Looking for something to watch on Netflix this weekend while recovering from Memorial Day celebrations? We have just the film. Inspired to Ride, from the producers of Ride the Divide and Reveal the Path, is a beautifully shot record of the first ever Trans Am Bike Race across 4,233 miles, ten states, all self supported.
It’s the antithesis to events like Tour de France and Race Across America. There are no teams, no support vehicles, no special jerseys and not a dime in prize money. . . As they battle lack of sleep, injuries and spirited competition, INSPIRED TO RIDE takes you on an invigorating road trip — amidst the jaw-dropping beauty of the TransAmerica Trail with its varied landscapes, intriguing locals and found stories which dot this path of discovery. . . Featuring Mike Hall and Juliana Buhring plus many more “crazies”.
While a movie about a race like this has the potential to be a snoozer, filmmaker Mike Dion and his crew pull together a film that is visually stunning, constantly compelling, and deeply insightful into the minds of these ultra-endurance bicycle racers. Check it out on Netflix.
The Amsterdam based bike company VanMoof is rolling out a new SmartBike that is loaded with so many features that anyone who sees it will want to steal it, but those same features will make that nearly impossible.
And even if a thief is smart enough to get past those features, the SmartBike features a first-of-its-kind “Peace of Mind” guarantee: If the bike is stolen, a recovery team will use the bike’s built-in anti-theft tracking technology to locate and return it to its rightful owner. If it can’t be recovered within two weeks, VanMoof will replace it.
SmartBike preorders can be made at smartbike.vanmoof.com beginning May 31, 2016 for delivery beginning in October. Preorder prices are $1,098 for a 3-speed, and $1,298 for an 8-speed model. Sounds like a pretty good deal, yeah? Follow the jump for the official word from VanMoof.
Mammoth Mountain is still digging out after one of their best snow years in recent memory, but that isn’t stopping them from opening the mountain bike park in June with five new trails for all levels of riders. Marketing Manager Gabe Taylor walks us through the new trails and cracks the whip on one of the workers responsible for clearing snow. Huh, huh, huh.
After taking a flyer well into the race World Champion Peter Sagan talked it over with the Tinkoff Director of Sport and decided to sit up and wait for the peloton to catch him on the streets of Santa Rosa. He jumped back in for the circuit laps and muscled his way on to Alexander Kristoff’s wheel for the final sprint and came around only to lose by an inch to the Olympic Bronze medalist.
“It was a hard stage…I was really struggling on the climbs… at the end, Peter [Sagan] was in front alone, and he had two minutes, and we had to chase hard. And at the end he almost beat me also, so it was an impressive ride by him but I just managed to hold him off, and I’m really happy to win here in California,” said Kristoff who earned a bronze road race medal at the 2012 Olympic Games.
For the official word from the Amgen Tour Of California, please follow the jump.
The name of the game was “fast” in Folsom today as the 140 men competing in the 2016 Amgen Tour of California raced the clock in their individual time trial event, with Australian Rohan Dennis (BMC Racing Team) recording the fastest time.
“I was optimistic. Alaphilippe ripped out a very, very good ride…,” said Dennis of his chances to overtake the race lead today. “16 seconds – it’s not over, but it’s not going to be easy to bring back, that’s for sure…Tomorrow’s supposed to be a really tough stage…It’s been a pretty hard Tour as it is, and this Tour has gotten harder and harder every time I’ve done it.”
For the official word (including women’s TTT coverage) follow the jump.
Cannondale Pro Cycling Team’s Toms Skujiņš (LAT) lead a break about 45 minutes after leaving Lodi, California in Thursday’s (May 19, 2016) Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California and he never let up.
“It wasn’t easy to get in the break, of course, because people knew that the break might stick,” said Skujiņš. “I luckily managed to get in the right one.”
The peloton never saw him again until they all reached the finish line at Heavenly Valley. Stage 5 couldn’t go to a radder guy. For the official word from the Amgen Tour of California, please follow the jump.
Pro snowboarder Austin Smith decided to tag along with Smartwool on their annual 350 mile ride from Steamboat Strings, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market because, really, how hard could riding a bike 350 miles in four days be. It doesn’t hurt that his bike is a Moots, but his corduroy shorts? Well, not so good. Watching people come around to the subtleties of cycling is always fun. Check it out in this episode of Smartwool’s ROAM TV.
If he can hang in on the hills, there’s no stopping Pete Sagan, especially when the finish is downhill into a flat sprint. The World Champion rode that last two miles of the 2016 tours longest stage (133.6 miles) like a boss and after letting Nathan Haas make the first jump, Sagan blazed around to take his 15th Amgen Tour of California stage win and his second of 2016.
“It was hard, but good,” said Sagan, when asked about today’s stage. “I’m very happy for my other teammates, and I’m very happy to have won.”
For the official word from the Amgen Tour of California, please follow the jump.
Watching Bikes vs. Cars has given us a much better understanding of the reasons for the drama we all face every single day as we try to do something as simple as riding our bikes. One of the best cycling documentaries every made, Bikes vs. Cars is now available on Netflix. Search for it, watch it, and then share it with everyone you know.
It used to be that serious dives into Strava data were reserved for off-the-bike time when you could plow through the numbers and see exactly how you did against all your nemeses. Now, Strava has changed all that with Live Segments for Android and iOS. With Live Segments all the performance details of a segment are delivered while you’re on the bike and riding the segment.
How does it work? First off you need to be a Strava premium member ($59 per year). Then you need to go in and “star” all your favorite segments on the web or your phone. After the segments are starred then each time you ride one, Strava will give you the KOM and the fastest ride of the people you follow and compare your ride to theirs in real time showing you exactly where you are. Strava will count in the number of feet to the start of the segment and then count you out to the end of the segment (so you can kill yourself just like in a spring for the line).
This works on the phone fine, but if you don’t what your phone out on your bars (and really, who does) then the best option is a Garmin Edge 520. With the Edge 520 paired with your smartphone via Bluetooth, all the counting down, counting out, and live segment results will show up right on your Garmin display, making every single training ride a do or die race to the line. And, if you don’t like the results, you can immediately turn around and hit it again.
