January 27th, 2010 7:01 pm
Lancaster County native Floyd Landis’ future in professional cycling has been in doubt in recent months since announcing he was leaving the OUCH-Maxxis team. End-of-the-season announcements such as that one usually say to which team the rider is moving, or that the rider is retiring from the sport.
There has been speculation that Landis would go to Rock Racing, a team with a history of giving suspended riders second chances. No formal announcement has come from the team.
On Monday, it was reported that Landis was racing in the Tour of the Bahamas in a Rock Racing kit. On Tuesday, Cyclingnews.com followed up on that story. Cyclingnews reported that Landis broke the race’s lap record in the individual time trial. It also quoted from an e-mail Landis sent to NeilBrowne.com.
“I told them [Rock Racing] that I wanted to do that race so they sent me a kit,” Landis said.
But even Landis himself wasn’t sure whether or not Rock Racing would continue to be part of the American racing scene this season after being denied a Professional Continental license by the UCI.
“I honestly don’t know,” he continued. “I don’t know even if [team owner] Ball has thought about the team these last two weeks. I have no clue what’s going on. After the Tour of the Bahamas I’m going back to my shack behind the car wash. Maybe I’ll write a book.”
The article follows a blog post earlier this month by Joe Lindsey at Bicycling.com in which Lindsey ponders Landis’ future after a lackluster 2009 comeback season. A good read.
Stay tuned.
Tags: Floyd Landis · season · professional · cycling · sports
January 15th, 2010 6:38 pm
Jack Simes, one of the organizers of the roller racing series that was to have been in Lancaster tonight, took a nasty fall on black ice, resulting in three broken ribs, a broken back and a concussion.
As a result, the roller racing competition scheduled for this evening at Gusto restaurant has been rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 12. Other details remain the same. More information is available at the All that is Good website.
Tags: Uncategorized
January 7th, 2010 5:09 pm
The League of Lancaster Bicyclists, a recently formed organization of the Dream Ride Projects program, is holding a bicycle ride this Thursday and every Thursday through the winter.
The rides, from 6-8 p.m., will alternate between starting locations at the Lancaster County Public Safety Training Center, 101 Champ Blvd., Manheim, and the Southern Market Center, 101 S. Queen St., at the corner of South Queen and West Vine streets, in Lancaster City.
This evening’s ride will begin at the public safety training center.
The weekly rides are intended to be a combination of road ride, educational training and advocacy discussion for riders interested in completing the League of American Bicyclists BikeEd Road 1/Smart Cycling Course and participating in discussions of cycling advocacy. Rides will be held rain or shine. Training will include night riding and commuting techniques. Bring lights. Indoor classroom activities will include open discussion of League cycling education materials.
More information, and the dates and starting locations of rides, are at: http://www.dreamrideprojects.org/CyclinginLancaster.html#education
Tags: Uncategorized
January 4th, 2010 12:13 am
Championship Roller Racing, in which riders compete to ride the fastest times for a set distance on stationary rollers, will be held Friday, Jan. 15, at Gusto restaurant, 335 N. Queen St., Lancaster.
Competitive roller racing, which was commonly held from the 1880s-1920s, was to be revived in Lancaster last winter but the planned competition was cancelled.
Local race promoter Rich Ruoff, of All that is Good cycling, is trying again in conjunction with other promoters in Allentown, Doylestown, Princeton, N.J. and New York City. There will be a series of eight regional roller races, with winners competing in a final competition in New York on Saturday, March 6.
There is no pre-registration for the Lancaster competition. Interested riders may arrive at the upstairs room at Gusto at 5:30 p.m. with their bikes. Entry in the competition costs $20. There will be cash prizes. Entry for spectators is $5.
Competitor bikes must have gearing no larger than a 50-tooth ring on the crank and a 14-tooth cassette. Wheels can be no larger than 27 inches in diameter and crank arms must be 165 mm or longer. Professional men will race for one mile, while women and open category men will race for .6 of a mile. The initial race, at 6:30 p.m., will provide seed times for advance matches or disqualify slower riders.
Tags: Lancaster · races · cycling · sports
December 8th, 2009 12:04 am
A new bike shop opened recently in downtown Lancaster and is selling a different kind of bike. The recent Lancaster Sunday News article about Green Pedals Ltd. and its electric bikes appears below.
Drew Herr and his wife, Lisa, happened upon a shop that was selling electric bikes last summer when he had a brilliant idea.Why not commute to work on one of the battery-powered babies? Better yet, why not recruit the masses to ride the things?
The new convert returned from his vacation in Maryland and started planning how to do just that.
His downtown shop, Green Pedals Ltd., opened in early November. The store held its grand opening Friday.
Herr sells two electric bike brands, Pedego and Ultra Motor, with models ranging in price from $995 to $2,699.
In keeping with his green-and-gracious commuting theme, he’s also marketing economically priced Sun “Kruizer” pedal-powered bikes modeled on the kind of comfy, retro bikes you find at the beach. He expects to introduce a line of Motorino electric scooters next spring.
Herr reports several sales, lots of head turning from passers-by and “brisk” traffic through his 24 W. Orange St. showroom — especially on market days. But he said he expects the local electric bike revolution to unfold gently.
The winter months will give him time to open people’s eyes to the machines, he figures. After that, watch out.
“They have a very viable niche. They’re coming into critical mass, I feel,” he said.
[Read more →]
Tags: business · environmental · commuting · Transportation · Lancaster · cycling
November 27th, 2009 11:29 pm
Lancaster’s Sgt. Neil Gussman, missing the end-of-season Turkey Day bike race here, organized one Thanksgiving day at the Tallil Ali Air Base, south of Baghdad, where he is stationed in the Army.
Gussman, a category 3 master’s racer, has been trying for months to organize a race. He got 30 people out for a biathlon, with 10 of them there for the first, 5k run part of the race.
Gussman, riding a single-speed road bike, was the first team finisher. You can read all about it here.
Tags: Iraq · holiday · Lancaster · cycling
November 18th, 2009 6:28 pm
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.
Tags: races · professional · cycling · sports
November 17th, 2009 6:41 pm
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.
Tags: Floyd Landis · Tour de France · cycling · sports
November 13th, 2009 11:46 pm
Ride before you buy. Or, ride them just for the fun of riding them.
Green Mountain Cyclery in Ephrata is sponsoring a Trek demo day on Sunday, Nov. 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the J.EdwardMack Scout Reservation, near Brickerville.
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.
Tags: mountain biking · Green Mountain · cycling
November 10th, 2009 11:39 pm
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.
[Read more →]
Tags: Ephrata · Lancaster · cycling
