A trip to see the Giro d’Italia may be less than a three-hour car ride if organizers in Washington, D.C., are successful in their bid to host the prologue and stage one circuit race for the 2012 edition of the Italian grand tour.
According to a Cyclingnews.com article, a proposal being crafted by the organizers of the 2008 Capital Criterium would have Giro racers circling the famous monuments of the American capital city. The prologue would pass the Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington monuments, the National Mall, the US Capitol and other US national monuments, the Cyclingnews article states. The stage one circuit race would likely finish on Pennsylvania Avenue, which joins the US Capital and the White House.
If the Washington, D.C.’s bid is accepted, it would be the first time any of the grand tours - the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France or Vuelta a Espana - has started outside Europe.
Momentum Sports Group, owners of the OUCH presented by Maxxis professional cycling team, announced today that they and Lancaster County native Floyd Landis have agreed to part ways.
The mutual agreement was to terminate the remainder of Landis’s contract for the 2009 season and the 2010 season.
Landis returned to racing in January after a well-publicized two-year suspension after being accused of doping. Landis, who won the 2006 Tour de France before being stripped of the title, has always maintained his innocence.
According to a release published on team website, Landis is credited with helping the new team win the Nature Valley Grand Prix, The Tour of Elk Grove and the Joe Martin Stage Races during this year. Individually, Landis’ 2009 results were lackluster.
The release states:
For the 2010 season, Landis expressed to MSG that he desires to ride the longer, tougher stage races offered in Europe and internationally that better suit his strengths. Accordingly, given that MSG will be focusing its 2010 racing season primarily in the United States, MSG and Landis mutually agreed that it would be best for both parties to part ways at this time and allow Landis to seek a position with a team that could better accommodate his desires.
“I wish to thank all of the sponsors for their support this year. I would also like to thank everyone at Momentum Sports Group,” Landis said. “While I’m excited to pursue other opportunities, I will miss all of my teammates and everyone on staff.”
There has been no announcement about which team Landis will race for next year, although he has been rumored to be in negotiations with Rock Racing, Cyclingnews.com is reporting.
Road and mountain bikes from Trek and Trek subsidiary Gary Fisher will be available for free test rides.
While there will be a limited number of helmets available, bringing your own is strongly suggested. There will also be a few pairs of the more common types of clipless pedals. You may want to bring those too.
To demo a bike, you will have to leave a drivers’ license and a credit card - in case you disappear with the bike. Anyone under 18 will need to have a parent along to sign a waiver form.
The bikes and sizes expected to be at the demo are:
Madone 6 series - 50 through 62
Madone 6 series Di2 - 54 and 56
Remedy 9.9 - 15, 17, 19
Remedy 8 - 21
Ex 9 - 15
EX 9.9 - 17, 18, 19
Superfly 100 -17, 19, 21
Rumblefish 2 - 17, 19, 21
A couple wsd madones
You can e-mail Jenn at Green Mountain, at jenn@greenmtncyclery.com, for more information or specific requests.
Charles Armstrong, a homeless artist who travels around the country by bicycle, was profiled in the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era Tuesday. This is staff writer Larry Alexander’s article:
When Charles Armstrong rides his bicycle through a town, people take notice.
The 30-year-old homeless artist rides a bike attached to a two-wheel infant carrier attached to a homemade, two-wheel cart holding a cooler. Much of this makeshift three-piece rig is held together with duct tape.
But even more noticeable than the outlandish bike is the fact that Armstrong’s two trailing vehicles are festooned with his artwork — held in place by plastic garbage bag ties — which he peddles wherever he pedals.
A sign at the rear of this odd train reads, “Homeless artist and oil painter with bad feet plus diabetes. Please help. God bless.”
“Folks give me crazy looks, but it’s OK,” Armstrong said. “I’m cool with it.”
Right now, Armstrong and his mobile art gallery can be seen traveling around the Ephrata area and along nearby country roads.
A native of southern California, Armstrong, with his family “scattered all over the place,” took to the roads more than 10 years ago.
“I’m a little like Forrest Gump,” he said. “I’m on my own. I’ve been riding around since I was 18. I’ve been all around the United States. I’ve been everywhere.”
To survive, he plies the only skill he knows — he draws.
Bobby Lea, the OUCH presented by Maxxis rider from Mertztown, Pa., is leaving his current team and joining a new squad started by former U.S. criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati, Velonews is reporting.
