RACES GALORE!

I’m currently tracking participants or those in preparation for 3 races and 1 great tour. At the moment, enthusiastic readers can follow:

• The Race Across America (RAAM)
• The Tour Divide
• The Tour of Switzerland
• The Tour of Discovery: Ride for the Republic

Now, if that doesn’t keep you busy, I’m sure there are some other races out there to add to this list. These are the events that have captured my attention for the time being.

RAAM: I’m following Team Bent Up Cycles. I’ve done business with and know (virtually) Dana Lieberman, owner of Bent Up Cycles in Los Angeles. Dana has always been very friendly and honest when dealing with me even though we’ve never met and live on opposite ends of the country. The Bent Up Cycle blog will carry updates on the team’s progress as RAAM gets underway. Best of luck to Dana and crew as they make their way to the east coast into Annapolis!

 

The Tour Divide: Kent “Mountain Turtle” Peterson is underway on his trek to regain his title for swiftest completion of a single speed bike on this ultra endurance race. The race kicked off this morning in Banff, AB, Canada. As of this writing “Mountain Turtle” has just finished transiting the Spray Lakes Reservoir in the Spray Valley Provincial Park. According to my calculations, “Mountain Turtle” has travelled 46.046 miles or 74 km since the beginning of the race this morning. This is less than 1/2 the distance “Mountain Turtle” rode each day on his prologue just to get to the starting line. You can follow his progress on his shared SPOT page and get race summaries at his blog and eventually at MTBCast.com.

The Tour of Switzerland: The 74th running of this 9 day stage race is loaded with lots of top performers in the Pro cycling world as they work toward bringing themselves to peak form for the Tour De France. I’m pulling for Team Radio Shack but, who knows how this one will go. The top finishers of the Amgen Tour of California are all there. We’ll see how hard the teams want to ride as they round into shape.

 

The Tour of Discovery: Ride for the Republic: Rafael Giraldo is already on the road making his way north with his ride, Manifest Destiny, toward Bar Harbor, ME for the beginning of this educational tour that will touch upon all 13 of the original colonies. He will be joined tomorrow by fellow touring aficionado, Jim Artis. As I write, Jim is securing his rental van to carry the magnificent Fargo to Bar Harbor. Jim is now less than 12 hours before his departure to connect with Rafael in Virginia and complete the trip to Bar Harbor in convoy fashion. This ride begins as the sun rests its rays upon American soil on Cadillac Mountain on Flag Day, Monday, June 14th. You may follow this amazing trip via Cycling Experiences or through my own efforts here to stay abreast of the TOD. Please join me for this exciting summer trip!

All this racing and touring makes me want to ride! The current lightening storm outside my home is tending to keep me safely sitting in front of my computer, dubbed the Mean Green Machine by the local computer wonks that help keep me on-line. I picked up my Fuji from my LBS yesterday. The good news is that the crunching sound I dealt with on Monday after hitting bottom in a nasty pothole could not be replicated at the shop and an in-depth review of my cranks, pedals, drive train, and bottom bracket showed no damage and no explanation for the constant crunching that I heard. That leaves the possibility that something is wrong with the cleat on my left shoe. Failing that, it must have been my left knee! Oh well, time will tell. I hope tomorrow to put it all to the test as I climb my way up to the Blue Ridge Parkway from beautiful Bethel, NC.

Until later,

- Zeke