Cher The Road, Samuel Jackson PSA: "Slow the F*** Down"

I usually do my bike-blogging here, but I thought this would be better at WWVB. Here's a series of actual tweets from just the other day by Cheryl Sarkisian, d/b/a Cher, who encountered bicyclists on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH):

Cher is OOC (out of control):

OMG, urr, Yuck indeed. I'd be inclined to dismiss this as the e-ranting of an out-of-touch elitist, but last night in Pittsburgh another driver ran over another bicyclist, which is happening a lot around here.

Although the event is tragic, it does provide an opportunity to read citizen comments on the accident, and that's a chilling experience. One portion of the good people of Pittsburgh say things like:

• You can't expect people to slow down to stay behind a bike. That's not going to happen. (Mr. Wayne Pace)
• bikers, instead of riding on narrow roads not wide enough for car traffic, like butler street and penn avenue, bike a block over on a street that runs parallel (Ms. Georgia Rush, who studied Systematic Theology at St. Vincent College)
• stay on the sidewalk where you belong (Mr. Shawn Cravener, who attended North Catholic High School)
• Bikers want a share of the road? Pay registration and carry insurance. They are riding the streets annonomously. (Mr. Bob Gentile)
• It's impossible for cars and bikes to coexist without the proper bike lane paths. (Mr. John B. Demko

Perhaps Cher IS representative of the population

If Cher is, in fact, representative of the mainstream population, we (bicyclists) are in serious trouble. We need an effective, startling, interesting communications piece about bikes on the road that wakes people up.

Hmmm. Bikes on the road? Wake people up? Snakes on a plane? WTFU?
That's it! We need a Samuel Jackson Public Service Announcement!

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Public Service Announcement: Slow the F*** Down

Hello, this is Samuel Jackson. I'd like to ask you to work though a few situations with me that you might encounter when you're driving. It won't take long, and it might save you from a terrible accident which could expose you to delays, litigation, expenses - and most of all, the terrible feelings of having to explain to your family that you killed somebody with your car. Stick with me here. It'll be OK. I promise.

Bicycle Dreams: Race Across America (RAAM)

This Wednesday, 7 pm, Southside Works Cinema: Bicycle Dreams, a documentary about the Race Across America (RAAM).

I am really looking forward to this movie, although it has nothing at all to do with any kind of bicycling I've ever been involved with, or will ever be involved with.

Me going to this movie is sort of like a limo chauffeur watching a Nascar race Demolition Derby. These people do incredible things, against all understanding, and it involves bicycles.

Here's my favorite RAAM story (so far): Alberto Blanco is in third place when he experiences Shermer's Neck, which happens when your neck muscles are exhausted from holding your head and helmet at a peculiar angle for a very long time.

His support team used a backpack frame, some straps and coat-hangars, and a lot of Duct Tape to fashion a rig to keep him riding.


More? From Bike-Pgh.org:

Bicycle Dreams, the award-winning feature-length documentary about the Race Across America (RAAM), will premiere in Pittsburgh at the Southside Works Cinema on Wednesday, January 25 at 7 p.m. as part of the film's ongoing nationwide winter tour. The screening is co-sponsored by BikePGH and the OTB Bicycle Café.

The film, which has won numerous awards at film festivals all over the world, "is an up-close look at what RAAM riders go through," says Stephen Auerbach, the director and producer of Bicycle Dreams. "They deal with searing desert heat, agonizing mountain climbs, and endless stretches of open road. And they do it all while battling extreme exhaustion and sleep deprivation. It's a great subject for a film."

Before and after the movie, the OTB Bicycle Café on East Carson Street and will be offering discounts to moviegoers before and after the event. Movie goers can enjoy $3 Snow Melts, $1 Sloppy Joe's and $2 off Great Lakes.

