Ben Hermans, Top 12 at Brabant Arrow

Team RadioShack?s Ben Hermans (BEL) showed excellent form in Wednesday?s 51st edition of De Brabantse Pijl, one of the Flanders Classics, which kicked off in Leuven, Belgium and finished in Overijse some 201 kilometers (124 miles) away. He missed a move by the eventual winner Philippe Gilbert?s Omega-Lotto team when they pulled hard [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/ben-hermans-top-12-at-brabant-arrow/

craft cycling

Coffee with Alasdair

This morning I had coffee with one of our visiting cyclists, Alasdair Sinclair. He is a British man cycling across the country on a combination of our TransAmerica and Lewis & Clark Bicycle Trail routes. By the time he reached Missoula he was ahead of schedule and so took a couple of rest days here.
Why coffee with Alasdair? It began last spring when our routes & mapping email box started to fill with notes from one address in particular, Alasdair's. It was apparent by his comments, questions and feedback that our correspondent was studying both the maps and gps waypoints quite carefully. We responded to items that needed immediate attention and filed others away in our addenda queue to be amended at the next update.

Somewhere along the way, Alasdair mentioned he would be keeping a blog. I added the address to my feed reader so I could follow his progress. This is always one of the highlights of the summer for me, to follow a few bicycle traveler's blogs and ride with them vicariously. You can check out his journey, too, at 2012 Cycling Across America.

In addition to his desire to see some of America, Alasdair is also raising funds for the Smile Project, a group that aids children and young adults in developing countries by correcting facial deformities such as cleft palette and cleft lip. (He is still accepting donations if you're interested in supporting the cause.)

When Alasdair reported he was just about to Missoula, Carla and I decided we wanted to acknowledge the time and efforts he put forth in sending us corrections and feedback. This is invaluable information for us to receive and much appreciated. And while a cup of coffee is only a small token of the appreciation we have for him, we hope he realizes the impact his feedback has on the community of cyclists who use our maps.

In our morning chat in the bright summer sunshine, Alasdair related to me some of his other travels and how he came to be a traveling cyclist. We discussed the Adventure Cycling maps and routes, how they are made and updated as well as paper vs gps navigation. Sadly, his gps gave up the ghost about a week into his travels so much of the work he put into organizing them for himself was for naught. He was able to salvage them somewhat by using them in the evenings on his netbook to plan ahead. In the end though, the paper maps seem to be serving his purpose just fine.

It was lovely to connect face to face with someone I had been emailing with, and it renewed my energy and enthusiasm to return to my desk for another day of mapping. Thank you Alasdair, may you have mostly tailwinds in your future!

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GEOPOINTS BULLETIN is written by Jennifer 'Jenn' Milyko, an Adventure Cycling cartographer, and appears weekly, highlighting curious facts, figures, and persons from Adventure Cycling's Route Network with tips and hints for personal route creation thrown in for good measure. She also wants to remind you that map corrections and comments are always welcome via the online Map Correction Form.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/07/coffee-with-alasdair.html

tour de france

Levi Comments: Radioshack?s Leader in Tour de France

There has been plenty of speculation in the media and among fans regarding which Team Radioshack rider will lead the team in it’s efforts in the upcoming Tour de France. Even though Lance Armstrong is no longer riding professionally, the team still have several profiles who would fit the bill. In an recent poll on this [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/levi-comments-radioshacks-leader-in-tour-de-france/

british cycling

Team RadioShack?s Sophomore Season: Plenty of Reason for Excitement in 2011

The racing?s well underway in the 2011 ProTour season, and it?s clear that Team RadioShack (TRS) means to make its mark during its sophomore campaign. With the team?s well-known founder, Lance Armstrong, announcing his retirement after this year, and already concluding participation in international races for the season, there?s plenty of opportunity for the [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/team-radioshack%e2%80%99s-sophomore-season-plenty-of-reason-for-excitement-in-2011/

cycling clothes

Kloden Leads the GC after Stage 2 in Vuelta al País Vasco 2011

Stage 2 and another day in the mountains. The good news? Well at least the weather?s good! With 45 kms to ride the peloton was following a breakaway group, descending a sweeping, wide and sun-flooded road from Berastegi. The boys of Garmin-Cervelo had the front and were enjoying the pace setting. The breakaway, including Moinard (BMC) [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/kloden-leads-the-gc-after-stage-2-in-vuelta-al-pais-vasco-2011/

