Tomination

I am working on a longer write-up about last week's Hotter 'n Hell 100 activities, but I wanted to get our results posted for those people looking for updates. So without further delay:

Julie Ladehoff - 1st Place, Cat 2 Sport Female 1-29 Mountain Bike Race

Kevin McFarland - 2nd Place, Cat 4/5 Men's 100km Road Race

Gina Hancock - 1st Place, Cat 4 Women's 100km Road Race

Dee Ann Smith - 3rd Place, 35-39 Female Half Marathon Trail Run

Kevin McFarland - 5th Place, Cat 4/5 Men's Criterium

Gina Hancock - 3rd Place, Cat 4 Women's Criterium

Julie Ladehoff - 5th Place, Cat 4 Women's Criterium

Kevin McFarland - Champion, Cat 4/5 Men's Omnium

Julie Ladehoff - 3rd Place, Cat 4 Women's Omnium

Gina Hancock - Champion, Cat 4 Women's Omnium

The first thing that stands out to me is that this is a fit group of individuals who can mix it up and compete in a variety of disciplines both on and off the bike. Although there is only a handful of names listed here, this was a team effort and absolutely everyone did their part to help secure this list of results. The next time you see someone from the team, please be sure to congratulate them on a very successful weekend in Wichita Falls.

Frankencrashen

I am reposting this without permission and I really hope that Kevin doesn't mind. Thankfully it sounds like he will be ok.

Stealth Training

BikeRadar.com published a nice little article about some quick ways to increase your fitness and improve your on-bike performance.

1. Take the stairs
2. Perfect press-ups (anyone know what a press up is?)
3. Purposeful commuting
4. Cut out the caffeine
5. Pre-breakfast training
6. Go for an off-road hilly run
7. Sit Swiss
8. Recovery is key
9. Sneaky stretching
10. Make life hard

Read the article for more information.

2010 Felt and Giant Sneak Peaks

It is that time of year when next year's products start to make their way to dealers. Since Tom's deals in Giant and Felt, I thought everyone might be interested in what these two companies have in store for 2010.

2o10 Felt Road, Cyclocross, and Track Bikes from BikeRumor.com

2010 Giant Catalogue (this is the Australian version, but I suspect the US lineup will look similar)

iMapMyRide

Chances are good that you have used MapMyRide.com to view the route for an upcoming ride or race. But have you ever completed a ride and then wanted to create this route in MapMyRide in order to reference it at a later date? It is not the easiest thing to do.

Anyone who has ridden with me knows that I am directionally challenged ("Do we turn left here?") and I have been known to get lost on a ride or two (2008 MS150 ring any bells) so I now ride with my iPhone since it has a built in GPS and mapping software. Recently I downloaded the iPhone application for MapMyRide called iMapMyRide. You can find it in the App Store by searching for "mapmyfitness". Once this application is installed and an account registered (both free), you are ready to go. Before the ride starts, simply launch the application and start recording. When the ride is done, you will have a map of your entire ride. This map gets uploaded to MapMyRide.com and you can use it in the future to print turn-by-turn directions or at least sound a little smarter when your family asks you, "Where did you ride today?"

Here is the map I generated during last Saturday's training ride.

SRAM 10-Speed Powerlock Recall

I don't think anyone other than myself uses the SRAM 10-speed chains. If you do use these chains, you should be aware of the limited recall on the Powerlock. If your Powerlock is stamped with an "M" or an "N" you should return it to a SRAM dealer immediately for a replacement part. Remember, both sides of the Powerlock are stamped so you should check each side.

Bike Snob Responds to MC SpandX

You know a You Tube video has gone "viral" when Bike Snob decides he needs to comment on it. His cynical review is worth a read if only because it makes you watch the video one more time.

Performance

A friend of mine sent me the link to this video.

WNR Update

It was a hot and humid day for the Wednesday Night Ride. To make matters worse the IDL construction has closed down the bridge we use to get out of town. This coupled with the Journey concert taking place at the BOK Center made for some interesting decisions on the best way out of downtown.

For the sake of argument, I am proposing an alternative path out of the city for the WNR. On the right side of the picture you will see the original route and on the left side is my alternative route. Let me know if you think this is a good route or if there is a better alternative out there.

The guys from The Bike Shop in Enid, OK brought a crew down for this ride. Unfortunately, they had already loaded up and departed for home before I got back to the parking lot. Hopefully, they will come back to Tulsa and stick around a little longer to enjoy the socializing that usually takes place after this ride.