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Lance Armstrong Crashes during opening stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León

Lance Armstrong crashed hard in Monday’s opening stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León and was transported by ambulance to a hospital in nearby Palencia, Spain.

The crash occurred on a narrow road as the peloton was ramping up its speed to reel in two attacking riders with about 20km to go in the 168.3km first stage from Parades de Nava to Baltanás in northern Spain.
Race organizers and the Astana team doctor confirmed that the seven-time Tour de France champion had broken his right collarbone.
Astana team leader Johan Bruyneel said on his Twitter feed there were no complications in the break, and suggested Armstrong could be riding soon. "Clean collarbone fracture," Bruyneel said. "Should be fast recovery." The injury typically takes between a month and six weeks to heal fully.

"I've never had this happen before; it's pretty painful," said Lance as he left the hospital. "I feel really miserable."

After falling off his bike, Armstrong sat in the grass beside the road, his right shoulder slumped and his wrist resting on his right thigh. When help arrived, he motioned toward his right shoulder. Armstrong eventually walked to the ambulance and climbed into the back.

So what about the Tour de France? "We are confident he can still race the Tour de France, of course. He will be off the bike, but he can still do condition training." said Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens.

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Video Footage of Crash

Trail Work Days for JORBA RVCC at Ringwood

Jorba/RVCC will start their first trail work day for 2009 on Sunday March 29th. We will be starting some work on the Ringwood/Ramapo Trail heading out towards Skyline Drive. This is a big and ambitious but very worthwhile project. Please come out o help if you can. The work site is 5 miles in, so be prepared to ride your bike to the work site. As the work progresses, the site will get farther in, and more difficult to reach.
These first sessions are especially helpful to attend.
Sunday March 29 : Meet at Lot C at 8:45. Tools will be provided. Bring work gloves, plenty of water and snacks. Be prepared to ride bikes in. No hikers led!

Tentative next work dates:
April 26
June 6/7

Information in this post originally sent in an email from Ellen White

The Red Bull Season Opener at Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park

In previous articles we posted video from Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park in Ohio and video from the Red Bull Rampage near Virgin, Utah.
Like a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup The Red Bull and Rays Indoor Mountain Bike Park are two great rides that go great together.

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Steephill.tv Cycling online

Ever wonder how Europe started kicking our ass in Mountain Biking? Watch Decending the Alps

Follow Euro-cycling's Classics as well as the bigger Tours: http://www.steephill.tv/.
This weekend try them out for Milan-San Remo.

The Last Mountain Bike Ride of Winter 2009

This Sunday was the last weekend ride of winter 2009. All and all it had been a pretty mild winter. New Jersey only experienced a few snow storms none of which lived up to the hype of the weather forecasts. For most of our winter riding we headed down south to Allaire State Park and Hartshorne Woods. We did however do a couple of rides at Ringwood State Park and Some trails off the top of Skyline Drive. For this Sunday’s ride however we headed up to Peekskill NY. About 15 minutes past the Bear Mountain Bridge is Blue Mountain a mix of flowing singletrack, technical terrain, tricky climbs, and some adrenaline releasing downhills. In short Blue offers some of the best riding in the area.

There was a definite chill in the air at the start of the ride and at the last minute I decided to add an extra layer. We started our ride by going up a trail appropriately called Ned’s Left Lung. I however, needed both my lungs to get up this beast of a climb. This climb was made all the more difficult due to the dirt being especially soft and loamy. Not quite muddy, but a quality that occurs when the snow slowly melts and the dirt can absorb the moisture but doesn’t have time to dry out.
After we crested the top of the "Ned's Lung" it was time to peel off that extra layer. We rode down the fireroad a bit then turned onto the singletrack. Blue Mountain has some of the best singletrack in the tri-state. Technical trails like monster which twist and turn and go over large rock spines. Other trails like the lower stinger are fast and flowing with some short steep climbs. We did not ride “My favorite Trail” or Chewbacca today but those are also a lot of fun. The park is pretty big at 1,500-acres. Our ride was around three hours. We had two flats and a crash, that to witness was scary as hell. I watched Ian go down a cliff face kamikaze style (no brakes) he was way off the back of the bike and when he transitioned and the front end got away from him. He slammed into a tree with his left side taking most of the abuse. Ian was a trooper though and after a few minutes was back on his bike riding strong. As we rode, the day warmed up. The grey cloud cover from earlier had eventually yielded to bright spring sun.
We finished the ride by taking another go at Ned’s Lung then part of Monster finishing on the lower stinger. After the ride we had lunch at the Firehouse Pub on Welcher Ave. A decent place for a a sandwich and drink.

