Jersey's that make a statement

When you are being passed by someone who is cruising along 30 mph faster than you it in a vehicle that weighs 2000 lbs you can feel a little outclassed. But we are not second class citizens and we have a right to be on the road and to be safe. These jerseys allow you to make a statement and send a gentle reminder to motorists that you have a right to be on the road and that they need to provide some room. For those deserving they even provide a Thank You.

Check out the full line of Jersey designs at sharethedamnroad.com

A review of Race Across the Sky

Just got back from seeing Race across the Sky - Similiar to the feeling some might have after seeing a Rocky Film, people I spoke with wanted to hop on their bikes and ride out to Leadville. The film was awesome with it's images, soundtrack The drama of Leadville comes to life on the big screen. The panel with Lance, Dave Wiens, and Travis Brown after the movie brought you even closer to the race experience at Leadville.

If you missed it...Too Bad (Just Kidding) WHat you can do is call your theatre and ask them to show it again if enough people ask this movie can make it as a mainstream film. While it not be the sleeper of the year this is a great cycling movie that brings you into the action and emotion of this epic race.

New online magazine for Mountain Bikers

IMBIKEMAG is free to read and aimed at the everyday rider out there. The online magazine is totally free and packed full of tips, techniques, and reviews. There are also some cool videos embedded on the pages be sure to check it out.


There is also the chance to win a set of DAKINE gloves inside

A second look at Clif Quench

Last month I reviewed the Orange flavor Clif Quench. After my review I received an email from Emily at Clifbar and Company.
She was kind enough to send me another bottle of Clif Quench. I chose a bottle of fruit punch from the available flavors of Orange, Fruit Punch, Strawberry Citrus, and Limeade. While the fruit punch was more palatable than the orange flavor. It still wasn't a open the fridge and chug down a bottle type of beverage and I don't think Quench is trying to be that.

Clif Quench is a simple drink made up of water, cane sugar, natural flavors, and electrolytes (salt, magnesium, and potassium). While Quench is a sports drink it is not loaded with a lot of sugars and extra calories. What it does provide in spades is hydration and electrolytes. Making this an ideal drink for those who are working out to burn calories and not get them all back with a sugary sports drink.
The 16 oz bottle is perfect for your next spin class or run.

There are a lot sports drinks out there to meet different needs of athletes. Most provide electrolytes and simple carbs. Some have caffeine, antioxidants, and vitamins while others may even provide protein.
The important thing is to find a drink that meets your needs, has a taste that will encourage you to drink often to help you stay hydrated, and enables you to perform at your peak level.

So whether you out for a short spin, completing an epic ride, or putting down the hammer in a race.
Clif Quench combined with other Clif Products like their gel, shot bloks, and bars can keep you going strong and gives you the option to get what you need and nothing you don't.

First Endurance Optygen Supplement

First Endurance Optygen Supplement
Optygen is unlike any other endurance product available.
This revolutionary formula is based on clinical trials and the latest scientific research on maximizing oxygen utilization.

Optygen was developed to increase VO2Max, increase the body's ability to adapt to high levels of physical stress, increase anaerobic threshold and reduce lactic acid.

"I noticed a decreased heart rate at intensity and the ability to push hard for longer periods of time"

Increases ability to adapt to stress Increases endurance and performance Reduces lactic acid Patent pending, nothing else like it Ingredients: Chromium as Chelavite amino acid Chelate (200mcg); Cordyceps CS-4 as Cordyceps Sinensis and Mycelia Biomass - minimum 7% cordycepic acid (1000mg); ATPro Matrix as Calcium Pyruvate, Sodium Phosphate, Potassium Phosphate, Ribose, Adenosine (800mg); Rhodiola Extract as Rhodiola Rosea Root - minimum 2.5% salidrosides, minimum 3.0% rosavins (300mg) I have used Optygen and this product works you will be able to push harder and recover faster.

Manufacturer Website: www.firstendurance.com
Loading Phase: Take six (6) capsules every morning for (7) days.
Maintenance Phase: After loading phase, take three (3) capsules every morning.

A review of Clif Quench

This past Sunday I was doing a ride in NYC it was hot and humid and I had emptied my 4th water bottle and was looking for something to drink. The street vendors in Battery Park were selling Vitamin Waters for 4.00 a bottle. I was thirsty but not delirious so I decided to try my luck at a nearby deli.

