Laurent Fignon

Seen here racing a Madison during the Paris 6-Day in 1984, French cycling legend and two time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon has passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was only 50 years old. RIP.

Jackson Park Relay Cross

Somewhere between an alleycat and cyclocross, the Relay Cross race was a blast, especially the co-ed race, which had huge numbers of competitors riding the course and dodging the sofa crew's heckles and buckets of water. Well done to Adam and everyone at xXx Racing for putting on a great race!

Mass start, alleycat style.

Nico of the Chicago Cuttin' Crew won a couple of the categories. Damn son, leave some for the rest!

Andrew Yeoman of Team Pegasus, clearing a barrier.

Avi gets ready to race with his daughter in the co-ed category. Chicago Cute Crew, amirite??

Chaos in the handover area.

BenVC of Team Pegasus, riding in the dust beside Lake Shore Drive. Ben is 41 years old today.

Weaving through the trees.

The rowdy couch crew. Funnest part of the race.

Unofficial course design consultant Andrew Nordyke felt the race wasn't muddy enough, so...

Fellow Irishperson Maria Larkin shouldering her bike through the crazy corner.

Henry Loud of Team Pegasus gets ready to pass some dudes. Race face!

It still wasn't muddy enough for the couch crew...

Henry tussling with/passing Chris Jensen of Half Acre. Elfin Nordyke watches approvingly from his tree.

Another of the day's winners for the CCC, Christina Peck.

Sage put up some videos of the race here and here.

Lance Armstrong Wants To Tell Nation Something But...

A little Friday satire via the Onion:

Lance Armstrong Wants To Tell Nation Something But Nation Has To Promise Not To Get Mad

DALLAS—Saying that it would probably be best if everyone sat down for this, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong informed the U.S. populace Thursday that he wanted to tell it something, but that the nation first had to promise it wouldn't get angry once he did.

"Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. It's bad," Armstrong said during the nationally televised press conference. "But you have to swear to God that you won't get mad when I tell you, because if you get upset and yell about how you're really disappointed I'm just going to walk out of here."

"Okay?" Armstrong continued. "You guys promise?"

Armstrong then took a deep breath, massaged his forehead, murmured "Oh boy, here we go," and appeared for several moments to be on the verge of telling the nation his news. He seemed to lose his focus, however, commenting that it wasn't as if anything he was about to say would diminish the fact that he beat cancer or that his foundation has donated more than $250 million to cancer research.

In addition, Armstrong said the American people had to promise that, following his announcement, they would resist the urge to remove their Livestrong bracelets and throw them away or burn them.

"Okay, there's no easy way to put this, but, well, you guys know how I won a record seven consecutive Tours de France between 1999 and 2005?" said Armstrong, who took a sip of water as his hand visibly shook. "Well, this has to do with that. It also has to do with this impending federal investigation of my cycling team. What it absolutely does not have anything to do with is the fact that I am an inspiration to cancer sufferers worldwide—cancer sufferers who could potentially experience serious physical and emotional setbacks if you break your promise and get mad at me."

Throughout the preamble to his announcement, onlookers reported getting the impression that Armstrong felt some need to defend what he was about to tell the country. The world's most successful cyclist spent almost 25 minutes telling the nation that, as a top-level international athlete, one has to do certain things to remain competitive; that he has no regrets; and that, given the chance to live his life again, he would do everything again the same way.

Armstrong also repeatedly mentioned that he had beaten cancer.

"You have to understand—in the high-pressure world of competitive cycling, it's all about getting any advantage you can," Armstrong said. "And if we were being realistic, we'd have to admit that everyone in cycling was trying to get an advantage. So, in a way, if we were all trying to get the same advantage, then the playing field was still completely equal. So I was still the best. It makes sense when you look at it that way. And nothing I am about to tell you changes that. So, when I'm finished saying what I have to say, you all have to promise to still adore me."

"In fact, if you don't still adore me, and you suddenly get all huffy and say that I wasn't really a hero all these years, you are in the wrong here, not me," Armstrong added. "You. Not me."

Armstrong then stood, paced back and forth for a moment, shook his head, and returned to the microphone.

"You guys are not making this easy for me, that's for damn sure," he said. "This really shouldn't be hard. Because it's actually not even really that big of a deal. At all. Frankly, I don't even know why I'm here right now."

Armstrong reiterated for a fifth and sixth time that he had beaten cancer.

"Okay, here goes," Armstrong said. "Um, in the late '90s and early 2000s, I took, um… You see, in order to give myself a better chance of winning, I… Yes, there were instances during the Tour when…"

"You know what? I forgot what I was going to say," Armstrong added. "Sorry. I feel like an idiot. Have a nice afternoon."

