Bike Racing

For your rest day entertainment, here's a good article on the doping and the difference between how cycling as sport is viewed in Europe compared to America. It's from SI, whose coverage of cycling is generally banal at best. This explains why, in part. Having read all the books referenced, I can recommend it as a short amalgamation of the lot.

Tour de France, cycling a clash of cultures for Americans, Europeans

Here's a taste:

"Any 7-year-old Flemish schoolchild," Bob Roll has written, "knows 100 times more about cycling than all Americans combined." They know the sacrifice -- that, simply to train, a pro will log enough mileage each year to circumnavigate the earth. They know the suffering -- that Rene Vietto's toe, lost to sepsis during the 1947 season, sits in embalming fluid in a jar over a bar in Marseille. They know the fate that four Tour winners have wound up suicides, and that 1998 champion Marco Pantani shot himself up vocationally and avocationally and, finally, tragically. Moreover, they know the positives, raids and confessions that have implicated at some point during their careers half of the 18 men to win the Tour since 1974. They've read the corpus of European journalism devoted to doping in cycling, some of which implicates Armstrong, and find it more human and persuasive than any clinical positive test. They've heard the testimony of repentant dopers like France's Philippe Gaumont, who rubbed salt on his testicles until they bled so he could get a prescription for otherwise-banned cortisone; Ireland's Paul Kimmage, who after describing a drug-riddled sport in his book Rough Ride returned to the Tour with a press credential and was advised to leave because organizers couldn't guarantee his safety; and Spain's Jesus Manzano, who after an against-the-rules transfusion mid-Tour, which turned out to be of someone else's blood, suffered a seizure that nearly killed him.

The Duty Free Sandbag of Andorra

Today's stage of le Tour finishes in Andorra. Looks beautiful, no? That's what we thought, too, but our experience was different.

Romney examines Andorra on her blog.

In part, "Andorra is a sandbag. If you took Las Vegas, NYC, and Vail and put all three areas into Little Cottonwood Canyon you would end up with Andorra la Vella - and that's the best part. Okay, the setting is lovely (you keep trying to think), but what the French politely describe as a "hard edge of tax evaders" was really just a beautiful geography made grotesque by money and greed. Driving through was disappointing, but the appalling nature of what is being constructed and the high end retail of fashion and cars allowed room for amazement, if not actual enjoyment. Instead of stopping in this place for even a souvenir magnet we stayed in bumper-to-bumper traffic to roll through as quickly as possible to the freedom, beauty, and sunshine of the Cataluya Region of Spain."

It is, however, quite steep. Today's finale should be painful for the riders and fun to watch. But for once, I'm actually glad I'm not there.

Ronde van Salt Lake

Sunday, July 19th, 2009 is going to be the first annual Ronde van Salt Lake. Come join the fun. I'll be posting details shortly.

UPDATED 7/11

There will be two versions of this ride: An easy 50-ish mile loop and a hard 75-ish loop. The latter has the steepest climbs and most of the cobbles. Both are beautiful and circle the Salt Lake valley.

For now, go here for the info:

Best Urban Ride in the US

Some other FAQs:

How hard is the ride? Not super hard. Even the long version has short climbs. Steep, but short. The "cobbles" don't add up to much mileage. This ride isn't nearly as hard as doing a few canyons in a day because there isn't that much sustained climbing.

What are the "cobbles" like? They are mainly sections of the Jordan River Parkway that haven't been paved. A few are on the Bonneville-Shoreline Trail. They are mainly very short. If you've never been mountain biking you could find these kind of grim. But if you have, even easy mtn biking, then they aren't technical. You can just pedal your bike and steer. You don't need bike handling skills. For the most part they aren't nearly as hard as riding over Belgian cobbles. The last sector, through Parley's Nature Park (or Tanner dog park as many call it), has one little hill that is fairly technical at the end. If you get off and walk, it'll only be for a minute or so.

How are the climbs? Short. Some are quite steep. Zane is supposed to be the steepest street in town but it's probably barely 20% and two blocks long, with a break (cross street). Again, if anything is too hard, you won't be walking for more than a few hundred feet, tops.