“An astonishing documentary,” declares Pez Cycling. “This film is a ride of many stark contrasts; when it ended I felt both shattered and triumphant. I realized I was experiencing its genius. A central theme of Bicycle Dreams is the profoundly inspiring strength of the human in facing monumental challenge and tragedy. Bicycle Dreams is a race of truth.”

“This film isn’t for those who want to shy away from the tragic side of the human experience, unwilling to risk the cracking of their shell of denial, not willing to risk their coping mechanism,” writes Cycling-Review.com. “Bicycle Dreams captures the human condition like few other films. Bicycle Dreams moves us to break through the barrier of the fear of death. I have seldom found a film that captures this ‘life drama’ as powerfully as does Bicycle Dreams.”

Adds Podium Café, “Bicycle Dreams is the ultimate inner journey. If you thought the life of a cyclist was an internal struggle, wait until you see what Auerbach unearths in this film. Bicycle Dreams is an unprecedented exploration of the subject of the suffering on the bike.”

About.com writes, “As we fall deeper and deeper into Bicycle Dreams, what we witness grows more terrifying, yet more compelling. Auerbach’s masterful direction exposes the raw lessons that drive people to push beyond the limits of human endurance. Revealing what lies at the heart of every impossible human endeavor is what Bicycle Dreams is all about.”

Tickets will be $11 in advance and $15 at the door the night of the show.

Teh Communists are Coming! Red Bikes and Blue UN Helmets Oh My!

From the Denver Post:

Bike agenda spins cities toward U.N. control
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are "converting Denver into a United Nations community."

Maes, a favorite of teh Tea Party, has pulled ahead of former Congressman Scott McInnis, the early frontrunner in the Aug. 10 primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. The maligned Mayor Hickenlooper (Democrat) is also running for the governor's seat, but from the other side of the aisle.

More from the Denver Post:

Maes said in a later interview that he once thought the mayor's efforts to promote cycling and other environmental initiatives were harmless and well-meaning. Now he realizes "that's exactly the attitude they want you to have. This is bigger than it looks like on the surface, and it could threaten our personal freedoms," Maes said.

He added: "These aren't just warm, fuzzy ideas from the mayor. These are very specific strategies that are dictated to us by this United Nations program that some mayors have signed on to."

Maes, at the rally July 26, took aim at Denver's bike-sharing program, which he said was promoted by a group that puts the environment above citizens' rights. The B-Cycle program places a network of about 400 red bikes for rent at stations around the city. It is funded by private donors and grants.

What color are these bikes? Red!    Coincidence? I think not!

Maes said the United Nations is "signing up mayors across the country, and these mayors are signing on to this U.N. agreement to have their cities abide by this dream philosophy." The program includes encouraging employers to install showers so more people will ride bikes to work and also creating parking spaces for fuel-efficient vehicles, he said.

Polls show that Maes, a Tea Party favorite, has pulled ahead of former Congressman Scott McInnis, the early frontrunner in the Aug. 10 primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Maes acknowledged that some might find his theories "kooky," but he said there are valid reasons to be worried.

"At first, I thought, 'Gosh, public transportation, what's wrong with that, and what's wrong with people parking their cars and riding their bikes? And what's wrong with incentives for green cars?' But if you do your homework and research, you realize it's part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty," Maes said.

KDKA's Mike Pintek is a Dangerous Idiot

Truly an excellent post by Illyrias titled, Do Bicyclists Deserve to Be Attacked?.
Illyrias refers to several reports of local violence against people on bikes, and then quotes local radio voice Mike Pintek whose was interviewing Bill Nesper of the League of American Bicyclists:

Mike Pintek said: "There are some bicyclists who are just these arrogant little dorks that think that they can do anything they want because they're on a bicycle and we're being green and environmentally friendly."

A Pittsburgh Blog that's new to me and quite excellent is Lolly's Reimagine an Urban Paradise. In Dearest Station Manager: Fire Mike Pintek, Lolly relays this about Mike Pintek:

He further went on to state that cyclists “are arrogant dorks” that are “lucky to be alive” and that he has the desire to “bump them” with his vehicle.

