant remove it
Ride your bike around the
block a few times. The
crankarm will loosen and
youll be able to pull it off.
ShiFter houSingS rub
the Frame, Wearing a
Spot in the paint
Put clear tape beneath the
housings where they rub.
noiSy, Sloppy ShiFting
cant be remedied by
rear derailleur
adjuStment
The cassette lockring might
be loose, allowing the cogs
to move slightly and rattle
around on the hub. You need
a special tool to tighten the
lockring fully, but you can
spin it tight enough with
your fngers to ride safely
home or to a shop.
the cog caSSette iS
getting ruSty
A little rust wont damage
the cogs quickly, so its not a
major concern. Usually,
using a little more lube will
prevent additional rust, and
riding will cause the chain
to wear away the rust while
youre pedaling.
in certain gearS,
pedaling cauSeS loud
Skipping
There may be debris
between the cogs. If you can
see mud, grass, leaves,
twigs or any sort of foreign
matter trapped between
cogs, dig it out. Its probably
keeping the chain from
settling all the way down
onto the cog to achieve a
proper mesh. If theres no
debris, a cog is probably
worn out. Most often this is
a sign that the chain and
cassette will have to be
replaced.
Front derailleur
Wont ShiFt preciSely
to a chainring
Check that the cage is
parallel to the chainrings
(when viewed from above),
and loosen and reposition
the derailleur if necessary.
If its parallel, you probably
need to adjust the high- and
low-limit screws, best done
by a shop or experienced
amateur mechanic.
the rear derailleur
makeS a conStant
Squeaking noiSe
The pulleys are dry and
need lubrication. Drip some
light lube on the sides, then
wipe off the excess.
braking FeelS muShy,
even though the padS
arent Worn out
The cable probably
stretched. Dial out the
brake-adjuster barrel
(found either on the caliper
or on the housing closer to
the lever) by turning it
counterclockwise until the
pads are close enough to
the rim to make the braking
action feel as tight as
you want.
braking FeelS grabby
You probably have a ding or
dent in the rim. This hits the
pad every revolution,
causing the unnerving
situation. Take your bike
to a shop.
one pad dragS againSt
the rim or StayS
SigniFicantly cloSer to
the rim than the other
Before messing with the
brakes, open the quick-
release on the wheel,
recenter the wheel in the
frame and see if that fxes
the problem. (This is the
most common solution.) If
the wheel is centered but a
pad still rubs, you need to
recenter the brake. On most
modern brakesets this is
done by turning a small
adjustment screw found
somewhere on the side or
top of the caliper. (There
may be one screw on each
side, as well.) Turn the
screw or screws in small
increments, watching to see
how this affects the pad
position. If you center the
brake and the wheel, and a
pad still drags on the rim, it
probably wore unevenly
from being misadjusted;
sand the pads fat and
recenter everything.
With each pedal Stroke
you hear a click coming
From the Saddle
The pedal may have
loosened. Tighten it.
brakeS Squeal
Wipe the rim to remove any
oil or cleaning residue. If
this doesnt work, scuff the
pads with sandpaper or a
fle. Still noisy? The pads
need to be loosened then
toed-in, an adjustment that
makes the front portion
touch the rim before the
backan easy fx for a shop,
a tortuous process for a
frst-timer.
Saddle creakS
Drip a tiny amount of oil
around the rails where they
enter the saddle, and into
the clamp where it grips the
rails. Heritage purists take
note: Leather saddles
sometimes creak the same
way that fne leather shoes
can. Theres not much you
can do about this.
you can never
remember Which Way to
turn the pedalS
Treat the right-side pedal
normallyrighty-tighty,
lefty-loosey (clockwise to
tighten, counterclockwise
to loosen). The left-side
pedal has reverse threads
(which keeps it from
unscrewing during
pedaling) so it must be
turned counterclockwise to
tighten and clockwise to
loosen. If thats confusing
and for many of us it is
think of this phrase: Back
off. This can remind you
that, with the wrench
engaged above the pedal,
you always turn it toward
the back of the bike to
remove the pedal.
you inStalled a pedal
into the Wrong
crankarmthe leFt
pedal into the right
arm or vice verSa
You can remove the pedal,
but the crankarm will have
to be replaced; its threads
are softer than the pedals
and are now stripped out.
Always check the pedals
before installing. There is
usually an R for right or
L for left stamped onto
the axle.
you pulled apart
your headSet to
regreaSe it, and noW
the headSet FeelS
tight no matter hoW
you adjuSt it
The bearing retainers are
probably in upside down.
Adapted from The Bicycling
guide to complete Bicycle
Maintenance & Repair
($32, rodalestore.com)
11082010142329
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BI01_11MAINTENANCE.indd 56 11/9/10 11:03 AM
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FALL
Hed listen to the customer, examine the bike, and
in seconds hed know what needed to be done. Some
bikes hed throw onto the stand and fix on the spot,
others hed assign to another mechanic, and still oth-
ersthe most severe caseshed admit for surgery
during the week. Whether it was a brand-new ultra-
high-end road bike or a 30-year-old French mixte that
had just been excavated from some Upper West Side
bike room, or even a racing handcycle owned by one
of the disabled members of the Achilles Track Club,
no uni-, bi- or tricycle confounded him, and he could
diagnose itand very often repair itimmediately.
In addition to getting to watch the artistry of a pro-
fessional mechanic, I also got to observe his symbiotic
counterpart: the inept home mechanic. I still horrify
and amuse myself with the memory of the person who
lined his high-end Campagnolo clincher rim beds with
double-sided carpet tape, effectively gluing a $100 pair
of Michelins to the rim. Best of all, in idle moments Im-
bert would sometimes help me with my own bike, and
the fluid economy with which he worked taught me a
lot and encouraged me in my own mechanical efforts.
Im not sure how effectively I channel the Great
Mechanic Within. In truth, Im not sure he was ever
actually within me. I am no Imbert, no Sheldon Brown.
But when it comes to my bikes, and Ive had a lot of
them now, I know that with enough time and patience
I can usually fix whatever problems ariseand that
I can get that mouse to plonk into the toaster. Today,
working on my bicycles is an integral part of the joy
of cycling, to the extent that I no longer dread rainy
days because theyre an opportunity to lose myself in
maintenance. Ill always admire and defer to the pro-
fessionals, but I dont always want to have to depend
on them. I take pleasure in spending the time to keep
my bikes running, even if it still takes me considerably
longer than the professionals, and even if Im still likely
to screw things up. Just as I didnt stop racing once I
accepted I wasnt all that good at it (though I did stop
taking it so seriously), Im still my own mechanic even
though I sometimes curse late into the night like I did
when I was a kid. Riding and wrenching each increase
my enjoyment of the other exponentially, and I dont
think I could give up either one.
Eben Weiss is our Bike Snob columnist and author of Bike
Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the
World of Cycling (Chronicle).
