Product Review Teaser!

Soon, I will be receiving a set of virtual cycling training DVDs for indoor cycling. Global Ride Productions has graciously offered to send me their entire Hawaii series DVD boxed set to review!

From what I have found out so far, these DVDs are quite different from most 'trainer' rides. They travel to exotic locations, have multiple coaching tracks on every DVD, licensed music, and bonus yoga, pilates or strength training sessions designed for cyclists.

Keep Watching!  I will update you as to when the product arrives, how the review is going, and of course I will post a complete product review as soon as possible

**** UPDATE ****
I have recieved the DVDs and I am staerting the review process. There are 3, 1+ hour DVDs, so I am going to do a 3 Part Review. So keep watching for Part 1 coming soon!

There Is A Great, New Local Food Experience in Scottsville, Virginia

Cyclists can not survive on riding and caffeine alone... We also require food, and I have found a great, new place that you should try if you find yourself near the historic town of Scottsville, in Central Virginia.

Country Blessings Local Food's has just opened on Main Street (actually addess is 20 Valley Street). It is easy to find though, look for the first building on your left after the James River Bridge if your heading North, or the last on your right if heading South on Highway 20.

Country Blessing's offers a wide variety of Virginia products with the majority coming from within a 50 mile radius. Products from well-known, local sources and local organic produce, a great varity of  Wines From Virginia Vineyards: and Great Mirco-Brews FromVeritas Virginia Breweries.

The Deli/Grocery Carries Regional and International Food and Cheeses

They also serve Breakfast, Lunch, Weekend Brunch (which I really like) and are open until 8PM every night,

Their menu includes Pizzas (Be sure to try the Deep Dish!), Strombolis, Calzones, Sandwiches (Deli &; Grilled), Paninis, Burgers (hormone-free beef),  Gyros (Whowould have ever thgouth you Salads, Home-Made Sides.

Even better you can download a copy of their menu for yourself.

Happy Tax Day!?

Leo Tolstoy:


“I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means -- except by getting off his back.”

Hmmmm…. Happy April 15.

Please help me fight multiple sclerosis!

Every hour of every day, someone is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I have a very personal reason for wanting a cure for MS found. Multiple Sclerosis has had a direct impact on my life, and I don't want other families to go through what mine has. My mother passed away in 20002 from Progressive-Relapsing MS.

That's why have I registered for the 2009 Bike MS ride, the Tour de Vine, and that's why I'm asking you to support my fund raising efforts with a tax-deductible donation of any amount, great or small, which helps to make a difference in the lives of people with MS.

Please pledge your support to me today!

Click here to visit my personal page.
I appreciate your support and look forward to letting you know how I do.

From Friday, June 12 through Sunday, June 14, 2009, I will be joining 800+ cyclists who will (hopefully) enjoy various length routes passing through Virginia’s famous wine country and the beautiful landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains and supported throughout by hundreds of volunteers, in this year's 'Start to Finish MS Bike Ride', better know as The Tour de Vine. Lengths include a 25, 50,75, and 100 mile option for both Saturday and Sunday.

My Goal is to ride the 50 mile route each day.

People living with MS overcome challenges everyday: to walk, to have energy to go to the store, to have the will power not to give up. That is why it is so important to me that I support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and I need your help to turn my goal into a reality.I have accepted the challenge to raise funds in the fight against MS and you can help me get there.

Please pledge your support to me today!

Click here to visit my personal page.

If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/VABBikeEvents?px=6297198&pg=personal&fr_id=10668&s_tafId=104521

If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from Bike MS are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit nationalmssociety.org

Gary Koenig, the Denver Cycling Examiner, has a great list for cyclists you should check out!

As part of the wide-ranging stimulus effort to get our great country back on the right economic track, it's your duty as a cyclist to go out and buy some stuff.

If you’re trying to figure out which pieces of cycling equipment you should be lusting after, if you endeavor to understand where you stack up in the rider hierarchy or if you’re just trying to pigeon-hole the rider you just blew by (or vice versa), here is a checklist of equipment choices that should help you get the US economy perking again.

Start paying attention to what other riders are riding, carrying and wearing to get a better sense for what you need to buy to more closely approximate the rider you think you are. Bicycling can be an incredibly simple and relatively inexpensive sport, but gear choices are almost unending, so get your favorite cycling catalog out and start planning your acquisitions. Right now you'll get some great deals and you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you helped right a sinking economic ship.

Drinking caffeine before strenuous bike rides reduces muscle pain, a new study suggests.

Reporting in the April edition of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, Illinois professor Robert Motl describes how java comes to the rescue. He says caffeine works on a system in the brain and spinal cord called adenosine neuromodulatory that is involved in pain processing.

“Caffeine blocks adenosine from binding so you stop part of the pain receiving process,” he says. “We do not have the data to show how caffeine takes effect, but we do know the physiology of caffeine.” He said one of the next steps for his research team would be to conduct studies with rodents in order to better understand caffeine’s role in reducing pain.

His study involved 25 fit, college-aged males. One group had low to non-existent caffeine intake. The second group routinely drank three to four cups of coffee a day. Everyone was instructed not to drink coffee 24 hours prior to the session. For one session, they were given a caffeine pill, the equivalent of two to three cups of coffee. For the next session, they were given a placebo.
During both exercise sessions, riders were asked to record perceptions of quadricep pain. Motl says the results surprised him. Both habitual and “naive users,” or people who didn’t drink coffee, experienced less pain after taking the pill.