I cannot believe that KDKA would allow a man to advocate violence against cyclists. “Bumping” a cyclist would certainly result in severe physical harm and would likely cause broken bones and possibly death.

KDKA's Mike Pintek: Wait, There's More!

In another post, Mike Pintek Should Lose His Drivers License and His Job, she provides this transcript of Pintek's bike foolishness:

I’ve gotta tell you they’ve been times when I’ve come around a curve on a country road and you’ve got three of em abreast in MY lane and they’re just lucky they’re alive. Because, am I WRONG?

There are some bicyclists who are just these arrogant little dorks that think they can do anything they want because they’re on a bicycle and ‘we’re being green and environmentally friendly”…

I have been thoroughly tempted — I haven’t done it cuz I’m not going to do it — I’m not that kind of person… but I have been so tempted to just bump em.

I have been so tempted to pull up behind them when they’re doing this — you know spread out across the road — put my car in neutral, jam the accelorator down, race the engine, and scare the living crap out of them.

They’ve got to stop being so arrogant about what they’re doing. They’ve got to obey the rules. they have to do the right thing or else they’re going to get killed.

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So, first things first: I hope you'll send an email to KDKA program director Marshall Adams, madams@kdka.com, who is Mike Pintek's boss and responsible for what Mike Pintek says on the station's behalf (over the public's airwaves). Tell Mr. Adams what you think of Mike Pintek promoting violence against bikes.

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The report is that Mike Pintek will address these bicycle issues on his Monday show, 12noon to 3pm Local, on KDKA radio.

This presents me with a pragmatic dilemma. I understand that Mike Pintek is an entertainer, a panderer to our darker tendencies, a pot-stirrer whose value-add for his employers is that he says things outrageous enough to keep the audience enduring the advertisements that are the basis of his paycheck.

My dilemma is that I don't want to be Pintek's chump, proving his effectiveness. I don't want to tune in and listen, because that meets the needs of Pintek and his advertisers. I don't want to reward the dangerous, idiotic behavior.

I called Marshall Adams, Mike Pintek's boss. He wouldn't disavow or disapprove Pintek's comments. His only refrain, repeated a few times, was a suggestion that I call into the show and participate in the discussion. They're shills and provocateurs. I can't feed the trolls.

In the end, I've decided that all I can do is to do my part to see that when somebody types "Mike Pintek", or "Mike Pintek KDKA" into Google, they see my comments. I believe in free speech. I just can't tolerate a paid entertainer and scoundrel (and that's what he is) advocating violence by people in cars against bicyclists. I've also got reservations about post-peak hacks who make their living fomenting controversy without contributing solutions or having skin in the game.

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It's interesting (if somewhat sad) to look through Mike Pintek's website, which has a picture of him with Shimon Peres back in the glory days. I guess he looked young compared to Shimon Peres, fifteen years ago. It reminds me of this song:

Dying to Ride a Bicycle: 4 Dead in 8 Weeks

The WDUQ News Blog, which is increasingly my mainstay source for local news, carries this: PA Bicycle Deaths Double from '08 to '09.

16 bicyclists were killed in Pennsylvania last year, doubling the 2008 death count, says the state Department of Transportation. “While that number may seem low to many people, that’s still 16 people that had their lives cut short,” says PennDOT spokeswoman Alison Wenger.

Unfortunately, there is no context, and I'm not sure how you'd quantify it. Did fatalities double because riding doubled? (okay news) Did fatalities double while riding tripled? (good news) Did fatalities double while riding stayed flat? (bad news)



In Thursday's Post-Gazette we see this unattributed story: Bicyclist killed in Indiana Township accident, and I'd like to repeat it here:

A Hampton man died this morning after his bicycle was struck from behind by a pickup truck on a steep grade in Indiana Township.