TIRES
To check for fatal cuts and embedded grit that will lead to punctures, deate
the tube to about half pressure. Working in sections as you rotate the wheel,
squeeze and wiggle the tire between your ngers. Manipulate or tweeze out grit and
shards. Think of cuts as you would with your body: Anything supercial is no worry,
but anything that exposes underlying tissue (in this instance, casing instead of bone) is
serious. As a general rule, replace a tire with three or more serious cuts, or with one
gash that, at full pressure, causes the tire to bulge outward.
from now on EVALUATE ONCE A WEEK
CLEATS AND PEDALS
When your cleats wear,
your foot can get stuck
in the pedalshello, embarrassing topple at a stop
signor pull out under torque and take half the Sunday
ride down at the town-line sprint. Most plastic cleats,
such as Look, have built-in wear indicators: When a
different color shows through, its time to replace the
cleat. Also watch for chipped or ragged edges. Metal
cleats tend to look sharp or overly shiny at the edges.
The best indicator is that clicking in or out becomes
unpredictable. If performance is iffy but you dont detect
wear, try lightly lubing the pedal everywhere it contacts
the cleat (not the shoe sole). If that doesnt work, tell
your mechanic I dunno whats wrong.
from now on INSPECT EVERY SIX MONTHS, OR WHEN CLICKING IN OR OUT
BECOMES PERSNICKETY
from now on CHECK FOR TRUENESS AND
LOOSE SPOKES AFTER EVERY RIDE
WHEEL
When you feel a wheel wobbling, you have to return it to true (side-to-side
alignment). A wheel thats hopping is considered out of round, which is
much harder to address, and best handled by an expert at a shop. Even when it comes to
truing, messing with spokes is one of the most intimidating acts for amateur mechanics,
but if you work in small increments and use patience you can often restore a smooth
spin to your wheel.
To true a wheel: Spin the wheel and locate the section that is wobbling toward one
side. On that side of the wheel, use a spoke wrench to loosen the two spokes closest
to the wobble one-quarter turn. On the other side of the wheel, tighten the two closest
spokes one-quarter turn. (Which way is tight and which is loose? Imagine the tire and
tube are gone and you standing behind the mounted wheelfront or rearlooking
at the spokes and nipples through the rim. Turning the nipple clockwise tightens the
spoke, counterclockwise loosens it.) Spin the wheel and tune the wobble again. Never
turn the nipples more than a quarter-turn at a time, and be prepared to work back and
forth, loosening or tightening several times on each side until the wheel spins true.
One other thing: All the spokes on one side of a wheel should be equally tensioned;
check this by plucking them like harp strings and listening to the tone. If one is
signicantly looser or tighter, begin the truing process by dialing it to the right tone. (On
the rear wheel, driveside spokes are tighter than spokes on the leftbut all the spokes
on one side should feel the same.)
I was bothered that I didnt
have full knowledge of my bicycle,
that my cycling experience
depended in part on somebody
elses expertise.
TIGHTEN
LOOSEN
WOBBLE
LOOK FOR WEAR HERE
TIGHTEN SPOKE
LOOSEN SPOKE
worldmags worldmags
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when he
starts
to forget
why its
important
to keep
racing,
a cyclist
is saved
by a race
hell always
remember
by Mike Magnuson
the far-off end
58 January/february 2011
BI01_11JULIELOCKHART.indd 58 11/8/10 2:40 PM
11082010144102
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Site of
redemption:
The 2008
national
cyclocross
championships
course,
Kansas City,
Missouri
photographed by
Colby lysne
by Mike Magnuson
BI01_11JULIELOCKHART.indd 59 11/8/10 2:40 PM
11082010144117
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worldmags
!
Learn m
ore
about Julie
and her
secrets for racing
strong at any age

at bicycling.com
/
julie.
BI01_11JULIELOCKHART.indd 60 11/8/10 10:51 AM
11082010105236
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January/february 2011 61
n the first year of my retirementif we
can consider as retirement the abandon-
ment of a discipline that was never my
career and which I wasnt very good at in
the first placeI attended the national
cyclocross championships as a spectator
instead of as a participant. I had some
friends lining up there. At least thats
what I told myself.
One of those friends was Julie Lockhart, who I had met at the
previous years championships, when I was still racing and she had
been running late for the start of her event and needed help with
her bike and needed somebody to pin on her bib number. I helped,
and weve been friends ever since. That sort of thing happens a lot in
cyclocross. Now, in what I guess was my new role as just a fan, I wan-
dered down to the start of Julies race to blow my collapsible stadium
horn in her honor. That sort of thing happens a lot in cross, too.
I can still remember Julie rolling toward that start line as if
she were part of a gracefully constructed piece of moving, three-
dimensional pastel art: a sunny day in December, leaves gone from
the trees like a memory, a stout breeze whip-
ping in from the Western plains, Julie in her
red racing kit calmly passing a table where
several plump USA Cycling officials sat and
tabulated results from another event, then
Julie passing the beer tent, from which
foamy murk a number of cyclocross fanat-
ics emerged and pointed at Julie and began
shouting, Thats Julie Lockhart! Shes
awesome! Go get em, Julie! She nodded
humbly at her fans and arrived in the rect-
angular asphalt area beyond the start line
thats known as the box and set her left foot
down and looked at her handlebar and took
a breath so deep I could see it from 50 yards
away. She was ready to rock n roll.
She was 67 years old, the reigning national
champ in the womens 65-plus category, arriving at the line at the
2008 U.S. National Cyclocross Championships in Tiffany Springs
Park, Kansas City, Missouri, to defend her title. Next to her in the
box was Nancy Brown, 66 years old, hailing from Bennett, Nebraska,
and appearing so relaxed that it appeared to unsettle Julie. Nancy
said hello and proceeded to pull a tube of lipstick from her jersey and
freshen her smile.
Julie and Nancy. That was it, the entire field for the race.
For some reason lately, my daughters have amplified their
old habit of asking me questions no human being should be required
to answer. In the past, I may have made a general remark like this:
I really like spaghetti and meatballs. To which my daughters would
respond, Why?
Or I might say, I like pine trees scat-
tered along a mountainside. My daughters:
Why?
I really like rainy days. My girls: Why?
Over time, I learned that my best
response is one a person my age named Mike has earned, through
years of childhood persecution, the right to say: You wanna know
why? Mikey likes it is why.
This works.
But lifting my head from the ostrich sand of my two-year cyclo-
cross retirement and toeing the start line again on weekends? For
my daughters that is not a mystery to which there is any satisfying
answer, and maybe they are onto something. Because these are the
honest facts of my case: Im an unexceptional, back-of-the-parade
cyclocross racer who quit the scene because I sucked. The final straw
came for me when I crashed so many times during the first two icy
laps of the 2007 masters men 4549 National Championship that
a kindly USA Cycling official pulled me from the course to keep me
from causing further insult and injury to myself. Not only will I
never win any cyclocross race I enterdoesnt matter how low the
category may goI will be lucky to avoid coming in last. Essentially,
my only value to the world of cyclocross is my $25 entry fee, portions
of which pay out as prize money for the truly fit, truly talented rac-
ers who I guess deserve recompense for their efforts. I should stay
retired, obviously. But I dont want to stay retired.
