Tour de France?Without Lance

A few years ago the Tour de France experienced a time of transition. For seven years Lance Armstrong stood on the podium wearing the yellow jersey. When he announced his retirement we all new things would change. Americans loved being represented by such a dominant champion. The years between his retirement and comeback were interesting. We [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/tour-de-france-without-lance/

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Klöden 2nd On GC, Horner 4th, as Vino Takes Stage 3 of Basque

Team RadioShack?s Andreas Klöden (GER) could not have relinquished the leader?s yellow jersey at the Tour of the Basque Country, Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco, in today?s 177 kilometer 3rd stage, under better circumstances. He raced smart, expending as little energy as possible to stay near the front. He didn?t get hurt or [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/kloden-2nd-on-gc-horner-4th-as-vino-takes-stage-3-of-basque/

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Worn Chain Rings and Worn Cassettes

How to spot when your chain, chainrings and cassettes need changing. It’s easy to take the approach to bike maintenance of riding the bike until it doesn’t work (in this case, chain starts slipping). Then try and fix it yourself  or take to shop. For my commuting bike, this is often my attitude. I often [...]

Source: http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/5508/bike-maintenance/worn-chain-rings-and-worn-cassettes/

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The Morning?s Half-Stage at De Panne

Team RadioShack?s Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) hung tough today in cold, wet conditions to take 7th place in a furious bunch sprint finish to the 111-kilometer half-stage of the 3 Days of De Panne. With the unusual two event closing day format, like the Criterium International, this first half-stage started early and was over by [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/the-morning%e2%80%99s-half-stage-at-de-panne/

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Fancy a mega super sportive this weekend?

It?s probably just coincidence but if you swap the third and fourth letters of the biggest climb in the Wiggle Super Series Mega Meon around, it becomes Buster Hill. Truth be told Butser, as it?s called when un-anagrammed, isn?t a proper killer climb, but coming 30 miles into both the 95-mile Epic and 72-mile Standard [...]

Source: http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2012/06/26/fancy-a-mega-super-sportive-this-weekend/

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Learning to ride my bike?Again

On Friday  Team BikeRadar Madison will be tackling Hot Chillee?s London-Paris 2012 ride and riding 515km in just three days. Madison?s Will Fripp is getting excited? Since my last blog much has changed.  When I started my training the thought of riding 120km on a bike was (weirdly for someone in the bike trade)  something [...]

Source: http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2012/06/18/learning-to-ride-my-bikeagain/

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Freeplay Article.

  This article says it all. Well, maybe not it all, but it sure says a lot.  A whole lot. Not only did I have so much fun with the folks from Freeplay Magazine as we cruised the rustic town of Petaluma, but the Sorella Hair and Fashion Boutique gave me the princess treatment too!  It isn’t every day that a bike racer gets to do this… and I might have ended up with some new additions to my wardrobe, that definitely compliment my RoadID! Did I mention my favorite...

Source: http://alisonstarnes.com/freeplay-article/

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3 bike travelers hit by truck in Georgia; 1 dead

Sad news from Georgia where three bicycle touring friends in their 60s were hit by a tractor-trailer rig on Thursday morning. The three were nearing the end of a two-year, 6,000-mile bike adventure from Prudhoe Bay to Key West.

One, Peter Cornell, 64, of Port Charlotte, Fla., was killed in the collision. He was originally …

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Source: http://www.bikingbis.com/2012/07/28/3-bike-travelers-hit-by-truck-in-georgia-1-dead/

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Tough & Tender: The Stories That Move Us

Today's guest post was written by Martina Brimmer, owner of Swift Industries, to announce the 2nd annual Tough & Tender: A literary and photographic project celebrating women's experiences with the bicycle.

This year I broke a bicycle frame.

As I stripped the parts off the bike, I nostalgically calculated that I had pedaled well over 15,000 miles on that frame in the past four years. I?ve cycled coastlines and mountain roads, toured islands and farmland, and ridden the same mundane commuter routes day in and day out. I?ve pedaled alone and in company. What I found myself marveling at, as the bicycle was stripped for parts, was not the strength of the lugs that had endured for so long, but my own strength.


I have ridden the rough equivalent of crossing the United States four or five times over the past few years. Those 16,000 miles contained breathtaking scenery and killer climbs. They were marked with more tears than I?d like to admit, and a great deal of ?hanger? (hunger anger). Sometimes it felt like there were more relentless headwinds than encouraging tailwinds.

Just like any other enthusiast, I couldn?t wait for my next long day out, and was stoked that I could lure my riding buddies into bike camping. I stopped at breweries, I repaired my own flats with confidence and dexterity, and afterward, I wiped the grease off my hands and onto my pants. Over the past four years I have dedicated my career to bicycling and touring. It is through my experiences on a bicycle that I have grown into myself.

I am a cyclist. But what?s more, I am a female cyclist. And as many female cyclists know, our stories are not celebrated enough in mainstream culture and are not always told with as much joy and pride as they ought to be.

I don?t find myself reflected in most cycling publications. I don?t walk into a shop and receive the same treatment as my fellow cyclists, nor do my female friends who work as mechanics enjoy the same trust from customers as their male co-workers do. Sometimes I don?t only feel underrepresented, I feel invisible in the very community that I love.

But at the end of the day the joy and accomplishment of cycling is nested just as deeply in my heart, thighs, and calves as anyone else?s and I rejoice when I take to the open road. Because that?s what it?s all about.


I know from years of riding with my closest friends that my experiences as a female rider are not any kind of universal voice for women who ride bicycles. Our styles, and interest, paces, and experiences are many and diverse. Over the years it has been of particular inspiration to me to exchange stories and connect with female bicyclists. I am always inspired by the tenderness that women assume when they?re relaying an adventure, or better yet, a misadventure, from the road.

In 2011, Tough & Tender was born. Now in its second year, Tough & Tender is a literary and photographic project that celebrates women?s relationships with bicycles, touring, and the bike industry. Cycling empowers, inspires and challenges women in ways which are not often portrayed by mainstream bicycle culture. This project aims to fill that role. Please tell us how you experience strength, determination, joy, and satisfaction through bicycling and join this compendium of women?s voices and perspectives in the making. 

We can?t wait to share your stories!

For more information about contributing to Tough & Tender 2012, visit Swift Industries or check out their blog, Cycle Swift

Photos by Russ Roca

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MARTINA BRIMMER is the owner of Swift Industries, a small pannier company is Seattle WA. She rides a lot, sews a lot, camps a lot, and eats a lot. Choose you own adventures.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/07/tough-tender-stories-that-move-us.html

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