Features
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An Evening with Phil Liggett
By Sara Covich If you’ve watched a major cycling race on television in the past 10 years, chances are you have heard “The Voice of Cycling.” Commentating on the action in his smooth British accent and saying such things like “The peloton is riding like scalded cats!” as the racers attack a brutal climb resounds the unmistakable voice of Phil Liggett. On May 23, 2011, he made an appearance in Seattle to entertain a sold-out crowd in Intiman Theatre. Read More
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Portland Pedal Power Delivers the Goods
By Katie Hawkins What do you get when you mix big dreams, cool people, decorated bicycles, fresh food, and downtown Portland? No, I’m not talking about the famous themed bike rides during Pedalpalooza, but rather Portland Pedal Power (PPP), a quick and easy, carbon footprint-free delivery service that offers support for local businesses, marketing strategies, and a full-proof business model. Read More
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August Product Reviews: Arkel Randonneur, Energizer LED Safety Flasher, and Finish Line Gear Floss
By Bicycle Paper “A rack for my Italian race bike? No way.” That’s what I said to myself before I discovered the Randonneur Rack by Arkel. This lightweight rear rack incorporates a simple quick release system that easily attaches to the saddle rails while a soft rubberized clamp and a Velcro strap secure it to the seatpost. Read More
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Combining Modern Science with Ancient Wisdom
By Melissa Shays, ND, LAc, PC There is more to cycling performance than mental strength and ample energy gels. Regardless if you are racing, training to improve your personal best, or enjoying a scenic ride, your health and wellness play a role in your experience. Licensed Naturopathic physicians (ND) are able to bring cyclists an innovative set of personalized treatment options that focus on performance, recovery, and feeling their best. Read More
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PCC: Six Days and Untold Adventures Along the Oregon Coast
By Jay Stilwell Getting away from the office seems harder and harder to do these days, and my “bucket list” seems to get longer as time goes by. So when I heard about the 2010 People’s Coast Classic (PCC), a six-day cycling event to raise money and awareness about arthritis that takes participants along the Oregon coast, I found my reason for some seriously overdue saddle time. Read More
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August Book Reviews: Hell on Two Wheels and It's All About the Bike
By Katie Hawkins and Amy Vance Many publishers told Amy Snyder that “a book about a bicycle race” would never succeed, especially if it wasn’t written by Lance Armstrong. What they didn’t recognize is that Snyder’s Hell on Two Wheels: An Astonishing Story of Suffering, Triumph, and the Most Extreme Endurance Race in the World, is much more than just a novel about a cycling event — it is a story of courage, suffering, and strength in a race that pushes human endurance to the limit. Read More
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BC Bike Race Day 4 Results: Earls Cove to Sechelt – Planes, Ferries and Point-to-Point Epics
Racers woke up this morning to the pastel palette of a west coast sunrise at their beachfront Base Camp in Powell River. It was a beautiful farewell as racers made their way to the Saltery Bay ferry terminal for a sailing to Earls Cove, the start line for Stage 4. Twenty-four racers missed out on the morning’s picturesque sailing with BC Ferries. Instead, BC Bike Race founding sponsor Harbour Air generously provided scenic floatplane flights from Powell River to Earls Cove for those racers randomly selected the night before. Read More
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BC Bike Race: The First Three Days
By BC Bike Race The start line of any race is always alive with energy. But when you bring 450 singletrack hungry mountain bikers to a singletrack crazy town, line up the start chute down the center of the main drag, mix in a heavy percentage of cheering locals, and remind riders that this is the first of seven straight days of singletrack heaven, well, it’s electric! Read More
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World's Best Hardcourt Polo Players Coming to Seattle
By Katie Hawkins Seattleites will be witnessing a different kind of bicycle competition this fall. Last November, Seattle Bike Polo Club, known as 206 Bike Polo, was awarded hosting privileges for the 2011 World Hardcourt Bike Polo Championships that will be held this September 8-11. A variation of the equestrian game, bicycle polo may not be as glamorous as the equine variety, but it is just as intense, a little more gritty, and offers a challenge and a good time on a much cheaper steed... Read More