Why?
Julie and nancy were standing over
their bikes, the two of them waiting for the
start of the race that would bestow the high-
est national honor a female cyclocrosser can
receive. I considered their ages for a minute,
there. They come from a generation where
the idea of a woman, a mother, training and
racinglet alone for national-level events
was generally unthinkable. A woman was
there to make sure everybody else in her life
was taken care of, not to explore the limits
of her physical and mental abilities in some-
thing ostensibly as useless as cyclocross.
You know that in their lives someone some-
timemaybe a lot of people a lot of times
said to Julie and Nancy: You want to ride a bike in the mud and fall
down a lot? Find something more useful to occupy your time.
When I stood there as a spectator, I thought: We all can. There
is always something else to do other than ride our bikes. In cycling,
we strive to reach peaks with our bodies and our minds, and these
peaks very often have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of our
livesour professions, our families, what the people we know ex-
pect of usbut what do we do once weve reached a peak? Where do
we go from there? And what if the peak weve reached isnt very high
in the first place? And what if the next peaks we reach will be with-
out question lower and lower than the ones that came before? Isnt
that why I just gave it all up? Hadnt I done the right thing?
The starting official, a short, humorless woman, announced in
an unfriendly voice that in the next 30 seconds she would blow the
whistle to start the race.
Time slowed. The year before, at the icy championships where Id
perfected the art of racing with both of my butt cheeks firmly affixed
to the ground, Julie had whaled the proverbial tar out of Nancy,
beating her by minutes. This year, Nancy showed up 20 pounds
in cycling
we strive
to reach peaks,
and
these peaks
often have nothing
to do with
the rest
of our
lives.
the far-off end
Thats Julie
Lockhart! specta-
tors tend to scream
when the well-
known womens 65+
champion rolls past.
11082010105237
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lighter and with a heck of a lot more resolve. Nancy knew who she
was facing and had prepared for it, and Julie maybe hadnt taken her
challenger too seriously. They had become friends off the bike and
had exchanged a few pleasant e-mails, but they hadnt met on the
racecourse since the last championships. Julie competed primarily
on the East Coast, near her home in Dunstable, Massachusetts,
and was keen to retell her race stories down to the microdetail.
Nancy was based in Nebraska, and about the
only information she would divulge about her
race experience was that she really enjoyed it.
A light breeze ruffled Nancy and Julies bib
numbers. Off in the distance, people shouted
and rang cowbells and made joyful noises
with their stadium horns. Birds chirped in the
leafless trees. And the whistle blew.
The first 300 meters were on flat asphalt,
and Julie sprinted instantly into the lead.
She could hear herself breathing hard and
could hear the commotion of words coming
out of the race announcers mouth. He was
yelling something with great enthusiasm,
but what? And who would care what it was?
The course took a hard right-hander off
the asphalt and onto the last remaining
grass on the course at Tiffany Springs Park,
a stretch of grass that extended, at most,
50 meters. After that, the course was thick,
greasy muck that used to be grass before
hundreds of bikes came here from all over
the country and began taking hundreds of
laps around the course and subsequently
transferred the grass from the ground where
it belonged to the bikes brakes and shifting
mechanisms and chainrings and cassettes.
Julie could feel the grass accumulating in
her drivetrain and could feel the racecourse
gradually rising, rising, pointing ever up-
ward toward the top of the hill, where a
W-shaped run-up and run-down and run-up
waited to sap the final joy out of any 67-year-
old cyclocrossers life.
Toward the top, each pedal stroke slowed
Julie down, each bump made riding worse,
so she reacted with veteran cyclocross in-
stinct and jumped off her bike and began
running. The crowds were thin up there, just a few forlorn souls
standing in the wind and shouting encouragement. Julie did not
look over her shoulder to see where Nancy was. Conventional wis-
dom suggests that a 67-year-old woman should be looking back,
thinking about where she has been and determining what it all has
meant, but cyclocross is about pointing your front wheel forward,
keeping your eyes on the course, preparing for the next twisty turn,
the next off-camber section, the next obstacle in your life that you
can and will overcome.
After the top of the hill, Julie felt not joy but relief, and she de-
scended through a copse of trees and toward the pit area, where she
got a fresh bike from her husband, Jim, then she raced past the beer
tent and hurdled two barriers and took a hard left and twisted and
turned and ran up some stairs and then commenced another lap of
mud and hurly-burly and mayhem. She was about 20 seconds ahead
of Nancy, and Nancy had not changed bikes.
Julie began to lose a sense of where she was. To save time on the
days schedule, the officials had all the masters women categories,
from 40 on up, on the course at the same
time. This meant racers were everywhere
several women from the 4044 race had
lapped Julie and Nancy, and others were hot
on their heelsand the course looked like a
jersey-colored, sunlit, mud-speckled cyclo-
cross infinity. Here you rode so hard and
ran so hard you couldnt speak. Here you fell
down and got up and got back on your bike
and kept riding again. Here you strove for the
end of something you knew was coming, but
you werent quite sure when it would come.
The end was too far off to contemplate.
This was not hell; for a cyclist, this was
what heaven might be like.
Julie had been running a lot on the
course, so her cleats were caked with mud, and as she glided down
the straightaway toward the barriers she decided to unclip and tap
her shoes on her chainstays to knock off some mud. She tapped a
little too hard and smacked the chain off its ring. She pedaled one
stroke then, and the chain sucked under the chain catcher. The ped-
als wouldnt turn; the bike wouldnt move.
For a long moment, she considered shouldering her bike and
running to the pits, but this would take her at least five precious
minutes, too much time.
She stared at the sky and shouted, I have just fucked up my
whole race!
Then she heard an 11-year-old voice yelling at her: Julie, be
patient. Fix your bike and start riding. The voice was Victoria Gates,
THE FAR-OFF END continued on p. 90
you strove
for something
you knew
was coming
but you werent
quite sure
when it
would
come.
the far-off end
Start-line intensity
for Lockhart (left);
smiles for Brown.
11082010105237
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worldmags worldmags
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64 january/february 2011 64 january/february 2011
Winning the race to
live the good life:
Urban utility bikes
with plenty of style
from (left to right)
Electra, Globe, Trek,
Swobo and Felt.
