Warnings.

After Alan's death and hearing of other fit people keeling over with heart issues at young ages (including the recent Leadville 100 guy), this Velo News story scares the crap out of me.  Seems like a warning for all of us riders.  But is it rational?

Cycling to Extremes
http://velonews.competitor.com/cycling-extremes
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I passed by a cyclist the other day who was chatting with some pedestrians and all I heard was "I should get a jersey that says: <I ride, therefore I crash> ".  Yikes.  Isn't that a little defeatist?
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I've locked my bike up at BART for more than 20 years with a U-lock.  I should shut up, but the bike seems protected.  Yes, I had one bike stolen out of a box where the wankers used the lock to force open with leverage and break the door of one of those boxes.  Physics in action.  But the lock held up.  Well, this pic shows one such lock at the rack the other day.  Not from my bike, thank goodness.  But so much for these locks.  Warning:  wankers can cut them too.

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Well, now that I've probably scared you, I want to enlighten you with stories of friends who really accomplished something special.  First, there's Eric, who finished the Paris-Brest-Paris ride, which he called "An act of cycling devotion".  How true.  If you don't know what it is, look it up.  Here is a great piece from Strava:  http://stories.strava.com/parisbrestparis  .  Or read part of Eric's account:

One moment stands out for me. Late one night, passing though a pretty little town, an elderly lady was walking down the street. As we passed by, she leaned on her cane, looked up, and quietly said "Bravo". It encapsulated the spirit of the event for me. It felt like each of us was playing a part in a huge public demonstration of devotion... to cycling, to France, to ordinary people attempting extraordinary feats, to history and tradition.

Chapeau.

Courtesy of Strava

And then there's Cyndi.  A local road and mt. biker, she signed up for and rode a good bit of the Leadville 100 mt. bike race recently.   She'll ride with the guys often; keeping up is no problem.  A real powerhouse and a very friendly outgoing one at that.  Nothing holds her back and it's always with a smile!  Except apparently high elevation.  No, she didn't finish.  But her account will make you shake your head and give her a pass.  At about 65 miles and 12,000 feet, as she was pushing her bike passing guys puking on the side of the trail due to elevation sickness, she found out she missed the cutoff by 15 minutes.  Shit.  All that work for nothing?  Not really.  She's still a better rider than most of us.  And with some time to acclimate, she'll come back and kick this race in the hiney.  I know she will.  That's the warning from this story!  She went, she tried, and unfortunately couldn't do it.  But she put it all out there and shared it with her strava buddies and made no excuses.  What a great competitor.

Bonne chance prochaine fois!!

Petites Vignettes de Cyclisme

"Cycling is the next best thing to flying." - Lou after descending Grizzly Peak. "And I love flying! I'm just not very good at it." - Mike

I really like Lou's quote!  I hadn't really thought of it this way, but have to agree.  Under the right conditions, cycling really can be like flying!  Well, although my mileage is going well and riding is always fun, nothing too earth-shattering has happened in my cycling life lately.  But since my last entry was so long ago, I decided to just drop in a few short stories anyway.  Enjoy!

Climbing South Park to set a record.  Some guy set out to climb 100,000 feet in less than 48 hours this weekend and chose South Park Drive in Tilden Park to do so!  It's one of our toughest climbs around....up and down for two days straight.  Nutcase?  Turns out he broke the record of 94,000 feet, but didn't quite make the whole 100,000 feet....only 95,623 feet.  Slacker.  Check these two links out.
https://www.strava.com/activities/365791484/overview
http://www.albertnet.us/2015/08/new-cycling-world-record-set-in-berkeley.html?spref=fb&m=1

Watching the Tour de France.  Dopers or Scenery?  Which wins the day?  That's the question.  The Tour has always held my interest and this year was no different.  The beautiful scenery, the most important stage race of the year, the fitness of the guys.  But yes, there is the constant speculation and mistrust (post-Armstrong era) of anyone who performs well.  I try not to worry about what I can't change, so I just enjoy the scenery and hope to get back to riding in France again sometime soon.  Not quite as fast, but with all the history and highlights!

Connecticut Rides.  It's always fun to get away and ride some different roads.  Spending a week in CT with borrowed bikes let us do just that in late July / early August!  We got a few rides in and around Mystic, as well as one with friends from Deep River.  Great weather there this time of year, but too bad it doesn't last very long.

Dean's Mill Rd., Mystic, CT

Pics on Strava.  I've recently had the ability to post pics along with rides on strava.  Dangerous!  I don't want to get sucked into doing this for every ride,  but it does have its advantages.

Is Jeff Obsessed?  So my friend Jeff has been doing sprint triathlons this summer.  And doing quite well, I might add!  A few 2nd places, some no podiums, but also at least one first place!!  The hills around here help him get an edge on other racers.  So good for him!  I hope he doesn't "crash and burn", as sometimes happens.  He's transitioning from sprints all the way to an Ironman, so I hope that works out ok for him.  I'm a little worried he'll overextend (heading to an ironman), but it's his life.  Good luck!

Thinking a little about Dirt.  I'm thinking I might like to get one of these to enjoy road AND dirt.  (A "Diverge".....what an appropriate name!)  Maybe someday soon?

Lanterne Rouge -The Last Man in the Tour de France.   This is a great new book describing an embarrassing, but apparently also prestigious place to be....last man in the Tour de France!  It's like the caboose with a red light (a laterne rouge) hanging from its rear end!  It can happen each day, and at one time guys would fight for it as part of a competition.  This got attention from sponsors and fans, but embarrassed the race organizers.  So they began eliminating the laterne rouge each day so people wouldn't fight for it.  But that rule has been changed...no more eliminations.  I guess it ain't only about winning.  And if you're going to be "off-the-back", you may as well be all the way at the back!  Here are a few quotes listed in the book which caught my attention.

Success, especially your own, is not a good subject.  Failure is.  (Tim Krabbé)

I'd rather finish shattered and last having attacked a hundred times than finish 25th without having tried.  (Jacky Durand)

I can't ride fast.  I can't climb.  I can't sprint....I'm a complete roadman.  A Tour Man, therefore.  (Roger Chaussabel, 1956 Laterne Rouge)

Lanterne Rouge Jacky Durand taunting Monsieur Armstrong in 1999

Alan. A sad note to end this post.  But also a message to heed.  We lost my brother-in-law Alan this past June.  Young (55), fit and someone who seemingly took care of himself more than most, unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack.  Sad, but what's this got to do with cycling, you ask?  Well, he was on his bike when it all happened.  He had gone out for a ride alone near Lake Tahoe, but was soon found dead on the side of the road by other cyclists.  A cause for his crash and subsequent death wasn't evident.  Or was it death and subsequent crash?  No one really knew.  And until an autopsy, it wasn't clear what happened.  We thought he must have been hit or crashed and hit his head, causing instant death.  No obvious bike damage or body trauma caused us to wonder.  My mind raced for the few days when we didn't know the cause, thinking I'd be doing something foolish (or at least be looked upon with fear by my family) for getting out there and taking a simple bike ride.  But it was a heart attack.  Wow.  Given his history of riding, general fitness and not overindulging in anything except humor, that was totally a surprise.  He was too young, but maybe dying doing something you love is what we'd all want.  Maybe it wasn't a bad way to go.  I could ride my bike again, not thinking about my impending doom or have people unnecessarily worry.  Rest in Peace, Friend.  But also, Carpe Diem.  It might sound trite, but do what you love.  Bike.  Fly.  Whatever.  But do it now.  Because you never know when your time will come.