Click on the image to enlarge it
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
1928 Tour de France
The second win by Nicolas Frantz, he held the yellow jersey from beginning to end despite an obstacle in three days before the end of the tour. Frantz had a mechanical failure between Metz and Charleville and had to finish 100 km of race on an undersized women's bicycle resulting in a loss of 28 minutes. Regardless, Frantz won the tour, showing the superiority of his team, Alcyon, which gained the team trophy, and also had second best man André Leducq.
The 22nd tour featured the first appearance of an Australian team, indicating the beginning of a more international sporting field.
Tour director Henri Desgrange allowed teams to replace exhausted or injured cyclist by new cyclists, to give the weaker teams a fairer chance. However, the effects were opposite, so the concept was quickly abandoned.
Click on the photos to enlarge them
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
River Park Group Ride 7/25/11
Click on the photos to enlarge them
 |
Edmond leading the group. |
I rode with the "River Park Group" today. This group leaves from the Old 421 River Park on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8:30 A.M. The ride distance is normally around 40 miles at a pace of 16.5+ average miles per hour. Today's ride was approximately 37 miles in length at the normal speeds. We had a fun ride! Thanks again to Edmond the ride leader for all he does.
I rode to and from the ride to get in a little extra mileage. Traffic was a bear today. I was already cutting it close on the way to the ride, when I got stuck at a busy traffic light for three light changes. As I was sitting at the light I saw my friend Clarence go through the intersection in his car with his bike on top. I knew he was headed to the ride. When I finally got to the River Park the group had left. Clarence was there and we worked together, drafting off of each other, to catch the group. It's good to have great friends like Clarence. Thanks Clarence.
Clarence and I working together to catch the group.
Music: Key To The Highway by Blues Beckoning
Catching up to the group.
Music: Lighting Blues by Lightnin' Hopkins
 |
Unfortunately I didn't catch this rider's name. |
 |
Clarence |
 |
Gina |
 |
Another photo of Edmond leading the group. |
Sunday Group Ride 7/24/11
We had a great group ride today from Lewisville, NC today led by Louis and Alan. Thanks to them these rides always have great routes that are fun for all. Temperatures were hot, but everyone did fine with that. Today's distance was just over 60 miles with an average speed of a little more than 19 mph. Click here for more information and the schedule for these group rides.
Click on the images to enlarge them
 |
| At the rest stop (Stuckey's) |
Music: I wonder why by Lightnin' Hopkins
Music: Down Child by John Lee Hooker
 |
| Robert Jordan did todays ride on his fixed gear bike. He uses this same bicycle for riding permanents , brevets, commuting and riding for fun. |
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
River Park Group Ride 7/18/11
Click on the images to enlarge them |
| The river Park Group rolling out Several of us from the shop rode with the "River Park Group" today. This group rides from the Old 421 River Park on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They roll out at 8:30 AM. The ride today was approximately 40 miles with an average speed a little over 16.5 miles per hour. This is a great group of fun people to ride with. Edmond does a wonderful job of leading the group and pulls most of the way. Thanks again Edmond for all you do! Music: Guitar Blues by Ray Charles Music: Big Bad John by Mark Johns |
 |
| The group about to roll away from the first rest stop. We stopped twice. The second stop was at a store and we all got a chance to visit while we ate a snack. |
Sunday, July 17, 2011
A Slow Ride with No Particular Place To Go
I had planned to do the group ride this morning from Lewisville, NC. But I was running behind on time and once I had walked Poor Ole' Joe I would have had to time trial to the start of the ride to make it there for the beginning of the ride. I felt unusually tired this morning after a super busy week at work plus commuting back and forth. So I headed out from home for a slow ride with no particular place to go. I ended up riding through Wallburg, NC and by the edge of Thomasville , NC and on into High Point, NC. Between Thomasville and High Point I made a new friend, a fellow cyclist named Michael. Michael had a knee replaced 9 months ago and was training for the Road Groan in Elizbethton, Tennessee. After a Cup of Coffee and a muffin at Debeens Espresso I rode farther into the town of High Point. On the road in High Point, I meet a fellow cyclist who turned out to be from the Czech Republic and was on his way to Greensboro to visit friends. When I reached the entrance to High Point University I bid fair-well to my new friend and cruised through the campus. I had heard a lot about this school and wanted to see what it looked like. The High Point University Campus is wonderful place. Almost makes me wish I was back in school. My trip back home took me through the Midway, NC community. I have always found Davidson County to be an excellent place to ride and the people always friendly.
(Unfortunately I had trouble adding music to the video I recorded on this ride and they may or may not have music with it)
Click on the images to enlarge them
 |
| Poor Ole' Joe checking out my bicycle before my ride. |
 |
| My handlebar is loaded with a Video Camera, an old model Garmin GPS device and a Powertap Computer. |
 |
| Five Miniture Horses and one big Horse grazing outside of Thomasville, NC. |
 |
| Coffee Stop in High Point, NC |
 |
| Coffee and a Muffin |
 |
| Here I am with my bicycle. This picture was taken by a young fellow, Tyler, I met that was a new cyclist. |
Cruising Through the High Point University Campus
 |
| Chickens on the side of the road in Davidson County. |
Slow Ride by Foghat.
No Particular Place To Go by Chuck Berry
Friday, July 15, 2011
Jacques Anquetil-Party Boy
by
Owen Mulholland
For much of his illustrious career Jacques Anquetil maintained an aloof public persona. Of course that's a natural pose or self-defense for anyone who is so at the mercy of his fans. But even Anquetil's style of riding seemed to confirm the observation that cool disdain replaced blood in his veins. His absolute dominance of races he wished to win made even his most bitter rivals cringe with respect. The way he could always do just enough to win gave an entire generation of cyclists a complex.
