best cycling

The terribly shot picture to the left documents the beginning of my first real bike build. Between the yellow Italvega frame and whatever it is that’s behind it, sits my powder blue, 80s Schwinn World Sport as it was when I found it about a year ago. Since sort of posting about my project bike several months ago, Why Every Cyclist Should Build a Beater Bike , I’ve received a lot of questions for how to remove rust from a bike frame or components. So, here are some of my top tips for getting that metal shiny and “new.” Oh, and a much prettier picture of my finished Schwinn will follow. Grab the Aluminum Foil  For smaller areas of rust, some wadded up aluminum foil works wonders. Just pull off a sheet, crumple it a bit, and rub it on the rust spot. It takes a little effort, but several passes will give the brown demon a run for its money. This seems to work best on steel or even chromed handlebars–takes off the surface rust without flaking off the chrome coating. Adding a li

Measured on the special sit-o-meter pad, matched with a saddle, riding high on the marketing hype “light and comfortable,” I had just made my wallet $200 skinnier. Satisfied that I had finally bought that one true seat. The one that I could count on to be with me when the miles grew long. And, most importantly, the one saddle that would end all my discomfort. For good. Ten miles into my first ride, and I could no longer sit. No drop in weight or fancy new look was making up for the hot spots that special saddle was throwing. I cursed it and blamed it and wished it had never come to me. But so do all who live to see such times. Except, the saddle wasn’t actually to blame. IS YOUR SADDLE REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE? Plenty of marketing pitches will promise you the world’s most comfy saddle, and this might be completely true of many. If you’ve bounced from one seat to another and just haven’t quite landed on one that fits well, the problem might not be the saddle at all. I’m here to

I remember my first real rookie cycling mistake. I had just bought a Schwinn road bike at Salvation Army, and my mom gave me a little cash for my birthday. I spent hours looking up cycling gear on eBay, and was determined to get all set up to ride like a real cyclist with a limited amount of money. I assumed I would need sweet cycling shoes–but what I did not understand all those years ago was that I couldn’t just hit the road as is–on old standard strap pedals. I slipped and slid along the surface of the flat pedals in my brand new pair of hard-soled Diadora’s (cue excessive pointing and laughing). At one point, I nearly crashed when my foot slipped straight to the ground as I stood out of the saddle. I got off the bike wondering how the heck people were supposed to go faster in those stupid shoes–only later did I realize that I needed special clipless pedals and cleats to go along with my fancy Diadora’s. I look back today, and I will hang my head on that mistake, but it makes fo

Lex Albrecht  ( Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank ) won stage 2 at the  Tour of the Gila  Thursday, out-sprinting breakaway companions Tayler Wiles (UnitedHealthcare) and Scotti Lechuga (Hagens Berman Supermint) at the finish in Fort Bayard. It was Wiles who came away with the Gila’s top prize, however, as she rode into the overall race lead. Albrecht joined Wiles and Lechuga, who had escaped before the final QOM of the day, to form a three-rider move that was able to hold off the reduced peloton after a tough day of racing in New Mexico. “There were a lot of attacks in the final kilometres, which is normal for this stage,” Albrecht said. “We were just working really hard, my Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank teammates and I, to cover all of them and I just happened to cover the final one that Tayler Wiles from UHC put in. “I spent some of my last matches just to stick on and I followed them right to the last kilometres,” she said. In the finale, Albrecht waited patiently for Wiles to j

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to bike and camp (AKA bicycle camping)? Here’s your chance to find out and experience it with some amazing people. Come join the Atlanta Cycling Festival for our 4th annual Bicycle Camping Trip! We will meet at the Silver Comet Trail Head Saturday morning, biking out to Rockmart (38.7miles), bike camping overnight at The Rock Park and then heading back to the Trail Head Sunday morning (38.7miles). The trip is fully catered – snacks, lunch, dinner, breakfast, and more snacks. Beer (from Eventide Brewing), drinks (from Bai), food,and fire will all be provided by the Atlanta Cycling Festival. All you need to bring is your sleeping bag and tent. We’ll even haul all your gear in a fantastic Zipcar Van. Also, there will be post-ride yoga on Saturday and a sunrise stretch on Sunday led by Carly Brown from Carly Brown Yoga! This is our most popular pre-festival event and has sold out every year. This event has had rave reviews, ye

There’s a good reason for older adults to be conscientious and optimistic , a new study from England suggests. Researchers found that men and women ages 52 and older who had higher scores on measures of five “life skills” —  conscientiousness , control, determination (i.e., persistence),  emotional stability  and optimism — experience a broad range of health benefits and positive outcomes later in life, compared with older adults who had lower scores. This finding held true even after the researchers took into account people’s socioeconomic background, education and  cognitive abilities . These “life skills” include  personal characteristics  and capabilities thought to increase a person’s chance of  success and well-being in life , according to the study, which was published online today (April 10) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. [ 9 DIY Ways to Improve Your Mental Health ] The findings suggest that these attributes are relevant to many aspec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aNNYEUARAk

