Supremely stoked fer ‘Merica, supremely crushed I couldn’t attend. Then again, who would’ve called the race on Twitter if I wasn’t here?

Enough of these trivial sentimentalities, it’s time fer racin’!!

Ras voor de Wereldkampioen

BEGINNEN!! No Van der Holeshot today. I’ll think he’ll be fine in the end, though.

From what I could tell, Louisville wasn’t all that bad. Hell might be a bit strong.

First time up the stairs and it’s nothing but blauw. Also, FOAMPARTY.

There’s A LOT More…

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There have been more than a few times I’ve wanted to #imagedope my mundane #BikeDC Strava rides with my amazing photography, but that feature hasn’t existed—until now.

Strava announced on their blog their new partnership with the photo giant Instagram. Co-mingle your Strava account with your Instagram and let the social media barrage begin.

Instagrammed images will show up in your Activity Feed along with your massive watts. Click on the image and you get a sweet modal window and a blurred background. Nicely done.

There is a catch, though. One that affects me directly. Only the shots you upload while you’re riding show up on your feed. So, if you’re like me and take a bunch of shots during your ride only to post-process and upload later, you ain’t invited to the party. This obviously also affects anyone who shoots with a regular camera as well.

Hopefully they’ll figure out a way to integrate images uploaded post-ride in the future. Then it’ll be be moar awesome.

Until then, I’ll be righteously indignant on Twitter.

UPDATE (1/27): As Ryan from Strava commented below, the window for posts is 30 minutes before and 45 minutes after. I was able to test that out today and discovered that is indeed the case.

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Normally I prefer putting more time in a product before throwing it into the review queue. Having said that, I’m so stoked on the swrve Softshell Trousers that I *gots* to review them while the Northern Hemisphere is still on winter lockdown.

Preface: WTF are Commuter Pants and Why Do I Need Them?!

For as long as I can remember I’ve been commuting in my everyday clothes. If it’s cold, I wear pants. If it’s warm, I wear shorts. Well, the days of wearing pants and shorts are over!

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I may have found my next car. As we were watching the video for the Xtracycle EdgeRunner, The Bug exclaimed, “I want that one Daddy!” Of course, witnessing two kids sitting within the safe confines of the Hooptie Rack probably was the catalyst for her exuberance. Yet, as a dad, I’ll admit I shared her exuberance. Of course, that’s largely due to discovering a reason to buy/build another bike…

The EdgeRunner’s no Dummy

Perhaps not the greatest title considering it insinuates that the Surly Big Dummy isn’t a great option, because it is. However, what intrigues me the most about the Xtracycle EdgeRunner  and one of the main differences from the Dummy is the 20″ rear wheel. The lower center of gravity will definitely help maintain bike control while carrying huge loads including a squirming Bug.

Now, enjoy this video depicting an ideal family doing ideal things on ideal bikes.

It should be noted I already have a retrofantastic typewriter.

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As a veteran of countless Twitter mob moments re: disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, I’ve found myself unable to get it up as of late. The frenzy is tired, the jokes are tired, and the mentally frayed misspelled rantings of the righteously indignant are most certainly tired.

However, it seems I can’t escape the madness entirely as we relentlessly build toward his Oprah moment. Yesterday, Al Jazeera “sought” me out for another soundbite to broadcast to the world. Apparently it was edited in a such a manner to make me sound intelligent. Kudos to that chap ‘cuz I was suffering from a raging case of verbal diarrhea. Unfortunately, I have no linx for said interview, but I’ve been told I was out there.

In spite of my best efforts not to engage the yellow stream, today has provided some much needed LULZ. Some were intended, some sadly, were not.

The Intended LULZ of Jon Stewart

Too good.

There’s Much, Much More…

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Once the clock struck twelve on New Years Eve, it not only heralded the arrival of the new year, but also the arrival of new team kits to assuage the visual cacophony of the previous year’s team kit mashups happening at early season training camps. Less pompously eloquent, it means teams can reveal their new kits as well as their new signings that were already their new signings but couldn’t unveil as new signings until the first of the new year because of some stupid rule. Then, invariably, someone will smugly point out the rule exists for a very good reason. And that will make me hate everything all over again.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s delve into the real reason for the post: Team Sky and Rapha reveal their eagerly awaited team kit.

