Wasn't Lance Armstrong's seventh straight Tour de France bike race championship a big deal last summer? I remember lots of non-bicyclists following it on TV and in the newspaper, and OLN scoring its highest ratings ever during the event. In spite of that, competitive cycling was mostly ignored for nominations in the Sports Emmy Awards. The 27th annual awards event for TV sports is scheduled May 1. ...   more »

I often joke about being able to fix anything with a roll of duct tape, a tube of Crazy Glu or a can of WD-40. But I didn't even think of those when my right STI shifter on my bicycle stopped working.

My LeMond Tourmalet bicycle is six years old, and I always thought one of its coolest features were the STI shifters -- brakes and gear shifters all in one. Apparently riding in these wet, cold Northwest winters took its toll on these Shimano components, because a couple of weeks ago the right one stopped shifting. ...   more »

If it's true that one is an accident, two is a trend, and three is a movement, then the appearance of bicycles on wine bottle labels has become a movement as far as I'm concerned.

I wrote about labels on two wines yesterday -- Cycles Gladiator and Red Bicyclette. Then DT from the Fat Boy Deluxe Weblog left a comment about a third, Hill of Content.

I'm always impressed by the breadth of experience of people who contact me. ...   more »

The League of American Bicyclists has updated its website, and one of the coolest features is a search page called FindIt.

Member and nonmember cyclists can go to this page to search for local advocacy groups, bicycle clubs, bike shops, instructors and certification seminars, bike education courses, and league rides and events. ...   more »

 I'm not sure about the connection between drinking wine and bicycling, but some marketers of vino apparently want to create one.

Cycles Gladiator from Hahn Estates in California is the newest label sporting a bicycle -- and a red-haired nymph. Oh la la!

It joins Red Bicyclette, a French wine that I was surprised to learn comes from none other than mass wine producer E & J Gallo in Modesto, California. ...   more »

Remember earlier this month when Ohio University campus police went all "homeland security" on a bicycle that displayed the sticker "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb"?

College officials in Athens say they'll reimburse the owner for the bike that was first sprayed with high pressure hoses then ripped apart by hydraulic cutters known as the jaws of life. The owner, grad student Patrick Hanlin, could get between $800 and $1,000 to replace the Cannondale T700, a touring bicycle. ...   more »

I'm trying to hammer through our 2005 federal tax return before the mid-April deadline, and I come across a tax break reminder for hybrid car owners. I started thinking, "Why not bike commuters?"

The owners of fuel-efficient hybrids are being reminded to report their $2,000 tax deduction if they bought their hybrid before the end of 2005. Anyone who buys one this year might be eligible for up to a $3,400 tax credit, depending on the make and model, when they file in 2007.

But how about bicyclists? Don't they reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on fossil fuels to a big fat ZERO? ...   more »

The stories this bicycle could tell.

Some 30 years after the Schwinn delivery bicycle was stolen from its rightful owner in Portland, Kentucky, it's back in the family home again. The bike belonged to John Eaton, known locally as "The Bicycle Man," and was as well-known around town as Eaton. ...   more »

I thought fans of multi-day group bicycle tours in Maine might be out of luck this year after the Maine Wheels Bicycle Club announced it was taking a year off from both its Moose Tour and Coastal Tour in 2006.

But there's still the Trek Across Maine, a three-day supported bike tour across 180 miles of blue highways. It's a fund-raiser for the Maine Lung Association and 1,400 cyclists already have signed up, representing more than a quarter million dollars in pledges. It's just one of more than 70 multi-day bike tours this year ...   more »

Floyd Landis, the 30-year-old American bicyclist, already has two big victories under his belt in 2006: the inaugural Tour of California in February and this month's Paris-Nice.

So, instead of jumping into the Giro d'Italia in May, the team leader of the Swiss Phonak team is going to skip that three-week race to concentrate on the Tour de France in July. ...   more »

Moses Mathis, known as "The Bicycle Man" throughout the Sand Hills of North Carolina, might have to saddle up and move out over a lease dispute with the owner of the warehouse.

Mathis has been repairing children's bicycles and giving them away since 1991. The Tiffany Pines Community Outreach Center, which he founded in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has given away more than 8,000 bicycles to area children; 700 this past Christmas alone. ...   more »

President Bush's exploits aboard his Trek mountain bicycle are legend. But until this minute I didn't know that VP Dick Cheney was a bike enthusiast as well.

Make that a stationary bike enthusiast. According to the New York Times, Cheney's aides have been seen loading and unloading an exercise bicycle from Air Force II on his visits around the country. ...   more »

When it comes to poor bike lane designs and obstructions, some of the worst can be seen at the Warrington (UK) Cycle Campaign website.

Pete Owens has been collecting photos of truly bizarre bike lane attractions from around the UK since 2001. This image of a phone booth erected in a bicycle path is just one of dozens chosen as a winner in his "Cycle Facility of the Month" contest. ...   more »

Mountain bikers are known for eating dirt out on the course. The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew program is designed to interest bikers who like to dig in the dirt as well.

The crew, sponsored by the car manufacturer and the International Mountain Bicycling Association, teaches volunteers and park service trail builders how to build trails that last, create minimal impact ...   more »

German cyclist Jan Ullrich will be back in the saddle at the Giro d'Italia in May, but just to tune-up for the Tour de France in July.

Ullrich, touted by Lance Armstrong as the best candidate to win this year's Tour de France, was said to be in outstanding shape when he arrived at the T-Mobile camp this spring, but has yet to race. Hmm...   more »