Epic Battle ! Peter Sagan, Vincenzo Nibali, Rigoberto Uran Epic Breakaway Finish

The  NBA Playoffs  have been going on for about two weeks now and we’ve noticed something: Today’s NBA  is softer than baby powder. There are stars like  LeBron Ja mes  and  Blake Griffin  flopping left and right, but we’re not blaming them. We blame the league’s front office and officials for rewarding that style of play. Everything is a foul and hard playoff fouls are now flagrants. The L has even gone as far as taking legal action on  YouTube  accounts that posted old-school fights. They took down memorable ones too, like  Ralph Sampson  hooking off on Jerry Sichting  in the  ’86 Finals  or when  Cedric Maxwell  almost got at a  Sixers  fan during  Game 6  of the  ’81 Eastern Conference Finals . All in all, we were still able to find some goodies like when  Tree Rollins  tried to eat  Danny Ainge  and when  Bill Laimbeer  took on  Larry Bird  and  Robert Parish  by his lonesome. So, take a trip down memory lane with us and check out  the Greatest Brawls in NBA Playoffs Histor

The Greatest Brawls in NBA Playoffs History The  NBA Playoffs  have been going on for about two weeks now and we’ve noticed something: Today’s NBA  is softer than baby powder. There are stars like  LeBron Ja mes  and  Blake Griffin  flopping left and right, but we’re not blaming them. We blame the league’s front office and officials for rewarding that style of play. Everything is a foul and hard playoff fouls are now flagrants. The L has even gone as far as taking legal action on  YouTube  accounts that posted old-school fights. They took down memorable ones too, like  Ralph Sampson  hooking off on Jerry Sichting  in the  ’86 Finals  or when  Cedric Maxwell  almost got at a  Sixers  fan during  Game 6  of the  ’81 Eastern Conference Finals . All in all, we were still able to find some goodies like when  Tree Rollins  tried to eat  Danny Ainge  and when  Bill Laimbeer  took on  Larry Bird  and  Robert Parish  by his lonesome. So, take a trip down memory lane with us and check o

It’s been a busy few months with lots of action here at  In The Know Cycling .  I thought I’d pause for a moment as spring actually shows up in the Northern Hemisphere and look back over the last few months of activity and forward to forecast what’s coming.  I’d also like to share a few thoughts with you about this blogsite and get your input on what will be of greatest value to you in future posts (and offer you a chance to win $100 for doing so). LOOKING BACK I posted three category-wide, reviews this winter that each covered most or perhaps nearly all the best performing products in each field.  These were 15,000-word, exhaustive (or at least  exhausting  to write and probably to read) reviews that evaluated an entire category of gear or kit on specific performance, design, quality and cost criterion. In December I posted  THE BEST POWER METERS FOR ROAD CYCLING ENTHUSIASTS   (click the story name to go to it).  It offered my explanation of what should matter (and should

SOME OF THE BEST 2016 ENDURANCE ROAD BIKES WITH DISC BRAKES If you are looking to buy a new road bike in 2016 for endurance riding and events, I strongly encourage you to buy one with hydraulic controlled disc brakes rather than traditional cable controlled rim brakes.  These ‘road disc bikes’ offer enthusiast level roadies superior speed, braking and versatility when compared to rim brake bikes and the range of road disc endurance bikes available this year from the leading brands gives you as much choice, and in some cases more, as those in their rim brake lines. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Click on any red statement below to go directly to that part of the post Road disc bikes are the present as well as the future of road cycling for performance reasons More and lower priced enthusiast-level road disc endurance bikes are available in 2016 Choose first among bikes whose stack and reach measurements are close to yours Depending on your fit and riding preference,

WHY BUY A ROAD DISC BRAKE BIKE In my earlier post,  Why and When to buy a Road Disc Bike , I described the benefits that convinced me to recommend that road cycling enthusiasts get or build a bike with disc brake components and wheels when we buy our next bike.  I’ll summarize them those benefits here. Better braking  is perhaps the most tangible and immediate benefit of riding a road disc bike.  With disc brakes, you can brake with more consistency, control, and feel (or ‘modulation’) than with rim brakes on carbon or alloy rims.  A road disc bike rides equally well on both dry and wet roads and without concern for brakes fading or carbon wheel rims overheating. If you can brake more consistently, confidently, and reliably, you can ride more aggressively on a downhill and into corners, both keys to  faster riding .  This more than makes up for the slight and decreasing amount of added weight of road disc brake bikes which slow you down marginally when you accelerate o