BI0111GEAR_BIKES_3.indd 64 11/5/10 12:18 PM
11052010121916
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CITY SLICKERS
Riding aRound town has always been
the Right thing to do. thanks to bikes like these,
now its also the cooland funthing to do.
photogRaphed by douglas benedict and kent pell
Hot
Bikes
Cool
Parts
Field
Tests

F
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IK
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11052010121917
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$750
Jamis Commuter 4
A HEAD-TURNINGGROCERY-GETTERWhen I take
out a city bike I prefer to see the world as I ride, and the
relaxed, upright position of the Commuter 4 lets me do
just that. The bikes smartly padded saddle proved to be
a comfortable people-watching perch. The gently curved
handlebar is just wide enough that I dont feel as if Im
wrestling a Texas longhorn, and its high enough that I
can keep an eye on traffic without returning home with
a strained neck.
Aesthetically, the Commuter 4s classic black-and-
Perfect for
people-
watching
and keeping
an eye
on trafc.
WHO ITS
BEST FOR
WHAT ITS
BEST FOR
COMPONENT
HIGHLIGHTS
INFO
WEIGHT
SIZES
FRAME
FORK
Anyone who commutes less than 5 miles
in everyday street clotheseven heels
and a skirt. Apartment dwellers who need
to hump their bike up the stairs daily. And
anyone who runs errands or just enjoys a
leisurely pedal.
Shorter commutes and supermarket
missions.
30.75 lb. (18 in.)
Mens: 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 in.;
womens: 14, 18 (tested) in.
6061 triple-butted aluminum w/ double-
eyeleted dropouts
Jamis City/Cross w/ eyelets
jamisbikes.com
Full-length chainguard; Tektro V-brakes;
Vittoria Adventure Touring 700x32c tires;
Jamis Metro Sport saddle; NVO Com-
ponents adjustable threadless system
stem; Blade Runner aluminum fenders;
color-matched alloy rear rack; Micro Bell;
Shimano Nexus eight-speed rear hub and
Dynamo front hub and LED light
WITH URBAN UTILITY BIKES ENJOYING UNPRECEDENTED POPULARITY,
we sent six of the best home with our seasoned bike testers. Accustomed to analyz-
ing handling, value and performance, our testers instead found themselves (okay,
their bikes) the subject of unexpected public attention. They met neighbors, rode
when they otherwise wouldnt have, and explored their limits as cyclists in sur-
prising, unsweat-soaked ways. Loaded with accessories such as racks, lights, bells,
kickstands and cup holders, these bikes exceed the definition of utility, each broad-
casting its own unique blend of style and function. Read on to find your match.
BIKE REVIEWS
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riding. So I slowed down, swooped across the lane and rode through
a pile of leaves, crunching them under the fat, 38c tires. Then I rolled
past the 5K starting line to check out the costumes of the runners,
picking up nods of approval from a bear, a banana and Superman.
Later on I rode to a friends parade party, and even there, among
fellow cyclists, the bike commanded attention. (Yes, I answered, there
is a mens version.) People commented mostly on its cruiser styling
the matching faux-leather saddle and grips, the silver fenders, the
chic cup holder, the Belgian-blue framebut one person wanted to
know something more technical. How fast does it go? he asked. My
answer was corny, but true: Fast enough.Christine Mattheis
white styling goes with almost any outfit in your closet. For 2011 the
bike loses the previous model years more complex double-chainring
drivetrain (mated to a chain tensioner in back), and picks up a chain-
guard and the clean lines of a singlespeed-style dropoutalbeit one
backed by an eight-speed Shimano Nexus internally geared hub.
The bikes twist shifter let me smoothly maneuver around
city roads and up small hills. The quick-release seatpost was an
appreciated touch, as I prefer a lower seat for stop-and-go riding and
a higher saddle position for longer point-to-point hauls. Another
stock amenity: fenders that extend far enough along the wheel to
keep the splash factor under control during rain showers, and make
for great fun plowing through puddles after the weath-
er clears up.
One of my favorite details is the tailor-made, triple-
band bungee that fits snugly over the bikes rear rack. For
my routine supermarket run I found I could easily stow a
couple of shopping bags, and no longer needed a cumber-
some backpack. Even a little boy walking by the grocery
store with his mother appreciated this feat, proclaiming
loudly, Look! Theres a bike girl! as I wheeled away with
my cargo. For bike girls (or boys) looking to pick up more
than a bag or two of groceries, the standard rear rack can
easily be upgraded to Sherpa-grade panniers.
Although it does not come with a kickstand, the
Commuter 4 has some valuable safety accessories, such
as a bell and an LED light powered automatically by a
svelte Shimano Dynamo front hub. Fully loaded with
features, the Commuter 4 weighs in at 30 pounds. I was
able to lug it up the stairs of a second-floor apartment
with a minimal amount of sweat.
The chainguard protects pants legs and the
step-through design is skirt-friendly. (Theres also a
traditional-top-tube version.) Flat, nonslip pedals work
with regular shoes or even heels. This good-looking bike
is ready when you are, and whether youre on a run to the
store, the coffee shop or just a ride around town, its sure
to spark conversation.Deb Cosgrove
Felt Caf 3
A COFFEE CRUISER WITH STREET CRED My
roommate doesnt ride much, and I bring enough bikes
through the door that she rarely notices when I roll in with a new
one. But the Felt Caf 3 caught her eye. I like the color, she said.
Is that a cup holder on the handlebar? Can I ride it?
Comments like these followed me wherever I went with the bike,
especially the weekend of our small towns Halloween 5K run and
parade. An hour before the start, the roads were closed to cars, and
families began setting up folding chairs on the sidewalk. Nice bike!
yelled a seven-year-old dressed as a robot. I responded by ringing my
bell (standard equipment on the Caf 3). Farther down the block, a
man drinking a Budweiser on his porch called out, Hey hot wheels!
Instead of reaching for my bell again I opted for the twist shifter and
pedaled a little faster on down the road.
By the time I got to my destination, I found I didnt want to stop
BIKE REVIEWS
$429
29.5 lb. (M)
S, M (tested), L
Aluminum
feltbicycles.com
Urban riders, college students, parents, new cyclists
Coffee runs, bike-path jaunts, cruising with your kids, doing
errands, exploring your town
Steel
Three-speed Shimano Revo twist-shift Nexus internal-gear
hub; Caf saddle; 700x38c tires; aluminum cup holder;
kickstand; full-length chainguard; safety bell
WEIGHT
SIZES
FRAME
INFO
WHO ITS
BEST FOR
WHAT ITS
BEST FOR
FORK
COMPONENT
HIGHLIGHTS
Commuting or
scattering a pile
of leaves, the
Felt Caf 3 has
you covered.
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flat pedals and single gear will likely force riders to
walk up any supersteep climbs they may encounter.
(Electra also produces several geared versions of the
Ticino.)
But its not a stodgy beach cruiser, either. The 700c
alloy wheels let you get the Ticino 1 going at a good clip,
yet the wide tires can handle cross-lawn detours or
tame off-road trails.
Though it defies easy categorization, I soon caught
myself making up errands just to have an excuse
to take the Ticino out on the town. The fenders and
chainguard make all of this spontaneity convenient,
allowing you stay clean in your street clothes during
your impulsive outings.
