On the same day I’m supposed to celebrate my birthday, Stage Four of the 2008 Tour of California was punishing the peloton with a biting headwind, rain and hypothermia. It was a day when California’s Pacific Coast Highway bared her teeth and proved that she could inspire as many curses as complements.

Saturday, under idyllic skies, [...]

Back in February my wife Juli dropped me off in a Sausolito parking for my first Rapha gentlemen’s ride. Standing there in a freshly pressed Rapha uniform with my shiny black plastic bike I felt like a kid on the first day at a new school. I watched the Continental crew spill out of their [...]

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Those of you who read Velodramatic regularly know I have a dark addiction to high-end cycling kit. I go one or two weeks without feeding the habit and my pedal stroke breaks down (more ankling [...]

The Baum
Australia’s Baum Cycles designs and builds some of the most beautiful bikes on the planet. Their latest custom offering, a Graphite Corretto, is a must see. Elegant and refined, this black stunner is the bike I want to roll riderless behind my funeral cortège when I’ve finally unclipped for good.

If it were mine, I’d [...]

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I’ve played golf far longer than I’ve cycled… almost thirty-five years in pursuit of the elusive magic of the game. Few might agree but golf and cycling have a great deal in common. At their core both sports are solitary conversations with ourselves, revealing with brutal clarity our true character. Courage, integrity, commitment are [...]

I pulled up to Brendan’s place at 6:20 am, and loaded his bike onto the Raxter while he gathered the last bits and pieces for a long day together on the road. His giant Soulcraft was sporting a new, but recycled, Brooks saddle that had only seen limited action on his commuter. He must have [...]

Yesterday I lost my bearings twice. We were a mile from the finish of our Sunday ride when my crankset started to self destruct. Half expecting metal shavings and sparks to accompany the horrible sounds coming from the bottom bracket, I limped home, searching for a gear and a cadence that would minimize the damage [...]

Santa Clara, CA – Each Spring, when cycling’s attention turns to classics on the cobbles of Belgium, cyclists here face an annual classic of another kind. I’m speaking of course about Trash week - the Hell of the Heap, a general amnesty for homeowners resulting in a communal purge to equal Hercules’ labors in [...]

My legs were turning the pedals but I had no sensation of movement as the road slid underneath me like a giant, silent treadmill. The flu that had kept me off the bike for six days, hadn’t completely released its grip. I didn’t feel bad… I didn’t feel anything. My senses were dulled, my reactions [...]

I’m still horribly jet lagged from the holiday and yesterday’s fast-paced 46 miles with TJ didn’t help but I’ve started to sort through the mountain of images from Scotland. The eight-day whirlwind tour of Lewis, Harris and Skye was spectacular. The weather ranged from bright sunshine to howling gales laced with rain and snow. From [...]

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With my left thigh cramping and ride support stretched between two groups still out on the road, no man’s land was no place to be. 65 tough miles behind me, at the corner of Clark Rd and Highway 1 I climbed [...]

Eric Smith, Amgen Tour of California’s Course Director, eased my naive worries about the condition of the Mt. Hamilton descent. The organizers and Caltrans are on top of the situation and will be sweeping the road and cold patching any bad spots in the days leading up to Stage 3. Good news for riders, spectators [...]

Yesterday TJ and I rode Mt. Hamilton again, but instead of hanging out at the Lick Observatory for a few minutes before turning back we dropped down the backside for a little photographic reconnaissance. Given its penultimate place in the stage, it’s unlikely the backside climb of Hamilton will do more than make a general [...]

So there I was, instantly an eternity off the back of the group on the most petrifying descent I’ve ever ridden. Only one thing was blocking 2 Team CSC cars from their entire team: A solitary, brake-happy Cat 3 in Competitive Cyclist kit on a pimped-out Cervélo twice the cost of any CSC rider’s bike [...]

Winter has finally arrived in the Bay Area. Mt. Hamilton, benign and warm on New Year’s Day, has been socked with snow and shrouded by cloud most of the week. Down in the valley, the commuting miles have been cold, damp and miserable, despite an additional layer or two of clothing.

Today I tested a pair [...]