How else do they get up those mountains?

So most of our heroes doped. Who cares! Everyone was doping then! The battles were epic. The climbers had wings. The sprinters were demons. And the rouleurs just ruled. But to keep the UCI vampires off our backs, we added an asterisk to show we don’t condone doping.

Team PDM – Ultima

This shirt celebrates the legendary Dutch PDM team who notoriously pulled out of the ’91 Tour de France with “food poisoning”. Turns out it was a rotten nutritional aid they were injected with. Oh those wacky team doctors! The riders implicated were: Eric Breukink, Nico Verhoeven, Raul Alcala, Sean Kelly and Joes Van Aert. Those are NOT small names in the world of cycling.

The shirt

Out of all the logo editions I’ve created, this is the only one that is altered to this extent. I’ve changed from Avant Garde to Helvetica to match the PDM jersey more closely. I liked the typo treatment of the PDM logo so I thought it would convey the message better if changed. The colors are as close as I can get without the vector being a sublimation on spandex. It’s not perfect, but neither were they! Available in the Cycleboredom gift shop. Although Spreadshirt displays the image strangely I’ve been assured that they print correctly.

Look at me! I’m wearing a blog tee!

Scenario: You’re at the bar/pub (for mah British homies) wearing your American Apparel made, form-fitting Cycleboredom logo tee. This girl/guy that you’ve been eyeing from across the room actually strolls up to talk to you. You’re giddy with anticipation. Your mind envisions a night of beer soaked debauchery since this person’s obviously making the first move, when they ask, “What’s a cycle-bore-dom?” Giddiness gives way to the numbing realization you’ll be spending the night alone & online catching up on the latest cycling news as you answer, “Oh, it’s a blog.” Fail. Sweet, sweet fail.

At least it’s not a browser tee.

Some info

Cycleboredom shirts are in fact generously displayed upon American Apparel hipster coverings. They are digitally printed by none other than Spreadshirt. I’d want nothing more than to screen these myself, but the cost, space, and time are incredibly prohibitive.

If for some herculean lack of foresight on your part you actually click the ‘Submit’ button after entering your credit card number and shipping address in the forms provided resulting in one of these repugnant hairshirts actually being delivered to your living place, please let me know what you think!

And yes, that is my Twitter background. I was lazy.

Like a schoolgirl I am!

Giddiness. High-pitched squeeling. Random bursts of adreneline-soaked calisthenics. Just a typical morning for me during these first 4 days of Le Tour. I’ll readily admit that I haven’t had this much fun since the 2004 Tour. Okay, 2005 was good just for Lance’s 7th, but 2006 was destroyed by Floyd Landis, ’07 had its heart removed by the Chicken, and well, 2008 was a snore-fest except for Christian’s ride. So what gives?

The power of @lancearmstrong

Obviously the action so far has been great. Everyone wondering how Lance will do, how will the Astana team dynamics play out, and Cavendish dealing everyone some pain have created an intense bowl of intrigue soup. But there’s been something that’s taken this Tour over the top. The answer is Twitter; well Twitter and a host of other web-related tech niblets whipping our Tour frenzy into actual mania. Following various cycling lovers and publications allow us to get a myriad of responses and views of the action while it’s happening.

Before and after the stage you get unprecedented insight into the race and lives of the riders from their own Tweets. @lancearmstrong is the obvious king, but there are plenty of other riders who’ve seen the light and are adding to the mix. Here’s a good list that also happens to be my follow list!

Some of my favorites include, @LeviLeipheimer, @johanbruyneel, @ghincapie, @allandavis27, @CadelOfficial, and @taylorphinney to name a few of the riders I follow. I also follow a couple of the staples in the cycle-reporting industry and you can’t forget about the rest of us cycling nuts out there who make Twitter as instresting as it can be.

The most multi-media Tour yet

Also adding to the mix is Lance’s back of the bus videos. Posted on his Livestrong site he was massively prolific during the Giro. Frequently he has guests as well as a co-host like Levi. These videos give you another glimpse into the life of a professional cyclist and a view that normally wasn’t available before. Sure there have been movies and specials done, but nothing to the extent and timeliness of what we have now. Previously you might get a quick bite of an interview post-stage with Lance, but now you’re getting an intimate (sorry) account of the day’s race, whether it be good or bad.

Those with something to lose…

Of course there are the dissenters (the media) who claim that the coverage provided by him and the riders is one-sided. That’s one way to look at it. The other way to look at it, is this is unfiltered, unadulterated words straight from their mouths. Too many times have rider’s quotes been misconstrued to be tweaked to sell more papers, or get more hits on their site. The media definitely needs to be there to ask tough questions, but I want access to the riders without any filters.