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The cycling events at the Olympics are always exciting with both men’s and women’s road races and time trials. The men’s road race consisted of a 49 mile one way segment followed by 7 laps on a 15 mile circuit for a total of 152 miles, or 245 km. The route went through Beijing, by the forbidden city, and outside the city limits to the nearby mountains. Included was a respectable climb that allowed breakaways to form and keep away from the main pack; giving the riders a challenge as they raced for nearly six and a half hours. The women had a similar route, but rather than 7 laps, they completed 2 for a total of 78.3 miles, or 126 km.
Samuel Sanchez of Spain won the men’s road race in a fantastic final sprint to the finish. In the women’s race, Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke won after long day of heavy rainfall.
Kristin Armstrong from the United States won the the women’s time trial with a time of 34:51.72 over a 23.5 km course. Where Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the 47.3 km time trial with a time of 1:02:11.43, for an average speed of around 28.3 mph.
For cycling enthusiasts one of the greatest times of the year has ended, the Tour. Almost a month of great bicycle racing could be seen six days a week without having to track down a race online or through the tv guide. I most impressed with Team CSC and their determination and dominance throughout the whole tour. CSC member Carlos Sastre of Spain ended up winning the general race though the Schleck brothers, also of CSC, turned out at performances throughout the whole race. Read the rest of this entry »
Thought that this was a pretty interesting compilation video of track cycling. I’ve never watched the sport before, but it appears to be as technical as any road race (an arm slingshot manuever?).
Science of Cycling has taken a bit of a break for the last couple of weeks, mainly do to busy schedules and such. Thats the way of life though, using your free time wisely and to the most enjoyment. So with that spirit, we’ve been out enjoying the nice weather of the North-East and getting on the road. Stayed tuned for new articles and videos though, as there is never too much that one can learn about the sport of cycling.
Heres some images to contemplate in the mean time (found on Associated Mountain Bike Press): Read the rest of this entry »
A horse decided he wanted to give his legs a good run and raced with cyclists in the Criterium International in 1997. Surprisingly, no one was seriously effected by the event and everything turned out just fine:
If you’re looking for some good advice to improve your bike racing technique, you might want to check out 50 Top Bike Racing Tips.
The writer is Bart Summers, who has spent the last 15 years racing in events from beginner to national levels. Though is it a solid 84 pages of information, for the experienced rider, much of his information is well known. For people new to the sport, however, I’d recommend this book as a good introduction to knowing the ins and outs of bike racing.
On a side note, I personally like the style of ebooks: order online and start reading right away. It definitely beats the hassle of ordering offline and waiting for it to come in the mail.
I’ve come across some other interesting biking blogs that you might want to check out:
Ever wonder if bike drafting was for real? If you’ve never ridden in a group before and experienced drafting for yourself, here’s some ’scientific’ data to convince you.
Not to keep on posting videos every week, but this one comes with a good message. See if you can pass this simple test.
How many times have you missed something right in front of you?
Ever wonder how to correctly change a flat on the side of the road? Here’s a short video to help you out. All you need is an extra tube, portable pump, and tire levers to get the job done.
Our forums have finally been launched! Check them out here. The layout is still being worked on a bit, but overall, they are ready to be used! A community is always a good motivater for both the average biker and the wanna-be racer. Even if your new to the sport, we can help you get started with suggestions for equipment and technique.
Whenever I go for a bike ride, I always want to know how far I go and how fast I am going. The most essential piece of equipment, in my opinion, is a cyclocomputer. At your local sports store (Dick’s seems to have the best deals) they only cost $20 to $30 and are worth every penny. They can display your time elapsed, distance travelled, temperature, speed, cadence, and much more. I’ve even seen some with heart rate monitors on them. Installation takes about ten minutes, with just a simple attachment to your handle bars and front fork.
Another interesting tool is Google Maps. After finding your start location, you can map out your route and measure the overall distance with their distance tool. Here are some steps to get you started. Read the rest of this entry »
If you have never heard of bike messengers before, you have to check out this video. It takes some real skill to maneuver New York City traffic on a road bike.
Recently, I’ve been researching for some more scientific articles. Right now, I’m perfecting the final addition to the series Gears 100 (Gears 101 and Gears 102). I would like to mention some blogs that I’ve been reading though, that I personally like. I’ve come across a few sites that compile cycling blogs, but they seem to be a bit outdated. So if there are any cycling fans out there that are looking for some more reading content heres some of my favorites:
Science is defined as a systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation, and here at Science of Cycling, we will apply science to the sport of cycling. You will be able to find information relating to every aspect of the sport of cycling, and if you have a burning question, ask it and it will be answered. A community is the best place to learn, and with the right knowledge, anything is possible.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a novice or an expert, you will be able to find information that can improve your experience on a bicycle. For those just looking to get into better shape, to the experienced rider trying to shave a few seconds off of a split, Science of Cycling will break the problem down, find and provide relevant information, and then try it out for ourselves. We will use our knowledge gained through this research, observation, and experimentation to give you, the enthusiast, information aimed at making cycling more enjoyable, comfortable, and beneficial.
So after the quirks are worked out with the website design, let us commence on a journey for the betterment of the sport of cycling.
