Weekend reading »
Week 20
Doh! When I loaded up the site this morning, I realized that I hadn’t hit the ‘publish’ button to put this post online. I guess it was because I had to turn off my brain to get through the film version of The Da Vinci Code; obviously, I forgot to turn it back on when I left the show. And I don’t want to see any ‘You’re always like this’ comments…
Original content
For Monday, I posted up a review of the Manitou Minute: 04 and followed that up with Ashwin’s comparison of the fibre-based Flat Attack sealant and Stan’s latex concoction. For Wednesday, I posted up the build specs for my 2005 Giant Trance, thinking that the entry would generate some decent discussion — ‘Too heavy!’, or ‘Why not get a Reign?’ — and it did, just not the type of discussion I expected. Moving on, Guitar Ted gave us a thoughtful glimpse at the type of event that served as the foundation for the growing ultra-endurance race scene.
Elsewhere on the ‘net
Over at NSMB.com, Lee McCormack posted up an overview of the 2007 Fox Racing Shox freeride and downhill lineup. Stumbled across a Flickr photostream with a bunch of pics of classic Shore riding. CyclingNews reviews the Scott Scale 10 hardtail and has a closeup look at Liam Killeen’s pink 25th Anniversary Stumpjumper. Cannondale launches SystemSix, its next generation frame technology. Word is that there will be a mountain bike SystemSix frame in production for next year too. More to come on 06.06.06.
2006 Giro D’Italia recap: In road biking news, Ivan Basso is set to win the Giro d’Italia by a comfortable margin. It looks as though Jan Ullrich quit the Giro during today’s nineteenth stage. Although a back injury was cited as the main reason for the withdrawal, I’d put money on Jan not wanting to ride anymore during the Giro. And since I’m in a gambling sort of mood, does anybody want to put money on the T-Mobile team being in disarray during the Tour de France this year?
More blood doping controversy. Elsewhere, Manolo Saiz, the director of the Liberty Seguros cycling team, was arrested by Spanish authorities after a long investigation into doping allegations. Saiz was released on bail after promising to appear in front of a judge, although the bags of frozen blood, steroids, and other materials seized during the operation won’t help his defense any. And while it likely cost Liberty Seguros a boatload of cash — it’s going to cost a fortune in lost exposure / marketing opportunities — the Spanish insurance company terminated its sponsorship agreement with its pro cycling team. I’m sure the fallout will continue…
Healing vibes go out to the dude on a bike that was smacked by a motorist close to my home. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt badly (ie. no ambulance) but I do hope that the driver of the car gets the book thrown at them for blowing through a crosswalk.