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A Three-Year-Old Noob?

02.17.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 14 Comments

February 18. That’s the day I put up my first post on Bike Noob.  Three years ago.

Unbelievable. A blog I started just to get a feel for writing a blog has turned into something that I would be hard pressed to do without. The greatest reward for me in writing this thing is how much I have learned — about blogging, about biking, and about other seemingly unrelated topics.

Certainly, my cycling horizons have broadened in the last three years. I started by just taking bike rides that were a little longer than most of my acquaintances took, and what happened? I started riding with a club (which showed me how much room for improvement there was), I bought a new bike (which is now a not-so-new bike — it’s three years old, too, and I’m looking enviously at other velocipedes — I just have no idea what I want), I started doing organized rides and eventually worked my way up to a century, I did organized time trials (but haven’t gotten into actual bike racing, and don’t plan to), I devoured every book, article, magazine, blog, online forum, Twitter feed, etc.,  I could find about biking (and I’m still hungry for more).

I’m seeing a lot more biking blogs out there than there were when I started. A lot of them are better than this one, and I’m wondering if I can maintain the freshness of my posts with all the “competition.”  But as long as I can stay interested, I’ll keep trying to be interesting.

The best part about Bike Noob, as far as this noob is concerned, is you — the reader. I’ve enjoyed the feedback I get in the comments. I promise to do my part to make this place more two-way than it has been, and try to engage you in online conversations via the comments. I know your time is precious, so when you take a few minutes to add your thoughts to my posts, I truly appreciate it. I’ve already made some virtual friends as a result of this venture — I hope to make more in the coming year.

In the meantime, get out and ride! (And keep the rubber side down.)

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Categories // Blogging Tags // Blogging

Contador and My Interest in Cycling

02.15.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

My interest in pro bike racing is pretty much confined to the Tour de France. I’ve been watching the Tour for the last four years, attracted mainly by the scenic shots of France – the chateaus, the medieval walled towns, the modern and old  parts of the cities. I’ve even posted brief descriptions of the team jerseys for the Tour, to explain who those sponsors are that no one’s ever heard of.

But I’ve never been able to psych myself up to watch the Giro d’Italia or the Vuelta a Espana.  Or the one-day classics at the beginning of the season. Or the lesser stage races in other countries. So take my opinions here for what they’re worth, coming from an uninformed cyclist.

The news that Alberto Contador has been exculpated in his doping case isn’t all that surprising. The Spanish Cycling Federation ruled that the trace amount of clenbuterol found in his system during a rest day at the 2010 Tour de France was ingested unintentionally.

Both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ban the use of clenbuterol by athletes; it increases muscle mass and reduces fat. The Drug Enforcement Administration says athletes typically take 60-120 micrograms per day. Contador is accused of having 50 picograms of the drug in his system. A picogram is about half the size of a microgram.

Now, you might dislike Contador, going back to his feud with Lance when they were both on the Astana team. But to me, his story is plausible. Although the European Union prohibits the use of clenbuterol in food-producing animals, it is known to be illicitly used to increase the leanness of meat in livestock. The US Dept. of Agriculture says people in Spain, France, Italy and elsewhere have become sick after eating meat tainted with clenbuterol.

You might also demand that a zero-tolerance drug policy be rigorously enforced by the powers that be in cycling – that if anyone is found with any concentration of illicit drugs in their system, they’re out. But hot on the heels of the Contador decision comes the news that the British Sky cycling team is backing off from its zero-tolerance drug policy. It seems that all the best coaches in the sport have some involvement with illegal doping in their past. Sky is apparently hoping these folks will be clean when they come to work for Sky, but that cloud will always hang over their heads.

Oh, and if Contador is not going to be penalized for clenbuterol, what about Chinese rider Li Fuyu, who rides for Radioshack? He is also under suspension for testing positive for “clen” in a race.

It’s just too hard to keep up with it all. And keeping up with it isn’t very rewarding. My conclusion: The whole system is corrupt. And as such, it does not deserve my support, or my interest. I won’t be watching the Tour this summer, or any other bike race. One of the reasons I ride is to be healthy. When cycling tolerates the use of banned substances, it is undermining the health benefits, and sending a disturbing message to fans and non-fans all over the world.

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Categories // Racing Tags // doping

It’s Amazing How Fast You Get Out of Shape

02.13.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

Rode this afternoon with my wife. It was my first ride in a week. In fact, it seems that the only riding I’ve been doing for the last month has been on the weekends, and this week, I didn’t even ride Saturday, because of a day trip out of town.

All that time off the bike is finally catching up with me. Man, am I out of shape! The out of town trip was to visit some relatives, and four of my cousins were there – so we took the obligatory cousins pic.

I’m not running it on the blog, out of deference to them. Suffice to say, it shows five American males in their mid to late 50s, all with substantial girth. In a couple of cases, the gut hangs over the belt buckle.

My wife looked at it, and said, “Well, you have the skinniest gut of them all.” Her definition of skinny differs from mine. I ain’t skinny. I suppose I am the least rotund.

My weight, which usually goes up in winter anyway, is true to form.  I’m about 10 pounds over my good summer biking weight.

That contributed to the way I felt on today’s ride. Oh, I felt good enough – but it seemed that I was putting much more effort into the ride than I normally would.

Disirregardless, the ride served as a needed wake up call.  I know I can get back on track by doing two simple things:

Riding more.

Eating less (junk).

All the nifty organized rides that I want to be on have opened registration. Time to start signing up. Time to get back in shape.

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Categories // fitness Tags // fitness, weight

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