Remember way back in May, when the Giro super-criterium in Milan was neutralized? Well, here’s Lance Armstrong’s take: (from this long feature at NOS, via RoadID, RT’d by Versus producer @joelfelicio) Check out Armstrong’s reactions: forcing Mart Smeets to come out and declare him the Captain of the Peloton, rather than saying it himself. Casting…
Versus' War on Contador
Is January too early to talk about the Tour de France? Of course not—at least, not when the Tour is the only cycling event your employer bothers to cover live, and especially not when that employer is the Network formerly known as “Only Lance” and you’re bashing the chief rival of a certain well-known Texan….
The State of Modern Kit Design
Back before the Internet, bike nerds must have had to crowd around well-thumbed copies of under-the-radar bike ‘zines at the LBS, squinting fitfully at blurry, black-and-white photos pirated out of Gazzetta dello Sport before coming up with clever things to say about how freakin’ ugly the new season’s kits were. Can you imagine? Do you…
Winter Training: Calculate Your Jens Factor
No one disputes the importance of base training, and the truly serious make careful note of time, distance, and wattage in their pre-season rides. But when it comes to outdoor training—at least at my latitude—that doesn’t really capture the whole story. [click-through for larger sizes] Jens Factor, as defined by this chart, is just that—an…
Early Seasons and Open Championships
Is it the season already? Certainly feels that way with all the results coming out of Australia—though any result with Graeme Brown at the top makes me wonder just a bit. Nothing against Brownie, really—I just seem to know him better for his talking than his riding. Speaking of talking, Robbie McEwen has been making…
2010: Continued Pursuit of Awesomeness
I’ve never been particularly happy with my racing ability. Don’t get me wrong—there are plenty of riders worse riders out there, and I love battling for the occasional Cat 3 podium—but it would be nice if my legs could keep up with my mouth. As Alan Atwood put it while announcing one of my better…
Dodging The Broomwagon
Ah, you see—I’m not the only one driven to near paralysis by monotony of things this time of year. My advice to all the Internetters who can’t bring themselves to write during the off-season is to step up your skill set—nothing like a few slow weeks to take down a big project or two. That…
The Worst of Cycling 2009
If you’ve noticed the distinct, sharp-edge whiff of bile around the cycling world at the moment, don’t attribute it entirely to an excess of cheer at various holiday gatherings. Headlines at the end of the year—and the end of a decade, especially—always seem to reek more of regurgitation than perspiration. It’s not that I’m above…
Not According To My Denomination
Found this in my Tumblr feed this morning, courtesy of VeloGogo (which, as an aside, would have been a far better candidate for Blog of the Year if Competitive Cyclist actually gave a rip about the criteria it claimed to advance): My only objection stems from the picture caption, which labels these videos as the…
Le Monde Kicks Off The Holiday Re-Gifting
Nothing like a little holiday regifting to shake the wintertime rust off things in the cycling world. Today’s gently reheated offering is the Astana transfusion case, courtesy of French daily Le Monde. It’s a story that will sound extremely familiar because since its last incarnation in early October, that facts of the case remain completely…