Dxxxx Pxxxxx, 52, of Clearfield Road, died at UPMC Presbyterian following the accident, which occurred at 7:11 a.m. on Harts Run Road near Dorseyville Road.

Indiana Township police said Mr. Pxxxxx was pedaling east, or uphill, on Harts Run Road when his bike was struck by a pickup truck that had been behind him.

Indiana Township police said Mr. Pxxxxx's bicycle was in the travel lane, not on the berm, when the accident occurred. They said no charges had been filed against the driver, whose name was not released.

I'm loathe to write about a specific death or accident, because it's a tragedy for all involved. I've removed the name to avoid the family finding this via Google. It's curious and illuminating that the police are protecting the driver's name, and not the victim's name.

I know that people get killed in traffic accidents, in cars and bikes and just walking, and nobody means for it to happen - that's why they're called accidents. What irks me is the uninformed bias in the report, which subsequently misinforms and maladjusts the public's awareness.

Generally media reports blame the rider. Sometimes they blame the rider for not wearing a helmet, or not having lights and riding in the dark - that's a report that indicates some understanding.

Thursday's story presents: He was riding in the lane, not the berm. Of course, Nobody was charged. No news here, move along.

He is allowed to ride in the lane. He doesn't have to ride on the berm. Daylight, no rain, a motorist runs over and kills a bicyclist who was legally on the road. No charges filed.

I'm sure the motorist in this case feels terrible. S/he certainly didn't mean for it to happen. That's not my point. My point is that until newspapers start reporting these deaths without bias, there won't be any improvement in public awareness.

Under the international Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (1968), a bicycle is defined to be a vehicle and a cyclist is considered to be a driver. In a minority of jurisdictions (the states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, and Texas in the United States) a bicycle is legally defined as a "device" rather than as a vehicle, but in all cases operators of bicycles share a basic set of rights and responsibilities with operators of motor vehicles.


In Pennsylvania, bicycles are vehicles.
They belong in the street.
Share the road.

• April 7, 2010: Bicyclist killed in Westmoreland County
  
• May 23, 2010 Child Riding Bike Hit By Car in Knoxville, dies of injuries
  
• May 27, 2010: Bicyclist killed in Indiana Township (this story)
  
• Friday, May 29, 2010: Fayette County bicyclist fatally injured.

Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride: Burgh, Bikes, Beer

How does beer get to bars?

The East End Brewing Company, Pittsburgh's sustainable brewery, has a novel way of delivering the first kegs of their springtime beer, Pedal Pale Ale - they deliver it via bicycle, with a full escort of cyclists.



East End Brewing invites all bicyclists to participate in the Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride escorting the kegs to an (unannounced) local beer-pouring establishment. In 2005, a dozen riders accompanied the delivery; in 2006, 45 riders; in 2007, 120 riders; in 2008, 225 riders, and in 2009, there were 500 riders.

Register online here for $10. Day of event registration is $15. All money raised is split between two local non-profits: In-Stride Therapeutic Riding uses horses to help kids and adults with severe challenges to heal and grow, and Bike Pittsburgh supports bike advocacy in the Burgh.



On Friday evening May 14th, arrive between 6 and 7, sign in, and pick up your chit for a free Pale Ale. The ride departs with the kegs at 7pm. The trip will be slow, meandering, and perhaps unexpected. The kegs and escort will arrive at the mystery destination around 8:20-ish.

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Followup

Click here for a post-even update and photos of the 700+ riders.

Pittsburgh Cyclist Killed in Kurdistan

Dateline: 1894. (What, did you expect timely reporting? )

Frank Lenz was a Pittsburgh bookkeeper and amateur photographer who became a cyclist during a boom period in which the new "safety bicycle" (with two wheels of the same size) replaced the "standard" penny-farthing, causing a huge rise in the popularity of cycling in America. He enjoyed riding his bicycle so much that he decided to ride around the world.

