Movie Review - Race Across The Sky: The Leadville Trail 100

Last Thursday Fathom Events screened Race Across The Sky: The Leadville Trail 100 in select theatres across the nation. I have to admit that, not being much of a mountain biker, I considering skipping out. However, I know a couple of guys who rode the Leadville this year and the hopes of seeing people I knew on the big screen was enough to draw me in. So I paid my $12.50 (OUCH!) and settled in for what I thought was going to be the Lance Armstrong show (LA obliterated the old Leadville 100 course record this year).

Although Lance was a prominent figure in the film he was not the focus and that turns out to be, in my opinion, the film's salvation. We've all seen Lance systematically pick apart a race and dismantle his competition and his performance at Leadville differs very little in that regard from his performance at any of his seven TdF victories. Don't get me wrong, there were amazing shots of LA motoring up Columbine climb in an Energizer Bunny-like fashion and the drama of him riding the last several miles on a flat, but let's face it: everyone who follows cycling knew how this film ended before it began.

The things that makes Race Across The Sky an inspiring film and wonderful sport documentary are the stories and shots of the non-pros who show up to race or in some cases simply finish. The Leadville 100 is an epic event on the scale of an Ironman and requiring the same kind of dedication and training. Therefore it's those folks who don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning who make the story most interesting. For instance, the movie also follows a guy who's run the Leadville 100 fifteen times - on the same bike. There's also the story of a woman who was struck by a car on a training ride but recovered to come back and finish the race.

By showing the "normal" folks who determine to ride the Leadville the film brings the race down to the everyman's level - you see folks who are genuinely suffering but also enjoying themselves - folks who had to make significant sacrifices both in time and money just to show up in shape to finish the race. That's when I, as an amateur rider, started to think, "Man, I'd like to do that one day." And I suppose ultimately that's why I liked the film so much, because I can relate (at least a little bit) to the suffering of the contestants, the difficulty of the race, the comraderie of support teams as well as the accomplishment, pride, and exhaustion that you see on their faces as the riders come in to the finish. It's the kind of thing that makes you want to get out and ride yourself.

I don't know if Citizen Pictures is going to make the film available on DVD but they are planning an encore showing on November 12. Go to www.raceacrossthesky.com for more info and if you didn't see it the first time you don't want to miss it again.

Now Read This

Unfortunately I, like most of you, have a "real job" that doesn't entail writing, bikes, riding bikes, or writing about riding bikes and/or bikes being ridden by others. Furthermore, such unfortunate circumstances dictate that I am sometimes unable to update this blog for several days at a time, during which times you may find yourself dizzy or otherwise feeling ill for lack up to the minute news and insight into the bicycling world. As a public service I have compiled a list of Bikecritic approved websites and blogs that will serve you well in my stead (you should be reading these anyway).

Cyclingnews.com - This Aussie website is THE source for the latest pro cycling news and product info. More content and information than any other site.

Velonews.com - Official website of the VeloNews publication features weekly columns, latest news and viewer e-mail

Slowtwitch.com - geared toward the triathlon community, features race coverage and great articles on training, bike fit, etc.

The Bike Snob - keeps it real and updates every weekday

Neil Browne - editor for Road magazine, amateur road racer, professional bear fighter (make sure you follow him on twitter)

The Road Diaries - Official SRAM blog, make sure you check out their awesome Flickr photo galleries

Those should keep you busy while I'm out riding in God's country hard at work for the man. Until next time.

All Your Rider Are Belong To Us: Is Armstrong the Ulimate Example of Free Agency?