From the Onion

D'Acciaio (Of Steel)

Be sure not to miss the most recent Rapha/RSA short film that went live today- D'Acciaio (Of Steel) featuring Dario Pegoretti by Ben Ingham. Screening today only!

Watch it here.

Absolutely beautiful...

Rapha Fastest Mechanic Comp Photos

It just so happens that my brother, who recently moved to NYC, was at the Rapha Fastest Mechanic competition yesterday and took these photos. Thanks for letting me put them up, Paul!

The place: the Rapha Cycle Club in NYC.

The crowd.

The prize.

None of this "let's just put together a track bike," these guys had to fully assemble a road bike.

Wrench.

The winner of the Rapha Fastest Mechanic competition: José from Sid's Bikes.

Rapha Fastest Mechanic Competition

Tonight in NYC! Thanks for the reminder Tracko! Wish I was there to see this. +1 on the photos Prolly!

Full Steam Eddy

I figured this warranted a repost, just incase you missed Prolly's post. I promised him the "exclusive" for his ongoing excellent Merckx Mondays series.



Good stuff indeed.
Be sure to check Prolly's take on it here.

Monkey Like Shiny Expanding Rack

Saw over at my favorite renegade fabricator's blog, Monkey Like Shiny, that he whipped up a smart little expanding rack for his lady-friend over the weekend.




Very smart design. If you look closely, you notice that part of it is actually made out of a pair of 70's Schwinn road bars.

Also, check out this chariot project he's been working on:


Insane!

Read more about his ongoing projects here.

COG Issue 9

Out now! Details here.

Two Broad Arrows

The Rapha film Two Broad Arrows (inspired by Sean Kelly) is now available to watch here, but only till tomorrow, so don't miss it.

This just made my day...

*PSSST- Kyle's shopping around for a fixed freestyle bike- pass it on!

Via Tracko of course

"Mower Gang" Tackles Detroit Velodrome

Watch the actual video HERE.

A group of self-proclaimed “do-gooders” and “helper-outers,” as well as “the greatest gang of idiots to ever run a lawn tractor” has recently taken root in Detroit. Its purpose is to restore–by way of mowing–some of the city’s public lands, such as parks, that the city itself is no longer able to keep up. As the gang puts it, “Rather than see them abandoned, the Mower Gang swoops in and keeps the weeds from taking over.”

The Mower Gang’s first project (undertaken on August 8th) was an abandoned velodrome–which they cleaned up nicely, restoring it to full use.

If you’re in the Detroit area and interested in helping out, just find out where they’ll be and come with a mower or trimmer of your own. You can find out more about the crew on their website.

Text from here




This is awesome. We really need more of this sort of thing.

Thanks to J.dad- I mean J.dot, for the heads up!

Check out more info on the Mower Gang at their website.

Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show

This is really a great looking flyer- although, if hammers are one of your main framebuilding tools, you're probably doing it wrong. Good looking graphic either way though. Be sure to go ahead and add this to your fall calendar if you're in the area.

1989 Track Cycling World Championships

I was just browsing through flickr the other night and I found nztony's excellent photos of the 1989 Track Cycling World Championships in Lyon. Check out some of the highlights below, and head over to his photostream to see the rest. Thanks for letting me put these up, Tony!

Tony's not sure who these match sprint riders are. Maybe Frederic Magne (France) v's Bill Huck (East Germany)? Whoever it is, check out the sheriff stars. Nice. Photo by nztony.

East German sprinters go head to head. Love this shot. Photo by nztony.

The East German pursuit team on some fancy bikes. Photo by nztony.

East German pursuit bike technology. Insanely advanced for 1989. Also, check out that sweet Colnago. Photo by nztony.

Details of the bb shell of the above bike. The "made in GDR" label slays me. Photo by nztony.

Viatcheslav Ekimov 4000m Individual Pursuit Final. Photo by nztony.

Michael Hübner, East German sprinter. His holder is a styler. Photo by nztony.

Unknown sprinters from France and the Soviet Union at the World Cycling Championships, Lyon, France 1989. Photo by nztony.

East Germans Celebrating becoming the 1989 World 4000 Metre Team Pursuit Champions. Obviously those fancy bikes worked. Photo by nztony.

This guy is my hero. Note: child's air horn on Colnago warm-up bike. Photo by nztony.

Prize Bags for Relay Cross

These luchador themed bags from Seagull are just a part of the ridiculous prize haul you could win at Relay Cross. The flier is here. See you there!

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MASH cap from Cinelli.