Upon perusing the cold drink aisle a new drink from Clif caught my eye. (New to this East Coaster, it was released in March of 09) I figured what the heck I'm young and adventuresome, I’m in the Big City and I have 2 Bucks.

I tried the Orange flavor and while the 16 oz bottle (made of 40% Post Consumer recycles Plastic) got me through the next 12 miles. The taste left something to be desired actually it was pretty bad. This was Surprising because other Clif Products like their bars, shots, and blocks are tasty enough to be enjoyed even when you not on the bike. (Don’t even get me started on the Builder Bars they are just like having desert)

I don't think I would ever reach for the Clif drink unless I was on a ride and really needed something to drink.

However, The drink did quench my thirst and gave me a boost of energy to finish the last leg of my ride strong.

I would like to try some other flavors like fruit punch or Lime-ade

Let me know if you have tried any of the Clif Quench flavors and if any were palatable enough to reach for as an everyday drink.

Pearl Izumi Speed Shop Unveils New Speed Jersey at Tour

It would seem that Pearl Izumi has taken a page from the Speedo marketing handbook.
Remember the Fastskin LZR Racer The suit was said to make a swimmer 5% more efficient in the water and was worn in the Olymics by Michael Phelps who went on to win a record eight gold medals.

Pearl Izumi will debut a new jersey called the P.R.O. (Performance and Race Optimized) Speed Jersey.
Pearl Izumi claims that the garment offers an unparalleled on-the-bike anatomic fit to generate maximum aerodynamic performance. It has been in development since last year's Tour de France, the new patent-pending Speed Jersey is designed with drag cheating P.R.O. Transfer Aero fabric - the fastest fabric ever developed for cycling. Pearl Izumi Speed Shop went through dozens of prototypes and conducted numerous tests to gain a record-breaking aerodynamic edge for the Garmin-Slipstream Team.

"Our relationship with the Garmin-Slipstream Team has been an incredible catalyst for product innovation," said Cache Mundy, Pearl Izumi's vice president of marketing.

"The Garmin-Slipstream Team provides us with phenomenal testing and feedback in the harshest of conditions. We use their input to further refine our products before they go to market for avid cycling enthusiasts worldwide."

In addition to the P.R.O. Speed Jersey, the Garmin-Slipstream team members may select from three other Pearl Izumi P.R.O. Model jerseys:
The standard P.R.O. Jersey, the workhorse of the line

The P.R.O. Climbers Jersey featuring Direct-Vent Fabric for optimal ventilation and minimum weight
The P.R.O. Aero Jersey, which features a second skin fit and anatomic construction.

This July, Pearl Izumi will pre-launch the 2010 Limited Edition Black Star Design Aero Jersey and Short, which will allow consumers to ride in the exact same Aero Jersey and Bib Short available to Garmin-Slipstream.

The Black Star Kits feature the identical materials, construction, fit and aero fabrics used by the team with the addition of Pearl Izumi's all new P.R.O. Seamless 4D Chamois, the most advanced, anatomic chamois ever produced (available through authorized Pearl Izumi apparel retailers). Look for other Pearl Izumi Speed Shop items such as the P.R.O. Speed Jersey to come to market soon.

I would like some singletrack and a Margarita with Salt

Last week I picked up a Fastpack of Clif Shot Bloks. I went for the Margarita flavor partially because it was something different and partially because I love Margaritas (Which BTW is a post-ride recovery drink)
The Shot Bloks have a 3rd of the calories of gel but they are semi-solid so the release of simple sugars is slower and it can feel more substantial in your stomach. The Margarita flavor has 3x the sodium of other shot blok flavors through the addition of sea salt to the list of ingredients.

I shared by clif shots with two other riders all of us gave this flavor the thumbs up.

The Margarita clif blok will have you saying increíble. It is a great mix of salt and sweet with a lime kick - hold the tequila and the hangover.

For more information about clif Shot Bloks goto http://www.clifbar.com/food/products_shot_bloks

Online GPS Content Management Systems - A Head2Head Comparision

I received my Garmin Forerunner 305 as a gift a few years back and used it on most of my rides. I would then post those rides on motionbased to share with my friends, until I reached the dreaded limit of 10 viewable rides that motion based imposes on it’s free subscription customers. I combined some rides and deleted others. I even found a URL hack that motionbased soon fixed.
I had the motion base client on my PC and was familiar and happy with the service so I decided to plunk down the $95 for a year of premium service which included view of unlimited rides and their analyzer tool.
Shortly after that I came across Mapmyride.com and around the same time read about trimbleoutdoors.com (previously All-Sport) in Bicycling magazine.