Will I get punctures on the Jordan River Parkway? I've ridden it twice recently and not had one. Not only that, the bike trail is in good condition and most, if not all, vegetation can be avoided. I'll ride it again this week and report but I'm thinking that most of those "flat" rumors are in the fall when the goatheads are out. They should still be soft and green. Bring a patch kit and inflate your tires (to avoid pinch flats) just in case.

Will the course be marked? I'm going to mark it with the above signs next week. Hopefully most of them will survive til Sunday. I'll post a map and long verbal directions next week as well. There is a basic route description in the comments of the above link. It's an EASY course to follow and NOT GET LOST. You may get off course but since it's a circle around the city if you have a map you'll find your way back on it, or you can just ride home.

Why should I do this ride? It's awesome! Over its entire length there aren't too many places where I don't think "this is SO cool", especially when I look around. It passes many of SLC's most famous landmarks. It's challenging. It's gorgeous. I can't imagine any city in the US could come close to matching it.

Johnny Rock

John Bachar passed away over the weekend. He died doing what he loved, and ironically did better than perhaps anyone in history, soloing. He was 52.

Though I’ve known John for over 20 years he was never more than an acquaintance. I wasn’t sure whether to post something about him or not but it just seems wrong not to. There’s a thread at Super Topo with comments from many of his closest friends. If you knew him or are interested in his life, it’s the place to pay your respects:

Super Topo

Oddly enough, I had a small group of friends in town the night he died. As climbing is a small world, most of us knew him. We raised our glasses and told Bachar stories all night.

John was a hero of mine when I started climbing, as he probably was for everyone who began climbing in the 80s. This pic adorned my wall for most of my formative years in the sport. When I first met him it was like meeting a rock star for me. Coming from LA, I’d met a lot of celebs. He was, by far, the one that meant the most. But climbing celebrity is different. We sat in front of the Mountain Shop in Yosemite, alone, talking for an hour or so about the world of climbing. He didn’t know me at all.

He was, without a doubt, the best climber in the world for a period of time in the late 70s and early 80s. He was an odd dude, a bit of an enigma, but I also found him honest and straightforward. I always liked him.

People say that he mellowed with age, but I’m not sure that’s correct. My last few conversations with him centered on government conspiracies that, the more I learn, the more I’m likely to believe. He had a “Bush Knew” sticker on his truck, which is probably at the edge of that spectrum, but it’s pure Bachar. Opinionated and controversial; a position he’d defend with passion.

I think my favorite Bachar story is one I just read in Jerry Moffat’s biography Revelations. Moffat, too, found Bachar confusing; “capable of some of the most frustrating and incomprehensible behavior I have come across. At the same time, …also capable of the most amazing displays of generosity.” He could be cold, aloof, and downright unfriendly if you were crossing his personal line of ethics (which many did in the climbing world). Moffat wasn’t sure if Bachar liked him or not, until he got injured and couldn’t climb. Unable to heal his injury, he got a call from Bachar who recommended he see a specialist in LA, who treated pro athletes. John paid for his treatments.

Bachar was a soul climber; someone who doesn’t just climb for fun, but to live. Like an artist who paints or a writer who writes, whether they’re being paid or not, Bachar went climbing. I think it’s fitting he died this way. Too early, too gruesome; but fitting. He will be missed.

“Every day I go out and climb, like a dancer who works on his dance. He probably has some goals, some pieces he would like to perform, but his main goal is to work on his dance. This is how he expresses himself. Both he and I are interested in the same thing. It’s the dance that counts.” – John Bachar 1957 – 2009

Le Tour '09

Since I’ve been asked, I guess I’ll write a Tour preview. Interesting year, for sure, and I’m not even going to mention doping. The return of the Texan is the major headline but the course is very strange. There are more “easy” stages than normal, and the hard bits happen during the first and last week. This means that someone could be peaking in week one and fade by week three. The result is that no lead will be considered safe. This should make the drama higher than usual.

monaco teams presentation
The common tactic is to arrive at stage 1 at maybe 90% peak fitness and build towards week three. Young riders, in particular, seem to have trouble with this, which is why it’s rare to see youth win at le Tour, even if they’ve been dominating everything else (Valverde is a prime example). We generally don’t get a true glimpse at the GC until around stage 10.