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GPS map from ride:

Blue Mountain

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Little Switzerland is open to Mountain Bikes

On March 10th the town of Rockleigh is considering trail use changes to the hill behind the Rockleigh Fire House (aka Little Switzerland)
This change was to prohibit motorized bikes. Many local bike riders showed up to voice concerns about the trails be closed to mountain bikers. While there was no risk at this time I think it was good that riders and Jeff Mergler from JORBA were there to show that they are concerned about trail usage and their availability for mountain biking. It was also good to catch-up with some folks I have not seen in a while and meet some new faces. Afterwards a few of us went out for a drink and made plans for riding this weekend. The North Jersey Mountain Bike club ride will be at Blue Mountain on March 15th ride leaves from main lot between 8:30 and 8:45

Ten reasons why Road Cycling is better than Mountain Biking

The other day I wrote about why Mountain Biking is better than road cycling . To be fair I decided to list some reasons I can enjoy the Road over Mountain Biking. In reality I do not care where or what I am riding (Beach Cruiser on a Bike path = :-) Just as long as I get to ride.

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1. The Elements: Ride on the road and avoid ticks and run-ins with bears.


2. The Terrain: A long stretch of newly paved road can be sublime.


3. Getting air: What goes up must come down. Keeping both wheels on the ground helps to keep you in one piece.


4. Centuries and Charity rides: Well organized events with after ride parties and BBQ’s. The Livestrong 100 in PA is my local century pick.


5. The Grub: There are no Starbucks on the trail for a mid-ride coffee break.


6. The Learning Curve: If you can balance on two wheels you can ride on the road.


7. The Scenery: Ride through Manhattan at 6:00 AM on a Sunday, over the Brooklyn Bridge, or through Central Park on a warm day and experience the city in a unique way that is reserved for cyclists.


8. The Workout: Pedal between 80-100 rpm keeping your heart rate at about 60-80% of your max hr. and experience one of the best low impact aerobic activities around. (IMHO)


9. The Challenge: Ride up a winding steep climb for a ½ hour then down the other side at breakneck speeds on thin slick tires.


10. The Fun Factor: No long car rides to the trail. Walk out your door and hop on your bike. Instant gratification.

Ten reasons why Mountain Biking is better than Road Cycling

Ten reasons why Mountain Biking is better than Road Cycling

1. The Elements: On the trail during the winter you are out of the wind and during the summer you are out of the direct sun. On the road you are out in the open and exposed to the elements.


2. The Terrain: Flowing trails are more fun then rolling roads. The flow of a trail is more dynamic than the road. You can pump it (depressions, logs, rocks and turns) for extra speed. You are constantly reading and working with the trail it is as much a part of your ride as the bike and your body.


3. Getting air: Landing on the backside of a tabletop or double or jumping over a gnarly rock garden section is more of a rush then bunny hopping some railroad tracks or a pothole.


4. Less pretentious: On the trail it doesn’t matter what color socks you have and it’s okay to have a triple ring or just one gear as long as you ride. If you have jeans with duct tape wrapped around the bottom so they don’t get caught on your chain ring but want to ride no one is going to comment on your attire.


5. After ride grub: A burger and a beer vs. a latte and Croissant (you be the judge)







6. The Learning Curve: On the trail you get your skills together and have more fun and get less bumps and scrapes. On the road you learn how to ride in a pace line so you don’t get heat from the other riders.


7. The typical scenery: Ride on the trail to get some fresh air and commune with nature. Ride on the road to breathe exhaust fumes and compete with cars for a patch of the road.


8. The Workout: While both forms of cycling provide a great way to get exercise. I think mountain biking provides more of a total body workout that stresses your legs, upper-body and core.


9. The challenge: Road biking can toss some pretty steep and long climbs at you. These can burn you legs and lungs but when was the last time you were concerned about loosing traction on a road climb. Mountain biking has similar climbs but with obstacles, switchbacks, mud, rocks, and sand.


10. The Fun Factor:Messing around in the lot before or after a ride is one of the bonuses of mountain biking. Tooling around on you bike hopping curbs, doing wheelies, or whatever floats your boat can be a blast. In my early days of mountain bike riding my friends and I would spend many an hour practicing wheelies and “bunny hopping” in the parking lot after our ride.
    With the exception of Robbie McEwen, I don’t think too many roadies are pulling wheelies at the end of their rides.