In an astonishing yet predictable move, Lance Armstrong has once again assembled a veritable supergroup of riders to surround himself on his new RadioShack team. Take a look at the list of personnel who have jumped the Astana ship and signed with RadioShack:

• Johan Bruyneel
• Levi Leipheimer
• Yaroslav Popovych
• Andreas Kloden
• Viatcheslav Ekimov
• Chris Horner
• Dirk Demol
• Sergio Paulinho

Granted, some of those are bigger names than others, but all have played an essential role in Astana's success and their departure leaves the Khazak squad a shell of the team it once was. Contador has managed to hang on to Haimar Zubeldia, and the two appear to be the only Astana employees unable to weasel out of their 2010 contracts. With two riders (Contador and Vinokourov) who have a proven track record of not getting along with their teammates, an almost totally new team as well as a completely new support squad Astana's struggles will likely extend well beyond their recent financial woes. A big part of Lance's successful formula has been to minimize variables and distractions, two things Astana will likely possess in spades in the 2010 season. Armstrong and his teammates, however, will likely only have to change kits and go about business as usual.

Of course, neither team has received confirmation of their UCI Pro Tour license for 2010 yet, which makes the whole Astana/RadioShack saga that much more interesting. The UCI doesn't just hand out Pro Tour licenses to any upstart team that wants one, but with the big guns on RadioShack's roster the UCI will be under pressure to grant them one. Furthermore, Astana's financial difficulties in 2009 could jeopardize their shot at 2010 Pro Tour spot. To further complicate matters the UCI has proven that it has no problem barring big names and former champions from racing the Tour de France, so what will happen with the 'Shack and the Astana ghost train is anybody's guess.

Beneath all of this is the much more interesting story (interesting to me at least) of Armstrong's pull and "star power" if you will. What's happening with the current dismantling of Astana is the equivalent of Michael Jordan saying to the Chicago Bulls in 1997, "You know what? I'm gone, and I'm taking Phil, Scottie, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr and Tony Kukoc with me. Ok, well, maybe not Kukoc, we'll see if Horace Grant still wants to play." Keep in mind that the former Astana crew listed above all had at least one year remaining on their contract, which they had to break in order to join up with RadioShack. Armstrong (especially since he's basically riding for free) seems to have unlimited ability to do pretty much whatever the heck he wants, whether it's beating up on some domestic riders in Nevada, destroying the Leadville 100 record or cannibalizing his most legitimate opponent's team. Does any other figure in pro sports enjoy the kind of free agency that Armstrong seems to have?

It's well known that Armstrong keeps a close-knit circle of riders, coaches, and staff around him. The amazing part to me is his ability to keep that group largely intact and the mobility that he and his group enjoy, enabling them to jump teams, land sponsors and finagle their way into races (witness the three-man "Mellow Johnny's" team that dismantled domestic pro teams at this year's Gila) pretty much at will. Of course the groupe Armstrong suffers various permutations each time it's reassembled - such as the loss of George Hincapie to Columbia or most recently Zubeldia - but Armstrong & Co. have been pretty much running the same game with the same players for nearly a decade.

Edit - about 3 hours after I posted this RadioShack was issued a a four year Pro Tour license by the UCI.

Sastre May Sit Out '10 Tour - Says Evans a Lock for Whiniest Jersey

According to a recent Velonews article Carlos Sastre has indicated that it's possible he will sit out on the Tour de France for the first time in five years. Although the 2010 edition of le Tour seems to play to his strengths what Sastre really seems to fear is a Cadel Evans who is coming into spectacular complaining form after his disastrous wheel change debacle in this year's Vuelta. Sastre appears ready to concede the Kleenex jersey without even holding a press conference in anger.

"After last year's season and now with the curse of the Rainbow jersey, Evans' complaining will be nearly unstoppable. He should have plenty to whine about and after all the practice from last season, what with the Tour, Vuelta, and all, I don't see how Cadel couldn't win the Kleenex. So it's probably best if I just give up now and start working on excuses for next year."

Sastre admitted that his claim that other riders "don't want [him] to win the Tour" during this year's TdF was greatly overshadowed buy the stellar excuse-making and general cry-babyness that has caused some to call Evans "The John Coltrane of Excuses."