A former competitive cyclist, Motl says he would always meet other cyclists at coffee shops before they would ride so “we could get all loaded up. And wherever you go in Europe, you’ll see cyclists sipping on a shot of espresso or drinking their latte before riding.”

Motl thinks people intuitively know to drink coffee before riding because it makes the exercise less painful and they can push harder.

Photo of Motl with his bike and a cup of coffee by University of Illinois.

--By Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY

Update: WebMD has pretty much the same story

Austin unveils bicycle sharing for city workers

AUSTIN, Texas — A new going green project in Austin, TX involves people power and balance.

The city on Thursday unveiled a bicycle-sharing program for municipal workers who need to travel short distances for meetings or other business.

Austin bought 15 bicycles, at a cost of $256 each, as part of the Climate Protection Program funded by Austin Energy.

City spokeswoman Charlotte Blum says Austin is providing helmets and locks.
Workers can reserve the bicycles via the city's Intranet Web site, then they receive an access code.

The bicycles must be returned to the same location, with six sites available, as part of the city's pilot program to also ease traffic congestion.

Portland, Portland Style: Touring by Bicycle

Matt Furber over at the New York Times has written a pretty good article of cycling in Portland, Ore. Good enough to make me want to take a trip out there just to see if he is correct.

"Careering through streets on a bicycle in Portland, Ore., this time of year can be an easy weekend adventure that mixes showers, sunbursts, cafes and a robust bicycle culture. And equipped with a sturdy rain jacket, booties, fenders and a bike map (a waterproof version that folds to the size of a credit card is handy), visitors can enjoy the city the way locals do."

Check out the rest of the article here

2009 San Diego Custom Bicycle Show, April 3-5

If You're in San Diego this Weekend...You love bikes? You really love bikes and you're near San Diego? Well then, you've got to check out the 2009 San Diego Custom Bicycle Show! It takes place this weekend on April 3rd, 4th and 5th. Of course, best not to drive to the show. Here's the San Diego regional bike map, and if the weather's not nice, there's always mass transit.

Here's the exhibitor list:
The show takes place at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in the "Golden Pacific Ballroom", 500 Hotel Circle North, San Diego, California 92108. This is where Highway 163 crosses Interstate Highway 8.

For more information, visit the official San Diego Custom Bicycle Show website. You can order your tickets here.

Via San Diego Custom Bicycle Show, Cyclelicious

Need a 'cyclists' job? UPS Back to Delivering by Bike

UPS is looking for cyclists in Portland, Corvallis and other cities to drag around 200 pound trailers to do deliveries.

UPS's Jeff Grant spoke with Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland:

“For every three bikes we use for deliveries, we save an average of 17 gallons of fuel per day (compared to one truck). That’s about $50 in savings.” Across the entire district, Grant says for every three bikes used during the holiday season, UPS will save $38,000 in vehicle operation and upkeep costs.

Grant told Jonathan that " he’ll ask delivery staff to deliver about 25-50 packages per day, compared to 150 stops a day for a normal “package car”.

I am surprised that they can only deliver such a small proportion compared to the normal car, what with the problems of parking. I am also curious about security of the packages left on the cart when they run in to make a delivery. But I certainly can see big savings for UPS; no truck, no fuel, and a great workout to boot. What more do you need?

Nude Aussie bicycle riders take to streets of Melbourne for World's Naked Bike Ride

A newly married couple got a wedding picture with a difference when naked cyclists converged on their photo session at State ParliamentHouse on March 15th.

World Naked Bike Ride organiser Heidi Hill said the newlyweds grabbed the chance to get a photo when the cyclists reached the mid-way point of their annual ride yesterday.

“They were having photos taken on the steps of Parliament House and all of a sudden we showed up and they had to have a photos with us,” Ms Hill said.

>>Gallery: the naked ride through Melbourne
>>Gallery: last year’s ride
Warning: both galleries contain nudity

Ms Hill said the naked bike ride through Melbourne’s streets went off without a hitch.
Police accompanied cyclists from Fitzroy to State Parliament and back yesterday, but no arrests were made.

Event participants last week vowed they were prepared to be arrested if police tried to stop them riding nude along Brunsick and Lygon streets.

Police last year told male cyclists to cover up “because men have exposed genitalia”.
Ms Hill said about 50 cyclists who braved the cold yesterday “had a ball” on the hour-long ride.
“We had a couple of people fall off in the wet on the tram tracks, but no one was injured,” Ms Hill said.

“Police were helpful but unobtrusive. They let everyone ride naked.”

Read the rest of the article at the Melbourne-Leader

History Lesson: Some Cyclists and Pedestrians Were Jerks In 1908 Too

An absolutely fascinating seven minute film of the streets of Barcelona in 1908, taken with a camera mounted on the front of a streetcar. The streets are dominated by bicyclists and pedestrians, many of whom appear to be in a non-stop game of chicken with the trolley. It is lovely to see a world without cars where streets are for people; not so lovely to see that some people's riding habits haven't generally improved.