Yet there was a lighter side to "le Normand". Particularly on the down side of the season, after he'd won yet another Tour de France (five in all), he could give in to a little lapse of discipline. In fact, those who knew him were well aware of Jacques' weakness for parties, card playing, and drinking. For the average rider such indulgences would have been deadly, but then Anquetil was no average rider.
Take the eve of the Ronde d' Auvergne in August, 1963. It's one of the numerous circuit races local organizers put on around France for the local folks to get a close-up look at the stars. Not all these races are "balls to the wall"-sometimes a local rider might be allowed to win-but such gestures take place at a very high level. One look at the average speed of these events will demonstrate that.
Earlier that day Jacques had won the Grand Prix de Felletin. As soon as gracefully possible, he, his wife Janine, team director Raphael Geminiani, and several other riders bid adieu to their hosts, jumped in their cars and blasted the 250 kms. to Clermont-Ferrand, site of the next day's race.
They arrived at the hotel at 11 p.m. and immediately descended on the restaurant where a dinner of spaghetti, chops, cheese, and dessert awaited them. To celebrate the day's victory Geminiani ordered a bottle of champagne, then another, and another. A local rugby star who had joined them, not wishing his sport to appear less magnanimous, matched Geminiani's largesse. Pierre Chany, the famous French cycling journalist, ordered two more.
On the stroke of midnight the "peleton à table" saw its first "abandonés". Two Belgians from the Solo team, Van Looy and Sorgeloos, slipped off to their beds, warning all who cared to hear, "Careful, the race starts at 8:30 in the morning."
The party continued unabated. At 2 a.m. Anquetil claimed he was still hungry. He inhaled a plate of eggs and asked for a whiskey to wash it down, then a second whiskey to wash down the first!
At 3 a.m. he phoned Marcel Bidot, the man in charge of selecting the French team for the forthcoming World Championships. "Marcel," Jacques began after the groggy Bidot had finally picked up his phone," excuse me for waking you at this hour, but I have something important to tell you. I have decided to race the next World Championship in order to win it. But there are some things I wish to discuss with you before making any public announcement. Do you think you could come here to Clermont-Ferrand so we could discuss these matters after the race later today?" Bidot, believing the whole affair to be critical for French success, replied with enthusiasm. "Of course, I'll be out the door and in my car just as soon as I get my clothes on." Bidot knew it would be a six or seven hour drive.
Anquetil finally slipped between the sheets at 5 a.m. Just two hours later Gem was knocking at his door. "Leave me in peace!" the now subdued Anquetil cried.
"Hey, what're you going to tell old man Bidot when he's at the race and you aren't?"
A groan, followed by the shuffle of slippered feet told Raphael that his party boy had bowed to the inevitable.
With puffy eyes and breath strong enough to be ignited, Jacques wearily joined the peleton at the start line. After a few kilometers he had a flat. Just the excuse he needed. As Geminiani leapt from the car with a spare, Jacques headed for the car, muttering something about going back to the hotel.
"To the hotel?!" Gem exploded. "What kind of fool are you? Look at the sky. It's beautiful. It's a perfect day to go hard and sweat out the toxins. Listen to me, you can do well today." Once again Jacques knew his director was right, however loathe he was to admit it. A new wheel in place, Jacques was underway again and soon regained the peleton. The "Ronde d' Auvergne" is known to have one of the toughest circuits of the after-Tour season. It's profile looks like the teeth of a saw. With 70 kms. to go, only ten riders remained in the race. Attack followed attack over the last hour, and one by one the riders cracked and were left behind. Finally, with two kms. remaining, Anquetil went into overdrive, left the few survivors gasping, and cruised under the "arrivée" banner for a popular win.
After the usual ceremony, Geminiani expected a word of thanks. But Jacques said nothing. Patience was never one of Gem's most notable attributes. "Well? Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Sure." replied Jacques nonchalantly. "Put the champagne on ice."
That night Jacques slept in the back of his car as his wife drove to the distant town of Quillan where again Jacques triumphed.
After the race, Tom Simpson (the famous British rider who was to die in the 1967 Tour de France.) confided to Pierre Chany, "I don't know what Anquetil has been eating lately, but I've never seen him so strong!"
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Giuseppi Pintarelli Beating the Heat
Click on the image to enlarge it |
| The '57 Tour de France was a real scorcher. Here Giuseppe Pintarelli (Italian National Team) enjoys a thourough drenching during stage 8, from Colmar to Besançon. |
Monday, July 11, 2011
River Park Group Ride 7/11/11
The River Park Group Rides leave from the Old 421 River Park, out from Lewisville, NC., every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8:30 AM. It was hot and very humid on today's ride. We rode a little over 40 miles and averaged just over 16 miles per hour. The distance is typical of these rides, but the speed was slightly lower due to the extreme heat. I rode to and from the rides from my house to get in a few extra miles. The ride home was at about noon and was difficult due to the weather conditions. These folks are great to ride with during the week. You will enjoy this ride if you are comfortable drafting and have ridden anything close to 40 miles before.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
 |
| Edmond and Tom Edmond is the ride leader and thanks aren't enough for all he does! |
 |
| Riders at the first break |
 |
| Stopping in the shade of an old oak tree to regroup. |
 |
| Shannon getting ready to get back to riding. |
 |
| Riders chatting in the shade once we are back at the River Park. |
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Frans Slaats Takes the Hour Record
 |
Frans Slaats |