We can only hope (at least for the cycling press' sake) that Sastre's recent statements are merely a shot across Evan's bow and a reminder from Sastre that while some may don wool and windproof vests to reconnoiter race routes in the off-season, Sastre will sit warm and snuggly by his fireplace dreaming up better and better excuses.

Easton Wheel Systems taking aim at Zipp

Last month at Interbike Easton Wheels unveiled several new models, including a 90mm deep "TT" wheelset. They're clearly trying to steal some market share from Zipp with the claim that their EC90 TT is faster than a 1080 "in certain wind conditions" and the equally direct "Dimples are for golf" statement on the EC90 TT product page. In addition to an extra 9mm of depth, the EC90 TT is also able to claim a 30g weight advantage over the 808, although I'm not sure what math their using - according to Zipp the 808 wheelset weighs in at 1499g versus a claimed 1424g for the EC90 TT - a 75g difference if both manufacturers are to be believed. Of course, your pair of fancy carbon water bottle cages probably weigh about that much anyway. So what's not to love about the EC90 TT? Save a few bucks and get a lighter, deeper wheelset with ceramic bearings, right? Well...

I have a couple of issues with the new EC90 TT. First of all, the 90mm rim depth is a bit much for a front wheel. I believe that most riders above 150 lbs. could ride the 90mm rear rim on all but really windy days, but I'd be wary of having a 90mm front rim as my only race-day wheel. Let's face it, most of us can only afford one set of "race-day" wheels and you need a wheelset that can do it all. The 56mm EC90 Aero is the kind of rim that most riders could ride regardless of the wind conditions and, in my opinion, a better choice if you can only have one deep-section front rim. Of course, if you're a bigger rider who can control a deeper front wheel in a crosswind or you've got a bevy of front wheels to choose from the EC90 TT isn't a bad choice. Except...

The hub on the EC90 TT has a much narrower flange than other Easton wheels. The idea is that you pull the spokes in at the hub, effectively reducing the frontal profile of the wheel. The problem with this is that it goes counter to traditional wheelbuilding principles which dictate that a wider, taller flange increases wheel stiffness (as in the new wheels that Gary Fisher unveiled at Interbike). If this is the case, then those who could benefit most from the EC90 TT (bigger riders who can handle the extra cross-section in the wind) are also those who are least suited to ride the narrower (and presumably flexier) hub. I may be wrong and Easton may be able to make wheels built on the TT hub as laterally stiff as their others, but it would be nice to see the 90mm rim available on their traditional (and excellent) R4 hubs anyway.

I also dislike how Easton favors paint over decals on their wheels. Paint can get chipped, nicked and scratched up. At least on a Zipp if you scratch up your logos you can either de-sticker them or replace them with new decals. I know it seems like a nitpick but if you drop $2,000 or more on a wheelset you want them to look nice - and STAY looking nice. And even if you do mix and match an EC90 TT rear with an EC90 Aero front, the logos on the wheels won't match up. Come on Easton, give us a unified paint scheme!

The big advantage that Zipp has, in my mind, is the ability to mix and match wheels. If you're a 100 lb. female triathlete you can purchase a 303 front/404 rear combo and ride it everyday, no matter what the wind conditions. Your average male roadie can buy a 404 front/808 rear combo and be set. Need a disc for calm race days? Zipp has 3 to choose from. Want those wheels in clincher instead of tubular? No problem - almost every Zipp model is available in both. Would you like a Power Tap with that? I used to not like Zipp hubs because the carbon dust covers, although cool-looking, would loosen and rattle and make a very expensive wheelset sound fragile and poopy in general. Now all Zipp wheels (except discs) have the new and much improved 88/188 hub as well as steel bearings that rival most ceramics for smoothness.

