Top Fuel 69er

Yesterday was one of those days that begged to be spent outside. It was almost a perfect day. So against my better judgment I snuck outside for a mountain bike ride. I owe the opportunity to ride to Andrew who stopped by the store on his way to Rosaryville State Park and invited me to tag along. I was glad I did as fall rides are my favorite. During the ride Andrew looked over and mentioned how lucky we were to have ridding venues like Rosaryville the section we were in at the time would have made a perfect backdrop for a magazine cover! As we rode on we discussed all of the great places we have to ride off road locally.

Since I didn’t have my regular bike that I have been riding, a carbon Rush from Cannondale, I took one of our demo bikes.  I choose a Trek Top Fuel 69er in a 17.5. I’ve ridden the 69ers before but it has been a little while. The 69er is a unique bike in the sense that it has a 29 inch from wheel with a 26 inch rear wheel, all on a full suspension platform.

The theory of the 69er is that on the front wheel you get the larger wheel that gives the rider greater ease in riding over things along with the larger contact area that the bigger wheel offers. The 26 inch rear wheel still allows the bike to accelerate a little faster.

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Lance’s Comeback 2

Well the announcement has been made, it’s official Lance is back and riding for Astana. Guess I got that one wrong. Oh well. On one note though he is in the works of starting a team albiet it is a Under 23 team that will be sponsored in part by Trek.  Hopefully this can help grow the next generation of American cyclists.

Here is a link to an article about his return in 2009 from the LA times. 

Here is a press release from the Lance camp. 

See you out on the road.

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Lance’s Comeback

Lance is set to announce his comeback plans this week, he will hold a press conference in New York while attending the Clinton Global Initiative on the 24th. There is a lot of speculation as to what team he will ride for next year. What I haven’t really seen in the media is the theory I have for what team I think he will be announcing that he plans to ride for on the 24th. My guess is that he will be announcing the formation of his own professional cycling team, Team Livestrong.

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Annapolis Triathlon

When I heard the Annapolis Triathlon wasn’t granted it’s permits I was very frustrated so I wrote a letter to The Capital newspaper, the local Annapolis paper. It was tough to edit to their 300 word limit. What follows is the 300 word version and a version I would have liked to have published.

Published Version:

August 6, 2008

Editor: 

Communities all across the nation are supporting triathlons but locally we can’t seem to make it work.

 

Isn’t being part of a community about supporting your community’s activities and events? As a community we choose to support running events, boat shows, faith communities events and more. All of these events impact our daily lives some more then others. As a member of the local community I take it in stride and support the events as some day I would hope for the same support for the events that I participate in.

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Another Reason for the Family to Ride Together

Yet another report is out that talks about the inactivity of today’s youth. The American Medical Association published a report about the how the inactivity of today’s children drops as they enter their teenage years. Here is the article in the NY Times.

Several weeks ago we had a shop ride that went on the B&A Trail and one of our new team members who has recently moved to the area commented on how the nice the trail was to ride on and now she is thinking about using for her run portion of triathlon training.

I guess I’ve taken it for granted that we have them, but from seeing the excitement of the team member it reminded me of how fortunate we are.

We are lucky that in the area there are so many great bike trails to enjoy togther as a family or individually as we train in pursuit of our dreams.

Locally many are aware of the WB&A trail that is just a few miles from the shop door. Over the winter Park and Recreation has opened another section of the trail and seem to be getting closer to linking the Anne Arundel County section of the trail to the Prince George’s County section of the trail.

If you are willing to drive take a short trip across the Bay Bridge to enjoy the Cross Island Trail on Kent Island. This trail quietly opened at the end of 2001 and is a great trail that many over look with the popularity of the B&A Trail and the BWI Trail.

I hope you and your family have a chance to get out and enjoy and explore the areas many trails!

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