Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford ride bikes.

Classic Rock Video For Friday!

Blind Faith - Can't Find My Way Home - 1969 

Bike Overnight: Santa Barbara to Los Angeles

A Few Photos of The Dixie Classic Crit 3/27/12

These photos are of the first of the Dixie Classic Criterium Series at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds in Winston-Salem, NC. Click here for a race flyer.

The Break finishing in the B Race.

The field finishing in the B race.

A Nice Monday Afternoon To Ride A Bicycle! 3/26/12

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Two cows and two donkey's grazing on the nice green grass  in their pasture on Waterworks Rd. in Clemmons, NC.

We've had a lot of rainy days that have made it hard to get in a ride. The rain and mild temperatures have also made the grass green and many flowers and trees bloom. This afternoon was sunny and 75 degrees with some wind blowing. 

One of my long time cycling routes from my house is approximately 40 miles in length and whines through Davidson County and the community of Welcome, NC. I've done this route so many times it's like being on Auto-Pilot. 

Riding on Enterprise towards Welcome, NC.
Music: "I'm from Texas" by Lee Graves

Enterprise is a nice smooth road with some stretches that are good to crank up the speed on. At the end of the road you end up on Hwy 150 (a two lane road with a wide shoulder). Hwy 150 takes you right through the middle of Welcome, NC. Today I rode down into the RCR (Richard Childress Racing) complex that is located just off of the main drag on the south side of Welcome.

RCR takes up many buildings and looks like an large industrial park.

This is Richard Childress Racing's Race Museum.

I saw at least three of Dale Earnhart's former cars through the front windows as I rode by on my bike.

The offices of Richard Childress Racing. 

These are just a couple of the RCR buildings in the small town of Welcome, NC. There are buildings that look like factories for body and chassis fabrication, engine building, engineering and on and on. It's impressive just to ride through and see it.

It was a little warm at times today. 

These four horses on Circle Drive in Davidson County were trying to crowd into the only shade tree in their pasture.

The day was getting on into going home from work traffic when I started to head in. I have found over the years that it is not a problem on Hampton Road going towards Clemmons in the afternoon. Most of the traffic seems to be going the other way in the evenings. 

This is Richard Childress's house that also happens to be on the route. It is located on Hampton Road between Welcome and Clemmons, NC. It's a big house on a hill surrounded by a vineyard. He also has a winery.

Of course, I had a strong headwind all the way into Clemmons on Hampton Road. I just shifted into an easier gear and kept my cadence up. When you get a chance to ride on a beautiful day like today you can't let windy conditions ruin your ride. It was a nice day to ride and I enjoyed seeing the many green fields and animals grazing. 

Two horses and a donkey grazing in a pasture along Hampton Road, just outside of Clemmons, NC.

Once I got home I cleaned up my bicycle and got something to eat. I don't have to worry about anything as long as Poor Ole' Joe is on the job guarding it.

1958 Giro d'Italia.

 Charly Gaul leads Ercole Baldini and Josef Planckaert on the Gardena Pass. Baldini won the Giro that year while Gaul was third. 

7-11 Cycling Training Video

Inga Thompson

Inga Thompson

Inga Thompson is a  former road bicycle racing professional from Reno, Nevada. She started professional cycling at 20, in 1984. That year she rode the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics road race and finished 21st. Her career ran from 1984 to 1993. She competed in two more Olympics(1988,1992), won national championships (1987,1988,1991,1993), and finished second in two world championships (1990,1991).


She was recognizable by her long braid which she clipped to her uniform.

Inga Thompson 1990

Olympics 1992

Is there enough time for a short ride? Where there is a will there is a way.

Sometimes you just have to make yourself go and use a little creativity to work in a ride. I almost never get away from work in the evening early enough to get any kind of ride in after work. Yesterday I was determined to ride outside. Sure enough by the time I got home the sun was already beginning to set. Riding a mountain bike with lights is always one option, but with all the rain we have had I knew the trails would be way to muddy. One of my old stand by rides is to just do laps around the city block that I live on. There isn't any through traffic in my neighborhood, so cars coming out of driveways and pedestrians are the only two things I have to look out for. On the "back stretch" there is a steady long uphill drag. Using a power meter enables me to get in some measured intensity on this portion of the lap. By working hard on this section I can build a little strength. Boredom while I'm riding isn't a problem since I am concentrating on either pedaling hard or recovering from my last hard effort. I also do these laps around the block when it is definitely going to rain. If it starts to rain I can just turn off at my house and ride into the garage. A couple of times a year I end up doing these laps around the block. There is no question in my mind that it looks crazy to the neighbors, but they are used to it after more than a couple of decades of seeing me ride my bike. Where there is a will there is a way!

