With gas prices at an all time high and predicted hit $4.00 per gallon commuting to work has many benefits.
In 2003, cars idling in traffic wasted 5 billion gallons of fuel. Furthermore, the average American spends 50 hours per year stuck in traffic. (source) Wouldn’t spending some of that time on a bicycle be more enjoyable?
Still not convinced yet? What about your health? Bicycling benefits your physical and mental health by providing sustained, moderate aerobic exercise. But don’t take our word for it…
“Significant health benefits can be obtained by including a moderate amount of physical activity on most, if not all, days of the week.
Physical activity reduces the risk of premature mortality in general, and of coronary heart disease,hypertension, colon cancer, and diabetes mellitus in particular. Physical activity also improves mental health and is important for the health of muscles, bones, and joints.”
- Audrey F, Manley, M.D., M.P.H., Former Surgeon General of the United States (source: Center for Disease Control)
Bicyle Tour of Colorado is fast approaching. For those of you that are looking for a great cycling vacation check out Bicyle Tour of Colorado. This years route looks to be a good one. 403 mile loop beginning and ending in Durango with a day off in Telluride.
The Bicycle Tour of Colorado is a 7 day fully supported bicycle tour in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We provide camping services, baggage transportation, route maps, road markings, aid stations every 15-25 miles, bicycle repair services, and medical support during your week in Colorado.
For touring the world, and especially the Rocky Mountains, nothing beats riding a bicycle. Travel through wide open valleys with a 360 degree view of the towering mountains. Pedal alongside streams and waterfalls with the wind at your back. Enjoy the challenging climbs and exhilarating descents of the high passes. Meet riders from around the country, and around the world, that all share a passion for bicycling.
It was a short, flat and wickedly fast route that lay before the riders as they lined up in the starting hut today under sunny skies in Southern California to kick off the third Amgen Tour of California.
Riders began in Palo Altoand flew through a 3.4 km (2.1 mile) flat route ending with a full 360 degree loop around the Stanford Oval on the StanfordUniversitycampus before heading into the finish line.
132 riders were out to race today – 45 of them from the US. American Levi Leipheimer (Astana) won last year’s prologue and he was the heavy favorite to take the win today as well. However, today’s short, fast course was very reminiscent of the kind of course yo’d see at an individual pursuit event on the track and Team High Road just happens to have brought with them the current world pursuit champion, Bradley Wiggins, who is sitting out the Copenhagen track world cup to be here in California.
The first rider to start today was Iker Camao of Saunier Duval-Scott. Health Net’s John Murphy came out of the gate shortly afterwards and set the fastest time with 4’04 but he didn’t hold onto the lead for very long once Dave Zabriskie (Slipstream) hit the road and set the new time to beat of 3′59.58. The saddle on Zabriskie’s bike today was decked out with an American flag – a man happy to be riding at home.
But Zabriskie’s time turned out to not be enough when Swedish rider Gustav Larsson (CSC) shaved a few tenths of second off of his time hitting the line at 3.59.19.
An American favorite, Tom Danielson (Slipstream) has been struggling with some injury and illness, and was supposed to be in Europe racing this month but his team decided this would be a better race for him. He rode a time of 4’11. And his former Discovery teammate, Jason McCartney, now riding with Team CSC, clocked in at 4′10.52.
Okay, let’s put the Astana sadness behind us for a few days and get excited about the Tour of California which kicks off on Sunday with a 3.4km prologue leaving from Palo Alto. I can’t wait!I will be writing daily race reports during the entire race for my good friend Cathy over at US Cycling Report. She is going to have the best coverage going by far with daily reports, stunning photos by Celia Cole and on-the-ground interviews with your favorite riders. I’ll be posting the same race reports here each day. Only the US Cycling Report site will have the reports, results, photos and interviews so make sure you check in there each day as well.
We all know that Levi is coming back to defend his title and win again. No doubt the events of this week and the death of his chances of winning the Tour this year will have him even more motivated to make his mark at this race. It’s a no-brainer that he’s my pick for the win.
2008 AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA WILL SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND ANTI-DOPING TESTING AND PROCEDURES FOR UPCOMING RACE
Partnership with USADA, UCI, USA Cycling and AEG Created to Develop Unprecedented Approach to Anti-Doping Policies
LOS ANGELES, January 22, 2008 – The upcoming 2008 Amgen Tour of California cycling road race will adopt the most comprehensive anti-doping protocol in cycling history it was announced by Andrew Messick, president, AEG Sports, presenter of the race, at a press conference today.
Messick was joined by representatives of a partnership assembled to develop and enforce the anti-doping initiative, believed to be unparalleled in scope, including Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling; Sean Petty, chief operating officer of USA Cycling; Bob Stapleton, owner of Team High Road, an elite UCI ProTour team participating in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California; Mari Holden, 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist, former World Champion, and Athlete Ambassador to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA); riders and team officials as well as representatives of organizations and federations who helped to develop and will oversee and administer the groundbreaking program. Read the rest of this entry »
It is a bummer but the Usery Pass Time Trial and Road Race have been canceled in Phoenix, Arizona. The time trail was on the schedule for February 2nd and the Road Road on February 3rd. These two races for years, have been great races to kick of the 2008 race season and a great way to prepare for the Valley of the Sun stage race.