As I rode along Philadelphias Schuylkill River Trail,
I discovered that the relaxed positioning makes for an
entirely different point of view. A few days earlier I had
pedaled the same section of path on my cross bike at
a similarly mellow pace. But from the cushy saddle of
the Ticino I spotted things Id never noticed before: a
groundhog den here, a hidden trail there.
It also apparently affected the way I connected
ITS NOT A PURPOSE-BUILT UTILITY BIKE. ITS
NOT A STODGY BEACH CRUISER. THOUGH
IT DEFIES CATEGORIZATION, I CAUGHT MYSELF
MAKING UP ERRANDS JUST TO HAVE AN EXCUSE
TO TAKE THE TICINO OUT .
Electra Ticino 1
CALCULATING THE FUN FACTOR Somewhere on
the way to the drugstore, my bike started messing with
me. I was supposed to be on a laid-back candy-corn run:
Five minutes earlier, Id swung a leg over the 1950s-
inspired frame, plopped down onto the fabulously
squishy faux-leather saddle, grabbed the swept-back
handlebar and pedaled away, sitting tall as the world
slowly rolled by. Then, as I crested the hill on Broad
Street, the slender tires began to pick up speed. A gentle
tailwind turned my straight back into a sail. I felt like
Miss Gulch from The Wizard of Ozin the middle of a
soapbox derby. Thats a good thing, by the way.
Miles later, still riding, I still hadnt quite figured
out the Ticino 1. (Also a good thing.) Its not a purpose-
built utility bikethere are no rack mounts, and the
Our testers
praise: On the
Ticino, I felt like
Miss Gulch from
The Wizard of
Ozin a soapbox
derby.
with people. Given the bikes understated looks, I couldnt figure out why it elicited
so many more smiles from other riders and passersby than Id typically see on a ride.
Then it dawned on me as I was pedaling back home under a hot-pink and
purple sky one evening, having once again stayed out on the bike longer than Id
planned. I realized people werent actually grinning at my bike, they were smiling
back at its rider.Emily Furia
WEIGHT
SIZES
FRAME
INFO
WHO ITS
BEST FOR
WHAT ITS
BEST FOR
FORK
COMPONENT
HIGHLIGHTS
25.3 lb. (regular)
Regular (tested), large
4130 chromoly steel
electrabike.com
People who get on their bikes to pick
up a loaf of sourdough and wander home
two hours later
Flat commutes; not-so-lazy Sundays
Steel w/ lugged crown
Forged alloy crankset; freewheel (16);
reach-adjustable brakes; alloy chain-
guard, rims and 32-hole low-ange hubs;
700x28c tires; Ticino cyclotourist steel
bar; aluminum fenders
$500
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Swobo Novak
BECAUSEFUNCTIONALSTARTSWITH FUNIts easy to think of
town bikes as humdrum, utilitarian conveyances, remarkable mostly
for their mulish ability to accept baskets, racks and abuse, for remain-
ing stable even when laden with cargo, and for the somewhat quixotic
expectation that if we all just ride one of these bikes to the market
instead of getting in the car, we just might save the planet.
Swobos Novak delivers on this utopian promise of utility, and
then some. In addition to its commuter credan upright riding posi-
tion that sits riders high and tall to see and be seen in traffic, mounts
for fenders, two bottle cages and racks, a security-conscious locking
front quick-release and even an integrated seatpost taillightthis
bike is simply a blast to ride.
The steering is so tight one could loop figure-eights in the space
of a small patio, if one were so inclined. Or, for example, when a
hypercompetitive eight-year-old declares a race just as he overtakes
you, the Novak is spunky and responsive enough to surge for a come-
back win.
In fact the Novak is so nimble it tempts you off-road. Do it: Have
some fun. But this isnt where the bike shines. The relatively skinny
28c tires arent at their best in deep gravel or soft grass, and the short-
ish, upright cockpit limits how aggressive your riding position can
get. The bike does more than fine on hard-packed paths, though.
The Swobo Novak:
We outsprinted an
uppity 8-year-old
on it. Just saying.
Of course, the Novak is designed for the street, where it is truly
at home. Its SRAM iMotion three-speed internal hub adds a little
weight over an open-chainring system, but it changes gears reliably
via a twist shifter, and its moving parts are protected for longer life
and less maintenance.
The stable-riding steel frame encourages aggressive linesnot
just taking the edge off bigger potholes, but also handling curb hops
with aplomb. The modified mustache bar is comfortable, and in fact
the bike is so easy to ride one-handed it almost begs you to hold
something in the other hand, like a latteor polo mallet.
As speedy as the Novak is, it sometimes stretched simple
commutes by encouraging me to take the long way. Its spirited
BIKES continued on p. 79
BIKE REVIEWS
WEIGHT
SIZES
FRAME
FORK
COMPONENT
HIGHLIGHTS
INFO
WHO ITS
BEST FOR
WHAT ITS
BEST FOR
Truvativ Isoow crankset; SRAM iMotion 3 rear hub and
twist shifter; Tektro caliper brakes and levers; Alex 36-
hole rims; Vittoria Randonneur 700x28 tires; Swobo alloy
seatpost w/ integrated taillight, saddle w/ integrated bottle
opener, alloy 30mm-rise handlebar, dual-density grips,
two-bolt stem, optional kickstand; Wellgo pedals
25.25 lb. (55cm)
50, 53, 55 (tested), 57, 60cm
Swobo butted chromoly; horizontal dropouts w/ integrated
adjusters; rack and fender eyelets
Swobo chromoly straight-blade
swobo.com
Riding fast, doing tricks and silly stunts, generally
displaying ones hipness
Compulsive curb-hopping show-offs who live in towns and
dont want to ride their duty-specic bikes to the mini-mart
$759
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demeanor convinced me that a straightforward
ride on city streets to the coffee shop wasnt enough.
Instead I took the swoopy curves of a winding pedes-
trian path through a park to the bakery across town.
While it has all the trappings of a common util-
ity bike, the Novak is a flat-out gas to rideproving
more red-hot sports car than Clark Griswold station
wagon.Christine Bucher
Globe Daily 1
DIGNIFIED RETRO STYLING HAS NEVER BEEN
SO COOL The commuter and hauling bikes bearing
the Globe logoa stand-alone brand owned by Spe-
cialized Bicycleswere designed to fit a direct mission:
get more everyday folks riding in their everyday lives
by making bikes that are stylish and useful extensions
of their personalities. Stripped of all but the essentials,
Globes Daily 1 is a study in how to achieve this. From
the wraparound fenders, chainguard and bar-mounted
wire basket to the matching brown synthetic-leather
grips and saddle, the Daily 1 delivers the traditional,
graceful look of an English town bike.
