Cycling

Since there are only three contact points between you and your bicycle, it is important that they are correct. This not only relates to position but also to comfort. One of the most frequent mistakes I see new cyclists make is buying the wrong saddle. They buy saddles because they like the way it looks on a bike, or because this pro or that pro is riding it, or because it has this much padding so it must be more comfortable. But is that really the way to by something that will become intimately familiar with your nether regions?

GREENVILLE, S.C. (BRAIN)—Michelin North America will be raising bicycle tire and tube prices by up to 15 percent on products sold in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This increase will take effect Sept. 1.

Michelin North American director of public relations Lynn Mann said the increase is steeper than its other product lines because this is the first price hike this year for bicycle tires and tubes. She cited rising raw material, energy and transportation costs as the reason for the increase.

I do enjoy the camaraderie of riding in a group as much as the next guy, but it seems to me that many ‘cyclists’ are pretty thin-skinned. out on my ride today at the top of basically the only climb on the ride I was behind two other riders. At the crest of the hill the rider in front of me shifted down to start the descent. During the shift our wheels overlapped as the transition from climbing to rolling was not as smooth as it could have been. I said out loud, ‘don’t ease up just keep going.’ The rider that was in front of me took offense, although none was intended. He proceeded question me about what I said, even though he heard it the first time, then he proceeded to lecture me on how long he had been riding, as if that was germane to the occasion. I apologized and said that no offence was meant, then told him to drop it. I guess either he or I or maybe even both of us might have been having a bad day. There was just no reason to get bent out of shape about it.

Selection Criteria

After much reading and asking questions Nicole and I are confident in the choices that we are making with regard to a custom tandem. We started with the premise that we could improve on our current set up and what we think it would take to do exactly that.

It seems that some of us never learn. First it was Manuel Beltrán the Liquigas rider who tested positive for the banned blood booster erythropoeitin following the first stage which ended in Plumelec. Then it was Barloworld rider Moisés Dueñas returning a positive A sample for EPO. Now today comes news that Italian rider Riccardo Riccò of Saunier Duval has tested positive for blood booster Erythropoietin.

Nicole and I have begun the search for our next tandem. We have looked all over for single bikes and know pretty much what we want and what to look for in a single bike. Because of this we have made, what we felt, intelligent decisions on value and practicality with regard to our single bike purchases. Not all of this knowledge is directly transferable to tandems. So we have to start the learning process somewhere.