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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 take the black one step further with Record cages and mount my new Edge Composites' carbon clinchers for the ultimate dark racer. Every time I visit the site I have to remind myself to be strong. I promised Juli I wouldn't think about another bike in 2008; only 156 days till January 1st, 2009.

The Bombing Run

Saturday I managed 65 miles on the best legs I've had all year. I picked up TJ and Clavin in Los Altos for a what was supposed to be an easy pedal to 92 and back. We stuck to the plan until we hit Woodside and found ourselves at the back of a group ride turning onto Canada road. The twenty odd riders were still playing nice when Clavin decided to pass the lot. Big Mistake. Sensing what was likely to happen TJ and I hesitated before following his lead... the reaction came quickly.

Five hundred meters in, we got passed by several riders as the pace immediately jumped to 25 mph on the flat, and we happily joined the paceline taking turns at the front as the Northbound train gathered steam. Before long a group of ten had separated from the main peloton and was drilling it towards 92. Canada has some decent rollers but the pace only dropped a fraction on the uphills, and hit the mid thirties on the shallow downhills. I kept myself around third or fourth wheel as we crested the last rise with about a kilometer still to go to 92.

With TJ still recovering from a PB in his half ironman race the previous week he shut it down and the Clavinator (the provocateur) was some ways back enjoying the fresh air and conversation I'm sure. So it was just me in the mix when a lone rider broke off the front. I hesitated but no one made a move as he open up five, six, seven bike lengths. Feeling good, I jumped after him, closed the gap and stayed on his wheel until 200m or so from the finish line (in my head) when I came round for the coup de grâce while a video of Cavendish played at half speed in my head. I can die happy now and earn that Corretto.

The Recovery Balm

If skin-care line Lather has it right, the tribes of Northern Mexico must have spent a good deal of time hunting and gathering by bike.

Their Muscle Ease balm is the best thing for post ride relief in the kit bag. You feel its effects almost immediately as the menthol, camphor and capsaicin blend goes to work cooling and soothing muscles and joints. On a hot day nothing will bring your skin temperature down like this herbal mixture... so much so that a generous application to legs and arms might actually give you a chill.

I like the powerful, aromatic scent which has the secondary benefit of opening up your breathing passages – relaxing you after a hard effort. Highly recommended along with the rest of Lather's men's line.

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