Opinions
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Cadence Press Rolls Out Bike Books To Help You Find Your Rhythm
By Joe Kurmaskie Who would launch a bike book publishing company during a recession when many publishers are closing up shop? It sounds like pedaling uphill in a headwind with storm clouds building on the horizon. But if you’ve towed your sons across continents, outpaced angry elephants in Botswana, been treed by geese in New Hampshire, and reclaimed your possessions in a mountain bike race in the Australian Outback, taking on the challenge of launching a publishing company during “interesting times” is in character.Par for the course, really, my course anyway, that looks like Dr. Seuss designed it, mind you. Read More
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What Gears Are For
By Maynard Hershon Because your legs, like a car engine, have a happy, efficient operating range, most bikes are equipped with a number of gears. This allows your legs to find a cadence or a pedaling speed that pleases them. Each time you pause, your muscles stop moving the blood in and out of your legs, where it can be cleansed and re-oxygenated. Nothing good happens while you’re coasting. Read More
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How Cyclists Helped Rethink A Bridge
By Joe Kurmaskie In the spring of 2009, the Oregon and the Washington State Department of Transportation and other business interest groups were pushing the Columbia River Crossing project, a 4 billion dollar, 12-lane bridge planned to replace the existing I-5 structure between Oregon and Washington. Read More
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On the Club Ride, Part Two
By Maynard Hershon Part two of a two-part conversation between Maynard and his friend Corey. Last month they were talking about club rides and the advantages and disadvantages of participating in them. Many would never ride with more experienced cyclists. They’re afraid they’ll embarrass themselves when they can’t get a wheel off their bike and fix a flat in a reasonable time — while 15 people fidget and watch. If you can fix a flat, you know how easy it is. If you don’t know how, think of how liberated you’d feel if you did know. Why, you could ride with anybody! Read More
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Tour De Lance: The Extraordinary Story Of Lance Armstrong’s Fight to Reclaim The Tour de France
By Joe Kurmaskie Saddle back up and reclaim the Tour de France? Dream on. Sports comebacks are unwieldy animals that rarely go according to plan, or end well. More than baseball, boxing or basketball, bicycle racing offers absolutely no margin for error, no wiggle room, no accommodations for age or motivation. It’s a young man’s dance with pain and suffering on the outer edges of endurance. As the comeback plays out that’s a sincere and legitimate part of the story. Bicycling magazine’s editor-at-large, Bill Strickland, brings back the rest ... and it’s one for the ages. Read More
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On the Club Ride
By Maynard Hershon Club life was different 30-odd years ago. Rides were structured and instruction or discipline was often harsh. We were young, malleable and hungry for knowledge. We felt lucky to learn about the sport from seasoned riders. Recently I’ve begun riding with a local club. Read More
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How To Out Pedal An African Elephant
By Joe Kurmaskie It was the second day in country and the first full one in the saddle. We numbered 300 riders on a South African fundraising bike adventure with Children In The Wilderness. Divided into groups of about twenty, with two guides, the plan called for 100 plus kilometers per day through remote bush on full suspension bikes; the ride of a lifetime. By the end we’d pedal through six private game preserves and four national parks in five countries. Read More
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Your Favorite Uncles
By Maynard Hershon As I read this year’s springtime bike safety articles, I am struck by how much is left unsaid. If you’re a longtime cyclist, you know what I mean. Riding in traffic is like playing chess with your life — except the pieces don’t follow the rules. Read More
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You Can’t Make Me Cry
By Joe Kurmaskie In an effort to pedal my talk, I decided to use my bicycle to deliver more than 500 copies of my new book to the post office. I imagined my arrival at the main post office parking lot looked something like the final scene in “Animal House,” when Belushi’s rogue float emerges out of the smoke... Read More