The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team will operate as a UCI continental team, doing races within the United States. Lea is one of 15 riders on the new team’s roster for 2010.
Lea, an Easton, Md. native, has been a frequent racer in Lancaster County. Last year, he went to Beijing as part of the U.S. Olympic track cycling team.
He is the second Pennsylvanian to desert the OUCH team this week. Jonathan Chodorff, from Kennett Square, who turned pro this year, is moving to Jelly Belly next season. Along with Chodorff and Lea, Lancaster County native Floyd Landis has also raced for OUCH this year.
Dr. Christopher Thomas Thompson, the former emergency room physician who pulled in front of two bicyclists doing a 30-mph descent and slammed on his brakes, was found guilty of assault with deadly weapon this week, following a week-long trial.
A jury returned the verdict Monday, convicting Thompson of six felonies and one misdemeanor, Velonews reported.
Thompson’s attorney sought to keep the doctor out on bail until his Dec. 3 sentencing. Prosecutor Mary Stone argued against it, saying Thompson was a flight risk. “In terms of public safety, there isn’t a cyclist in Los Angeles who would be comfortable if he were out on the streets,” she added.
During the trial, Stone showed that Thompson had stopped his car abruptly once before in front of two cyclists going down hill. Those cyclists narrowly avoided colliding with his car. Another cyclist testified that a car matching Thompson’s had also stopped in front of him, but he was going slowly uphill and was able to avoid a collision.
In the incident that sparked the charges, on July 4, 2008, one cyclist clipped the back of Thompson’s Infinity sedan and flew off his bike into the oncoming lane. The second cyclist went into Thompson’s rear window. His nose was nearly severed from his face.
Thompson told an investigating police officer that he wanted to teach the cyclists a lesson.
Penn State Junior Bobby Longenecker and three of his fellow former Manheim Township classmates pedaled from the Mexican border in southern California to Lubec, Maine - the easternmost town in the nation - last summer.
The diagonal cross-country trek is chronicaled in a Daily Collegian article Tuesday, along with Longenecker’s effort to run marathons in all 50 states.
Mike “Meatball” Friedman, from Pittsburgh, will be joining the team, sponsored by the candy company. Friedman will be leaving the Garmin-Slipstream team, with whom he has competed in some of the European Spring Classics.
And Jonathan Chodroff, of Kennett Square, who turned pro this year with Team OUCH presented by Maxxis, will also be moving to Jelly Belly. Chodroff, a time trialing specialist and climber, appeared in several regional races this year, including the Millersville Road Race.
At OUCH, he was on the roster with two other Pennsylvanians, Bobby Lea, of Mertztown, and Lancaster County native Floyd Landis.
Landis, meanwhile, has been the subject of transfer rumors. Supposedly, he was considering a move to Rock Racing. Landis, who has a contract with OUCH through next year, has not commented on the rumor. He did, however, tell a New Zealand newspaper he believes it is unlikely he will ever race the Tour de France again. According to a Cyclingnews.com article, Landis acknowledged his lackluster comeback this year from a two-year doping suspension. He also blamed “politics” between the UCI, the sport’s international governing body, and the tour organizer. Landis is in New Zealand racing in the Tour of the Southland.
In case you missed it, the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era had a feature story on Thursday on the Old School Schwinn Bike Club, a group in Lancaster with restored or tricked out Schwinn, Sears or J.C. Higgins rides.
The most interesting courtroom drama in recent years is taking place this week in Los Angeles.
It is the road rage trial of a California doctor who passed two cyclists descending a hill and then slammed on his brakes. One cyclist swerved to avoid the car, clipped the back bumper and went flying into the oncoming lane. He had a separated shoulder that required surgery. The other cyclist fared much worse. He slammed into the back of the doctor’s car. His face went through the back window. It took 90 stitches to reattach the man’s nose, which was almost completely severed.
The doctor, who reportedly attempted to do the same thing to two other cyclists four months earlier, allegedly told the investigating police officer that he wanted”to teach them a lesson.” The doctor was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
An attorney for the doctor maintains it was an “unfortunate accident.” In his opening remarks Monday, he suggested bicycles are inherently unstable and the cyclists themselves are responsible for their injuries.
Velonews has been covering the case. The latest is here. The opening day coverage is here.
Momentum Sports Group, owners of the OUCH presented by Maxxis professional cycling team, announced today that they and Lancaster County native Floyd Landis have agreed to part ways.
Ride before you buy. Or, ride them just for the fun of riding them.
