One of the most popular routes to ride in Marin County, California is known as the Alpine Dam Loop. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done the loop, but I remember one 4th of July ride over twenty years ago clearly, as if it just happened yesterday.
Winter can be kind of rough for cyclists sometimes, at least for those who don’t have a winter sport that gets them outside. Winter can also be a good season for a little downtime, to either recover from the year’s efforts, or to take your mind off the mind-numbing chore of riding a trainer indoors. As a fan of cycling as a sport, along with its history, I am constantly seeking out new books to read, and I know that others may do the same. As such, I am pleased to present the 2019 version of A Cyclist’s Winter Reading List.
30 years ago today, shortly after 5:00 pm, I was sitting on the stoop outside the Nob Hill restaurant at which I worked in San Francisco, smoking a cigarette. The lunch rush was long over, and the dinner rush hadn’t started. It was hot; very hot that day. We called it earthquake weather. Little did we know. I was one of the lucky ones.
I have a fascination with words, and I love to debate. I can argue semantics for hours, much to the dismay of people around me at times. I’m pretty sure that’s why a friend of mine gave me a book this past summer; because I was driving her crazy with my insistence on using the right words.
What is the most frustrating thing that can happen to a cyclist? I think one of them is being forced off the bike, and in to walking. One weekend, late in the summer of 1994, I had that experience.
By nature, I am not a particularly religious person, but I do have a fascination with the Madonna del Ghisallo, who in the Catholic faith has been named the patron saint of cyclists.
On June 28, 1969, a young Belgian cyclist, dressed in the white and red colors of the Faema squad and wearing dossard #51, took his place on the start-line of the 56th Tour de France; his first appearance. He almost didn’t start, however, and who knows what his career would have looked like had he not.
2019 marked a number of milestones for the Tour de France. It is the 30th anniversary of Greg LeMond’s 58-second defeat of Laurent Fignon. t is also the 50th anniversary of Eddy Merckx’s first of five Tour de France victories in 1969. 2019 also marks the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the maillot jaune, the yellow jersey worn to signify the leader of the race, and that is a story in itself.
Cycling is a team sport; races may be won by individuals, but those individuals generally would not be successful without the support of a good team behind them, a team not only of riders but of support personnel as well, from the Directeurs Sportif, to the mechanics and soigneurs.
The father of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange, likely turned over in his grave when the first Mavic Neutral Service car joined the caravan in 1973. In the early years of the Tour, riders were responsible for conducting their own repairs and were forbidden any outside assistance. So how did that first Mavic Neutral Service vehicle come to be?