There are several camps when it comes to the preseason kit reveals. However, for brevity’s sake, I’m going to lump them into two generalized reactions. There are those who can engage in normal, rational discourse. And, there are those who are so revolted by a team’s design choice their reaction is akin to someone crafting then butchering a human centipede and subsequently donning the skins after tattooing them with the appropriate sponsorship logos. Because, it’s THAT serious.

Note: All images are courtesy of Rapha.cc and the Team Sky 2013 Lookbook unless noted. The latter being shot by the fabulous Emily Maye, who I recently featured here on this site.

The Rapha Team Sky Jersey Design

Unwisely reading comments from the teaser release the other day, I noticed a theme. More than a few reacted with a “That’s it?!” I’ll admit that even I perhaps was expecting something more transformative, because, you know, it’s Rapha. Then I remembered human centipede skins…

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In the vomit-inducing blur that is my mind, I recall discovering Balint Hamvas, aka Cyclephotos, several years ago. Loved his CX images and sometimes wished he shot some of the road classics—his style suited them. I also vaguely remember (perhaps incorrectly) his site not being updated for quite some time and thinking he stopped shooting. Fast-forward to today and Balint’s sitting firmly on a print book whilst establishing himself as one of the hottest CX photogs in the business.

Cyclephotos (@Cyclephotos) is the embodiment of the “5 Questions” ethos: capturing the race, not simply documenting the action.

Tell us about the featured shot:

This photo was taken at Hamme-Zogge, one of the most boring courses in the calendar. Pair that race with Niel, the other yawning-inducing race on the same weekend and it’s a recipe for the most boring weekend of the season. I had been dreading that weekend. I remembered those courses from the last season and I know that there was NOTHING interesting there.

So I was pretty happy to see the haul on Sunday. It was a good weekend with good photos. This photo was the last one before I made my mad dash for the finish line. This race was at the beginning of Sven Nys’ insane winning streak and I wanted to show somehow how dominant he was, that the others weren’t anywhere near him.

The other thing about Hamme-Zogge is that there is a middle section that the course zig-zags across many times and it is jam-packed with spectators and therefore it is a nightmare to get around. I wanted to show both things in one frame, hence the victorious Sven Nys, emerging from the sea of spectators.

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Oh thank you Experimental Jetset, lords of design, for bestowing upon us the miracle known as “John & Paul & Ringo & George“, and allowing us to bastardize & pimp & ruin its simplicity as we see fit.

That being said, here’s yet another bastardization.

Shirts of Boredom Presents: Nog Ronden

The finaal countdown. 4 more ronden to perfect your lines voor de LAATSTE RONDE. 4 more ronden to watch your competitors and learn their weaknesses/strengths. Also, 4 more ronden to get a mechanical or fux everything completely.

Spreadshirt $24.99 | Skreened $29.99

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As a longtime user of bike locks it’s refreshing to see an actual challenger to the lockdown U-locks (D-locks in Europe) have on fiets security. While the de facto lock’s been my go to shackle for years, they generally suck when it comes to finding things to lock them to.

I’ve only become aware of ABUS this year and its awesomely monikered marquee shackle, the Bordo 6000 ($110USD). [Ed Note: Is it pronounced 'abuse' or 'aboose'?] However, its compact stature that unfurls into 90cm of street object hugging, bike keeping wonderment piqued my interest.

Let’s spend a few minutes with our neuen Freund from Germany.

The ABUS Bordo 6000 Folding Lock

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“Waterproof: leave it in the rain, wipe it off, and ride.” This description, taken from Portland Design Works page for their Dios Thronous saddle ($40USD) is interesting. Personally, I’ve never considered my saddles when it comes to rain. My commuters have always had s*** saddles, or hand-me-downs from my nicer bikes. I simply didn’t care one way or another if they got wet.

However, I don’t live in the PDX. I imagine their perennial deluge would have a much more substantial effect on saddles than our (DC Metro) paltry precipitation. Also, not having a saddle shaped wet spot on your ass is another feature and benefit, since it won’t soak up any wetness either.

Lastly, this saddle is made from Crocs. Or, at least, it’s made from the same EVA stuff as the hated footwear. Which I happen to be wearing as I type this…

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