Set up as a singlespeed with a flip-flop-style rear
hub, the Globes 42x16 gear ratio provides a good
balance of speed and acceleration on flats and slight
grades. Riders in hillier locations and those hauling a
payload of children and groceries are best advised to
upgrade from this base model to a geared version, or at
least opt for a bigger rear cog.
The Daily 1s oversize aluminum frame coupled
with a short stem and a swept-back bar make for nim-
ble steering, while the Specialized Infinity 28c tires
with flat-resistant liners provide plenty of comfort and
confidence against punctures. The bikes riding posture
is head-up and comfortable, and its playful disposition
encourages exaggerated, sweeping turns. Overall the
Daily 1 is equally comfortable bumping over curbs, fly-
ing down rail-trails or flowing through traffic.
One day, upon leaving a local restaurant with my
All you need to
rediscover
adventure: The
Globes playful
disposition
and cream-
colored tires.
$500
WEIGHT
SIZES
COMPONENT
HIGHLIGHTS
FRAME
FORK
INFO
WHO ITS
BEST FOR
WHAT ITS
BEST FOR
29.64 lb. (M, with kickstand)
S, M (tested), L
Aluminum
Chromoly
globebikes.com
Riders looking for a simple no-frills runabout suitable for all types of
weather; anyone looking for a dignied ride
Short commutes, around-town errand running and less utilitarian excur-
sions such as dinner-and-a-movie rides
Fast City alloy handlebar; alloy forged cranks (42); ip-op rear hub;
full-length chainguard; Daily Zeppelin steel fenders; Globe wire basket
w/ integrated U-lock holder
take-out lunch, I found a house painter and part-time guitar maker ogling the Daily
1. He explained that he was taken by the simple lines of the bike, the forged brake
levers, dark-green frame and cream-colored tires, which he likened to the green and
ivory of his all-time-favorite Gibson guitar.
Beyond providing it with substantial style, Globes designers took the trouble to
fit the Daily 1 with almost all the necessities to see one through life as a commuter,
including an integrated Euro-style rear-wheel lock and mounts for a rear rack and
water bottles. The basket is large enough to accommo-
date a bakery box of doughnuts for a small office, and it
features a handy built-in U-lock holder. A kickstand is
not included, but a plate for one is built into the frame
to make installation easy. We added one, because any
often-used townie needs to be able to stand alone.
All in all, the Globe Daily 1 makes good on its
founding missionit got me outside riding a bike dur-
ing parts of the day when I otherwise wouldnt have
been. The experience definitely brought with it a kid-
like sense of adventure, even though the adventure
now features a bottle of wine and a baguette stowed in
the front basket rather than, say, a baseball mitt and a
bag lunch.Mike Yozell
BIKES continued from p. 70
BIKE REVIEWS
FROM THE WRAPAROUND FENDERS, CHAINGUARD
AND BAR-MOUNTED WIRE BASKET TO THE MATCHING
BROWN SYNTHETIC-LEATHER GRIPS AND SADDLE,
THE DAILY 1 DELIVERS THE TRADITIONAL, GRACEFUL
LOOK OF AN ENGLISH TOWN BIKE.
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Trek Belleville
UNEQUALED IN ITS GREEN AMBITIONAND
A GOOD RIDE ANYWAY Treks Belleville suffers
from an admirable plight. Not only is it a great-looking
bike thats absolutely packed with features, but it has
a bigger-than-bikes story. That can be a problem, be-
cause what should be the headline of the Belleville as
a bike is often lost. So well say up front, and in clear
terms: This bike absolutely shines.
Cycling is better than driving is where too many
utility-bike makers stop. Trek takes things further
with its Eco Design initiative, through which the com-
pany considersand accounts forthe impact of the
birth, life and afterlife of a product.
The long-wearing tires, for example, are made of
sustainably harvested and reclaimed rubber, the
company maintains. The saddle is said to contain
no caustic adhesives and can be split into three recy-
clable components. The grips are made of hard plastic
with locking rings, so they last a long time and can be
moved from bike to bike until theyre worn out and
ready for recycling. Trek even uses sustainable packag-
ing for shipping, even though thats a step consumers
will likely never see. Not unique to the Belleville, but
continuing on the eco theme, front and rear generator
lights negate the need for batteries.
Of course, all the noble intentions in the world
couldnt save the EV-1 electric car. So what happens
when the recycled rubber hits the road?
As we said earlier, the experience is sublime. The Belleville delivers a smooth,
glassy ride that encourages the rider to relax and cruise. The bike plays its role as an
errand-runner and short-distance commuter perfectly. The robust frame and well-
tuned geometry grant a stable, controlled ride even loaded down with rear panniers
and cargo on the front rack. Small details also are attended to: The bottom bracket is
low enough to allow the rider to touch a toe down at a stoplight while still achieving
a saddle height that provides decent leg extension.
Despite its excellent maneuverability in urban conditions, the Belleville is not
fast. Our sole significant complaint is the weight. The bike can haul all kinds of
cargo, but unless your terrain is as flat as the Netherlands, the stock gearing of a
44x19 (even combined with a three-speed internally geared hub) felt too stiff. In
addition, the aluminum caliper brakes felt weaksorry, San Francisco riders. To
finish picking the nits, the grips were hard and didnt foster great grip.
Those quibbles aside, the Belleville is a surprising value. Its not a cheap bike, but
when you consider all the included accessories its a very smart buy. With the addi-
tion of a lock and a few bungee cords, the bright lights of the Belleville will guide its
rider for miles of utilitarian bliss.Matt Phillips
WEIGHT
SIZES
FRAME
INFO
WHO ITS
BEST FOR
WHAT ITS
BEST FOR
FORK
COMPONENT
HIGHLIGHTS
40.1 lb. (55cm)
46, 51, 55 (tested), 59, 64cm
Chromoly steel
trekbikes.com
Anyone looking to run errands or complete a short, relatively at
commute in style
Getting around town and hauling cargo and kids; keeping its rider out of
trouble (especially as a bar bike)
High-tensile steel
Shimano Nexus three-speed rear hub, Dynamo front-hub-powered front
and rear lights; Tektro caliper brakes; Bontrager Nebula Eco Design saddle;
integrated steel bar and stem; fenders; chainguard; dual integrated racks
BIKE REVIEWS
$660
The Bellevilles
smooth, glassy ride
encourages riders
to relax.
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Pro-Riders Dave Zabriskie and Alex Candelario
800.718.3536 | BESTBUDDIESCHALLENGE.ORG
Register Today!
R
*4@2
Challenge Yourself
to Change Lives.
Sponsors:
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated
employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
September 10, 2011
Hearst Castle
Presented By:
June 4, 2011
Hyannis Port
The only five-star rides
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LIGHT, PACKABLE,
VERSATILE,
STYLISHTHE
GILET IS AN
ESSENTIAL PIECE
OF THE CYCLISTS
WARDROBE
FULLY VESTED
WOMENS
*
Descente Velom
The 2011 Velom has the same soft, quick-drying fabric that helped
it to its rst Editors Choice win in 2008. The mesh back panel
ventilates nicely, and the eece-lined collar will keep your neck
cozy on chilly, breezy days when you want to wear the vest fully
zipped. The zipper itself performed awlessly and was easy to
adjust on the y. Testers generally praised the snug, jerseylike
tthis vest doesnt ap around on descents, even when open
although some riders thought it was cut a little high in front.
