Wicking Layers are really worth it when it?s cold

One of the drawbacks of being a stick-insect-type cyclist, is that the as the temperature dips, you really notice your lack of insulation. I’m not going to complain too much about it. After all, I don’t think there are too many cyclists who would ask for a few kgs of fat, just so they feel [...]

Source: http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/6603/training/wicking-layers-are-really-worth-it-when-its-cold/

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Four Days With An (Almost) 4-Year-Old


This week's story is a Bike Overnight times three, as a family of three spends three nights (and four days) on the road and trail in Michigan.

"As a family, we had participated in a few organized day-ride events for charity," writes Dana DeBruyn. "The kind where there are cookie and fruit breaks every 10 miles or so. Could our family of three transition from a SAG-supported, group atmosphere, to a multi-day self-supported bike overnight? Our son Clayton is a month shy of four years old. He loves his Weehoo bike trailer and the adventure of riding and seeing new things. From the beginning, we suspected he was up for the challenge; however, were we as his parents ready?"

Indeed, they were -- largely because Clayton was more than ready.

"We began our trip on the North Central State Trail in Gaylord, Michigan, on an unusually hot June day. It was slow going, lugging all the camping gear in the Burley trailer that our son had outgrown. As we crawled along at an average pace of only 10 mph on the hard-packed limestone trail, we found humor in the 35 mph speed limit signs intended for winter snowmobilers.  

"North of Vanderbilt, we saw the most incredible beaver dam a few feet from the trail. We were astonished to hear Clayton make a connection, stating in his excitement, 'This is something that I learned about in a storybook.' At that point, we knew this trip would be amazing."


Not surprisingly, ice cream was a daily ingredient vital to keeping Clayton cool and collected.

"Later, at [yet another] ice cream shop, the three of us got matching Angry Birds temporary tattoos out of a bubblegum machine. We couldn?t wait to put them on, so we rushed into the unisex restroom with a moist paper towel to wet our tan biceps. 

"Day four of our ride took us to Mackinaw City. While we'd planned to continue along the trail, we opted for the road instead, as it had wide paved shoulders and a great view of Lake Huron and the Mackinac Bridge. Once in Mackinaw City, we rode immediately to a park overlooking the bridge where I had intentions of capturing the perfect family photo to commemorate our 94-mile journey. Clayton had a different idea. He stood in amazement of the massive bridge and the freighter steaming by underneath. Ice cream was on his mind, as was a car trip over the 5-mile-long suspension bridge that he had been hearing about for days.


"Monday came, back to reality. As we progressed through our morning routine, we were so pleased to hear Clayton say that he wanted to bike to preschool. He was spirited, and more dedicated than we ever imagined.

"Once I was at my office, it was hard not to smile every time the temporary tattoo peaked out from under the sleeve of my dress shirt." 

Read Dana's entire tale at BikeOvernights.org. There you'll also find a collection of Photos of the Week, including this week's image of a hammock hanging from guava trees, shown below. It comes from Hawaii 2x10: Bike Camping in Paradise, by Maria Stewart. 


BikeOvernights.org Photo of the Week, 11.30.12.

Top 3 photos by Dana DeBruyn; bottom photo by Maria Stewart

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BIKE OVERNIGHTS is posted every Tuesday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling?s media specialist, and highlights content from BikeOvernights.org. Previously, from March 2009 through January 2012, Mac posted weekly at Biking Without Borders. He also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to nearly 47,000 readers worldwide.

Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2012/12/four-days-with-almost-4-year-old.html

cycling bibs

Team RadioShack Moves 3 into Paris-Nice Top 10 after Stage 6

In Friday’s race of truth, the individual time trial at the 69th running of Paris-Nice, Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad, as expected by many, laid down a devastating effort over the 27 kilometer course, beating the next competitor by a full 20 seconds and scrambling the general classification from the previous day’s posting. However, Team RadioShack [...]

Source: http://www.teamradioshack.us/team-radioshack-moves-3-into-paris-nice-top-10-after-stage-6/

tour de france live

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/

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