This year, however, you could easily lose too much time to make up. The first week has at least three stages where significant time gain be gained or lost. The interesting aspect is that no one seems to be very sure how it will go. Certainly the major players have their private thoughts but it’s all feigned confusion in the press. And this is adding greatly to the fun.

Throw in all the confusion and leadership issues at Astana, the last-minute loss of Dekker, the addition of Boonen, the exclusion of Valverde, the sudden verve of Evans, the mind games of Riis (not to mention Armstrong), the cool of Sastre and the quiet of Menchov and you’ve got intrigue galore. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I with, like my friends Bruce and Alisa, I were there.

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the texan perspective

Armstrong’s return means that there is no lack of press in the US. For straight reporting, velonews.com and cyclingnews.com will still rule the day. Cyclingfans.com should not be missed, either, as they grab video feeds from around the world. Livestrong.com is also broadcasting a lot of pro-Lance stuff. If you can get your head around that, it’s pretty cool. I think personal daily reports from any rider doing the Tour is worth a look. Armstrong is more measured, more practiced, and probably cagier than your average rider but he’s still out there racing and suffering. It’s a pretty cool bonus.

As for who will win, who knows? Lance, Evans, and even Andy Schleck seem confident. And they’re all looking at numbers, so they must have some idea because those reflect their chances. Lance tipped Sastre and Menchov, who are certainly in the picture. Menchov looked unbelievably strong at the Giro and Sastre had better be dispatched by the Ventoux because he’s always strong in week three and climbs like an angel. But Lance didn’t mention Contador, who climbs even better and just crushed everyone in the Spanish time trial championships. No matter how I try, I can’t see him losing.

Limbaugh: Exercise To Blame For Health Care Problems

When I'm engaged in a debate with a crazy person I like to sit back and let them have the stage because, eventually, they'll end up burying themselves in the argument. Here is a prime example of how this works. Apparently, no one has shown Rush any statistics on heart disease and diabetes.



Thanks to Debbie for the head's up on this. Limbaugh isn't generally on my reading list for health news.

And in case you need a counterpoint, here are a few obesity epidemic stats. Maybe Rush needs to chip in and tell us how it's all really Colorado's fault.

Fat Stats

Express Diets

When it comes to improving strength to weight ratio, no training strategy is as effective as weight loss. I wrote a series of express diet plans that we offer with our programs. Today I start one of my own. It’s an extension of the Bob Diet that I did last month. Instead of focusing on alkalinity, this time I’ll focus on caloric intake.

These diets came about when Jon Congdon, our president, asked me to write out what “seven days of perfect eating” would look like. Since this is different for each person, I wrote a bunch of versions of what a perfect week would look like for someone trying to kick-start a new exercise program. I worked with one of our trainers, Debbie Siebers, and created the 6 Day Express Diet Plan. It was so successful in our test groups that I then created a version for all of our trainers.

These are essentially a just week of ultra clean eating. They are also devoid of all but subsistence calories. Glorified fasts, if you will. They are about the minimum amount you should eat if you’re trying to exercise. Even then, they shouldn’t be done for long, hence the six-day moniker. We’ve extended them for up to two weeks, though it’s almost always with added calories during the second week.

I don’t have a lot of weight to lose, but if I can lose 8 pound, that’s nearly 5 percent of my body weight. It’s feasible that I could do this over the next month or so. There’s no way to gain that much strength in a month. So as long as I can maintain fitness my strength to weight ratio will improve nearly 5%. Massive.

This type of diet is the wheelhouse for supplements. With minimized caloric intake you want to eat nutrient rich foods. Supplements are condensed nutrients, so a strategic supplementation strategy is essential. If done correctly, you will get maximum nutrients out of minimum calories.

This morning’s weight is 177.4. Body fat is 14.8%. I’m using an in-accurate scale, as most are, and the highest readings. According to the scale, my body fat percentage went up 3% last night. But I’ll take my measurements under similar conditions each day. I don’t really care what the figures say as long as they read consistently. And drop, of course.