Road Racing is Fun and All....

...but it's also nerve-wracking AF. Here's a pic of super-good dude Mike Eckert and I trying to work ourselves back across to the field after being caught up in a big crash in the 4/5 Giro Della Montagna of the Gateway Cup this weekend. Mike's cam caught the crash, which you can see around 14m45s HERE. Long story short: it was a fantastic first season on the road, but I am so ready for 'cross!

9W Magazine

Our friend j.dot from Dispatch101 sent us over a link to W9 cycling magazine, which has some great photos. Thanks, j.dot!

Check out 9W Magazine here.

More Landis Shenanigans.

An international arrest warrant has just been issued for Floyd Landis, charging him with "fraudulently breaking into a computer system" in search of documents from the French Anti-Doping Laboratory! This guy is a real winner. Full story.

Chicago Velo Campus

Now this would be amazing. A group of Chicago cyclists and sponsors are in the early stages of planning what would be a world class cycling campus for the Chicago area. The campus would include:

- State-of-the-art indoor 250m velodrome track
- Outdoor and indoor BMX tracks
- Outdoor and indoor mountain bike tracks
- Outdoor cyclocross track
- Triathlon training center
- Wind tunnel facility
- Olympic-size swimming pool
- Running track
- Fitness center
- Coaching and educational facility
- Olympic development program
- Youth, beginner, elite and masters programs
- Community center
- Physical therapy and sports medicine center
- Sports retail
- Cycling museum
- Restaurant and cafe
- Health and juice bar
- Commuter hub

Like I said, the plans are in the early stages, and I'm not sure if they have a site in mind yet, but it would be great to see something like this in the city. An indoor velodrome in particular would be incredible. Their website is here.

Hill Climbs

The Guardian has had a couple of interesting slideshows recently about hill climb races in the UK. The autumn is hill climb season there, and lots of cycling clubs around the country are currently running their historic races up steep hills, some with gradients of 25%. Check out their photos of the Catford Hill Climb here, and the Lancashire Hill Climb here. Photos by Christopher Thomond and Martin Godwin.

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.

Fireflies

Love this photo. Seen over at Milano Fixed.

Catlike Helmets to be distributed in the US

Finally! I know Catlike helmets tend to be pretty polarizing, you either love them or hate them. I'm firmly in the former camp. I have a Catlike and absolutely love it. It's hands down the best fitting helmet I've ever owned. Up until now, they've been very difficult and expensive to source but hopefully that will change now. Starting in July, Serotta Sport will be distributing Catlike here in the US. It's about time!




Me-ow!

Read more about it at Bicycle Retailer

RITTE VAN VLAANDEREN

So I don't know about you guys, but Team Ritte is quickly becoming one of my favorite non-Pegasus teams out there. They've nailed it with their slogan "Serious racers who don't take themselves so seriously.". I'm sure you've all seen some of the photos that have been floating around out there- they're so good!




Well they just posted some behind-the-scenes pictures and video from their most recent photo shoot:




Check it out!

Rapha Rules of the Road

Be sure to check out the Rapha Rules of the Road over at the Rapha blog.




Good rules to live/ride by. My personal favorite rule:

Go on ya good thing!

Irishman Philip Deignan of the Cervélo Test Team won the 18th stage at the Vuelta a España today, a 165km ride from Talavera de la Reina to Avila. He becomes the first Irishman to win a stage at a major tour since Stephen Roche's stage win at the 1992 Tour de France. Along with Nicolas Roche's (Stephen's son) good overall ride at the Tour, it's been a good year for Irish pros.

Photo: JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images

First Day in the Mountains

From Barcelona to Andorra, today is the first mountain stage in this year's Tour. Who's going to attack first? And how will my fantasy TdF team, made up exclusively of sprinters, fare? Poorly, I'm guessing. If you're trying to find live feeds of the action, CyclingFans is your best bet.

One of the Best

This guy. Thanks for the mad points, FC!

Downers Ave 2009

One of the most popular and historic road races in the American season is this weekend. The Downer Classic, part of the Tour of America's Dairyland, will take place in Milwaukee, WI, this Saturday, June 27th. It's going to be pretty crazy, so get there early. All the details are here, and keep an eye out for the Ben's Cycle Ultra Prime competition during the race.

I'll stick to the track, thanks!

From yesterday's mountain stage of the Giro, which was also, apparently, one of the hottest days on record. Nessun grazie!

Photo: ALESSANDRO TROVATI/AFP/Getty Images

Tom Simpson T-Shirt

Brand new Tom Simpson t-shirt collaboration between the people at Urban Hunter and Gage&DeSoto. The shirts are inspired by the checkerboard Peugeot team jersey he wore, and the label bears the words "on, on, on," referring to Simpson's last words when, after collapsing during the climb of Mt. Ventoux during the 1967 Tour, he demanded to be put back on his bike by the people who rushed to help him. He collapsed and died a few seconds later.

Combination Classification Jacket

So it appears that Prendas have discovered the secret to time travel, and for some reason went back to 1985 to get a few examples of this ridiculous Tour de France combination classification jacket. Fair play to them. The combination jersey was awarded to the best rider in all the classifications combined, hence the hobo-esque patchwork nature of the jersey (the green for points, the polka dots for mountains, the yellow for overall). It's frightful. Get it here!

Time to bust this one out again...

Thanks for the image, Josh.

Giro d'Italia

Begins tomorrow. If you're in the US, you can watch it on Universal Sports.

Poster by the incomparable Graham Watson.

Team Rwanda

Last Sunday's Observer newspaper had a brilliant article on professional cycling in Rwanda. It focused on Team Rwanda, the first ever pro team in the country. Many of the cyclists on Team Rwanda lost family members in the genocide that took place there in 1994, but the team hopes to make Rwanda famous for more than just that awful conflict. "If I go outside the country and I am wearing this shirt," Rafiki, one of the cyclists, says, tugging at his Team Rwanda jersey, "people will know about Rwanda for something else." They're trying to become the most successful pro team in Africa, and hope to send a team to the Tour de France within the decade. It's an inspiring article. Read it here.

The article in the Observer is by Steve Bloomfield, and the photo above is by Riccardo Gangale.