Classic Rock Video For Friday!

Jefferson Airplane - Somebody to Love - At Woodstock 1969

Anjou Vélo Vintage!

Click here for more information on this event.

Doris Day and Terry Melcher ride a bike. 1952

Day Labor

Day Labor from Minka on Vimeo.

Brendan O’Neill Kohl’s “Day Labor” is a charming short film that imagines what would happen if everyone started hiring day laborers to do their work for them. It starts with one enterprising (read: lazy) bike messenger, and snowballs from there. And though the film ultimately is not about bikes, Kohl features a bunch of real Seattle messengers.

A perfect day for a ride!

Today I got out with a couple of my friends, Jake and Tim, to go for a ride. This morning was foggy and overcast, but by lunch time the clouds cleared away and the temperature climbed into the 70s. Our plan was for all three of us to do a 20 minute field test to dial in our power zones for training. Riding on Shallowford Road before and after our field tests was fun. The field test was painful as it always is, but beneficial for all of us. 

Field Testing on Shallowford Road. 

You can see tree's and other plants blooming along the road in the video above. Just a beautiful day for riding a bike or being outside. Hope everyone got out and enjoyed the day.  

I rode past this pasture with Ponies, Lamas and a Donkey on the way home. 

 Once I was home Poor Ole' Joe kept me company as I cleaned my bike. 

street trial et dirt backflip vintage ladies bike mickael dupont

Tour de France - Hell on Wheels

From the 1957 Giro d'Italia.

 Ercole Baldini (left, in Legnano jersey) leads Charly Gaul. Gastone Nencini, the eventual winner, is on the right. Baldini came in third and would go on to win the 1958 edition as well as the 1958 World Road Championship. 

CycleOps Pedaling Technique

Classic Music Video for Friday

Naked Happy Hippies!

Joseph Fischer

Joseph Fischer

 Josef Fischer (1865 - 1953) was a German road bicycle racer. He is best known for winning the first edition of Paris–Roubaix in 1896 and Bordeaux–Paris in 1900.

Joseph Fischer 

Back to Wensday Night Rides from CG Hill Memorial Park

The video below is some of the scenery on Seward Rd, part of "Julie's Loop". Temperatures were in the low 80s at the beginning of the ride. What a great evening to ride a bike!

Music: Jump Little Children by Leroy Dallas

The 1913 Tour de France

Route of the 1913 Tour de France

The 1913 Tour de France was the 11th Tour de France. Total distance of the race was 5,388 kilometres (3,348 miles) covered at an average speed of 26.72 kph (16.60 mph) by the racers. For the first time the route of the race was run in a counterclockwise direction. The first African cyclist took part in the Tour de France in 1913: Ali Neffati from Tunisia. In all there were 140 riders that started the Tour that year.

The sprint finish at the end of stage 4 in La Rochelle, won by Marcel Buysse.

Between 1904 and 1912, the overall classification had been calculated by points, but in 1913 the classification was reverted to the original format from 1903, where the overall classification was calculated by adding up the times of the individual stages. 


Calculating the winner of the tour on a points-based system instead of elapsed time created rather flat racing. Since a gap of 1 second had the same effect on the overall lead as a deficit of 3 hours, riders could let a break get a big lead without worrying about its having a serious effect on the standings. 


The other reason was a because of Desgrange's, the tour organizer, stern rules regarding bicycle repairs. A rider had to fix his own bike without assistance. If a rider had to spend the better part of an hour performing a repair it would be devastating to his standings in a time-based system. in a points based system, it might mean the loss of only a few places in a single stage.

The riders finish stage 5 in Bayonne.

Alcyon's Odile Defraye, winner of the 1912 Tour de France, was never out of the top 7 places and usually in the top 3 in the first 5 stages. That put him in the lead after stage 5 with Eugene Christophe second. Phillpe Thys, Christophe's Peugeot teammate, was sitting in fifth place. 85 riders had already abandoned the Tour. 


