Monday, July 30, 2007

Road Bike Donation


In contrast to the spectacle of Le Tour (for better or worse), there's still nothing like the look on a kids's face when he or she gets a new bike. We got to see this yesterday when we donated a used bike to one of our favorite riders, Malcolm from Alliance, Ohio. Malcolm and his family are regulars on our Night Rides on the Towpath, and he is always riding with the fast group up front. This new bike will help him push the pace on us even more!


The bike is a Giant Kronos, which had belonged to Sharon, our bookkeeper. We gave it a full tune-up, new tires, new handlebar tape, and a brand new CatEye cyclocomputer. Malcolm and his father went out for a ride to test it out immediately. When they got back, he couldn't wait to show us his top speed on the computer!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

10 Reasons to Watch the Tour de France

There's an insightful column about the Tour de France from Jim Caple of ESPN.com, a media outlet not usually known for paying very much attention to bicycle racing. Jim lists his ten reasons why he thinks the race is still worth watching. One notable quote: "Who is more patriotic, the person who commutes to work on a bike, or the guy who slaps a U.S. flag decal on his SUV that gets 12 miles per gallon?"

He also makes the comment that "bicycles are the new SUV," an opinion that we couldn't agree with more, although he claims to be "ahead of the curve" on that point, even though the Adventure Cycling Association has been selling that idea on a t-shirt for several years.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Quotes from le Tour


"He’ll go to his limit and will die on the bike if he has to." – Marc Biver, the Astana manager, talking about team leader Alexandre Vinokourov’s intent to continue competing in the Tour de France despite 15 stitches in his knees after he crashed on stage 5.
Bob Roll commenting on why riders go off in breaks when they almost never succeed:
"...because hope springs eternal in the minds of the demented peddling pilgrims..."

Friday, July 13, 2007

Reagan Park Time Trial


Medina Mountain Bike is holding their third annual Reagan Park Time Trial on September 16th 2007.

Registration is easy, you can walk up the day of the ride and register during the check-in times listed below.

If you want, you can pre-register via email to the ride founder, Larry Clouse. Just shoot him your name, age and which class you'd like to compete in (expert, sport or novice). With that info, Larry will pencil you in and the fee will be due the day of the race.

Check-in time: 9:00 am to 10:30 am. First rider leaves the gate at 11:00 am.

Registration fee: $20 Due at check-in.

Location: Reagan Park, Medina Ohio. Parking and registration at the pavillion are next to the soccer fields at the Rt 3 (Weymouth Rd.) entrance just north of Reagan Parkway.

If you have any questions contact Larry Clouse at lcclouse@hotmail.com

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Paul Sherwen's Other Job

Watching the Tour coverage on Versus means a month of hanging out each evening with Bob Roll, Paul Sherwen, Phil Liggett, and Al Trautwig. If you go to Versus’ website (http://www.versus.com/tdf/article/view/741/?ss=reports&tf=Body.tpl) you can read their individual daily posts on each stage. Of course, Bob’s are fun to read because they are written in full Bobke style. (Bummer, though, that Bob Roll’s personal website, www.BobRoll.com, is not up and running yet.) The Versus website also has their bios, where we came across this fascinating nugget: When Paul Sherwen is not covering cycling races as a commentator and expert, he lives in Uganda with his family where he runs (anyone, anyone?)...a GOLD MINE.

Note to self: The next time Bob Roll visits Century Cycles, ask him if he’s ever been to Paul’s GOLD MINE (and then ask him to do his Phil Liggett imitation again).

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Tour de France coverage and other new web site features

The 2007 Tour de France starts this Saturday, July 7! You can learn about the race and follow the action from our web site, using our Tour de France Guide, Photos of the Day, and Live News Feed.

A few other useful and informative pages have just been added to our Bike Buying Tips section. There are updated buyer's guides for road and mountain bikes, all-new guides to full-suspension and fixed-gear bikes, and a brand new custom fitting form.

Enjoy!