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...but I bet my power numbers crush this guy's for his ride!

...a kid after @Dirtyhip's heart:

So, I blasted out of the house in the morning. Wrong bike. Wrong clothes. I think I saw a forecast that said something about weather. I thought it was bullshit. I left in my sexy clothes, with my sexy bike. Around 4:00 it started to snow. My back tire is going bald. Can't help it, my Crux makes me feel sexy and cool. Today, my winter riding pants, studs and a better bike for the conditions. This way a stud doesn't have to rescue me.

We love the new house. Love the view. There is one part of my commute that is really dangerous. You would think a short 30 mph section with a 20 mph at the top might have people slow down. Nope. It is narrow, has zero shoulder and there is a ditch runoff. There is yet another go around that I can add to my commute. It totally avoids the bad section, but it can only be used during certain parts of the year. Right now, it is too snowy. Then, it will be too muddy for a while. It isn't like I am afraid of mud, but this mud cakes. I would get stuck and stop in about ten feet. Everyone here knows that I cherish trail and do not ride ultra-muddy trail. This isn't pristine single track. Just a dirt road with no gravel. There is light shralp on it, but kinda fun. Nothing major. Every day I utilize these crazy go around over hill and dale to avoid downtown. This is yet another one of those. When the road is ridable it will turn my commute into a much harder ride. I think it will add about 500 more feet to my 700 foot ride. Yesterday, I was buzzed by two vehicles. One was a truck and the second was a hells angel troop. The Angel chose to get close to me, even though they had an ENTIRE lane. I have tried to take the advice from here and put my wheels in the right tire track. That is even more dangerous they buzz me even closer. If I am there and hear cars, I move back over to the white line. The lane going down the road in the am is fine. No cars that time of the day, and I can get down it easily with hardly any issues. The lane going up is very narrow. The road is a double yellow divider. Many cars do not move over or slow quite often. I have even been buzzed by a school bus. Trail Boss and I talked, and the resolution was to put my bike on the bus rack and take the bus up that one section. I will get home later, which means harder cooking crunch for dinner. I am kind of crushed. This resolution is so I don't get crushed. Maybe some will think I am spineless, so be it. This is such a short section, but it is my daily dread, and not due to the incline. People are terrible! Most are nice, but the two yesterday made me re-think this one section. I want to live. More bus tokens in my Constanza wallet.

...won't be easy for most of you schlubs! Step up your game, folks, or you'll never be in LJ's league.

...when I read this good news: Kris Sonderup took his daughter to a BMX race in South Carolina three years ago, and he was slightly wowed by the crowd. It was a national event, and the track in Rock Hill had attracted more than 1,000 racers. But the owner of Lincoln’s Cycle Works was even more impressed by what was happening nearby. The neighboring pump track — an asphalt-covered circuit of banked turns, humps and small jumps — was teeming with riders, killing time between races and building their skills. Sonderup had heard of pump tracks, but now he was seeing one in action. They’re typically shorter and narrower than traditional BMX tracks, and more accessible — riders can catch air if they’re comfortable, or stay on two wheels if they’re not. They’re also designed so riders don’t even have to pedal; by pumping their handlebars over the rollers, and carrying their speed through turns, they can coast all the way through. “It just really boggled me how busy it was. All three days we were there, there were kids, and adults, riding around on this,” he said. “And it just really opened my eyes.” Enough to make Sonderup, also a board member of Star City BMX, wonder: Why doesn’t Lincoln have a pump track?

This is a powerful video, and it brought tears to my eyes.

...for many of the lunatics here:

You can cut to 4:00 and then restart if you want Absolutely NOT @Dirtyhip approved.

...with "where" being Japan Read the article here on BikeRumor, but the general gist is figure out what you actually might need to see the events - and don't skip the track stuff which can be super fun: There are a few ways to get the Olympic action to your TV, phone, etc. NBC will broadcast the Olympics in the USA, with additional coverage on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. Another way to watch the games are on Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service (those who are watching the tour will be familiar with this service). From what we understand, NBC will broadcast the major Olympic events and coverage; if you’d like to see all the action, check out the service’s Tokyo NOW channel. The dedicated channel will begin streaming on July 24, with live competition’s from 6-11 a.m. ET on Tokyo LIVE, followed by Tokyo Gold from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT.