But what truly sets the Velom apart are its three roomy pock-
ets, a creature comfort that reminds us of our favorite jerseys
and makes it easy to organize items such as arm warmers, keys
and those critical midride snacks. In the end, though, it was the
cut and t of this garmentform closely following functionthat
pushed it over the top as our winner. WEIGHT: 99 grams (M)
PRICE: $65 SIZES: XS, S, M, L, XL COLORS: Yellow, black INFO:
descenteathletic.com
BONTRAGER
SPORT WSD
WIND VEST
The soft front
panels and mesh
back impressed
testers. The vest
vents heat and
sweat well, but
is a little less
dependable during
downpours. It has
a slightly roomy t.
The single rear
pocket offers less
carrying capacity
than the Veloms
three, although the
included pouch and
zippered closure
will keep your
stash secure.
WEIGHT: 77g (M)
PRICE: $60
SIZES: XS, S, M, L,
XL COLORS:
Yellow, white INFO:
bontrager.com
CASTELLI
LEGGERA
Testers unani-
mously declared
the Leggera the
cutest and most
feminine vest of the
bunch. The barely
thereyet highly
water-resistant
fabric and high
neck make it great
for warmish, damp
or breezy days. The
waistband is
unobtrusive. The
tiny storage pouch,
which hooks onto a
loop inside the
vest, unfortunately
fell off a few times.
WEIGHT: 78g (M)
PRICE: $50 SIZES:
XS, S, M, L, XL
COLORS: White,
black INFO:
castelli-cycling.
com
(also on
the podium)
(also on
the podium)
A VEST PROVIDES THAT PERFECT EXTRA BIT OF SHELTER FOR RIDES THAT
start or finish cool, for descending the back side of an epic climb, and for those days
when you repeatedly pass in and out of zones of chilliness or mist. And a vest is more
versatile, easier to carry and, crucially, easier to put on and take off while riding than
a jacket. Not unsurprising, almost every company has a slightly different take on the
ideal vest. We combed the market to find our three favorites for women and men.
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BI0111GEAR_EC.indd 82 11/3/10 3:45 PM
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mens
*
castelli leggero
testers had a clear preference for the Leggero, the lightest and most minimal of the group by far. the best all-around
vest in terms of wind protection, mild water resistance, packability, style and ft, summed up one tester. the sizing is
on the small side, theres little stretch and its cut the shortest, so it seems to melt into your jersey and provide an invis-
ible shield against the elements. one tester recommended sizing up. (those who criticized the ft especially noticed
shortness in front.) although its the lightest and least costly of the three, the Leggero doesnt lack frills: It comes with
a small, clip-on sack you can detach and pack it into, and its two-way zipper allows enhanced ventilation control.
WeIght: 69g (M) PrIce: $50 SIzeS: S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXL coLorS: White, black, yellow Info: castelli-cycling.com
PearL IzuMI
p.r.o. aero
testers noted the
body-hugging ft
and stretchy
material that
provides superb
ease of movement.
even in high wind
the vest is quiet,
and features such
as collar detailing
and generous
armholes led a
tester to say: luxu-
rious. Dings: It
provided less
protection than the
Leggero, and the
small zipper was
tough to engage
while riding.
WeIght: 107g (M)
PrIce: $110 SIzeS:
S, M, L, XL, XXL
coLorS: Black,
red, white Info:
pearlizumi.com
SPecIaLIzeD
deflect
all testers noted
that the Defect
packed the most
features. the
small pocket is a
useful touch,
said one. another
praised the
two-way zippers
great ventilation
control. testers
also liked the
protection from
the elements, the
generous cut and
the robust material
(which contributed
to making this the
weightiest and
largest when
stuffed). WeIght:
128g (M) PrIce:
$70 SIzeS: S, M, L,
XL, XXL coLorS:
Black, yellow Info:
specialized.com
(also on
the podium)
(also on
the podium)
(also on
the podium)
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11032010154623
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urban legends
NINe INstaNt classIcs that look greataNd work greatspINNINg aloNg cIty streets
street style defned (left to right, from top row): Mission Workshop recessed-cleat rondel sneaker ($129, missionworkshop.com); Castelli Mauro wool jersey ($120,
castelli-cycling.com); Freeman Transport waxed cotton cap ($32, freemantransport.com); Chrome quilted sparta jacket ($120, chromebagsstore.com); dunning Cool-
max Tour gingham Woven shirt ($75, dunningsportswear.com); Knog silicone-coated Party Frank lock ($20, knog.com.au); Po Campo refective pin ($18, pocampo.com);
betabrand bike to Work khakis with refective inner cuff ($90, betabrand.com); detours City Juicy handlebar tote made from reclaimed juice boxes ($60, detours.us)
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Casual performanCe wear
BIGEAR_CLOTHES.indd 84 11/4/10 10:19 AM
11042010101958
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Now Accepting Reservations for May 2011 Departure
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THEN The 2010 Epic Marathon 29er won our Editors Choice Performance
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performance of the 2.0-inch S-Works The Captain (front) and Fast
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VERDICT Specialized revamped the Epic 29er line for 2011. There
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the need we felt to lighten our test bike. Meanwhile, a $2,900 Epic
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before, he actually had fans who called out to him as he pedaled
through the smaller towns.
See you on the road, he said as I rolled away. Somehow I doubt-
ed I would.
The final day, we wheeled out of Mayaguez in the dark and
streamed down a brand-new interstate-style highway before peeling
off on a smaller road along the coast, where we passed the ghostly
hulk of a long-shuttered oil refinery. I saw no sign of Woody in the
pack, of course. He was somewhere out on the road, alone and happy.
At breakfast we watched surfers in the legendary swells
off Rincon. We swooped up and down steep hills worthy of an
Ardennes classic, then turned right for the long eastward haul
back to San Juan, right into the teeth of what the tourist-board
folks call Puerto Ricos cooling trade breezes. At 130 relatively
flat miles, it was the kind of route Phil Liggett would have labeled
an easy Tour de France stage.
Which is yet one more reminder of the vast chasm between
European pros and us mere mortals. Lots of us do hard rides now
and then, but rarely three in a row. By Sunday, my body was on auto-
pilot. My legs seemed to turn by rote, but the slightest acceleration
caused them to fill with shooting flames. If someone had offered
me a transfusion of fresh monkey blood, I would have accepted on
the spot. Meanwhile, my rear end was acquiring a chamois-pad tat-
too that would last for two weeks. Somehow I found the strength
to sprint up a steep hill overlooking the sea, as if there were ice-cold
Gatorade at the top. Luckily, there was. Id
dropped to Group C, along with about 300
othersbut only because there was, alas,
no Group F.