Three other riders had already circled the globe: Thomas Stevens on a high-wheeler, and Thomas Allen and William Sachtleben on safeties. Lenz made his trip unique by choosing to be the first to ride around the globe using pneumatic tires, which was another groundbreaking technical development of his day.

This is a photo of Frank Lenz and his bicycle, from Adventure Cycling:


His bike was state of the art at the time, and it's interesting to see what he's using. It's a safety bicycle, both wheels the same size; it has a front suspension, a springed saddle, a single fixed-gear, a chain drive, and a skirt guard covering the rear wheel. Those are all items that remain in use today. His backpack contains his camera equipment, his bags carry his effects, and the leggings keep his trousers out of the chain. (Parenthically, I'm pleased to find somebody with more stuff on his bike than I have on mine.)

In 1892 Frank Lenz proposed to Outing Magazine (it meant something else back then) that if they'd sponsor his around-the-world bike ride, he would provide dispatches and photographs for the magazine. He was surprised when Outing accepted his proposal, and in May 1982 Lenz quit his job in Pittsburgh to commence his grand adventure.

"Mr. Lenz will have a long but pleasant trip, and will doubtless have some interesting stories to tell the boys upon his return home,” wrote the Pittsburgh Dispatch on May 15, 1892. (He would have fit in nicely at Pittsburgh's Tweed Ride.)



Here's what Sports Illustrated has to say about his first segment, New York to California: Although only 25 at the time, Frank Lenz had been cycling long distances for nearly a decade. The first 3,000 miles, therefore, were no problem. Heading north to Albany, Lenz swung west to Buffalo, following the line of the Erie Canal "up the valley of the Mohawk, the cradle of the military forces of the Revolution and the grave of the military hopes of the British." From Buffalo to Minneapolis he traveled across Canada, then followed the track of the Northern Pacific Railroad to Spokane Falls and the telegraph route to San Francisco, which he reached on Oct. 20, 1892. Along the way, delegates of every cycling club within 20 miles of his route turned out to wine him and dine him. His trans-continental ride took from June 4th through October 20th.

He enjoyed Japan tremendously, although he wasn't crazy about the food. His trip across China did not go as well, and at times he relied on his revolver to protect himself and his bicycle. He was happy to reach Burma in India.

He explained his touring philosophy in Outing: “I have found it better not to ride more than 50 to 65 miles a day, if stopping places can be procured at those distances. Riding from 70 to 100 miles day after day is fatiguing and would soon wear out the strongest of riders.” His comments still ring true today for Pittsburghers planning a trip on the Great Allegheny Passage. It took Lenz one month to ride the 1,303 miles from Calcutta to Lahore, including ten days of rest.

He took a ferry to Persia, and found Tehran so pleasant that he was not eager to leave. From Adventure Cycling: ... he was anxious to cross Turkey before the heat of summer, so he reluctantly departed on April 1 for the Persian city of Tabreez, 375 miles away. Later that month from Tabreez, Lenz confessed to being profoundly homesick. “I long for the day which will see me again on my native hearthstone and my wanderings at an end,” he wrote to Outing, just shy of the two-year anniversary of his departure from Pittsburgh. He identified his next destination as Erzeroum in eastern Turkey, a distance of almost 300 miles. It was the last that Outing or anyone else would hear from Frank Lenz.

On May 2, 1894 his last piece of correspondence was dispatched from Tabriz, Persia. "I leave today," he wrote, "on my way to Constantinople, now only 900 miles distant." And with those words, Frank Lenz disappeared for all time.