There is another option on Saturday February 2nd and Sunday February 3rd in San Diego, California.
Many top professional and amateur cyclist come to Arizona to train and race during the winter months because of the awesome weather and Arizona race calender. Arizona is one of the few states that starts it’s USCF bike race calendar in January. The calendar is packed with races every weekend during the winter and spring months.
There is a great 3 day stage race in February called Valley of the Sun. The race is loaded with top cyclist from all over the country. The fields usually fill up a couple of weeks prior to the event. So if you are thinking about coming to Arizona and racing the Valley of the Sun stage race enter early.
Click here for the Valley of the Sun event flyer: VOS event flyer
If you make it to Tucson, Arizona for some training rides the ‘Shoot Out’ is a must ride. Tucson has one of the best group rides in the country called the ‘Shoot Out’ according to Bicycling Magazine. The 60 mile loop cuts south from Tucson into desolate, mountainous desert toward Green Valley, Arizona almost to the Mexico boarder. During January, February and March the Shoot Out is loaded with professional cyclist from all over the world. The pack ranges from 100 to 175 fit riders. You can often see local pro riders like Phil Zajicek, Gord Fraser and Curtis Gunn gracing the peloton along with pro triathlete Jimmy Riccitello.
MORE THAN $20,000 IN PRIZES UP FOR GRABS FROM ROADBIKERIDES.COM
New Site Allows Cyclists to Share The Best Rides That The U.S. Has to Offer
TUCSON– RoadBikeRides.com is a new user-friendly, interactive cycling website that allows cyclists from across the United States to share the rides that they love. At RoadBikeRides.com road cyclists can submit information on their favorite rides including tips, maps, video clips and links, and also find a new ride in their own neighborhood or in another region of the country. Visitors can register on the site for free and begin submitting or searching for rides right away.
“It’s our mission to make you feel at ease on the road, whether it’s on a new ride in your own neighborhood or whether you’re traveling far from home,” said Tyler Ford, the man behind RoadBikeRides.com. “Our detailed maps will also provide you with suggestions on where to stop and fuel up during a ride, and where to chow down when you’re done. After visiting rides that you’ve researched on our site, you’ll feel like you never left home, because you’ll know exactly where to go.”
To launch the site, RoadBikeRides.com has developed a contest with more than $20,000 in prizes that would make any cycling lover drool. Prizes will be awarded based on the number of points that visitors accumulate. Points are earned by submitting rides, photos or video clips, posting on the message boards, or submitting articles for the site blog at Ride-Strong.com. Complete contest details can be found at www.roadbikerides.com.
The contest opens when RoadBikeRides.com goes live in January 2008 and will run until the first, second and third prizes have been awarded. Prizes include:
• 1st prize is $10,000 in cash, awarded to the first person to earn 5,000 points.
• 2nd prize is a brand new top end bike Orbea Orca Bike (or substantially similar bike) with a retail value of $5,400, awarded to the second person to earn 5,000 points.
• 3rd prize is a Zipp 404 clincher wheel set (or substantially similar wheel set) with a retail value of $2,100, awarded to the third person to earn 5,000 points.
• 4th through to 10th place winners will take home a Garmin Edge 305 GPS unit (or substantially similar GPS unit) with a retail value of $380.
Tyler Ford, the founder of RoadBikeRides.com, is an avid cyclist and triathlete who has had a passion for cycling since 1988. Ford was a top-producing loan officer in Tucson, Arizona but always had a vision of getting involved in the cycling industry in a bigger way than just riding and racing his bike.
In July, 2007 Ford decided to leave his lucrative desk job in order to pursue that dream. He purchased the RoadBikeRides.com URL and founded Outdoor Activities, LLC. Today, Ford is living his dream of serving the cycling community and even sponsors local Tucson cycling teams, GST Racing and Fair Wheel Racing Team.
With gas prices at an all time high and predicted hit $4.00 per gallon commuting to work has many benefits.
Bicyle Tour of Colorado 
For touring the world, and especially the Rocky Mountains, nothing beats riding a bicycle. Travel through wide open valleys with a 360 degree view of the towering mountains. Pedal alongside streams and waterfalls with the wind at your back. Enjoy the challenging climbs and exhilarating descents of the high passes. Meet riders from around the country, and around the world, that all share a passion for bicycling.
Okay, let’s put the Astana sadness behind us for a few days and get excited about the Tour of California which kicks off on Sunday with a 3.4km prologue leaving from Palo Alto. I can’t wait!I will be writing daily race reports during the entire race for my good friend Cathy over at 
2008 AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA WILL SIGNIFICANTLY EXPAND ANTI-DOPING TESTING AND PROCEDURES FOR UPCOMING RACE
