Pro Cycling Starts to Look Better and Better

So after just one week of perusing the USA Today, which I really only do while traveling abroad, I see headlines about Meta World Cheap Shot, NFL suicides after years of on-the-job injuries being ignored, and today even police-escorted Cannonball Runs to Atlantic City. Don't get me wrong, cycling has its elephant in the room, yet I'm inclined and hopeful to say that the sport is cleaning itself up.

I'll still remember when my no-longer creamsickle Bucs won the Super Bowl after years of suffering. It was a sporting moment that I'll never forget. 

But I also won't forget the anticipation I had standing on a billboard in Liege watching Nibali gain 42 seconds on the chasing bunch. It was 2007 when Cannondale last won LBL (by Di Luca, who ended up with his own sanction later on) and I could think of no better outcome than Niblet's winning the only classic that I showed my face at this year. He represents the future of Italian cycling like no other in recent times. The heartbreak when he was caught and passed with just over a km to go was unbearable. The tears in the eyes of usually-macho Italian team staffers said it all after the race.

We all have our sporting heroes, I'm just lucky enough to work with mine and support their endeavors. I just finished reading Team 7-Eleven on this trip, and seemingly found myself surrounded by the characters that made US cycling history and set me off on this journey. First, I bump into Ron Keifel at Sea Otter, followed by an encounter with Jim Ochowicz at the team presentation in Liege. I had to thank both of them for their pioneering efforts. Following that, I had a quick conversation with Steve Bauer and for some reason am drawn to a small restaurant near Bergamo to relive those post-Giro celebrations of the first US team to inspire my Italian-centric love of racing.

This week, I may have the chance to meet my first cycling hero. Those following closely on Twitter know who he is. I'll be sure to report back. It is not the equivalent of meeting Lee Roy Selmon. No, it goes far beyond that. For all the Bassos, Nibalis, Sagans and Kings that I am lucky to call friends, it's the cycling superstars of my youth that leave me starstruck. Back when we didn't know what our heroes ate for breakfast or what time they got a massage... or when their convoy made it to Atlantic City?!? Yeah, pro cycling is looking better and better every day!

Sea Otter to Liege-Bastogne-Liege!

Having just flown from San Fran to Brussels, it's time to look back as to why my legs are a little sore still. I wrapped up my single day at Sea Otter (I know, great scheduling) with a ride on the 17-mile course with none other than Tinker Juarez. "Tinker, it took about twenty years for us to ride together, and now it's getting to be a regular occurrence." We had just ridden off road in Italy together at the CFR team camp, and now we were time trialling along the California coast with Billy R.

I say time trialling because for some reason, with a constant headwind, we were pushing the pace for absolutely no apparent reason other than to get back to the hotel and to other tasks at hand. At one point Bill asked if we had even taken the time to notice the scenery around us at Pebble Beach... we hadn't!

From there, it was off to San Fran and my 4:00 am wakeup call to get on another plane headed to Belgium. Planes, trains and automobiles took me to my current location... the famous Hove Malpertuus in Riemst just outside of Maastricht. This is Liquigas' preferred hotel just before Liege-Bastogne-Liege and where many champions stay just before winning the big one... fingers crossed - I'm off to the race!

One Last (Long) Look Back At Roubaix

The home office is getting reorganized this weekend, giving me the chance to go through some of the old magazines that now weigh down my shelves! I stumbled across this one. Remember Winning, Bicycle Racing Illustrated? Check out this issue covering the '85 Paris-Roubaix. One for the ages. Continuing the CBS Sports theme I started with a John Tesh twitter post this week, check out the video here.

In the famous Saronni / Moser battle, I side heavily with the latter. Find me after a couple of beers and I'll tell you why. The story is not so obvious!

Rare Pedals For My Post-Roubaix ride...

I'm told by my good friend from Speedplay that I'm only the second mortal to own a pair of these pedals. Nice Roubaix today, by the way, don't you think? I would have preferred to watch from the side of a road with wheels and bottle in hand, but I now can enjoy my post-Roubaix ride at least!

'The Poggio, The Final Judge'

I love the week leading up to Milan-San Remo. Here's an article from La Gazzetta '04 showing the finale of the race, and where the the attacks were made for some of the more interesting editions. That was, of course, before it turned into a sprinter's race. It still is the most exciting ten minutes of the year!

The climb of the Poggio is the most fascinating part of San Remo. Here, in the details, the development of the last difficulty of the Classic of Classics, and the points in which the great champions were able to make their decisive selections.

> slight grade
>> medium grade
>>> difficult grade

3.3km of climbing and descending, Poggio altitude 162m

Dario Pieri Out Of Storage!

No, not a 'Pieri coming out of retirement to support Mario Cipollini's return' story that is so popular this week. My Dario Pieri BIKE came out of storage!

I like riding bikes with stories, and this one is no exception. It was ridden in the 2004 Paris-Roubaix by one of my favorite Saeco riders, Dario Pieri. You see, Dario finished second to PVP in the 2003 edition of what is certainly one of my top-two races (those paying attention to these fantastic scribblings knows that MSR is the other one!). He did that on a Silk Road bike much like this one, which is his third (second spare) machine from the year after.

