Category Archives: Cycling

Seeking your passion? Grab some popcorn


You never know where you’ll find inspiration. You could, for instance, think you’re passing some idle time at work by surfing the web and — viola! — you stumble across a video that makes you think, “Wow! I’d like to do that!” Or, in the case of some of the following videos, “Wow! I’d like to do something like that but without risk of loss of limb or life!” read more

Learning from a governor’s fall down

A cautionary tale out of Colorado that comes just in time from what’s forecast to be a springlike weekend in North Carolina. Yesterday, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (at left) took a spill on a morning road ride with four friends. His front wheel touched the rear wheel of the bike in front of him, he went down, he fractured several ribs on his right side. A bad crash that could have been worse for the governor had he not been wearing a helmet. read more

A bike for all reasons

Over the years, I’ve written several pieces attempting to match the right bike with the right person. I’ve written about the right bike for aspiring commuters, I’ve written about the right bike for roadie wannabes, I’ve written about the right bike for people who want to take a spin on their local greenway and the right bike for folks curious about mountain biking. One bike I haven’t written about, though, is a bike that can do it all — a little greenway, a little road, a little off-road.
A bike I’ve long suspected to be the cyclocross bike.
In appearance, a cross bike resembles a road bike. They were developed for cyclocross racing, a pursuit created a century ago by European road racers trying to stay in shape over the winter. The races take place off road, involve mud and have various obstacles that require a fair amount of hoping off the bike, throwing it over your shoulder and carrying it. As a result, the bikes have a higher bottom bracket read more