For those of us who don't regularly wind tunnel things like dimples, rim shapes and specially matched tubular tires are probably best chalked up to marketing. However, you'll notice that those who do have access to a wind tunnel definitely seem to favor Zipp. I'm not only talking about sponsored athletes, of which Zipp can boast quite a few, including recent female Ironman winner Chrissie Wellington, Pro Tour teams such as Cervelo Test Team and Saxo Bank, and even cyclocrossers. The more telling evidence is the number of folks who aren't sponsored by Zipp and who actually purchase their product. You'll notice several Pro Tour teams including Columbia-HTC running "de-stickered" Zipp wheels at the Tour. Look at photos of any Tour time trial and you'll see many Zipp discs being run with no decals (or even another sponsors decals). Even other wheel manufacturers such as Rolf and American Classic purchase rims from Zipp for their wheels - Easton used to be a customer before the Tempest wheelset evolved into the EC90 Aero.

Of course you'll pay a premium to the tune of at least $500 for all that Zipp goodness, and that's what keeps Easton in contention. They market a competitive product at a competitive price, and for a lot of folks the Zipp just isn't worth the extra cash. Truth be told, most of us wouldn't notice the difference between the EC 90 TT and the Zipp 808 or between an EC90 Aero and Zipp 404 anyway. For those who have to have the latest and greatest or who needs/wants to be able to mix and match their race wheels for the n-th degree of aerodynamics, Zipp is probably the way to go. However, you can save a buck get probably 97.5% of the performance for less with Easton.

UCI Attempts to Ban Armstrong - Armstrong says "Suck it"

Fast on the heels of this years half-experiment to ban radios at the Tour de France the UCI has voted to phase out radios at all levels of competition.

Although some may believe that the ban is a response to critics' complaints that cycling has become too formulaic and predictable because of radios, the keen observer will realize that it's actually an attempt to ban Lance Armstrong's new squad from UCI competition. Obviously the UCI is worried that with Alberto Contador apparently unwilling to ride for any team other than himself, Cadel Evans' Curse of the Rainbow Jersey (and intolerable whinyness in general), the Schleck brothers hunger strike and continous rumors concerning the funding issues of the perpetually eyebrow-less Alexandre Vinokourov's Astana team, there only way to keep Armstrong from dominating yet another tour is to ban his team outright.

However, in a shrewd move Radio Shack is apparently circumventing the UCI ban by changing its moniker to "The Shack." This clever substitution of the article "The" for the word "Radio" not only puts team Armstrong beyond the reach of any possible interpretation of the UCI ruling but also opens the door for some interesting promotional possibilities. Perhaps team The Shack can takes some cues from Rock Racing on how to uglify their race bikes or maybe even have Mugatu fashion their kits as part of the Derelicte campaign.

Considering Armstrong's uncanny abilities to force corporate name changes, dismantle entire teams and re-assemble them under Khazak rule, and incite flashmob bike rides around the world, it should come as no surprise that Armstrong has unveiled step one in what is undoubtedly a plan for world cycling domination - The Mellow Classic. It's now only a matter of time before the UCI is overthrown by the Lance Armstrong Cycling Federation as world cycling's governing body.

Friday - One From the Vault

The following is something I wrote about 4 years ago (since I'm too lazy today to come up with a new post).

There he was on Ellerbe Road about 2 miles north of "the crossroads." He didn't belong in the middle of the road with the glaring afternoon sun beating down on him and searing hot asphalt on his skin. Yet as I passed him I noticed that he was still glistening wet, as if he had simply gone out for a short stroll or maybe to talk to the cows swimming in the other pond. Perhaps he wanted a paper or a change of scenery. Maybe he did belong I thought. Maybe he'd been hoisted from his home by a tasty nightcrawler with a barbed metal spine. Or maybe it was a crankbait. I don't know much about fishing.