In late afternoon we stopped one last
time, at a high-school athletic complex out-
side San Juan. According to Williams plan,
the three groups would mass into one huge
peloton for the 30-mile run into the busy
and congested city. He stood in the bed of
a pickup truck with his bullhorn. By this
point, his voice was shot. I dont want ev-
erybody coming up front! he croaked. If
youre not up here now, dont come up here!
That edict lasted about half a mile before
the 500-rider peloton reached full boil, rid-
ers swarming up from the back, spreading
across the narrow roads and cutting inside
the corners, fighting for position. Nobody
dared take their hands off their bar for a
drink, even as the hot coastal windssorry,
cooling trade breezesslowly parched
our tongues. We followed the police motor-
cycles up onto a smooth expressway that led
through San Juans sprawling outskirts.
As buildings rose up around us, the pack
spread across three lanes, 15 riders wide,
shouting Hoyo! Hoyo! and other colorful
words and phrases, in Spanish and English.
The road described a huge arc around the bay that Christopher Co-
lumbus had named more than half a millennium ago, and which was
now encircled by apartment towers and pharmaceutical plants. The
wind ate at our souls. It was the longest two hours on a bike in my life.
By the end, my computer said wed ridden 379.37 miles and
climbed 11,855 feet. We passed through 43 towns and 21 water sta-
tions, a ravenous machine fueled by 1,195 gallons of Gatorade, 2,499
cans of Pepsi and 1,350 little bullet-shaped cans of SOBE Adrenaline
Rush. We packed down 4,800 meals, 75 pounds of Fig Newtons and
1,500 individual yogurts, plus uncountable bananas and oranges
and half a zillion pounds of ice, which was still not enough. It all
came down to mathematics. But there was also so much more.
William had said this was more than just a ride. He was right: It
was a chance to push farther than Id ever gone before. To take that
feeling of accomplishment you get from even an hour on the bike,
and have it multipliedexponentializedby something so big it
isnt about how much youve trained or your peak watts at threshold;
but is instead about everything else inside youall of it. Its about
the difference between what you think you can do on a bike and
what you really can do.
Coming into the city, as we rolled under an overpass, riders took
up the universal soccer chantol, o-l, ooooo-leeeeeeee! It trav-
eled from front to back, and all the way across, 500 voices echoing
against steel and concrete as if we were in a medieval cathedral. The
packthat living being that had helped sustain me for three long
dayswas now so full-throated and simply beautiful, I found that
my eyes had gone blurry with tears. Just as William had predicted.
PueRto RiCo continued from p. 44
11052010165909
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one of Julies teammates, who earlier this day had come in sixth in
the female 1012 category.
At that moment, Nancy Brown passed this scene and saw Julie
looking desperately at her bike and heard young Victoria Gates yell-
ing, Pull yourself together, Julie. Come on! Fix the bike! Get going!
Nancy wouldnt harm a soul, but she knew this was her chance to
take the championship from Julie Lockhart. She hammered harder
than she had ever hammered before.
Julie saw Nancy go by, saw an entire season of racing and
concentrated effort spiraling down the toilet of cyclocross dreams.
Julie raged then and with all her strength yanked her chain free and
popped it back on the chainring and then she hopped back on her
bike and set off in pursuit. Julie didnt know it right then, but she had
ripped off the entire tip of her ring finger. She felt a slipperiness on
her handlebar but didnt know it was blood, and her heart pumped
that blood with the intensity required to drive a body toward victory
at all costs.
Ahead of Julie, Nancy felt the soaring joy of being in the lead, in
a national championship race, with only one lap to go. She felt lighter
than she had in years and stronger and happier, and the course start-
ed winding its way ever upward, twisting and writhing like a muddy
snake that was refusing to lie flat.
Julie thought about the previous summer, before cross season
had begun, when shed crashed during a road race and broke her
collarbone and was subsequently forced, during her first few cross
races, to slide down the steep muddy sec-
tions on her butt in order to avoid making
her injury worse.
Nancy thought about the previous sum-
mer, too, out riding paceline in Nebraska
and tangling with someones handlebar and
falling face-first to the asphalt and knock-
ing out several teeth and breaking her wrist.
They both thought about their children
and grandchildren and husbands and all
that which had brought them here, to this
moment of struggle, where all of lifes ques-
tions may not be answered but at least one
would be: Who won the race?
Julie caught Nancy well up the hill. For
a while, they matched each other pedal
stroke for pedal stroke. They didnt speak
to each other. Cowbells rang near and far,
people shouted and blew on horns, a strong
wind buffeted the course near the top of the
hill, and low in the sky a small plane was
descending toward the Kansas City airport.
They were digging deep within themselves
and finding the courage and resolve cham-
pions possess, that all of us possess, as long
we dont sit at home and say we are too old
and not good enough to do this anymore.
In my mind these two grandmothers,
these two friends of mine, these friends of
each others, these heroes of cyclocross, will
remain forever locked like this.
i raced twice last weekend. Midpack
both days. Biffed really hard on Sunday,
and now I have a welt on my left butt
cheek that looks like an aerial photograph
of Belgium in spring of 1944. And next
weekend: more of the same. The best re-
sult I can achieve on the racecourse will be
some fleeting chance to feel what Julie and
Nancy did on that hill.
Thats why I race, though Ill be damned
if thats something I can explain.
THE FAR-OFF END continued from p. 62
11082010105238
november 15
th
- december 31
ST
november 15
th
- december 31
ST
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BICYCLING (ISSN 0006-2073) Vol. 52 No. 1 is published 11 times a year (monthly except bimonthly in January/February) by Rodale Inc., 33 East Minor St., Emmaus, PA 18098.
Periodicals postage paid at Emmaus, PA 18049, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to BICYCLING, P.O. Box 5886, Harlan, IA 51593-1386.
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THE CYCLING ZODIAC
WHATS YOUR SIGN?
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BIOFFTHE BACK.indd 96 11/8/10 11:01 AM
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P.R.O.
SERIES
P.R.O. 3X1
SOFTSHELL JACKET
WITH REMOVABLE LINER
AND DETACHABLE
FOUL WEATHER BALACLAVA
Whether youre dealing with a weatherman
who skipped weather class too often or an
unpredictable cl i mate, t he P. R. O. 3x1
Softshell Jacket is as necessary as a water
bottle. Featuring a three-layer Balaclava thats
ready to be deployed the instant things get
nasty. P.R.O. Softshell fabric with Cocona

for optimal wind and water protection.
THREE OPTIONS BECAUSE
THE WEATHERMAN HAS
NO IDEA WHAT HES
TALKING ABOUT.
pearlizumi.com
Removable
Liner
2010 Pearl Izumi
P.R.O. SOFTSHELL JACKET
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