I decided to compare the three services against one another to see if I was getting my monies worth from motion based.
I measured them against a set of metrics including: Cost, Storage, Reporting, Ease of use, product performance and response time (Screen refresh, upload of files and from device)
and Formats supported (Import/Export).

After review of the services I found the motion based product to be an okay choice with a clear GUI, intuitive menu, and a quick but sometimes fickle upload from device. Motionbased uses a client for communication between the device and your computer that you need to install on your PC or Mac. The other two services use the Garmin communicator plug-in to provide support for upload from the device directly from the web application.
With all of these services performance for upload from device is greatly improved if you purge the history from your device (after backing it up of course) I am currently keeping the past 30 days on the device. If you need to you can upload events back to the device from Garmin's Training Center.
I could not upload from the device to Mapmyride but was able to upload a GPX file. I exported the GPX file from trimbleoutdoors.com export function.

One of the features I liked best about the trimbleoutdoors.com (TO) site was the ability to add pictures, movies, and narratives about the ride. This enables you to bring others right into your ride and provides a great way to share your favorite trails. The performance of TO was also the most consistent and learning curve was extremely short thanks to an intuitive interfaces.

The winner of the GPS Head-to-Head Showdown was trimbleoutdoors.com which was free had good performance, a clean intuitive interface and provided a method of incorporating other media into your GPS map.

Motionbased came in second for providing good analytical data

MapMyRide came in 3rd mainly due to the performance of service which made it frustrating to use MapmyRide provides the ability to print quality maps something that the other sites are lacking.

For Complete Test results goto: GPS Head2Head

Product Review - The Camelback Mule

Camelback Mule:
For rides upto 4-5 hours the Mule is ideal and I rarely ride without it. The Mule has a 100 oz Bladder.

During activity, 6 to 8 fluid ounces of water or electrolyte beverage should be consumed every 15 minutes. It's important to note that usually water consumption is sufficient unless the activity lasts longer than 90 minutes, at which point electrolyte beverages are also recommended.
I have owned a Camelback since I started riding back in 1999 I have purchased a few bladders and have a the smaller Camelback Hydrobak which I use for racing. This past Christmas I received a new Mule. I love the additional room and while I miss the Bungee cord type tie downs the new front Carrier works quite well for stashing a jacket or other bulkier items.
The 2008 Mule has 549 cu inches of Storage capacity, has an MP3 player pocket is more comfortable (and presumably cooler I got it for Christmas and Live in the Northeast) to wear. The smallest Organizer is great for food Items and fits a multi-tool, Co2 Pump, and cell phone. The larger organizer easily fits a tube, mini tire pump, and shock pump. Aside from a helmet my camelback is the one piece of gear I most want to have with me on a ride. A well stocked camelback can set you up as the MacGyver of the trails (Although I dont think he every repaired a derailuier)

Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS

There are some products that come along and you wonder how you got along without them and then there are those gadgets that are just really cool to have. The Garmin Forerunner 305 fits into both categories.
You you could get the same benefit from using a Heartrate Monitor, Cycle Computer, altimeter, tectonic maps, and a compass but that wouldn't leave much time for riding. This relatively small device (it is big for a watch) Packs a lot of features Including the above mentioned HR, Speed, Distance, ride time, Optional Cadence, Elevation gain and decent. When you get back from your ride you can upload it to Motionbased to overlay the ride over a variety of maps. You can also play back your ride and watch a real-time chart of your statistics. The lite (free) version allows you to view your last 10 rides, whereas the pay version allows you to store and view unlimited rides and provides some additional reporting and filtering features. You can even download yours or other riders previous rides to the Device and then virtually ride against them. This has been a great training tool as well as a way to share and remember the rides you have done. If you perform other activities i.e. Run, Hike, Kyak, etc. the forerunner is for you. If you plan to use it just for cycling you may want to check out the Edge which has some more on device features and mounts directly to the bike.
The Forerunner is around $300 and the Edge is around $375