Stung by criticism that it had sent Lenz on a death mission, Outing sent another cyclist (Sachtleben, one of the three previous globe-peddlers) to Kurdistan to determine Lenz's fate. He learned that a notorious Kurdish chief had ordered Lenz robbed and murdered after the cyclist had inadvertently insulted him during a chance encounter in a small village. The bandits ambushed Lenz the following morning as he crossed a river several miles outside of town. According to Sachtleben’s account, one of the Kurds slashed Lenz on the hand with a sword. Bleeding, Lenz begged for his life, even offering to convert to Islam, but he was killed and buried in the riverbank. (plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose)

I had never heard of the story of Frank Lenz, a Pittsburgher who dominated world news for a bit in 1894, until just this week when bloggers mentioned a new book coming out with his story (The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance); it's available in June and I'm eager to read it.

Bike Crop Circles

From John Brooking in Portland Maine:

Pittsburgh, the Copenhagen of Appalachia

Excellent article in USAToday proclaiming the Great Allegheny Passage as a Recession-Proof Getaway, complete with "life-affirming views amid forgiving terrain".

There's a great video of Cumberland trail activist Larry Brock describing the trail and its economic impact. The work is still in progress, but the trail is already bringing positive economic benefits to the towns while presenting low obligations for maintenance and marketing. Seems pretty green/sustainable.

Maybe next summer, maybe 2011, the trail will be complete from McKeesport to Point State Park. Then we'll see more cyclists coming into Pittsburgh with loaded bags looking for lodging, carbs, and beer.


Current status is there's a trail in McKeesport that leads over the Riverton Bridge and then stops at the trainyards. In 2010, the trail, the gas company, and the railroads will complete the trail up to the Waterfront. The Holy Grail is the hope that there'll be an accomodation negotiated with Sandcastle by 2011.

I know great bicycle advocates in Pittsburgh who believe that their efforts are best spent on projects within the city proper- sharrows (that is, share-arrows) and bike lanes, signage, etc - and while those are very important, IMO the completion of the trail between Duquesne and the Hot Metal Bridge is going to be the event that moves downtown bicycling past the tipping point.

Completion of the trail will move out-of-town cyclists into the Duquesne-Southside-Station Square- Jail Trail - Downtown corridor. That will present a volume and a presence beyond that which local cyclists generate. It'll be a force-multiplier.

People will be coming into Pittsburgh to ride to DC, people will be coming from DC along the trail. Their economic impact will include bike accomodations, bike lockers, bicycle friendly hotels and restaurants, etc.

To a lesser extent, you'll see people flying into Pittsburgh with their bikes in bike-boxes and trying to ride out of the airport to a hotel near the trail complex - and then we'll see momentum for the Montour Trail's Enlow Road Connector.


I'm thinking our next sobriquet might be "Pittsburgh, the Copenhagen of Appalachia".

Great Bicycle News : Pedicabs and Bike Rentals

Green Gears Pedicabs in Pittsburgh

Green Gears Pedicabs opens shop in Pittsburgh. I want to work there! This would be a great job.

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Trib Review: Pittsburgh Increasingly Bike Friendly

Today's article carried lots of good info about measures of increased bicycle riding around the city, and also some specific info I was glad to see.

Golden Triangle Bike Rental has opened another location, and that makes me happy. This was a scrappy start-up that invested in Pittsburgh bicycling before the Burgh embraced Bikes, and just as they were about to break through, they faced a major challenge when Coca-Cola spent $65,000 on a marketing program providing a fleet of free daily bicycles for public use.

Is that generally a good thing? Almost always. When is that a bad thing? When you've bet your savings on a bike rental business, and Coke starts giving your product away for free as a gimmick. It seems like the Dasani Blue Bikes campaign was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the business closed. I think Golden Triangle got a tough deal on that, and I'm pleased to see the new owners are expanding.

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Hump Day

Also, it must be said: Six Months Till Christmas.

Excellent Pittsburgh to DC bike trip graphic

I took my first bicycle ride of the year Saturday on the Montour Trail, and although I suffered from being out of shape it was a real pleasure to be on the bike and on the trail again. The bike did real well after only a chain lube. I think I'll need a few more miles to get into a semblance of condition.

