Before you roll up to the line this week at your local race or group ride, take 15 minutes to give your bike a nice wash down. You know you'll feel better and your bike will be much happier when it's clean. Here's a brief video on how to clean your bike and get the dirt out of all those hard to reach places. Quick caveat.... most people will not use (let alone own) a pressure washer to clean their bike. A simple hose with running water should suffice and be nicer to your bearings over time.
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In the past year or so, I've been asked by many friends / colleagues / family members / you name it, reoccurring and similar questions: "So where is a good place to buy a bike?... but I don't want to break the bank." "I want to start riding, what type of bike should I get?" "Should I buy a used bike or new bike?" Everyone asks these questions, and many more, before the first bike purchase. So here are some simple pieces of advice to take into account before you make that first big purchase. Little delayed on our end ... but better late than never (said your boss never). Here are some pictures from races around the region this past weekend. Special shout out to Jon Winters for photographing literally every race at the VA RR championships. Props to Kelly/LSV for rolling 15 deep, controlling the entire race and bringing home the Jersey. Also big shout out to Lindsay Bayer for killing it while out at Tour of Elk Grove. Former XO rider turned to wattz dropping, heart smashing women's professional cyclist. Cheers!
In other news ... the freshbikes ride was really really really really really hard tonight. Baja fresh rules.
That is all. We have some friends in NYC who recently documented their journey from New York City to Montreal Canada. We stumbled across their trailer late last night and it immediately caught our attention. The full video will undoubtedly be worth the watch.
http://vimeo.com/70419411 Riders who are featured include: Vincent Malo (Québec - SRS & Team iBike) Josh Gieni (Saskatchewan - Team iBike) Gophrette Power (France) Danny G. Taillon (Québec) Romain Albertini (France) Marie-Hélène Lapierre (Québec) David Trumph (USA - Chalet Magazine) Phil Penman (England - Chalet Magazine) James Stevens (Australia - Chalet Magazine) Martin Amiot (Québec - Ombres & Lumières) Philippe Bellemare (Québec - Ombres & Lumières) Looking for some great places to ride in DC? We've put together 10 areas and paths worth exploring in and around the District. There are plenty of hidden gems throughout the city; however, we felt these are 10 areas every cyclist should explore at least once.
This weekend saw multiple state championship races as well as the professional crit national championships. HUGE congrats to Allison Powers and Eric Young on their national championships! Watch out for them over the next year as they will be sporting the red, white & blue jerseys.
National Championships Article - Velonews
National Championships Results - Velonews *If you have pictures, shoot us a link and we'll throw them up! This week the Secret Pro came out with a new article on the Tour de France. This article gives a nice inside look into the Peloton (Grouppeto). Definitely worth the read. Check out his article here.
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013/07/the-secret-pro-post-tour-de-france-edition/ Here are some pictures from the races over the past few weekends. Road season is slowly fading BUT dun dun dunnnnn CROSS season is almost upon us.
* If you have other pictures feel free to shoot them to us and we will throw them up!
This is going to be the first in a semi-occurring series of "How To" ________. This article we explore the art of riding home with a flat tire. Yesterday I found myself in a rather tough situation. At 5:30pm I happily raced out of work and went to mount my single speed bike to pedal home and make my group ride at 7:00pm in Arlington (Freshbikes). Problem #1: When I arrived at my bike I had a flat front tire. Problem #2: No spare tire or anything to fix it. Problem #3: Rush hour metro, so no-can-do on the metro + bike. Problem #4: There is no way on earth I am riding the metro without my bike in this heat with that many people. Walking, not worth mentioning. SOLUTION: Ride home with a flat front tire. Now I must admit, this is something which is not advised by 99.7% of cyclists. HOWEVER, someday you may find yourself with a crappy rim which you despise it's very existence and an old tire you were looking to burn (not literally my eco-aware friends) and a group ride which you simply cannot miss for the sake of your mental sanity. If you find yourself in such a situation, I've put together some pointers to live by when riding home with a flat tire. 1. Straight lines - Remember, you have 0 psi in that front rim. Therefore any sudden movement left or right is going to cause that tire to slide off the rim and before you know it you will be laying in the pothole which needed paved for the past 3 years staring at the Metro bus running the red light while cutting through the bike lane on L street (it is a bike lane right?). 2. Turning - In the event you must turn... 5mph (8kph) or less is an appropriate speed. A good way to measure this is as you begin your turn, the number of cars behind you should increase by five times the number which existed at the beginning of the turn (ex: 1 car behind while on 13th street. 5 cars by the time you turn on H street). 3. Bike Rim - If you have a rim which is worth more than $100, or you care in any way about your rim, do not ride home. This very well could be the final voyage of your rim which so rudely decided to pick up that piece of glass in the first place. You might teach it a lesson, but you may never see it again too. 4. Tire - Its dead. 5. Riding in a group - No. While you have a flat you are banned from participating in pace lines / drafting / racing / communicating / eye contact with other cyclists. You ARE a hazard to them. Exceptions to this rule are if the cyclists notices your predicament and graciously offer you a spare tube. 6. Smile - You're now on your way home and your total trip is only going to be delayed by 5 minutes if you're commuting in DC! By following these simple steps I was able to make it safely home and off to my group ride in time (with a bike which did not have a flat tire). Happy pedaling! A few pictures from this past weekend of racing can be found below. Glad to have the Tyson's race come back to the region!
If you have any additional photos shoot us a link and we'll add them!
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The Paceline
The Paceline is our blog which is updated periodically with different news about races, events and anything else interesting and involves a bike. Archives
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