http://www.youtube.com/v/UeOXsA8sp_E?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b
Valentino Campagnolo explains his company’s new electronic shifting system:
“Our system is different to Shimano’s. Their one is 10-speed, while ours is 11-speed.”
Category: Bike stuff
Don’t touch that dial (what dial?)
Cyclo-cross weather in Bibleburg today. Well, not quite — so far it’s merely blustery and cool, not soggy and muddy. But the day ain’t over yet.
I rolled over to Monument Valley Park and did a leisurely hour of ’cross, dodging dog-walkers, joggers and spectators at a kiddie soccer match, then rolled home to start my shift in the VeloBarrel. Imagine my surprise when the promised live video coverage from today’s U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross race did not eventuate. As we speak I’m staring at the online equivalent of a test pattern and a smattering of snarky comments from pissed-off would-be viewers.
I’m reluctant to be harshly critical of the gang at CyclingDirt.org, having recently watched Herself prep feverishly for a streaming videocast of a meeting and knowing next to nothing about the technology and procedures involved.
Still, damn. I’m glad I’m not selling ads for these folks. This is like telling everyone about this really cool party you’re throwing but giving them the wrong address.
From our oft-ignored Good News Department
I had just wrapped up a bit of leaf-raking this afternoon and was vigorously applying water to what serves us as a lawn when my friend, neighbor and bicycle adviser John Crandall of Old Town Bike Shop rolled by to exchange pleasantries.
John, as you may recall, was involved in a horrific bike-auto accident a year and some months back, and in his recovery has suffered the trials of Job. He has been carved like a Thanksgiving turkey (and more than once); had parts installed and replaced; taken steps backward as well as forward; and endured physical therapy that would make the Grand Inquisitor say, “Aw, c’mon, guys, ease up.”
And now he’s cycling again, on the road; has been for a couple of weeks. Ten miles is a good day. He’s trying to figure out whether he can still ride a motorcycle, which must be an agonizing decision for a throttle-twister of some four decades’ standing.
But at least John is back on the bike. I should’ve taken a picture. He looked so happy.
Tour de meh
Oboy, oboy, oboy — the route of the 2011 Tour de France is announced today and there’s an Apple proclamation slated tomorrow. My cup runneth over.
Well, actually, not so much. I don’t give a shit about the TdF, other than as a source of income. Cav’ wins all the sprints, the Schlecks win all the climbs, the Euskaltels hit the deck, there’s no time trialing to speak of and the winner tests positive for something you never heard of. There’s your Tour.
And if Apple announces a leaner, meaner and cheaper MacBook Air, as is widely expected, well, I don’t much care about that either. The old black MacBook seems to be ticking along, and if it croaks again and I need to leave the DogHaus to do a job of work there’s always the 12-inch G4 PowerBook, the 12-inch G3 iBook, the 14.1-inch G3 PowerBook … we got more Apples than the average Washington-state orchard, is what I’m sayin’.
Meanwhile, it’s a beautiful fall morning — 30-something, with a high in the mid-60s forecast. A guy with any brains would be out riding his bike. And if he did, he might see me out there riding mine, too.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss your ass getting kicked
After all these years of covering bike racing, you’d think I’d quit being surprised by how friggin’ fast the Euro pros are — especially when it comes to cyclo-cross.
I watched today’s UCI World Cup kickoff via streaming video and I had to keep picking my jaw up off my belly button. Judas Priest. It was like the top-10 dudes were on rails and jet-propelled. Plus eight of them were bunny-hopping the barriers. Remember when it was unusual to see someone like Sven Nys riding the boards? Not any more, Bubba. If you can’t do it, you ain’t shit.*
Tim Johnson, who is not exactly a back-of-the-packer, finished 26th — more than three minutes down on winner Zdenek Stybar, who is world champ for a number of very good reasons. When he lit it up it was hasta la vista muchachos.
One of the best parts of watching the race online was hearing the squeal of cantilever brakes as the big boys damped a little velocity diving into an off-camber turn or a hairy descent. Fuck a bunch of disc brakes. What a real ’crosser wants going into a dicey bit is a little speed modulation. You want to stop, hit something. Or someone.
* Full disclosure: I can’t do it. Draw your own conclusions.
Mad Blog Media 