Lance Armstrong’s life has rarely been routine. Like Michael Jordan, Barry Bonds and Tiger Woods in their sports, Armstrong catapulted cycling to a new mountaintop of acceptance with talent, charisma and bravado. Sports fans who make fun of golf as overbearingly boring will watch Tiger Woods play in the Swampville Open. Sports fans who don’t [...]
Cycling Features
Vladimir Efimkin: Happy with life, back in the saddle
Six years into a pro career that catapulted him to mountaintops and victory podiums around the globe, Vladimir Efimkin decided in the summer of 2010 he’d had enough. Everything right with cycling had been overshadowed by everything wrong. He grew weary of cycling’s abrupt random drug testing. He endured crashes and broken bones, the banes [...]
Best Jerseys In Cycling History
Reduced to basics, pro cyclists are pedaling billboards. The companies riders promote a range from the logical (bicycle manufacturers) to the unique (residential stoves), and watching the peloton at high speeds looks like the view through a kaleidoscope. Riders’ jerseys have changed just like the rest of cycling technology, from woolen to micro fiber and [...]
Jacques Graber: Highwheeling Through Cycling History
(This article was originally published in the Sacramento Bee on Sept. 8, 2005.) The round-trip commute from Rancho Cordova to downtown Sacramento is 40 miles, and for 25 years Jacques Graber has made the weekday journey by bicycle. Graber has customized two modern-day bikes for the trips. His streamlined road bike is ideal during cooperative [...]
Cyclist David Clinger: Marked For Success
(Editor’s notes: This article was originally published in the Monterey County Herald on 4/19/2008. It was updated on 5/5/08. Clinger is the cover story in the May, 2009 issue of VeloNews.) A decade into his professional career, David Clinger is riding for his eighth team. It’s a squad that seems like a perfect fit for [...]
Know When To Fold ‘Em: The Convenience Of Portable Bikes
Like tandems and recumbents, folding bicycles provide a unique alternative for cyclists concerned about space, portability and convenience. The concept is simple: With a few adjustments, a smaller-wheeled or full-sized bike becomes compact and more easily transportable – often in less than 30 seconds. Until in recent years, however, the folding bicycle industry suffered from [...]
Lanterne Rouge: The Honor Of Being Last In The Tour de France
(This article originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee on July 15, 2005. It was revised on July 12, 2007.) The French sporting public likes compatriot champions. They also cheer for any countrymen in the Tour de France — even if he has no chance of winning but displays perseverance. A French rider hasn’t claimed the [...]
Chad Gerlach: Former Pro Cyclist, Lance Armstrong Teammate, Subject Of Pending A&E Network Program, Intervention
Chad Gerlach once climbed mountains with the best cyclists in the world and rode as a teammate of Lance Armstrong. Gerlach’s athletic acclaim is long gone, but he’s about return to a national spotlight no one seeks. The winner of nearly 100 career races will be the subject beginning Monday night, June 16 on the [...]
Hotel Cazaux In Lourdes: My Home Away From Home At The Tour de France
Each year during the Tour de France, I can’t wait to get to Lourdes. A lot folks who go to the Tour despise the small city in the country’s southwest corner, and there are plenty of reasons. It’s a place where visitors worldwide flock in an endless convoy of tourist buses. They hope for divine [...]
Lance Armstrong: Seven Tour Titles, One Lasting Memory
(This article originally appeared in the Sacramento Bee on July 23, 2005, the eve of Lance Armstrong’s concluding ride into Paris and the final day of his Tour de France career.) ST. ETIENNE, France — With his retirement Sunday in Paris and all the celebration that will envelope him as a seven-time Tour de France [...]
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