re-landscaping anyone?

On the Start Line

Ride to Remember

Playin' Hookie

Out on a ride...country roads...no traffic...blue skies...warm
weather...skipping work never felt soo good!

Take #2-Rock gets it right...

I guess Michael Ball read my previous post about Tyler's kit at the the Tour of California. He's made some adjustments and now we have a kit worthy of the U.S. Road Race National Champion.

I just wish this kit was racing at the ToC.

Pro kit review #?

So today I'd like to talk about the Rock Racing's 2009 kit, or at least Rock Racing's February 2009 kit...and more specifically, Tyler Hamilton's kit.

I get it Michael Ball, you're a bad-ass, your team is full of bad-asses and the persona that you're so desparatly trying to project is one of bad-assedness...we all get it, you "don't follow the status quo", you're a "renegade" and you "march to the beat of your own drum". The whole grunge/spray-painted/grafitti-type of design you're going with is right in line with what you've been doing for a couple of years now. It's not exactly cycling jersey design style, but yet it's highly contemporary and as a designer I very much appreciate the envelope-pushing.

Of the Rock designs that have poured out of this team in the recent years, the one aspect that I absolutely love is how there is no limit to the portions of the overall kit that have been printed on. Head to toe, side to side, every inch of their kits is designed and printed. Some find them busy, and while I may tend to agree in certain designs, it's the evolution that I love.

Back in the day you only printed a strip on the chest of the wool jersey. The sublimation process eventually allowed for the entire jersey to be "decorated". Then they added a single panel on the side of the thighs, then a panel on the back of the shorts and now there isn't any part of the team kit that is off-limits to the design. For this I applaud you Mr. Ball, however, I have a few comments on Mr. Hamilton's kit specifically.

Tyler Hamilton, as in the U.S. National Road Race Champion Tyler Hamilton. I was expecting big things for Tyler's 2009 kit. I figured that Mr. Ball and his design staff would take the "stars and bars" theme and cram it down the throats of cycling fans worldwide! I pictured a gawdy display of the red, white and blue. I envisioned patriotic symbolism on Crack!

But what did we get??? A subtle touch of America behind the Rock logo that BARELY distinguishes him from the rest of his own team let alone the entire peloton. His stars and stripes on the sleeves of his jersey look more like he's a former US National Champion, not the current one.

COME ON! At least get rid of the mainly black and replace it with a some blue. I had to really study Hamilton's kit just to see that they did anything at all! Garmin-Slipstream did an outstanding job of OBVIOUSLY incorporating the good ole' red, white and blue into Zabriskie's TT suit while still maintaining the signature argyle look of the team.

Sure, it says "US Road Champ" on the side panel of Hamilton's jersey, but with all the paint splatter and other elements, those words disappear into the jersey just like Tyler disappears into the field.

I know the Rock Racing team has had it's fare share of issues this past off-season and are probably behind the 8 Ball in many aspects of the team-management, they're even reportedly spray-painting their bike frames. My only hope is that when Tyler toes the line at his next race, Michael Ball will have gotten my message and rolled out an entirely new National Champions kit for him.

But I doubt it.

Buy My House

We've run out of room in our great little starter-home that we've loved for the past 6 years. Just like hitting the drive-thru at Micky-D's, we've supersized our living space with the purchase of a palatial estate just a few miles north (by palatial estate I mean a bigger house). We are now left with two mortgages so our little gem with great location must go.

A friend and I have just put together a web site that sings the praises of my newly listed property. Stop by and check it out...be sure to scope the built-in grill on the back patio that I built a couple of years ago...great for entertaining!

Palmetto Woods Home dot com

Coming soon:

Palmetto Woods Home dot com

Too Similar

As a self-professed critic of Cycing kits, this is an exciting time of the year. The pro teams are holding their team training camps and new kits are being distributed.

My first observation of the year is the new Columbia kits. I do like the fact that this organization has finally incorporated the shorts and the jersey in the same design (as opposed to a jersey with plain black short; see T-Mobile, Highroad and last years Columbia kits).

Unfortunately they have adopted a kit that looks way too much like the now defunct Sanuier Duval team. I'm guessing it has a lot to do with their new bike sponsor, Scott Bikes, but I wish they could've been more original.

I also prefer ProTour teams steer away from mainly yellow kits as it adds confusion to picking out riders in the peloton at the Tour de France. Once, who had a very yellow kit, used to switch to a pink jersey at the TdF but teams nowadays aren't required to follow Once's lead.

Lastly, I'm not a fan of the "faux abs" printed on the abdominal area of the jersy. It was cool and original when CSC did it a few year back, but once again...where's the originality?

On a 10pt. scale, I'll give it a 7

Bring it On

Download the flyer for the 2009 Bring it On races HERE

Get yer Christmas On!

Bring it On...

Get ready...the road racing season will arrive in Gainesville soon.
Keep January 17th and 24th open for a little bike racing!

Who is this?

photo by Elizabeth Kreutz

Currently Rockin' Out

Funny

Sunday morning I got up early, dressed quietly, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, slipped quietly into the garage to put my bike up on my car and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour.

The wind was blowing 50 mph. I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad throughout the day.

I went back into the house,quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. There I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, 'The weather out there is terrible.'

My loving wife replied, 'Can you believe my stupid husband is out biking in that shit?'

I still don't know to this day if she was joking, but I have stopped biking on Sunday mornings.

Dopers Suck...even in Florida!

reprinted from cyclingnews.com
American athlete accepts suspension

Cyclist Ricardo Hernandez of Miami, Florida, accepted a two-year suspension after testing positive for a prohibited substance according to the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Hernandez, 42, tested positive for exogenous testosterone, an anabolic agent, which is prohibited under the USADA Protocol and the rules of the UCI. His suspension took effect September 15, 2008, the date of his acceptance. Hernandez was disqualified from all competitive results achieved on and subsequent to March 2, 2008, the date his urine sample was collected at the Vuelta Independencia National, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes.