team transfers

these are a few quick reactions to some recent transfers. Geox-I hope they fix that kit so Menchov and Sastre can look good. Despite constantly being tagged as an underachiever, I love Sastre and Menchov has always been ready to strike. Would much rather see a team build like this, than say sign Riccardo fucking Ricco. It is probably not easy to be the biggest dick in Italian cycling, but the Cobra has done it.
Vaconsoleil was a team I was really stoked on this year. They mixed it up in bigger races and their getting dissed by all three grand tours made them an easy underdog to pull for, but Ricco? That sucks.
Quickstep seem to be scooping up 2nd tier sprinters. Resigning Chavanel was a good move.
Saxobank's radical spanish reorientation is breaking my heart. No Jens? No O'Grady, No Breschel? No thanks. But where is this Luxo super team? Get it done already. How fast does Cancellara jump ship in 2011?
These are just some gut feelings, I haven't spent too much time dwelling on this fantasy league style......yet.

This video has nothing to do with this years team transfers, but it should get you stoked.

good interview

"And this leaves me, anyway, with the thought, or hypothesis, that performance in the 2009 and 2010 Tours have been curtailed. The 6.3W/kg finishing climbs of the 90’s and 2000’s would have seen Contador and Schleck finishing minutes down on a climb like the Tourmalet. In other words, those EPO/blood doping era riders would be to Contador what Contador currently is to Gesink, Menchov, Sanchez. Is the standard of cycling that much lower? I don't think so, and my thought is that so far, we're seeing an overall suppression of doping in the Tour."

Full interview here. Interesting idea about sealed SRMs to track riders power. Also the Anker Sorenson observation. Maybe the domestiques are battling harder than the team leaders? NYVelocity has been pretty relentless lately on the anti-doping front. Follow them on twitter for all the latest news.

countdown in its final week

First cross race in 7 days!
D2R2 in 6 days!
The part of the year, I have been waiting for is finally upon us!

Burning Love Songs for Burning Lovers

"______&roll" seems to be a hardy sub-genre-(death&roll, crust&roll, etc). Now we have "punk&roll". Regardless of the genre tag this Burning Love CD is pretty top notch.
Deranged records out of Canada deliver this 13 song party starter. Not the most original, but it gets the job done. Driving, catchy rock tinged hardcore. Features members of Cursed. I would name check bands like annihilation time, inepsy, coliseum, or doomriders if I was writing a "for fans of" sticker. they would probably like to hear names more like black flag or poison idea, but I think the first batch should give you an idea what you are in store for. But put my jaded record collecting self on hold for a minute, and pop this in the cd player in your car. You will be stoked and speeding down the street. This is get shit done music. I have a lot of shit to get done, so I enjoy bands that can give me good soundtrack for that. They get points for the song title "alien vs creditor".
Unfortunately this might be a good example "old man core" or "middle aged&roll" a genre of music for which I am probably the perfect demographic.



label
band blog

that is a lot of love to deranged records for a 24 hour period

bloody gears 7"

Whoever writes the descriptions for Deranged bands has balls of steel. Name checking Articles of Faith and Husker Du and invoking the classic MidWestern 80s core sound is not taken lightly around here.(never mind invoking gang of four and really red to describe another band). Regardless of this, I was excited to hear a new band from Boston. The HOG is out of the loop on boston bands.
3 songs. Vocals are kinda Bondi-esque, but it is more like a fiercer Jones Very or the later AOF rather than the raging What We Want is Free classics that most people think of. Had a bit of the Cliff Hanger alienated sneer as well.
"end of the line" is a good one, AOF riffing on "Warsaw". Little DK vibe to the guitars. guitar work is tight. This is definitely in the smart,desperate, nerd school of hardcore rather than the ultra distort screamer school. Artwork reminds me of Evergreen from San Diego. manages to harken back to some classic bands while maintaining their own sound. this rips and is worth tracking down.


band
check out there demo here

gravel roads on the rise?

Reading this article gave me a weird, yet familiar feeling. feeling. This one too. When is bad news good news? When droughts and water bans cause swimming pools to be drained, it is win for skaters. So when paved roads are resurfaced with gravel and allowed to go feral, is it a win for cyclists who like the rough stuff? Don't know, but that is what it made me think of

Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.

more old photos from a box camera

worlds in hamiltom again. if only i had the digi action or a modern phone back then...

millar in the RR. is that PVP right behind him? Hairy enough arms....


if you look carefully,you can see a big Eddy Merckx in the middle. Don't laugh he would still crush you.


DiLuca Tifosi....they probably still love the killer.


Who doesn't love Nardello. Gregario supremo.


Didi the devil dude. Germans can be creepy


ill italia road painting.
that is it from the way back machine,