I knew he was dead but I almost expected him to speak to me or perhaps dance around like that cartoon catfish with the cane and top hat that I used to see - I can't remember where. That catfish looked suspiciously like Mr. Peanut. This one didn't. His mouth gaped open as if he'd died trying to relay some message, like a fallen war hero in a Hollywood movie. I have heard catfish talk before; they're generally quite disagreeable. He stared at me with that one fishy eye as I cranked passed in wonder, and for a moment we connected. I could see a bit of his innards and I couldn't help but wonder what he would see if he looked through my sweat-soaked body and into my innards. I avoided his glassy, unforgiving stare on my way back. As I passed his pitiful body I reminded myself about something I'd once heard in a song: "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle."

The Perfect Warm Up

As every cyclist knows, the key to a good time trial is the warm up. Some folks prefer to warm up on the road, some prefer a trainer, some like to warm up on rollers (which I have never understood). Or you can do like Alberto Contador and shove eucalyptus up your nose. You can debate all you want about the best warm up technique or which heart rate zones to hit for how long but none of that is half, no, one-quarter as important as THE most important aspect of any warm up. I'm talking, of course, about the playlist.

There are many ways to approach the warm up playlist - you can go old school US Postal and listen to all ZZ Top, you can join former track-specialist turned roady Bradley Wiggins in some Brit-pop jingle jangle, or you can take the Jens Voight route and "just try to get as angry as possible" (although we saw how that worked out for him at this year's tour). I know several folks who enjoy German grind-core junk such as Rammstein and the more obscure Boltthrower. Whatever you do, don't go the neo-Armstrong route and just listen to whatever college kid BS got released this week. If you don't believe me, read his twitter.

As a recovered musician and former shop TT champion I realized that I could do a great service by providing my fellow cyclists with a sample playlist as well as a general guidline of how to create your own. Call it a sonic road map to greatness if you will. The following 40 (+/-) minute playlist is scientifically designed to increase your average wattage by at least 3 watts, decrease your coefficient of drag, and shave 18 seconds off your 40k TT. Unless, of course, you're still pimping black bar tape, in which case there is no hope for you.

First, you need a couple of tracks to spin lightly to and, in effect, warm up to the warm up:

• Echo and the The Bunnymen - "Lips Like Sugar"


• Foo Fighters - "Best of You"

Next up you want to work a little bit and hit that second heart rate zone, so we up the tempo and the intensity, but not too much:

• Fuel - "New Thing"


• Nine Inch Nails - "The Collector"

The next phase of my warm up is usually a kind of steady-state, moderate intensity with a bit lower cadence, hence we need some tunes that keep the energy level up but generally have a little bit lower BPM (that's beat's per minute for you non-music types):

• Does it Offend You Yeah? - "Doomed Now"


• The Cardigans - "Erase-Rewind"


• Audioslave - "Exploder"

The next three help you roll into and hit that upper heart rate zone briefly:

• Better Than Ezra - "Recognize"


• Metallica - "Fuel"


• Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"

The final track I include for a little cool-down - you don't want to "leave it in the gym" so to speak. Ideally you can hop off the trainer and go pretty much straight to your start time, although I've never seen an event actually start on time, except for the fabled Mike Simpson Time Trial Series.

• The Rolling Stones - "Gimme Shelter"

For some reason that tune always gets me fired up. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my magical warm up playlist, now go try it out or create one of your own.

Bike Review - 2009 Orbea Orca

The Orca is the flagship of the Orbea lineup, and although it's been slightly revamped for 2010 I thought it would be worthwhile for me to comment on the 2009 model considering the significant amount of seat time I have on it.

The '09 Orca features subtle revisions over the previous Orca, notably one-piece rear dropouts, a magnesium seat collar, carbon headbadge and revised carbon layup. According to Orbea these revisions shaved about 90 grams off the frameset and made it 20% stiffer. Having ridden both, I can't say that I could tell any difference in stiffness.

