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Greenville SC Climbs via Google Maps

Ever wonder why some of us moved to SC for biking? Coach Boyd like me relocated here because of the ideal weather, traffic and climbing. Yes for all of you who think we have no mountains check this map out.

Hincapie Leaves Discovery for...

Well this has been under wraps for quite some time. But with some of the European media finally catching on it was time to spill the beans...

George Hincapie is leaving Discovery Channel for the pinker pastures of T-Mobile. It seems that the opportunity to be a team leader in his beloved classics was too much to pass up. I expect that the announcement will leak fully in the coming days or weeks. [UCI rules dictate that the announcements can not be official until late July.]

Hincapie is nearing the end of his career so this may be his last team he rides for.  T-Mobile really beats out its competitors by signing Hincapie.

First, the most prolific Active American rider of his generation. Neither Jullich nor Leipheimer can hold a candle to Hincapie in terms of popularity. Plus the other guys have never had much commercial success.

Second T-mobile gains probably one of the cleanest racers in the world. I mean who else  has raced this long without any doping whispers. A true boost to the reputation Bill Stapleton is trying to project.

Third, T-Mobile gets a  high quality rider that throws down for his team mates and can deliver the goods if need be.

Fourth T-Mobile gets an American to boost the sponsorship on this side of the country.

Hincapie gets a team that this year has proven can race the classics. They have a tremendous amount of young talented riders.

US racing will gain the full support of its races by T-Mobile adding one more team racing frequently on our shores.

Discovery has some answers because of this. They lose their super-star. Even if Leipheimer does well we all know who will be there day in and day out. They probably lost him with the Basso affair and not signing any loyal Classics guy to really control a race for Hincapie. The BS that Hoste pulled last year was a shame since George had Boonen covered.

I wonder how Armstorng and Bruyneel will spin this one when reporters start shoving mics in their face asking if this had anything to do with doping or their failure to secure sponsors. 

I think that Discovery Channel is scrambling to find sponsorship. You rarely if ever hear it mentioned outside of the doping scandals. Landis's trial is over without much conclusion from the media. Most main stream US media have written cycling off to the same joke Baseball and Wrestling have become with the dopers winning and everyone lying.

If I were George I would pray that other former T-Mobile alumni ( Ullrich and the rest of the old T-Mobile guard) go off and disappear so that the T-Mobile executives still approve the budgets for the sponsorship and don't bail out at the last minute like Cofids and Franke did recently.

George beat the other Discovery guys out of the gate by getting a deal done before the silly season of the Tour begins. Some guys are probably going to have take a pay cut since sponsors are harder to come by...

Go George.

Power Generators Part 2

Get ready for some early trade/signings for 2008 and beyond. With some teams have some tough questions to ask about their doping policies it seems that some riders have already signed for new teams for 2008. UCI rules dictate that they must wait until the Tour de France.

T-mobile and Slipstream have been active and Discovery Channel is still out hunting for dollars.

Some guys might not get a chance to race with their teams for Tour if this gets out. Why waste the spot on a guy....

Stay tuned as we get ready to announce the second part of Power Generators and who will going where for next season.

Powermeter Search Engine

Want to search for training with power in a search engine that searches ONLY wattage specific sites?

This search engine is a co-op with Google and uses all the sites possible (Google Wattage Forum, Training peaks, Blogs, Coaching websites, Cyclingnews Fitness Section etc.).

You may contribute, invite others to contribute and add this search engine to your website by visiting:

Powertap Geek Search Engine home page.

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4906&status=True

The quest for the lightest Powertap Wheel

We are in search of the lightest powertap wheel out there. Having used a variety of clincher and tubular rims we are looking for the lightest wheel set any rider owns. If you have the wheel please send us the details.Many readers always ask for lightweight options but until now you had to hunt all over the web to find.

CERAMIC BEARING POWERTAP HUBS

Did Floyd Really Cheat?

I am not speaking of stage 17. Cyclops replaced his standard bearings with ceramic. So during the Tour de France Floyd rolled on the only ceramic bearing Powertap wheels in existence.

POWERTAPGEEK CERAMIC BEARING POWERTAP HUBS!

Now you can too. I am re-introducing a limited number of pre-built hubs or upgrades to your current hub/wheel with these ceramic bearings. Any Powertap Hub  (Standard, Pro, SL, or 2.4) will work. These bearings are Grade 5 Ceramic - the finest available.

As long time readers will know,  started experimenting with Ceramic Bearings in an SL last January See the post. but the challenge with any Powertap bearing replacement is the torque tube~ as messing it up will make the whole thing inaccurate. This is not an easy process to keep the integrity of the torque. Saris/Cyclops will Void a warranty if it is done improperly. You can now benefit from a lot of trial and error and save money and time.