team cycling jerseys

SOLE Thin Sport Cycling Footbeds ? CLEARANCE ? SAVE 33%

All SOLE heat moldable footbeds – SAVE 33%. The SOLE Thinsport footbeds can be custom shaped using a standard home oven for a custom fit to your feet. Great for offering extra support for riders with flat feet, pronation issues or weak glutes. Select one size larger than your normal UK foot size and trim down [...]

Source: http://blog.bike-science.com/2012/07/04/sole-footbeds-clearance

cycling clothes

Go nuts for our Wonderful Pistachios competition!

We’ve teamed up with Wonderful Pistachios to give two lucky readers the chance to win a tasty (and practical) cycling pack. This fabulous prize includes a Wonderful Pistachios cycling team jersey, a pair of cycling gloves and a year?s supply of Wonderful Pistachios* to provide you with some tasty post exercise snacks! Wonderful Pistachios say [...]

Source: http://magazine.bikeradar.com/2012/06/27/go-nuts-for-our-wonderful-pistachios-competition/

cycling clothes

How Do You Sandwich?


As I've mentioned on previous posts, I'm still rather new to this bike-touring thing. I've been bitten by the bug, but am only just getting into fully self-contained touring and all the details that come with it:

The difference in the way the bike handles, figuring out how to strap my tent onto my rack, these were things I'd prepared for, but the problem of lunch still stumped me. Are meats okay to be in the heat of my handlebar bag all day? Is there a magical way to keep the tomatoes from making your bread all soggy? I like peanut butter as much as the next girl, but I can't imagine eating it every day. There has to be a solution, right? So I set out on a fact-finding mission, and asked my fellow tours specialists what they wrapped up for lunch on the road.

Mo likes snacks, rather than sandwiches. When she does make sandwiches, she likes a hearty, seedy bread with Italian meat, cheese, and an egg-free spread (hot mayonnaise is basically poisonous) with some sort of greens -- preferably sprouts or spinach. However, jerky, cheese on the side, nuts and chocolate are more her go-to self-contained lunch food.

I emailed Arlen to ask his opinion, and his response was:

"I carry two tupperware containers in my gear. One is for my sandwich/wrap with or without nuts or fruits stuffed around it. The other is for pickles, tomatoes, olives, lettuce or anything else to make the sandwich or wrap better. When not in use I can also use this container for my cereal or oatmeal in the morning, and/or extra fruit or nuts for my ride day.

If I'm worried about heat I wrap my sandwich with my aluminum foil (which I reuse) -- it keeps the cold in and the hot out (for awhile).

I typically pack 1-2 sandwiches or wraps mushed on top of each other in the tupperware container. My lunches typically include:

- PB&B - Peanut Butter and Banana (jelly is too sloppy)
- Cheese and bagels
- Cold cuts with pickles, tomatoes, olives, lettuce (and did I mention pickles?!)
- Hardboiled egg made the night before at the end of dinner.
- Nuts, nuts, and more nuts.
- Fruit

My lunch typically doesn't make it past 11 AM unless I have 2nd breakfasts in which case I eat it by 1 PM. Typically, it isn't hot enough to spoil anything by then."

Want to show off your own amazing sandwich-making skills? Take one of our fall self-contained or van-supported tours and wow your new friends!

Or describe your dream touring sandwich right now!

Maybe we will make a touring sandwich sample table featuring all the sandwiches in the blog and Facebook comments ...  the inventors of the tastiest sandwiches might see a picture of Adventure Cycling Staff eating sandwich inventions on next week's edition of On the Road.

- Madeline

Photo of Mo enjoying a snack on tour by Paul Hansbarger

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ON THE ROAD is written by the tours team -- Mo, Paul, Madeline, and Arlen -- tours specialists and intrepid bicyclists, covering all things related to Adventure Cycling's Tours Department. Find your  Perfect Fall Tour!

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/07/how-do-you-sandwich.html

irish cycling