Richmond Hill Cycling » Pro Cycling

Following cycling on Twitter

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:00:10 +0000

In the last week I have somehow gotten addicted to Twitter. I had heard about it before but for some reason went there after hearing several times about Lance Armstrong using it. I have since found that many of the professional cyclists use it. Lance’s coach Chris Carmichael, team director Johan Bruyneel, former team mates George Hincapie and Dave Zabriskie, Giro winner Ivan Basso, and Garmin team members Tom Danielson and Christian Vandevelde. Right now I’m monitoring the Tour Down Under where Lance is racing where they are giving race updates, the Tour de France has one too but not sure yet how they use it. They will occasionally send “tweets” throughout the day of where they are or what they are doing, and will sometimes upload a picture of something they are doing or just saw. You can read them online or have them sent directly to your cell phone. Last week Lance Armstrong uploaded a picture, while riding his bike training, of his handlebars asking if his “twitteratti” prefered black or yellow brake hood covers and had everyone vote. Black one so he’s racing this week with black hood covers as voted by 5855 of us. Again I ask you what other professional sport allows its fans this much, now instant, access to it’s atheletes?

Inspiration from The Man, Lance Armstrong

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:31:07 +0000

So, unless you live under a rock , you probably all know that Lance Armstrong is going to be racing again this year as a pro after retiring over three years ago. His schedule and role is much debated, especially during the month of July regarding a little race over in France, bu the has indicated that he wants to ride more of the Spring Races and target the Giro d’Italia which is Italy’s equivalent of the Tour de France. He will actually make his first race at the Tour Down Under starting this weekend in Australia. He’s been spending the last week in Hawaii training and before heading to Australia and I came across a picture from last Tuesday on the Big Island of Hawaii that reminds me of his young days training on the mountain sides of France. We don’t have any climbs like this in Richmond Hill but the next time you’re riding that bridge overpass over I-95 or the train crossing on Hwy 17, think about this picture of a 37 year old climbing a 5,000′ mountain in the island heat.

Lance Armstrong climbing the 5,000 ft Kaloko in Hawaii

Tour de Georgia 2008

admin — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:01:08 +0000

I hope some of you got to experience the Tour de Georgia. I got to visit the first stage that started at Tybee and ended in Savannah and see both the pre-race ceremonies and start at Tybee and then dash to Savannah in time to watch the high speed sprint finish in front of the Civic Center. I also got to meet many of the pros like former US Postal rider Frankie Andreu, CSC’s Bobby Julich, 2004 Olympic gold medalist of Rock Racing Tyler Hamilton, and Team High Road’s George Hincapie who I also got a quick video with (see below). I promise you this is one of the most exciting things you’ll see, even if you aren’t in to pro cycling, watching what the pros can do coming down a straight away after riding 100 miles and going faster than you can go when you’re not tired. There is no other pro sport where you can walk around, speak to, and actually put your arm around the athletes and say “Hey George” like you can in cycling. THANK YOU FOR COMING TO OUR CITY!