My frame (size 51cm, 53.5cm top tube length) weighed in at 940 grams when stripped of all of its metal bits. Total weight for my bike at its lightest build was 15 lbs, 2 oz ready to race (see below for a complete build list). This is certainly competitive with most of the carbon flagship bikes on the market and could easily have been lower with a few substitutions.

How does it ride? In my opinion ride quality is the area where the Orca really shines. The frame does an excellent job of filtering out bumps and high-frequency vibration. This bike is all-day comfortable. Handling on the frame is feels stable to slow - the Orca almost seems to smooth out your line even under hard pedalling. The flipside is that you don't so much dive into corners as much as you herd the Orca through them. Don't expect Cannondale or Specialized Tarmac responsiveness here, although the ride is much better damped than either of those bikes.

In fact, that lack of responsiveness is what I liked least about the Orca. After riding some top-level carbon bikes from other manufacturers I found that they felt much more eager to cut turns or responded much more noticably to pedal input. It seems the Orca rewards smooth, calculated inputs much more than sudden forceful ones. I suppose something had to be given up in order to infuse the Orca with comfort and stability.

I have noticed a few issues with this generation of Orca, all of them related to the reliability of the carbon frame. I personally have seen more than a couple of Orcas that fell over at low (or no) speed, sending the handlebars into the sculpted top tube which then cracked. In my opinion the dramatic lines of the frame create a series of stress risers not found in round tubes and make it more susceptible to such damage. It seems that the ridges of the tubes allow external force to concentrate in that area causing the carbon to fail.

The other issue I encountered was with my personal bike. After a while the carbon headbadge (which also serves as the cable guide for the derailleur cables) formed cracks on the outside edges, apparently from the stress of the cable ferrules and tension of the derailleur cables. Orbea replaced my frame under warranty and I built the second frame using longer housing runs and plastic ferrules per Orbea's advice, only to have that frame fail in the exact same manner. Orbea once again replaced the frame under warranty. According to sources at Orbea, the headbadge has been reinforced on 2010 models in order to prevent this from happening (which also tells me that I wasn't the only person experiencing this).

For racing I believe the Opal is actually a better choice than the Orca. Although it's a little heavier and not nearly as good-looking as its upscale bretheren it should prove far more durable and, from what I've heard, is more responsive. That's probably why Orbea-sponsored Team Type 1 rocks the Opal, along with many other domestic amateur teams.

Of course, all of my reservations about the Orca didn't keep Samuel Sanchez from winning an Olympic gold medal on one. As Lance Armstrong says, "It's not about the bike."

A few more nice features about the Orca include a non-proprietary seatpost (which seems to be a rarity these days) and Orbea's spectacular Made to Order program, which allows you a great deal of flexibility in choosing color, components, wheelsets, even saddles. I know there has been talk at Orbea about scrapping Made to Order but I hope for their customers' sakes they don't.

In my opinion the Orca is best suited for those who want a high-performance rig that isn't going to beat them up on long weekend or club rides. If I were a big sprinter or regular crit racer it probably wouldn't be my first choice. The new improvements for 2010 (tapered headtube, BB30 bottom bracket) should yield a frame that is slightly more responsive and perhaps a little lighter overall, both good things. And there is no denying the Orca's unique look - in my opinion it's one of the best looking bikes on the market, especially in black or red.

Test build (15 lbs, 2 oz):

• 2009 Orca frameset, size 51 (53.5 top tube)
• 2009 SRAM Force drivetrain (shifters, derailleurs, brakeset)
• 2009 FSA K-Force Light crankset, 172.5mm, 52/38T
• Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 100mm stem
• Ritchey WCS Anatomic handlebar (42 cm)
• Bontrager Race X-Lite 31.8mm seatpost (270mm length)
• Fizik Arione K:ium saddle
• 2009 Easton EC90 Aero wheelset
• Vredestein Fortezza TriComp tubular tires
• Look Keo Sprint pedals
• Cateye Strade Wireless computer
• Bontrager Race X-Lite Carbon bottle cages (2)