Tribute to Wouter Weylandt (#108), 1984-2011

I’m sure many of you have heard the news regarding the tragic death of Wouter Weylandt of Leopard-Trek last week during the third stage of the Giro d?Italia, after he crashed during a mountain descent. The funeral was this week. This horribly sad event has really given me pause, but also a deeper understanding and [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/tribute-to-wouter-weylandt-108-1984-2011/

giordana cycling

Tour Divide Starts Today

Nearly 60 determined cyclists from all over the globe will depart from Banff, Alberta, at 10:00 am this morning for the start of the 2012 Tour Divide Race. This grueling, off-road adventure has been dubbed ?the world?s toughest mountain-bike race? and for good reasons -- the epic Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) traverses over 2700 miles, climbing a total of over 200,000 cumulative feet as it crisscrosses the Continental Divide from Banff to the US/Mexico border at Antelope Wells, New Mexico.

Tour Divide racers are completely self-supported and have to finish the ride in about a month?s time to qualify as finishers: 27 days for men and 31 days for women. They carry their own gear and stop for resupply (and lots of frozen burritos) in towns along the route.

Thanks to satellite tracking technology, you can track the Tour Divide race progress in real time and listen to audio updates via podcasts and racer phone check-ins. There?s also lively, ongoing discussion of the race and other MTB-endurance events over at bikepacking.net.

If you?re interested in tackling a Great Divide cycling adventure at your own pace, Adventure Cycling can provide you with the maps and the gear to do it.

Photos by Aaron Teasdale

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BIKEPACKER is written by Casey Greene and Paul Hansbarger -- Adventure Cycling staff, part-time adventure seekers and gear nerds alike. It appears on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/06/tour-divide-starts-today.html

cycling

Growing and Celebrating

It's a great time of the year, as we officially head into summer and the number of cyclists -- touring, commuting, recreating -- mushrooms in every part of North America. Here in Missoula, we have another reason to rejoice: We are weeks away from completing a major expansion of our world headquarters!


For the past eight months, our staff has crammed together into a small portion of our beloved old church building while local workers have completely revamped and expanded the west wing of the structure. Now we have ample room not only for Adventure Cycling's 32 current staff but also at least 12-15 more new staff in coming years, to help provide our members with the best in bike-travel services, from maps to tours to publications and online resources.


This past week, we moved staff into their new spaces and the construction crew is finishing the exterior work.


On Friday, July 6, we will celebrate this expansion -- so emblematic of the growth in interest in bike touring -- with a grand street party right outside the building. From 4:00 to 8:00 pm, during Missoula's "First Friday" monthly art walk celebration, we'll have live music, free ice cream (naturally, since we give away more than 1,000 free ice creams to visiting cyclists every riding season), food and drink from local merchants, tours of the new headquarters, raffles, and more. We'll be joined by our neighbor, the Missoula Art Museum, which will be exhibiting wonderful Montana art, and a popular local radio station, The Trail 103.3, which plans to broadcast live at our building all day long.

Not only will we be celebrating a new physical structure but also the huge community that has made the expansion -- and really all of our work for bicycle travel -- possible. Amazingly, we will be able to cover all the expenses of this project through the generous support of our many Life Members  (now more than 1,700) and hundreds of donors, who have stepped up over the last few months to contribute support for construction. (And by the way, if you haven't donated yet -- you still can and your support is still needed as we wrap up more details.)

I'm so excited that many of our greatest supporters will be coming for the July 6 party and to re-visit the "mecca" of North American bicycle travel, chief among them Charlie Pace. Charlie is a titan of bike touring. He hails from Columbus, Ohio, was a long-serving board member, and was our very first Life Member. He has toured all over North America but is perhaps best known as the long-time coordinator of the famous Tour of the Scioto River Valley, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

If you are anywhere near Western Montana on July 6, please come celebrate with me, Charlie, and hundreds of other happy people -- it will be a great day to bask in sunshine, savor an ice cream, and revel in the member-powered growth of Adventure Cycling Association.

P.S. -- If you're a Facebook fan, you can RSVP for the party, or just feel free to drop by on July 6!

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JIM SAYER is the executive director of Adventure Cycling Association.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/06/growing-and-celebrating.html

cycling gear uk

Hortobagyi Husos Palacsinta (meaty Hungarian pancakes)

Hungarians are a proud people and nothing seems to excite their dignity more than food. Meeting peter, a Hungarian restaurateur at his part time home The White Swan in Golders Green, I began to understand why. For Hungarians food is...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/thehungrycyclist/~3/GKMtyIcjw4U/hortobagyi-husos-palacsinta-meaty-hungarian-pancakes.html

cycling magazine

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/

rapha cycling

Amgen Tour of California Women?s Invitational Big Show

What makes it the “big show”? Some days it is because the result is pivotal for a later selection, and it is do or die.  Win.  Make the break.  Get the pick.  Other days it is because you feel like a million dollars and your friends are watching.  You want to beat them up the [...]

Source: http://alisonstarnes.com/2012/05/18/amgen-tour-of-california-womens-invitational-big-show/

cycling