Did some more riding on Sunday which was fun. Just so that you know, when Joe says "easy" what that translates to is "probably not as easy as you might think." The light was crazy as well, maybe something to do with the moisture? Although, I profess, I am not much of a meteorologist. Or maybe, and this is probably closer to the truth. Maybe Saint Valentine was watching over us. Yeah, probably not that one either, since they are not even sure he is a Saint.
Big ups to Adrian and Steven who were 2nd and 3rd respectively this weekend. Oh and KV who was something like 12th in the Men's Pro field at the Cherry Pie Classic. Amazing. AO pulled off the second even though there were, and I quote him here: "A lot of antsy dudes trying to get away early." Way to hold on and then stick em at the end.
Also did some important reading this weekend that I really thought you should know about.
Rouleur #16
I think that the newest issue of Rouleur might be my favorite so far. Sure, I might be biased because I wrote a piece for the issue on last years Tour of California (which started on Valentines day none the less.) But that aside, everything about the issue is amazing. And I have not even finished reading the issue. Which means I will try not to gush, but if you get a chance to pick this one up do so (if for no other reason than they have been selling out - and one on ebay for $122.00).
In all seriousness. The Lichtenstein tribute that Richard Mitchelson does to the cover is the best break from the ordinary that R could have done. They handed it over to an artist. Rouleur has never done wrong by us with their wraparound covers and as soon as I saw this one I knew that Zed would be featured and my bossom grew with excitement. Can they do that?
The article that I read the other night was about the Shimano corporation. Part One anyway. Photos by Taz Darling are amazing to say the least. Which they normally are when you are dealing with Taz... Now, where normally we would see the broad expanse of what might be Flanders or a Queen Stage of the Tour de France is now replaced with the electric wires and steel girders. A golden mystical Tarrentino box opening to highlight their Shimano signage.
And the (almost) about face that Guy Andrews does in his introduction to Shimano is worth it alone. To think that someone could go from dyed in the wool Campag fan to — not only considering, but visiting and paying hommage to the legandary parts manufacturer is great. And at the same time instills a great confidence in me that at some point we really are all going to get along.
From there we move into Team Z (Zed) and I have yet to read this piece but it looks amazing especially the small touch of the "Z" everywhere. I have one of the Team Z bikes, was the first bike I really did a few races on. Stored away, ready for me to fall into that old school Dura Ace group. Also, it has an Italian BB which is odd.
The aforementioned Mitchelson illustrations. He does a great job with details. Notice the Sunglasses and the pony. And I'm not talking about a regular Pony here, I'm talking a Millar pony. Something that, as well with his Oakley choices has unfortunately gone the way of the Buffalo. Sorry guys.
Also, in one of the largest photo segments I have ever seen in Rouleur — Dan Sharp pays tribute to the Tour of California. I wrote the piece associated with it, but I do not know that anyone could pay tribute to a race as well as his photographs do. I was just a fly on the wall and Dan's photos represent much more than that perspective. Plus he got a cool shot of Tim Johnson climbing and Mancebo's winning day in the rain. The whole section looks good and is also sepperated from the other articles by its paper stock, which, I'm not going to lie gives me a 'paper stock boner' in the sense that I would just love to have these options. Just the option to use different paper stocks would be AMAZING....
(ps, I'm thinking that it might be Guy's secret little jab at American Cyclists that he always puts that ad - below - with the guy having plastic bags over his feet - next to us Americans. But we don't all wear plastic bags on our feet Guy. FYI.)
And the final installment is about another topic that I have no shame in loving - food. Pretty much one of the reasons that I like to ride my bike. Because I really, really like to eat. Willy Balmat is a Chef to the stars you might say. He is currently the Team Chef for Cervelo Test Team (hi guys) but has also done a stint with Mr. Armstrong and maybe a few other teams as well.
I am ashamed to say that I did not finish the article entirely before falling asleep with the book on my chest (how cute is that) but I will peruse and report back. And speaking of sleep.