After stage 5, the standings were:


1. Odile Defraye
2. Eugene Christophe @ 4 minutes, 55 seconds
3. Marcel Buysse @ 10 minutes, 5 seconds

Thys, Christophe, Buysse and Garrigou suffer on the rough roads of the time, during Pyreneen Stage.

Firmin Lambot, winner of the 1919 and 1922 Tour de Frances, crests the Aubisque.

Stage 6 is one of the most famous in Tour de France history. It was 326 kilometers (202.57 miles) from Bayonne to Luchon and took the winner 14 hours to complete. It also cross (in order) the mountain passes of the Aubisque, Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde. At the start of stage 6, last year's winner Odile Defraye lead the general classification, some 5 minutes ahead of Eugene Christophe. When the first mountains were climbed, Defraye was dropped quickly, and Christophe lead the race. Christophe came up first on the Aubisque, and in second place behind Phipippe Thys on the Tourmalet.


 The fork on Christophe's bike broke on the way down the Tourmalet. His bicycle was completely unusable, and the rules said that he had to repair it himself. He shouldered his bike and carried his broken fork and front wheel in his other hand. Accounts differ on the distance that he had to walk/run to get to the next village. According to L' Auto, the newspaper that sponsored the Tour de France, he had to walk/run 14 kilometers (8.70 miles). Christophe's account of the distance puts it at 10 kilometers (6.21 miles). When he reached the village a young girl took him to the blacksmith's shop. 


In those days, remember, there where no follow cars with bikes ready at a moment's notice to be handed to a racer with a mechanical problem. These were the days in which a racer had to perform his own repairs on his bike.


Christophe was not only a good bicycle mechanic, he had been  a locksmith and had metalworking skills. The blacksmith gave Christophe some verbal guidance. Under the rules, that was all that could be allowed. He worked on it for four hours, being watched by race officials, who made sure that he was not helped by anyone. When Christophe asked a small boy to work the bellows, he was penalised 10 minutes. After his bicycle was fixed, he rode away and finished the stage, 3 hours and 50 minutes later than the stage winner Thys. Christophe's chances to win the 1913 Tour de France were over. 

Chasing Buysse on the Galiber are Francois Faber (left) and Gustave Garrigou.

After the sixth stage, Marcel Buysse was in the lead. In the ninth stage, Buysse had a broken handlebar, and finished almost three and a half hours after stage winner Lambot. This was the end of the chances for Buysse for the victory. Buysse did not give up, and won four of the remaining five stages.

Marcel Buysse was first over the Galibier and went on to win stage 11.

The lead had transferred to Thys now.  In the last stages, the race focussed on the duel between Petit-Breton and Thys. In the 14th stage, Petit-Brton fell down and stopped the race. In the same stage,  Thys also fell down and remained unconscious for a while. When he was conscious again, he was helped to repair his bicycle. All help was illegal in 1913, but the jury only gave him a 10 minute penalty. Thys finished the stage, and kept 8min. 37 seconds in front of Gustave Garrigou in the general classification. In the final stage, Thys stayed with Garrigou, and so won the 1913 Tour de France.

Final 1913 Tour de France General Classification:

1. Philippe Thys (Peugeot) 197 hours 54 minutes

2. Gustave Garrigou (Peugeot) @ 8 minutes 37 seconds

3. Marcel Buysse (Peugeot) @ 3 hours 30 minutes 55 seconds

4. Firmin Lambot (Griffon) @ 4 hours 12 minutes 45 seconds

5. François Faber (Peugeot) @ 6 hours 26 minutes 4 seconds

6. Alfons Spiessens (JB Louvet) @ 7 hours 57 minutes 52 seconds

7. Eugène Christophe (Peugeot) @ 14 hours 6 minutes 35 seconds

Peugeot took 5 of the top 7 places and won 10 of the 15 stages. 25 riders finished.

Philippe Thys, winner of the 1913 Tour de France

Click here to learn more about Philippe Thys

Gustave Garrigou, 2nd place in the 1913 Tour de France

Click here to learn more about Gustave Garrigou.

Marcel Buysse, 3rd place in the 1913 Tour de France.

Click here to learn more about Marcel Buysse.

Firmin Lambot, 4th place in the 1913 Tour de France.

Click here to learn more about Firmin Lambot.

Francois Faber, 5th place in the 1913 Tour de France.

