The Life of an Elite Cyclist

FDR (Father's Day Ride) 2010 - Leadville Loop

What a nice tradition for Father's Day in the Vail Valley.  This year we had around 35 riders that started the ride at 7:30 am from Minturn Forest Service.  Pictured above is the posse on top of Freemont Pass where we had some awesome support provided by Mariella, Heidi, Michelle, Katie and all the kiddos!  Great day, great ride and great cycling community we have in the valley!

Pedal Power celebrates its 30th anniversary | VailDaily.com

Vail Daily Atricle - Monday. June 14, 2010:

EAGLE-VAIL, Colorado — Long before spandex-clad cyclists were a common sight in Vail, Bruce Kelly took up the sport.

It was the '70s. Kelly rarely saw other cyclists when he pedaled along the streets here. (Mountain bikes would not become the rage until the '80s).

One day, Kelly took his bike into a shop for repairs. He was surprised by how much it cost.

“I thought: Well, I'm going to get a book and try to do some of this stuff myself,” Kelly said.

He invested in some wrenches and a bike stand and took to fixing his bike on the porch of his rented Vail duplex. He left Vail for a while but kept riding his bike. He rode to and from classes at University of Colorado at Boulder, where he studied commercial recreation from 1977 to 1979.

When he returned to Vail, Kelly's vision for opening a bike shop took shape......follow link for full article

Pedal Power celebrates its 30th anniversary | VailDaily.com

Dear Floyd

Dear Floyd
I new you when you raced 24 hours of Moab in a t-shirt, I new you when you and I both race for TWP, I new you when you went roady with Mercury, I went to France and watched you lead Lance to his 5th tour victory, in 2006 I felt sick to my stomach after your collapse in stage 16 and then almost burned down the town after your comeback in stage 17. When you said you weren’t a cheater I believed you and defended you even through the ridicule of my peers. I wrote you a letter when you where with Ouch telling you to hang tough, that someday the truth would be known. Why now when the only reason for the “truth” is sorted profit and the spot light. I wished I’d never known you.
Sincerely
John Cummins

Gruber Assist - new sponsor?

Gruber Assist, according to Cycling News, the motor is inserted down the seat tube of pro tour riders and interacts with a standard bottom bracket axel via a bevel gear unit. It is practically invisible but weighs a ton, although the model displayed on its website has an external on/off switch plus a battery pack that is mounted in a saddle bag. The total weight of all of the components is 1900 grams, and can provide 100 watts of power.

If we all start showing up to the start line with heavy bikes and/or large saddle bags then we will be packing a motor!

From the actual website - GRUBER Assist- a high-quality tuning product for your bicycle:



GRUBER Assist is an ultra-light drive for mountain bikes, trekking cycles and tour cycles, suitable for later installation. The skilfully conceived Gruber motor is invisibly built into the bicycle (seat tube with an inner diameter of 31.6mm required) and scores especially highly on account of its light weight (900 g).

A touch of the Turbo button on the handlebar – and the burning sensation in your thighs disappears – the healthy perspiration, however, remains. The auxiliary drive, with its 200 watt of additional power, promises a performance increase of up to 100% – for min. 45 minutes at full load. When the drive is switched off, you continue cycling as normal. GRUBER Assist guarantees pleasurable cycling without a red face!

Product attributes

• The electric motor is very light
• The propelling assistance is invisible
• Cycling becomes fitness cycling and is thereby healthier
• Thanks to its retrofit kit, it is almost irrelevant what brand of bike you have
• The pedal assistance brings speed on flat and power going uphill

The GRUBER Assist doesn’t have a blocking at 25 km/h and isn’t allowed for the public traffic. If you want this blocking, we certainly can install it for you.

Sign them up now and add them to our jersey!