Like many of us, Dario also had a tough time keeping his weight down in the winter but unlike us, his issues made it into the Italian cycling press!

In the summer of 2001, Dario came to the US for the Philadelphia race and I had the job of chauffeuring the guys to Bedford for a visit and some training. The two jokesters of the group, Dario and Salvatore Commesso (another favorite) convinced me to take them to the Cannondale motorcycle factory and then out to the test track, where Dario wowed with his skills and Toto was ridiculed for not being able to reach the ground with his size-48 legs!

It was that Philly edition where Dario retired early and was infamously snapped taking photos of the passing peloton... early in the race!

So I got Pieri out of storage, added some yellow to it and a new set of huge Dugast gravel road pounders in order to celebrate the coming two months of racing. There is NOTHING like being on the side of a cobbled 'road' with a set of spare wheels in hand, praying you won't have to use them, then racing to the next spot. It will be the first classic season that I'll miss in quite a few years, but I'll be watching, Duvel/Chimay/Leffe in hand OR ready to head out on this beauty to string together a series of gravel roads. Today's test ride netted a bloody knee. I guess there really isn't enough clearance to go mudding on this bike!

Imprese Eroiche

While I didn't get another 'heroic feat' by the judges last year, I did get a mention from the jury. I guess it didn't take me long enough to finish l'Eroica last year!

On another note, while I was busy mountain biking in Liguria, I happened to miss registration for 2012. A quick phone call to a friend and I was all set! I'll be back, with an older bike, fewer gears, and hopefully more miles in my legs!

Back On Fat Tires In Liguria!

This week finds me back in Italy with Cannondale's CFR and OverMountain athletes for a bit of training and presenting to mtb press. There happens to be some incredible riding involved as well, which puts me back on a mountain bike for the first time in a while. With trails like this, I have to say that I'm hooked again and looking forward to more... as soon as I recover!

Home for the week, Finale Ligure

What form... for a roadie

How could you pass up a photo with a legend?

Time to set a new standard in hairstyles

Crits and Alloy Frames!

Now that I'm back in the US and A, it's time for me to get back to racing crits locally. My new role has me in the office more often, so while not as glamorous as seeing the world every other week with the team, it does mean that I can actually ride my bike (and I still get to go to the big events!).

I know my last number of posts have been about steel and very old-school bikes, how about more Cannondale material? This is the bike I recently updated to be my crit racer for 2012. I start in a few weeks (hopefully). It was made for Leonardo Bertagnolli for the 2003 season, when Gibo won his Giro. Berta was still riding in support of Gibo that year, just prior to breaking out and winning for himself in 2004. That year, I was lucky enough to be selected to help with some translation for Claudio Corti during some sponsorship talks he was having with an American company. I traveled to San Francisco to lend a hand at what I still consider one of the greatest single day races in the US. Post-race, we went out for a bit of night life and had this shot snapped (no, Ted King, that is NOT my man purse).

What's all this have to do with crit racing? Well, if you ask my racing friends who were around during my last stint over here, they'd jokingly refer to my tendency to crash out of the Wednesday Night World Championships. It's a little bit true. For some reason, I fancy myself a sprinter. Maybe just because I took a few finish lines on top of the rise, or maybe because I wasn't afraid to take a spill (what with all that practice) during a sprint. Anyway, it has left me with the impression that I shouldn't race aboard a carbon frame... it'll only be destroyed on first impact, leaving me frantically spending money and time to replace the thing by the time the scars heal! I know... 'you should replace any frame after you crash it in a race'. Well, the last two alloy bikes I raced survived two crashes each before the dents turned into cracks. Call me cheap!

Your thoughts? BTW, it's ten speed (rebuilt the levers, thanks Dave) and rides like a dream. Oh, and "Optimum Fit for Bertagnolli" translates into "more spacers and raise that seat post for Masini".

A Bike... For Life

My last weekend trip to Ciöcc's shop was inspiring again. The guy is so full of life, how could you not appreciate his joy for living? A true master of the old world frame building craft, Giovanni is still innovating and coming out with great new products. The latest of these is the Aeta, which in the Bergamascan dialect means 'Life'. Appropriately named, as this is a bike you would buy and keep for life (and the price tag requires that this purchase isn't an impulse buy).

Could this potentially be the next Cicli Masini model? I can picture one of these stainless steel beauties in a blue/yellow version, and Ciöcc says he'd be more than proud to put his name on one for me! He took me out for lunch in order to help translate to a couple of Korean customers (no, I haven't taken up Korean but they spoke very good English, and share a passion for old-school steel).

As one member of a message board recently stated, a bike like this doesn't compete with other competition bikes, but with other luxury purchase items like that new Ducati or IWB. What are your thoughts? I certainly see the average value of bikes at the local crit or cross race skyrocketing! More on that next...

ps - Post #200! Oh yeah! Thanks to all of you who visit and read my ramblings!