I met a rider named Mark who lives near Imperial, and while we were riding together he told me about his trip from Pittsburgh to DC, and it turns out he'd read the trip reports from our previous rides while planning his trip. It was a real boost to meet somebody that had read one of my posts and found it useful, and it was nice to have somebody to ride along with for a while.

Lawrence Walsh has an excellent article in the Sunday Post Gazette about
bicycle camping on the Great Allegheny Passage. What's great about Mr. Walsh is that he has lots of bike cred. I'd like to mention that the best thing about the single-wheeled BOB trailer shown in the photo is that when the trail degrades into double-track, the BOB trailer's single wheel follows the bicycle really nicely -- a double-wheeled trailer doesn't work.


On the GAP Yahoo Group I came across this excellent graphic of Sam & Jane's plan for a seven-day bike ride from Pittsburgh to DC. It's such an excellent chart I wanted to mention it. It combines distance, elevation, slope, towns, daily mileages, and their itinerary. When you look closely you'll see that they've (wisely) chosen to start on the trail at McKeesport, avoiding the on-road rides between SouthSide and McKeesport. I can't say enough about how well designed this is, my compliments to Mr. Menchyk.
This map poses an interesting challenge because the peak looks very steep, but when you consider the lateral scale (350 miles) and the vertical scale (less than 1/3 of a mile), it tends to give the wrong impression. For instance, from Pittsburgh to the continental divide, the elevation increases 1600 feet over 125 miles - that's mild and gentle, but it looks dramatic. I think Mr. Menchyk did a nice job of putting in lots of context and the explicit "max grade" value.

Ah, to have a bicycle in spring time.

Tour of California Lance, Floyd, Levi, and George

In one week (February 14th), the Tour of California kicks off. It's a bicycle race on public roads, contested by teams of bicyclists.

Bicycle racing by itself is a funny kind of sport in the way that Wrestling or Arena Football are funny - there's athletes, scandal, hokey drama, but usually there's enough apparently virtuous contenders to make you want to believe it's plausible.

When bicycle racing happens with teams of riders, crammed into a pack (the peloton) of elbows and knees, the sport gains all the strategy and purity of Roller Derby. The costumes are pretty similar, too.

There are big names among the riders, and big-money companies sponsoring teams in hopes of burning their logos into the national consciousness. The main sponsor of the event is Amgen, a biopharmaceutical company. One of Amgen's products is EPO, which is the blood-doping agent most often seen in cycling scandals, and Amgen is sponsoring the ride, proving that somebody at Corporate has a sense of humor.

Each day, these jerseys will be awarded:

Points Leader	Most Courageous	King of the Mountains	Best Sprinter	Best Young Rider

One key bit of drama will be Team Astana. Johan Bruyneel is the Director, and the riders include Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Andreas Klöden and Levi Leipheimer. Levi Leipheimer is a favorite of mine, he seems a quiet guy that works at it, the ToC is in his backyard, and he's never failed a drug test. Lance's return will provide a spectacle, especially with his former Postal teammates now on opposing teams.

Team Columbia Highroad features George Hincapie, Lance's former domestique (subordinate). Always the bridesmaid rarely the bride, George is getting long in the tooth.


Team Ouch (formerly HealthNet) features Floyd Landis' return to pro cycling. He won the inaugural 2006 ToC, and has had a new hip installed since his 2006 Tour de France win and debacle. Team Ouch is sponsored by Floyd's physician, and seems more like a vehicle for Floyd's reintroduction than a serious team.


Let us not forget that Lance made his name by winning the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh in 1992, '93, and '94. In the 1995 photo below, Andrea Peron (L) leads Lance Armstrong (R) across the crest of Mt. Washington. Ah, the things that used to be here.
(photo credit: Doug Pen)


The ToC will be on television via Versus.

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By the way, I'd like to rollout my favorite jersey, which I received as a Christmas gift and hope to get a lot of use out of in the spring: The Old Guys Who Get Fat In Winter team jersey.