Click here to learn more about Francois Faber.

Gilbert Bauvin

Gilbert Bauvin (born August 4, 1927) is a former professional French road bicycle racer. He was a professional from 1950 to 1960. The highlights of his career include winning the Paris–Camembert in 1954 and Tour de Romandie in 1958 and winning four stages in the Tour de France as well as wearing the yellow jersey for a total of four days. His best grand tour result was the 1956 Tour de France, where he finished second.

Gilbert Bauvin  during the 1956 Tour de France

Burgess Meredith rides a trike. Sylvester Stallone trains.

Back To Zone 4 Intervals

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Tim and Jake back at the Lewisville Town Square.

I met Tim and Jake this afternoon at the Lewisville Square. We talked about the workout we planned to do that day as we warmed up. Hauser Road is a short distance from The Square and has a smooth surface with little traffic. We all did our own interval work outs. The combined time of the working intervals and the recovery intervals was about an hour and a half. After that we got in a nice 30 minutes of easy spinning. The temperature was in the 60s and overcast with a light breeze. This all combined to make a good day for riding. By the time I rode back home I had in a ride time of approximately 3 and a half hours. Since Day Light Saving Time is now in effect, I had time to eat supper and play some fetch with Poor Ole' Joe.

Poor Ole' Joe was glad to see me when I arrived home.

Mark Webb - The Webbie Show - TotalBMX

A Nice Sunday Afternoon To Go For A Bike Ride

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Kelly Holmes

Temperatures were in the 60s this afternoon in the Winston-Salem, NC area. I headed out from my house around 1:30 on my bike headed to the Town Square in Lewisville, NC. While riding on Harper Road, out in the country, I sensed someone coming up on me from behind. I looked back and was glad to see my friend Kelly Holmes gaining on me quickly. Kelly and I have been riding together off and on for over twenty years now. We often see each other on the road unplanned and go for a nice ride. 

The Cat 8 group assembling before the ride

At the square we saw several members of the Cat 8 group assembling before the ride. This is a great group of riders that ride from the Lewisville Square on Saturday and Sunday. I'm not able to join in with them on Saturday's because I am working. On Sundays they ride at 2:00 in the afternoon this time of year. They were planning on riding a loop called "Liberty Church". A planned distance of approximately 40 miles. Kelly and I joined in and rode at the back chatting. The group rode in a single file paceline for a couple of miles until we were out of town. Once we were out in the country and not an impediment to traffic we switched to a double paceline. There were lots of long fairly straight stretches on the route we rode today. We rode smooth and steady. Once back to the square Mark Speas checked his Garmin and reported an average speed for the ride of 19.4 miles per hour. That's a good pace, but didn't seem too hard since we just kept rolling the whole time. This was a good group ride. After riding to and from the ride I ended up with a total distance of right at 60 miles.

Poor Ole' Joe supervised me wiping down my bike once I returned home.

Peter Winnen

Peter Winnen 1981

Peter Johannes Gertrudis Winnen (born September 5, 1957) is a Dutch former road racing cyclist. He was professional from 1980 until 1991. Among his 14 victories were two stages at Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France and a national championship. He finished third in the Tour de France in 1983.

Benefits of a Bicycle

Katharine Hepburn and Katharine Houghton ride bikes. 1967

A Classic Music Video For Friday

Purple Haze-Jimi Hendrix  at Woodstock 1969

A different stem

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Poor Ole' Joe knows something is different about my bike and he is right. At the Fit Kit Seminar I attended the past couple of days they fitted me on my bike. I knew what was coming and had the appropriate stem  with me. And sure enough I needed my handlebars raised and brought closer to me. Fortunately my seat was set at the perfect height and the fore aft was spot on. It's hard to impossible to fit yourself on your own bike. I knew that my stem was to low and long. My original stem was a 110mm flat stem slammed all the way down. The stem we put on my bike is a 100mm st up slightly higher.  According to the Fit Kit calculations my reach to the handlebars needed to be slightly shorter and higher. I slipped out for a short ride today to check things out and the bike felt great! Changing your position on a bicycle is not something any cyclist looks forward to. After years of riding in a certain spot you just don't want that messed with. Everyone needs a bike fit to put them in the right position on the bike or to just reassure they are set up correctly. I'm glad I volunteered to have my bike set up checked. How long has it been since you had your bike fit checked?