There are a lot of distinct personalities in the sport of cycling. From BMX to MTB to Road to Cyclocross, I've noticed some archetypes that show up over and over. Since it can be hard to break down the specifics without a good metaphorical basis, I decided to use Marvel Comics characters. Below are several superheros with easily recognizable traits. You probably know people from your local group ride, at the races or at the track who match these descriptions. Who knows, maybe you have a superhero personality as well? Daredevil Matt Murdock, a young lawyer, was blinded by radioactive cargo during a truck accident. His other senses were enhanced and further aided by a blind martial arts master named Stick. Matt became a formidable fighter and the avenging angel of Hells Kitchen. He is known as the man without fear. Red tights and a baton are not pre-requisites for this type of cyclist. In fact, you don't even have to be blind but you must have uncanny reflexes,...

The first rule of racing is that things usually don't go as planned. I learned this during my maiden season of cross country mountain biking up in New England. Back then I was new to racing (of any kind) and so I was never fully prepared for the challenges to come. I took those lessons with me into the sport of BMX and became a better athlete. However doing laps only 50 seconds long always left me feeling unsatisfied. I needed to get back on a big bike and that is when I was introduced to Cyclocross. I'm always up for trying something new so I bought a Nashbar CXSS and started training. Fast forward six months and here I was about to enter my first CX race. The build up hadn't been ideal (See rule #1). My training had consisted of eight weeks of riding, 3 to 5 rides per week at about 30 to 80 miles or 3 to 7 hours in the saddle. I coupled this with 1 to 3 hours of strength training. The result? I felt fit and strong. The downside? I had a nagging foot injur...

Have you ever showed up to a race determined to win and despite giving it your best effort, you still got your ass handed to you? You might be happy to know that you're not alone. In the last 20 years there has been an explosion in the popularity of participation sports especially by people over the age of 30. Right now, all across America, there are older athletes putting in serious time and effort in order to make an impact on their next event. All that training, planning and recon of the race locations can provide you with multiple advantages over your opponents. However, most of the time most normal people don't have any advantages at all. Most of the time, the deck is stacked against them and they don't even know it. The painful reality is that we live in a culture that values winning above all else. It's a shame but there are many people who will only put effort into an event if they have a chance at victory. In this mindset even a slim chance is better th...

It was a beautiful August morning here in sunny Florida. I took my CX singlespeed onto the Legacy trail in Venice to get in some miles and carve through a few local parks. For some reason my seat was not cooperating, it squeaked and twisted under my weight giving me some early saddle pains. I was not off to a good start. I broke off the trail into some dirt, cutting corners but trying to keep her steady. My Kenda Small Block Eights were not holding up their side of the bargain. That bargain exists between every rider and the rubber they count on. We put trust into that compound, they must withstand abuse and not let us down when it matters most. 16 miles later my Kenda's failed. Sand spurs, ever the scourge of Florida trails, had brought me to a compete halt. I was 3.8 miles away from my car in the unforgiving heat with no help and a minor limp from an earlier injury. I pushed my bike back but with a grudge, I had trusted my tires and they let me down. It was not the ...

After a recent case of saddle sores I thought it prudent to grab at least one more pair of padded shorts. In the past I have used shorts from Pearl Izumi, Specialized and Louis Garneau. They have done their jobs admirably but not to my full satisfaction. For this reason I have never before written a review of cycling shorts. They all seemed the same - adequate for the job but also lacking that little extra which would be deserving of praise. Having said all of that I decided to try something new when I visited the Cycle Clothing Shop in my hometown of Englewood, Florida. I was pleasantly surprised by their prices which made me suspicious of the quality of the apparel. Aren't good shorts supposed to cost a lot of money? Isn't it expensive and difficult to create a high quality product? Or, is that what we are taught to believe? I was introduced to a variety of SPEG shorts , from intro to pro, from a basic thin pad to the orange cushion in the Ferro design. Tha...

Lately I have been trying to practice Amor Fati , a love of fate. The problem is that you never know where fate might lead. I never imagined that one day I'd be a widely followed blogger. It was a job that didn't exist when I was young. Growing up there was no internet so there was no such thing as blogging. Back in the 1980's writers scribbled in isolation and hoped one day to be noticed. Luckily I got noticed very early on. My journey started at 12 years old when a few of my poems were published in a school poetry book ( You can read the story here ). I didn't know it back then but that was the start of my writing career. It was a bittersweet beginning because although I liked having a talent, I didn't want to be a writer. I certainly didn't want to be a poet. The truth is that I wanted to be an athlete. The problem was that I sucked at organized sports. As a kid I played 2 seasons of soccer, 1 season of baseball and 1 season of basketball. In all ...