...but I don't think he quite got what he bargained for.

What the hell is up with Pogacar's hair always sticking up through his helmet?

How the Tour de France disguises the phallic artwork on its route ASO takes measures to hide the unwanted imagery fans paint on the thousands of kilometres of roads on the Grande Boucle turning genitals into owls and butterflies CANADIAN CYCLING MAGAZINE JULY 24, 2019 31 It’s a long-standing tradition for fans to paint the names of their favourite riders on the road. The Tour de France is the biggest platform for this sort of fandom. We’ve seen the names of Julian Alaphilippe, Thibaut Pinot, Peter Sagan and many more emblazoned across alpine roads over the nearly 3,500 km the Tour de France covers. There are also more, let’s say, creative artists who want their artwork to be seen by the biggest television audiences in pro bike racing. Race organizer ASO employs a crew of workers who drive the route ahead of the peloton every day with a bucket of paint. Their task is to creatively alter some of the images painted on the road that ASO would rather TV audiences don’t see. Chief among these images that need some altering are male genitals. The workers who disguise the genitals are the real artists. Cleaning the road surface of these images would be too time-consuming and expensive so instead, the workers add paint turning genitals into owls, butterflies and other creative imagery. The efforts are done so spectators and TV viewers don’t notice the original images. In a video produced by Dutch news agency NOS, the news agency follows two workers as they do their job on the Tourmalet, one of the most famous climbs to feature in this year’s Tour de France. To watch the full video, visit nos.nl/tour.

... @Dirtyhip does look like Molly Shannon????? I pictured her a couple years older and with a stronger PNW accent.

...where @donkpow and @Square Wheels's cycling worlds collide! Finally, an indoor trainer "game" that makes one want to ride

...but with syrup, and by syrup, I mean the FAKE stuff!

We took Smokey on a adventure walk near a popular MTB trail system I often ride. The trail system starts in a county park. As we were walking back to the car I saw this thing. It has several common tools tethered to the post, a pump and a rack to support your bike during repairs. I have never seen such a thing.

@shootingstar could rock the gravel out that way and maybe even get @Dottles to make the short trip up.

About 5,000' of climbing, and then, to cap it off, a KOM!!!!! And a proper @Dirtyhip-type of KOM - all down hill!!!! BOOM! At about the 1:50 mark, you see the turn off to where the downhill section starts. A totally accidental KOM, and also a climb I had done earlier with cold legs, so a nice reward to the end of a ride. Only 211 folks even ride this bit of road, so not really a big "KOM", but you take em where you get em I also imagine Kevin is planning a trip back up to Skyline to retake the lead.

WOOT WOOT!!! I hope you all are as well! Stick to Da Man and his stupid rules!!!!

...because this is a wee bit insane, even for her!

I love this. I could totally see @Dirtyhip doing this.

I gotta say, I like their van! But not a fan of the black trail stuff. My poor little MTB might snap like a twig!

...that I am way behind MTB tech and skills I rode this weekend with my buddy at a park with some green, blue, and black trails. He's a regular MTBer over the past 5-10 yrs, while I am a very occasional MTBer. Anyway, I am luckily in far better biking shape, so his massive lead in skills is partially offset by my general fitness. That, though, for the most part goes right out the window when the terrain gets sketchy. His bike is a really nice full suspension Specialized he got a couple years ago. I ride my Trek - a rigid steel "classic" MTB. There is NO comparison between the two bikes, but there is also a 0% chance I am making a jump from my Trek to a "modern" MTB. Anyway, big takeaways from this weekend are: Rim brakes vs disc brakes are an insane difference. My rim brakes are a mere suggestion to stop, but disc brakes are an actual braking system Rigid < hardtail < full suspension. Holy schnizzle is it tough to confidently ride over the stuff that the folks with suspension just motor over. Worlds apart. I ache - a lot - after a MTB ride. I need to adjust my Garmin for MTB rides. Damn auto-pause feature does not make sense when crawling along a climb as I often don't "trigger" a restart - especially in heavy tree cover. That beeping to pause and unpause is demoralizing