OUR PROCESS WILL NOT VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Lower rolling resistance, full warranty.

Turn around is 14 business days (with my current inventory) from arrival at my shop. We will ship internationally. We are not allowed to publish the pricing so please contact me for more information. 

 

Pacing yourself at 360 Watts!

Here is a great narration of Brasstown Bald Climb podcast  for the Tour of Georgia.

John Devine, US Developmental Team, was with the leaders and attacked Brackjovic and Vande Velde!

 

I love his comment that he "paced" himself at 360 watts up the climb!

Here is the Cyclingpeaks file of John riding up Brasstown Bald!

Download Devine_John_4_20_2007.wko

I am not worthy ~ how many hours in the saddle and you are pacing yourself at 360 watts up the steepest climb in North America!

How hard are Cycling's Classics?

Ever wonder how hard the classics really are? I mean you ride the same areas four to five times a year?

A one day  race cannot possibly be as hard as racing for 26 days, right?

Amazingly, six hours of racing went by in a flash as I was completely focused the entire 250 km.~Michael Barry on Amstel Gold Race

Michael Barry from T-Mobile has been racing with a powermeter most of the Classics this year. He has been writing for Velonews and I have taken some of the wattage specific excerpts from his entries.

Here are some of the wattage numbers:

- Amstel Gold 5500 Kilojoules burned (more then a stage in any grand tour - even the mountains!)

- First 30 minutes of a classic ~ 370+ watts

There is a point in all the Classics where the speed picks up significantly and it usually happens in the last seventy kilometers. In fact, there is essentially a formula that holds true to most of the Classics and one day races: the first hour of racing is furious until a breakaway of non-threatening riders gets away, then the peloton settles into a rhythm behind with a few teams riding at a steady speed to control the peloton while slowly reeling in the break, and then in the last hour the attacks begin on the final difficulties of the course, the protagonists are near the front, and their teams are making the race hard and selective. The moment the pace increases the field starts to slowly come unglued as riders pop off the back and out of the race in small clumps. ~ Barry, on the classics

A friend recently raced with a recovering Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) back in Seattle. An 80+ mile road race, Tyler attacked within the first 5 miles and stayed away with one other rider. He said that on the flats Tyler was motoring in low 30 mph range lap after lap. That is what racing the Classic's will do for you. He said it was a man racing with Boys (this same race had riders from Colavita, Jittery Joes, Health Net, etc.) no one could sustain his effort.

How to train better, get faster-quicker!

Have you ever wanted to ask the experts specific questions about your training?

Want to know WATT type of rider you are?

WATT to Focus on in your training?

How your numbers stack up against other category racers?

How to race smarter?

Why you faded in that last triathlon or time-trial?

WATT bike position is faster?

How to climb faster?

Then Robin Horowitz has the answer for you. He is the owner of Threshold Power Training Camps - a  program dedicated to the serious power athlete. His operation offers riders a way to learn more about training with power and themselves.

Robin hosted a camp in Solvang, CA during the Tour de California and it sounds really cool.

First off, you spend 6 days riding some awesome terrain. Secondly, you ride with some Pros and third you learn how to throttle the competition when you get home... I can't think of a better vacation.

Hunter Allen, the owner and creator of Cycling Peaks Software and Peaks Coaching Services attended to analyze campers data and training.

• One on one power consult with Hunter Allen
• One on one performance consults with Coaches
• Video Analysis of your Riding technique and style
• Opportunity to have your power meter files reviewed by expert coaches
• Training recommendations and analysis of you as a rider
• Power and/or heart rate training zones to take with you
• Full-Time Mechanic Support - Clean and adjusted bikes every Morning. Just like the Pros!
• Full Sag Support during rides
• One month of follow-up by the coaches after the training camp!

Now if you consider the cost of training with a coach of this caliber. Roughly $200-400/month so $3,600/year Robin's camps are cheap speed!

Second, does your coach have a background training with power? I have met many who have only owned a power-meter for 1-2 years, let alone invented the software and system to track and monitor your training so you can peak!

I think that is a bargain. You get a tailored program, full analysis of your training that you can use for years to come. It takes some people years to get this dialed in, and your is done in a weekend!

Pretty smoking deal....

Robin is offering a camp in Fremont, CA later this month.

And the camp I recommend for all of is the one in October. What better way to end your racing season then riding in California weather and to have the Pros review your data so you can plan and train better for next season. This is the best time to review and analyze. Waiting until December is too late in my opinion.

So if you want to faster - quicker. Check out the camps!

Here is the photo gallery from the Solvang Camp .